Lunar roving vehicle

Abstract

To provide a lunar roving vehicle in which a charge potential on a vehicle body side can be reduced without using a power resource.SOLUTION: A lunar roving vehicle 10 includes: a tire peripheral part 20 located in the periphery of a metal tire 16 in a vehicle body; and metal boxes 22, 24, 26, 28 fixed to the tire peripheral part 20 via an insulation part 30, having an opening formed therein, and configured to be able to take in and accumulate a regolith 12 wound up by the tire 16 from the opening.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to lunar vehicles. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a vehicle aerodynamic characteristic control device that uses an electron supply from the vehicle body. This device has a power supply with a positive terminal and a negative terminal. The positive terminal and the negative terminal are respectively connected to vehicle components, thereby supplying electrons to the vehicle body or interior and exterior surface parts of the vehicle. In this way, the above technology is designed to improve aerodynamic characteristics by attaching an electrical circuit to the vehicle to control airflow. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-143555 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the above technology uses electric power resources, and there is room for improvement in reducing the charged potential on the vehicle body side even in an environment where electric power resources are scarce, such as on the surface of the moon.

[0005] In consideration of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a lunar vehicle that can reduce the charged potential on the vehicle body side without using power resources. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The lunar vehicle according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1 comprises a tire peripheral portion located around a metal tire on a vehicle body, and a metal box fixed to the tire peripheral portion via an insulating portion, having an opening formed therein so that regolith kicked up by the tire can be taken in through the opening and deposited therein.

[0007] According to the present invention described in claim 1, regolith stirred up by the tires of a traveling lunar vehicle is taken in through an opening in a metal box fixed around the tire and deposited there. The insulating regolith becomes positively charged due to friction with the metal tire. Newly stirred up regolith has the same polarity as the deposited regolith and is therefore repelled away from the metal box by the repulsive force of the electric field. This suppresses friction between the vehicle body and the regolith. Here, the metal box becomes negatively charged due to the accumulation of regolith, but since this is not cumulative charging due to continuous friction, the upper limit of charging can be reduced compared to when friction between the regolith and the vehicle body continues. Furthermore, because the metal box is fixed to the vehicle body via an insulator, the location where frictional charging occurs is far from the vehicle body. Because the electric field is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, the upper limit of charging potential can be further reduced. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] As described above, the lunar vehicle according to the present invention has the excellent effect of being able to reduce the static potential on the vehicle body side without using any power resources. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the area around the left rear wheel of the lunar vehicle according to the present embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a charged state of the fourth pocket shown in FIG. 1. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] A lunar vehicle 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Note that the arrows FR, UP, and LH shown as appropriate in each figure indicate the front side, upper side, and left side in the left-right direction (width direction) of the vehicle, respectively. Furthermore, when the directions front-rear, up-down, and left-right are used in the following description unless otherwise specified, they refer to front-rear in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, up-down in the up-down direction of the vehicle, and left-right in the left-right direction (width direction) of the vehicle, respectively.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, a lunar vehicle 10 is capable of traveling on a lunar surface 14 covered with sandy regolith 12. The lunar vehicle 10 is equipped with metal tires 16. As an example, the lunar vehicle 10 is equipped with six tires in total, three on each side. Note that FIG. 1 only illustrates the area around the tire 16 on the left rear wheel, and the other tires are not shown. The peripheral structure of the six tires is similar to the peripheral structure of the tire 16 on the left rear wheel, so this specification will only describe the structure around the tire 16 on the left rear wheel, and will omit a description of the structure around the other tires.

[0012] The lunar vehicle 10 is configured to include a vehicle cabin 18, a wheel arch 20 fixed to the lower left side of the vehicle cabin 18, and a tire 16 fixed to the vehicle cabin 18 on the vehicle lower side of the wheel arch 20. The wheel arch 20 in this embodiment corresponds to the tire periphery in the present invention.

[0013] The wheel arch 20 protrudes from the left side surface of the passenger compartment 18 toward the left side of the vehicle and is formed by bending a plate-like member at three locations into a substantially arc-like shape so as to correspond to the shape of the tire 16 in a side view. The wheel arch 20 is configured to include four flat sections formed by bending it in this manner. Hereinafter, the four divided sections of the underside of the wheel arch 20 will be referred to as a first fixing portion 20A, a second fixing portion 20B, a third fixing portion 20C, and a fourth fixing portion 20D, from the front side. As an example, the wheel arch 20 is formed symmetrically in the front-to-rear direction, with the first fixing portion 20A and the second fixing portion 20B facing diagonally rearward, and the third fixing portion 20C and the fourth fixing portion 20D facing diagonally forward.

[0014] Here, a first pocket 22 as a metal box is fixed to the first fixing portion 20A via an insulating portion 30. Similarly, a second pocket 24 as a metal box is fixed to the second fixing portion 20B via the insulating portion 30, a third pocket 26 as a metal box is fixed to the third fixing portion 20C via the insulating portion 30, and a fourth pocket 28 as a metal box is fixed to the fourth fixing portion 20D via the insulating portion 30. In other words, the first pocket 22, the second pocket 24, the third pocket 26, and the fourth pocket 28 are arranged side by side in the approximately front-to-rear direction along the wheel arch 20. The first pocket 22, the second pocket 24, the third pocket 26, and the fourth pocket 28 are each formed into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape using a thin metal plate.

[0015] 2 shows a side cross-sectional view of the fourth pocket 28. An upper wall portion 32 of the fourth pocket 28 is fixed to the fourth fixed portion 20D via an insulating portion 30.

[0016] A rear wall portion 34 is formed in approximately the lower half of the fourth pocket 28 on the vehicle rear end side. In other words, approximately the upper half of the fourth pocket 28 on the vehicle rear end side is open, and an opening portion 36 that is approximately rectangular when viewed from the vehicle rear side is formed. The opening portion 36 is formed across the entire fourth pocket 28 in the vehicle width direction.

[0017] Furthermore, a through-hole 38A penetrating in the thickness direction is formed in the vehicle rear portion of the lower wall portion 38 of the fourth pocket 28. This through-hole 38A allows the regolith 12 deposited inside the fourth pocket 28 to be discharged to the outside.

[0018] The fourth pocket 28 is configured so that, when the rotational speed of the tire 16 (see FIG. 1) is equal to or greater than a predetermined speed, the amount of regolith 12 deposited in the fourth pocket 28 through the opening 36 per unit time is greater than the amount of regolith 12 discharged from the fourth pocket 28 through the through-hole 38A per unit time. On the other hand, when the rotational speed of the tire 16 is less than the predetermined speed or when the lunar vehicle 10 is stopped, the fourth pocket 28 is configured so that the amount of regolith 12 deposited in the fourth pocket 28 through the opening 36 per unit time is less than the amount of regolith 12 discharged from the fourth pocket 28 through the through-hole 38A per unit time. In other words, when the lunar vehicle 10 travels at a predetermined speed or greater, regolith 12 accumulates in the fourth pocket 28, and when the lunar vehicle 10 travels at a speed less than the predetermined speed or is stopped, the amount of deposited regolith 12 decreases.

[0019] Although not shown, openings and through-holes are also formed in the first pocket 22, the second pocket 24, and the third pocket 26 at positions and with sizes that satisfy the above conditions.

[0020] (action) Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

[0021] 1, according to the lunar vehicle 10 of this embodiment, regolith 12 is kicked up by the tires 16 of the traveling lunar vehicle 10. The kicked up regolith 12 is taken in through openings 36 (see FIG. 2) and deposited in a first pocket 22, a second pocket 24, a third pocket 26, and a fourth pocket 28 fixed to the wheel arch 20.

[0022] As shown in Figure 2, the insulating regolith 12 becomes positively charged due to friction with the metal tire 16 (see Figure 1). The newly rolled-up regolith 12 has the same polarity as the deposited regolith 12, so it is repelled away from the metal box by the repulsive force of the electric field. This reduces friction between the wheel arch 20 and the regolith 12.

[0023] Here, due to the accumulation of regolith 12, the first pocket 22, the second pocket 24, the third pocket 26 and the fourth pocket 28 each become negatively charged, but since this is not a cumulative charge due to continuous friction, the upper limit of charging can be reduced compared to when continuous friction occurs between the regolith 12 and the wheel arch 20.

[0024] Furthermore, because the first pocket 22, the second pocket 24, the third pocket 26, and the fourth pocket 28 are each fixed to the wheel arch 20 via an insulating portion 30, the location where frictional charging occurs is farther from the vehicle interior 18. Because the electric field is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, the upper limit of the charging potential can be further reduced. This reduces the impact of charging on electronic devices installed in the vehicle interior 18.

[0025] The lunar surface environment is a vacuum, making natural discharge difficult and preventing electric charges from escaping onto the lunar surface 14. The lunar vehicle 10 according to this embodiment can reduce the charged electric potential of the wheel arch 20, i.e., on the vehicle body side, without using power resources, and therefore can reduce the charged electric potential on the vehicle body side even on the lunar surface 14, where power resources are scarce.

[0026] Furthermore, the fourth pocket 28 is configured so that, when the rotational speed of the tire 16 (see FIG. 1) is equal to or greater than a predetermined speed, the amount of regolith 12 deposited in the fourth pocket 28 through the opening 36 per unit time is greater than the amount of regolith 12 discharged from the fourth pocket 28 through the through-hole 38A per unit time. On the other hand, the fourth pocket 28 is configured so that, when the rotational speed of the tire 16 is less than a predetermined speed or when the lunar vehicle 10 is stopped, the amount of regolith 12 deposited in the fourth pocket 28 through the opening 36 per unit time is less than the amount of regolith 12 discharged from the fourth pocket 28 through the through-hole 38A per unit time. As a result, when the tires 16 are rotating at high speeds and there is a high frequency of friction between the regolith 12 and the vehicle body, the regolith 12 is constantly deposited in the fourth pocket, and when the tires 16 are rotating at low speeds and there is a low frequency of friction between the regolith 12 and the vehicle body, and when the lunar vehicle 10 is stopped, the deposition of regolith 12 is suppressed. The same applies to the first pocket 22, the second pocket 24, and the third pocket 26.

[0027] [Supplementary explanation of the above embodiment] In the above embodiment, the first pocket 22, the second pocket 24, the third pocket 26, and the fourth pocket 28 are arranged in the wheel arch 20, but this is not limiting. For example, the metal box may be arranged in a portion of the vehicle body around the tire other than the wheel arch located around the tire.

[0028] In the above embodiment, the first pocket 22, the second pocket 24, the third pocket 26, and the fourth pocket 28 are described as being arranged side by side in the approximately fore-and-aft direction, but this is not limited thereto. The number of metal boxes provided for one tire may be one, two, three, or five or more. Also, for example, the metal boxes may be arranged side by side in the vehicle width direction. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 10 Lunar Rover 12 Regolith 14. Lunar Surface 16 Tires 20 Wheel arch (around the tire) 22 First pocket (metal box) 24 Second pocket (metal box) 26 Third pocket (metal box) 28 4th pocket (metal box) 30 Insulation section 36 Opening

Claims

[Claim 1] a tire peripheral portion located around the metal tire on the vehicle body; a metal box fixed to the tire periphery via an insulating part, having an opening formed therein, and configured to be able to take in and deposit regolith kicked up by the tire through the opening; A lunar vehicle having:

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