Drone Port

Abstract

To provide a drone port with a simple configuration capable of positioning, aligning the longitudinal direction, a drone at a predetermined landing position (fixed position).SOLUTION: A takeoff and landing surface 10 includes a drone support surface 12, inclined guide surfaces 14, and attitude correction surfaces 16. The drone support surface 12 is a rectangular plane on which a drone 1 is placed horizontally in a stationary state, and on which free rollers 5 are aligned on both sides of a landing line X-X in a plan view. The inclined guide surfaces 14 are located upstream in a landing direction X along the landing line X-X, and guide the landing drone 1 to the height of the drone support surface 12. The attitude correction surfaces 16 are located on both sides (upper and lower sides in the drawing) of the landing line X-X with the drone support surface 12 and the inclined guide surface 14 interposed therebetween, and correct the longitudinal direction of the drone 1 in a plan view.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a drone port that improves the landing accuracy of drones. [Background technology]

[0002] A "drone" is a type of small unmanned helicopter. In recent years, there have been plans to use drones to transport small packages unmanned. Such drones are called "logistics drones." Also, "droneport" means a facility with a landing surface for drones to take off and land.

[0003] Conventionally, drone landing has been controlled to a predetermined landing position (fixed position), for example, by using GPS or image recognition of takeoff and landing marks. Furthermore, horizontal boards with few openings have traditionally been used as takeoff and landing surfaces for drones.

[0004] However, in this case, the downwash generated by the drone bounces off the takeoff and landing surface, creating a mixture of downward and upward currents around the drone's rotors, which makes it difficult to control the drone's attitude during takeoff and landing, reducing landing accuracy and potentially compromising safety. "Downwash" refers to the downward current of air generated by the drone's rotors.

[0005] Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a means for improving the landing accuracy of drones with a simple configuration.

[0006] The "landing target device for an aircraft" in Patent Document 1 is a landing target device (landing pad) for an aircraft (drone) that lands on the aircraft, and has an inclined portion with a central portion set lower than the peripheral portion. Also, the central portion of the inclined portion has a circular flat portion that is formed lower than the surrounding portion. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-124758 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The landing pad of Patent Document 1 has the above-mentioned configuration, and by driving the drive unit to a degree that does not cause the aircraft to rise, the aircraft can be guided to an accurate central position after landing by the influence of its own weight, without having to control the position of the landing point with high precision.

[0009] However, the means of Patent Document 1 has the following problems. (1) The forward and backward orientation of the drone positioned on the central circular plane is random. Therefore, if the outline of the package being delivered by the drone is a typical rectangular parallelepiped, the position of the drone's legs will not be fixed, making the direction in which the package is picked up unstable. (2) In this case, for example, by providing a circular through-hole inside the drone's leg position on the circular plane portion, it is possible to drop the cargo downward through the circular through-hole. However, in this case, since there is a circular flat section in the center of the inclined section, rainwater collects on the circular flat section and a large amount of water flows into the inside of the device through the circular through-hole, which may cause flooding of the luggage and equipment inside. Furthermore, if the luggage is dropped downward, there is a possibility that parts of the luggage may be dented or otherwise damaged.

[0010] The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems. Specifically, the first object of the present invention is to provide a drone port that can position a drone at a predetermined landing position (fixed position) with its front and rear aligned with a simple configuration. The second object is to provide a drone port that prevents rainwater from entering the device, allowing cargo to be collected or stored without getting wet even in rainy weather. The third object is to provide a drone port that can collect cargo without damaging it. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] According to the present invention, there is provided a drone port having a takeoff and landing surface on an upper surface of which a drone takes off and lands, The drone has a plurality of legs located on the outer sides of the four corners of the drone body in a plan view, The takeoff and landing surface is a drone support surface on which the drone rests horizontally and on which the legs are aligned on both sides of a landing line in a plan view; a pair of attitude correction surfaces located on both sides of the landing line with the drone support surface in between, and correcting the forward and backward direction of the drone in a plan view; The attitude correction surface extends along the landing line in a front-to-rear direction of the drone support surface, and the drone can be landed from the front-to-rear direction; A vertical guide surface is provided on the outer side of the drone support surface in the width direction, the vertical guide surface extending downward from the inner end surface of the attitude correction surface in the width direction. death, The drone has a plurality of free rollers provided at the lower end of the leg and rolling freely in contact with the outside, the pair of attitude correction surfaces extend outward in the width direction from upper ends of the vertical guide surfaces and have correction inclined surfaces that come into contact with the free rollers to align the free rollers parallel to the vertical guide surfaces; When the drone has not descended to the takeoff and landing surface, one of the front and rear free rollers comes into contact with the attitude correction surface, and the free roller that has come into contact is guided inward in the width direction of the attitude correction surface. is provided. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the configuration of the present invention, the drone has multiple (for example, four) legs, so that the legs can be aligned on both sides of the landing line on the drone support surface on which the drone rests horizontally. In addition, the legs of the drone descending while flying come into contact with the attitude correction surface located upstream of the landing direction along the landing line, allowing the drone to descend to the height of the drone support surface during landing.

[0013] Furthermore, the legs, which move in the direction of landing while flying, come into contact with a pair of attitude correction surfaces located on the widthwise outer sides of the drone support surface, allowing the drone's forward and backward direction to be corrected in a planar view. Therefore, with the simple configuration described above, the drone can be positioned at a predetermined landing position (fixed position) with its front and rear directions aligned. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a drone used in the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a drone port according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along line B-B. [Figure 5] 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along CC in FIG. 2. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are explanatory diagrams of the functions of the correction inclined surface and the vertical guide surface. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a drone port according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, common parts in the drawings are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

[0016] 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a drone 1 used in the present invention, in which (A) is a top view, (B) is a side view, and (C) is a partial explanatory view of (A). In this figure, the drone 1 comprises a drone body 2, a rotor 3, legs 4, free rollers 5, and a luggage gripping device 6.

[0017] The drone 1 is a logistics drone with a planar dimension of about 1 m×1 m and a payload of 2 to 10 kg, for example. The drone body 2 is located at the center of the drone 1 in a plan view, and is equipped with various sensors, control devices, wireless devices, etc., not shown. In this example, three rotors 3 are provided, which are attached at intervals above the drone body 2 and controlled by a control device not shown.

[0018] A plurality of legs 4 (four in this example) are provided, extending downward from the drone body 2 and attached at intervals from one another. The four legs 4 are positioned on the outside of the four corners of the drone body 2, surrounding the cargo 9 carried by the drone 1. A plurality of free rollers 5 (four in this example) are provided and are fixed to the lower ends of the four legs 4, respectively. In this example, the free rollers 5 are spherical balls that come into contact with the outside and roll freely around their centers. The luggage gripping device 6 is provided on the drone body 2 or the legs 4 and has the function of gripping or releasing luggage 9.

[0019] In Figure 1(A), symbol O indicates the center of the drone body 2 in a planar view, x1 indicates the axis indicating the fore-and-aft direction of the drone 1 passing through the center O (hereinafter referred to as the "fore-and-aft axis x1"), and y1 indicates the axis indicating the width direction passing through the center O and perpendicular to the fore-and-aft axis x1 (hereinafter referred to as the "width axis y1"). When the drone 1 flies horizontally, the longitudinal axis x1 and the widthwise axis y1 are both horizontal axes.

[0020] FIG. 1C shows only the free rollers 5 and the load 9 in FIG. 1A in a plan view. As shown in this figure, the four free rollers 5 are aligned on both sides of the longitudinal axis x1 and the widthwise axis y1, i.e., the four free rollers 5 are symmetrically positioned left and right and front and rear with respect to the longitudinal axis x1 and the widthwise axis y1, and are located at the four corners of an imaginary rectangle 8.

[0021] In this example, the rectangle 8 is a square, but may be a rectangle. The number of free rollers 5 is not limited to four, and may be three or five or more as long as the distance from the longitudinal axis x1 is constant. Hereinafter, the four free rollers 5 in FIG. 1(C) will be referred to as free rollers 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d as necessary.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the drone port 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the drone port 100 has a landing surface 10 on the top surface where the drone 1 takes off and lands. The takeoff and landing surface 10 includes a drone support surface 12, an inclined guide surface 14, and an attitude correction surface 16.

[0023] In this diagram, the landing line XX is the path of travel in a plan view when the drone 1 lands. Hereinafter, the horizontal direction parallel to the landing line XX, the right direction in the diagram, is referred to as the landing direction X (or X direction), the horizontal direction perpendicular to the X direction is referred to as the width direction Y (or Y direction), and the up-down direction perpendicular to the X and Y directions is referred to as the height direction Z (or Z direction).

[0024] The drone support surface 12 is a rectangular plane on which the drone 1 rests horizontally and on which the free rollers 5 are aligned on both sides of the landing line XX in a plan view. In FIG. 2, the four corners of the drone support surface 12 are designated as 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d. When the free rollers 5 are aligned on both sides of the landing line XX, the four free rollers 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d are positioned symmetrically with respect to each other around the landing line XX, as shown in the figure, with the free rollers 5a, 5d and the free rollers 5b, 5c.

[0025] The drone port 100 has vertical guide surfaces 17 extending downward from the inner end surfaces of the attitude correction surfaces 16 in the width direction at both ends of the drone support surfaces 12 and the inclined guide surfaces 14 in the width direction. In other words, the drone support surface 12 is lower than the attitude correction surface 16, and the two sides of the drone support surface 12 (12a-12d and 12b-12c) are vertical surfaces (vertical guide surfaces 17) that are lower than the inner end surface of the attitude correction surface 16 in the width direction (Y direction). On the drone support surface 12, two sets of free rollers 5 (5a-5d and 5b-5c) are positioned close to each other inside the vertical guide surface 17, thereby positioning the fore-and-aft direction of the drone 1 in the direction of the landing line XX.

[0026] In FIG. 2, the drone support surface 12 has a through hole 13 inside the free roller 5 at a fixed position where the drone 1 is stationary and placed horizontally, through which the cargo 9 carried by the drone 1 can pass. This through hole 13 can be set as large as possible to allow the luggage 9 to pass through, since the forward and backward directions of the drone 1 and the luggage 9 coincide with the direction of the landing line XX. The planar shape of the through-hole 13 is preferably rectangular, but may be circular or other shapes.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2 and 3, the inclined guide surface 14 is located upstream (left side in the figure) of the landing direction X along the landing line XX, and guides the landing drone 1 to the height of the drone support surface 12.

[0028] In FIG. 3, the inclined guide surface 14 is higher on the upstream side (left side in the drawing) in the landing direction X and lower on the downstream side (right side in the drawing), with a constant gradient θ1 therebetween. That is, the inclined guide surface 14 has a gradient θ1 that contacts the free rollers 5 and guides the descending drone 1 to the height of the drone support surface 12. The gradient θ1 is an angle at which the free rollers 5 of the drone 1 coming down while flying come into contact with the gradient θ1, and the drone 1 can be moved in the landing direction X by the contact resistance or the drone 1's own weight, for example, between 3 degrees and 15 degrees. In addition, the height of the downstream end (the right end in the figure) of the inclined guide surface 14 in the landing direction X is set to be the same as the height of the drone support surface 12. With this configuration, the drone 1 can be guided down to the drone support surface 12 while flying.

[0029] In FIG. 3, the drone port 100 includes a closing door 20 that can open and close the through-hole 13 and an opening / closing drive device 22 that drives the closing door 20. In this example, the closing door 20 moves horizontally in the X direction between a fully open position where it fully opens the through-hole 13 and a fully closed position where it fully closes the through-hole 13. The opening / closing drive device 22 is, for example, a rack and pinion, a linear cylinder, or the like, and moves the closing door 20 between the fully open position and the fully closed position. The movement direction of the closing door 20 is not limited to this example, and other directions are also possible. The opening / closing drive device 22 may be any other mechanism as long as it can move the closing door 20.

[0030] In the fully closed position where the through hole 13 is fully closed, the closing door 20 forms a liquid-tight seal with the outer edge of the through hole 13, preventing rainwater from flowing into the interior through the through hole 13. In this example, the closing door 20 has an upper surface 20a, a container 20b, and a drainage device (not shown). The upper surface 20a is a plate that allows rainwater to pass through. The container 20b is a flat container that collects rainwater that has passed through the upper surface 20a. The drainage device is, for example, a drain pipe and a gutter, and drains the rainwater inside the container to the outside. With this configuration, when the closing door 20 is in the fully closed position where it fully closes the through hole 13, even if a large amount of rainwater flows from the inclined guide surface 14 and the attitude correction surface 16 onto the drone support surface 12, the rainwater can be drained to the outside through the closing door 20.

[0031] It is also preferable to provide a drainage device (e.g., a gutter and a drainage pipe) on the drone support surface 12 so that rainwater flowing on the drone support surface 12 can be constantly drained to the outside.

[0032] In FIG. 3, the drone port 100 further includes a luggage platform 24, a lifting device 26, and a transport device 28. The luggage platform 24 is a platform that can support luggage 9 by passing vertically through the through-hole 13. That is, the luggage platform 24 is set to a size and shape that has a gap with the outer edge of the through-hole 13 in a plan view. In this example, the upper surface of the luggage platform 24 is horizontal, but it may be other than flat depending on the shape of the luggage 9.

[0033] The lifting device 26 has the function of raising and lowering the luggage platform 24 between an elevated position above the through-hole 13 and a lowered position below the closing door 20. The lifting device 26 is, for example, a rack and pinion, a linear cylinder, or the like.

[0034] The conveying device 28 is, for example, a belt conveyor, a rotor conveyor, etc., and transports the cargo 9 from the inside to the outside of the drone port 100.

[0035] In this example, the luggage platform 24 has a moving device 25 that moves the luggage 9 to the outside of the luggage platform 24 (to the conveying device 28 in this example) when it is in its lowered position. The moving device 25 is, for example, a drive roller, and moves the luggage platform 24 to the conveying device 28.

[0036] With the above-described configuration, the cargo 9 of the drone 1 can be placed on the cargo platform 24 when the cargo platform 24 is in the raised position, and the cargo platform 24 can be moved to the conveying device 28 when the cargo platform 24 is in the lowered position, thereby transporting the cargo 9 from the drone 1 to the outside of the drone port 100 without damaging it.

[0037] In Figure 2, a pair of attitude correction surfaces 16 are located on both sides (top and bottom in the figure) of the landing line XX, sandwiching the drone support surface 12 and the inclined guide surface 14 between them, and correct the forward and backward direction of the drone 1 in a planar view.

[0038] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. In this figure, as described above, the drone support surface 12 has vertical guide surfaces 17 extending upward at both ends in the width direction (Y direction). Two sets of free rollers 5 (5a-5d and 5b-5c) are positioned close to each other inside this vertical guide surface 17, so that the fore-and-aft direction of the drone 1 is positioned in the direction of the landing line XX. In this figure, the pair of posture correction surfaces 16 each have a correction inclined surface 16a extending outward in the width direction from the upper end of the vertical guide surface 17.

[0039] In Figure 2, the width (Y-direction dimension) of the inclined guide surface 14 coincides with the drone support surface 12 at the downstream end in the landing direction X (the right end in the figure), and widens at a constant gradient from the downstream end on the upstream side in the landing direction X (the left side in the figure). That is, in Figure 2, the inclined guide surface 14 is a trapezoidal plane, and if its four corners are 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d, the side 14a-14b coincides with the side 12d-12c, and two sides (14a-14d and 14b-14c) are formed as continuous straight lines. Furthermore, two sides (14a-14d and 14b-14c) form vertical surfaces (vertical guide surfaces 17) that are lower than the inner end surface of the posture correction surface 16 in the width direction (Y direction).

[0040] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along CC in FIG. In this figure, as described above, the inclined guide surface 14 has vertical guide surfaces 17 extending upward at both ends in the width direction (Y direction). In this figure, the pair of posture correction surfaces 16 each have a correction inclined surface 16a extending outward in the width direction from the upper end of the vertical guide surface 17.

[0041] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the action of the correction inclined surface 16a and the vertical guide surface 17. The drone 1 is controlled so that it flies in a landing direction X with its longitudinal axis x1 aligned with the landing line XX, gradually lowers its altitude, and lands at a predetermined landing position (fixed position). However, the downwash generated by the drone 1 bounces off the takeoff and landing surface 10, making it difficult to control the attitude of the drone 1, and the longitudinal axis x1 may deviate from the landing line XX.

[0042] In this case, when the drone 1 descends to the inclined guide surface 14, as shown in this figure, one of the front or rear free rollers 5 comes into contact with the vertical guide surface 17, and the contacting free roller 5 is guided inward in the width direction of the inclined guide surface 14. As a result, the front and rear free rollers 5 are guided along the vertical guide surface 17, and on the drone support surface 12, the two sets of free rollers 5 are positioned symmetrically with respect to each other around the landing line XX, thereby aligning the front-to-rear axis x1 of the drone 1 with the landing line XX.

[0043] Similarly, even when the drone 1 has not yet descended to the inclined guide surface 14, one of the front and rear free rollers 5 comes into contact with the attitude correction surface 16, and the contacting free roller 5 is guided inward in the width direction of the attitude correction surface 16. As a result, the front and rear free rollers 5 are guided along the attitude correction surface 16, and the front-rear axis x1 of the drone 1 can be aligned with the vertical guide surface 17 by the time the drone 1 descends to the inclined guide surface 14. The subsequent actions are as described above.

[0044] As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the drone 1 has four legs 4 and four free rollers 5, so that the free rollers 5 can be aligned and positioned on both sides of the landing line XX on the drone support surface 12 on which the drone 1 rests horizontally. In addition, the free rollers 5 of the drone 1 descending while flying come into contact with the inclined guide surface 14 located upstream of the landing direction X along the landing line XX, allowing the drone 1 to descend to the height of the drone support surface 12 during landing.

[0045] Furthermore, the free rollers 5, which move in the landing direction X while flying, come into contact with a pair of attitude correction surfaces 16 located on both sides of the landing line XX, sandwiching the drone support surface 12 and the inclined guide surface 14, thereby correcting the forward / backward direction of the drone 1 in a planar view. Therefore, with the above-described simple configuration, the drone 1 can be positioned at a predetermined landing position (fixed position) with the front and rear directions aligned.

[0046] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, when the closing door 20 is in the fully closed position where it fully closes the through hole 13, even if a large amount of rainwater flows from the inclined guide surface 14 and the attitude correction surface 16 onto the drone support surface 12, the rainwater does not flow into the inside of the device, and the rainwater can be drained to the outside through the closing door 20. Furthermore, when the drone 1 is placed horizontally and stationary on the drone support surface 12, the drone 1 covers the top of the through-hole 13, so even in rainy weather the closing door 20 can be fully opened to collect or store the luggage 9 without getting it wet.

[0047] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the cargo 9 of the drone 1 is placed on the cargo platform 24 when the cargo platform 24 is in the raised position, and the cargo platform 24 is moved to the conveying device 28 when the cargo platform 24 is in the lowered position. This allows the cargo 9 to be conveyed from the drone 1 to the outside of the drone port 100 without being damaged, even if the cargo 9 has a typical rectangular parallelepiped shape.

[0048] The outer shape of the luggage 9 is not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped, but may be other shapes, for example, a sphere. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to landing the drone 1, but can also be applied to takeoff.

[0049] FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a drone port 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the drone support surface 12 may be provided in the center of the landing line XX, with inclined guide surfaces 14 provided on both sides thereof. This configuration allows drone 1 to land from the left or right of the figure along landing line XX. The other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

[0050] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] XX Landing line, X Landing direction, Y Width direction, Z Height direction, x1 longitudinal axis, y1 width axis, O center of drone body, 1 drone, 2 drone body, 3 rotor, 4 legs, 5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d free rollers, 6 luggage gripping device, 8 Rectangle, 9 Luggage, 10 Take-off and landing surface, 12 drone support surface, 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d four corners, 13 through hole, 14 inclined guide surface, 16 attitude correction surface, 20 closing door, 20a upper surface, 20b container, 22 opening / closing drive device, 24 luggage platform, 25 moving device, 26 lifting device, 28 conveying device, 100 Drone Port

Claims

1. A drone port having a takeoff and landing surface on the upper surface for drones to take off and land, The drone has a plurality of legs located on the outer sides of the four corners of the drone body in a plan view, The takeoff and landing surface is a drone support surface on which the drone rests horizontally and on which the legs are aligned on both sides of a landing line in a plan view; a pair of attitude correction surfaces located on both sides of the landing line with the drone support surface in between, and correcting the forward and backward direction of the drone in a plan view; The attitude correction surface extends along the landing line in a front-to-rear direction of the drone support surface, and the drone can be landed from the front-to-rear direction; A vertical guide surface is provided on the outer side of the drone support surface in the width direction, the vertical guide surface extending downward from the inner end surface of the attitude correction surface in the width direction, The drone has a plurality of free rollers provided at the lower end of the leg and rolling freely in contact with the outside, the pair of attitude correction surfaces extend outward in the width direction from upper ends of the vertical guide surfaces and have correction inclined surfaces that come into contact with the free rollers to align the free rollers parallel to the vertical guide surfaces; A drone port in which, when the drone has not descended to the takeoff and landing surface, one of the front or rear free rollers comes into contact with the attitude correction surface, and the contacting free roller is guided inward in the width direction of the attitude correction surface.

2. A drone port as described in claim 1, wherein when the drone descends to the takeoff and landing surface, one of the front or rear free rollers comes into contact with the vertical guide surface, and the contacting free roller is guided inward in the width direction of the takeoff and landing surface.

3. 2. The drone port of claim 1, wherein the takeoff and landing surface is located upstream in the landing direction along the landing line and has an inclined guide surface that guides the drone during landing to the height of the drone support surface.

4. The drone port according to claim 3 , wherein the inclined guide surface has a slope that contacts the free rollers and guides the descending drone to the height of the drone support surface.

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