Bayonet Airframe Fastening for Toolless Modular UAV Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aerial vehicle designs face challenges with rapid changes in mission and payload requirements, lengthy development timelines, and technological advancements outpacing design capabilities, leading to high costs and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
An integral fastening system for additively manufactured airframe components using a bayonet mount system that allows toolless assembly, enabling rapid reconfiguration of airframe sections through a bayonet mount system with passageways and protrusions, and a locking assembly with deflection tabs and slots.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional manufacturing and assembly methods are used for aerial vehicle airframe components, then structural integrity and precision are maintained, but development time and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The airframe is divided into multiple modular sections that can be manufactured separately using additive manufacturing and then assembled together using the bayonet mount system. This segmentation enables parallel manufacturing of components, reducing overall development time while maintaining precision through standardized interface geometries.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs additive manufacturing technology to change the manufacturing parameters and processes, allowing for rapid prototyping and iteration of airframe components. This parameter change enables faster development cycles compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing methods.
2Strength
If traditional fastening systems are used for airframe assembly, then structural strength is ensured, but assembly complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening function is merged directly into the airframe components themselves through integrally formed bayonet mount features. The protrusions and passageways are built as part of the additive manufacturing process, eliminating the need for separate fasteners, bolts, or mechanical joining devices, thus reducing assembly complexity while maintaining connection strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The bayonet mount system enables self-aligning and self-securing connections between airframe sections. The geometric features automatically guide proper alignment during assembly, and the deflection tabs provide self-locking capability without requiring external tools or complex fastening mechanisms.
3Reliability
If conventional design and manufacturing processes are used, then design constraints are met, but adaptability to changing mission requirements decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The modular airframe design with standardized bayonet mount interfaces creates a dynamic system that can be reconfigured for different mission requirements. Sections can be added, removed, or swapped to adapt the vehicle's capacity, range, or payload configuration without redesigning the entire airframe, thus maintaining reliability through proven interfaces while enabling adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The bayonet mount system creates universal interfaces that can accommodate various airframe section configurations and payload integrations. The standardized protrusion-passageway geometry serves multiple functions including structural connection, alignment reference, and mechanical locking, enabling the same basic platform to fulfill diverse mission requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are specialized airframe structures for mission-adaptable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are fabricated by rapid, low-cost additive manufacturing techniques. In some embodiments, an integral fastening system for a mission-adaptable aerial vehicle includes a first airframe section, a second airframe section, and a bayonet mount system that comprises one or more passageways produced on a first end region of the first airframe section to include a first channel and second channel, and one or more protrusions produced on a second end region of the second airframe section, such that, when the first and second airframe sections being assembled, the one or more protrusions are first aligned with an entry region of the first channel to be translated and then aligned with the second channel of the one or more passageways to be rotated to securely connect the first and second airframe sections together.