Flight Vehicle Landing Leg Storage With Facing Protrusions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing flight vehicles require movable devices and additional mechanisms to maintain the storage state of landing legs, which complicates their configuration.
Innovation Solution
A flight vehicle design featuring a first protrusion on the main body and a second protrusion on the landing leg that face each other, allowing for a simple configuration by rotating about a predetermined axis, with a drive portion, lever, and bias member to maintain the storage state without requiring electric power.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a movable device or additional mechanism is used to maintain the storage state of the landing leg, then the storage state can be maintained, but the configuration becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The landing leg structure utilizes its own geometric configuration with protrusions that automatically maintain the storage state through mutual engagement, eliminating the need for external maintenance mechanisms. The protrusions on the landing leg and flight vehicle main body face each other in the storage state, creating a self-maintaining configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent removes the unnecessary movable devices and additional mechanisms from the system, retaining only the essential protrusion structures that provide storage state maintenance through their geometric arrangement alone.
2Device complexity
If protrusions are positioned to face each other in the storage state, then the configuration is simplified, but the risk of flipping increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusions are designed with asymmetric positioning and orientations relative to the frame, creating an unstable configuration that prevents flipping. The first protrusion on the flight vehicle main body and the second protrusion on the landing leg are positioned at specific asymmetric locations that geometrically constrain the landing leg from flipping outward.
3Ease of operation
If electric power is supplied to the drive portion, then the landing leg can be deployed, but energy is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
Electric power is supplied to the drive portion only periodically during deployment operations rather than continuously. The drive portion rotates the first protrusion to deploy or stow the landing leg, then power is cut off, allowing the bias member to maintain the position without energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces continuous electric power-driven mechanical systems with a hybrid system that uses a bias member (spring or gravity) to maintain the landing leg position after initial deployment, substituting active mechanical control with passive mechanical retention.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design allows for maintaining the landing leg in a storage state with a simple configuration, reducing size, preventing flipping, ensuring space, saving energy, and simplifying components, while providing redundancy in drive state detection.
Implementation Method 1
a bias member that biases the lever such that facing between the first protrusion and the second protrusion is maintained in the storage state
Implementation Method 2
a drive portion that drives the first protrusion directly above the frame
Data Source
AI summary
A flight vehicle of an embodiment includes: a flight vehicle main body; and a landing leg configured to be capable of transitioning between a storage state in which the landing leg is stored to a position along the flight vehicle main body and an expansion state in which the landing leg is expanded to a position away from the flight vehicle main body. The flight vehicle main body includes a first protrusion that protrudes from part of the flight vehicle main body. The landing leg includes a second protrusion that protrudes from part of the landing leg. The first protrusion and the second protrusion face each other in a direction away from the flight vehicle main body in the storage state.