ES2571061B1 - Propeller protection system for unmanned aerial vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention offers a protection system for the propellers of unmanned aerial vehicles consisting of a main part (protection) and two plates that act as fastening to the arms of the vehicle. To take into account different arrangements, two different assemblies are included that take into account the presence or not of a lighting system, so the plates to be used in each case will be different. Likewise, the protection insert has a geometry designed to facilitate integration with the vehicle.

Description

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DESCRIPTION

Propeller protection system for unmanned aerial vehicles.

The present invention relates to the conception of a protective piece in polyethylene for the propellers of an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Background of the invention

In many cases, multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles are used for aerial imaging and infrastructure inspection using thermographic and RGB cameras. These vehicles have, among other elements, a GPS positioning system, a barometric sensor and a flight controller that allow you to maintain a preset position and height without excessively increasing the pilot's workload.

However, many of the work to be done involves flying in an area with attenuation or shielding of the GPS signal (for example under the bridge deck). In this case, manual control by the pilot is necessary, correcting possible external disturbances due to wind gusts, etc. It is concluded that the need to approach the object to be analyzed for the taking of images, together with the surrounding conditions, can jeopardize the structural integrity of the apparatus implying the failure of the mission, the propellers being the most exposed parts to suffer damage. severe by impacts.

It is necessary then the conception, manufacture and integration of protections capable of cushioning the successive contacts between the vehicle and the structure to be analyzed.

Description of the invention

A protection has been created that is easily installable and removable since there are applications where such protections are not necessary. The set consists of 3 pieces:

- Protection: main part that performs the protective function.

- Plates # 1 and # 2: elements that serve to join the arms of the vehicle to the protection by means of a bolted joint.

The resulting set is intended to take advantage of the geometry of the arms as restrictions on its own movement, thus reducing the number of pieces and therefore the weight.

Brief description of the drawings

This section explains the different pieces that make up the protection.

Figure 1 shows the geometry of the protection itself. This piece has a maximum thickness of 10 mm and forms a protective fan of 70 °. The part

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designated as (1) corresponds to the area of the insert with the arm that joins the engine to the drone body.

Figures 2 and 3 show a detail of the upper and lower part of this region respectively. Material has been removed in (2) to relieve weight in an area not structurally requested. In (3) the union is made screwed to the two remaining plates by means of two screws of 3 mm in diameter. The surfaces (4) and (6) constitute physical stops to keep the protection immobilized. Each motor is fastened to each arm by two screws whose heads protrude inside the arm 2 mm. To accommodate these heads, the region (5) has been created. The arms that support each motor have holes in the bottom that are used to fix the protection to the arm. The two projections marked as (7) fulfill this function.

Finally, figures 4 and 5 show plates # 1 and # 2 respectively. Both catch the protection and fix it vertically by means of two screws.

Description of a preferred realization

The existing drone has 8 arms formed by hollow aluminum tubes of 10x10 mm of external section and a thickness of 1 mm. They are arranged in a cruciform shape 4 to 4, with lengths of 381 mm and 276 mm from the body of the drone to the end. These arms are responsible for housing each of the engines. Figure 6 shows the initial configuration of the vehicle.

At the bottom of the arms marked as (8) are luminous devices to facilitate the orientation of the apparatus to the pilot in low visibility conditions. This makes the mounting of the protections differ slightly from the remaining arms:

Figure 7 shows a section of the tube using LEDs. Only # 1 plates will be used. Figure 8 shows the case of the remaining 5 arms, combining plates # 1 and # 2. Therefore, the number of plates required is 11 type # 1 and 5 type # 2.

For assembly, initially the region marked as (1) of the protection is introduced at the end of an arm, taking into account the correct position of the upper and lower part. The protrusions (7) must fit into the respective holes in the lower part of the aluminum arm. The lower plane of the protection should be aligned with the lower face of the arm. Finally, two # 1 plates are screwed to the upper and lower part (figure 7) or the assembly of figure 8 is carried out according to whether we are on an arm with or without lighting.

Figure 9 shows the upper and lower part of an installed protection.

Claims (1)

ES 2 571 061 A1 1. The propeller protection system for unmanned aerial vehicles, consisting of a fan-shaped protection and two plates that allow the assembly of the assembly 5 to the arms of the vehicle by means of screws. The protection uses protuberances (7) as an aid to the support.