JP2020066392A - Rotary vane type flight device and attachment for flight device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a flight device which enables heating elements such as an engine and a power generator to be cooled while reducing power consumption needed for flying of the flight device.SOLUTION: A rotary vane type flight device (10) such as a multicopter comprises: an airframe (18); heating elements (20, 22), such as an engine and a power generator, which are provided at a center of the airframe (18); and multiple rotors (30) disposed around the airframe (18). The flight device comprises guide walls (40), each of which directs a downward airflow generated by rotation of each rotor (30) toward the heating elements (20, 22), below the rotor (30).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The technology disclosed herein relates to a rotary wing flight device and an attachment for a flight device.

  The rotary wing type flight device is equipped with a battery and an engine, and uses this as a power source to rotate the rotor (also known as a rotary wing and a propeller) to obtain lift and thrust to fly. Even in the case of using a battery, it is also possible to adopt a system in which an engine is mounted, a generator is driven by the power of the engine, and the battery is charged with the generated electric power. When a flight is continued for a long time, these batteries, engines, and generators are apt to overheat due to their own heat generation, which often requires cooling. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-193209 discloses a flight device capable of cooling an engine by providing a cooling fan that is rotated by the engine and a fan cover that forms a passage from the cooling fan to the engine.

JP, 2017-193209, A

  In the technique described in the above publication, since the cooling fan is a heavy object of some weight, the weight of the entire flight device is increased, and extra power is required to obtain lift during flight. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to cool the heating element while suppressing power consumption.

  One aspect of the technology disclosed in the present specification is a rotary wing type flight device such as a multicopter, in which a fuselage, a heating element such as an engine or a generator provided in the center of the fuselage, and a periphery of the fuselage are provided. A plurality of rotors arranged, and a guide wall provided below the rotor for diverting a downward airflow generated by the rotation of the rotor toward the heating element. As a result, it is possible to cool the heating element with a lightweight structure, so that it is possible to suppress an increase in weight of the flight device and to suppress electric power required for flight.

  In some embodiments, the guide wall only covers a portion of the underside of the rotor rotation region. This makes it possible to prevent the air flow generated below the rotor from being obstructed as much as possible.

  In some embodiments, the lower end of the guide wall is higher than the upper surface of the heating element. As a result, the airflow deflected by the guide wall can be reliably applied to the heating element, and the cooling efficiency can be improved.

  In some embodiments, the guide wall is on the heating element side with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotor. As a result, the airflow from the rotor can be reliably turned to the heating element, and the cooling efficiency can be improved.

  Some embodiments include legs that support the aircraft during landing, and guide walls are attached to the legs. By doing so, the guide wall can be designed as a unit with at least the legs, and it is easy to adapt to flight devices having various basic shapes.

  In some embodiments, the guide wall is outside of the rotor's axis of rotation and the guide wall covers the outside of the rotor's area of rotation. As a result, the guide wall can also serve as a rotor guard, and an increase in weight of the flight device can be suppressed.

  Another aspect of the technology disclosed in the present specification is an attachment used for a rotary wing type flight device such as a multicopter, which is configured to prevent downward airflow generated by rotation of a rotor arranged around a body of the flight device. The machine is provided with a guide wall provided in the center of the machine body and turned toward a heat generating body such as an engine or a generator, and a fixing means for detachably attaching the guide wall to the machine body.

  According to the embodiments disclosed in the present specification, it is possible to suppress an increase in weight of the flying device and suppress electric power required for flight.

It is a perspective view of a multi-copter as one embodiment. It is a top view of the arm front-end | tip part of a multicopter of FIG. 1, a rotor, and a guide wall attachment. It is a side view of the arm front-end | tip part of the multicopter of FIG. 1, a rotor, and a guide wall attachment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of the arm tip portion and the guide wall attachment of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV of the arm tip portion and the guide wall attachment of FIG. 2. It is a perspective view of the multi-copter as another embodiment.

  Hereinafter, various embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that, in the following embodiments, portions having no substantial difference are denoted by similar reference numerals to avoid repetition of description.

  The embodiments disclosed herein relate to rotary-wing flight devices. The rotary wing type flight device obtains lift and thrust by rotating one or more rotors each having an axis in a substantially vertical direction by a power source installed therein, and thus fly. The flying device used as an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) that can fly autonomously is a multi-copter (multi-rotor helicopter) that usually has multiple rotors, and realizes various flight operations by independently controlling the rotation operation of each rotor. It is possible. FIG. 1 shows a multi-copter 10 as one embodiment. Although the multi-copter 10 including eight rotors 30 is illustrated as an example, the number of rotors is not limited to eight, and may be any number such as four or six.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-copter 10 basically has a body 18 having a structure in which a body 12 located in the center and a plurality of arms 14 extending radially from the body 12 are provided. A motor 28 is housed in the tip portion of the arm 14, and a rotor 30 is attached thereto. The multicopter 10 also includes legs 16 extending downward from the body 12 to support the airframe 18 during landing.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-copter 10 can mount the engine 20 and the battery 26 as a power source of the rotor 30. The multicopter 10 is, for example, an engine 20 as a power source, a fuel tank 24 for storing fuel of the engine 20, a generator 22 for converting power of the engine 20 into electric power, a battery 26 for storing electric power of the generator 22, a battery. A propulsion system comprising a motor 28 driven by 26 to rotate the rotor 30 and a controller 32 having a circuit board to control these operations may be mounted. These devices that make up the propulsion system can be attached at any suitable location. Since the engine 20 and the generator 22 are heavy objects, it is preferable to arrange them so that the center of gravity of the entire multi-copter 10 is at the center. For example, the engine 20 and the generator 22 can be suspended from the leg 16 via a rubber mount so that the generated vibration is less likely to be transmitted to the body 18. Since the engine 20 and the generator 22 generally tend to generate heat and become extremely hot, other devices may be arranged away from them in order to avoid thermal influence. For example, a heat shield mounting plate may be fixed to the upper side of the leg portion 16, and the fuel tank 24 and the battery 26 may be fixed to the upper surface thereof by bolting or the like. However, when the amount of heat generated by the battery 26 is large, the battery 26 can also be arranged near the engine 20 and the generator 22. Further, the control device 32 can be stored in the upper portion of the body 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a guide wall 40 is provided below the rotor 30 to divert the airflow generated by the rotation of the rotor 30 toward a heating element such as the engine 20 or the generator 22. For example, the guide wall 40 may be a planar member that is inclined from the outside of the rotation region R (see FIG. 2) of each rotor 30 toward the lower side of the rotor 30. Alternatively, as will be described later, the guide wall 40 may be a planar member that is inclined from the lower side of the rotor 30 toward the heating element. The specific shape of the guide wall 40 can be a free shape such as a curved surface, a flat surface, or a combination of a plurality of flat surfaces. As an example, the guide wall 40 may have a generally spherical shape (a shape including a part of the spherical surface) having an arcuate upper end and a fan-shaped bottom 40b. However, the shape of the guide wall 40 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 1 and can take various shapes depending on the position of the heating element.

  2 to 5, the guide wall 40 includes a radial support beam 44 that connects a side surface of the guide wall 40 to a motor housing portion of the arm 14, and a bottom portion 40b of the guide wall 40 that houses the motor housing portion of the arm 14. The arm 14 can be supported by a vertical (axial) support column 46 connected to the section. The guide wall 40 may be formed integrally with the arm 14, or may be an attachment type adapted to the arm shape of a predetermined model. As a specific example, such a guide wall attachment 50 includes, in addition to the guide wall 40, the support beam 44, and the support column 46 described above, a positioning portion 52 having a shape complementary to the outer shape of the motor housing portion of the arm 14, and this positioning. It can be configured with a fixing portion 54 that is detachable from the arm 14 near the portion. Since the guide wall attachment 50 is made of resin, the weight of the multicopter 10 can be reduced.

  If the guide wall 40 is not provided, when the rotor 30 rotates, ambient air flows in a radial direction with respect to the rotation shaft on the upper side of the rotor 30, passes through the rotor 30 downward in the axial direction, and a radial direction on the lower side of the rotor 30. Spill to. When the guide wall 40 as described above is provided, the guide wall 40 is arranged in the radial direction as indicated by the arrowed line in FIG. 5 so as to prevent a part of the air flow passing through in the axial direction from flowing out in the radial direction. It is possible to forcibly turn inward and create an airflow towards the center of the multicopter 10. Therefore, the engine 20 and the generator 22 can be cooled during the flight without providing a water cooling device having a complicated structure or a dedicated cooling fan, so that the weight increase can be suppressed and the power consumption required for the flight can be suppressed. be able to. The guide wall 40 is preferably shaped such that the lower end (bottom 40b) is higher than the upper surface of the engine 20 or the generator 22. By doing so, the airflow from the rotor 30 can be effectively guided to the heating element by the guide wall 40, and the cooling efficiency is improved.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the guide wall 40 has a shape that covers the outside of the rotation region R (see FIG. 2) of the rotor 30 with a part of the guide wall 40 to impart a function as a protective material. Is also possible. That is, when the control object collides with another object or crashes to the ground, the guide wall 40 protects the body 18 and the rotor 30 of the multicopter 10 itself, and the rotor 30 that rotates the opponent object at a high speed. It is also possible to protect from. The guide wall 40 may be provided with an outer peripheral frame 42 for reinforcement at the upper end facing the outside of the rotation region R (see FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the wall portion of the guide wall 40 is preferably shaped so as to partially cover the lower side of the rotation region R of the rotor 30. That is, the cylindrical region C (see FIG. 3) extending downward from the rotation region R of the rotor 30 is partially blocked. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the air flow generated from the rotor 30 downward as much as possible. However, the wall portion of the guide wall 40 may be shaped so as to entirely cover the lower side of the rotation region R of the rotor 30.

  The guide wall 40 does not have to be provided for all the rotors 30. For example, it is possible to provide only four rotors 30 in every other eight rotors 30. Further, the guide wall 40 may have a shape in which adjacent ones are integrated, or in some cases, all of them may be integrated. For example, by using a curved structure having a diameter substantially the same as that of the multicopter and having an opening at the center of the bottom, and arranging this so that the engine 20 and the generator 22 enter into the opening, It is also possible to send the air flow of to the heating element together by this one structure.

  FIG. 6 shows a multicopter 110 as another embodiment different from that of FIG. The multicopter 10 includes guide walls 140 attached to the two legs 16, respectively. In this case as well, the guide wall 140 can be designed as an attachment. For example, the guide wall attachment 60 includes the guide wall 140 and the support side walls 62 on both sides, and the support side walls 62 can be fixed to the legs 16 by the brackets 64, respectively. The guide wall 140 extends from the lower side of some of the rotors 30 toward the side surface of the heating element. In particular, the guide wall 140 is preferably on the heating element side with respect to the rotation axis of the rotor 30. By doing so, the air flow from the rotor 30 can be reliably diverted to the heating element, and the cooling efficiency can be improved. Instead of fixing the guide wall 140 to the leg portion 16, the guide wall 140 may be supported by the arm via a pillar (for example, the same as the pillar 46 in FIG. 3).

  Although specific embodiments have been described above, the present specification is not intended to limit the embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make various substitutions, improvements, and changes without departing from the technical purpose. It is possible to apply.

10, 110 Multicopter 12 Body 14 Arm 16 Leg 18 Body 20 Engine 22 Generator 24 Fuel tank 26 Battery 28 Motor 30 Motor 32 Rotor 32 Control device 40, 140 Guide wall 40b Bottom 42 Perimeter frame 44 Support beam 46 Struts 50, 60 Induction Wall attachment 52 Positioning part 54 Fixing part 62 Supporting side wall 64 Bracket R Rotating area C Cylindrical area

Claims (7)

A rotary wing type flight device such as a multicopter,
An airframe, a heating element such as an engine or a generator provided in the center of the airframe, and a plurality of rotors arranged around the airframe,
A flight device equipped with a guide wall below the rotor that diverts the downward airflow generated by the rotation of the rotor toward the heating element.   2. The flight device according to claim 1, wherein the guide wall covers only a part of the lower side of the rotation region of the rotor.   The flight device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lower end portion of the guide wall is located higher than the upper surface of the heating element.   The flight device according to claim 1, wherein the guide wall is on the heating element side with respect to the rotation axis of the rotor.   The flight device according to claim 4, further comprising a leg portion that supports the airframe when landing, and a guide wall is attached to the leg portion.   The flight device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the guide wall is outside the rotation axis of the rotor, and the guide wall covers the outside of the rotation region of the rotor. An attachment used for a rotary wing type flight device such as a multicopter,
A guide wall that redirects downward airflow generated by rotation of a rotor arranged around the body of the flight device toward a heating element such as an engine or a generator provided in the center of the body, and the guide wall. An attachment provided with a fixing means that can be attached to and detached from.

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