JP5362476B2 - cart - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cart structure for carrying an unmanned air vehicle such as an unmanned helicopter.

The unmanned helicopter is used for spraying chemicals such as agricultural chemicals (for example, Patent Document 1) or for aerial photography. This unmanned helicopter can be remotely operated according to the flight state while a user looks at the aircraft from the ground with a radio pilot.

  By the way, as an landing gear, various things have been proposed as a transporting device for landing an unmanned helicopter equipped with a sled-like runner (also called a skid) instead of a wheel, after landing on the ground. .

  For example, as a prior art of Patent Document 1, a ground towing device includes a cart provided with a pair of left and right wheels, a runner cradle provided on the upper surfaces of the left and right sides, and a tow bar extending from the left and right central portions of the cart. Has been disclosed. In this apparatus, the runner in the helicopter is placed and fixed on the runner cradle, the tip of the tow bar is connected to the towing vehicle, and the helicopter body is pushed forward or backward to move.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-20795 (see FIGS. 5 to 8)

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, there is no one that supports the position of the rear warp of the tail portion of the helicopter body, so that it was unstable with respect to pitching and rolling in the longitudinal direction of the body. In addition, since there is no support portion at the position of the rear sled, there is a problem that extra personnel are required to support this portion and stabilize the direction.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and is capable of stably transporting (moving) an unmanned air vehicle such as an unmanned helicopter on the ground and capable of being transported by a small number of people. An object is to provide a device (cart).

The cart of the invention of claim 1 is a cart for carrying an unmanned aerial vehicle provided with runners on the left and right of the lower part of the fuselage, and a support vehicle body provided with at least a pair of left and right wheels, and extended from the support vehicle body A handle frame, a grip portion provided at a tip of the handle frame, and a runner receiving portion provided on the support vehicle body for supporting the left and right runners, and the rear part of the unmanned air vehicle body The handle frame is provided with a locking means for supporting and fixing a rear rod, and both the runner receiving portions are provided on the left and right sides of the pair of left and right wheels .

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the left and right runners in the unmanned aerial vehicle are supported by the pair of left and right runner receiving portions provided on the support vehicle body, and the rear frame of the unmanned aerial vehicle is secured to the locking means of the handle frame extending from the support vehicle body. Since it is supported and fixed, the unmanned air vehicle can be stably supported at three points. In addition, since the fixing part is only one part of the locking means, the fixing work can be reduced, and the unmanned air vehicle can be carried easily.

In addition, since both the runner receiving portions are provided on the left and right outer sides of the pair of left and right wheels, the size of the entire cart in the left-right direction can be made compact.

1 is a perspective view of a cart according to the present invention. It is a side view of the cart of the state which mounted the unmanned helicopter. FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows the position and cross section of a runner receiving part. It is a perspective view of the locking means for supporting and fixing a rear collar. It is an enlarged front view of a locking means.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the unmanned helicopter 1 includes an airframe 2 including a main body 3 and a tail body 4. A main rotor 5 is provided at the upper part of the main body 3, and a tail rotor 6 is provided at the rear part of the tail body 4. A runner 9 is provided on the left and right lower portions of the main body 3 at the substantially central portion of the body 2 via a pair of front and rear support legs 8. A rear collar 12 extending downward and rearward is provided at the rear portion of the tail body 4.

  The runner 9 is made of a pipe in which a lower piece extending in the front-rear direction of the machine body 4 and a front-rear part of an upper piece parallel to the lower piece are connected by a semicircular portion. The runner 9 and the support leg 8 may be made of an aluminum material or glass fiber FRP which is a non-conductive material.

  A muffler 11 provided in an exhaust pipe 10 connected to an engine (not shown) in the fuselage is disposed at the lower part of the fuselage above the front end of the runner 9.

  A rear saddle 12 and an autonomous control box (not shown) are provided on the rear upper side of the main body 3 and incorporate a GPS control device, a data communication device and an image transmitter that communicate with the ground, and a control program necessary for autonomous control. The control board etc. are accommodated. Autonomous control is based on flight data such as the position and speed of the aircraft, aircraft data such as the attitude and orientation of the aircraft, and operating state data such as engine speed and throttle opening, etc. Is selected automatically or in response to a command from the ground station, and optimal steering control is performed according to the driving state.

  The unmanned helicopter 1 can fly by such autonomous control and can be manually operated by a radio pilot based on the flight state and various operation state data transmitted from the aircraft while visually confirming the flight state. It is.

  1 to 7 show a cart 20 according to the present invention for carrying the unmanned helicopter 1 on the ground.

  The cart 20 includes a support vehicle body 21 provided with at least a pair of left and right wheels 22, a handle frame 23 extending from the support vehicle body 21, a grip portion 24 provided at the tip of the handle frame 23, and a support A runner receiving portion 25 provided on the vehicle body 21 for supporting the left and right runners 9 is provided. The handle frame 23 is provided with locking means 26 for supporting and fixing the rear collar 12 of the rear part of the unmanned helicopter 1.

  The support vehicle body 21 is basically a single axle 21a, and tire wheels 22 are rotatably supported on the left and right sides of the axle 21a. A pipe-shaped handle frame 23 extending in parallel with the progress of the cart from the left and right center of the axle 21 a and the axle 21 a are connected by a pair of reinforcing frames 27.

  The runner receiving portion 25 is disposed outside the pair of left and right wheels 22. Therefore, the left-right width dimension of the entire cart 20 can be made compact.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a downward bracket 28 is fixed to the end of the axle 21 a by welding or the like, and the runner receiving portion 25 is welded or the like on a support boss 29 that protrudes outward from the lower portion of the bracket 28. It is fixed. Each runner receiving portion 25 has an upward arc-shaped cross section in a direction perpendicular to the axle 21a (a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the runner 9 extends). Both runner receiving portions 25 are provided slightly below the pair of left and right axles 21a. In the embodiment, the diameter of the wheel 22 is about 200 mm, and the bottom surface (mounting surface of the runner 9) at the center in the front-rear direction of the runner receiving portion 25 is disposed about 20 mm below the axis of the wheel 22.

  Further, in a side view of the cart (see FIG. 2), the angle θ formed by the axis of the handle frame 23 and the axis of the runner receiving portion 25 is set to about 10 degrees, and the runner support is defined with respect to the direction in which the handle frame 23 extends. The part 25 is disposed below.

  The grip portion 24 provided at the rear end portion of the handle frame 23 is formed by a support member 30 such as an upside down L-shaped round pipe material. A grip made of a rubber material or the like at the upper rear end of the support member 30 is the grip portion 24. The stone protrusion 31 at the lower end of the support member 30 is constituted by a shock absorber made of a rubber material or the like.

  The lock means 26 is disposed in the vicinity of the support member 30 having the grip portion 24. In the embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a support fitting 32 is fixed to the upper surface of the rear end portion of the handle frame 23. The lower end 12 a of the rear collar 12 is configured to be placed on a pad 33 made of rubber or the like attached to the support fitting 32. A presser arm 35 is attached to a bracket 34 fixed to the outer surface of the support fitting 32 so as to be rotatable around a pivot shaft 36. An adjustment bolt 37 having a presser rubber body 36 at the lower end is attached to the front end side of the bifurcated presser arm 35 via upper and lower nuts 38 a and 38 b and a washer 39. In this configuration, the lower end portion 12 a of the rear collar 12 can be sandwiched between the presser rubber body 36 and the pad 33 of the support fitting 32.

  A tip end portion of an L-shaped operation lever 40 is rotatably mounted on the presser arm 35 above the pivot shaft 36 via a second pivot shaft 41. A link 42 having a rotation fulcrum 43 is connected to the bracket 34 by a connecting pin 44 and a midway portion of the operation lever 40.

  With the above configuration, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 7, when the operation lever 40 is rotated clockwise, the presser arm 35 is lowered counterclockwise through the rotation of the link 42. When the connecting pin 44 of the link 42 crosses the line connecting the rotation fulcrum 43 and the second pivot shaft 41 counterclockwise (beyond the dead point), the lower end portion of the rear collar 12 is pressed by the presser rubber body 36. 12a is firmly locked on the pad 33 in a pressed state.

  On the contrary, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 7, when the operation lever 40 is pulled up counterclockwise, the link 42 rotates around the rotation fulcrum 43 in the right direction in FIG. It can be lifted and unlocked.

  In order to mount the unmanned helicopter 1 on the cart 20 of the present invention, first, the support vehicle body 21 of the cart 1 is brought close to the rear portion of the runner 9. Next, when arranged so that the central axis extending in the front-rear direction of the body 2 and the axis of the handle frame 23 substantially coincide with each other in plan view, the axis extending in the front-rear direction of the runner 9 on both the left and right sides and the axis of the runner receiving portion 25 are Almost matches. In this state, the operator lifts the tail body 4 and creates a gap having an appropriate height between the rear ends of the runners 9 and the ground 45. Next, the cart 1 is advanced so that the runner receiving portion 25 is inserted into the gap. When the lower end 12a of the rear collar 12 in the tail body 4 is aligned with the position of the pad 33 on the support fitting 32 of the lock means 26, the lock means 26 fixes the position of the lower end 12a by the operation as described above. In this state, the midway part in the front-rear direction of the left and right runners 9 is firmly and stably supported by the left and right runner receiving parts 25.

  In this way, the unmanned helicopter 1 has three locations, that is, the pair of left and right runners 9 and the lower end portion 12a of the rear rod 12 at the location of the pair of left and right runner receiving portions 25 and the rear locking means 26 in the cart 20. As a result of the three-point support, the support state is stabilized. In addition, the fixing portion is only one portion of the locking means 26, and the fixing operation is simple.

  Since the cross-sectional shape of the runner receiving portion 25 in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the runner 9 extends is formed in a substantially arc shape with the upward opening, the runner 9 placed and supported by both the runner receiving portions 25 extends It is possible to effectively suppress (prevent) the movement of the unmanned helicopter 1 to the left and right sides orthogonal to the horizontal direction, and the unmanned helicopter 1 to be shifted to the left and right on the cart 20 and tilting to the left and right. The effect that it can be transported by.

  Since the arrangement height of the runner receiving portion 25 is lower than the axis of the wheel 22, the height for lifting the tail body 4 side of the unmanned helicopter 1 for placing the runner 9 on the runner receiving portion 25 can be reduced, and the burden on the operator is reduced. it can.

  Moreover, since the handle frame 23 is arranged so that the axis extending rearward with respect to the axis extending in the front-rear direction of the runner receiving portion 25 is inclined at an appropriate angle θ toward the upper side, the runner 9 is substantially attached to the runner receiving portion 25. Since the fuselage 2 of the unmanned helicopter 1 is substantially horizontal when mounted in a horizontal state, the majority of the load in the front-rear direction of the unmanned helicopter 1 is supported by the left and right runner receiving portions 25. As a result, the unmanned helicopter A large load does not act on the position of the locking means 26 that supports the rear saddle 12, and the gripping portion 24 at the rear end of the handle frame 23 allows the operator to push the cart 20 lightly in a standing position. Play.

  In addition, when the vehicle is transported to a transport vehicle such as a truck, the cart can be easily pushed up on the sloped ladder rail.

  Strength parts such as the support vehicle body 21, the handle frame 23, and the runner receiving portion 25 of the cart 1 of the present invention may be a metal material such as aluminum or a glass fiber reinforced plastic material.

  It goes without saying that the cart of the present invention can be applied not only to the unmanned helicopter 1 but also to the transportation of small unmanned air vehicles.

1: Unmanned helicopter 2: Airframe 3: Main body 4: Tail body 5: Main rotor 6: Tail rotor 8: Support leg 9: Runner 12: Rear rod 20: Cart 21: Support vehicle body 22: Wheel 23: Handle frame 24: Grasping part 25: Runner receiving part 26: Locking means

Claims (1)

A cart that carries unmanned aerial vehicles with runners on the left and right sides of the aircraft,
A support vehicle body having at least a pair of left and right wheels;
A handle frame extending from the support body;
A gripping portion provided at the tip of the handle frame;
A runner receiving portion provided on the support vehicle body for supporting the left and right runners;
The handle frame is provided with locking means for supporting and fixing a rear wing of the rear part of the airframe of the unmanned air vehicle ,
The both runner receiving portions are provided on the left and right sides outside the pair of left and right wheels,
cart.

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