CN112490616B - A Novel Fixed Surface Deployable Antenna Structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a novel fixed surface deployable antenna structure, which is characterized by comprising: a central disk base having N sides distributed in a regular polygon; the folding units are circumferentially distributed on the periphery of the central disk base, and the number of the folding units is N; hinged on each side of the central disk base; the panel comprises a first panel, a second panel and a third panel, wherein the first panel and the second panel are intersected to form a first crest line, and the second panel and the third panel are intersected to form a valley line; the first panel of one folding unit of two adjacent folding units is intersected with the third panel of the other folding unit to form a second peak line; and the extension lines of the first crest line, the valley line and the second crest line all penetrate through the corners of the regular polygon of the central disk base. The fixed surface deployable antenna structure has the advantages of simple integral device, light weight, high antenna storage rate, particularly the storage rate in the height direction, simple control and operation of the deployment process, capability of maintaining the deployed configuration of the antenna and the like.

Description

A Novel Deployable Antenna Structure with Solid Surface

technical field

The invention relates to the field of deployable antenna structure design, in particular to a novel solid surface deployable antenna structure driven by torsion springs.

Background technique

With the development of science and technology, the rapid growth of demand in communication, navigation, remote sensing and other fields has become more and more demanding for satellite information dissemination, and satellite information dissemination not only requires antennas to use high-frequency electromagnetic wave transmission, but also requires high-bandwidth, Excellent performance such as high gain and high signal-to-noise ratio requires the antenna to have a larger aperture and higher surface accuracy. However, due to the limitation of the volume of the fairing of the space vehicle, the antenna with a larger diameter must be folded to be stored in the satellite cover when the satellite is launched. The expandable antenna can be folded when the satellite is launched, and when the satellite is in orbit to the designated position, the antenna will automatically unfold by its own power source, which can effectively solve the space limitation problem of space vehicles.

The reflector antenna has the characteristics of high single antenna gain and wide frequency band, and is widely used in satellite communication, microwave communication relay, mobile communication base station, vehicle station and other occasions. Reflector antennas can be divided into air-filled reflector antennas, mesh reflector antennas and solid reflector antennas according to the composition of the working surface. The expansion aperture and storage rate of the solid reflector antenna are slightly worse, but the surface density, profile accuracy and operating frequency are higher than the other two reflector antennas, and are more suitable for satellite antennas with high operating frequency requirements and high profile accuracy requirements. . The earliest deployable solid reflector antenna is the Sunflower antenna developed by TRW in the United States, but the overall storage rate, especially the storage rate in the height direction, is not high. In order to improve the storage rate in the height direction, Japan's Toshiba/NASDA adopted a more complex double-layer folding design on the basis of the Sunflower antenna, which made the entire antenna system device very complicated. The current deployable antennas with solid reflectors generally have a higher storage rate in the diameter direction, but generally have a lower storage rate in the height direction.

Contents of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is: in order to solve the problems of the existing fixed-surface deployable antenna structure, such as complex devices, low storage rate in the height direction, and difficulty in deployment control, a solid-surface deployable antenna structure is proposed, which has a simple device , The device is light in weight, the antenna storage rate is high, especially in the height direction, the deployment process control operation is simple, and the antenna deployment configuration can be maintained.

To achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted in the present invention is:

A solid surface deployable antenna structure, characterized in that it comprises:

The base of the central disk has N sides distributed in a regular polygon;

The folding unit is distributed in the circumferential direction of the center plate base in a circumferential direction, and the number is N; it is hinged on each side of the center plate base; it is composed of a first panel, a second panel and a third panel, and the The intersection of the first panel and the second panel is the first peak line, and the intersection of the second panel and the third panel is the valley line; the intersection of the first panel of one folding unit and the third panel of the other folding unit in two adjacent folding units is formed The second peak line; the extension lines of the first peak line, the valley line and the second peak line all pass through the corners of the regular polygon of the base of the central disk.

A polygonal convex angle is used for transition connection at the confluence of adjacent sides of the central disk base, and the polygonal convex angle has at least three vertices, and the first peak line, the valley line and the second peak line are respectively located at one of the vertices superior.

The polygonal convex corner also has a vertex, which is located on the extension line of the first peak line.

The first panel, the second panel and the third panel in the folding unit are respectively hinged by driving hinges; the folding units are hinged by driving hinges;

The driving hinge includes a rotating shaft, a torsion spring and two connecting parts, and the two connecting parts are connected to the rotating shaft; the torsion spring is arranged on the rotating shaft, and the two ends of the torsion spring are respectively fixed on both sides On the connecting part, when the connecting part rotates, it drives the end of the torsion spring to rotate and store energy, and when the antenna is unfolded, the restoring force of the torsion spring can drive the two connecting parts to rotate around the rotation axis.

The driving hinge is also provided with a locking device for maintaining the configuration state of the antenna after deployment.

The locking device includes a locking hole and a retractable pin shaft, wherein the locking hole and the retractable pin shaft are respectively located on different connecting parts, and when the antenna is unfolded, the pin shaft extends into the locking hole .

The locking holes are provided near the rotation shafts of the connecting parts on both sides, and a spring is placed in the locking hole on one side, and the outer side of the spring is connected to the pin shaft; when the antenna is not fully expanded, the spring and the pin shaft are locked. Compressed in the locking hole on one side, when the antenna is fully unfolded, the locking holes on the connecting parts on both sides are aligned, at this time, one end of the pin shaft connecting the spring in the locking hole on one side enters the connecting part on the other side Lock and fix the driving hinge in the locking hole, and keep the antenna in a fully unfolded state.

The fixed-surface expandable antenna structure of the present invention includes components such as an antenna panel, a center plate base, a driving hinge, and a locking device. The antenna panel part includes antenna panels of three shapes and styles, and there are six antenna panels in each style; the center plate base is located at the center of the deployable antenna and fixed on the satellite platform; the driving hinge includes torsion springs, rotating shafts and In the connection part, the rotating shaft passes through the torsion spring, and the two ends of the torsion spring are respectively fixed on the connection part on both sides; the connection between the adjacent antenna panel and the center plate base, and between the adjacent antenna panels are carried out by two belt-driven hinges. Connection; the connecting parts on both sides of the driving hinge are respectively installed on the surface of the adjacent antenna panel or the base of the center plate and fixed; the base of the center plate is protruded at the junction with multiple panels; after the antenna is unfolded, two adjacent antenna panels The locking device is locked between them, and the locking device includes locking holes, springs and pin shafts near the rotating shaft on the connecting parts on both sides. Before the fixed-surface expandable antenna is launched, the antenna panel is folded according to the arrangement of the creases in the crease diagram, and the antenna is stored. At this time, the hinge is driven to rotate, which drives the torsion spring in it to undergo elastic deformation, and the torsion spring produces recovery. The force of the original shape. After the satellite is launched into the predetermined working orbit, the constraints on the folded state of the fixed-surface extendable antenna are released, and the antenna is driven to unfold by driving the restoring force of the torsion spring in the hinge. After the antenna is unfolded, the torsion spring still maintains a certain pretightening force, and the locking device is locked, so that the fixed surface deployable antenna can still maintain the unfolded configuration state after unfolding. After the solid surface deployable antenna is deployed, the solid reflector antenna can start to work.

The antenna panel is made of solid reflector antenna material, and the shape of the antenna panel is processed according to the crease pattern, wherein some relevant parameters of the shape of the antenna panel can be optimized and adjusted according to the antenna parameters.

The folding and storage of the antenna panels is carried out according to the crease arrangement in the crease diagram. The dotted line in the crease diagram represents the valley line, and the two adjacent antenna panels are folded inward, that is, the outer normal direction vectors of the two adjacent antenna panels are sandwiched between The angle decreases, the solid line represents the peak line, and the two adjacent antenna panels are folded outward, that is, the angle between the outer normal direction vectors of the two adjacent antenna panels increases.

The fixing between the driving hinge, the antenna panel and the base of the center plate is fixed by welding or bolting.

The self-deployment of the folded antenna is achieved by releasing the constraints on the folded antenna, and the antenna relies on the restoring force of the torsion spring in the driving hinge to provide driving power to realize self-deployment.

The locking device is that locking holes are respectively opened near the rotating shafts on the connecting parts on both sides of the hinge, and a pin shaft with a spring protrudes from one side. During the folding process, the pin shaft is pressed into the locking hole on one side. When the antenna is unfolded After the completion, the pin shaft with the spring protrudes into the locking hole on the other side, and the locking of the locking device can keep the stability of the unfolded configuration of the antenna.

After the deployable antenna is deployed, maintaining the unfolded configuration is achieved by driving the pre-tightening force of the torsion spring in the hinge and locking the locking device, and the pre-tightening force of the torsion spring is pre-applied when the torsion spring is installed.

The torsion spring is made of an elastic material that meets a certain rigidity requirement, and is deformed under the action of an external force. After the external force is removed, the torsion spring material can automatically return to the shape before the force is applied.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

(1) The fixed-surface deployable antenna structure of the present invention provides an effective solution for the realization of the deployable antenna. The panel block of the antenna has undergone an optimized design of the structural configuration to avoid the occurrence of Interference, and the antenna has a high storage rate in the height direction, making full use of the carrying space.

(2) The unfolding drive of the deployable antenna in the present invention is realized by the restoring force of the torsion spring in the driving hinge, without the need for motor drive control, the deploying drive is simple and the reliability is high.

(3) After the deployment of the deployable antenna in the present invention is completed, the configuration shape after the deployment of the antenna is maintained through the pre-tightening force of the torsion spring and the locking of the locking device.

(4) The antenna panels in the deployable antenna of the present invention are connected by a driving hinge between adjacent two panels, and relatively rotate around adjacent panels during the movement without complicated motion pair control, so the overall antenna system device is relatively Simple, and the device is light in weight.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the fixed-surface deployable antenna of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of six rotationally symmetrical creases of the fixed surface deployable antenna of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the five-part rotationally symmetrical creases of the solid-surface deployable antenna of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the four-part rotationally symmetrical creases of the fixed-surface deployable antenna of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the fixed surface deployable antenna of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the fixed surface deployable antenna of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a side view of the deployable solid surface antenna of the present invention;

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of the center disk base of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of panel type I of the present invention;

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of panel type II of the present invention;

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of panel type III of the present invention;

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of the folded state of the fixed surface deployable antenna of the present invention;

Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of the driving hinge of the present invention;

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of the torsion spring in the torsion hinge of the present invention;

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of the rotating shaft in the driving hinge of the present invention;

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of the relative positions of the rotating shaft and the torsion spring in the driving hinge of the present invention;

Fig. 17 is a perspective view of the positional relationship between the rotating shaft, the torsion spring and the connecting parts in the driving hinge of the present invention;

Fig. 18 is a schematic diagram of the positional relationship between the rotating shaft, the torsion spring and the connecting parts in the driving hinge of the present invention;

Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram of the connecting parts on one side of the locking device of the present invention;

Fig. 20 is a schematic diagram of the connecting parts on the other side of the locking device of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Below in conjunction with accompanying drawing and implementation the present invention is described in further detail:

This design invention is based on the traditional solid reflector antenna, and uses the related theory of origami to propose a new type of solid surface expandable antenna structure, so as to realize the function of folding and storing the antenna during transportation, and automatically unfolding in space Requirements, the device is light in weight and has a high storage rate in the height direction. At the same time, the unfolded configuration of the antenna can be maintained, and the advantages of the solid reflector antenna can be fully utilized to ensure the high operating frequency and high surface accuracy of the antenna.

The deployable antenna as a whole may be composed of multiple rotationally symmetrical parts. Here, the structural form of the deployable antenna of the present invention will be described by taking six rotationally symmetrical parts as an example.

As shown in Fig. 1, the novel solid-surface deployable antenna of the present invention includes a center plate base 1, a type I panel 2, a type II panel 3, a type III panel 4, an inner driving hinge 5 between adjacent two panels and Outer drive hinge 6 and other components, the invention can fold and unfold the fixed-surface expandable antenna through the rotation of the inner drive hinge 5 and the outer drive hinge 6 between two adjacent panels.

Figures 2 to 4 are schematic diagrams of the six-part, five-part and four-part rotationally symmetrical creases of the novel solid-surface deployable antenna of the present invention, and the distribution of the creases in each part is the same. In the present invention, the antenna is folded and unfolded according to the crease diagram, wherein the dotted line is the valley line 11, indicating that two adjacent antenna panels are folded inward, that is, the angle between the outer normal direction vectors of the adjacent two antenna panels decreases, and the actual The line is the peak line 12, which means that two adjacent antenna panels are folded outward, that is, the angle between the outer normal direction vectors of the two adjacent antenna panels increases.

Figures 5 to 7 are respectively the top view, bottom view and side view of the novel fixed-surface deployable antenna of the present invention, two adjacent antenna panels with the creases as valley lines, including the center plate base 1 and type I panel 2, Type I panel 2 and type II panel 3, type I panel 2 and type III panel 4 are connected by two inner drive hinges 5 on the same axis, and the creases are two adjacent antenna panels with peak lines, namely The type II panel 3 and the type III panel 4 are connected by two outer drive hinges 6 at the same axial position.

The entire antenna structure of the novel solid surface deployable antenna of the present invention is composed of several rotationally symmetrical parts, and the number of rotationally symmetrical parts can be changed. Each rotationally symmetrical part contains antenna panels of three shapes, and the intersection lines between the antenna panels and the straight line where the center disk base and the corresponding sides thereof intersect at one point. The central disk base is located at the center of the deployable antenna and fixed on the satellite platform. The main body shape of the central disk base is a regular polygon corresponding to the number of rotationally symmetrical parts, and a hexagonal protruding area is set at each vertex position. The vertices of the hexagonal protruding area are respectively connected to the common side of the antenna panel I and the antenna panel II, the common side of the antenna panel II and the antenna panel III, and the common side of the antenna panel III and the antenna panel I. The antenna panel has a corresponding shape adjustment in the hexagonal protruding area of the center plate base. Among them, the shape of the center plate base 1 of the antenna structure composed of six rotationally symmetrical parts is shown in Figure 8, the shape of the Type I panel 2 is shown in Figure 9, the shape of the Type II panel 3 is shown in Figure 10, and the shape of the Type III panel is shown in Figure 10. 4 The shape is shown in Figure 11.

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of the new solid-surface deployable antenna of the present invention after the six parts are rotationally symmetrical after being folded and folded. The folded and folded antenna is carried out according to the crease distribution in Fig. 2 . The position of the fixed center plate base 1 remains unchanged, and correspondingly rotate the two adjacent antenna panels to fold according to the valley line 11 and the peak line 12, that is, the center plate base 1 and the type I panel 2, the type I panel 2 and the type II panel 3 respectively , The angle between the outer normal direction vectors of type I panel 2 and type III panel 4 decreases, and the angle between the outer normal direction vectors of type II panel 3 and type III panel 4 increases. The expandable antenna of the present invention always maintains the state of being folded and stored during transmission and transportation, that is, the state of the antenna shown in FIG. 12 .

The structures of the inner driving hinge 5 and the outer driving hinge 6 in the present invention are shown in FIG. 11 , including a rotating shaft 9 , a torsion spring 10 and a connecting part 13 . The structural diagrams of the torsion spring 10 and the rotating shaft 9 are shown in Figure 14 and Figure 15 respectively. The positional relationship between the torsion spring 10 and the rotating shaft 9 in the inner driving hinge 5 and the outer driving hinge 6 is shown in FIG. 16 . The relative positions of the torsion spring 10, the rotating shaft 9 and the connecting member 13 are shown in Fig. 17 and Fig. 18 . Both ends of the torsion spring 10 are fixed together with the connecting parts 13 on both sides respectively. When the torsion spring 10 is initially installed, a small deformation is preset, so that after the antenna is deployed, a certain pre-tightening force remains in the torsion spring 10 to maintain the deployed state of the antenna. In the process of folding and storing the antenna, the inner drive hinge 5 and the outer drive hinge 6 connected to the antenna panel rotate, that is, the connecting parts 13 on both sides rotate around the rotation axis 9, and the torsion spring 10 on it is elastically deformed. With energy storage, the torsion spring 10 has a tendency to return to its original shape, producing a restoring force. The elastic material used in the torsion spring 10 can generate sufficient driving force when recovering from deformation, driving the entire antenna structure to unfold.

The locking device in the present invention is shown in Figure 19 and Figure 20, according to the angle of rotation of the inner driving hinge 5 and the outer driving hinge 6, a locking hole 14 is opened at a position near the rotating shaft 9 on the connecting parts 13 on both sides, and in a The spring 8 is placed in the locking hole 14 on the side, and the outer side of the spring 8 is connected with the pin shaft 7 . When the antenna is not fully expanded, the spring 8 and the pin shaft 7 are compressed in the locking hole 14 on one side. After the antenna is fully deployed by the drive provided by the restoring force of the torsion spring 10 in the inner driving hinge 5 and the outer driving hinge 6, the locking holes 14 on the connecting parts 13 on both sides are aligned, and the locking holes 14 on one side are aligned. One end of the pin shaft 7 of the connecting spring 8 enters the locking hole 14 on the connecting part 13 on the other side, and the inner driving hinge 5 and the outer driving hinge 6 are locked and fixed, and the antenna can be kept in a fully unfolded state.

Claims (6)

1. A fixed-plane deployable antenna structure, comprising:

a central disk base having N sides distributed in a regular polygon;

the folding units are circumferentially distributed on the periphery of the central disk base, and the number of the folding units is N; hinged on each side of the central disk base; the solar panel consists of a first panel, a second panel and a third panel, wherein the first panel and the second panel are intersected to form a first crest line, and the second panel and the third panel are intersected to form a valley line; the first panel of one folding unit of two adjacent folding units is intersected with the third panel of the other folding unit to form a second peak line; the extension lines of the first crest line, the valley line and the second crest line all penetrate through the corners of the regular polygon of the central disk base; the valley line represents that two adjacent antenna panels are folded inwards, and the peak line represents that two adjacent antenna panels are folded outwards;

a polygonal convex angle is adopted for transitional connection at the junction of the adjacent sides of the central disk base, the polygonal convex angle is provided with at least three vertexes, and the first crest line, the valley line and the second crest line are respectively positioned on one vertex;

the polygonal convex angle also has a vertex which is positioned on the extension line of the first crest line;

the first panel, the second panel and the third panel in the folding unit are hinged by adopting driving hinges respectively; the folding units are hinged by adopting a driving hinge; the folding unit is hinged with the edge of the central disk base through a driving hinge;

the driving hinge comprises a rotating shaft, a torsion spring and two connecting parts, and the two connecting parts are connected to the rotating shaft; the torsional spring is arranged on the rotating shaft and can drive the two connecting parts to rotate around the rotating shaft.

2. The antenna structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein two ends of the torsion spring are respectively fixed to the two connecting members, the connecting members rotate to drive the ends of the torsion spring to rotate for storing energy, and the restoring force of the torsion spring drives the two connecting members to rotate around the rotating shaft when the antenna is deployed.

3. A surface mountable antenna arrangement according to claim 2, wherein locking means are provided on the drive hinge to retain the antenna in its deployed configuration.

4. A fixed surface deployable antenna structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein the locking means comprises a locking hole and a retractable pin, wherein the locking hole and the retractable pin are located on different connecting members, respectively, and the pin extends into the locking hole when the antenna is deployed.

5. The structure of claim 4, wherein the locking holes are formed at positions near the rotating shafts of the connecting members at two sides, the locking hole at one side is provided with a spring, and the outer side of the spring is connected with the pin; when the antenna did not expand completely, spring and round pin axle were compressed in the locking hole of one side, and after the antenna expanded completely, the locking hole position on the adapting unit of both sides aligns, and the one end of the round pin axle of the downthehole connecting spring of one side locking gets into the locking hole on the adapting unit of opposite side this moment, and it is fixed to carry out the locking to the drive hinge, and the antenna keeps in the state of expanding completely.

6. A solid deployable antenna structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein N is 4 to 10.

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