JPH0578700U - Latch-up mechanism for deployable solar array paddle - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To obtain a latch-up mechanism that reliably maintains a latched state after panel deployment and has high rigidity. [Structure] Via a hinge pin 5 and a bracket 11 fixed to a first hinge clevis fitting 3, a pulley 9 fixed to the hinge pin 5, a roller 4 and a pulley 9 rotatably incorporated in a second hinge clevis fitting 4. Bracket 11 and a coupling 12 incorporated in a roller 4, a wedge 13 provided on the first hinge clevis metal fitting for engaging in a state after deployment, the second
Taper hole 1 provided on the hinge clevis fitting
4.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 This invention is, for example, in a deployable solar cell paddle that is mounted on an artificial satellite and that consists of multiple panels with solar cells attached to the surface, and holds the multiple panels in the same plane after panel deployment. It is related to the mechanism.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 A conventional latch-up mechanism of this type has been shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In the figure, 12 is a panel having solar cells (not shown) on its surface, 3 is a hinge clevis fitting attached to the corner of the panel 1, 4 is attached to the corner of the panel 2. The hinge clevis metal fitting, 5 is a hinge pin integrated with the clevis metal fitting 3, 6 is bearing which is integrated with the clevis metal fitting 4, 7 is a latch claw attached to the clevis metal fitting 3, and 8 is the clevis. A leaf spring having one end fixed to the metal fitting 4 and a hole into which the latch claw 7 fits. The panel 12 is folded before use by the hinge pin 5 and the bearing 6 being rotatably connected. , It is designed to be in an expanded state when used.

Next, the operation of the conventional mechanism will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, when the deployment movement of the solar cell paddle progresses and the adjacent panels 12 joined by the hinges come close to the flush state, the latch leaf springs 8 attached to one of the clevis fittings 4 of the hinges , The latching claw 7 on the other clevis metal fitting 3 side comes into contact with the clevis fitting 3, and the clevis gradually rises. When the panel 12 becomes flush and the clevis metal fittings 3 and 4 come into contact with each other, the tip of the hole formed in the latch leaf spring 8 reaches the tip of the latch pawl 7, and the latch pawl 7 is attached to the leaf spring 8. Fit into the hole. In this case, since the surface of the claw with which the tip of the hole comes into contact is slightly shallower than the rectangular direction with the leaf spring 8, the leaf spring 8 stops in the middle of the claw 7 (FIG. 7). After this state, even if the panel tries to move in the opposite direction, the leaf spring 8 is pressed against the claw 7 by the pressing force due to the elastic deflection of the plate spring 8 and the frictional force between the claw 7 and the plate spring 8. Latched up.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, since the conventional latch-up mechanism is configured as described above, the latch leaf spring 8 is pressed against the latch pawl 7 by the force of its own deflection and the frictional force with the pawl 7. The surface of the latching pawl 7 that comes into contact with is not a right angle with the leaf spring 8, and the angle is shallower than that, so if the reverse rotational force acting on the panels 1 and 2 is large, the leaf spring 8 is removed from the pawl 7. In some cases, a force is generated in the direction, which overcomes the force due to the deflection and the frictional force, causing the leaf spring 8 to fall off the pawl 7. Further, since the leaf spring 8 is in a flexed state in the latched state, the rigidity of the hinge portion is governed by the bending rigidity of the leaf spring 8, and the thickness of the leaf spring 8 is extremely reduced to obtain high rigidity. It is necessary to increase the thickness, but if this is done, the frictional force when the leaf spring 8 rises up the latching claw 7 becomes large, which may hinder the development of the panels 1 and 2, thus increasing the rigidity. There were problems such as difficulty.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to obtain a latch-up mechanism that reliably maintains a latched state after panel deployment and has high rigidity.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In the latch-up mechanism according to the present invention, the hinge pin fixed and assembled in the first hinge clevis fitting and the second hinge clevis fitting are mounted on the hinge pin rotatably and unidirectionally translatable. Is installed so that the wedge of the first hinge clevis metal fitting and the taper hole of the second hinge clevis metal fitting are engaged with each other after the panel is deployed. It is equipped.

[0007]

[Action]

 In the present invention, a coupling is incorporated through a pulley so as to apply a rotational force to a hinge pin fixed to a first hinge clevis fitting which is rotatably mounted in the second hinge clevis fitting and capable of translating in one direction. As a result, the deployment force of the panel is generated, and at the time when the deployment operation progresses and the deployment angle advances by 90 degrees or more, the coping force that has given the deployment force is transferred via the bracket of the first hinge clevis metal fittings. The operation of pulling the first panel toward the second panel is performed, and when the expansion is completed, the wedge provided on the first hinge clevis metal fitting and the taper hole provided on the second hinge clevis metal fitting are engaged with each other, and securely. Latch-up is possible after panel deployment.

[0008]

【Example】

 Example 1. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5, reference numerals 1 to 5 are components corresponding to the conventional mechanism. 3 is a first hinge clevis fitting, 4 is a second hinge clevis fitting, 5 is a hinge pin fixed to the first hinge clevis fitting 3 and rotatably and unidirectionally supported by the second hinge clevis fitting, Reference numeral 9 is a pulley fixed to the hinge pin 5, 10 is a roller rotatably incorporated in the second hinge clevis metal fitting 4 by the roller pin 15, 11 is a bracket fixed and incorporated in the first hinge clevis metal fitting 3, 12 Is a coiling wound around a roller 10 and fixed to a bracket 11 via a pulley 9 to generate an expansion force. 13 is incorporated in the first hinge clevis fitting 3 so that the position of the taper of the tip can be adjusted. The wedge, 14 is a tapered hole incorporated in the second hinge clevis fitting 4.

In the latch-up mechanism configured as described above, when the satellite is launched, as shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of panels 1 and 2 are in a housed state, and the first hinge clevis fitting 3 is provided with the above-mentioned members. The second hinge clevis fitting 4 is in contact with the upper and lower sides so as to be sandwiched. In this state, the coupling 12 is extended, and the force of the contraction of the coupling 12 is transmitted to the hinge pin 5 incorporated in the first hinge clevis fitting 3 via the pulley 9, so that the expansion torque and the hinge torque are reduced. A translational force acts to press the dipin 5 against the second hinge clevis fitting 4. The first hinge clevis metal fitting 3 and the second hinge clevis metal fitting 4 are constrained so as to be sandwiched from the upper and lower sides in consideration of the vibration environment at the time of launching the satellite, so that the deploying force described above is also constrained. Next, the operation will be described. A plurality of panels 1 and 2 are deployed on the orbit, and in the state of being deployed, the roller 10 is rotated in the direction of the arrow (a) in the figure by the deployment force of the coupling 12, as shown in FIG. Then, expand panel 1 and panel 2. Further, since the expansion force is transmitted through the pulley 9 up to the expansion angle of 90 degrees shown in FIG. 2, since the hinge pin 5 is pressed against the second hinge clevis fitting 4, it is restrained in the translational direction. There is. When the development of the plurality of panels 1 and 2 progresses and becomes closer to the flush state, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, of the forces transmitted via the pulley 9, the force in the translational direction restrains. The first hinge clevis metal fitting 3 and the second hinge clevis metal fitting 4 are allowed to move so as to move closer to each other, and the wedge 13 and the second hinge clevis provided on the first hinge clevis metal fitting 3 are provided. The taper hole 14 provided in the metal fitting 4 engages with each other to enable latch-up. In the state where the latch-up shown in FIG. 5 is performed, the wedge 13 and the taper wheel 14 that have been latched up will not come off even if a rotational force in the direction opposite to the expansion acts on the plurality of panels 1 and 2. .. The rigidity after latch-up depends on the rigidity of the structure including the first hinge clevis fitting 3, the second hinge clevis fitting 4, the wedge 13 and the taper hole 14, and therefore the thickness of each member is increased. By doing so, high rigidity can be easily achieved.

[0010]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, the coupling is incorporated between the pulley incorporated in the hinge pin fixed to the first hinge clevis fitting and the roller rotatably incorporated in the second hinge clevis fitting. This makes it easy to apply the expansion force of the panel and to engage the wedge provided on the first hinge clevis metal fitting with the taper hole provided on the second hinge clevis metal fitting after the panel is expanded. Has the effect of obtaining a highly reliable latch-up mechanism in which the latch-up state is not released and a latch-up mechanism having high rigidity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a solar cell paddle stored state showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the first embodiment of the present invention during deployment of the solar cell paddle.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the first embodiment of the present invention during deployment of the solar cell paddle.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the first embodiment of the present invention immediately before latch-up.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a first embodiment of the present invention in a latch-up completed state.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a conventional latch-up mechanism immediately before latch-up.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a conventional latch-up mechanism in a latch-up completed state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 panel 2 panel 3 hinge clevis metal fitting 4 hinge clevis metal fitting 5 hinge pin 6 bearing 7 latch claw 8 leaf spring 9 pulley 10 roller 11 bracket 12 coping 13 wedge 14 taper hole 15 roller pin

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. In a deployable solar battery paddle that deploys a plurality of panels having solar cells attached to the surface thereof during use and maintains the state, a first hinge clevis fitting for connecting the plurality of panels. A second hinge clevis fitting, the second hinge clevis fitting fixed to the first hinge clevis fitting,
The hinge clevis metal fitting is a hinge pin incorporated so as to be rotatable and capable of translating in one direction, a pulley fixed and incorporated in the hinge pin, a roller pin fixed and incorporated in the second hinge clevis metal fitting, and the roller pin. A roller that is rotatably incorporated into the first hinge clevis, a bracket that is fixed to the first hinge clevis fitting, and a pulley that is fixed to the hinge pin and is incorporated into the roller and the bracket. A latch-up mechanism for a deployable solar cell paddle, which is equipped with a coupling incorporated as described above, a wedge and a taper hole incorporated so as to be engaged when the panel is deployed and complete the deployment operation.