JPS6133399A - Solar-cell paddle - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] 3.1 Object of the Invention 3.1.1 Field of Application in Production The present invention relates to a structure of a relatively large lightweight extendable solar battery paddle for satellites, space stations, space brats, etc. It is related to.

3.1.2 Conventional technology and problems Solar array paddles are folded into a small space when a satellite is launched, and after entering orbit, they are expanded to cover a large area and are used to absorb sunlight using solar cells attached to the surface. It receives energy and generates electricity.

The requirements for solar array paddles are generally (1) to be lightweight, (2) to be highly rigid even after deployment, (3) to fit into a small space when stored, and (4) to form a wide light-receiving surface after deployment. (5) Deployment operation must be reliable and reliable, but in order to respond to the recovery, repair, and reuse technology for satellites etc. that is made possible by the use of Space Shuttle etc., (6) Deployment alone is necessary. In the future, it will be required to be able to perform convolution in outer space.

The most widely used method for solar array paddles on current satellites is to fold a frame made of flat plates or membranes with hinges, fold them into a folding screen, and then unfold them into a flat surface in space. This is because the light-receiving surface itself and the hinge with a locking mechanism that connects it form a structure, and these are substantially in the same plane, and the locking mechanism itself of the hinge part is subject to bending loads. Because it is necessary to convey
In principle, its out-of-plane specific stiffness and specific strength are low. Here, specific stiffness indicates the ratio of rigidity to mass of a structure, and specific strength indicates the ratio of strength to mass. On the other hand, in general, paddles, etc. are required to have a high natural frequency in order to avoid dynamic rapid formation with the attitude control system. At present, there is an increasing demand for the appearance of paddles, and a search for a suitable structural style is currently underway.

The method currently considered to be effective for relatively large paddles is a method in which a plate or membrane-like light-receiving surface that is folded like a folding screen or an accordion is stretched and stretched using a -dimensionally extending mast. Yes, and the present invention falls within that scope. One of the things currently proposed that falls under the above range is S.
It uses an extension mast called TACBEAM. This extensible mast is a truss made of three vertical aggregates, and is an extensible mast that folds in by bending the vertical and diagonal aggregates at the central joint, and extends by extending the central joint. More details about STACBEAM can be found in the following literature.

L outs R, Adams, STACBEAM
:AnEff1cient, Iow-Mass
, 5equentiallyDeployable
3structure, Proc, 17thI
intersociety Ener(Iy
Conversion[:ngineerino C
onf, Los Angels, Aug.

1982 (IEEE), Vol, 3
．． 1578-1583゜This is because the joint is provided in the center of the member where the most force is applied, so firstly, there are many joints,
There is a drawback that this results in an increase in weight, and secondly, there is a drawback that the unavoidable decrease in rigidity of the central joint portion leads to a decrease in the A-yler buckling strength of the longitudinal aggregate. Thirdly, since there are few members that move together with the light-receiving surface that extends like a folding screen, the light-receiving surface is held at only a decimal point, which has the disadvantage that loose coupling leads to a decrease in the natural frequency. Jru.

Another proposal is to stretch the light-receiving surface using an extension mass 1- (patent advertisement 1972-26653) called Astromast. Since it can be folded and expanded, its rigidity is theoretically low even after expansion.

Second, the mast has the property of rotating about its longitudinal axis during extension, and a device is required to correct this rotation. Thirdly, as mentioned above, there is a drawback that the light-receiving surface must be loosely attached to the mast. Furthermore, the φ problem that is common to both of the above is that, for example, in the gland that folds the expanded paddle in space, there is This requires some kind of ingenuity, such as adding a mechanism to perform the function.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and realizes an extensible solar cell paddle with high specific strength and specific stiffness.

3.2 Structure of the Invention 3.2.1 Means for Solving the Problem The present invention enables folding and stretching without breaking the longitudinal aggregate, does not rotate around the long axis during stretching, and has a stretched structure. By devising an extension structure in which a part of an object is folded or expanded like a folding screen, and attaching a light-receiving surface that can be folded in the same way to the part that is folded like a folding screen, the drawbacks described in the previous section can be eliminated. This makes it possible to realize an extendable solar cell paddle with high specific rigidity.

3.2.2 Structure and operation of the invention When the present invention is stretched, "C" is a plurality of planes of the same shape arranged at intervals along the stretching direction, substantially perpendicular to the stretching direction and in the same direction. A large number of shaped structures and contact points 1 respectively arranged at the same position of all the planar Si objects,
The contact point 2 and one or more other contact points and all the corresponding contact points on the adjacent planar structures are sandwiched between the vertical aggregate that connects via the joints at both ends, and the two planar structures mentioned above. Among the parallelograms formed by planar structures and longitudinal aggregates in each of the parts where the parallelogram A drive mechanism that causes the above parallelogram to mirror-image shear deformation with respect to the planar structure;
It consists of a plate-like or membrane-like structure attached to each of the solar cells and attached with solar cells.

Hereinafter, the operation will be explained in detail with reference to the figures showing the embodiments. Fig. 1 shows an example in which a triangular truss is used as the above-mentioned planar structure, and an extensible diagonal aggregate 4 is used as the drive mechanism to generate and control the above-mentioned shearing deformation. FIG.

In the figure, all oblique aggregates and all vertical aggregates not included in parallelogram 3 have joints that can rotate around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the extension 4f+3 structure and parallel to parallelogram 3. through the triangle] is connected to Hellas. The light-receiving surface 5 is formed by a tension membrane stretched over a rib 6 attached to a member connecting apex 1 and apex 2 among the horizontal members forming the triangular truss. Moreover, this light-receiving surface itself restrains the shearing deformation of the parallelogram 3. As shown in the figure, this solar cell paddle is folded by extending the length of the variable length steel aggregate 4. After a satellite or the like is launched into orbit in a folded state, the length of the variable length steel aggregate 4 is reversely shortened to its original length, and the length is locked by a locking mechanism, whereby the paddle is expanded and locked. Ru. An example of a variable length steel aggregate drive mechanism is a method using a helical spring 7 and a latch mechanism as shown in FIG.

In this case, smoother and quieter extension can be achieved by using both the extension inhibiting tension rope and the extension driving tension rope described in the next section 3.2.3. If necessary, use the extension assisting mechanism installed at the base of the paddle to grasp the extension structure from the outside and extend it one unit at a time, in the same way as used for extension of STACEAM shown in Section 3.1.2. method can also be adopted. The most suitable drive mechanism should be selected depending on the purpose of use.

3.2.3 Example The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has been explained in the previous section.

An example of variable length steel aggregate is shown in FIG. In addition, detailed examples of the node 2 and contact 8 of this embodiment are shown in Figures 3-A and 3-A.
It is shown in Figure 13.

Replacing the variable length steel aggregate in the above embodiment with variable length tension rope 9,
A second fixed cable 10 is added to the other diagonal position.
An example of this is shown in FIG. Here, the variable length tension rope 9 has nodes 8-a, 1-b, and 8-c.

1-d order and 8-a 12-b, 8-c, 2
The paddle continues in the longitudinal direction from each contact point to the base of the paddle in the order of -d, and the paddle is extended by pulling this tension rope at the base. If there is a relatively large frictional force in the deployment drive tension rope, etc., it will be impossible to deploy the deployment drive tension rope alone, but in this case, some auxiliary springs may be attached to the joints, etc., or This problem can be solved by using the variable length steel aggregate with springs shown in the example. Also, along some of the fixed length cables, contact points 1-a, 8-b, 2-
A continuous extension restraining tension rope 11 is stretched around each contact point in the order of c and 8-d to the root base, and it is a mechanism that allows smooth extension using both the extension drive tension rope and the restraining tension rope. There is. Furthermore, automatic folding in outer space can be performed using the above-mentioned extension restraining tension rope. Of course, it is also possible to add another line of extension restraining tension ropes. In this second embodiment, the light receiving surface is supported via a heat insulating member 12.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which a plurality of main aggregates 13 and horizontal aggregates 14 are used as a drive mechanism for causing and controlling shear deformation in a parallelogram. This is effective when it is necessary to widen the interval between the folding lines on the light-receiving surface due to constraints on the shape of the space in which the solar cells can be placed or to increase the area efficiency in which solar cells can be stretched.

3.3 Effects of the Invention As described in the previous sections, the present invention enables the construction of a solar array paddle that has high specific rigidity and specific strength and is convenient for unfolding and folding, while flexibly responding to various mission-dependent requirements. can.

4. Brief Description of the Figures Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the first embodiment of the present horse in the middle of extension or folding.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a detailed example of the variable length steel aggregate of the first example.

FIG. 3-a is a perspective view showing a detailed example of the joint of the node 2-C of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3-b is a perspective view showing a detailed example of the joint of the node 8-b. These are views seen from the same direction as in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the second embodiment in the middle of extension or folding. Here, the fixed long tension rope 10 and the extension restraining tension rope 11 between the node 1-a and the node 8-b are seen to overlap.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the third embodiment in the middle of extension or folding.

1 , , , , , , , Node 1 or vertex 1l-a4.1 Node 1-a 1-11510 Node 1-b 1-d , , Node 1-d 2 , , , , , , Node 2 Or vertex 22-b, ,, node 2-b 2-C, ,, node 2-c 2-d, ,, node 2-d 3 ,,,,,,, parallelogram 3 4 ,,,, , , , variable length aggregate 4 5 , , , , , light-receiving surface (back side visible) 6 ,
, , , , , auxiliary material 7 , , , , , , helical spring 8 , , , , , , , node 8 or apex 88-a, ,, node 8-a 8-b,,, Node 8-b 8-c, , Node F3-c 8-d, 118-d 9 , , , Extension drive tension rope or variable length tension rope 10
911.111. Fixed length tension rope 11 , Extension restraining tension rope 12 , Insulation member 13 , Diagonal aggregate 14 , Lateral bone Material 15 , C-shaped spring 16 , Lock bin 17 , Lock hole 18 , Vertical aggregate

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In the stretched state, a large number of planar structures of the same shape are arranged substantially perpendicularly to the stretching direction and in the same direction at intervals along the stretching direction, and all of the above-mentioned planar structures A vertical bone that connects contact point 1, contact point 2, and one or more other contact points placed at the same position on an object, and all the corresponding contact points on adjacent planar structures through joints at both ends. Among the parallelograms formed by the planar structure and the vertical aggregate, the shear deformation of the parallelogram 3 including the contact points 1 and 2 is applied to the parts sandwiched between the planar structure and the two planar structures. a drive mechanism that causes a shearing deformation mirror-imagely with respect to the planar structure in one or more parallelograms that are not parallel to the parallelogram 3, and is attached to each of the parallelograms 3; It consists of a plate-like or stretched membrane-like structure to which solar cells are pasted, and is folded in the longitudinal direction by causing shear deformation in a parallelogram using the above drive mechanism, and conversely, by eliminating the shear deformation, it folds back into its original shape. Extendable solar array paddle that can be extended to (2) In the stretched state, a large number of planar structures of the same shape are arranged substantially perpendicularly to the stretching direction and in the same direction at intervals along the stretching direction, and all of the above-mentioned planar structures A vertical bone that connects contact point 1, contact point 2, and one or more other contact points placed at the same position on an object, and all the corresponding contact points on adjacent planar structures through joints at both ends. Among the parallelograms formed by the planar structure and the vertical aggregate, the shear deformation of the parallelogram 3 including the contact points 1 and 2 is applied to the parts sandwiched between the planar structure and the two planar structures. A variable structure placed at a diagonal position of the restraining structure and one or more parallelograms that are not parallel to the parallelogram 3 so as to have a mirror image positional relationship with the adjacent diagonal aggregate with respect to the planar structure. A long diagonal aggregate, or a diagonal aggregate that can be bent at a central joint arranged in the same way, or a variable length tension cable arranged in the same way and a tension cable arranged diagonally on the other side, and the above-mentioned parallelogram 3 It consists of a plate-like or tension membrane-like structure attached to each of the above and to which solar cells are pasted, and which stretches the variable length diagonal aggregate, bends the diagonal aggregate with the joints, or extends the variable length tension. By stretching the cords and causing shear deformation in the parallelogram, it is folded in the longitudinal direction, and conversely, the variable length diagonal aggregate is shortened to its original length, or the diagonal aggregate with joints is returned to a straight line. , or an extendable solar cell paddle that can shorten the variable length tension cable to its original length and then extend it back to its original length. (3) In the extended state, a large number of triangular truss structures of the same shape are arranged in large numbers at intervals along the extension direction, with their surfaces substantially perpendicular to the extension direction and in the same direction, and adjacent triangular trusses Of the parallelograms formed by the vertical aggregate that connects all the corresponding vertices of each through joints at both ends, and the triangular truss and the vertical aggregate in each of the parts sandwiched between the two triangular trusses, A structure that restrains shear deformation of a parallelogram 3 including vertices 1 and 2, and a variable length adjacent to the triangular truss at a diagonal position of one or more parallelograms that are not parallel to the parallelogram 3. Variable length diagonal aggregate arranged in a mirror image position with the diagonal aggregate, or similarly arranged diagonal aggregate that can be bent at a central joint, or similarly arranged variable length tension rope and the other side. It consists of tension cables arranged diagonally to each other, and a plate-like or tension-like structure attached to each of the above-mentioned parallelograms 3 and to which solar cells are pasted, to stretch the variable-length diagonal aggregate, or to extend the above-mentioned diagonal aggregate. By bending the diagonal aggregate having joints, or by stretching the variable length tension ropes to cause shear deformation in a parallelogram, it is folded in the longitudinal direction, and conversely, the variable length diagonal aggregate is returned to its original length. An extendable solar cell paddle that can be shortened, or return the diagonal aggregate having the joints to a straight line, or shorten the variable length tension rope to its original length and extend it to its original state.