The present disclosure relates to the technical field of aircraft and, more particularly, to a frame and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a kind of unmanned aircraft performing a mission through a control of a radio control device or a remote control device. In recent years, the UAVs have been developed and applied in many fields, such as civilian applications, industrial applications, military applications, and the like. The UAV generally includes an arm and a body. In some UAVs, the arm and the body are integrated. In some other UAVs, the arm is connected to the body and can be folded or unfolded relative to the body, and thus, the arm occupies a small space and is easy to store.
In accordance with the disclosure, there is provided a frame including a top wall, a bottom wall opposite to the top wall, a receiving space between the top wall and the bottom wall, and a hold member arranged at one of the top wall and the bottom wall. The receiving space is configured to accommodate at least a portion of an arm connected to the frame. The hold member is configured to abut against the arm to generate a holding force to hold the arm between the top wall and the bottom wall when the arm is in an unfolded position.
Also in accordance with the disclosure, there is provided an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including a frame, a rotation shaft connected to the frame, and an arm connected to the rotation shaft. The frame includes a top wall, a bottom wall opposite to the top wall, and a hold member arranged at one of the top wall and the bottom wall. The arm is configured to switch between the unfolded position and a folded position around the rotation shaft. The arm includes a mount member connected to the rotation shaft and an extension member configured to extend from the mount member. The hold member is configured to abut against the extension member to generate the holding force to hold the arm between the top wall and the bottom wall when the arm is in the unfolded position.
In order to provide a clearer illustration of technical solutions of disclosed embodiments, the drawings used in the description of the disclosed embodiments are briefly described below. It will be appreciated that the disclosed drawings are merely examples and other drawings conceived by those having ordinary skills in the art on the basis of the described drawings without inventive efforts should fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
Hereinafter, technical solutions of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. It will be appreciated that the described embodiments are some rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments conceived by those having ordinary skills in the art on the basis of the described embodiments without inventive efforts should fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
Example embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same numbers refer to the same or similar elements unless otherwise specified. The described embodiments are merely examples of devices consistent with some aspects of the present disclosure.
As described herein, the terms used in the specification of the present disclosure are intended to describe example embodiments, instead of limiting the present disclosure. The singular forms of “a,” “said,” “the,” and the like, in the specification and the appended claims are intended to include plural forms unless otherwise defined. The term “and/or” used herein includes any suitable combination of one or more related items listed. Unless otherwise defined, terms such as “front,” “rear,” “lower,” “upper,” and/or the like are merely for illustration and not intended to limit a position or a spatial orientation. Terms such as “connected” or “coupled” are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, and may include direct or indirect electrical connections.
Hereinafter, a UAV consistent with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Unless conflicting, the described embodiments and features of the embodiments can be combined with each other.
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The frame 1 includes a top wall 10 and a bottom wall 11 opposite to each other, and a receiving space 12 between the top wall 10 and the bottom wall 11. The frame 1 includes a hold member (not shown). When the arm 3 is unfolded, the hold member can abut against the arm to generate a holding force, and hold the arm 3 to the frame 1. The hold member can include an inclined portion 112 formed on at least one of the top wall 10 and the bottom wall 11 of the frame 1. The top wall 10 includes a first end 101 and a second end 102 opposite to the first end 101, and a connection wall 13 connecting the first end 101 and the bottom wall 11. The inclined portion 112 can extend obliquely into the receiving space 12 in a direction from the second end 102 to the first end 101. The top wall 10 includes a first inner side wall 105 proximal to the receiving space 12. The bottom wall 11 includes a second inner side wall 110 proximal to the receiving space 12. In some embodiments, the first inner side wall 105 of the top wall 10 and the second inner side wall 110 of the bottom wall 11 can extend in parallel, and the inclined portion 112 can extend obliquely upward from the second inner side wall 110, which is not limited herein. In some embodiments, the inclined portion 112 can extend obliquely downward from the first inner side wall 105 or there can be two inclined portions 112 including a first inclined portion (not shown) formed at the first inner side wall 105 of the top wall 10 and a second inclined portion (not shown) formed at the second inner side wall 110 of the bottom wall 11. The first inclined portion can extend obliquely downward from the first inner side 105, and the second inclined portion can extend obliquely upward from the second inner side wall 110. The frame 1 further includes the connection wall 13 arranged at the first end 101. The connection wall 13 can connect the top wall 10 and the bottom wall 11, and the connection wall 13 includes a third inner side wall 130 proximal to the receiving space 12. The third inner side wall 130 can extend obliquely toward an outside of the frame 1 and away from the second end 102, such that the arm 3 can have a larger unfolding angle.
The arm 3 can be switched between an unfolded position and a folded position around the rotation shaft 2. The arm 3 includes a mount member 30 arranged in the receiving space 12 and an extension member 31 extending from the mount member 30. The arm 3 can have a wedge structure, e.g., a width of the mount member 30 is smaller than a width of the extension member 31. When the arm 3 is in the unfolded position, the extension member 31 can abut against the top wall 10 and the bottom wall 11, and hold the arm 3 between the top wall 10 and the bottom wall 11, such that the arm 3 is prevented from vibrations caused by the external force along the axial direction of the rotation shaft 2, thereby ensuring the flight performance of the UAV. When the arm 3 is in the unfolded position, there is a first gap 104 between the extension member 31 and the bottom wall 11, and there is a second gap 103 between the arm 3 and the top wall 10 of the frame 1, thereby effectively ensuring that the arm 3 can rotate smoothly around the rotation shaft 2. The mount member 30 includes a through hole 301 through which the rotation shaft 2 can pass. In some embodiments, the mount member 30 can include an abut member 302 proximal to the top wall 10, and the abut member 302 can abut against the rotation shaft 2 to ensure that there is the first gap 104 between the arm 3 and the bottom wall 11 of the frame 1. A gasket 4 is arranged between the mount member 30 and the top wall 10 of the frame 1 to ensure that there is the second gap 103 between the arm 3 and the top wall 10 of the frame 1. In some embodiments, the abut member 302 can be arranged proximal to the bottom wall 11, and the gasket 4 can be arranged between the mount member 30 and the bottom wall 11 of the frame 1. When the arm 3 is in the unfolded position, it can abut against the connection wall 13 to prevent the arm 3 from rotating excessively.
The rotation shaft 2 includes a shaft sleeve 20, a positioning shaft 21, an elastic member 22, an upper clutch member 23, and a lower clutch member 24. The shaft sleeve 20 can be received in the through hole 301 of the arm 3. In some embodiments, the shaft sleeve 20 and the arm 3 can have shapes that can cooperate with each other. When the shaft sleeve 20 is received in the through hole 301, the rotation of the arm 3 can cause the shaft sleeve 20 to rotate coaxially. It can be appreciated that a cooperating manner of the shaft sleeve 20 and the arm 3 can include any other suitable manner, as long as the shaft sleeve 20 and the arm 3 do not rotate relative to each other. For example, the cooperating manner may include a snap fit. One of an outer side wall of the shaft sleeve 20 and the arm 3 can have a snap, and another one can have a snap groove or a hook. The snap groove or the hook can cooperate with the snap to fix the shaft sleeve 20 in the through hole 301.
The shaft sleeve 20 can include a hollow cylinder with a bottom wall 201. The elastic member 22 and the upper clutch member 23 can be received in the shaft sleeve 20. The bottom wall 201 of the shaft sleeve 20 can have a through hole (not shown). The positioning shaft 21 can pass through the through hole of the bottom wall 201 and the through hole 301 of the arm 3 to expose the arm 3. The gasket 4 can include a hole 40 for the positioning shaft 21 to pass through. The arm 3 and the shaft sleeve 20 can rotate around the positioning shaft 21.
The elastic member 22 can be sleeved on the positioning shaft 21 and received in the shaft sleeve 20. The elastic member 22 can be fixedly arranged at the bottom wall 201 of the shaft sleeve 20. The elastic member 22 can include a metal spring or a plastic spring.
The upper clutch member 23 can be sleeved on the positioning shaft 21 and received in the sleeve 20. One end of the upper clutch member 23 can abut against the elastic member 22, and another end can be cooperated with the lower clutch member 24. The upper clutch member 23 can rotate synchronously with the shaft sleeve 20. Similar to the cooperating manner of the shaft sleeve 20 and the arm 3, the cooperating manner of the upper clutch member 23 and the shaft sleeve 20 can include any suitable manner, as long as the upper clutch member 23 and the shaft sleeve 20 can rotate synchronously. For example, the cooperating manner can include a shape fit, a snap fit, or the like.
The lower clutch member 24 can be fixedly connected to the frame 1. A side of the lower clutch member 24 cooperated with the upper clutch member 23 can have a convex-wheel structure (not shown), and the convex-wheel structure can include a first protrusion (not shown) and a first recess (not shown). A side of the upper clutch member 23 cooperated with the lower clutch member 24 can have a corresponding structure, and include a second protrusion (not shown) and a second recess (not shown). A shape of the second protrusion can correspond to a shape of the first recess and can be accommodated in the first recess. A shape of the first protrusion can correspond to a shape of the second recess and can be accommodated in the second recess. As such, the upper clutch member 23 can be meshed with the lower clutch member 24 when no external force is applied.
When the arm 3 is folded to a folded state or unfolded to the unfolded state, the external force can be applied to the arm 3, such that the arm 3 can be rotated under the external force. The shaft sleeve 20 and the upper clutch member 23 can be driven by the arm 3 to rotate synchronously. Since the lower clutch member 24 can be fixed on the frame 1, the upper clutch member 23 can rotate relative to the lower clutch member 24 driven by a rotation force of the arm 3 and the shaft sleeve 20. The second protrusion can be detached from the first recess and slowly slide to the first protrusion, such that the upper clutch member 23 can slide in the shaft sleeve 20 along an axial direction, and compress the elastic member 22. A compression of the elastic member 22 can increase its elastic energy, thereby increasing a driving force for the rotation of the arm 3. When the second protrusion of the upper clutch member 23 rotates to a highest point of the first protrusion, the elastic member 22 can be compressed to a limit position. When the upper clutch member 23 continues to rotate relative to the lower clutch member 24, the second protrusion can slide from the highest point of the first protrusion to the first recess, and the elastic force of the elastic member 22 can be released. At this time, the external force applied to the arm 3 can be removed, and the arm 3 can be automatically unfolded or folded under the elastic force of the elastic member 22. When the first protrusion is received in the first recess, the elastic force of the elastic member 22 can be completely released. If the external force is not applied to rotate the arm 31 anymore, the upper clutch member 23 will not rotate relative to the lower clutch member 24, such that the arm 3 can be limited. That is, the arm 3 can be locked in the unfolded or folded state.
In some embodiments, the rotation shaft 2 includes the shaft sleeve 20, which is not limited herein. In some other embodiments, the shaft sleeve 20 can be omitted. The elastic member 22, the upper clutch member 23, and the lower clutch member 24 can be sequentially sleeved on the positioning shaft 21 and directly received in the through hole 301 of the arm 3. In some embodiments, the convex-wheel structure can include the first protrusion and the second protrusion. In some other embodiments, the number of protrusions may be one, two, or more than two, which is not limited herein.
Consistent with the disclosure, the hold member can be arranged at the frame 1. When the arm 3 is in the unfolded position, the hold member 3 can abut against the arm 3 to generate the holding force. As such, the arm 3 can be prevented from the vibration caused by the external force along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 2, thereby ensuring the flight performance of the UAV. The hold member can include a wedge-shaped structure arranged at the frame 1, the elastic sheet 5 arranged at the top wall 10, bottom wall 11 of the frame 1, or the top wall 10, or the plunger 6 arranged at the bottom wall 11.
Herein, the relational terms such as “first” and “second” are merely used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and are not intended to indicate or imply any such relationship or sequence of the corresponding elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or device including a series of elements can include not only the listed elements, but also non-listed elements, or further include elements inherent to the process, method, article, or device. Unless otherwise specified, the element defined by the sentence “including a . . . ” is not intended to exclude the existence of other same elements in the process, method, article, or device including the element.
The devices consistent with the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail, and the examples are merely for illustration of the principle and implementation of the present disclosure. The description of the embodiments is merely for helping to understand the core idea of the present disclosure. For those of ordinary skill in the art, according to the idea of the present disclosure, there will be changes in the specific implementation and the scope of disclosure. The content of the specification should not be considered as a limitation of the disclosure.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2018/089402, filed on May 31, 2018, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2018/089402 | May 2018 | US |
Child | 17105384 | US |