The present disclosure relates to aircraft thermal dissipation technology, and in particular to a vehicle body and an unmanned aerial vehicle.
When an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is working, internal electronic components generate a lot of heat and cause the temperature inside the UAV to rise. Heat accumulation reduces an efficiency of the internal electronic components, affects a normal operation of the UAV, and even burns the UAV.
In accordance with the disclosure, there is provided an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) including a vehicle body and a flight control circuit. The vehicle body includes a housing and a fan. The housing includes two vents arranged at two ends of the housing and in communication with an internal space of the housing. The two vents and the internal space form a heat dissipation air passage. The fan is arranged at one of the two vents, and is configure to drive external air into the heat dissipation air passage and expel internal air from the heat dissipation air passage. The flight control circuit is arranged inside the housing and is configured to control flight parameters of the UAV. The heat dissipation air passage is configured to dissipate heat generated by the flight control circuit.
In order to illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure, the drawings used in the description of embodiments will be briefly described.
Hereinafter, 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. It is intended that the embodiments disclosed herein are for illustration and not to limit the scope of the disclosure.
The terms “center,” “longitudinal,” “transverse,” “length,” “width,” “thickness,” “upper,” “lower,” “front,” “back,” “left,” “right,” “perpendicular,” “horizontal,” “top,” “bottom,” “inner,” “outer,” “clockwise,” “counterclockwise,” and similar expressions used herein are merely illustrative, e.g., indicating orientation or positional relationships shown in the disclosed drawings, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the apparatus or component referred to has a particular orientation or need to be constructed and operated in the particular orientation. It is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. The terms “first,” “second,” or the like in the specification, claims, and the drawings of the disclosure are merely illustrative, e.g. distinguishing similar elements, defining technical features, or the like, and are not intended to indicate or imply the importance of the corresponding elements or the number of the technical features. Thus, features defined as “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. As used herein, “a plurality of” means two or more, unless there are other clear and specific limitations.
As used herein, the terms “mounted,” “coupled,” and “connected” should be interpreted broadly, unless there are other clear and specific limitations. For example, the connection between two assemblies may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection. The connection may also be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or a mutual communication connection. Furthermore, the connection may be a direct connection or an indirect connection via an intermedium, an internal connection between the two assemblies or an interaction between the two assemblies. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood by those skilled in the art on a case-by-case basis.
As used herein, unless otherwise defined, when a first component is referred to as “above” or “below” a second component, it is intended that the first component may be directly attached to the second component or may be indirectly attached to the second component via another component. When the first component is referred to as “over,” “above,” or “on top of” the second component, it is intended that the first component may be directly above or obliquely above the second component, or merely that a horizontal height of the first component may be higher than a horizontal height of the second component. When the first component is referred to as “below,” “under,” or “lower than” the second component, it is intended that the first component may be directly below or obliquely below the second component, or merely that the horizontal height of the first component may be lower than the horizontal height of the second component.
Various example embodiments corresponding to different structures of the disclosure will be described. For simplification purposes, the elements and configurations for the example embodiments are described below. It will be appreciated that the described embodiments are examples only and not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Moreover, the repeating of reference numbers or reference letters in various example embodiments are merely for the purposes of clarification and simplification, and does not indicate the relationship between the various example embodiments and/or configurations. In addition, the use of other processes and/or materials will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the examples of various specific processes and materials disclosed herein.
Each end of the housing 12 includes a vent 121 configured to communicate with an internal space of the housing 12 to form a heat dissipation air passage 126. The two vents 121 include an air inlet 1222 and an air outlet 1242. The air inlet 1222 is arranged at a front end 122 of the housing 12, and the air outlet 1242 is arranged at a rear end 124 of the housing 12. The front end 122 and the rear end 124 are opposite to each other. In some embodiments, as shown in
The fan(s) 14 can be arranged at the vent(s) 121, and can be configured to face or not face the corresponding vent 121. The fan(s) 14 can be configured to guide external air of the housing 12 into the heat dissipation air passage 126, and guide internal air of the housing 12 to be discharged from the heat dissipation air passage 126. In some embodiments, the fan 14 can be arranged at the air inlet 1222, and configured to suck the external air into the heat dissipation air passage 126. In some embodiments, the fan 14 can be arranged at the air outlet 1242 and configured to discharge the internal air to outside of the housing 12. In some embodiments, the two fans 14 can be arranged at the air inlet 1222 and the air outlet 1242, and configured to suck the external air into the heat dissipation air passage 126 and discharge the internal air to the outside of the housing 12. The two fans 14 can also be referred to as a first fan and a second fan, respectively. That is, the vehicle body 10 can include only one fan 14 arranged at the air inlet 1222 or at the air outlet 1242, or the vehicle body 10 can include two fans 14 arranged at the air inlet 1222 and the air outlet 1242, respectively. The fan 14 at the air inlet 1222 can be configured to suck the air into the heat dissipation air passage 126, and the fan 14 at the air outlet 1242 can be configured to discharge the internal air to the outside of the housing 12, such that an air circulation can be formed. A flow direction of an air flow is indicated by an arrow X in
Table 1 is a list of temperatures of various electronic components in the UAV 100 for simulation projects 1 to 4. External environments of the simulation projects 1 to 4 are different, but internal conditions are the same. The internal conditions of the simulation projects 1 to 4 in Table 1 can be that a heat radiator is arranged inside the housing 12, and a heat sink of the heat radiator has a tooth height of 8.5 mm.
No fan is included in the simulation project 1.
In the simulation project 2, the fan 14 is only arranged at the air outlet 1242.
In the simulation project 3, the fan 14 is only arranged at the air inlet 1222.
In the simulation project 4, two fans 14 are arranged at the air inlet 1222 and the air outlet 1242.
As shown in Table 1, a comparison of the simulation project 2 having one fan 14 arranged at the air outlet 1242, the simulation project 3 having one fan 14 arranged at the air inlet 1222, and the simulation project 4 having two fans 14 arranged at the air inlet 1222 and the air outlet 1242, respectively, shows that the temperatures of the electronic components inside the housing 12 in simulation project 4 are lower than the temperatures of the electronic components inside the housing 12 in simulation projects 2 and 3. That is, when the two fans 14 are arranged at the air inlet 1222 and the air outlet 1242, respectively, the ventilation and heat dissipation effect is the best.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The flight control circuit can be arranged inside the housing 12 and configured to control flight parameters of the UAV 100. The heat dissipation air passage can be used to dissipate the heat generated by the flight control circuit. For example, the flight control circuit can include a circuit board and electronic components arranged on the circuit board. The electronic components can include at least one of a flight controller, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), or a power management controller. The electronic components described above may generate a large amount of heat during operation. When the external air enters the inside of the housing 12, due to the convective heat transfer, a large amount of heat can be discharged to prevent the electronic components from being overheated due to heat accumulation.
According to the UAV 100 disclosed in the embodiments, the external air can pass through the protection assembly 16 to remove impurities, for example, dust, water droplets, or/and the like, mixed in the air, and then enters the inside of the housing 12. Due to the convective heat transfer between the air flow and the electronic components in the housing 12, a large amount of heat can be discharged to avoid excessive temperature rise of electronic components.
In the vehicle body 10 or the UAV 100, each end of the housing 12 can include the vent 121 configured to communicate with the internal space of the housing 12 to form the heat dissipation air passage 126, and the fan(s) 14 can be arranged at the vent(s) 121 to guide the external air of the housing 12 into the heat dissipation air passage 126, and guide the internal air of the housing 12 to be discharged from the heat dissipation air passage 126. As such, a better ventilation can be achieved inside the housing 12, and the heat generated by the electronic components inside the housing 12 can be discharged in time to avoid a reduction of a working efficiency of the electronic components, thereby ensuring a normal operation of the UAV 100 and extending a service life of the UAV 100.
In some embodiments, the protection assembly 16 can include the partition board 162, the mesh filter 164, and the casing 166. The protection assembly 16 can prevent impurities, for example, dust, water droplets, and/or the like, from entering the inside of the housing 12 with the outside air, and prevent impurities, for example, dust, water droplets, and/or the like, from adhering to the electronic components inside the housing 12, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the UAV 100.
In some embodiments, the mesh filter 164 can be arranged inside the housing 12. The shape of the casing 166 corresponds to the shape of the mesh filter 164, and hence the mesh filter 164 can be arranged close to the casing 166. The casing 166 can protect the mesh filter 164.
In some embodiments, the air inlet 1222 can be arranged at the front end 122 of the housing 12, and thus the air inlet 1222 can be in front of the air outlet 1242 along the flying direction of the UAV 100, such that the external air can be more easily to enter the inside of the housing 12, thereby further enhancing the heat dissipation of the electronic components inside the housing 12.
In some embodiments, the mesh filter 164 and/or the casing 166 in the protection assembly 16 may be omitted. In some embodiments, the protection assembly 16 can be arranged only at the air outlet 1242.
In some embodiments, as shown in, e.g.,
In some other embodiments, the structure of the mesh filter 164 of the protection assembly 16 arranged at the air inlet 1222 and the structure of the mesh filter 164 of the protection assembly 16 arranged at the air outlet 1242 can be the same, for example, the convex structure or the plane structure described above.
As used herein, the terms “certain embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “an example,” “certain example,” “some examples,” or the like, refer to that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiments or examples are included in at least one embodiment or example of the disclosure. The illustrative representations of the above terms are not necessarily referring to the same embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.
The terms “first,” “second,” or the like in the specification, claims, and the drawings of the disclosure are merely illustrative, e.g. distinguishing similar elements, defining technical features, or the like, and are not intended to indicate or imply the importance of the corresponding elements or the number of the technical features. Thus, features defined as “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. As used herein, “multiple” means two or more, unless there are other clear and specific limitations.
It is intended that the disclosed embodiments be considered as exemplary only and not to limit the scope of the disclosure. Changes, modifications, alterations, and variations of the above-described embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the disclosure. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2017/074819, filed on Feb. 24, 2017, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2017/074819 | Feb 2017 | US |
Child | 16549353 | US |