Communications: radio wave antennas – Antennas – With support for antenna – reflector or director
Patent
1998-06-18
2000-02-15
Wong, Don
Communications: radio wave antennas
Antennas
With support for antenna, reflector or director
343878, 343880, H01Q 108
Patent
active
060258152
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an actuation device for adjusting satellite structural members to be oriented such as, e.g., driving apparatus (propulsion units), antennas or solar cells.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to correct maladjustments of a satellite, it is known to arrange a number of driving apparatus i.e., propulsion units on satellites. In addition to chemical driving apparatus, which eject huge masses of fuel during operation, ion engines have been employed, which must be operated over a relatively long period of time in order to obtain correction. Ion engines, as a rule, are built heavier than chemical propellants. Since ion engines eject slight amounts of noble gas, the demand of fuel to be taken along, i.e., noble gases, is smaller in terms of mass if the drive or actuator is to be capable of functioning over an extended period of time. Thus, heavier-design ion engines are opposed by the weight advantage in terms of the fuel amount to be taken along such that even heavy-design ion engines have been employed for a number of corrections in the meantime, in particular, with satellites whose operating time in space is longer than that of previous satellites.
Chemical driving apparatus of known construction, as a rule, are operated in a pulsating manner in order to correct maladjustments in that manner. What is, however, essential to the correction of maladjustments is the safe avoidance of undesired movements and, in particular, undesired rotary movements during, or on account of, the operation of the driving apparatus. The driving apparatus, therefore, must be accurately oriented, the forces of the driving apparatus having to be brought into an aligned relationship with the center of gravity of the satellite, which changes during operation. Since the position of the center of gravity itself changes, for instance, due to fuel consumption and, vice versa, also the driving apparatus are subject to changes in their axial orientation due to external influences and driving apparatus wear, the relative position of the forces acting upon operation of the driving apparatus, relative to the changing center of gravity on account of resulting movements of the satellite must be constantly detected in order to take additional corrective measures. Essential to such corrections is, however, a simple, operationally safe and lightweight-design actuation device, by means of which the desired corrections can be effected by the orientation of driving apparatus.
In addition to heavy-weight ion engines, other structural members such as, for instance, antennas or solar cells must also be oriented in case of need, wherein also a compact actuator of simple construction (and as insensitive to disturbances as possible) is required to move larger devices.
The invention aims at providing an actuation device of the initially defined kind, by which even relatively heavy satellite structural members that are to be oriented can safely be brought into the desired orientation by means of a slight number of simple and operationally safe structural members of lightweight design.
To solve this object, the configuration according to the invention essentially consists in that the actuation device comprises two independently operable linear actuators including guiding rods cardanically linked to the linear actuators and supported on, or cardanically linked to, various points of the structural member via ball-and-socket joints, as well as at least one supporting rod, wherein the supporting rod(s) are supported on, or cardanically linked to, various points both on the satellite and on the structural member to be oriented via ball-and-socket joints, and/or the structural member to be oriented is supported in, or cardanically linked to, one point directly on the satellite via a ball-and-socket joint, and that the guiding rods and the supporting rod(s) engage at points of the structural member to be oriented, that form a polygon, wherein the angular positions of the guiding rods (5, 6) relative to each other and relative to
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Schwarzinger Christian
Supper Ludwig
Austrian Aerospace Ges.m.b.H.
Phan Tho
Wong Don
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