JPH0226784Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] The present invention relates to a traveling device.

In places where the working environment is bad due to the radiation atmosphere, such as inside a nuclear power plant building, or where the work environment is not suitable for workers due to narrow spaces or uneven surfaces, work robots are used to carry out inspections and other work. Attempts are being made to have the agency act on its behalf. Therefore, there is a need for a traveling device that will serve as the legs of this work robot and can not only travel on flat ground, but also be able to travel on slopes, climb stairs, and overcome obstacles, as well as be able to make sudden turns and change course.

However, in the aforementioned nuclear power plants, etc., the width of the stairs and landings are narrow and steep due to space constraints, and there are narrow parts and uneven parts everywhere, so conventionally known single-function traveling devices cannot be used. It is impossible to apply.

This idea was created in view of the actual situation,
The purpose is to provide a multifunctional traveling device that can not only travel on flat surfaces, but also go up and down stairs and steep slopes, and overcome obstacles.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a main wheel that is rotatably driven independently at the bottom of the device main body, and a secondary wheel is attached to the tip of a plurality of bendable and extensible legs attached to the device main body. The traveling device is movable on a rack rail, and the main wheel is provided with a pinion that can mesh with the rack rail, and the side of the auxiliary wheel is provided with a toothed surface of the rack rail or a flat surface opposite thereto. It is characterized by being equipped with a movable posture stabilizing member.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1A, B, and C are respectively a front view, a plan view, and a side view of a traveling device to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of the main wheel portion of the traveling device according to the present invention;
3A and 3B are partially broken sectional views showing an example of the auxiliary wheel portion of the traveling device, FIGS. 4A and 4B are side views and plan views showing the traveling device running on a steep slope, and FIG. It is a side view which shows the vertical plane and ceiling running state of the same traveling device.

In the traveling device 1 shown in FIG. 1, two main wheels 3, each of which is driven to rotate independently, are attached to the lower part of the device main body 2 on which various devices corresponding to the purpose of traveling (hereinafter referred to as work equipment) are mounted. It is being
A total of four legs 5 are attached to the device main body 2, two at the front and two at the rear, each with the first joint 4 as the base end. In addition to the first joint 4, each leg 5 has a second joint 6 in the middle thereof, and is configured to be bendable and extensible by these joints 4 and 6, and has a running surface (floor surface) at the tip of each leg. An auxiliary wheel 8 that contacts 7 is attached.

The traveling device according to the present invention has mechanisms as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A and B added to the main and auxiliary wheels 3 and 8 of the traveling device 1 described above, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main wheel 3 is rotatably supported by a bearing 11 on a shaft 2' provided integrally with the main body 2 of the device, and a gear 3' is mounted on the inside thereof.
are attached integrally or with bolts, etc. This gear 3' meshes with a small gear 13 fixed to the output shaft end of a drive motor (specifically, a geared motor or the like) 12 attached to the main body 2 of the device. Further, a pinion 10 is integrally attached to the outer side of the main wheel 3.

With the above configuration, if the drive motor 12 is driven, the main wheel 3 is driven through the pinion 13 and the gear 3'.
And the pinion 10 is rotated, so that the traveling device can travel on the floor surface 7.

3A and 3B show the auxiliary wheel 8 at the tip of the leg 5, which is driven by substantially the same mechanism as the main wheel 3, and FIG. 3A shows the auxiliary wheel 8 and the leg 5, respectively. The figure is shown with a roller 20 as a posture stabilizing member attached. In this case, the subwheel 8 is rotatably supported on the leg 5 by a bearing 21, a bearing support plate 22, and a shaft 23, and its inner side is connected to a drive motor (for example, a geared motor) 24 attached to the leg 5. Directly connected. A roller 20 is rotatably supported at the end of the shaft 23 via a bearing 25.

On the other hand, FIG. 3B shows an example in which a pinion 30 is fixed to the shaft 23 via a key 31 instead of the roller 20 in FIG. 3A.

Next, the operation of this traveling device is shown in Figures 4A and B and 5.
This will be explained based on the diagram.

In FIGS. 4A and 4B, when the traveling device 1 moves from the floor 7 to the floor 7'' across the stairs 7' as shown in the figure, the main wheels 3 and the secondary wheels 8 of the traveling device 1 are Installed pinion 10,3
If a pair of rack rails 40 meshing with the rack rails 40 are installed as shown in the figure, when the traveling device 1, which has traveled from the floor 7 from the right to the left in the figure, is located at one end a of the rack rails 40, the main It meshes with the pinion 10 of the wheel 3. At this point, the leg 5 is operated by the joints 4 and 6, and the pinion 30 provided on the auxiliary wheel 8 at the tip of the leg 5 is also moved to a position where it meshes with the rack rail 40.

By the above operation, the traveling device 1 can travel on the rack rail 40 even on a steep slope in the same way as when traveling on a flat floor. In this case,
The postures of the apparatus main body 2 and the working machine 9 can be maintained arbitrarily by the joints 4 and 6.

When the traveling device 1 reaches the other end b of the rack rail 40, the traveling device 1 is prepared to travel on the floor surface 7'' by the operation of the legs 5. Movement from the surface 7'' to the floor surface 7 is possible by reversing the above operation.

Next, in FIG. 5, the vertical surface 7a and the ceiling surface 7
If the rack rail 40 is installed as shown in FIG.
Therefore, it is possible to reach positions Y and X respectively.

In the above embodiment, the pinion 10 of the main wheel 3 is used as a running source, and the roller 20 of the auxiliary wheel 8 is used to prevent and support the running device 1, and the roller 20 is opposite to the toothed surface of the rack rail 40. It is placed along the flat side.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a pinion or the like is added to both the main and auxiliary wheels of the traveling device, and a rack rail with which the pinion can engage is provided, so that the traveling device can only travel on a flat surface. In addition, it becomes possible to go up and down stairs and steep slopes, to overcome obstacles, etc., and it is possible to expand the work range and shorten the work time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1A, B, and C are respectively a front view, a plan view, and a side view of a traveling device to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of the main wheel portion of the traveling device according to the present invention;
3A and 3B are partially cutaway cross-sectional views showing an example of the auxiliary wheel portion of the traveling device, FIGS. 4A and 4B are a side view and a plan view showing the traveling device running on a steep slope, and FIG. The figure is a side view showing the vertical plane and ceiling running state of the traveling device. In the drawing, 1 is a traveling device, 2 is a main body of the device, 3 is a main wheel, 4 and 6 are joints, 5 is a leg, 8 is a secondary wheel, 1
0 and 30 are pinions, 12 and 24 are drive motors,
20 is a roller, and 40 is a rack rail.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A main wheel that is rotatably driven independently is provided at the bottom of the device body, and a secondary wheel is attached to the tips of a plurality of bendable and extensible legs attached to the device body.
A traveling device capable of moving on a rack rail,
A pinion that can mesh with the rack rail is added to the main wheel, and a posture stability holding member that can roll on the toothed surface of the rack rail or a flat surface on the opposite side thereof is attached to the side of the auxiliary wheel. Features a traveling device.