JPH0228151Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to a slope-climbing device that can move up and down along the surface of a cylinder or a prism, the surface of a sloped road, or a vertical wall.

This slope climbing device is used for refreshing painting and cleaning of columnar beams in structures composed of columnar beams, for painting and diagnosing the outer walls of buildings, as a leading machine for ball support, and for pipeline AC (After-sales service). −Care:
That is, it can be used for maintenance work, for AC work on steeply sloped roofs, or for drawing letters or pictures on steeply sloped or vertical surfaces.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional slope climbing device of this type, one disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 124721/1983 is known.

In this conventional device, an endless holder is constructed by connecting a large number of holder plates in a bendable and endless manner.
It is installed on multiple rotating shafts attached to the frame, and each holding plate has multiple rings of different diameters made of elastic material arranged and fixed on its surface, and a gap is formed between each ring to hold it. The board is provided with an intake hole that opens in the inner ring, and on the back of the holding board on the suction side, multiple intake chambers that can fit and slide are attached to the frame, and an intake pipe is connected to the intake chamber. It is something that

Furthermore, another slope-climbing device of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 104483/1983.

This conventional device consists of a pressure receiving body, a self-propelled mechanism attached to the pressure receiving body, and a self-propelled mechanism that can be attached to a wall surface and move along the wall surface using surrounding fluid pressure. a self-propelled mechanism having a traveling means and a drive source for driving the traveling means; connected to a pressure-receiving body and having its free end in contact with a wall surface, at least the free end being made of a flexible material; A partition wall, which cooperates with the pressure receiving body and the wall surface to define a substantially airtight reduced pressure area; It is equipped with a reduced pressure source.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, in the case of the former conventional device, the intake pipes are connected to each of the plurality of intake chambers attached to the back side of the holding board, and the intake pipes are connected to each of the plurality of intake chambers individually as the uphill slope device travels. It is necessary to release the device to the surrounding fluid in a timely manner, and therefore the mechanism and its control are complex, and there are problems with the safety and reliability of the device.

In addition, in the case of the latter conventional device, the slope-climbing device body is attracted to the wall surface by creating a negative pressure inside the pressure-receiving body, while at the same time driving wheels or endless tracks provided outside the pressure-receiving body. Because the device is configured to move along the wall surface, increasing the suction force will make it difficult to drive, and conversely, increasing the driving force will make suction difficult, resulting in a difference between the suction force and the driving force. There is a problem that it is difficult to set the proportion of Therefore, this conventional device also has problems with safety and reliability in terms of ensuring that the slope climbing device is attracted to the wall surface and that it is moved reliably along the wall surface.

This invention solves the problems of the conventional device, and has a simple structure, reliable operation, and the ability to reliably attach the slope climbing device to the wall surface and ensure its movement. The purpose of this invention is to provide a slope climbing device that is highly safe and reliable.

[Means for solving problems]

Therefore, the feature of the slope climbing device of this invention is that a crawler rotation band is wrapped around the front wheel and the rear wheel in the direction of travel, and the crawler rotation band has multiple suction cups and the inside of the suction cup is in a vacuum state. A check valve that closes at a certain time is provided, and an intake mechanism is provided on the front wheel in the direction of travel to draw air from inside the suction cup, and a check valve is opened on the rear wheel in the direction of travel to open the inside of the suction cup to the outside air. The reason is that a release mechanism is provided.

[Effect]

The function of the slope climbing device of this invention is that as each wheel and the crawler rotation band rotate, when the suction cup provided on the crawler rotation band moves around the wheel on the front side in the direction of travel, the suction mechanism operates. At the moment when the suction cup leaves the front wheel in the direction of travel, the check valve closes while the suction cup is in contact with the wall, creating a vacuum inside the suction cup. The wheel position is maintained from the front wheel position in the traveling direction to the rear wheel position in the traveling direction, and during this time the slope climbing device moves forward while adhering to the wall surface with the suction cup. When the suction cup reaches the rear wheel position in the direction of travel, a release mechanism installed on the wheel opens the check valve of the suction cup, opening the inside of the suction cup to the outside air and allowing the suction cup to work. is released, the suction cup leaves the wall, and rotates along the rear wheel in the direction of travel.

〔Example〕

Examples of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall front view of a first embodiment of the slope climbing device of this invention, and FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the crawler device.

In the figure, a crawler device 1 includes a front wheel 3 that rotates together with a front axle 2, a rear wheel 5 that rotates together with a rear axle 4, and a crawler rotation band 6 that is wound around the front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 5.

The lower ends of the supports 7 are rotatably attached to both ends of the front axle 2, and the lower ends of the supports 8 are rotatably attached to both ends of the rear axle 4, and the main body 9 is fixed to the upper ends of the supports 7 and 8. be done. The main body part 9 is equipped with equipment depending on the purpose and use of this slope climbing device.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the front wheel 3, and Fig. 4 is a rear wheel 5.
FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the crawler rotating belt 6. FIG.

In the figure, gears 10 and 11 are provided on both sides of the front wheel 3 and on both sides of the rear wheel 5, respectively, and on the other hand, gear portions 12 that mesh with the gears 10 and 11 are also provided on both sides inside the crawler rotating belt 6. is provided.

In FIG. 1, the front wheel 3 is driven by a power source 15 mounted on the main body 9 via a gear section 13 meshing with the gear 10 and a power transmission mechanism 14. Therefore, the front wheels 3 are driving wheels, and the rear wheels 5 are driven wheels, and by rotationally driving the front wheels 3 in the direction of arrow A, the slope climbing device moves forward in the direction of arrow B.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 1.

1, 3, and 6, a hollow cavity 17 is formed inside the front wheel body 16, and an appropriate number of hollow cavities 17 are formed on the circumference of the central portion of the front wheel body 16, and the cavities 17 communicate with the outside air. ventilation hole 18. They are formed at appropriate intervals, preferably at equal intervals. and,
An opening protrusion 19 is formed around the outer surface of the front wheel body 16 of this ventilation hole 18 . Further, the cavity 17 can be kept in a vacuum at all times by a vacuum pump 20 mounted on the main body 9 via a hose 21 and a rotary joint 22. (Here, "vacuum" refers to a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure.) In FIGS. 5 and 6, the crawler rotation zone 6
Ventilation holes 23 are formed at the center in the longitudinal direction of the crawler rotating belt 6 at the same intervals as the ventilation holes 18 formed in the front wheel body 16, and penetrate through the inside and outside of the crawler rotating belt 6. There are two ventilation holes 23 on the outside of the crawler rotation zone 6.
It also branches, and around its open end is provided an edge 24 made of a flexible material, forming a number of suction cups 25 arranged in pairs in the lateral direction (see also FIG. 2). , an opening protrusion 26 is formed around the inner open end of the crawler rotation band 6 of the ventilation hole 23, and a check valve 28 integrally having a pedal 27 is hinged to the tip of each opening protrusion 26. , ventilation hole 23
is opened and closed by this check valve 28. The outer size of the opening protrusion 26 is such that it can fit into the ventilation hole 18 formed in the opening protrusion 19 of the front wheel main body 16, and the opening protrusion 19 covers the opening protrusion 26 from the outside and the opening protrusion The distal end surface of 19 is in contact with the inner surface of the crawler rotating belt 6.

7a and 7b show the attachment relationship of the check valve 28 to the opening protrusion 26, and the relationship between these and the opening protrusion 19.
As shown in FIG. 7a, by applying a downward force to the pedal 27 in the figure, the vent hole 23 is opened even in a reduced pressure state, and As shown in the figure, even when the opening protrusion 19 covers the outside of the opening protrusion 26 and the tip end surface of the opening protrusion 19 is in contact with the crawler rotating belt 6, if the vent hole 23 is at atmospheric pressure, the vent hole 18 It is released by reduced pressure.

In FIG. 4, projections 29 are provided on the middle circumference of the central portion of the rear wheel 5 at equal intervals to the ventilation holes 23 formed in the crawler rotating belt 6.
can engage with the pedal 27 of the check valve 28 mentioned above.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of this slope climbing device will be explained.

In FIG. 1, when the power source 15 is activated,
The power transmits the power transmission mechanism 14 and the drive gear 1.
3 and gear 10, the front wheel 3 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow A, the crawler rotation belt 6 and the rear wheel 5 are also rotated in the same direction, and the slope climbing device travels in the direction of arrow B. When the vacuum pump 20 is driven, air is sucked into the cavity 17 inside the front wheel body 16.
7 becomes a vacuum. The vacuum pump 20 is constantly driven.

As the crawler rotating band 6 rotates, when the opening protrusion 26 provided on the inside of the crawler rotating band 6 comes above the front wheel 3, the opening protrusion 26 and the check valve 28 close together with the opening protrusion 19 provided on the front wheel 3. The opening protrusion 19 covers the outside of the opening protrusion 26 and the tip surface of the opening protrusion 19 comes into contact with the crawler rotating belt 6. Then, since the cavity 17 is in a vacuum, the check valve 28 opens as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7a, and outside air is sucked into the cavity 17 from the suction cup 25 through the ventilation hole 23.

When the opening protrusion 26 moves around the front half of the front wheel 3 and comes below the front wheel 3, the suction cup 25 comes into contact with, for example, the wall surface C, and the interior of the suction cup 25 and the ventilation hole 23 becomes vacuum.

Next, when the opening protrusion 26 further rotates from the lower position of the front wheel 3, at the moment the tip surface of the opening protrusion 19 of the front wheel 3 leaves the crawler rotation band 6, the suction cup 25 and the ventilation hole 23 are in a vacuum. As shown in FIG. 7b, the check valve 28 is closed by the outside air, and the wall C is sucked by the suction cup 25.

Wall surface C due to the suction cup 25 with this check valve 28 closed
The suction is maintained while the suction cup 25 moves from a position below the front wheel 3 to a position below the rear wheel 5. Therefore,
The slope-climbing device is installed on wall C (which may be sloped or
Or even if it is vertical), you can move forward while being attracted to it. FIG. 5 shows the crawler rotating belt 6 with its check valve 28 closed.

FIG. 8 is a partial front view illustrating the operation of the rear wheel 5 side.

In Figures 7a and b and Figure 8, the check valve 2
A suction cup 25 that sucks the wall surface C when 8 is closed is attached to the rear wheel 5.
When it reaches the lower position, the protrusion 2 provided on the rear wheel 5
9 pushes the pedal 27 integrated with the check valve 28,
The check valve 28 is forcibly opened to open the vent hole 23 and the inside of the suction cup 25 to the outside air, and therefore the suction of the wall surface C by the suction cup 25 is released. The suction cup 25, which has been released from suction, moves away from the wall surface C and moves upward along the rear half circumference of the rear wheel 5.

In this way, the slope-climbing device moves forward while being attracted to the wall surface C by the suction cup 25 between the position below the front wheels 3 and the position below the rear wheels 5.

Next, a second embodiment of the slope climbing device of this invention will be described.

FIG. 9 is an overall front view showing the second embodiment.

In the figure, this second embodiment has one or more (two in the illustration) idler wheels 3 between the front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 5.
Although not shown, each idler wheel 30a, 30b is also provided with an intake mechanism similar to that of the front wheel 3.

That is, the inside of the idler body of the idler wheels 30a, 30b is made hollow, and the opening protrusion 26 and the opening protrusion 26 of the crawler rotating belt 6 are fitted on the circumference of the central part of the idler wheel body at the same interval. A matching opening protrusion is formed, and the inside of the cavity is evacuated by sucking air through the vacuum pump 20 and hoses 31a and 31b.

According to the second embodiment, the intake mechanism of one or more idler wheels 30a, 30b provided between the front wheels 3 and rear wheels 5 allows the crawler rotating belt 6 to pass below the idlers 30a, 30b. Air is sucked into the inside of the suction cup 25. For this reason, the suction cup 25, which is sucked in when leaving the front wheel 3 and is kept in a vacuum state until it reaches the rear wheel 5, is placed between the front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 5.
Even if air enters the suction cup 5 from the surroundings and the degree of vacuum decreases, the degree of vacuum of the suction cup 25 is restored to a predetermined degree of vacuum when passing under the idler wheels 30a, 30b. Therefore, the slope climbing device according to the second embodiment can be firmly and reliably attracted to the wall surface C.

In addition, in the two embodiments described above,
The front wheel is the driving wheel, the rear wheel is the driven wheel, and the front wheel side has a suction cup intake mechanism, and the rear wheel side has a release mechanism. It is also possible to do this. In this case, an intake mechanism for sucking air from a suction cup is provided on the front wheel, which is the driven wheel, and a release mechanism is provided on the rear wheel, which is the driving wheel.

In any case, the intake mechanism may be provided on the front wheel in the traveling direction, and the release mechanism may be provided on the rear wheel in the traveling direction.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, according to the slope climbing device of this invention, a crawler rotating band is wrapped around the front wheel and the rear wheel in the direction of travel, and the crawler rotating band has a plurality of suction cups and the inside of the suction cup. A check valve that closes when there is a vacuum is provided, and an intake mechanism is provided on the front wheel in the direction of travel to draw air from inside the suction cup, and a check valve is opened on the rear wheel in the direction of travel to draw air inside the suction cup. Because it has a configuration with a release mechanism that opens to the outside air, the structure of the intake mechanism and release mechanism is simple, their operation is reliable, and the suction cup is strong, so the slope climbing device can be used on sloped or vertical walls. Since it is firmly attracted to the roller and this attraction does not exert any support on the rotational drive of the crawler rotating belt, the effect that the slope climbing device can be moved at a considerably high speed can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall front view of the first embodiment of the slope climbing device according to this invention, Fig. 2 is an overall perspective view of the crawler device, Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the front wheels, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the rear wheels. FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the crawler rotating belt, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 8 is a partial front view for explaining the operation of the rear wheels, and FIG. 9 is an overall front view of a second embodiment of the slope climbing device according to this invention. 1... Crawler device, 3... Front wheel, 5... Rear wheel, 6...
Crawler rotation band, 10, 11... Gear, 12... Gear part, 13... Drive gear, 14... Power transmission mechanism, 15
...Power source, 17...Cavity, 18...Vent hole, 19...Opening projection, 20...Vacuum pump, 21...Hose, 22
...Rotary joint, 23...Vent hole, 25...Sucker, 26...Opening projection, 27...Pedal, 28...Check valve, 29...Protrusion, 30a, 30b...Idler wheel, 31
a, 31b...Hose, C...Wall surface.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A crawler rotation band is wound around the front wheel and the rear wheel in the direction of travel, and the crawler rotation band is provided with a plurality of suction cups and a check valve that closes when the inside of the suction cup is in a vacuum state, and A climbing mechanism in which a wheel on the front side in the direction of travel is provided with an intake mechanism that sucks air from inside the suction cup, and a wheel on the rear side in the direction of travel is provided with a release mechanism that opens the check valve and releases the inside of the suction cup to the outside air. Slope device.