JPH028169Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention provides for attaching a caster-type grounding wheel for detecting moving distance to a traveling vehicle, more specifically, to the vehicle body through a mounting member rotatable around a vertical axis relative to the vehicle body. Relating to a running vehicle installed in

Conventionally, in this type of driving vehicle, especially in an automatic driving vehicle such as a lawn mower that is configured to automatically travel a predetermined driving course, information such as a turning position is detected and steering control is performed. Since it is necessary to detect the distance traveled as a control parameter for various types of control, it is necessary to provide a grounding wheel that rotates in conjunction with the movement of the vehicle body, and measure the distance traveled by detecting the number of revolutions of this grounding wheel. It is.

However, since the above-mentioned conventional ground contact wheel is of a caster type, it cannot move forward in the running direction of the vehicle.
When changing to reverse, the vehicle has no choice but to turn horizontally around its side axle, and as a result, distance information cannot be detected or incorrect information may be output. It had its drawbacks.

The present invention has been developed in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a traveling vehicle equipped with means that can continuously and accurately detect the distance traveled even when the direction of vehicle movement is changed between forward and reverse. It is in.

In order to achieve the above object, the traveling vehicle according to the present invention includes the mounting member as a vehicle body side member pivotally connected to the vehicle body around the vertical axis. , and a wheel-side member that pivotally supports the grounding wheel, and the vehicle body-side member and the wheel-side member are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the vertical axis and parallel to the axially supporting direction of the grounding wheel. It is connected by a flexible mechanism that is relatively swingable around the horizontal axis and that can freely change the distance between the pivot point with the grounding wheel on the wheel side member and the horizontal axis center point. Feature configuration.

Due to the above structure, the following excellent effects have been achieved.

In other words, the vehicle body side member and the wheel side member are able to freely swing relative to each other around the horizontal axis, and the flexibility mechanism allows the vehicle body side member and the wheel side member to move freely between the pivot point of the grounding wheel on the wheel side member and the horizontal axis center point. Since the distance between the axles (hereinafter referred to as the distance between the axles) can be changed, when the wheels move forward or backward, the vehicle body pulls the grounding wheels, and the distance between the axles becomes the longest, and the vehicle body moves forward. When switching from to reverse or vice versa,
around the spindle of the ground contact wheel so that while the ground contact wheel is temporarily maintained in a stopped state due to friction with the running ground, the distance between the axes decreases from the longest state and then increases again to the longest state. Since the wheel-side member swings during the switching, it is possible to prevent the grounding wheel from rotating around the vertical axis or being unduly displaced during the switching.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, the ground contact wheels do not rotate for a while after the vehicle body is switched from forward to reverse, or vice versa, but due to the rocking movement of the wheel side members, the relative Since the above-mentioned grounding ring moves in position equivalent to when it rotates, the mechanism for detecting the rotation speed of the grounding ring is the same as when the grounding ring is rotating even when the grounding ring is stopped. It is possible to detect the rotation speed.

Therefore, even when switching between forward and reverse, the distance traveled by the vehicle body can be detected reliably and accurately without malfunction.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front and rear wheels 2 and 3 of the vehicle body 1
A lawn mowing work vehicle as a running vehicle is equipped with means capable of detecting the travel distance of the vehicle body 1 by suspending the lawn mowing device 4 in the middle part thereof so as to be able to move vertically and by providing a grounding wheel 5 having the configuration described later. has been configured.

The grounding wheel 5 is attached to the vehicle body 1 via a mounting member 7 that is rotatable about a vertical axis with respect to the vehicle body 1, and is configured in a caster type. The mounting member 7 is composed of a vehicle body side member 8A and a wheel side member 8B.
is pivotally connected to the frame 6 of the vehicle body 1 at its upper end side so as to be freely rotatable around a vertical axis P as a vertical axis, and at the same time, the grounding wheel 5 is freely rotatable around a horizontal axis Q at its one end side. The lower end of the vehicle body side member 8A is configured such that the wheel side member 8B, which is pivotally supported at the other end, is swingable around a horizontal axis R that is parallel to the horizontal axis Q in a direction perpendicular to the vertical axis P. It is connected to the side. The connection is performed by the vehicle body side member 8
A shaft support 17, 17 protruding along the horizontal axis R on the lower end side of A is formed on the other end side of the wheel side member 8B with the longitudinal direction extending in the radial direction of the ground contact wheel 5. This is done by loosely fitting into the hole 9. Therefore, the distance between the horizontal axis R and the horizontal axis Q can be changed within the range in the longitudinal direction of the elongated hole 9. Note that here, the elongated hole 9 and the shaft supports 17, 17 are configured as a flexible mechanism 16.

Further, the shaft 10 of the grounding wheel 5 rotatably supported around the horizontal axis Q is provided with a disc member 11 having irregularities similar to a gear on the outer circumferential portion that rotates together with the grounding wheel 5. A rotation detector 12, which generates one pulse per unit number of revolutions by sensing this unevenness change, is fixed to one side of the wheel side member 8B. Then, normally, the number of rotations of the grounding wheel 5 that rotates as the vehicle body 1 moves is detected as the number of pulses emitted by the rotation detector 12,
Consequently, the distance traveled by the vehicle body 1 is detected by counting the number of pulses.

On the other hand, when the vehicle body 1 changes direction from forward to reverse, the vehicle body side member 8A moves rearward together with the vehicle body 1, and the horizontal axis R is the wheel side member 8A.
Since the wheel side member 8B freely moves in the longitudinal direction within the long hole 9 provided in B, the grounding wheel 5 does not rotate, and the horizontal axis R moves its position from the front of the grounding wheel 5 to the rear. It moves. After that, the grounding wheel 5 rotates in the same way as when moving forward, and the distance traveled can be detected.

By the way, during the above-mentioned switching between forward and reverse, the ground contact wheel 5 is stationary and does not rotate, but the wheel side member 8B rotates rearward as a whole around the horizontal axis Q, so the rotation detection The container 12 is the disk 11
As a result, the same signal as when the grounding wheel 5 rotates is detected, and the number of pulses is different from the initial position of the horizontal axis R (shown by the solid line in FIG. 2). ) to the end position of the backward movement of the horizontal axis R (indicated by the dotted line in Figure 2), which perfectly matches the movement distance of the vehicle body 1. This also made it possible to detect the distance traveled by the vehicle body 1.

In this embodiment, the shaft supports 17, 17 formed on the lower end side of the vehicle body side member 8A are used as the flexibility mechanism 16 for automatic contraction of the respective members 7, 8.
Although a structure is adopted in which the vehicle body side member 8A and the wheel side member 8B are loosely fitted into the elongated hole 9 formed in the wheel side member 8B, for example, the vehicle body side member 8A and the wheel side member 8B may be configured to have a double cylinder structure so that they themselves automatically contract. Well, the point is that the grounding ring 5 is
When switching the work vehicle forward or backward, the distance between the horizontal axis R and the horizontal axis Q can be changed freely without rotating around the vertical axis P, and the horizontal axis R is aligned with the horizontal axis Q. Any configuration is sufficient as long as it can move forward and backward beyond Q.

In addition, the grounding wheel 5 is provided with a stopper 13 that restricts the rotation of the member 7 on the vehicle body 1 side so that the grounding wheel 5 does not rotate more than a predetermined angle in the horizontal direction. This prevents the grounding wheel 5 from rotating around the center P and cutting the wiring from the rotation detector 12, or from sliding sideways when changing direction or the like.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
A wire 15 may be provided with one end fixed to the wheel side member 4 and the other end fixed to the wheel side member 8B, and the grounding wheel 5 may be moved up and down by the lift arm 14. With this configuration, the ground contact wheel 5 can be stored away from the ground when not needed, so the ground contact wheel 5 does not get stuck during normal driving. It becomes possible to extend the service life. Incidentally, although reference numerals are written in the claims section of the utility model registration for convenience of comparison with the drawings, the present invention based on these entries is not limited to the structure of the attached drawings.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of a traveling vehicle according to the present invention,
Figure 1 is an overall side view of the lawn mowing vehicle, Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the grounding wheel, Figure 3 is an enlarged rear view of the grounding wheel,
FIG. 4 is a plan view of essential parts showing the structure of the stopper, and FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the structure of the lifting mechanism for the ground contact wheel. 1...Vehicle body, 5...Grounding wheel, 7...Mounting member,
8A... Vehicle body side member, 8B... Wheel side member, 16
...Flexibility mechanism, P...Vertical axis core, R...Horizontal axis core.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a running vehicle in which a caster-type grounding wheel 5 for detecting a moving distance of the vehicle body 1 is provided on the vehicle body 1 via a mounting member 7 rotatable around a vertical axis P with respect to the vehicle body 1, the mounting member 7 is composed of a vehicle body side member 8A rotatably connected to the vehicle body 1 around the vertical axis P, and a wheel side member 8B that pivotally supports the grounding wheel 5, and this vehicle body side The member 8A and the wheel side member 8B are relatively swingable around a horizontal axis R that is perpendicular to the vertical axis P and parallel to the axis support direction of the grounding wheel 5,
and the grounding wheel 5 in the wheel side member 8B.
A traveling vehicle characterized in that the distance between the shaft support point and the horizontal axis R point is connected by a flexible mechanism 16 that can change the distance.