JPH0342230B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention consists of two roughly parallel rails and a running vehicle that runs between the two rails, and the running vehicle has arms with driving wheels attached to both rails. It creates a driving friction force and moves on its own.

(Prior art) There are two ways to transport objects using rails: driving the rope (winding, hoisting, etc.) and fixing the rail. Examples of the former include elevators, ropeways, lifts, and cranes; examples of the latter include monorails, trolleys, and railroads. Both are selectively used depending on the distance traveled. In any case, there is currently nothing that can be transported through narrow, confined, and tortuous spaces.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) At construction sites for various buildings and facilities, equipment, materials, etc. must be transported through intricate slopes and winding paths due to spatial constraints. In addition, in order to prevent major accidents and ensure safe operation at chemical and nuclear plants, it is necessary to move freely in three-dimensional space while the plant is operating, and to monitor and inspect the operating status. ing.
Robotizing these tasks is a great hope for the future. Particularly in the field of the nuclear power industry, this is an essential requirement that goes beyond simply streamlining work and saving labor.

To achieve this, the first step would be to develop a device that can freely travel along rails laid and fixed in space. It would be desirable for such a device to be able to run stably even when there is no gravitational friction between the rails and the wheels due to twisting or bending of the rails, and to be able to adequately accommodate a variety of routes.

On the other hand, in the past, only suspended traveling devices that utilized friction between wheels and ropes were considered as a simple transportation method, and with such devices, shaking during traveling could be avoided. do not have. Additionally, if the rope is tilted, it will be strongly affected by gravity, making it difficult to run.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve these problems, the present invention uses two rails, that is, rails, grooves, or ropes, and adapts to sloped and curved sections. To provide a device that runs continuously.

There are four inventions in this application, and their outlines will be described first.

1 It consists of two roughly parallel rails and a running vehicle that runs by stretching its arms between the two rails and pressing the driving wheels at the ends of the arms against the rails.The rails are either tensioned ropes or fixed rigid structures. The vehicle has a main body with a device mounting surface, a pair of arms that are biased to extend in symmetrical directions, a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm, and a balance-like shape attached to the end of the other arm. An attitude that detects the angle formed by the attached car frame, the driving wheel, driven wheel, or two driving wheels at both ends of the car frame, and the car frame and the arm, and controls the relative speed of each of the driving wheels to keep this at a required value. An inter-rail running device comprising: a control device.

2 It consists of two roughly parallel rails and a running vehicle that runs by stretching both arms between the two rails and pressing the driving wheels at the ends of the arms against the rails, and the rails are either tensioned ropes or fixed rigid structures. The traveling vehicle has a main body with a device mounting surface, a pair of arms that are guided and biased to extend in symmetrical directions, a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm, and a balance at the end of the other arm. Detects the angle formed by the vehicle frame attached to the shape, the driving wheel, driven wheel, or two driving wheels at both ends of the vehicle frame, and the vehicle frame and the arm, and controls the relative speed of each of the driving wheels to maintain this at a required value. An inter-rail traveling device characterized by comprising: a posture control device for controlling the position of the arm; and a device for detecting the amount of expansion and contraction of each of the pair of arms and instructing a center position between the rails.

3 It consists of two roughly parallel rails and a running vehicle that runs by stretching its arms between the two rails and pressing the driving wheels at the ends of the arms against the rails, and the rails are either tensioned ropes or fixed rigid structures. The vehicle has a main body with a device mounting surface, a pair of arms that are biased to extend in symmetrical directions, a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm, and a balance-like shape attached to the end of the other arm. An attitude that detects the angle formed by the attached car frame, the driving wheel, driven wheel, or two driving wheels at both ends of the car frame, and the car frame and the arm, and controls the relative speed of each of the driving wheels to keep this at a required value. An inter-rail running device comprising: a control device; and a current collector that receives electric power or signals from the rails that are electric wires or have electric wires running therethrough, and sends them to the drive motors or signal receivers of the respective driving wheels.

4 It consists of two roughly parallel rails, a running vehicle that runs by stretching both arms between the two rails and pressing the driving wheels at the ends of the arms against the rails, and a vehicle connecting member, and the above rails are tensioned. The vehicle is made of a rope or a fixed rigid material, and consists of a main body with a mounting surface for equipment, a pair of arms that are biased to extend in symmetrical directions, a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm, and a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm. The angle formed by the car frame attached to the end of the arm in a scale shape, the driving wheel, driven wheel, or two driving wheels at both ends of the car frame, and the car frame and the arm is detected, and the angle between each of the driving wheels is adjusted to maintain the angle at the required value. and an attitude control device for controlling relative speed. An inter-rail running device characterized in that it also includes a control device for controlling speed.

(Function) The functions of the above four inventions are listed as follows.

(1) Conventional power vehicles that run on rails utilize the driving wheels and friction between the rails due to gravity, but in the case of the present invention, the vehicle that runs between the rails stretches its arms toward both rails. , creates a driving friction force between the driving wheel at the end of the arm and the rail. Therefore, it is possible to run in a posture that is independent of gravity.

It can run without any problem even if the distance between the rails changes to some extent, and it is also possible to use a tensioned rope as the rails.

(2) In addition to the effect described in (1) above, a balance-shaped vehicle frame with wheels at both ends is attached to one arm of the vehicle, the angle between this vehicle frame and the arm is detected, and the angle is set to the required value. Since we added an attitude control device to control the speed of each driving wheel to maintain the
If you specify a degree, it will be maintained regardless of the vehicle's attitude or speed.

(3) In addition to the effects described in (1) and (2) above, the center line of the rail can be tracked from the outside by a device that detects the amount of expansion and contraction of the pair of thrust arms of the traveling vehicle and indicates the center position between the rails. .

(4) In addition to the effects described in (1) and (2) above, since the traveling vehicle is equipped with a current collector, it receives electric power or signals from electric wires or rails that run along electric wires, and rotates the motor or receives commands. You can run while receiving.

(5) In addition to the effects of (1) and (2) above, by connecting multiple traveling vehicles using a traveling vehicle connecting member, the relative speed of the related driving wheels can be adjusted so that the amount of expansion and contraction of the connecting member expansion and contraction part is within the required range. Since it comes with a control device that controls it, it can run connected without any problems even at curved sections of the track.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which a traveling vehicle C runs on a three-dimensionally curved rail. One arm 1b is
One end is pivotally supported at the center of the vehicle frame 2 at a joint 7, and they can rotate freely relative to each other. Also, the other end is engaged with the main body 4. Furthermore, the other arm 1a has a joint 6 that allows free rotation around the arm axis, and the other end is attached to the main body 4.
engage with. The main body 4 is a device that generates a stretchable tensioning force by an electric method using a motor or a mechanical method using a spring or the like, and tensions the two arms in opposite directions on the same straight line. This applies constant pressure to the arm by extending the arm when the thrust resistance is small and shortening it when it is large. The car frame 2 has a U-shaped balance, has both ends connected to a rotary joint 6, and has a driven wheel 3 with a groove following a rail W at the tip, and a driven wheel 3.
Equipped with a. The arm 1a is also provided with a grooved driving wheel 3a that follows the rail W at the end of the rotary joint 6. The three wheels follow the direction of rail extension by means of rotary joints 6 and are automatically steered as a result. One of the two wheels at both ends of the vehicle frame and the wheel at the arm end that does not have a vehicle frame are driving wheels 3a to which rotational force is applied by the drive device 5. θ is the intersection angle between the vehicle frame and the arm axis. The sign of θ indicates a positive angle at which the main body 4 rotates in the direction in which it moves with respect to the arm axis. This angle is measured using an angle detector _P1 , such as the potentiometer shown in FIGS.

In such a configuration, while applying rotational force to the driving wheels, by changing the rotational speed of the driving wheels on both sides of the main body and keeping the intersection angle θ at a constant value, the main body can be made independent between the rails and moved in the direction in which the rails extend. It will be done.

FIG. 2 shows the running situation when the rails are bent and laid on the same plane. Therefore, the rotational axes of the wheels are perpendicular to the plane of the paper. In this example, the lower driving wheel is the main wheel, and the upper driving wheel is the secondary wheel. From this figure, it can be seen that the main body 4 moves stably by extending and contracting the arm 1, regardless of the rail path. Figure 2 can also be interpreted as an extension of the curved surface on which the main body 4 exists, so it is not difficult to imagine a situation in which the vehicle travels between rails laid in a three-dimensional space.

FIG. 3 shows a more specific embodiment of the invention. 4 and 5 are a side view and a plan view of the same embodiment. The car frame 2 has a U-shape with both ends protruding in the direction of the rail. The protruding tip is equipped with a wheel and has a rotating joint 6 in the middle. This joint can be easily constructed using a thrust bearing or the like. Wheel drive control device M and rotation speed measuring device that measures travel distance
P ₂ is installed on the protruding part of the vehicle frame. The frame center point is connected to one end of the arm by a bending joint 7. The joint 7 is for allowing the vehicle frame and the arm to rotate freely relative to each other, and can be easily constructed using a radial bearing or the like. Rotation angle detection device
_P1 detects the intersection angle θ between the arm 1 and the vehicle frame 2, which is necessary to enable cooperative control of the driving wheels. The driving wheel drive control device M includes a motor as an actuator for rotating the wheels, as well as a servo of the attitude control device that compares the output value of _P1 with a value corresponding to a required angle of 90° and sends a control signal to the actuator. Has a circuit.

If the angle θ in FIG. 1 deviates from the required angle (generally 90°), the servo circuit immediately issues a command to the driving wheel drive control device M to change the relative speed between both driving wheels and return it to the required angle. By lowering the gain and providing more elasticity to the following motion, it is possible to run smoothly even in places where the rail is complicatedly curved.

The wheels are coupled to actuators or rotation speed measuring devices using known techniques such as gears, belts, chains, etc. The main body 4 includes a center position indicating device 4b (FIG. 4) that detects the amount of extension and contraction of the arm and determines the midpoint when determining the center between the tracks.
A rotary joint 6 in the vehicle frame serves to facilitate automatic steering of the wheels in the direction of the track. Due to the tension of these joints and the expandable main body, the main body adaptively stands on its own between the rails. In addition, the vehicle runs stably through cooperative control of the driving wheels.

Next, a case will be described in which a plurality of main bodies of the traveling device are connected. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which two main bodies are connected and run. The connecting member 8 has an extensible portion 9, and its length L is detected. The main body and the connecting member are provided with a bending joint 7 and a rotary joint 6 on the main body side or the connecting member side so that the inclination of the arm 1 and the rotation around the tube axis do not affect the position or posture of the other main bodies. FIG. 6 shows two joints 6 on the arm side and one joint 6 on the connecting member side, and by connecting the arm and the connecting member with one joint 7, mutual influence is achieved. Here is an example of eliminating. When connecting the arm and the connecting member with a universal joint, it is sufficient to have one joint 6 on the arm side. Further, the joint 6 on the connecting member side can also be attached to the connecting part on the arm side.
When a plurality of running gears are combined in this way, only one of them runs in the same way as the previous running gear. In other traveling devices, the length L of the telescoping section 9 is
The vehicle runs in a manner that maintains a predetermined value. In other words, the drive device of one traveling device drives the driving wheels independently of the other devices, and the drive device of the other traveling device drives the driving wheels so that the length L of the elastic part 9 of the connecting member becomes a predetermined value. drive the driving wheels. In short, one device runs actively and the other devices follow it. To explain this concretely using the connection of two units in Fig. 6, when the right traveling device is driven to the right, the amount of expansion and contraction L of the connecting member increases, so the left traveling device is driven to the right and driven. Shrink. If the left side device is driven to the right, L will decrease, so the right side device is driven to the right to increase it. In this way, the present invention, in which a plurality of traveling devices are connected, does not generate excessive force and travels as if traveling independently. When transporting instruments, equipment, materials, etc., these may be fixed to the connecting member. The present invention is effective even if some of the traveling devices do not have self-propelling capability.

Since the structure of the present invention is simple, it can be varied and applied in various ways depending on the known skills of mechanical engineers. It can also be generated by electromagnetic force, pneumatic pressure, hydraulic pressure, and others. Also,
Since the rotary joint 6 does not need to rotate over a wide range, it is only necessary to give it some flexibility around the axis. Therefore, the joint 6 can be easily configured using a spring or the like. The same can be said for the joint 6 provided in the connecting member for connecting a plurality of traveling devices, as long as the rail path does not rotate in a spiral manner, it is not necessary to rotate over a wide range. The intersection angle between the arm and the vehicle frame can be easily detected using a potentiometer or the like, and the driving wheel drive device can also be easily constructed using existing electronic circuit technology.

When the wheels are electrically insulated from the main body, the wheels can be electrically connected to the rails, and the power required for the drive control device can be supplied using the two rails. Furthermore, although not shown, various modulation methods can be adopted to transmit control signals for the drive device using the same rail. In this way, the present invention also provides a traveling device that does not require pulling electric wires or the like. Furthermore, the center position of both ends of the arm can be determined by the main unit, and by simply running the device of the present invention,
It is possible to continuously determine the center position between two curved rails.

The rails of the present invention only need to uniquely give the traveling direction of the wheels. for example,
In particular, if two grooves are prepared without laying rails, the wheels can be automatically steered within the grooves in the direction in which the grooves extend, allowing the vehicle to travel between the grooves using these as rails. Depending on the material of the rails, the wheels can be made of permanent magnets and the attraction force can be used to guide the wheels more reliably. In order to prevent the distance between the rails on both sides from expanding beyond the tension limit of the vehicle's arm, it is easier to install by attaching curved stays to maintain the distance at a constant pitch and creating a ladder-like track. It is also possible to take out the auxiliary wheels from the main body and run by sandwiching the rails between these and the driving wheels. Various mechanisms can be considered to prevent the vehicle from falling off both rails.

In addition, when both wheels of the vehicle frame 2 are used as driving wheels 3a,
Since both motors are controlled by the same signal, there is no competition in terms of driving force. If a transmission mechanism including a differential gear or the like is used, both wheels can use a common motor, and the two wheels can be set to different speeds depending on the bending angle of the rail, etc.

The above embodiment assumes a case where the rail is complicatedly curved three-dimensionally, so many rotary joints are used, but if the rail is curved in a planar manner, these may be completely abolished.

The mechanism for stretching both arms protruding from the main body toward both rails may be a pantograph type or a rotating link type, in addition to the protrusion mechanism as in the above embodiment.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention breaks the common sense that a self-propelled vehicle running on rails always runs with the friction force between the driving wheels and the rails due to gravity, and the present invention creates a driving friction force between the rails and the driving wheels on both sides using its own thrust force. Build it and run it. Therefore, it has become a traveling device that can run in any position and even in a direction that opposes gravity. Furthermore, even if the distance between the rails on both sides changes slightly, the arms that are given this tension maintain the necessary frictional force, eliminating the need for the dimensional accuracy of conventional parallel rails. Summer. In particular, the rail installation work is easy because the distance between the rails on both sides may change at curved or twisted sections of the rail.

For example, by attaching photographic equipment, inspection and testing equipment to the main body, and fixing the rails on both sides to the structure so that they are in the desired position and orientation on the structure, a large number of inspection points can be automatically and sequentially inspected.

In addition to rigid rails, the traveling vehicle of the present invention may be constructed by, for example, using wire ropes as rails, and attaching restraint stays in the form of a ladder to prevent the ropes from widening, or using fixed auxiliary wheels and driving wheels extending from the main body to connect the ropes. Even under conditions where it is impossible to fix it as a permanent facility, it is possible to achieve a usage effect similar to that of fixed rails by running it in a pinched manner.

In other words, the present invention solves problems such as vertical parts, bent parts, unevenly spaced parts,
It runs freely between rails with twisting parts, etc., and by running in conjunction with multiple vehicles, it transports instruments, equipment, and materials necessary for various tasks such as monitoring, inspection, testing, maintenance, and repair. We were able to provide a device that allows the user to take the necessary posture at the desired position.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the driving situation of the above embodiment, Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are an elevation view, a side view, a plan view, and a 6th The figure is also an explanatory diagram when two traveling vehicles are connected. 1... Arm, 2... Vehicle frame, 3... Driven wheel, 3a...
...Driving wheel, 4...Main body, 4a...Equipment mounting surface, 4b
...Rail center position indicating device, 8...Connection material, M
... Drive control device for driving wheels, P ₁ ... Rotation angle detector of attitude control device, P ₂ ... Rotation speed measuring device, C...
...Running vehicle, Wa, Wb...Rail.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Consists of two roughly parallel rails and a running vehicle that runs by stretching its arms between the two rails and pressing the driving wheels at the ends of the arms against the rails, the rails being tensioned. The vehicle is made of a rope or a fixed rigid material, and consists of a main body with a device mounting surface, a pair of arms that are biased to extend in symmetrical directions, a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm, and the other. The vehicle frame attached to the arm end of the frame in a scale shape, the driving wheel, driven wheel, or two driving wheels at both ends of the vehicle frame, and the angle formed by the vehicle frame and the arm are detected, and each of the driving wheels is adjusted to maintain the angle at the required value. An attitude control device for controlling the relative speed of the inter-rail running device. 2 It consists of two roughly parallel rails and a running vehicle that runs by stretching both arms between the two rails and pressing the driving wheels at the ends of the arms against the rails, and the rails are either tensioned ropes or fixed rigid rails. The traveling vehicle has a main body with a device mounting surface, a pair of arms urged to extend in symmetrical directions, a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm, and a balance-shaped member at the end of the other arm. The angle formed by the vehicle frame attached to the vehicle frame, the driving wheel, driven wheel, or two driving wheels at both ends of the vehicle frame, and the vehicle frame and the arm is detected, and the relative speed of each of the driving wheels is controlled to maintain this angle at a required value. An inter-rail traveling device comprising: an attitude control device; and a device that detects the amount of expansion and contraction of each of the pair of arms and instructs a center position between the rails. 3 It consists of two roughly parallel rails and a running vehicle that runs by stretching its arms between the two rails and pressing the driving wheels at the ends of the arms against the rails, and the rails are either tensioned ropes or fixed rigid structures. The vehicle has a main body with a device mounting surface, a pair of arms that are biased to extend in symmetrical directions, a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm, and a balance-like shape attached to the end of the other arm. An attitude that detects the angle formed by the attached car frame, the driving wheel, driven wheel, or two driving wheels at both ends of the car frame, and the car frame and the arm, and controls the relative speed of each of the driving wheels to keep this at a required value. An inter-rail running device comprising: a control device; and a current collector that receives electric power or signals from the rails that are electric wires or have electric wires running therethrough, and sends them to the drive motors or signal receivers of the respective driving wheels. 4 It consists of two roughly parallel rails, a running vehicle that runs by stretching both arms between the two rails and pressing the driving wheels at the ends of the arms against the rails, and a vehicle connecting member, and the above rails are tensioned. The vehicle is made of a rope or a fixed rigid material, and consists of a main body with a mounting surface for equipment, a pair of arms that are biased to extend in symmetrical directions, a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm, and a driving wheel attached to the end of one arm. The angle formed by the car frame attached to the end of the arm in a scale shape, the driving wheel, driven wheel, or two driving wheels at both ends of the car frame, and the car frame and the arm is detected, and the angle between each of the driving wheels is adjusted to maintain the angle at the required value. and an attitude control device for controlling relative speed. An inter-rail running device characterized in that it also includes a control device for controlling speed.