JPH035192B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention enables traveling according to a desired travel pattern using a cam that rotates according to the amount of travel of a traveling body, and also makes it possible to easily drive the front wheels of a traveling body. This invention relates to a front-wheel drive auto-steering system that is realized using a unique mechanism.

[Background technology]

When attempting to control the direction of a traveling toy in a desired direction, a wireless or wired control device is required, resulting in problems such as high manufacturing costs. In response to this, relatively inexpensive toys have been developed that change direction only when the running toy collides with an obstacle such as a wall. However, since it does not attempt to change the running pattern as desired, it has the disadvantage that the range of play is limited.

In view of these problems, the inventor of the present invention has already filed Japanese Patent Application No. 107517-1982 entitled "Autosteering Device", filed on June 15, 1988, by selectively using various cams. We have proposed an autosteering device for a vehicle that can take a desired running pattern. This autosteering device does not require a special drive source for the steering mechanism, allows various travel patterns by simply replacing the cam, and has a relatively simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost.

However, the inventors have found that there are points that should be further improved in this technique. First, since the autosteering mechanism is installed on the front wheels of the vehicle, various mechanical parts for the autosteering mechanism are gathered on the chassis around the front wheels. For this reason, it has been difficult to further equip the surrounding area with a drive device including a drive source for driving the front wheels. Due to this restriction, rear-wheel drive is used, but with rear-wheel drive it is difficult for the vehicle to make small turns, and furthermore, when the front wheel treads rise above the road surface, accurate coordination with the steering cannot be obtained, making driving difficult. The problem is that it is inaccurate.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a front wheel drive autosteering device that can provide front wheel drive with a simple mechanism to a traveling body equipped with an autosteering mechanism.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Summary of the invention]

A brief overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows.

That is, the autosteering mechanism transmits the rotation of the front wheels to the cam via the reduction gear mechanism, and changes the running direction of the front wheels according to the rotation of the cam.
The transmission relationship between the front wheels and the reduction gear mechanism is such that a first pinion provided on the front wheel meshes with a crown gear rotatably supported on the chassis, and a third pinion that meshes with this crown gear is connected to the reduction gear mechanism. This is done by forming the first gear coaxially with the first gear of the gear train constituting the gear train. A second pinion is further meshed with the crown gear of such an autosteering mechanism, and rotational force from a drive source is applied to the crown gear via the second pinion. Therefore, the crown gear can serve both the function of driving the front wheels from the drive source and the function of transmitting the rotation of the front wheels to the autosteering mechanism. This is to achieve an auto-steering device.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a traveling toy to which the front-wheel drive auto-steering device of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the auto-steering mechanism of the front-wheel drive auto-steering device shown in FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the meshing relationship of each pinion with the crown gear of the autosteering mechanism shown in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams showing other embodiments of the cam used in the autosteering mechanism. It is.

In FIG. 1, a traveling toy 1 is a front-wheel drive four-wheel vehicle, and a rear wheel 2 is rotatably attached to a chassis 3. The front wheels 4 are mounted on the top surface of this chassis 3.
Autosteering mechanism 5 for direction control
, and a drive source 6 for driving the front wheels 4 are mounted and fixed. The drive source 6 has a built-in rechargeable battery-powered motor, and its rotational power is transmitted from a gear 7 at the tip of the drive shaft 6a to a gear 8 attached to one end of the rotation shaft 6b of the drive source 6. There is. At the other end of the rotating shaft 6b, as described later,
A pinion (second pinion) is attached so as to mesh with a crown gear connected to the autosteering mechanism 5. In this way, the rotational power of the drive source 6 for driving the front wheels can be easily transmitted from the rear of the chassis to the front wheels through one rotating shaft 6b.

Next, in FIG. 2, the autosteering mechanism 5 is configured so that the rotation of the front wheel 4 is transmitted to a cam 10 by a reduction gear mechanism 9, and the cam 10 causes a steering mechanism 11 to perform a guiding operation. The axle 4a of the left and right front wheels 4 is connected to the steering arm 12.
It is supported by a support shaft 12a implanted at the tip of the support shaft 12a, and its direction changes as the support shaft 12a rotates. The support shaft 12a is connected to the upper casing 1 of the gearbox 13 that houses the reduction gear mechanism 9.
3a and the lower casing 13b, and rotates in accordance with the left and right displacement of the link bar 14, which is engaged at both ends with a drive pin 12b implanted at the distal end of the steering arm 12. This link bar 14 is integrally fixed to the tip of a horseshoe-shaped steering member 15. 16 is
It is a torsion spring for forcing the steering member 15 to a neutral position, and consists of an annular part 16a that is engaged with a cylindrical boss 17 at the tip of the upper casing 13a, and leg parts 16b that extend on both sides of the annular part 16a. It is locked in the locking hole 14a. A guide pin 19 is provided at a predetermined position on the upper surface of the steering member 15.
The guide pin 19 is displaceably guided by the cam surface 10a of the cam 10, as will be described later. Note that the steering member 15, the link bar 14, the steering arm 12, the support shaft 12a, and the like constitute the steering mechanism 11.

The reduction gear mechanism 9 is a mechanism that reduces the rotation of the front wheel 4 and transmits it to the cam 10.
3b, namely, a first gear (consisting of a worm 93 and a third pinion 92 attached to both ends of this shaft as described later) and gears 94, 95 that mesh with this. ,9
It is composed of 6. First gear worm 9
The rotation of No. 3 is transmitted to the large-diameter gear 94 that meshes with this. A small diameter gear 95 coaxial with this large diameter gear 94
is meshed with a large diameter gear 96 connected to the camshaft 21 via a latch mechanism 22. The latch mechanism 22 includes a latch ring 23 fixed to the upper surface of the large-diameter gear 96 and having a sawtooth-shaped inner circumferential groove 23a;
It consists of a flexible latch arm 24 fixed to the camshaft 21 and latched to the inner circumferential groove 23a at two points,
Only the forward rotation of the latch ring 23 is transmitted to the camshaft 21 via the latch arm 24.

The camshaft 21 passes through the upper casing 13a, and the cam 10 is fitted to the upper end thereof. The cam 10 is made of a disc whose outer periphery is a cam surface 10a, and is used in this embodiment for the purpose of obtaining a U-turn type running pattern. Cam surface 10a
consists of a pair of semicircular arc-shaped surfaces 10ar that are continuous with steps at two locations, and a guide pin 19 implanted in the steering member is guided along the cam surface 10a. Here, the cam 10 is not rotated in the opposite direction by the latch mechanism 22. Therefore, if the front wheel 4 is accidentally rotated in the reverse direction, force will be applied to the step on the cam surface 10a and the guide pin 19, causing these members to It will not be damaged. Similarly, since the steering member 15 has a horseshoe shape, for example, the cam 1
Even if only the steering wheel 0 is forced to rotate, the elastic deformation of the steering member can prevent damage to the steering member.

Next, a configuration in which the front wheels 4 are driven from the drive source 6;
A configuration for transmitting the rotation of the front wheel 4 to the first gear of the gear train of the reduction gear mechanism 9 will be explained with reference to FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals are used for the same components as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Drive shaft 6a of the motor of the drive source 6
As already explained, the gear 7 is attached to the tip of the gear 7 and meshes with the gear 8. These gears 7,
Reference numeral 8 denotes a small diameter cylindrical gear and a large diameter cylindrical gear whose tooth traces are oblique to the screw axis. At the other end of the rotating shaft 6a, a large-diameter cylindrical gear 8 is attached to one end.
A second pinion 61 is attached to mesh with one of the pair of crown gears 100. Here, the pair of crown gears 100 are each rotatable relative to the chassis 3, and in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. installed on.

Furthermore, a first
A pinion 20 meshes with the pair of crown gears 100. Moreover, the first gear mechanism of the above-mentioned reduction gear mechanism
A third pinion 92 is attached to both ends of the shaft of the gear 93 so as to mesh with a pair of crown gears 100. Therefore, in the embodiment, the rotational force of the drive source 6 provided by the second pinion 61 drives the left wheel 4 (corresponding to the right side in the figure) via the first pinion 20, and It can be seen that the rotation is transmitted to the reduction gear mechanism 9 via the third pinion 92. In this way, the crown gear 100 serves both as a front wheel drive and a transmission of front wheel rotation for steering, and by appropriately selecting the length or direction of the rotating shaft 6a, the drive source 6 and the gears 7, Components that require relatively space can be placed at the rear of the vehicle chassis 3.

Now, when the drive source 6 of the traveling toy 1 is turned on, the rotating shaft 6b rotates via the gears 7 and 8. This rotational force is transmitted to the crown gear 100 via the second pinion 61. For this reason, the first pinion 20 of the front wheel 4
rotates and the running toy 1 starts running. At the same time, the third pinion 92 geared with the crown gear 100
The first gear 93 of the reduction gear mechanism 9 is actuated via. The rotation of this first gear 93 is caused by the camshaft 21
As a result, the cam 10 gradually rotates as the amount of travel increases.

When the cam 10 rotates, the guide pin 19 that contacts the cam surface 10a is gradually guided away from the center of the cam 10. That is, the steering member 15 is displaced to the right wheel side together with the link bar 14. Therefore, the steering arms 12 are each rotated counterclockwise about the support shafts 12a, and as a result, the front wheels 4 gradually turn to the left in the direction of travel. Therefore, while the guide pin 19 is in contact with one semicircular arc surface 10ar of the cam surface 10a, the traveling toy 1 turns to the left while gradually reducing the turning radius. And guide pin 19
When the steering member 15 crosses the step from the one semicircular arc surface 10ar to the other semicircular arc surface 10ar, the steering member 15 returns to the neutral position by the spring force of the torsion spring 16, so that the traveling toy 1 moves again. Start going straight.

Further, as the straight movement resumes, the guide pin 19 is guided by the other semicircular arc surface 10ar and begins to gradually move away from the center of the cam 10, so the vehicle starts turning left while slowly reducing the turning radius again.

In the above embodiment, the drive shaft 6a and the rotation shaft 6b are configured to be orthogonal to each other, but for example, instead of the gears 7 and 8, two spur gears whose tooth traces are parallel to the screw axis may be used. using both shafts 6a, 6b
It is also possible to orient the rotating shafts 6b in the same direction, and it is also possible to directly connect the rotating shaft 6b to the motor. This means that the crown gear 100 has a second pinion 61,
It is also clear that by the configuration of the present invention in which the first pinion 20 and the third pinion 92 are engaged with each other, the reduction ratio and acceleration ratio can be easily adjusted by appropriately selecting the number of teeth of each pinion. Further, although the first pinion 61 is provided in the crown gear 100 of the left wheel 4, it may naturally be provided in the crown gear of the right wheel 4.

Furthermore, although the running toy 1 is driven by battery power, it may be driven by inertial rotational power of a flywheel, spring power of a spiral spring, or the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, the shape of the cam 10 that performs a U-turn pattern with two steps is shown, but this may be changed to the shape of the cam 40 with three steps as shown in FIG. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5, the cam 50 may have the shape of a zigzag traveling cam 50 with three blades spread out. The pattern for U-turn type travel shown in FIG. 4 has three steps.
Therefore, the number of U-turns per rotation of the cam is 3/2 times greater than in the case of the cam 10 shown in FIG. 2.
This can be set arbitrarily in relation to the minimum turning radius of the traveling toy 1. Instead of increasing the number of steps, by providing a separate guide pin at a position symmetrical to the guide pin 19 of the steering member 15, it is also possible to obtain twice the number of U-turns using a cam with the same number of steps. Furthermore, the heights a and b of the columns 41 and 51 extending below the cams 40 and 50 are made different, and the heights of the two guide pins disposed at mutually symmetrical positions are also the heights of the columns 41 and 51, respectively. By varying the lengths a and b, the cam 40 can be guided by one guide pin, and the cam 50 can be guided by both guide pins.

〔effect〕

As explained above, the front wheel drive autosteering device of the present invention includes a pair of crown gears provided near the front wheels, a second pinion that transmits the rotational force of the drive source to the crown gear, and a second pinion that transmits the rotational force to the front wheels. Since the first pinion that provides the drive wheel and the third pinion that transmits the rotation of the front wheels to the reduction gear mechanism are all in mesh with each other, it has the effect that front wheel drive and autosteering can be performed with a small and simple mechanism.

Furthermore, since the wheels to be steered and the wheels to be driven are the same, it has the effect of being accurate and having a tight turning radius.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained based on Examples above, the present invention is not limited to the above Examples, and it is understood that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. Needless to say.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment in which the front wheel drive autosteering device of the present invention is applied to a traveling toy, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the autosteering mechanism of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. The figure is a diagram showing the meshing relationship of each pinion with the crown gear of the autosteering mechanism shown in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams showing other embodiments of the cam used in the autosteering mechanism. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Traveling toy, 3... Chassis, 4... Front wheel, 5... Auto steering mechanism, 6... Drive source, 6b... Rotating shaft, 9... Reduction gear mechanism, 10, 40, 50... Cam, 15... Steering member, 20... 1st pinion, 61...2nd pinion, 92...3rd pinion, 100...crown gear.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotating shaft 6b connected to a drive source 6 for driving the front wheels 4 of the traveling body, and a reduction gear mechanism 9 for decelerating and transmitting the rotation of the front wheels 4.
A cam 10 that is removably connected to the reduction gear mechanism 9 and rotates, a steering member 15 that is displaceable from side to side along the cam surface of the cam 10, and a steering member 15 that is provided on the steering member 15. A link bar 14 that is integrally displaced with the member 15, a steering arm 12 that is pivotally supported on one side by the link bar 14 and has an upper end of a support shaft 12a fixed on the other side, and a side of the steering arm 12. The steering mechanism 11 includes an axle 4a provided at the top of the steering wheel, and a front wheel 4 rotatably provided on the axle 4a, and the front wheel 4 has a first pinion attached to the axle 4a. The rotating shaft connected to the drive source 6 has a second pinion attached to one end thereof, and the first gear constituting the gear mechanism has third pinions attached to both ends of the shaft. have,
These first, second, and third pinions are each meshed with a pair of crown gears provided near the front wheels 4 of the traveling body and rotatably supported on the chassis of the traveling body. Front wheel drive auto steering system.