JPH06270601A - Wheel supporter of moving car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve straight running ability in running and raise running speed so as to improve work efficiency by installing a wheel support frame for supporting a pair of wheels and a motor to a car body frame so that it can make turning movement around the longitudinal axle center in a central part between the wheels and supporting the wheels respectively toward inside in relation to a wheel advance direction. CONSTITUTION:A wheel support frame 22 for supporting a pair of wheels 11A, 11B and motors 12A, 12B for driving them respectively arranged side by side at some intervals in a rotary axle center direction is installed on a car body frame 21 so that it can make turning movement around a longitudinal axle center P located in the central part between the wheels 11A, 11B. The wheel support frame 22 is so constituted that a pair of wheels 11A, 11B can be respectively supported toward inside in relation to a wheel advance direction. As the friction resistance of a wheel in a rotating direction side is reduced and the friction resistance of the other wheel is increased when a straight running wheels are put in turning movement by the external factor such as unevenness of a road and the like, the forces in the direction for restoring the turning movement of the wheels are exerted on the wheels respectively and the turning movement of the wheels can be corrected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wheel support frame for supporting a pair of wheels arranged at intervals in the direction of the axis of rotation and a motor for driving the wheels separately, and a center portion between the pair of wheels. The present invention relates to a wheel support device for a moving vehicle mounted on a vehicle body frame so as to rotate around a vertical axis located at.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, such a wheel supporting device is applied to a wheel of a moving vehicle which is capable of not only forward and backward traveling but also complicated traveling such as spin turn, lateral traveling or diagonal traveling. For example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-71287 filed by the applicant of the present application, a pair of wheels arranged at intervals are provided in parallel with the traveling direction of the wheels. While the vehicle is stopped, a pair of wheels are individually driven to change the direction of the wheels to change the traveling direction.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional wheel supporting device for a moving vehicle, since a pair of wheels arranged at intervals are provided parallel to the traveling direction of the wheels.
When changing the traveling direction in the stopped state, although there is an advantage that the pair of wheels can easily rotate around the vertical axis located at the center between the pair of wheels, while traveling,
There is a problem that the wheels cannot easily rotate due to external factors such as unevenness of the road surface, and as a result, the vehicle body tends to wobble, and the traveling speed of the moving vehicle cannot be increased. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve the fluctuation of the moving vehicle during traveling in the wheel supporting device of the moving vehicle and to increase the traveling speed of the moving vehicle. It is to improve work efficiency.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A wheel supporting device for a mobile vehicle according to the present invention comprises a wheel supporting frame for supporting a pair of wheels arranged at intervals in the direction of the axis of rotation and a motor for separately driving the wheels. The wheel support frame is attached to the vehicle body frame so as to rotate about a longitudinal axis located at a central portion between the pair of wheels. Each of them is configured to be supported inward with respect to the traveling direction of the wheels.

[0005]

According to the characteristic construction of the present invention, since the pair of wheels are respectively supported inward with respect to the traveling direction of the wheels,
The moving vehicle travels while the pair of wheels exert mutually inward forces on the vehicle body. For example, it is assumed that the wheels of a moving vehicle traveling straight ahead are rotated as shown in FIG. 6 due to external factors such as unevenness of the road surface (for the sake of simplicity, the direction of the wheels 11B on the right side of the traveling direction). Is assumed to have rotated so as to match the traveling direction of the mobile vehicle). In this case, the vehicle body is in the running direction before turning (the direction of the arrow in the figure)
The inertial force acts on the vehicle body, but the inertial force acting on the vehicle body acts on each of the pair of wheels 11A and 11B. That is, a force to move the wheels 11A and 11B in the direction of the arrow is generated. The force due to the inertial force acts on the right wheel 11B in the same direction as the rotation direction of the wheel 11B, and on the left wheel 11A, the wheel 11A.
It will work in a direction that is significantly different from the rotation direction of. Therefore, the frictional resistance of the wheel 11B with respect to the road surface decreases as compared with that before the turning, and the frictional resistance of the wheel 11A with respect to the road surface as compared with that before the turning. Therefore, when the wheels of the moving vehicle traveling straight ahead rotate due to external factors such as unevenness of the road surface, the wheels on the rotation direction side (the right wheel 11 in the figure).
The frictional resistance of B) decreases and the frictional resistance of the wheel on the other side (the wheel 11A on the left side in the figure) increases, so that the force (restoring force) in the direction to return the rotation of the wheels to the pair of wheels is increased. It will act on each. As a result, the rotation of the wheels is naturally corrected, so that the traveling stability of the moving vehicle during straight traveling is increased, and the fluctuation of the vehicle body due to external factors such as road surface irregularities can be reduced. is there. By the way, if a pair of wheels are provided in parallel with the traveling direction of the wheels as in the conventional case, even if the wheels of the moving vehicle rotate like the above-described FIG. Since the left and right wheels have the same relationship with the direction of rotation, the frictional resistances acting on the left and right wheels after rotation are also the same, so that the restoring force as described above does not occur. Therefore, the moving vehicle
Since the vehicle continues traveling while the wheels are still rotating, the traveling direction is changed, resulting in wobbling. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the direction of the pair of wheels and the traveling direction of the moving vehicle when the wheels are rotated to the right. In the figure, P is the pair of wheels 11A and 11B. It is the vertical axis that rotates.

Considering the traveling state of the moving vehicle during turning, the moving vehicle is turning in an inclined state as shown in FIG. That is, FIG. 7 is a rear view of the wheels when the moving vehicle is turning to the right. At this time, centrifugal force acts on the vehicle body in the direction of the arrow in the figure (direction opposite to the turning direction). Therefore, at the ground contact portion with the road surface of the wheel, the outer skin (rubber) of the wheel 11A on the outer side in the turning direction has a larger deformation amount than the outer skin (rubber) of the inner wheel 11B. Therefore, the vehicle body tilts as shown in FIG. As a result, similarly, the upper part of the wheel is tilted in the direction opposite to the turning direction (leftward direction). Therefore, for the wheels 11A and 11B, the wheels are not referred to as turning directions. A force to drive the vehicle in the opposite direction (leftward direction) is applied. However, since the left wheel 11A is supported toward the inside (right side) with respect to the traveling direction of the wheel, it is possible to reduce the force that tends to drive the wheel 11A in the left direction. On the other hand, since the right wheel 11B is supported toward the left side, the wheel 11B acts in a direction that increases the force that causes the wheel 11B to travel in the left direction. In this case, since the rotation speed of the wheel 11B is smaller than that of the wheel 11A, the force that acts on the wheel 11B in the leftward direction is generated by the wheel 11A.
It is smaller than. Therefore, since each of the pair of wheels is supported inward with respect to the traveling direction of the wheels, it is possible to increase the running stability of the vehicle body during turning, and thus to increase the turning speed of the moving vehicle. Of. In the turning state, as described above, the case where the outer skin of the wheel is made of an elastic material such as rubber has been described as an example, but even when the outer skin of the wheel is not made of an elastic material, the road surface is With elasticity, a similar effect will occur.

[0007]

According to the characterizing features of the present invention, the fluctuation of the vehicle body during straight running can be reduced, and the running stability of the vehicle body during turning can be increased. Not only can the traveling performance of the moving vehicle be improved, but the traveling speed of the moving vehicle can be increased to improve work efficiency.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the wheel supporting device of the present invention is applied to a moving vehicle for carrying goods will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 5
As shown in FIG. 3, a guide belt L is laid in a loop as a predetermined traveling route of the moving vehicle V for transferring the load, and the moving vehicle V
(V1, V2) are stopped and a plurality of stations ST (ST1 to ST4) for carrying out a load transfer operation are provided on the guidance zone L.
Is arranged along the above, and thus constitutes a transfer facility for automatically transferring a plurality of moving vehicles V between the stations ST to carry a load. Note that FIG. 5 shows a simplified layout of the actual transportation equipment, and each moving vehicle V
Assumes a case where a cargo is loaded at any of the stations ST and the cargo is unloaded at any of the other stations ST in response to a work command given from the management means C. The station ST1 is a home position HP for charging or repairing / inspecting the battery of the moving vehicle V.

As shown in FIG. 4, the induction zone L has a rectangular cross section, and a magnetic body magnetized to have N poles on the front side and S poles on the back side is embedded in the road surface, and the periphery is fixed with an epoxy resin so that the road surface is It is configured to be flush. As shown in FIG. 5, a storage medium T called an ID tag is embedded in the curved portion, the branch portion, the merging portion of the induction zone L, and the location in front of the station ST. In these storage media T, travel control information necessary for travel of the moving vehicle V at each installation location is stored. For example, it is information such as the traveling speed on a curve, the address of the station ST, the distance to the stop point, and the address of the guidance zone L at the branch destination.

Next, the structure of the moving vehicle V will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the moving vehicle V has traveling wheels 1 on the front side of the vehicle body.
And a pair of left and right idler wheels 2 are provided on the rear side of the vehicle body. A follow-up sensor 3 for detecting the guide band L and obtaining information for steering control is provided so as to change its direction integrally with the traveling wheel 1. A tag reader 4 for reading the stored information of the storage medium T embedded in the above-mentioned traveling road surface is provided at the front part on the right side of the vehicle body. An optical communication device 5 for exchanging information with the station ST at the time of transfer work at the station ST is provided in the center of the left side surface of the vehicle body. An ultrasonic sensor 6 is provided on the front surface of the vehicle body to detect the presence or absence of an obstacle on the front side in the traveling direction of the moving vehicle V.

The traveling wheel 1 is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of wheels 11A, which are arranged at intervals in the direction of the axis of rotation.
11B and a wheel support frame 22 that supports motors 12A and 12B for individually driving the wheels 11A and 11B.
Is attached to the vehicle body frame 21 via a bearing 23 and a frame 22 so as to rotate around a vertical axis P located at the center between the pair of wheels 11A and 11B. The wheel support frame 22 is configured to support the pair of wheels 11A and 11B inward with respect to the wheel traveling direction. Inner race 2
The bearing 23 composed of the outer race 23b and the outer race 23b is sized so that the upper portions of the pair of wheels 11A and 11B fit inside the inner race 23a.
Inner race 2 of bearing 23 on top of A and 11B
The inner race 23a is fixed so as to support the wheels 11A and 11B in a state in which the vehicle body frame 21 is fixed to the outer race 23b. In the pair of wheels 11A and 11B and the idle wheel 2, the outer skin of the wheels is made of a rubber material and is configured to absorb the vibration of the moving vehicle due to the unevenness of the road surface. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the motors 12A and 12B include a motor drive circuit 13 and a rotary encoder 14 that detects the number of rotations of the motor.

As shown in FIG. 4, the moving vehicle V is provided with a control means 8 utilizing a microcomputer, and the magnetic sensor 3, tag reader 4, optical communication device 5, ultrasonic sensor 6 and wireless type are used. The traveling of the moving vehicle V is controlled based on the information input from the communication device 7, the rotary encoder 14, and the like. Therefore, by starting / stopping, turning, and controlling the speed of the moving vehicle V by driving / stopping the motors 12A and 12B and controlling the speed via the traveling motor driving circuit 13, respectively, the guiding band of the moving vehicle V is controlled. It is configured to perform steering control along L. That is, when the moving vehicle V travels straight, the control means 8 of the moving vehicle V uses the motor 3
3A and 33B are configured to rotate in the same direction at the same number of revolutions to run, and when the moving vehicle V is to be turned, the turning angle is freely set by the difference in the number of revolutions of the motors 12A and 12B. It is configured so that it can be changed and set.

Management means C on the ground side, each station S
A wireless communication device 7 is provided in each of T and each moving vehicle V, and a management means C on the ground side and each station S are provided.
It is configured such that communication can be performed with T or between the management means C on the ground side and each mobile vehicle V. Therefore, by using the wireless communication device 7, the station ST transmits the baggage transport request information to the ground-side management means C, and the moving vehicle V waits for itself to the ground-side management means C. The station ST information and information such as the start and end of transfer work at the station are transmitted, and the control means C on the ground side is transmitted.
Is configured to transmit the traveling instruction information of the moving vehicle V based on the waiting station information of the moving vehicle V and the load carrying request information from the station ST. In the figure,
The optical communication device 5 on the station ST side and the wireless communication device 7 on the station ST side and the management means C side on the ground side are omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the follow-up sensor 3 is composed of four magnetic sensing elements arranged side by side in the lateral direction of the vehicle body. The state where the position of the moving vehicle V in the left-right direction is at an appropriate position with respect to the guide band L, that is, the follow-up sensor 3
Of the four magnetic sensing elements, the inner two of the four magnetic sensing elements are located in the center of the induction band L.
Is sensed to be turned on, and the outer two are not sensed to be turned off. Therefore, when the moving vehicle V is deviated to the left or right with respect to the induction zone L, one of the two outer magnetic sensing elements is in a state of sensing the magnetism of the induction zone L, and the control means 8 detects it. Based on the information, steering control is performed to return the vehicle body to an appropriate position with respect to the guide band L.

The tag reader 4 performs a close proximity wireless communication with the storage medium T by electromagnetic induction to read the stored information in the storage medium T and pass it to the control means 8. The storage medium T is a rewritable semiconductor memory (EEPRO).
M), a loop antenna for performing near field communication by electromagnetic induction with an external device, a signal processing circuit, a control circuit, etc. are integrally casing. With such a configuration, the traveling control information as described above can be written in or read out from the storage medium T without contact.

While the moving vehicle V is traveling, the tag reader 4 sends a response request signal to the unspecified storage medium T at a constant cycle. On the other hand, the storage medium T is maintained in a state capable of receiving the response request signal from the tag reader 7.
Therefore, the moving vehicle V approaches the installation location of the storage medium T,
When the distance between the storage medium T and the tag reader 4 approaches the communicable distance, the storage medium T receives the response request signal from the tag reader 7 and returns a response. Storage medium T and tag reader 4
When the communication between them is established, the stored information in the storage medium T is read by the tag reader 4.

In this way, as the moving vehicle V approaches the storage medium T installed along the guidance zone L, the stored information is read by the tag reader 4 and given to the control means 8 which controls traveling. To be Based on this information, the control means 8 controls the subsequent stop and branch. Although illustration is omitted, a mark which is a magnet plate is installed at a stop position of the moving vehicle V in the station ST, and the moving vehicle V is provided with a mark sensor (magnetic sensor) for detecting the mark.

[Other Embodiments] Although the traveling vehicle V of the above embodiment is provided with one traveling wheel 1 as the wheel supporting device of the present invention, it is not limited to one and a plurality of traveling wheels 1 are provided. You may do it. In the traveling wheel 1 of the above embodiment, the pair of wheels 11A, 1
Each of the wheels 1B is provided inward with respect to the traveling direction of the wheels, but the pair of wheels 11A and 11B may be provided so that the upper portions of the wheels face outward. This structure, which is generally called a camber, makes it easier to steer the wheels. In the above embodiment, the guide belt L is laid in a loop as a predetermined traveling route, and the moving vehicle V has the guide belt L.
Although it is configured to run along the guide line L
Alternatively, the vehicle may be autonomously driven based on the map information provided inside the moving vehicle. Even in this case, the traveling of the moving vehicle V can be controlled as in the above embodiment.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a wheel supporting device of a moving vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a wheel supporting device of a moving vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a plan perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a moving vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a traveling control device for a moving vehicle.

[FIG. 5] Illustration of traveling of a moving vehicle

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a traveling state of wheels.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a traveling state of wheels.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P Vertical axis 11A, 11B Wheels 12A, 12B Motor 22 Wheel support frame

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of wheels (11A, 11B) and a pair of wheels (11A, 11B) arranged at intervals in the direction of the axis of rotation.
A wheel support frame (22) that supports motors (12A, 12B) for individually driving the motors (11B) is located at the center between the pair of wheels (11A, 11B) and is the vertical axis (P).
A wheel supporting device for a moving vehicle mounted on a vehicle body frame (22) so as to rotate around the wheel supporting frame (22), wherein the wheel supporting frame (22) includes the pair of wheels (1).
1A, 11B) A wheel support device for a moving vehicle configured to support each of them inwardly with respect to the traveling direction of the wheels.