JPH071901A - Wheel supporting device of moving vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a wheel supporting device of a moving vehicle capable of controlling correct steering to the roughness of the road surface. CONSTITUTION:In a wheel supporting device for a moving vehicle, a pair of wheels 11A, 11B which can be separately driven in the forward/reverse direction are supported by turning frame 22 which can be turned around a longitudinal axis P relative to a vehicle body frame 21 in the condition where the wheels are arranged in the axial direction of the axis of rotation with leaving a space therebetween, and the longitudinal axis P is located in the center thereof. Wheel supporting frames 31A, 31B to support a pair of the wheels 11A, 11B are pivotably supported by a turning frame 22 in a vertically swayable manner around the transverse axis R which is orthogonal or approximately orthogonal to the axis of rotation in the plan view.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle body in which a pair of wheels, which can be driven separately in the forward and reverse directions, are spaced from each other in the direction of the axis of rotation, and the axis of the axis of ordinate is located at the center thereof. The present invention relates to a wheel support device for a moving vehicle, which is supported by a rotating frame that is rotatable around the axis of the vertical axis with respect to the frame.

[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 invention, a pair of wheel support frames that support a pair of wheels that can be driven separately in the forward and reverse directions are provided with a pair of wheel support frames spaced apart in the rotational axis direction of the wheels. In the state in which the vertical axis is located at the center of the wheel, the wheel is fixed to a rotary frame rotatable about the vertical axis.

[0003]

Therefore, in the above-described conventional wheel supporting device for a moving vehicle, the wheel supporting frame is fixed to the rotating frame, so that, for example, as shown in FIG. When the position of the road surface on which each wheel touches goes up or down, one of the pair of wheels moves upward due to the unevenness of the road surface, and as a result, the other wheel also moves upward. Will be done. Therefore, when attempting to perform steering control by utilizing the speed difference between the wheels, one of the pair of wheels floats due to the unevenness of the road surface, and steering control cannot be performed. There is. In the figure, 101 is a wheel support frame that supports a pair of wheels 11A 'and 11B',
Reference numeral 102 denotes a rotating frame which is rotatable around the longitudinal axis P with respect to the vehicle body frame 21, and 12A 'and 12B' are motors for driving the pair of wheels 11A 'and 11B' in forward and reverse directions. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wheel support device for a moving vehicle capable of accurately controlling steering with respect to unevenness of a road surface.

[0004]

In the wheel support device for a mobile vehicle according to the present invention, a pair of wheels, which can be driven separately in the forward and reverse directions, are vertically spaced from each other in the direction of the axis of rotation and at the center thereof. A wheel supported by a turning frame that is rotatable about the vertical axis with respect to the vehicle body frame in a state where the axial center is positioned, and a first characteristic configuration thereof is a wheel that supports the pair of wheels. The support frame is pivotally supported on the rotating frame so as to be vertically swingable around a horizontal axis that is orthogonal or substantially orthogonal to the rotation axis in a plan view. In the second characteristic configuration, each of the pair of wheels is individually supported by the rotating frame so as to be vertically movable, and elastically supports each of the pair of wheels so as to allow vertical movement with respect to the rotating frame. The point is that a support means is provided.

[0005]

According to the first characteristic construction of the present invention, since the wheel support frame for supporting the pair of wheels is pivotally supported on the rotating frame so as to be vertically swingable about the horizontal axis, the pair of wheels is supported. Will be swung up and down around the horizontal axis along with the unevenness of the road surface. Therefore, the pair of wheels are vertically swung around the axis of the abscissa along with the unevenness of the road surface, and are always held in a state of being grounded on the road surface. According to the second characteristic configuration, each of the pair of wheels is vertically movably supported by the rotating frame separately and elastically supported so as to move vertically with respect to the rotating frame. Accordingly, the pair of wheels are individually moved up and down. Therefore, the pair of wheels are individually moved up and down according to the unevenness of the road surface,
It will always be kept grounded on the road.

[0006]

According to the first characteristic structure and the second characteristic structure of the present invention, the pair of wheels can be kept in contact with the unevenness of the road surface at all times, so that the wheels can be operated accurately. It has become possible to provide a wheel support device for a moving vehicle that can be controlled in direction.

[0007]

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 6
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 ST5) 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. Incidentally, FIG. 6 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. 7, the induction zone L has a rectangular cross section, a magnetic body magnetized to have an N pole on the front side and an S pole on the back side is embedded in the road surface, and the periphery is fixed with an epoxy resin. It is configured to be flush. As shown in FIG. 6, a storage medium T called an ID tag is embedded in the curved portion of the induction zone L, the branch portion, the confluence portion, 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. 8, the moving vehicle V has traveling wheels 1 on the front side of the vehicle body.
And a pair of left and right driven 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. Further, a tag reader 4 for reading the stored information of the storage medium T embedded in the traveling road surface is provided so as to be turned together with the traveling wheel 1. 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.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the traveling wheel 1 includes a pair of wheels 11A and 11B which can be separately driven by motors 12A and 12B in the forward and reverse directions.
In addition, the vertical axis P is located in the center of the rotary frame 22 and is supported by the rotary frame 22.
Are rotatably supported on the body frame 21 about a vertical axis P. That is, the rotating frame 22 is fixed to the inner race 23a of the bearing 23 and the outer race 23b of the bearing 23 is fixed to the vehicle body frame 21 so as to rotate around the vertical axis P.
The bearing 23 is formed in such a size 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
It is configured to support the wheels 11A and 11B in a state where the wheels 11A and 11B are inserted into the inside of 3a.

A support structure for supporting the pair of wheels 11A and 11B on the rotating frame 22 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the wheel support frames 31A and 31B that support the pair of wheels 11A and 11B respectively support the pair of wheels 11A and 11B so as to support the pair of wheels 11A and 11B inward with respect to the wheel traveling direction. Are connected at intervals. The pair of frames 32 are rotatably supported around the horizontal axis R via the bearing body 33 and the support shaft 34 so as to be supported by the support piece 22a of the rotary frame 22.
Is attached to. Therefore, the pair of wheels 11A, 1
Wheel support frames 31A and 31B that support 1B are pivotally supported by a rotating frame 22 so as to be vertically swingable around a horizontal axis R that is substantially orthogonal to the rotary axis Q in plan view.

The rotating frame 22 is, as shown in FIG.
A hole 22 for allowing the upper portions of the pair of wheels 11A and 11B to enter the inside of the inner race 23a of the bearing 23.
b and a stopper 22c that limits the amount of rotation of the wheel support frames 31A and 31B. 22 in the figure
Reference numeral d is a mounting hole for mounting a mounting member for mounting the rotating frame 22 on the inner race 23a.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the follow-up sensor 3 and the tag reader 4 are attached to the tip of the supporting piece 22a of the rotating frame 22 so that the direction of the traveling wheel 1 is changed.
It is installed. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the motors 12A and 12B incorporate a motor drive circuit 13 and a rotary encoder 14 for detecting the number of rotations of the motor.

Incidentally, the main frame 20 of the moving vehicle V
As shown in FIG. 1, is configured by a hollow base frame, and various devices (article transfer device (not shown), traveling wheel 1, driven wheel 2, light) are provided on the outer wall surface of the base frame. An engaging portion F for assembly is provided. Therefore, the vehicle body frame 21 supporting the traveling wheels 1 is configured to be attached to the engaging portion F.

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 rotated in the same direction at the same number of revolutions to travel, and when the moving vehicle V is turned, the motor 12 is used.
The turning angle can be freely changed and set according to the difference in the number of rotations between A and 12B.

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.

The follow-up sensor 3 is, as shown in FIG.
It is composed of four magnetic sensing elements arranged side by side in the vehicle body. In 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, in the state where the center of the follow-up sensor 3 in the left-right direction is located in the center of the guide band L,
The inner two of the four magnetic sensing elements sense the magnetism of the induction band L 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. Thereby, the moving vehicle V can be accurately stopped at the station ST.

[Other Embodiments] The traveling vehicle V of the above embodiment is provided with one traveling wheel 1 as a wheel supporting device of the present invention, but the number 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. Also, a pair of wheels 11A, 11B
The wheels 11A, 1 are arranged so that they are parallel to each other (that is, the rotation axis Q and the horizontal axis R are orthogonal to each other in plan view).
1B may be provided. 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. In the above embodiment, the rotation axis Q of the wheels 11A and 11B is used.
The horizontal axis R for vertically swinging the wheel support frames 31A and 31B is made to have the same height, but they do not necessarily have to have the same height, and the horizontal axis R is relative to the rotation axis Q. May be provided at a high position or, conversely, may be provided at a low position. In the above embodiment, the wheel support frames 31A and 31B that support the pair of wheels 11A and 11B are pivotally supported on the rotating frame so as to be vertically swingable around the horizontal axis R, but the pair of wheels 11A and 11B. The rotating frame 22 may be separately supported so as to be vertically movable, and a support means for elastically supporting each of the pair of wheels 11A and 11B so as to allow vertical movement with respect to the rotating frame 22 may be provided. good. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the wheel support frames 31A ′ and 31B ′ that support the pair of wheels 11A and 11B are moved up and down along the side surface of the protrusion e of the support piece 22a of the rotating frame 22. An elastic body 22c 'may be provided as a supporting means that supports the wheels separately and elastically supports each of the wheel support frames 31A' and 31B 'on the rotating frame 22 instead of the stopper 22c. By this,
The steering control can be appropriately performed with respect to the unevenness of the road surface, and the rolling of the vehicle body due to the unevenness of the road surface can be suppressed. In the figure, f is an elongated hole for vertically moving the wheel support frames 31A ′, 31B ′ along the side surface of the convex portion e. Further, as described above, the wheel support frames 31A 'and 31B' are connected to the support piece 22a of the rotating frame 22.
Instead of being supported so as to move up and down along the side surface of the convex portion e, the wheel support frames 31A ′ and 31B ′ are rotatably mounted on the support piece 22a of the rotating frame 22 about the horizontal axis S. It may be supported separately (the elastic body 22c 'is used as it is). That is, the convex portion e is stopped and the long hole f
By providing a round hole instead of the wheel support frame 31A ′,
31B ′ are separately rotated around the horizontal axis S to rotate the wheel 1
1A and 11B are moved up and down separately.

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 front perspective view showing a wheel supporting device of a moving vehicle.

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

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view showing a wheel supporting device of a moving vehicle.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of mounting the wheel support frame and the rotating frame.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rotating frame.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of traveling of a moving vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a traveling control device for a moving vehicle.

FIG. 8 is a plan perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a moving vehicle.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of attachment of a wheel support frame and a rotating frame according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a front perspective view showing a wheel supporting device for a moving vehicle according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P Vertical axis center R Horizontal axis center 11A, 11B Wheels 12A, 12B Motor 21 Body frame 22 Rotating frame 22c 'Supporting means 31A, 31B Wheel supporting frame

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pair of wheels (1) that can be driven separately in the forward and reverse directions.
1A, 11B) are spaced in the direction of the axis of rotation, and
A movable vehicle supported by a rotating frame (22) which is rotatable around the vertical axis (P) with respect to the vehicle body frame (21) in a state where the vertical axis (P) is located at the center thereof. A wheel support device for a vehicle, wherein a wheel support frame (31A, 31B) that supports the pair of wheels (11A, 11B) has a horizontal axis (R) that is orthogonal or substantially orthogonal to the rotation axis in a plan view. ) A wheel supporting device for a moving vehicle, which is pivotally supported by the rotating frame (22) so as to be swingable up and down around the wheel. 2. A pair of wheels (1) that can be driven separately in the forward and reverse directions.
1A, 11B) are separated from each other in the direction of the axis of rotation, and the vertical axis (P) is located at the center thereof, around the vertical axis (P) with respect to the body frame (21). A wheel supporting device for a moving vehicle, which is supported by a rotating frame (22) which is rotatable by means of: the pair of wheels (11A, 11B) being vertically movable so that the rotating frame (22) is movable. For a mobile vehicle, each of which is supported separately, and is provided with a support means (22c ') that elastically supports each of the pair of wheels (11A, 11B) so as to allow vertical movement with respect to the rotating frame (22). Wheel support device.