JPS626877A - Flexible crawler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To Enhancing the traveling capability of a crawler vehicle on an uneven and weak off-road area, etc. by coupling a plurality of rectangular frames longitudinally arranged, foldably with each other to form a flexible vehicle frame and by stretching crawler belts between crawler wheels provided to the vehicle frames. CONSTITUTION:A flexible crawler comprises a flexible vehicle frame 10 composed of flat plate-like rectangular frames 10a, 10a which are arranged parallelly in the longitudinal direction and which are foldably coupled with each other by means of horizontal coupling shafts 11. Each rectangular frame 10a is proviced on the lower surface thereof with right and left bearings 15 for the axles of crawler wheels 12, and the rectangular frames 10a are hinged together through stepped sections formed by cutting out one flat end section of the vehicle frames 10a by one half of the width of the vehicle frames, alternately, through-holes for receiving the horizontal coupling shafts 11 being formed piercing through the stepped sections. In order to use rear wheels 12 as drive wheels, gears 16 are fitted on the axles of the rear wheels 12 which are therefore rotated thereby. The axles of auxiliary wheels 14 are supported on the axles of the intermediate section wheels 12 through the intermediary of joint members 17 with the auxiliary wheels 14 being made to abut against the outside surface of the crawler belts 13 stretched between the front and rear wheels 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) This invention is applicable to robots, tractors, and other automatic moving vehicles that operate on soft, uneven land with uneven surfaces, such as agricultural land such as cliffs on steep slopes, or on mountain forests. - In other words, the endless track structure driven by a sprocket has the potential to be applied to going up and down stairs in buildings and factories in the future.

(Traditional technique?lf) There are two types of conventionally known crawlers:

(-) is shown in Fig. 5α, in which four or two pairs of independent non-flexible connectors are connected by a connecting rod. Each sub-crawler l has a structure that allows it to freely rotate in a vertical plane around fulcrums at both ends of the connecting rod.

(Part 2) is shown in Fig. 5b, and the crawler wheel lα
, /6, a connecting rod is protruded from near the center of the span, and a leading or trailing wheel 3 is added to the tip of the connecting rod to form a triangular crawler with these three (or three pairs) wheels at the apex. be.

Since (-) has four or two pairs of independent crawlers, it has the disadvantage that it becomes larger as an automatic traveling body and its control mechanism becomes complicated. (2) requires control for rotating and fixing the connecting rod λ', which also makes it larger and more complicated. And as shown in Figures 5α and 5b for both,
When the vehicle runs on a sharply uneven surface, the connecting rods C and -' remain on the ground surface E, and some of the wheels lift up, reducing the propulsion force and making the vehicle body unstable.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) (1) In conventional moving mechanism devices, the mechanism recognizes the shape of the ground in front of the vehicle and moves or deforms the crawler in accordance with the shape of the ground. is necessary. Therefore, the structure of the moving mechanism becomes larger and more complicated, and a device for recognizing the ground in front and controlling the crawler is required. Therefore, in the traditional method, orchards, farmland,
It is difficult to operate in the narrow spaces of mountain forests.

(2) When operating on sharply uneven surfaces, the conventional method
Because the crawler belt cannot adhere tightly to the uneven surface, a portion of the crawler rises above the ground.

As a result, the torque of the wheels is not efficiently converted into propulsive force for the vehicle body, or the vehicle body loses its fulcrum and falls over, or the vehicle body tilts rapidly and is affected by the impact force from the ground, making it difficult to control the vehicle body. It becomes difficult.

(3) In the conventional system, the increased weight of the moving mechanism and the vehicle body causes the vehicle body to become buried on soft and uneven ground, making it difficult to operate the moving mechanism.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As a result of intensive research in search of a crawler structure that has a simpler and lighter structure and can follow sudden irregularities, the following two inventions were obtained. That is, (1) a flexible wheel frame in which a plurality of rectangular frames lined up front and rear are bendably connected by a horizontal connecting shaft; and crawler wheels attached to the left and right sides of all or most of the rectangular frames;
A flexible crawler comprising left and right glue belts connected between these wheels.

(2) A flexible vehicle frame in which a plurality of rectangular frames lined up front and rear are bendably connected by a horizontal connecting shaft, crawler wheels attached to the left and right sides of all or part of each rectangular frame, and a space between these wheels. The left and right crawler belts are connected together,
A flexible crawler comprising, above any of the wheels, an auxiliary wheel that rotates while sandwiching the crawler belt.

It is.

(Function) The first invention is the basis of the present invention, and instead of creating flexibility by the connecting rods λ and 2' as in the past, the car frame itself extending back and forth has several connecting parts. Because it is a flexible vehicle frame with joints, the wheels and crawler belt attached to the unit rectangular frame are always resting on the uneven surface of the ground by gravity alone.
It never rises to the surface.

Flute 9's island attack is part 1, 8 decoy's Yami Shuntal.

It is something that That is, in the basic form of the first invention, when the crawler moves on a concave surface, the belt rotating on the top surface of the crawler tries to separate upward from the intermediate wheel, but the auxiliary wheel provided above the intermediate wheel prevents this separation. suppress. It also has the effect of suppressing changes in the circulation distance due to detachment of the belt.

(Embodiment) Figures 1 and 2 show the simplest embodiment of this invention, and its IO
10α is the flexible vehicle frame, 10α is its unit structure, □ is the rectangular frame, 11 is the horizontal connecting shaft, 1 is the crawler wheel, ・13
is a crawler belt, and /41 is an auxiliary wheel.

The rectangular frame 10α is a simple flat plate, with left and right bearings /j for receiving the axles of the crawler wheels /J attached to its lower surface, and receivers through which the horizontal connecting shaft l/ passes are provided alternately on each half of the flat plate end. It is like a hinge joint. In order to use the rear wheels as driving wheels, a gear/1 is attached to the axle. Needless to say, the direction of the crawler can be changed by changing the rotational speed and direction of the left and right gears/6. The auxiliary wheel/axle is
It is held at a constant distance from the axle of the wheel directly below by a tie material.

The rotation angle θ of the rectangular frame 10a that rotates about the horizontal connection axis l/ can be up to 90° in the vertical direction, but is considered to be 60° or less in practical terms. Fig. 3α shows the deformed state of the crawler when the front wheels are upwardly turned and the front rectangular frame 10α is rotated upward by θ.

Figure 3b shows the case where it rotates downward by θ, and Figure 3a
In the case of the figure, the auxiliary wheel /l has a hook that prevents the crawler belt 13 from separating from the wheel /-. To deal with this, the belt length may change, but the wheels may be made of pneumatic tires or similar elastic wheels, the crawler belt itself may be made of an elastic material, or the belt circulation may be changed as shown in the following embodiment. There are methods such as providing a reservoir in the road.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which a vehicle body is mounted on a crawler embodiment of the present invention. There are various ways to mount the vehicle body, such as concentrating it on one rectangular frame or distributing the personnel, engine, and cargo to each rectangular frame, but the one in Figure 4 has four connected rectangular frames. It is placed on both ends of the . That is, the vehicle body /1 rests on the front and rear ends of the crawler by means of the rear support leg /lα and the front support leg /lb, and each rectangular frame 10α of the crawler can be tilted freely. The center of the vehicle body and the center of the crawler are connected by telescopic legs 19. When the overall length of the flora is reduced due to bending of the flexible vehicle frame 10, the horizontal portion /la of the front support leg ttb enters into the vehicle body /1. Claw Label) When the IJ tries to loosen,
The storage section pulls this up.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to a small number of embodiments, each embodiment can be uniquely designed depending on the implementation conditions and the well-known techniques of the designer in charge.

The structure of each rectangular frame, the connection method, the way the crawler wheels are attached, the length and number of rectangular frames to be connected, etc. vary widely.

(Effects of the Invention) This invention does not provide flexibility as a whole by connecting crawlers with rigid car frames front and rear or by connecting wheels front and rear, as in the past, but instead The car frame itself is made flexible. Therefore, the crawler belt attached to each crawler wheel attached to the flexible vehicle frame always moves with its lower side touching the ground surface, like a snake crawling on the ground surface, and will not float or turn idle even if there is some unevenness. . This is due to gravity alone, and there is no need for a conventional control mechanism to make the crawler follow the unevenness of the ground.

In the case of a conventional crawler with a rigid car frame, when it rests on a recess and is supported at both ends, the maximum bending moment acting on the car frame is wL''/8 (w: uniformly distributed load, t: length).

In the case of the embodiment of this invention shown in Fig. 1-2, the span becomes t/2, so the reduction is reduced to 1/4, wt''/32.As shown in Fig. 4, when the span becomes L/4, , bending moment is no longer a problem.For this reason, compared to conventional crawlers, the crawler of the present invention is stronger and lighter in weight.

Since the vehicle frame has become flexible, the belt on the top surface of the crawler may separate from the wheel, but this can be prevented by adding the above-mentioned auxiliary wheels or other means.

This invention has solved the crawler part, which was the most difficult problem for self-propelled vehicles on sandy ground, soft ground, uneven surfaces, slopes, etc., and will greatly contribute to future technological development in this field. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 and 2 are an elevation view and a plan view of one embodiment of this invention;
α, Figure 36 is an explanatory diagram of the usage situation of the above embodiment, Figure 4 is an elevational view showing the state in which the vehicle body is mounted on another embodiment, Figure 5α,
FIG. 56 is an explanatory diagram of the two sides of a conventional crawler provided with flexibility. IO...Flexible car frame, /Co...Crawler wheel, 13.
...Crawler belt, ie...auxiliary wheels.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A flexible vehicle frame in which a plurality of rectangular frames lined up front and back are bendably connected by a horizontal connecting shaft, crawler wheels attached to the left and right sides of all or most of the above rectangular frames, and a space between these wheels. A flexible crawler characterized by having left and right crawler belts that are linked together, and. (2) A flexible vehicle frame in which a plurality of rectangular frames lined up front and back are bendably connected by a horizontal connecting shaft, crawler wheels attached to the left and right sides of all or part of each rectangular frame, and a space between these wheels. A flexible crawler comprising: right and left crawler belts that are connected together, and an auxiliary wheel that rotates on either side of the crawler belt above any of the wheels.