JPS6343876A - Omnidirectional moving vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a vehicle to be omnidirectionally moved simplifying its constitution, by providing at least one set of wheels, forming their grounded surface in a spherical shape, in each mutually opposed position in longitudinal and lateral directions of a car body and normally and reversely rotatably supporting a supporting frame of each wheel in a direction crossing at a right angle with the rotary direction of the wheel. CONSTITUTION:In the bottom surface of a car body 1 formed in an octagonal shape as viewed in a plane, each one set of running wheels 2 is provided in each position mutually opposed in longitudinal and lateral directions with a car body center 0 serving as the center. Each running wheel 2, forming its grounded surface in a spherical shape, is rotatably supported by a shaft 4 to a rectangular-shaped supporting frame 3 along the longitudinal or lateral direction of the car body 1. While each set of running wheels 2, 2 is rotatably supported to the supporting frame 3, supported having a predetermined space to a pair of supporting legs 5 through a rotary shaft 6, 90 deg. shifting a phase in a direction crossing at a right angle with the rotary direction of the wheel 2 so that its grounded surface is alternately grounded. And each wheel 2 and the supporting frame 3 are provided so as to be normally and reversely rotated through a driving gear 9 and a driven gear 10 by driving a geared motor 7.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an omnidirectional vehicle that can be applied to a wide range of applications, including toys, mobile robots, forklifts, and wheelchairs.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, there are toy traveling devices that have spherical wheels that can be rotated back and forth, left and right, or diagonally to move in all directions. In addition, the steering wheel can be switched forward and backward, left and right.
Alternatively, you can use two wheels, one for running in the front-rear direction and one for running in the left-right direction.
There are some that have different types and allow you to switch between them.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the case of the above-mentioned conventional toy traveling device, it can be applied to light objects such as toys, but it is structurally impossible to use it for industrial purposes such as mobile robots, forklifts, wheelchairs, etc. In addition, when switching the steering wheel in the front-rear direction or left-right direction, or switching between the front-rear wheel and the left-right wheel, the operation is troublesome, and the operation is not continuous because the operation must be stopped once before switching. There were problems such as the lack of

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and includes at least one set of wheels each having a spherical ground contact surface at opposing positions in the front, rear, left and right directions of the vehicle body. Each set of wheels is supported so as to rotate along the longitudinal or lateral direction of the vehicle body, and the wheel support frame is shifted in phase by 90 degrees in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wheels rotate, so that the wheels touch the ground plane. It is characterized by being equipped with a shaft that can be rotated in forward and reverse directions so as to alternately touch the ground.

[For production]

With the above configuration, the omnidirectional mobile vehicle of the present invention can be widely used not only as a toy but also as a traveling device for mobile robots, forklifts, wheelchairs, etc., and can be freely moved in all directions with a relatively simple configuration. , and can run continuously and has good operability.

【Example】

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle body having an octagonal shape in plan, and on the underside of this vehicle body 1, a pair of running wheels 2.2 are disposed at opposite positions in the longitudinal and lateral directions centering on the vehicle body center 0. It is provided. This set of running wheels 2.2 is rotatably supported on a rectangular support frame 3 by a shaft 4 along the longitudinal or lateral direction of the vehicle body 1, and has a spherical ground contact surface. Further, this set of running wheels 2.2 is supported by a pair of support legs 5.5 via a rotating shaft 6 in parallel along the front and rear or left and right directions of the vehicle body 1 and at a predetermined interval. The support frame 3 that has been
It is pivoted so that the ground planes touch the ground alternately at different degrees. On the other hand, on the center 0 side of the main body 1, there are four geared motors 7 that can freely rotate forward and backward in radial directions along the longitudinal and lateral directions of the vehicle body 1 from the center O. 5 and a mounting frame 8. A drive gear 9 is attached to the drive shaft 7a of the geared motor, and a driven gear 10 that meshes with the drive gear 9 is fixed to the inside of the vehicle body of the support frame 3 of the wheel 2, and when the geared motor 7 rotates forward and backward,
The support frame 3 and the wheels 2 are rotated in forward and reverse directions via the drive gear 9 and the driven gear 10.10, and the set of wheels 2.2 is configured so that the ground surfaces of the wheels 2.2 are 90 degrees out of phase with each other and touch the ground. There is. Although not shown, a control device using a microcomputer is provided that controls the current from the power supply to each geared motor 7 and simultaneously controls the rotation direction of each of the four geared motors 7 while linking them. There is. Further, although not shown, on the vehicle body 1, there is provided a driver's seat and other devices depending on the purpose of the vehicle, such as toys, mobile robots, forklifts, wheelchairs, etc. In an omnidirectional vehicle having such a configuration, as shown in FIG.
When the wheel is rotated forward or backward, the wheel 2
, 2 alternately touch the ground to generate forward or backward driving force or propulsive force, and the front and rear wheels 2 rotate about the shaft 4, causing the vehicle body 1 to move forward or backward. Similarly, when the longitudinal support frames 3, 3.3, 3 are rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, the vehicle body moves to the right or to the left. When the vehicle body 1 is to be turned or skewed, it can be freely turned or skewed by simply changing the direction of rotation by slightly shifting the rotation direction of each support frame 3, 3. be able to. In addition, all support frames in the front, back, left and right directions 3.3
．． 3. When 3 is rotated in the same direction, the car body 1 becomes the car body center 0.
It can be freely rotated in either the right or left direction around the center. Furthermore, these operations can be performed continuously without stopping the running of the vehicle body 1. At this time, the movement of the wheel 2 is achieved in a well-balanced manner between the rotational movement around the shaft 4 and the driving (propulsion) force due to the friction of the wheel contact surface due to the rotation of the support frame 3, since the contact surface is spherical. Furthermore, when turning, the wheels 2 can move smoothly in all directions with a slight slipping motion. The vehicle body 1 is not limited to an octagonal shape, but may have any shape such as a circle or a rectangle, and the number of wheels 2 can be increased based on one set of wheels. . In addition, this mobile vehicle has a wide range of applications, including toys, mobile robots, forklifts, wheelchairs, etc.
Due to its structure, it is desirable that the road surface for running 6 is flat.

【Effect of the invention】

As explained above, according to the omnidirectional vehicle according to the present invention, at least one set of wheels each having a spherical ground contact surface is provided at opposite positions on the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle body. Since it is possible to rotate in one direction and forward and reverse in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction, by controlling the rotation direction of each wheel in conjunction with each other, it is possible to rotate in the same position in the front, back, left, right, diagonal direction, etc. It can move freely in all directions, including turning. In addition, the operation can be performed continuously, except when the direction of movement is completely reversed, allowing for efficient and convenient movement. Furthermore, its operation is simple and easy, its structure is simple, and it can be produced at relatively low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of the entire moving vehicle showing one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. ■...Vehicle body, 2...Wheels, 3...Support frame, 4...
・Shaft, 5... Support leg, 6... Rotating shaft, 7... Geared motor, 7a... Drive shaft, 8... Mounting frame, 9...
- Drive gear, 10... Driven gear, O... Center of the vehicle body.

Claims (1)

[Claims] At least one set of wheels each having a spherical contact surface is provided at opposite positions in the front, rear, and left/right directions of the vehicle body, and each set of wheels is configured to rotate along the front, rear, and left/right directions of the vehicle body. The wheel support frame is
An omnidirectional vehicle characterized by being equipped with a shaft capable of forward and reverse rotation so that the wheels contact the ground alternately with a phase shift of 90 degrees in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wheels rotate.