JPH0746710A - Mobile working robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a mobile working robot excellent in operability at the time of removing or attaching batteries from to a body, free from misconnection of the batteries to the body, and safe. CONSTITUTION:Concerning a mobile working robot having a self-running function in its body and capable of performing work such as floor cleaning, floor finishing, etc., automatically, a door 13 opens in a direction of being parallel to a floor, with a buckle 24 released, and a handle 15 touches the floor and supports the door 13. As a result, the door 13 becomes a receiving stand for batteries 12, and the withdrawal or insertion of the batteries 12 becomes easy. Besides, it is possible to handle individual batteries 12 equally without discrimination, since the batteries are connected in series in a circuit inside the body 1, even if a current feeding connector 27 provided in each battery 12 is connected to any receiving connector 28 of the body 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile work robot having a main body having a self-propelled function and automatically performing work such as floor cleaning and floor finishing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a mobile work robot has been developed which has a self-propelled function added to a work device such as a vacuum cleaner or a floor washer and which is equipped with a microcomputer and various sensors to automate work. Has been done.

For example, a floor cleaning robot uses a battery as a power source, has an electric blower as a cleaning function and a dust collecting device such as a suction nozzle provided at the bottom of the main body, and has a traveling function such as a drive wheel and a traveling motor as a traveling function. In addition to having an obstacle detection means for detecting an obstacle while traveling and a position recognition means for recognizing the position while traveling, the obstacle detection means travels while detecting the wall around the cleaning place, and position recognition. The cleaning area is recognized by the means, and cleaning is performed while traveling through the entire cleaning area without corners.

Further, in such a mobile work robot,
It is usual to provide various kinds of safety indicator lights such as a driving lamp, a winker, and an abnormality indicator lamp so that the user can see the driving condition from the viewpoint of safety.

[0005]

In the mobile work robot, even if the mobile work robot uses a storage battery as a power source and can be charged while being installed in the main body, it is desired to replace the battery and continue the work without charging time. In many cases, the battery is often attached / detached not only at the time of replacement due to battery life, but also at the time of maintenance around the battery. However, the conventional one is inferior in operability at the time of attaching / detaching the battery, and there is a risk of dropping the battery from the main body at the time of attachment / detachment work, or a mistaken connection between the battery and the main body when using a plurality of batteries.

Further, since the conventional mobile work robot is provided with a large number of various kinds of safety indicating lights such as an operating lamp, a turn signal, and an abnormality indicating lamp, the power consumption thereof is accumulated to affect the operating time, It was not cost effective either.

Further, in the floor cleaning robot among the mobile work robots, the combination of the traveling pattern and the floor nozzle arrangement is an important factor that greatly affects the cleaning efficiency and the cleaning time. In particular, the corner cleaning property such as on the wall has a great influence on the cleaning efficiency. For example, in consideration of this, a floor nozzle is arranged at the rear end of the main body, and the floor nozzle is moved backward by 180 ° to move the floor nozzle toward the wall. There are also things that perform the action of approaching. However, in this example, the corner cleaning property is improved, but the cleaning time becomes long.

[0008] Therefore, the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to provide a mobile work robot which is improved in operability when the battery is attached to and detached from the main body, and is easy to use with less risk of the battery falling. It has the first purpose.

Further, in relation to the first object, it is a second object to provide a mobile work robot in which the main body and the battery can be easily connected / disconnected at the time of attachment / detachment of the battery and there is no erroneous connection. .

A third object of the present invention is to provide a mobile work robot which performs various safety indications with a minimum necessary indicator light to reduce power consumption and is advantageous in terms of cost.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a mobile work robot which has improved corner cleaning properties during floor cleaning and has a shorter cleaning time than ever before.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A first means of the present invention for achieving the above first object is to provide an opening for taking out a battery from a main body, and a door body for rotatably opening and closing the opening. Is provided in the main body, and the door body is a mobile work robot having a handle that rotates with respect to the lower horizontal axis and releases the buckle while protruding from the outer surface of the door body.

A second means of the present invention for attaining the second object is that the main body is provided with a power supply connecting device provided in each of a plurality of batteries and a power receiving connecting device respectively connected thereto, and each of the power receiving connection described above. The device is a mobile work robot that is wired in series in a circuit.

A third means of the present invention for achieving the third object is to provide at least one indicator lamp at each of the four corners of the main body, and to provide the indicator lamp according to the operating state of the main body. Is a mobile work robot having indicator light control means for changing the lighting / blinking pattern or the lighting / blinking color.

Further, a fourth means of the present invention for achieving the fourth object is to arrange a floor nozzle at a front end of a main body, and for a traveling control device, an obstacle detection device detects an obstacle ahead. Until it goes straight forward, if it detects an obstacle in front, it will stop once, and then it will change direction by a predetermined angle and will go straight backward, and if it goes straight backward by a predetermined distance, it will stop temporarily and then it will change direction by a predetermined angle and the obstacle detection device will move forward again. Is a mobile work robot having a traveling control means for repeating forward and straight forward movements until the obstacle is detected.

[0016]

In the mobile work robot according to the first means of the present invention, the door body is opened in the direction parallel to the floor surface, and the handle with the buckle released contacts the floor surface to support the door body. The body serves as a cradle for the battery, which facilitates withdrawal and insertion of the battery.

According to the second means of the present invention, even if the power supply connector provided in each battery is connected to any of the power receiving connectors of the main body, the circuit is serially wired in the main body. Can be treated equally without distinction.

According to the third means of the present invention, at least one indicator lamp is provided at each corner of the four corners of the main body, and the indicator lamp is turned on or blinked or turned on or off according to the operating state of the main body. -By changing the blinking color, various displays such as forward / backward display, right / left turn display, error display, and standby display can be displayed with a minimum of four indicator lights.

Further, according to the fourth means of the present invention, the floor nozzle is arranged at the front end of the main body, and the traveling control device advances forward and rectilinearly until the obstacle detection device detects an obstacle ahead. When it detects an obstacle, it will stop and then change the direction by a predetermined angle and then move backward and straight forward.If it moves backward and straight by a predetermined distance, it will stop and then change the direction by a predetermined angle and the obstacle detection device will detect the obstacle in front again. By repeating the operation of advancing forward and rectilinearly until, the floor nozzle always approaches the wall to clean regardless of the length of the main body, and by advancing rectilinearly and rectilinearly rectilinearly, 180
° The operation time is shortened without the need to change the direction.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, taking a floor cleaning robot as an example.

1 and 2 show the overall construction of the floor cleaning robot of this embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a main body of the floor cleaning robot, and 2 is a drive wheel provided on the left and right rear of the main body 1, which are independently driven by a traveling motor 3. Reference numeral 4 is a subordinate wheel rotatably attached to the front of the main body 1. Drive wheel 2
The traveling motor 3 and the driven wheels 4 constitute a traveling device that allows the main body 1 to travel by itself. Reference numeral 5 is an electric blower, 6 is a dust collecting chamber, and 7 is a filter made of a paper bag provided therein. A floor nozzle 8 is provided in front of the bottom of the main body 1 to collect dust on the floor surface. The floor nozzle 8 is connected to the dust collection chamber 6 via a suction hose 9, and dust on the floor surface is sucked by the electric blower 5 and collected in the filter 7. As described above, the electric blower 5, the dust collecting chamber 6, the filter 7, the floor nozzle 8, and the suction hose 9 constitute a dust collecting device. Reference numeral 10 denotes a dust collecting chamber lid which covers the upper part of the dust collecting chamber 6 so as to be openable and closable, and the filter 7 is attached and detached by opening and closing the lid.
Reference numeral 11 denotes a front cover that covers the front portion of the main body 1 in an openable and closable manner, and opens and closes the front cover to perform maintenance inside the main body. A battery 12 supplies electric power to the whole and uses two storage batteries connected in series. Reference numeral 13 denotes a door body that rotatably opens and closes an opening 14 at the rear of the main body 1, and opens and closes the door 12 to attach and detach the battery 12. Reference numeral 15 denotes a handle rotatably attached to the door body 13. By rotating the handle at a right angle and pulling it out, the buckle is released and the door body 13 can be opened. The door 13 will be described in detail later. Reference numeral 16 is an indicator light provided at each of the four corners of the main body 1, and the indicator light control means (not shown) in the control circuit changes the blinking pattern and the lighting color according to the operating state to indicate safety. Do. 17 is the main body 1
An obstacle detection device that detects an obstacle by measuring the distance to an object located in front of, on the left, right, or behind the main body 1 by a distance measuring sensor including an ultrasonic sensor provided around There is. Reference numeral 18 denotes a bumper made of an elastic body attached to the periphery of the main body 1. Reference numeral 19 denotes a travel control device for controlling travel of the main body 1. The travel control device 19 controls the travel motor 3 based on data from a position recognizing means (not shown) such as a gyro and an obstacle detection device to move the main body 1 forward and backward. Controls movements such as backwards, turning, and stopping. An operation panel 20 for operating the main body 1 is provided with various switches and indicators such as LEDs and buzzers. 21 is a main body handle,
When manually cleaning or moving between places, if this is held by hand and the travel lever 22 is gripped, the movement can be performed manually. Reference numeral 23 is an emergency stop switch. When this switch is pressed in an emergency, the main body 1 is completely stopped. A power switch 24 is a key switch. Reference numeral 25 denotes a power plug connection port, which is used to charge the battery 12 by inserting a charging plug of a charger into the charging plug.

The operation of the first means of the present invention in the floor cleaning robot constructed as described above will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the door body 13 is rotatably supported with respect to a lower horizontal axis, and a handle 15 provided on the door body 13 is rotated at a right angle in the direction of arrow d and pulled out. The buckle 24 is released and can be released in the direction of arrow e. At this time, the handle 15 abuts the floor surface while protruding at a right angle from the outer surface of the door body 13, so that the door body 13 is supported parallel to the floor surface. Therefore, in this state, when the tray 25 of the battery 12 is held by hand and pulled out in the direction of the arrow f, the door body 13 serves as a cradle so that the battery 12 can be easily taken out and does not fall onto the floor surface.

When mounting the removed battery 12, the door 15 is opened parallel to the floor by holding the handle 15, and the battery 12 is first placed on the door 13 and then placed in the main body 1 as described above. Work can be facilitated because it can be slid and inserted.

In this way, the handle 15 is rotatably provided with respect to the door body 13 and the buckle 24 is released,
The door body 13 can be opened with one touch, and the handle 15 protruding from the outer surface of the door body 13 can also serve as a support base. Further, since the handle 15 does not project from the outer surface of the door body 13 when the door body 13 is closed, this does not hinder the traveling of the main body 1.

Next, the second means of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on (b) and FIG.

As shown in the figure, a power supply connector 27 is connected and attached to each of the power supply terminals 26 of the two batteries 12, and two power receiving connectors 28 connected to the power supply connector 27 are connected to the main body 1.
Is fixed near the opening 14. As shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 4, the two power receiving connectors 28 are wired in series by a cord 29 and connected to the power supply terminal of the main body circuit 30. Therefore, there is no correspondence between the two power feeding connectors 27 and the power receiving connector 28, and either power feeding connector 27 may be inserted into the power receiving connector 28.

As described above, simply connecting / disconnecting the power supply connector 27 and the power receiver / connector 28 without distinguishing the two batteries 12 can easily connect the battery 12 and the main body 1 without miswiring. It can be easily separated.

In this embodiment, the case where the number of batteries is two has been described, but the effect increases as the number of batteries increases.

Next, the operation of the third means of the present invention will be described. As described above, the indicator lamps 16 provided at the respective corners of the main body 1 change the blinking pattern and the lighting color by the indicator lamp control means to perform the safety display, and the operating state and the display of the main body 1 are displayed. The relationship between the lights 16 is as shown in FIG. That is, when the main body 1 is on standby, all the four indicator lights 16 repeat long-period yellow blinking, the two front indicator lights 16 of the main body 1 during forward movement, and the main body 1 during backward movement.
The rear two indicator lamps 16 repeat long-period yellow lighting.
Also, while the main body 1 is turning left, the two indicator lights 16 on the left side of the main body 1
However, during the right turn, the two indicator lights 16 on the right side of the main body 1 repeat the long-period yellow lighting. Further, when normal operation is not possible, for example, when the battery voltage drops, the all-indicator lamp 16 repeats long-period red flashing, and in other abnormal cases, all-indicator lamp 16 repeats short-cycle red blinking. And the blinking cycle makes it possible to distinguish the details of the abnormality.

By arranging the indicator lamps 16 at the four corners of the four corners of the main body 1 in this way, at least two or more indicator lamps 16 can be seen from any direction of the main body 1, so that the user can see from a distance. The operating status of the main body 1 can be displayed. Further, since the four display lights can perform various displays such as forward / backward display, right / left turn display, abnormality display, and standby display, power consumption does not accumulate even if the display amount increases.

The lighting / blinking pattern and the lighting / blinking color of the indicator lamp of this embodiment are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to this.

Finally, the operation of the fourth means of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

The floor cleaning robot of this embodiment has several kinds of operation modes. For example, a case of cleaning the area from the center of the room to the side of the wall will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the main body 1 is moved to the cleaning start point, and the main body 1 is placed almost at right angles to the reference wall surfaces P and Q of the region to be cleaned, and the operation mode is designated. At this time, the standard wall surface P ・ Q
A cleaning area is set between the line and a straight line 31 passing through the point where the main body 1 is placed. Next, when the start button is pressed, the main body 1 starts running and moves forward and straight as indicated by a straight line 32. Body 1
While traveling, the distance measuring sensor 17 constantly measures the distance to surrounding obstacles, and the position recognition means of the traveling control device 19 also measures the traveling distance. In this way, when the main body 1 approaches the front wall P by a predetermined distance, it stops at the point A so as not to collide. At this time, the floor nozzle 8
Is arranged at the front end of the main body 1, so that it is possible to approach up to the wall Q and clean the wall. Then, the direction of the main body 1 is changed by swinging the angle of the main body 1 by a predetermined angle, and this time, the vehicle moves backward as indicated by the straight line 33. During the backward straight traveling, the forward straight traveling distance measured previously (the length of the straight line 32) is set as the target traveling distance, and when the traveling distance measured by the position recognition means becomes equal to this, the vehicle stops at the point B. Of course, if there is an obstacle before reaching the target mileage, it will stop so as not to collide with it. At the point B, the angle of the main body 1 is swung by a predetermined angle to change the direction, and a straight forward movement is started like a straight line 34. Similarly, after stopping once at the point C, the direction is changed and the vehicle goes straight backward as shown by a straight line 35, and after stopping at the point D, the direction is changed and the vehicle goes straight forward and the same operation is repeated. While cleaning. Further, the angle after the stop and the direction change is determined according to the traveling distance such that the distance between the points AC or the points BD becomes a constant value (for example, 40 cm). The above operation is controlled by the traveling control means including the microcomputer of the traveling control device 19 and the flow chart is shown in FIG.

As described above, the floor nozzle 8 is arranged at the front end of the main body 1, and the traveling control means of the traveling control device 19 is
Forward and straight ahead until the distance measuring sensor 17 detects an obstacle ahead, stop once when an obstacle ahead is detected, then change direction by a predetermined angle and go straight backward, and if backward straight ahead by a predetermined distance, stop temporarily and then only a predetermined angle By repeating the operation of changing the direction and moving forward again until the distance measuring sensor 17 detects an obstacle ahead, the floor nozzle 8 can always approach the wall of the reference wall for cleaning.

[0036]

As described above, according to the first means of the present invention, the door body serves as a pedestal for the battery, which makes it easy to pull out and insert the battery. It is possible to realize a mobile work robot that is improved and is easy to use with less risk of dropping batteries.

Further, according to the second means of the present invention, the battery and the main body can be connected by simply connecting and disconnecting the power feeding connector of each battery and the power receiving connector of the main body without distinguishing a plurality of batteries.・ Because disconnection is completed, it is possible to realize a mobile work robot in which the battery can be easily attached to and detached from the main body and there is no incorrect connection.

Further, according to the third means of the present invention, various displays such as forward / backward display, right / left turn display, abnormality display, standby display, etc. can be performed with a minimum of four indicator lamps. It is possible to realize a mobile work robot that reduces power consumption and is excellent in cost.

Further, according to the fourth means of the present invention, regardless of the length of the main body, the floor nozzle always comes close to the wall for cleaning, and the direction changing time is shortened. It is possible to realize a mobile work robot which is excellent in cleaning efficiency and can be cleaned for a short time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a mobile work robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the mobile work robot according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view of the first means and the second means of the present invention in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of a second means of the present invention in the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the third means of the present invention in the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of the fourth means of the present invention in the same embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a fourth means of the present invention in the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body 2 Drive Wheel 3 Travel Motor 4 Follower Wheel 5 Electric Blower 6 Dust Collection Room 7 Filter 8 Floor Nozzle 12 Battery 13 Door Body 14 Opening 15 Handle 16 Indicator Light 17 Distance Measuring Sensor 19 Travel Control Device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuyasu Ogawa 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Toshiaki Fujiwara, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Osamu Eguchi 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Hirofumi Inui, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor, Yoshifumi Takagi Osaka 1006, Kadoma, Kadoma City, Fuchu Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Takafumi Ishibashi 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsuda Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshiki Kuroki 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Denki Sangyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A traveling device for moving the main body by itself, a working device for performing work such as cleaning, a battery as a power source of the traveling device or the working device, an opening for taking out the battery from the main body, and the opening. A mobile work robot having a door body for rotatably opening and closing, and a handle for rotating the door body with respect to a lower horizontal axis and releasing the buckle when protruding from the outer surface of the door body. 2. A traveling device that makes the main body self-propelled, a working device that performs work such as cleaning, a plurality of batteries as power sources of the traveling device or the working device, and power supply provided to each of the plurality of batteries. A mobile work robot in which a main body is provided with a power receiving connector to be connected to each of the connectors, and the power receiving connectors are wired in series in a circuit manner. 3. A traveling device for moving the main body, a working device for cleaning and the like, and an indicator lamp that lights up and blinks are provided in the body, and at least one indicator lamp is provided at each corner of the four corners of the body. A mobile work robot having indicator lights control means for providing each one and changing a lighting / blinking pattern or a lighting / blinking color of the above-mentioned indicator lights according to an operating state of the main body. 4. A traveling device for moving the main body by itself, a dust collector having a floor nozzle for collecting dust on the floor surface, an obstacle detection device for detecting an obstacle in front of the main body, and traveling for controlling traveling of the main body. A control device is provided in the main body, the floor nozzle is arranged at the front end of the main body, and the traveling control device advances straight ahead until the obstacle detection device detects a front obstacle,
If an obstacle in front is detected, it will stop, and then it will change direction by a predetermined angle and go straight backward, and if it moves backward and straight by a predetermined distance, it will stop and then change direction by a predetermined angle and the obstacle detection device will detect an obstacle in front again. A mobile work robot having a traveling control means that repeats the operation of moving forward and rectilinearly until.