CN117842115A

CN117842115A - Cable traction assembly for inspection robot system

Info

Publication number: CN117842115A
Application number: CN202211212319.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郭力; 贾维银
Original assignee: Anhui Ronds Science & Technology Inc Co
Current assignee: Anhui Ronds Science & Technology Inc Co
Priority date: 2022-09-30
Filing date: 2022-09-30
Publication date: 2024-04-09
Also published as: WO2024067557A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a cable traction assembly for a patrol robot system, comprising: a plurality of traction dollies, each comprising a carriage and including a guide wheel mounted on the carriage and configured to travel on a track of the inspection robot system; a cable which is fastened to the traction carriage and can thus run following the traction carriage; wherein, the traction trolley and the inspection robot of the inspection robot system share the track running.

Description

Cable traction assembly for inspection robot system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of track inspection, in particular to an inspection robot system and a cable traction assembly thereof.

Background

The inspection work of long-distance or complex sites such as pipe corridors and coal mines is the basis and important guarantee of site safety. Due to the reasons of multiple monitoring items, long lines and the like, particularly the ultra-long pipe gallery has the advantages of severe environmental conditions, strong sealing performance, multiple structures and inconvenient communication, the inspection difficulty of the field state in a manual mode is high, the feasibility is extremely limited, and the personal safety of inspection personnel is also difficult to effectively guarantee.

Because the robot has basic characteristics of perception, decision, execution and the like, the robot can assist and even replace human beings to finish dangerous, heavy and complex work of inspection, and the working efficiency and quality are improved.

When the inspection robot works, the track platform is usually used as a carrier to move on the track along a fixed running path, and the environment needing inspection is monitored. As technology advances and demand increases, rail inspection robots have also begun to be employed in many places, such as factories, farming plants, smart farms, municipal pipe galleries, underground coal mines, etc.

In the transmission design of the existing inspection robot system for inspecting a fixed track, a driving device such as a motor and a related transmission mechanism such as a belt pulley are arranged at a fixed position to drive a conveyor belt or a conveyor line arranged on the track and an inspection robot mounted on the conveyor belt or the conveyor line to move together for inspection.

In the existing inspection robot system, the inspection robot device generally operates as a whole on a track to perform inspection. Since inspection robot devices may need to operate under certain harsh conditions, such as in mines, underground, multi-flammable dust applications, etc., where there are stringent standards for explosion protection. Therefore, in such an environment, the inspection robot should be designed to meet the explosion-proof requirement, so as to reduce the problem of excessively high temperature during operation as much as possible and improve heat dissipation. Some application occasions require the inspection robot to have as small a volume as possible due to the small space. Limitations of conveyor belts or conveyor lines and rails also require inspection robots to be as lightweight as possible and to prevent local overload, and the above and other application environments place higher demands on reliability.

There is a continuing need in the art for improved inspection robot systems to continue to improve inspection robot system performance and to minimize or even eliminate the above-described technical drawbacks, as well as to achieve other, further technical advantages.

The information included in this background section of the specification of the present invention, including any references cited herein and any descriptions or discussions thereof, is included solely for the purpose of technical reference and is not to be construed as a subject matter that would limit the scope of the present invention.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been developed in view of the above and other further concepts.

One of the basic concepts of the present invention is to provide a novel tandem inspection robot system with a novel drive design. According to the driving design, a transmission chain is arranged on the track along the track, a driving motor, a speed reducing mechanism and a transmission chain wheel can be assembled together through a mounting bracket, the inspection robot can be connected with the transmission chain or assembled together, and the transmission chain wheel rolls on the transmission chain through meshing of the transmission chain wheel to drive the transmission chain wheel to run on the track. The mounting brackets, such as mounting blocks, may have guide/limit wheels mounted thereon. All or part of the drive chain of this drive design, for example a drive chain mounted in a curved track section, is preferably a drive chain which can be bent sideways/has a three-dimensional degree of freedom of extension. The arrangement of the transmission chain and the chain wheel has great superiority compared with the traditional pulley sliding rail design and the transmission design of the gear rack. The running process and the track of the pulley slide rail are unstable and basically cannot run under load; the pinion-and-rack motion is substantially less likely to achieve two-dimensional and three-dimensional degrees of freedom of motion, and is less likely to achieve motion from an upright motion trajectory to a curved/twisted trajectory to a horizontal circumferential motion trajectory in some situations. The reduction gear, preferably a worm gear, not only saves installation space, but also is naturally self-locking, which is very important and advantageous for fixing and maintaining the position of the drive and inspection robot on the track when required.

According to another aspect of the concept, a substantially closed overall track, a polygonal, e.g. square cross-section track, is easier to manufacture and supply, is less costly, and avoids dust accumulation. An additional benefit of such a regularly shaped closed track is that in some dusty applications, such as in mines, downhole, etc., dust accumulation in the grooves of the track (if the track is an open grooved track) can be avoided, and the cost of manufacturing and processing the regularly shaped closed track is lower, while the strength and rigidity can be higher.

Another basic idea of the invention is to provide a new cable traction design. According to the traction design, a plurality of traction trolleys are arranged on the track along the track, and the cables are fixed on the traction trolleys and driven by the driving device together, so that the driving device and/or the inspection robot can be conveniently powered, meanwhile, the cables can conveniently and smoothly follow the driving device to follow, the installation and operation of the cables are facilitated, and the reliability of power supply and the service life of the cables are ensured. This provides advantages over, for example, prior art trolley line power approaches.

The tandem inspection robot may provide a plurality of tandem robot modules, enabling a small-sized design and explosion-proof design of the robot modules, because each module requires only one relatively small-capacity battery to meet explosion-proof standards, and such a design also provides improved convenience of maintenance/replacement and high reliability.

More specifically, in accordance with the concepts of an aspect of the present invention, a cable traction assembly for a patrol robot system is disclosed, comprising: a plurality of traction dollies, each comprising a carriage and including a guide wheel mounted on the carriage and configured to travel on a track of the inspection robot system; a cable which is fastened to the towing trolley and can thus run following the towing trolley; wherein, the traction trolley and the inspection robot of the inspection robot system share the track running.

According to an embodiment, each of said traction trolleys comprises at least two pairs of upper and lower guide wheels running respectively on the upper and lower sides of said track.

3. The cable pulling assembly of claim 2, wherein the bracket is a bracket having a bottom plate and two side plates, a pair of the upper guide wheels and a pair of the lower guide wheels being mounted on each of the side plates in a side-by-side manner, respectively, so as to be capable of rolling movement along an upper face and a lower face of the rail, respectively.

According to an embodiment, the bracket is a U-shaped bracket further comprising a side guide mounted on each of the side plates between the pair of upper guide rollers and the pair of lower guide rollers, the side guide being configured to roll on a respective side of the rail.

According to an embodiment, the bracket is machined from stainless steel, carbon steel or aluminum profiles.

According to an embodiment, a cable mount is provided on the support, via which cable mount the cable is fixed to the towing trolley, so that the cable can be moved with the movement of the towing trolley.

According to an embodiment, the cable mount comprises a body with a clamping groove, and a fastening screw for fastening the cable in the clamping groove.

According to an embodiment, the end of the cable electrically connected to the drive means is fixed to the inspection robot and/or the drive means of the inspection robot system.

According to one embodiment, the track is a square track with a square cross section as a whole, and the upper guide wheel and the lower guide wheel of the traction trolley are respectively matched on the top surface and the bottom surface of the square track to roll.

According to an embodiment, the guide wheel is a flanged guide wheel, the side of the flange adjacent to the track being a bevel, the bevel forming an oblique angle A with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the guide wheel, wherein 0 < A.ltoreq.30°.

According to an embodiment, the guide wheel is a flanged guide wheel, the side of the flange adjacent to the rail is an arc-shaped surface, and the arc radius of the arc-shaped surface is smaller than the bending radius of the rail.

Also disclosed is a tandem inspection robot system, comprising: a track defining a patrol path; the driving device comprises a motor, a speed reducing mechanism and a transmission sprocket, wherein the rotation motion of the motor is transmitted to the transmission sprocket through the speed reducing mechanism so as to drive the transmission sprocket to rotate; a plurality of mounting seats, each of which is provided with a guide wheel rolling on the track, and the driving device is rotatably arranged on the corresponding mounting seat; the transmission chain is fixedly arranged on the track along the extending direction of the track, and the transmission chain wheel is meshed and matched with the transmission chain so as to be capable of travelling along the track together with the driving device and the mounting seat when rotating; the serial inspection robot comprises a group of robot modules which are connected in series, and each robot module is installed on the corresponding installation seat and driven by the driving device to travel along the track.

According to an embodiment, the robot modules are assembled on the respective mounts and are connected in series by means of rigid rods with universal joints.

According to an embodiment, the number of driving means is one; alternatively, the number of the driving devices is at least two, and the at least two driving devices have the same configuration.

According to an embodiment, the tandem inspection robot is a battery powered tandem inspection robot, wherein the drive means is self-contained or powered by a separate battery module; also included in the set of robotic modules is at least one of the following battery-powered functional modules: the system comprises a lighting module, a video-thermal imaging-audio module, a gas sensor module, an intercom module, a ground wireless sensor data collection module, a fire protection module and a video-thermal imaging lens cleaning module.

According to an embodiment, the tandem inspection robot is a cable powered tandem inspection robot, wherein the set of robot modules includes at least one of the following functional modules: the system comprises a lighting module, a video-thermal imaging-audio module, a gas sensor module, an intercom module, a ground wireless sensor data collection module, a fire protection module and a video-thermal imaging lens cleaning module.

According to an embodiment, the inspection robot system further comprises a cable traction assembly comprising: a plurality of traction trolleys, each of which is mounted within the track and follows a longitudinally extending trajectory of the track; one end of the cable is connected to the driving device and/or the serial inspection robot, and the other end of the cable is connected to a power supply and a communication gateway; wherein the cable is fixed or clamped on the plurality of traction trolleys such that the cable is movable with movement of the traction trolleys.

According to one embodiment, the traction trolley comprises a bracket, and two pairs of upper and lower guide wheels mounted on the bracket and configured to run on the upper and lower sides of the track, respectively.

According to an embodiment, the support is a support, for example U-shaped, having a bottom plate and two side plates, on each of which a pair of said upper guide wheels and a pair of said lower guide wheels are mounted, respectively, in a side-by-side manner, so as to be able to roll along the upper and lower faces of the track, respectively.

According to an embodiment, the U-shaped bracket further comprises a side guide wheel mounted on each of the side plates between the pair of upper guide wheels and the pair of lower guide wheels, the side guide wheels being configured to roll on corresponding side surfaces of the rail, respectively.

According to an embodiment, the traction trolley and the mounting seat share the track rolling motion.

According to an embodiment, the drive chain is a toothed chain or a roller chain.

According to an embodiment, at least a part of the drive chain is a laterally bendable chain, e.g. providing three-dimensional degrees of freedom of extension.

According to an embodiment, the mounting comprises a lower bracket and two upper bracket parts, wherein each of the upper bracket parts is independently pivotable with respect to the lower bracket.

According to an embodiment, each of the upper bracket parts comprises a bottom plate and two side plates extending upward from the bottom plate.

According to an embodiment, the upper bracket part is an upper U-shaped part, and an upper guide wheel and a lower guide wheel are mounted on each side plate of each upper U-shaped part, and the upper guide wheel and the lower guide wheel roll on the upper surface and the lower surface of the rail respectively.

According to an embodiment, a side guide is further mounted on each of the side plates of each of the upper U-shaped portions between the upper guide and the lower guide thereof, the side guide being configured for rolling movement on the sides of the track.

According to an embodiment, two pivot holes are provided in the lower bracket, the two upper bracket parts each being pivotally mounted on the lower bracket by a pivot passing through a respective one of the pivot holes.

According to an embodiment, a thrust ball bearing sleeved on the pivot is further arranged at the lower end of the pivot hole of the lower bracket.

According to one embodiment, the drive chain is fixedly mounted on the bottom surface of the rail and extends along the rail.

According to one embodiment, the drive chain is fixedly mounted by rivets or screws in a position near the centre line on the bottom surface of the rail.

According to one embodiment, 5A 20.

According to an embodiment, the speed reducing mechanism is a worm wheel and a worm in meshed engagement, wherein the worm is in driving engagement with a rotating shaft of the motor, and the worm wheel is in driving engagement with the driving sprocket.

According to one embodiment, the worm wheel is fixed to one side of a lower bracket of the mount, and the drive sprocket is rotatably mounted to the opposite side of the lower bracket coaxially with the worm wheel.

According to an embodiment, the rail has an overall polygonal cross section, the polygonal shape being configured such that the rail has a flat bottom and top surface after installation and has two perpendicular sides or two inclined upper sides or two curved upper curved surfaces.

According to an embodiment, the cross section of the track is selected from one of the following: square, trapezoidal, truncated isosceles triangle, pentagon, hexagon and drum.

According to one embodiment, the rail is a square rail with a square cross section as a whole, and the upper guide wheel and the lower guide wheel of the mounting seat roll on the top surface and the bottom surface of the square rail respectively. Square rails are easier to manufacture and supply and are less costly.

According to an embodiment, the drive chain is an uninterrupted chain fixedly mounted on the rail along the length of the rail.

According to one embodiment, the drive chain is constituted by at least two lengths of chain seamlessly spliced and fixed on the track along the length of the track.

According to an embodiment, each of the set of robot modules is individually serviceable and/or individually replaceable.

According to an embodiment, at least one robot module of the tandem inspection robot is fixedly assembled with the driving device.

According to an embodiment, the track is a circular track defining a circular fixed inspection path of the inspection robot.

According to an embodiment, at least one robot module of the tandem inspection robot is fixedly mounted on the mounting base.

According to one embodiment, the drive sprocket is positioned below the track and is capable of engaging a drive chain fixedly mounted to the bottom surface of the track.

According to an embodiment, a splice groove for mounting a splice pin is provided on at least part of the track section of the track.

According to an embodiment, the track is an integrally formed metal piece.

According to an embodiment, the robot modules are independently serviceable and/or independently replaceable.

According to an embodiment, the functional module has a battery built therein.

According to an embodiment, the functional module takes power from the cable.

According to an embodiment, the track may be made of a metallic material, such as stainless steel, carbon steel or aluminum profile, for example, which may provide advantages in cost, weather resistance, easy workability, easy replacement and maintainability.

According to an embodiment, the different robot modules may be in cable communication and powered, or may be battery powered and in wireless communication.

According to an embodiment, since the inspection robot adopts the design of robot modules distributed on the track in series, the design can avoid centralized attachment on the track, and thus a distributed light-load configuration is provided, and since the functions and power consumption of the modules are also distributed, the battery capacity on each module can be smaller, the pressure is small, and the explosion-proof authentication is easy to pass. Each module can be independently maintained, repaired and replaced, so that compared with the integral inspection robot, the maintenance is better.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the transmission is realized by adopting the engagement between the chain wheel and the fixedly installed chain on the track and the speed reducing mechanism in the form of a worm gear, so that the device has the advantages of no slip, strong climbing capacity, self-locking when in shutdown, stable position of the driving device even if the driving device bears external force, simple structure and the like.

The invention also discloses the application of the inspection robot system in outdoor environment, underground mine, wharf transportation place, industrial production line, long-distance track conveying place, long-distance belt conveying place, explosion-proof place, anti-freezing place, rain-proof place or dust-proof place.

Further embodiments of the invention also enable other advantageous technical effects not listed one after another, which may be partly described below and which are anticipated and understood by a person skilled in the art after reading the present invention.

Drawings

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of these embodiments, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the embodiments of the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1A is a schematic diagram of a major configuration of a wireless (battery) powered tandem inspection robot system, showing an overall layout of an exemplary inspection robot system disposed on a circular orbit, for example, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 1B is a schematic diagram of a main configuration of a wired (cable) powered tandem inspection robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing an overall layout of the inspection robot system.

Fig. 2A is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of the wireless (battery) powered inspection robot system shown in fig. 1A, showing an enlarged view of the arrangement of the tandem inspection robot (module) and drive on the track.

Fig. 2B is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of the wired (cable) powered inspection robot system shown in fig. 1B, showing an enlarged view of the arrangement of the tandem inspection robot (module) and drive on the track.

Fig. 3 is a further enlarged view of the wired inspection robot module, drive and traction cart shown in fig. 2B.

Fig. 4 is a further enlarged schematic perspective view of the drive means and a portion of the (curve) track of the wireless (battery) powered inspection robot system shown in fig. 2A.

Fig. 5 is a further enlarged partial view of the configuration shown in fig. 2B from another perspective and showing the track in a partial cut-away manner with a square cross-section.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of a driving device of a tandem-type inspection robot system and an inspection robot (module) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 shows an enlarged schematic view of the drive and inspection robot modules of fig. 6 assembled together by mounts in partial cutaway.

Fig. 8 schematically shows the configuration of the driving device, inspection robot (module), and mount shown in fig. 6 from another perspective.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the drive device shown in fig. 8 with the inspection robot module removed and showing that the two upper U-shaped members of the mount are each independently pivotable relative to the lower portion.

Fig. 10 is a partial perspective schematic view of the drive arrangement of fig. 8-9, particularly illustrating the idler and pivot designs of the mount.

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective schematic view of another embodiment of a drive device, which is substantially identical to the configuration shown in FIG. 10, except for the addition of a side guide design to the mount.

Fig. 12 illustrates a square cross-section track in which an electrical heating device may be provided, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates an arrangement and design of a guide wheel of a mount according to an embodiment, particularly illustrating flange on the guide wheel and a beveled design of the flange to facilitate passage of the guide wheel through a curve.

Fig. 14 illustrates in enlarged view the construction of a guide wheel according to an embodiment, particularly illustrating the flange on its roller body and the beveled design of the flange.

Fig. 15 shows an enlarged schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a traction cart according to an embodiment, showing the construction and details of the traction cart of the embodiment.

Detailed Description

In the following description of the drawings and detailed description, details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

It is to be understood that the illustrated and described embodiments are not limited in application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The illustrated embodiments may be other embodiments and can be implemented or performed in various ways. Examples are provided by way of explanation, not limitation, of the disclosed embodiments. Indeed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the various embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. For example, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield still a further embodiment. Accordingly, the present disclosure is intended to cover such modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of "including," "comprising," or "having" and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.

In the present invention, unless specifically stated and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "coupled," and the like are to be construed broadly and may be connected, for example, directly or indirectly through intermediaries. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art according to the specific circumstances.

In the scheme of the inspection robot in the prior art, in the application occasion that the operation channel of the conveying chain of the inspection robot is relatively narrow, the inspection robot with the integrated design of the loading belt of the inspection robot can possibly cause the limitation or blockage of the application occasion of the inspection robot system because the overlarge volume of the whole structure cannot pass through the narrow operation channel.

In addition, the inspection robot needs to work continuously for a long time, and its working environment may be severe, such as a high temperature, high humidity, high dust environment, etc., in which case the inspection robot of an integrated design may cause a series of problems due to its integrated construction, for example, the working modules of the integrated construction work intensively to generate heat, resulting in heat dissipation problems, which may not meet requirements for some occasions, such as explosion protection requirements and reliability. Moreover, in the working components of the integral whole structure, if one component fails, the operation of the conveying chain of the inspection robot has to be stopped, the whole inspection robot is disassembled for replacement or diagnosis maintenance, and the operation of the conveying chain is possibly interrupted for too long, which can cause unacceptable losses for application occasions of the conveying chain of the inspection robot requiring long-time and low-failure operation.

The invention is described and illustrated in further detail below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments.

Fig. 1A is a schematic diagram of the main configuration of a wireless (battery) powered tandem inspection robot system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the overall layout of an exemplary inspection robot system 100 disposed on a track 200, such as a ring. Fig. 2A is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of the wireless (battery) powered inspection robot system 100 shown in fig. 1A, showing an enlarged view of the arrangement of the tandem inspection robot (module) 300 and the drive device 400 on the track 200. Fig. 4 is a further enlarged schematic perspective view of the drive 400 of the wireless (battery) powered inspection robot system 100 shown in fig. 2A and a portion of a curved track.

As shown in fig. 1A, 2A and 4, the basic components and overall arrangement of a wireless (battery) powered tandem inspection robot system 100 is illustrated. The tandem type inspection robot 300 of the inspection robot system 100 may be driven by the driving device 400 to engage with the driving chain 240 fixed on the track 200 through the driving sprocket 440, thereby performing the track operation to inspect the objects in the surrounding environment.

As shown in fig. 2A, an exemplary tandem inspection robot 300 is illustrated that includes a set of four inspection robot modules 300A-300D arranged in tandem. The set of robot modules 300A-300D are arranged in tandem on the track 200 as shown, with one robot module 300D mounted with and driven by one drive motor 410 and the other robot module 300A mounted with and driven by the other drive motor 410, which may be traction connected to each other by a rigid link such as a steel rod 302 or wire 302, so as to be driven together to run on the track 200. In the case of a rigid link such as steel rod 302, universal joints may be added to both ends to provide a universal joint, providing flexibility and passability in cornering. In addition, in the case of battery powered, at least one of the robot modules, such as robot module 300B, may be a battery module that may power inspection robot module 300A and the drive 400 in which it resides via wires or cables 301. In the embodiment of fig. 2A, a drive 400 with a motor and transmission and reduction mechanism is provided at both the end-to-end, i.e., inspection robot modules 300A and 300D. Of course, it is also possible to equip a tandem inspection robot with one or more drive devices 400. The inspection robot modules 300A-300D may be in wireless communication with each other. The drive motor 410 may take the form of a servo motor, for example.

Fig. 1B is a schematic diagram of the main configuration of a wired (cable) powered tandem inspection robot system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the overall layout of the inspection robot system 100. Fig. 2B is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of the wired (cable) powered inspection robot system 100 shown in fig. 1B, showing an enlarged view of the arrangement of the tandem inspection robot (module) 300 and the drive device 400 on the track 200. Fig. 3 is a further enlarged view of the wireline-powered inspection robot module 300D, drive 400, and tractor shown in fig. 2B. Fig. 5 is a further enlarged partial view of the configuration shown in fig. 2B from another perspective and showing the track 200 in partial cutaway with a square cross-section. The embodiment of the wired tandem inspection robot system 100 is similar to the configuration and construction of the wireless (battery) powered tandem inspection robot system of fig. 1A and 2A, with the main difference that the set of four tandem inspection robot modules 300A-300D of the wired tandem inspection robot system 100 are externally powered by cables 450, so that separate battery modules may be omitted depending on the situation. In addition, the communication between the inspection robot modules 300A-300D (if any) may take a limited form, although this is not required. The cable 450 is connected to the drive and/or the inspection robot (module) and may follow the inspection robot (module) 300 together on the track 200 by traction of the traction cart 470, as described in more detail below. The wired power supply and communication mode is advantageous in the short-distance inspection occasion, and can provide a power supply and communication mode with higher reliability.

As shown in fig. 3, the robotic module 300D at one end is connected by a cable 450 to a tractor 470 that carries (e.g., snaps or other attachment means) the cable 450. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that since the inspection robot is not so heavy and in most cases the track 200 is horizontally extending, the tractor need not be separately equipped with a traction cable, which may be omitted in the inspection robot scenario. That is, the traction cart 470 may be coupled (and electrically connected) to the drive 400 via only the power and/or communication cable 450 and/or to the inspection robot (e.g., module 300D of fig. 3), such that the power cable 450 may be run along the track 200 along with the drive 400. In contrast, some inspection robots of the prior art are also powered by means of cables, but typically employ a trolley line arrangement. One of the technical drawbacks of the trolley wire is that the trolley wire is prone to poor contact or short circuit in humid environments and the like, and the reliability of power supply of the trolley wire is relatively low. The cable pulling method of the invention can alleviate or avoid the defects.

Fig. 5 is a further enlarged partial view of the configuration shown in fig. 2B from another perspective and showing the track in a partial cut-away manner with a square cross-section. Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a driving apparatus 400 of a tandem-type inspection robot system and an inspection robot 300 (one of the robot modules) installed and running on a rail 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 shows, in partial cross-section, the assembly of the drive device 400 on the square rail 200, and an exemplary assembly configuration of the drive chain 240. It will be apparent that the track 200 has a generally square cross-section as shown, however, other forms of construction and cross-section of the track 200 are possible. For example, the rail 200 may have an overall polygonal cross-section, the polygonal shape being configured such that the rail 200 has a flat bottom surface and top surface, and has two perpendicular sides, or two sloped upper sides, or two arcuate upper curves, when installed. The track 200 may be square, trapezoidal, truncated isosceles triangle, pentagon, hexagon, drum, etc. in cross-section. The rail 200 may be integrally formed, for example, from a metal such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, steel, or the like. Generally, square rails are easier to manufacture and supply, and may be less costly.

In addition, it is important that the drive chain 240 be fixedly mounted to the rail 200, such as near the centerline of the bottom surface of the rail 200 or elsewhere, by means of rivets, screws, bolting, etc., as shown in fig. 5 and 7-10, the drive chain 240 being disposed along a portion or the entire extension and direction of extension of the rail 200, and in the present invention, be fixedly mounted to the rail 200 so that the sprocket 440 engages therewith and travels along the drive chain 240, in the orientation shown in fig. 7. Fig. 5 and 7 also show the motor 410 and the reduction mechanism 430 mounted on the mount 420 of the drive device 400, and the inspection robot 300, which may be mounted on the other side opposite the motor 410, for example. The reduction mechanism 430 is, for example, preferably but not limited to, a worm gear reduction mechanism, as described in further detail below.

In some outdoor or cold ice prone application environments, the track 200 of the in-line inspection robot system of the present invention may ice due to exposure to rain and cold, thereby affecting the normal use of the track 200. Accordingly, as shown in fig. 12, a heating wire mounting groove 260 may also be provided in the rail 200, in which an electric heating member 250, such as an electric heating belt, a heating wire, or a thermistor PTC, may be accommodated for heating the rail, removing ice and/or water. Although the electric heating members 250 are provided at both sides as shown in fig. 12, the number and arrangement positions of the electric heating members 250 may be changed as needed, for example, more or less, and may be provided on the rail 200 of any configuration, not limited to the square rail.

An additional benefit of a regularly shaped closed track, such as square track 200, is that in some dusty applications, such as in mines, downhole, etc., dust accumulation in the grooves of the track (if the track is an open grooved track) can be avoided from affecting use, and the cost of manufacturing and processing the regularly shaped closed track is lower, while the strength and rigidity can be higher.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged schematic view of a driving apparatus 400 of a tandem-type inspection robot system and an inspection robot 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 shows a schematic end view of the construction shown in fig. 6 in partial cutaway. Fig. 8 to 10 show the configurations of the driving device, the inspection robot (module), the mount and the like of one embodiment. As shown in fig. 6-10, this embodiment of the drive device 400 may include a motor 410, a reduction mechanism 430, and a drive sprocket 440. As an illustrative example, the reduction mechanism 430 is mainly constituted by a worm wheel and a worm screw engaged with each other. The worm-gear type speed reducing mechanism 430 not only can well perform speed reduction to the left and right, but also is self-locking, so that the inspection robot (module) is conveniently fixed on a track, which is not provided with other types of speed reducing mechanisms. The motor shaft of the motor 410 and the worm screw may be coaxially connected to transmit the rotational motion from the motor, and the rotational motion reduced by the worm wheel engaged therewith is transmitted to the drive sprocket 440. As shown in fig. 7, the worm gear reduction mechanism 430 is mounted on the illustrated right side of the mount 420, and on the illustrated left side of the mount 420, the drive sprocket 440 may be mounted by, for example, coaxial or coaxial means. Thus, the inspection robot (module) 300 and the driving device 400 are assembled together by the mount 420. The drive sprocket 440 engages a drive chain 240 secured to the track as shown in fig. 7. Thus, when the driving sprocket 440 of the driving device 400 is driven to rotate by the motor 410, it can be engaged with the driving chain 240 fixed on the track 200 to roll along the track 200, for example, roll forward or backward, and thus the whole driving device 400, the mounting base 420 and the inspection robot 300 can be driven to travel along the track 200 together.

The drive chain 240 may be a roller chain. Of course, the drive chain 240 may be in other forms, such as a toothed chain, which is adapted to engage with a drive sprocket. Since the drive chain 240 needs to extend upwardly, e.g., generally upright, horizontally, circumferentially with the track 200, lateral bending and/or twisting may be required, it is preferred that at least a portion or all of the drive chain 240 be a laterally bendable chain drive chain that may have three dimensional degrees of freedom extending in space.

To facilitate smooth travel of the entire drive 400 and inspection robot 300 along the track 200, as shown in fig. 8-10, according to one embodiment, the mount 420 may include a lower bracket 423 and two upper bracket portions 421 and 422, which may be, for example, generally U-shaped, each of the upper U-shaped portions 421 or 422 being independently pivotable relative to the lower bracket 423, e.g., the upper U-shaped portions 421 or 422 may be each independently pivotable relative to the lower bracket 423 from the orientation shown in fig. 8 to the orientation shown in fig. 9, such that the mount 420 may flexibly adjust as it is bent over the track, smoothly passing over the curve.

Each of the upper U-shaped portions 421 and 422 includes a bottom plate and two side plates extending upward from the bottom plate. As shown in fig. 10, an upper guide wheel 421A and a lower guide wheel 421C are mounted on one side plate of the upper U-shaped portion 421, and an upper guide wheel 421B and a lower guide wheel 421D are mounted on the other side plate opposite thereto, and a pivot 480 is mounted on the bottom plate of the upper U-shaped portion 421, as described in detail below. Similarly, one side plate of the upper U-shaped portion 422 is mounted with an upper guide wheel 422A and a lower guide wheel 422C, and the other side plate opposite thereto is mounted with an upper guide wheel 422B and a lower guide wheel 422D, and the bottom plate of the upper U-shaped portion 422 is mounted with another pivot 480, as described in detail below. The upper and lower guide wheels are configured to roll over and under the track 200, act as a guide, limit and centralize for movement, and prevent bouncing during operation. The guide wheels facilitate smooth and steady operation of the driving device 400 and the inspection robot 300 along the track 200, and prevent jumping, derailment, etc. during operation.

As shown in fig. 5 to 10, a straight plate 423A may be provided on the lower support 423, on which a patrol robot (module) 300, such as a camera module, a battery module, a driving module, a video-audio module, a sensor module, etc., or other patrol equipment, may be mounted. The lower bracket 423 may also be provided with two pivot holes 423D and 423E at positions corresponding to the bottom plates of the two upper U-shaped portions 421 and 422. The two pivot holes 423D and 423E may be purposely thickened as shown so that two lengths of pivot 480 may pass therethrough, as shown in fig. 10. One end of the two pivots 480 may be secured to the floor of the corresponding upper U-shaped portion, for example, by threading into the two pivot holes 423D and 423E, or/and may be secured with a nut or nut. The other ends of the two pivots 480 are pivotally mounted on the lower bracket 423. The pivoting of the upper U-shaped part relative to the lower bracket can be achieved, for example, by the end flange of the other end abutting against the end face of the corresponding pivot hole. As a preferred example, thrust ball bearings 423B and 423C may be interposed between the end flange of the other end and the corresponding pivot holes 423D and 423E, so that it is ensured that the two upper U-shaped portions 421 and 422 are exactly and reliably fitted with respect to the lower bracket 423, and that the two upper U-shaped portions 421 and 422 are each smoothly pivoted with respect to the lower bracket 423 independently.

Fig. 11 is a partial perspective schematic view of another embodiment of a drive apparatus 400, which is substantially identical to the configuration shown in fig. 10, except for the addition of a side guide design to the mount. A side guide is added to each side plate of the upper U-shaped portions 421 and 422, 421E, 421F, 422E and 422F, respectively. These side guide wheels 421E, 421F, 422E and 422F roll on the left and right sides of the rail after the driving device 400 is mounted on the rail 200, further play a role in guiding movement, (left and right) limiting, centering and preventing derailment, and of course can further contribute to smooth overstretching.

Fig. 13-14 illustrate one design of a guide wheel that facilitates over-bending on a track bend. As shown in fig. 13-14, the upper guide wheel 421A of the mounting block 420 is illustrated as an example. The upper guide wheel 421A may have a roller body 421A1 rolling on the rail 200, and a flange 421A2 integrally formed therewith. A chamfer arc, such as concave arc C, may be used between flange 421A2 and roller body 421A1 to avoid stress concentrations and may more or less facilitate the bending. Preferably, the end face of the flange 421A2 on the side proximate to the rail after installation is designed as a bevel S that forms an oblique angle A with a plane perpendicular to the guide wheel axis of rotation R, where 0 < A.ltoreq.30 °, such as more preferably 2.ltoreq.A.ltoreq.20 °, 5.ltoreq.A.ltoreq.15 °, and so on. In the case where the end surface of the flange 421A2 on the side proximate to the rail 200 after installation is designed as an arcuate surface, particularly an arcuate surface that bows outwardly, the arcuate surface preferably has a radius of curvature that is less than the radius of curvature of the rail to facilitate over-bending. Fig. 13 illustrates the situation when an upper guide wheel with a design of the bevel S is over-bent, it being seen that the design of the bevel S greatly reduces or even avoids interference/obstruction of the rolling of the guide wheel by the sides of the rail 200, especially inside the curve of the rail. While fig. 13-14 illustrate only this design of the upper guide wheel of the mount, the lower guide wheel of the mount may also be designed with such a bevel or cambered surface. Similarly, the upper guide wheels and lower guide vanes of the traction cart 470 may be configured with such a beveled or cambered curve design, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Fig. 15 illustrates an embodiment of one of the traction carts 470 that may roll on the inspection track 200. The cable 450 may be secured to the towing trolley 470 and the cable 450 may be used directly as a towing rope without the need for an additional towing rope. This is because the track 200 is mostly a horizontal track, and even if the cable 450 is left or right to be pulled during pulling, the pulling force/pulling force is small enough not to be detrimental to the life of the cable 450 and the reliability of the power supply.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged schematic perspective view of one embodiment of a traction cart 470, showing the construction and details of the traction cart 470 of this embodiment. Similar to the placement of the guide wheels on the mounting block 420, in this embodiment, the traction cart 470 has a bracket, e.g., a U-shaped bracket, integrally formed from a bottom plate and two side plates extending upwardly from the bottom plate, which may be machined, for example, from channel steel (or aluminum alloy) or I-steel (or aluminum alloy profile). A total of 8 guide wheels are mounted on the U-shaped bracket. Wherein, a pair of upper guide wheels 471A and 471B and a pair of lower guide wheels 471C and 471D, which can all play a role of guiding, limiting and righting movement, are mounted on one of the side plates 471 of the traction cart 470. A pair of upper guide wheels 472A and 472B and a pair of lower guide wheels 472C and 472D, which serve to guide, limit and centralize movement and prevent run-out, may be mounted to the other side plate 472 of the towing trolley 470. These guide wheels may help the traction cart 470 roll smoothly along the track 200, so that when the inspection robot 300 and the drive 400 are running along the track 200, their (power and/or communication) cables 450 may be used as traction cables and thus may also be carried by the traction cart 470 to travel along the track 200 therewith, providing a safe and reliable power and/or communication. The upper and lower guide wheels of the traction cart 470 may each have the same configuration and design as the upper and lower guide wheels of the mounting block 420, as they may travel in common with the track 200.

On the pulling trolley 470, for example on its bottom plate 473, there can also be provided a cable mount 475, which can for example comprise a body with a clamping groove 475A for receiving the mounted cable 450, and for example two fastening screws 476, which can fasten the cable 450 in the clamping groove 475A. Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the pulling trolleys can take other forms than those shown, so long as the fixed pulling cables and cables can be installed, which are within the scope of the present invention.

The rail 200 may be integrally formed, for example, by an extrusion process of a metal such as aluminum, aluminum alloy.

The drive chain 240 may be a roller chain or a toothed chain, which may be either a heavy-duty or a non-heavy-duty design. Of course, the drive chain 240 may be in other forms of mating engagement with a drive sprocket, such as a toothed chain. Where a grade and/or curve is desired, a side-curve and/or twist may also be desired, so that at these locations the drive chain 240 may employ a side-curve chain drive chain, which preferably has three degrees of freedom and thus may have three degrees of freedom to extend.

One or more in-line inspection robots 300 may be disposed on each track 200. Each of the tandem inspection robots 300 may include a set of multiple tandem inspection robot modules, such as modules 300A-300D, that are separated from each other and arranged in tandem. Although a set of 4 inspection robot modules is shown, the number of such modules may be fewer or greater, such as 2, 3, 5, 6, etc., as desired.

Although shown spaced apart from one another by a gap, the tandem inspection robot modules may be tandem on the rail 200 in close proximity to one another with substantially no gap. Although the first and second motors 410 are shown in fig. 2A-2B, the number of motors may be 1 or more, and the positions may be other arrangements.

By distributing the individual inspection robot modules in series on the rail 200, the weight and force at each mounting location is actually reduced and the counterweight is dispersed at multiple points rather than at a single point previously. By such a configuration, potential problems caused by unbalance of the counterweight, unbalance of the center of gravity, etc. of the inspection robot before can be reduced or even solved, for example, impact, noise during operation and other such faults can be reduced, and relatively less frequent repair and maintenance can be achieved.

Furthermore, the volume and the occupied space of each inspection robot module can be smaller, so that the inspection robot module can be applied to occasions with relatively narrow running channels of the inspection robot conveying chains. In addition, a plurality of inspection robot modules which possibly generate heat during operation are dispersed in a serial mode, and the battery-powered inspection robot modules can adopt batteries with relatively smaller capacity and better explosion resistance during self-charging battery power supply, so that the problem of poor heat dissipation can be solved, and the operation reliability and the robustness of the system are improved. The modules are distributed in series and are independent, so that the difficulty of fault diagnosis, maintenance and replacement is further reduced. These advantages are more important and prominent in the application environment of bad working conditions such as high temperature, high explosion, high dust and the like.

The robot module of the tandem inspection robot may be selected from at least one of the following functional modules: the device comprises a lighting module, a video-thermal imaging-audio module, a gas sensor module, a battery module, an intercom module, a wireless communication module, a fire protection module and a camera cleaning module. The lighting module may for example serve the function of ambient lighting and visual monitoring, which is essential and necessary for remote monitoring. The video-thermal imaging-audio module may be used, for example, to capture images, thermal imaging, and audio information, including cameras, thermal imaging, temperature sensing, and sound recordings, etc., and may optionally be transmitted, for example, in real-time to a ground base station. The fire module may include associated sensors, such as temperature sensors, smoke sensors, etc., and may send corresponding warning signals, and may optionally send corresponding instructions to activate consumer appliances, such as fire faucets, extinguishers, etc. The camera cleaning module can be used for cleaning the camera of the inspection robot, such as a water spray nozzle and a water tank are installed to spray and clean the camera, and the like. Of course, it is fully understood by those skilled in the art that the tandem inspection robot assembly of the present concept may additionally or alternatively incorporate other functional modules, depending on the application and function, which are within the scope of the present concept.

According to one example, a set of robot modules may include one master module and at least one slave module, and the master module may be in a wireless or wired communication connection with the at least one slave module.

According to one example, the functional module may be built-in with a rechargeable battery as an operating power source, so that the module may operate independently and may have better explosion-proof performance.

In one example, the wireless communication module may act as a master module. The wireless communication module may be selected from at least one of the following: the device comprises a Zigbee module, a WiFi module, a Bluetooth module, a LoRa transmission module, an NB transmission module, a Proprietary transmission module, a Thread transmission module, a Wi-SUN transmission module, a Z-Wave transmission module and an infrared communication module.

In one example, the functional modules are independently repairable and/or independently replaceable for ease of service, maintenance, and replacement.

The tandem track inspection robot system and the components thereof can be applied to the application of inspection in underground mines, wharf transportation sites, industrial production lines, long-distance track transportation sites, long-distance belt transportation sites or explosion-proof sites and other environments with severe working conditions or danger.

In one example, the in-line inspection robot system may include an on-line monitoring wireless sensor secured in an environment in which the inspection path is located for collecting status data of devices in the environment.

The inspection robot in the serial inspection robot system comprises a wireless sensor data communication module, wherein the wireless sensor data communication module is configured to wirelessly communicate with the on-line monitoring wireless sensor during inspection so as to collect data acquired by the on-line monitoring wireless sensor and give instructions to the on-line monitoring wireless sensor.

Although in the above-described embodiment of the tandem type inspection robot system, the inspection robot is a tandem type inspection robot, so that many related technical advantages can be achieved. However, those skilled in the art will understand and readily appreciate that the in-line inspection robot system of the present invention may be replaced with an integrated inspection robot, if desired.

According to one example, the functional module may be powered by a power supply cable, or the functional module may have a battery built therein as a power supply.

The basic idea of the present invention is described above in connection with the embodiments. Note that the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the technical principle applied. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, and that various obvious changes, rearrangements, combinations, and substitutions can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A cable traction assembly for a patrol robot system, the cable traction assembly comprising:

a plurality of traction dollies, each comprising a carriage and including a guide wheel mounted on the carriage and configured to travel on a track of the inspection robot system;

a cable which is fastened to the traction carriage and can thus run following the traction carriage;

wherein, the traction trolley and the inspection robot of the inspection robot system share the track running.

2. The cable pulling assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the pulling trolleys includes at least two pairs of upper and lower guide wheels that run above and below the track, respectively.

4. The cable pulling assembly of claim 3, wherein the bracket is a U-shaped bracket further comprising a side guide mounted between the pair of upper guide rollers and the pair of lower guide rollers on each side plate, the side guide configured to roll on a respective side of the track.

5. The cable pulling assembly of claim 1, wherein the bracket is machined from stainless steel, carbon steel, or aluminum profile.

6. The cable hauling assembly of claim 1, wherein a cable mount is provided on the bracket, the cable being secured to the hauling trolley via the cable mount such that the cable is movable with movement of the hauling trolley.

7. The cable pulling assembly of claim 6, wherein the cable mount includes a body with a clamping slot and a fastening screw for fastening the cable within the clamping slot.

8. The cable traction assembly of claim 1, wherein the end of the cable electrically connected to the drive means is secured to the inspection robot and/or the drive means of the inspection robot system.

9. The cable pulling assembly of any one of claims 1-8, wherein the track is a square track having a square cross-section overall, and the upper and lower guide wheels of the pulling carriage are engaged in rolling motion on top and bottom surfaces of the square track, respectively.

10. The cable pulling assembly of any one of claims 1-8, wherein the guide pulley is a flanged guide pulley, the side of the flange proximate the track being a bevel, the bevel forming an oblique angle a relative to a plane perpendicular to an axis of rotation of the guide pulley, wherein 0 < a ∈30 °.

11. The cable pulling assembly of any one of claims 1-8, wherein the guide is a flanged guide, the side of the flange proximate the track being an arcuate surface having a radius of curvature less than a radius of curvature of the track.

12. The cable pulling assembly of any one of claims 1-8, wherein the pulling cable is selected from one of a metal cable, a metal wire, and a metal chain.