JP2000016298A - Conveying carriage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To convey a workpiece in a desired direction without special training or qualification by detecting an external force on the horizontal plane applied to the workpiece on the basis of translational force two axial constituents crossing orthogonally each other on the horizontal plane and a rotational moment force around a vertical axis and moving a vehicle in the direction reducing this external force. SOLUTION: On the upper face of a carriage 1 with a motor, a cargo receiving base 3 for placing a workpiece 2 is arranged. The cargo receiving base 3 is supported movably in the horizontal direction by means of a load supporting mechanism 4 fixed in the carriage 1. The carriage 1 and the cargo receiving base 3 are fastened together by means of a center retaining mechanism 5 so that the cargo receiving base 3 is prevented from sliding down. Between the cargo receiving base 3 and the carriage 1, a force sensor 6 measuring three horizontal forces, that is, orthogonally crossing translational forces and a rotational moment force around the vertical axis is arranged. When a workpiece 2 is pushed manually by an operator, this force is measured by means of the force sensor 6, and a locus and a moving speed reducing this force are calculated, and then, the motor is controlled so as to move the carriage 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a powered carriage capable of moving an object to be carried on the carriage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of transport means, for example, a manual push cart, a powered cart which is operated by a person, an unmanned cart and the like are known. The manual push cart has four wheels, two of which are caster wheels, or all four caster wheels, which are moved and steered by human power. On the other hand, there are two types of powered trolleys that are operated by a person (the former), in which a person operates near the trolley, and types (the latter), in which a person rides on the trolley.

[0003] In the former, a person gives a driving command with a push button or a joystick, and steering is often performed by human power. In some cases, power is used for steering. For example, a forklift is well known for a person on a trolley, and a steering wheel or a steering wheel is generally used. As an unmanned trolley, for example, there is a type in which a magnetic tape or a reflective tape is laid as a guide along a traveling route, and the trolley is automatically driven along the guide.

[0004]

As described above, when a heavy object is carried by a hand cart, a considerable amount of force is required to push the cart, and the work efficiency is poor, for example, it does not stop once it starts moving. There's a problem. Regarding the steering of the cart, the operability is poor due to restrictions on the moving direction of the car, for example, two of the four wheels cannot move laterally on caster wheels. In addition, while all four wheels have caster wheels, the direction of movement is free, but there is a problem that straightness is poor.

[0005] On the other hand, a powered trolley operated by a person near the trolley does not require a force at the time of transportation, but the direction of operation is difficult to understand, and considerable experience is required to operate the trolley in the desired direction. . Forklifts and the like on which people board are required to be skilled in operation, and in some cases a license is required, so that anyone cannot handle them freely. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to allow a person to directly push and pull a conveyed object mounted on a trolley and to convey it, without special training or qualification, anyone, anywhere,
An object of the present invention is to enable a transported object to be transported in a desired direction.

[0006]

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, an omnidirectional moving vehicle with a power which can start moving in an arbitrary direction instantaneously is provided. A detector that detects an external force on a horizontal plane applied to a conveyed object mounted on a vehicle based on a translational force biaxial component orthogonal to the horizontal plane and a rotational moment force about a vertical axis, and an external force applied to the detector. A control unit for moving the vehicle in the direction of reduction is added.

In the first aspect of the present invention, the detector may be a force sensor (the second aspect of the present invention), or the detector may include a plurality of distance sensors, and It is possible to provide a load receiving table and a support mechanism for supporting the load receiving table (invention of claim 3), or a plurality of pins for inserting pins for preventing the transferred object from dropping out of the load receiving table. A hole can be made (the invention of claim 4).

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an example of arrangement of force sensors. On the upper surface of a trolley 1 with power that can start moving in an arbitrary direction instantaneously, a load receiving table 3 on which a load 2 can be loaded is provided. The load receiving platform 3 is supported by a load supporting mechanism 4 fixed to the truck 1 so as to be movable in the horizontal direction, and the load receiving platform 3 can return to the center of the truck 1 without sliding down. Dolly 1 by center maintenance mechanism 5
And the receiving stand 3 are fastened. Further, three horizontal forces between the receiving table 3 and the cart 1, that is, as shown in FIG.
A force sensor 6 is provided for measuring the orthogonal translational force (X, Y) and the rotational moment force (θ) about the vertical axis, and the force sensor 6 measures a force (external force) externally applied to the transferred object 2. .

The cart 1 as described above is disclosed in, for example,
Although known from Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 164968 (hereinafter also referred to as an omnidirectional vehicle or simply a bogie), the principle of its movement will be described with reference to FIG. Now, it is assumed that each of the drive wheels a and b has its own motor and can generate independent speeds. Therefore, if the drive wheels a and b generate a speed in the forward direction at a constant speed, the wheels move straight forward. Moving speed V at this time
Is V = (speed Va of drive wheel a + speed Vb of drive wheel b)
/ 2.

If the driving wheels a and b generate speeds in the opposite directions of the forward and backward driving at a constant speed, the wheels turn around the midpoint of the axle of the driving wheels. Assuming that the rotation speed is ω, ω = (speed Va of drive wheel a + speed Vb of drive wheel b) / wheel distance d. Therefore, by combining these movements, the carriage can be moved forward, backward, and run on a curve. The cart of this type is well known, and 2
This is called a wheel speed difference method.

At a point P which is separated (offset) by a fixed amount S from the axles of the driving wheels a and b in the rotational direction of the wheels, the moving speed V is forward and backward speeds Vx.
In addition, the rotational speed ω can be converted to a moving speed Vy orthogonal to the preceding moving speed, and by controlling the speeds in the two orthogonal directions,
The point P can move in any direction on the plane. However, since the rotation speed ω always changes the direction, it is necessary to control the speed in a short cycle. According to the above, the position of the point P can be moved in all directions on the plane. However, considering the vehicle including the point P, the attitude cannot be controlled, and it cannot be said that the vehicle can be moved in all directions. . Therefore, if a turning shaft is provided on the point P so that the vehicle body can be turned on a bogie supporting the drive wheels, the posture of the vehicle body can always be controlled on the point P, and as a result, the vehicle body (vehicle) can be moved in all directions. It is possible to move it.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an operation control of a vehicle capable of moving in all directions. The bogie movement control unit 7 calculates the moving speed of the bogie 1 based on the output detected by the force sensor 6,
The trolley 1 is driven by controlling the motor 9 via. Now, assuming that a person pushes the transferred object 2 by hand, the applied force is measured by the force sensor 6, and the bogie movement control unit 7 calculates the locus and the moving speed of the bogie 1 such that the force is reduced. By controlling the motor 9 via the amplifier 8, the carriage 1 is moved, and control is performed as if a person is pushing the transported object 2. Next, when the person releases his / her hand from the transported object 2, the force sensor 6 detects that the applied force has decreased, and the speed of the carriage 1 is reduced to stop the carriage 1. This eliminates the need for the person to newly generate a force for stopping the carriage 1.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which a two-axis translation force sensor 10 and a one-axis translation force sensor 11 are combined. In order to obtain the rotational moment force (θ) value using two sensors, the rotational moment force (θ) value is calculated from the difference value between the parallel axes (Y).

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. This is provided with a distance sensor 12 in place of the force sensor 6 in FIG. 1, and obtains the trajectory and the moving speed of the bogie 1 from the detected distance value. FIG. 7 shows an example of the arrangement of the distance sensor 12. Here, two sets are arranged in parallel, and the rotational moment force is determined from the detection values of the parallel sensors. FIG. 8 shows an example of the configuration of the receiving table. FIG. 2A shows a side view when the transported object 2 is placed, and FIG. 2B shows a top view of the load receiving table. this is,
A hole 14 into which a pin 13 can be freely inserted is formed in the load receiving table 3 as shown in FIG.

It should be noted that the present invention provides a trolley 1 capable of moving in all directions.
For example, a wheel having a special wheel called a Mecanum wheel can be similarly applied.

[0016]

According to the present invention, a sensor for detecting an external force, a direction corresponding to the force,
With a simple configuration in which a control unit that performs control in accordance with the speed is simply added, there is an advantage that a heavy object can be moved in a free direction with a small force.
Further, even when the moving object is stopped, it is necessary to pull the object in a direction opposite to the direction in which the moving object is moving as in the related art, or to apply a force in a direction to stop the transferred object in advance. Instead, simply release your hand and stop applying force. For this reason, there is an advantage that work can be easily performed even by elderly people who do not have much physical strength, leading to a reduction in work load and a reduction in work time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of arrangement of force sensors.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an omnidirectional vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of arrangement of a force sensor.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of arrangement of distance sensors.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a specific example of a loading tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... A vehicle (bogie) that can move in all directions, 2 ... Conveyed object, 3 ...
Loading stand, 4 ... Load support mechanism, 5 ... Center maintaining mechanism, 6 ...
Force sensor, 7: truck movement control unit, 8: amplifier, 9: motor, 10, 11: translational force sensor, 12: distance sensor, 1
3 ... pin, 14 ... hole.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazunori Nakajima 1 Fujimachi, Hino City, Tokyo FFC Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3D050 AA01 BB02 DD03 EE08 EE15 GG01 KK14

Claims (4)

[Claims] For a powered omnidirectional vehicle that can instantaneously start moving in an arbitrary direction, an external force on a horizontal plane applied to a conveyed object mounted on the omnidirectional vehicle is orthogonal to the horizontal plane. Wherein a detector for detecting based on a two-axis translational force component and a rotational moment force about a vertical axis, and a control unit for moving the vehicle in a direction to reduce an external force applied to the detector are added. Trolley. 2. The carrier according to claim 1, wherein the detector is a force sensor. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detector includes a plurality of distance sensors, and further includes a load receiving table on which the load is placed, and a support mechanism that supports the load receiving table. Transport trolley. 4. The carrier according to claim 3, wherein the carrier has a plurality of holes for inserting pins for preventing the object from falling off.