JP2000118456A - Suspension mechanism capable of stable running on off- road and running over step in wheel type mobile body controllable of suspension length - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make wheels automatically and reliably follow an uneven surface and uniformly distribute the load on a load-carrying platform during running on an off-road, and secure wheels necessary to stably support to cause other wheels to function as floating legs for running over which are not related to support the load-carrying platform in the case of a large step. SOLUTION: The upper and lower parts of the chambers of cylinder 24-27 and 24'-27' to hold minimum eight wheels by an oil pressure are intercommunicated by a two-system coexistence circuit wherein paralleled pipings P, P... are arranged in a spanning state so that inner wheels and outer wheels on one side are integrally formed as a pair and the inner and outer wheels on the other side are positioned facing each other to uniformly distribute the loads of the inner and other wheels. Further, four parallel passages to converge communicating pipes J1-J8 introduced from lateral and longitudinal parallel pipings are connected to forward and reverse delivery pumps 28 and 29 for controlling lateral inclination and controlling longitudinal inclination. In this case, by interposing four three-position directional control valves 30-33 to switch between the operation of both of the paralleled pipings and that of one of thereof and a two-position directional control valve 34 to switch between the connection forward and reverse pumps, individual raising and lowering control of four wheels on the inner side and four wheels on the outer side is practicable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a suspension length capable of mounting a working machine or the like on an undercarriage and moving quickly on an irregular road having slopes, unevenness, obstacles, steps and the like as well as a normal road. The present invention relates to a suspension mechanism in a wheel-type moving body capable of controlling the suspension.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art If one considers only a moving mechanism capable of getting over a step, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-64 is disclosed.
There is a leg-type moving mechanism described in No. 569, which can move on complicated terrain, but it has low energy efficiency, complicated driving mechanism and control, and has a flat surface. There is a disadvantage that the moving speed is too slow.

In this respect, in the leg-wheel type moving mechanism described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-55150, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-55267, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-215480, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. , It is possible to increase the moving speed on a flat surface as compared with the leg-type moving mechanism, but problems concerning energy, mechanism, control, and the like still remain.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-3794,
A moving mechanism having a plurality of crawlers and a deformable crawler described in JP-A-29571, JP-A-62-43372, JP-B-63-41352, JP-A-5-147560, and JP-A-5-156666 is expensive. Although it has the ability to adapt to uneven terrain, it has disadvantages such as lower energy efficiency and lower moving efficiency than the wheel-type moving mechanism, and the influence on the road surface when turning.

Further, the moving mechanism described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-25712 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-319330, which has a wheel at the tip of a rotating arm, enables a relatively simple mechanism to get over a step, but can get over it. There is a disadvantage that the height of the step is constant. Note that Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
No. 6875 describes a moving mechanism with a rotatable triangular crawler.

[0006] As another moving mechanism, a moving mechanism in which an auxiliary wheel having a complicated driving mechanism sequentially rides on a step (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-138069),
There is a moving mechanism provided with a deformed crawler that has the above-described crawler defect as it is (Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-45110), and a moving mechanism that lifts a vehicle body with an auxiliary wheel also having the crawler defect (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-171561). .

[0007] Considering from a comprehensive viewpoint, the ability to overcome a step, the mobility on a road and a site, and the concern that a vehicle may fall over due to the movement of the center of gravity when a vehicle is tilted and a work machine is mounted on the chassis. The most practical is a leg-wheel type, that is, a wheel type movable body with a controllable suspension length. Among them, the one described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-55150 is an improvement of a normal four-wheeled vehicle, and the design burden is advantageous in that established steering and transmission mechanisms can be used.

[0008] The structure is such that in a four-wheel mobile body provided with a pair of front and rear running wheels on the left and right sides of the vehicle body, these wheels can be respectively held at two upper and lower positions, and at least one side in the vehicle traveling direction. The two wheels are slidable back and forth, and the center of gravity of the moving body is set in a plane defined by four lines connecting the two wheels on one side at the front and rear sliding positions and the wheels at the body angle positions of these wheels. Located in the
A four-wheel vehicle for traveling on uneven terrain, characterized in that: "It is in.

On the other hand, the applicant of the present invention
Wheel-type movement with a controllable suspension length that ensures that the wheels follow the bumps and that the chassis load can always be evenly distributed to all wheels and that the vehicle can run stably on uneven terrain. Japanese Patent Application Hei 8 for body suspension mechanism
No. 347404. In other words, in a suspension in which wheels are held by cylinders such as hydraulics,
Two diagonal wheels are paired between each cylinder and an adjacent cylinder, and the two pairs are linked to move up and down in opposite directions. As shown in FIG. Numeral 4 is located between adjacent cylinders in a suspension of cylinders holding wheels 5 to 8 arranged on links freely rotatable around the longitudinal axis of the chassis.
The two pairs are moved up and down in the opposite direction in conjunction with each other by pressure transmission through the fluid that communicates between the cylinders, so that they follow the unevenness of all wheels and distribute the chassis load evenly. Perform automatically.

Thus, the floating or pitching phenomenon of the drive wheels can be eliminated. FIG. 11 shows a multi-wheeled version of the vehicle shown in FIG. 10 described above. The cylinder and the wheel are each doubled to eight, and a parallelized pipe is formed by mutually connecting the doubled cylinders as a pair. , And connecting pipes 9 to 12 for further adding parallel are installed on the parallelized pipes P,.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 10 in which connecting pipes 13 and 14 are erected between connecting pipes 9, 11, 10 and 12, and the connecting pipes 13 and 14 are connected. Pumps Pa and Pb are arranged in the middle of
a, Mb connected to inclinometers 15, 16
8 to control the forced transfer of the fluid through the communication pipes 13 and 14, while maintaining the automatic follow-up of the unevenness of all the wheels and the uniform load distribution function of the chassis.
This enables forcible horizontal control for tilting in the front, rear, left and right directions.

[0012]

A work machine can be mounted on a chassis to promptly travel on an irregular road having slopes, irregularities, obstacles, steps, and the like, as well as a normal road required as this kind of moving body. Whether or not the above
The one described in -55150 is capable of overcoming a special (large) step set as a target, but has no consideration for following small irregularities on all wheels and evenly distributing the chassis load. However, this cannot cope with small unevenness or inclination. In addition, the four wheels have a dual role of supporting the chassis and floating legs that are not involved in supporting the chassis at all when riding over a step, and it cannot be denied that the posture of only the three legs when riding over the step is extremely unstable. Moreover,
The “one-sided two-wheel slide configuration” is not a technology established with a four-wheel mobile unit, and it cannot be denied that it imposes an extremely difficult design burden.

On the other hand, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-347404 does not consider supporting legs which are not involved in supporting the chassis for its purpose. Although it is possible to achieve this, it cannot be achieved by running without impact, and it is impractical to get over a step. However, at present, there is no provision that can sufficiently respond to the above-mentioned demand from a comprehensive viewpoint in this field.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to automatically and reliably follow irregularities of wheels and uniformly distribute a chassis load when traveling on uneven terrain. In the case of a large step, the suspension length is considered to be able to function as a floating leg for overriding that does not contribute to the chassis support, while securing the wheels necessary for stable support. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel suspension mechanism for a controllable wheel-type moving body, and to meet the demand in this field.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a suspension mechanism capable of running on uneven terrain and climbing over a step in a wheel-type moving body capable of controlling a suspension length, comprising at least eight parallel wheels. A parallelized pipe is installed between the upper and lower cylinder chambers of the suspension that holds the suspension wheels with hydraulic cylinders so that the inner and outer wheels are integrated as a pair on the left and right sides, and the other faces each other. The inner ring and the outer ring are connected by a parallel pipe to integrate them as a pair,
The two lines coexist in a circuit that enables uniform distribution of the load on the four outer rings, and furthermore, the connecting pipes for guiding from the above-mentioned parallelized pipes on the left and right and a pair of parallelized pipes on the front and rear sides are converged. When connecting the four parallel paths to a forward / reverse discharge pump for tilt control for left / right tilt control and for front / rear tilt control for tilt control, four three-position directional control valves for switching to either or both of the above parallel operations, and The two-position directional control valve for switching the connection forward / reverse discharge pump is interposed,
With the use of two forward and reverse discharge pumps, it is possible to individually control the ascending and descending of the four inner wheels and the four outer wheels necessary for climbing over a step.

For example, parallel pipes are erected so that the inner ring and the outer ring are integrated as a pair between the upper and lower cylinder chambers, and the inner ring and the outer ring that face each other below the cylinder chamber are integrated as a pair. In this case, a parallelized pipe is installed. At least eight parallel suspension wheels are held by cylinders such as hydraulic cylinders on the upper and lower cylinder chambers of the suspension.
Parallel pipes are erected so that the outer rings can be integrated as a pair, and parallel pipes can be erected so that the inner ring and the outer rings can be integrated as a pair. In addition, the four parallel paths that converge each of the connecting pipes led from the above-mentioned parallelized pipes on the left and right and the pair of parallelized pipes on the front and rear sides are connected by one circuit. When connecting to two forward / reverse discharge pumps for both left / right tilt control and forward / backward tilt control, four three-position directional control valves for switching to either one of the parallel operation and the function switching for the forward / reverse discharge pump and the cylinder chamber It is necessary to go over a step using the one forward / reverse discharge pump under the separate control of left / right tilt control and front / rear tilt control with two two-position directional control valves for switching between bottom, left and right, front and back. Nauchi 4-wheel, is obtained by allowing the individual lifting system of the outer four wheels.

[0017]

[Function] Uniform load distribution suspension of two systems coexisting with four inner wheels and four outer wheels doubles the stable running ability on uneven terrain and controls the inclination of the four wheels on the left, right, front and rear. The connection with the forward / reverse discharge pump through the parallelized piping can be designed freely by the arrangement of the three-position directional control valve and the two-position directional control valve, and as a result, there is no special equipment. By using the above-mentioned pump without requiring an additional installation, it is possible to get over a step that exceeds the diameter of the wheel. At the time of overriding control, at least four wheels of the left and right pairs are always turned to support the undercarriage, so that it is extremely stable. For this reason, there are at least eight wheels.

[0018]

FIG. 1 is a bird's-eye view of an eight-wheeled all-terrain vehicle 19 to which the suspension mechanism proposed by the present invention is applied, and eight left and right wheels 20, 20 ', 21, 2 and 8 are shown.
1 ′, 22, 22 ′, 23, 23 ′ are hydraulic cylinders 24, 24 ′, 25, 25 ′, 26, 26 ′, 2 respectively.
7, 27 '.

It is possible to uniformly distribute the chassis load of all the wheels connected to the cylinders, and to perform left / right and front / rear inclination control.
Furthermore, it is possible to raise and lower only the inner wheel and only the outer wheel.
Branch circuit H connected to two forward / reverse discharge pumps 28, 29
Is established by incorporating four three-position directional control valves 30 to 33 and one two-position directional control valve 34. This is shown in the hydraulic circuit diagram of FIG. 2 for easy understanding.

In the figure, the circuit H includes left and right circuits.
Linder 24, 24 '~ 27, 27' front and back of room
Parallel relationship P between inner and outer competitors
..., and Muroshita's parallel relationship with each other
P,... This is the four wheels shown in FIG.
The circuit that enables uniform distribution of load is the inner wheel and the outer wheel.
It was co-existed in two systems, and after all, the vehicle load of all wheels
This is a circuit in which a uniform distribution is possible. This
In addition, the left, right, front and rear pairs of parallelized
Connecting pipes J drawn from pipes P, ... respectively₁~ J₈Is left, right
Outer ring comrades J ₁And J_Two, J₇And J₈Is converged, and
Ta, before and after, outer ring comrade J₇And J_Four, J _FiveAnd J₆Gain
After being bundled, the parallel path is changed to a three-position directional control valve 30-3.
3 and the left and right valves 30 and 33 are for left and right control
, The front and rear valves 31, 32 are connected
It is connected to a pump 29 for front / rear control, and the valves 30 and 31
A two-position directional control valve 34 is installed in the middle of the circuit.
You.

The three-position directional control valves 30 to 3
The function of the 3 and 2 position directional control valve 34 is introduced in FIG. That is, in the 3 position directional control valve 30 to 33 is explained with a representative valve 30, "reverse position" distribution of only J _2, "neutral position" of the distribution to both J _1, J _2,
Be "normal position" in the distribution of only J ₁ is set, after all, in which circulates either parallel, both parallel. In the two-position directional control valve 34, a "mutual reverse position" where the parallel paths are interchanged and a "positive position" where the parallel paths are not changed are set, and the connected pumps are switched.

Thus, the hydraulic cylinders 24, 2 and 4 are operated by the above-mentioned valves 30 to 33 and 34 in four operation modes.
It is possible to operate 4'-27, 27 '. That is, [normal state], as shown in FIG.
33 sets all four to the neutral position.

When the pumps 28 and 29 are not operated in this state, the moving mechanism operates as the suspension mechanism capable of uniformly distributing the load previously proposed by the applicant of the present invention. The four systems of the four wheels are parallelized so that all the wheels follow the rough terrain and distribute the load.
In the normal state, the pumps 28 and 29 are not operated.
There is no influence by the position direction control valve 34. The parallel connection at the "neutral position" corresponds to the connecting pipes 13 and 14 in FIG. [Attitude control state] As shown in FIG.
0 to 33 are all in the neutral position, and the two-position directional control valve 34 is in the normal position.

When the pumps 28 and 29 are operated in this state, the two pumps 28 and 29 can change the vehicle body inclination angles in the front, rear, left and right directions, respectively. In this case, the four left and right wheels and the four front and rear wheels operate integrally. [Step Over Step (Outer Four-wheel Operation)] As shown in FIG. 6, all three of the three-position directional control valves 30 to 33 are in the normal position, and the two-position directional control valve 34 is in the reverse position.

When the pumps 28, 29 are operated in this state, the hydraulic cylinders 24, 24 'for supporting the four outer wheels are provided.
It is possible to transfer the hydraulic oil between the upper and lower cylinder chambers at 27 and 27 'to float the outer four wheels 20, 20', 23 and 23 '. Thereby, the outer wheels 20, 2
Achieving the step of '0'. This is unique to the configuration of the present invention. [Step Over Step (Internal Four-Wheel Operation)] As shown in FIG. 7, all three three-position directional control valves 30 to 33 are in the reverse position, and the two-position directional control valve 34 is in the reverse position.

When the pumps 28 and 29 are operated in this state, the hydraulic oil between the upper and lower cylinder chambers of the hydraulic cylinders 25, 25 ', 26 and 26' supporting the inner four wheels 21, 21 ', 22, 22' is formed. To the inner four wheels 21, 2
1 ', 22, 22' can be floated. As a result, the steps of the inner wheels 21, 21 ', 22, 22' can be achieved. As described above, it is unique to the present invention.

When the vehicle actually climbs over a step, the above two steps are repeated so that the wheels are sequentially raised on the step, which is realized by the side view of FIG. 1) to 10). The contents of the flows 1) to 10) in the figure are as follows. [Operation mode] 1) Functioning as an interlocking suspension mechanism Normal state 2) Lifting the outer four wheels Outer four-wheel operation 3) Moving forward until the front two wheels (outer wheels A and B) are on the step Four-wheel operation outside 4) Lower 4 outer wheels 4 outer wheels 5) Raise 4 inner wheels 6) Operate 4 inner wheels 6) Move forward until 4 inner wheels are on the step 4 inner wheels 4) Lower 4 inner wheels 8) 4 outer wheels Up 4 wheels Outer 4 wheels operation 9) Forward until the rear 2 wheels (outer wheels C and D) are on the step Outer 4 wheels operation 10) Lower 4 outer wheels Outer 4 wheels operation 11) Function as interlocking suspension mechanism Normal state

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The above attitude control is performed in real time by using two pumps 28 and 29. However, if there is no need for high performance, the number of pumps is reduced to one. It is possible. That is, as shown in FIG.
Left and right cylinders 24, 24 'to 27, 27' on the room,
As shown in FIG. 4, one of the lower chambers (upper chamber) is made parallel P,... In the front-rear direction and the other is parallel P,. …
Circuit connecting pipe J ₁ through J ₈ is added to that enables chassis load uniform distribution of all-wheel which is formed by further also four reverse position, a neutral position, 3 position directional control valve 30 consisting of a positive position 33, and when connecting these to the forward / reverse discharge pump 35 which is used for the right / left tilt control and the front / rear left / right tilt control, the valves 30 and 31 converge, and the valves 32 and 33 converge, and And a "positive position", a two-position directional control valve 34 'having a configuration is arranged.

Thus, based on the function of the pump 35, the operation of each function can be performed, and the hydraulic oil can be transferred between the upper and lower cylinder chambers for switching the function of the pump 35 and for moving over a step. In this configuration, two 2
By specifying a set of hydraulic cylinders 24, 24 'to 27, 27' operated by the position and direction control valves 34 ', 34', static attitude control and step over a step are realized. Here, the static attitude control means that the attitude control in the front, rear, left and right directions of the vehicle body is executed at a time interval while the vehicle is stationary. Therefore, since it is not possible to simultaneously control the front, rear, left and right, it is not possible to realize the posture control during traveling that may be inclined in an arbitrary direction. Pump 3
This is advantageous in cost in that only 51 are required.

[0030]

The present invention is configured as described above.
The following effects are obtained. (1) It is also possible to get over a large step exceeding the diameter of the wheels, and the range of movement on uneven terrain can be expanded. (2) A step-over function can be added simply by combining a valve with an attitude control function type that adds two pumps to a uniform load type suspension mechanism. Simple. Furthermore, the fact that a predetermined function can be obtained even with one pump is significant in general use. (3) Stepping over a step can be realized only by switching valves and operating the pump, and control is simple. Moreover, it is stable because it can always receive at least four wheels. (4) Since the suspension mechanism itself has a function to climb over a step, it can be applied to various types of moving mechanisms such as wheels and crawlers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a hydraulic circuit diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a control valve of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an operation flow of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a hydraulic circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a conventional uniform load suspension.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a conventional uniform load suspension.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a conventional uniform load, tilt control suspension.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 cylinder 2 cylinder 3 cylinder 4 cylinder 5 wheel 6 wheel 7 wheel 8 wheel 9 connecting pipe 10 connecting pipe 11 connecting pipe 12 connecting pipe 13 connecting pipe 14 connecting pipe 15 inclinometer 16 inclinometer 17 control device 18 control device 19 8-wheel type Rough Terrain Vehicle 20,20 'Wheel 21,21' Wheel 22,22 'Wheel 23,23' Wheel 24,24 'Hydraulic Cylinder 25,25' Hydraulic Cylinder 26,26 'Hydraulic Cylinder 27,27' Hydraulic Cylinder 28 Positive Reverse discharge pump 29 Forward / reverse discharge pump 30 3-position directional control valve 31 3-position directional control valve 32 3-position directional control valve 33 3-position directional control valve 34, 34'2 position directional control valve 35 Direct / reverse for front / rear / left / right tilt control Discharge pump P Parallelized pipe Pa, Pb pump Ma, Mb Motor H Pipe branch circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cylinder chamber of a suspension for holding at least eight parallel suspension wheels by a hydraulic cylinder or the like,
In the lower part, parallel pipes are installed to integrate the inner ring and outer ring as a pair on the left and right sides, and parallel pipes are installed for the inner and outer rings facing each other as a pair. The two systems co-exist with each other to enable uniform load distribution of the inner and four outer wheels, and furthermore, each of the above-mentioned parallelized pipes on the left and right, and a pair of parallelized pipes on each side of the front and rear, communicate with each other. When connecting the four parallel paths that converge the pipes to the forward / reverse discharge pump for right / left tilt control and forward / backward tilt control for tilt control, the four parallel paths are switched to the parallel or both of them. 3
1 to switch the position direction control valve and the connected forward / reverse discharge pump
With two two-position directional control valves interposed, the inner four wheels and the outer four wheels required for overcoming a step using the two forward / reverse discharge pumps
A suspension mechanism capable of controlling the suspension length of a wheel-type movable body capable of controlling suspension length, which enables individual lift control of wheels. 2. A parallelized pipe is erected to integrate the inner ring and the outer ring as a pair between the upper and lower cylinder chambers, and the inner ring and the outer ring facing each other below the cylinder chamber are integrated as a pair. 2. The suspension mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a parallel pipe is installed to allow the suspension length to be controlled and to be able to run over uneven terrain in a wheel-type moving body. 3. A cylinder chamber of a suspension for holding at least eight parallel suspension wheels by a hydraulic cylinder or the like,
In the lower part, parallel pipes are installed to integrate the inner ring and outer ring as a pair on the left and right sides, and parallel pipes are installed for the inner and outer rings facing each other as a pair. The two systems co-exist with each other to enable uniform load distribution of the inner and four outer wheels, and furthermore, each of the above-mentioned parallelized pipes on the left and right, and a pair of parallelized pipes on each side of the front and rear, communicate with each other. When connecting the four parallel paths in which the pipes are converged to one forward / reverse discharge pump that is used for both left-right tilt control and front-rear tilt control, four three-position directional control valves for switching to either one of the above parallel operations. In addition, two 2-position directional control valves for switching the function of the forward / reverse discharge pump and switching between upper, lower, left and right, and front and rear of the cylinder chamber are arranged, and under the individual control of the left and right tilt control and the front and rear tilt control, Two reverse Using an outgoing pump, it is possible to raise and lower the four inner wheels and four outer wheels necessary for climbing over bumps. It is possible to control the suspension length. Suspension mechanism.