JP2001187166A - Walk feeling presenter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a walk feeling presenter which can generate an arbitrary road surface. SOLUTION: This walk feeling presenter is constituted of a tread mill 2, indicating means 3, and a control means 4. The tread mill 2 comprises a plural support rollers 5, belts 6 wound over the support rollers 5, push-up rollers 7 place under the support rollers 5, and support cylinders 8 to control individual height of the support rollers 5. Thus the road surface of the upper face of the belt 6a can be set in an arbitrary shape by controlling individual height of the support rollers 5. Further, a user 12 walking on the belt 6 can obtain feeling as if walking on a road with ups and downs by controlling the set road surface to move as a progressive wave and the belt 6 to move in a speed same as the moving road surface.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a walking sensation presentation device used for measuring, for example, the ability of a human to walk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A walking sensation presentation device presents a walking sensation using a conveyor-type device called a treadmill. A treadmill can simulate a state where a person is actually walking by standing on a conveyor belt and walking on a circulating belt.

[0003] This walking sensation presentation device can be combined with a display means for displaying an image according to the user's walking, or can be combined with a sound or an air conditioner to construct an environment simulation system.

[0004] As a conventional technique of a treadmill, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 10-0712216, "Independent type treadmill", and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 09-233364, "Attachment of an image linked to the speed ahead, and And a treadmill in which the speed of the running surface follows the speed of the runner. "And Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-277178" Tilting device for treadmill ".

[0005] The treadmill disclosed in the above-mentioned 10-0712216 is the most common treadmill, and its running surface is always horizontal. In contrast, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-23346
The treadmill disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 4 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-277178 can simulate a slope by inclining the treadmill itself.

[0006]

However, the above-described treadmill cannot simulate an uneven road surface other than a slope. In particular, in an environment simulation system, it is necessary to simulate various environments. For this purpose, a walking sensation presentation device capable of simulating various terrains and road surfaces and presenting a walking sensation is coming.

An object of the present invention is to provide a walking sensation presentation device capable of generating an arbitrary road surface shape.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of cylindrical rollers arranged substantially horizontally in parallel; an endless belt shaped to be wound around the plurality of rollers; A roller movement supporting means provided for each roller and individually supporting the rollers so as to be movable up and down; and a control means for controlling each roller movement supporting means, wherein the control means has a predetermined belt upper surface set. The upper and lower positions of each roller are controlled so that the road surface has the shape described above, the user is mounted on the upper surface of the belt, and the belt is circulated so that the upper surface of the belt moves backward, thereby presenting the user with a walking sensation. It is a walking sensation presentation device.

According to the present invention, the walking sensation presentation apparatus includes a plurality of rollers, around which a belt is wound.
Each roller is individually movably supported up and down by roller movement support means. Therefore, the upper surface of the belt on which the user rides can be formed in an arbitrary shape by controlling the vertical position of each roller by the control means. In this way, an arbitrary road surface shape can be generated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control means includes:
The vertical position of each roller is controlled such that the set road surface shape moves backward at the same speed as the belt moving speed.

According to the present invention, the upper surface of the belt is controlled so as to keep the set surface shape and move backward at the same speed as the belt. For example, a plurality of irregularities are formed up and down by a roller to make the upper surface of the belt wavy, and each roller is moved up and down to send a wave of the irregularity backward,
The rollers are controlled like a traveling wave. By controlling the moving speed of the waves and the moving speed of the belt to be equal, the user who rides on the belt and walks along with the belt feels as if he is walking on a wavy road surface. Can be That is, by moving an arbitrary road surface shape rearward in accordance with the belt, it is possible to simulate a state of walking on arbitrary terrain.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a display means for displaying an image that changes in accordance with the moving speed of the belt is provided in front of a user riding on the upper surface of the belt.

According to the present invention, for example, a screen for displaying an image in front of a user is provided, or an HMD (hea) is provided.
d mound display), and presenting the user with images such as scenery that moves with the movement of the belt,
The user can obtain a more realistic walking sensation.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a use state of a walking sensation presentation system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The walking sensation presentation system 1 includes a treadmill 2, display means 3, and control means 4 for controlling these. The walking sensation presentation device 1 is a device that presents a walking sensation to a user 12 riding on a treadmill 2. An environment simulation system is provided by combining the walking sensation presentation device 1 with a sound, an air conditioner, or a wind tunnel. Is constructed.

The tread mill 2 has a support roller 5, a belt 6, a push-up roller 7, and a support cylinder 8, and is controlled by a control means 4. The support roller 5 is, for example, a cylindrical roller having an outer diameter of about 50 to 200 mm and a length of about 1 m. A plurality of, for example, 15 to 20, and in this embodiment, nine of the support rollers 5 are arranged in parallel at substantially equal intervals, for example, with a gap of about 30 mm. An endless belt 6 is wound around the nine support rollers 5. The belt 6 is made of, for example, rubber, has flexibility and elasticity, and is wound around each roller 5 in a tension state. In the present embodiment, the rearmost roller 5a of the plurality of support rollers 5 is a driving roller, and the driving roller 5a is driven to rotate so that the belt upper surface 6a moves rearward. Drives circularly.

The push-up rollers 7 have the same shape as the support rollers 5, and are provided one for each support roller 5. Then, they are arranged in parallel with the support roller 5 so as to sandwich the belt 6 from the corresponding support roller 5.
The pair of support roller 5 and push-up roller 7 are supported by roller holders 13 provided at both right and left ends.

A pressing roller 10 is provided at the upper end of each roller holder 13. The pressing roller 10 is a small roller having a rotation axis parallel to the rotation axis of the support roller 5, and sandwiches the belt 6 between the support roller 5 and both sides in the width direction of the belt 6.

The support roller 5 and the push-up roller 7 are supported by the support cylinder 8 via the roller holder 13.
Is supported so as to be movable up and down. In the present embodiment, the support cylinder 8 is constituted by a hydraulic cylinder, has a stroke amount of about 100 to 500 mm, and is fixed to the base 15 upright. The plurality of support cylinders 8 individually expand and contract vertically,
The upper and lower positions of the support roller 5 and the push-up roller 7 are individually controlled.

Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG.
By adjusting the height of the support roller 5 so that the support roller 5 is arranged in a wavy shape, the shape of the belt upper surface 6a on which the user 12 rides can be made wavy. Thus, by setting the road surface shape in the control means 4,
The road surface shape of the treadmill 2 can be any shape. As shown in FIG. 2, even when the upper surface of the belt 6 is wavy, the pressing roller 10 presses both sides in the width direction on the upper surface of the belt 6, so that the belt 6 floats from the supporting roller 5. Therefore, the belt upper surface 6a serving as a road surface can be reliably run along the support roller 5.

Further, under the belt 6, the belt 6 is pressed against the support roller 5 by the push-up roller 7, so that even if the support roller 5 is moved up and down, the belt 6 is securely brought into contact with the support roller 5 to stabilize the belt. Thus, the belt 6 can be driven to circulate. Further, the pair of support cylinders 8 that support the left and right sides of the support roller 5 can move not only vertically but also vertically independently.
Thus, the road surface can be inclined left and right. As described above, the piston rod of the support cylinder 8 and the roller holder 13 are connected to each other by a hinge or a universal joint so that the angular displacement can be permitted so that the left and right inclination can be permitted.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the control means 4. Here, only the support cylinder 8 that moves the drive roller 5a up and down will be described, but the other support cylinders 8 have the same control configuration.

The support cylinder 8 is a hydraulic cylinder. Hydraulic oil is supplied from a hydraulic pump P via a switching valve 15, and the discharged hydraulic oil is returned to the tank T. The control means 4 controls the switching valve 15 to switch the oil flow path, and causes the support cylinder 8 to expand and contract.

The support cylinder 8 is provided with a stroke sensor 16 for detecting the amount of expansion and contraction of the support cylinder 8. The control means 4 controls the stroke sensor 16
The switching valve 15 is controlled so that the drive roller 5a is disposed at a predetermined height based on the detected value of The driving roller 5 a is driven to rotate by a driving source 17, and the rotation speed of the driving roller 5 a is controlled by a control unit 4 that controls the driving source 17. The control means 4 also controls the display means 3.

The display means 3 has a display screen in front of the user 12 riding on the treadmill 2, and displays the scenery seen when the user 12 is walking by moving the belt 6 in real time or in computer graphics. Displayed as a video that matches. The display means 3 is realized by, for example, a liquid crystal display, a CRT, or a liquid crystal projector.

Next, the movement of the support roller 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The walking sensation presentation device 1 of the present invention can generate an arbitrary road surface shape by adjusting the height of the support roller 5, and further sends the generated road surface like a traveling wave by the control means 4. The user 12 can feel as if he / she is walking on an uneven road surface.

FIG. 4 illustrates the movement of the support roller 5 and the belt 6 when generating a road surface following a sine curve, for example. It is assumed that a sine curve for one cycle is simultaneously reproduced on the belt 6.

First, in the initial state, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the support rollers 5 are arranged such that a sine curve of one cycle with both ends raised is generated. At this time, the position of the vertex at the front end of the belt 6 is assumed to be A.
The control means 4 controls the vertical position of the support roller 5 by the support cylinder 8 so that the sine curve-shaped road surface advances backward, and circulates the belt 6 in accordance with the traveling speed of the road surface. .

Here, FIG. 4B shows a state in which the phase has advanced 90 ° behind the initial state (a), and FIG.
° shows a state advanced by 270 °, and (e) shows a state advanced by 360 °. As shown in these figures, the support roller 5 is controlled by the control means 4 so that the road surface is sequentially fed backward, and the belt 6 moves in accordance with the progress of the road surface. That is, the position indicated by A of the belt 6 is always at the top of the sine curve.

As described above, by controlling the support cylinders 8 and the driving source 17 so that the support roller 5 moves, the user 12 can feel as if he / she were actually walking on an uneven road surface. . Such a road surface is not limited to a sine curve and can be set to any shape.

The present invention is not limited to the case where such a traveling wave is formed. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the height of the support roller 5 becomes higher toward the front as shown in FIG. By arranging the support roller 5 fixedly and driving only the belt 6, the user 12 can feel as if he is climbing a hill.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, a downward slope can be formed by arranging the support roller 5 fixedly so that it becomes lower toward the front.

Further, as shown in (c), only the belt 6 may be driven in a state where the support rollers 5 are alternately fixed vertically.

As shown in FIG. 1, a walking sensation presentation device 1 includes a user 12 walking on a treadmill 2.
Is provided with a front position detector 20 for detecting that the vehicle has come ahead of a predetermined position, and a rear position detector 21 for detecting that the vehicle has come behind a predetermined position. In response to the detection output of 21, the control means 4 controls the speed of the belt 6. The speed of the belt 6 is controlled, for example, in a range of 0 to 20 km / hour, and is controlled so that the belt 6 moves at a walking speed of about 3 to 5 km / hour. In the state controlled in this manner, for example, when the walking speed of the user 12 increases, the user 12 moves forward on the treadmill 2 and is detected by the front position detector 20,
The control unit 4 determines that the walking speed of the user 12 has increased, and increases the moving speed of the belt 6. Conversely, when the walking speed of the user 12 decreases, the position of the user 12 moves backward, and this is detected by the rear position detector 21. The control means 4 decreases the moving speed of the belt 6 in response to this. By performing such control, the belt 6 is controlled at an optimum speed in accordance with the walking speed of the user 12.

When the support cylinder 8 is controlled so that the road surface set as described above travels like a traveling wave, the support surface is moved so that the road surface moves in accordance with the traveling speed of the belt 6. The moving speed of the cylinder 8 is also controlled. Also, the image displayed on the display means 3 is changed according to the speed of the belt 6.

The walking sensation presentation device 1 provides not only the combination of the treadmill 2 and the display means 3 but also, for example, a plurality of speakers to provide sound corresponding to an image to be displayed. In addition, this device is installed in the wind tunnel,
By presenting an artificial environment such as rain or wind and controlling the temperature with an air conditioner, an environment simulation system closer to the real environment can be constructed.

In this embodiment, a display screen is provided on the front of the user 12 as display means.
The present invention is not limited to such a form.
May be constituted by an HMD mounted on the head of the user.

In the walking sensation presentation device 1 described above,
Although the display means 3 and the treadmill 2 are combined and described as a device for presenting an environment, the present invention is not limited to such an application, and for example, the physical strength of a user is measured using only the treadmill 2 for example. May be used for Also in this case, by moving the set road surface shape like a traveling wave, it is possible to measure the physical strength when traveling on an uneven road surface.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, an arbitrary road surface shape can be generated by individually controlling the vertical positions of a plurality of rollers.

According to the present invention, by controlling the rollers up and down so that the set road surface shape moves backward, and by controlling the belt to move at the same speed as the backward movement, It is possible to provide the user with a feeling as if he / she is actually walking on an uneven road surface.

Further, according to the present invention, the display means provides the user with an image corresponding to the moving speed of the belt, so that the user can further feel as if he or she is actually walking.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a use state of a walking sensation presentation device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a treadmill 2. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the walking sensation presentation device 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of a support roller 5 and a belt 6.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an arrangement state of a support roller 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Walking feeling presentation apparatus 2 Treadmill 3 Display means 4 Control means 5 Support roller 6 Belt 7 Push-up roller 8 Support cylinder

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuya Kubota 1-1, Kawasaki-cho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Inside Akashi Plant (72) Inventor Isamu Morita 3-1-1, Higashi-Kawasaki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo No. 1 Inside Kobe Plant of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (72) Inventor Tetsuji Kinashi 2-4-1 Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, Tokyo World Trade Center Building Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Tokyo Head Office

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of cylindrical rollers arranged substantially horizontally in parallel, an endless belt wound around the plurality of rollers, and a belt provided for each roller, and each roller is individually moved up and down. And a control means for controlling each roller movement support means, wherein the control means adjusts the vertical position of each roller so that the belt upper surface has a predetermined road surface shape. A walking sensation presentation device that controls and places a user on the upper surface of the belt, circulates the belt so that the upper surface of the belt moves backward, and presents a walking sensation to the user. 2. The walking device according to claim 1, wherein said control means controls the vertical position of each roller so that the set road surface shape moves rearward at the same speed as the belt moving speed. Sensory presentation device. 3. The walking sensation presentation according to claim 1, wherein display means for displaying an image that changes in accordance with the moving speed of the belt is provided in front of a user riding on the upper surface of the belt. apparatus.