JP2007056569A - Working machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a working machine capable of positively transmitting signals without being restricted by the position relation of a machine operating part to a machine body part without using an electric wire with a risk of a disconnection fault. <P>SOLUTION: Hydraulic piping 31 is disposed from a control valve 16 to a hydraulic actuator 22 such as a boom cylinder 22bm, a stick cylinder 22st or a bucket cylinder 22bk. A pair of ultrasonic transmitter-receivers 32, 33 for carrying out ultrasonic communication using an operating oil in the common hydraulic piping 31 between the control valve 16 and the hydraulic actuator 22, as a signal transmission medium are provided in the hydraulic piping 31 in an upper structure 13 and in the hydraulic piping 31 in a working device 21 respectively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a work machine having a working fluid pressure pipe.

  Signal exchange between electrical components mounted on conventional work machines is performed using electric wires wired to electrical components installed in each part of the machine.

  In this case, particularly in a hydraulic excavator, a working device as a machine operating part having a large number of bending movable parts is provided with respect to the upper swing body as a machine main body part, and electric wires are wired and connected through the bending movable part to the electrical components ahead. Therefore, there may be a case where the electric wire passing through the bending movable part is broken, and it is necessary to improve durability and reliability.

  In addition, it is difficult for the lower traveling body as a machine operation part capable of turning 360 ° relative to the upper revolving body as the machine body to be wired from an electrical component such as a controller mounted on the upper revolving body. Therefore, it is often the case that electrical components such as sensors are not attached.

On the other hand, as a means for transmitting a signal detected by a sensor provided on the lower traveling body to a controller provided on the upper swing body, a transmission antenna is provided on the lower travel body and a reception antenna is provided on the upper swing body. When transmitting a signal from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna, position the turning position of the upper swinging body relative to the lower traveling body so that the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna face each other, and transmit high-frequency electromagnetic waves from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna. There is what to transmit (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-158108 (page 3-4, FIG. 1)

  As described above, work machines have many bending movable parts such as working devices, and connecting wires through the bending movable parts to the electrical components ahead of them is a problem of breakage of the wires passing through the bending movable parts. In addition, the lower traveling body of a hydraulic excavator that can turn 360 ° has a problem that it is difficult to wire an electric wire. On the other hand, a high frequency electromagnetic wave is transmitted from the transmitting antenna of the lower traveling body to the receiving antenna of the upper rotating body. However, there is a problem limited to the positional relationship in which the receiving antenna is opposed to the transmitting antenna in order to reliably transmit the signal.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can reliably transmit a signal without using a wire having a risk of disconnection failure and without being restricted by the positional relationship of the machine operating unit with respect to the machine body. An object is to provide a working machine.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a machine body having a fluid pressure source, and a machine operating portion having a fluid pressure actuator that is movably provided with respect to the machine body and is operated by a working fluid from the fluid pressure source. , Working fluid pressure pipes arranged from the fluid pressure source to the fluid pressure actuator, the working fluid pressure pipes in the machine main body and the working fluid pressure pipes in the machine working part, respectively. A work machine including at least one pair of ultrasonic transceivers that perform ultrasonic communication using fluid as a signal transmission medium.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the working machine according to the first aspect, in the working fluid pressure pipe between the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver of the machine main body and the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver of the machine operating unit, the working fluid pressure A valve that may close the pipe is not provided.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the working fluid of the working fluid pressure pipe in the work machine according to the first or second aspect is used as hydraulic oil for the hydraulic pipe.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver in the working fluid pressure piping in the machine main body is configured using the working fluid in the working fluid pressure piping arranged from the fluid pressure source to the fluid pressure actuator as a signal transmission medium. And the ultrasonic transmitter-receiver in the working fluid pressure pipe in the machine operating part, so that the positional relationship of the machine operating part with respect to the machine main body part without using an electric wire that may cause disconnection failure It is possible to reliably transmit a signal without being restricted.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since there is no valve in the working fluid pressure pipe between the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver of the machine main body and the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver of the machine operating unit, the influence of the valve Stable ultrasonic communication can be ensured without receiving.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, a signal transmission medium suitable for stable ultrasonic communication can be obtained by using the working fluid of the working fluid pressure pipe as the working oil of the hydraulic pipe.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows a hydraulic excavator 11 as a working machine, and an upper swing body 13 as a machine main body is provided on a lower traveling body 12 as a machine operating portion so as to be rotatable. As shown in the figure, there are an engine 14, a pump 15 as a fluid pressure source operated by the engine 14, a control valve 16 as a valve for controlling the direction of hydraulic oil as a working fluid supplied from the pump 15, and the like. It is installed.

  This control valve 16 is pilot-operated by a pilot valve 19 operated by an operating lever 18 provided on the left and right parts of a seat 17 on which an operator sits on the upper swing body 13 and is disposed on the side of the seat 17 By controlling the direction of hydraulic oil pressurized and supplied from the tank 20 by the pump 15, the hydraulic oil is supplied to the fluid pressure actuator 22 provided in the work device 21 as a mechanical operating unit movably mounted on the upper swing body 13. The operation of the fluid pressure actuator 22 is controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the work device 21 includes a bracket 23 projecting from the upper swing body 13, and a swing bracket 25 that is rotated in the left-right direction by a swing cylinder 24 is pivotally supported by the swing bracket 25. The base end of the boom 26 that is rotated in the vertical direction by the boom cylinder 22bm is pivotally supported, and the stick 27 that is pivoted in the front-rear direction by the stick cylinder 22st on the back of the boom is pivotally supported at the tip of the boom 26. A bucket 29 that is rotated via a linkage 28 by a bucket cylinder 22bk on the back of the stick is pivotally supported at the tip of the stick 27.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a hydraulic pipe 31 serving as a working fluid pressure pipe is provided from the pump 15 to a fluid pressure actuator 22 such as a boom cylinder 22bm, a stick cylinder 22st, or a bucket cylinder 22bk. 31 and the hydraulic piping 31 in the working device 21 are at least one pair that performs ultrasonic communication using the hydraulic oil in the common hydraulic piping 31 between the control valve 16 and the fluid pressure actuator 22 as a signal transmission medium. Ultrasonic transceivers 32 and 33 are provided, respectively.

  In the hydraulic piping between the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 32 of the upper swing body 13 and the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 33 of the working device 21, a valve that may close the hydraulic piping, for example, the control valve 16 is not provided. . That is, the control valve 16 is provided in the hydraulic pipe 31a located at a position away from the hydraulic pipe between the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 32 and the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 33.

  An electrical component 35 such as a controller is connected to one ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 32 by an electric wire 34, and an electrical component 37 such as a sensor or an electronically controllable actuator is connected to the other ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 33 by an electric wire 36. Has been.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the working device 21 provided with the posture detection system has an electrical component (angle sensor) 37 installed at a portion where the movable member is pivotally supported. ) In the hydraulic piping 31 fixed along the movable member in the vicinity of 37, an ultrasonic transceiver 33 connected by an electrical component (angle sensor) 37 and an electric wire 36 is installed, while in the upper swing body 13 An ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 32 connected to an electrical component (controller) is installed in a common hydraulic pipe 31.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described.

  When a transmission signal is input from the electrical component (controller) 35 to the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 32, the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 32 that receives the transmission signal converts the signal into an ultrasonic signal, which is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3B, a high-frequency ultrasonic signal modulated as shown in FIG. 3B is output into the hydraulic fluid whose pressure fluctuates in the hydraulic piping 31. The ultrasonic signal is transmitted to the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 33 using the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic pipe 31 as a signal transmission medium, is received, converted into a normal signal, and becomes a control signal for controlling the electronically controllable electrical component 37. . Therefore, the control signal of the controller can be transmitted to an actuator that can be electronically controlled without using an electric wire.

  In addition, when the electrical component 37 is a detector such as the angle sensor, the detection signal detected by the electrical component 37 is modulated into an ultrasonic signal by the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 33 and transmitted into the hydraulic oil, The hydraulic oil in the hydraulic pipe 31 is transmitted to the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 32 as a signal transmission medium. The ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 32 receives the ultrasonic signal, returns it to a normal signal, and sends the sensor information to the electrical component (controller) 35. Take in. Therefore, the controller can grasp airframe attitude information, airframe operation information, and the like from the sensor without using an electric wire.

  When performing such ultrasonic communication, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the hydraulic oil passing through the operating hydraulic pipe has a pressure fluctuation, but the pressure fluctuation is a low frequency of less than several hundred Hz. On the other hand, the modulation signal wave transmitted in the oil as shown in FIG. 3 (b) in which the portion b in FIG. 3 (a) is enlarged is an ultrasonic signal in the tens of kHz band. Communication is possible by applying this ultrasonic wave and existing communication technology.

  Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described.

  Using the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic piping 31 arranged from the control valve 16 to the fluid pressure actuator 22 as a signal transmission medium, the ultrasonic transceiver 32 in the hydraulic piping 31 in the upper swing body 13 and the hydraulic piping 31 in the work device 21 Since ultrasonic communication is performed with the internal ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 33, a signal can be reliably transmitted without using an electric wire that may cause a disconnection failure.

  That is, a signal is transmitted between the electrical component 35 such as the controller and the electrical component 37 installed in the movable part such as the boom 26 and the stick 27 without passing an electric wire through the bending movable part of the working device 21 with respect to the upper swing body 13. Can be exchanged, and there is no problem due to the disconnection of the electric wire, so the reliability of the product is improved.

  In addition, there is no valve or control valve 16 that prevents ultrasonic communication in the hydraulic pipe 31 between the ultrasonic transceiver 32 of the upper swing body 13 and the ultrasonic transceiver 33 of the working device 21, and the ultrasonic transceiver 32, Since the control valve 16 is provided in the hydraulic pipe 31a at a position outside the space 33, even when the control valve 16 is in a closed state, stable ultrasonic communication can be secured without being affected by the control valve 16. Furthermore, since the working oil in the hydraulic pipe 31 is a working fluid whose state is stable, a signal transmission medium suitable for performing stable ultrasonic communication can be obtained.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the machine operating unit is the work device 21, but the machine operating unit may be the lower traveling body 12. That is, conventionally, in order to connect the electric wire to the lower traveling body 12, a slip ring is used in the turning portion of the upper revolving body 13 with respect to the lower traveling body 12, but this slip ring has a problem in durability and reliability. However, although it is not easy to install electrical components such as sensors and electronically controlled actuators on the lower traveling body 12, the lower traveling body 12 has a sprocket 42 around which a crawler belt 41 is wound as shown in FIG. The hydraulic motor such as a traveling motor that drives the cylinder and the hydraulic cylinder such as the blade raising and lowering cylinder 44 that raises and lowers the blade 43 are installed, and hydraulic piping is provided to operate these fluid pressure actuators. The electrical components 35 such as the controller and the electrical components such as the sensors of the lower traveling body 12 and the electronically controlled actuators are communicated with each other through the hydraulic oil in the piping. Thus, signals can be exchanged with the electrical components of the lower traveling body 12 without providing signal transmission wires, that is, while maintaining durability and reliability, and installation of these electrical components is facilitated.

  At this time, by the ultrasonic communication using the hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic piping connecting the lower traveling body 12 and the upper revolving body 13 as a signal transmission medium, the turning position relationship of the upper revolving body 13 with respect to the lower traveling body 12 is limited. Signal can be transmitted reliably.

  In this way, the working machine pays attention to the fact that the working fluid (hydraulic pressure) is supplied to almost all of the working machines, and the working device 21 having movable parts such as the boom 26 and the stick 27, which have many wire disconnection problems, , Equipped with a communication system that exchanges signals by performing ultrasonic communication using hydraulic oil filled in hydraulic piping as a medium for electrical components installed in the lower traveling body 12 where wiring is difficult, According to the communication system, the signal can be transmitted without passing the electric wire through the bending movable part or the turning movable part between the upper swing body 13 and the work device 21 or the lower traveling body 12, and there is no problem due to the disconnection of the electric wire. Can improve the reliability.

  The present invention is applicable to work machines such as hydraulic excavators, crushers, and dismantling machines.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a work machine according to the present invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the communication system of a working machine same as the above. (A) is a wave form diagram which shows the pressure fluctuation waveform of hydraulic oil, (b) is a wave form diagram which shows the example of a modulation | alteration of the signal wave by a system same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

12 Undercarriage as machine operating part
13 Upper rotating body as machine body
15 Pump as fluid pressure source
16 Control valve as valve
21 Working device as machine operating part
22 Fluid pressure actuator
31 Hydraulic piping as working fluid pressure piping
32, 33 Ultrasonic transceiver

Claims (3)

A machine body with a fluid pressure source;
A mechanical actuator having a fluid pressure actuator movably provided with respect to the machine body and actuated by a working fluid from a fluid pressure source;
A working fluid pressure line disposed from the fluid pressure source to the fluid pressure actuator;
At least one pair of ultrasonic transmitters / receivers that are provided in a working fluid pressure pipe in the machine main body and in a working fluid pressure pipe in the machine working unit and perform ultrasonic communication using the working fluid in the working fluid pressure pipe as a signal transmission medium A working machine comprising: The working fluid pressure piping between the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver of the machine main body and the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver of the machine operating portion is not provided with a valve that can close the working fluid pressure piping. The work machine according to claim 1. The working machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the working fluid in the working fluid pressure pipe is hydraulic oil in the hydraulic pipe.

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