JP2011194937A - Wall surface traveling robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wall surface traveling robot stably sucked to wall by improving a traveling property under adverse circumstances of the wall surface traveling robot sucked on outer or inner walls of various large structures and engaging in various operations, and by reducing a weight of the wall surface traveling robot itself and giving a lift force.SOLUTION: This wall surface traveling robot comprises a chassis 1 having a drive wheel 7 at an apex of a triangle frame; a suction part 2 having a brush skirt 4, in which brush bristles 12 with a length long enough to contact of a wall W of a working object are tightly aligned around a suction plate 3 parallel to the wall W; a suction mechanism, in which a bell mouth 6 opened at a center of the suction plate is connected to a sucking duct fan 5; a traveling drive mechanism in which a stud 7b stands on the drive wheel in a radial direction to provide a steering function and a differential drive function not to cause slippage to the wall W during steering; and a duct fan 8 for generating a lift force and/or a lift force device for reducing an empty weight amount made of a helium gas air sac giving a buoyancy, so that a mission equipment 11 can be mounted and held.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wall traveling robot that is adsorbed to the outer wall or inner wall of a large structure such as a bridge, building, tunnel, large tank, or ship, and engages in operations such as wall surface inspection, cleaning, painting, and surface treatment. In particular, even if the surface is not smooth and the wall has discontinuous uneven obstacles or grooves, or there is dirt or dust deposits, or the walls are wet and slippery due to groundwater etc. The present invention relates to a wall traveling robot that can travel stably and perform necessary work.

  Conventionally, self-adsorptive wall-mounted robots are known, but non-magnet-type attracting robots can be broadly classified into complex and heavy robots having a plurality of attracting plates depending on the number of attracting plates. It can be divided into a lightweight and simple robot with one suction board. Heavy-duty robots are limited to cases where safety measures against dropping etc. can be taken with a hanging rope from the top of the structure. It is not practical for use in a tunnel or the like because practical fall measures cannot be taken with a combination of a support rod and a safety rope, and for example, the safety rope cannot be attached on the wall surface.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a self-adsorption type traveling device provided with a brush-type suction disk for adsorbing and traveling on an uneven wall surface or the like. In this brush type suction disk, in order to maintain the low pressure (vacuum) in the suction disk, a high-density brush (wire diameter 0.08 to 0.3 mm) made of nylon or polypropylene is used, and the brush is formed on an uneven surface. However, when manufacturing the brush, the bristles are folded back 180 ° around the steel wire, the folded portion is inserted into the ring-shaped C-type channel, the channel is crimped from the side, and the caulking, It is fixed.

  However, it is necessary to reduce the weight as much as possible in order to improve the self-adsorption performance of the wall-mounted traveling robot. On the other hand, for fixing the bristle in the brush-type adsorption disk, a metal C-type channel is used. Therefore, the weight is heavy. Moreover, the friction with the wall surface is large due to the material of the bristle. In addition, in order to improve the adhesion between the brush and the wall surface, the brush base plate is attached to the suction disk ring and urged toward the wall surface by a pressure spring to press it against the wall surface. In order to maintain the airtightness of the sliding part, it is said that the sealing performance will be perfected by covering it with a cylindrical seal rubber or O-ring. It is clear that the airtightness of the suction disk cannot be maintained, and these mechanisms are greatly increased in weight.

In addition, the traveling device described in Patent Document 1 includes a mechanism that doubles the suction cups concentrically to maintain the vacuum pressure against the unevenness of the wall surface, and attaches the brush to the suction cups arranged in the inner and outer layers. However, this is also unsuitable for a single groove crossing under the suction plate and only causes an increase in weight.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned traveling device is intended to maintain the position on the wall surface with the wall frictional force by increasing the adsorption force as a countermeasure against sliding, but no matter how strong the adsorption force is, the friction coefficient between the wall surface and the wheel is small. It is extremely unsatisfactory when it falls due to dust, soot, moisture, etc., and it slides down due to sliding of wheels.

JP-A-2005-47451

The technical problem of the present invention is basically to improve the running performance in a bad environment of a wall running robot that engages in various operations by adsorbing to the outer wall and inner wall of various large structures, and also from the wall surface due to various causes. The object of the present invention is to provide a wall traveling robot that takes measures against sliding.
Another technical problem of the present invention is to reduce the weight of the wall-mounted traveling robot itself and stabilize the adsorption to the wall surface by applying lift, especially when applying air lift to surround the structure on the chassis when falling. An object of the present invention is to provide a wall surface traveling robot that can also exhibit the buffer function.
Still another technical problem of the present invention is that it is suitable for running on a wall surface suitable for nondestructive inspection by running on a wall surface where there is a significant amount of deposits such as dust, soot and moisture in a tunnel. To provide a robot.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to the present invention, a chassis having wheels at the apexes of a triangle, and a suction plate positioned inside each apex of the chassis and arranged in parallel to the wall surface of the work target A suction portion formed by providing a brush skirt having a solidified base by closely arranging tips of brush bristles having a length in contact with the wall surface toward the wall surface, and a suction plate A suction mechanism in which a bell mouth having a large-diameter end at the center is connected to a suction port of a suction duct fan, and a wheel including at least one drive wheel provided at three locations in the chassis are provided on a wheel disk. Studs for running across the convex portion of the wall surface are provided on the peripheral surface in the radial direction, and some of these wheels have a steering function and rotate differentially during steering. A lift drive system composed of a traveling drive mechanism with a function, a duct fan for generating lift with a bell mouth, and / or a helium gas sac that provides buoyancy, and the chassis, which is necessary for the wall to be worked on There is provided a wall traveling robot characterized by comprising holding means for mounting and holding mission equipment for performing various operations.

In a preferred embodiment of the wall traveling robot according to the present invention, all the wheels provided at three locations in the chassis are configured as drive wheels.
In another preferred embodiment of the wall traveling robot according to the present invention, among the driving wheels provided at the three locations of the chassis, one front side which is the main traveling direction is a driving wheel having a steering function, The other two drive wheels on the rear side are configured as drive wheels having a differential drive function.

  In another preferred embodiment of the wall traveling robot according to the present invention, the brush bristles constituting the brush skirt are produced by suction of a suction duct fan by a polyfluorinated ethylene fiber or a low friction synthetic resin fiber equivalent thereto. The brush skirt is configured to have a rigidity that can suppress the formation of a gap between the wall and the wall by bending with an air flow. The above-mentioned brush skirt is a lightweight, high-strength base that is solidified by self-bonding or bonding. The base plate is made of CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic). In the brush skirt, it is desirable that the brush skirt is attached to the suction plate so that the arrangement line of the brush bristles does not become a straight line orthogonal to the main traveling direction of the wall traveling robot.

  In another preferred embodiment of the wall traveling robot according to the present invention, the lift device comprising the lift generating duct fan is configured by connecting a bell mouth to the suction port of the lift generating duct fan, and the lift device Is mounted in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the wall traveling robot so that the lift direction is upward when moving the vertical wall in the horizontal direction, or is attached to the vicinity of the center of gravity of the wall traveling robot so that the direction of rotation can be controlled. It is equipped with adjusting means for adjusting the direction of the lifting device by remote control from the outside, and is further equipped with an inclinometer to detect the direction of gravity by attaching the direction of rotation to the vicinity of the center of gravity of the wall running robot. And an automatic control device for controlling the posture so that the lift device generates lift in the upward direction of the gravitational field based on the signal. Constructed.

  Further, in another preferred embodiment of the wall traveling robot according to the present invention, the lifting device comprising the helium gas air sac is placed on the air sac in a form that surrounds the structure on the chassis and also exhibits a buffering function when dropped. The gas sac can be attached to the wall traveling robot by enclosing the gas so that its floating position substantially coincides with the center of gravity of the wall traveling robot. When this helium gas sac is used, the buoyancy of the gas always works in the direction opposite to the direction of gravity, so control of the lift direction is unnecessary.

  In another preferred embodiment of the wall running robot according to the present invention, the stud standing in the radial direction from the wheel disk in the wheel has a spatial dimension straddling a cylindrical cable-like object having a diameter of about 5 cm. It is assumed that protrusions that enhance the trapping properties are attached to the opposing surfaces of each stud, because the presence of deposits that slide the wheels, such as dust, soot, and moisture, is extremely difficult to slide down the walls. Suitable for applications such as contact-type nondestructive inspection. The wheel with the stud can be configured to be exchangeable with another type of wheel according to the use of the wall traveling robot.

  In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the mission device is a contact-type inspection device or the like, the holding means for mounting and holding the mission device is about 1 of the adsorption force to the wall surface by the adsorption duct fan. A pressing mechanism that presses the mission equipment against the wall surface with a force of / 3, and a evacuation mechanism that is driven when the presence of an obstacle is detected by an obstacle sensor provided in the forward direction of the mission equipment to retract the mission equipment from the obstacle. It is comprised as having.

  The wall traveling robot having the above configuration includes the adsorption mechanism, the traveling drive mechanism, and the lifting device, so that it is adsorbed on the outer wall or inner wall of a large structure such as a bridge, a building, a tunnel, a large tank, or a ship. And, it can be stably engaged in work such as wall inspection, cleaning, painting, surface treatment, etc., especially when normal running wheels slip due to accumulation of soot and dust, Even if there are convex obstacles such as power distribution cables and underground water conduits, and concave obstacles such as the seam groove of the tunnel inner wall lining encountered on the tunnel wall, it does not slide down on the wall and is stable. It can be run. In addition, due to the weight reduction of the wall traveling robot, the combination of the support rod from the small ground support vehicle and the safety rope can be used even in an environment where the safety rope from the top of the structure cannot prevent the wall running robot from sliding down, such as in a tunnel. Therefore, it can be received in the air at the time of dropping, and can be configured with economical and responsive performance.

  According to the wall traveling robot of the present invention described in detail above, the traveling performance in the adverse environment of the wall traveling robot engaged in various operations by adsorbing to the outer wall and inner wall of various large structures is improved, and due to various causes. A wall running robot that takes measures against sliding off the wall surface can be obtained, and the wall running robot itself can be reduced in weight, and the adsorption to the wall surface can be reduced by applying lift, and the wall running can be stabilized. A robot can be obtained, and further, a wall traveling robot suitable for nondestructive inspection and the like by traveling on an irregular and markedly contaminated wall such as in a tunnel can be obtained.

It is a top view which shows 1st Example using the duct fan for the lift generation of the wall surface traveling robot which concerns on this invention. It is a rear view of the same Example. It is a side view of the same Example. It is a top view which shows this gas air sac by a chain line about 2nd Example provided with the helium gas air sac of the wall surface traveling robot which concerns on this invention. It is a partially broken rear view of the same Example. It is sectional drawing which shows the fixed aspect of the brush attached to an adsorption | suction board. It is a side view of a driving wheel. It is the same front view. It is a principal part enlarged front view of the example equipped with the percussion type flaw detector as mission equipment. It is the same side view. It is a side view which shows the state which provided the wheel with a stud in the vicinity of a flaw detection inspection machine. It is a top view which shows the modification of the drive wheel provided in the driving | running | working direction front of the wall surface traveling robot which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows the modification of the form of the brush skirt in the wall surface traveling robot which concerns on this invention.

Embodiments of a wall traveling robot according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
The wall surface traveling robot according to the present invention is adsorbed on the outer wall or inner wall of a large structure such as a bridge, a building, a tunnel, a large tank, or a ship, and is used for work such as inspection, cleaning, painting, and surface treatment of the wall surface. These crossing obstacles are particularly important for power distribution cables that have non-smooth and uneven surface irregularities, and tunnel inner walls with concrete seams on the inner wall lining. In addition, it is possible to travel on the tunnel inner wall that is slippery due to being wetted by sediments such as dust and soot and ground water, and can perform necessary work. Here, a case will be described in which the inner wall surface of the tunnel is a work target, but of course, the work target wall surface is not limited to the tunnel inner surface.

  1 to 3 show an overall configuration of a first embodiment of a self-adsorption type wall traveling robot according to the present invention. The main part of the wall running robot includes a triangular chassis (body frame) 1 and a suction part formed by attaching a brush skirt 4 around a suction plate 3 attached to the triangular chassis 1. 2, a suction mechanism formed by connecting a bell mouth 6 having a large diameter end in the center of the suction plate 3 to the suction port of the suction duct fan 5, and three vertices of the triangular chassis 1. It is constructed by connecting a bell mouth 9 to the provided driving wheel 7 with a stud for traveling and a suction port of a duct fan 8 for generating lift, and reduces the weight of the air drawn through the bell mouth 9 downward. And a holding device (supporting housing 10) for mounting and holding a mission device 11 that is provided in the chassis 1 and performs necessary work on the wall surface W to be worked. It is equipped with a.

  More specifically, the chassis 1 basically has a substantially triangular frame shape, and a hexagonal suction having a size located inside each apex of the substantially triangular frame-shaped chassis 1 below the chassis 1. The plate 3 is fixed, and the bristles 12 are directed from the outer edge of the suction plate 3 in a direction perpendicular to the plate surface so as to surround the entire periphery of the suction plate 3, so that the brush bristles 12 are perpendicular to the wall surface W to be worked. The brush skirt 4 with the brush hairs 12 lowered is attached to the suction plate 3, and the suction portion 2 is formed by the suction plate 3 and the brush skirt 4. As will be described later with reference to FIG. 6, the suction effect of the suction portion 2 is enhanced by the bristles 12 constituting the brush skirt 4 being closely arranged and the tips of which are in close contact with the wall surface W. It is what The suction plate 3 is not limited to a hexagonal shape.

  As described above, when the brush skirt 4 is attached to the periphery of the suction plate 3, if the arrangement lines of the brush hairs 12 are arranged in a straight line in a direction orthogonal to the main traveling direction of the wall traveling robot, it is long. When crossing a convex obstacle from the side, the bristle 12 in the brush skirt 4 simultaneously hits the convex obstacle and the running resistance rises rapidly, so that the driving wheel 7 slides on the wall surface W, and the obstacle is removed. Sometimes you can't get over. In order to avoid this situation, the row of the bristle 12 is mounted on the suction plate 3 so that the arrangement line of the linearly arranged brush bristle 12 is not perpendicular to the traveling direction, that is, around the suction plate 3. It is necessary to prevent the direction from being perpendicular to the traveling direction. The shape of the suction plate 3 to which the brush skirt 4 is attached at the periphery needs to consider such points.

Further, the suction plate 3 is formed so that the central portion thereof is continuously transferred to the bell mouth 6 of the suction duct fan 5, and the mouth of the bell mouth 6 is connected to the suction port of the duct fan 5. The suction plate 3 and the bell mouth 6 may be integrated or may be joined separately, and the flat suction plate 3 is connected to an extension of the outer edge of the bell mouth 6 on the suction side. It only has to be.
Therefore, when the duct fan 5 is operated, a large amount of air is sucked in by the bell mouth 6 with high power efficiency, and the atmospheric pressure in the space between the suction plate 3 and the wall surface W to be worked is reduced. Adsorbed to the wall surface W.

  The suction mechanism using the axial flow fan in which the bell mouth 6 connected to the suction plate 3 is connected to the suction port of the suction duct fan 5 has a much larger air blowing capacity than the centrifugal fan or the piston pump, Even if there is some air leakage in the part 2, it is possible to obtain a sufficient suction force that can hold the entire weight of the lightweight wall-mounted robot, and at least 5 cm between the suction plate 3 and the wall surface W to make a convex obstacle You can easily get over the object, and if you block the suction air by a certain amount with the brush skirt 4 during that time, you can get enough adsorption power with enough power, even if you encounter a groove type obstacle, A sufficient suction force can be obtained by slightly increasing the suction power of the duct fan 5.

  The brush bristles 12 of the brush skirt 4 are made of a fluororesin fiber (polyfluoroethylene-based fiber) provided under the Teflon trademark or a low-friction synthetic resin material equivalent to the same to minimize friction with the wall surface W. It is desirable to limit. The length of the brush skirt 4 is as high as 5 cm or more and less than 7 cm, and the wire diameter of the brush bristles 12 is bent by the air flow generated by the suction of the duct fan 5 to form a gap between the wall W. In order to prevent it, 0.4 mm or more is preferable, but in order to give a certain degree of flexibility, for example, when the height is 5 cm, it is necessary to make it about 0.6 mm or less. In short, the brush skirt 4 is configured to have a rigidity that can prevent the gap between the brush skirt 4 and the wall surface W from being greatly bent by the air flow of the duct fan 5, and to follow the unevenness of the wall surface W. It is formed so as to have flexibility so as not to form a gap with W as much as possible.

  In general, the bristles are easily removed from the base plate for fixing the bristles. Therefore, the bristles are generally fixed by a manufacturing method as described in Patent Document 1, but the brush bristles are made of metal by bending the bristles across a steel wire. Due to the caulking with the C-type channel, the total weight of the brush skirt is increased, resulting in an increase in the weight of the wall running robot, which makes it easier to slide off from the wall W and the suction power must be increased. is there.

  In order to avoid this situation, the brush skirt 4 is configured by sandwiching the solidified base of a large number of brush bristles 12 with base plates 14a and 14b made of lightweight and high-strength CFRP as shown in FIG. Specifically, using a core material 12a made of CFRP such as fluororesin or other lightweight high-strength plastic material, the bristles 12 are folded back 180 ° around the core material 12a, and the portion is bonded with an epoxy-based material or the like. It is solidified by bonding with the agent 13 or heat fusion, and is sandwiched between a pair of base plates 14a and 14b made of a lightweight CFRP material or the like, and, if necessary, is secured with filaments 15 of high-strength fibers, The brush bristles 12 are fixed to the base plates 14a and 14b to constitute the brush skirt 4. One base plate 14b of the brush skirt 4 is attached to the outer edge of the suction plate 3 with screws (not shown). Such a fixing means for the bristles 12 is excellent in that the bristles 12 can be prevented from being broken without applying stress to the bristles 12.

  The suction plate 3 suspended and fixed to the chassis 1 is opposed to the work target wall surface W in parallel with a certain distance, and is attached to the outer edge of the suction plate 3 by the brush skirt 4. Although the suction part 2 is formed on the inner side, in order to keep the distance between the suction plate 3 and the wall surface W constant, a fork-type drive wheel 7 with a stud, which will be described later, is attached to the suction force or suction plate in the suction part 2. 3 are arranged at three locations that are at most equal distances from the center of 3, that is, near the apexes of the triangular chassis 1. Among these, one drive wheel 7 having a steering function is one place on the front side which is the main traveling direction, and the other two drive wheels 7 on the rear side are drive wheels 7 having a differential drive function. However, in general, it is not necessary to use all three wheels as driving wheels. As a driving drive mechanism for wheels, some wheels have a steering function, and all the wheels rotate differentially during steering. Thus, it is only necessary to provide a function for preventing the wall surface W from slipping.

  The use of the driving wheel having the steering function is particularly effective for exerting the obstacle overcoming performance. If the wheel with steering performance is not a driving wheel but a non-driving wheel, even if there is no particular problem with running on the wall, running resistance increases when overcoming obstacles, so other driving wheels may run idle Once the idling occurs, the sliding will continue. The fact that the steered wheels on the front side in the running direction at this point are drive wheels suppresses the increase in running resistance due to overcoming the obstacle, and works effectively for smooth overcoming. .

  In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the differential drive wheels 7 at the left and right two positions on the rear side in the traveling direction are driven by the drive wheel support 18 provided at the rear left and right ends of the chassis 1. The drive shafts 17 are rotatably supported, and these drive shafts 17 together with a steering device 23 to be described later are prevented from slipping from the wall surface W by a differential drive mechanism 20 that is driven and controlled from the outside. Each is driven at the required speed.

  On the other hand, the steering-type drive wheel 7 in front of the traveling direction is provided with two coaxial drive wheels 7 at close positions, and via a steering device 23 that remotely rotates a steering shaft 22 that performs the steering thereof. Although the rotation control is enabled, the first embodiment shows a case where the sounding flaw detector as the mission device 11 is placed at the center of rotation of the steering. A supporting housing 10 is mounted as a holding means for mounting and holding the two driving wheels 7 on both sides of the supporting housing 10 of the mission equipment 11. In this case, an inner wheel difference due to steering also occurs in the pair of drive wheels 7 attached here, so that it is necessary to use a differential type, and an operation drive mechanism is also attached to the support housing 10.

  In the wall traveling robot of the first embodiment having the above-described configuration, the chassis 1 is formed by a triangular frame, but this does not necessarily need to be triangular. However, since the wall-traveling robot is attracted to the wall surface W with an attracting force more than double its own weight, self-excited vibration is caused if the rigidity of the chassis holding the wheels is low. This robot needs to minimize its own weight, and in order to increase the rigidity of the chassis with the minimum weight, the member that linearly connects between the installation parts of the wheels is the most structurally efficient. For this wall walking robot with a triangle, a triangle is good.

In addition, the configuration in which the wheels are in contact with the wall surface at three points that are the apexes of the triangle is necessary for always contacting all the wheels on the wall surface when there are irregularities on the three-dimensional curved surface like the inner wall surface of the tunnel. That is, only the three wheels at positions apart from each other can always contact all the wheels with the uneven wall surface. Further, a good point of the three wheels is that the pressing force of each wheel against the wall surface can be easily made almost equal. On the other hand, each wheel in a multi-wheeled vehicle such as a four-wheeled vehicle or a five-wheeled vehicle is grounded unevenly or some of the wheels are lifted, and the load on each wheel is greatly different. Whether the wheel is lifted depends on the wall shape and the position of the robot, and is undefined.
The three wheels are effective for eliminating the generation of a wheel that hardly plays a role as a wheel, and contributing to weight reduction and stabilization of traveling.

  The second embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is replaced with helium gas instead of the lift device for reducing its own weight, which is composed of the duct fan 8 for generating lift and the bell mouth 9 of the first embodiment, as will be described later. The main difference is in the use of a lift device composed of the air sac 26. The configuration of the chassis 1 and the suction portion 2 in this second embodiment, and the configuration and operation of the drive steering system described above are as follows. Since there is no difference from the first embodiment, the same or corresponding parts in the figure are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment, and their description is omitted. Further, in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the modifications described below can be applied.

  FIG. 12 shows a modification in which the mission device 11 is integrated with the drive wheel 7 and installed on the side in the case where there is one drive wheel 7 having a steering function provided forward in the traveling direction in the first embodiment. However, in the case of such a configuration, it is needless to say that the differential type is not necessary. The other configurations in FIG. 12 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the same reference numerals are given to common portions and descriptions thereof are omitted.

  In each of the above-mentioned wall traveling robots, when the curve is cut by the steering by the control of the steering device 23 from the outside, an inner wheel difference is generated in the drive wheels 7, and therefore, the drive wheels 7 on both rear sides are not made differential. Then, one of the driving wheels slides on the wall surface W, which causes the sliding. In addition, giving a large amount of driving force to a specific wheel makes it easy for a wheel having a large driving force to slip and causes sliding, so that the driving force is equally applied to all three driving wheels 7. It is desired that the driving wheels 7 be driven and controlled so that the rotational speeds of the driving wheels 7 match each other at an arbitrary traveling speed, so that the driving wheels 7 do not slip on the wall surface W.

  Thus, the three drive wheels with studs 7 must travel while carrying the total resistance of the robot loaded when climbing the wall surface W perpendicular to the travel resistance on the wall surface W. The drive wheels 7 are divided into three places, and the adsorbing force or disposing them at the position farthest from the center of the adsorbing plate 3 increases the vertical movement of the entire robot with respect to the wall surface W when it gets over the irregularities of the wall surface W. Thus, the suction force applied to each drive wheel 7 is minimized by making the tip of the brush skirt 4 lift up and reducing the reduction of the suction force in the suction portion 2 and by dividing the suction force on the wall surface W into three equal parts. This is to exert the effect of equalizing the load.

  When the above-mentioned wall traveling robot uses the wall surface W in the tunnel as a traveling environment, it can get over a convex obstacle such as a power distribution cable installed on the wall surface W in the tunnel, and the tunnel inner wall lining concrete. It must be able to intervene with concave obstacles such as the groove of the seam. Recent cables laid in the tunnel are made of a plastic material having a high smoothness, and slipping may occur between the cable skin and the drive wheel when such a cable is moved over, resulting in slipping.

In order to avoid such a situation, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the drive wheel 7 has a long stud 7b protruding in a radial direction on the wheel disk 7a, and a cable or the like is provided between the studs 7b. It is appropriate to provide a space over the convex obstacle. Specifically, a large number of studs 7b erected in the radial direction from the wheel disk 7a are formed to have a spatial dimension straddling a cylindrical cable-like object having a diameter of about 5 cm.
Even if the driving wheels 7 having the studs 7b are provided at three positions, the brush skirt 4 may be lifted away from the wall surface W. Therefore, the brush skirt 4 is lifted and a large amount of air is generated between the wall and the wall W. When the suction part internal pressure rises by flowing into the suction part 2, the pressure is detected, and the suction duct fan 5 is operated at a high power only while the pressure is above a certain value to maintain the suction force. It can also be configured to.

In addition, in order to prevent slippage with the cable having a smooth surface, a thorn-like and high-friction projection 7c is attached to the facing surface of the stud facing the adjacent stud at the middle portion of each stud 7b, It is designed to prevent slipping off due to contact with cables that are about to get over.
In addition, the stud-equipped drive wheel 7 may be of another type such as a soft rubber tire when the wall surface W to be worked should not be damaged, or when the wall surface W is hard and smooth, such as glass. It can also be made interchangeable with the drive wheel.

  Although not shown in the figure, the mission equipment 11 is slidably supported in the direction of contact with and away from the wall W inside the support housing 10 as a holding means for mounting and holding the mission equipment 11. A spring or the like for urging the mission device 11 toward the wall surface W as a pressing mechanism that presses a mission device such as an inspection machine against the wall surface with about 1/3 of the total adsorption force to the wall surface W of the robot; Driven when the presence of a convex obstacle such as an electric cable is detected by a pair of obstacle sensors 25 provided before and after the mission equipment 11, the mission equipment 11 is retracted from the wall surface W by about 5 cm at maximum, thereby And a retreat mechanism for retreating from an obstacle. As this retracting mechanism, a linear drive actuator or the like for moving the mission device 11 backward against the biasing force of the spring is used. When the front obstacle sensor 25 detects an obstacle, the pair of obstacle sensors 25 pulls up the inspection section, and the obstacle sensor 25 at the rear detects the obstacle and detects the passage of the obstacle. Confirm and save the inspection machine in the meantime.

  FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show an example in which a tapping sound flaw detector is installed as the mission equipment 11. In this inspection machine, the hammer 11b is at a position about 5 mm away from the wall surface W, and the hammer automatically hits the wall surface at a constant time interval, for example, every second, and moves while being pressed against the wall surface W. This is detected by the play-wheel-shaped sensor 11a to search for scratches in the wall surface W. In this case, the sensor 11a protrudes in the direction of the wall surface W by about 5 mm from the outer diameter of the drive wheel 7, and the adsorption force applied to the wall surface W by the adsorption mechanism is applied to the sensor 11a and pushed back against the wall surface. In close contact with the wall surface, the vibration sound from the hammer 11b is detected.

  In this inspection machine, since the distance between the hammer 11b and the sensing unit 11a and the wall surface W is small, when there is a discontinuous uneven surface, the body of the inspection machine slides on the obstacle that has been ridden. As shown in FIG. 11, it is possible to prevent the slipping by attaching the stud-equipped wheel 27 so as to cover the bottom of the inspection machine which is the mission device 11 as shown in FIG. it can. In this case, the stud-equipped wheel 27 need not be provided with a long stud unlike the stud 7b of the drive wheel 7 described above, and can be a short stud 27a. The stud-equipped wheel 27 may be a play car, but the driving wheel is better in overcoming obstacles.

  Further, in the above-mentioned wall traveling robot, a lifting device composed of a duct fan 8 for generating lift and a bell mouth 9 is supported on the suction plate 3 by a support column 28 in order to reduce its own weight, near the center of gravity of the wall traveling robot. I have. In the drawing, since the overall weight distribution of the wall running robot is not clear, the lift device is not necessarily shown near the center of gravity, but effective weight reduction is effective if lift is not applied near the center of gravity. Since it cannot be performed, it is necessary to give sufficient consideration to the installation position of the lifting device when designing. Also, even if the lifting device is attached near the center of gravity, it is not necessary to attach it directly with a single attachment member, but a plurality of attachment members so that the lift action vector works upward with respect to the gravitational field. Thus, it is possible to apply lift substantially similar to that attached near the center of gravity.

  On the other hand, in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, instead of the lift device composed of the lift generating duct fan 8 and the bell mouth 9 of the first embodiment, a lift device composed of a helium gas air sac 26 is used. I am doing so. This lift device encloses a structure on the chassis 1 with an air sac 26 that encloses helium gas to provide lift, and has a donut shape or the like that also exhibits a buffering function when the wall traveling robot is accidentally dropped. In other words, a gas air sac 26 is formed in which the insertion space of the taper duct 29 connected to the exhaust port of the suction duct fan 5 and leading the exhaust to the outside is formed at the center offset position. This prevents the equipment from being damaged by contact with other equipment at the same time, and at the same time, protects the structure on the chassis 1 from damage caused by the contact. The air sac 26 is attached to the wall traveling robot so that the floating position of the gas air sac 26 is substantially coincident with the center of gravity of the wall traveling robot.

When the gas air sac 26 is attached to the wall traveling robot, as shown in the figure, the inner peripheral surface of the insertion space at the center of the gas air sac 26 is held by the taper duct 29 connected to the exhaust duct 5 of the suction duct fan 5 or Any means such as fixing to the suction plate 3 can be used. As described above, the gas air sac 26 is attached to the wall traveling robot with its buoyancy position substantially coincident with the center of gravity of the wall traveling robot. For example, the center of gravity of the wall traveling robot is also moved by changing the mission equipment. It is impossible to make them coincide with each other, and the difference in position between the buoyancy position and the center of gravity is not limited as long as the generated force can be absorbed by the suction mechanism by the suction duct fan 5. The same applies to the mounting position of the duct fan 8 for generating lift.
Here, it has been described that the lift device composed of the helium gas air sac 26 is used instead of the lift device composed of the duct fan 8 for generating lift in the first embodiment, but both lift devices may be used in combination. In this case, it is possible to realize the installation on the chassis 1 by reducing the size of each lifting device.

  The lifting device including the duct fan 8 and the bell mouth 9 of the first embodiment can be provided in the wall surface traveling robot in various modes according to the usage mode of the wall surface traveling robot. For example, in a wall traveling robot often used for horizontal movement of a vertical wall surface W, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 or FIG. Thus, not only the configuration is simplified, but the wall surface W during horizontal running suddenly becomes slippery, which is extremely effective as a countermeasure against slipping.

When the wall traveling robot travels on the wall surface W in various directions, the lifting device composed of the duct fan 8 and the bell mouth 9 is attached to the vicinity of the center of gravity of the wall traveling robot so that its direction can be rotationally controlled. It is also appropriate to control the lift device so as to generate upward lift according to the traveling posture of the robot by providing an adjustment means for adjusting the direction of the lift device by remote control from outside.
Further, in order to automatically generate the lift upward, the lift device composed of the duct fan 8 and the bell mouth 9 is attached to the vicinity of the center of gravity of the wall running robot so that its direction can be rotationally controlled. Equipped with an inclinometer that detects the direction of gravity in the robot body or the above lifting device, and equipped with an automatic control device that controls the posture based on the output signal so that the lifting device generates lifting force upward in the gravity field Can be.

  On the other hand, when the helium gas air sac 26 is used as a lifting device as in the second embodiment described above, the buoyancy of the gas always works in the direction opposite to the direction of gravity, so control of the lifting direction is unnecessary. Become. Moreover, the gas air sac 26 is formed in a donut shape that surrounds and protects the structure on the chassis 1 as shown in FIGS. It becomes easy to attach to the wall traveling robot so as to substantially coincide with the center of gravity.

Such lift-prevention measures by the lift device include measures such as using the drive wheel 7 with the stud 7b to improve the biting of the drive wheel 7 on the wall surface W, and increasing the power efficiency of the suction mechanism to increase the suction force. At the same time, it is extremely effective to achieve a significant reduction in the total weight of the robot.
Also, in the above-mentioned wall-traveling robot, even when the vertical wall surface W has very little friction, and it cannot slide due to the suction force alone, the self-adapted duct fan 8 with the bell mouth 9 is used. It is possible to prevent slipping by giving lift almost equal to the weight.

  On the other hand, as a measure for reducing the running resistance of the wall running robot, the brush bristles 12 of the brush skirt 4 on the outer edge of the suction plate 3 have been described above with a low friction material such as fluororesin. It is effective to attach the brush skirt 4 to the suction plate 3 so that the arrangement line of the brush bristles 12 in the brush skirt 4 does not become a straight line orthogonal to the main traveling direction of the wall traveling robot. It is possible to prevent the brush skirts 4 arranged in a straight line from hitting a long convex obstacle at a time and the running resistance suddenly rising, causing the drive wheels to slip and fail to get over the obstacle or to slide down.

Specifically, as in the modification illustrated in FIG. 13, the shape itself of the suction plate 3 to which the brush skirt 4 is attached in the periphery so that the brush skirt 4 does not form a straight line perpendicular to the main traveling direction is set to be thick. 1 is not limited to the hexagonal shape as shown in FIG. 1 and is not limited to a hexagonal shape as shown in FIG. 1, but a heptagonal shape, an octagonal shape, or the like is attached to the suction plate 3 so that the brush arrangement line does not become perpendicular to the traveling direction. This is very important.
Other configurations in FIG. 13 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  In addition, the wall-climbing robot described above can be used as a countermeasure against falling with a safety rod from the tip of the support rod from the ground in situations where it cannot be suspended in the air by sliding from the top of the structure with a safety cord as in a tunnel. Therefore, the total weight of the wall traveling robot is normally limited to about 5 to 6 kg including 1 to 2 kg of the mission equipment 11. If the weight is further increased, the risk of damaging other equipment due to contact with an overhead line facility or the like in the case of a railway tunnel, for example, increases.

  However, since the overall weight of the wall-climbing robot is significantly reduced, even in an environment where it is impossible to prevent slipping, the combination of a support rod from a small ground support vehicle and a safety rope can be used in the air when dropped. The risk of damage to other equipment can be greatly reduced. In particular, in a wall traveling robot equipped with a lifting device equipped with a helium gas air sac 26, damage to the equipment and the wall traveling robot due to contact with other equipment at the time of dropping can be minimized.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Chassis 2 Suction part 3 Suction plate 4 Brush skirt 5 Suction duct fan 6 Bell mouth 7 Drive wheel 7a Wheel disk 7b Stud 8 Duct fan for lift generation 9 Bell mouth 11 Mission equipment 12 Brush hair 14a, 14b Base plate 20 Differential drive Mechanism 23 Steering device 25 Obstacle sensor 26 Gas sac W Wall

Claims (12)

A chassis with wheels at the apexes of the triangle,
The tip of the bristle having a length in contact with the wall surface is directed toward the wall surface around the entire periphery of the suction plate which is positioned inside each apex of the chassis and is arranged in parallel to the wall surface of the work target. An adsorbing portion formed by providing a brush skirt that is closely arranged and solidified at the base, and
A suction mechanism in which a bell mouth having a large-diameter end opened at the center of the suction plate is connected to a suction port of a suction duct fan;
Each of the wheels including at least one drive wheel provided at three locations in the chassis is provided with studs for running on the peripheral surface of the wheel disk across the convex portion of the wall surface in the radial direction. A traveling drive mechanism configured to provide a steering function to a part of the wheels and a function of differentially rotating during steering;
A lift device comprising a bell-mouth lift generating duct fan and / or a helium gas bladder that provides buoyancy;
A holding means for mounting and holding a mission device that is provided in the chassis and performs necessary work on a wall surface to be worked;
A wall running robot characterized by comprising: The wheels provided at three locations in the chassis are all drive wheels.
The wall surface traveling robot according to claim 1. Of the drive wheels provided at the three locations of the chassis, one front wheel, which is the main traveling direction, is a drive wheel having a steering function, and the other two drive wheels on the rear side are differential drive functions. A drive wheel having
The wall surface traveling robot according to claim 2. The brush bristles constituting the brush skirt are bent by the air flow generated by the suction of the suction duct fan by the polyfluorinated ethylene fiber or the low friction synthetic resin fiber equivalent thereto, so that a gap is formed between the brush bristles and the wall surface. It is configured as having the rigidity that can be suppressed,
The brush skirt was configured by sandwiching a solid base of a large number of brush hairs with a base plate made of lightweight high-strength fiber-reinforced plastic.
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The brush skirt is attached to the suction plate so that the arrangement line of the brush hairs in the brush skirt does not become a straight line perpendicular to the main traveling direction of the wall traveling robot.
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The lift device comprising the lift generating duct fan is configured by connecting a bell mouth to the suction port of the lift generating duct fan, and the lift device is installed in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the wall running robot. Attached so that the direction of lift when moving direction is upward,
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The lifting device composed of the above-mentioned lift generating duct fan is configured by connecting a bell mouth to the suction port of the lifting force generating duct fan, and the direction of the lifting device can be controlled in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the wall running robot. And an adjustment means for adjusting the direction of the lifting device by remote control from outside,
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The lifting device composed of the above-mentioned lift generating duct fan is configured by connecting a bell mouth to the suction port of the lifting force generating duct fan, and the direction of the lifting device can be controlled in the vicinity of the center of gravity of the wall running robot. Equipped with an inclinometer that detects the direction of gravity, and equipped with an automatic control device that controls the posture so that the lift device generates lift toward the upward direction of the gravitational field based on the signal,
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The lifting device composed of the helium gas air sac is configured by enclosing helium gas in an air sac that surrounds the structure on the chassis and also exhibits a buffering function at the time of falling, and the floating position of the wall traveling robot is The air sac was attached to the wall running robot so that it almost coincided with the center of gravity.
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The stud standing in the radial direction from the wheel disk in the wheel has a spatial dimension straddling a cylindrical cable-like object having a diameter of about 5 cm, and a protrusion for enhancing the trapping property is attached to the opposing surface of each stud. ,
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 9. The wheel with the stud is configured to be interchangeable with other types of wheels.
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 10. The holding means for mounting and holding the mission equipment includes a pressing mechanism that presses the mission equipment against the wall surface with a force of about 1/3 of the suction force to the wall surface by the suction duct fan, and an obstacle sensor provided in the forward direction of the mission equipment And a retraction mechanism that is driven when the presence of an obstacle is detected and retracts the mission equipment from the obstacle,
The wall surface traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein:

Images