JP2012116373A - Suction attitude control mechanism of crawler traveling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems of being unable to secure suction force, being low in durability of a sealant and enlarging a device, when a rotation side seal wall of a suction pad arranged in an endless rotary belt is rolled up inside when sucking a contact surface in a rotary wheel, in a crawler type wall surface sucking traveling robot.SOLUTION: The rotary wheel of a traveling device is divided in a role into three rotary wheels, and a contact surface attitude can be adjusted by adjusting the rotary wheels. A structure is also arranged for contacting the suction pad in a surface in parallel by arranging a contact surface attitude correcting mechanism.

Description

  The present invention relates to a crawler-type wall surface adsorption traveling device.

In recent years, the durability and reliability of buildings have been questioned.
Buildings, piers, and other buildings are accelerated by the deterioration due to age-related deterioration and environmental changes.
There is a demand for inspecting cracks on the wall surface and cavities generated inside, but this work is accompanied by a large economic burden such as scaffolding costs, personnel costs and safety costs.
For this reason, various inventions have been disclosed on the wall surface traveling robot for dealing with these problems.
However, large-scale wall robots have problems in terms of equipment cost, incidental equipment cost, ease of operation, operational cost, etc., and have not found any merit compared to conventional methods, and have not been popularized. For this reason, delays in inspection methods for buildings such as buildings and piers have been pointed out at present.

Also, vacuum suction traveling robots that travel on non-magnetic wall surfaces cause vacuum leakage on uneven surfaces and cannot hold suction traveling postures, so various wall surface traveling robots, suction pad and sucker inventions, and disclosure Has been made.

Further, in the crawler-type suction traveling device, the suction pad provided in the endless rotating belt receives compression from the suctioned surface when the contact surface is sucked, and the suction pad seal is bent and sinks to a predetermined height from the suctioned surface. . On the other hand, in the suction pad that is rotating toward the contact surface with the rotating wheel that pivots the rotation of the rotation band, the seal height of the suction pad is uncompressed and long, and is parallel to the surface to be sucked. In the suction in a state where the posture is not set, there is a problem that the rotation direction side of the suction pad seal comes into contact with the suction pad seal and is swallowed inward as it rotates.
This tendency becomes more prominent as the rotating wheel has a smaller diameter, the suction pad seal is longer, and the seal material has a lower hardness, which is a big problem for a traveling device that adsorbs to an irregular surface.

In the publication of Japanese Patent No. 2746389, an endless track formed by connecting an endless track element having a T-shaped groove extending in the direction of travel, a frame, and a front and rear portion of the frame are provided. The endless track drive wheel and driven wheel, and an engagement tool and a telescopic shaft located in a T-shaped groove of the endless track element, allowing the endless track to move in the track direction. Engaging means for engaging the endless track in a direction perpendicular to the traveling wall; and the engaging means mounted on the frame so that the distance between the frame and the endless track in the perpendicular direction is variable. Driving means for driving the motor in the perpendicular direction, and each suction device is provided so as to be movable up and down with respect to the suction surface. However, a sensor for measuring a change in the distance to the wall surface is provided at the front part of the frame, and the engagement means is moved up and down in synchronization with the traveling of the crawler type wall surface traveling mechanism. It does not prevent the seal from being caught due to contact with the attracted surface during the rotation of the rotating wheel.

In the publications of Japanese Patent No. 2520351 and Japanese Patent No. 4554580, there is no disclosure regarding prevention of entrainment of the seal due to contact of the suction pad provided on the endless rotation belt with the surface to be sucked.

Japanese Patent No. 2746389 (Publication No. 2-92788) Japanese Patent No. 2520351 (Publication of JP-A-6-72364) Japanese Patent No. 4554580 (Publication No. 2008-81070)

The above-mentioned problem is a serious problem in the suction traveling device with uneven irregularities.
In order to obtain a high suction force that adheres to uneven irregular surfaces and does not cause vacuum leakage, the suction pad seal must have a low hardness and a long seal wall length. The height of the contact surface is low. This decrease in contact height affects the entrainment width of the seal, and entrainment reduces the durability of the low-hardness sealing material.
Increasing the diameter of the rotating wheel can reduce the approach angle after rotation of the suction pad and reduce the entrainment, but there is a problem that a small and lightweight traveling device becomes difficult due to the large diameter of the rotating wheel. It was.

In the present invention, the suction pad can be brought into contact with the surface to be sucked in parallel and sucked without increasing the diameter of the rotating wheel. Since the suction pad contacts with a posture in which the peripheral edge of the contact surface of the seal is not swallowed, even a rough surface can be sucked with a small vacuum generation source, and a small and durable traveling device can be made.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, two pairs of endless rotating bands that are wound around and rotated by four pairs of rotating wheels provided at predetermined positions on the front, rear, left, and right of the frame body, and both ends in the rotational direction are fixed to the rotating bands. In a traveling device that includes a plurality of suction pads that rotate and are sucked to a suction wall surface by the operation of a vacuum generator, the rotating wheel has a function switching between suction and non-adsorption of the suction pads provided in the rotation band. A contact surface rotating wheel disposed at a place where the contact surface is rotated, and a posture conversion rotating wheel disposed at a predetermined position in a direction opposite to the contact surface of the separation surface rotating wheel at a predetermined height away from the attracted surface; A rear rotating wheel that pivotally supports the rotation band on the back surface in the reverse direction of the contact surface is provided, and in addition to the function of supporting the rotation band and changing the rotation direction of the rotation band, the rotation angle of the contact surface of the rotation band is arbitrary. Adjustment was possible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the traveling device, a contact surface posture correcting mechanism for contacting the suction pad in parallel with the surface to be sucked between the separation contact surface rotation wheel and the posture conversion rotation wheel. Further provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the contact posture correction mechanism includes four pairs of posture control rotation bands provided at predetermined positions opposite to each other on the front and rear sides of the pair of rotation bands, and the posture control. A suction pad biasing rod projecting from a predetermined link portion of the rotation band and a suction pad posture control rod are realized.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the suction pad biasing rod of the posture control rotation band is synchronized with the rotation of the suction pad of the rotation band between the separation surface rotation wheel and the posture conversion rotation wheel. Thus, a synchronous support mechanism for rotating while maintaining the relative position is realized.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the contact surface posture correcting mechanism is configured so that both side surfaces of the frame body are on a rotation trajectory followed by the suction pad substrate provided with the suction pad that passes through the posture conversion rotating wheel and moves toward the contact surface direction. An elastic body is provided at a predetermined position on the inside, and when the suction pad substrate comes into contact with the suction pad substrate, it is urged in the direction opposite to the surface to be sucked, and the posture of the suction pad substrate is easily corrected.

In the present invention, the diameter of the rotating wheel that pivotally supports the endless rotating belt can be reduced in size and weight, and the suction pad seal of a low-hardness elastic body can be in contact with and adsorbed in parallel to the surface to be attracted. Since the peripheral surface of the surface is in contact with the surface without being rubbed in, the uneven surface is attracted by a small vacuum generation source, and a small and durable traveling device can be made.

FIG. 1 is an overall external view of an embodiment of a traveling device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view relating to an embodiment of the traveling device of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line HH in FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line KK of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram of a first embodiment relating to claims 2 to 4. FIG. 6 is for explaining the second embodiment.

The present invention will be described based on the following examples.
1 and 3, a pair of left and right rotation bands 5 are provided inside a rectangular frame 1, and both end surfaces in the rotation direction of the suction pad substrate 3 provided with the suction pads 4 are fixed to the rotation band 5. It is configured.
The suction pad substrate 3 and the suction pad 4 shown in FIG. 6 are fixed to the rotary band 5 in a suction pad posture control panel 15 provided at both side ends.
The suction pad substrate 3 is provided with a vacuum generator (not shown).

In FIG. 3 of the HH cross section of FIG. 2, the rotation band 5 is rotated by a back surface rotation wheel 7 provided on the frame 1, a posture conversion rotation wheel 8, and a contact surface rotation wheel 9. It is pivotally supported.
As shown in FIG. 4, the separation / contact surface rotating wheel 9 is provided as a connecting body of a separation / contact surface rotating outer ring 9-1 and a separation / contact surface rotating inner ring 9-2. Further, the separation / contact surface rotating wheel 9 may be formed by integrally forming the separation / contact surface rotating outer ring 9-1 and the separation / contact surface rotating inner ring 9-2.

When the suction pad 4 reaches the position of the separation / contact surface rotating wheel 9 by rotation, the suction pad 4 is attracted to the surface to be attracted, but the posture changing rotation wheel 8 is rotated to reach the separation / contact surface rotation wheel 9. In the meantime, the suction surface of the suction pad 4 must be parallel to the surface to be suctioned.
When the suction pad 4 is sucked in parallel to the surface to be attracted, a vacuum between the suction pad 4 and the surface to be attracted is maintained and strong suction can be maintained.
When the contact surface is not parallel, the vacuum sealing material formed of an elastic body provided on the peripheral surface of the suction pad 4 is squeezed by the contact surface to cause a vacuum leak and increase the vacuum suction force. It becomes difficult to hold.

This contact surface parallelism can be achieved by adjusting the height of the posture-changing rotating wheel 8 from the attracted surface and the distance between the contact surface rotating wheel 9. In the conventional one-rotation-wheel system, in order to reduce the sticking of the seal of the suction pad 4, it is necessary to use a large-diameter rotation wheel, which increases the size, weight, and cost of the device. Although invited, it was possible to reduce the size by providing the functions of the rotating wheel separately.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the posture control rotation band 6 having one end wound around the contact surface rotation inner ring 9-2 is provided inside the rotation band 5, and as shown in FIG. A contact surface posture correcting mechanism for biasing the suction pad posture control plate 15 of the suction pad substrate 3 and correcting the posture parallel to the attracted surface is provided at a predetermined link portion of the posture control rotation band 6. A predetermined number is provided.
The contact surface posture correcting mechanism includes a suction pad biasing rod 11, a suction pad biasing rod support plate 10 that supports the suction pad biasing rod 11 to slide in the direction of the suction pad substrate 3, and the suction pad. A suction pad posture control rod 12 for urging the suction pad posture control plate 15 by locking one end of the force rod 11 at substantially the center, an elastic body for biasing the suction pad biasing rod 11, and the suction pad posture The control rod 12 is composed of an elastic body that pulls both ends of the control rod 12 toward the suction pad biasing rod support plate 10.

The contact surface posture correcting mechanism is configured such that the suction pad posture control rod 12 comes into contact with the suction pad posture control plate 15 when the suction pad substrate 3 has rotated the posture conversion rotating wheel 8, and the suction pad posture control rod 12. Using the difference in the tensile force of the elastic body that pulls both ends of the ring, the bias is applied in parallel to the attracted surface, and the bias is stopped when the separation contact surface rotating wheel 9 is rotated.
With this mechanism, the suction pad posture control rod 12 keeps the suction pad substrate 3 against the surface to be sucked continuously from the time when the posture conversion rotary wheel 8 is rotated until the contact surface rotary wheel 9 is reached. The posture can be corrected in parallel.

The separation / contact surface rotating wheel 9 is composed of a separation / contact surface rotating outer ring 9-1 and a separation / contact surface rotating inner ring 9-2, and is integrated with each other. 6 is a synchronized rotation.
Therefore, the contact surface posture correction mechanism can be in contact with the suction pad posture control plate 15 of the suction pad substrate 3 in synchronization with each other and accurately urged parallel to the suction surface.

In FIG. 6, the suction pad is also temporarily provided by providing the frame body 1 with a mechanism for lifting one of the rotational contact surfaces of the longitudinal swing prevention travel guide wheels 16-1 or 16-2 to the contact surface opposite side. A mechanism for making the substrate 3 parallel to the attracted surface can be configured.
The suction pad substrate 3 provided with the rotation band 5 assumes a posture in which the distance between the suction surface and the front surface in the contact surface approach direction is shorter than the rear surface in the forward direction of the contact surface due to the rotation of the posture conversion rotating wheel 8. Become. That is, the longitudinal swing prevention traveling guide wheel in front of the approach direction has a short distance from the attracted surface, and the rear longitudinal swing prevention travel guide wheel has a long distance from the attracted surface and is inclined with respect to the attracted surface. Keep.
Therefore, by providing guides made of an elastic body on the inner side of both side surfaces of the frame body 1 at predetermined positions on the trajectory through which the front wheels of the vertical vibration prevention travel guide wheel pass after the posture conversion rotating wheel 8 has elapsed, the vertical vibration is reduced. The front guide wheel in the contact direction approach direction of the prevention travel guide wheel can be lifted in the reverse direction of the contact surface.
Thereby, the posture inclined with respect to the surface to be sucked of the suction pad substrate 3 is corrected, and the suction pad 4 is brought into contact with the substantially parallel posture, thereby reducing the encroachment on the contact surface of the sealing material. it can.

It can be used as a device that travels on uneven walls such as concrete walls, mortar walls, and tile walls, and can be used in a wide range by installing work equipment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame 2 Wheel contact surface 3 Suction pad board | substrate 4 Suction pad 5 Rotation zone 6 Attitude control rotation zone 7 Back surface rotation wheel 8 Attitude change rotation wheel 9 Separation surface rotation wheel 9-1 Separation surface rotation outer ring 9-2 Separation / contact Surface rotation inner ring 10 Suction pad urging rod support plate 11 Suction pad urging rod 12 Suction pad posture control rod 15 Suction pad posture control plates 16-1 and 16-2 Vertical runout prevention traveling guide wheel 17 Lateral shake prevention running guide wheel

Claims (5)

Two pairs of endless rotating bands that are wound around and rotated by four pairs of rotating wheels provided at predetermined positions on the front, rear, left, and right of the frame, and both ends of the rotating direction are fixed to the rotating bands and rotated. In the traveling device provided with a plurality of suction pads that are sucked to the wall surface to be sucked by operation, the rotating wheel is disposed at a place where the suction pads provided in the rotation band perform switching between suction and non-adsorption functions. A separation contact surface rotating wheel, a posture changing rotation wheel disposed at a predetermined position in the reverse direction of the contact surface of the separation contact surface rotation wheel at a predetermined height away from the attracted surface, and a back surface portion in the reverse direction of the contact surface In addition to the function of supporting the rotation band and changing the rotation direction of the rotation band, it is possible to arbitrarily adjust the approach angle of the contact surface of the rotation band. A traveling device characterized. In the traveling device, a contact surface posture correcting mechanism for contacting the suction pad in parallel with the suction surface is further provided between the separation contact surface rotating wheel and the posture conversion rotating wheel. The traveling device according to claim 1. The contact surface posture correction mechanism includes four pairs of posture control rotation belts provided at predetermined positions opposite to each other on the front and rear sides of the pair of rotation belts, and predetermined link portions of the posture control rotation belts. The traveling device according to claim 1, wherein the traveling device is provided with a suction pad biasing rod provided in a protruding manner and a suction pad posture control rod. The suction pad biasing rod of the posture control rotation band maintains a relative position between the separation contact surface rotation wheel and the posture conversion rotation wheel in synchronization with the rotation of the suction pad of the rotation band. The traveling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a synchronous support mechanism for rotating. The contact surface posture correction mechanism is elastic at a predetermined position on both inner side surfaces of the frame body on a rotation locus followed by the suction pad substrate provided with the suction pad passing through the posture conversion rotating wheel and moving toward the contact surface direction. The travel device according to claim 1, wherein the traveling device is provided with a body and biases in a direction opposite to the attracted surface when the suction pad substrate comes into contact with the suction pad substrate to correct the posture of the suction pad substrate.