JP2012130582A - Cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning apparatus hardly falling and hardly leaving an unpolished part.SOLUTION: The cleaning apparatus EQ includes a frame FR, and three brushes B1, B2, B3 connected in a rotatable and inclinable manner to the frame FR. The respective rotation axes η1, η2, η3 of the three brushes B1, B2, B3 are perpendicular to the respective inclination axes ξ1, ξ2, ξ3 of the three brushes B1, B2, B3. In a plan view, at least two of the inclination axes ξ1, ξ2, ξ3 intersect, and the positions of the three brushes B1, B2, B3 form a triangle.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device having a brush rotatably and tiltably connected to a frame, and more particularly to a cleaning device having three brushes.

  Conventionally, an omnidirectional moving floor polishing robot including two rotating brushes attached to a robot body via a gimbal mechanism is known (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

  This floor polishing robot uses an electric motor to control the rotation direction of the two rotating brushes and the inclination angle of the respective rotation shafts with respect to the floor surface, and to change these two directions according to the rotation direction and the inclination angle. By using the rotational friction force between the two rotating brushes and the floor surface, it is possible to move in a desired direction while polishing the floor surface.

Yoshihiro Fuse and two others, “Application of non-interference PID control to omnidirectional moving floor polishing robot”, July 2009, Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan, Vol.27 No.6 p.679-684

  However, since the floor polishing robot of Non-Patent Document 1 supports the robot body with two rotating brushes, it easily falls over when it receives an external force from a direction perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the two rotating brushes. There's a problem.

  In addition, since the floor polishing robot of Non-Patent Document 1 needs to be arranged so that the two rotating brushes do not come into contact with each other, a certain gap is inevitably formed between the two rotating brushes, and the traveling direction Depending on the situation, there is a problem that an unpolished portion is generated between two polished areas.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device that is less likely to fall and less likely to leave unpolished.

  In order to achieve the above object, a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a cleaning device having a frame and three brushes rotatably and tiltably connected to the frame. The rotation axes of the three brushes are perpendicular to the inclination axes of the three brushes. When viewed from above, at least two of the inclination axes intersect, and the positions of the three brushes form a triangle. It is characterized by that.

  By the means described above, the present invention can provide a cleaning device that is less likely to fall and less likely to leave unpolished.

It is the schematic of the cleaning apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is the figure which looked at the cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1 from a different angle. It is a perspective view of the drive part couple | bonded with a rotating brush. It is a side view of the drive part of FIG. FIG. 4 is a top view of the drive unit in FIG. 3. It is the VI-VI sectional view taken on the line in FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the cleaning apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a movement of the cleaning apparatus by a movement control part.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (A) shows a top view, and FIG. 1 (B) is seen from the direction of arrow 1B in FIG. 1 (A). A side view is shown.

  2 is a view of the cleaning device of FIG. 1 as seen from a different angle, FIG. 2 (A) shows a top view, and FIG. 2 (B) shows from the direction of arrow 2B in FIG. 2 (A). FIG. 2C is a view corresponding to FIG. 2B and shows a state in which one of the rotating brushes is inclined with respect to the floor surface.

  The cleaning device EQ is a device that can move in any direction with these three rotating brushes while polishing the floor with three rotating brushes (polishers), and mainly includes three rotating brushes B1, B2, B3, It has two drive units D1, D2, D3, a frame FR, and a control device CD.

  The cleaning device EQ may be manually operated by an operator using an operation unit attached to a cord extending from the frame FR, or remotely operated by an operator via wireless communication. However, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the robot is a robot-type cleaning device that cleans the floor surface while moving autonomously based on a cleaning map (described later) stored in the control device CD or the like.

  The rotary brushes B1, B2, and B3 have a circular shape, rotate around rotation axes η1, η2, and η3 that can be inclined with respect to the frame FR, and have inclination axes ξ1, orthogonal to the rotation axes η1, η2, and η3, It can be tilted around ξ2 and ξ3.

  FIG. 2C shows a state in which the rotary brush B2 is inclined by an angle θ around the tilt axis ξ2, and a state in which a high friction region HF2 is generated between the floor surface and a part of the rotary brush B2. Show. Note that, even when the rotating brush B2 is tilted, at least most of the bottom surface of the rotating brush is in contact with the floor surface, and at least most of the bottom surface of the rotating brush polishes the floor. It shall be possible.

  The driving units D1, D2, and D3 are members for individually rotating or tilting the rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3. For example, the rotating motor, the tilting motor, the rotating shaft, the tilting shaft, and the rotational force of the rotating motor are used. A gear mechanism that transmits to the rotating shaft and a gear mechanism that transmits the rotational force of the tilting motor to the tilting shaft (details will be described later).

  The frame FR is a member that couples the three rotary brushes B1, B2, and B3 via the three drive units D1, D2, and D3 while maintaining the relative positions between the three rotary brushes B1, B2, and B3. For example, each of the three frame arms has a three-pronged shape composed of three frame arms having the same length extending outward (radially) at an angle of 120 degrees from the center. The driving units D1, D2, and D3 are coupled to the end portions of the two.

  The angle between each of the three frame arms may be an angle other than 120 degrees (that is, each may be a different angle), and the length of each of the three frame arms is Each may be different.

  In the present embodiment, the tilt axes ξ1, ξ2, and ξ3 extend in a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of each of the three frame arms, but may extend in a direction other than the orthogonal direction. In addition, it is desirable that the angle between two adjacent tilt axes among the tilt axes ξ1, ξ2, and ξ3 is 60 degrees.

  Further, the frame FR does not necessarily have a three-pronged shape, and may have an arbitrary shape such as a plate shape or a frame shape.

  The control device CD is a member for controlling the movement of the cleaning device EQ, for example, a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. In order to advance the cleaning device EQ in the direction according to the operator's instruction, or to advance the cleaning device EQ in the direction automatically derived based on various information, the three rotating brushes B1, B2, B3 The rotation and inclination of each are controlled (details will be described later).

  Next, details of the drive units D1, D2, and D3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 shows a perspective view of the drive unit D1 coupled to the rotary brush B1, FIG. 4 shows a side view of the drive unit D1, FIG. 5 shows a top view of the drive unit D1, and FIG. FIG. 5 shows a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. Further, the drive units D2 and D3 have the same configuration as that of the drive unit D1, and illustration thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the drive unit D1 includes a rotation motor RM1 that rotationally drives a drive gear G12 that meshes with a driven gear G11 fixed to a rotation shaft SFT11 that extends in the direction of the rotation axis η1, and an inclined shaft and an inclination motor TM1 that rotationally drives a drive gear G14 meshed with a driven gear G13 fixed to an inclination shaft SFT12 extending in the ξ1 direction.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the inclined shaft SFT12 is composed of two coaxial shaft members SFT12-1 and SFT12-2 divided by the rotating shaft SFT11, and is arranged between the inclined shaft ξ1 and the rotating brush B1. Although the distance is shortened, it may be composed of one shaft member.

  In addition, the drive unit D1 uses a tilt mechanism composed of the tilt motor TM1, the tilt shaft SFT12, the driven gear G13, and the drive gear G14, and other actuators such as an electric cylinder, a pneumatic cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, and a linear motor. You may make it comprise with the mechanism which was.

  Further, the drive unit D1 may drive the rotary shaft SFT11 and the inclined shaft SFT12 via another transmission mechanism such as a belt pulley mechanism or a wire pulley mechanism without using a gear mechanism. An actuator may be directly connected to the shaft SFT12 for driving.

  Next, details of the control device CD will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the cleaning device EQ, and the control device CD is connected to each of the drive units D1, D2, and D3 in a wired or wireless manner.

  The control device CD includes a position detection device PS, an attitude detection device AS, and a storage device SD. The program corresponding to the movement control unit MC is read from the ROM and expanded on the RAM, and the position detection device PS and the attitude detection device AS. Based on the detection value output from each and the information stored in the storage device SD, the CPU is caused to execute processing corresponding to the movement control unit MC.

  The position detection device PS is a device for detecting the position of the cleaning device EQ. For example, the position (latitude, longitude, altitude) of the cleaning device EQ based on a GPS signal received by a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver. Is detected.

  Further, the position detection device PS may be an RF tag reader for reading position information stored in the RF tag from an RF tag embedded in a floor surface to be cleaned or a wall surface around the floor surface. It may be a laser sensor that detects the distance up to.

  The posture detection device AS is a device for detecting the posture of the cleaning device EQ. For example, the posture detection device AS detects the posture of the cleaning device EQ based on a detection value of a triaxial angular velocity (gyro) sensor.

  The storage device SD is a device for storing various types of information. For example, the storage device SD is a non-volatile storage medium such as a hard disk or a flash memory, and the cleaning map SD1 stores the shape and size of the floor surface to be cleaned. Remember.

  The cleaning map SD1 is preferably information stored in advance in the storage device SD in accordance with the floor surface to be cleaned. However, the cleaning device EQ automatically uses a laser sensor or the like before starting cleaning or during cleaning. May be generated.

  The drive unit D1 includes a rotation motor RM1, a rotation detector RS1, an inclination motor TM1, and an inclination detector TS1. The same applies to the drive units D2 and D3.

  The rotation detector RS1 is a device for detecting the rotation state (rotation direction, rotation angle, rotation speed, etc.) of the rotation brush B1 by the rotation motor RM1, and is an encoder, for example, and its detection value. Is repeatedly output to the control device CD at a predetermined sampling period as rotation state information.

  The inclination detector TS1 is a device for detecting the state of inclination of the rotating brush B1 by the inclination motor TM1 (inclination direction, inclination angle, inclination speed, etc.), for example, an encoder, and its detection value. Are repeatedly output to the control device CD at a predetermined sampling period as the tilt state information.

  The movement control unit MC of the control device CD is a functional element for autonomously operating the cleaning device EQ, and includes the detection values of the position detection device PS and the posture detection device AS and the cleaning map SD1 read from the storage device SD. Based on this, the target rotation state and the target inclination state of each of the rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3 are determined, and a control signal including information on the determined target rotation state and the target inclination state is supplied to each of the driving units D1, D2, and D3. Output.

  In addition, the movement control unit MC receives the rotation state information and the inclination state information of the rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3 output from the driving units D1, D2, and D3, respectively, at a predetermined sampling period, and rotates the rotating brush B1, Each of the rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3 is independently feedback controlled so that each of B2 and B3 is in the target rotation state and the target inclination state.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of movement of the cleaning device EQ by the movement control unit MC. FIG. 8A illustrates a state when the cleaning device EQ is moved upward in the drawing, and FIG. These show the state at the time of moving the cleaning apparatus EQ to the left of a figure.

  Each of the rotating brushes B1, B2, B3 has a common diameter, and is disposed at an equal distance in a direction separated from the center of the cleaning device EQ by an angle of 120 degrees, and each of the inclined axes ξ1, ξ2, ξ3. Form an equilateral triangle in a top view.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, when the cleaning device EQ is moved in the same direction as the rotation brush B1 is seen from the center of the cleaning device EQ, the movement control unit MC is configured to rotate the rotation brushes B1, B2, While the target rotation states (rotation speed and rotation direction) of B3 are the same, the target inclination angle of the rotary brush B1 is set to 0 degree (the angle at which the bottom surface of the rotary brush B1 is horizontal to the floor surface), and the rotary brush The target inclination angle of B2 is a predetermined positive value, and the target inclination angle of the rotating brush B3 is a predetermined negative value having the same absolute value as the predetermined positive value. Note that the inclination angle is a positive value when the bottom surface of each of the rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3 is increased inside (center side) of the cleaning device EQ, and the inclination angle is a value when the respective bottom surface is increased outside the cleaning device EQ. Negative value.

  In this case, the movement control unit MC outputs a control signal to the drive unit D1, and rotates the rotary brush B1 counterclockwise around the rotation axis η1 at a predetermined rotation speed while rotating the rotary brush B1 to the tilt axis. Do not tilt around ξ1. As a result, the rotary brush B1 tries to continue cleaning the floor surface while remaining in place without generating a propulsive force in any direction.

  On the other hand, the movement control unit MC outputs a control signal to the drive unit D2, and rotates the rotating brush B2 around the rotation axis η2 at a predetermined rotational speed in a counterclockwise direction, while rotating the rotating brush B2 to the tilt axis ξ2. Is inclined so that its bottom surface is raised inside the cleaning device EQ. As a result, the rotary brush B2 forms a high friction region HF2 (see FIG. 2C) between a part of the outer side of the rotary brush B2 and the floor surface, and the rotation direction (counterclockwise) is at the high friction region HF2. Propulsive force F2 along the direction of the tilt axis ξ2 (towards the upper left in the figure) is generated by locally generating a friction reaction force in the opposite direction (clockwise) to the rotation direction.

  Similarly, the movement control unit MC outputs a control signal to the drive unit D3, and rotates the rotating brush B3 around the rotation axis η3 at a predetermined rotation speed in a counterclockwise direction, while rotating the rotating brush B3 with the tilt axis. The bottom surface of ξ3 is inclined so as to be higher outside the cleaning device EQ. As a result, the rotary brush B3 forms a high friction region HF3 between a part of the inner side of the rotary brush B3 and the floor surface, and the rotation direction (counterclockwise) is opposite (clockwise) at the high friction region HF3. Is generated locally to generate a propulsive force F3 along the direction of the tilt axis ξ3 (pointing to the upper right in the figure).

  As a result, the cleaning device EQ has a rotating brush as viewed from the center of the cleaning device EQ by a propulsive resultant force TF that is a resultant force of the propulsive force F2 generated by the rotating brush B2 and the propelling force F3 generated by the rotating brush B3. It will move in the same direction as B1 exists.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the cleaning device EQ is moved in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the rotary brush B1 exists when viewed from the center of the cleaning device EQ, the movement control unit MC is driven by the drive unit D1. A control signal is output to the rotating brush B1 while rotating the rotating brush B1 counterclockwise around the rotation axis η1 at a predetermined rotation speed, and the bottom surface of the rotating brush B1 around the inclined axis ξ1 is outside the cleaning device EQ. Try to tilt it so that it gets higher. As a result, the rotary brush B1 forms a high friction region HF1 between a part of the inside of the rotary brush B1 and the floor surface, and the rotation direction (counterclockwise) is opposite (clockwise) in the high friction region HF1. Is generated locally to generate a propulsive force F1 along the direction of the tilt axis ξ1 (toward the left in the figure).

  Similarly, the movement control unit MC outputs a control signal to the driving unit D2, and rotates the rotating brush B2 around the rotation axis η2 counterclockwise at a predetermined rotation speed while rotating the rotating brush B2 with the tilt axis. The bottom surface of ξ2 is inclined so as to be higher inside the cleaning device EQ. As a result, the rotary brush B2 forms a high friction region HF2 between a part of the outer side of the rotary brush B2 and the floor surface, and the rotation direction (counterclockwise) is opposite (clockwise) at the high friction region HF2. Is generated locally to generate a propulsive force F2 along the direction of the tilt axis ξ2 (pointing to the upper left in the figure). At this time, the inclination angle of the rotary brush B2 is set to about half of the inclination angle of the rotary brush B1, and the propulsive force F2 is set to about half of the propulsive force F1.

  Similarly, the movement control unit MC outputs a control signal to the drive unit D3, and rotates the rotating brush B3 around the rotation axis η3 at a predetermined rotation speed in a counterclockwise direction, while rotating the rotating brush B3 with the tilt axis. The bottom surface of ξ3 is inclined so as to be higher inside the cleaning device EQ. As a result, the rotating brush B3 forms a high friction region HF3 between a part of the outer side of the rotating brush B3 and the floor surface, and the rotation direction (counterclockwise) is opposite (clockwise) at the high friction region HF3. Is generated locally to generate a propulsive force F3 along the direction of the tilt axis ξ3 (pointing to the lower left of the figure). At this time, the inclination angle of the rotary brush B3 is set to about half of the inclination angle of the rotary brush B1, and the propulsive force F3 is set to about half of the propulsive force F1.

  As a result, the cleaning device EQ has a thrust resultant force TF that is a resultant force of the thrust F1 generated by the rotating brush B1, the thrust F2 generated by the rotating brush B2, and the thrust F3 generated by the rotating brush B3. As a result, when viewed from the center of the cleaning device EQ, the movement is in a direction (left direction) perpendicular to the direction in which the rotary brush B1 exists.

  With the above configuration, the cleaning device EQ can improve the installation stability compared to the configuration including two rotary brushes by the configuration in which the positions of the three rotary brushes B1, B2, and B3 form a triangle, A fall can be prevented when receiving external force.

  Moreover, since the cleaning apparatus EQ improves the installation stability by the configuration in which the positions of the three rotary brushes B1, B2, and B3 form a triangle, the manufacturing tolerance and the assembly tolerance thereof are compared with the configuration having four rotary brushes. Can be relaxed. This is because high-precision component processing and high-precision assembly are required to ensure that all four rotating brushes are securely installed on the floor without floating from the floor. However, the present invention does not exclude a configuration including four or more rotating brushes.

  In addition, the cleaning device EQ performs cleaning while appropriately setting the diameters and relative positions of the three rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3 so that the three rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3 are not in contact with each other. The device EQ can be arranged so that there is no gap when viewed from the side when viewed from the direction of movement of the apparatus EQ, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of unpolished portions between the polished areas regardless of the direction of movement. be able to.

  Further, the cleaning device EQ can be moved in any direction by including one rotation motor and one inclination motor in each of the drive units D1, D2, and D3 (by providing a total of six drive shafts). Therefore, it has two rotating brushes using a gimbal mechanism (mechanism with one rotary motor and two tilt motors in each drive unit) (compared with a total of six drive shafts) compared to a conventional cleaning device However, the number of drive shafts is not increased.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be added.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the tilt axes ξ1, ξ2, and ξ3 form a regular triangle when viewed from the top, but if all of the tilt axes ξ1, ξ2, and ξ3 are not parallel when viewed from the top, the regular triangle May form other triangles, and two of the three tilt axes intersect with each other without forming a triangle (that is, two of the three tilt axes are May be parallel).

  In the above-described embodiments, the rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3 have a common diameter and rotate in a common direction at a common rotational speed, but may have different diameters and are different from each other. It may be one that rotates at a rotational speed, or one that rotates in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

  In this case, the movement controller MC determines the respective diameters, relative positions (for example, distances from the center of the cleaning device EQ), rotation speed, rotation direction, and the like of the rotation brushes B1, B2, and B3 and the tilt axes ξ1, ξ2, and ξ3. Information on the correspondence relationship between the propulsive forces acting in the respective directions of, or an arithmetic expression for deriving the propulsive force is stored in advance, and based on the information or the arithmetic expression, a desired propulsive resultant force ( A target rotation state and a target inclination state for realizing (movement in a desired direction) are derived.

  In the above-described embodiment, the cleaning device EQ is described as autonomously determining the moving direction. However, an operation unit (for example, a cross cursor is provided) connected to a cord or the like extending from the cleaning device EQ. Controller may be determined manually by the operator, or the operator may determine the direction of movement by remote control via a remote controller. .

  In the above-described embodiment, the cleaning device EQ can rotate and tilt each of the three rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3, but two of the three rotating brushes B1, B2, and B3 can be rotated. It is good also as a structure which can be rotated and can be tilted and can only rotate the remaining one.

  AS ... Attitude detection device B1, B2, B3 ... Rotating brush CD ... Control device D1, D2, D3 ... Driver EQ ... Cleaning device F1, F2, F3 ... Propulsion force FR ... Frame G11, G13 ... Driven gear G12, G14 ... Drive gear MC ... Movement control unit PS ... Position detection device RM1, RM2, RM3 ... Rotation motors RS1, RS2, RS3・ ・ Rotation detector SD ・ ・ ・ Storage device SD1 ・ ・ ・ Cleaning map SFT11 ・ ・ ・ Rotation shaft SFT12, SFT12-1, SFT12-2 ・ ・ ・ Inclined shaft TF ・ ・ ・ Propulsion resultant force TM1, TM2, TM3・ Inclination motors TS1, TS2, TS3 ... Inclination detectors η1, η2, η3 ... Rotation axes ξ1, ξ2, ξ3 ... Inclination axes

Claims (4)

A cleaning device having a frame and three brushes rotatably and tiltably connected to the frame,
The rotation axis of each of the three brushes is perpendicular to the inclination axis of each of the three brushes,
When viewed from above, at least two of the tilt axes intersect,
The positions of the three brushes form a triangle;
The cleaning apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. Having three tilt drive units for tilting each of the three brushes with respect to the frame;
The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1. The three tilt axes form an equilateral triangle;
The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The three brushes are arranged so that they are not in contact with each other and have no gap when viewed from the moving direction of the cleaning device.
The cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein

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