JP2014237359A - Unmanned carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an unmanned carrier capable of performing omnidirectional smooth movement of a vehicle body, which cannot be achieved by a conventional unmanned carrier, without the need for wasteful driving force (electric power).SOLUTION: An unmanned carrier relating to the present invention includes a vehicle body, and at least a pair of omnidirectional movement wheels comprising a plurality of rotors and driving means. The pair of omnidirectional movement wheels is connected together by ascending/descending means ascending/descending in reverse and vertical directions in such a manner as to interlock with each other.

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle, and more specifically, smooth movement of a vehicle body in all directions that could not be realized by a conventional automatic guided vehicle can be performed without using unnecessary driving force (electric power). The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle that can exhibit various technical effects.

2. Description of the Related Art Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) that transport parts, semi-finished products, products, and the like in factories and warehouses are widely known, and various technologies have been developed.
Among these, automatic guided vehicles that can easily move in unspecified directions by using omnidirectional wheels such as omni wheels and mecanum wheels as wheels are disclosed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Here, when such an omnidirectional moving wheel is taken as an example of an omni wheel, a rotating body (omni wheel 21) and a mecanum wheel as described in [FIG. 2] of Patent Document 1 are taken as an example. It has a structure in which a plurality of rotating bodies (rollers 9) as described in [FIG. 1] and [FIG. 2] of Patent Document 3 are provided, and such rotating bodies revolve around an axle while rotating. It has a structure.
And, as shown in FIG. 5, an automatic guided vehicle using such omnidirectional moving wheels generates different moving directions and driving forces (vectors) for each wheel by rotating the wheels at different directions and speeds. Thus, the vehicle body is moved in a desired direction, such as a lateral direction or an oblique direction, without changing the direction of the vehicle body, depending on the moving direction of all the wheels and the sum of driving forces (sum of vectors).

Therefore, in such an automatic guided vehicle using an omnidirectional moving wheel, a so-called one-wheel traveling state in which a part of the omnidirectional moving wheel floats due to an inclination or a step on a floor surface on which the automatic guided vehicle travels. Then, the above-mentioned “sum of vectors” cannot be obtained, and there is a first problem that it is impossible to run the automatic guided vehicle in a desired direction.
Even if all the omnidirectional wheels can be grounded to the floor, if there is a variation between the wheels in the grounding force between the wheels and the floor, a “vector sum” is obtained. There is a second problem that the automatic guided vehicle becomes difficult to travel in a desired direction.
Furthermore, even if all omnidirectional wheels are grounded to the floor and grounded without any variation in the ground contact force between the wheels and the floor, the omnidirectional movement is possible. If the wheel is in contact with the floor surface in the vertical direction, that is, if the rotating body of the omnidirectional moving wheel is not in contact with the floor surface in an optimum state, it is difficult to obtain the “vector sum”. There is a third problem that it is difficult to run the automatic guided vehicle in a desired direction.
In the above case, in order to obtain the “vector sum”, a large driving force must be generated on the wheel that is grounded or has a strong grounding force, and wasteful power is consumed. There is also a fourth problem.

Therefore, a technique for preventing the one-wheel traveling as described above in an automatic guided vehicle using omnidirectional moving wheels is disclosed (see Patent Documents 4 and 5).
Specifically, a suspension function provided on each wheel (see FIGS. 10 and 11 of Patent Document 4) and a pair of wheels connected by an equalizer frame (see Patent Document 5) are disclosed. .

JP 11-265211 A JP 2011-216007 A Japanese Patent Publication No.57-16001 JP 2008-155562 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-164010

  However, although the suspension function described in Patent Document 4 can solve the first problem, the grounding force between the wheel and the floor surface varies between the wheels, so that the second problem and There is a problem that the third problem cannot be solved.

  In addition, the equalizer frame described in Patent Document 5 can ground the omnidirectional moving wheel in a vertical direction with respect to the floor surface even though the first problem and the second problem can be solved. There is a problem that the third problem cannot be solved because it is impossible.

  Therefore, in the conventional technology, even if it is an automatic guided vehicle using omnidirectional moving wheels, there is a problem in terms of smoothly running on an uneven floor surface without needless driving force (electric power). It was what had.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and uses unnecessary driving force (electric power) for smooth movement of the vehicle body in all directions that could not be realized by a conventional automatic guided vehicle. The present invention is intended to provide an automatic guided vehicle capable of exhibiting various technical effects such as being able to be performed without necessity.

  In order to achieve the above object, an automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1 of the present invention is provided with at least a pair of omnidirectional wheels provided with a vehicle body and a plurality of rotating bodies and driving means. These are connected by elevating means that elevate in the opposite direction and the vertical direction in conjunction with each other.

  In the automatic guided vehicle according to a second aspect of the present invention, the elevating means is pivotally supported in a direction in which the central portion is pivotally supported and the central portion is orthogonal to the swinging member. An elevating member, an oscillating member, and a connecting member for connecting the elevating member, and one omnidirectional moving wheel of a pair of omnidirectional moving wheels is connected to one end of the one oscillating member. The other oscillating wheel of the pair of oscillating wheels is connected to one end of the other oscillating member, and the other of the oscillating members of the pair of oscillating members is connected to the other end. The end is connected to one end of the lifting member by a connecting member, and the other end of the other swinging member of the pair of swinging members is connected to the other end of the lifting member by the connecting member The amount of rocking of one rocking member changes according to the amount of lifting when one wheel moving in one direction moves up and down. In accordance with the above, the lifting member swings the other swinging member with the connecting member, and the other omnidirectional moving wheel is lowered in the vertical direction as much as the lifting amount of the one omnidirectional moving wheel. To do.

  The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 3 of the present invention is characterized in that the lifting means is provided with a suspension function.

According to the automatic guided vehicle of the present invention, a pair of omnidirectional moving wheels are linked by a lifting / lowering means that moves up and down in the opposite and vertical directions in conjunction with each other. There is an effect.
1) Since omnidirectional wheels such as mecanum wheels and omni wheels can always be grounded in an optimal state (angle) on the floor surface, they can be omnidirectional even on uneven surfaces. It is possible to provide an automatic guided vehicle that can smoothly move the vehicle body. That is, it is possible to provide an automatic guided vehicle that makes the best use of the characteristics of omnidirectional moving wheels without requiring unnecessary driving force (electric power).
2) Since the force applied to the floor surface of all omnidirectional moving wheels can be made uniform, it is possible to prevent the weight of the automatic guided vehicle from being concentrated only on a specific omnidirectional moving wheel. As a result, the vehicle body can be smoothly moved in all directions, and wear on the travel route can be reduced. Note that this effect is particularly effective in reducing wear of the induction band when the automatic guided vehicle is moved in the lateral direction or the oblique direction.
3) Since the force applied to the floor surface of all omnidirectional moving wheels can be made uniform without variation, the life of the omnidirectional moving wheels themselves can be extended.

  According to the automatic guided vehicle according to claim 2 of the present invention, the above-described effect can be made more conspicuous by setting the structure of the lifting means to a specific structure.

  According to the automatic guided vehicle of the third aspect of the present invention, wear of the travel path can be further reduced by providing the lifting means with the suspension function.

It is a perspective view which shows the automatic guided vehicle which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows one Embodiment of the raising / lowering means used for the automatic guided vehicle which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows operation | movement of the raising / lowering means of FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows another embodiment of the raising / lowering means used for the automatic guided vehicle which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows a motion of the omnidirectional movement wheel at the time of the movement in the automatic guided vehicle using an omnidirectional movement wheel.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is merely an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of lifting means used in the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the lifting means used in the automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an automatic guided vehicle using omnidirectional moving wheels. It is a schematic diagram which shows the motion of the omnidirectional movement wheel at the time of the movement in.

  First, the structure of the automatic guided vehicle 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, although the automatic guided vehicle 1 shown in FIG. 1 becomes a thing using the mecanum wheel for the omnidirectional movement wheel 3, it is not limited to this, Various omnidirectional movement wheels, such as an omni wheel Can be used.

  The automatic guided vehicle 1 according to the present invention includes a vehicle body 2, a pair of omnidirectional moving wheels 3, and a lifting / lowering means 4 as main components.

  The vehicle body 2 is provided with a non-contact power receiving coil, a battery, a motor (not shown) for driving omnidirectional moving wheels, and the like.

  The omnidirectional moving wheels 3 are provided on the front and rear sides, and each of the two omnidirectional moving wheels 3 forms a pair, and the pair of omnidirectional moving wheels 3 are respectively connected to different lifting means 4. It has a structure. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3, four omnidirectional wheels (two pairs of omnidirectional wheels) are used, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a pair of omnidirectional wheels. May be used alone, or three or more may be used.

  The lifting / lowering means 4 includes a pair of swinging members 5, a connecting member 6, and a lifting / lowering member 7 as main components.

The pair of oscillating members 5 uses a member in which one end 8 is a rod and the other end 9 is a fan. Each of the pair of swing members 5 is pivotally supported at the central portion 10, and the elevating member 7 is pivotally supported at the central portion 11 in a direction orthogonal to the swing member 5.
The pair of swing members 5 is not limited to the above-described form as long as the pair of swing wheels 5 can swing as described later. It can also be a rod-shaped member as shown in the form.

The connecting member 6 uses a member in which two chains are connected in a state of being rotated by 90 °.
Note that the connection member 6 is not limited to the above-described form as long as the pair of swinging members 5 and the elevating member 7 can be connected as described later. It may be a simple rod-like or plate-like shape that is not a complicated shape that is connected in a state, and various materials such as metal, rubber, and plastic can be used.

  Next, the connection relationship between the pair of omnidirectional moving wheels 3 and the lifting / lowering means 4 (the pair of swinging members 5, the connecting member 6, and the lifting / lowering member 7) will be described.

First, one omnidirectional moving wheel 3a of a pair of omnidirectionally moving wheels 3 is connected to the end 8a of one swinging member 5a, and a pair is connected to the end 8b of the other swinging member 5b. The other omnidirectional moving wheels 3b of the omnidirectional moving wheels 3 are connected.
Furthermore, the end 9a of one swinging member 5a is connected to one end 7a of the lifting member 7 by a connecting member 6a, and the end 9b of the other swinging member 5b is connected to the lifting member 7 by a connecting member 7b. It is the structure connected with the other edge part 7b.
Moreover, the raising / lowering means 4 has a structure connected to the vehicle body 2 via the suspension 12 as shown in FIG. The suspension 12 can be omitted as necessary.

  Next, the operation and action of the automatic guided vehicle 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  From the state in which the automatic guided vehicle 1 is traveling on a floor surface without unevenness ((a) in FIG. 3), the omnidirectional moving wheel 3a (left wheel) of the pair of omnidirectional moving wheels 3 is uneven or When the vehicle travels on an inclined floor (FIGS. 2 and 3 (b) and (c)), the following operation is performed. In addition, when one omnidirectional moving wheel 3a (right wheel) of the pair of omnidirectional moving wheels 3 is in a state of traveling on an uneven floor surface ((d) in FIG. 3), the opposite is true. Will be performed.

  First, as the omnidirectional moving wheel 3a is lifted following the convex portion or inclination of the floor surface, the oscillating member 5a connected to the omnidirectional moving wheel 3a is increased by the amount that the omnidirectional moving wheel 3a is lifted. The other end 8a swings vertically upward with the center portion 10 as a fulcrum, and one end 9a of the swinging member 5a swings vertically downward.

Next, the connecting member 6a connected to the end portion 9a is pulled vertically downward by the amount that the end portion 9a of the swinging member 5a swings, so that the connecting member 6a is lifted up and down. The end 7a of the member 7 is also pulled vertically downward by the amount of the end 9a of the swinging member 5a swinging. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the elevating member 7 is moved in the direction of the omnidirectional moving wheel 3a (counterclockwise) by the amount that the end 9a of the oscillating member 5a is oscillated (the amount by which the omnidirectional moving wheel 3a is lifted) Oscillate in the direction of rotation).
Then, the connecting member 6b connected to the other end 7b of the elevating member 7 is pulled vertically upward by the amount that one end 7a of the elevating member 7 swings downward.

Next, when the connecting member 6b is pulled vertically upward, the end 9b of the swinging member 5b connected to the connecting member 6b swings vertically upward with the center portion 10 as a fulcrum, and the swinging member The end portion 8b of 5b swings vertically downward.
If it does so, the other omnidirectional movement wheel 3b connected with the edge part 8b of the rocking | fluctuation member 5b will be pushed down vertically downward.

  Here, the force by which the omnidirectional moving wheel 3b is pushed down is that the same force as the force received from the floor surface when the omnidirectional moving wheel 3a lifts following the convex portion or inclination of the floor surface is applied. At the same time, the pair of omnidirectional moving wheels 3 always move up and down in the vertical direction.

From the above, the automatic guided vehicle 1 according to the present invention can ground all the omnidirectionally moving wheels 3 to the floor surface, and causes variations in the ground contact force between the wheels and the floor surface between the wheels. In addition, the omnidirectional moving wheel (rotary body) can always be operated in an optimum state with respect to the floor surface.
Therefore, even when the floor surface is uneven, smooth movement of the vehicle body in all directions can be performed without using unnecessary driving force (electric power).

  In addition, since the elevating means 4 itself is connected to the vehicle body 2 via the suspension 12, when a sudden force is applied to one omnidirectionally moving wheel (such as suddenly picking up an uneven surface of the floor) ), Etc., the other omnidirectional wheels can be pushed down to the floor with the same force as the force received by the one omnidirectional wheel from the floor in a state where the extra force is reduced. In addition, even when all omnidirectional moving wheels always travel on uneven surfaces (when traveling on uneven roads), the generated vibrations can be absorbed, so the transported goods can be safely damaged. It can be transported.

  The present invention can be used for an automatic guided vehicle that transports parts, semi-finished products, products, etc. in a factory, a warehouse, or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic guided vehicle 2 Car body 3 A pair of omnidirectional movement wheel 3a A pair of omnidirectional movement wheel 3b A pair of omnidirectional movement wheel 4 Lifting means 5 A pair of rocking | fluctuation member 5a A pair of rocking | fluctuation member 5b A pair of rocking | fluctuation member 6 Connection Member 6a Connecting member 6b Connecting member 7 Lifting member 7a Lifting member 7b Lifting member 8 End portion 8a End portion 8b End portion 9 End portion 9a End portion 9b End portion 10 Center portion 11 Center portion 12 Suspension

Claims (3)

The car body,
At least a pair of omnidirectional moving wheels provided with a plurality of rotating bodies and driving means are provided,
The pair of omnidirectional moving wheels are connected to each other by an elevating means that elevates and moves in the opposite direction and the vertical direction in conjunction with each other.
The lifting means is
A pair of swinging members pivoted at the center,
A raising and lowering member pivotally supported in a direction orthogonal to the swinging member, and a connecting member for connecting the swinging member and the lifting member;
One end of the one swing member is connected to one omnidirectional wheel of the pair of omnidirectional wheels,
The other omnidirectional moving wheel of the pair of omnidirectional moving wheels is connected to one end of the other swinging member,
The other end of one swinging member of the pair of swinging members is connected to one end of the lifting member by the connecting member,
The other end of the other swinging member of the pair of swinging members is connected to the other end of the lifting member by the connecting member,
The swing amount of the one swing member changes according to the lift amount when the one omnidirectional moving wheel moves up and down,
The lifting member causes the other swinging member to swing by the connecting member according to the swinging amount so that the other omnidirectional moving wheel moves in the vertical direction as much as the lifting amount of the one omnidirectional moving wheel. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the automatic guided vehicle is lowered to
In the lifting means,
The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a suspension function is provided.