JP2018030516A - Running device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that when abruptly turning a running device during running at high speed, a user may fall.SOLUTION: The running device, which runs with a user getting thereon, comprises: a front wheel and a rear wheel; a front wheel supporting member supporting rotatably the front wheel; a rear wheel supporting member supporting rotatably the rear wheel; a handle provided in the front wheel supporting member; a getting-on portion, provided in the rear wheel supporting member, which the user gets on; and a driving portion that drives at least either of the front wheel and the rear wheel, where the front wheel supporting member is connected to the rear wheel supporting member through a support shaft so that wheel base lengths of the front wheel and the rear wheel can vary according to relative postures of the front wheel supporting member and the rear wheel supporting member, and the position of the support shaft is set so that the handle can relatively approach the user side as the relative postures of the front wheel supporting member and the rear wheel supporting member in which the wheel base lengths become shortest varies into the relative postures of the front wheel supporting member and the rear wheel supporting member in which the wheel base lengths become longest.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a traveling device on which a user travels.

  In recent years, personal mobility has been in the spotlight. Personal mobility is often manufactured in a small size by giving priority to a small turn, and thus there is a problem that running stability at high speed running is lacking. In addition to personal mobility, vehicles that can adjust the wheelbase length have been proposed from the viewpoint of improving running stability during high-speed running (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP-A-1-106717 JP 2005-231415 A

  The vehicles proposed so far with adjustable wheelbase length have been running at high speeds with the wheelbase length extended. For this reason, traveling stability during high-speed traveling, in particular, straight traveling performance has been improved.

  However, since personal mobility is light and often lighter than the user's weight, if a sudden turning operation is performed during high-speed traveling, the centrifugal force applied to the user cannot be supported by the personal mobility body, and the user may fall. There was a problem that there was.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and provides a traveling device that restricts a sudden turning operation during high-speed traveling.

A travel device according to one aspect of the present invention is provided.
A traveling device on which a user travels,
With front and rear wheels,
A front wheel support member for rotatably supporting the front wheel;
A rear wheel support member for rotatably supporting the rear wheel;
A handle provided on the front wheel support member;
A boarding unit provided on the rear wheel support member and on which the user boarded;
A drive unit for driving at least one of the front wheel and the rear wheel;
With
The front wheel support member and the rear wheel support member are connected via a support shaft so that the wheel base length of the front wheel and the rear wheel can be changed according to the relative posture of the front wheel support member and the rear wheel support member. And
As the wheelbase length increases, the speed of the traveling device achieved by driving the drive unit is controlled to be increased,
The direction of the front wheel is changed by the turning operation of the handle, and the traveling device can turn.
As the relative posture between the front wheel support member and the rear wheel support member where the wheel base length becomes the shortest, the relative posture between the front wheel support member and the rear wheel support member where the wheel base length becomes the longest, The position of the support shaft is set so that the handle is relatively accessible to the user side.

  Such a configuration makes it difficult for the user to perform the turning operation of the handle during high-speed running, and the turning angle of the handle is restricted to be small. Accordingly, it is possible to limit a sudden turning operation during high-speed traveling.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a traveling device that restricts a sudden turning operation during high-speed traveling.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the traveling device according to Embodiment 1 when traveling at a low speed. FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the traveling device of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the traveling device of FIG. 1 when traveling at high speed. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the traveling device according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process in driving | running | working.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the invention according to the claims is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, all of the configurations described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential as means for solving the problem.

<Embodiment 1>
Embodiment 1 will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of traveling device 100 according to Embodiment 1 during low-speed traveling, and FIG. 2 is a top schematic view of traveling device 100 in the state of FIG. In FIG. 2, the user 900 indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 1 is omitted.

  The traveling device 100 is a kind of personal mobility, and is an electric moving vehicle that assumes that the user stands and gets on. The traveling device 100 includes one front wheel 101 and two rear wheels 102 (a right rear wheel 102a and a left rear wheel 102b) in the traveling direction. The front wheel 101 changes its direction when the user 900 operates the handle 115 and functions as a steered wheel. The right rear wheel 102a and the left rear wheel 102b are connected by an axle 103, and are driven by a drive unit including a motor and a speed reduction mechanism (not shown) to function as drive wheels. The traveling device 100 is a static stable vehicle that is grounded at three points by three wheels and that stands by itself even in a parking state where the user 900 is not on board.

  The front wheel 101 is rotatably supported by a front wheel support member 110. The front wheel support member 110 includes a front column 111 and a fork 112. The fork 112 is fixed to one end side of the front column 111 and rotatably supports the front wheel 101 with the front wheel 101 sandwiched from both sides. A handle 115 is fixed to the other end of the front column 111 so as to extend in the direction of the rotation axis of the front wheel 101. When the user 900 turns the handle 115, the front column 111 transmits the operation force to change the direction of the front wheel 101.

  The rear wheel 102 is rotatably supported by a rear wheel support member 120. The rear wheel support member 120 includes a rear column 121 and a main body 122. The main body 122 fixedly supports one end of the rear column 121, and rotatably supports the right rear wheel 102a and the left rear wheel 102b via the axle 103. The main body 122 also functions as a housing that houses a drive unit including the motor and the speed reduction mechanism, a battery that supplies power to the motor, and the like. On the upper surface of the main body part 122, a step 141 is provided as a boarding part for the user 900 to place his / her foot when boarding.

The front wheel support member 110 and the rear wheel support member 120 are connected to each other through a turning joint 131 and a hinge joint 132. The swivel joint 131 is fixed at a position near the other end of the front column 111 constituting the front wheel support member 110 to which the handle 115 is fixed. Furthermore, pivot joint 131 is pivoted to the hinge joint 132, the extending direction parallel to the pivot axis _{T A} around the front pillar 111, to rotate relative to the hinge joint 132. The hinge joint 132 is pivotally connected to the other end of the rear column 121 constituting the rear wheel support member 120 on the side opposite to the one end supported by the main body 122, and is parallel to the extending direction of the axle 103. It rotates relative to the rear column 121 around the hinge axis _HA .

This structure, the user 900, when turning the handle 115, a front wheel supporting member 110 is changed the direction of the front wheel 101 to pivot the pivot axis T _A around against the rear wheel support member 120. When the user 900 tilts the handle 115 forward with respect to the traveling direction, the front wheel support member 110 and the rear wheel support member 120 rotate relative to each other around the hinge axis _HA to change the relative posture, and the front side The angle formed between the support 111 and the rear support 121 can be reduced. When the angle formed by the front column 111 and the rear column 121 decreases, the WB length, which is the distance between the wheel bases (WB) of the front wheel 101 and the rear wheel 102, decreases. Conversely, when the user 900 tilts the handle 115 backward with respect to the traveling direction, the front wheel support member 110 and the rear wheel support member 120 rotate relative to each other around the hinge axis _HA , and the relative posture changes. The angle formed by the front column 111 and the rear column 121 can be increased. As the angle formed by the front column 111 and the rear column 121 increases, the WB length increases.

An urging spring 133 is attached in the vicinity of the hinge joint 132. The biasing spring 133 exerts a biasing force around the hinge axis _{HA in} a rotational direction that reduces the angle formed by the front column 111 and the rear column 121. The biasing spring 133 is, for example, a torsion spring. When the user 900 does not touch the handle 115, the urging force of the urging spring 133 is changed so that the angle formed by the front column 111 and the rear column 121 becomes the minimum angle in the structure, while the user 900 It is set to such an extent that the handle 115 can be easily tilted backward with respect to the traveling direction. Therefore, the user 900 can adjust the angle formed by the front strut 111 and the rear strut 121 by changing at least one of the weight on the handle 115 and the weight on the step 141, and thus can adjust the WB length.

A rotation angle sensor 134 is attached in the vicinity of the hinge joint 132. The rotation angle sensor 134 outputs an angle formed by the front column 111 and the rear column 121 around the hinge axis _HA . The rotation angle sensor 134 is, for example, a rotary encoder. The output of the rotation angle sensor 134 is transmitted to a control unit described later.

  The traveling device 100 travels at a low speed if the WB length is short, and travels at a high speed if the WB length is long. FIG. 1 shows a state during low-speed traveling with a short WB length. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the traveling device 100 similar to that in FIG. 1, but shows a state during high-speed traveling with a long WB length.

As shown in the figure, the angle formed by the front column 111 and the rear column 121 is defined as a rotation angle θ, with the relative opening direction being positive. The minimum value (minimum angle) that the rotation angle θ can take is θ _MIN , and the maximum value (maximum angle) is θ _MAX . For example, θ _MIN = 10 degrees and θ _MAX = 80 degrees. In other words, the structural restriction member is provided so that the rotation angle θ falls within the range of θ _MIN and θ _MAX .

  The WB length has a one-to-one correspondence with the rotation angle θ and can be converted by a function of WB length = f (θ). Therefore, the WB length can be adjusted by changing the rotation angle θ. The traveling device 100 accelerates when the user 900 increases the rotation angle θ, and decelerates when the user 900 decreases the rotation angle θ. That is, the target speed is associated with the rotation angle θ, and when the rotation angle θ changes, acceleration / deceleration is performed so that the target speed corresponding to the target speed is reached. In other words, the WB length and the target speed are associated with the rotation angle θ as a parameter, and when the user 900 adjusts the WB length, the target speed changes according to the WB length.

  As the rotation angle θ is reduced, the WB length is shortened, so that a small turn is advantageous. That is, it can move around in a narrow place. On the contrary, when the rotation angle θ is increased, the WB length is increased, so that the running stability, particularly the straight traveling performance is improved. That is, even if the vehicle travels at a high speed, it is difficult to receive a swing due to a step on the road surface.

  However, since the traveling device 100 is lightweight and is often lighter than the weight of the user 900, when the sudden turning operation is performed during high-speed traveling, the centrifugal force applied to the user 900 cannot be supported by the traveling device 100, and the user 900 May fall over. In particular, as described above, the traveling device 100 is configured to adjust the WB length by tilting the handle 115 back and forth with respect to the traveling direction, and therefore, the user 900 mistakenly performs an operation of extending the WB length. The above problem may be more likely to occur because a turning operation that is different from the intention of the user may be added.

Therefore, in the traveling device 100 according to the first embodiment, the relative posture of the front wheel support member 110 and the rear wheel support member 120 changes from the relative posture in which the WB length is the shortest to the relative posture in which the WB length is the longest. The position of the hinge axis _{HA serving as} a support shaft for connecting the front column 111 and the rear column 121 is set so that the handle 115 can be approached to the user 900 side.

  That is, when the WB length is the shortest, the front column 111 is substantially vertical, and the handle 115 is located away from the user 900 body. The state where the WB length is the shortest is the state at the time of low speed traveling in FIG. The handle 115 at this time becomes an image of a handle of a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck. In this state, the clearance CL between the handle 115 and the body of the user 900 is kept wide. In this state, when the user 900 grips the handle 115, the elbow of the user 900 is relaxed, and the user 900 can freely operate the handle 115 using the upper arm and the forearm. It can be swiveled easily. Accordingly, the turning operation of the traveling device 100 is not limited.

  Then, as the WB length changes from the shortest to the longest, the front column 111 is inclined obliquely toward the user 900 and the handle 115 approaches the body of the user 900. The state where the WB length is the longest is the state at the time of high speed traveling in FIG. The handle 115 at this time becomes an image of an airplane control stick. In this state, there is almost no clearance CL between the handle 115 and the body of the user 900. In addition to this, the elbow of the user 900 is bent, there is no room, and the elbow is located near the back. As a result, since the user 900 is physically restricted by the movement of only the forearm, when trying to turn the handle 115, the forearm hits the body, making it difficult to turn the handle 115 greatly. As a result, the turning angle of the handle 115 is restricted to a small value, so that a sudden turning operation during high-speed traveling can be restricted, and the possibility of the user 900 falling down can be reduced. At this time, since the turning angle of the handle 115 is restricted to be small even if the user 900 is not conscious of himself / herself, the possibility of the user 900 falling without depending on the operation of the user 900 is reduced. can do.

  FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the traveling device 100. The control unit 200 is a CPU, for example, and is accommodated in the main body unit 122. The drive wheel unit 210 includes a drive circuit and a motor for driving the rear wheel 102 that is a drive wheel, and is accommodated in the main body 122. The control unit 200 controls the rotation of the rear wheel 102 by sending a drive signal to the drive wheel unit 210.

  The vehicle speed sensor 220 monitors the amount of rotation of the rear wheel 102 or the axle 103 and detects the speed of the traveling device 100. The vehicle speed sensor 220 transmits the detection result as a speed signal to the control unit 200 in response to a request from the control unit 200. The rotation angle sensor 134 detects the rotation angle θ as described above. The rotation angle sensor 134 transmits the detection result to the control unit 200 as a rotation angle signal in response to a request from the control unit 200.

  The load sensor 240 is, for example, a piezoelectric film that detects a load applied to the step 141, and is embedded in the step 141. The load sensor 240 transmits the detection result as a load signal to the control unit 200 in response to a request from the control unit 200.

  The memory 250 is a non-volatile storage medium, and for example, a solid state drive is used. The memory 250 stores various parameter values, functions, lookup tables, and the like used for control, in addition to the control program for controlling the traveling device 100. The memory 250 stores a conversion table 251 that converts the rotation angle θ into a target speed.

  The conversion table 251 is a table showing the relationship between the rotation angle θ and the target speed, and is set so that the target speed increases as the rotation angle θ increases. For example, the conversion table 251 may have a function format representing the target speed as a function of the rotation angle θ, but the format of the conversion table 251 is not limited to this.

  Next, the traveling process in the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing during traveling. The flow starts when the power switch is turned on and a signal with a load is received from the load sensor 240, that is, when the user 900 gets on board.

  In step S101, the control unit 200 acquires a rotation angle signal from the rotation angle sensor 134 and calculates the current rotation angle θ. In step S102, the calculated rotation angle θ is applied to the conversion table 251 read from the memory 250, and the target speed is set.

  After setting the target speed, the control unit 200 proceeds to step S103 and transmits an acceleration / deceleration drive signal to the drive wheel unit 210. Specifically, first, a speed signal is received from the vehicle speed sensor 220 and the current speed is confirmed. If the target speed is larger than the current speed, a driving signal for accelerating is transmitted to the driving wheel unit 210, and if the target speed is smaller than the current speed, a driving signal for decelerating is transmitted to the driving wheel unit 210.

  The control unit 200 monitors whether the rotation angle θ has changed during acceleration / deceleration, that is, whether the user 900 has tilted the handle 115 back and forth (step S104). If it is determined that the rotation angle θ has changed, the process starts again from step S101. If it is determined that there is no change, the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S105, the control unit 200 receives a speed signal from the vehicle speed sensor 220, and determines whether or not the target speed has been reached. If it is determined that the target speed has not been reached, the process returns to step S103 to continue acceleration / deceleration. If it is determined that the target speed has been reached, the process proceeds to step S106. In step S106, it is confirmed whether or not the target speed is zero. If the target speed is 0, the traveling device 100 is stopped at the time of step S106. Otherwise, since the vehicle is traveling at the target speed, the control unit 200 transmits a drive signal to the drive wheel unit 210 so as to maintain the travel at the speed (step S107).

  The control unit 200 also monitors whether the rotation angle θ has changed, that is, whether the user 900 has tilted the handle 115 back and forth while traveling at a constant speed in step S107 (step S108). If it is determined that the rotation angle θ has changed, the process returns to step S101. If it is determined that there is no change, the process returns to step S107 to continue constant speed running.

  If it is confirmed in step S106 that the target speed is 0, the process proceeds to step S109, and it is determined from the load signal received from the load sensor 240 whether the user 900 has moved down. If it is determined that the user 900 is not getting off, that is, there is a load, the process returns to step S101 to continue the traveling control. If it is determined that the aircraft has been removed, the series of processes is terminated.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in Embodiment 1 described above, the user's physical constraints are increased by bringing the handle closer to the user's body, but the method of increasing the user's physical constraints is not limited to this.

  As an example, it is good also as a structure which increases a user's physical restrictions by moving a handle | steering-wheel to an up-down direction with respect to a user's body. In the case of this configuration, for example, an adjustment mechanism capable of adjusting the height position of the handle is provided, and the operation of this adjustment mechanism may be linked to the WB length (that is, the rotation angle formed by the front column and the rear column). Specifically, the user sets a height position where the user's elbow is free and the handle is easy to operate, and when driving at low speed with a short WB length, the handle is placed at the height position set by the user. As the length increases, the handle may be moved upward or downward from the height position set by the user.

  Moreover, it is good also as a structure which increases a user's physical restrictions by narrowing the space | interval of a user's both elbows. In this configuration, for example, an adjustment mechanism that can adjust the length of the handle in the direction of the rotation axis of the front wheel is provided, and the operation of this adjustment mechanism is linked to the WB length (that is, the rotation angle formed by the front column and the rear column). You can do it. Specifically, when driving at a low speed with a short WB length, the length of the handle in the direction of the rotation axis of the front wheel is set as an initial value, and the length of the handle in the direction of the rotation axis of the front wheel is shortened as the WB length increases. good.

  The position of the handle is unchanged, and the user's body may be brought closer to the handle to increase the user's physical constraints. In the case of this configuration, for example, an adjustment mechanism capable of adjusting the position of the step is provided, and the operation of this adjustment mechanism may be interlocked with the WB length (that is, the rotation angle formed by the front column and the rear column). Specifically, when the vehicle is traveling at a low speed with a short WB length, the step position may be set to the initial position (for example, the position in FIGS. 1 to 3), and the step position may be brought closer to the handle as the WB length increases. .

  Further, the travel device may not be a static stable vehicle that can stand by itself. Further, the front wheel and the rear wheel may not be wheels, and may be grounding elements such as a spherical wheel and a crawler. Further, the drive wheels are not limited to the rear wheels, and may be front wheels. The power source for driving the drive wheels is not limited to a motor, and may be a gasoline engine or the like.

100 traveling device, 101 front wheel, 102 rear wheel, 103 axle, 110 front wheel support member, 111 front column, 112 fork, 115 handle, 120 rear wheel support member, 121 rear column, 122 main body, 131 swing joint, 132 hinge Joint, 133 Energizing spring, 134 Rotation angle sensor, 141 step, 200 Control unit, 210 Drive wheel unit, 220 Vehicle speed sensor, 240 Load sensor, 250 Memory, 251 Conversion table, 900 User

Claims (1)

A traveling device on which a user travels,
With front and rear wheels,
A front wheel support member for rotatably supporting the front wheel;
A rear wheel support member for rotatably supporting the rear wheel;
A handle provided on the front wheel support member;
A boarding unit provided on the rear wheel support member and on which the user boarded;
A drive unit for driving at least one of the front wheel and the rear wheel;
With
The front wheel support member and the rear wheel support member are connected via a support shaft so that the wheel base length of the front wheel and the rear wheel can be changed according to the relative posture of the front wheel support member and the rear wheel support member. And
As the wheelbase length increases, the speed of the traveling device achieved by driving the drive unit is controlled to be increased,
The direction of the front wheel is changed by the turning operation of the handle, and the traveling device can turn.
As the relative posture between the front wheel support member and the rear wheel support member where the wheel base length becomes the shortest, the relative posture between the front wheel support member and the rear wheel support member where the wheel base length becomes the longest, A traveling device in which a position of the support shaft is set such that a handle is relatively accessible to the user side.

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