JP2019073086A - Working carriage with power assist function - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a working carriage with a power assist function, capable of alleviating a burden on a worker and achieving easy operation.SOLUTION: A working vehicle 1 with power assist function includes: a traveling base 3 with a plurality of omnidirectional movement wheels 5 driven by a traveling motor 13; a column 6 fixed in a standing state relative to the traveling base 3; a working arm 4 installed to be lifted by driving of a lifting motor 26 relative to the column 6; operation means 7, 8 installed on the working arm 4 and controlling driving of the traveling motor 13 and the lifting motor 26; a controller 9 for controlling driving of the traveling motor 13 and the lifting motor 26 on the basis of operation signals from the operation means 7, 8; and power supply means for supplying electric power to the traveling motor 13 and the lifting motor 26.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a work cart with a power assist function that reduces the burden on the operator and is easy to operate during work such as transportation and positioning of heavy objects.

  In a factory or a warehouse, work of transporting heavy goods and work of mounting heavy parts are performed. In such places, power assist devices such as overhead cranes are used to reduce the burden on workers. As a conventional example of a power assist device, there can be mentioned, for example, an omnidirectional mobile cart with a power assist function described in Patent Document 1 below. This is a carriage for transportation using an omni wheel, which can cope with a heavy load. As a matter of fact, four swivel wheels are attached to the bed with the four omni wheels attached, and the load applied to the bed can be supported by the swivel wheels. And, the truck with the power assist function is provided with the operation part which stood up at the end of the bed, and the handle is provided via the load cell for the operator to control the rotation direction and rotation speed of the omni wheel .

JP, 2014-46890, A

  In addition to rotating the steering wheel, the conventional carriage can control the moving direction by moving the steering wheel straight or in a lateral direction, and can carry the loaded heavy load to a target position. However, such a truck with a power assist function only reduces the burden on the transportation of heavy objects, and the rest of the work remains as a burden on the workers. In this respect, the forklift is provided with a fork which is a working part, and it is possible to lift a heavy load or load a heavy load to a place having a height. However, even such a forklift has problems such as being larger than the above-described truck and the like, and unsuitable for work in a narrow place. In particular, it is not easy for anyone to operate, and more sophisticated operations require skilled operation techniques.

  Then, this invention aims at providing a working trolley with a power assist function which reduces an operator's burden and is easy to operate, in order to solve this subject.

  A working carriage with a power assist function according to the present invention comprises: a traveling platform provided with a plurality of omnidirectional moving wheels driven by a traveling motor; a column fixed in a standing state with respect to the traveling platform; On the other hand, a working arm attached so as to move up and down by driving a raising and lowering motor, operating means attached to the working arm and drivingly controlling the traveling motor and the raising and lowering motor, the operation And a control device for driving and controlling the traveling motor and the elevating motor based on an operation signal from a unit, and power supply means for supplying power to the traveling motor and the elevating motor.

  According to the above configuration, the operator carries out drive control of the traveling motor and the raising and lowering motor with respect to the traveling table provided with the omnidirectional moving wheel and the working arm that can be raised and lowered with respect to the traveling table. Since the operation is performed by operating the operation means attached to the arm, the load on the operator is reduced by driving the motor, and the movement of the operator's hand directly becomes the movement of the traveling platform or the working arm, so a fine position can be obtained. It is very easy to operate even if it is a match.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an embodiment of a working carriage with a power assist function. It is the top view which showed one Embodiment of the working trolley with a power assist function. FIG. 6 is a rear view showing an embodiment of a working carriage with a power assist function. FIG. 7 is a bottom view showing an embodiment of a working carriage with a power assist function. It is a figure showing a runway from the direction of order. It is the side view which showed the working condition of the working trolley with a power assist function. It is the side view which showed the operation | work condition of the working trolley with a power assist function which added the improvement.

  Next, an embodiment of a working carriage with a power assist function according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 are views showing a working carriage with a power assist function according to this embodiment (hereinafter simply referred to as “working carriage”), FIG. 1 is a side view, and FIG. 2 is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a rear view and FIG. 4 is a bottom view. In the present embodiment, the front-rear direction of the work carriage 1 will be described as the X-axis direction, the left-right width direction as the Y-axis direction, and the height direction as the Z-axis direction.

  The work carriage 1 is provided with a power assist function for causing the work arm 4 to move up and down while the traveling table 3 travels by the driving force of a motor. The carriage 3 and the working arm 4 have a frame structure in which a frame member 11 is assembled. The frame member 11 is made of aluminum for weight reduction, and is formed in a cross-sectional shape in which a central hole and grooves on four sides are formed along the longitudinal direction in order to increase the rigidity. The carriage 3 is square as shown in FIG. 4, and wheel fixing plates 18 are fixed at the four corners, and wheels are attached to each.

  An omnidirectional moving wheel 5 is used for the working carriage 1, and an omni wheel (registered trademark) is attached in this embodiment. However, Mechanum wheel (registered trademark) or the like may be used as the omnidirectional moving wheel 5 as long as movement in all directions is possible with respect to the platform 3. A servomotor 13 and a reduction gear 14 are connected to an axle as a drive unit of the omnidirectional moving wheel 5. The four omnidirectional moving wheels 5 (5FR, 5FL, 5RR, 5RL) attached to the carriage 3 are arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference, and each axle is in the front-rear and left-right It is attached at an inclination of 45 degrees with respect to the X axis direction and the Y axis direction).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the traveling bed 3 is assembled by using a plurality of frame members 11 at the corners using the bracket 12 or the like so that the entire shape is square There is. However, the traveling base 3 is divided into two in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body (X-axis direction), and the front side traveling base 301 and the rear side traveling base 302 are connected and integrated. The front side traveling stand 301 and the rear side traveling stand 302 have a frame structure of the same shape, and four short frame members, in which two long frame members 111 in the width direction are arranged in the front and back, 112 is a ladder-like structure connected by 112.

  In the front side traveling stand 301 and the rear side traveling stand 302, a connecting plate 17 in which two short frame members 112 are bridged is fixed to the central portion of the traveling stand 3 where the long frame members 111 overlap with each other in the front and back. The same pillow type bearing block 15 is fixed to each. In the bearing block 15, through holes are formed in a central raised chevron portion, and on the left and right sides thereof, projecting portions for bolting to the connection plate 17 are formed. Then, in the pair of bearing blocks 15, the oil-free bush is fitted in each through hole, and the connecting rod 16 with one flange is inserted and screwed to both through holes stacked in the front-rear direction It is held off by a metal washer.

  The front side traveling stand 301 and the rear side traveling stand 302 are integrally connected via a connecting rod 16 in the X-axis direction, and each of them is independently used in the left-right direction (Y-axis direction) with the connecting rod 16 as a fulcrum. It is a seesaw structure that can be inclined to Here, FIG. 5 is a rear view showing the traveling bed 3. Then, in this drawing, the right side portion of the rear side traveling stand 302 located on the front side of the drawing is partially deleted, and the front side traveling stand 301 located on the back side of the drawing is shown to be visible. In particular, a state in which the omnidirectional moving wheel 5FR located on the right side of the front side traveling platform 301 rides on the obstacle 80 is represented.

  In the traveling stand 3, when the omnidirectional moving wheel 5FR rides on the obstacle 80, the right side of the front traveling stand 301 is lifted and inclined with the connecting rod 16 as a fulcrum by the seesaw structure, while the rear traveling stand 302 is horizontal. It is possible to maintain a good state. At this time, the bearing block 15 is capable of some displacement in the vertical direction with respect to the connection rod 16. As described above, the traveling platform 3 of the present embodiment has a seesaw structure so that the four omnidirectionally moving wheels 5 can always obtain an appropriate contact force.

  That is, the moving speed, direction, etc. of the platform 3 are determined by combining the driving force in the X-axis direction and the driving force in the Y-axis direction for the four omnidirectional moving wheels 5 which are omni wheels (registered trademark). Be done. Therefore, if the traveling platform 3 has a square integrated frame structure, the omnidirectional moving wheel 5FR and the omnidirectional moving wheel 5RL on the diagonal thereof are grounded, the other omnidirectional moving wheel 5FL , Or 5 RR is lifted. If the omnidirectionally moving wheel 5 is not completely in contact with the ground, the moving direction of the platform 3 can not be accurately controlled. In this respect, in the present embodiment, all the omnidirectionally moving wheels 5 can maintain an appropriate grounding state by the front side traveling stand 301 and the rear side traveling stand 302 having different postures according to the condition of the traveling surface. It is supposed to be.

  Subsequently, a support 6 which is erected with respect to the rear side traveling stand 302 is fixed to the traveling stand 3, and the working arm 4 is assembled in a state in which the working arm 4 can move up and down. The support 6 is sandwiched from the front and back by fixing brackets 21 and 22 and is fastened to the short frame member 112 by a bolt. Further, this working arm 4 is also constituted by the frame member 11 like the traveling table 3. Specifically, it has a ladder-like structure in which two left and right long frame members 113 are connected by four short frame members 114. The support 6 is narrower than the working arm 4 and is configured to pass between the two long frame members 113.

  Between the working arm 4 and the support 6, an elevating mechanism configured to move the working arm 4 along the support 6 is configured. First, two guide rails 23 are fixed in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) at the width interval to the front surface of the support 6, and a support bracket 24 having a plurality of slide blocks 25 is fixed to the working arm 4 It is done. Accordingly, the working arm 4 is vertically movable in the vertical direction by the linear guide including the guide rail 23 and the slide block 25.

  A servomotor 26 and a ball screw mechanism are provided to apply a driving force in the vertical direction to the working arm 4. Therefore, a screw shaft 27 is rotatably mounted in the vertical direction via a bearing fixed to the support 6 at a position between the two guide rails 23. Further, a servomotor 26 is fixed to the top of the support 6, and its rotation axis is connected to the screw shaft 27 via a coupling. A nut (not shown) is held by the support bracket 24, and a screw shaft 27 is screwed to the nut so as to penetrate the nut.

  Next, in the work carriage 1, an operation lever 7 for operating the movement of the traveling table 3 and the elevation of the work arm 4 is attached to the work arm 4. A mounting frame 28 is fixed to the rear end of the working arm 4, and a control lever 7 is mounted on the mounting frame 28 integrally with the force sensor 8. Accordingly, in the working carriage 1, the movement of the traveling table 3 and the raising and lowering of the working arm 4 which receive the power assist of the servomotors 13 and 26 are performed by the force of the worker acting on the operation lever 7. It has become.

  The force sensor 8 is composed of six components of the force of the operator applied to the operation lever 7, that is, force components in three axial directions in the X-, Y- and Z-axis directions, and the torque acting around these three axes. It is a six-axis sensor that can detect the (moment) component. However, in the present embodiment, only the torque component around the Z axis is used as the torque component. Therefore, the operation of the operator on the operation lever 7 is decomposed into force components and torque components in three axial directions in the force sensor 8 and detected as operation information of each axis. Then, the detection signal (operation signal) is sent to the control unit, and drive control of the servomotors 13 and 26 is performed.

  The control box 9 is mounted on the front side traveling stand 301 in the traveling stand 3, and a computer etc. for calculating the driving force necessary for movement or elevation based on the operation information from the force sensor 8 is stored therein. There is. In addition to the computer, the control box 9 detects the number of rotations of each of the servomotors 13 and 26 as well as the motor driver for driving the servomotor 13 and the servomotor 26 for lifting and lowering of the omnidirectional moving wheel 5 based on the calculation result. An encoder and a battery as a power source for driving the servomotors 13 and 26 are also accommodated. However, when there is no space for storing the battery in the control box 9, it may be mounted directly on the rear side traveling stand 302. In addition, when used for work in a narrow range, a power cord may be connected to the work carriage 1.

  A safety button 701 is provided on the top of the operation lever 7, and when the safety button 701 is pressed, an operation signal can be transmitted to the control unit. Therefore, even if the force of the operator is applied to the control lever 7, the work carriage 1 does not operate unless the safety button 701 is pressed, and the safety button 701 is in the operating state. It will stop by being canceled. When the operator operates this operation lever 7 with one hand, the work carriage 1 can be moved by receiving power assist. And since the control lever 7 is attached to the working arm 4, the working arm 4 is also moved according to the direction and amount of movement of the operator's hand. This point, for example, the relationship between the fork of the forklift and the lever that operates it is different.

  Furthermore, in the working carriage 1, the drive torque is varied by controlling the current applied to the servomotors 13, 26, and the reaction force when the operator operates the operation lever 7 is adjusted. That is, the load applied to the working arm 4 and the running resistance to the run base 3 are detected by, for example, a torque sensor, and the torque control with weighting for the servomotors 13 and 26 is performed based on the detected value. This makes it possible for workers to feel weight and resistance. The work cart 1 is reduced in work such as transportation of heavy objects by the power assist function. However, in the present embodiment, in order to sensitize the operation sense, it is configured to cause the operator to feel a certain weight or the like.

  The work carriage 1 having such a configuration can be used for the attachment work of the tire 70 as shown in FIG. The installation of the tire 70 at the factory is carried out, for example, by a lifter or a crane device at a height at the sight of the worker. In such a case, the movement of the tire 70 is not only the distance from the stock position to the mounting position of the vehicle, but also the height to the mounting position. Therefore, the worker places the tire 70 on the work carriage 1 and moves it, raises it to the mounting position and aligns it, then maintains the tire 70 in that state and clamps and fixes it to the hub bolt with a nut.

  At this time, the operator first moves the work carriage 1 to the stock position and places the tire 70 on the work arm 4. Then, in a state where the safety button 701 is pressed, the operation lever 7 is grasped, and the working arm 4 is raised to a height at which it can be easily operated. That is, the force sensor 8 detects a force in the Z-axis direction by applying an upward force to the gripped hand, and the operation signal is sent to the control unit, and the drive control of the servomotor 26 is performed by predetermined arithmetic processing. It will be. Then, the rotation of the servomotor 26 is converted into a linear movement through the ball screw mechanism, and the height adjustment of the working arm 4 becomes possible.

  As indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 6, at the position where the working arm 4 is raised, the position of the operation lever 7 is also high, and the operator can easily perform the operation while walking. That is, the operator holds the operation lever 7 in a natural walking posture, and the traveling operation of the traveling table 3 is performed by applying a force or twisting to the operation lever 7 in the traveling direction. At this time, the force sensor 8 detects the force acting on the operation lever 7, and the operation signal is sent to the control unit. In the control unit, drive control of the servomotor 13 is performed for the four omnidirectionally moving wheels 5 by arithmetic processing, and the traveling bed 3 according to the operation of the operator by combining the driving forces in the X axis direction and Y axis direction. Running and turning are performed. Therefore, the tire 70 mounted on the working arm 4 is transported to the working position.

  The tire 70 transported to the working position is finely adjusted by the operator applying the vertical and horizontal forces to the operation lever 7, and the bolt holes of the tire wheel are aligned with the hub bolt on the automobile side. . At this time, the vertical and horizontal movements of the hand holding the operation lever 7 become the movement of the working arm 4 as it is. That is, unlike controlling the movement of the working part indirectly by finely adjusting the lever like a forklift, the movement of the hand of the worker is directly the movement of the traveling stand 3 or the working arm 4 . Therefore, it is possible to easily perform a fine operation of aligning the bolt holes of the tire 70 mounted on the working arm 4 with the hub bolt.

  In such an operation, torque control is performed in which weighting is applied to the servomotor 13 according to the load of the tire 70 applied to the working arm 4. Therefore, the operator performs the operation while indirectly feeling the weight of the tire 70. It becomes. That is, according to the load, the elevation of the working arm 4 and the movement of the traveling stand 3 become dull. Therefore, according to the working cart 1, the worker can operate the heavy object such as the tire 70 in accordance with the movement of his / her hand and operate while feeling the weight sensitively. Therefore, it is possible to perform fine alignment with high precision while handling heavy objects. Also, even if the traveling platform 3 collides with something during traveling, the rotation of the omnidirectional moving wheel 5 becomes heavy due to the resistance, so that the worker who felt the weight stops traveling etc. It enables safe operation without danger.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, even if one omnidirectional mobile wheel 5 rides on the obstacle 80 during traveling, all omnidirectional mobile wheels 5 of the front side traveling platform 301 and the rear side traveling platform 302 have a seesaw structure. Keep grounded. Therefore, in the working carriage 1, the four omnidirectional moving wheels 5 always obtain an appropriate contact force, and accurate traveling operation becomes possible. Further, since the work carriage 1 and the work carriage 3 and the work arm 4 have a frame structure and are constituted by the aluminum frame member 11, weight reduction of the whole carriage is achieved while securing sufficient rigidity. There is.

  By the way, as mentioned above, in the case of the attachment work which mounted the tire 70 on the working arm 4, it is necessary to align several bolt holes with the hub bolt by the side of a car. Therefore, the working arm 4 may be provided with a roller, and the tire 70 placed thereon may be made rotatable to enable alignment in the rotational direction. As described above, the work carriage 1 can improve the work performance by changing the work arm 4 to various forms according to the object. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the working carriage 1 may be improved to attach a hook 29 to the working arm 4 so that a heavy load can be suspended and conveyed.

  In this case, in order to enable work with the hooks 29 attached, the front side traveling table 301 is on the rear side and the rear side traveling table 302 is on the front side. Then, a support 6 with its front and rear inverted is fixed to the rear side traveling stand 302 by fixing brackets 21 and 22, and a working arm 4 is assembled to the support 6 so as to be vertically movable by a linear guide or a ball screw mechanism. In the working arm 4, the fixed position of the support bracket 24 is moved to the central portion in the longitudinal direction, and the amount by which the tip portion protrudes from the carriage 3 is adjusted. Then, the hook 29 is attached to the tip end portion of the protruding working arm 4.

  According to the operation carriage 1B, the hook 29 carries a heavy object for suspension and conveyance, and the center of gravity is biased to the front side, but the control box 9 is a weight. However, when the control box 9 alone is not enough, the balance weight is mounted on the traveling bed 3. Then, in this working carriage 1B, the operator holds the operating lever 7 while pressing the safety button 701 in the same manner as the working carriage 1, and applies the force or twisting force to the hook 29 The object to be conveyed can be hung and conveyed to a predetermined position. At this time, since the movement of the worker's hand is the movement of the working arm 4 directly, the hook 29 can be finely operated. The lifting operation by the hooks 29 and the transport of heavy objects after lifting can be easily performed by power assist.

As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning.
For example, although the case where hook 29 was attached was explained in the above-mentioned embodiment, it may be made to attach other work attachments to work arm 4. Also, the form of the working arm 4 may be changed according to the work. As a result, the working carriage 1 and the working carriage to which the improvement is applied can be adapted to a wide range of operations.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Work trolley 3 ... Traveling stand 4 ... Work arm 5 (5FR, 5FL, 5RR, 5RL) ... Omnidirectional movement wheel 6 ... Support pole 7 ... Control lever 8 ... Force sensor 9 ... Control box 11 ... Frame member 13 ... Servo motor 14 ... Decelerator 16 ... Coupling rod 23 ... Guide rail 25 ... Slide block 26 ... Servo motor 27 ... Screw shaft 301 ... Forward side run table 302 ... Rear side run table

Claims (4)

A platform having a plurality of omnidirectional wheels driven by a traction motor;
A post fixed in a standing state with respect to the carriage,
A working arm attached to the column so as to move up and down by driving a raising and lowering motor;
Operation means attached to the working arm for driving and controlling the traveling motor and the elevating motor;
A control device for driving and controlling the traveling motor and the elevating motor based on an operation signal from the operation means;
A power cart with a power assist function, comprising: power supply means for supplying electric power to the traveling motor and the lifting motor.   The work cart with a power assist function according to claim 1, wherein the carriage and the working arm are formed by a frame member.   3. A working carriage with a power assist function according to claim 1, wherein said working arm is of a shape capable of mounting an object, or of a predetermined working attachment. The carriage comprises a front carriage and a rear carriage divided into two in the front and rear direction, and the omnidirectional mobile wheels are disposed on the left and right sides of the front carriage and the rear carriage respectively The power assist function according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the side carriage and the rear carriage are connected swingably with respect to a rotation shaft disposed in the front-rear direction. Working trolley.

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