JP2024006127A - Rail traveling device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a rail traveling device surely traveling on a plate-like rail stably.SOLUTION: In a rail traveling device 10, a spur gear 42 is rotated by torque of a motor M mounted on a base part 11 and gear teeth of the spur gear 42 sequentially mesh with a plurality of holes continuously provided in the longitudinal direction of a plate-like rail R1 so that the base part can be advanced/retreated in the longitudinal direction of the rail R1. The rail traveling device includes a pair of holding members 26, 36, which are positioned in one direction side and the other direction side of an axial direction of the spur gear with respect to the spur gear and are contacted with the rail from an opposite side of the spur gear with respect to the rail at a position where a distance between a shaft center of the spur gear and the rail becomes the shortest, and a pair of guide members 44, 46 which are positioned in one direction side and the other direction side of the axial direction of the spur gear with respect to the spur gear and are contacted with the rail from the same side of the spur gear with respect to the rail at a position where the distance between the shaft center of the spur gear and the rail becomes the shortest.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a device that moves forward and backward on a plate-shaped rail (hereinafter simply referred to as a "rail traveling device").

BACKGROUND ART Some automatic welding equipment, automatic cutting equipment for cutting weld beads, and the like use a plate-shaped rail as a running route and move forward and backward on the rail electrically. For example, the following types of rail traveling devices have been developed.

JP2010-156423A

The piping rail device of Patent Document 1 includes a plate-shaped rail that is arranged so as to go around the circumferential surface of the piping, a plurality of pedestals that elastically support the rail and have built-in springs and magnets, and a rail running system. Equipped with equipment. According to this, since the rail is elastically deformable, it is said that the rail can be attached not only to flat objects but also to curved objects.

In a rail traveling device such as Patent Document 1, holes are continuously provided in the rail, and gears of the rail traveling device mesh with the holes in the rail while rotating, so that the rail traveling device moves forward and backward on the rail. It is composed of However, when the curvature of the curved rail is large or the influence of gravity on the rail running device, the gears do not mesh with the rail holes or mesh shallowly, causing the problem that the rail running device does not move forward and backward smoothly. may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a rail traveling device that stably and reliably travels on a plate-shaped rail.

The present invention is a rail traveling device that moves forward and backward on a plate-shaped rail provided with a plurality of holes continuous in the longitudinal direction,
A motor attached to the base,
a spur gear configured to be rotated by the torque of the motor and having teeth meshing with the hole;
The spur gear is located on one side and the other side in the axial direction of the spur gear, and is located on the rail at a position where the distance between the axis of the spur gear and the rail is the shortest. a pair of holding members that contact the rail from opposite sides of the gear;
The spur gear is located on one side and the other side in the axial direction of the spur gear, and is located on the rail at a position where the distance between the axis of the spur gear and the rail is the shortest. The above-mentioned problem has been solved by a rail traveling device including a pair of guide members that contact the rail from the same side of the gear.

According to the present invention, the spur gear is rotated by the torque of the motor attached to the base, and the teeth of the spur gear sequentially mesh with a plurality of holes provided continuously in the longitudinal direction of the plate-shaped rail. The base can be moved forward and backward in the longitudinal direction of the rail. Here, the spur gear is located on one side and the other side in the axial direction of the spur gear, and the distance between the spur gear axis and the rail is the shortest. A pair of holding members that touch the rail from the sides, and a pair of holding members that are located on one side and the other side in the axial direction of the spur gear with respect to the spur gear, and are located at positions where the distance between the axis of the spur gear and the rail is the shortest. Since the rail is equipped with a pair of guide members that touch the rail from the same side of the spur gear, the distance between the spur gear and the rail can be kept constant and the teeth and holes of the spur gear can be reliably engaged, making it possible to maintain a flat surface. It is possible to provide a rail traveling device that runs stably and reliably not only on a curved rail with a large curvature, but also on any posture of the rail traveling device.

In addition, if the holding member and the guide member are configured to contact the rail at a position where the teeth of the spur gear mesh with the hole within the range of the tooth tips, malfunction may occur due to the teeth of the spur gear meshing shallowly or deeply with the hole. Therefore, the rail traveling device can move smoothly forward and backward on the rail.

Further, the holding member is connected to a shaft that passes through the spur gear, and the shaft is connected to a lever that is rotatably provided at the base within a predetermined range and is biased in one direction, and the shaft is connected to a lever that is biased in one direction, and the shaft is connected to a lever that is biased in one direction. If the structure is such that the holding members open in the direction of separating from each other when the lever is rotated in the other direction, the rail traveling device can be opened by engaging the teeth of the spur gear in the hole and returning the lever with the lever rotated in the other direction. can be easily attached to the rail.

Furthermore, if the support member is configured to further include a support member connected at a variable angle with respect to the base, and the support member includes a clamping member that clamps the front and back surfaces of the rail, the attitude of the rail traveling device with respect to the rail can be stabilized. be able to.

Furthermore, if the support member further includes a side contact member that contacts the side surface of the rail, it is possible to prevent the support member from accidentally coming off the rail while the rail traveling device is moving forward and backward on the rail. .

FIG. 1 is a front view of a rail traveling device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a partially sectional side view of the base. The figure when the lever of FIG. 3 is rotated in the other direction. FIG. 3 is a side view of the support member in a closed state. FIG. 3 is a side view of the support member in an open state. FIG. 1 is a front view of a rail traveling device according to an embodiment of the present invention mounted on the outer peripheral surface of a curved rail. FIG. 2 is a front view of a rail traveling device according to an embodiment of the present invention mounted on the inner peripheral surface of a curved rail.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rail traveling mechanism 100 includes a rail traveling device 10 and a pair of support members 50. The rail traveling device 10 is a device that moves forward and backward on a plate-shaped rail R1, as will be described later. The plate-shaped rail R1 can be made of, for example, a plate spring, and is attached to an attachment target using an installation member 70 such as a magnet. Although illustrations and explanations are omitted, a welding machine, a cutting machine, a monitoring device, and the like are attached to the rail traveling device 10, and are used to process or inspect the object to be attached.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of holes 72 are continuously provided in a straight line in the longitudinal direction of the rail R1. Here, how the rail traveling device 10 is attached to the rail R1 will be explained using FIG. 3. The base 11 of the rail traveling device 10 rotatably supports a spur gear 42 . The spur gear 42 is rotated by the torque of a motor M attached to the base 11.

The teeth of the spur gear 42 are configured to mesh with holes 72 (see FIG. 2) in the rail R1. Therefore, when the motor M is driven and the spur gear 42 rotates, the teeth of the spur gear 42 sequentially mesh with the plurality of holes 72 provided continuously in the longitudinal direction of the rail R1. The rail traveling device 10 moves forward and backward in the longitudinal direction of the rail R1.

The base 11 includes a pair of holding members 26 and 36. The pair of holding members 26 and 36 are arranged to be located on one side and the other side in the axial direction of the spur gear 42 with respect to the spur gear 42 . Further, the pair of holding members 26 and 36 are attached to the opposite side of the spur gear 42 with respect to the rail R1 (the lower surface side of R1 in FIG. 3) at a position where the distance between the axis of the spur gear 42 and the rail R1 is the shortest. The rail R1 is arranged so as to be in contact with the rail R1 (see also FIG. 1). Although the holding members 26 and 36 of the rail traveling device 10 are rotating bodies (rollers), the present invention can be applied even if they are not rotating bodies. In the case of a rotating body, its axis is preferably parallel to the axis of the spur gear 42.

The base 11 also includes a pair of guide members 44 and 46. The pair of guide members 44 and 46 are arranged to be located on one side and the other side in the axial direction of the spur gear 42, respectively. Also, the spur gear 42 is arranged so as to be in contact with the rail R1 from the same side of the spur gear 42 (the top side of R1 in FIG. 3) at the position where the distance between the axis of the spur gear 42 and the rail R1 is the shortest. has been done. Although the guide members 44 and 46 of the rail traveling device 10 are rotating bodies (rollers), the present invention can be applied even if they are not rotating bodies. In the case of a rotating body, its axis is preferably parallel to the axis of the spur gear 42.

As described above, since the rail traveling device 10 includes the pair of holding members 26, 36 and the guide members 44, 46, the distance between the spur gear 42 and the rail R1 is kept constant, and the teeth of the spur gear 42 and the hole 72 are Can be reliably engaged. Therefore, not only the planar rail R1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but also the outer peripheral surface side of the curved rail R2 as shown in FIG. 7, the inner peripheral surface side of the curved rail R3 as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the rail traveling device 10 can run stably and reliably even on a curved rail with a large curvature, and even in any posture of the rail traveling device 10.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the pair of holding members 26, 36 and the guide members 44, 46 engage the teeth of the spur gear 42 in the hole 72 (see FIG. 2) of the rail R1 within the range of the tooth tips. It is preferable to determine the arrangement position so that it touches the rail R1 at the matching position. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent malfunction caused by the teeth of the spur gear 42 meshing shallowly or deeply with the hole 72, and the rail traveling device 10 can move smoothly forward and backward on the rail R1. It is.

The rail traveling device 10 is configured so that the pair of holding members 26 and 36 can be switched between an open state (the state shown in FIG. 4) and a closed state (the state shown in FIG. 3) by rotating the lever 12. There is. Specifically, the holding member 26 is connected to the shaft 20 passing through the spur gear 42 via the first connecting member 22 and the holding member 36 is connected to the shaft 20 through the second connecting member 32. The shaft 20 is connected to the lever 12 via a first connecting member 22. The lever 12 is provided on the base 11 so as to be rotatable within a predetermined range about a lever fulcrum 14, and is biased in one direction by a biasing means 15 such as a coil spring. The first connecting member 22 is rotatable around a first fulcrum 24 located between the shaft 20 and the lever 12, and the second connecting member 32 is rotatable around a second fulcrum located between the shaft 20 and the holding member 36. They are each configured to be rotatable around 34.

Therefore, when the lever 12 is rotated in the other direction, the lever 12 is rotated around the lever fulcrum 14, the first connecting member 22 is around the first fulcrum 24, and the second connecting member 32 is around the second fulcrum 34. As shown in FIG. 4, the pair of holding members 26 and 36 can be configured to open in a direction away from each other. With this configuration, with the lever 12 rotated in the other direction, the teeth of the spur gear 42 are engaged with the hole 72 (see FIG. 2), and the lever 12 is returned to move the rail traveling device 10 to the rail R1. It can be easily installed. It goes without saying that other configurations may be applied, such as a configuration in which the pair of holding members 26, 36 are opened and closed using a knob and a link mechanism, similar to the clamping members 57, 58 of the support member 50, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rail traveling device 10 is preferably configured to further include a support member 50. As illustrated, a pair of support members 50 can be provided so as to sandwich the rail traveling device 10 therebetween. The support member 50 is connected to the rail traveling device 10, more specifically to the base 11, via a fastening member 60. The fastening member 60 includes a fastening lever 62 and a fastening tool 64 (see also FIG. 2). Since the fastener 64 can be loosened or tightened by turning the fastening lever 62, the support member 50 is connected to the base 11 at a variable angle.

As shown in FIG. 5, the support member 50 includes a pair of clamping members 57 and 58 that clamp the front surface (the upper surface in FIG. 5) and the back surface (the lower surface in FIG. 5) of the rail R1. In the case of the support member 50, the holding members 57 and 58 are rotating bodies (rollers), but the present invention can be applied even if they are not rotating bodies. The pair of clamping members 57 and 58 are connected to the nut 54 via a link mechanism 56. The nut 54 is configured to move forward and backward on the axis of the knob 52 by rotating the knob 52.

Depending on the position of the nut 54, the clamping member 58 of the pair of clamping members 57, 58 located on the back side of the rail R1 is configured to be switched between the closed state shown in FIG. 5 and the open state shown in FIG. There is. When the rail traveling device 10 moves forward and backward on the rail R1, the pair of clamping members 57 and 58 are closed, and when the rail traveling device 10 is attached to and removed from the rail R1, the pair of clamping members 57 and 58 are opened. state. With this configuration, the attitude of the rail traveling device 10 with respect to the rail R1 can be stabilized, and when the rail traveling device 10 moves forward and backward on the curved rails R2 and R3 as shown in FIGS. A suitable configuration can be achieved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the support member 50 may further include a side contact member 59 that contacts the side surface of the rail R1 (the surface in the left-right direction in FIG. 5). In the case of the support member 50, the side contact member 59 is a rotating body (roller), but the present invention can be applied even if it is not a rotating body. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the support member 50 from unexpectedly coming off the rail R1 while the rail traveling device 10 is moving forward and backward on the rail R1.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a rail traveling device that runs stably and reliably even on a curved plate-shaped rail with a large curvature.

10 Rail traveling device 11 Base 12 Lever 26, 36 Holding member 42 Spur gear 44, 46 Guide member 50 Support member 57, 58 Clamping member 59 Side contact member 72 Hole M Motor R1 Rail

Claims (5)

A rail traveling device that moves forward and backward on a plate-shaped rail provided with a plurality of holes continuous in the longitudinal direction,
A motor attached to the base,
a spur gear configured to be rotated by the torque of the motor and having teeth meshing with the hole;
The spur gear is located on one side and the other side in the axial direction of the spur gear, and is located on the rail at a position where the distance between the axis of the spur gear and the rail is the shortest. a pair of holding members that contact the rail from opposite sides of the gear;
The spur gear is located on one side and the other side in the axial direction of the spur gear, and is located on the rail at a position where the distance between the axis of the spur gear and the rail is the shortest. a pair of guide members contacting the rail from the same side of the gear;
Rail running device. 2. The rail traveling device according to claim 1, wherein the holding member and the guide member are in contact with the rail at a position where the teeth of the spur gear mesh with the holes within the range of tooth tips. the holding member is connected to a shaft passing through the spur gear;
The shaft is connected to a lever that is rotatably provided in the base portion within a predetermined range and is biased in one direction,
The holding members are configured to open in a direction away from each other when the lever is rotated in the other direction;
The rail traveling device according to claim 1 or 2. further comprising a support member connected at a variable angle with respect to the base,
The rail traveling device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support member includes a clamping member that clamps the front and back surfaces of the rail. The rail traveling device according to claim 4, wherein the support member further includes a side contact member that contacts a side surface of the rail.

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