JP7046366B2 - Autonomous control type mower - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an autonomously controlled mowing machine that performs mowing work unmanned.

Conventionally, mowing work including lawn mowing has been carried out with a manned mowing machine. Due to soaring labor costs, unmanned work has been required, and various autonomously controlled mowing machines have been proposed in which mowing machines autonomously strike and mow the grass (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

FIG. 3 of Patent Document 1 discloses a mower (1) provided with a first wire sensor (45) (numbers in parentheses indicate reference numerals described in Patent Document 1. The same shall apply hereinafter). The first wire sensor (45) is arranged in front of the front wheel (12a).
According to FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1, the front portion of the main body chassis (10) is sharpened like a bow, and the sharpened portion protrudes forward from the left and right front wheels (12a, 12a).
The first wire sensor (45) is arranged at this sharp portion.

According to FIG. 3 of Patent Document 1, the cutting blade (35b) extends to the front of the axle of the front wheel (12a).
That is, one first wire sensor (45) is arranged in front of the cutting blade (35b) and one in the center of the machine width.

The mower (1) disclosed in Patent Document 1 is shown in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of a conventional mower, and the reference numerals have been reassigned.
The mower 100 includes two rear wheels 102L and 102R (L is a subscript indicating the left and R is a subscript indicating the right; the same applies hereinafter) and two front wheels 103L and 103R on the machine body 101.
The cutting blade 104 arranged under the machine body 101 extends to the front of the axles 105 of the front wheels 103L and 103R.
Then, the first wire sensor 106 is arranged on the machine body longitudinal axis 107 at the center in the width direction of the machine body 101.

The operation of the conventional mower 100 will be described with reference to FIG.
During the autonomous strike, the mower 100 approaches the area wire 108.
As shown in FIG. 9A, the machine length axis 107 is set to be substantially perpendicular to the area wire 108, and when the mower 100 approaches the area wire 108, the traveling is stopped, the machine is moved backward, and then the brush cutter 100 approaches the area wire 108. Return to normal work.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9B, the mower 100 may approach the area wire 108 so that the machine body longitudinal axis 107 is slanted with respect to the area wire 108. In this case, the cutting blade 104 may damage the area wire 108.

As a countermeasure, it is conceivable to move the first wire sensor to the position of reference numeral 106A in FIG.
When this measure is taken, as shown in FIG. 9C, since the first wire sensor 106A is separated from the cutting blade 104, uncut portion 109 is generated along the area wire 108. This uncut portion 109 needs to be separately cut by hand or the like.

Further, the mower 100 is equipped with a battery, and the battery supplies power to the traveling motor and the cutting blade rotation motor. When the remaining battery level is low, it will return to the charging station while self-propelled, where it will be charged.
That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, the charging station 111 is installed at one location of the closed loop-shaped area wire 108. The mower 100 returns to the charging station 111 along the area wire 108.

However, the mower 100 travels randomly, and as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the machine length axis 107 may approach the area wire 108 at a right angle or diagonally. ..
Assuming that the random running is a corrugated running, the flow line 112 becomes wavy as shown in FIG. 10 (b). The flow line 112 is longer than the ideal and linear flow line 113 shown in FIG. 10 (a).

Since it is necessary to return to the charging station 111 with the remaining amount of the battery, it is necessary to raise a predetermined value of the remaining amount in the conventional mower 100. Increasing the predetermined value reduces the amount of charge that can be used for mowing work and shortens the work time.

As described above, in the conventional mowing machine 100, there is a concern that the area wire may be damaged by the mowing blade, and the amount of charge that can be used for mowing work is small. These measures are required.

International Publication No. 2017/051662 Pamphlet

An object of the present invention is to provide an autonomously controlled mowing machine capable of increasing the amount of charge that can be used for mowing work without worrying about damaging the area wire with the mowing blade.

The invention according to claim 1 detects on the machine body a swiveling cutting blade, a front wheel arranged before the cutting blade, a rear wheel arranged after the cutting blade, and an area wire surrounding a work area. In an autonomous control type mower that includes a wire sensor and a control unit that controls rotation of the rear wheels and steers and controls the front wheels, and autonomously strikes.
The wire sensor includes a left wire sensor and a right wire sensor arranged on the front wheel side of the cutting blade and outside the swivel circle of the cutting blade.
The control unit controls to steer the front wheel to the right when the left wire sensor detects the area wire, and steer the front wheel to the left when the right wire sensor detects the area wire.
When both the left wire sensor and the right wire sensor detect the area wire, the rear wheel is controlled to rotate to the reverse side.

The invention according to claim 2 is the autonomously controlled mower according to claim 1.
The front wheel is characterized by being one wheel arranged at the center in the width direction of the airframe.

The invention according to claim 3 is the autonomously controlled mower according to claim 1 or 2.
The front wheels and the rear wheels are all-wheel drive vehicles, each of which is equipped with an electric motor.

In the invention according to claim 1, the left wire sensor and the right wire sensor are arranged on the front wheel side of the cutting blade, the front wheel is steered to the right when the left wire sensor detects the area wire, and the right wire sensor detects the area wire. When I did, I tried to steer the front wheels to the left.
The left wire sensor and the right wire sensor are arranged outside the swivel circle of the cutting blade. Therefore, there is no concern that the area wire will be damaged by the cutting blade.

Also, when the remaining amount of the battery reaches a predetermined value, it is returned to the charging station, but at this time, the left wire sensor or the right wire sensor can be made to follow the area wire, and the return flow line becomes linear. It gets shorter. Therefore, the predetermined value of the remaining amount can be sufficiently lowered. By lowering it, the amount of charge applied to mowing work can be increased.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, there is provided an autonomously controlled mower that can increase the amount of charge that can be used for mowing work without worrying about damaging the area wire with the mowing blade.

In the invention according to claim 2, the front wheel is one wheel arranged in the center in the width direction of the airframe. If it is one wheel, the number of parts can be halved as compared with two wheels.

In the invention according to claim 3, the autonomously controlled mower is an all-wheel drive vehicle. If it is an all-wheel drive vehicle, it can continue to run on uneven and uneven ground, and mowing work can be continued.

It is a front view of the autonomous control type mower which concerns on this invention. It is a right side view of the autonomous control type mower which concerns on this invention. It is a bottom view of the autonomous control type mower which concerns on this invention. It is a plan view block diagram of the autonomous control type mower which concerns on this invention. It is an operation explanatory diagram of an autonomous control type mower. It is an operation explanatory diagram of an autonomous control type mower. It is an operation explanatory diagram of the autonomous control type mower returning to a charging station. It is a top view of a conventional mower. It is an operation explanatory diagram of the conventional mower. It is an operation explanatory diagram of the conventional mower.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings shall be viewed in the direction of the reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 1, an autonomously controlled mower (hereinafter referred to as a mower) 10 includes a front wheel 11, a left rear wheel 12L, and a right rear wheel 12R. Further, the mower 10 has a horizontally long rectangular opening 14 in the center of the front surface of the cover 13. A V-shaped component (FIG. 4, reference numeral 36) is arranged behind the opening 14.
As shown in FIG. 2, a cutter housing 16 is provided between the front wheel 11 and the rear wheel axle 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, when viewed from the bottom, the swiveling cutting blade 19, the front wheel 11 arranged before the cutting blade 19, and the rear wheels 12L and 12R arranged after the cutting blade 19 are shown on the machine body 18. The mower 10 includes a left wire sensor 21L and a right wire sensor 21R arranged on the front wheel 11 side of the cutting blade 19.

The left wire sensor 21L and the right wire sensor 21R can be arranged at any position as long as they are outside the swivel circle 22 of the cutting blade 19. The left wire sensor 21L is arranged at a position separated by α from the turning circle 22 in front and at a position separated by β from the turning circle 22 to the left (to the right in the figure). Similarly, the right wire sensor 21R is arranged at a position separated by α in front of the turning circle 22 and separated by β to the right from the turning circle 22. β may be the same as or different from α.

FIG. 4 is an inverted plan view of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the cutting blade 19 is driven by the cutting blade motor 24. The cutting blade motor 24 is supplied with power from the battery 25, and the rotation speed and forward rotation, stop, and reverse rotation are controlled by the control unit 27 via the driver 26. When the cutting blade motor 24 becomes overloaded, reverse control is performed.

The front wheel 11 is driven by the front wheel motor 28. The front wheel motor 28 is supplied with power from the battery 25, and the rotation speed and forward rotation, stop, and reverse rotation are controlled by the control unit 27 via the driver 29.
The front wheels 11 are steering wheels and are steered by the steering motor 31. The steering motor 31 is supplied with power from the battery 25, and the control unit 27 controls straight travel, left steering, and right steering via the driver 32.

The left rear wheel 12L is driven by the left rear wheel motor 33L. The left rear wheel motor 33L is supplied with power from the battery 25, and the rotation speed and forward rotation, stop, and reverse rotation are controlled by the control unit 27 via the driver 34L.
Similarly, the right rear wheel 12R is driven by the right rear wheel motor 33R. The right rear wheel motor 33R is supplied with power from the battery 25, and the rotation speed and forward rotation, stop, and reverse rotation are controlled by the control unit 27 via the driver 34R.

By the way, the conventional mower 100 described with reference to FIG. 8 is not an all-wheel drive vehicle. Therefore, if the rear wheels 102L and 102R, which are the driving wheels, are lifted from the ground for some reason (for example, the cutter housing surrounding the cutting blade 104 rides on the bump), the vehicle cannot travel. In this case, the manager runs to the mower 100 and separates the mower 100 from the bump.

On the other hand, since the mower 10 of the present invention shown in FIG. 4 is an all-wheel drive vehicle, if the front wheels 11 are in contact with the ground, even if the rear wheels 12L and 12R float, they can be detached by themselves. And the running is continued. As a result, the burden on the administrator is greatly reduced.

Further, in the mower 10 of the present invention, the front wheels 11 may be two left and right wheels, but in the embodiment, one wheel is used. If it is one wheel, the number of front wheel motor 28, driver 29, steering motor 31 and driver 32 is halved, and the cost can be reduced.

For convenience of drawing, the battery 25 and the control unit 27 shown outside the cover 13 are arranged inside the cover 13.
A V-shaped component 36 is housed in the front portion of the cover 13, and a charging terminal 37 is provided in the V-shaped component 36. The battery 25 is charged from the outside via the charging terminal 37.

Further, the control unit 27 receives a detection signal of the area wire (FIG. 5 (b), reference numeral 38) from the left wire sensor 21L and the right wire sensor 21R.

The operation of the mower 10 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.
As shown in FIG. 5A, the mower 10 advances as shown by the arrow (1), turns left as shown by the arrow (2), turns right as shown by the arrow (3), and turns as shown by the arrow (4). Go backwards like.
As shown in FIG. 5B, the mower 10 moving forward as shown by the arrow (1) approaches the area wire 38, and the electromagnetic waves generated by the area wire 38 are transmitted by the left wire sensor 21L and the right wire sensor 21R. When both are detected, the control unit (FIG. 4, reference numeral 27) reverses the mower 10 as shown by the arrow (4). After moving backward for a certain distance or for a certain period of time, switch to normal operation.

As shown in FIG. 6A, it is assumed that the mower 10 approaches the area wire 38 as shown by the arrow (1), and only the left wire sensor 21L detects the area wire 38. At this time, since the cutting blade 19 is separated from the area wire 38 to some extent, there is no concern that the area wire 38 will be cut by the cutting blade 19. Moreover, the uncut portion can be kept to a minimum in FIG. 6 (a) as compared with the uncut portion 109 described in FIG. 9 (c).
When only the left wire sensor 21L detects the area wire 38, the control unit (FIG. 4, reference numeral 27) turns the mower 10 to the right as shown by the arrow (3), as shown in FIG. 6 (b). After turning for a certain distance or for a certain period of time, switch to normal operation.

Although the drawing is omitted, when only the right wire sensor 21R detects the area wire 38, the mower 10 is turned to the left, and after turning for a certain distance or for a certain period of time, the operation is switched to normal operation.

Further, when the remaining amount of the battery 25 is reduced to a predetermined value, the control unit (FIG. 4, reference numeral 27) has the left wire sensor 21L (or the right wire sensor 21R) along the area wire 38 as shown in FIG. In this way, the mower 10 is returned to the charging station (FIG. 10, reference numeral 111).
At this time, the flow line of the mower 10 becomes a linear ideal shape as shown in the flow line 113 shown in FIG. 10 (a).
Since the vehicle does not run wastefully, the remaining battery power required for return can be reduced. If the battery is low, you can increase the amount of charge that can be used for mowing work.

The mower of the present invention may be applied to a lawn mower.
Further, in the embodiment, the front wheel motor 28 is provided on the front wheel 11, but the front wheel motor 28 may be omitted and the front wheel 11 may be a driven wheel.

The mowing machine of the present invention is suitable for mowing on uneven ground.

10 ... Autonomous control type mower (mower), 11 ... Front wheel, 12L ... Left rear wheel, 12R ... Right rear wheel, 18 ... Aircraft, 19 ... Cutting blade, 21L ... Left wire sensor, 21R ... Right wire sensor, 22 ... swivel circle of cutting blade, 27 ... control unit, 28 ... electric motor (front wheel motor), 33L ... electric motor (left rear wheel motor), 33R ... electric motor (right rear wheel motor), 38 ... area wire.

Claims (3)

A swiveling cutting blade, a front wheel arranged before the cutting blade, a rear wheel arranged after the cutting blade, a wire sensor for detecting an area wire surrounding the work area, and the rear wheel are attached to the machine body. In an autonomously controlled mower that has a control unit that controls rotation and steers the front wheels, and that strikes autonomously.
The wire sensor includes a left wire sensor and a right wire sensor arranged on the front wheel side of the cutting blade and outside the swivel circle of the cutting blade.
The control unit controls to steer the front wheel to the right when the left wire sensor detects the area wire, and steer the front wheel to the left when the right wire sensor detects the area wire.
An autonomously controlled mower that controls rotation of the rear wheel to the reverse side when both the left wire sensor and the right wire sensor detect the area wire. The autonomously controlled mower according to claim 1.
The front wheel is an autonomously controlled mower characterized by being one wheel arranged in the center in the width direction of the airframe. The autonomously controlled mower according to claim 1 or 2.
The front wheel and the rear wheel are autonomously controlled mowers, each of which is equipped with an electric motor and is an all-wheel drive vehicle.

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