JP7273560B2 - mobile - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a moving object configured to be movable on a moving object surface.

As a mobile body, there is known a mobile body (autonomous mobile device) configured to change the horizontal direction by rotating left and right driving wheels in opposite directions when changing the moving direction (Patent Document 1). reference).

JP 2009-265801 A

The moving body described in Patent Document 1 is configured to change the orientation of the moving body while the follower wheels (non-driving wheels) are in contact with a moving object surface such as a floor surface. However, due to the contact resistance between the trailing wheel and the surface to be moved, there is a problem that the horizontal direction of the moving body cannot be changed smoothly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving body configured to smoothly change its horizontal orientation when changing its moving direction.

A mobile body according to the present invention is a mobile body configured to be movable on a movement target surface, and includes a base, left and right front wheels provided on the lower front side of the base, and wheels provided on the lower rear side of the base. left and right rear wheels, a drive source for at least one of the left and right front wheels and the left and right rear wheels, and a lifting device provided on a base for lifting and lowering the front or rear of the moving body. , and a control means, the lifting device includes an expansion and contraction means that expands and contracts in the vertical direction, and a rolling body that is provided on the tip side of the expansion and contraction means and is configured to be rotatable on a movement target surface, and the control means comprises , the expansion and contraction means of the lifting device is extended to press the rolling elements against the surface to be moved, and one of the front wheels and the rear wheels is lifted from the surface to be moved, and the other is in contact with the surface to be moved. By rotating the left and right wheels in opposite directions to each other, the horizontal direction of the moving body can be changed. In addition, an elevating device is provided on the front side of the base body and configured to be able to elevate the front side of the moving body, and the center point of the contact surface of the left rear wheel with the movement object surface and the movement of the right rear wheel 1 where the center point of the contact surface with the object surface and the center point of the contact surface with the moving object surface of the rolling body are centered on the rotation center line of the moving body when changing the horizontal direction of the moving body Alternatively, an elevating device is provided on the rear side of the base body and configured to be able to elevate the rear side of the moving body, and the left front wheel contacts the moving object surface. When the center point of the surface, the center point of the contact surface of the right front wheel with the movement target surface, and the center point of the contact surface of the rolling element with the movement target surface change the horizontal direction of the moving body is located on one arc centered on the rotation center line of the moving body, the movement object can be positioned on one arc on the movement object plane centered on the rotation center line Since the left and right wheels and rolling elements in contact with the surface roll, the moving body smoothly rotates clockwise or counterclockwise around the rotation center line, and the horizontal direction of the moving body is adjusted. be able to change smoothly.
Further, since the guide part is provided for moving the expansion/contraction means of the lifting device in the vertical direction along the rotation centerline of the moving body while maintaining parallelism with the rotation centerline of the moving body, the expansion/contraction means of the lifting device can be moved accurately. By moving vertically, it becomes possible to accurately form the center line of rotation, so that the horizontal direction of the moving body can be changed smoothly.

The side view which shows a mobile body. The perspective view which shows a mobile body. It is a figure which shows the detail of an elevator, (a) is a front view, (b) is a side view. FIG. 4 is an operation procedure diagram showing an operation procedure for changing the moving direction of the moving body by the lifting device;

Embodiment 1
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the moving object according to the first embodiment is a moving object 1 configured to be movable on a moving object surface, for example, a floor surface F in a building, comprising a base 10, It comprises a moving means 20 provided under the base 10 , an elevating device 40 provided on the base 10 for raising and lowering the front side of the moving body 1 , and a control means 50 .
In this specification, front, back, up, down, left, and right are defined as the directions shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 2, the moving means 20 includes, for example, left and right front wheels 21L and 21R provided at the front lower portion of the base 10 and left and right rear wheels 22L and 22R provided at the rear lower portion of the base 10. , motors 23L and 23R as drive sources for the rear wheels 22L and 22R, and a drive control circuit (not shown).

Each motor shaft of the motors 23L and 23R is provided with an encoder 25L as a movement amount detection means for detecting the movement distance (movement amount) of the moving body 1 based on the rotation amount of the rear wheels 22L and 22R. , 25R are attached.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the lifting device 40 is connected to a linear actuator 42 attached to an attachment portion 41 provided inside the front side of the base 10, and to the lower end (tip) of a rod 43 of the linear actuator 42. a reinforcing body 44, a rolling element 45 provided at the lower end (tip) of the reinforcing body 44, and a guide portion 46 for guiding the reinforcing body 44 in the vertical direction.
That is, the lifting device 40, which is provided on the front side of the base 10 and configured to be able to move up and down the front side of the moving body 1, is configured by the rod 43 of the linear actuator 42 and the reinforcing member 44 connected to the lower end (tip) of the rod 43. It is provided with an expanding/contracting means configured to expand and contract in the vertical direction, and a rolling element 45 provided at the lower end (tip) of the expanding/contracting means.
In other words, the lifting device 40 includes an expansion/contraction means configured to change the length from the mounting portion 41 to the rolling element 45 by expanding/contracting the rod 43 of the linear actuator 42, and the lower end of the expansion/contraction means ( tip) and a rolling element 45 provided.
The guide portion 46 is composed of, for example, a guide wall 47 that serves as a passage for the reinforcing body 44 to move up and down, and a seal member 48 that is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the reinforcing body 44 and slides on the guide wall 47 .
The guide part 46 functions as a guide for moving the expansion/contraction means in the vertical direction along the rotation center line 10C while maintaining parallelism with the rotation center line 10C of the moving body 1, which will be described later.

The control means 50 controls the drive control circuit of the motors 23L, 23R of the rear wheels 22L, 22R and the drive control circuit of the expansion/contraction drive source (not shown) for expanding and contracting the rod 43 of the linear actuator 42. and a hardware resource such as a computer that implements information processing by the movement control program.

When changing the moving direction (advancing direction) of the moving body 1, the control means 50 extends the rod 43 of the linear actuator 42 of the lifting device 40 from the retracted state to move the rolling bodies 45 as shown in FIG. 4(a). is pressed against the floor surface F and the front side of the base body 10 is moved upward to lift the front wheels 21L and 21R of the moving body 1 from the floor surface F, as shown in FIG. The motors 23L, 23R of the wheels 22L, 22R are controlled to rotate the left and right rear wheels 22L, 22R in contact with the floor surface F in opposite directions.
In this case, by rotating one rear wheel in the direction of rotation for advancing the moving body 1 and rotating the other rear wheel in the direction of rotation for moving the body 1 backward, the rotation center line 10C of the moving body 1 is rotated. , the left and right rear wheels 22L, 22R and the rolling elements 45 roll on the floor surface F. Therefore, on the floor surface F, the moving body 1 rotates about the rotation center line 10C in the left direction or Rotate smoothly to the right. Therefore, the horizontal orientation of the moving body 1 can be changed smoothly. The rotation center line 10C is a line that extends vertically and is parallel to the central axis of the rod 43, perpendicular to the middle position of the straight line that connects the centers of the left and right rear wheels 22L and 22R.
That is, in this case, as shown in FIG. 4D, the center point 22C of the contact surface of the left rear wheel 22L with the floor surface F and the contact surface of the right rear wheel 22R with the floor surface F The center point 22C and the center point 45C of the contact surface of the rolling element 45 with the floor surface F are configured to be positioned on one circular arc 10R having the rotation center line 10C of the moving body 1 as the center of rotation. , the moving body 1 smoothly rotates leftward or rightward around the rotation center line 10C.
After the horizontal direction of the moving body 1 is changed, the control means 50 retracts the rod 43 of the linear actuator 42 of the lifting device 40 from the extended state, as shown in FIG. The moving direction of the moving body 1 can be changed by moving the front side of the moving body 1 downward to bring the left and right front wheels 21L and 21R of the moving body 1 into contact with the floor surface F.
As described above, the moving direction of the moving body 1 can be changed, and then the moving body 1 can be moved in the changed moving direction.
That is, the moving direction changing means of the moving body 1 is constituted by the lifting device 40 and the control means 50 for controlling the rotating direction of the lifting device 40 and the left and right rear wheels 22L and 22R.

As described above, according to the moving body 1 according to the embodiment, when changing the movement direction, the horizontal orientation can be changed smoothly.
That is, in a state in which the base body 10 is lifted from the floor surface F and the rolling elements 45 are in contact with the floor surface F, the left and right rear wheels 22L and 22R are rotated in mutually opposite directions, thereby rotating the rotation center line 10C as the center. Since the left and right rear wheels 22L, 22R and the rolling elements 45 roll on one circular arc 10R on the floor surface F, the moving body 1 rotates clockwise or counterclockwise around the rotation center line 10C. The moving body 1 rotates smoothly, and the horizontal direction of the moving body 1 can be changed smoothly.
According to the moving body 1 according to the embodiment, even if the moving body 1 is heavy, the horizontal orientation of the moving body 1 can be smoothly changed. Good for the body.
Moreover, since the guide part 46 for moving the expansion-contraction means of the raising/lowering apparatus 40 in the up-down direction along the rotation center line 10C of the moving body 1, maintaining parallel to the rotation center line 10C, the raising/lowering apparatus 40 Since the expansion and contraction means moves accurately in the vertical direction, the rotation center line 10C can be accurately formed, so that the horizontal direction of the moving body 1 can be changed smoothly.

The movement instruction information to the control means 50 for moving the mobile body 1 may be obtained by setting movement instruction information in advance and causing the control means 50 to read the set movement instruction information, or can be transmitted by remote control to the

Further, in each embodiment, the moving body having the configuration in which the rear wheels are used as the driving wheels is exemplified, but a moving body having the configuration in which the front wheels are used as the driving wheels may be used. In this case, the control means extends the rod of the lifting device to press the rolling elements against the floor, and sets the moving body so that the rear wheels of the moving body are lifted from the floor. The orientation of the moving body may be changed by rotating the left and right wheels of the front wheels that are in contact with each other in opposite directions.
That is, in this case, the moving body is configured such that the lifting device is provided on the rear side of the base so that the rear side of the moving body can be moved up and down, and the center point of the contact surface between the left front wheel and the movement object surface, The center point of the contact surface of the right front wheel with the movement target surface and the center point of the contact surface of the rolling body with the movement target surface are the rotation center of the moving body when the horizontal direction of the moving body is changed. It is arranged to lie on one arc centered on the line.

Further, in each embodiment, an example in which the floor surface inside the building is moved is shown as the surface to be moved, but the surface to be moved may be a surface such as a road outside the building or a vacant lot.

Further, as the rolling element 45, for example, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, a rolling element such as a ball ring may be used.

1 moving body, 10 base, 10C rotation center line,
10R one circle centered on the rotation center line, 21L, 21R left and right front wheels,
22L, 22R left and right rear wheels, 23L, 23R motor (driving source),
40 lifting device, 43 rod (elastic means), 44 reinforcing body (elastic means),
45 rolling element, 46 guide part, 50 control means, F floor (surface to be moved).

Claims (3)

A moving body configured to be movable on a movement target surface,
a substrate;
Left and right front wheels provided on the front lower part of the base body;
Left and right rear wheels provided on the rear lower part of the base body;
a drive source for at least one of left and right front wheels and left and right rear wheels;
an elevating device provided on the base for elevating the front side or the rear side of the moving body;
a control means;
The elevating device includes an elastic means that expands and contracts in the vertical direction, and a rolling element that is provided on the tip side of the elastic means and is configured to roll on the surface to be moved,
The control means extends the expansion/contraction means of the lifting device to press the rolling elements against the surface to be moved, and contact the surface to be moved while one of the front wheels and the rear wheels is lifted from the surface to be moved. In a moving body configured to change the horizontal direction of the moving body by rotating the other left and right wheels in opposite directions,
A lifting device is provided on the front side of the base and is configured to be able to lift the front side of the moving body,
The center point of the contact surface of the left rear wheel with the movement object surface, the center point of the contact surface of the right rear wheel with the movement object surface, and the center point of the contact surface of the rolling element with the movement object surface are located on one circular arc around the rotation center line of the moving body when changing the horizontal orientation of the moving body. A moving body configured to be movable on a movement target surface,
a substrate;
Left and right front wheels provided on the front lower part of the base body;
Left and right rear wheels provided on the rear lower part of the base body;
a drive source for at least one of left and right front wheels and left and right rear wheels;
an elevating device provided on the base for elevating the front side or the rear side of the moving body;
a control means;
The elevating device includes an elastic means that expands and contracts in the vertical direction, and a rolling element that is provided on the tip side of the elastic means and is configured to roll on the surface to be moved,
The control means extends the expansion/contraction means of the lifting device to press the rolling elements against the surface to be moved, and contact the surface to be moved while one of the front wheels and the rear wheels is lifted from the surface to be moved. In a moving body configured to change the horizontal direction of the moving body by rotating the other left and right wheels in opposite directions,
A lifting device is provided on the rear side of the base body and is configured to be able to lift and lower the rear side of the moving body,
The center point of the contact surface of the left front wheel with the movement object surface, the center point of the contact surface of the right front wheel with the movement object surface, and the center point of the contact surface of the rolling element with the movement object surface, A moving body configured to be positioned on one circular arc centered on a rotation center line of the moving body when changing a horizontal direction of the moving body. Claim 1 or Claim 2 , further comprising a guide portion for moving the expansion/contraction means of the lifting device in the vertical direction along the rotation center line of the moving body while maintaining parallelism with the rotation center line. The moving body described in .

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