JPH0115434B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a self-propelled small carrier used mainly for small transportation at construction sites, for example, for transportation of small machines, tools, materials, etc. necessary for work.

Conventionally, small-scale transportation at construction sites has relied mainly on manual labor using cat carts, etc., which has had the problem of extremely low productivity. In particular, at construction sites, there are stairs, and even when the floor of the building is finished, various materials and waste materials are scattered around and must be transported on rough terrain, making it very inefficient.

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a self-propelled small transport vehicle that can efficiently carry out small transport at construction sites etc. with almost no human power required. Its unique feature is that it is equipped with a drive system that allows it to run on its own, and it is also able to maintain its level even on uneven or uneven terrain.

Hereinafter, the content of the present invention will be explained based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the overall structure of a conveyance vehicle according to an embodiment, and numeral 1 in the figures indicates a frame. As shown in FIG. 1, this frame 1 forms a gate shape when viewed from the front, and has legs extending to the left and right. At the lower ends of these left and right legs, as shown in the side view in FIG. 2, there are three wheels 2 each extending in the front-rear direction (in the left-right direction in FIG. 2).
is attached so that the frame 1 can run in the front-rear direction, that is, in the direction penetrating the inner space of the gate-shaped frame 1.

As shown in Fig. 3, the wheel 2 has a soft rubber tire (or just a tube) 2a wrapped in a protective metal mesh 2b, which can absorb unevenness on the running surface. Each group is connected by a chain 3, and each group is independently driven forward or backward by a drive device 4 such as an engine or a motor.

Moreover, between each wheel 2 and the frame 1,
Cylinder 5 for adjusting the height of each wheel 2
On the other hand, the frame 1 is provided with a gyroscope-type tilt detector 6 that detects the degree of tilt when the frame 1 is tilted, and a control device (not shown) operates based on the tilt signal generated by the detector 6. The operation of the cylinder 5 is controlled by the action,
The frame 1 is kept horizontal at all times. That is, in this case, the detector 6, the cylinder 5, and the control device constitute an attitude control device.

A suspension device 7 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the frame 1, which is kept horizontally as described above, and a suspension hook 8 is suspended from the lower part of the suspension device 7. This hanging hook 8 is configured to be vertically movable by a hanging device 7.

Further, within the inner space of the frame 1, a loading platform 9 is formed with a width slightly narrower than the width between the legs.
are arranged extending substantially horizontally. Hanging wires are attached to the four corners of this loading platform 9, and by hooking these hanging wires onto the hanging hooks 8, the loading platform 9 is removably suspended within the inner space of the frame 1. It is located in That is, in this case, a suspension mechanism is constituted by the suspension device 7, the suspension hook 8, and the suspension wire.

Next, a case will be described in which materials are actually transported by the transport vehicle having the above configuration.

In that case, the loading platform 9 is first removed from the hook 8 and placed on a predetermined floor surface, and then the material 10 is placed on the loading platform 9. Next, the transport vehicle body (here, the part where the loading platform 9 is separated from the transport vehicle is called that).
, and position it on the loading platform 9 by straddling the loading platform 9 with the left and right wheels 2. Furthermore, the hanging hook 8 of the hanging device 7 is moved down, and the hanging wire of the loading platform 9 is hooked onto this hanging hook 8. Then, the loading platform 9 is lifted by moving the lifting hook 8 of the lifting device 7 upward, and the upward movement of the lifting hook 8 is stopped at an appropriate height and held in that state. Thereby, the loading platform 9 is disposed in a suspended state within the inner space of the frame 1 of the transport vehicle.

Then, the conveyance vehicle is moved toward the target location in this state. The direction of travel is controlled as follows.

(b) When moving straight forward and backward: Rotate the left and right wheels 2 at the same speed and in the same direction.

(b) When rotating to the left or right: Change the speed of the left and right wheels 2. In other words, when turning to the left, the right wheel 2 is lower than the left wheel 2.
If you want to rotate quickly and turn to the right, do the opposite.

(c) When making a sudden turn: In (b), stop the rotation of the wheel 2 on the side to be slowed down, and only rotate the other wheel 2.

In this case, the conveyance vehicle turns around the stopped wheels 2.

(iv) When making an even sharper turn: Reverse the rotation direction of the left and right wheels 2. The carrier then rotates around its own center in a fixed position. Therefore, it becomes very flexible.

The above traveling method is similar to that of a so-called crawler type traveling device.

Then, while performing the operations described above, the vehicle is driven toward the target location, but at that time,
When the floor surface is uneven, the wheels 2 with the above-mentioned structure absorb the unevenness, and when the carrier itself tilts, the cylinder 5 of the posture control device operates to keep the frame 1, that is, the loading platform 9 in a horizontal state. Keep it. Therefore, stable running is achieved.

Furthermore, when running on stairs, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, each cylinder 5 expands and contracts according to the respective steps, and the wheels 2 deform according to the corners to maintain the overall balance. It is done while

After traveling in this manner and reaching the target location, the hook 8 of the lifting device 7 is lowered to lower the loading platform 9 and the conveyance is completed.

As described above, according to the transport vehicle having the above configuration, transport work can be carried out efficiently even on uneven ground or at construction sites with stairs, without relying on human labor. Moreover, since the loading platform 9 is removably suspended in the inner space of the frame 1 via the lifting device 7, the hanging hook 8, and the hanging wire, the loading platform 9 is suspended from the frame 1 when loading and unloading materials 10, etc. By removing it from the loading platform 9
The process of loading and unloading the materials 10 and the like onto the carrier becomes very easy, and the loading platform 9 can be lifted and unloaded without relying on human hands, thereby further promoting the efficiency of the above-mentioned conveyance work. Furthermore,
Since the frame 1 is formed into a gate shape and the width of the loading platform 9 is slightly narrower than the width of the inner space of the frame 1, the overall length is longer than the depth of the frame 1 (i.e., the transport vehicle). Even a longitudinal member such as a reinforcing bar can be transported by mounting it with its front and rear ends protruding from the loading platform 9.

The carrier with the above configuration is equipped with all the elements necessary for self-propulsion, such as a fuel tank and battery for the drive device 4, a hydraulic oil reservoir for the cylinder 5, and a battery for the control device. Of course there are. In that case, it is also possible to make the inside of the frame 1 itself hollow and use it, for example, as the fuel tank or oil reservoir. By doing so, the strength of the frame 1 itself can be increased.

Also, although not specifically mentioned in the above explanation,
As a method of giving operation commands to the conveyance vehicle, a worker can be near the conveyance vehicle and guide it directly or by remote control, or, as shown in the figure, a monitor camera 11 and a transmitting/receiving device 12 can be installed and a monitor TV can be given at a remote location. Various methods can be adopted, such as a method in which the vehicle is operated while looking at the vehicle, or a method in which the vehicle is equipped with a device to confirm its own position and the vehicle is driven back and forth along a predetermined route.

Further, in the above embodiment, a total of six wheels 2 are provided in order to stabilize the posture, but of course the number is not limited to this.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, all the wheels 2 are aligned in one direction, and the same method as in the case of a crawler type traveling device is adopted as the turning direction, but turning wheels are simply provided as in a four-wheeled vehicle. Of course, it is also possible to adopt a method in which the shaft is rotated.

As described above in detail, the present invention includes a portal frame, wheels provided at the lower ends of the left and right legs, a wheel drive device, a mechanism for adjusting the height of each wheel, and a frame inclination detection system. a control device that maintains the frame horizontally by operating a mechanism for adjusting the height of the wheel in response to a signal transmitted from the detector; Since it consists of a loading platform and a suspension mechanism that removably suspends the loading platform within the inner space of the frame, transportation work can be carried out efficiently even on construction sites with uneven terrain or stairs, without having to rely on obtaining equipment. Moreover, since the loading platform is removably suspended within the inner space of the frame via a suspension mechanism, it is easy to load and unload materials onto the loading platform, and the loading platform can also be lifted and unloaded manually. It is possible to further improve the efficiency of the above-mentioned transport work. Furthermore, the frame is formed into a gate shape,
In addition, since the loading platform is formed in a shape that can be stored within the inner space of the frame, even if the elongated member has a longer overall length than the depth of the frame, it will not extend in the direction penetrating the inner space of the frame. It can be easily transported by mounting it on a loading platform. In addition, since the transport vehicle can be run with the loading platform stored in the inner space of the frame,
The load is protected.

Further, since the conveyance vehicle of the present invention can be easily driven by remote control, etc., it greatly contributes to the use of robots in construction work.

It goes without saying that the conveyance vehicle of the present invention can be widely applied not only to construction sites.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the invention.
The figure is a front view showing the overall configuration of the carrier, Figure 2 is a side view of the same, Figure 3 is a diagram of the wheels of the carrier, and Figure 4 is a diagram of the wheels of the carrier.
Figures 5 and 5 show the transport vehicle running on stairs, Figure 4 is a side view, and Figure 5 is a perspective view as seen diagonally from above. 1...Gate-shaped frame, 2...Wheels, 2a...
Rubber tire, 2b...Metal mesh, 3...Chain, 4...Drive device, 5...Cylinder (wheel height adjustment mechanism), 6...Gyroscope tilt detector,
7... Hanging device, 8... Hanging hook, 9... Loading platform, 11... Monitor camera, 12... Transmitter/receiver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A gate-shaped frame with legs arranged on the left and right sides, a plurality of wheels provided front and rear at the lower ends of the left and right legs of this portal frame, respectively, and capable of driving the portal frame at least in the front-rear direction, and these wheels. a driving device, a wheel height adjustment mechanism capable of adjusting the height of each of the wheels, a tilt detector that detects the degree of tilt when the portal frame tilts, and a signal emitted by the tilt detector. a control device that operates the wheel height adjustment mechanism based on the above to maintain the portal frame horizontally; a cargo platform formed in a shape that can be stored in the inner space of the portal frame; A self-propelled small carrier used at construction sites, etc., characterized by comprising a suspension mechanism that is detachably suspended within the inner space of a frame.