JPH0342332Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field The present invention relates to an inclination detection device for detecting an inclination state of a vehicle body or the like in a work vehicle.

PRIOR TECHNOLOGY In general, work vehicles such as tractors are often used on sites with severe ups and downs. The robot is made to perform posture control, etc.

In this case, especially for small tractors, etc., it is important not only to move forward and backward or left and right, but also to move forward and backward.
It is now necessary to detect the state of inclination of the vehicle body in all directions, left, right, and diagonally.

Conventionally, inclination detection devices for detecting the inclination state of such work vehicles in all directions have used a pendulum that can swing freely in all directions, with a disc-shaped beam suspended horizontally by a thread. When the vehicle body is tilted, a light sensor installed on the fixed side detects the tilt state of the vehicle body beyond a certain level by detecting the movement of the pendulum when the vehicle body tilts. has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1986-
(Refer to Publication No. 85311).

In such conventional tilt detection devices, it is undeniable that the thread that serves as the weight of the pendulum and that hangs the light plate gets twisted, causing the light plate to rotate. In order to avoid this, it is made into a perfect circular plate shape, and it is necessary to detect that the vehicle body is tilted only at a uniformly set angle in all directions, front and rear, left and right, and diagonally. .

However, depending on various factors such as the position of the center of gravity of the vehicle and whether it has four wheels or three wheels, each work vehicle has different tilting characteristics in the front, rear, left, right, or diagonal directions. Therefore, there are cases where it is desired to independently set the vehicle body inclination detection angle in each direction according to the inclination characteristics in each direction.

Purpose This invention was made in consideration of the above points.
When detecting the inclination of the vehicle body using a pendulum that can swing freely in all directions (front and rear, left and right, and diagonally) and sensor means such as optical sensors, the pendulum itself is suspended so that it does not rotate in any way. By regulating the direction of the pendulum, which is lowered and oscillating in all directions, to be always constant, the tilt detection angle is set independently according to the tilting characteristics of the vehicle body in each direction. An object of the present invention is to provide an inclination detection device capable of detecting the inclination state of each.

In particular, in the inclination detection device according to the present invention, when the pendulum is suspended so that it can swing freely in all directions without rotating itself or others, the swing locus of the pendulum in all directions is approximately the same spherical surface. It is characterized by the fact that it takes measures.

Composition In order to achieve its purpose, the present invention includes a pendulum means in which a bowl-shaped body is suspended horizontally by a rod so that it can swing freely in all directions, and a pendulum means that has an inclination angle of at least a predetermined angle in each direction of the bowl-shaped body. By bending the tip of the rod into a hook shape and hooking it to a hook holder attached to the fixed side, the bowl-shaped body is suspended so as to be able to swing freely in all directions. The curvature of the bowl-shaped body is changed depending on the direction so that the swing locus of the bowl-shaped body in each direction draws approximately the same spherical surface.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in Fig. 1, the inclination detection device according to the present invention consists of a bowl-shaped body 1 and a rod 2 which form part of a grain body made of a conductive non-magnetic material such as aluminum or copper. A pendulum is suspended from the frame 3 side so that it can swing freely in all directions, and a gap g is attached to the bottom surface of the bowl-shaped body 1.
Four permanent magnets 5, 6, 7, and 8 (see FIG. 2) are respectively provided through the magnets.

As shown in FIG. They are attached to each of the tangentially inclined surfaces that are curved according to the shape of the bowl-shaped body 1. Also permanent magnets 5 and 6 and permanent magnets 7 and 8
are attached to the bowl-shaped body 1 so as to have opposite polarities.

The frame 3 is mounted on the base 12 with the magnet mounting plate 9 interposed therebetween using screws 13. A stopper 10 made of synthetic resin or rubber that locks the end of the bowl-shaped body 1 when it is swung to its maximum extent is attached to the frame 3 by heat caulking or the like.

In the present invention, when attaching the pendulum to the frame 3 side, the tip of the rod 2 is bent into a circular hook shape to form a hook part 2', as shown in Fig. 3a and b. By attaching the receiver 4 by soldering or the like, and hooking the hook portion 2' of the rod 2 to the hook receiver 4,
The bowl-shaped body 1 is suspended so that it can swing freely in all directions so that it does not rotate.
In the figure, 15 indicates a solder part.

In addition, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, a light reflection pattern P having a shape as shown in FIG. A reflection-type optical sensor 16 is arranged so that light hits the center ○ of the pattern P when the base 12 is horizontal.

As shown in FIG. 5, the light reflection pattern P is determined according to the tilting characteristics in each direction corresponding to the center of gravity G of the four-wheeled vehicle body 20, and detects the forward tilt (in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure). The center of gravity G position of the vehicle body 20 and the left,
The angle α between the line connecting the right front wheel positions a and b,
Similarly, the center of gravity G position and left and right rear wheel positions c,
It is formed by drawing circles with radii A, B, and C concentrically about the center ○ and having an arc angle according to the angle β between the lines connecting the lines d and d. Further, the light reflection pattern P is provided on the bottom of the bowl-shaped body 1 so as to correspond to the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle body 20. The arc angles α and β in the light reflection pattern P are
The boundary between tilting in the forward diagonal direction or backward diagonal direction and tilting in the lateral direction is determined.

On the other hand, near this boundary, θα←→θc or θβ
Since the switching of ←→θc is large, a pattern may be formed as shown by the dotted line in the figure to make the switching a little gentler.

The optical sensor unit 17 provided with the optical sensor 16 and the printed circuit board 18 disposed below the optical sensor unit 17 are integrally attached to the magnet mounting plate 9 by screws 19. Also, printed circuit board 1
8 is formed with an electric circuit that detects the tilted state of the base 12 according to the output state of the optical sensor 16. In FIG. 1, 21 indicates an outer box, and 22 indicates a packing.

However, in the lever configured in this way, since the bowl-shaped body 1 has a hanging pendulum structure so that it can swing freely in all directions, it is necessary to mount it on a vehicle and tilt the vehicle body 20. When detecting, the vehicle body 20
The bowl-shaped body 1 vibrates depending on the inclination state in all directions, front and back, left and right, and diagonally. At that time, when the vehicle body 20 tilts in a certain direction beyond a preset tilt detection angle, the circular light reflection pattern P on the bowl-shaped body 1 is removed from the optical sensor 16, and the light emitted from the light emitting element is Since the light is not reflected and is no longer received by the light receiving element, a state of inclination of the vehicle body 20 exceeding a certain level is detected.

In that case, since the light reflection pattern P is formed on the bowl-shaped body 1 with directionality, if the bowl-shaped body 1 itself rotates, an error may occur in detecting the tilt of the vehicle body 20, which has directionality. However, in the present invention, the hook portion 2' of the rod 2 made of a round bar is
Since the hook receivers 4 are curved and engaged with each other with curvatures corresponding to the respective shaft diameters, the bowl-shaped body 1 can be suspended without rotating. . Therefore, it becomes possible to accurately detect the state of inclination of the vehicle body 20 of a certain level or more in each direction according to the light reflection pattern P.

The shape and size of the light reflection pattern P are determined according to the tilting characteristics depending on the position of the center of gravity G of the vehicle body 20 and the position of its wheels. This can be easily achieved by simply changing P.

Note that instead of using the light-reflecting type optical sensor 16 and the light-reflecting pattern P, an optical sensor may be used in which a hole with the same pattern is made in the bowl-shaped body 1 and light from a light-emitting element can be received by a light-receiving element through the hole. It goes without saying that the vehicle body may be tilted by detecting the state of inclination of the vehicle body when the light is interrupted by the swinging of the bowl-shaped body 1.

Additionally, four permanent magnets 5 are placed on the bottom surface of the bowl-shaped body 1.
Since the magnetic damper structure is such that the permanent magnets 6, 7, and 8 are respectively provided at an angle in the tangential direction of the bowl-shaped body 1, the magnetic damper structure is different from the case where the permanent magnets 5, 6, 7, and 8 are simply provided horizontally. As a result, the magnetic flux is sufficiently spread between each magnet, and a relatively large eddy current is generated in the bowl-shaped body 1. As a result, a sufficient magnetic braking force acts on the bowl-shaped body 1 in all directions. This prevents vehicle running vibrations, engine vibrations, and the like from being applied as disturbances to the bowl-shaped body 1 and causing it to vibrate slightly, and the damping action of the pendulum in all directions is effectively achieved.

It goes without saying that electromagnets may be used instead of the permanent magnets. Although four magnets are used in this embodiment, two may be used, and the larger the number of magnets, the stronger the magnetic braking force acting on the pendulum.

In the inclination detection device according to the present invention, the bowl-shaped body 1 is suspended by hooking the hook portion 2' formed at the tip of the rod 2 to the hook receiver 4 provided on the frame 3 side. Therefore, Figure 3a
As shown in Figure b, when the bowl-shaped body 1 swings in the X direction, the center of swing is at the ○ position, and as shown in Figure b, when the bowl-shaped body 1 swings in the Y direction, the center of swing is at the ○ position. ' position, and as a result, the center of swing of the bowl-shaped body 1 in the X direction and the Y direction is shifted, and the swing locus in each direction of the bowl-shaped body 1, which forms part of the spherical shell of a perfect round sphere, is different. .

Therefore, especially in the present invention, by changing the curvature of the bowl-shaped body 1 in the X direction and the Y direction according to its swing direction, the swing locus of the bowl-shaped body 1 in each direction draws approximately the same spherical surface. ing.

That is, when the bowl-shaped body 1 is viewed from the front as shown in FIG. As shown in Figure 3b, when the bowl-shaped body 1 is viewed from the side, the bowl-shaped body 1 should be shaped so that the center of curvature of the bowl-shaped body 1 is at the ○' position, which is the center of swing of the bowl-shaped body 1 in the Y direction. 1 is curved into an elliptical shape (see Fig. 2).

Therefore, if the bowl-shaped body 1 is formed in this way,
A bowl-shaped body 1 whose rocking centers ○ and ○' in the X direction and Y direction correspond to the respective directions.
This means that the center of curvature of the bowl-shaped body 1 coincides with the center of curvature of the bowl-shaped body 1 in each direction, so that the swing locus of the bowl-shaped body 1 in each direction can be made to draw approximately the same spherical surface.

Therefore, regardless of the swinging of the bowl-shaped body 1, each permanent magnet 5
The magnetic braking force acting on the bowl-shaped body 1 can also be maintained almost uniformly by keeping the size of each gap g between the bowl-shaped body 1 and the bowl-shaped body 1 substantially constant.

Furthermore, since it is possible to almost eliminate fluctuations in the distance between the light reflection pattern P and the optical sensor 16,
Detection accuracy can be maintained well.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the side cross-sectional shape of the bowl-shaped body 1 is such that the curvature of both ends thereof is larger than that of the other parts. In this case, the cross-sectional shape of the bowl-shaped body 1 is an arc with a constant curvature.

Figure 7 shows a specific circuit configuration example of a vehicle body tilt state detection system using an optical sensor. When the output of the comparator CMP becomes a low level and the alarm ALM does not operate at all, and the light emitted from the LED is cut off as described above and is no longer received by the phototransistors P and Tr, the output of the comparator CMP becomes low. When the output reaches a high level, the alarm ALM is activated, which notifies you that the vehicle has tilted beyond a certain level. In the figure, REG is a three-terminal regulator. Especially in this case, on the comparison input side of the comparator CMP,
An RC delay circuit DLY is installed, and even if the bowl-shaped body momentarily swings greatly due to acceleration when the vehicle starts, stops, or accelerates/decelerates, a warning will be generated due to the temporary light interruption. This prevents the device ALM from operating.

Effects As described above, regarding the inclination detection device according to the present invention,
A detection pattern formed according to the tilting characteristics of the vehicle body in each direction is provided on a bowl-shaped body suspended via a rod so that it can swing freely in all directions, and using the detection pattern, the sensor detects the tilting characteristics of the vehicle body in each direction. When detecting a swing that exceeds a predetermined inclination angle, a pendulum consisting of a rod and a bowl-shaped body is suspended by a hook so that it can swing freely in all directions so that it does not rotate. The curvature of the bowl-shaped body is changed depending on the direction in order to eliminate deviations in the rocking locus due to the direction of the bowl-shaped body that occur due to the use of the hook means, so that the vehicle body is not tilted more than a certain level in each direction. It has the excellent advantage of being able to detect the state directionally and with high precision.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an embodiment of the inclination detection device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing how four magnets are arranged on a bowl-shaped body in the same embodiment.
Figures 3a and b are front and side views of the pendulum part in the same embodiment, Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the light reflection pattern, and Figure 5 is a diagram of the vehicle body according to the light reflection pattern shown in Figure 4. 6 is a side sectional view of a pendulum portion in another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a wiring diagram showing a specific circuit configuration example of a vehicle body tilt state detection system using an optical sensor. . 1... Bowl-shaped body, 2... Rod, 2'... Hook portion, 3... Frame, 4... Hook holder, 5, 6,
7, 8... Permanent magnet, 20... Vehicle body, 16... Light sensor, P... Light reflection pattern.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A pendulum means in which a bowl-shaped body is suspended horizontally by a rod so that it can swing freely in all directions, and a sensor means for detecting a swing state of the bowl-shaped body at an inclination angle set for each direction or more. By bending the tip of the rod into a hook shape and hooking it to the hook holder attached to the fixed side, the bowl-shaped body is suspended so that it can swing freely in all directions, and the swing trajectory of the bowl-shaped body in each direction can be adjusted. 1. A tilt detection device characterized in that the curvature of the bowl-shaped body is changed according to the direction so that the bowl-shaped bodies draw approximately the same spherical surface.