JPH0359704A - Automatic lawn mower - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an automatic lawn mower optimum for a home mower by providing the mower with a main control part for immediately stopping the operation of a wire variable setting means at the time of inputting previous ly determined wire angle information from a wire angle output means. CONSTITUTION:The lawn mower body 2 is equipped with the wire length variable setting means 5 provided with functions for impressing prescribed tensile force to a wire 3 and winding up or delivering the wire 3 is accordance with an output signal obtained from a potentiometer 4 and the main control part 6 for immediately controlling the operation of the means 5 at the time of inputting the previously deterined wire angle information from the potentiometer 4 to be the wire angle output means 5. The body 2 is also equipped a handle operation mechanism 7 to be immediately driven when the means 5 is stopped by the main control part 6 to turn the handle of the body 2 in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic lawn mower, and particularly to an automatic lawn mower suitable for mowing grass within a defined range.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in order to automatically operate this type of automatic lawn mower, etc., as shown in Jitsuma No. 61-17449,
There are lawn mowers that have cables buried under the ground in advance and run automatically along a course set by the cables, and lawn mowers that are equipped with gyro sensors and computers to run autonomously. Ta. In addition, there are vehicles that install radio lighthouses, optical lighthouses, etc. outside, and use these lighthouses as a reference to recognize their own position (i+I) and drive.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above conventional example, it is necessary to bury the device by limiting the travel location in advance, and the cost is high because complex and advanced devices and systems are required. It was inconvenient that I was not suitable for doing so.

[Purpose of the invention]

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic lawn mower that can be easily used at home level by using a simple system without using a complicated and expensive system, and by improving the disadvantages seen in the conventional example. It's about doing.

[Means to solve the problem]

In the present invention, a prop fixed to an arbitrary fixed point, a lawn mower body rotating around the prop with reference to the prop, and a wire stretched between the lawn mower body and the prop,
A wire angle output means is provided for detecting the wire position when the wire rotates as a whole together with the lawn mower body. A variable wire length setting means is provided in the lawn mower body, and has a function of applying a predetermined tension to the wire and winding or unwinding the wire according to an output signal from the wire angle output means; a main control section that drives and controls the setting means and immediately controls the operation of the variable wire setting means to stop when predetermined wire angle information is input from the wire angle output means; The lawn mower is equipped with a handle operation mechanism that immediately operates to turn the handle of the lawn mower body to the left or right when the mower is turned. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned purpose.

[For production]

A support consisting of a vertical rod-like member equipped with a wire angle output means such as a potentiometer at the upper end is installed in the center of the area to be mowed. The lawn mower body is placed at the outermost circumference of the mowing range to set the origin, and the mowing range is set by going around the outermost circumference. During this time, the wire connected to the potentiometer maintains the necessary tension and is taut, so that the position of the lawn mower body is adjusted by the potentiometer on the column and the variable wire length setting means installed in the lawn mower body. The angle and wire length are detected, and data indicating the position is sent one after another to the main control unit. The main controller memorizes the pattern shape of the lawn mower body movement based on the length and angle of the wire, and sets this as the lawn mowing range.

After the mowing range is stored in the main control unit, the main control unit automatically calculates the course that the lawn mower will move, controls the wire length variable setting means as appropriate, and maintains the mowing range within the mowing range. mowing the lawn.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 includes a prop 1 fixed to an arbitrary fixed point, a lawn mower main body 2 that rotates around the prop 1, and a lawn mower main body 2. and a wire 3 stretched between the struts 1, and this wire 3.
A potentiometer 4 is provided as a wire angle output means for detecting the wire position when the lawn mower rotates as a whole together with the lawn mower main body 2.

The lawn mower main body 2 includes a wire length variable setting means 5 having a function of applying a predetermined tension to the wire 3 and winding or unwinding the wire 3 according to an output signal from a potentiometer 4. , is equipped with a main control section 6 that drives and controls the wire length variable setting means 5 and immediately stops the operation of the wire variable setting means 5 when predetermined wire angle information is manually inputted from the potentiometer 4. . Further, this lawn mower main body 2 includes a handle operating mechanism 7 that immediately operates when the variable wire setting means 5 is controlled to stop by the main control unit 6 to operate the handle of the lawn mower main body 2 to turn left or right. is equipped with.

This will be explained in further detail.

The potentiometer 4 is installed at a predetermined height from the ground at the upper end of the support 1. On the other hand, the lawn mower main body 2 is also provided with a support 21 having a predetermined height (see Fig. 2), and a pulley 20 is located at the upper end of the support 21, which is offset from the center of the support 21 and is also placed on a horizontal plane. Equipped to rotate freely. The wire 3 has one end fixed to the potentiometer 4, passes through the inside of the support 21 via a pulley 20 on the support 21 provided in the lawn mower body 2, and enters the inside of the lawn mower main body 2. The other end is connected to the equipped wire length variable setting means 5.

The height of these struts 1.21 must be high enough so that the stretched wire 3 does not get caught in grass or grass when rotating around the strut 2 as the lawn mower main body 2 moves. Must be. Also, connect potentiometer 4 to wire 3.
Although it may be configured to also serve as an information output line for data sent from 6A, in this embodiment, a separate information output line 6A
is arranged along the wire 3, and is connected to the main control section 6 of the lawn mower main body 2.

In this embodiment, the wire length variable setting means 5 controls the wire drum 5A for the wire 3 described above and drives the wire drum 5A in forward and reverse directions. 211, and a slip clutch 5C installed between the pulse motor 5B and the wire drum 5A.

The handle operation mechanism 7 includes a handle drive link mechanism 1
1, a switching arm 12 that transmits a driving force for switching in either a right turn or left turn direction to this handle drive link mechanism 11, a balance mechanism 13 that applies a switching force to this switching arm 12, and a lawn mower. The arm stable locking mechanism section 13 functions when the mower main body 2 moves straight and sets the aforementioned switching arm 12 at an equilibrium position.

Of these, the handle drive link mechanism 11 includes a front wheel drive rod 11A that simultaneously rotates the front wheels 2A and 2B of the lawn mower body 2 in the same direction, and a front wheel drive rod 11A that transfers the operating force of the front wheel drive rod 11A to the front wheels 2A and 2B. It is composed of connecting arms IIE and IIF that transmit the signal.

The switching arm 12 is arranged so as to be substantially orthogonal to the aforementioned front wheel drive rod 11A. Symbol P indicates a pivot point of the switching arm 12. Elongated holes 12a and 12b are formed at one end and the other end of the switching arm 12, respectively. One of the elongated holes 12a is incorporated so as to intersect with the aforementioned front wheel drive rod 11A, so that the driving force for switching is transmitted from the switching arm 12 to the front wheel drive ring 11A side via the drive pin IIP. It has become.

Further, the balance fulcrum of the balance mechanism section 13 described above is connected to the other elongated hole 12b of the switching arm 12 via a pin 13P.

This balance mechanism section 13 is composed of a tension spring 14, a movable pulley section 15, and a fixed pulley section 16. The movable pulley part 15 includes a pulley support arm 15A formed in an inverted T-shape in FIG.
15D and a guide portion 1.5E that guides the movement of the pulley support arm 15A in the directions of arrows A and B in the figure. Further, the fixed pulley section 16 disposed on the same plane as the movable pulley section 15 is composed of two fixed pulleys 16A and 16B, a first and a second fixed pulley.

Of these, the first fixed pulley 16A is equipped so that the wire 3 unwound from the wire drum 5A described above is first wound half a time and then sent to one of the movable pulleys 15C. Further, the second fixed pulley 16B is connected to the two movable pulleys 1
As shown in FIG. 1, it is disposed below the intermediate portion of 5C and 15D. Therefore, the wire 3 is connected to the first fixed pulley 16A, the movable pulley 15C1 and the second fixed pulley 16B.
.

After the movable pulley 15D is wound half a turn in sequence, it is fed out to the outside.

In this case, a suitable tension is constantly applied to the wire 3, and the average thereof is set to approximately the same strength as the tension of the tension spring 14 described above. As shown in the figure, shapes perpendicular to the front wheel drive rod 11A are also arranged horizontally at left and right positions.

The arm stable locking mechanism section 9 is the switching arm 1 described above.
2, the locking reference element 9A is installed at the right end in FIG. 1 and is allowed to move in the directions of arrows C and D. A V groove 9B that accommodates the tip and gently locks it, and this V groove 9
A spring 9C constantly presses the above-mentioned locking reference element 9A toward B with an appropriate pressing force.

Further, the main control section 6 is constituted by a CPU equipped with a memory. The main control unit 6 is configured to input the above-mentioned change in direction of the wire 3 with respect to the support 1 as part of the position information (angle information) of the lawn mower main body 2.

In addition, a wire length measurement sensor 6B that constantly measures the length of the wire 3 between the prop 1 and the lawn mower body 2 and sends the signal to the main control unit 6 is installed on the first fixed pulley 16A described above. has been done. And this wire length measurement sensor 6
The output signal of B is also input to the main control section 6.

The main control section 6 has a calculation storage function that calculates the position of the lawn mower main body 2 based on each output information of the wire length measurement sensor 6B and the potentiometer 4 and stores the position as necessary. In addition, when the main control unit 6 is forcibly guided by an external force around the outer periphery of a rectangular area as shown in FIG. Repeated beat function and
It is provided with a function to drive and control the wire length variable setting means 5 described above so that when it returns to its original position, it immediately moves inside the original position.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

First, the lawn mower main body 2 is guided along a rectangular lawn mowing area one round as shown by a line segment 45 as shown in FIG. In this case, in the lawn mower main body 2.

The main control unit 6 constantly stores changes in the output of the potentiometer 4 and the length of the wire 3.

Next, when the lawn mower main body 2 is set to the self-propelled state, the wire 3 is immediately controlled by the main control unit 6.
is unwound or wound up, and the lawn mower main body 2 moves along the initially guided rectangular shape together with a pre-equipped lawn mowing means (not shown).

Now, assuming that the portion (■) in FIG. 3 is the movement starting point, the wire 3 is wound up by the wire length variable setting means 5 until it reaches the position (■) perpendicular to the movement direction.

Further, the wire 3 is fed out by the variable wire setting means 5 during the period from the part 2 to the position 2. During this time, a constant tension is applied to the wire 3, so that the balance with the tension spring 14 is almost maintained, and the stable locking mechanism section 9 for the arm is connected to the first
The state shown in the figure will be maintained, so the lawn mower body 2
moves steadily in a straight line.

On the other hand, if the arm stable locking mechanism section 9 is not provided, the balance between the wire 3 and the tension spring 14 will not necessarily be constant due to the feeding or winding operation of the wire 3. In such a case, the movable pulley portion 15 moves in the direction of arrows A and B in FIG.
The switching arm 12 for the handle moves in the direction of arrow E.
, rotates like F. This rotation of the switching arm 12 is
The potentiometer 4 immediately detects an abnormality in the wire angle, and controls the main controller to stop winding or unwinding the wire 3, thereby controlling the lawn mower main body 2 to meander and evenly move straight.

Next, let's consider a case where the vehicle is traveling straight and then approaches the position marked (■) in FIG. 3 and turns left. In this case, the turning radius is assumed to be rl and J as shown in FIG.

Now, when the position indicated by ■ in FIG. 4 is recognized as T11 based on the angle information and the wire length information, the main control section 6 immediately controls the wire length variable setting means 5 to stop and fixes the wire length. next,
Considering the case where the lawn mower main body 2 is moved to the position (■) in FIG. 4, during this time the balance mechanism section 13 is unbalanced and the tension spring 14 is stretched. Then, the front wheels gradually turn largely in the direction of the left turn and enter the left turn position, which is actually set to be a little closer to the pillar 1 than the position shown in Figure 4 (3).

In addition, the left turn operation is effective and the mower body 2 is more than necessary.
Let us consider the case where it rotates and reaches the position ■.

In this case, the movable pulley portion 15 is pulled by the tension spring 14 and becomes fully extended. In reality, the steering wheel is turned and the course is corrected before the vehicle deviates to the ■ position.

Thereafter, similar control is repeated, and as a result, the lawn mower main body 2 goes around the initially memorized range relatively smoothly without significant meandering.

Next, when the lawn mower main body 2 reaches the starting position, the main control section shortens the length of the wire 3 by the width of the lawn mower (not shown) or a width somewhat smaller than the width of the lawn mower, Thereafter, overall comparison control with stored data is performed by the main control section in the same manner as described above. Then, each time the third or fourth round is started, the same calculations and operations as when the second round is started are performed, thereby mowing the lawn in the tail area smoothly.

Here, the lawn mower main body 2 is driven forward by a drive means (not shown) (for example, a motor powered by a battery). In addition, the lawn mower main body 2 is similarly equipped with the handle mechanism, brake means, etc. required for a normal self-propelled vehicle.

[Other Examples]

Next, another embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 5 and 6.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, like the previous embodiments, includes a support l made of a vertically disposed rod-like member equipped with a potentiometer 4 at the upper end, and a wire 3 connected to the potentiometer 4. It has a lawn mower main body 2 that is connected to the lawn mower body 2 and moves around the support 1. Also, wire 3
A wire length detection means 30 is provided in the lawn mower body 24 as a wire variable setting means for detecting the length of the wire 3 and always applying a necessary tension to the wire 3. The lawn mower body 24 is equipped with a main control unit 31 that receives the information and calculates the position of the lawn mower body 24. The lawn mower body 24 is equipped with a handle drive means 32 as a handle operation mechanism for operating the handle in response to a command from the main control unit 31, and a mowing AF hyperactive means 33 for moving the lawn mower body 24. ing.

This will be explained in further detail.

The potentiometer 4 is installed at a predetermined height from the ground at the upper end of the support 1. On the other hand, the lawn mower body 24
A column 21 having a predetermined height is also provided, and a pulley 20 is installed at the upper end of the column so as to be offset from the center of the column 21 and rotatable on a horizontal plane. Then, fix one end of the potentiometer 4 to the lawn mower main body 24.
The other end of the wire passes through the inside of the support 21 via a pulley 20 on the support 21 provided in the lawn mower body 24, and is connected to a wire drum 42, which is a wire length detection means 30 installed inside the lawn mower main body 24. ing. The height of these columns 2.21 is
The height must be at least high enough to prevent the stretched wire 3 from getting caught in grass, grass, etc. when it rotates around the support 2 as the lawn mower main body 24 moves. In addition, the wire 3 may also serve as a communication line for data sent from the potentiometer 4, or a separate communication line may be run along the wire 3 and connected to the main control section 31 of the lawn mower body 24.

The wire drum 42, which constitutes the main part of the wire length detection means 30, is equipped with a spring mechanism using, for example, a spiral spring-like thinly wound spring, and is configured to always apply a rotational force in the direction of winding the wire 3. Therefore, if the wire 3 becomes loose, it is wound up to constantly apply tension to the wire 3 so that the correct length of the wire 3 can be obtained.

At the same time, the wire drum 42 detects the length of the wire 3 based on its rotational speed, and sequentially transmits the data to the main control section 31. Further, the angle data measured by the potentiometer 4 is sent to the main control unit 31 in the form of a voltage from the potentiometer 4 as an angle θ with respect to the previously set origin Q.
The data is sent to the main control unit 31 together with the sent wire 3 data and stored as position data of the lawn mower main body 24.

The main control unit 31 detects the position of the lawn mower main body 24, calculates the course of the lawn mower main body 24 on the spot, and based on this, drives and controls the handle drive means 32 to operate the handle, and at the same time The lawn mower moving means 33 is drive-controlled to guide the lawn mower body 24 to the calculated course. Here, a pulse motor is used as the lawn mower moving means 33, and the rear wheels 2C, 2D are driven while calculating the moving distance of the lawn mower main body 24 based on the number of pulses. Further, a stepping motor is used as the handle drive means 32 to drive and control the angles of the front wheels 2A and 2B.

A battery 49 is mounted on the lawn mower body 24 as a power source for operating the main control section 31 and the lawn mower moving means for moving the lawn mower body 24 through the handle drive means 32°.

The lawn mowing blade may be driven using this battery 49, but it may also be driven by a separate engine.

Next, the operation will be explained based on FIG.

First, a support 1 made of a rod-shaped member equipped with a potentiometer 4 at its tip is installed in the center of the area to be mowed. The lawn mower main body 24 is arranged at the outermost periphery 45 of the mowing range, an origin Q is set, and the wire 3 is tensioned. The lawn is manually mowed once along this outermost circumference 45, thereby setting the mowing range. During this time, the wire 3 coupled to the potentiometer 4 maintains the necessary tension due to the rotational force of the wire drum 42 mounted on the lawn mower body 24, so that the lawn mower body 24 If you get close to it, wire 3 will be wound up, if you move away from it, wire 3 will be wound up.
The distance between the prop 1 and the lawn mower main body 24 can be obtained from the number of rotations of the wire drum 42, which is the wire length detection means 30. The angle θ formed by the straight line 47 connecting the lawn mower body 24 and the pillar 1 with respect to the straight line 46 connecting the set origin Q and the pillar 1 is determined by the potentiometer 4 installed at the upper end of the pillar 1. It is measured and output in the form of voltage. The position of the lawn mower main body 24 is detected from the angle and wire length thus obtained, and data indicating the position is successively sent to the main control section 31.

The main control unit 31 stores the pattern shape of the movement of the lawn mower main body 24 based on the length and angle of the wire 3, and defines the inside thereof as the lawn mowing range.

After storing the mowing range in the main control unit 31 in the above manner, from the second round onwards, the main control unit 31 controls the mowing range by the width that the lawn mower body 24 mows each time it makes a revolution. A moving course is automatically set so as to pass inside the lawnmower, a command is given to the stepping motor of the handle drive means 32 to rotate the handle by a required angle, and a command is given to the pulse motor of the lawn mower moving means 33. The lawn mower main body 24 is moved by the distance calculated based on the given amount. In this way, the lawn mowing is automatically performed by moving throughout the lawn mowing range.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, a column equipped with a potentiometer at the tip and a lawn mower body are connected by a wire, and the position of the lawn mower body that moves arbitrarily around the column is determined by the length of the wire. A main control unit that detects angles relative to a preset origin is mounted on the lawn mower body.

Then, in order to set the lawn mowing range, the outer circumference is manually circled once, and that data is automatically input to the main control unit, which controls the lawn to be automatically mowed everywhere within the lawn. are doing. For this reason, it is possible to automatically mow the lawn within a set mowing range using a very simple device, and by automatically operating the wire, it is possible to automatically go straight, turn left, or turn right. We can provide the best automatic lawn mower for you.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, Figs. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing the usage state of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a left-hand turn of the lawn mower body shown in Fig. 1. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing the second embodiment, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of FIG. 5. l... Strut, 2.24... Lawn mower body, 4... Potentiometer as wire angle detection means, 5... Wire length variable setting means. ,6
, 31... Main control unit, 7... Handle operation mechanism, 30... Wire length detection means, 32...
...Handle drive means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A support that is fixed to an arbitrary fixed point, a lawn mower body that rotates around the support with reference to the support, and a wire that is stretched between the lawn mower body and the support;
wire angle output means for detecting a wire position when the wire rotates as a whole together with the lawn mower body; a wire length variable setting means having a function of winding or unwinding the wire in accordance with an output signal from the angle output means; and driving and controlling the wire length variable setting means, and transmitting predetermined wire angle information to the wire. a main controller that immediately controls the operation of the wire variable setting means to stop when input from the angle output means; and a main control section that immediately operates when the wire variable setting means is controlled to stop so as to turn the handle of the lawn mower body to the left or An automatic lawn mower characterized by being equipped with a handle operation mechanism for turning right.