JPH0438627B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a crawler vehicle, and more particularly to a crawler vehicle whose crawler shape can be changed.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, various mobile robots that can ascend and descend stairs and overcome obstacles have been proposed. This type of mobile robot is equipped with crawlers on both sides of the vehicle body, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-155171, for example.
By vertically adjusting the upper wheels that mesh with the inside of the crawler, the shape of the crawler is partially changed so that it can climb over protrusions on the road surface.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned prior art, when the road surface changes in shape in a lateral direction with respect to the direction of travel, the entire vehicle body tilts. For this reason, when a means for photographing the environment in front of the vehicle is installed on the vehicle body, the image produced by the photographing means is tilted, which is troublesome to process. Additionally, depending on the situation, there is a danger that the vehicle body may fall sideways.

[Means to solve the problem]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a crawler vehicle that can hold the vehicle body horizontally regardless of the unevenness of the road surface.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose is to provide a main wheel and a subwheel, a planetary wheel wrapped around a crawler belt together with the main wheel, and a movement support means for the planetary wheel, that is, a swing arm that is pivotally supported via a crank, on both sides of the vehicle body. , in a crawler traveling vehicle in which the shape of the crawler belt can be changed by moving the position of the planetary wheels, a driving means for independently rotating each of the swing arms and positioning them at an arbitrary angle is provided in the swing arm; This is achieved by providing

[Effect]

When the road surface changes in the width direction, the driving means independently rotates the swing arms to control the shapes of the crawlers of the left and right crawler devices. This allows the vehicle body to be maintained horizontally in response to changes in the road surface in the width direction.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the crawler vehicle of the present invention includes a rotating arm 1 on the side surface of a vehicle body 7, and a planetary wheel 3 is provided at the tip of the rotating arm 1 via a crank 2 serving as a second arm. Wheel 3 and body 7
It is constructed by wrapping a crawler 4 around a main wheel 5 and a subwheel 6 on the side, and by rotating the swing arm 1, the position of the planetary wheel 3 can be changed and the shape of the crawler 4 can be changed. The swing arm 1 and the crank 2 constitute means for supporting movement of the planetary wheels. By changing the shape of the crawler 4, it is possible to run over obstacles and stairs. It is also possible to hold the vehicle horizontally when running on stairs, or to raise the vehicle.

The detailed configuration of the crawler vehicle described above is explained in the second section.
As shown in the figure. Referring to FIG. 2, an explanation will be given of an inter-axle distance adjusting means that automatically adjusts the inter-axle distance between the rotation axis of the swing arm and the rotation axis of the planetary ring as the planetary ring moves. On both sides of the vehicle body 7, the pivoting hollow shaft 8 of the pivot arm 1 is supported on the vehicle body 7 by bearings 9. A gear 10 is attached to the shaft end. Gears 11 and 12 are meshed with the gear 10. Gear 11 meshes with gear 13.
The gear 13 meshes with a gear 14 coaxially with the gear 10. One of the shafts 15 of this gear 14 passes through the pivoting hollow shaft 8 of the pivoting arm 1 . Moreover, the other side is supported by the vehicle body 7. A sprocket 16 is attached to this shaft 15. This rotational movement of the sprocket 16 is controlled by a chain 17 passing through the swing arm 1.
The crank 2 is transmitted to the tip of the crank 2 and supported by the planetary ring 3.
Turn the sprocket 19 fixed to the shaft 18. A drive motor 20 is connected to each of the gears 12 described above. 21 is a drive motor connected to the main drive wheel 5, and 22 is a suspension means.

As shown in FIG. 2, the swing arm 1 is located outside the main wheels 5 and auxiliary wheels 6 with respect to the vehicle body 7, and rotates around the swing hollow shaft 8 without contacting the main wheels 5 and auxiliary wheels 6. Can rotate all around.
The planet wheels 3 are rotatably supported from the outside by a crank 2 attached to the tip of the swing arm 1, and a support structure for the planet wheels 3 is provided outside the area surrounded by the crawler belt 4. Since there is arm 1 and crank 2, main wheel 5 or subwheel 6
Rotating arm 1 to prevent contact between the
and the dimensions of the crank 2 as shown in FIG.

In other words, the sum of the distance between the two axes provided on the swing arm 1 and the distance between the two axes provided on the crank 2 is:
The distance from the center of the rotation axis of the swing arm 1 to the center of the rotation axis of the main wheel plus the maximum radius of the main wheel and the maximum radius of the planetary wheel, and from the center of the rotation axis of the swing arm 1 to the center of the rotation axis of the subwheel. If the distance is greater than the sum of the maximum radius of the secondary wheel and the maximum radius of the planetary wheel, the planetary wheel 3 will come into contact with the main wheel 5 or the secondary wheel 6 as the swing arm 1 rotates. You can overcome this and move all the way around.

When the planetary ring 3 moves, the crawler belt 4
The position of the planet wheel 3 is restricted by the crawler belt 4, and the rotating hollow shaft 8
The distance between the wheels and the planetary wheels 3 changes depending on the position of the swing arm 1. As shown in Figure 2, when the three wheels are aligned in a straight line, the distance between the wheels is long, and when the wheels are rotated 90 degrees, the distance between the wheels is long. The distance must be shortened. An inter-axle distance adjusting means for automatically adjusting this inter-axle distance is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 147627/1983. This is shown below.

When the swing arm 1 rotates from the position shown in FIG. 2, the swing hollow shaft 8, gear 10, gear 11, gear 1
The rotation is transmitted in the order of 3 and the gear 14, and as a result, the gear 14 rotates in the opposite direction to the rotating arm 1. Therefore, sprockets 16, 19 and chain 1
7. The crank 2 driven by the gear 14 via the shaft 18 also rotates in the opposite direction to the swing arm 1. Now, when the three axles are arranged in a straight line, and the crank 2 is assumed to be in a position that increases the distance between the axes as shown in FIG. and the eccentric distance of the crank 2 is added to the distance between the swivel arm 1 and the shaft 18, and when the swivel arm 1 is rotated 90 degrees from the state shown in Fig. 2, the relative angle between the swivel arm 1 and the crank 2 is 180 degrees. , rotating hollow shaft 8 and planetary wheel 3
The distance between the shafts is equal to the distance between the rotating hollow shaft 8 of the rotating arm 1 and the shaft 18 minus the eccentric distance of the crank 2, so that the distance between the shafts is shortened.

Now, the distance between the axes of rotating arm 1 is R, and crank 2 is
The eccentric distance of is r, the pivoting hollow shaft 8 is taken as the origin, and the axis passing through the main wheel 5 or the subwheel 6 is the x-axis,
If the axis perpendicular to this is taken as the y-axis, the coordinates of the planetary ring 3 will be as follows from the rotation angle α of the swing arm 1.

x=R _cps 〓+r _cps 〓 y=R _sio 〓−r _sio 〓 From this, x ² /(R+r) ² +y ² /(R−r) ² =1 The above equation is an ellipse equation. As is well known, the sum of the lengths of the two line segments connecting the two foci of an ellipse and a point on the ellipse is constant. Now, place the main and secondary wheels at the focal point of this ellipse, and
If the length of is the sum of the lengths of the above two line segments plus the length of the outer circumference of the wheel, then due to the action of the interlocking mechanism described above, the planetary wheel 3 is rotated by the rotation of the main wheel 5 and the subwheel 6. Always located on an ellipse with the center as the focal point. Therefore, even if the position of the planetary wheel 3 changes due to the rotation of the swing arm 1, the crawler belt 4 is maintained at a constant tension without loosening.

In this way, the rotating hollow shaft 8, the gears 10, 11,
13, 14, sprockets 16, 19, chain 17, and shaft 18, the interlocking mechanism between the crank 2 and the swing arm 1 has the function of automatically adjusting the distance between the swing hollow shaft 8 and the planetary ring 3. .

As described above, when the swing arm 1 is rotated, the position of the planetary ring 3 can be moved without changing the tension of the crawler belt, and as a result, the shape of the crawler belt 4 can be changed.

Furthermore, if one crawler 4 runs onto a high stage as shown in FIG. For example, the vehicle body 7 can be maintained horizontally. In other words, the vehicle body 7
It is also possible to follow the undulations of the road surface in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the shapes of the crawlers on both sides of the vehicle body can be changed independently, so that the vehicle body can be maintained horizontally while traveling in response to the undulations of the road surface.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a crawler vehicle according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional plan view showing an embodiment of a crawler vehicle according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a crawler vehicle according to the present invention. It is a perspective view explaining operation of an example. 1... Swivel arm, 2... Crank, 3... Planetary wheel,
4... Crawler, 5... Main wheel, 6... Secondary wheel, 7... Vehicle body, 20... Drive motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A main wheel and a subwheel that are pivotally supported on the vehicle body, a movable planetary wheel that is wrapped around a crawler belt together with the main and subwheels, and a swing arm that supports the planetary wheel and moves its position. The crawler device includes a moving support means consisting of a crank, and an inter-axle distance adjusting means for adjusting an inter-axle distance between a rotary coupling shaft to the vehicle body and a support shaft of the planetary wheel, which is provided in the moving support means. The movable support means are provided on both sides of the vehicle body, and the movable support means are supported by the vehicle body and are disposed on the outer side of the main wheels and auxiliary wheels with respect to the vehicle body, and the planetary wheels are supported by the movable support means from the outside with respect to the vehicle body. The inter-axle distance adjusting means is configured to automatically adjust the inter-axle distance of the movable support means in accordance with the restraint of the crawler belt when the position of the planetary ring is moved by the movable support means. configured to adjust;
The sum of the distance between the axes of the swivel arm and the distance between the axes of the crank is the distance between the center of the rotation axis of the swivel arm and the center of the rotation axis of the main wheel, the maximum radius of the main wheel, and the maximum diameter of the planetary wheel. and the distance between the center of the rotational axis of the swing arm and the center of the rotational axis of the auxiliary wheel plus the maximum radius of the auxiliary wheel and the maximum radius of the planetary ring. ,
In the crawler traveling vehicle in which the shape of the crawler belt can be changed by moving the position of the planetary wheels, a driving means for independently rotating the swing arms and positioning them at arbitrary angles is provided. A crawler vehicle characterized by the following features: