JPH0450233B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a ladder lifting robot capable of lifting and lowering a ladder-like lifting tool by itself.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Inside various buildings, especially nuclear power plants,
A number of ladder-like lifting devices (e.g. ladders attached to vertical walls) are installed. By using mobile robots that can move up and down ladders at nuclear power plants, it is expected to reduce radiation exposure of workers and save labor.

Conventionally, as a gripper lifting/lowering mechanism for such a ladder-lifting robot, the gripper that grips the treads of the ladder has been moved using an air cylinder or a ball screw.
It has been proposed that the main body of a robot moving unit is moved in the ascending and descending direction of a ladder.

However, in a robot that uses an air cylinder as a gripper lifting/lowering mechanism, it is difficult to change and adjust one movement stroke of the gripper.
Therefore, such a lifting robot can handle differences in the pitch of the ladder treadles, dimensional errors in the tread pitch that occur during ladder construction, and deformation of the treadles that occur as the ladder is used. Unable to climb up and down a ladder on his own.

On the other hand, a robot that uses a ball screw as the gripper's lifting/lowering mechanism increases its weight, and considering the gripping force of the gripper that grips the ladder treadler, it is necessary to reduce the weight of items such as inspection equipment mounted on the robot. I have no choice but to limit it.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made in view of the above facts, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ladder lifting robot that is small, lightweight, and has a large loading capacity.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ladder lifting robot that is capable of lifting and lowering ladder lifting tools with irregular tread pitches by itself.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, a ladder lifting robot according to the present invention, a robot moving part for lifting and lowering a ladder-like lifting tool is capable of grasping the treads of the ladder-like lifting tool, and Multiple grippers that can move forward and backward,
a gripper elevating and lowering mechanism for moving the gripper up and down; The gripper is raised and lowered by moving the gripper up and down.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

As shown in Figure 2, the ladder climbing robot 1
is a robot moving unit 5 that moves up and down a ladder 3 as a ladder-like lifting device attached to a vertical wall 2;
and a robot fixing section 7 that includes a power source for the robot moving section 5 and the like.

The robot moving section 5 includes a moving section main body 9, four grippers 11A to 11D, and one moving side control device 13. Each of the grippers 11A to 11D is provided so as to be able to grip the treadle 15 of the ladder 3, and is also slidably movable in the up-and-down direction of the ladder 3, that is, in the up-down direction, and is formed to be able to move forward and backward toward the ladder 3 in the horizontal direction. These grippers 11A to 11D are driven by a motor and an air cylinder.

On the other hand, the fixed side control device 1 is attached to the robot fixed part 7.
4 is provided. The fixed side control device 14 includes a power source 17 and a compressed air supply source 19, which are drive sources for the grippers 11A to 11D, a monitor 21, and an operation box 23. The power source 17 is connected through a power cable, the compressed air supply source 19 is connected through an air tube,
Further, the motor 21 and the operation box 23 are each connected to the robot moving section 5 via a signal cable. Each of these cables is bundled into a vandal cable 25, and this vandal cable is wound up by a cable winding device 27 of the robot fixing section 7.

The moving side control device 13 of the robot moving unit 5 controls various operational movements of the gripper 11 and at the same time controls the winding operation of the cable winding device 27.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the internal structure of the robot moving section 5. As shown in FIG.

The moving part main body 9 of the robot moving part 5 is connected to the ladder 3
A large number of support plates 31 are attached to a frame 29 extending in the vertical direction, and a large number of support plates 31 are attached in a direction perpendicular to the frame 29.
3A to D are arranged.

The gripper elevating and lowering movement mechanisms 33A to 33D are provided corresponding to the four grippers 11A to 11D, and are each equipped with a gripper elevating motor 35A to D and a worm gear 3.
7A to 7D, timing belts 39A to 39D, and the like.

The gripper lifting motors 35A to 35D are mounted vertically on the support plate 31 on the vertical center side of the moving part main body 9.
Each book is arranged vertically. The motors 35A, B are installed in the lower half of the moving part body 9, and the motors 35C, D are installed in the upper half of the moving part main body 9, respectively. Note that the motor 35C overlaps the motor 35D and is not shown. Moreover, each of these motors 35A to 35D has the ability to vertically lift the weight of the robot moving section 5 and the loaded articles. The motor shaft ends of each gripper lifting motor 35A-D are connected to drive shafts 41A-D via worm gears 37A-D. These drive shafts 41A to 41D are attached to the frame 29
The drive pulleys 43A to 43D are rotatably supported in the vertical center of the drive pulleys 43A to 43D, respectively.

On the other hand, a driven shaft 45A is provided at the upper and lower ends of the frame 29.
~D is rotatably supported. These driven shafts 4
5A-D are arranged corresponding to each drive shaft 41A-D, respectively, and driven pulleys 47A-D are attached to each driven shaft. Each driven pulley 47A-D is provided corresponding to the drive pulley 43A-D, and the timing belt 39A-D is wound around these pulleys 43A-D, 47A-D. Grippers 11A to 11D are attached to each timing belt 39A to 39D.
The mounting supports 57A to 57D are fixed.

Therefore, the gripper lifting motors 35A to 35D
By individually driving the timing belts 39A to 39D, the timing belts 39A to 39D are moved in the vertical direction via the worm gears 37A to D, and the grippers 11A to 11D are also moved in the vertical direction accordingly.
The grippers 11A to 11D can be stopped at arbitrary positions by driving and stopping the gripper lifting motors 35A to 35D. Furthermore, the presence of the worm gear allows the grippers 11A-D to be mechanically locked from stopping.

Furthermore, rails 49 are attached to the front end surface and rear end surface of the frame 29. This rail 49 is arranged over almost the entire length of the frame 29 in the vertical direction, and the lifting rollers 59A to 59D of the grippers 11A to 11D are fitted into this rail 49. Furthermore, a lifting limit switch 48 is provided at the end of the frame 29.
A to D are provided, thereby grippers 11A to
The vertical movement range of D is limited.

Next, the configuration of the grippers 11A to 11D will be explained.
Since each of the grippers 11A to 11D has the same configuration, the gripper 11C will be explained based on FIGS. 3 and 4 as an example. Therefore, Grizpa 11A,
For each component of B and D, gripper 11C
The reference numerals corresponding to the constituent members will be used, and their explanation will be omitted.

The gripper 11C is composed of an elevating table 51C disposed on the moving unit main body 9, a slide base 53C provided on the elevating table 51C, a gripper piece 55C pivotally supported by the slide base 53C, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 4, a mounting support 57C fixed to a timing belt 39C is fixed to the back surface of the elevating table 51C, allowing the gripper 11C to move up and down via the timing belt 39C. Further, on the back surface of the lifting table 51C, a plurality of lifting rollers 5 are provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction.
9C is rotatably supported. These lifting rollers 59C are fitted into the rails 49 of the frame 29 and guide the vertical movement of the grinder 11C.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, an elevating table 51
A slide base 53 is disposed on the front surface of C, and a plurality of slide rollers 61C are rotatably supported. Both upper and lower end surfaces of the slide base 53C are fitted with the slide rollers 61C, so that the slide base 53C can be slid forward and backward in the height direction of the moving section main body 9, that is, in the horizontal direction toward the ladder 3.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the elevating table 51C is provided with a gripper moving mechanism 63C that allows the slide base 53C to slide forward and backward. This gripper forward/backward movement mechanism 63C includes a gripper forward/backward motor 65C, spur gears 67C, 6
8C, a ball screw 69C, and a nut body 71C. The gripper advance/retreat motor 65C is fixed to a mounting support 57C, and this mounting support 57C
A spur gear 67C is attached to. On the other hand, a nut body 71C is fixed to the back surface of the slide base 53C, and a ball screw 69C is screwed into this nut body 71C. This ball screw 69C is connected to the spur gear 6
8C is integrally or integrally fixed, and this spur gear 68C meshes with the spur gear 67C.

Therefore, the driving force of the gripper advancing/retracting motor 65C is transmitted to the ball screw 69C via the spur gears 67C and 68C, and the slide base 53 is moved by the screw mechanism of the ball screw 69C and the nut body 71C.
Slide C toward ladder 3 so that it can move forward and backward. The slide base 53C is provided so as to be able to be stopped at any position by operating and stopping the gripper advancing/retracting motor 65C.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, an elevating table 51
A forward/backward limit switch 73C is attached to C. This advance/retreat limit switch 73C causes the slide base 53C to move forward and backward when stepping on the ladder 15.
The maximum movement position of the horizontal slide in the direction away from is detected.

Now, the slide base 53C is provided with a pair of gripper pieces 55C and a gripper opening/closing mechanism 75C.

The gripper opening/closing mechanism 75C is an air cylinder 77
C, consisting of links 79C and 81C. That is, the air cylinder 77C is attached to the slide base 53C, and the link 79C is fixed to the piston rod of this air cylinder 77C. link 79c
and 81C are supported by pins, and furthermore, link 81C
A gripper piece 55C is supported by a pin at the tip of the gripper piece 55C. This gripper piece is also rotatably supported by a slide base 53C via a shaft 83C. Therefore, when the air cylinder 77C contracts in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, the gripper piece 55C rotates about the shaft 83C as shown by the arrow B in the same figure, and operates to open. Conversely, when the air cylinder 77C extends, the gripper piece 55C operates to close.

Furthermore, an opening limit switch 85C and a closing limit switch 87C are attached to the slide base 53C. The opening limit switch 85C comes into contact with a protrusion 89 fixed to the link 79C and detects the opening operation of the gripper piece 55C. On the other hand, the close operation limit switch 87C
contacts the protrusion 91 fixed to the link 79C and detects the closing operation of the gripper piece 55C.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a photoelectric switch 93C as an elevation position detection sensor is attached to one end of the gripper of the slide base 53C. This photoelectric switch 93C emits light from a light projecting surface, and when a stepper 15 appears in front, the light-receiving surface receives the reflected light from the stepper 15 to detect the presence of the stepper 15. The light projecting surface and light receiving surface are set at the center of the gripper 11C.
In response to the detection signal from the photoelectric switch 93C, the gripper lifting motor 35C is stopped, and the gripper 1
The vertical movement of 1C is stopped when its center and the center of the treadle 15 coincide.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, an approach limit switch 95C as an approach position detection sensor is arranged at one end of the gripper of the slide base 53C. This approach limit switch 95C is a wire lever type limit switch. and,
This approach limit switch 95C is activated when the slide base 53C horizontally slides in the direction of the treadle 15 and the treadle 15 reaches the gripping position of the gripper piece 55C.
It is configured to hit 7C. Due to the contact between the stepper 15 and the wire lever 97C, the stepper 15
is detected to be at the gripping position of the gripper piece 55C. Based on this detection signal, the drive of the gripper advance/retreat motor 65C is stopped, the horizontal sliding of the slide base 53C is stopped, and then the air cylinder 77C is extended, the gripper piece 55C is closed, and the gripper 11C is depressed. Grasp Mr. 15.

Next, the control system for the ladder climbing robot will be explained with reference to FIG.

This control system includes a moving side control device 13 mounted on a robot moving section 5 and a robot fixed section 7.
and a fixed side control device 14 fixed to. The basic control system of these control units 13 and 14 includes various limit switches 4 for lifting and lowering, advancing and retracting, etc.
8A-D, 73A-D, 85A-D, 87A-
Detection signals from D, 95A-D and photoelectric switches 93A-D are input to the CPU 100 via the input/output interface 102, and drive/stop signals from the CPU 100 are input to the input/output interface 10.
1,103,105 for gripper lifting/lowering
The gripper advances and retreats motors 35A-D, 65A-D, air cylinders 77A-D, and outputs to the cable winding device 27.

Now, the moving side control device 13 includes a CPU 100 that performs arithmetic processing and a large number of input/output interfaces 1.
01 to 105, a motor drive circuit 107, and a signal conversion circuit 109.

The input/output interface 102 includes various limit switches 48A-D, 73A-D, 85A-D, for elevating, advancing and retracting, opening, closing, and approaching.
87A to D, 95A to D, and the detection signals from these limit switches are sent to the CPU 100.
Enter. Also, this input/output interface 1
A signal conversion circuit 109 is connected to 02, and this signal conversion circuit 109 further connects photoelectric switches 93A to 93D.
connected to. Then, the signal conversion circuit 109
The output signal from the photoelectric switch 93C is converted into a contact input type, and is input to the input/output interface 102 in the same manner as the detection signals from the various limit switches 48A to 48D. Further, the motor drive circuit 107 is connected to the gripper lifting/lowering/gripper advancing/retracting motors 35A-D, 65A-D,
CPU 10 via input/output interface 101
According to the command signal from 0, motors 35A to D, 6
This is a circuit for driving 5A to 5D in forward or reverse rotation.

On the other hand, the fixed side control circuit 14 includes a power source 17, a compressed air supply source 19, a monitor 21, and an operation box 23.
and a cable winding device 27.

The monitor 21 is connected to the CPU 100, and the motors 35A to 35D for raising and lowering the gripper and for moving the gripper back and forth,
It displays the operating status of the air cylinders 65A to 65A to 77D and the air cylinders 77A to 77D. In addition, the operation box 23 is connected via an input/output interface 104.
Connected to CPU 100, ladder climbing robot 1
This command instructs the CPU to start, stop, etc. Furthermore, the gable winding device 27 is connected to the CPU 10 via the input/output interface 105.
0 and is operated by a command signal from the CPU 100.

Further, the compressed air supply source 19 is the compressor 11
1. Solenoid valves 113A-D and solenoid valve drive circuit 1
It consists of 15 parts. The solenoid valves 113A to 113D are provided between the compressor 111 and the air cylinders 77A to 77D, and enable supply and stop of air supply to the air cylinders 77A to 77D. Further, the solenoid valve drive circuit 115 is connected to the solenoid valve 113, and receives input from the CPU 1 via the input/output interface 103.
The opening/closing operation of the solenoid valve 113 is controlled by the command signal from 00. In the operation control of the air cylinders 77A to 77D by this compressed air supply source 19, the gripper pieces 55A to 77D are
is set to close. Further, when the ladder 3 is raised or lowered, none of the gripper pieces 55A to D of the four grippers 11A to D open simultaneously, and three or four grippers are configured to grip the step 15 of the ladder at all times. be done.

Next, the operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

Of these, FIG. 8 shows the operation of the robot moving unit 5 of the ladder lifting robot 1 to move up and down the ladder. A in the figure shows the gripper 11 of the robot moving unit 5.
The figure shows a state in which A and B are holding the treadle 15D of the ladder, and grippers 11C and D are holding the treadle 15A.

First, the operation box 23 of the fixed part control device 14
When a start signal is input to the CPU 100 of the moving part control device 13, a command signal is output from the CPU 100 to the motor drive circuit 107, which drives the gripper advance/retreat motors A to D of each gripper 11A to D, and moves the slide bases 53A to 53A to Move D forward. As a result, the grippers 11A to 11D are in an extended state.

In the first step, the operation box 23 is
Based on the start signal from the CPU 100, a command signal is output to the electromagnetic valve drive circuit 115 of the compressed air supply source 19. As a result, the solenoid valve 113
D is excited, compressed air is supplied to the air cylinder 77D, and the gripper piece 55 is operated to open. When the opening operation of the gripper piece 55 is detected by the opening operation limit switch 85C, a signal is output from the CPU 100 to the motor drive circuit 107, and the gripper forward/backward motor 65D is driven to drive the gripper piece 55.
The slide base 53D moves backward in the direction in which the treadle 5D moves away from the treadle 15A. Slide base 53D
comes into contact with the advance/retreat limit switch 73D,
The gripper advancing/retracting motor 65D is driven by a signal from the CPU 100, and the slide base 53D is stopped.

Thereafter, the lifting motor 35D is driven by a signal from the CPU 100, and the gripper 11D moves upward on the ladder 3 with the gripper piece 55D open. As shown in FIG. 8B, the gripper 11
When D reaches directly above the pedal 15B, the photoelectric switch 93D detects this and outputs a CPU 100 detection signal. Based on this detection signal, CPU100
stops driving the gripper lifting/lowering motor 35D, and at the same time activates the gripper advancing/retracting motor 65D. As a result, the upward movement of the gripper 11D is stopped, and the slide base 53D subsequently moves forward toward the treadle 15B. Slide base 53
The forward movement of D is stopped by the CPU 100 based on the detection signal when the wire lever 97C of the approach limit switch 95D comes into contact with the pedal 15B. In this stopped state, the gripper piece 55
D is in a position where it can grip the foot pedal 15B.

Thereafter, a signal from the CPU 100 is output to the electromagnetic valve drive circuit 115, and compressed air is supplied to the air cylinder 77D via the electromagnetic valve 113. As a result, the air cylinder 77D is operated, and the gripper piece 55D is operated to close and grip the treadle 15B.
This state is shown in FIG. 8B. Grasping of the treadle 15B is confirmed by the closing limit switch 87C.

In the second step, the gripper 11C is operated in the same manner as the gripper 11D in the first step, and the gripper 11C is gripped by the treadle 15B as shown in FIG. 8C.

In the third step, a command signal from the CPU 100 is outputted to the motor drive circuit 107 to rotate the gripper lifting motors 35A to 35D in the direction in which the grippers 11A to 11D are lowered. Then, as shown in FIG. 8D, the moving section main body 9 is relatively raised by one step of the pedal. The moving unit main body 9 is stopped based on the first detection signal of the lifting limit switches 48C and 48D.

In the fourth step, the gripper 11B is operated in the same manner as the gripper 11D in the first step.
Step on the gripper 11B as shown in Figure E.
hold it.

In the fifth step, the gripper 11A is operated in the same manner as the gripper 11D in the first step.
As shown in Figure F, step on the gripper 11A 15.
Have E hold it.

Through the first to fifth steps described above, the robot moving unit 5 moves up the step 15 of the ladder 3 by one step.
Therefore, by performing these steps continuously, the robot moving unit 5 can move up the ladder 3. Further, by performing an operation opposite to that when ascending, the robot moving unit 5 can descend the ladder.

Furthermore, since the grippers 11A to 11D are moved up and down by rotating the timing belts 39A to 39D, the robot moving section 5 can be made small and lightweight, and even heavy equipment can be mounted on the robot moving section 5. It is possible to improve loading capacity.

Furthermore, photoelectric switches 93A-D and approach limit switches 95A-D are attached to each of the grippers 11A-D, respectively, and when the grippers are moved up and down, the photoelectric switches 93A-D are used to individually depress each gripper 11A-D. The location can be detected. Also, Gritsupa 11A~
When D slides horizontally toward the treadle 15, the approach limit switches 95A to 95D individually indicate that the treadle 15 is at the gripping position of the gripper pieces 55A to D. can be detected. Therefore, Mr. 15
Even if the gap is not constant or the treads are not arranged on the same plane, each gripper 11A~
D can detect the position of stepping on them and grasp them. Therefore, the robot moving unit 5 can move up and down any ladder 3 by itself.

In addition, gripper pieces 55A of grippers 11A to D
~D are opened and closed by electromagnetic valves, but since they are set to close in a non-excited state when the power is lost, the robot moving unit 5 will not fall even when the power is lost. Furthermore, the robot moving unit 5
There are always 3 or 4 grippers 11 when raising and lowering the
Since the treadle is gripped at the points .about.D, it is possible to prevent the robot moving section 5 from losing its balance and falling when going up and down.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the ladder lifting robot according to the present invention, the robot moving section includes a plurality of grippers that are capable of gripping the steps of the ladder-like lifting tool and are provided so as to be able to move forward and backward toward the ladder-like lifting tool; The gripper lifting and lowering mechanism has a gripper lifting and lowering mechanism that moves the gripper up and down, and this gripper lifting and lowering mechanism is equipped with a belt that can move in the lifting direction of the ladder, and since the gripper is fixed to this belt, the gripper lifting and lowering mechanism can be made smaller. - The weight can be reduced, so even heavy items can be mounted on the robot moving section, and the loading capacity of the ladder lifting robot can be improved.

In addition, if multiple grippers are individually provided with elevation position detection sensors and approach position detection sensors,
These sensors allow each gripper to detect and grip the ladder independently. Therefore, even if the treads are uneven, the robot moving part of the ladder lifting robot can move up and down such a ladder by itself.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows the internal structure of the robot moving part in an embodiment of the ladder lifting robot according to the present invention, Figure A is a side view, Figure B is a plan view, and Figure 2 shows the whole of this embodiment. 3 is a side view showing the gripper 11C by enlarging the lower end of FIG. 1A, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the gripper 11C by enlarging the lower left end of FIG. 1B, and FIG. Fig. 6 is a side view showing the vertical and horizontal alignment of the gripper 11C and the treadle, respectively. Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing the control system of this embodiment, and Fig. 8A.
-F are plan views showing the ladder climbing operation of the robot moving unit. 1... Ladder climbing robot, 3... Ladder, 5
...Robot fixed part, 9...Moving part main body, 11A
~D...Gritsupa, 15...Tomi-san, 33A~D
...Gritzper elevating movement mechanism, 39A-D...Timing belt, 51A-D...Elevating table,
53A~D...Slide base, 55A~D...
Gripper piece, 63A-D...Gripper advancement/retraction motor, 75A-D...Gripper opening/closing mechanism, 93A-D
D...Photoelectric switch, 95A-D...Limit switch for approach.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A robot moving unit for raising and lowering a ladder-like lifting tool includes a plurality of grippers that are capable of gripping the steps of the ladder-like lifting tool and that are provided so as to be able to move forward and backward toward the ladder-like lifting tool. and a gripper elevating and lowering mechanism for moving the gripper up and down, the gripper elevating and lowering mechanism comprising a belt movable in the up and down direction of the ladder-like elevating tool, and the gripper is fixed to this belt. A ladder climbing robot. 2. When moving the gripper up and down,
A ladder lifting robot according to claim 1, further comprising a lifting position detection sensor for detecting a stepping position of a ladder-shaped lifting tool. 3. Claim 1, wherein the gripper is provided with an approach position detection sensor that detects when the gripper reaches the gripping position of the ladder-like lifting tool when the gripper moves toward the stepper. A ladder climbing robot as described in or described in paragraph 2.