JPH0457552B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a moving device using a magnetic wheel, and particularly to a moving device suitable for inspection and inspection of nuclear power plants.

(Conventional technology) At nuclear power plants, in-service inspections (ISI) are conducted to confirm the integrity of reactor pressure vessels, boundary piping, etc. It is extremely important to reduce radiation exposure. This in-service inspection is mainly carried out using ultrasonic flaw detection tests during periodic inspections, and currently, during this work, workers are required to scan the ultrasonic probe on the object to be inspected. The probe can be carried directly by hand, or by installing a rail on the reactor pressure vessel or its boundary piping, and mounting the probe on a moving device that moves on the rail.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the method of having workers directly scan the ultrasonic probe is not only time-consuming, but also requires one person to scan directly with an ultrasound probe in order to keep the radiation exposure as low as possible. Since the working time of the workers is limited, a lot of manpower is required. Furthermore, the method of laying rails at the location to be inspected requires that the rails be permanently installed during construction and installation of equipment, which is a factor in increasing costs.

In addition, when power is supplied to the drive system and control system of a mobile device, power is supplied from an externally installed control device or battery via a cable, but it is not preferable for the mobile device to route cables from the viewpoint of the work environment. do not have.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it runs by adsorbing magnetically with magnetic wheels without laying rails on magnetic piping or walls in nuclear power plants, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving device using a magnetic wheel that can inspect and inspect these items and does not require cable straightening work.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for solving the problem) The present invention provides running wheels on the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle body,
In a moving device in which the traveling wheels are rotatably driven by a driving force from a driving motor, and the traveling wheels can be steered by driving force from a steering motor, the traveling wheels are magnetically adsorbed and rolled on a magnetic surface. This magnet wheel is composed of a disc-shaped permanent magnet and a disc-shaped permanent magnet that sandwiches the disc-shaped permanent magnet and is removable with variable thickness, and has a larger diameter than the disc-shaped permanent magnet. The yoke is composed of a disc-shaped magnetic yoke and a disc-shaped non-magnetic material which is removably configured to have a variable thickness by sandwiching the disc-shaped magnetic yoke and has the same shape as the disc-shaped magnetic yoke, and each of the traveling wheels is independent of The vehicle is rotatably driven by a travel drive motor, and each travel wheel is steered by an independent steering motor, and the front left and right travel wheels and the rear left and right travel wheels are each provided so as to be bendable relative to the vehicle body.
The vehicle body is characterized in that a control device and a battery are mounted on the vehicle body. As a result, the magnetic surface can be magnetically attracted and run by the magnetic wheel without laying a rail or the like, and inspections can be carried out without exposing workers to a radiation exposure environment.

(Function) When the moving device according to the present invention is applied to a nuclear power plant, etc., it can be freely moved to magnetic surfaces such as piping and reactor pressure vessels, and can be used for inspection and inspection.
It is ideal as a moving device for mobile robots that perform inspections, and can reduce radiation exposure of workers and save labor. Furthermore, since the magnetic wheel has a disc-shaped permanent magnet protected by a disc-shaped magnetic material, reliability can be improved, and the thickness of the disc-shaped magnetic yoke and the disc-shaped non-magnetic material can be changed. This allows the adsorption force to be varied.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numerals 11a, 1
1b and 11c indicate vehicle body frames of the moving device 1, and these vehicle body frames 11a, 11b, 11
The front and rear parts of c (in FIGS. 1 and 2, the left side is assumed to be the front part and the right side is the rear part) are each composed of a set of two rotating arms 33a, 34a, 33b,
It is sandwiched between 34b, 33c, and 34c. One of the rotating arms 33a, 33b, 33c is connected to the left side of the vehicle body frame 11a, 11b, 11c via the vehicle body bending shaft 12a, and the other rotating arm 34a, 34b, 34c is connected to the left side of the vehicle body frame 11a, 11b, 11c. It is supported on the right side portion via a vehicle body bending shaft 12b. The rotating arms 33a, 33b, 33c are mounted on the front vehicle body bending base 13a, and the rotating arms 34a, 34
b, 34c are respectively fixed to the rear vehicle body bending base 13b, and each of the vehicle body bending bases 13a, 13
b is rotatable around each vehicle body bending shaft 12a, 12b with respect to the vehicle body frames 11a, 11b, 11c. However, nuts 14 are screwed to both ends of the vehicle body bending shafts 12a, 12b, and by tightening these nuts 14, the vehicle body bending bases 13a, 13b can be freely adjusted to the vehicle body frames 11a, 11b, 11c. It can be fixed at an angle of

On the other hand, the front vehicle body bending base 13a includes a travel drive motor 21a for rotationally driving the magnetic wheel 17a, a steering motor 31a for steering the magnetic wheel 17a, and a steering motor 31a for rotationally driving and steering the magnetic wheel 17b. A traveling drive motor 21b and a steering motor 31b are respectively attached. Similarly, the vehicle body bending base 13b also includes a running drive motor 21c and a steering motor 3 for rotating and steering the magnetic wheels 17c and 17d.
1c: A traveling drive motor 21d and a steering motor 31d are attached. That is, the moving device 1 has a total of four magnetic wheels 17 at both ends of the vehicle body bending bases 13a and 13b.
a, 17b, 17c, and 17d, and these running wheels are driven by running drive motors 21a, 21.
The steering motors 31a, 31 can be driven independently by the steering motors 31a, 31b, 21c, 21d.
b, 31c, and 31d so that the steering can be driven independently, and the vehicle body bending bases 13a, 13b are supported by the vehicle body frames 11a, 1
By being bendable with respect to 1b and 11c, the moving device 1 is magnetically attracted to magnetic pipes, walls, and other surfaces in a nuclear power plant, and can move freely.

Further, on the upper part (plate) of the vehicle body frames 11a, 11b, 11c, a control device 70, a driving motor drive device 71a, 71b, 71c, 71d, a steering motor drive device 72a, 72b, 7
A control section consisting of 2c, 72d and a battery 73 is mounted. The control section will be detailed later.

In this way, the control section is controlled by the vehicle body frames 11a, 1.
1b, 11c, and the travel drive motors 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d and steering motors 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d are mounted on the front and rear of the vehicle body frames 11a, 11b, 11c. 11a,1
The configuration allows sufficient space for mounting inspection and inspection equipment at the bottom of 1b and 11c, and the center of gravity is located at the center of the moving device 1 of the present invention, allowing stable travel. There is an advantage that

Travel drive motors 21a, 21b, 21c, 2
1d is the magnet wheel 17a, 17b, 17
The mechanisms for rotationally driving the steering motors 31a, 31d are all the same, and the steering motors 31a, 31
b, 31c, 31d are magnetic wheels 17
Since the functions of steering driving the wheels a, 17b, 17c, and 17d are all the same, the function of the driving motor 21b driving the magnetic wheel 17b and the function of the steering motor 31b driving the magnetic wheel 17b will be explained below. I will explain about it.

First, the mechanism by which the traveling drive motor 21b rotationally drives the magnet wheel 17b is constructed as shown in FIG.
b and the spur gear 18b are fixed to a wheel shaft 35b, and the wheel shaft 35b is rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown) on the running wheel support base 15b. On the other hand, the traveling drive motor 21b
is the traveling wheel support base 15 via the reducer 20b.
b, and a spur gear 19b is attached to the output shaft of the reducer 20b, and the spur gear 19b meshes with the spur gear 18b. That is,
The rotational force of the traveling drive motor 21b is transmitted through the reducer 20b.
The rotational driving force is increased by the reducer 20
The signal is transmitted to the magnet wheel 17b via the spur gear 19b, the spur gear 18b, and the wheel shaft 35b attached to the output shaft of the magnet.

Next, a mechanism for driving the magnetic wheel 17b by the steering motor 31b will be explained. In FIG. 3, the running wheel support base 15b is connected to the steering shaft 24b.
is fixed to the lower end of the steering shaft 24.
b is rotatable by a steering bearing 25b attached to the vehicle body bending base 13a. Note that the steering bearing 25b is a bearing retainer 27b.
This prevents vertical movement. A bevel gear 28b is fixed to the upper end of the steering shaft 24b, and sliding movement of the steering shaft 24b in the vertical direction is prevented by inserting a spacer 26b between the steering bearing 25b and the bevel gear 28b. On the other hand, it is assumed that the steering motor 31b is fixed to the vehicle body bending base 13a via a reducer 30b, and the steering motor 31b
The rotational force of b is increased by the reducer 30b, and the increased rotational force is transmitted to the bevel gear 29b attached to the output shaft of the reducer 30b. It is transmitted by That is, the steering motor 31
The rotational force of b is the reduction gear 30b, the bevel gear 29b,
Bevel gear 28b, steering shaft 24b
As a result, the magnetic wheel 17b is driven by steering.

As described above, the running drive motor 21b drives the magnetic wheel 17b, and the steering motor 31b drives the magnetic wheel 17.
Although the mechanism for steering driving the motor 21a, 21b, and the remaining travel drive motors 21a, 21b,
21c and 21d are magnetic wheels 17a and 1
The mechanisms for driving the wheels 7b, 17c, and 17d are also the same, and the steering motors 31a, 31c, and 31d are connected to the magnetic wheel 1.
The same is true for the function of steering each of 7a, 17c, and 17d.

Next, the magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 1
The structures of 7c and 17d will be explained. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the magnet wheels 17a, 17b, 17c, and 17d have an appropriate number of disk-shaped magnetic yokes 41a, 41b, 42a, and 42b arranged on both end faces of a disk-shaped permanent magnet 40, respectively. A permanent magnet 40 is sandwiched between the magnetic yokes 42a and 42b, and an appropriate number of disc-shaped nonmagnetic bodies 43a and 43b are sandwiched from the outside of each magnetic yoke 42a and 42b to form a multilayer structure.

Specifically, the direction of magnetization of the permanent magnet 40 is along the axial direction of the cylinder as shown in FIG. , 42b, and further, a non-magnetic material 43a such as SUS,
43b from the outside, one permanent magnet type magnet wheel 17a, 17b, 17c, 1
7d has improved adsorption force to the magnetic surface (running surface). At this time, since the permanent magnet 40 is a sintered product and is vulnerable to impact, care must be taken to prevent the outer peripheral surface of the magnet from directly contacting the magnetic surface that is the running surface.
The diameter is smaller than that of the magnetic yokes 41a, 41b, 42a, 42b and the non-magnetic yokes 43a, 43b.
The diameters of 1a, 41b, 42a, 42b and non-magnetic yokes 43a, 43b are made equal. In this way, the magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 1
By forming 7c and 17d into a multilayer structure consisting of a disk-shaped permanent magnet 40, magnetic yokes 41a, 41b, 42a, 42b, and non-magnetic yokes 43a, 43b, it is possible to increase or decrease the attraction force to the magnetic surface. can.

If you want to increase the attraction force, use a non-magnetic yoke 4.
If the magnetic yokes 3a and 43b are to be replaced with magnetic yokes to weaken them, the magnetic yokes 42a and 42b may be replaced with non-magnetic ones. Further, fine adjustment of the attraction force can be achieved by reducing the thickness of the magnetic yoke and the non-magnetic material, increasing the number of them, and finely adjusting the ratio of the magnetic yoke to the non-magnetic material. Therefore, the magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17
By adjusting the attraction force of magnet wheels 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d,
The frictional force between the magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d and the magnetic surface can be appropriately adjusted in accordance with the coefficient of friction between the magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17c, and 17d.

Next, in order to explain how the moving device 1 runs on a pipe, FIG. 6 shows a case where the moving device 1 runs circumferentially on a carbon steel pipe 60, and FIG. 7 shows a case where the moving device 1 runs on a carbon steel pipe 60. Pipe axis on the steel pipe 60 (perpendicular to the paper surface)
The cases in which the vehicle is traveling in the respective directions are shown. In addition, the seventh
The figure shows all four magnet wheels rotated by 90 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 6.

In the state shown in FIG. 6, the moving device 1 moves the magnetic wheels 17a, 17 by driving the travel drive motors 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d.
It is possible to magnetically adsorb and travel in the circumferential direction on the carbon steel pipe 60 by the magnets b, 17c, and 17d. Also, the 6th
In the state shown in the figure, the moving device 1 rotates the magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17 by driving the steering motors 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d.
c, 17d are driving motors 21a, 21b,
21c, 21d are vehicle body frames 11a, 11b,
If you rotate it 90 degrees so that it is located outside of 11c,
The state shown in FIG. 7 will be reached. To shift from the state shown in FIG. 7 to the state shown in FIG. 6, this movement can be reversed.

In the state shown in FIG. 7, the moving device 1 moves the magnetic wheels 17a, 17 by driving the travel drive motors 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d.
Magnetic adsorption and running in the direction of the pipe axis (perpendicular to the plane of the paper) on the carbon steel pipe 60 are possible using the pipes b, 17c, and 17d. However, first move the moving device 1 to the carbon steel pipe 6.
Before installing the pipe by magnetic adsorption on the pipe, assume a running state in the pipe axis direction as shown in Fig. 7, and set the magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17c, 17c, etc. according to the pipe diameter.
17d steering shaft 24a, 24
Bend the vehicle body base 13 so that the extension line of the center axes of b, 24c, and 24d passes approximately through the center of the pipe cross section.
a, 13b body frames 11a, 11b, 11
Adjust the angle with respect to c, and turn the magnetic wheel 1.
The edges of the end faces of 7a, 17b, 17c, and 17d should not be adsorbed to the piping.

Magnet wheels 17a, 17b, 17c,
17d steering shaft 24a, 24
Body frames 11a, 11 such that the extension line of the central axes of b, 24c, 24d passes through the center of the pipe cross section.
Vehicle body bending base 13a, 1 for b, 11c
The angle of 3b can be determined as follows.

In FIG. 7, the symbols θ, a, b, r, R
is defined as follows.

θ: Angle of the car body bending bases 13a, 13b with respect to the car body frames 11a, 11b, 11c: Interaxial distance between the car body bending shafts 12a, 12b a: Car body bending shafts 12a, 12b and wheel shafts 35a, 35b, 35c ,35d
Distance between axes b: Vehicle body bending shafts 12a, 12b and steering shafts 24a, 24b, 24c, 2
Center distance from 4d r: Magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17
radius of c, 17d R: radius of pipe At this time, the following relationship holds true: (R+r+a) sinθ=/2+b cosθ... (1)

Then, However, A=2(R+r+a)/, B=-2b/, and α=tan ^-1 (B/A).

That is, the vehicle body frames 11a, 11b, 11
The angle θ of the vehicle body bending bases 13a and 13b with respect to c is is given by

Next, the control section of the moving device 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. The control unit of the moving device 1 is the control device 7
0, traveling motor drive device 71a, 71b, 71
c, 71d, speed detectors 22a, 22b, 22
c, 22d, position detectors 23a, 23b, 23
c, 23d, steering motor drive device 72
a, 72b, 72c, 72d, steering angle detectors 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d, and a battery 73. car body frame 11
A control device 7 is installed on the top of a, 11b, 11c, and 11d.
0, traveling motor drive device 71a, 71b, 71
c, 71d, steering motor drive device 72
a, 72b, 72c, 72d and battery 73
is mounted, and speed detectors 22a, 22b, 22
c, 22d and position detectors 23a, 23b, 2
3c, 23d are travel drive motors 21a, 21
Steering angle detectors 32a, 32b, 3 are mounted coaxially with
2c, 32d are bevel gears 28a, 28b, 28
It is fixed to the vehicle body so that the angles c and 28d can be detected.

Speed detectors 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d are magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17c, 1
The position detectors 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d detect the travel distances of the magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17c, and 17d, respectively, and the steering angle detectors 32a, 32b detect the respective speeds of the magnetic wheels 17d. , 32c, 32d
are magnetic wheels 17a, 17b, 17c,
The steering angle 17d is detected, and these detection signals are sent to the control device 70. Control device 70
Based on these detection signals, the driving motor drive devices 71a, 71b, 71c, 71d and the steering motor drive devices 72a, 72b, 72 are activated according to a predetermined travel control program.
c, 72d, driving motors 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d and steering motors 31a, 31b, 31c, 3.
Drive 1d. Note that the power necessary for the control section is supplied from the battery 73.

As described above, the greatest feature of the moving device according to the present invention is that it can freely move on the magnetic pipe in the circumferential direction and the pipe axis direction. In addition, this transportation device uses magnetic wheels and is configured with all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering, which allows inspection and inspection equipment to be installed in the center of the vehicle body. , it can be moved freely on magnetic walls and piping without installing rails or the like.
Moreover, since magnetic wheels are used for the running wheels, there is no need for any complicated mechanism or control to attract the running wheels to the magnetic surface, and even if the power is lost, the wheels will not fall off the magnetic surface that serves as the running surface. . Since the running wheels are all-wheel drive and are directly rotationally driven by four drive motors, a situation where the driving force becomes insufficient during running can be avoided, and reliable running can be ensured. In other words, in a two-wheel drive system with front wheels or rear wheels, when one of the four wheels floats off the magnetic surface for some reason, and if that floating wheel is the drive wheel, the driving force that is attracting it will be reduced. However, in the present invention, such a situation cannot occur.

By the way, a mobile device requires a plurality of cables because it transmits and receives power or electrical signals from a control device and a battery to a drive system, a control system, and the like. However, if the control device and battery are not mounted on the vehicle body of the mobile device, an external cable is required to be connected to the vehicle body, and this cable can become tangled or twisted on the running surface, so It will be necessary to straighten the cable to return it to the correct position. Furthermore, it is not desirable for the mobile device to drag a long cable around while traveling. In particular, when inspecting weld lines of large piping, etc., the moving device is often repeatedly turned over, so the cables are often twisted. In this point,
In the present invention, since the control device and battery are mounted on the vehicle body, there is no need to run cables, so the work time can be halved.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention is a mobile device in which a control device and a battery are mounted on a vehicle body, and when this mobile device is applied to a nuclear power plant or the like,
There is no need to drag cables around, and it can move freely over magnetic surfaces such as piping and reactor pressure vessels, making it ideal as a moving device for mobile robots that inspect and inspect these objects, reducing radiation exposure for workers. Since there is no need for cable straightening work, it is possible to save labor. Furthermore, since the disk-shaped permanent magnet is protected by the disk-shaped magnetic yoke having a larger diameter than the disk-shaped permanent magnet, the reliability of the magnet wheel can be improved. Further, since the thickness of the disc-shaped magnetic yoke and the disc-shaped non-magnetic material can be made variable, the strength of the attraction force of the magnetic wheel can be adjusted as necessary. Therefore, the frictional force between the magnet wheel and the magnetic surface can be appropriately adjusted in accordance with the friction coefficient of the magnetic surface on the attracting side.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view partially showing an embodiment of the moving device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view partially showing a cross section of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the magnet wheel in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a side view of the magnet wheel in FIG. 1, and FIG. Fig. 7 is a side view showing a state in which the moving device is running in the direction of the pipe axis on the outer surface of the carbon steel pipe (progressing direction).
The front view and FIG. 8 are block diagrams showing the control system of the moving device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Movement device, 11a-c...Vehicle body frame, 12a, b...Vehicle body bending shaft, 13
a, b...Car body folding base, 14...Natsuto,
15a, b, 16a, b... Traveling wheel support base, 17a-d... Magnetic wheel, 18a
~d, 19a-d... Spur gear, 20a-d... Speed reducer, 21a-d... Travel drive motor, 22a
~d...Speed detector, 23a-d...Position detector, 24a-d...Steering shaft, 2
5a-d...Steering bearing, 26a-d...
...Spacer, 27a~d...Bearing holder, 28a~
d, 29a-d...Bevel gear, 30a-d...Reduction gear, 31a-d...Steering motor, 3
2a~d...Steering angle detector, 33a~
c, 34a-c...rotating arm, 35a-d...
Wheel shaft, 40...Permanent magnet, 41a,
b, 42a, b...Magnetic material yoke, 43a, b...
...Nonmagnetic material, 60...Carbon steel piping, 70...Control device, 71a-b, 72a-d...Motor drive device, 73...Battery.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A moving device in which running wheels are provided on the front, rear, left and right sides of a vehicle body, the running wheels are rotatably driven by driving force from a running drive motor, and the running wheels can be steered by driving force from a steering motor. The running wheels are magnetically attracted to the magnetic surface.
It is composed of a rotatable magnet wheel, and this magnet wheel is composed of a disk-shaped permanent magnet and a disk-shaped permanent magnet that is sandwiched between the disk-shaped permanent magnet and can be attached and detached with variable thickness. Consisting of a disc-shaped magnetic yoke and a disc-shaped non-magnetic material sandwiching the disc-shaped magnetic yoke so as to be removably variable in thickness and having the same shape as the disc-shaped magnetic yoke,
Each of the running wheels is rotationally driven by an independent running drive motor, and each running wheel is steered by an independent steering motor,
Furthermore, the moving device is characterized in that front left and right running wheels and rear left and right running wheels are each provided bendably relative to a vehicle body, and a control device and a battery are mounted on the vehicle body.