JPH0466365A - Bidirectional movable type in-pipe travel device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable bidirectional travel in a duct by fitting resistors having reverse directional anisotropy to two piezoelectric bodies, and disposing the electrodes of the duct and resistors in such a way as to vibrate each piezoelectric body independently. CONSTITUTION:When a.c. voltage is generated from a.c. source, the a.c. voltage is applied to a piezoelectric bimorph A through electrodes A1, A2, B1, B2 provided on the inner face of a duct and conductive resistors 1a so as to generate bending vibration to the piezoelectric bimorph A, and the tips of the resistors 1a are vibrated in the axial direction of the duct. Frictional resistance force between the duct inner wall and the tips of the resistors 1a becomes smaller in the movement of the tips into the left direction than in the movement of the tips into the right direction. A movable body therefore travels to the left. By the same principle as this, the movable body travels to the right in a case of a piezoelectric bimorph B single body. In the case of applying a.c. voltage to only one of the piezoelectric bimorphs A, B, the vibrating state of the bimorphs A, B differs, and thereby frictional resistance force applied to the resistors 1a, 1b differs, so that the travel device travels by the resistance force difference.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a fine positioning device, a display device,
Alternatively, the present invention relates to a bidirectionally movable pipe traveling device used as a component of a toy.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as an in-pipe traveling device, one having the configuration shown in FIG. 4 has been proposed in Patent Application No. 196883 of 1989.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional pipe running device, in which symbol 2 is a conductive resistor, and 2 is a piezoelectric bimorph made by laminating two piezoelectric elements. Aluminum is deposited on the upper and lower surfaces of this piezoelectric bimorph to form electrodes.

3 is a support for attaching a conductive resistor to the piezoelectric bimorph at a certain angle; 4 is an AC voltage generator; 5 is a transparent plastic conduit with a square or rectangular cross section; An electrode is pasted on side B.

6 is a lead wire that connects this electrode to the AC voltage generator.

When an alternating current voltage is generated by the alternating current voltage generator 4 in FIG. Voltage is applied. Then, the piezoelectric bimorph 2 causes bending vibration, and the tip of the conductive resistor 1 vibrates in the tube axis direction. At this time, the frictional resistance force between the inner wall of the pipe and the tip of the conductive resistor 1 is smaller when the tip moves to the left than when it moves to the right. Therefore, if the vibration continues, the moving body will run to the left.

The device can run even when the conduit is spatially closed, such as in a circular or figure-eight configuration, and can be used as a demonstration or display display device or as a component of a toy such as a racing car device. .

However, the above-mentioned conventional pipe traveling device had a problem in that it could only move in one direction.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) An object of the present invention is to provide an in-pipe traveling device that can move in both directions.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The bidirectionally movable pipe running device of the present invention contacts the inner wall of the pipe, has low movement resistance against movement in the A direction within the pipe, and has low movement resistance in the direction A and B in the opposite direction. It has a resistor that is a combination of both a conductive resistor and a non-conductive resistor that have high movement resistance against movement in the direction, and an electrode that is electrically connected to the conductive resistor. The piezoelectric body A that vibrates the resistor is in contact with the inner wall of the conduit,
Movement resistance is low for movement in the B direction within the pipe,
A resistor, which is a combination of both a conductive resistor and a non-conductive resistor, has a high movement resistance against movement in the input direction opposite to that direction, and is electrically insulated and bonded to the piezoelectric body A. , and a piezoelectric body B having an electrode electrically connected to the conductive resistor and vibrating the resistor, a drive source that vibrates the piezoelectric bodies A and B independently, and a plurality of electrodes inside. and a conduit.

The conventional technology involves attaching resistors with opposite directional anisotropy to piezoelectric body A and the piezoelectric body, and connecting a conduit and a resistor to vibrate piezoelectric body A and piezoelectric body B independently. The difference is that the arrangement of the electrodes allows the conduit to run in both directions.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a perspective view showing the structure inside the conduit of the traveling device, and (b) is a diagram showing the electrodes and drive source of the traveling device. In FIG. 1, 1a is a conductive resistor, 1b is a non-conductive resistor, 2a is a piezoelectric bimorph A, and 2b is a piezoelectric bimorph B. This piezoelectric bimorph is made by laminating two piezoelectric elements. Aluminum is deposited on the upper and lower surfaces of this piezoelectric bimorph to form electrodes. Reference numeral 3 denotes a support for attaching a resistor, which is a combination of a conductive resistor 1a and a non-conductive resistor 1b, to the piezoelectric bimorph at a certain angle. 5
is a transparent plastic conduit with a square or rectangular cross section, and as shown in FIG. 1(b) inside the conduit 5, electrodes Al, A2 . Bl and B2 are ha. Also, 4
a is an AC power source A, and 4b is an AC power source B, which are each connected to each electrode as shown in the figure. 6 is a lead wire that connects the electrode and the AC power source.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the conduit, showing only the piezoelectric bimorph A. Electrodes AI, A, and 2 are the above electrodes, and 9 is a lead wire that connects the upper and lower electrodes of the piezoelectric bimorph.

10 is a very thin copper plate electrode sandwiched between two piezoelectric elements.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a lead wire that connects this copper plate electrode to the lower two conductive resistors 1a in FIG. Further, the two upper conductive resistors 1a in FIG. 2 are electrically connected to the surface electrode of the piezoelectric highmorph 2a. The two lower conductive resistors 1a in FIG. 2 are insulated from the surface electrode of the piezoelectric bimorph 2a.

The piezoelectric bimorph B has exactly the same structure as the piezoelectric bimorph A described above, but is turned in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. 1, and is electrically insulated from the piezoelectric bimorph A and bonded thereto.

Next, the running principle of this running device will be described. First, the principle of running when piezoelectric bimorph A alone is used will be explained.

FIG. 3 shows the vibration of piezoelectric bimorph A alone. When an alternating current voltage is generated by the alternating current source shown in FIG. 1, the alternating voltage is applied to the piezoelectric bimorph A via the electrode and the conductive resistor 1a placed on the inner surface of the conduit. Then, the piezoelectric bimorph A causes bending vibration as shown in FIG. 3, and the tip of the resistor 1a vibrates in the tube axis direction. At this time, the frictional resistance force between the inner wall of the pipe and the tip of the resistor 1a is smaller when the tip moves leftward than when it moves rightward. Therefore, if the vibration continues, this moving body will travel to the left. Based on the same principle, piezoelectric bimorph B alone travels to the right.

As shown in Figure 1, when piezoelectric bimorph A and piezoelectric bimorph B are combined, if A and B have the same structure and the same AC voltage is applied to both, the same vibration will occur, and the driving force due to frictional resistance. Since the left and right sides have the same size and opposite directions, the traveling device will stop at that spot.

However, if an AC voltage is applied to only one of A and B, the vibration state of A and B will be different, the frictional resistance applied to the resistors of A and B will be different, and the traveling device will be affected by the difference in resistance. You will be traveling with

Also, if you change the applied AC frequency, the vibration state will change, the difference in resistance will change slightly, and the speed, direction of movement, etc. will change.

Next, we will show how the structure shown in FIG. 1 actually runs in both left and right directions. The piezoelectric bimorphs A and B had the same dimensions, and had a length of 301 Wl, a width of 16 mm, and a thickness of 0.5 mm. The width of the conduit was 18 mm. The dimensions and mounting angle of the resistor were the same for A and B. Further, the applied AC voltage was 60V.

First, the frequency-speed characteristics when piezoelectric bimorph A alone and piezoelectric bimorph B alone are run are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, frequency characteristics with resonance points near 1000 Hz and 1500 Hz were obtained. The structure and dimensions are the same, but the characteristics are slightly different due to manufacturing errors.

Next, FIG. 7 shows the frequency-velocity characteristics when piezoelectric bimorph A and piezoelectric bimorph B are connected as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 7 shows the frequency-velocity characteristics when only the AC power source A is turned on and only the piezoelectric bimorph A is vibrated. However, in Figure 1, the speed when moving to the left is defined as a plus.

200Hz ~900Hz, 1050Hz ~1
At 400 Hz, it moved to the right at a slow speed of about 5 strokes/second, and at 900 Hz to 1050 Hz, it moved to the left, reaching a maximum speed of 26 mm/second.

In Figure 8, only AC power supply B is turned on, and piezoelectric bimorph B
This shows the frequency-velocity characteristics when vibrating only. However, in Figure 1, the speed when moving to the right is defined as a plus. In this case, it moved only in the right direction. Unlike the case shown in FIG. 7, the frequency characteristic is flat.

From these results, it was found that by using the device shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to move in both directions by changing the frequency or switching the piezoelectric material to be vibrated.

Further, by using this traveling device, a fine positioning device can be realized. FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the fine positioning device. 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a laser length measuring device, which irradiates the reflection plate 13 with a laser to measure the position of the piezoelectric body. 14 is a controller which receives the position information of the piezoelectric body from the laser length measuring device 12 and moves the piezoelectric body to the left if the position is shifted to the right from the target position, and moves the piezoelectric body to the left from the target position. AC type #4a, so as to move the piezoelectric body to the right when
4b frequency and voltage are controlled. This control allows the piezoelectric body to be positioned at the target position.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, in the bidirectionally movable pipe running device of the present invention, resistors having opposite directional anisotropy are attached to piezoelectric body A and piezoelectric body B, and piezoelectric body A and piezoelectric body By arranging the conduit and the electrodes of the resistor so as to vibrate the body B independently, there is an effect that the conduit can run in both directions, which was not possible with conventional devices. Further, by using this device, there is an effect that a fine positioning device can be constructed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (,a) is a perspective view showing the structure inside the conduit of the traveling device, (b) is a diagram showing the electrodes and drive source of the traveling device, and FIG. A side view of the piezoelectric bimorph A of the embodiment device of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state of vibration of the piezoelectric bimorph, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional traveling device, and FIG. 5 is a frequency-speed characteristic. Figure 6 is a diagram showing frequency-velocity characteristics (piezoelectric bimorph B alone), Figure 7 is a diagram showing frequency-velocity characteristics (only piezoelectric bimorph A vibrates), Figure 8 is a diagram showing frequency-velocity characteristics (piezoelectric bimorph A alone), The figure is a diagram showing frequency-velocity characteristics (only piezoelectric bimorph B is vibrated), and Figure 9 is a configuration diagram of the fine positioning device. la... Conductive resistor 1b... Non-conductive resistor 2a... Piezoelectric bimorph A 2b... Piezoelectric bimorph B 3... Support 4a... AC power source A 4b... AC power source B 5...Transparent plastic conduit 6...Lead wire A1. A2... Electrode Bl, B2... Electrode 9... Lead wire 10... Copper plate electrode 11... Lead wire 12... Laser length measuring device 13... Reflector plate 14... Controller @ Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An in-pipe traveling device that can travel in both directions within the pipe, which contacts the inner wall of the pipe, has low movement resistance against movement in the A direction within the pipe, and has low movement resistance in the opposite direction. A resistor that is a combination of both a conductive resistor and a non-conductive resistor that has high movement resistance against movement in the B direction, and an electrode that is electrically connected to the conductive resistor, A piezoelectric body A that vibrates the resistor is in contact with the inner wall of the conduit,
Movement resistance is low for movement in the B direction within the pipe,
A resistor, which is a combination of both a conductive resistor and a non-conductive resistor, which has a high movement resistance against movement in the direction A, which is the opposite direction to that direction, and a resistor that is electrically insulated and bonded to the piezoelectric body A. , a piezoelectric body B having an electrode electrically connected to the conductive resistor and vibrating the resistor; a driving source that vibrates the piezoelectric bodies A and B independently; 1. A bidirectionally movable pipe running device, characterized in that it is equipped with a pipe line.