JPH054594A - Crawler type wall surface suction running robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To greatly improve running follow-up of a crawler type wall surface suction running robot to a running wall surface having an uneven surface compared with that of a conventional type. CONSTITUTION:A crawler type wall surface suction running robot comprises a pair of endless chains 19L and 19R on both sides run around the front and the rear of a frame 11 and driven and revolved independently from each other, a bellows 23 having a base end part mounted to a chain link 20, by using which a part of the endless chains 19L and 19R are formed, and energized outwardly, a suction pad mounted on the tip part of the bellows 23 and brought into close adhesion to a running wall surface 34, a sucking means to draw a vacuum at the interior of the belows 23 corresponding to the suction pad adhered to the running wall surface 34, and an antislip block protruded from the side end part of the chain link 20 and pressed against the running wall surface 34 along with drawing of a vacuum at the interior of the bellows 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a crawler type wall surface suction traveling robot which can travel freely even if a wall surface has irregularities.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A crawler-type work robot adapted to attract a pair of left and right crawlers to a traveling wall surface as a work robot for freely performing various works by freely traveling not only on a general floor surface but also on a vertical wall surface. A wall adsorption traveling robot has been proposed.

As shown in FIG. 7 showing the plane shape of such a conventional crawler type wall surface adsorbing traveling robot and FIG. 8 showing the side shape thereof, a pair of left and right front parts are provided at the front end of a rectangular frame 101. The partial rollers 102 are rotatably attached, and similarly, a pair of left and right rear rollers 103 are rotatably attached to the rear end of the frame 101. Endless belts 104 made of rubber are respectively wound around the front roller 102 and the rear roller 103 whose rotation axes are in a straight line.

One of the front rollers 102 has a frame 1
A front air drive motor 105 fixed to the front end of the frame 01 is connected to the rear air drive motor 106 fixed to the rear end of the frame 101.
3 is connected to one side. A header pipe 107 connected to a compressed air supply source via a flexible pipe (not shown) is attached to the front and rear of the central portion of the frame 101, and the header pipe 107 is connected to the front via a branch pipe (not shown). The partial air drive motor 105 and the rear air drive motor 106 are in communication with each other.

Therefore, by supplying the compressed air to the front air drive motor 105, the endless belt 104 wound around the one front roller 102 rotates, and the compressed air is supplied to the rear air drive motor 106. Thus, the endless belt 104 wound around the one rear roller 103 side rotates. That is, these front air drive motor 105 and rear air drive motor 1
By switching the combination of the supply of compressed air to 06, the traveling direction of the crawler type wall surface suction traveling robot can be arbitrarily set to the straight traveling state or the turning state.

Belt receiving members 109 attached to the frame 101 are slidably attached to the inner peripheral surfaces of the left and right endless belts 104 on the side in contact with the traveling wall surface 108.
On the sliding surface of the belt receiving member 109 with respect to the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt 104, decompression chambers 110 that are recessed in a rectangular shape along the moving direction of the endless belt 104 are formed at regular intervals. In addition, suction chambers 111 that are recessed in a rectangular shape are formed at regular intervals on the outer peripheral surfaces of the left and right endless belts 104 facing the belt receiving member 109, and the decompression chamber 110 is formed.
The plurality of suction chambers 111 are in communication with each other through a communication hole 112 formed in the endless belt 104.

A plurality of air ejector pumps 113 driven by compressed air supplied to the header tube 107 are attached to the left and right sides of the header tube 107 in correspondence with the decompression chamber 110. The decompression chamber 110 communicates with the suction port 114 of the pump 113 via a flexible pipe 115.

Therefore, in the decompression chamber 110 formed in the belt receiving member 109, the flexible pipe 115 and the suction port 1 are provided.
As a result of being evacuated by the air ejector pump 113 via 14, the insides of the adsorption chambers 111 communicating with the decompression chamber 110 via the communication holes 112 are also in a vacuum state,
The outer peripheral surface of the endless belt 104 is strongly adsorbed to the traveling wall surface 108, and by driving the endless belt 104, it is possible to travel freely even on a vertical wall surface or the like.

[0009]

In the conventional crawler type wall surface suction traveling robot shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt 104 on the side in contact with the traveling wall surface 108 is always the belt receiving member 109. If they are not in close contact with each other, air leaks from these gaps, making it impossible to maintain the suction chamber 111 in a vacuum state. For example, when the traveling wall surface 108 and the surface of the belt receiving member 109 on the side where the decompression chamber 110 is formed are not parallel to each other, the traveling wall surface 10
8 is formed between the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt 104 and the belt receiving member 109, or a gap is formed between the traveling wall surface 108 and the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt 104 which is in contact with the traveling wall surface 108. As a result, the pressure in the adsorption chamber 111 is insufficiently reduced.

As described above, in the conventional crawler type wall surface suction traveling robot, the flatness of the traveling wall surface 108 is reduced.
It is required that the flatness of the surface of the belt receiving member 109 on which 0 is formed is equal to or more than that, and there is almost no running followability to the running wall surface 108 having irregularities.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a crawler type wall surface adsorbing traveling robot in which the traveling followability on an irregular traveling wall surface is greatly improved as compared with the conventional one.

[0012]

A crawler-type wall-adsorption traveling robot according to the present invention independently drives a pair of left and right sprockets rotatably attached to both front and rear ends of a frame. A pair of left and right drive motors, a pair of left and right endless chains wound around the front and rear sprockets, and bellows having base ends attached to chain links forming a part of these endless chains and biased to the outside. A suction pad that is attached to the tip of each of the bellows and that can be in close contact with the traveling wall surface, and a suction pad that is provided in the frame and that adheres to the traveling wall surface with the elastic deformation of the bellows. Suction means for vacuuming the inside of the bellows and the side ends of the chain links In which respectively comprise a slip block which is pressed against the running wall with the evacuation of the urging direction and projecting in a direction parallel and in the bellows of the bellows from.

[0013]

By operating either one of the left and right drive motors, one of the left and right endless chains turns, and by operating the other of the left and right drive motors, the other endless chain of the left and right turns. .. In other words, the traveling direction of the crawler-type wall surface suction traveling robot is arbitrarily set to the straight traveling state or the turning state by switching the combination of the operations of the pair of left and right drive motors.

The bellows facing the running wall surface makes the suction pad attached to the tip end closely contact the running wall surface with no gap by the urging force to the outside, and the suction means corresponds to these suction pads closely contacting the running wall surface. Vacuum the inside of each bellows. As a result, the anti-slip block protruding from the side end of the chain link is pressed against the traveling wall surface, and the inside of the suction pad that is in close contact with the traveling wall surface is in a vacuum state, and the frictional force between the traveling wall surface and the anti-slip block causes , The shearing force due to the weight of the robot acting on the bellows is alleviated and the suction pad is strongly adsorbed on the traveling wall surface.

As described above, even if the traveling wall surface has irregularities, the suction pad surely adheres to the traveling wall surface by the urging force of the bellows, and the endless chain is driven in this state, whereby the traveling wall surface with irregularities is formed. But I run without any problems.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 showing the side shape of a crawler-type wall surface suction traveling robot according to the present invention and its II-
As shown in FIG. 2 showing a sectional structure taken along the arrow II, a pair of left and right connecting shafts 12L,
12R are rotatably attached to each other, and similarly, a pair of left and right drive shafts 13L and 13R are rotatably attached to the rear end of the frame 11. Further, the driven gear 1 is attached to the pair of left and right drive shafts 13L and 13R, respectively.
4L and 14R are integrally fitted, and these driven gears 14
L and 14R mesh with drive gears 16L and 16R driven by a pair of left and right drive motors 15L and 15R fixed to the rear end of the frame 11, respectively.

A connecting shaft 12L having a straight axis of rotation,
Two driven sprockets 17L and 17R are integrally fitted to both ends of 12R, and similarly, two driven sprockets 18L and 18R are coaxially arranged.
Are integrally fitted to both ends of the drive shafts 13L and 13R, respectively. And these driven sprockets 17
A pair of left and right endless chains 19L and 19R are wound around the L and 17R and the drive sprockets 18L and 18R, respectively.

Therefore, by operating the one drive motor 15L located on the upper side in FIG. 2, the endless chain 19L wound around the drive sprocket 18L on the one side is swung, and the lower side in FIG. By actuating the other drive motor 15R positioned at, the endless chain 19R wound around the other drive sprocket 18R side turns. That is, by selecting a combination of the operations of the pair of left and right drive motors 15L and 15R, the traveling direction of the crawler type wall surface suction traveling robot can be arbitrarily set to the straight traveling state or the turning state.

Each of the endless chains 19L and 19R has a plurality of chain links 20 and these chain links 2
And a plurality of connecting pins 21 that connect 0 to each other, and a bracket 22 along each connecting pin 21 is fixed to each chain link 20.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and FIG. 3 which is an enlarged and extracted portion of one chain link 20 in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 showing its front shape and FIG. 5 showing its bottom shape, The two flexible bellows 23 have their base ends fixed in parallel, and the bracket side 22 to the outer peripheral sides of the endless chains 19L and 19R (see FIG. 3).
A pad base 25 having two communicating suction holes 24 communicating with the inside of the bellows 23 is fixed to the tips of the bellows 23 including the spring force toward the inside and the bottom. A seal ring 26 formed of an elastically deformable foam resin or the like is attached to the peripheral edge of the tip surface of the pad base 25. In the present embodiment, the seal ring 2 is formed.
6 and the pad base 25 constitute a suction pad.

An air ejector pump 28, which communicates with the inside of the two bellows 23 through a communication hole 27, is attached to each of the brackets 22, and the air ejector pump 28 has an endless chain 19L, 1L.
Flexible endless connecting pipe 29 piped along 9R
Are connected to each other. Further, the left and right endless connecting pipes 29 are connected in a loose state to the ends of the connecting pipes 30 drawn out from the left and right of the central portion of the frame 11 via a rotary joint (not shown). A compressed air supply source (not shown) is connected to the end side via a flexible compressed air supply pipe 31 guided from the outside of the frame 11.

Further, the air ejector pump 28 is provided with an air switching rod 32 protruding toward the frame 11 so as to be movable left and right in FIG. 4, and the air ejector pump 32 is operated to operate the air ejector 32. Rod drive dogs 33 for switching the supply of compressed air from the endless connection pipe 29 side to the pump 28 are fixed to the lower left and right sides of the frame 11.

At the outer peripheral end of the chain link 20 facing the traveling wall surface 34, a non-slip block 35, which is pressed against the traveling wall surface 34 when the bellows 23 is evacuated, is in a direction parallel to the urging force of the bellows 23. (In FIG. 4,
The anti-slip blocks 35 are formed of rubber or the like that can increase the frictional force with the traveling wall surface 34. In this case, when the external force is not applied to the bellows 23, the spring force of the bellows 23 is set so that the seal ring 26 projects more than the anti-slip block 35 with the bracket 22 as a reference, as shown in FIG. There is.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6 showing the state where the suction pad is adsorbed to the traveling wall surface 34, the traveling wall surface 3
When the seal ring 26 is in contact with 4, the inside of the bellows 23 corresponding to the seal ring 26 is evacuated by the air ejector pump 28, so that the endless chains 19L and 19R run against the spring force of the bellows 23. It is drawn to the wall surface 34 side. Here, when the traveling wall surface 34 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, a vertical shearing force acts on the bellows 23 due to the weight of the robot, but the anti-slip block 35 integrated with the chain link 20 acts on the traveling wall surface. As a result of the frictional force generated between them being pressed against 34 and relaxing the vertical shearing force due to the weight of the robot, damage to the bellows 23 due to the shearing force can be prevented in advance.

Therefore, as the endless chains 19L, 19R turn, the endless connecting pipe 29 also turns integrally therewith, and the connecting pipe 30 also changes its slack amount about the rotary joint at the base end thereof while the tip end side is changed. Turn. Here, the air switching rod 32 of the air ejector pump 28 corresponding to the bellows 23 with which the seal ring 26 abuts on the traveling wall surface 34 abuts on the rod driving dog 33 and is pushed back to the right side in FIG.
Since the air ejector pump 28 and the endless connecting pipe 29 are in communication with each other, compressed air is supplied to the air ejector pump 28 and the inside of the bellows 23 is evacuated through the communication hole 27. As a result, the bellows 23 is flexibly deformed against the spring force of the bellows 23 so that the pad base 25 and the bracket 22 come close to each other, and the seal ring 26
Is strongly attracted to the traveling wall surface 34, and at the same time, the anti-slip block 35 is pressed against the traveling wall surface 34. By operating the drive motors 15L and 15R in this state to drive the endless chains 19L and 19R, it is possible to travel freely even on uneven wall surfaces or vertical wall surfaces.

In the figure, reference numeral 36 is a hook arm provided at the front end of the frame 11 to which a pulling wire (not shown) is connected, and 37 is an endless chain 19L, 19R.
It is a chain guide plate for preventing left and right displacement of the chain.

[0027]

According to the crawler type wall surface suction traveling robot of the present invention, the base ends of the bellows biased outward are attached to the chain links forming a part of the endless chain, and the tip ends of these bellows are respectively attached. The frame is equipped with a suction pad that can be in close contact with the running wall surface, and the bellows facing the running wall surface are provided with suction means for vacuuming the inside of the bellows corresponding to the suction pad that adheres to the running wall surface by the spring force of the bellows. Due to the elastic deformation of the
As a result of the suction means vacuuming the inside of the bellows corresponding to these suction pads that are in close contact with the running wall surface, the inside of the suction pad that is in close contact with the running wall surface is in a vacuum state, and these suction pads strongly adhere to the running wall surface. As a result, it is possible to travel freely even on a vertical wall surface having irregularities.

Further, anti-slip blocks project from the side ends of the chain links in directions parallel to the urging direction of the bellows, and these anti-slip blocks are pressed against the traveling wall surface as the bellows is evacuated. As a result, the shearing force acting on the bellows due to the frictional force generated between the traveling wall surface and the anti-slip block can be alleviated and damage to the bellows can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a crawler type wall surface suction traveling robot according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view showing a bellows and a suction pad by extracting a part of one chain link in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view corresponding to FIG. 4 of a portion of one chain link in a suction state with respect to a traveling wall surface.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional crawler type wall surface suction traveling robot.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a part thereof in a broken state.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 is a frame 11, 12L and 12R are connecting shafts, 13
L and 13R are drive shafts, 15L and 15R are drive motors, 1
7L and 17R are driven sprockets, 18L and 18R are drive sprockets, 19L and 19R are endless chains, 20
Is a chain link, 21 is a connecting pin 21, 22 is a bracket, 23 is a bellows, 24 is a suction hole, 24 is a pad base, 26 is a seal ring, 27 is a communication hole, 28 is an air ejector pump, 29 is an endless connecting pipe, 30 is a connecting pipe,
Reference numeral 31 is a compressed air supply pipe, 32 is an air switching rod, 33 is a rod driving dog, 34 is a traveling wall surface, and 35 is a non-slip block.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Moritani 1-1-1, Wadasaki-cho, Hyogo-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Kobe Shipyard (72) Masanori Nakajima Wakao, Amagasaki-shi, Hyogo 3-chome 11-20 Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A pair of left and right sprockets rotatably attached to the front and rear ends of a frame, a pair of left and right drive motors for independently driving the pair of left and right sprockets, and the front and rear. Pair of left and right endless chains that are wound around the sprocket, the bellows whose base ends are attached to the chain links that form a part of these endless chains, and which are urged outward, and the tip ends of these bellows. A suction pad that is attached to the traveling wall surface and a suction means that vacuums the inside of the bellows corresponding to the adsorption pad that is provided on the frame and that adheres to the traveling wall surface due to the elastic deformation of the bellows. And parallel to the urging direction of the bellows from the side end of the chain link. Crawler type wall suction traveling robot comprising a slip block which is pressed against the running wall with the vacuum in said and projecting from the direction bellows.