JPH06344962A - Staircase ascending and descending vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a staircase ascending and descending vehicle with the simple constitution which does not damage the angular part of the step of a staircase. CONSTITUTION:A staircase elevator vehicle is equipped with a car body, front and rear wheels 2 and 3 installed in the front and rear parts of the car body, front and rear assisting wheels 5 and 7 for raising and lowering the front and rear wheels 2 and 3 by one step height portion of the staircase, driving part for driving each wheel, rotary part for revolving the front and rear driving wheels 5 and 7, sensor for detecting the step difference of the staircase, and a control part for controlling the driving part and the rotary part on the basis of the result of the detection of the sensor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stair climbing vehicle, and more particularly to a stair climbing vehicle having front and rear wheels and front and rear auxiliary wheels and capable of climbing the stairs without damaging the corners of the steps of the stairs. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional stair climbing vehicle, a so-called crawler type vehicle is generally used. A crawler type stair climbing vehicle has a plurality of wheels on the lower part of the vehicle body, and an endless track is arranged on the outer periphery of these wheels. Then, a hook or the like is provided on the outer surface of the endless track, and the stairs are raised or lowered by circulating this.

In such a conventional crawler type stair climbing vehicle, since a member such as a claw is hooked at the corner of each step of the stair to ascend and descend the stair, the corner of the step may be damaged. . Further, in the conventional crawler type stair climbing vehicle, there is a problem that the structure becomes complicated because it is necessary to provide a plurality of wheels under the vehicle body. An object of the present invention is to enable the stairs to be raised and lowered with a simple structure without damaging the corners of the steps of the stairs.

[0004]

A stair climbing vehicle according to the present invention comprises a vehicle body, front wheels, rear wheels, front and rear auxiliary wheels, driving means, rotating means, step detecting means and control means.
The front wheels and the rear wheels are provided at the front and rear portions of the vehicle body. The front and rear auxiliary wheels are mounted on the vehicle body and are provided so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction by at least one step height of the stairs in front of the front and rear wheels in the traveling direction, to raise and lower the front and rear wheels by one step height. belongs to. The drive means is for driving at least one type of wheels. The rotating means is for rotating the front and rear auxiliary wheels. The step detecting means is for detecting a step of stairs. The control means controls the driving means and the rotating means based on the detection result of the step detecting means.

[0005]

In the stair climbing vehicle according to the present invention, front wheels and rear wheels are provided in front of and behind the vehicle body, and at the time of normal traveling, at least one of these wheels is driven to travel. Auxiliary wheels for raising and lowering the corresponding wheels by at least one step height of the stairs are provided on the front side of the traveling direction of each wheel. For example, when the front wheel detects a step on the stairs, the front auxiliary wheel is provided. Is rotated to raise the front wheel by one step height. When the vehicle moves forward in this state and the rear wheel detects a step difference in the stairs, the rear auxiliary wheel raises the rear wheel by one step height of the stairs. In this way
Rotate each auxiliary wheel to lift the front and rear wheels to climb over the steps on the stairs.

Here, since the stairs are raised and lowered by the rotation of the auxiliary wheels, it is possible to perform the raising and lowering without hooking the corners of the steps of the stairs, that is, without damaging the corners. Further, the wheels need only be provided with front and rear wheels and auxiliary wheels corresponding thereto, and the structure is simple as compared with the conventional crawler type stair climbing vehicle.

[0007]

1 shows a stair climbing vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view thereof. This stair climbing vehicle includes a vehicle body 1, left and right front wheels 2 provided on the lower surface of the front end portion of the vehicle body 1, and left and right rear wheels 3 provided on the lower surface of the rear end portion.
And have. A pair of front auxiliary wheels 5 are provided on the front axle 4 that connects the left and right front wheels 2. The front auxiliary wheel 5 is located on the front side or the rear side of the front wheel 2,
It is possible to rotate about the front axle 4 by one step height of the stairs. Further, a pair of rear auxiliary wheels 7 are provided on the rear axle 6 that connects the left and right rear wheels 3. The rear auxiliary wheel 7 can rotate on the front axle 6 or the rear side of the rear wheel 3 around the rear axle 6 by one step height of the stairs. In such a configuration, the front and rear auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 are brought into contact with the staircase surface one step above and rotated, whereby the front wheel 2 and the rear wheel 3 are
It is possible to go up and down by one step height of the stairs. The front and rear wheels 2 and 3 and the front and rear auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 can be rotated in the forward and reverse directions by drive motors. A steering mechanism (not shown) is provided on the lower surface of the vehicle body 1, and the front wheels 2 can be steered by this steering mechanism.

A seat 8 and an operation panel 9 are provided on the upper surface of the vehicle body 1.
And are provided. On the operation panel 9, a lever for steering operation, a main switch, and a travel mode selection button for switching the travel mode between a normal travel mode, a stair up mode and a stair down mode,
A lever for controlling the traveling speed, a brake switch, a display unit, and other switches are provided.

The stair climbing vehicle is provided with a control unit 20 as shown in FIG. The controller 20 controls the RA
It is provided with a microcomputer including M, ROM and CPU. The control unit 20 includes an operation panel 9, a front sensor 21, a rear sensor 22, a front auxiliary sensor 23,
The rear auxiliary sensor 24 and other input / output units are connected.
Here, the sensors 21 to 24 detect that the wheels 2, 3, 5 and 6 are close to the steps of the stairs when climbing the stairs, and the auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 are detected when descending the stairs. It is for detecting that the step of the stairs has been completely deviated.
The front and rear auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 rotate to the rear side of the front wheel 2 and the rear wheel 3 when going down the stairs.

The control unit 20 also includes a front wheel drive unit 25 for driving the front wheels 2, a rear wheel drive unit 26 for driving the rear wheels 3, and front auxiliary wheels for driving the front auxiliary wheels 5. A drive unit 27, a rear auxiliary wheel drive unit 28 for driving the rear auxiliary wheels 7, and a front auxiliary wheel rotation unit 2 for rotating the front auxiliary wheels 5.
9, a rear auxiliary wheel rotating portion 30 for rotating the rear auxiliary wheel 7 and a brake portion 31 for braking are connected.

Next, the traveling control operation will be described with reference to the control flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and the operation explanatory diagrams shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. When the main switch on the operation panel 9 is turned on, initialization is performed in step S1. In this initial setting, the traveling mode is set to the normal traveling mode, and the front and rear auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 are positioned diagonally forward and upward as shown in FIG. Next, in step S2, it is determined whether or not the button for designating the normal traveling mode has been pressed,
In step S3, it is determined whether the stop button has been pressed. Further, in step S4, it is determined whether or not the stairs up button for climbing the stairs has been pressed, and step S4
In step 5, it is determined whether or not the stair down button for getting off the stairs has been pressed. Further, in step S6, it is determined whether or not another key is pressed.

When the button for selecting the normal traveling mode is pressed, the routine proceeds from step S2 to step S10 to execute the normal traveling processing. In this normal traveling process, only one of the front and rear wheels 2 and 3 is driven to perform forward traveling or backward traveling. When the stop button is pressed, the process moves from step S3 to step S11 to drive the brake unit 31. As a result, braking is performed and the vehicle stops. If the stairs up button is pressed, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S12 and the stairs up process described later is executed. When the stairs down button is further pressed, the process proceeds from step S5 to step S13 to execute the stairs down process. If another key is pressed, steps S6 to S6
Then, the process shifts to step 14 and the processing corresponding to the pressed key is executed.
In this way, the processing corresponding to the operation of each button or lever of the operation panel 9 is executed until the main switch is turned off.

Next, the staircase up process will be described in detail. When the stairs up mode is selected, one of the front and rear wheels 2 and 3 is driven to move forward in step S20 of FIG. Next, in step S21, the front sensor 21
It is determined whether or not is turned on. The front sensor 21 is the front wheel 2
Is a sensor for determining whether or not the step portion of the stairs has come into contact, and when NO is determined in step S21, the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, it is determined whether the rear sensor 22 is turned on. The rear sensor 22 is for determining whether or not the rear wheel 3 has come into contact with the stepped portion of the stairs, and if NO in step S22, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, it is determined whether or not the front auxiliary sensor 23 is turned on. The front auxiliary sensor 23 determines whether or not the front auxiliary wheel 5 has approached the stepped portion of the stairs. Here, the front auxiliary sensor 23 detects the front auxiliary wheel 5 immediately before the front auxiliary wheel 5 comes into contact with the stepped portion of the stairs.
That is, the switch is turned on at a position separated from the step portion by a predetermined distance. Therefore, at the timing when the front auxiliary sensor 23 is turned on, the front auxiliary wheel 5 can rotate without contacting the stepped portion of the stairs. Step S
If NO is determined in 23, the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, it is determined whether the rear auxiliary sensor 24 is turned on. The rear auxiliary sensor 24, like the front auxiliary sensor 23, is a sensor for detecting that the rear auxiliary wheel 7 has approached the stepped portion of the stairs. In this way
Steps S21 to S24 are repeatedly executed to detect that each wheel 2, 3, 5, 7 approaches the stepped portion of the stairs.

If it is determined NO in step S24, the process proceeds to step S25. In step S25, the front and rear auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 are rotated counterclockwise, that is, the auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 are rotated below the front and rear wheels 2 and 3 to come into contact with the running surface. Determine if the wheels are floating. When the front and rear auxiliary wheels 5, 7 are in the initial state (obliquely forward and upward), NO is determined in step S25 and the process returns to step S21.
If YES is determined in step S25, the process proceeds to step S26. In step S26, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance after the traveling is temporarily stopped and the traveling is resumed during the stairs up process. That is, it is determined whether or not the front auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 have traveled a predetermined distance while being in contact with the traveling surface. When the operation of climbing the stairs is completed and the vehicle moves to the flat traveling surface, YES is determined in step S26 and the process proceeds to step S27. In this case, the auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 are returned to the initial positions. Also, in step S26, NO
When it is determined that the processing is completed, the process returns to step S21.

In this way, it waits for each of the sensors 21 to 24 to turn on. When the vehicle starts moving forward and reaches the first step of the stairs, the front wheels 2 come into contact with the step of the stairs as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). In this case, YES is determined in step S21 and step S3 is performed.
Move to 0. In step S30, driving is stopped.
Then, the process proceeds to step S31, and the front auxiliary wheel 5 is rotated counterclockwise by a predetermined angle (-). As a result, FIG.
As shown in, the front wheel 2 is raised by one step height of the stairs. When the process of step S31 ends, the process returns to step S20 to start the forward movement again.

When the forward movement is started again, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), the front auxiliary wheel 5 approaches the second step of the stairs.
As a result, the front auxiliary sensor 23 is turned on. In this case, the process proceeds from step S23 to step S32, and the driving is temporarily stopped. Then, in step S33, the front auxiliary wheel 5
Turn clockwise (+). As a result, the front auxiliary wheel 5 rises by one step height of the stairs. When the process of step S33 is completed, the process returns to step S20 to start the forward movement again.

Repeating the above process, FIG. 5 (a)
As shown in, the rear wheel 3 comes into contact with the first step of the stairs,
The rear sensor 22 is turned on. In this case, step S22
To S34, the drive is stopped. Then, in step S35, the rear auxiliary wheel 7 is rotated counterclockwise (-) by a predetermined angle. As a result, the rear wheel 3 is raised by one step height of the stairs. In this state, the process proceeds to step S20 and the forward movement is started again. When the rear wheel 3 goes over the stairs and then moves forward, the rear auxiliary wheel 7 approaches the stepped portion of the stairs. As a result, the rear auxiliary sensor 24 is turned on. In this case, the process proceeds from step S24 to step S36, and the driving is temporarily stopped. Then, in step S37, the rear auxiliary wheel is rotated clockwise (+).

By repeating such an operation, it is possible to climb the stairs while rotating the front and rear auxiliary wheels 5, 7 clockwise and counterclockwise by a predetermined angle and driving the wheels. In addition, when the stairs have been climbed and the road has moved to a flat road, as described above, the steps S25 and S2 are performed.
The normal traveling state is returned via 6 and step S27. [Other Embodiments] (a) In the above-described embodiment, the stairs are climbed while rotating each auxiliary wheel 5, 7 clockwise and counterclockwise at a predetermined angle. May be rotated while rotating counterclockwise.

(B) The angle between the vehicle body 1 and the seat 8 may be variable so that the seat 8 is maintained in a horizontal state when climbing up and down the stairs.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the stairs are moved up and down while the front and rear auxiliary wheels 5 and 7 are rotated by a predetermined angle, the corners of the steps of the stairs are not damaged. Can be raised and lowered. Further, the structure is simpler than that of the conventional crawler type wheel.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a stair climbing vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the stair climbing vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the stair climbing vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the stair climbing vehicle when climbing stairs.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the stair climber when climbing stairs.

FIG. 6 is a control flowchart of the stair climbing vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a control flowchart of a stair up mode of the stair climbing vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 vehicle body 2 front wheel 3 rear wheel 5 front auxiliary wheel 7 rear auxiliary wheel 20 control unit 21, 22, 23, 24 sensor 25, 26, 27, 28 wheel drive unit 29, 30 auxiliary wheel rotating unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stair climbing vehicle for climbing up and down stairs, comprising: a vehicle body, front wheels and rear wheels provided at the front and rear portions of the vehicle body, and the front and rear wheels mounted on the vehicle body. A front auxiliary wheel and a rear auxiliary wheel that are rotatable in the vertical direction by at least one step height of the stairs in the front in the direction, and that raise and lower the front and rear wheels by the one step height; Driving means for driving at least one kind of wheel, rotating means for rotating the front and rear auxiliary wheels, step detecting means for detecting a step of the stairs, and detection of the step detecting means A stair climbing vehicle comprising: a control unit that controls the drive unit and the rotation unit based on the result.