JPH0891004A - Universal driving wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a universal moving wheel which can carry out the direction change in an arbitrary angle and the direction change in a sharp angle. CONSTITUTION: A universal moving wheel 1 is equipped with a driving wheel 1 consisting of a spherical body, sphere receiving mechanism 2 which supports the driving wheel 1 in a rotatable manner, and a revolution driving mechanism 7 which is press-attached with the driving wheel 1 and applies a turning moment to the moving wheel 1, and on a supporting frame body 3 for supporting the sphere receiving mechanism 2, a holding frame body 4 for holding the revolution driving mechanism 7 and a mechanism 6 for changing the direction for bringing the revolution drive mechanism 7 into pressure contact with the driving wheel 1 is suspended.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrier vehicle, a carrier device,
The present invention relates to an amusement machine, and further to a free wheel that can be used as a wheel for a mobile stand.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, tires have been used as moving wheels used in vehicles of this type, transporting equipment, etc., and particularly in the case of heavy weight transportation, moving wheels or cylindrical moving wheels having higher rigidity have been used. A rotary drive shaft that transmits the rotation from the prime mover is connected to these driving wheels, and the rotational force is transmitted to move or move the vehicle body or the like.

[0003]

However, there is a problem that such a conventional driving wheel cannot change the direction of a steep angle. Strictly speaking, even a tire is in contact with the ground or floor in the form of a cylinder having a certain width, and it is difficult to change the direction at a right angle. In addition, there are restrictions due to the connecting mechanism with the drive shaft, and there are few things that can change the direction of a steep angle, or it is difficult to change the direction of a steep angle. The present invention is to provide a driving wheel that can freely change the traveling or moving direction of a vehicle, a transportation device, and the like, and particularly can change the direction at a steep angle.

[0004]

A free moving wheel provided by the present invention includes a moving wheel made of a sphere, a ball receiving mechanism for rotatably supporting the moving wheel, and a rotary drive for pressing the moving wheel to give a rotating force to the moving wheel. And a mechanism.

[0005]

The rotation direction of the movable wheel provided by the present invention is determined by the direction in which the rotary drive mechanism is in contact with the spherical body and transmits the rotational force, so that the direction can be freely changed. When the rotation drive mechanism is a hemisphere, the size of the angle formed by the rotation axis of the drive wheel and the rotation drive mechanism around the contact point of the drive wheel and the rotation drive mechanism (the position of point symmetry with the contact point between the drive wheel and the running surface) The rotation speed of the driving wheel can be changed by changing the rotation speed, the rotation speed can be changed depending on the transmission point of the rotation force from the positional relationship with the ball receiving mechanism, and the traveling or moving speed can be changed.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A universal moving wheel of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structure of a movable wheel provided by the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of the structure of FIG. 1 seen from the right side. In these figures, reference numeral 1 is a hollow metal sphere, a sphere made of synthetic resin, or a sphere made of ceramic, and a driving wheel whose outer surface is coated with rubber, synthetic resin, or ceramic. Reference numeral 2 denotes a ball retainer, such as a bearing retainer, for rotatably supporting the sphere 1 with respect to the support frame 3. In this case, the support frame 3 holds the entire moving wheel 1 from the surroundings or four directions, and functions as a support that supports the weight of the entire body. 4 is a support frame 3
The pedestal 4 is installed vertically, and a mechanism for rotating the driving wheel 1 is erected on the pedestal 4. That is, 7 is a rotary drive mechanism whose outer peripheral surface is brought into pressure contact with the spherical body 1, for example, a hydraulic motor or an electric motor whose outer periphery is rotationally driven with a fixed shaft. This rotary drive mechanism 7 can be rotated in its axial direction by a holding arm 6. The holding arm 6 is connected to a steering shaft 5 which is rotatably supported by a pedestal 4. The steering shaft 5 is hollow, and means for supplying energy to the rotary drive mechanism 7, for example, hydraulic piping or power supply wire 8 is provided.
Has been inserted. Furthermore, this supply means is inserted inside the holding arm 6. A gear 10 is fixed to the upper end of the steering shaft 5, and a gear P fixed to a rotation output shaft of a steering electric motor 9 installed on the mount 4 meshes with the gear 10. When the steering electric motor 9 rotates, the angle, that is, the direction in the horizontal plane where the rotary drive mechanism 7 is in contact with the driving wheel 1 changes, and thereby the rotation direction of the driving wheel 1 is changed and steering is possible. In this case, since the rotary drive mechanism 7 and the driving wheel 1 are in point contact with each other, it is possible to steer quickly.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment having a function different from that of FIG. 1, in which the tip of the rotary drive mechanism 17 is a hemisphere 26.
Then, by changing the size of the angle formed by the driving wheel 11 and the hemisphere 26 rotation drive shaft about the contact point between the driving wheel 11 and the hemisphere body 26 (the point symmetrical position with the contact point between the driving wheel and the traveling surface),
It is a free wheel that can change the rotation speed of the wheel. FIG. 4 shows this anomalous mechanism from another angle. In these figures, reference numeral 11 denotes a hollow metal sphere, a sphere made of synthetic resin, or a sphere made of ceramic, and a driving wheel whose outer surface is coated with rubber, synthetic resin, or ceramic. Reference numeral 12 is a ball retainer, for example, a bearing retainer for rotatably supporting the spherical body 11 with respect to the support frame 13. In this case, the support frame 13 holds the entire moving wheel 11 from the surroundings or four directions, and functions as a support that supports the weight of the entire body. Reference numeral 18 denotes a frame vertically provided on the support frame 13. Inside the frame 18, a mechanism for rotationally driving the moving wheel 11 is installed.

That is, 14 is a rotary drive mechanism 1 for the driving wheel 11.
7 is a pedestal for erection, and has an arc shape, and both ends of it are supporting frames 1
Guided by the guide rails 16 installed on the 3 above,
It is supported so that it does not come off in the vertical direction. A steering electric motor 19 is fixedly installed at one end of the gantry 16, and a pinion gear 20 meshing with a rack L provided around the support frame 13 is fixed to the output shaft of the pedestal 16. The rack L is attached to the annular frame 21.

As shown in FIG. 4, this mount 14 is composed of two frames, and a rotary drive mechanism 17 is mounted via a support 15. That is, the rotary drive mechanism 17 is connected to the support base 15
The supporting base 15 has a T-shape and has a guide rotating body 22 arranged so as to sandwich the pedestal 14, and is held on the pedestal 14 while being movable on the pedestal 14. It Then, the rotation drive mechanism 17 is attached to the support base 15.
Is suspended. The rotary drive mechanism 17 is a hydraulic motor or electric motor that is rotationally driven, and a hemisphere 26 is attached to its output shaft. The hemisphere 26 is erected on the mount 14 so as to be constantly in pressure contact with the driving wheel 11. R is the radius of the driving wheel 11.

On the other hand, a gear shifting electric motor 25 is installed on the support base 15, and a pinion gear 23 meshing with the rack of the pedestal 14 is fixed to the output shaft 24 thereof. Therefore, when the speed change electric motor 25 rotates, the support base 15 is displaced on the arc of the pedestal 14 due to the relationship between the rack and the pinion gear 23. This displacement is accurately performed by the guide rotating body 22. Then, due to this displacement, the rotary drive mechanism 17 and the hemisphere 26 are also displaced around the center of the arc of the pedestal 14. The center of this arc is made to coincide with the contact point between the moving wheel 11 and the hemisphere 26 (the point symmetric with the contact point between the moving wheel and the running surface). As a result, the moving wheel 11 is centered around this contact point.
And the angle formed by the rotation drive mechanism of the hemisphere 26 changes. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the hemisphere 26 is in contact with the moving wheel 11 perpendicularly to the traveling surface, the power is not transmitted and the rotation speed is zero. Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the hemisphere 26 is tilted by θ1 from the vertical, the radius of gyration contributing to the power transmission of the hemisphere 26 is from 0 to r1, and the moving wheel 11 rotates at a corresponding rotation speed. Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (C), when the hemisphere 26 is tilted by θ2 (> θ1) from the vertical,
The radius of rotation that contributes to the power transmission is r2 (> r1), and the rotation speed of the moving wheel 11 becomes even higher. Therefore, even if the number of rotations of the hemisphere 26 is the same, the rotation of the moving wheel 11 is changed (decelerated). Driving wheel 11 and hemisphere 26
When the angle formed by the axis of rotation is horizontal to the running surface, the maximum speed is reached. The difference from the configuration of FIG. 1 is that this transmission mechanism is additionally provided.

5 (A) and 5 (B) are drawings for explaining the traveling function when the movable wheel 31 of the present invention is installed in the body of the carrier vehicle 30. (A) shows the case where the rotating directions of the moving wheels are all the same, and (B) shows the case where the regular pentagons have the same direction in the tangential direction of the circle inscribed therein. In the case of (A), the transport vehicle 30 goes straight, and in the case of (B), the transport vehicle 30 rotates at the same point and the direction of the vehicle body can be changed.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control circuit for controlling the drive of each of these electric motors and the like. First, the switch 42 is used to select whether the vehicle 30 is moved or rotated to change the direction. When the movement is selected, the spring / center return type joystick 40 is selected as the input device. The movement direction of the joystick 40 is determined by tilting the lever, and the traveling speed is determined by the tilting angle. When the rotation of the vehicle 30 is selected by the switch 42, the rotary encoder 41 is selected as the input device, and the vehicle 30 is rotated according to the angle at which the knob is rotated. The specific processing is controlled by the control unit 43, and a steering instruction 49 and a traveling speed instruction 50 are output for each moving wheel. The steering command 49 is output to the steering electric motor 46 (9 in FIG. 1, 19 in FIG. 3) through the driver 44. Electric motor for steering 46
The output of is connected to a position detector 45, for example, a potentiometer, and its output is fed back. That is, the driver 44, the steering electric motor 46, the position detector 4
5, the servo system is configured, and the rotation direction of the moving wheels can be directed in the direction of the steering command 49.

The traveling speed command 50 is output to the moving wheel drive electric motor 48 (7 in FIG. 1) through the driver 51.
A speed detector 47 such as a tachogenerator is connected to the output of the driving wheel drive motor 48, and the output is fed back. That is, the driver 51, the driving wheel driving electric motor 48, and the speed detector 75 constitute a servo system, and the driving wheel can be rotated at the speed of the traveling speed command 50. When the driving wheel has the structure shown in FIG. 3, the traveling speed control part is composed of the speed change electric motor 48 (25 in FIG. 3), the position detector 47, and the driver 51, and is driven at an angle according to the speed command 50. Positioning and shifting the mechanism. In this case, the electric motor of the drive mechanism (17 in FIG. 3) is rotating at a constant speed.

The movable wheel provided by the present invention is as described above, but includes several modifications other than those shown above and the illustrated example. That is, first, the ball receiving mechanism of the moving wheel is not limited to the illustrated example, and an appropriate mechanism is applied depending on the type of vehicle in which the universal moving wheel of the present invention is used, for example. The material of the driving wheel may be a metal material other than the above,
No coating is necessary. As for the rotary drive mechanism that is pressed against the driving wheel and is driven to rotate, various modifications can be given to the outer shape and the internal configuration. For example, even in the case of a hydraulic motor, there are gear motors and piston motors, and in the case of a piston motor, there are radial type and axial type, and pneumatic type can be adopted and various motors can be adopted. An electric motor is used as the rotation source for steering to facilitate control, but hydraulic pressure (pneumatic pressure)
It is also possible to adopt a device. Also in the configuration of FIG. 3, for example, the direction changing mechanism by rotation of the gantry is not limited to the meshing system of the pinion gear and the rack, and a worm mechanism or the like can be adopted. The movable wheel of the present invention can be attached to the lower part of the column of the movable table, and in this case, the mechanism of FIGS. 1 and 3 can be incorporated in a vertically elongated cylindrical body. In this case, it is necessary to change the configuration of each part because the outer diameter needs to be reduced accordingly. Although the mechanism for pressing the rotary drive mechanism to the driving wheel is not shown,
As the mechanism, for example, in the case of FIG. 1, the relationship between the support frame 3 and the gantry 4 is relatively displaceable, and
It is general that the rotating body is elastically contacted with the moving wheel by installing the spring through the spring. Of course, other elastic contact mechanisms such as a mechanism in which only the rotating body is elastically mounted on the holding frame can be adopted. The use of the moving wheel of the present invention is not limited to the above, and for example, a part of a transfer device that fixedly installs the moving wheel of the universal moving wheel upward and horizontally transfers a plate material or the like placed on the moving wheel. It is also available as This invention includes all of these.

Although the present invention has been described above,
The summary is as follows.

Appendix 1 A free moving wheel comprising a moving wheel made of a spherical body, a ball receiving mechanism for rotatably supporting the moving wheel, and a rotary drive mechanism for pressing the moving wheel to give a rotating force to the moving wheel.

Appendix 2 A moving wheel composed of a spherical body, a ball receiving mechanism for rotatably supporting the moving wheel, a rotary driving mechanism having a hemisphere at the tip end which comes into pressure contact with the moving wheel and applies a rotational force to the moving wheel, and this rotary drive A free moving wheel comprising: a mechanism for changing an angle at which a hemisphere of the mechanism is pressed against the moving wheel.

Appendix 3 A moving wheel composed of a spherical body, a ball receiving mechanism that rotatably supports the moving wheel, and a rotary drive mechanism that presses against the moving wheel and applies a rotational force to the moving wheel, and supports the ball receiving mechanism. A movable wheel, wherein a holding frame body for holding the rotation drive mechanism is vertically provided on a support frame body.

Appendix 4 A moving wheel consisting of a spherical body, a ball receiving mechanism for rotatably supporting the moving wheel, and a rotary driving mechanism having a hemisphere at the tip end for pressing the moving wheel to give a rotating force to the moving wheel, A holding frame body for holding the rotation drive mechanism and a mechanism for changing an angle at which a hemisphere of the rotation drive mechanism is brought into pressure contact with a moving wheel is vertically provided on a support frame body for supporting the ball receiving mechanism. Universal wheel.

[0020]

Since the movable wheel provided by the present invention is as described above, since the movable wheel is a sphere and can rotate in any direction, the vehicle equipped with this movable wheel can be moved in any direction. In particular, it is possible to change the direction of a steep angle. Further, it is possible to simplify the configuration by eliminating the need for controlling the rotation speed of the rotary drive source. Further, by disposing the moving wheels at each vertex of a regular pentagon in a carrier vehicle or the like, it is possible to make it more difficult to fall than three wheels or four wheels.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structure of a universal wheel according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of a universal moving wheel according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a structure of a movable wheel according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a universal wheel according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the vehicle provided with the adjustable wheels according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram for controlling the operation of the movable wheel according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the operation of the movable wheel according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 11 ... Driving wheel 2, 12 ... Ball receiver 3, 13 ... Support frame 4, 14 ... Stand 5 ... Steering shaft 6 ... Holding arm 7, 17 ... Rotation drive mechanism 9, 19 ... Steering electric motor 15 ... Support stand 16 ... Guide rail 25 ... electric motor for speed change 26 ... hemisphere 30 ... transport vehicle

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A free moving wheel comprising: a moving wheel formed of a spherical body; a ball receiving mechanism that rotatably supports the moving wheel; and a rotary drive mechanism that presses against the moving wheel and applies a rotational force to the moving wheel.