JPH09216558A - Rail traveling moving body device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To travel even under a laying condition of all the rails by traveling with high speed low torque in the small speed reduction ration in horizontal travel and with low speed high torque in the large speed reduction ratio in slope climbing travel. SOLUTION: A rack 12 is arranged in a slope climbing part of a rail 10, and a driving system is automatically switched so that a moving body can travel with high speed low torque in the small speed reduction ratio by a driving wheel 9 in horizontal travel and with low speed high torque in the large speed reduction ratio in slope climbing travel by meshing of a gear 11 and the rack 12 connected to a speed reducer 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rail traveling mobile unit apparatus in which a mobile unit equipped with a surveillance camera or the like moves on a rail to inspect a plant or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional rail traveling mobile devices, a friction drive system is structurally simple as a means for obtaining a driving force. In this method, a rubber lining is applied to the driving wheels to increase friction with the rails to obtain a driving force. This method is used for transportation monorails in factories, monorails for passengers, etc., and is well known.

Another conventional rail traveling mobile unit uses a rack and pinion system as a means for obtaining a driving force. This is a rack on the rail side,
A pinion that is rotationally driven is provided on the moving body side, and a driving force is obtained by meshing the rack and the pinion. As an example of a system using the rack and pinion system, there is a rail used in the mobile inspection robot disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-221311. However, in this example, a chain is placed on the rail instead of the rack, and a sprocket is attached to the moving body side instead of the pinion.
The driving force is obtained by engaging the sprocket and chain.

There is also a system using both a friction drive system and a rack and pinion system, and an example thereof is a monitoring device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-324787. In this example, the drive wheel and the pinion are coaxially and integrally attached, and there is no rack in the horizontal traveling portion of the rail, and the rack is provided in the climbing portion. Since the outer diameter of the pinion is smaller than the outer diameter of the drive wheel, the driving force is obtained by the friction between the drive wheel and the rail during horizontal traveling.At this time, the pinion turns around, and on the uphill part, the pinion meshes with the rack and the driving force is increased. can get.

[0005]

Since the conventional rail traveling mobile unit is constructed as described above, it is possible to easily realize high speed traveling during horizontal traveling, but on the other hand, since the reduction ratio is small and the torque is small, the inclination is reduced. It was difficult to climb slopes in vertical and vertical areas. On the other hand, a moving body with a large reduction ratio and a large torque has a problem that the traveling speed on the hill is low, but the traveling speed is low on the horizontal movement.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it runs at a high speed and a low torque due to a small reduction ratio during horizontal traveling and at a low speed and a high torque due to a large reduction ratio during uphill traveling, and is suitable for all rails. An object of the present invention is to obtain a rail traveling mobile device that can travel even under the laying conditions of.

[0007]

A rail traveling vehicle apparatus according to the present invention includes a linear meshing means provided on an uphill portion of the rail, a motor provided on the vehicle moving on the rail, and Drive wheels driven by a motor,
A rotary meshing means driven by a motor via a speed reducer, the rails travel on the drive wheels when the rail travels in a horizontal portion, and the linear meshing means and the rotary meshing travel when traveling on an uphill portion of the rail. It travels by meshing with the means.

The drive wheels are driven via a torque limiter.

Further, the rotary meshing means is movably supported in the traveling direction of the moving body via the elastic body.

Further, there is provided a control device for controlling the traveling of the moving body, and a position detecting means provided at a boundary portion between the horizontal portion of the rail and an uphill portion of the rail and transmitting the passage of the moving body to the control means. It is a thing.

Further, the traveling distance of the moving body is measured by an arithmetic expression, and the arithmetic expression is switched by a signal from the position detecting means.

Further, the control device has a servo gain of a motor control system when traveling on a horizontal portion of the rail and a servo gain of a motor control system when traveling on an uphill portion of the rail, and the servo gain is obtained by a signal from a position detecting means. The servo gain can be selected.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

Embodiment 1 1 is a configuration diagram showing a rail traveling mobile unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, 1 is a control device, 2 is a motor, 3 is a first stage speed reducer, 4 is a driving force splitting means, 5 is a final stage speed reducer, 6 is a rotary meshing means, 7 is a linear meshing means, 8 is a torque limiter, Reference numeral 9 represents a drive wheel, and 10 represents a rail. The control device 1 controls the motor 2 to drive the moving body, and is installed on the ground or on the moving body main body.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a drive system of the rail traveling mobile unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, 2 is a motor, 3 is a first stage reducer, 5 is a final stage reducer, 11 is a gear as a rotary meshing means, 12 is a rack as a linear meshing means, 8 is a torque limiter,
9 is, for example, a drive wheel in which a metal wheel has a rubber lining,
Reference numeral 10 represents a rail. Further, 13 is an example of the driving force branching means, 13a is a timing pulley a, 13b is a timing pulley b, and 13c is a timing belt.

FIG. 3 shows an example of use of the rail traveling moving body apparatus of the present invention. A camera 17 is mounted on the moving body 14 via a pan head 18, and the rails laid in the plant are surrounded by surroundings. Move while checking the condition. Although not shown, the moving body 14 is supplied with power from a trolley arranged on the rail 10 or a storage battery installed in the moving body 14, and also from a feeder line arranged on the rail 10. It is controlled by receiving a control signal by tightly-coupled wireless communication, optical transmission, etc., and sends the image information of the camera 17.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the relationship between the rail and the rack according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the rail 10 includes a horizontal portion (10a) and an inclined climbing portion (10a).
b), consisting of a vertical slope (10c). Racks 12 are attached along the rails 10 as linear meshing means to the sloped climbing portion 10b and the vertical climbing portion 10c which are climbing portions.

Next, the operation will be described. When the moving body 14 travels on the horizontal portion 10a of the rail, the driving force of the motor 2 drives the drive wheels 9 via the first stage speed reducer 3, the timing pulley 13a, the timing belt 13c, the timing belt 13b, and the torque limiter 8. The drive wheel 9 is provided with a rubber lining, and the moving body 14 runs due to friction with the rail 10. There is no rack 12 in the horizontal portion 10a of the rail, and the radius r _{g of the} gear 11 is the radius r of the drive wheel 9.
Since it is smaller than _t , the gear 11 idles on the rail 10. This is shown in FIG. At this time, the rotation of the drive wheels 9 has a small reduction ratio in which the rotation of the motor 2 is reduced by one stage by the first stage speed reducer 3, so that the rotation speed is low and the torque is high. Therefore, the mobile body 14 can travel at high speed in horizontal traveling.

Next, let us consider a case where the moving body 14 approaches the sloped uphill portion 10b or the vertical uphill portion 10c from the horizontal traveling. When going uphill, the gear 11 meshes with the rack 12 on the rail 10. This is shown in FIG. At this time, the driving force of the motor 2 causes the gear 11 to rotate through the first stage reduction gear 3 and the final stage reduction gear 5. On the other hand, drive wheel 9 and rail 10
Are in contact with each other, the timing pulley 13b and the drive wheel 9
There is a speed difference between and, but this is absorbed by the torque limiter 8. At this time, the driving force of the gear 11 has a large reduction ratio in which the driving force of the motor 2 is reduced by two stages by the first-stage reduction gear 3 and the final-stage reduction gear 5, and thus is a low-speed high-torque. Therefore, it is possible to perform the uphill traveling at the inclined uphill portion 10b and the rail vertical uphill portion 10c, although the traveling speed is low. At this time, the drive force that can be transmitted by the torque limiter 8 is applied to the drive wheels 9, and this drive force assists the drive of the moving body.

Next, the moving body 14 moves from the ascending slope to the horizontal portion 1
Consider the time when it approaches 0a. When entering horizontal running,
The gear 11 disengages from the rack 12 on the rail 10 and spins idle. The driving force of the motor 2 drives the drive wheels 9 through the first stage speed reducer 3, the timing pulley 13a, the timing belt 13c, the timing pulley 13b, and the torque limiter 8. Since the drive wheel 9 is in contact with the rail 10, the moving body 14 travels again at high speed when the gear 11 is disengaged from the rack 12.

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
In horizontal traveling, high speed and low torque due to a small reduction ratio and in low speed and high torque due to a large reduction ratio during uphill traveling, there is an effect of obtaining a moving body that can travel under all rail laying conditions.
Further, the rack is low in cost because it is necessary only for the climbing section.

Embodiment 2 FIG. In the first embodiment, the case where the number of drive wheels is one has been described, but the number of drive wheels may be two, and when the rails are laid so as to curve left and right, more stable traveling can be obtained. it can.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a drive system of a rail traveling mobile unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 corresponds to a schematic view of the drive system of the moving body of FIG. 2 as seen from directly above. In the figure, parts that are the same as or correspond to those in FIG. 2 are assigned the same reference numerals and explanations thereof are omitted. Further, the left-right direction of the figure is the front-back (traveling) direction of the moving body, and the up-down direction of the figure is the left-right direction of the moving body.

Next, the operation will be described. The difference between FIG. 2 and FIG. 7 is that the drive wheel 9a and the drive wheel 9b are attached instead of the drive wheel 9, and the torque limiter 8 is replaced by the torque limiter 8a and the torque limiter 8 due to the two drive wheels. 8
It is that it is two of b. The drive wheel 9a and the drive wheel 9b are attached to the left and right of the moving body, and the gear 11 is attached to substantially the center of the moving body. When the moving body is traveling on the curved portion of the rail, the drive wheels 9a and 9b are driven.
There is a difference in the number of rotations. This difference in rotational speed is absorbed by the torque limiter 8a and the torque limiter 8b. On the other hand, since the gear 11 is located almost at the center of the moving body, the rotation speed does not change significantly even if the rail is curved. For this reason, the moving body can travel without hindrance even if the rail curves right and left.

As described above, according to the second embodiment,
Even if the rail curves to the left and right, there is no problem and the effect of being able to run with stability is obtained.

Embodiment 3 FIG. FIG. 8 is a side view of the spring mounting portion of the rotary meshing means of the rail traveling mobile device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. An arm 15 is rotatably attached coaxially with the output shaft of the final stage reduction gear 5.
A spring 16 is stretched between the tip of the arm 15 and the moving body 14, and the spring 16 urges the arm 15 to the neutral position. The shaft of the gear 11 is attached to the tip of the arm 15.

Next, the operation will be described. Mobile unit 1 in the figure
4 is traveling horizontally from right to left at high speed. When the moving body 14 nears the slope, the gear 11 moves to the rack 1
Clash with 2. At this time, the phase of the gear 11 and the rack 12
Since the phases of 1 and 2 do not always match, the gear 11 and the rack 12 do not always mesh well. However, if they do not mesh, the spring 16 bends and the arm 15 rotates around the axis of the final stage reduction gear 5, and the phase of the gear 11 changes until it meshes with the rack 12. Therefore, the gear 11 meshes with the rack 12 without any problem. If the spring 16 is made sufficiently strong, the traveling of the moving body 14 will not be hindered.

As described above, according to the third embodiment,
When the rack and the gear start to mesh with each other, the effect of reducing the impact on the moving body when the mesh is disengaged can be obtained.

In the third embodiment, the spring 16 is a helical spring, but a torsion coil spring may be attached along the arm 15 between the shaft of the final reduction gear 5 and the shaft of the gear 11. Good.

Fourth Embodiment FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a position detecting means of a rail traveling mobile unit according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. A dog 17 as a position detecting means for detecting passage of a moving body is attached to a rail in front of an end of the rack 12. A micro switch (not shown) that abuts the dog 17 is attached to the moving body 14.

Next, the operation will be described. It is assumed that the moving body 14 travels from the lower right side to the left side in FIG. Immediately before the moving body 14 reaches the rack 12, the micro switch of the moving body 14 hits the dog 17a. The signal from the microswitch is sent to the control means 1, and the rotation speed of the motor 2 is lowered by this signal, and the moving body is decelerated. Since the gear 11 and the rack 12 hit the moving body 14 in a decelerated state, the impact when hitting becomes small. When the moving body 14 travels for a predetermined distance in a decelerated state, the gear 11 and the rack 12 are completely meshed with each other, so that the control device 1 increases the rotational speed of the motor 2 to accelerate the vehicle to climb a hill.

As described above, according to the fourth embodiment,
Since the number of rotations of the motor can be controlled by the signal from the position detecting means, there is an effect that the moving body can smoothly travel.

Although the micro switch is used in the fourth embodiment, a proximity switch or the like may be used.

Embodiment 5. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a method for measuring a traveling distance of a rail traveling mobile device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The symbols of the arithmetic expressions in the figure are as follows: 1 is a traveling distance, Δl is an increment of the traveling distance, n is a value obtained by counting the number of revolutions of an encoder attached to a motor, and n _r is a pulse _generated by the encoder for one revolution. Number, k
_h is the speed reduction ratio of the first-stage reduction gear, k _l is the reduction ratio of the final-stage reduction gear,
r _t represents a driving wheel radius, r _p represents a gear pitch circle radius, and SW represents a microswitch.

Next, the operation will be described. In FIG. 9, it is assumed that the moving body 14 is traveling from the lower right to the left on the horizontal portion 10a of the rail. At this time, the increment Δl of the traveling distance of the moving body 14 is calculated by the equation (1) (step 1 in FIG. 10). △ whole traveling distance l of _{l = n / n r × 1} / k h × 2π × r t ········· (1) the moving body 14 is made to those obtained by integrating this Δl from the start point (Step 2).

Next, in FIG. 9, it is assumed that the moving body 14 detects the dog 17a, the micro switch is turned on, and the vehicle moves uphill (step 3). The arithmetic expression of the increment Δl of the traveling distance is switched to the expression (2) (step 4 in FIG. 10). _{△ l = n / n r ×} 1 / k h × 1 / k l × 2π × r p ···· (2) hereinafter, when a portion of the rack 12 is uphill, the moving body 1
The total running distance 1 of 4 is the value obtained by further adding this Δ1 to the integrated value from the start point (step 5).

Next, when the moving body 14 detects the dog 17b in FIG. 9 and the micro switch is turned on to shift to the horizontal traveling again, the arithmetic expression of the increment Δl of the traveling distance is switched to the equation (1) again. The total traveling distance l of the moving body 14 is obtained by further adding this Δl to the integrated value from the start point.

As described above, according to the fifth embodiment,
Even if the reduction gear ratio changes during traveling, the effect that the total traveling distance from the starting point can be automatically measured can be obtained.

In the fifth embodiment, r _p is the pitch circle radius of the gear in consideration of the case where the gear 11 is used as the rotary meshing means. However, when other means is used, it corresponds respectively. The value to be used shall be used.

In the fifth embodiment, the integrated value of the traveling distance from the start point is measured. However, a dog is provided in the middle of the dog, and the dog is provided between the dog and the next dog, or a dog and a few points ahead. Assign a street address to the dog as one section,
It is also possible to measure the traveling distance within the address.

Embodiment 6 FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a method of adjusting a control system gain of a rail traveling mobile unit according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. The symbols of the arithmetic expressions in the figure are the same as those in the equations (1) and (2), where Im is the rotor inertia which is the inertia of the rotor of the motor 2, M is the carriage mass of the moving body. FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a motor portion used in the servo motor control system.
J is the moment of inertia of the motor and the load, and this value changes depending on the reduction ratio k existing from the motor to the load. The load in this embodiment is the mass of the moving body.

Next, the operation will be described. In FIG. 9, it is assumed that the moving body 14 is traveling from the lower right to the left on the horizontal portion 10a of the rail. At this time, the motor 2 drives the moving body 14 by the drive wheels 9. As the speed reducer from the motor 2 to the load, only the first stage speed reducer 3 exists. In this case, the moment of inertia J of the motor 2 and the load in FIG. 12 is obtained by the equation (3) (A in FIG. 11). J = Im + (M × r t 2) / k h 2 ··········· (3)

Next, in FIG. 9, it is assumed that the moving body 14 detects the dog 17a, the micro switch is turned on, and the vehicle goes uphill. In this case, the motor 2 causes the moving body 14 to travel by the gear 11, and as the speed reducer from the motor 2 to the load, there are the first stage speed reducer 3 and the final stage speed reducer 5. In this case, the moment of inertia J of the motor 2 and the load in FIG.
Is calculated by the equation (4) (B in FIG. 11). J = Im + (M × r p 2) / (k h 2 × k l 2) ······ (4) Equation (3) and as shown in (4), at the time of horizontal running time and uphill traveling Obviously, the constants related to motor control are different.

As described above, according to the sixth embodiment,
Even if the reduction ratio changes between horizontal traveling and uphill traveling, the gain value of the motor control system can be automatically changed, and the effect of stable traveling can be obtained. In the sixth embodiment, r _p is the pitch circle radius of the gear in consideration of the case where the gear 11 is used as the rotary meshing means, but when other means is used, the corresponding values are Shall be used.

In the first to sixth embodiments, the gear 11 is used as the rotary meshing means 6, but a sprocket, a timing pulley or the like may be used. Further, although the rack 12 is given as the linear meshing means 7, a chain or a timing belt may be used. Furthermore, although the timing pulley 13a, the timing pulley 13b, and the timing belt 13c are given as the driving force branching means 4, a gear or the like may be used.

Further, in the above-mentioned first to sixth embodiments, the case where the rail traveling mobile device is used as the mobile inspection robot in the plant is shown. However, the transfer of parts in the factory, the transfer of samples in the hospital, the office work. Transfer of documents in the office, display,
It may be used for other purposes such as toys.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a rail traveling mobile device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a rail traveling mobile unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an image view showing an example of use of the rail traveling mobile unit of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a rail and a rack according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a gear and a rack according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is another explanatory view showing the relationship between the gear and the rack of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a rail traveling mobile device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a spring mounting portion of a rotary meshing means of a rail traveling mobile unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a position detecting means of a rail traveling mobile unit according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a method for measuring a traveling distance of a rail traveling mobile device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a control routine of a rail traveling mobile unit according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a motor of a rail traveling mobile unit according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control means 2 Motor 3 First stage reduction gear 4 Driving force branching means 5 Final stage reduction gear 6 Rotational meshing means 7 Linear meshing means 8 Torque limiter 9 Drive wheel 10a Rail horizontal part 10b Rail inclined part 10c Rail vertical part 11
Gear 12 Rack 13a Timing pulley 13b Timing pulley 13c Timing belt 14 Moving body 15 Arm 16 Spring 17 Camera 18 Pan head

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A linear meshing means provided on an uphill portion of a rail, a motor provided on a moving body that moves on the rail, drive wheels driven by the motor, and a speed reducer by the motor. And a rotational meshing means driven via the driving wheel, the traveling wheel travels by the drive wheel when traveling in a horizontal portion of the rail, and travels by meshing between the linear meshing means and the rotating meshing means when traveling in an uphill portion of the rail. A rail traveling mobile device characterized by being. 2. The rail traveling mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the drive wheels are driven via a torque limiter. 3. The rail traveling mobile device according to claim 1, wherein the rotary meshing means is movably supported in the traveling direction of the movable body by the movable body via an elastic body. 4. A control device for controlling traveling of a mobile body, and position detection means provided at a boundary portion between a horizontal portion of the rail and an uphill portion of the rail, for transmitting a passage of the mobile body to the control device. The rail traveling mobile device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein 5. The rail traveling mobile device according to claim 4, wherein the travel distance of the mobile body is measured by an arithmetic expression, and the arithmetic expression is switched by a signal from the position detecting means. 6. The control device has a servo gain of a motor control system when traveling on a horizontal portion of the rail and a servo gain of a motor control system when traveling on an ascending portion of the rail, and the servo gain is provided by a signal from a position detecting means. The rail traveling mobile device according to claim 4, wherein a servo gain can be selected.