JPH0983845A - Patrol robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the adhesion of water drops and dust by providing a fan driven by a relative wind produced by movement of a box to form an air-curtain to a front side of a transparent glass without use of any special power. SOLUTION: A circular monitor window 4 is provided to a front face of a mobile monitor TV camera contained in a mobile box and covered with a transparent glass 6 fitted in the mobile box via a support metallic fixture 5. A cylindrical housing 7 is provided to a front face of the monitor window 4 and a fan 9 driven by a relative wind 8a produced by the movement of the mobile box is fitted via a bearing 10 to an outer circumference. A cylindrical duct 14 surrounding the outer circumference of the fan 9 and whose axial length is longer than the axial length of the housing 7 is provided. A duct 12 consisting of plural slits 13 at a prescribed interval in the circumferential direction is formed to the housing 7 located toward back flow of the fan 9 to lead a wind 8b produced by the fan 9 to the inside of the housing 7 and the blown wind 8b forms an air-curtain.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a patrol robot that moves outdoors, and more particularly to a patrol robot that prevents rainwater and the like from adhering to transparent glass attached to a monitoring window.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art ITV (Indu
strial TV: Industrial TV) CCTV (C including camera etc.
When a TV with a CD element is used outdoors, the camera is generally covered with a hood. The hood has a substantially sealed structure, and transparent glass is fitted in a monitoring window located in front of the camera.

If raindrops adhere to the transparent glass, the image through the camera becomes unclear. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the raindrops to clean the transparent glass. Such raindrops are removed by incorporating a heater wire inside the transparent glass, or by providing a wiper, a washer liquid ejecting mechanism, or the like on the front surface of the transparent glass.

However, all of these measures for removing raindrops are intended for a fixed outdoor camera, and are practically applied to an outdoor traveling type patrol robot which is equipped with a surveillance camera and travels. It is not known that the raindrops are removed or raindrops are prevented.

[0005]

It is technically problematic to add the functions of the conventional heater, wiper, and washer liquid jetting as raindrop removing means to the outdoor traveling type patrol robot in which the surveillance camera is housed and mounted. It can be said that it is rather easy.

However, from the viewpoint of a patrol robot that is lightweight, small, and has a simple structure, such functions are
The addition of the mechanism has problems in securing a power source, failure of a drive system, replenishment of washer fluid, aesthetics, and the like.

In particular, these problems become more serious in an explosion-proof environment. This is because the above items (1) to (4) are all related to the electric system, and therefore their use is subject to safety restrictions.

The object of the present invention, which was devised in view of the above circumstances, is to remove raindrops and dust adhering to the transparent glass of the monitoring window without the need for a special drive source, and to attach these foreign substances. It is to provide a patrol robot that becomes difficult.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a patrol robot according to the present invention comprises a transparent box attached to a surveillance window on a front surface of a moving box in which a surveillance camera is housed in a moving direction. A cylindrical housing is provided, and a fan that is rotated by relative wind due to the movement of the moving box is provided on the outer periphery of the housing, and the wind generated by the fan is provided in the housing on the downstream side of the fan. It is configured by providing a passage for leading to.

When the moving box moves at a speed of V (m / sec), air having a flow velocity of V hits the front surface of the moving box and a fan provided on the outer periphery of the housing rotates.
Then, behind the fan, air slightly pressurized from the surrounding air (atmospheric pressure) is generated by the turbulent flow of the fan. The pressurized air is introduced into the housing through a passage that communicates the inside and outside of the housing, and forms an air film like an air curtain on the front surface of the transparent glass of the monitoring window.

Therefore, even if rainwater or the like exists near the monitoring window, it is blown off by the air curtain, and raindrops do not adhere to the transparent glass. Further, even if raindrops adhere to the transparent glass, the slightly pressurized air flow assists evaporation of the waterdrops, so that the waterdrops do not remain.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a side sectional view of a monitoring portion of an outdoor traveling patrol robot, and FIG. 2 shows a front view thereof. As shown in the figure, inside a moving box 1 formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a surveillance camera 2 composed of a CCTV is housed toward the front in the traveling direction.

A circular monitoring window 4 is opened on the front surface 3 in the traveling direction of the moving box 1 located in front of the monitoring camera 2. The monitoring window 4 is covered with a transparent glass 6 attached inside the moving box 1 via a holding metal fitting 5.

A front surface 3 in the traveling direction is provided with a cylindrical housing 7 surrounding the monitoring window 4.
A fan 9 that is rotated by the relative wind 8 a caused by the movement of the moving box 1 is provided on the outer periphery of the housing 7 via a bearing 10. The fan 9 is composed of eight blades 11 arranged radially as shown in FIG.

The housing 7 located on the downstream side of the fan 9 is provided with a passage 12 for guiding the wind 8b generated by the fan 9 into the housing 7. The passage 12 is composed of a slit 13 formed by communicating the inside and outside of the housing 7 (see FIG. 4). Slit 13
Are provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of the housing 7.

On the front surface 3 in the traveling direction, a cylindrical duct 14 having an inner diameter larger than the diameter of the fan 9 is provided. The duct 14 has an axial length L longer than that of the housing 7, and is formed to accommodate the fan 9 therein.

A protective net 15 for protecting the fan 9 and the transparent glass 6 is attached to the duct 14 so as to cover the opening thereof.

The operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

A mobile box 1 of the patrol robot shown in FIG.
When moving to the left in the figure, the wind 8a is relatively generated. Then, the fan 9 rotates, and as shown in FIG.
The front side, which is the suction side, has negative pressure, and the rear side, which is the blowing side, has positive pressure. That is, behind the fan 9, air slightly pressurized from the surrounding air (atmospheric pressure P) is generated.

Since the pressurized air is shielded by the duct 14 in the radially outward direction, the slit 13 formed in the cylindrical housing 7 located inwardly in the radial direction.
And is blown into the housing 7 as wind 8b. The air blown into the housing 7 forms an air film like an air curtain on the front surface of the transparent glass 6 and then blows out to the open front side (the robot moving direction).

As a result, even if there is rainfall from above in FIG. 1, the probability that the raindrops will fall into the interior of the housing 7 is reduced, and raindrops and dust are prevented from adhering to the transparent glass 6. Even if raindrops adhere to the transparent glass 6, the slightly pressurized air flow assists the evaporation of the waterdrops, so that the waterdrops do not remain.

The housing 7 may be tapered forward as shown in FIG. By forming the outer surface of the housing 7 in a tapered shape in this manner, even if raindrops or the like adhere to the outer surface, it is possible to prevent the raindrops from flowing into the slit 13.

The shape and the number of the blades 11 forming the fan 9 are not limited to those of this embodiment as long as the dynamic pressure difference between the front and the rear of the fan is large. In short, it suffices if a large amount of high pressure wind can be efficiently sent to the rear of the fan 9.

In addition, since the above-described embodiment can be basically retrofitted or externally attached to existing equipment, the fan 9 and the net 15 may be attached or detached as necessary. Further, in an environment with a lot of dust, it may be applied to an indoor traveling patrol robot in order to prevent the dust from adhering to the transparent glass 6.

[0026]

As described above, according to the patrol robot according to the present invention, a special drive source is not required.
It is possible to remove raindrops, dust, etc. adhering to the transparent glass, and it becomes difficult for these foreign substances to adhere, so that movement monitoring can be performed even during rainfall or in a dust atmosphere.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a patrol robot showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a patrol robot.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a modified example of the housing.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a wind flow and a pressure distribution before and after a fan.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Moving Box 2 Surveillance Camera 3 Front of Moving Direction 4 Monitoring Window 6 Transparent Glass 7 Housing 8a Relative Wind 8b Generated Wind 9 Fan 12 Passage 15 Net

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A moving box containing a surveillance camera is provided with a cylindrical housing surrounding a transparent glass attached to a surveillance window on the front side in the moving direction, and a moving box is provided on the outer periphery of the housing. A patrol robot characterized in that a fan is provided which is rotated by relative wind caused by movement, and a passage for guiding the wind generated by the fan into the housing is provided in a housing downstream of the fan. 2. The patrol robot according to claim 1, wherein the moving box is provided with a protective net located in front of the fan. 3. The patrol robot according to claim 1, wherein the housing is tapered toward the front in the moving direction of the moving box.