JPH1071974A - Stairs ascendable-descendable traveling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To safely and efficiently transport a maximum loadage by moving a loading part so that a composed gravity center position falls within a proper range by considering the total weight of the loading part including a live load or the live load. SOLUTION: In a moment when the rear end of a rear crawler mechanism separates from a single step of stairs, a contact point with the crawler mechanism in a step above by a single pitch is denoted by Y. An intersection between a perpendicular A from the contact point Y and a bottom surface of a loading part 5 is denoted by (a). A perpendicular B perpendicular to a traveling device by passing through this intersection (a) becomes the lower limit of a gravity center proper range of the traveling device of the composed center G of gravity. In a condition where the composed center G of gravity comes to the lower side of the stairs than the perpendicular A, the possibility of overturning to the lower side of the stairs is produced. Then, in order to prevent overturning, a loading part 5 is slidingly moved the upper side of the stairs according to a calculated moving distance. As a result, the center G2 of the gravity of a live load moves in the upward direction of the stairs, and as a result, the composed center G of gravity also moves in the upward direction of the stairs, and can be made to fall within a proper range.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traveling device for moving up and down stairs. In particular, the present invention relates to a traveling device that prevents falling when climbing up and down stairs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, carrying heavy loads through stairs has been regarded as heavy labor. For this reason, many mechanical devices capable of moving up and down stairs have been devised, and some of them have been put to practical use.
Generally, an endless track called a crawler is often used as a mechanism for moving up and down stairs. This crawler mechanism is a mechanism that makes a orbital movement by a drive pulley that rotates a crawler belt made of metal, rubber, or the like, and is used not only for traveling on stairs but also for traveling on so-called uneven terrain that cannot be traveled with wheels.

In such a conventional traveling device, the entire traveling device is inclined at an angle formed by the stairs when ascending or descending the stairs. At this time, the position of the center of gravity of the traveling device is lower than the fulcrum contacting the stairs. It is known that there is a danger that the traveling device may fall. FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing the position of the center of gravity when the traveling device is on the flat ground, and FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing the position of the center of gravity when the traveling device climbs the stairs. That is, when the traveling device is horizontal, the center of gravity G of the traveling device is almost at the center of the traveling device as shown in FIG. 7, but when the traveling device is inclined by the stairs, as shown in FIG. The force acting on the vehicle swings behind the traveling device, that is, on the lower side of the stairs, so that the vehicle easily falls. For this reason, the position of the center of gravity of the total weight, which is the sum of the weight of the traveling device itself and the weight of the load loaded on the traveling device, is a particularly important factor for the stability when the traveling device moves up and down stairs.

In this type of conventional traveling apparatus, there is a traveling apparatus designed such that the traveling direction when climbing up and down stairs is fixed, and the center of gravity is always biased in advance on the side of the traveling apparatus that comes above the stairs. . In addition, a part of the traveling device (mainly the loading section) can be moved back and forth, and the entire load is moved to the upper side of the stairs of the traveling device along with the stairs to shift the center of gravity of the entire traveling device to the upper side of the stairs (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-48662).

[0005]

However, in a traveling device capable of moving up and down stairs for the purpose of loading heavy objects, the control means for the position of the center of gravity described above is not always effective. That is, although the position of the center of gravity of the apparatus main body is predetermined, the weight of the load as a load and the load position cannot be predicted. For this reason, in the past, the safety margin was constrained and the limit of the load capacity was considerably reduced,
At present, it relied on workers' intuition regarding the loading capacity and loading method.

[0006] Therefore, the weight of the load to be loaded at one time may be reduced, and there is a problem that the working efficiency is reduced. In addition, there is a case where the determination is erroneous because the loading amount and the loading method depend on the intuition of the operator, and it is difficult to always stably go up and down the stairs.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a traveling apparatus capable of moving up and down stairs has a loading section for loading a load, and a moving mechanism for moving the loading section, and further includes a loading load. Weight detecting means for detecting the weight of the loading section at a plurality of points; first calculating means for determining the total weight of the loading section including the loading load and the combined center of gravity based on the detection result of the weight detecting means; Calculates whether the combined center of gravity position is within the proper range by considering the weight or the load, and if not, moves the loading unit so that the combined center of gravity position falls within the proper range. And a control means for controlling the moving mechanism in accordance with the obtained moving amount to move the loading section.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a traveling device capable of moving up and down stairs according to the present invention. (2) in the figure is a crawler mechanism that moves up and down stairs. Crawler mechanism (2)
Are installed at left and right positions below the traveling device. The crawler mechanism (2) is engaged with the crawler belt (2a) in front of the inside of the crawler belt (2a) and the crawler belt (2).
It has a drive pulley (2b) that rotates a) and a drive pulley (2d) that engages rearward. A guide pulley (2e) is provided above the crawler mechanism (2) in front of the crawler mechanism (2). In this embodiment, the traveling means is a crawler mechanism. However, the invention is not limited to this, and any traveling means that can move up and down stairs can be used. For example, wheels may be used, or the wheels and the crawler mechanism may be switched depending on the state of the road surface on which they travel.

(3) a crawler frame for holding a crawler mechanism (2) via a support part (3a); (4) a main body frame part for an upper mechanism of the main body; and (5) a load for loading a load. Department. The loading section is preferably provided above the crawler mechanism, but may be provided adjacent to the crawler mechanism in the lateral direction. (6) is a control unit for controlling the main body, and has a role of receiving and processing signals from various detectors and issuing a command regarding control for traveling.

[0010] (7) is a weight detector, which is arranged between the frame part (4) and the loading part (5) of the main body upper mechanism. Crawler frame (3) and frame part (4)
There is a moving mechanism (8) between the two and moves the upper mechanism including the loading section (5) upward on the stairs. Moving mechanism (8)
Is preferably provided below the loading section (5). For example, a U-shaped bridge-like section is provided on the crawler frame (3), the loading section is provided inside the bridge section, and a moving mechanism is provided above the loading section. It may be installed on a bridge.

In the present embodiment, the moving mechanism (8) is a slide mechanism that slides the upper mechanism including the loading section (5) upward in steps.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view taken along the line X in FIG. 1. As a typical example of the arrangement of the weight detector (7) which is an important component of the present invention, four corners with respect to the bottom surface of the loading portion are shown. Weight detectors (7a), (7b), (7c), (7
d) shows a state in which a total of four are arranged.

As the weight detector, a so-called load cell generally used in practical use can be used. The principle of the measurement is to electrically amplify a slight strain of a detection part receiving a load as an output of a built-in strain gauge and to take out the amplified strain to the outside.

A method of measuring the position of the center of gravity of the loading section when the weight detector is provided as shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the loading section (5) is independent of the main body frame section (4), and via the weight detectors (7a), (7b), (7c), and (7d) at the four corners of the loading section. Since it is fixed, the weight of the loading section can be measured by the detector. In order to distinguish the weight value detected by each detector, the weight value detected by the weight detector (7a) is W1, the weight value detected by the weight detector (7b) is W2, and the weight detector (7c).
Is referred to as W3, and the weight value detected by the weight detector (7d) is referred to as W4.

Further, on the bottom of the loading section, the distance between the weight detectors in front of and behind the traveling device is L, and the distance between the right and left detectors is D. The total weight of the loads loaded on the loading section (5) is defined as W, and the center of gravity G of the weight is located at the front of the traveling device (7a).
A weight detector (7c) disposed at a distance of L1 from (7b) and rearward, a distance of L2 from (7d), and a right weight detector (7a) in the lateral direction of the traveling device;
Distance of D1 from (7c), left weight detector (7b),
It is assumed that the distance is D2 from (7d).

Hereinafter, a procedure for obtaining the position of the center of gravity of the traveling device according to the present embodiment will be described. What has been known in advance is the arrangement distances L and D of the weight detectors described above, and the measurement results W1, W2, and W3 from the respective weight detectors (7a), (7b), (7c), and (7d). , W4.

First, the total weight W of the load is obtained by the following equation as the sum of the measurement results of the detectors.

W = W1 + W2 + W3 + W4 Also, in the front-rear direction, from the relation of balance (W1 + W2) = W × L2 / L (W3 + W4) = W × L1 / L Also, from the relation of balance in the left-right direction, (W1 + W3) = W × D2 / D (W2 + W4) = W × D1 / D Therefore, L1, L2, D1, and D2 indicating the position of the center of gravity can be obtained by the following equations.

L1 = (W3 + W4) × L / W L2 = (W1 + W2) × L / W D1 = (W2 + W4) × D / W D2 = (W1 + W3) × D / W

As described above, the position of the center of gravity of the weight of the loading portion on the loading bottom surface can be obtained by calculation from the measurement results of the four weight detectors arranged in the loading portion.

Next, a method of determining an appropriate range of the center of gravity position of the traveling device will be described. The appropriate range of the center-of-gravity position of the traveling device is a range of the center-of-gravity position at which the device does not fall down. This can be obtained in advance by measuring the inclination angle of the stairs in advance. Therefore, it is sufficient to compare whether or not the combined center of gravity G of the center of gravity G1 (constant value) of only the traveling device main body and the center of gravity G2 of the loaded load determined as described above is in this appropriate range.

In this example, since the fall of the traveling device takes into consideration the front-back direction, it is sufficient to consider only the front-back direction for the appropriate range. In this case, the hatched portion as shown in FIG. Is set. Although the traveling device according to the present invention travels at right angles to the stairs, an example has been described in which only the front-back direction is considered for the center of gravity position. As shown in FIG. 5, the center of gravity position limit in the left-right direction may be set, and as a result, the area within the shaded area may be set as an appropriate range of the center of gravity position as shown in FIG.

Next, an example of the operation of the traveling device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 6, and FIGS. 8 is a side view of the traveling device before sliding, and FIG. 9 is a side view of the traveling device after sliding. In FIG. 6, W1, W2, W3 and W4 are weight detectors (7a), (7b), (7c) and (7d), respectively.
And the measured values W1 and W
2, W3 and W4 are output. Control unit (6) shown in FIG.
Has a center-of-gravity calculation processing unit (12), which is a first calculating means, and calculates a total weight W and a combined center-of-gravity position G here. Next, the appropriateness determination processing unit (1
In 3), a comparison is made between the total weight W of the load and the appropriate range preset for the combined center of gravity G. As a result of the comparison, if both are within the appropriate range, the vehicle may be allowed to travel.

If it is determined that the total weight W is out of the proper range, an instruction to stop traveling is issued to the driver circuit (10) of the traveling motor, and the brake system (11) is operated. Also, as a result of the comparison, when it is determined that the combined center of gravity G is out of the proper range, the combined amount of gravity (G) is determined in the slide amount calculation processing unit (14) according to the weight of the loaded load and the position of the center of gravity (G2). Calculate the slide amount that falls within the appropriate range.

Here, how to obtain the slide amount of the loading section will be described. FIG. 8 is a side view when the traveling device climbs the stairs before sliding the loading unit. At the moment when the rear end of the rear crawler mechanism separates from one step of the stairs, the point of contact with the crawler mechanism in the step one pitch higher is defined as (Y). A perpendicular line A is drawn from the contact point (Y). The point of intersection between the perpendicular A and the bottom surface of the loading section (5) is defined as a. A perpendicular line passing through the intersection a and perpendicular to the traveling device (the bottom surface of the loading unit) is referred to as B. This line B is the lower limit of the proper range of the center of gravity position of the traveling device at the combined center of gravity G.
In the state as shown in FIG. 8, the combined center of gravity G is located below the vertical line A on the steps. In this state, the traveling device may fall down the stairs.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which the loading section is slid to prevent falling. As shown in FIG. 9, when the loading section is slid to the upper side of the stairs, the combined center of gravity G is slid to move beyond the line B and to the upper side of the stairs. The slide movement amount at this time is set to an amount obtained by adding a safety margin, and is set as a slide amount.

If the sliding amount is within the mechanically preset limit amount, the sliding mechanism (15) automatically slides and moves the center of gravity to an appropriate range as shown in FIG. As a result, the center of gravity G2 of the loaded load moves upward in the stairs, and as a result, the combined center of gravity G also moves upward in the stairs, so that the center of gravity G can be kept within an appropriate range. Here, the position of the center of gravity is calculated again in the center of gravity calculation processing unit (12), and it is confirmed that the position of the center of gravity is within an appropriate range, and then a driving permission is issued to the driver circuit (10). If the slide amount calculated in the first calculation exceeds the mechanical limit value, that is, if the center of gravity position G does not fall within an appropriate range even after the slide movement, the drive circuit (10) of the travel motor stops traveling. Give instructions. Further, the brake system (11) is operated.

With the above arrangement, when a load is loaded on the loading section, the weight and the position of the center of gravity are measured. If the load is within the limit, the load is automatically slid to fit within an appropriate range. If the gross weight is too large or cannot be accommodated by sliding, the traveling device cannot travel for safety. At this time, the status may be separately displayed to the operator by means such as a warning sound or a warning light.

In this embodiment, the sliding amount of the loading section is derived based on the measured value detected by the weight detecting means and the loading section is automatically slid, but the measured value detected by the weight detecting means is slid. A display means may be provided so that the operator can slide the loading section.
It is sufficient for the slide movement control to have a function capable of turning on and off the moving mechanism. In this case, the center-of-gravity calculation processing unit, the appropriateness determination processing unit, and the slide amount calculation processing unit in the present embodiment are unnecessary. Further, a weight detection unit, a center-of-gravity calculation processing unit, and a display unit of the result of the center-of-gravity calculation processing may be provided, and the operator may slide the loading unit based on the calculation result of the position of the center of gravity. Further, by providing the weight detecting means, the center of gravity calculation processing section, the slide amount calculation section, and the display section of the slide amount calculation result, the operator can slide the loading section according to the displayed slide amount.

That is, in the present invention, the control unit indicates one that executes at least one of the above-mentioned controls. At least, in the present embodiment, it is referred to as a loading unit, and here, only the configuration for loading luggage and the like has been described.
If the loading section is configured so that workers can get on it,
It is also possible to use a person moving device capable of moving up and down stairs.

[0031]

According to the present invention as described above, the weight and center of gravity for running stably on stairs and the like can be determined and adjusted in advance and automatically even if the amount of load varies. Therefore, it is possible to safely and efficiently transport the maximum load amount.

In addition, when traveling up and down stairs after loading a loaded article and traveling on a level ground, it is not necessary to reload the loaded article, so that the traveling device is not stopped on the way and regardless of the state of the traveling road surface. , Continuous running is possible, and the working efficiency can be improved. Since the position of the center of gravity of the traveling device during stair climbing is detected by the detecting means and the center of gravity is automatically adjusted, the unmanned traveling device can automatically move up and down the stairs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a traveling device that moves up and down stairs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the traveling device of the present invention, taken along a line X in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a means for measuring the position of the center of gravity of the loading unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an appropriate range of a center of gravity position of a loading unit.

FIG. 5 is another diagram illustrating an appropriate range of the center of gravity position of the loading unit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a control unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the position of the center of gravity of the traveling device on level ground.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the position of the center of gravity (before the loading section slides) of the traveling device in the middle of the stairs.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a center-of-gravity movement position of the traveling device (after the loading portion slides) in the middle of the stairs.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 crawler mechanism 3 crawler frame 4 main body frame section 5 loading section 6 control section 7 (7a-7d) weight detector 8 moving mechanism 10 traveling motor driver 12 center of gravity calculation processing section 13 proper judgment processing section 14 slide amount calculation processing section 15 slide Mechanism

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A traveling means, a loading section for a load provided adjacent to the traveling means, and a moving mechanism provided adjacent to the loading section and configured to move the loading section in a traveling direction of a traveling device or in a direction opposite thereto. A traveling apparatus, comprising: a plurality of weight detection units for a loading unit provided below the loading unit; and a control unit that slides the loading unit. 2. A traveling device having a loading section for loading a load and a moving mechanism for moving the loading section and moving up and down stairs, wherein the weight of the loading section including the loading load is measured at a plurality of points. Weight detecting means for detecting, first calculating means for calculating the total weight of the loading section including the loading load and the combined center of gravity based on the detection result of the weight detecting means, and taking the total weight or the loading load into consideration. Second calculating means for calculating whether or not the combined center of gravity position is within an appropriate range, and if not, determining a movement amount for moving the loading portion such that the combined center of gravity position is within the appropriate range. And a control means for controlling the moving mechanism in accordance with the obtained moving amount to move the loading section, and the stairs can be moved up and down. 3. The traveling device according to claim 2, wherein the control means stops traveling of the traveling device when the total weight or the loaded load is out of a predetermined range. 4. The traveling device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit stops traveling of the traveling device when the movement amount obtained by the second calculation unit exceeds a predetermined limit value.