JPS61166767A - Ultrasonic travelling truck - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic traveling trolley that uses ultrasonic vibration as its traveling driving force.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Conventional general running carts obtain their running ability by transmitting the rotational output of a motor or engine to the wheels of the cart.

However, most of the transmission mechanisms for one rotational force require a mechanical structure, in particular a reduction mechanism, and therefore have problems such as being complex, heavy, and prone to failure.

Recently, in view of this point, a traveling body with an electric or magnetic configuration and a linear motor as a drive source has been proposed, and it has been confirmed that it is superior to conventional traveling systems in terms of traveling speed, noise, etc. However, it has not yet been put into practical use due to problems such as the large scale of the track equipment.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is a completely new concept that does not have the problems of conventional running bodies that utilize the rotational output of a general motor or engine, or that use so-called linear motors. The purpose of this vehicle is to provide a running trolley, which can carry or suspend loads such as appropriate luggage and equipment, and is supported and guided by laid rails to carry the load. An elastic body that propagates ultrasonic vibrations as a surface traveling wave that travels along the rails is attached to a bogie body that is equipped with wheels that roll while supporting the weight of the body and the bogie body, and the surface of the elastic body is attached to the rail surface. This is characterized in that the elastic body is attached in contact with the elastic body so as to be able to adjust the contact pressure, and an ultrasonic vibrator that excites the surface traveling wave is attached to the elastic body.

[Effect]

A surface traveling wave excited on the surface of the elastic body that is in contact with the rail propels a cart having wheels through the frictional force between the elastic body and the rail.

〔Example〕

In FIG. 1, 1 is a rail, and 2 is a bogie mounted on the rail 1 via wheels 3, which is similar to a general bogie that is mounted on the rail 1 and runs.

In addition to the above-mentioned rail-mounted type of bogie 2 to which the present invention can be applied, there is also a type of bogie suspended or straddled on rails.

゛ 4 is an elastic body with a suspension device installed on the bottom of the above-mentioned truck 2 toward the rail 1 side, and is made of an elastic material 1 that has properties capable of transmitting ultrasonic vibrations and has low transmission loss, such as duralumin. It is. Here, the elastic body 4 used here has an elongated annular shape when viewed from the side. Reference numeral 5 denotes a mounting member that suspends the lower surface 4a of the elastic body 4 from the bottom surface of the bogie 2 while adjusting the contact pressure with the upper surface 1a of the rail 1, and is positioned at a vibration node in the elastic body 4. be.

As an example of the means for adjusting the contact pressure, a combination structure of a screw and a nut is used here, but it goes without saying that this means can be replaced by other suitable means.

Reference numeral 6.7 denotes an ultrasonic transducer attached to the upper surface of the elastic body 4, in which two Langevin-type longitudinal transducers are attached.

Here, when the vibrator is driven, the traveling wave travels to the right in the figure. In order to cause the traveling wave to travel in the opposite direction to the above, for example, a vibrator is provided on the other side of the elastic body 4 and is driven.

The configuration of the ultrasonic vibrator may be as follows.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, nine electrodes 82 are arranged in a row on the surface of a piezoelectric element 81 having a flat plate shape slightly smaller than the planar shape of the elastic body 4, and these are divided into three circuits. death,
120 to the high frequency power supply 84 via the phase shifter 83
If a power supply voltage is applied to each set of electrodes with a phase shift of 1 degree, the traveling wave can be made to proceed to the right in the example shown in FIG. In this case, in order to advance the traveling wave in the opposite direction,
The phase shift of the phase shifter 83 may be reversed.

In addition, the ultrasonic vibrator is a rod-shaped elastic body with a free end.
Ultrasonic transducers may be mounted near both ends in the longitudinal direction, and one transducer may be used for driving and the other for receiving waves. In this way, the surface traveling wave due to the flexural vibration of the elastic body propagates on the surface of the elastic body,
It has the same effect as the vibrator on each side. In this case, the direction of travel of one surface traveling wave is changed by reversing the relationship between driving the vibrator and receiving the wave.

When the traveling bogie is constructed as described above, the lower surface 4a of the elastic body 4 comes into contact with the surface 1a of the rail 1 with an adjusted contact pressure. The vehicle will travel in the direction of travel.

That is, as shown in Fig. 2, when a traveling wave traveling to the right in the figure is excited on the surface of the elastic body 4 facing downward, focusing on a mass point on the surface, the mass point moves clockwise. It's vibrating.

Therefore, since the mass point is in contact with the surface of the fixed rail, the first elastic body 4 receives a rightward thrust and causes the second bogie 2 to travel rightward.

In the present invention, a plurality of elastic bodies 4 that excite surface traveling waves can be attached to the truck 2.

Furthermore, the abutting relationship between the elastic body 4 and the rail 1 is not limited to the upper and lower relationships shown in the figure; for example, the positional relationship between the elastic body 4 and the rail 1 may be reversed, or the rail 1 The side surface of the elastic body 4 may be in contact with the side surface of the elastic body 4.The side surface of the rail 1 and the surface of the elastic body 4 may be in contact with the side surface of the elastic body 4 in a horizontal manner. This is effective in keeping the contact pressure almost constant even if there are irregularities.

In the above embodiment, the wave motion of the surface traveling wave caused on the surface of an elastic body is directly converted into the traveling motion of the bogie through the rails, etc., so to speak, it is a linear motion-linear motion conversion, but this surface The traveling wave may be converted into linear motion and one rotational motion to cause one bogie to travel.

FIG. 4(A) shows this example, where 31 is the shaft of the wheel 3 in the above embodiment, and 41 is an elastic body formed to follow the outer surface of the shaft 31 and to abut and surround the shaft.

If a surface traveling wave is excited on the inner surface of this elastic body 41 in the same manner as in the previous embodiment, this action will cause the shaft 3 to
1, so if the wheels 3 are fixed to the shaft 31, the truck will run. If applied together, driving efficiency can be increased.

Furthermore, the relationship between the elastic body 41 and the shaft 31 in the embodiment shown in FIG. This is one of the principles of

This principle allows implementation in the manner shown in FIGS. 4(b) and 4(c).

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention is as described above, and includes an elastic body that excites a traveling wave caused by ultrasonic vibration on the surface of the truck, and a rail that guides the wheels supporting the load of the entire truck by using the surface waves of the elastic body. Alternatively, the trolley is made to run by contacting it with a separately provided rail or something equivalent (for example, a long elastic body with flat top and bottom surfaces or sides) under appropriate contact pressure. Therefore, it has the following effects.

Since there is no drive source that rotates the output shaft like conventional general running bodies, it is quiet, lightweight, and has almost no large vibrations or noises.

Since the drive source does not have rotating structural parts such as motors or engines, there is no wear and tear or failure caused by such structures.

In particular, since the traveling bogie of the present invention directly utilizes surface traveling waves of the elastic body as the traveling force of the bogie, it is possible to directly control the traveling speed, etc. by controlling the vibration state of the surface traveling waves.

This means that the positioning of the traveling body can be controlled easily and with high precision because there is no backlash of the gear mechanism, which was a drawback of the conventional traveling body with a reduction gear. The traveling truck is useful, for example, as a robot truck that requires highly accurate positioning. Moreover, since the structure is simple, it is also highly economical.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of the bogie of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the running principle, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another example of the vibrator. FIGS. 4A to 4C are side views showing another example of the running principle. 1...Rail, 2...Bogie, 3...Wheel, 4...
Elastic body.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A trolley body on which a load body such as appropriate luggage or equipment can be mounted or suspended, and which is equipped with wheels that are supported and guided by laid rails and roll while supporting the weight of the load body and the truck body, An elastic body that propagates ultrasonic vibration as a surface traveling wave traveling along the rail is attached with the surface of the elastic body in contact with the rail surface so that the contact pressure can be freely adjusted. An ultrasonic traveling cart characterized by being equipped with an ultrasonic vibrator that excites waves.