JPS62149538A - Collision sensing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sense the collision against an obstacle reliably with high sensibility by fixing a bumper rockably to the entire circumference of a body and functioning a sensor on the basis of the variation of the relative position between said bumper and the body, thereby sensing the collision. CONSTITUTION:A bumper 22 is constructed with a frame surrounding the entire circumference of a body 21 and supported horizontally by means of a resilient support 27. Upon collision of an unmanned vehicle against an obstacle 40, the resilient support 27 deforms and the entire bumper 22 rocks rearward. Consequently, an off-signal is produced from a sensor 32 on the basis of variation of the relative position between a sensor 32 and a detection board 30 thus sensing the collision against an obstacle 40. Since the bumper 22 surrounding the body 21 rocks upon collision and cause to function the sensor 32, collision against the obstacle 40 in all directions can be sensed reliably with high sensibility.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" This invention detects when a vehicle, especially an unmanned vehicle, collides with an obstacle and supplies a command signal to the control unit to quickly stop the vehicle. Concerning a collision detection device.

"Conventional technology" In recent years, with the adoption of systems aimed at high-mix, low-volume production and unmanned processes in factories, in other words, 7MS, many unmanned vehicles have been introduced and their functions have been improved. Unmanned vehicles that can move in all directions have begun to be developed, and along with this, there is a need for low-cost omnidirectional collision detection devices.However, even with conventional unmanned vehicles that can move forward and backward, obstacles collide from the side. There is a need for a collision sensing device that can detect obstacles not only from the front and rear but also from the side.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are a horizontal cross-sectional view and a vertical cross-sectional view, respectively, of essential parts showing an example of a conventional collision sensing device.

In these drawings, 1 is the body of an unmanned vehicle with wheels 2 on the underside.
is attached, and a bumper 4 is fixed to the front surface with bolts 3.3. The bumper 4 consists of a rectangular parallelepiped cushioning material 6 fixed to a mounting plate 5 and covered with an exterior material 7. Between the cushioning material 6 and the exterior material 7, a strip-shaped tape switch 8.8 is attached to the front surface of the cushioning material 6. The cushion material 6 is made of soft elastic material such as sponge rubber or foamed urethane, and has a cushioning effect in the event of a collision. The exterior material 7 is made of a non-rigid material such as synthetic leather, and the tape switch 8 is made up of a plurality of contact switches arranged in the longitudinal direction. In this case, a vehicle drive device (not shown) is controlled to make the unmanned vehicle run, and when turned on, a signal to stop the vehicle is sent to the drive device to stop the unmanned vehicle from running.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing another conventional example, in which reference numeral 9 is a car body, and 10 is a front bumper, which is attached to the front part of the car body 9 by elastic bodies 11 and 11 so as to protrude horizontally from the front part of the car body 9. It is designed to be able to tilt. Reference numeral 12 denotes a rear bumper, which is attached to the rear of the vehicle body 9 by means of an elastic body 13, and, like the front bumper 10, can tilt in the event of a collision.

14.14 is a light emitting element attached to the front on both sides of the rear pants (12), 15.15 is a light receiving element corresponding to the light emitting element attached to both ends of the front bumper 10, and each bumper 10.12 In a normal state where no shaking or deformation occurs, reception of light from the light projecting element is off, and the control circuit of the vehicle drive device (none of which is shown) is in a state that allows the unmanned vehicle to travel. If the obstacle 16 collides with, for example, the rear bumper 12 as shown in FIG. 8(a), the bumper tilts and the light from the light emitting element is deflected, causing the light receiving element to no longer receive light. As shown in b), when the optical path is blocked by the obstacle 16 from the side of the unmanned vehicle and the light receiving element 15.15 no longer receives light from the light emitting element, the light receiving element turns on and 1 A signal to stop the vehicle is sent to the drive unit, and the unmanned vehicle is stopped.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" By the way, the above-mentioned collision sensing device has the following drawbacks. In other words, in the case of the former example in which a tape switch is used, the sensitivity of the tape switch is generally poor, so the switch cannot be turned on unless the bumper is considerably dented. For this reason, when the unmanned vehicle is traveling at high speed, the switch is turned off.
There is a time delay between the time the vehicle turns N and the time it stops, causing an unmanned vehicle.
Damage may occur to both the vehicle and the obstruction.

In addition, unless a large number of tape switches are arranged in the height direction and the distance between adjacent tape switches is closely spaced, it will not be possible to detect a collision with a sharp obstacle. It must be installed in four directions: front, back, left, and right, resulting in high cost.

In addition, in the latter example, when the front and rear bumpers are hit by an obstacle from the front or rear of the vehicle, the bumpers only move in parallel in the front and rear direction. In this case, the light-receiving element continues to receive light, making it impossible to detect such a collision.Furthermore, in this example, it is necessary to provide light-emitting and light-receiving elements on both sides of the vehicle body, which means that There is a problem that a pair of sensors is required, resulting in high cost.

In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost omnidirectional collision sensing device that can reliably detect a collision of an unmanned vehicle with an obstacle from any direction, front, rear, left or right, with high sensitivity. With the goal.

``Means for Solving the Problems'' In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes swingable pants that surround the entire circumference of the vehicle body, and a sensor that operates based on the swinging of the pants. , a collision with an obstacle is detected by a sensor operated by the swinging of the bumper caused by the collision with the obstacle. Embodiment FIG. 1 shows the outline of a collision sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 and 3 are a plan view and a vertical sectional view of the sensor section. In these figures, 21 is the vehicle body, and 22 is the vehicle body 21. 23 and 24 are mounting plates for the bumpers 22, respectively, and the mounting plates 23 are attached to the front of the unit 21.
25.25, and the mounting plate 24 is horizontally mounted to the rear surface of the vehicle body 21 by bolting. Reference numeral 27 denotes a plurality of ring-shaped elastic supports (four in the example) made of steel plates or the like, which are attached to each corner of the bumper 22 and each mounting plate 23 at locations corresponding to the four corners of the vehicle body 21. A bolt 28 between each end of 24,
29, and the bumper 22 is supported horizontally with respect to the vehicle body 21 by these elastic supports.330 is attached to the inner part 111 of the bumper 22 which corresponds to the front of the vehicle body 21.
The detection plate is fixed horizontally to the II surface and is made of magnetic material.
A through hole 31 penetrating in the vertical direction is formed at one location. The mounting position of the detection plate 30 to the bumper 22 does not have to be at the front of the vehicle body, but may be at the inner surface of the bumper at the side or rear of the vehicle body. Reference numeral 32 is a sensor such as a proximity switch, which is attached to a bracket 33 fixed to the mounting plate 23, and is located above the center of the through hole 31 of the detection plate 30, and is in an on state when occupying this relative position with the detection plate. , the relative position with the detection plate 30 is shifted, and the part of the detection plate '50 other than the through-hole filter 1, that is, the magnetic material part, faces within the range of the circle whose diameter is the arrow 34 shown in FIG. The controller is connected to supply an off signal to a control unit (not shown) to stop the vehicle from running.

The embodiment of the present invention is constructed as described above, and in a normal state, as shown in FIG.
When the centers of the sensors 2 and 2 coincide with each other, the sensor is in the on state and the travel control circuit of the unmanned vehicle is not opened by this sensor, so the unmanned vehicle is ready to travel.

Next, while the unmanned vehicle is running, if the front part of the unmanned vehicle collides with an obstacle 40 as shown in FIG. moves or swings toward the rear of the unmanned vehicle, and therefore the sensor 32 of the detection plate 30
The relative position of the detection plate 30 is shifted, and the detection plate 30 comes within the operating range of this sensor, so that an off signal is issued from the sensor 32 and sent to the controller section. As a result, a stop command is issued from the vehicle controller, and the unmanned vehicle quickly stops. Also, while the unmanned vehicle is running, the side of the unmanned vehicle collides with an obstacle 40, as shown in Figure 4 (b). If so, or as shown in Figure 3
When the rear of the unmanned vehicle collides with the obstacle 40 as shown in 9, the bumper 22 moves sideways or forward, and the detection plate 30 enters the operating range of the sensor 62, as in the previous case.
The unmanned vehicle is stopped based on the operation of this sensor.

In order to make the unmanned vehicle run again, the obstacle 40 should be removed. That is, if the obstacle 40 is removed, the elastic support 27
Since the bumper 22 returns to its original shape, the bumper 22 returns to its normal position, and the detection plate '50 moves out of the operating range of the sensor 32, which turns on the sensor.

As the bumper swings in the event of a collision, the relative positions of the detection plate and the sensor shift, and the sensor operates, so that the collision is reliably detected.

Note that the shape of the hole drilled in the sensor 30 does not have to be circular; it may have another shape, or it may be a notch instead of a hole, and furthermore, depending on the size of the hole or notch, the sensor Of course, it is possible to adjust the sensitivity of the sensor, and by using a normal closed type sensor, if the wiring is cut, the unmanned vehicle will not be able to drive, and the unmanned vehicle will be unmanned without noticing that the sensing device is defective. There is no need to run a car, and although the example uses a sensor such as a proximity switch that causes magnetic flux changes depending on the relative position of the sensor and the detection plate, other sensors may also be used. Needless to say.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the present invention, a series of bumpers that continuously surround the vehicle body are attached to the vehicle body via an elastic support member, and sensors are detected based on the relative movement between the bumpers and the vehicle body. It is designed to operate to detect collisions of unmanned vehicles, not only in front of the unmanned vehicle, but also on the sides and rear.
In other words, collisions with obstacles from all directions can be detected reliably and with high sensitivity.Moreover, only one sensor is required, which is extremely advantageous in terms of cost.Furthermore, the bumper is supported via an elastic member. Therefore, in the event of a collision, the impact due to the buffering effect of the elastic member is softened.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of essential parts of a collision sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 5 are a plan view and a cross-sectional side view of the sensor portion, and FIG. 4 is a detailed explanation of the present invention. 5 and 6 are horizontal cross-sectional views showing the configuration of the main parts of a conventional collision sensing device, and vertical cross-sectional views, FIG. 7 and FIG. A plan view and an explanatory diagram showing an example of a collision sensing device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The vehicle is characterized by having a series of bumpers surrounding the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle body, a support body that swingably supports the bumpers on the vehicle body, and a sensor that generates a signal based on a change in the relative position between the bumper and the vehicle body. Collision sensing device.