JPS62221981A - Suction cup running with negative pressure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To heighten the extent of adhesion as well as to bring large suction into full play with limited energy, by constitution a suction cup running with negative pressure for a vertical wall probing instrument robot or the like, with a brush made of disposing lots of fiber material in one direction and a seal consisting of a nonpermeable sheet. CONSTITUTION:A brush 4 disposes lots of fiber material in one direction, while a nonpermeable sheet 5 is set up inside the brush 4 in this one direction. With this constitution, these elements are conformable with the top of a running surface and excellent in adhesion so that they get over a projection and a groove on the running surface, and even at the time of passing them, there is almost nothing any drop in negative pressure.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of the Invention] Generally speaking, the present invention relates to a robot equipped with measuring instruments, tools, etc. and used for inspecting the condition of a vertical wall surface and repairing it. In other words, it relates to a suction cup that runs under negative pressure and is used in a pot that can be moved freely on a vertical wall by remote control.

[Background of the Invention] A conventional vacuum suction cup of this type of robot (vacuum suction self-propelled vehicle) is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. In these figures, 1 indicates a seal, 2 indicates an annular seal retainer, and 3 indicates a vertical wall surface. In FIG. 1, the seal 1 consists of a thin rubber film, in FIG. 2 a rubber or plastic film with a reinforcing ring on its free edge, and in FIG. 3 a fibrous material arranged in large numbers in one direction. A brush made of
715: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1983-135379; Japanese Patent Publication No. 1983-135379
25669: Japanese Patent Publication No. 1988-9068 January: Japanese Patent Publication No. 1983
-92175).

The thin rubber film negative pressure sealing material shown in Figure 1 seals the rubber film to the extent that it is not pressed against the wall surface, so it has a high ability to follow the wall surface, but the amount of air that enters the negative pressure space is also high. Unfortunately, even if this is constantly sucked in to generate negative pressure, the suction power of a self-propelled vehicle is small.

The negative pressure sealing material shown in FIG. 2 uses the elastic force of the sealing material and the differential pressure between atmospheric pressure and negative pressure to press the sealing material against the wall surface.

The ability to follow the deformation of the wall surface is good, but as the negative pressure increases, the pressing force against the sealing material also increases, reducing the amount of air that enters the negative pressure space, but the frictional resistance during running increases in proportion to the negative pressure. .

- When the brush shown in Fig. 3 is used as a negative pressure sealing material, although the sliding frictional resistance is small, air enters the negative pressure space between the brush fibers and through the sealing surface. Even if the pressing force is increased to eliminate air intrusion from the sealing surface, air intrusion through the m-phase brush cannot be eliminated, and the negative pressure holding function is inferior.

[Objective of the Invention] In order to effectively maintain the negative pressure of the negative pressure running suction cup, the sealing material must be tightly pressed against the wall surface, but if this is done, the frictional resistance during sliding increases and this may cause running problems. arise.

An object of the present invention is to provide a negative pressure travel suction cup that effectively maintains negative pressure while sliding a negative pressure seal in close contact with the suction cup, and at the same time reduces frictional resistance.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a negative electrode comprising a brush comprising a plurality of fibrous materials arranged in one direction and a seal comprising at least one air-impermeable sheet arranged in said one direction within said brush. Pressure is achieved by traveling suction cups.

[Example] Fig. 4 shows a first example of the present invention. In the figure, 4 is a brush made of a large number of fibrous substances arranged in one direction;
is a single non-air permeable sheet placed in this brush in one direction. 6 is an annular frame that holds the brush.

Moreover, FIG. 5 shows a state in which the brush is strongly pressed against the wall surface.

A brush is used as a sealant, and a non-breathable sheet prevents suction air from passing through the fibrous material of the brush. This structure maintains the advantages of conventional brush seals, such as good wall followability and low frictional resistance, while improving sealing performance due to the non-porous membrane.

By using a non-breathable membrane, there is no need to densely plant fibrous substances to improve airtightness as with conventional brush suction cups, and IIN-like substances can be planted at a density that makes effective use of the elasticity of the brush. The width of the brush can be expanded to allow it to cross over uneven surfaces.

During operation, when the layer moving surface changes and the relative position changes from Fig. 4 to Fig. 5, the brushes are not densely planted, so they are easily deformed (bend), and the brushes are pressed against one surface. The increase in force is small, and therefore the increase in frictional resistance is also small. The non-breathable sheet is sandwiched between brushes on both sides, so it will not be sucked inward by negative pressure, and the sealing performance will not change.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the invention. 4b in the figure
is a thin or soft fibrous material, and 5 is an air-impermeable sheet sandwiching this flexible brush. 4a is a thick or hard fibrous material. With such a configuration, the adhesion of the tip of the brush can be improved and the air suction area can be reduced. At the same time, the sheet 5 is pushed inward by the outer brush 4a to prevent the sheet from rolling up from the running surface at the leading end of the sheet.

During production, the fibrous material 4b of the middle brush layer is made shorter than the fibrous material 4a of the outer brush layer (for example, by about 5 m), and thick! It is preferable that the ratio of the thickness of the thin fibrous material to the thin fibrous material is 2:1 or more. The fibrous material 4b of the intermediate brush layer may be made of thin straight hair-like fibers, and the fibrous material 4a of the outer brush layer may be made of thick curly fibers.

In this way, the adhesion and ease of fitting the tip of the brush to the wall surface are further improved.

According to the present invention, polyethylene di[
A negative-pressure running suction cup was applied to a stainless steel plate, and was constructed by arranging the brush in the center of a polyester brush with a wire diameter o of 3 m and a bristles length of 50 ts. With the sealing material pressing cuff ka,
The negative pressure generated was 0.11 to 0.20 ka/cj.

In the case of a polyester brush with the same wire diameter and bristles length without using an air-impermeable sheet, the negative pressure generated was only 0.01 kg/ci.

Good results were obtained by selecting the length of the fibrous material in the range of 40 to 100 m and the thickness of the fibrous material in the range of 0.5 to 0.0 m.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a vacuum suction self-propelled vehicle using the negative pressure traveling suction cup of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a plan view. In these figures, 7 is a negative pressure traveling suction cup, 8 is a wheel, and 9 is a chassis. This chassis is equipped with a means for applying negative pressure to the suction cup, a steering means, etc., but the explanation thereof will be omitted since it is the same as that of a conventional wall-running vehicle.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, the negative pressure traveling suction cup of the present invention effectively maintains negative pressure while moving the negative pressure seal in close contact with the wall surface, and at the same time reduces frictional resistance.

In addition, since it easily fits onto the running surface and has high adhesion, it can climb over protrusions and grooves on the running surface, and almost no drop in negative pressure is observed even when passing over the protrusions and grooves on the running surface. Negative pressure can be obtained with a relatively small pressing force of the seal, so a large adsorption force can be obtained with little energy, and the frictional resistance of the seal material is small.
There is also less energy loss.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a conventional vacuum suction cup using a rubber membrane. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of a conventional negative pressure running suction cup using a reinforced elastic seal. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of a conventional brush-based vacuum suction cup. FIG. 4 shows a first embodiment of the negative pressure running suction cup of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows the state of the first embodiment when the pressing force increases. 11 FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the negative pressure running suction cup of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a side view of a vacuum suction self-propelled vehicle using the negative pressure traveling suction cup of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a plan view. In the figure: 1: Seal, 2: Seal holder, 3: Wall surface, 4: Fibrous material, 5: Non-ventilated sheet, 6: Annular frame, 7: Negative pressure running suction cup, 8: Wheel, 9: Chassis.・T-1 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A brush comprising a large number of fibrous substances arranged in one direction;
A negative pressure traveling suction cup characterized in that the brush is provided with a seal comprising at least one air-impermeable sheet disposed in one direction. 2. The negative pressure traveling suction cup according to claim 1, wherein the fibrous material is a plastic fiber. 3. The negative pressure traveling suction cup according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fibrous material is straight hair or curly fiber. 4. The sheet is located in the center of densely planted fibrous material,
Claim 1: The sheet is not shorter than the fibrous material.
Negative pressure traveling suction cup as described in section. 5. Claim 1, wherein the above-mentioned sheet is arranged on both sides of an intermediate brush layer of a thin or soft fibrous material, and an outer brush layer of a thick or hard fibrous material is further arranged outside the sheet. Negative pressure traveling suction cup as described in section. 6. The negative pressure traveling suction cup according to claim 5, wherein the fibrous material of the intermediate brush layer is not longer than the fibrous material of the outer brush layer. 7. According to claim 5 or 6, the fibrous material of the intermediate brush layer is a thin straight hair fiber, and the fibrous material of the outer brush layer is a thick curly fiber. Negative pressure travel suction cup. 8. Claim 1, wherein the length of the fibrous material is 40 to 100 mm, and the thickness is 0.5 to 0.05 mm.
Negative pressure traveling suction cup as described in section. 9. The negative pressure traveling suction cup according to claim 5, wherein the thickness ratio of the thick fibrous material to the thin fibrous material is 2:1 or more.