KR101377062B1 - Apparatus for detecting condition of rail and robot system for maintaining outer wall of building - Google Patents

Abstract

Rail state detection device according to the present invention is a rail state detection device for detecting the state of the rail while traveling on the pre-installed rail, is provided to move in accordance with the inner surface state of the rail in contact with the inner surface of the rail Rail contacts; A signal generator for generating an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the rail contact; And a controller configured to determine a state of the rail based on an electrical signal generated by the signal generator. According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the reliability and accuracy in determining the state of the rail, that is, whether the rail is damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail, compared to the prior art for detecting the state of the rail optically or electrically.

Description

Apparatus for detecting condition of rail and robot system for maintaining outer wall of building}

The present invention relates to a rail state detection device, and more particularly, to a device for detecting a state of a pre-installed rail, that is, whether the rail is damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail.

Building exterior wall maintenance robot system is a robot system mainly for cleaning, painting, and inspection (monitoring) of building exterior walls in high-rise buildings. Its main purpose is to minimize work, reduce safety accidents and improve the efficiency and economics of the system.

Such a building exterior wall maintenance robot system generally includes a building exterior wall maintenance robot equipped with a maintenance device (eg, a cleaning device, a painting device, an inspection device, etc.) while traveling along a rail installed on the exterior wall of the building, Perform maintenance work.

However, since the rail installed on the outer wall of the building is directly exposed to the external environment for a long time, there is a problem that the rail is damaged or damaged due to rain, wind, temperature, or the like, and foreign matter such as dust or ice is introduced into the rail. Such damage to the rail or foreign substances introduced into the rail may act as a large disturbance in the process of the building exterior wall maintenance robot traveling along the rail, and such disturbance may cause derailment and failure of the building exterior wall maintenance robot.

In view of the above, there is a demand for introducing a technology capable of detecting the state of the rail, that is, whether the rail is damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail, in a rail driving-type building exterior wall maintenance robot system.
Related prior arts include Korean Patent Publication No. 10-0588818 (name of the invention: an apparatus for wiping the outer glass surface of a high-rise building and the outer wall surface of a building by remote control, publication date: June 19, 2006), Japanese Patent Application Publication 2001-000367 (name of the invention: cleaning device on the outside of the building, published date: January 09, 2001).

An object of the present invention is a rail state detection device that can improve the reliability and accuracy in determining the state of the rail, that is, whether the rail is damaged or foreign matter in the rail compared to the prior art for detecting the state of the rail optically or electrically To provide.

Another object of the present invention is to perform the maintenance work on the outer wall of the building and at the same time detect the condition of the rail in real time to improve the economics and efficiency of the system, as well as by the damage of the rail or foreign matter put into the rail It is to provide a building exterior wall maintenance robot system that can prevent the derailment, failure, etc. of the building exterior wall maintenance robot, which can be caused, and ultimately ensure the stability of the system.

The object of the present invention is a rail state detection device for detecting a state of the rail while traveling on a pre-installed rail, the rail provided in contact with the inner surface of the rail to move in accordance with the inner surface state of the rail Contacts; A signal generator for generating an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the rail contact; And a controller configured to determine a state of the rail based on an electrical signal generated by the signal generator.

The rail state detecting apparatus may further include an elastic pressing unit configured to apply an elastic force to the rail contacting portion such that the rail contacting portion maintains contact with an inner surface of the rail.

The rail state detecting apparatus may further include a rotation driving unit configured to rotate the rail contact portion at a predetermined angle so as to set an initial position of the rail contact portion in a state where the rail contact portion is inserted into the rail.

The inner surface of the rail is formed to be stepped, a plurality of rail contact portions are provided to correspond to the stepped inner surface of the rail, and the signal generator generates an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of each of the plurality of rail contacts. It may be provided with a plurality.

The rail contact portion may be coupled to a hinge shaft and rotated according to a state of an inner surface of the rail.

The rail contact portion may include a rotation bar having one end coupled to the hinge shaft and extending in a length direction of the rail; And a contact roller coupled to the other end of the pivot bar and in contact with an inner surface of the rail.

 The rail contact unit may further include a transmission protrusion provided at the rotation bar and contacting an input terminal of the signal generation unit to transmit a movement of the rotation bar to the signal generation unit.

The transfer protrusion may be coupled to a positioning slot formed on the pivoting bar to adjust the position on the pivoting bar.

The signal generator may include a slide potentiometer.

The controller may determine that the inner surface of the rail is damaged or foreign matter exists in the rail at the point when the magnitude of the electrical signal generated by the signal generator is out of a preset range.

The other object is, according to the invention, a rail running robot system for the maintenance of the building outer wall, the rail unit is installed on the outer wall of the building; A building exterior wall maintenance robot configured to perform maintenance work on the exterior wall of the building while traveling along the rail unit; And a rail state detection device mounted to the building exterior wall maintenance robot to detect a state of the rail of the rail unit.

The rail state detecting device may include: a rail contact part provided to be in contact with an inner side surface of the rail and move according to an inner side state of the rail; A signal generator for generating an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the rail contact; And a controller configured to determine a state of the rail based on an electrical signal generated by the signal generator.

The rail state detecting device may include: an elastic pressing unit configured to apply an elastic force to the rail contacting portion so that the rail contacting portion maintains contact with an inner surface of the rail; And a rotation driving part configured to rotate the rail contact part at a predetermined angle so as to set an initial position of the rail contact part in a state where the rail contact part is inserted into the rail.

When the magnitude of the electrical signal generated by the signal generator is out of a predetermined range, the controller determines that the inner surface of the rail is damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail at that point and maintains the building exterior wall. The running of the management robot can be stopped.

The rail state detection apparatus according to the present invention detects the state of the rail by using a mechanical mechanism that directly contacts the rail while traveling on the rail, so that the state of the rail, i.e., the state of the rail is optically or electrically detected. Reliability and accuracy can be improved in determining whether a rail is damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail.

In the building exterior wall maintenance robot system according to the present invention, a rail state detection device is mounted on the building exterior wall maintenance robot that runs along the rail portion installed on the exterior wall of the building, thereby performing maintenance work on the exterior wall of the building and at the same time. By detecting the condition in real time, it is possible to improve the economics and efficiency of the system, as well as to prevent derailment and failure of the building exterior wall maintenance robot, which may be caused by damage to the rail or foreign matter put into the rail. The stability of the system can be secured.

1 is a view schematically showing an example of a robot system for maintenance of the outer wall of the building to which the rail state detection apparatus according to the present invention is applied.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the position where the rail state detection apparatus according to the present invention is mounted on the building exterior wall maintenance robot.
3 is a perspective view showing an example of a rail to be detected by the rail state detection apparatus according to the present invention.
4 and 5 are views showing a state in which the rail state detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is disposed on the rail shown in FIG.
6 is a perspective view of a rail state detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a plan view of the rail state detection apparatus of FIG.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a control flow of the rail state detection apparatus of FIG. 6.

In order to fully understand the present invention, operational advantages of the present invention, and objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in order to avoid unnecessary obscuration of the present invention.

1 is a view schematically showing an example of a robot system for maintenance of the outer wall of the building to which the rail state detection apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, a robot system (hereinafter, referred to as a 'robot system') for maintenance of a building exterior wall may include a horizontal rail unit 11 installed on an exterior wall of a building in a horizontal or horizontal direction of the building, Vertical rail unit 12 installed on the outer wall of the building in the vertical direction or vertical direction, building outer wall maintenance robot 10 provided to travel the outer wall of the building along the horizontal rail unit 11, and vertical rail unit 12 It may include a weak station 20 to travel along the outer wall of the building along.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the horizontal rail unit 11 may be fixed to the outer wall of the building for each floor of the building. At this time, the horizontal rail unit 11 may be provided with a pair of rails up and down extending in the horizontal direction for each floor of the building. On the other hand, the vertical rail unit 12 may be fixed to the outer wall of the building at the corner or corner of the building, as shown in FIG. In this case, the vertical rail unit 12 may be provided as a pair of left and right rails extending in the vertical direction.

The building exterior wall maintenance robot 10 may be equipped with a maintenance device for maintaining the exterior wall of the building. Here, the maintenance device may be provided as any one of various maintenance devices, including a cleaning device for cleaning the outer wall of the building, a coating device for painting the outer wall of the building, and an inspection device for inspecting the condition of the outer wall of the building. have. The building exterior wall maintenance robot 10 may perform washing, painting or inspection work on the exterior wall of the building while traveling in the horizontal direction of the building. Meanwhile, in the present specification, the 'outer wall' of the building is used to include various architectural elements such as glass windows, ordinary concrete walls, curtain walls, and chassis that constitute the outer surface of the building.

The workstation 20 may dock with the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10 to supply predetermined resources to the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10. Here, the term 'docking' means that the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10 and the workstation 20 move to a specific position for some purpose and meet and combine with each other. In addition, the term 'resources' refers to all types of energy or materials required for the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10 to perform a series of tasks, and for example, energy for driving the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10. As a power source, when the cleaning device is mounted on the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10, it may include cleaning materials such as washing water and detergent. In this case, since the workstation 20 may travel in the vertical direction along the vertical rail unit 21 at the corner of the building, the workstation 20 may move to the floor where the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10 requesting docking is located.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the position where the rail state detection apparatus according to the present invention is mounted on the building exterior wall maintenance robot.

Referring to FIG. 2, the rail state detecting apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes the front end portion 10a and the rear end portion 10b of the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10 based on the driving direction of the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10. 2) can be mounted on each. Accordingly, the rail state detecting apparatus 10 may grasp the state of the pair of rails R (see FIG. 1) in real time during the forward / reverse driving operation of the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10. However, the mounting position and the number of the rail state detecting apparatus 100 according to the present invention are not limited to those disclosed in FIG. 2 and may be appropriately changed.

3 is a perspective view showing an example of a rail to be detected by the rail state detection apparatus according to the present invention.

For example, the rail 1 shown in FIG. 3 may be a pair of rails constituting the horizontal rail part 11 in the building exterior wall maintenance robot system of FIG. 1. The rail 1 may be formed to extend in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 3 and to have the inner surfaces 1a, 1b, and 1c stepped. Meanwhile, the number of steps of the inner surfaces 1a, 1b, and 1c of the rail 1 shown in FIG. 3 is three, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the structure and shape of the rail are to be applied. Of course, it can be changed according to the characteristics of the.

4 and 5 are views showing a state in which the rail state detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is disposed on the rail shown in FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a rail state detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a plan view of the rail state detection apparatus of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a control flow of the rail state detection apparatus of FIG. 6. It is a block diagram.

4 to 8, the rail state detecting device 100 according to the present invention is a device for detecting the state of the rail 1 while traveling on a pre-installed rail 1, the rail contact part 110, and a signal. The generator 120 may include an elastic pressing unit 130, a rotation driving unit 140, and a controller 150.

On the other hand, the rail state detection device 100 described herein is applied to the robot system for the maintenance of the building exterior wall as described above, it is mounted on the building exterior wall maintenance robot (see 10, 1 and 2). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be used as an apparatus for detecting a state of various other rails including railway rails.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, the rail contact portion 110 contacts the inner surfaces 1a, 1b and 1c of the rail 1 and according to the state of the inner surfaces 1a, 1b and 1c of the rail 1. It may be arranged to move. At this time, it is preferable that a plurality of rail contacts 110 are provided to correspond to the stepped inner surfaces 1a, 1b, and 1c of the rail 1, that is, according to the number of steps of the inner surfaces 1a, 1b, and 1c. . In the present embodiment, three rail contacts 110 are provided in correspondence with the steps in which the inner surfaces 1a, 1b, 1c of the rail 1 are stepped in three stages.

Specifically, the rail contact portion 110 may be coupled to the hinge shaft 127 to be rotated according to the state of the inner surface (1a, 1b, 1c) of the rail (1). In this case, the hinge shaft 127 may be provided on one side of the signal generator 120. That is, the rail contact portion 110 may be rotatably coupled to the signal generator 120 through the hinge shaft 127. To this end, the rail contact portion 110 may include a rotation bar 111, a contact roller 113, and a transfer protrusion 115 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Rotating bar 111 may be formed such that one end portion 111a is coupled to hinge shaft 127 and extends in the longitudinal direction of rail 1. The contact roller 113 may be coupled to the other end 111b of the rotation bar 111 and may contact the inner surfaces 1a, 1b, and 1c of the rail 1. The transmission protrusion 115 is provided on the rotation bar 111 so as to protrude from the rotation bar 111, and contacts the input end 123 (slide bar) of the signal generator 120 to signal the rotational movement of the rotation bar 111. It may be delivered to the generation unit 120. In this case, the transmission protrusion 115 may rotate the rotation bar 111 as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 so as to adjust an optimal position for transmitting the movement of the rotation bar 111 to the signal generator 120 reliably and accurately. It is coupled to the position adjusting slot 117 formed in the) is possible to adjust the position on the rotation bar (111).

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the three rail contacts 110 may have different lengths of the rotation bars 111, which is illustrated in FIG. 4. This is to appropriately cope with different heights of the stepped inner surfaces 1a, 1b, and 1c.

The rail contact portion 110 having such a configuration has a contact roller 113 and the inner surfaces 1a, 1b, 1c of the rail 1 in the process of moving the rail state detection device 100 along the rail 1. When rolling in contact with each other, or when deformed or damaged parts are encountered on the inner surfaces 1a, 1b, and 1c of the rail 1, or when foreign substances are encountered, the rotation bar 111 rotates about the hinge axis 127. This movement is transmitted to the signal generator 120 through the transfer protrusion 115 to move the input terminal 123 (slide bar) of the signal generator 120 within a predetermined section.

The signal generator 120 may generate an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the rail contact 110 as described above. That is, the signal generator 120 may generate an electrical signal according to the magnitude and direction of the movement of the pivoting bar 111 constituting the rail contact portion 110. Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, a plurality of signal generators 120 may be provided to generate electrical signals corresponding to the movements of the plurality of rail contacts 110. In the present embodiment, three signal generators 120 are provided corresponding to the three rail contacts 110.

Specifically, the signal generator 120 may be implemented as a slide potentiometer 121 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The slide potentiometer 121 is a well-known electrical component, also referred to as a slide variable resistor, and may be referred to as a sensor for measuring a voltage or a resistance value proportional to a position. That is, the slide potentiometer 121 has a resistance value proportional to the movement of the slide bar 123 in a straight line, wherein the movement of the slide bar 123 is the rotation bar 111 of the rail contact portion 110 as described above. It may be configured to work with the movement of. Accordingly, the signal generator 120 may generate an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the rail contact portion 110. In this case, the electrical signal may be a signal indicating the magnitude of the voltage. However, in the present invention, the signal generator 120 is not limited to being implemented as the slide potentiometer 121, but is proportional to the mechanical movement of the rail contact 110 or It may be implemented in any of a variety of other electrical components that generate a corresponding electrical signal.

Meanwhile, the signal generator 120 is configured to rotate within a predetermined angle range by the rotation driver 140. For this purpose, the signal generator 120 is rotated as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. It may include a rotary bracket 125 which is coupled to the first rotation shaft 141 of the).

The elastic pressing part 130 may apply an elastic force to the rail contact part 110 so that the contact roller 113 of the rail contact part 110 maintains contact with the inner surfaces 1a, 1b and 1c of the rail 1. . As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the elastic pressing unit 130 surrounds the hinge shaft 127 connecting the rail contacting unit 110 and the signal generating unit 120, and both ends of the elastic pressing unit 130 and the rail contacting unit 110 signal. The torsion springs fixed to the generator 120 may be easily implemented. However, in the present invention, the elastic pressing unit 130 is not limited to the torsion spring disclosed in the present embodiment, but may be implemented as any one of various other mechanical parts to apply an elastic force.

The rotation driver 140 may rotate the rail contact part 110 to set an initial position of the rail contact part 110 while the rail contact part 110 is inserted into the rail 1. That is, the rotation driver 140 may move the rail contact part 110 to an initial position by rotating the rail contact part 110 by a predetermined angle while the rail contact part 110 is inserted into the rail 1. . Here, the initial position may refer to a position at which the contact roller 113 of the rail contact portion 110 contacts the inner surfaces 1a, 1b and 1c of the rail 1.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the rotation driver 140 may include a first rotation shaft 141 rotatably supporting the signal generator 120 to which the rail contact 110 is coupled, and a first rotation shaft. It may include a rotary motor 145 to provide a driving force for rotating the 141. In addition, the rotation driver 140 may include a second rotation shaft 146 directly connected to the rotation motor 145, and first and second gears configured to transmit rotation of the second rotation shaft 146 to the first rotation shaft 141. 143,147). In this case, three first gears 143 may be provided on the first rotation shaft 141 at regular intervals, and three second gears 147 may be provided on the second rotation shaft 146 at regular intervals. Meanwhile, the rotation driver 140 may include a frame 149 as shown in FIG. 6 to provide a space in which the first and second rotation shafts 141 and 146 and the first and second gears 143 and 147 are installed. Can be. However, the rotation drive unit 140 in the present invention is not limited to the configuration or mechanism disclosed in this embodiment may be changed to another configuration or mechanism that can rotate the rail contact portion 110 in a predetermined angle range.

Referring to FIG. 8, the controller 150 may determine the state of the rail 1 based on the electrical signal generated by the signal generator 120. Specifically, the controller 150, if the magnitude (for example, the magnitude of the voltage) of the electrical signal generated by the signal generator 120 is out of the value of the preset range, the inner surface (1a, 1b) of the rail 1 at that point It may be determined that 1c is severely damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail 1. In this case, the controller 150 stops the running of the building exterior wall maintenance robot 10 (refer to FIGS. 1 and 2), thereby causing damage to the rail 1 or foreign matter introduced into the rail 1. Derailment, failure, etc. of the maintenance robot 10 can be prevented beforehand. In addition, the controller 150 may control the operation of the rotation driver 140 described above.

The controller 150 may be implemented as a digital signal processor (DSP), a micro processor (Micro Processor), or the like, and may be separately installed to control the rail state detecting apparatus 100 or a building exterior wall maintenance robot ( For control of 10) may be provided as a functional part of the pre-installed controller.

As described above, the rail state detection apparatus according to the present invention detects the state of the rail by using a mechanical mechanism that directly contacts the rail while traveling on the rail, thereby comparing the state of the rail optically or electrically. Reliability and accuracy can be improved in determining the condition of the rail, i.e. the rail is damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail.

In addition, the building exterior wall maintenance robot system according to the present invention, by mounting the rail state detection device to the building exterior wall maintenance robot that runs along the rail portion installed on the outer wall of the building, at the same time to perform the maintenance work on the exterior wall of the building By detecting the condition of rails in real time, it is possible to improve the economics and efficiency of the system, as well as to prevent derailment and failure of the building exterior wall maintenance robot, which may be caused by damage to the rails or foreign substances put into the rails. Ultimately, the stability of the system can be secured.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, such modifications or variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

1: Rail
10: building exterior wall maintenance robot
100: rail state detection device
110: rail contact
120: signal generator
130: elastic pressing unit
140: rotation drive unit
150: controller

Claims (14)

As a rail state detection device for detecting the state of the rail while driving the pre-installed rail,
A rail contact part provided in contact with an inner side surface of the rail to move according to an inner side state of the rail;
A signal generator for generating an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the rail contact;
A controller for determining a state of the rail based on an electrical signal generated by the signal generator; And
And a rotation driving unit for rotating the rail contacting portion at a predetermined angle so as to set the initial position of the rail contacting portion in a state where the rail contacting portion is inserted into the inside of the rail.
The method of claim 1,
The rail state detection device,
And an elastic pressing portion for applying an elastic force to the rail contact portion so that the rail contact portion maintains contact with the inner surface of the rail.
delete The method of claim 1,
The inner surface of the rail is formed to be stepped,
A plurality of rail contact portion is provided to correspond to the stepped inner surface of the rail,
And a plurality of signal generators are provided to generate electrical signals corresponding to movements of the plurality of rail contacts.
The method of claim 1,
The rail contact portion,
Rail state detection device is coupled to the hinge shaft is provided to rotate in accordance with the state of the inner surface of the rail.
6. The method of claim 5,
The rail contact portion,
A rotation bar having one end coupled to the hinge shaft and extending in the longitudinal direction of the rail; And
And a contact roller coupled to the other end of the pivoting bar and in contact with the inner surface of the rail.
The method according to claim 6,
The rail contact portion,
And a transmission protrusion provided on the rotation bar and transmitting the movement of the rotation bar to the signal generation unit in contact with an input terminal of the signal generation unit.
8. The method of claim 7,
The transfer projection is
The rail state detection device, characterized in that the position is adjusted on the rotation bar is coupled to the position adjustment slot formed in the rotation bar.
The method of claim 1,
The signal generator,
A rail condition detection device comprising a slide potentiometer.
The method of claim 1,
The controller comprising:
And if the magnitude of the electrical signal generated by the signal generator is outside the preset range, the inner surface of the rail is damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail at that point.
Rail system for the maintenance of the building's outer wall
A rail unit installed on the outer wall of the building;
A building exterior wall maintenance robot configured to perform maintenance work on the exterior wall of the building while traveling along the rail unit; And
And a rail state detection device mounted to the building exterior wall maintenance robot to detect a state of the rail of the rail unit.
The rail state detection device,
A rail contact part provided in contact with an inner side surface of the rail to move according to an inner side state of the rail;
A signal generator for generating an electrical signal corresponding to the movement of the rail contact;
A controller for determining a state of the rail based on an electrical signal generated by the signal generator; And
And a rotation driving part for rotating the rail contact part at a predetermined angle so as to set an initial position of the rail contact part in a state in which the rail contact part is inserted into the rail.
delete 12. The method of claim 11,
The rail state detection device,
And an elastic pressing portion for applying an elastic force to the rail contact portion so that the rail contact portion maintains contact with the inner surface of the rail.
12. The method of claim 11,
The controller comprising:
If the magnitude of the electrical signal generated by the signal generator is outside the preset range, it is determined that the inner surface of the rail is damaged or foreign matter is present in the rail at that point, and the building exterior wall maintenance robot runs. Building exterior wall maintenance robot system, characterized in that for stopping.

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