KR102441146B1 - A Device For Improving The Efficiency Removing Foreign Matter Of Underwater Cleaning Robots - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a body with a hollow interior, a driving unit provided in the lower portion of the main body to clean the underwater surface, and a foreign material and underwater that are provided inside the main body and are connected to the driving unit and are removed from the underwater surface by the driving unit In the underwater cleaning robot comprising an inlet/discharge unit for introducing an inflow containing a living thing to the inside, filtering the inflow and discharging it, and a control unit provided inside the main body to control the operation of the driving unit and the inlet/discharge unit, The driving unit may include: a flexible roller brush that deforms and rotates in close contact with the curvature of the cleaning surface; a flexible roller brush brush installed on the flexible roller brush to remove foreign substances from the cleaning surface; and a flexible roller deformation actuator provided so that the flexible roller deforms according to the surface thereof.

Description

A Device For Improving The Efficiency Removing Foreign Matter Of Underwater Cleaning Robots

The present invention relates to an underwater cleaning robot, and more particularly, a proposed method of a cleaning robot mechanism to prevent environmental disturbance and performance degradation due to contaminated foreign substances attached to a submerged surface (including the outer surface of a ship) high-efficiency pollution that can achieve environmental protection and performance at the same time by reducing post-processing load by minimizing scattering of pollutants and minimizing the amount of suction for pollutant collection It relates to a device for increasing the foreign substance removal efficiency of an underwater cleaning robot that has secured diffusion prevention cleaning technology.

In general, since the ship is operated in a state that the lower part of the hull is submerged in seawater, foreign substances such as various contaminants or various aquatic organisms such as water moss and barnacles may be attached to the bottom or side surface located in the water.

As such, various foreign substances and aquatic organisms attached to the hull not only harm the appearance of the ship, but also act as a resistance when the ship is operating and become a factor that lowers the speed of the ship, thus greatly increasing the fuel consumption of the ship. It is very important to periodically clean various foreign substances and aquatic organisms attached to the surface.

Conventionally, in order to remove foreign substances attached to the outside, a diver has to directly clean the bottom of the ship, and it is difficult to secure a view due to the foreign substances present in the water during operation. There was a problem that oxygen needs to be supplied and that it takes a lot of time to clean a large area.

Therefore, recently, a hull cleaning robot that travels while attached to the outer surface of the hull and performs a cleaning operation with a brush or the like has been widely used.

As a related prior document, Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-177492 (2017.09.05.) discloses an underwater cleaning robot.

However, in the case of a cleaning robot using a marine life removal plate, the countermeasures against scattering are insufficient, and thus the cleaning robot cannot prevent marine pollution caused by cleaning.

In addition, there is a problem that a large load is taken and a lot of cost is taken for waste transport and post-treatment of foreign substances removed by installing a filter, filtering it first, and disposing of it in the sea, or by sucking a large amount of water around the scavenger to prevent scattering.

In addition, when the foreign material is larger than the brush or the flying material suction port of the underwater cleaning robot, there is a problem that the size of the foreign material cannot be reduced because the cleaning efficiency is lowered.

In addition, in the case of a roller brush-type underwater cleaning robot, since the brush has a straight shape, there is a problem in that cleaning efficiency varies according to the curvature of the curved portion.

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-177492 (2017.09.05.)

The present invention is to solve the conventional problems as described above. The roller brush-type underwater cleaning robot moves along the wall, and while the brush roller rotates, it removes foreign substances such as barnacles and moss on the surface, and reduces the size of the foreign substances. In order to reduce the size below a certain size, the cutting saw is operated on the front end of the underwater robot, and flexible skirts capable of manual and active shape control are installed on the front and side, and actuators that automatically control up and down and front and rear are applied to the gap with the flexible roller. , an object of the present invention is to provide an underwater cleaning robot capable of increasing the scattering and suction efficiency of the material to be removed by controlling the inlet flow by adjusting the distance from the cleaning surface.

In addition, the sensor measures or detects the distance between the cleaning surface and the flexible brush roller, and the actuator can change the shape of the flexible brush roller to fit the convex or concave cleaning surface. An object of the present invention is to provide an underwater cleaning robot that allows a flexible roller to clean the surface without floating.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to a device for increasing the efficiency of removing foreign substances of an underwater cleaning robot, and a main body having a hollow interior, a driving unit provided at the lower portion of the main body to clean the underwater surface; An inlet/discharge unit provided inside the main body and connected to the driving unit to introduce an inflow including foreign substances and aquatic organisms removed from the underwater surface by the driving unit to the inside, and to filter and discharge the influent and the main body In the underwater cleaning robot provided therein comprising a control unit for controlling the operation of the driving unit and the inlet and outlet, the driving unit,

A flexible roller brush that deforms and rotates in close contact with the curvature of the cleaning surface; a flexible roller brush brush installed on the flexible roller brush to remove foreign substances from the cleaning surface; and

The flexible roller brush is characterized in that it comprises a flexible roller deformation actuator provided to be deformed according to the surface.

Preferably, it is provided between the driving unit and the inlet and outlet, it characterized in that it further comprises a flexible roller brush brush cleaner for removing foreign substances between the flexible roller brush brush.

More preferably, it is provided in front of the flexible roller brush, is configured to be connected to the passive or active shape control skirt, characterized in that it further comprises a cutting saw for crushing foreign substances.

Also preferably, it is provided between the passive or active shape control skirt and the flexible roller brush, and further comprises a sensor for measuring or detecting a distance between the cleaning surface and the flexible roller brush, and the distance measured or sensed by the sensor Accordingly, it is characterized in that the shape of the flexible roller is deformed by the actuator.

Also preferably, the passive or active shape control skirt is characterized in that it is a flexible skirt capable of shape control using a flexible material.

Also preferably, the flexible skirt is characterized in that the shape can be controlled in a structure in which the surface of the flexible body or the partial shape alloy is mixed by any one of coating, partial insertion position variable.

Also preferably, the surface of the flexible roller is characterized in that the shape of the flexible roller is deformed according to the shape of the underwater surface by attaching at least one magnet.

Also preferably, a body having a hollow interior, a driving unit provided in the lower portion of the main body to clean the underwater surface, and a foreign material provided inside the main body and connected to the driving unit to be removed from the underwater surface by the driving unit and an inlet and outlet for introducing an inflow including aquatic organisms to the inside, filtering and discharging the influent, and a control unit provided inside the main body to control the operation of the driving unit and the inlet and outlet. In the following, the drive unit, a disk-shaped brush for removing foreign substances from the cleaning surface by rotating; an impeller for levitating the removed material, which is driven to rotate together when the disk-shaped brush is rotated, and floats the removed foreign material into the body; a suction manifold suction port for sucking foreign substances injured by the impeller for levitating the removal material; It characterized in that it comprises a suction manifold for collecting and transporting foreign substances sucked by the suction manifold suction port.

Also preferably, a cutting saw for crushing foreign substances is provided in front of the disk-shaped brush.

According to the present invention, the device for increasing the foreign material removal efficiency of the underwater cleaning robot has the effect of increasing the foreign material removal efficiency by reducing the size of the foreign material to a specific size or less by applying a cutting saw at the tip.

In addition, flexible material or flexible structure is applied to the roller so that it can be flexibly deformed along the curvature of the foreign material removal surface, and it is easy to remove foreign substances from curved surfaces such as ships by measuring the distance from the cleaning surface and applying an actuator to deform the roller have the effect of making

In addition, by allowing the underwater cleaning robot to deform a flexible skirt capable of manual and active shape control according to the cleaning situation, it has the effect of efficiently collecting foreign substances scattered in the water.

In addition, it has the effect of preventing the contaminants from being caught between the brushes of the flexible roller brush generated during cleaning, thereby increasing the efficiency of removing foreign substances and preventing scattering.

In addition, when the disk-shaped brush is applied, the impeller blade is applied so that foreign substances scattered due to the operation of the disk-shaped brush can be floated to the suction port to induce the inflow into the suction manifold, thereby increasing the foreign material removal efficiency.

1 is a view showing the basic structure of an underwater cleaning robot in the form of a roller brush.
2 is a side conceptual view illustrating an improved structure of a cleaning robot in the form of a roller brush according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating a method of adhering a flexible roller of a roller brush type cleaning robot to a surface of a ship according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view showing the basic structure of the underwater cleaning robot in the form of a disk-shaped brush.
6 is a view showing an improved structure of an underwater cleaning robot in the form of a disk-shaped brush according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and a method of achieving the same, will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

However, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various different forms, and only these embodiments allow the disclosure of the present invention to be complete, and common knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to fully inform those who have the scope of the invention, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

In addition, when it is determined that related well-known techniques may obscure the gist of the present invention in describing the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a view showing the basic structure of an underwater cleaning robot in the form of a roller brush, FIG. 2 is a side conceptual view showing an improved structure of a cleaning robot in the form of a roller brush according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. It is a view showing the adhesion method of the flexible roller of the roller brush type cleaning robot and the surface of the ship according to the embodiment of It is a diagram showing an improved structure of an underwater cleaning robot in the form of a disk-shaped brush according to an example.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the underwater cleaning robot generally has a body 1 made of metal or plastic with a hollow inside, and a driving unit 10, an inlet/outlet unit 20 and a control unit 51 are installed therein. As a housing to be used, it is connected to the driving unit 10 for cleaning the outer surface of the hull, and in the cleaning process by the inlet/discharge unit 20, seawater including foreign substances and aquatic organisms that fall from the outer surface of the hull can be introduced into the inside and then discharged. have.

In addition, the driving unit 10 may include a brush 12 , a brush motor, upper and lower torsion springs 31 and 35 , and upper and lower guide plates 32 and 36 .

In addition, the inlet/discharge unit 20 includes a first working space that is a suction working space, a second working space that is a high pressure working space, an outlet for discharging the inflow, and a feedback formed so that the inflow can be circulated in the direction in which the brush is positioned. It may include a tube and a filter (2) and a pump (3).

In addition, the pump 3 may be provided in the first working space, and the filter 2 may be provided between the second working space and the feedback tube.

The control unit 51 may control the operation of the driving unit 10 and the inlet/discharge unit 20 , and may drive the wheels so that the main body 1 can be transported.

The underwater cleaning robot moves along the outer wall of the ship, and the brush 12 rotates by the rotation of the brush motor of the driving unit 10 to remove foreign substances such as barnacles and stone moss on the surface.

That is, the driving unit 10 uses the brush 12 to remove foreign substances attached to the outside of the ship and to prevent scattering and leakage to the surrounding environment, suction by the pump 3 of the inlet/discharge unit 20 is performed. , the suctioned foreign substances and water are discharged, and the second working space is used to increase the pressure in a part of the pipe.

At this time, foreign substances are filtered using a pipe and a filter branched from the discharge pipe of the mainstream through an increase in pressure, and the filtered water may be circulated to the brush 12 through the feedback pipe.

Here, the fluid sucked by the pump 3 is discharged to the outlet with high static pressure, and a part of it circulates through the feedback pipe to the first working space, which is a low pressure working space, by increasing the static pressure in the second working space with increased cross-sectional area. As the water is replenished in the brush 12 while the foreign substances are filtered by the filter 2 , it is possible to reduce the suction amount of the fluid coming from the outside.

The removed foreign substances are sucked into the second working space through the first working space simultaneously with water by the pump 3 and are directed to a structural protection device utilized for a mechanism that is discharged to an outlet connected to the second working space.

Through this process, the scattering of foreign substances and the amount of collection at the outlet can be minimized to overcome the difficulties caused by the excessive amount of treated water.

However, if the foreign material is larger than the underwater cleaning robot's brush or fugitive material suction port, the cleaning efficiency is lowered, so there is a problem that the size of the foreign material cannot be processed small. In the case of the roller brush type underwater cleaning robot, the cleaning surface is In the case of this curved surface, there is a problem in that the cleaning efficiency varies according to the curvature of the curved portion.

Therefore, in order to improve this, as shown in FIG. 2, a body with a hollow interior, a driving unit provided in the lower portion of the main body to clean the underwater surface, and a driving unit provided inside the main body and connected to the driving unit, the An inlet/discharge unit that introduces an inflow containing foreign substances and aquatic organisms removed from the underwater surface by the driving unit, filters the inflow and discharges it, and is provided inside the body to control the operation of the driving unit and the inlet/discharge unit It includes a control unit that

In addition, the driving unit may be provided with a flexible roller brush (100, flexible roller brush) that deforms and rotates in close contact with the curvature of the cleaning surface.

At this time, by applying a roller brush using a flexible material, the conventional cleaning roller has a rigid structure, so that when the curved surface is large, a phenomenon in which the cleaning is not performed due to a lifting phenomenon occurs on the surface of the ship can be prevented.

In addition, the flexible roller brush 100 may be provided with a flexible roller brush brush 101 for removing foreign substances from the cleaning surface.

In addition, the flexible roller brush 100 is provided with a flexible roller deformation actuator 102 so that it can be deformed according to the surface (cleaning surface) of the object to be cleaned, and the shape of the flexible roller brush 100 is adjusted to fit the convex or concave cleaning surface. can be transformed.

In addition, a flexible skirt that is provided on the front and side of the flexible roller brush 100 and is capable of passive and active shape control that controls the inlet flow of the drive unit by controlling the up-and-down and forward and backward movements by the operation actuator 109. can be provided.

A flexible skirt capable of passive and active shape control is provided with a front skirt 107 and a side skirt 110, so that the inlet flow can be controlled, so that the scattering and suction efficiency of the material to be removed can be increased.

Skirt (110, skirt) can be controlled in shape by using a flexible material, or a structure in which the surface of the flexible body or a partial shape alloy is mixed (coating, partial insertion position variable).

In addition, when the flexible roller brush 100 rotates and removes foreign substances such as barnacles and stone moss from the cleaning surface, a cutting saw (105, cutting saw) moves in front of the flexible roller, that is, in front of the underwater robot to reduce the size of the foreign substances to a specific size or less. It can be installed and operated.

At this time, the cutting saw 105 is driven by a cutting saw wheel 104, so that the size of the foreign material can be reduced to a specific size or less.

In addition, it is provided between the flexible skirts 107 and 110 and the flexible roller brush 100 capable of passive and active shape control, and may include a sensor 103 for measuring or detecting the distance between the cleaning surface and the flexible roller brush 100. have.

According to the distance measured or sensed by the sensor 103, the shape of the flexible roller brush 100 may be deformed to fit the convex or concave cleaning surface by the flexible roller deformation actuator 102.

At this time, the sensor 103 and the flexible roller deformation actuator 102 may be provided in three or more, respectively, as shown in FIGS.

Therefore, it is possible to measure or sense the distance between the cleaning surface and the flexible roller brush through three or more sensors, and change the shape of the flexible roller brush to fit the convex or concave cleaning surface through three or more flexible roller deformation actuators.

In addition, a plurality of magnets 111 may be attached to the surface of the flexible roller brush 100 to be cleaned without lifting the flexible roller brush 100 according to the shape of the underwater surface.

Thereby, it is characterized in that the flexible roller brush 100 can be cleaned without floating on the surface (cleaning surface) of the ship made of a ferromagnetic material.

In addition, it is provided between the driving unit and the inlet and outlet, and may include a flexible roller brush brush cleaner 106 for removing foreign substances caught between the flexible roller brush brush 101.

That is, when the flexible roller brush 100 for cleaning is rotated through the brush brush cleaner 106 connected to the body and fixed, it may be provided to enable washing of the flexible roller brush brush 101 .

In addition, the flexible roller brush may be provided in the form of being inserted between the brushes to remove contaminants caught between the brushes.

The structure of the underwater cleaning robot may be configured to include a disk-shaped brush as shown in FIG. 5 .

In general, the disk-shaped underwater cleaning robot structure is made of a disk-shaped brush structure by a horizontal rotation removal method, which has a different characteristic from that of the flexible roller brush 100 described above in the method of scattering.

The structure of the flexible roller brush 100 described above has a vertical scattering structure, whereas the disk-shaped brush 61 structure has a characteristic that the brush rotates horizontally and scatters in the horizontal direction.

Therefore, an additional technique is required by changing the structure of the brush in the structural mechanism.

The rotation shaft of the disk-shaped brush 61 for structurally preventing scattering is a hollow shaft, and the propeller 15 is mounted on the hollow shaft or on the outside of the rotation shaft by configuring a structure that can be mounted on the outside of the rotation shaft. It is characterized by a structural mechanism that forms a flow with the inner shaft of the brush and sucks the scattered foreign matter into the inside.

In addition, the improved structure of the disk-type underwater cleaning robot shown in FIG. 5 is, as shown in FIG. 6 , a body with a hollow inside, a driving unit provided at the lower part of the body to clean the underwater surface, and the main body Provided inside and connected to the driving unit, an inlet/discharge unit for introducing into the interior foreign substances and aquatic organisms that are removed from the underwater surface by the driving unit, and filtering and discharging the inlet/discharge unit, and provided inside the body In the underwater cleaning robot comprising a control unit for controlling the operation of the driving unit and the inlet/discharge unit, the driving unit is rotated to remove foreign substances from the cleaning surface by rotating the disk-shaped brush 200, and the disk-shaped brush rotates when rotating, and is removed The suction manifold suction port 203 for sucking foreign substances injured by the impeller 200 for flotation of the removal material and the impeller 200 for levitation of the removal material for levitating the foreign material into the body, and the suction manifold suction port It may include a suction manifold 202 that collects and transports foreign substances.

In addition, a cutting saw 205 for crushing foreign substances may be provided in front of the disk-shaped brush 200 , that is, at the front end of the disk-shaped cleaning robot.

At this time, the cutting saw 205 is driven by a cutting saw wheel 204, so that the size of the foreign material can be reduced to a specific size or less.

According to the present invention, the device for increasing the foreign material removal efficiency of the underwater cleaning robot has the effect of increasing the foreign material removal efficiency by reducing the size of the foreign material to a specific size or less by applying a cutting saw at the tip.

In addition, a flexible material is applied to the roller so that it can be flexibly deformed according to the curvature of the foreign substance removal surface, and the effect of making it easy to remove foreign substances from curved surfaces such as ships by measuring the distance from the cleaning surface and applying an actuator to deform the roller have

In addition, by allowing the underwater cleaning robot to deform a flexible skirt capable of manual and active shape control according to the cleaning situation, it has the effect of efficiently collecting foreign substances scattered in the water.

In addition, it has the effect of preventing the trapping of contaminants between the brushes of the flexible roller brush generated during cleaning, thereby increasing the efficiency of removing foreign substances.

In addition, when the disk-type brush is applied, an impeller for flotation of the removal material is applied so that foreign substances scattered due to the operation of the disk-type brush can be floated to the suction port, thereby inducing inflow into the suction manifold, thereby increasing the foreign material removal efficiency.

It is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and that various modifications or variations can be implemented without departing from the technical gist of the present invention. did it

1: body 2: filter
3: pump 4: magnet
10: drive unit 11: brush brush
12: brush 14: brush bearing
15: propeller (propeller) 20: inlet and outlet
27: side tube 31: lower torsion spring
32: lower guide plate 34: lower guide roller
35: upper torsion spring 36: upper guide plate
37: upper guide roller 41: front wheel
42: rear wheel 43: turn wheel
51: control unit 61: disk-shaped brush
62: first gear 63: second gear
64: motor 66: roller bearing
100: flexible roller (flexible roller) brush
101: flexible roller brush brush
102: flexible roller deformation actuator (actuator)
103: sensor (sensor)
104: cutting saw wheel
105: cutting saw (cutting saw)
106: flexible roller brush brush cleaner (cleaner)
107: front passive or active shape control skirt (skirt)
108: variable joint (joint)
109: actuation actuator (actuator)
110: side passive or active shape control skirt (skirt)
111: magnet
200: brush (brush)
201: Impeller for floating material to be removed (impeller)
202: intake manifold (manifold)
203: intake manifold inlet
204: cutting saw wheel
205: cutting saw (cutting saw)

Claims (10)

A body having a hollow interior, a driving unit provided in the lower portion of the main body to clean the underwater surface, and a foreign material and aquatic organisms that are provided inside the main body and are connected to the driving unit and are removed from the underwater surface by the driving unit. In the underwater cleaning robot comprising an inlet/discharge unit for introducing an inflow to the inside, and a control unit provided inside the main body to control the operation of the driving unit and the inlet/discharge unit, for filtering and discharging the influent,
The driving unit may include: a flexible roller brush that deforms and rotates in close contact with the curvature of the cleaning surface;
a flexible roller brush brush installed on the flexible roller brush to remove foreign substances from the cleaning surface; and
and a flexible roller deformation actuator provided so that the flexible roller can be deformed according to the surface;
A passive or active shape control skirt provided on the front and side of the flexible roller brush, the vertical and horizontal movements are controlled by an actuator to control the inlet flow of the driving unit and prevent external leakage due to scattering;
A cutting saw provided in front of the flexible roller brush, connected to the passive or active shape control skirt, and crushing foreign substances to a specific size or less;
a sensor provided between the passive or active shape control skirt and the flexible roller brush and measuring or detecting a distance between the cleaning surface and the flexible roller brush;
Device for increasing the foreign material removal efficiency of the underwater cleaning robot, characterized in that the shape of the flexible roller is deformed by the actuator according to the distance measured or sensed by the sensor.
The method according to claim 1,
A device for increasing the foreign material removal efficiency of the underwater cleaning robot, which is provided between the driving unit and the inlet and outlet, and further comprises a flexible roller brush brush cleaner for removing foreign substances between the flexible roller brush brushes.
delete delete delete The method according to claim 1,
The passive or active shape control skirt,
A device for increasing the foreign material removal efficiency of an underwater cleaning robot, characterized in that it is a flexible skirt that can be controlled in shape using a flexible material.
7. The method of claim 6,
The flexible skirt,
A device for increasing the foreign material removal efficiency of the underwater cleaning robot, characterized in that the shape can be controlled by mixing the surface of the flexible body or the partial shape alloy by either method of coating or partial insertion position variable.
The method according to claim 1,
A device for increasing the foreign material removal efficiency of the underwater cleaning robot, characterized in that by attaching at least one magnet to the surface of the flexible roller, the shape of the flexible roller is deformed according to the shape of the underwater surface.
delete delete

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