WO2016171044A1 - Wall surface travel device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a wall surface travel device capable of suppressing a downward slip from a wall surface without being provided with a curvature detection sensor, even in instances where the curvature of the wall surface changes abruptly. This wall surface travel device (1A) is provided with: at least two adsorption units (11a, 11b) that form an adsorption space between the units and a wall (3); a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of the adsorption space of the adsorption units (11a, 11b); travel rings (13a, 13b) that are respectively provided in proximity to the adsorption units (11a, 11b) so as to be able to come into contact with the wall surface (3); and a control unit (17a) that controls the travel ring (13b) that approaches the adsorption unit (11b) so as to drive travel if the measured pressure of one adsorption unit (11b) has become higher than a set pressure.

Description

Wall traveling device

The present invention relates to a wall surface traveling device that generates a negative pressure at a negative pressure generating portion and adsorbs to a wall surface so as to be able to travel.

Conventionally, a wall traveling device that moves up and down a vertical wall surface is known. The wall surface traveling device includes a moving body that moves along the wall surface and a suction cup provided on the moving body, and sucks the fluid in the suction cup to generate negative pressure in the suction cup, thereby traveling on the wall surface. enable. By using the wall surface traveling device, it is not necessary for the worker to go up to work and work safely. Moreover, by programming the movement path of the wall surface traveling device, the wall surface traveling device automatically travels on the wall surface, and the wall surface can be cleaned, painted, inspected, and the like.

For example, a wall surface traveling device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as a prior art of a wall surface traveling device that travels by sucking a suction surface such as the wall surface.

As shown in FIG. 19, the vacuum suction moving device 100 as the wall surface traveling device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is attracted to the wall surface and can move while maintaining a vacuum even if the suction surface is slid. .

Specifically, the vacuum suction moving device 100 includes a vacuum suction mechanism 110 attached to the machine casing 101 and a plurality of wheels 102 that can travel to stably receive the vacuum suction force. The vacuum suction mechanism 110 includes a vacuum box 113 having a circular recess 112 that opens on the suction surface side and is connected to a suction pipe 111 from a vacuum pump (not shown), and an annular groove 114 provided around the circular recess 112. It consists of an elastic seal material 115 inserted and a sliding material 116 having a small coefficient of friction such as Teflon (registered trademark) attached to the adsorption surface side of the seal material 115, and a vacuum is generated while sliding on the wall surface. It can be maintained and moved.

In the vacuum suction moving device 100 described above, when there is a curvature on the suction surface such as a wall surface, the vacuum suction movement device 100 may fall from the suction surface such as the wall surface.

Therefore, for example, a wall surface adsorption moving device disclosed in Patent Document 2 is known as a wall surface traveling device that can cope with the presence of curvature on a suction surface such as a wall surface.

As shown in FIG. 20, the wall surface attracting and moving device 200 disclosed in Patent Document 2 is reduced in pressure on the apparatus main body 201, the wheel 202 installed in the apparatus main body 201, and the wall surface W side of the apparatus main body 201. A seal unit 210 that constitutes a space and a vacuum generation unit 203 that discharges fluid from the decompression space on the wall surface W side of the apparatus main body 201 to the outside. With this configuration, the wall surface adsorption moving device 200 moves along the wall surface W by the wheels 202 while adsorbing to the wall surface W with the decompression space in a negative pressure state.

In the wall surface adsorption moving device 200, in particular, the seal portion 210 is fitted to the device main body wall surface 201a via the O-ring 211 so as to be able to approach and separate, and the wall surface attached to the movable member 212. And a cylindrical seal member 213 in contact with W.

With this configuration, since the seal portion 210 constantly presses the seal member 213 against the wall surface 3 by the pressing portion 214, the seal member 213 is always pressed against the wall surface W with a force that can satisfy both the sealing performance and the frictional force. As a result, the seal member 213 can follow the wall surface W that changes with a relatively gentle curvature without causing a leak.

Japanese Patent Publication “Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-99877 (published on April 15, 1997)” Japanese Patent Publication “JP-A-6-270859 (published on Sep. 27, 1994)”

However, the wall surface suction moving device 200 disclosed in the above-mentioned conventional Patent Document 2 has the following problems.

That is, in the wall surface adsorption moving device 200 disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the seal member 213 is pressed against the wall surface W, the wall surface W that changes with a relatively gentle curvature is followed without causing a leak. I can do it.

However, when the curvature of the wall surface W changes abruptly, the change cannot be followed, so that a leak occurs and the wall surface suction moving device 200 slides down from the wall surface W.

Further, when the curvature of the wall surface W changes abruptly, a sensor such as a cliff sensor is used to detect that the curvature of the wall surface W is equal to or greater than a certain value, so that the wall surface adsorption moving device 200 avoids the wall surface W. When a programmed device is provided, it is necessary to attach curvature detection sensors in all moving directions, and there is a problem that the configuration of the wall surface adsorption moving device 200 becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and the object thereof is to suppress slipping from the wall surface without providing a curvature detection sensor even when the curvature of the wall surface changes rapidly. The object is to provide a wall traveling device.

In order to solve the above problems, a wall surface traveling device according to an aspect of the present invention generates a negative pressure in a negative pressure generating unit, and in the wall surface traveling device that adsorbs to the wall surface so as to be able to travel, the negative pressure generating unit Connected to at least two adsorption parts that form an adsorption space with the wall surface, a pressure sensor that measures the pressure in the adsorption space of each adsorption part, and close to each adsorption part so as to be in contact with the wall surface Each of the travel drive members provided and the travel drive member adjacent to the suction portion that has become higher than the set pressure when the pressure measured by one of the at least two suction portions is higher than the set pressure. And a drive control unit that controls to drive the vehicle.

According to one aspect of the present invention, even when the curvature of the wall surface changes abruptly, there is an effect of providing a wall surface traveling device that can suppress sliding from the wall surface without providing a curvature detection sensor.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the wall surface traveling apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. (A)-(d) is a front view which shows the advancing direction of the said wall surface traveling apparatus when driving both two traveling rings. (A)-(d) is a front view which shows the advancing direction of the said wall surface traveling apparatus when any one of two traveling rings is driven. (A) to (d) are the above-mentioned results when driving a traveling ring adjacent to the attracting part adsorbed on the attracted surface when either one of the two attracting parts peels from the attracted surface. It is a front view which shows the advancing direction of a wall surface traveling apparatus. It is a front view which shows an example of the re-adsorption operation | movement of the said wall surface traveling apparatus when the lower adsorption | suction part of two adsorption | suction parts peels. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 5, showing the relationship of forces when the airtightness of the lower suction part of the two suction parts is broken. It is a front view which shows an example of the re-adsorption operation | movement of the wall surface traveling apparatus when the upper adsorption | suction part of two adsorption | suction parts peels. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 7, showing a relationship between forces when both of the two suction portions return to the suction posture state. The wall surface traveling apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention is shown, Comprising: It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the bathtub in which a wall surface traveling apparatus is used. (A) is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of a wall surface traveling apparatus, (b) is a bottom view which shows the structure of a wall surface traveling apparatus. (A) is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the traveling part at the time of non-adsorption | suction in the said wall surface traveling apparatus, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the traveling part at the time of adsorption | suction in the said wall surface traveling apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the re-adsorption operation | movement of the other adsorption | suction part when only one adsorption | suction part in the said wall surface traveling apparatus is adsorb | sucking to the wall surface. (A) is sectional drawing which shows the re-adsorption operation | movement of the other adsorption | suction part which peeled in the case where a wall surface has a convex surface with a curvature smaller than 0.6 [m], (b) is a wall surface 0.6 It is sectional drawing which shows the re-adsorption operation | movement of the other adsorption | suction part which peeled in the case of having a concave surface with a curvature smaller than [m]. It is a top view which shows the structure of the wall surface traveling apparatus in Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a front view which shows the re-adsorption operation | movement to the wall surface of the said wall surface traveling apparatus. (A) is a perspective view which shows the structure of the wall surface traveling apparatus in Embodiment 4 of this invention, (b) is a bottom view which shows the structure of the said wall surface traveling apparatus. It is a front view which shows the re-adsorption operation | movement to the wall surface of the said wall surface traveling apparatus. (A) is a front view which shows the structure of the traveling drive member which consists of a tire of the wall surface traveling apparatus in Embodiment 5 of this invention, (b) is the structure of the traveling drive member which consists of crawlers in the wall surface traveling apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the conventional wall surface traveling apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the other conventional wall surface traveling apparatus.

[Embodiment 1]
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the following description, a traveling device that performs suction traveling on a wall surface will be described as an embodiment of the present invention. However, the attracted surface on which the wall surface traveling device travels is a wall surface, but is not necessarily limited to a wall surface, and may be a horizontal surface or an inclined surface. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the vertical direction with respect to the wall surface is the up-down direction, the side away from the wall surface is the upper side, and the side approaching the wall surface is the lower side. Therefore, contacting the wall surface is sometimes referred to as “grounding to the wall surface”.

(Configuration of wall travel device)
The configuration of the wall traveling device 1A in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a wall traveling apparatus 1A according to the present embodiment.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> A of the present embodiment is provided in a housing 2 that is a main body of the device, corresponding to the two suction portions 11 a and 11 b and the suction portions 11 a and 11 b, respectively. Adsorption actuators 12a and 12b serving as negative pressure generators for generating negative pressure, traveling rings 13a and 13b as traveling drive members, cleaning pads 14a and 14b, contact mechanisms 15a and 15b, and a traveling motor 16a and 16b, a circuit board 17, and a battery 18 are provided.

The suction portions 11a and 11b are made of a flexible material, are provided so as to be in contact with the wall surface 3, and form a suction space with the wall surface 3. Each of the two adsorption spaces is independent from each other, and is configured such that even if one of the airtightness breaks, the other airtightness is not affected. In order to improve the slipperiness of the suction surfaces of the suction portions 11a and 11b, it is preferable that, for example, a fluororesin coating or seizure is performed.

The suction actuators 12a and 12b are connected to the suction portions 11a and 11b, respectively. By driving the suction actuators 12a and 12b, the suction actuator 12a depressurizes the suction space formed between the suction portion 11a and the wall surface 3, while the suction actuator 12b is formed between the suction portion 11b and the wall surface 3. The adsorption space is depressurized. Thereby, each adsorption space turns into a negative pressure space. By forming the negative pressure space, the adsorbing portions 11 a and 11 b are adsorbed to the wall surface 3.

In the present embodiment, the suction actuator as the negative pressure generating portion is provided corresponding to each of the suction portions 11a and 11b. However, in the present invention, the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto, and a configuration in which the negative pressure generating unit is configured by one and suction is performed on each of the suction units 11a and 11b may be employed. For example, the negative pressure spaces may be made independent from each other by using a single suction actuator and partitioning the negative pressure space using an electromagnetic valve.

The traveling rings 13a and 13b are formed in an annular shape, and are provided on the outer peripheral portions of the suction portions 11a and 11b so as to face the wall surface 3, respectively. That is, the suction portions 11a and 11b are inherent in the traveling rings 13a and 13b, respectively. The traveling rings 13a and 13b rotate about the central axis of the traveling rings 13a and 13b substantially perpendicular to the wall surface 3 as a rotation axis. That is, in the present embodiment, the traveling rings 13a and 13b are not parallel to the wall surface 3, but are slightly inclined so that each outer side of the wall traveling device 1A is closer to the wall surface 3 than the inner side. As a result, when the traveling rings 13a and 13b rotate, a frictional force is generated between the ring on the outer shell side portion of the wall traveling device 1A and the wall surface 3 in the traveling rings 13a and 13b, and this frictional force causes the wall traveling device 1A. Propulsive force is generated. Therefore, the traveling rings 13a and 13b are made of a material that is difficult to slip with respect to the wall surface 3, that is, a material having a high frictional resistance, in other words, a frictional resistance material. Examples of the material having a high frictional resistance constituting the traveling rings 13a and 13b include silicon rubber, nitrile rubber, fluororubber, natural rubber, and the like.

The suction portions 11a and 11b are provided independently of the traveling rings 13a and 13b, respectively. Thereby, even if traveling ring 13a * 13b rotates, it is comprised so that the airtightness of adsorption | suction part 11a * 11b may not collapse.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the lowermost part of adsorption | suction part 11a * 11b is comprised so that it may become below rather than the lowest part of traveling ring 13a * 13b. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b from being adsorbed to the wall surface 3 when the traveling rings 13a and 13b are in contact with the wall surface 3.

The cleaning pads 14a and 14b are provided on the outer sides of the traveling rings 13a and 13b in contact with the wall surface 3, respectively. The cleaning pads 14a and 14b are for removing dirt existing in the travel region of the wall surface traveling device 1A on the wall surface 3 by rotating to collect dust. The cleaning pads 14a and 14b are disposed at positions lower than the traveling rings 13a and 13b with respect to the wall surface 3. That is, it is arranged so as to be close to the wall surface 3. Thereby, it can comprise so that cleaning pad 14a * 14b may contact a to-be-sucked surface reliably during driving | running | working operation | movement. The material constituting the cleaning pads 14a and 14b is different from the traveling rings 13a and 13b, and is a relatively flexible material. Examples of the material constituting the cleaning pads 14a and 14b include sponges covered with microfibers.

The contact mechanisms 15a and 15b are for bringing the outer side of the wall traveling device 1A in the traveling rings 13a and 13b into contact with the wall surface 3 at the time of adsorption by the adsorption portions 11a and 11b. It is composed of.

That is, the bolts as the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b of the present embodiment are provided on the outer tops of the traveling rings 13a and 13b, as shown in FIG. And the outer side part of 1 A of wall surface traveling apparatuses in traveling ring 13a * 13b is pushed out so that the wall surface 3 may be approached by screwing in of a volt | bolt. As a result, the traveling rings 13 a and 13 b are inclined so that the outer side approaches the wall surface 3 with respect to the wall surface 3, and only the outer portion contacts the wall surface 3. The inclination angle of the traveling rings 13a and 13b can be adjusted by the screwing amount of the bolt.

As a result, when the wall surface 3 side of the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b comes into contact with the wall surface 3 due to the adsorbing force on the wall surface 3 generated by forming the negative pressure space in the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b, the pressed cleaning is performed. The pads 14a and 14b are crushed to an appropriate thickness. As a result, the outer portion of the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> A in the traveling rings 13 a and 13 b contacts the wall surface 3. By such rotational driving of the traveling rings 13a and 13b in the contact state between the outer portion of the wall surface traveling device 1A and the wall surface 3 in the traveling rings 13a and 13b, the wall surface traveling device 1A is in an arbitrary traveling pattern of front, rear, left and right. Can move. The travel pattern of the wall surface travel device will be described later.

The traveling motors 16a and 16b are power sources for rotating the traveling rings 13a and 13b and the cleaning pads 14a and 14b via gears (not shown). By the rotation of the traveling motors 16a and 16b, the wall surface traveling device 1A of the present embodiment realizes the operation of scrubbing with the pressed cleaning pads 14a and 14b while traveling.

The circuit board 17 includes an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, and a pressure sensor. The role of the circuit board 17 will be described later.

The battery 18 is a power source for supplying power to the adsorption actuators 12a and 12b, the traveling motors 16a and 16b, and the circuit board 17.

(Running pattern of wall surface traveling device)
In the wall traveling device 1A in the present embodiment, the traveling rings 13a and 13b are grounded to the wall surface 3, whereby the traveling direction of the wall traveling device 1A is controlled by the rotation direction of each traveling ring 13a and 13b. The drive control of the traveling rings 13a and 13b is performed by a control unit 17a as a drive control unit provided on the circuit board 17.

A specific traveling pattern of the wall surface traveling device 1A will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) to (d), FIGS. 3 (a) to (d), and FIGS. 4 (a) to (d). . FIGS. 2A to 2D show the wall surface 3 of the wall traveling device 1A when both the traveling rings 13a and 13b are driven when the adsorption portions 11a and 11b are both adsorbed on the adsorption surface. It is a front view which shows the advancing direction. 3 (a) to 3 (d) show the traveling on the wall surface when one of the traveling rings 13a and 13b is driven when both the attracting portions 11a and 11b are attracted to the attracted surface. It is a front view which shows the advancing direction in the wall surface 3 of the apparatus 1A. 4 (a) to 4 (d) show a traveling ring that is close to the attracting portion that is attracted to the attracted surface when only one of the attracting portions 11a and 11b is attracted to the attracted surface. It is a front view which shows the advancing direction in the wall surface 3 of 1 A of wall surface travel apparatuses when driven.

First, the wall surface traveling device 1A is pressed against the wall surface 3 by an operator. In that case, adsorption | suction space is formed by the wall surface 3 and adsorption | suction part 11a * 11b, respectively. Since the formed suction space is in a negative pressure state by the corresponding suction actuators 12a and 12b, a suction force for the wall surface 3 is generated in the wall surface traveling device 1A. Due to this suction force, both suction surfaces of the two suction portions 11a and 11b are brought into contact with the wall surface 3 while being bent, whereby the traveling rings 13a and 13b are also in contact with the wall surface 3. At this time, the traveling rings 13a and 13b are inclined so that the outer shell side of the wall traveling device 1A in the traveling rings 13a and 13b is close to the wall surface 3 by the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b formed of bolts. For this reason, the traveling rings 13a and 13b are grounded to the wall surface 3 only on the outer shell side of the wall surface traveling device 1A. That is, only the left and right ends of the traveling rings 13a and 13b in FIGS.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 2A, the traveling ring 13a is rotated in the clockwise direction CW when viewed from above, and the traveling ring 13b is rotated in the counterclockwise direction CCW when viewed from the upper surface. Thereby, since the rotational speed of the traveling ring 13a and the rotational speed of the traveling ring 13b are in agreement, the wall traveling device 1A performs a straight forward operation in a well-balanced manner. That is, when the traveling rings 13a and 13b are driven, a frictional force is generated in a tangential direction at a contact portion between the traveling rings 13a and 13b and the wall surface 3. As a result, a propulsive force in the direction opposite to the frictional force is generated in the wall traveling device 1A. The wall traveling device 1A travels on the wall surface 3 by this propulsive force.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the traveling ring 13a is rotated in the counterclockwise direction CCW when viewed from above, and the traveling ring 13b is rotated in the clockwise direction CW when viewed from above. Thereby, since the rotational speed of the traveling ring 13a and the rotational speed of the traveling ring 13b are in agreement, the wall traveling device 1A performs a straight traveling operation in a backward direction with a good balance.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, both the traveling rings 13a and 13b are rotated in the clockwise direction CW as viewed from above. Thereby, wall surface traveling device 1A rotates in the counterclockwise direction CCW with the center point of wall surface traveling device 1A as the center of rotation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2 (d), both the traveling rings 13a and 13b are rotated in the counterclockwise direction CCW as viewed from above. As a result, the wall traveling device 1A rotates in the clockwise direction CW with the center point of the wall traveling device 1A as the center of rotation.

By the way, in these operations, there is a possibility that the airtightness in the suction portions 11a and 11b may be broken at the same time, and in the worst case, the wall travel device 1A may slide down. For example, when traveling on a surface such as a glass or mirror without a border, or a bathtub having a portion with a large curvature change, when the airtightness of any one of the suction portions 11a and 11b breaks, If the travel patterns (a) to (d) are further executed, the airtightness of the other suction portions 11a and 11b may be destroyed.

Therefore, in this embodiment, only one of the traveling rings 13a and 13b is not driven, and only one of them is driven, and the wall traveling device 1A is rotated about the center point of one of the suction portions 11a and 11b. The wall surface traveling device 1A is caused to travel such that at least one of the adsorption portions 11a and 11b is adsorbed to the wall surface 3. This control is performed by a control unit 17a provided on the circuit board 17.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3A, the travel motor 16a that drives the left travel ring 13a is de-energized, that is, the travel motor 16a is stopped and the right travel ring 13b is rotated clockwise. Rotate in direction CW. Thereby, wall surface traveling device 1A rotates in the counterclockwise direction CCW with the center point of suction portion 11a as the center of rotation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the traveling motor 16a for driving the left traveling ring 13a is brought into a non-excited state, and the right traveling ring 13b is rotated in the counterclockwise direction CCW. Thereby, 1 A of wall surface travel apparatuses rotate in the clockwise direction CW centering | focusing on the center point of the adsorption | suction part 11a.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the traveling motor 16b that drives the right traveling ring 13b is de-energized, and the left traveling ring 13a is rotated in the clockwise direction CW. Thereby, wall surface traveling device 1A rotates in the counterclockwise direction CCW with the center point of suction portion 11b as the center of rotation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3D, the traveling motor 16b that drives the right traveling ring 13b is brought into a non-excited state, and the left traveling ring 13a is rotated in the counterclockwise direction CCW. As a result, the wall travel device 1A rotates in the clockwise direction CW with the center point of the suction portion 11b as the center of rotation.

Since these operations rotate around the center point of one of the suction portions 11a and 11b, the negative pressure state in the other suction portion 11a and 11b that does not rotate is unlikely to collapse. It can be said that this is a safe operation.

Therefore, in the wall surface traveling device 1A of the present embodiment, when traveling on a surface having a high risk of sliding, such as a glass or mirror without a border, or a surface such as a curved bathtub, the above operation is defined as a turning operation. However, the basic operation mode is adopted.

Further, the operation in the case where only one of the suction portions 11a and 11b is sucked to the attracted surface will be described based on FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (d).

First, in the wall surface traveling device 1A of the present embodiment, when only one of the suction portions 11a and 11b is attracted to the attracted surface, the traveling ring adjacent to the attracting portion attracted to the attracted surface is driven. Accordingly, the wall surface traveling device 1A can be rotated by rotating the center point of the suction portion adsorbed on the attracted surface as a rotation axis.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), when the suction portion 11a is not attracted to the attracted surface, the travel motor 16a that drives the left travel ring 13a is brought into a non-excited state, that is, travel. The motor 16a is stopped, and the right traveling ring 13b is rotated in the clockwise direction CW. Thereby, wall surface traveling device 1A rotates in the counterclockwise direction CCW with the center point of suction portion 11b as the center of rotation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the suction portion 11a is not attracted to the attracted surface, the travel motor 16a that drives the left travel ring 13a is brought into a non-excited state, and the right travel ring 13b is Rotate counterclockwise CCW. Thereby, 1 A of wall surface travel apparatuses rotate in the clockwise direction CW centering | focusing on the center point of the adsorption | suction part 11b.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, when the suction portion 11b is not attracted to the attracted surface, the travel motor 16b that drives the right travel ring 13b is brought into a non-excited state, and the left travel ring 13a. Is rotated in the clockwise direction CW. Thereby, wall surface traveling device 1A rotates in the counterclockwise direction CCW with the center point of suction portion 11a as the center of rotation.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4D, when the suction portion 11b is not attracted to the attracted surface, the travel motor 16b that drives the right travel ring 13b is brought into a non-excited state, and the left travel ring 13a is Rotate counterclockwise CCW. Accordingly, the surface traveling device 1A rotates in the clockwise direction CW with the center point of the suction portion 11a as the rotation center.

In this way, even when one of the suction portions 11a and 11b is peeled off from the attracted surface, the wall traveling device 1A is moved to the attracted surface by driving the traveling ring adjacent to the attracting portion attracted to the attracted surface. It is possible to rotate the center point of the suction part adsorbed on the rotation axis.

Therefore, even when one of the suction parts 11a and 11b is peeled off from the surface to be attracted, the wall surface traveling device 1A can be rotated, so that the suction part separated from the surface to be attracted of the wall surface traveling device 1A is re-sucked. Can be rotated.

(Situation grasping mechanism of wall surface traveling device)
1 A of wall surface traveling apparatuses of this embodiment are provided with not only the control regarding traveling drive mentioned above but the status grasping mechanism of wall surface traveling apparatuses 1A, such as attitude | position, besides that. Below, the situation grasping mechanism of those wall surface travel apparatuses 1A is demonstrated.

That is, the wall traveling device 1A includes two pressure sensors for the negative pressure space of the two suction portions 11a and 11b, and sensors such as an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor, and the control portion 17a of the circuit board 17 Control related to sensor detection.

The pressure sensor is a sensor that detects a negative pressure value in the adsorption space formed by the adsorption portion 11a and the wall surface 3 and in the adsorption space formed by the adsorption portion 11b and the wall surface 3, respectively. A tube (not shown) connecting the suction portions 11a and 11b and the suction actuators 12a and 12b is branched halfway and connected to a pressure sensor so that the atmospheric pressure in the suction portions 11a and 11b can be measured. It has become. Since it is desirable that the atmospheric pressure is a negative pressure of −40 [kPa] or less, when the suction portions 11a and 11b are separated from the wall surface 3 and the atmospheric pressure is −40 [kPa] or more, the turning operation is stopped. Or re-adsorption operation of the adsorption units 11a and 11b. In the present specification, when the negative pressure in the suction space of the suction portions 11a and 11b is released and the pressure of the pressure sensor becomes equal to or higher than a preset pressure is referred to as “peeling”.

The acceleration sensor is a sensor that detects the direction of gravity of the wall surface traveling device 1A, and calculates the amount of parallel movement of the wall surface traveling device 1A by measuring a change in posture of the wall surface traveling device 1A with respect to gravity when performing a turning motion. be able to. However, in the case where the suction actuators 12a and 12b are diaphragm pumps, vibrations are generated and the accuracy of the acceleration sensor is reduced. Therefore, in that case, by using vibration-isolating rubber or the like to remove the vibration caused by the diaphragm pump, the angle of the wall traveling device 1A with respect to the gravity can be calculated with an accuracy of an angle ± 1 °.

The gyro sensor is a sensor that measures an angular velocity during rotation of the wall surface traveling device 1A that travels on the wall surface 3. When the wall surface traveling device 1A travels while continuously performing a turning operation, it is necessary to detect a collision with the wall surface 3 or an obstacle. Here, when the wall surface traveling device 1A collides with an obstacle, the wall surface traveling device 1A cannot continuously perform the turning operation. Therefore, it is possible to detect that the wall traveling device 1A has collided with an obstacle by detecting the rotational angular velocity of the wall traveling device 1A using the gyro sensor. The rotational angular velocity of the wall traveling device 1A is 17 [dps] or more, and the minimum detection angular velocity of the gyro sensor is 2 [dps]. For this reason, even if a gyro sensor is mounted on the wall traveling device 1A of the present embodiment, it is possible to sufficiently detect the angular velocity and detect that the wall traveling device 1A has collided with an obstacle.

The circuit board 17 inputs signals from the adsorption actuators 12a and 12b, the battery 18, two pressure sensors, an acceleration sensor, and a gyro sensor. And a signal is output to the motor driver which is not shown in figure, driving motor 16a * 16b is driven, and driving ring 13a * 13b and cleaning pad 14a * 14b are rotated, respectively. The acceleration sensor can detect the orientation of the wall traveling device 1A with respect to the direction of gravity when the wall traveling device 1A is adsorbed to the vertical wall surface 3. The gyro sensor can detect that the direction of the wall traveling device 1A is rotated with respect to the traveling direction of the wall traveling device 1A when the state of the wall surface 3 (curvature, surface roughness, etc.) changes during traveling of the wall traveling device 1A. it can.

Also, since an error occurs in the value of the gyro sensor, it can be corrected by the acceleration sensor value. That is, the posture of the wall traveling device 1A can be detected in more detail by combining the detection of the posture change of the wall traveling device 1A by the acceleration sensor and the detection of the angular velocity of the wall traveling device 1A by the gyro sensor.

Here, the control unit 17a of the circuit board 17 is configured by a computer device including an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU or a dedicated processor (not shown) and a storage unit such as a RAM, a ROM, and an HDD. By reading and executing various information and programs for performing various controls stored in the vehicle, the functions of the traveling rings 13a and 13b of the wall surface traveling device 1A and the control unit that performs the traveling operation and the above-described sensor Detection control and the operation of each part such as the cleaning pads 14a and 14b.

(Re-adsorption operation example 1 of the wall surface traveling device when one of the two adsorption portions is peeled off)
Next, the re-adsorption operation in the adsorption portions 11a and 11b when one of the adsorption portions 11a and 11b in the wall surface traveling device 1A is peeled will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a front view illustrating an example of the re-adsorption operation of the wall surface traveling device 1A when the lower adsorption unit 11b of the two adsorption units 11a and 11b is peeled off. In FIG. 5, the traveling rings 13 a and 13 b are shown only in contact with the wall surface 4. FIG. 6 shows a force relationship when the airtightness of the lower suction portion 11b of the two suction portions 11a and 11b is broken, and is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in FIG. is there.

As shown in FIG. 5, the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> A has the adsorption portions 11 a and 11 b adsorbed to the wall surface 4 when in the posture 22 a. The wall surface 4 is a wall having a concave or convex surface having a radius of curvature larger than 0.6 [m], that is, a wall having a small curvature, or a wall having no curvature, that is, a substantially planar wall or a planar wall. Further, on the outer side of the outer periphery of the wall surface 4, a wall surface 5 having a curvature radius smaller than 0.6 [m], that is, a wall surface 5 having a large curvature is connected, or there is no wall surface. . That is, the boundary surface between the wall surface 4 and the wall surface 5 is an inflection point.

Here, in FIG. 5, when the traveling ring 13b rotates in the clockwise direction CW around the suction portion 11a and pivots in the peeling direction 23 is called forward drive, and the traveling ring 13b around the suction portion 11a. Rotating in the counterclockwise direction CCW and turning in the re-adsorption direction 24 is called reverse driving.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the wall traveling device 1A is driven forward and the wall traveling device 1A changes from the posture 22a to the posture 22b, the airtightness in the suction portion 11b is lost, and the wall portion 4 starts to move to the suction portion 11b. Peels off. The cause of the collapse of the airtightness is that the flexibility of the suction portion 11b cannot cope with the curvature of the wall surface 5. The wall travel device 1A has the suction portions 11a and 11b independent of each other, and the suction actuators 12a and 12b are provided to the suction portions 11a and 11b, respectively. For this reason, even if the airtightness in the adsorption | suction part 11b collapse | crumbles, the airtightness of the adsorption | suction part 11a does not collapse.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the airtightness of the suction part 11b is broken, the vertical drag 25b is generated in the traveling ring 13a by the suction force 25a generated in the suction part 11a. As a result, a rotational moment 25c is generated by the vertical drag 25b, so that the traveling ring 13b is grounded and a traveling driving force can be generated. In this case, since the airtightness in the adsorption | suction part 11b has collapsed, the adsorption | suction part 11b cannot adsorb | suck.

At this time, the wall travel device 1A detects that the adsorbing portion 11b has been peeled off by a pressure sensor in the wall travel device 1A. And as shown in FIG. 5, 1 A of wall surface travel apparatuses drive reversely, and return to the state of the attitude | position 22a. That is, when the suction part 11b is peeled off, the control part 17a of the circuit board 17 rotates the traveling ring 13b adjacent to the peeled suction part 11b in the counterclockwise direction CCW. Accordingly, the wall surface traveling device 1A can turn in the re-suction direction 24 around the other suction part 11a.

When the wall traveling device 1A returns to the posture 22a, the vertical drag 25b is generated in the traveling ring 13a by the attracting force 25a shown in FIG. Thereby, since the rotational moment 25c arises, the adsorption | suction part 11b is pressed on the wall surface 4. FIG. Since the inside of the adsorption | suction part 11b at this time is in the state where the airtightness was maintained again, re-adsorption can be performed.

(Example 2 of re-adsorption operation of the wall surface traveling device when one of the two adsorbing portions peels)
The re-adsorption operation in the adsorption portions 11a and 11b when one of the adsorption portions 11a and 11b in the wall surface traveling device 1A is peeled will be described with reference to FIGS. In the re-adsorption operation example 1, the lower adsorbing portion 11b in the wall travel device 1A adsorbing to the wall surface 4 was peeled off from the wall surface 4 by turning. On the other hand, the second example of the re-adsorption operation is different in that the upper adsorbing portion 11b in the wall traveling device 1A adsorbing to the wall surface 4 is separated from the wall surface 4 by turning. Further, in the re-adsorption operation example 1, when the adsorption portion 11b is peeled off, the traveling ring 13b adjacent to the peeled adsorption portion 11b is driven. On the other hand, in the re-adsorption operation example 2, the posture does not change even if the travel ring 13b adjacent to the peeled suction portion 11b is driven to travel, so the travel ring 13a adjacent to the other suction portion 11a is driven to travel. The point is different.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing an example of the re-adsorption operation of the wall surface traveling device 1A when the upper adsorption unit 11b of the two adsorption units 11a and 11b is peeled off. In FIG. 7, the traveling rings 13 a and 13 b are shown only in contact with the wall surface 4. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 7, showing the relationship between forces when both the suction portions 11a and 11b return to the suction posture state.

As shown in FIG. 7, the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> A has the adsorption portions 11 a and 11 b adsorbed to the wall surface 4 when in the posture 32 a. As described above, the wall surface 4 is a wall having a concave or convex surface with a radius of curvature larger than 0.6 [m], that is, a wall having a small curvature, or a wall having no curvature, that is, a substantially planar wall or a planar wall. . Further, on the outer side of the outer periphery of the wall surface 4, a wall surface 5 having a curvature radius smaller than 0.6 [m], that is, a wall surface 5 having a large curvature is connected, or there is no wall surface. . That is, the boundary surface between the wall surface 4 and the wall surface 5 is an inflection point.

Here, in FIG. 7, when the traveling ring 13b rotates in the counterclockwise direction CCW and the wall surface traveling device 1A pivots in the peeling direction 33 around the suction portion 11a is referred to as forward driving. On the other hand, when the traveling ring 13b rotates in the clockwise direction CW around the suction portion 11a, the wall surface traveling device 1A pivots in the re-suction direction 34 around the suction portion 11a.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the wall travel device 1 </ b> A is driven forward and the wall travel device 1 </ b> A changes from the posture 32 a to the posture 32 b, the airtightness in the suction portion 11 b is lost, and the suction portion 11 b is moved from the wall surface 4. Peel off. In this case, unlike the re-adsorption operation example 1, although the traveling ring 13b is rotating in the clockwise direction CW, it may not be reversely driven. This phenomenon is caused by the traveling ring 13b not being grounded due to the shape of the wall surface 5 or the positional relationship between the suction portions 11a and 11b. That is, when the curvature radius of the wall surface 5 is a convex surface smaller than 0.6 [m], that is, when the curvature is large, or as shown in FIG. 7, the peeled adsorbing portion 11 b is more adsorbed than the adsorbing adsorbing portion 11 a. It often happens when there is also the upper side.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the acceleration sensor or the gyro sensor recognizes that reverse driving is not performed, the wall surface traveling device 1A rotates the traveling ring 13a adjacent to the other non-peeling suction portion 11a in the clockwise direction CW. Let As a result, the wall surface traveling device 1A rotates in the re-suction direction 34 with the center of the suction portion 11a as an axis. As a result, the wall surface traveling device 1A can be in the posture 32a.

When returning to the state of the posture 32a, as shown in FIG. 8, a vertical drag 35b is generated in the traveling ring 13a by the suction force 35a. Thereby, since the rotational moment 35c arises in wall surface traveling apparatus 1A, the adsorption | suction part 11b is pressed against the wall surface 4, and it can re-adsorb.

Thus, when one suction part 11b of the two suction parts 11a and 11b of the wall surface traveling device 1A is peeled off, the traveling ring 13b adjacent to the suction part 11b cannot be driven to achieve the re-suction operation. Even in this case, the suction portion 11b can be re-sucked by driving the traveling ring 13a adjacent to the other suction portion 11a.

As described above, even when the curvature of the wall surface 4 changes abruptly, even if one of the suction portions 11b of the two suction portions 11a and 11b is separated from the wall surface 4, the other suction portion 11a remains on the wall surface 4. Therefore, the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> A is prevented from sliding off the wall surface 4. Moreover, since the other adsorption | suction part 11a is adsorb | sucking to the wall surface 4, even if an operator does not re-adsorb | suck, it can re-adsorb | suck the peeled adsorption | suction part 11b by performing a turning operation | movement. The effect is obtained.

Thus, in the wall surface traveling device 1A of the present embodiment, negative pressure is generated by the adsorption actuators 12a and 12b serving as the negative pressure generating unit, and the wall surface traveling device 1A is adsorbed to the wall surface 3 so that it can travel. And at least two adsorption parts 11a and 11b that are connected to the adsorption actuators 12a and 12b and form an adsorption space between the wall surface 3, and a pressure sensor that measures the pressure in the adsorption space of each adsorption part 11a and 11b, In the traveling rings 13a and 13b as traveling drive members provided close to the suction portions 11a and 11b so as to be in contact with the wall surface 3, and at least one suction portion 11b of the at least two suction portions 11a and 11b. For example, when the measured pressure becomes higher than the set pressure, the control unit 17a as a drive control unit that controls to drive the travel ring 13b adjacent to the suction unit 11b that has become higher than the set pressure. And are provided.

According to the above configuration, the suction space between the suction portions 11a and 11b and the wall surface 3 becomes negative pressure by the suction actuators 12a and 12b. appear. In this state, by driving the traveling rings 13a and 13b to travel, the wall surface traveling device 1A is adsorbed to the wall surface 3 so that it can travel, so that the wall surface traveling device 1A can travel.

Here, when the wall surface traveling device 1A is traveling, if the radius of curvature advances to the wall surface 5 having a small curvature, that is, a large curvature, or a region having no wall surface, for example, the airtightness of one adsorbing portion 11b is lost, and the 1 One adsorption part 11b may peel from the wall surface 4. However, since the wall travel device 1A is provided with at least two suction portions 11a and 11b, even if one suction portion 11b is peeled off from the wall surface 5, the other suction portion 11a is attracted to the wall surface. Therefore, sliding down can be suppressed.

Moreover, by detecting that the airtightness of one adsorption | suction part 11b collapse | crumbled with a pressure sensor, the driving | running | working ring 13b which adjoins one adsorption | suction part 11b where airtightness collapsed is driven, and wall surface traveling apparatus 1A is made. It can be moved to a position where re-adsorption is possible. As a result, it is possible to re-adsorb the adsorbing portion 11b whose airtightness has been lost.

As described above, the wall traveling device 1A of the present embodiment has at least two adsorption portions 11a and 11b. For example, even if the airtightness of one adsorption portion 11b is broken, the adsorption is broken. By driving the traveling ring 13b close to the part 11b, it has the ability to escape this situation independently and return to the original state where the two adsorption parts 11a and 11b are in the adsorption state. Can be prevented. As a result, the conventional method is not a method for avoiding slipping by using a curvature detection sensor, so that the configuration is simple and the cost can be reduced.

Therefore, even when the curvature of the wall surface 5 changes abruptly, it is possible to provide the wall surface traveling device 1A that can suppress sliding from the wall surface 4 without providing a curvature detection sensor.

Further, in wall surface travel device 1A according to the present embodiment, the positions of the wall surface side ends of suction portions 11a and 11b are closer to wall surface 3 than the positions of the wall surface side ends of travel rings 13a and 13b when not attracted. is doing.

That is, when the position of the wall surface side ends of the suction portions 11a and 11b is located at a position farther from the wall surface 3 than the position of the wall surface side ends of the traveling rings 13a and 13b when not attracted, It is possible that the adsorption of the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b to the wall surface 3 is hindered by the traveling rings 13a and 13b contacting the wall surface 3 at the same time.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, when the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b are adsorbed to the wall surface, the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b are adsorbed to the wall surface 3 by the traveling rings 13a and 13b that contact the wall surface 3 first. It is possible to prevent the hindrance from being obstructed and to reliably adsorb the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b to the wall surface 3 before the traveling rings 13a and 13b.

Further, the wall traveling apparatus 1A in the present embodiment includes an acceleration sensor that estimates the current posture with respect to the direction of gravity by detecting gravity information.

Thereby, when the turning operation is performed, the movement amount can be calculated by measuring the posture change of the wall traveling device 1A with respect to the direction of gravity by the acceleration sensor.

Further, the wall traveling apparatus 1A according to the present embodiment includes a gyro sensor that detects a rotation angular velocity, and a control unit 17a as a posture change detection unit that detects a change in posture based on the detected rotation angular velocity. .

Thus, when the wall travel device 1A travels while turning, the wall travel device 1A stops turning when it collides with a wall or an obstacle. As a result, the rotational angular velocity suddenly becomes zero when the wall traveling device 1A is turning while detecting the rotational angular velocity using the gyro sensor. Therefore, the controller 17a can detect that the wall travel device 1A has collided with a wall or an obstacle.

Moreover, in wall surface traveling device 1A in the present embodiment, by detecting gravity information, an acceleration sensor that estimates a current posture with respect to the direction of gravity, a gyro sensor that detects a rotational angular velocity, and a current with respect to the direction of gravity by the acceleration sensor. A control unit 17a is provided as a posture detection unit that performs a combination of posture estimation and posture change detection based on the rotational angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor.

Thus, by combining the acceleration sensor and the gyro sensor, the posture of the wall traveling device 1A can be detected in more detail by the control unit 17a.

Further, in the wall traveling apparatus 1A according to the present embodiment, the control unit 17a as the drive control unit measured the airtightness of the adsorption space of one of the at least two adsorption units 11a and 11b, and measured. When the pressure is higher than the set pressure, when the travel ring 13b as the travel drive member adjacent to the suction portion 11b that has become higher than the set pressure is driven to travel, the other suction portion The traveling ring 13a adjacent to 11a is controlled to travel.

Thereby, even when the traveling ring 13b adjacent to the peeled suction portion 11b is not in contact with the wall surface 4, the peeled suction is caused by driving the traveling ring 13a adjacent to the other suction portion 11a not peeled off. The wall surface travel device 1A can be moved to a position where the portion 11b can be adsorbed again.

Further, in the wall travel device 1A in the present embodiment, the travel drive member is composed of travel rings 13a and 13b as rotating members provided so as to be partially contactable with the wall surface 3, and the suction portion 11a. 11b is provided inside the traveling rings 13a and 13b without rotating together with the traveling rings 13a and 13b.

As a result, when the wall surface 3 is adsorbed by the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b, a part of the traveling rings 13a and 13b as the traveling drive members is pressed against the wall surface 3. When the traveling rings 13a and 13b are rotationally driven in this state, a frictional force is generated in a tangential direction at the contact portion between the traveling rings 13a and 13b and the wall surface 3, and the frictional force is opposite to the wall traveling device 1A. Directional thrust is generated. With this propulsive force, the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> A can travel on the wall surface 3. In this embodiment, at least two suction portions 11a and 11b are provided, and traveling rings 13a and 13b are provided in proximity to the suction portions 11a and 11b, respectively. Therefore, the wall traveling device 1A can be moved forward and backward and rotated by appropriately rotating the two traveling rings 13a and 13b.

Further, the suction portions 11a and 11b are provided inside the traveling rings 13a and 13b without rotating together with the traveling rings 13a and 13b. For this reason, the adsorption | suction part 11a * 11b does not produce the abrasion by rotation of the traveling rings 13a * 13b. As a result, it is possible to realize the wall surface traveling device 1A that can suppress the wear of the adsorption portions 11a and 11b with respect to the wall surface 3 during the adsorption traveling.

Further, in the wall surface traveling device 1A according to the present embodiment, contact mechanisms 15a and 15b are provided that cause a part of the traveling rings 13a and 13b to contact the wall surface when the adsorption portions 11a and 11b are adsorbed. -15b is attached to the housing | casing 2.

Thus, a part of the traveling rings 13a and 13b can be brought into contact with the wall surface 3 by the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b, and the outer shell side of the traveling rings 13a and 13b can be brought into contact with the wall surface.

In addition, since the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b are attached to the housing 2, the traveling rings 13a and 13b can always be brought into contact with the wall surface 3 on the outer shell side.

Further, in the wall traveling apparatus 1A in the present embodiment, the negative pressure generating unit is individually provided for each of the adsorbing units 11a and 11b.

Thus, even if the airtightness of one suction part 11b is broken, the negative pressure state of the other suction part 11a can be maintained, so that the wall surface traveling device 1A can be prevented from sliding down.

Moreover, in wall surface traveling device 1A in the present embodiment, one negative pressure generating unit is provided, and each suction unit 11a and 11b is connected to the negative pressure generating unit via each electromagnetic valve. can do.

Thereby, since the expensive adsorption actuators 12a and 12b are not provided for each of the adsorption portions 11a and 11b, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those explained in the above embodiment are given the same reference numerals and explanation thereof is omitted.

The wall surface traveling device 1B of the present embodiment is different from the wall surface traveling device 1A of the above embodiment in that a hinge portion is provided at the center of the wall surface traveling device 1B.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> B of the present embodiment has a convex surface or a concave surface with a radius of curvature smaller than 0.6 [m], such as a corner portion present inside the bathtub 41. It is assumed that the vehicle travels in an existing place, that is, a place with a large curvature. In the wall surface traveling device 1A according to the first embodiment, the wall surfaces 3 to 5 can travel on a convex surface or a concave surface having a curvature radius larger than 0.6 [m], that is, a small curvature. It is not possible to travel on a convex or concave surface that is smaller than 6 [m], that is, has a large curvature. Therefore, in the wall surface traveling device 1B of the present embodiment, the above problem is solved by providing a hinge mechanism between the traveling rings 13a and 13b as the two traveling drive members.

(Configuration of wall travel device)
The configuration of the wall traveling device 1B of the present embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 10A and 10B. FIG. 10A is a perspective view showing the entire configuration of the wall traveling device 1B. FIG. 10B is a bottom view showing the configuration of the wall surface traveling device 1B.

The wall surface traveling device 1B of the present embodiment includes a central hinge portion 51, traveling portions 52a and 52b, a circuit board (not shown), and a battery (not shown) as shown in FIG.

The central hinge part 51 connects the traveling part 52a and the traveling part 52b. The central hinge portion 51 is configured such that the traveling portion 52b can be bent in the direction of the wall surface 4 with respect to the traveling portion 52a.

In the present embodiment, since the traveling unit 52a and the traveling unit 52b have the same configuration, only the traveling unit 52a will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the traveling unit 52a includes a contact mechanism 15a, a traveling ring 13a as a traveling drive member, an adsorption unit 11a, a top plate 59a, an unillustrated adsorption actuator, and an unillustrated traveling motor. Etc.

The top plate 59a is provided so as to cover the upper part of the traveling part 52a.

The suction part 11a is made of a flexible material, is provided so as to contact the wall surface 3, and forms a suction space between the wall surface 3. Moreover, the upper part of the adsorption | suction part 11a is connected with the top plate 59a. In order to improve the slipperiness of the suction surface of the suction part 11a, for example, it is preferable that a coating or seizure of a fluororesin is performed. The adsorption space formed between the wall surface 3 becomes a negative pressure space by being depressurized by the adsorption actuators 12a and 12b. And the adsorption | suction part 55a adsorb | sucks to the wall surface 3 by forming a negative pressure space.

The traveling ring 13a is formed in an annular shape, and is provided to face the wall surface 3 in the outer peripheral portion of the suction portion 11a. The travel ring 13a rotates with respect to the wall surface 3 with the central axis of the travel ring 13a being substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis. When the traveling ring 13a rotates, a frictional force is generated between the traveling ring 13a and the wall surface 3, and a thrust is generated for the wall surface traveling device 1B by this frictional force. Therefore, the traveling ring 13a is made of a material that is difficult to slide with respect to the wall surface 3, that is, a material having a high frictional resistance, in other words, a frictional resistance material. Examples of the material having a high frictional resistance constituting the traveling rings 13a and 13b include silicon rubber, nitrile rubber, fluorine rubber, and natural rubber.

The contact mechanism 15a causes the outer portion of the wall travel device 1B in the traveling ring 13a to incline toward the wall surface 3 side so that the outer portion of the wall traveling device 1B in the travel ring 13a contacts the wall surface 3 when the adsorption portion 11a is adsorbed. It is. In the present embodiment, the contact mechanism 15 a is provided outside the top plate 59 a and is configured to press the traveling ring 13 a against the wall surface 3.

The operation when the traveling portion 52a of the wall surface traveling device 1B having the above configuration is attracted to the wall surface 3 will be described based on FIGS. 11 (a) and 11 (b). (A) of FIG. 11 is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the traveling part 52a at the time of non-adsorption | suction in the wall surface traveling apparatus 1B in this embodiment. FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the traveling unit 52a during suction in the wall surface traveling device 1B. In each of FIGS. 2A and 2B, the left side is the outer peripheral side of the wall travel device 1B.

Wall traveling device 1B of the present embodiment, at the time of non-adsorbed, as shown in (a) of FIG. 11, both the shell side 13a ₁ and an inner shell side 13a ₂ of the running ring 13a is in contact with the wall surface 3 Not. In this state, by driving a suction actuator 12a (not shown), a negative pressure space is formed in the suction portion 11a, and the suction portion 11a is sucked to the wall surface 3. At the time of suction, as shown in FIG. 11 (b), the suction portion 11a is attracted to the wall surface 3, whereby the top plate 59a connected to the suction portion 11a moves downward. Accordingly, the contact mechanism 15a provided in the top plate 59a is moved downward, pressing the outer shell side 13a ₁ of the running ring 13a to the wall 3.

Here, in this embodiment, the inside of the traveling ring 13a is supported in a loosely fitted state by a truncated cone-shaped support member 58a. That is, the running ring 13a, in the inner shell side 13a _2, and is rotated via the gear shaft 56a by the running motor 57a provided in the top plate 59a. At this time, since the inside of the traveling ring 13a slides on the inclined side surface of the truncated cone-shaped support member 58a and the deformation is restricted, the rotation by the gear shaft 56a is efficiently transmitted.

As a result, the suction portion 11a when adsorbed on the wall surface 3, the lower end and running ring 13a of the contact mechanism 15a contacts 61 and the upper end in contact with the shell side 13a ₁ as a fulcrum, the running ring 13a of the outer shell side 13a ₁ A rotation 63 with the contact point 62 where the lower end and the wall surface 3 are in contact as a power point is generated in the traveling ring 13a. Then, due to the rotation 63, the traveling ring 13 a is inclined, and only the outer shell side 13 a ₁ of the traveling ring comes into contact with the wall surface 3.

In this way, the outer shell side 13a ₁ of the traveling ring 13a contacts the wall surface 3, and the traveling ring 13a is rotated by the traveling motor 57a, so that at the contact 62 between the outer shell side 13a ₁ of the traveling ring 13a and the wall surface 3. A frictional force is generated in the tangential direction, and a driving force in a direction opposite to the frictional force is generated.

(Operation of wall travel device)
Next, the re-adsorption operation when the traveling portion 52b of the wall surface traveling device 1B is peeled will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing the re-adsorption operation of the adsorption unit 11b when only the adsorption unit 11a is adsorbed on the wall surface 3. FIG.

When only the adsorbing part 11a is adsorbed to the wall surface 3, as shown in FIG. 12, the central hinge part 51 generates a rotational moment 64 that bends or rotates the traveling part 52b in the direction of the wall surface 3 with respect to the traveling part 52a. To do.

Also, a vertical drag 66 is generated in the traveling ring 13a by the suction force 65 of the suction part 11a. Along with this, a rotational moment 67 is generated by the vertical drag 66. As a result, the suction portion 11 b is pressed against the wall surface 3 by the rotational moment 67.

The wall surface traveling device 1B of the present embodiment has a structure that is more easily re-adsorbed by the generation of both the rotational moment 64 and the rotational moment 67.

Further, the wall surface traveling device 1B of the present embodiment is configured such that the wall surface 3 has a radius of curvature smaller than 0.6 [m], that is, is easily re-adsorbed even when the convex surface and concave surface have a large curvature. Specifically, a description will be given based on FIGS. FIG. 13A is a cross-sectional view showing the re-suction operation of the suction portion 11b when the wall surface 3 has a convex surface with a radius of curvature smaller than 0.6 [m], that is, when the curvature is large. FIG. 13B is a cross-sectional view showing the re-suction operation of the suction portion 11b when the wall surface 3 has a concave surface with a radius of curvature smaller than 0.6 [m], that is, when the curvature is small.

When the wall surface 3 has a curvature radius smaller than 0.6 [m], that is, a convex surface and a concave surface with a large curvature, when the adsorbing portion 11b is peeled from the wall surface 3, (a) and (b) in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, in the wall traveling device 1B, the connecting portion between the traveling portion 52a and the traveling portion 52b is bent by the central hinge portion 51. And the adsorption | suction part 11a * 11b opposes in parallel with respect to the wall surface 3 by bending the connection part of the traveling part 52a and the traveling part 52b. As a result, the adsorbing portions 11a and 11b are easily adsorbed to the wall surface 3. Further, since the rotational moment 64 is generated by the central hinge portion 51, the suction portion 11 b is pressed against the wall surface 3. Thereby, the wall surface travel apparatus 1B of this Embodiment becomes a structure which is easy to re-adsorb | suck.

In the wall surface traveling device 1B of the present embodiment, it is desirable that the height of the main body is low in order to cope with both the convex surface and the concave surface of the wall surface 3. This is because mechanical interference can be avoided. That is, when the height of the main body is high, since the upper surfaces of the traveling unit 52a and the traveling unit 52b of the wall surface traveling device 1B are in contact with each other, the bending angle of the central hinge unit 51 is decreased.

In addition, in the wall surface traveling device 1B according to the second embodiment, the cleaning pads 14a and 14b may be provided as in the first embodiment. In this case, the material of the cleaning pads 14a and 14b is the same as that of the first embodiment.

As described above, in the wall surface traveling device 1B according to the present embodiment, the travel is configured by the suction portions 11a and 11b and the travel rings 13a and 13b as travel drive members provided in the vicinity of the suction portions 11a and 11b. At least two portions 52a and 52b are provided, and a central hinge portion 51 is provided between the traveling portions 52a and 52b as a hinge portion for connecting the traveling portions 52a and 52b in a foldable manner. Yes.

For example, when the wall travel device 1B travels to a region where the curvature of the wall surface 5 is large or a region where there is no wall surface due to a turning operation or the like, the airtightness of one suction part 11b is lost, and the one suction part 11b Peel from the wall surface 5. However, since at least two suction portions 11a and 11b are provided in the wall surface traveling device 1B, even if one suction portion 11b is separated from the wall surface 5, the other suction portion 11a is attracted to the wall surface 4. Therefore, sliding can be suppressed.

And in this Embodiment, even if the adsorption | suction part 11b advances to the area | region where the curvature of the wall surface 5 is large, the two running parts 52a * 52b can be bent by the center hinge part 51, and the adsorption | suction part 11b is made into a wall surface. 5 can be easily opposed. As a result, the adsorbing portion 11 b is easily adsorbed to the wall surface 5.

When one suction part 11b is peeled off from the wall surface 5, the traveling part 52b having the peeled suction part 11b is directed toward the wall surface 5 by the vertical drag generated by the suction force of the suction part 11a being sucked. Since a rotating moment is generated, the structure is more easily re-adsorbed.

[Embodiment 3]
The following will describe still another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

The bathtub wall has drainage grooves and handrails, and there are many narrow places. Therefore, the wall surface traveling device 1C according to the present embodiment is different in that the wall surface traveling device 1C can also travel in the longitudinal direction of the wall surface traveling device 1C so that the wall surface traveling device 1C can proceed to a narrower region.

The configuration of the wall surface traveling device 1C in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a plan view showing a configuration of the wall surface traveling device 1C.

As shown in FIG. 14, the wall traveling device 1 </ b> C of the present embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the wall traveling device 1 </ b> B in the second embodiment, but the positions where the contact mechanisms 15 a and 15 b are provided are different. That is, in the wall travel device 1B, the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b are provided on the outer shell side of the travel portions 52a and 52b. On the other hand, in the wall traveling device 1C of the present embodiment, the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b are respectively in the traveling portions 52a and 52b in the direction perpendicular to the center line from the center line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the wall traveling device 1C. It is provided in the most distant part on the opposite side. As a result, the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b are point-symmetric with respect to the center point of the wall surface traveling device 1C. Thus, by providing the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b, the portions where the traveling rings 13a and 13b contact the wall surface 3 are different from the wall surface traveling device 1B in the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 14, in the wall traveling device 1C in which the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b are provided at the above positions, the traveling ring 13a is rotated in the counterclockwise direction CCW when viewed from above, and the traveling ring 13b is viewed from above. When rotating in the clockwise direction CW, the rotation speed is the same, so the vehicle travels straight in a direction 68 from the traveling unit 52b toward the traveling unit 52a with a good balance. Conversely, when the traveling ring 13a is rotated in the clockwise direction CW when viewed from above and the traveling ring 13b is rotated in the counterclockwise direction CCW when viewed from above, the rotational speed is the same, so the traveling is performed in a balanced manner. It goes straight in the direction 69 from the part 52a toward the traveling part 52b. In these cases, the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> C can travel in the longitudinal direction of the device main body, and thus can travel even in a narrow region.

The re-adsorption operation of the wall traveling device 1C in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a front view showing the re-adsorption operation to the wall surface 4 of the wall surface traveling device 1C in the present embodiment. As described above, the wall surface 4 is a concave or convex surface having a radius of curvature larger than 0.6 [m], that is, a small curvature, or a wall having no curvature. Further, on the outer side of the outer periphery of the wall surface 4, a wall surface 5 having a radius of curvature smaller than 0.6 [m], that is, a wall having a large curvature, is connected or has no wall surface.

As shown in FIG. 15, the wall surface traveling device 1C rotates the traveling ring 13a in the clockwise direction CW when viewed from above, and rotates the traveling ring 13b in the counterclockwise direction CCW when viewed from above. Proceed to 72. And when the adsorption | suction part 11b reaches the wall surface 5, the airtightness in the adsorption | suction part 11b will collapse, and the adsorption | suction part 11b will peel from the wall surface 4. FIG. At this time, the traveling ring 13b is not grounded.

In this state, when it is recognized by the pressure sensor that the airtightness in the suction portion 11b has been lost, the wall surface traveling device 1C proceeds in the re-suction direction 73 by rotating the traveling ring 13a in the clockwise direction CW. it can. On the other hand, the wall surface traveling device 1 </ b> C can advance in the re-adsorption direction 74 by rotating the traveling ring 13 a in the counterclockwise direction CCW. In any case, when the adsorbing portion 11b returns to the wall surface 4, the inside of the adsorbing portion 11b is in a state where the airtightness is maintained again, so that re-adsorption can be performed.

[Embodiment 4]
The following will describe still another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the first to third embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

In the wall surface traveling devices 1A to 1C described in the first to third embodiments, the two suction portions 11a and 11b are provided and configured by two traveling portions. However, the adsorption parts 11a and 11b and the traveling part do not necessarily need to be constituted by two. In other words, the more adsorbing parts are constructed, the more adsorbing areas of the remaining adsorbing parts adsorbed when some adsorbing parts are peeled off, and the possibility of slipping can be reduced. It is. In addition, the re-adsorption operation that can be generated at the time of separation of the adsorbing part can be selected from a plurality of running parts, so it can be re-routed through a safer route depending on the condition of the wall surface and the presence or absence of obstacles. Adsorption operation can be performed.

Therefore, the wall traveling device 1D according to the present embodiment is different in that the adsorption unit and the traveling unit are composed of three or more.

The wall traveling device 1D in the present embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 16 (a) and 16 (b). (A) of FIG. 16 is a perspective view which shows the structure of wall surface traveling apparatus 1D in this embodiment. FIG. 16B is a bottom view illustrating the configuration of the wall surface traveling device 1D.

The wall surface travel device 1D of the present embodiment includes a central hinge portion 51, four travel portions 52a to 52d, a circuit board (not shown), and a battery, as shown in FIGS. Each of the four traveling units 52a to 52d has the same configuration as the traveling unit 52a described in the second embodiment. Further, the adsorbing portions 11a to 11d are independent from each other, and even if the airtightness of one of the adsorbing portions 11a to 11d is lost, the airtightness of the other adsorbing portions 11a to 11d is not affected. Has been.

Further, in the wall surface traveling device 1D, the traveling unit 52a and the traveling unit 52c are coupled, and the traveling unit 52b and the traveling unit 52d are coupled. The two connected members are connected by the central hinge portion 51.

In addition, about another structure, since it is the same as the structure of the wall surface traveling apparatus 1B of the said Embodiment 2, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

The re-adsorption operation of the wall surface traveling device 1D in the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 is a front view showing the re-adsorption operation to the wall surface 4 of the wall surface traveling device 1D in the present embodiment. As described above, the wall surface 4 is a concave or convex surface having a radius of curvature larger than 0.6 [m], or a wall having no curvature. Further, a wall surface 5 having a curvature smaller than 0.6 [m] is connected to the outside of the outer periphery of the wall surface 4 or there is no wall surface.

As shown in FIG. 17, the wall surface traveling device 1D rotates the traveling rings 13a and 13c in the counterclockwise direction CCW when viewed from above, and rotates the traveling rings 13b and 13d in the clockwise direction CW when viewed from above. As a result, it proceeds in the peeling direction 92.

In this case, when the suction portion 11c reaches the wall surface 5, the airtightness in the suction portion 11c is broken, and the suction portion 11c is peeled off from the wall surface 4.

At this time, when the wall surface traveling device 1D recognizes that the airtightness in the suction portion 11b is broken by the pressure sensor, two methods can be selected to re-suck the suction portion 11c.

The first method is to rotate the traveling rings 13a and 13c in the clockwise direction CW as viewed from above, and rotate the traveling rings 13b and 13d in the counterclockwise direction CCW as viewed from above to determine the peeling direction. This is a method in which a straight movement is performed in the opposite direction 93.

The second method is to place the traveling ring 13a in a non-excited state, that is, in a rotation stopped state, and rotate the traveling rings 13b to 13d in the counterclockwise direction CCW when viewed from above, so that the wall traveling device 1D is centered on the traveling ring 13a. Is rotated in the clockwise direction CW. In any case, when the adsorbing part 11c returns to the wall surface 4, the inside of the adsorbing part 11c is again kept airtight, so that re-adsorption can be performed.

As to which of the first method and the second method is selected, a safer route can be selected based on the presence or absence of an obstacle on the wall surface 4.

In this way, by providing a large number of suction portions 11a to 11d and running portions 52a to 52d, the remaining suction portions 11a to 11d that are attracted when some of the suction portions 11a to 11d are peeled off. This increases the adsorption area and reduces the possibility of sliding, which is safer.

Further, by providing a large number of suction portions 11a to 11d and running portions 52a to 52d, the re-suction operation can be selected from a plurality of times when the suction portions 11a to 11d are peeled off, so that a safer method can be selected. it can.

[Embodiment 5]
The following will describe still another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the first to fourth embodiments are given the same reference numerals and explanation thereof is omitted.

In the wall surface traveling devices 1A to 1D in the first to fourth embodiments, the traveling drive member is composed of the traveling rings 13a and 13b. However, the traveling drive member is not necessarily a traveling ring. That is, the wall surface traveling device 1E of the present embodiment is different in that other members that are not traveling rings are used.

The configuration of the wall surface traveling device 1E of the present embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 18 (a) and 18 (b). FIG. 18A is a front view showing a configuration of a travel drive member made of a tire in the wall surface travel device 1E of the present embodiment. FIG. 18B is a front view showing a configuration of a travel drive member formed of a crawler in the wall surface travel device 1E of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 18 (a), the travel drive member can be assumed to have, for example, tire structures 96a to 96d. The tire structures 96a to 96d are provided adjacent to the corresponding suction portions 11a to 11d, respectively.

As described above, when the tire structures 96a to 96d are used as the travel drive members, it is not necessary to provide the contact mechanisms 15a and 15b, so that the wall surface travel devices 1A to 1D can be traveled with a smaller number of members.

Note that the tire structure 96a to 96d may have one tire or a plurality of tires.

Here, as another example of the traveling drive member, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 18B, the traveling drive member may be crawler structures 97a to 97d. The crawler structures 97a to 97d refer to endless tracks such as Caterpillar (registered trademark).

When the crawler structures 97a to 97d are used as the travel drive members, the area to be installed on the attracted surface can be increased, so that the effect of reducing slippage can be obtained.

[Embodiment 6]
The following will describe still another embodiment of the present invention. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the first to fourth embodiments are given the same reference numerals and explanation thereof is omitted.

The wall surface travel device 1A of the first embodiment has a configuration including cleaning pads 14a and 14b for cleaning the wall surface 3. However, the wall surface travel device of the present invention is not necessarily limited to the configuration provided with the cleaning pads 14a and 14b, and various devices can be provided according to the intended use.

For example, the wall surface travel device of the present invention can be configured to include a cargo handling and transporting device as a transporting portion for transporting a load. In this case, the cargo handling and transporting apparatus includes a load and a transfer case that accommodates the load. And a conveyance case is connected to the housing | casing 2 of 1 A of wall surface travel apparatuses, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, and moves in conjunction with driving | running | working of the wall surface travel apparatus 1A. Accordingly, the wall surface traveling device 1A can travel with the load placed on the transport case.

Also, the carrying case can travel with a functional member in addition to the luggage. For example, the wall surface can be painted or inspected by running with a coating device or an inspection device. This makes it possible to perform various operations even on a wall that is in a place that is dangerous for people to work or that is out of reach of people.

[Summary]
Wall surface travel device 1A according to aspect 1 of the present invention is a wall surface travel device in which negative pressure is generated by negative pressure generators ( adsorption actuators 12a and 12b) and adsorbed to wall surface 3 so as to be able to travel. And at least two suction portions 11a and 11b that are connected to the suction actuators 12a and 12b and form a suction space with the wall surface 3, and a pressure sensor that measures the pressure in the suction space of the suction portions 11a and 11b. Measured by one of the travel drive members (travel rings 13a and 13b) provided in proximity to the suction portions 11a and 11b and the at least two suction portions 11a and 11b so as to be in contact with the wall surface 3. When the applied pressure becomes higher than the set pressure, the travel drive member (travel ring 13b) adjacent to the suction portion 11b that has become higher than the set pressure is driven. It is characterized in that the drive control unit for controlling the (controller 17a) is provided so as to.

According to the above-mentioned invention, the suction force between the suction portion and the wall surface becomes negative pressure by the negative pressure generating portion, so that the wall surface traveling device generates an suction force on the wall surface. In this state, by driving the travel drive member to travel, the wall surface travel device is adsorbed to the wall surface so that it can travel, so that the wall surface travel device can travel.

Here, when the wall surface traveling device travels, if the curvature radius is small, that is, if the wall travel device proceeds to a wall surface having a large curvature or an area without a wall surface, for example, the airtightness of one adsorption part is broken, and the one adsorption part May peel from the wall surface. However, since the wall surface traveling device is provided with at least two adsorption parts, even if one adsorption part is peeled off from the wall surface, the other adsorption part is adsorbed on the wall surface, so that sliding can be suppressed. it can.

In addition, by detecting that the airtightness of one of the suction parts has been lost by a pressure sensor, the wall drive device is re-adsorbed by driving the travel drive member adjacent to one of the suction parts that has lost airtightness. It can be moved to a possible position. As a result, it is possible to re-adsorb the adsorbing portion whose airtightness has collapsed.

As described above, the wall surface traveling device of the present invention has at least two suction portions, and even if the airtightness of one of the suction portions is broken, the travel drive member that is close to the suction portion that has lost the airtightness is driven. By doing so, it is possible to escape from this situation independently and return to the original state where the two adsorbing portions are in the adsorbing state, thereby preventing slipping. As a result, the conventional method is not a method for avoiding slipping by using a curvature detection sensor, so that the configuration is simple and the cost can be reduced.

Therefore, even when the curvature of the wall surface changes abruptly, it is possible to provide a wall surface traveling device that can suppress sliding from the wall surface without providing a curvature detection sensor.

A wall surface traveling device 1A according to aspect 2 of the present invention is the wall surface traveling device according to aspect 1, in which the position of the suction side portions 11a and 11b on the wall surface side is the position of the traveling drive member (traveling rings 13a and 13b) when not attracted. It is preferable that it exists in the position near the wall surface 3 rather than the position of the wall surface side end.

In other words, when the position of the wall surface side end of the suction portion is not attracted and is located farther from the wall surface than the position of the wall surface side end of the travel drive member, the travel that comes into contact with the wall surface first is performed. It may happen that the drive member inhibits the adsorption of the adsorption portion to the wall surface.

On the other hand, in the present invention, when the adsorption part is adsorbed to the wall surface, the traveling drive member that first contacts the wall surface prevents the adsorption to the wall surface of the adsorption part from being obstructed. In addition, it is possible to reliably adsorb the adsorbing portion to the wall surface first.

The wall surface traveling device 1A according to aspect 3 of the present invention preferably includes an acceleration sensor that estimates the current posture with respect to the direction of gravity by detecting gravity information in the wall surface traveling device according to aspect 1 or 2.

Thus, when performing a turning motion, the amount of movement can be calculated by measuring the change in posture of the wall traveling device with respect to the direction of gravity with the acceleration sensor.

A wall surface traveling device 1A according to aspect 4 of the present invention is a wall surface traveling device according to aspect 1 or 2, in which a gyro sensor that detects a rotational angular velocity and a posture change detection unit that detects a posture variation based on the detected rotational angular velocity. (Control part 17a) is preferably provided.

Thus, when the wall surface traveling device is traveling while turning, the wall surface traveling device stops turning when it collides with a wall or an obstacle. As a result, the rotational angular velocity suddenly becomes zero when the wall surface traveling device is turning while detecting the rotational angular velocity using the gyro sensor. Therefore, the posture change detection unit can detect that the wall travel device has collided with the wall or the obstacle.

A wall surface traveling apparatus 1A according to aspect 5 of the present invention is the wall surface traveling apparatus according to aspect 1 or 2, wherein by detecting gravity information, an acceleration sensor that estimates a current posture with respect to the direction of gravity, a gyro sensor that detects rotational angular velocity, A posture detection unit (control unit 17a) that performs a combination of estimation of a current posture with respect to the direction of gravity by the acceleration sensor and detection of a change in posture based on the rotational angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor. preferable.

Thus, by combining the acceleration sensor and the gyro sensor, the posture of the wall surface traveling device can be detected in more detail by the posture detection unit.

A wall surface traveling apparatus 1A according to aspect 6 of the present invention is the wall surface traveling apparatus according to aspects 1 to 5, wherein the drive control unit (control unit 17a) is one of the at least two adsorption units 11a and 11b. When the airtightness of the suction space collapses and the measured pressure becomes higher than the set pressure, the travel drive member (travel ring 13b) adjacent to the suction portion 11b that has become higher than the set pressure is driven to travel. However, when the posture does not change, it is preferable to control the traveling drive member (traveling ring 13a) adjacent to the other suction portion 11a to travel.

As a result, even when the travel drive member adjacent to the peeled suction portion is not in contact with the wall surface, the travel drive member adjacent to the other suction portion that has not been peeled is driven to re-adhere the peeled suction portion. The wall surface travel device can be moved to a position where it can be adsorbed.

The wall surface traveling devices 1B, 1C, and 1D according to the seventh aspect of the present invention are the wall surface traveling devices according to the first to sixth aspects, in which the suction portions 11a and 11b and the travel drive member (provided close to the suction portions 11a and 11b) At least two traveling parts 52a and 52b composed of traveling rings 13a and 13b) are provided, and the traveling parts 52a and 52b are foldably connected between the traveling parts 52a and 52b. A hinge part (central hinge part 51) is preferably provided.

For example, when the wall travel device travels to a region where the curvature of the wall surface is large or a region where there is no wall surface due to a turning operation or the like, the airtightness of one suction portion is broken, and the one suction portion peels from the wall surface. . However, since the wall surface traveling device is provided with at least two adsorption parts, even if one adsorption part peels off the wall surface, the other adsorption part is adsorbed on the wall surface, so that sliding can be suppressed. it can.

And in this invention, even if an adsorption | suction part advances to the area | region where the curvature of a wall surface is large, the adsorption | suction part can be easily made to oppose a wall surface by being able to bend two running parts by a hinge part. As a result, the adsorbing part is easily adsorbed to the wall surface.

In addition, when one suction part peels from the wall surface, a vertical moment generated by the suction force of the sucked suction part generates a rotation moment that rotates the traveling part having the peeled suction part toward the wall surface side. Therefore, the structure is more easily re-adsorbed.

The wall surface traveling devices 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D according to aspect 8 of the present invention are the wall surface traveling devices according to aspects 6 and 7, in which the traveling drive members (traveling rings 13a to 13d) can partially contact the wall surface 3. The adsorbing portions 11a to 11d are arranged together with the travel drive members (travel rings 13a to 13d) inside the travel drive members (travel rings 13a to 13d). It is preferable that it is provided without rotating.

In the present invention, the traveling drive member is constituted by a rotating member provided such that a part of the traveling drive member can come into contact with the wall surface. Moreover, the adsorption | suction part is provided without rotating with this traveling drive member inside the traveling drive member. As a result, when the wall surface is adsorbed by the adsorbing portion, a part of the rotating member as the travel drive member is pressed against the wall surface. When the rotating member is driven to rotate in this state, a frictional force is generated in the tangential direction at the contact portion between the rotating member and the wall surface, and a propulsive force in a direction opposite to the frictional force is generated in the wall surface traveling device. With this propulsive force, the wall surface traveling device can travel on the wall surface. And in this invention, at least 2 adsorption | suction part is provided and the rotation member is each provided in proximity to each adsorption | suction part. Therefore, the wall traveling device can be moved forward and backward and rotated by appropriately rotating the two rotating members.

Further, since the suction part is provided inside the travel drive member without rotating together with the travel drive member, the suction part is not worn by the rotation of the rotation member. As a result, it is possible to realize a wall surface traveling device that can suppress the wear of the adsorption portion against the wall surface during the adsorption traveling.

The wall surface traveling devices 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D according to aspect 9 of the present invention are the wall surface traveling devices according to aspect 8, in which a part of the rotating member (traveling rings 13a to 13d) is absorbed when the adsorption portions 11a to 11d are attracted. Contact mechanisms 15a to 15d for contacting the wall surface 3 are provided, and the contact mechanisms 15a to 15d are preferably attached to the apparatus main body (housing 2).

Thereby, a part of the traveling drive member can be brought into contact with the wall surface by the contact mechanism, and for example, the outer shell side of the rotating member can be brought into contact with the wall surface.

In addition, since the contact mechanism is attached to the apparatus main body, the rotating member can always be brought into contact with the wall surface on the outer shell side.

The wall surface traveling devices 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D according to aspect 10 of the present invention are the wall surface traveling devices according to aspects 1 to 9, in which the negative pressure generating portions ( adsorption actuators 12a, 12b,...) Are provided for the adsorption portions 11a to 11d. It can be assumed that each is provided individually.

Thus, even if the airtightness of one adsorbing portion is broken, the other adsorbing portion can be maintained in a negative pressure state, so that the wall travel device can be prevented from sliding down.

The wall surface traveling devices 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D according to aspect 11 of the present invention are the wall surface traveling devices according to aspects 1 to 9, wherein one negative pressure generating portion is provided, and each of the adsorption portions 11a to 11d is It can be assumed that the negative pressure generator is connected to each other via each solenoid valve.

This eliminates the need to provide an expensive suction actuator for each suction portion, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the technical means disclosed in different embodiments can be appropriately combined. Such embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

The present invention can be used for a wall travel device that generates a negative pressure at a negative pressure generator and adsorbs to a wall surface so as to be able to travel. Specifically, for example, as a wall surface traveling device provided with a cleaning pad for cleaning a wall surface, it can be used for an automatic wall surface cleaning device including a bathtub, a building, an airplane, an outer surface, an inner surface, a bottom surface, and a ceiling surface of a ship. In addition, for example, it is possible to have a structure including a cargo handling and transporting device as a transporting section that transports a load, and it is possible to travel on the wall surface with the load placed on a transport case. Furthermore, the wall surface can be painted or inspected by traveling on the wall surface with a coating device or an inspection device mounted thereon. Thereby, even if it is a wall surface in a place where it is dangerous for a person to work or a person's hand cannot reach, it can be applied to a wall surface traveling device that allows unattended work.

1A to 1E Wall travel device 2 Housing 3 to 5 Wall surfaces 11a to 11d Adsorption parts 12a and 12b Adsorption actuator (negative pressure generation part)
13a to 13d Traveling ring (traveling drive member)
13a ₁ Outer shell side 13a ₂ Inner shell side 14a and 14b Cleaning pads 15a to 15d Contact mechanism 16a and 16b Traveling motor 17 Circuit board 17a Control unit (drive control unit, posture change detection unit, posture detection unit)
41 Bathtub 51 Center hinge part (hinge part)
52a to 52d Traveling portions 96a to 96d Tire structure (traveling drive member)
97a to 97d Crawler structure (traveling drive member)

Claims (11)

1. In the wall traveling device that generates negative pressure in the negative pressure generating unit and adsorbs to the wall surface so that it can travel,
   At least two adsorbing portions connected to the negative pressure generating portion and forming an adsorbing space with the wall surface;
   A pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in the adsorption space of each of the adsorption parts;
   A traveling drive member provided in proximity to each of the suction portions so as to be in contact with the wall surface;
   Drive control that controls to drive the travel drive member that is close to the suction portion that has become higher than the set pressure when the pressure measured by one of the at least two suction portions becomes higher than the set pressure. And a wall surface traveling device.
2. The wall surface travel device according to claim 1, wherein the position of the wall surface side end of the suction portion is located closer to the wall surface than the position of the wall surface side end of the travel drive member when not attracted.
3. 3. A wall traveling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an acceleration sensor for estimating a current posture with respect to the direction of gravity by detecting gravity information.
4. A gyro sensor for detecting the rotational angular velocity;
   The wall surface travel device according to claim 1, further comprising a posture change detection unit that detects a change in posture based on the detected rotational angular velocity.
5. An acceleration sensor that estimates the current posture with respect to the direction of gravity by detecting gravity information;
   A gyro sensor for detecting the rotational angular velocity;
   2. A posture detection unit configured to combine estimation of a current posture with respect to a gravitational direction by the acceleration sensor and detection of a change in posture based on a rotational angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor. Or the wall surface traveling apparatus of 2.
6. The drive control unit
   When the airtightness of the adsorption space of one of the at least two adsorption parts is broken and the measured pressure becomes higher than the set pressure, the vehicle travels close to the adsorption part that has become higher than the set pressure. 6. If the posture does not change even when the drive member is driven to travel, control is performed so that the travel drive member adjacent to the other suction portion is driven to travel. Wall traveling device.
7. There are provided at least two traveling parts composed of the adsorption part and a traveling drive member provided in the vicinity of the adsorption part,
   The wall surface travel device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a hinge portion is provided between each travel portion so as to be able to bend each travel portion.
8. The travel drive member is composed of a rotating member provided so that a part of the travel drive member can come into contact with the wall surface,
   The wall surface travel device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the suction portion is provided inside the travel drive member without rotating together with the travel drive member.
9. A contact mechanism for bringing a part of the rotating member into contact with the wall surface at the time of suction of the suction portion is provided,
   9. The wall traveling apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the contact mechanism is attached to the apparatus main body.
10. 10. The wall traveling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the negative pressure generating unit is provided for each of the adsorption units.
11. One negative pressure generator is provided,
    The wall traveling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein each of the suction portions is connected to the negative pressure generating portion via a solenoid valve.

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