WO2021027548A1

WO2021027548A1 - Obstacle crossing mechanism, walking device and sweeping robot

Info

Publication number: WO2021027548A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/104954
Authority: WO
Inventors: 杨勇; 宫海涛
Original assignee: 深圳市杉川机器人有限公司
Priority date: 2019-08-09
Filing date: 2020-07-27
Publication date: 2021-02-18
Also published as: CN210612043U

Abstract

An obstacle crossing mechanism, a walking device and a sweeping robot. The obstacle crossing mechanism comprises a chassis (1) and driving wheels (2) configured to drive the chassis (1) to move; the driving wheels (2) are disposed at the bottom part of the chassis (1); a suspension device is provided on the chassis (1), and the suspension device is configured to adjust the distance between bottom points of the driving wheels (2) and the bottom surface of the chassis (1), wherein the bottom points of the driving wheels (2) are points on the driving wheels (2) that are farthest from the bottom surface of the chassis (1). The obstacle crossing mechanism may prevent the driving wheels (2) from hanging in the air during the obstacle crossing process and may, at the same time, enable the chassis (1) to complete the obstacle crossing action.

Description

Obstacle crossing mechanism, walking device and sweeping robot

Cross references to related applications

This disclosure claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the Chinese Patent Office on August 9, 2019, with the application number CN201921310641.1, titled "A kind of obstacle crossing mechanism, walking device and sweeping robot", the entire content of which is incorporated by reference Incorporated in this disclosure.

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of obstacle crossing, and in particular to an obstacle crossing mechanism, a walking device and a sweeping robot.

Background technique

With the development of science and technology, robots can often be seen in production and life, and the use of robots can assist or replace humans in completing certain operations.

In order to expand the operating range and other needs, some robots also have the function of automatic walking, such as sweeping robots, but this type of robot has the following shortcomings: in the process of crossing steps and other obstacles, when the chassis partly crosses the steps, the front end of the chassis will rise. This may cause the driving wheel to hang in the air, thereby rendering the chassis unable to move.

Summary of the invention

The purpose of the present disclosure is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, and provide an obstacle-climbing mechanism, a walking device and a sweeping robot, so as to solve the problem that the chassis in the prior art may be suspended and unable to move due to the driving wheels when traversing obstacles.

In order to solve the above problems, the present disclosure provides: an obstacle crossing mechanism, including a chassis and a driving wheel configured to drive the chassis to move, wherein the driving wheel is arranged at the bottom of the chassis;

A suspension device is provided on the chassis, and the suspension device is configured to adjust the distance between the bottom point of the driving wheel and the bottom surface of the chassis;

Wherein, the bottom point of the driving wheel is the point on the driving wheel that is farthest from the bottom surface of the chassis.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the suspension device includes a cantilever, wherein one end of the cantilever is rotatably connected with the chassis, and the other end of the cantilever is rotatably connected with the driving wheel.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the suspension device further includes a driving member configured to drive the cantilever to rotate so that the bottom point of the driving wheel is away from the bottom surface of the chassis.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the driving member has elasticity or magnetism.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, along the front end of the advancing direction, the edge of the bottom of the chassis is provided with a guiding inclined surface.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, a support member is provided at the bottom of the chassis, and the support member is configured to support the chassis when the front end of the chassis is raised;

The support is located at the rear end of the chassis in the forward direction.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the bottom of the chassis is provided with a transition slope, and the transition slope is configured to support the chassis before the driving wheel crosses the obstacle.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, along the advancing direction of the chassis, the intersection line between the plane where the transition slope is located and the outer contour of the driving wheel is not located in front of the center of gravity of the obstacle crossing mechanism.

The present disclosure also provides: a walking device including the obstacle crossing mechanism as described in any one of the above.

The present disclosure also provides: a sweeping robot, including the obstacle crossing mechanism described in any one of the above.

The beneficial effects of the present disclosure are: the present disclosure proposes an obstacle crossing mechanism, including a chassis and driving wheels configured to drive the chassis to move, wherein the driving wheels are arranged at the bottom of the chassis; a suspension device is provided on the chassis, and the suspension device is configured to adjust The distance between the bottom point of the driving wheel and the bottom surface of the chassis; wherein the bottom point of the driving wheel is the point on the driving wheel that is farthest from the bottom surface of the chassis.

Under the action of the driving wheel, the chassis can move; when encountering obstacles such as steps, the front end of the chassis will rise due to the action of the steps. At this time, the suspension device can prevent the driving wheels from hanging in the air. Ensure that the chassis can continue to move under the friction between the driving wheel and the ground; as the chassis moves, when the driving wheel touches the edge of the step, the driving wheel can step up the step under the action of friction , Which can make the chassis complete the obstacle crossing action.

The obstacle-climbing mechanism can avoid the situation that the driving wheel is suspended in the obstacle-climbing process, and at the same time, the obstacle-climbing mechanism can make the chassis complete the obstacle-climbing action.

Description of the drawings

In order to explain the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that need to be used in the embodiments. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present disclosure, and therefore do not It should be regarded as a limitation of the scope. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an obstacle crossing mechanism;

Figure 2 shows an exploded view of a barrier crossing mechanism;

Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a state of the obstacle crossing mechanism before stepping over steps;

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of a first state of the obstacle crossing mechanism when crossing steps;

Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of a second state of the obstacle crossing mechanism when crossing steps;

Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of a third state of the obstacle crossing mechanism when crossing steps;

Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of a fourth state of the obstacle crossing mechanism when crossing steps;

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of the state when the obstacle crossing mechanism has completed the crossing.

Symbol description of main components:

1- chassis; 2- driving wheel; 3- drum; 4- cantilever; 5- driven wheel; 6-support; 7- connecting block; 8- support; 9- transition slope.

detailed description

The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar elements or elements with the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary, and are only used to explain the present disclosure, and cannot be understood as a limitation to the present disclosure.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", " "Back", "Left", "Right", "Vertical", "Horizontal", "Top", "Bottom", "Inner", "Outer", "Clockwise", "Counterclockwise", "Axial" , "Radial" or "Circumferential" and other directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying the device or The element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present disclosure.

In addition, the term "first" or "second" is only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of these features. In the description of the present disclosure, "plurality" means two or more than two unless specifically defined otherwise.

In the present disclosure, unless otherwise clearly defined and defined, the terms "installed", "connected" or "connected", "fixed" and other terms should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed connection or a detachable connection , Or integrated; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be the internal communication of two components or the interaction relationship between two components. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meaning of the above-mentioned terms in the present disclosure can be understood according to specific circumstances.

In the present disclosure, unless otherwise clearly defined and defined, the first feature “on” or “under” the second feature may be in direct contact with the first and second features, or the first and second features may be indirectly through an intermediary. contact. Moreover, the "above", "above" and "above" of the first feature on the second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the level of the first feature is higher than the second feature. The “below”, “below” and “below” of the second feature of the first feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or it simply means that the level of the first feature is smaller than the second feature.

Example one

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In this embodiment, an obstacle crossing mechanism is proposed, including a chassis 1 and a driving wheel 2 configured to drive the chassis 1 to move, wherein the driving wheel 2 is disposed at the bottom of the chassis 1.

The chassis 1 is provided with a suspension device which is configured to adjust the distance between the bottom point of the driving wheel 2 and the bottom surface of the chassis 1.

The bottom point of the driving wheel 2 is the point on the driving wheel 2 that is farthest from the bottom surface of the chassis 1.

When the driving wheel 2 is in contact with the ground, static friction will be generated between the driving wheel 2 and the ground during the rotation of the driving wheel 2 and thus the chassis 1 can move; when the front end of the driving direction of the chassis 1 encounters a step, the chassis 1 The front end of 1 will rise due to the action of the steps. At this time, the suspension device can make the driving wheel 2 not hang in the air, thereby ensuring that the chassis 1 can continue under the friction between the driving wheel 2 and the ground Movement; With the movement of the chassis 1, when the driving wheel 2 touches the edge of the step, the driving wheel 2 can step up the step under the action of friction, so that the chassis 1 can complete the obstacle crossing action.

In this embodiment, two driving wheels 2 may be provided, and the rotation axes of the two driving wheels 2 coincide, and the driving wheels 2 can be driven by a motor.

Since the driving wheel 2 will rise and fall due to the suspension device, the output shaft of the motor can be connected to the axle of the driving wheel 2 through a universal joint.

In order to install the driving wheel 2, the bottom of the chassis 1 may be provided with a mounting recess. Wherein, the depth of the mounting recess can be smaller than the diameter of the driving wheel 2.

A roller 3 for sweeping the floor can be arranged between the two driving wheels 2. When the chassis 1 moves, the bristles on the roller 3 can be used to complete the floor sweeping work.

In this embodiment, the suspension device may include a cantilever 4, wherein one end of the cantilever 4 can be rotatably connected with the chassis 1 and the other end of the cantilever 4 can be rotatably connected with the driving wheel 2.

Specifically, one end of the cantilever 4 may be provided with a connecting shaft, and the other end of the cantilever 4 may be provided with an adapter hole, wherein the connecting shaft is rotatably connected with the chassis 1, and the adapter hole is rotatably connected with the axle of the driving wheel 2.

The cantilever 4 corresponds to the driving wheel 2 one to one. Specifically, the number of the cantilever 4 is also two. Wherein, the cantilever 4 may be provided with the inside of the installation recessed hole.

In order to adjust the distance between the bottom point of the driving wheel 2 and the bottom surface of the chassis 1, the suspension device may further include a driving member configured to drive the cantilever 4 to rotate so that the bottom point of the driving wheel 2 is away from the bottom surface of the chassis 1. Among them, the driving part is not shown in the drawings.

When the distance between the bottom surface of the chassis 1 and the ground increases, the position between the driving wheel 2 and the chassis 1 can be changed by the driving member, so as to prevent the driving wheel 2 from hanging in the air.

In this embodiment, the driving member may have elasticity.

Specifically, the driving member may be a spring, a compression spring, a torsion spring, an elastic piece, a gas spring or an elastic rubber, etc., wherein the cantilever 4 can be rotated by the elastic force provided by the driving member. One end of the driving member can be fixed on the chassis 1 and the other end of the driving member can be fixed on the cantilever 4.

As shown in Figure 3, when the chassis 1 is walking on flat ground, most of the weight of the chassis 1 is carried by the driving wheels 2. At this time, the driving parts are in a compressed state; as shown in Figure 4, the chassis 1 crosses the steps During the process, as the chassis 1 rises, the weight carried by the driving wheel 2 will become smaller. At this time, the driving member will automatically extend, thereby driving the cantilever 4 to automatically rotate and causing the driving wheel 2 to move down So as to avoid the situation of dangling. Among them, by comparing FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that the distance between the bottom point of the driving wheel 2 in FIG. 4 and the bottom surface of the chassis 1 is significantly greater than the corresponding distance in FIG. 3.

To ensure the stability of the chassis 1 during the movement, the bottom of the chassis 1 may be provided with a driven wheel 5, wherein the driven wheel 5 is located at the front end of the forward direction of the chassis 1. Specifically, the driven wheel 5 is rotatably arranged at the bottom of the chassis 1.

In this embodiment, the driven wheel 5 also has the function of assisting the chassis 1 to overcome obstacles. When the chassis 1 crosses the obstacle, because the driven wheel 5 is located at the front end of the forward direction of the chassis 1, the driven wheel 5 will first step up the steps compared to the driving wheel 2. When the driven wheel 5 steps up the step, the driven wheel 5 It will be in contact with the step surface and thus play a supporting role.

In order to install the driven wheel 5, a bracket 8 may be provided at the bottom of the chassis 1, wherein the driven wheel 5 is installed on the bracket 8 and is rotatably connected to it.

As shown in Fig. 3, in order to enable the front end of the chassis 1 to smoothly move to the top of the steps, at the front end along the advancing direction of the chassis 1, a guide slope may be provided on the edge of the bottom of the chassis 1. When the guide slope is in contact with the edge of the step, as the chassis 1 moves, the guide slope will gradually slide onto the step.

Specifically, the plane where the guiding inclined plane is located may be tangent to the driven wheel 5.

As shown in Fig. 4, as the guide slope completely slides up the step, the driven wheel 5 will contact the edge of the step.

In this embodiment, the bottom of the chassis 1 may be provided with a support 6 configured to support the chassis 1 when the front end of the chassis 1 is raised, and the support 6 may be located at the rear end of the chassis 1 in the forward direction. The maximum distance between the support 6 and the bottom surface of the chassis 1 may be smaller than the minimum distance between the bottom point of the driving wheel 2 and the bottom surface of the chassis 1, that is, when the chassis 1 moves on flat ground, the support 6 does not contact the ground.

Referring to FIGS. 4-7, when the chassis 1 is climbing steps, the front end of the chassis 1 will be upturned. At this time, the support 6 will support the rear end of the chassis 1 and bear part of the weight of the chassis 1.

In this embodiment, the supporting member 6 can be rotatably connected with the chassis 1. Specifically, the supporting member 6 can be a ball, a roller, a roller, or the like.

As shown in Figure 5, as the chassis 1 moves forward, the driving wheels 2 will gradually approach the steps to assist the driving wheels 2 to climb the steps. The bottom of the chassis 1 may be provided with a transition slope 9, wherein the transition slope 9 is configured to The driving wheel 2 supports the chassis 1 before crossing the obstacle, and at the same time, the transition slope 9 also serves as a guide.

After the transition slope 9 contacts the edge of the step, as the chassis 1 moves, the raised height of the front end of the chassis 1 will increase. At this time, under the action of the driving member, the driving wheel 2 will still keep in contact with the ground.

In this embodiment, the bottom of the chassis 1 can be fixedly provided with a connecting block 7, wherein the transition slope 9 is the bottom surface of the connecting block 7. Specifically, there may be two connecting blocks 7, and they correspond to the driving wheel 2 one by one.

As shown in Fig. 6, as the chassis 1 continues to move, after the front end of the chassis 1 is raised to a certain height, the driven wheel 5 will be in a suspended state.

In the obstacle crossing process, the center of gravity of the obstacle crossing mechanism needs to cross the edge of the steps first than the driving wheel 2 to better help the driving wheel 2 to climb the steps.

For this reason, along the advancing direction of the chassis, the intersection line between the plane of the transition slope and the outer contour of the driving wheel is not located in front of the center of gravity of the obstacle crossing mechanism. Referring to Figure 6, the center of gravity of the obstacle crossing mechanism is in the vertical direction. The projection coincides with the intersection line or is on the right side of the intersection line.

Among them, the orthographic projection of the center of gravity of the obstacle crossing mechanism in FIG. 6 is point A. Referring to Fig. 6, in this embodiment, the center of gravity of the obstacle crossing mechanism is located on the right side of the intersection line.

In this embodiment, when the chassis 1 is traveling, the center of gravity of the obstacle crossing mechanism is located between the driven wheel 5 and the driving wheel 2, and the vertical plane where the center of gravity is located intersects the transition slope 9.

As shown in Figure 7, the center of gravity of the obstacle crossing mechanism crosses the edge of the step. At the same time, the driving wheel 2 is also in contact with the edge of the step. At this time, the front end of the chassis 1 will move downward under the action of gravity. As a result, the rear end of the chassis 1 is tilted, and before the driven wheel 5 contacts the step surface, most of the weight of the obstacle crossing mechanism will be concentrated on the driving wheel 2.

Due to the elasticity of the driving member, when most of the weight of the obstacle crossing mechanism is concentrated on the driving wheel 2, the positive pressure between the driving wheel 2 and the edge of the step will increase, thereby preventing slipping. The driving wheel 2 can climb onto the step surface.

In order to obtain a better obstacle crossing effect, when the distance between the bottom point of the driving wheel 2 and the bottom surface of the chassis 1 is compressed to a minimum, the transition slope 9 is just separated from the edge of the step. At this time, the weight of the obstacle crossing mechanism will be reduced. All concentrated on the driving wheel 2.

As shown in FIG. 8, under the action of the gravity of the obstacle-climbing mechanism, the driven wheel 5 will contact the step surface, and at the same time, the rear end of the chassis 1 is lifted. At this point, the chassis 1 has completed the obstacle-climbing action. After that, under the action of the driving wheel 2, the tail of the chassis 1 will also completely move to the step surface.

3-8, where the forward direction referred to in this embodiment points to the right in the figure; the front end of the forward direction of the chassis 1 is the part of the chassis 1 closest to the right in the figure.

It should be noted that when facing obstacles such as steps, there are certain restrictions on the height that the obstacle crossing mechanism can cross. Among them, the height range that the obstacle crossing mechanism can cross is related to the height of the chassis 1, the diameter of the driving wheel 2, and the suspension. The size and structure of the device are related.

In this embodiment, the chassis 1 may be provided with a detection device, and the obstacle information in the environment can be obtained through the detection device, and then the obstacle-climbing mechanism can be assisted in the obstacle-climbing operation. Wherein, when the detection device detects that the size of the obstacle exceeds the limit of the obstacle crossing mechanism, it can send a corresponding signal to the control module to stop the chassis 1 from moving forward.

Specifically, the detection device may include lidar and the like.

In this embodiment, a walking device is also proposed, including the obstacle crossing mechanism described above. Among them, the walking device may include a machine or equipment that can walk automatically.

In this embodiment, a sweeping robot is also proposed, including the obstacle crossing mechanism mentioned above.

Example two

The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the driving member can be magnetic.

Specifically, a first magnet may be used as the driving member, and accordingly, the chassis 1 may be provided with a second magnet that repels the first magnet. When the front end of the chassis 1 is lifted by the steps, the magnetic field force between the first magnet and the second magnet can change the position between the driving wheel 2 and the chassis 1, thereby avoiding obstacles in the process of crossing obstacles. The driving wheel 2 is suspended.

In the description of this specification, descriptions with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "examples", "specific examples", or "some examples" etc. mean specific features described in conjunction with the embodiment or example , Structures, materials or characteristics are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the described specific features, structures, materials or characteristics can be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art can combine and combine the different embodiments or examples and the characteristics of the different embodiments or examples described in this specification without contradicting each other.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described above, it can be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in the art can comment on the foregoing within the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiment undergoes changes, modifications, substitutions and modifications.

Claims

An obstacle crossing mechanism, characterized by comprising a chassis and a driving wheel configured to drive the chassis to move, wherein the driving wheel is arranged at the bottom of the chassis;

A suspension device is provided on the chassis, and the suspension device is configured to adjust the distance between the bottom point of the driving wheel and the bottom surface of the chassis;

Wherein, the bottom point of the driving wheel is the point on the driving wheel that is farthest from the bottom surface of the chassis.
The obstacle crossing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the suspension device comprises a cantilever, wherein one end of the cantilever is rotatably connected with the chassis, and the other end of the cantilever is rotatably connected with the driving wheel.
The obstacle crossing mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the suspension device further comprises a driving member configured to drive the cantilever to rotate so that the bottom point of the driving wheel is away from the bottom surface of the chassis .
The obstacle crossing mechanism of claim 3, wherein the driving member has elasticity or magnetism.
The obstacle crossing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, along the front end of the advancing direction, the edge of the bottom of the chassis is provided with a guiding inclined surface.
The obstacle crossing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a support member is provided at the bottom of the chassis, and the support member is configured to support the chassis when the front end of the chassis is raised;

The support is located at the rear end of the chassis in the forward direction.
The obstacle crossing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the chassis is provided with a transition slope, and the transition slope is configured to support the chassis before the driving wheel crosses the obstacle.
The obstacle crossing mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that, along the advancing direction of the chassis, the intersection line between the plane where the transition slope is located and the outer contour of the driving wheel is not located in the obstacle crossing mechanism Front of the center of gravity.
A walking device, characterized by comprising the obstacle crossing mechanism according to any one of claims 1-8.
A sweeping robot, characterized by comprising the obstacle crossing mechanism of any one of claims 1-8.