Steerable drive mechanism and omnidirectional moving vehicle

Abstract

Provided are a drive mechanism that improves the stability of a steering environment and the usage of power sources, and an omnidirectional moving vehicle that uses the drive mechanism. The omnidirectional moving vehicle is equipped with a vehicle body (6) and a plurality of wheels (4a-4d), wherein two or more of the wheels from among the plurality of wheels are equipped with the steerable drive mechanism. The drive mechanism is equipped with a rotatable steering unit (1), a wheel (4) retained in the steering unit, a drive member (2) that revolves about the axle on the center line of the steering unit, and an output shaft (3) that transmits to the wheel the turning force of the drive member at a location eccentric from the central axis of the steering unit. A first drive unit (22) that drives in a normal rotation direction and a second drive unit (23) that drives in a reverse rotation direction are disposed on the same axle on the drive member. The output shaft is equipped with a first output unit (71), which receives drive power transmissions from the first drive unit, and a second output unit (72), which changes the rotation of the second drive unit and receives drive power transmissions therefrom; is bound to both output units; and transmits to the wheel the rotation power obtainable from the output units.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle for omnidirectionally moving an electric wheelchair or an automatic transporter, and a steerable drive mechanism for the vehicle. Background technique [0002] With the advent of an aging society in Japan, the number of care recipients tends to increase, and elderly people with reduced motor function, especially those with symptoms such as lower body dysfunction, need to use wheelchairs to move around. In addition, even for people with congenital disabilities or acquired disabilities due to accidents, etc., wheelchairs have become necessities of life when walking is difficult due to motor insufficiency. Ordinary wheelchairs are sometimes operated by users themselves, but most users with significantly reduced motor function entrust caregivers to operate them. In order to reduce the burden on those who care for the elderly or disabled, electric wheelchairs have been developed. However, general electric wheelcha...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In addition, there is also a problem that the entire device becomes complicated in order to drive a wheel with such a complicated structure by a motor.

However, since it is composed of two parallel wheels, due to the difference in the frictional resistance acting on the two wheels or the difference in the state of the running surface (ground or road surface, etc.), there is a problem in whether the propulsive force according to the controlled rotation speed can be obtained. problem, needs to be constructed from a single wheel

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