A rail-guided climbing staircase elderly assistance sharing robot

Abstract

The present invention relates to a guide-rail type climbing stair elderly assistance sharing robot, belonging to the fields of elderly assistance mechanical equipment technology and community intelligent infrastructure construction. This manned climbing stair robot is put into use in the corridors of community buildings based on a sharing mode. The robot is composed of a guide rail, a frame, accessory components, a traveling mechanism, a docking mechanism, and a climbing mechanism. The guide rail is fixedly installed on the wall on one side of the corridor against the wall; the frame is the basic framework of the robot, and the main body is used to carry and protect a single user; the accessory components include the electronic components and the storage battery of the robot; the traveling mechanism consists of four Mecanum wheels and their supporting motors, responsible for driving the robot to move on flat ground and corridor platforms; the docking mechanism includes a lead screw installed on one side of the robot and a specially designed docking sleeve, responsible for realizing the docking of the robot with the guide rail; the climbing mechanism includes gears and a climbing motor, used to provide power for the robot to move forward on the guide rail.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a guide-rail type climbing staircase assisting and sharing robot for the elderly, belonging to the technical fields of elderly assistance mechanical equipment and community intelligent infrastructure construction. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of China's urbanization process, the residential areas in cities are designed more and more modernly. However, due to the limitations of the technical conditions of the times and the relatively backward construction concepts in the last century, there are a large number of old communities in the areas that developed first in the city. Old communities are often residential areas built by government units before the restructuring of government agencies. Compared with the commercial housing developed after 1988, whether it is the living facilities such as water, electricity, heating, etc. or the basic structures of the buildings such as stairs and walls, they have fallen far behind the times. And due to various reasons, the population age distribution in old communities is mainly composed of the elderly. At the same time, in today's modern communities, there are also a large number of multi-story residential buildings with less than 7 floors, and most of these multi-story residential buildings are not equipped with elevators. Therefore, for the elderly living on higher floors and in old communities today, climbing stairs has become a major concern for them.

[0003] Currently, to solve this dilemma, relevant products have been launched on the market. These include adding modern elevator equipment to the community. However, this method requires a large upfront investment, and it is difficult to solve the problem of cost sharing among residents on each floor, often causing some unnecessary neighborhood disputes. There are also some devices similar to the climbing elevator in this patent that have started to be applied in the market. However, this solution cannot well meet the needs of all the elderly in a building, and the later maintenance cost is relatively high. It is more suitable for home customization and private use in villas or other multi-story houses. There are also multiple authorized patents that can partially solve the problem of the elderly having difficulty climbing stairs. For example, an auxiliary device for the elderly to climb stairs disclosed in the utility model patent with the authorization announcement number CN212490681U solves the problem by mechanically driving a belt to assist the elderly's waist. Another example is an auxiliary climbing device disclosed in the utility model patent with the authorization announcement number CN211584124, which provides a powered handrail for the elderly to help them climb stairs. Both of these solutions assist the elderly in climbing stairs by providing assistance, but they cannot effectively solve the safety problem during the process of climbing stairs. The elderly are prone to falling when the protective measures are insufficient. In the national invention patent application with the patent number "CN104921881A", it mentions "a new type of electric climbing wheelchair chassis and its design method". This design adopts a star wheel structure and realizes the up and down movement of the wheelchair by adding the revolution of the star wheel, thus enabling a single person to operate the wheelchair. However, it is difficult to overcome the jerks when going up and down the stairs. There is also a tracked climbing wheelchair. The products mainly come from abroad. However, to ensure the stability of climbing stairs, the wheelchair needs to be long enough, resulting in an oversized volume. Moreover, the price of a single maneuverable wheelchair is over 100,000 yuan, and it is not suitable for exclusive use in stairwells. Therefore, in view of the above problems existing in the existing devices for the elderly to climb stairs, it is necessary to develop an elderly climbing assistance device with a simple structure, high safety, and low usage cost to meet the needs of the elderly for climbing stairs.

[0004] Today, with the rapid development of the sharing economy, the development of the sharing economy and the intelligent society has become an irresistible trend. The present invention focuses on a guide-rail type climbing stair elderly sharing robot, combines the flexible omnidirectional movement characteristics of Mecanum wheels, and is placed in the community in a sharing mode. It not only helps the elderly climb stairs conveniently but also reduces the cost investment, which can kill two birds with one stone. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a reliable and safe stair-climbing device that can cope with the complex environment in the stairwell, help the elderly climb stairs, and at the same time save the elderly's stair-climbing costs by being placed in a sharing mode.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0007] A guide-rail type climbing stair elderly assistance sharing robot, which is composed of a guide rail, a frame, accessory components, a traveling mechanism, a docking mechanism and a climbing mechanism; the guide rail includes a first cylindrical guide rail, a rack guide rail, a second cylindrical guide rail and a bracket; three guide rails are installed on the bracket, which are, from low to high, the first cylindrical guide rail, the rack guide rail and the second cylindrical guide rail; the bracket is fixedly arranged along the stair slope angle and fixed on the side wall of the stair;

[0008] The frame includes a chassis and a guardrail; the chassis is used for installing the accessory components, the traveling mechanism, the docking mechanism and the climbing mechanism, and the guardrail is fixed on the chassis for protecting the users;

[0009] The accessory components include a storage battery, a camera, a vehicle condition recognition controller and a protective shell; the storage battery is installed at the bottom of the chassis; the camera is installed on the docking mechanism; the vehicle condition recognition controller is installed at the rear side of the bottom of the chassis, and the protective shell is installed on the vehicle condition recognition controller;

[0010] The traveling mechanism includes two pairs of Mecanum wheels and Mecanum wheel motors; the docking mechanism includes a docking sleeve, a screw rod, a nut, a lead screw motor, a climbing motor protective shell, a docking plate, a guide rod and a base; wherein, the screw rod, the nut, the lead screw motor and the guide rod form a set of lead screw system; the docking sleeve is installed on the docking plate; the nut is installed on the screw rod; the lead screw motor is installed on the base; the docking plate is connected with the nut; the guide rod is installed on the base and passes through the hole of the ear part of the docking plate;

[0011] The climbing mechanism includes a gear and a climbing motor, the climbing motor is fixedly installed in the climbing motor protective shell, the gear is spline-connected with the output shaft of the climbing motor and is jointly supported on the docking plate, and meshes with the rack guide rail during climbing;

[0012] The Mecanum wheel motors, the vehicle recognition controller, the camera, the lead screw motor and the climbing motor are all powered by the storage battery.

[0013] This robot is an intelligent machine put into use in the corridors of community buildings in a shared operation mode for the elderly in need; the guide-rail type climbing stair elderly assistance sharing robot has a set of control programs to realize the movement, docking and stair climbing of the robot;

[0014] Both the cylindrical guide rail and the rack guide rail are assembled structures. When installed in the corridor, multiple short guide rails with fixed lengths are assembled into a long guide rail meeting the stair length requirements.

[0015] The vehicle condition recognition controller includes a timing module, a communication module, and a main control chip. The timing module is used for timing and charging during shared use by users; the communication module is used for information feedback and connection between the rail climbing stair-assisting elderly shared robot and the shared cloud; the main control chip stores the control program. The camera is used to take pictures and transmit them to the vehicle condition recognition controller, and the main control chip judges the robot's state, moves the robot, and implements docking and climbing.

[0016] In the docking mechanism of the robot, the inside of the docking sleeve presents a "double horn shape" and has an opening on one side; the docking sleeve travels on a cylindrical rail. When entering a curved rail from a horizontal rail, it can rotate relative to the docking plate and maintain the rotation angle while traveling on an inclined rail. When the docking sleeve enters the horizontal rail from the inclined rail, the docking sleeve can automatically return to the upright position. The docking plate is in a "cross" shape and is rigidly connected to the nut by screws. There are ear pieces with holes at the rear of the docking plate, which can be fixed on the guide rod. The lifting and lowering of the docking mechanism are realized by a lead screw system. The lead screw can convert the rotational motion output by the motor into a linear motion of the nut on the screw rod, thereby driving the docking plate to move up and down.

[0017] The advantages of the present invention are as follows:

[0018] Taking rail climbing as the climbing method of the rail climbing stair-assisting elderly shared robot is stable and reliable, ensuring the safety of the elderly when carried.

[0019] Taking omnidirectional movement with Mecanum wheels as the traveling mode can effectively cope with the narrow environment in the stairwell and improve the efficiency of climbing stairs.

[0020] A lead screw system is adopted to control the lifting and lowering of the docking mechanism, so as to achieve precise docking between the docking mechanism and the rail.

[0021] Deploying in the residential buildings in the community in a shared mode can save costs, enabling every elderly person in the building to use the robot at any time and place. Description of the Drawings

[0022] Figure 1 Isometric view of the overall rail climbing stair-assisting elderly shared robot

[0023] Figure 2 Side view of the rail of the rail climbing stair-assisting elderly shared robot

[0024] Figure 3 Composition diagram of the vehicle condition recognition controller of the rail climbing stair-assisting elderly shared robot

[0025] Figure 4 Bottom view of the chassis of the rail climbing stair-assisting elderly shared robot

[0026] Figure 5 Isometric view of the docking mechanism of the rail - type climbing - stair elderly - assisting shared robot

[0027] Figure 6 Side view of the docking mechanism of the rail - type climbing - stair elderly - assisting shared robot

[0028] Figure 7 Isometric view and front view of the docking sleeve of the rail - type climbing - stair elderly - assisting shared robot

[0029] Figure 8 Isometric view of the climbing mechanism of the rail - type climbing - stair elderly - assisting shared robot

[0030] Explanation of reference numerals: 1 - chassis, 2 - guardrail, 3 - handrail, 4 - battery, 5 - camera, 6 - vehicle - condition recognition controller, 7 - Mecanum wheel, 8 - cylindrical guide rail, 9 - bracket, 10 - rack guide rail, 11 - timing module, 12 - communication module, 13 - main control chip, 14 - protective housing, 15 - Mecanum wheel motor, 16 - docking sleeve, 17 - screw, 18 - nut, 19 - lead - screw motor, 20 - climbing motor protective housing, 21 - docking plate, 22 - guide rod, 23 - base, 24 - gear, 25 - climbing motor. Detailed implementation manners

[0031] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings. The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0032] As Figure 1 shown: The rail - type climbing - stair elderly - assisting shared robot is composed of a guide rail, a frame, accessory components, a traveling mechanism, a docking mechanism and a climbing mechanism;

[0033] As Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown in the figure: The guide rail includes two cylindrical guide rails 8, one rack guide rail 10, and a bracket 9. On the bracket 9, the cylindrical guide rails 8, the rack guide rail 10, and the cylindrical guide rail 8 are installed in sequence from high to low. Among them, the cylindrical guide rail 8 provides the correct direction for the robot during the process of climbing the stairs. After the climbing mechanism is correctly docked with the cylindrical guide rail 8 through the docking sleeve 16, the gear 24 of the climbing mechanism will mesh with the rack guide rail 10. At the same time, the gear 24 rotates, driving the entire robot to climb along the guide rail. At the same time, both the cylindrical guide rail 8 and the rack guide rail 10 are assembled structures. When installed in the corridor, they can be assembled into a long guide rail that meets the requirements of the staircase length by multiple short guide rails of fixed length;

[0034] As Figure 1 shown in the figure: The frame includes a chassis 1, a guardrail 2, and a handrail 3. The chassis 1 mainly plays the role of supporting and carrying components. The user can stand on the chassis 1 during use. The handrail 3 is fixed to the front upper part of the guardrail 2 by welding. The guardrail 2 and the handrail 3 increase the safety and comfort of the user during use. There will be a platform at the front end of the handrail 3 for placing the robot QR code and a display screen for displaying the robot status.

[0035] As Figure 1 and Figure 3 shown in the figure: The attached components include a battery 4, a camera 5, a vehicle condition recognition controller 6, and a protective shell 14. The battery 4 is installed on the front side above the chassis. The battery 4 supplies power to all components of the robot, mainly including the Mecanum wheel motors 15, the vehicle recognition controller 6, the camera 5, the lead screw motor 19, and the climbing motor 25, etc.; The camera 5 is installed above the docking plate 21 to obtain the real road conditions during the movement of the trolley and accurately identify the position of the guide rail during docking. The vehicle condition recognition controller 6 is installed at the bottom of the chassis. The vehicle condition recognition controller 6 processes the real road condition pictures sent back by the camera 5, analyzes the current road conditions, and returns control commands, etc. The protective shell 14 is installed on the vehicle condition recognition controller 6 to provide a stable operating environment for the vehicle condition recognition controller and protect the vehicle condition recognition controller from being damaged during use;

[0036] As Figure 4 shown in the figure: The traveling mechanism includes two pairs of Mecanum wheels 7 and Mecanum wheel motors 15. The traveling mechanism is mainly responsible for the movement of the robot on flat ground, especially on narrow staircase mezzanine platforms. Through program control, the Mecanum wheels 7 can ensure the stability and flexibility of the trolley during movement on flat ground, facilitating steering and direction control;

[0037] As Figure 5 and Figure 6As shown in the figure: The docking mechanism includes a docking sleeve 16, a screw rod 17, a nut 18, a lead screw motor 19, a climbing motor protective housing 20, a docking plate 21, a guide rod 22, and a base 23. Among them, the screw rod 17, the nut 18, the lead screw motor 19, and the guide rod 22 together constitute the lead screw system in the docking mechanism. When the docking sleeve 16 cannot be accurately docked with the cylindrical guide rail 8, the lead screw system will control the lifting of the docking mechanism according to the instructions of the vehicle condition recognition controller 6. When lifting is required, the lead screw motor 19 outputs torque to make the screw rod 17 rotate. Under the action of the circulating steel balls in the nut 18, the nut 18 can move upward along the screw rod 17. And there is a rigid connection between the docking plate 21 and the nut 18 through screws, and the movement of the nut 18 drives the movement of the docking plate 21. When the docking mechanism needs to descend, the motor is controlled to output the opposite torque. At the same time, the guide rod 22 passes through the earpiece after the docking plate 21, and during the up and down movement of the docking plate 21, it can provide guidance and support for its movement.

[0038] As Figure 7 shown in the figure: The docking sleeve 16 is installed on the docking plate 21, and its through hole presents a "double trumpet shape" with a certain arc, which can ensure the smooth turning of the robot when traveling on the guide rail. The docking sleeve 16 has an opening on one side to ensure that it does not interfere with the bracket 9 when traveling on the cylindrical guide rail 8; when the docking sleeve 16 travels on the cylindrical guide rail 8 and enters the curved track from the horizontal track, it can rotate relative to the docking plate 21 and maintain the rotation angle when traveling on the inclined track. When the docking sleeve 16 enters the horizontal guide rail from the inclined guide rail, the docking sleeve can automatically return to the original position.

[0039] As Figure 8 shown in the figure: The climbing mechanism includes a climbing motor 25 and a gear 24. The climbing motor 25 is installed on the docking plate 21, and the climbing motor protective housing 20 is installed outside the climbing motor. During the docking process of the robot with the guide rail, the gear 24 will rotate at a low speed under the low-power drive of the climbing motor 25. While the docking sleeve 16 is docked with the cylindrical guide rail 8, the gear 24 is synchronously engaged with the rack guide rail 10. During the climbing process, the gear 24 will rotate uniformly on the rack guide rail 10 under the power supply of the climbing motor 25, thereby driving the robot to complete the climbing.

[0040] When the robot needs to be used, the robot will autonomously detach from the charging pile or the docking station. At the same time, the camera 5 will capture the real-time road conditions. According to the route markers, the main chip 13 is controlled to output control signals to control each motor. According to the motion characteristics of the Mecanum wheels, the Mecanum wheels 7 are controlled to move the robot to the entrance of the guide rail and slowly approach the docking area of the guide rail. After the main chip 13 adjusts the state of the robot according to a series of programs, the docking sleeve is successfully connected to the cylindrical guide rail 8, and the gear can be engaged with the rack guide rail 10. In addition, during the movement process, asFigure 3 As shown: The timing module 11 installed in the vehicle identification controller 6 will record the total duration of the robot's movement, and the communication module 12 will maintain the information transmission between the robot and the shared cloud.

[0041] After the docking is completed, the climbing motor 25 will drive the gear 24 to move on the rack guide 10, and under the auxiliary guidance of the two cylindrical guides 8, drive the entire robot to climb along the guide.

[0042] Only some exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of illustration. Without doubt, for those of ordinary skill in the art, various different ways can be used to modify the described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the above drawings and description are illustrative in nature and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A guide-rail type climbing stair elderly assistance sharing robot, which is composed of a guide rail, a frame, accessory components, a traveling mechanism, a docking mechanism and a climbing mechanism; The guide rail includes a first cylindrical guide rail, a second cylindrical guide rail, a rack guide rail and a bracket; the above three guide rails are installed on the bracket, and are successively the first cylindrical guide rail, the rack guide rail and the second cylindrical guide rail from low to high; the bracket is arranged along the stair slope angle and is firmly fixed on the side wall of the stair; The frame includes a chassis and a guardrail. The chassis is used to install the accessory components, the traveling mechanism, the docking mechanism and the climbing mechanism. The guardrail is fixed on the chassis to protect the users. The accessory components include a battery, a camera, a vehicle condition recognition controller and a protective case. The battery is installed at the bottom of the chassis. The camera is installed on the docking mechanism. The vehicle condition recognition controller is installed at the rear side of the bottom of the chassis, and the protective case is installed on the vehicle condition recognition controller; The traveling mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the chassis and includes two pairs of Mecanum wheels and Mecanum wheel motors; The docking mechanism is arranged on the side of the chassis close to the wall and is fixedly connected to the guardrail, and includes a docking sleeve, a screw rod, a nut, a lead screw motor, a climbing motor protective case, a docking plate, a guide rod and a base. Among them, the screw rod, the nut, the lead screw motor and the guide rod form a set of lead screw system. The inside of the docking sleeve presents a "double trumpet shape" and has an opening on one side. The docking sleeve is installed on the docking plate and can rotate at a small angle on the docking plate to adapt to the guiding requirements of splicing guide rails with different curvatures. The nut is sleeved on the screw rod. The lead screw motor is installed on the base. The docking plate is in a "cross" shape and is rigidly connected to the nut by screws. There are ear pieces with holes at the rear of the docking plate. The guide rod is installed on the base and passes through the hole of the ear piece of the docking plate. The base is fixedly connected to the chassis. The climbing motor protective case is fixedly installed behind the docking plate; The climbing mechanism includes a gear and a climbing motor. The climbing motor is accommodated and fixedly installed in the climbing motor protective case. The gear is splined to the output shaft of the climbing motor and is jointly supported on the docking plate, and meshes with the rack guide rail during climbing; The Mecanum wheel motors, the vehicle recognition controller, the camera, the lead screw motor and the climbing motor are all powered by the battery; The vehicle condition recognition controller includes a timing module, a communication module and a control main chip. The timing module is used for timing and charging when the user shares and uses. The communication module is used for information feedback and connection between the guide-rail type climbing stair elderly assistance sharing robot and the cloud background. The control main chip stores a set of control programs. The camera is used to take pictures and transmit them to the vehicle condition recognition controller, and the control main chip judges the state of the robot, controls its movement and implements docking and climbing; The described guide-rail type climbing staircase assisting and sharing robot is characterized in that the robot is an intelligent machine put in the corridors of community buildings by means of shared operation for the elderly in need to use at low cost at any time; the control program can control the robot to autonomously break away from the charging pile by shooting real-time road conditions, control the robot to move along the track autonomously according to the route markers at the staircase turning ring, control the robot to autonomously adjust its own state and the lifting of the docking mechanism to dock with the guide rail and autonomously carry people to drive and climb the staircase.

2. The rail-type climbing stair elderly assistance sharing robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the guide rail of the robot, both the cylindrical guide rail and the rack guide rail are assembled structures. When installed in the corridor, short guide rails with a fixed length are assembled into a long guide rail meeting the requirements of the staircase length.

3. A guide-rail type climbing stair elderly assistance sharing robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lifting and lowering of the docking mechanism are realized by a lead screw system; a plurality of circulating steel balls are placed between the nut and the screw rod to reduce the moving resistance; the screw rod can convert the rotational motion output by the motor into the linear motion of the nut on the screw rod, thereby driving the docking plate to move up and down.

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