Yaw control device

Abstract

A yawing regulation device 20 is provided to, among a first vehicle 10 and a second vehicle 10 that are connected to each other so as to be aligned in a traveling direction and to cause one of the vehicles to be able to yaw, the first vehicle 10 to regulate yawing. The yawing regulation device comprises: a first abutment part 175 that is provided at one side of the first vehicle 10 in the axle direction with respect to the yaw axis so as to be capable of abutting against the second vehicle 10; a second abutment part 175 that is provided at the other side in the axle direction with respect to the yaw axis so as to be capable of abutting against the second vehicle 10; a first regulation driving part 171 that drives the first abutment part 175 so as to come into abutment with the second vehicle 10; and a second regulation driving part 171 that drives the second abutment part 175 so as to come into abutment with the second vehicle 10.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a transportation device in which multiple vehicles are connected. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are known mobile devices in which multiple vehicles are connected in the direction of travel. In this type of mobile device, adjacent vehicles are connected to each other so that they can move about a yaw axis, thereby allowing the direction of travel of the mobile device to be changed. Furthermore, in mobile devices configured to be able to move on a plane that is perpendicular to or intersects with a horizontal plane, such as the wall surface of a structure, each vehicle is configured to be able to adhere to the wall surface, and adjacent vehicles are connected to each other so that they can move about a pitch axis.

[0003] Also, as a related technology, a structure inspection robot is known that has a main body equipped with an inspection device, a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels, each of which has a plurality of magnets arranged circumferentially on the outer diameter side and conical contact portions installed on both sides in the width direction, and the front and rear wheels are attracted to the steel members of the bridge and rotated, thereby moving along the steel members (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5832690 specification Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the above-described mobile device, there are situations where it is necessary to restrict the yaw of adjacent vehicles, i.e., yawing. For example, when the mobile device is moving straight, some vehicles moving from a horizontal plane to a wall surface may sway about the pitch axis relative to the following vehicle.

[0006] One way to restrict yawing is to apply a driving force around the yaw axis that resists the force that yaws the vehicle. However, this poses the problem that a driving force greater than that required to yaw the vehicle would be required, which would increase the weight of the drive unit that rotates around the yaw axis.

[0007] The embodiments of the present invention have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and have an object to provide a yawing control device that can control yawing with a smaller driving force. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the yaw control device of this embodiment is a yaw control device that is provided on a first vehicle of a first vehicle and a second vehicle that are connected to each other so that one of them is able to yaw, and that controls yaw, and is equipped with a first abutment portion that is provided on one side of the first vehicle in the axle direction relative to the yaw axis so that it can abut against the second vehicle, a second abutment portion that is provided on the other side of the axle direction relative to the yaw axis so that it can abut against the second vehicle, a first regulating drive portion that drives the first abutment portion to abut against the second vehicle, and a second regulating drive portion that drives the second abutment portion to abut against the second vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the embodiment of the present invention, yawing can be regulated with a smaller driving force. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a moving device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a front view showing the configuration of a vehicle. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of a vehicle. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing the configuration of the vehicle. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a side view showing the configuration of a vehicle. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a side view showing the moving device during pitching motion. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing the configuration of the yawing restriction device. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a yawing suppression device. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the moving device in an unrestrained state. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the moving device in a restricted state. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] (Overall configuration of the moving device) The overall configuration of the moving device according to this embodiment will be described below. Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of the moving device according to this embodiment.

[0013] As shown in Figure 1, the mobility device 1 according to this embodiment is configured to be able to travel by adhering to a wall surface, and is an apparatus having multiple vehicles connected to be movable around a pitch axis and a yaw axis, and is equipped with four vehicles 10 (10a, 10b, 10b, 10c), each having two wheels 12a, 12b. Each of these vehicles 10 is capable of moving straight in at least one direction by means of the two wheels 12a, 12b, and vehicles adjacent in the straight-ahead direction are connected to each other. Note that the mobility device 1 only needs to have at least two vehicles 10.

[0014] Vehicle 10a, which is located at the front of the transportation apparatus 1, i.e., at the forward end in the straight-ahead direction, is equipped with a large link 14, which will be described in detail later. Vehicle 10c, which is located at the rear of the transportation apparatus 1, i.e., at the rear end in the straight-ahead direction, is equipped with a small link 15, which will be described in detail later. Each of the two vehicles 10b, which are located between vehicles 10a and 10c, is equipped with a large link 14 and a small link 15 having a pitch drive mechanism. In the transportation apparatus 1, two vehicles 10 adjacent to each other in the straight-ahead direction are connected by connecting the large link 14 of one vehicle with the small link 15 of the other vehicle, as will be described in detail later.

[0015] As described above, although vehicles 10a, 10b, and 10c differ from one another in some configurations, they basically share a common configuration, and therefore, when it is not necessary to distinguish between these vehicles for the purpose of explanation, they will be simply referred to as vehicle 10. Furthermore, for multiple components that have substantially the same configuration but are distinguished by letters because their positions are different, when it is not necessary to distinguish between them, the components will simply be indicated by numbers.

[0016] The mobile device 1 is remotely controlled by a control device (not shown) via a transceiver (not shown) installed on one of the multiple vehicles 10, and the operator of the mobile device 1 moves the mobile device 1 over the structure to be inspected based on images taken by a camera (not shown) installed on one of the multiple vehicles 10 and surrounding shape information based on other measuring instruments.

[0017] In the following explanation, the state in which the mobile device 1 moves while touching down on a flat surface will be used as the reference direction, the direction perpendicular to the straight-ahead direction of the mobile device 1 and parallel to the plane will be referred to as the left-right direction, and the direction perpendicular to the straight-ahead direction and the left-right direction will be referred to as the vertical direction. In addition, the vehicle 10a side in the straight-ahead direction will be referred to as the front, and the vehicle 10c side will be referred to as the rear, and the installation surface side in the vertical direction will be referred to as the down side, and the other side will be referred to as the up side.

[0018] (Vehicle configuration) The configuration of the vehicle will now be described. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the vehicle according to this embodiment. FIGS. 3 to 6 are a front view, a plan view, a bottom view, and a side view, respectively, showing the configuration of the vehicle. FIG. 7 is a side view showing the moving device during pitching motion. In the following description, vehicle 10b, which is equipped with a large link and a small link, will be described as a representative of vehicles 10a, 10b, and 10c. FIG. 7 also shows a state in which vehicle 10b, which is second from the front, is pitching the leading vehicle 10a.

[0019] As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, vehicle 10b includes a main body 11, two wheels 12a and 12b, a partition 13, a large link 14, a small link 15, and a yaw suppression device 20. A storage space for storing various components is defined within main body 11, and this storage space is provided with at least a fan (not shown) that, together with partition 13, constitutes a suction mechanism. Main body 11 also includes fixed gear 153b for rotating main body 11. Two wheels 12a and 12b are disposed on both left and right sides of main body 11, with their rotation axes facing left and right, and with the rotation axis centers of two wheels 12a and 12b aligned with each other.

[0020] As will be described later, when the body 11 of the vehicle 10b is not rotated in the pitch direction, i.e., when the body 11 is positioned substantially parallel to the ground contact surface of the wheels 12, it is spaced a predetermined distance vertically from the ground contact surface, and the space between the body 11 and the ground contact surface is defined as an adsorption space surrounded by a partition 13 so as to block the space in all directions perpendicular to the vertical direction. As shown in Fig. 5, an air intake hole 111 is formed in the bottom surface of the body 11, connecting the accommodation space with the adsorption space. Air in the adsorption space is exhausted to the outside through this air intake hole 111 by a fan, allowing the vehicle 10b to be adsorbed to the ground contact surface. Note that the partition 13 is made of a member having at least a portion that is flexible.

[0021] Vehicle 10b also includes two travel drive units 120a, 120b, two travel drive gears 121a, 121b, two travel transmission gears 122a, 122b, and two intermediate gears 123a, 123b as a travel drive mechanism for rotating two wheels 12a, 12b. Travel drive unit 120a, travel drive gear 121a, travel transmission gear 122a, and intermediate gear 123a are provided corresponding to wheel 12a. Similarly, travel drive unit 120b, travel drive gear 121b, travel transmission gear 122b, and intermediate gear 123b are provided corresponding to wheel 12b.

[0022] The traveling drive unit 120 is a motor that rotates the traveling drive gear 121. The traveling transmission gear 122 is provided so as to be rotatable integrally with the corresponding wheel 12, and meshes with the intermediate gear 123. The intermediate gear 123 is provided so as to mesh with the traveling drive gear 121 and the traveling transmission gear 122. The driving force of the traveling drive unit 120 is transmitted to the corresponding wheel 12 via the traveling drive gear 121, the intermediate gear 123, and the traveling transmission gear 122. Note that, of the traveling drive mechanism, the traveling drive unit 120, the traveling drive gear 121, and the intermediate gear 123 are provided on the large link 14 in vehicles 10a and 10b, and on the small link 15 in vehicle 10c (see FIG. 1).

[0023] The large link 14 includes a base 140 extending in the left-right direction and positioned above and behind the main body 11, two connection portions 141a and 141b connecting both ends of the base 140 to the main body 11, a coupling portion 142, a yaw rotation portion 143, and a pitch fixing gear 152a. The coupling portion 142 extends perpendicular to the up-down direction and in a direction intersecting the extension direction of the base 140, i.e., the left-right direction, and is a member for coupling to a small link 15 of another vehicle 10. The yaw rotation portion 143 is connected to the front end of the coupling portion 142 and can rotate the coupling portion 142 around the yaw direction within a predetermined angle range. Here, the yaw direction refers to the direction of rotation around an axis facing the up-down direction. As will be described in detail later, the connecting portion 142 is connected to the small link 15 of the other vehicle 10. Therefore, when the connecting portion 142 is rotated in the yaw direction by the yaw rotation portion 143, the host vehicle 10b is caused to yaw around the other vehicle 10 connected by the connecting portion 142 as a base point, thereby changing the direction of travel of the moving device 1.

[0024] The small link 15 has a base 150, two connection parts 151a and 151b, a main body drive gear 152b, and a coupling part 154. The base 150 is formed to extend in the left-right direction and is provided so as to be positioned above the main body 11 and in front of the large link 14. The two connection parts 151a and 151b are formed to extend in the radial direction of the wheel 12, and one end is connected to the left end and right end of the main body 11 so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis of the wheel 12, and the other end is connected to the left end and right end of the base 150.

[0025] The pitch fixed gear 152a and the main body section drive gear 152b are rotated by two drive units (not shown), which are motors that rotate around axes facing left and right, respectively, and the pitch fixed gear 152a meshes with a fixed gear 153a, and the main body section drive gear 152b meshes with a fixed gear 153b. The two fixed gears 153a, 153b are formed with diameters that allow the pitch fixed gear 152a and the main body section drive gear 152b to mesh with each other at all times, and are provided in a fixed state so as not to rotate, at the connection part 141a of the large link 14 and the right end part of the main body section 11, respectively.

[0026] The connecting portion 154 is formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape so that the connecting portion 142 of the large link 14 provided on the adjacent vehicle 10 on the front side can be inserted from the front, and can be screwed in with the connecting portion 142 inserted, thereby connecting the host vehicle 10b to the other vehicle 10. With this type of small link 15, when the pitch fixing gear 152a is rotationally driven, the base 150 rotates about an axis facing in the left-right direction, and as shown in FIG. 7, the front vehicle 10a connected via the connecting portion 142 pitches. Furthermore, when the main body drive gear 152b is rotationally driven, the main body 11 can be rotated about an axis facing in the left-right direction relative to the base 150.

[0027] (Configuration of yaw control device) The configuration of the yaw suppression device will now be described. Figures 8 and 9 are a rear perspective view and a schematic cross-sectional view, respectively, showing the configuration of the yaw suppression device. Note that Figure 9 shows only the left large link, representing the two yaw suppression units, cut by a plane facing in the front-rear and left-right directions.

[0028] As shown in Fig. 8, the yaw suppression device 20 includes two yaw suppression units 17a, 17b provided on the base 140 of the large link 14 so as to sandwich the yaw rotation unit 143 from the left and right. Specifically, the yaw suppression unit 17a is provided on the base 140 so as to be positioned on the left side of the yaw rotation unit 143, and the yaw suppression unit 17b is provided on the base 140 so as to be on the right side of the yaw rotation unit 143. The two yaw suppression units 17a, 17b are configured to be substantially symmetrical with respect to a plane that passes through the axis of rotation of the yaw rotation unit 143, i.e., the yaw axis, and is perpendicular to the vertical direction and the front-to-rear direction.

[0029] 8 and 9, the yaw restriction unit 17 includes a restriction drive unit 171, a guide shaft 172, a linear bushing 173, a connection block 174, a contact unit 175, and a position sensor 176. The restriction drive unit 171 is a linear actuator that is provided on the base 140 of the large link 14 and linearly moves a movable shaft, which is a rod-shaped member formed so that its axial direction faces the front-rear direction, in the front-rear direction. The guide shaft 172 is a rod-shaped member formed so that its axial direction faces the front-rear direction, i.e., so that it extends in the drive direction of the restriction drive unit 171. The guide shaft 172 is positioned outward in the left-right direction with respect to the restriction drive unit 171 and is provided on the base 140 via the linear bushing 173 so as to be movable only in the front-rear direction.

[0030] The connection block 174 is a generally plate-shaped member extending in the left-right direction, and is connected to one rear end of the movable shaft of the regulating drive part 171 and one rear end of the guide shaft 172. As a result, the regulating drive part 171 moves the connection block 174 in the front-rear direction, and the guide shaft 172 moves linearly in the front-rear direction. Furthermore, by connecting the regulating drive part 171 to the guide shaft 172, the guide shaft 172 bears loads applied in the left-right and vertical directions, preventing damage to the regulating drive part 171.

[0031] The contact portion 175 is provided to protrude rearward from the connection block 174, and as will be described later, in the restricted state, it comes into contact with the base portion 150 of the small link 15 of the vehicle 10 adjacent to the rear. The position sensor 176 is a switch provided to be pressed against the connection block 174 when the restriction drive portion 171 has been returned to its origin. The position sensor 176 makes it possible to easily return the restriction drive portion 171 to its origin.

[0032] The two yaw restriction units 17a, 17b do not necessarily have to be provided on the base 140 of the large link 14, but may be provided on the left and right sides of the yaw axis. The two yaw restriction units 17a, 17b may also be provided on a small link 15 having a pitch drive mechanism in an adjacent rear vehicle 10, and may be provided so as to abut against the base 140 of the large link 14 having the yaw rotation unit 143.

[0033] (Operation of yaw control device) The operation of the yaw suppression device will now be described. Figures 10 and 11 are schematic plan views showing the moving device in the non-restricted state and the restricted state, respectively. Note that the following description focuses on the yaw suppression device in the leading vehicle.

[0034] The yaw suppression device 20 is switched between a non-restricted state and a restricted state by driving the restriction drive unit 171. In the non-restricted state, as shown in Fig. 10, the abutment portion 175 of the yaw suppression device 20 provided on the vehicle 10a is positioned so as not to abut against the base portion 150 of the small link 15 of the vehicle 10b adjacent to the rear. Therefore, the vehicle 10a is allowed to yaw by the yaw rotation portion 143 of the large link 14.

[0035] The yaw limiting device 20 transitions from the non-limiting state to the limiting state when the orientation of the wheels 12 of the vehicle 10a and the orientation of the wheels 12 of the vehicle 10b are aligned. In the limiting state, as shown in Fig. 11 , the abutment portion 175 of the yaw limiting device 20 provided on the vehicle 10a abuts against the base portion 150 of the vehicle 10b from the front, thereby limiting unintended yawing of the vehicle 10a. Specifically, the yaw limiting portion 17a located on the left side in Fig. 11 limits the swaying of the vehicle 10a in the counterclockwise direction about the yaw axis in the plan view of Fig. 11, and the yaw limiting portion 17b located on the right side limits the swaying of the vehicle 10a in the clockwise direction about the yaw axis.

[0036] In this way, the yaw limiting device 20, by fixing the yaw limiting device 171 at a position away from the yaw axis so that yawing is disabled, can limit yaw with a smaller drive force than when yaw is limited by driving the yaw rotation unit 143 to maintain a straight-ahead state, and as a result, the configuration related to yaw limiting can be made smaller and lighter. Note that it is desirable that both the guide shaft 172 and the abutment unit 175 be provided at positions spaced further outward in the left-right direction from the yaw rotation unit 143. This allows yaw limiting with a smaller drive force and reduces the load on the limiting drive unit 171.

[0037] The embodiments of the present invention are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments may be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1. Mobile Device 10 vehicles 20 Yaw control device 171 Regulatory drive unit 172 Guide shaft 174 Connection Blocks 175 Contact part 176 Position Sensor

Claims

1. A yaw control device is provided on a first vehicle of a second vehicle that is connected to each other so as to be connected in a traveling direction and one of the first vehicle being able to yaw, the device controlling yawing, a first abutment portion provided to be able to abut against the second vehicle on one side in the axle direction of the first vehicle with respect to the yaw axis; a second abutment portion provided on the other side of the yaw axis in the axle direction so as to be able to abut against the second vehicle; a first restricting drive unit that drives the first contact portion so as to contact the second vehicle; a second restricting drive portion that drives the second contact portion so as to contact the second vehicle; and Equipped with the first and second restricting drive units are each linear actuators that drive a movable shaft, which is a rod-shaped member extending in one direction, with the extension direction of the movable shaft as the drive direction; a first guide shaft formed on an outer side of the movable shaft of the first restriction drive unit in the axial direction so as to extend in a drive direction of the first restriction drive unit and be movable only in the drive direction; a first connection block that connects the first guide shaft and the movable shaft of the first restriction drive unit; a second guide shaft formed on an outer side of the movable shaft of the second restriction drive unit in the axial direction so as to extend in a drive direction of the second restriction drive unit and be movable only in the drive direction; a second connection block that connects the second guide shaft and the movable shaft of the second restriction drive unit, A yaw control device characterized in that the first abutment portion is provided on the outer side of the first connection block in the axle direction, and the second abutment portion is provided on the outer side of the second connection block in the axle direction.

2. a first position sensor capable of detecting an origin position of the first restriction drive unit; a second position sensor capable of detecting the origin position of the second regulating drive unit; The yaw suppression device according to claim 1, further comprising:

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