An automated guided vehicle

Abstract

The present invention provides an automated guided vehicle, comprising: a vehicle body; traveling wheels provided at the bottom of the vehicle body to enable the movement of the vehicle body, a support member which is guidingly and floatingly assembled on the vehicle body in the up-down direction and positioned and assembled on the vehicle body in the left-right direction; a drive wheel mounting bracket which is hingedly assembled with the support member around a hinge central axis extending in the front-rear direction; the traveling wheels include two drive wheels, the two drive wheels are coaxially arranged and installed on both sides of the drive wheel mounting bracket; an elastic structure extending in the up-down direction, which is supported and arranged between the vehicle body and the support member to apply an upward elastic acting force to the vehicle body and a downward elastic acting force to the support member, so that the drive wheel mounting bracket hinged with the support member cannot perform lateral movement in the left-right direction relative to the vehicle body, and when one side of the drive wheels encounters undulations, the other side of the drive wheels will not be affected by the lateral drag of the drive wheels on this side, ensuring that the automated guided vehicle can move precisely along the route.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Automatic guided vehicles are also widely used in industries such as the service industry, manufacturing industry, express delivery industry, and transportation industry. In the prior art, as disclosed in a Chinese utility model patent with the authorization announcement number CN208827513U, a mobile chassis and a service robot, the mobile chassis includes a bottom plate, two drive modules, two suspension modules, and driven wheels. The drive module includes two drive wheels located on the left and right sides. The suspension modules are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the drive modules. One end of the suspension module is connected to the bottom plate, and the other end is connected to the drive module. One ends of the two suspension modules connected to the drive module are rigidly connected together through a balance connecting member.

[0003] However, the mobile chassis has the following problems. Since one ends of the two suspension modules corresponding to the drive wheels on both sides are rigidly connected together, when one drive wheel encounters a road surface undulation, the undulation of this drive wheel will exert a lateral dragging force on the other drive wheel, which easily causes a slight lateral shift of the entire mobile chassis, resulting in a lateral deviation in the advancing direction of the mobile chassis and affecting the route accuracy. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic guided vehicle to solve the technical problem in the prior art that when one side of the drive wheel undulates, the balance connecting member in the mobile chassis rigidly connects one ends of the two suspension modules together, which easily exerts a lateral dragging force on the other drive wheel.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] An automatic guided vehicle includes: a vehicle body; traveling wheels supported at the bottom of the vehicle body to enable the vehicle body to move. Defining the forward-backward direction of the vehicle body as the front-rear direction, the automatic guided vehicle further includes: a support member that is guided and floatingly assembled on the vehicle body in the up-down direction and positioned and assembled on the vehicle body in the left-right direction; a drive wheel mounting bracket that is hingedly assembled with the support member around a hinge central axis extending in the front-rear direction; the traveling wheels include two drive wheels, the two drive wheels are coaxially arranged and installed on the drive wheel mounting bracket on both sides of the hinge central axis in the left-right direction; an elastic structure that is supported and extends in the up-down direction between the vehicle body and the support member to exert an upward elastic force on the vehicle body and a downward elastic force on the support member.

[0007] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: The support member in the automatic guided vehicle is assembled on the vehicle body in a vertically guided and floating manner and is also assembled on the vehicle body in a horizontally positioned manner, such that the support member can only float vertically relative to the vehicle body. The drive wheel mounting bracket is hingedly assembled with the support member around the hinge central axis, enabling the drive wheel mounting bracket to rotate relative to the support member around the hinge central axis. An elastic structure is provided between the support member and the vehicle body to enable the support member to float vertically relative to the vehicle body, such that the support member and the elastic structure form a suspension structure between the vehicle body and the drive wheel mounting bracket. When one side of the drive wheels of the automatic guided vehicle encounters undulations, the drive wheels on this side will float vertically relative to the drive wheels on the other side, causing the drive wheel mounting bracket to tilt at an angle. Since the support member is assembled on the vehicle body in a horizontally positioned manner, this also means that the drive wheel mounting bracket hinged to the support member cannot move horizontally in the left-right direction relative to the vehicle body. At this time, the drive wheel mounting bracket will rotate and float vertically relative to the vehicle body to adapt to the undulations of the drive wheels; when one side of the drive wheels encounters undulations, the drive wheels on the other side will not be affected by the horizontal drag of this side of the drive wheels, ensuring that the automatic guided vehicle can move precisely along the route.

[0008] Further, the support member includes a front support shaft and a rear support shaft that are coaxially arranged and spaced apart in the front-rear direction. The front support shaft and the rear support shaft are respectively hingedly assembled with the drive wheel mounting bracket. The front support shaft and the rear support shaft are respectively assembled on the vehicle body in a vertically guided and floating manner and are respectively assembled on the vehicle body in a horizontally positioned manner. The elastic structure includes a front elastic member and a rear elastic member that are spaced apart in the front-rear direction. The front elastic member is disposed between the vehicle body and the front support shaft, and the rear elastic member is disposed between the vehicle body and the rear support shaft.

[0009] Beneficial effects: By providing a front support shaft and a rear support shaft that are coaxially arranged and correspondingly providing a front elastic member and a rear elastic member, a front-rear cooperative support structure is formed, improving the elastic support stability of the elastic structure acting on the vehicle body and the drive wheel mounting bracket.

[0010] Further, both the front support shaft and the rear support shaft have a hinge shaft section and a support shaft section. The hinge shaft section is hinged to the drive wheel mounting bracket, and the support shaft section is assembled on the vehicle body in a vertically guided and floating manner and is assembled on the vehicle body in a horizontally positioned manner. The front elastic member is disposed between the support shaft section of the front support shaft and the vehicle body, and the rear elastic member is disposed between the support shaft section of the rear support shaft and the vehicle body.

[0011] Beneficial effects: By dividing the support member into a hinge shaft section and a support shaft section, the hinge shaft section is used for hinged assembly, and the support shaft section is used for installing the elastic member, enabling two functional structures to be integrally provided on one support member, facilitating the integrated setting of the automatic guided vehicle.

[0012] Further, the support shaft section has an upward-facing support side surface, and a groove is provided on the support side surface. A guiding member for guiding the corresponding elastic member is provided in the groove. The corresponding elastic member is a compression spring sleeved outside the guiding member. The lower end of the compression spring abuts against the groove to apply a downward elastic force to the corresponding support shaft.

[0013] Beneficial effects: The groove is used to position the compression spring, and the guiding member can guide the compression spring to prevent the compression spring from tipping over during compression.

[0014] Further, the hinge shaft section is hingedly assembled with a circular sleeve on the driving wheel mounting bracket to achieve the hinged assembly of the corresponding support shaft and the driving wheel mounting bracket.

[0015] Beneficial effects: The hinge shaft section is directly installed in the circular sleeve, making the hinge connection simpler and more convenient, and avoiding direct wear between the hinge shaft section and the driving wheel mounting bracket.

[0016] Further, rectangular holes are respectively provided on the vehicle body corresponding to the front support shaft and the rear support shaft. The support shaft section is a rectangular shaft section inserted into the corresponding rectangular hole. The rectangular shaft section is in up-and-down guiding cooperation with the corresponding rectangular hole. The thickness of the rectangular shaft section in the up-and-down direction is less than the size of the rectangular hole in the up-and-down direction, so that the support shaft section can float up and down in the rectangular hole. The length of the rectangular shaft section in the left-and-right direction is equal to the size of the rectangular hole in the left-and-right direction, so that the corresponding support member can be positioned and assembled with the vehicle body in the left-and-right direction.

[0017] Beneficial effects: The cooperation of the rectangular hole and the rectangular shaft section makes it more convenient to realize the up-and-down guiding and floating of the support shaft and the left-and-right positioning and assembly, and at the same time avoids the torsion of the support member relative to the vehicle body.

[0018] Further, a mounting sleeve extending in the front-rear direction is fixedly provided on the vehicle body, and the mounting sleeve has the rectangular hole.

[0019] Beneficial effects: The setting of the mounting sleeve avoids direct friction between the support frame and the vehicle body, avoids frictional wear of the vehicle body, and only needs to replace the corresponding mounting sleeve when damaged.

[0020] Further, the vehicle body includes a frame main body, and two support plates are detachably installed on the frame main body and are respectively located on the front and rear sides of the driving wheel mounting bracket. Each support plate is provided with one of the rectangular holes to correspondingly assemble the front support shaft and the rear support shaft.

[0021] Beneficial effects: When machining the rectangular holes on the support plates, the support plates and the frame main body can be disassembled from each other, and the support plates can be processed separately, which is convenient for machining the rectangular holes.

[0022] Further, the drive wheel mounting bracket is a rectangular frame extending in the left - right direction, and the drive wheels are correspondingly arranged at the left and right ends of the rectangular frame.

[0023] Further, the rectangular frame is formed by splicing a front side plate, a rear side plate, a left end plate, and a right end plate. The drive wheels are respectively arranged on each end plate. The front side plate is hingedly assembled with the front support shaft, and the rear side plate is hingedly assembled with the rear support shaft.

[0024] Beneficial effects: The four plates are spliced into a rectangular frame, which has a simple structure and is convenient for assembly. Description of the Drawings

[0025] Figure 1 is a schematic external view of the automatic guided vehicle in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a schematic internal structure view of the shown automatic guided vehicle;

[0027] Figure 3 is Figure 2 a schematic view of another angle of the shown structure;

[0028] Figure 4 is Figure 2 a schematic suspension structure view in

[0029] Figure 5 is Figure 4 a schematic view of another angle of the shown suspension structure;

[0030] Figure 6 is Figure 4 a left - view of the shown suspension structure;

[0031] Figure 7 is Figure 4 a rear - view of the shown suspension structure;

[0032] Figure 8 is Figure 4 a bottom - view of the shown suspension structure.

[0033] In the figure: 1, obstacle - avoidance induction switch; 2, charging contact; 3, start switch; 4, emergency stop switch; 5, housing; 6, universal wheel; 7, vehicle body; 8, lifting platform; 9, rear side support plate; 10, front support shaft; 11, hinge shaft section; 12, drive motor; 13, drive wheel; 14, rear support shaft; 15, guide; 16, compression spring; 17, front side plate; 18, left end plate; 19, rear side plate; 20, right end plate; 21, front side support plate; 22, compression spring pressing plate; 23, support shaft section. Detailed Embodiments

[0034] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0035] Specific embodiment 1 of an automatic guided vehicle of the present invention:

[0036] like Figures 1 to 8 As shown, the automatic guided vehicle includes a shell 5, a vehicle body 7 located inside the shell 5, and a suspension structure assembled with the vehicle body 7 in an up-and-down floating manner.

[0037] The front end surface of the housing 5 of the automatic guided vehicle is provided with an obstacle avoidance induction switch 1, a charging contact 2, an opening switch 3 and an emergency stop switch 4. Long strip holes are provided on the left and right sides of the upper end surface of the housing 5 for the lifting platform 8 to pass through.

[0038] Traveling wheels for moving the vehicle body 7 are provided at the bottom of the vehicle body 7. The traveling wheels include driving wheels 13 and universal wheels 6. The universal wheels 6 are provided at the four corners of the bottom of the vehicle body 7. The driving wheels 13 are provided on a suspension structure that is floatingly assembled with the vehicle body.

[0039] The suspension structure has a driving wheel mounting frame that is arranged to float relative to the vehicle body 7. The driving wheel mounting frame is a rectangular frame extending in the left-right direction. The rectangular frame is composed of a front side plate 17, a rear side plate 19, a left end plate 18 and a right end plate 20. A driving wheel 13 is respectively provided on the left end plate 18 and the right end plate 20. The driving wheel 13 is driven to move by a driving motor 12 fixed to the corresponding end plate. The two driving wheels are coaxially arranged. When the two driving wheels turn in the same direction, the automatic guided vehicle moves in the front-back direction. When the two driving wheels turn in opposite directions, the automatic guided vehicle performs an in-situ turning movement.

[0040] The suspension structure also includes a support member, which is guided and floated on the vehicle body 7 along the up and down directions, and is positioned and assembled on the vehicle body 7 along the left and right directions. The support member includes a front support shaft 10 and a rear support shaft 14. The front support shaft 10 is hingedly assembled on the front side plate 17, and the rear support shaft 14 is hingedly assembled on the rear side plate 19. The hinge center axis of the front support shaft 10 and the rear support shaft 14 are coaxial, and two driving wheels are installed on the driving wheel mounting frame on both sides of the hinge center axis. The front support shaft 10 and the rear support shaft 14 are arranged at intervals in the front and rear directions, and both have an hinge shaft section 11 and a support shaft section 23. The hinge shaft section 11 of the corresponding support member is hingedly assembled with a round sleeve on the corresponding side plate. The round sleeve is a round copper sleeve or a round nylon sleeve. The copper sleeve and the nylon sleeve are more wear-resistant. The setting of the round sleeve can avoid direct friction and wear between the support member and the corresponding side plate.

[0041] An elastic structure extending in the vertical direction is also supported between the vehicle body 7 and the support member. The elastic structure includes a front elastic member and a rear elastic member arranged at intervals in the front-rear direction. The front elastic member is disposed between the vehicle body 7 and the front support shaft 10, and the rear elastic member is disposed between the vehicle body 7 and the rear support shaft 14. In this embodiment, both the front elastic member and the rear elastic member are compression springs. To ensure the stable assembly of the compression spring 16 between the vehicle body and the corresponding support shaft, two grooves are provided on the upward support side surface of the support shaft section 23, and a guide member 15 is provided in each of the two grooves. The compression spring 16 is sleeved around the guide member 15. The lower end of the compression spring 16 abuts against the groove of the support shaft section 23, and the upper end of the compression spring 16 abuts against the lower end surface of the compression spring pressing plate 22. The compression spring pressing plate 22 is positioned and assembled on the vehicle body 7.

[0042] Rectangular holes are respectively provided on the vehicle body 7 corresponding to the front support shaft 10 and the rear support shaft 14. The support shaft section 23 of the support shaft is a rectangular shaft section inserted into the corresponding rectangular hole, and the rectangular shaft section is in up-and-down guiding cooperation with the corresponding rectangular hole. The vehicle body 7 includes a frame main body, and two support plates are detachably installed on the frame main body. Each support plate is provided with a rectangular hole. The two support plates are respectively a front support plate 21 and a rear support plate 9 detachably installed on the vehicle body 7. The front support plate 21 is disposed on the front side of the front side plate 17, and the rear support plate 9 is disposed on the rear side of the rear side plate 19. The rectangular holes are provided on the front support plate 21 and the rear support plate 9. The thickness of the rectangular shaft section in the up-and-down direction is less than the size of the rectangular hole in the up-and-down direction, so that the support shaft section 23 can float up and down in the rectangular hole. The length of the rectangular shaft section in the left-right direction is equal to the size of the rectangular hole in the left-right direction, so that the corresponding support member is positioned and assembled with the vehicle body 7 in the left-right direction, avoiding the left-right displacement or torsional movement of the support member relative to the vehicle body 7.

[0043] Mounting sleeves extending in the front-rear direction are respectively fixed on the front support plate 21 and the rear support plate 9. The mounting sleeve has a rectangular hole for up-and-down guiding and left-right positioning and assembling with the corresponding support member. The mounting sleeve is a square copper sleeve or a square nylon sleeve. The setting of the mounting sleeve avoids direct contact, friction and wear between the support member and the corresponding support plate.

[0044] When using an automated guided vehicle to carry goods, the automated guided vehicle can travel along the designed route to below the goods. At this time, the lifting platform 8 rises to lift the goods off the ground, and then the automated guided vehicle drives the goods to travel along the designed route. When one side of the drive wheels of the automated guided vehicle encounters undulations during travel, this side of the drive wheel will float up and down relative to the other side of the drive wheel, causing the drive wheel mounting bracket to tilt at an angle, causing the drive wheel mounting bracket to rotate around the articulated central axis. At the same time, it will also drive the corresponding support shaft to float up and down. Since the support shaft section 23 of the support member is positioned in the left-right direction by the rectangular hole, the support member and the drive wheel mounting bracket cannot move horizontally in the left-right direction, so that the other side of the drive wheel will not be affected by the lateral drag of the drive wheel on the side encountering undulations, ensuring that the automated guided vehicle can move precisely along the route. After the automated guided vehicle reaches the goods unloading location, the lifting platform 8 descends to place the goods on the ground, completing the transportation of the goods, and then the automated guided vehicle starts to perform the next goods picking operation.

[0045] In this embodiment, the support member includes a front support shaft and a rear support shaft arranged at intervals in the front-rear direction. In other embodiments, the support member can also be provided with only one. At this time, the front and rear ends of the support member are respectively hinged to the front and rear side plates of the drive wheel mounting bracket. The support plate can be located between the front and rear side plates, or only one support plate can be provided. At this time, a rectangular hole is provided on the support plate. The portion between the front and rear ends of the support member is a rectangular shaft section, and this rectangular shaft end is inserted into the rectangular hole, so that the support member is floatingly assembled on the vehicle body in the up-down direction and positioned and assembled on the vehicle body in the left-right direction.

[0046] In this embodiment, both the front elastic member and the rear elastic member are compression springs, and a rectangular hole is provided on the vehicle body. In other embodiments, the front elastic member and the rear elastic member can also be gas springs. At this time, the lower end of the gas spring can be hinged to the corresponding support shaft, and an oblong hole can also be provided on the vehicle body. The corresponding support shaft can float up and down in the oblong hole and is positioned and assembled on the vehicle body in the left-right direction.

[0047] In this embodiment, the articulated shaft section is hingedly assembled with the circular sleeve on the drive wheel mounting bracket. In other embodiments, the circular sleeve can also be not provided, and the articulated shaft section is directly hingedly assembled on the drive wheel mounting bracket. The mounting sleeve on the vehicle body can also be not provided. At this time, the rectangular hole is directly opened on the vehicle body.

[0048] In this embodiment, the rectangular frame is formed by splicing a front side plate, a rear side plate, a left end plate and a right end plate. In other embodiments, the rectangular frame can also be an integrally formed structure.

Claims

1. An automatic guided vehicle, comprising: a vehicle body; traveling wheels, supported and arranged at the bottom of the vehicle body to enable the movement of the vehicle body; characterized in that the forward-backward direction of the vehicle body is defined as the front-back direction, and the automatic guided vehicle further comprises: a drive wheel mounting bracket, hingedly assembled with a support member around a hinge central axis extending in the front-back direction; the traveling wheels include two drive wheels, the two drive wheels are coaxially arranged and are mounted on the drive wheel mounting bracket on both sides of the hinge central axis in the left-right direction; the support member includes a front support shaft and a rear support shaft that are coaxially arranged and spaced in the front-back direction, the front support shaft and the rear support shaft are respectively hingedly assembled with the drive wheel mounting bracket, the front support shaft and the rear support shaft are respectively guided and floatingly assembled on the vehicle body in the up-down direction, and are respectively positioned and assembled on the vehicle body in the left-right direction; an elastic structure extending in the up-down direction, including a front elastic member and a rear elastic member spaced in the front-back direction, the front elastic member is arranged between the vehicle body and the front support shaft, and the rear elastic member is supported and arranged between the vehicle body and the rear support shaft to apply an upward elastic force to the vehicle body and a downward elastic force to the support member.

2. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: both the front support shaft and the rear support shaft have a hinge shaft section and a support shaft section, the hinge shaft section is hinged with the drive wheel mounting bracket, the support shaft section is guided and floatingly assembled with the vehicle body in the up-down direction and is positioned and assembled with the vehicle body in the left-right direction, the front elastic member is arranged between the support shaft section of the front support shaft and the vehicle body, and the rear elastic member is arranged between the support shaft section of the rear support shaft and the vehicle body.

3. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that: the support shaft section has an upward support side surface, a groove is provided on the support side surface, and a guide member for guiding the corresponding elastic member is provided in the groove, the corresponding elastic member is a compression spring sleeved outside the guide member, and the lower end of the compression spring abuts in the groove to apply a downward elastic force to the corresponding support shaft.

4. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that: the hinge shaft section is hingedly assembled with a circular sleeve on the drive wheel mounting bracket to realize the hinged assembly of the corresponding support shaft and the drive wheel mounting bracket.

5. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that: rectangular holes are respectively provided on the vehicle body corresponding to the front support shaft and the rear support shaft, the support shaft section is a rectangular shaft section inserted into the corresponding rectangular hole, the rectangular shaft section is in up-down guiding fit with the corresponding rectangular hole, the thickness of the rectangular shaft section in the up-down direction is smaller than the size of the rectangular hole in the up-down direction, so that the support shaft section can float up and down in the rectangular hole, and the length of the rectangular shaft section in the left-right direction is equal to the size of the rectangular hole in the left-right direction, so that the corresponding support member is positioned and assembled with the vehicle body in the left-right direction.

6. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 5, characterized in that: an installation sleeve extending in the front-back direction is fixedly provided on the vehicle body, and the installation sleeve has the rectangular hole.

7. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: The vehicle body includes a frame main body, and two support plates are detachably mounted on the frame main body and are respectively disposed on the front and rear sides of the drive wheel mounting bracket. Each support plate is respectively provided with one of the rectangular holes to correspondingly assemble the front support shaft and the rear support shaft.

8. The automatic guided vehicle according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that: The drive wheel mounting bracket is a rectangular frame extending in the left-right direction, and the drive wheels are correspondingly arranged at the left and right ends of the rectangular frame.

9. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 8, characterized in that: The rectangular frame is formed by splicing a front side plate, a rear side plate, a left end plate and a right end plate. The drive wheels are respectively provided on each end plate. The front side plate is hingedly assembled with the front support shaft, and the rear side plate is hingedly assembled with the rear support shaft.

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