Auxiliary traffic cone retraction and deployment mechanism

Abstract

The present invention discloses an auxiliary traffic cone retracting and extending mechanism, which relates to the field of special vehicles for the highway maintenance industry. It has low control difficulty and can realize the transportation of traffic cones to the road surface and the picking up of traffic cones from the road surface. The retracting and extending mechanism includes a tail conveyor belt, a tail belt frame, an auxiliary frame and a rotatable shift lever; the auxiliary frame is fixedly mounted on the tail belt frame, the rotatable shift lever is hinged on the auxiliary frame, and a rotating power source is fixedly connected to the auxiliary frame. The output shaft of the rotating power source extends into the auxiliary frame and is fixedly connected to the rotatable shift lever, thereby driving the rotatable shift lever to rotate. The present invention only needs to control the rotatable shift lever to rotate in coordination with reversing, and the parameters that need to be controlled are far less than those of traditional manipulators. Overall, the control difficulty is lower, the structure is more sophisticated, and it has better practical use effect.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of special vehicles for highway maintenance industry, and in particular to an auxiliary retracting and releasing mechanism for an automatic traffic cone retracting and releasing vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Daily highway maintenance involves extensive tasks and is performed frequently. Substandard road surfaces require repairs when detected. With the improvement of people's livelihoods, increased motor vehicle usage, and the rapid development of logistics, the frequency of highway maintenance is increasing. During highway maintenance work, sections of road must be temporarily closed to protect equipment and personnel. A common method for this is to manually place traffic cones to direct traffic. This exposes workers and equipment to hazardous conditions during both the initial placement and final collection phases. Furthermore, long-distance placement is labor-intensive, making it difficult to attract young people to participate in today's mechanized, intelligent, and information-based world, as well as an aging population. Therefore, the cost of labor makes the design of an automated traffic cone placement and collection vehicle both necessary and urgent.

[0003] For example, a Chinese invention patent application titled "Automatic Traffic Cone Collection Vehicle" and application number "2021106539097," published on August 19, 2021, describes an automatic traffic cone placement and collection vehicle. To facilitate the placement and recovery of cones, a placement mechanism consisting of a robotic arm and a power source was proposed. However, this type of placement mechanism, due to its numerous movable joints, places higher demands on the control method. Therefore, how to improve the existing placement mechanism, reduce the degrees of freedom, and lower the control difficulty has become a technical problem that needs to be urgently addressed by those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In response to the above problems, the present invention proposes an auxiliary traffic cone retracting and deploying mechanism, which is easy to control and can deliver traffic cones to the road surface and pick up traffic cones from the road surface.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is as follows: the retracting and unretracting mechanism includes a tail conveyor belt 8-4, a tail belt frame 8-5, an auxiliary frame 9-1 and a rotatable shift lever 9-2;

[0006] The auxiliary frame 9-1 is fixedly mounted on the tail belt frame 8-5, the rotatable shift lever 9-2 is hinged on the auxiliary frame 9-1, a rotary power source is fixedly connected to the auxiliary frame 9-1, and the output shaft of the rotary power source extends into the auxiliary frame 9-1 and is fixedly connected to the rotatable shift lever 9-2, thereby driving the rotatable shift lever 9-2 to rotate;

[0007] The rotatable shift rod 9-2 includes a pair of side brackets hinged on the auxiliary frame 9-1 and a transverse rod 9-21 connected between the pair of side brackets. The side brackets include a number of fixedly connected radial rods 9-22. The radial rods 9-22 in a pair of side brackets are also arranged in pairs. The two ends of the transverse rod 9-21 are fixedly connected to a pair of radial rods 9-22.

[0008] Furthermore, the rotatable shift rod 9-2 has three pairs of radial rods 9-22 and two transverse rods 9-21.

[0009] Furthermore, the retracting and extending mechanism also includes two guide bars 9-4. The tail of the tail conveyor belt 8-4 is the cone barrel entrance and exit channel. The two guide bars 9-4 are fixedly connected to the tail belt frame 8-5 and are located on both sides of the cone barrel entrance and exit channel.

[0010] Furthermore, the retractable mechanism also includes a detection block 9-3 fixedly mounted on the auxiliary frame 9-1.

[0011] Furthermore, the tail conveyor belt 8-4 is arranged at an angle, and the auxiliary frame 9-1 is arranged perpendicular to the tail conveyor belt 8-4 at the tail of the tail conveyor belt 8-4.

[0012] The present invention controls the rotation of the rotatable lever when placing traffic cones, and rotates the side without the transverse rod to the lowest position, so that the traffic cones will not interfere with the rotatable lever when falling from the tail conveyor belt to the ground, and the tail conveyor belt can continuously output cone barrels to the road surface.

[0013] When retracting a traffic cone, the rotatable lever is controlled to rotate, rotating the side with the transverse rod to the lowest position. The entire mechanism reverses with the vehicle. The traffic cone remains stationary relative to the ground, but moves relative to the entire mechanism within the V-shaped range formed by the two guide bars. When the top of the traffic cone contacts the transverse bar, the vehicle continues to reverse, pushing the traffic cone to a certain angle. When the bottom of the traffic cone is directly above the bottom end of the tail conveyor belt, the detection block is also in a state of detecting the traffic cone. At this time, the drive input angle of the rotatable lever is controlled, preferably to 2πrad, and the linear speed of the transverse bar is controlled to be slightly greater than the reverse speed, so that the transverse bar contacting the traffic cone is disengaged, and the bottom of the traffic cone falls onto the tail conveyor belt. The rotatable lever continues to rotate, and the adjacent transverse bar re-contacts the other side of the traffic cone top, and continues to operate to completely push the entire traffic cone onto the tail conveyor belt.

[0014] The present invention only needs to control the rotatable gear lever to rotate in coordination with reversing, and the parameters that need to be controlled are far less than those of traditional manipulators. Overall, the control difficulty is lower, the structure is more sophisticated, and it has better practical use effect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention when placing traffic cones;

[0018] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the initial posture of the structure of the present invention when collecting traffic cones;

[0019] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of the rotatable shift lever of the present invention.

[0020] In the figure, 8-4 is the tail conveyor belt; 8-5 is the tail belt frame; 9-1 is the auxiliary frame; 9-2 is the rotatable stop rod; 9-3 is the detection block; 9-4 is the guide stop rod; 9-21 is the transverse rod; and 9-22 is the radial rod. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In order to clearly illustrate the technical features of this patent, this patent is described in detail below through specific implementation methods and in combination with its accompanying drawings.

[0022] The present invention Figure 1-5 As shown, the retracting and extending mechanism includes a tail conveyor belt 8-4, a tail belt frame 8-5, an auxiliary frame 9-1 and a rotatable shift lever 9-2;

[0023] Combine Figures 1 to 5 As shown, the tail conveyor belt 8-4 is a conveyor belt driven by a servo motor and is used to transport traffic cones. Since transporting an object by a conveyor belt is a conventional technical means in this field, the specific structure of the conveyor belt will not be described in detail in this case. The tail belt frame 8-5 is the main and slave rollers and drive motor mounting frame of the tail conveyor belt 8-4. The tail belt frame 8-5 is connected to the rear of the traffic cone barrel storage vehicle and is arranged obliquely downward. Furthermore, it can serve as a mounting frame for other parts. The auxiliary frame 9-1 is fixedly mounted on the tail belt frame 8-5. The auxiliary frame 9-1 is a gantry-shaped structural member provided with mounting holes and reaming holes. Furthermore, the height of the reaming hole axis relative to the ground is greater than the axial height of the cone barrel. The rotatable shift rod 9-2 is hinged on the auxiliary frame 9-1, and a rotating power source is fixedly connected to the auxiliary frame 9-1. The output shaft of the rotating power source extends into the auxiliary frame 9-1 and is fixedly connected to the rotatable shift rod 9-2, thereby driving the rotatable shift rod 9-2 to rotate; preferably, the rotating power source is a driving device that can control the input angle, such as a servo motor.

[0024] The rotatable shift rod 9-2 includes a pair of side brackets hinged on the auxiliary frame 9-1 and a transverse rod 9-21 connected between the pair of side brackets. The side brackets include a number of fixedly connected radial rods 9-22. The radial rods 9-22 in a pair of side brackets are also arranged in pairs. The two ends of the transverse rod 9-21 are fixedly connected to a pair of radial rods 9-22.

[0025] The rotatable shift rod 9-2 has three pairs of radial rods 9-22 and two transverse rods 9-21.

[0026] Combine Figure 3 、 Figure 4 As shown, the radial rods 9-22 are provided in multiple groups, preferably three groups. The transverse rods 9-21 are fixedly connected to the radial rods and are provided in multiple groups, which is equal to the number of radial rods 9-22 minus one, preferably two groups. Furthermore, as the axis of the transverse rods 9-21 rotates about the drive shaft, its height relative to the ground changes with rotation, and its minimum height relative to the ground must be less than the height of the cone.

[0027] The retractable mechanism also includes two guide bars 9-4. The tail of the tail conveyor belt 8-4 serves as the cone barrel entrance and exit channel. The two guide bars 9-4 are fixedly connected to the tail belt frame 8-5 and are located on both sides of the cone barrel entrance and exit channel. The two guide bars 9-4 are symmetrically arranged and form an angle of 20-70 degrees with the length direction of the tail conveyor belt 8-4. Thus, a gradually converging material collection channel is formed between the two guide bars 9-4, and the material collection channel directly connects to the tail conveyor belt. This plays a role in guiding and supporting the cone barrel during the retractable and retractable process. When placing the cone, it is used to guide the cone to the specified position. Furthermore, when reversing to collect the cone, the cone can smoothly enter the entire retractable mechanism within a certain deviation range.

[0028] The retractable mechanism further includes a detection block 9-3 fixedly mounted on the auxiliary frame 9-1. The detection block 9-3 is fixedly mounted on the auxiliary frame 9-1 and is used to detect whether there is a cone barrel at the position and output a signal.

[0029] The tail conveyor belt 8-4 is arranged at an angle, and the auxiliary frame 9-1 is arranged perpendicular to the tail conveyor belt 8-4 at the tail end of the tail conveyor belt 8-4. That is, the auxiliary frame is located behind the tail conveyor belt, so that when the cone bucket is collected, the transverse rod 9-21 of the rotatable lever 9-2 will first contact the cone bucket on the ground.

[0030] When placing: control the angle of the rotatable lever 9-2 and rotate the side without the transverse rod 9-21 to the lowest position so that the traffic cone will not interfere with the transverse rod 9-21 in the rotatable lever 9-2 when it falls from the rear conveyor belt 8-4 to the ground, and the rear conveyor belt 8-4 continues to output cone barrels to the road surface.

[0031] When collecting: control the angle of the rotatable lever 9-2, and rotate the side with the transverse rod 9-21 to the lowest position. The entire mechanism moves with the vehicle drive, and the traffic cone is stationary relative to the ground. Relative to the entire mechanism, it moves within the range surrounded by the two guide bars 9-4. When the top of the traffic cone contacts the transverse rod 9-21, the vehicle continues to reverse and pushes the traffic cone to a certain angle. When the bottom of the traffic cone lifts and enters just above the bottom of the tail conveyor belt 8-4, the detection block 9-3 is also in a state of detecting the traffic cone. At this time, when the vehicle continues to reverse, the rotatable lever 9-2 is controlled to rotate synchronously, and the rotation angle is preferably 2πrad. Further, the linear velocity of the control transverse rod 9-21 is slightly greater than the reverse speed, so that the transverse rod 9-21 that contacts the traffic cone is disengaged, and the bottom of the traffic cone falls on the surface of the tail conveyor belt 8-4. Further, the rotatable lever 9-2 continues to rotate, and the adjacent transverse rod 9-21 contacts the other side of the top of the traffic cone again, pushing the entire traffic cone onto the tail conveyor belt 8-4.

[0032] In summary, the auxiliary traffic cone retraction and deployment mechanism of the present invention uses sensors and mechanical structures to cooperate to complete the action of pushing traffic cones from the road surface to the conveyor belt. At the same time, it can also be rotated to a state where it does not interfere with the transportation of traffic cones to the ground, effectively solving the problem that the cone barrel is difficult to accurately pick up from the road surface.

[0033] There are many specific implementation ways of the present invention. The above is only the preferred implementation method of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements should also be considered as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An auxiliary traffic cone retracting and deploying mechanism, characterized in that: The retracting and extending mechanism comprises a tail conveyor belt (8-4), a tail belt frame (8-5), an auxiliary frame (9-1), and a rotatable shift lever (9-2); The auxiliary frame (9-1) is fixedly mounted on the tail belt frame (8-5), the rotatable shift lever (9-2) is hinged on the auxiliary frame (9-1), a rotary power source is fixedly connected to the auxiliary frame (9-1), and an output shaft of the rotary power source extends into the auxiliary frame (9-1) and is fixedly connected to the rotatable shift lever (9-2), thereby driving the rotatable shift lever (9-2) to rotate; The rotatable shift lever (9-2) comprises a pair of side brackets hinged on the auxiliary frame (9-1) and a transverse rod (9-21) connected between the pair of side brackets. The side brackets comprise a plurality of fixedly connected radial rods (9-22). The radial rods (9-22) in the pair of side brackets are also arranged in pairs. Both ends of the transverse rod (9-21) are fixedly connected to the pair of radial rods (9-22). The rotatable shift rod (9-2) comprises three pairs of radial rods (9-22) and two transverse rods (9-21); The retractable mechanism further comprises a detection block (9-3) fixedly mounted on the auxiliary frame (9-1).

2. The auxiliary traffic cone retracting and deploying mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The retracting and unfolding mechanism further comprises two guide bars (9-4); the tail of the tail conveyor belt (8-4) is a cone barrel entrance and exit passage; the two guide bars (9-4) are both fixedly connected to the tail belt frame (8-5) and are located on both sides of the cone barrel entrance and exit passage.

3. The auxiliary traffic cone retracting and deploying mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tail conveyor belt (8-4) is arranged obliquely, and the auxiliary frame (9-1) and the tail conveyor belt (8-4) are arranged perpendicularly at the tail of the tail conveyor belt (8-4).

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