A pipe robot

Abstract

The application discloses a pipeline robot and belongs to the technical field of robots, which comprises a driving section, the driving section comprising a body main body and a moving mechanism; the body main body comprising a power supply and an electrical control module; the moving mechanism comprising at least three wheel groups uniformly distributed on the peripheral side of the body main body; the wheel groups being rotatably connected to the body main body; each wheel group comprising a driving wheel, a load wheel, a conical wheel, a track and a fixing member; the driving wheel being provided with a hub motor electrically connected to the power supply and the electrical control module, the driving wheel being rotatably installed on the fixing member and used for providing power and bearing pressure; the load wheel being rotatably installed on the fixing member and used for bearing pressure; the track being wrapped on the peripheral side of the driving wheel and the load wheel and being transmissionally connected between the driving wheel and the load wheel; the conical wheel being provided with a conical peripheral surface and being coaxially and fixedly installed on the two ends of the driving wheel and the load wheel through a large end surface. The pipeline robot has the advantages of both the track type and the wheel type pipeline robots.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of robot technology, in particular to a pipeline robot. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of social productivity, the progress of national industrialization and the improvement of people's living standards, more and more pipelines appear in production and life, such as oil and gas pipelines, industrial hydraulic pipelines, sewer pipelines, water pipelines and air conditioning pipelines. With the increase of use time, these pipelines will have problems such as blockage, leakage and aging, so a suitable pipeline maintenance tool is needed, in addition, the fire department, police department and anti-terrorist forces also need a transportation equipment that can travel in the pipeline in the event of various emergencies. Under this demand, various pipeline robots have emerged.

[0003] Generally, a mature pipeline robot often has several (usually 2-4) moving mechanisms (or action devices) radially distributed around the main body of the robot. When traveling in a circular pipeline, the variable diameter device is used to spread each moving mechanism radially outward along the pipeline, so that the pipeline robot is attached to the inner wall of the pipeline, and the pipeline robot is driven forward by the friction of the inner wall of the pipeline. As the part in contact with the pipeline and providing driving force, the moving mechanism often plays an important role in the whole robot.

[0004] The existing pipeline robot moving mechanism is mainly divided into track type and wheel type, both of which have advantages and disadvantages. Among them, the track type pipeline robot has large ground contact area, good passability and strong pressure bearing capacity, but its structure makes it necessary to be perpendicular to the pipe wall or ground when driving, otherwise the track will no longer have the effect of increasing the ground contact area, leading to deterioration of the stress condition and easy occurrence of track slipping along the wheel axis. This makes the pipeline robot using track type moving mechanism must arrange at least two moving mechanisms in parallel when driving on flat ground, and arrange each parallel mechanism at an angle when driving in the pipeline. When converting between the two road conditions, the arrangement angle of two or more parallel mechanisms needs to be changed. This makes the robot need to add additional mechanism to control the arrangement angle of the action device, leading to the increase of the volume of the robot and the increase of the control difficulty. In addition, due to the inevitable delay of computer control, the adaptability of the robot to the change of pipeline diameter will be greatly reduced, making it difficult to meet the needs of actual work or combat.

[0005] The wheeled pipeline robot can be used when the moving mechanism is not perpendicular to the pipe wall or the ground, but due to its small ground contact area and the presence of various muddy dirt in the pipeline, the moving mechanism of the wheeled pipeline robot is prone to be trapped when encountering these obstacles in the pipeline, and the passing performance is poor; on the other hand, the wheeled pipeline robot needs a large driving force when climbing along the vertical pipeline, and the moving mechanism should exert a large positive pressure on the pipe wall to obtain sufficient friction, at which time the stress condition of the ground contact of the wheeled moving mechanism is very bad.

[0006] However, the pipeline robot needs to enter the pipeline from the outside of the pipeline or perform a small amount of task on the flat road, which requires the pipeline robot to be suitable for movement on the flat road and in the pipeline at the same time, which makes neither the tracked nor the wheeled pipeline robot meet the requirements. SUMMARY

[0007] Therefore, the pipeline robot provided by the present application can work normally in the road conditions where the tracked is suitable and the wheeled is not suitable or the wheeled is suitable and the tracked is not suitable, greatly improving the working efficiency of the pipeline robot.

[0008] The present application adopts the following specific technical solutions:

[0009] A pipeline robot comprises a driving section, wherein the driving section comprises a first body and a first moving mechanism;

[0010] The first body comprises a power supply and an electrical control module;

[0011] The first moving mechanism comprises at least three wheel groups uniformly distributed on the outer circumferential side of the first body; the wheel groups are rotatably connected to the first body; each wheel group comprises a driving wheel, a load wheel, a conical wheel, a track and a fixing member; the driving wheel is provided with a hub motor electrically connected to the power supply and the electrical control module, and the driving wheel is rotatably mounted on the fixing member to provide power and bearing pressure; the load wheel is rotatably mounted on the fixing member to bear pressure; the track is wrapped on the outer circumferential side of the driving wheel and the load wheel and is in transmission connection between the driving wheel and the load wheel;

[0012] The conical wheel is provided with a conical outer circumferential surface and is coaxially fixedly mounted on both ends of the driving wheel and the load wheel through a large end surface.

[0013] Further, the conical angle of the conical wheel is 90°.

[0014] Further, the conical wheel is made of rubber material.

[0015] Further, the driving section further comprises a variable-diameter mechanism corresponding to the wheel set one by one.

[0016] The variable-diameter mechanism is used to change the distance of the first moving mechanism relative to the first body main body.

[0017] Further, the variable-diameter mechanism comprises a scissor lift;

[0018] One end of the scissor lift is rotatably connected to the first body main body, and the other end is fixedly connected to the wheel set.

[0019] Further, the variable-diameter mechanism further comprises a steering engine, an input gear, an idler gear, an output gear, and a ball screw;

[0020] The steering engine is fixedly installed on the first body main body and electrically connected to the power supply;

[0021] The input gear is fixedly connected to the output end of the steering engine;

[0022] The number of idler gears corresponds to the number of scissor lifts, and each is meshed with the input gear;

[0023] The number of output gears corresponds to the number of idler gears, and each is meshed with the idler gear;

[0024] The number of ball screws corresponds to the number of output gears, and one end of each is fixedly connected to the output gear;

[0025] The other end of the ball screw is fixedly connected to one end of the scissor lift close to the first body main body through a screw nut.

[0026] Further, the number of wheel sets is four.

[0027] Further, the fixing member is a bracket;

[0028] The driving wheel is fixedly installed on the bracket through the stator of the wheel hub motor;

[0029] The load wheel is rotatably connected to the bracket through a bearing.

[0030] Further, it further comprises a functional section, the functional section comprising a second body main body and a second moving mechanism;

[0031] The second moving mechanism comprises at least three load wheels evenly distributed on the outer peripheral side of the second body main body; the load wheel is rotatably connected to the second body main body, and both ends of the load wheel are fixedly provided with the conical wheels;

[0032] The functional section and the driving section are connected in series to form a combat section.

[0033] Further, the pipeline robot comprises at least two of the combat sections connected in series.

[0034] Advantages:

[0035] (1) The pipeline robot has at least three wheel groups distributed on the outer periphery of the first body, and the wheel groups are covered with caterpillar tracks on the outer periphery of the driving wheels and the load wheels, so that the pipeline robot has the advantages of the caterpillar track type pipeline robot. Meanwhile, the conical wheels are fixedly installed at the two ends of the driving wheels and the load wheels, and when the conical wheels of two adjacent wheel groups are in contact with the ground at the same time, the pipeline robot has the advantages of the wheeled robot. This enables the pipeline robot to enter the pipeline from the outside without the assistance of personnel, and the pipeline robot does not need to be carried to the pipeline by manpower and then put into the pipeline. Moreover, the pipeline robot can work normally in the road conditions where the caterpillar track type is applicable and the wheeled type is not applicable, or the wheeled type is applicable and the caterpillar track type is not applicable, and can perform tasks in both pipeline and flat ground conditions, thereby greatly improving the work efficiency of the pipeline robot.

[0036] (2) The pipeline robot has a variable diameter mechanism arranged between the first body and the first moving mechanism, which changes the distance between the first moving mechanism and the first body under the control of the first body, so that the pipeline robot can enter different size pipelines to work, and the pressure between the driving wheels and the load wheels in the first moving mechanism and the pipeline wall can be flexibly adjusted through the variable diameter mechanism, so that the pipeline robot is less likely to fall out of the pipeline.

[0037] (3) The pipeline robot uses a scissor type lifting frame as the variable diameter mechanism, which has a simple and compact structure.

[0038] (4) The pipeline robot has a transmission system composed of a steering engine, an input gear, an idler, an output gear and a ball screw, which controls the contraction or extension of the moving mechanism relative to the body, and has a compact, solid and durable structure and high reliability.

[0039] (5) The pipeline robot has four wheel groups combined with caterpillar tracks and wheels distributed on the outer periphery of the first body, so that when the robot falls due to obstacles on the road surface, the robot can still maintain the state of adhesion of two adjacent wheel groups to the ground, and only needs to change the driving control strategy to restore normal work.

[0040] (6) The pipeline robot of the present application connects the functional joints and the driving joints in series, and various functional modules can be installed in the internal free space of the functional joints according to actual requirements, thereby forming a series connection type pipeline robot with diversified functions and flexible operation; and a mechanical arm can be installed on the driving joints at the front end and the rear end of the series connection type pipeline robot to perform more diversified tasks and improve the application range of the pipeline robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0041] Figure 1 Fig. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a pipeline robot in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 2 Fig. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a transmission system in the embodiment of the present application; Figure 1

[0043] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the pipeline robot in the embodiment of the present application when working on a flat road; Figure 3 Figure 1 Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the pipeline robot in the embodiment of the present application when working in a pipeline;

[0044] Figure 4 Figure 1 Fig. 5 is a structural schematic diagram of a pipeline robot in another embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 5 Fig. 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a pipeline robot in another embodiment of the present application.

[0046] Figure 6 Fig. 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a pipeline robot in another embodiment of the present application.

[0047] Wherein, 1-first body main body, 2-driving wheel, 3-weight wheel, 4-conical wheel, 5-track, 6-bracket, 7-scissor lifting frame, 8-connection plate, 9-input gear, 10-idler, 11-output gear, 12-roller screw, 13-screw nut, 14-flat road, 15-pipeline, 16-second body main body. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0049] Embodiment 1:

[0050] The present embodiment provides a pipeline robot, as shown in the figure, which comprises a driving joint, and the driving joint comprises a first body main body 1 and a first moving mechanism, wherein: Figure 1

[0051] ​​​The first main body 1 includes a power supply and an electrical control module (not shown in the figure); the first moving mechanism includes at least three wheel sets, which are evenly distributed on the outer periphery of the first main body 1 and rotatably connected to the first main body 1; each wheel set includes a drive wheel 2, a load-bearing wheel 3, a conical wheel 4, a track 5, and a bracket 6 (as a fixing component for the drive wheel 2 and the load-bearing wheel 3); the drive wheel 2 is equipped with a hub motor that is electrically connected to the power supply and the electrical control module, and is rotatably fixed to the bracket 6 through the stator of the hub motor, for providing power and bearing pressure; the load-bearing wheel 3 is rotatably fixed to the bracket 6 through bearings, for bearing pressure; the track 5 covers the outer periphery of the drive wheel 2 and the load-bearing wheel 3, and is connected to the drive wheel 2 and the load-bearing wheel 3 for transmission; the conical wheel 4 is provided with a conical outer periphery, and is fixedly installed at both ends of the drive wheel 2 and the load-bearing wheel 3 through its large end face.

[0052] In this embodiment, the pipeline robot has at least three wheel sets evenly distributed around the outer periphery of the first body. These wheel sets cover the outer periphery of the drive wheel 2 and the load-bearing wheel 3 with tracks 5. Figure 4 As shown, this design incorporates the advantages of a tracked pipeline robot, making it suitable for operation within pipeline 15; simultaneously, conical wheels 4 are fixedly installed at both ends of the drive wheel 2 and the load-bearing wheel 3, as shown. Figure 3 As shown, when the conical wheels 4 in two adjacent wheel sets are in contact with the ground simultaneously, the pipeline robot also possesses the advantages of a wheeled robot, making it suitable for working on straight roads 14. This allows the pipeline robot to enter the pipeline 15 from the outside without human assistance, eliminating the need for manual transport of the robot to the pipeline 15 before placement. Moreover, it can operate normally in road conditions where tracked robots are suitable but wheeled robots are not, or vice versa, performing tasks that simultaneously present both pipeline 15 and straight ground 14 conditions, greatly improving the pipeline robot's work efficiency.

[0053] Specifically, such as Figure 1 As shown, in this embodiment, the cone angle of the conical wheel 4 is 90°, and it is a rubber conical wheel.

[0054] In addition, such as Figure 1 As shown, the drive section of the pipeline robot is also equipped with a mechanism that corresponds one-to-one with the wheel set. The diameter-changing mechanism is mainly composed of a scissor lift frame 7 and a transmission system structure. One end of the scissor lift frame 7 is rotatably connected to the main body 1, and the other end is fixedly connected to the corresponding wheel set. Under the control of the electrical control module, the diameter-changing mechanism can change the distance between each wheel set in the first moving mechanism and the first main body 1.

[0055] Specifically, such as Figure 2As shown in the embodiment, the scissors lifting frame 7 is mainly composed of four rods which are crossed in pairs. One of the crossed rods is fixedly connected with the screw nut 13 on the ball screw 12 at one end close to the first body main body 1 and connected with the connecting plate 8 at the other end away from the first body main body 1. The other of the crossed rods is rotatably connected with the first body main body 1 at one end close to the first body main body 1 and rotatably connected with the connecting plate 8 at the other end away from the first body main body 1 through a pin and a slot, and the connecting plate 8 is fixedly connected with the support in the first moving mechanism.

[0056] As shown in the embodiment, Figure 2 The variable-diameter mechanism further includes a steering engine (not shown in the figure), an input gear 9, idler gears 10, output gears 11 and ball screws 12. The steering engine is fixedly installed on the first body main body 1 and electrically connected with a power supply (not shown in the figure). The input gear 9 is fixedly connected with the output end of the steering engine. The number of the idler gears 10 corresponds to the number of the scissors lifting frames, and each of the idler gears 10 is engaged with the input gear 9. The number of the output gears 11 corresponds to the number of the idler gears 10, and each of the output gears 11 is engaged with the idler gears 10. The number of the ball screws 12 corresponds to the number of the output gears 11, and one end of each of the ball screws 12 is fixedly connected with the idler gears 10, and the other end of each of the ball screws 12 is fixedly connected with the scissors lifting frame 7 at one end close to the first body main body 1 through the screw nut 13. The above-mentioned transmission system for controlling the first moving mechanism to contract or expand relative to the first body main body (i.e. to change the diameter) is composed of the steering engine, the input gear 9, the idler gears 10, the output gears 11 and the ball screws 12. The transmission system has compact structure, is solid and durable, and has high reliability.

[0057] As shown in the embodiment, Figure 2 When the steering engine in the first body main body 1 rotates, the input gear 9 is driven to rotate, the input gear 9 drives the output gears 11 to rotate through the idler gears 10, and the output gears 11 drive the ball screws 12 to rotate, so that the screw nut 13 moves to the front end (the direction away from the input gear 9 in the figure) to make the scissors lifting frame 7 rise, the moving mechanism moves away from the first body main body 1, the diameter of the robot applicable pipe changes, and the steering engine drives the ball screws 12 to make the screw nut 13 move to the rear end (the direction close to the input gear 9 in the figure) to make the scissors lifting frame 7 lower, the moving mechanism moves close to the first body main body 1, and the diameter of the robot applicable pipe changes.

[0058] The above-mentioned pipeline robot is provided with a variable-diameter mechanism between the first body main body 1 and the first moving mechanism. The variable-diameter mechanism changes the distance between the first moving mechanism and the first body main body 1 under the control of the electrical control module, so that the pipeline robot can enter different size pipes to work, and the pressure between the driving wheels 2 and the load wheels 3 in the moving mechanism and the pipe wall can be flexibly adjusted through the variable-diameter mechanism, so that the pipeline robot is less likely to fall from the pipe.

[0059] As shown in the embodiment, Figure 1 ,Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, the number of wheel sets used in the drive section is four, so that when the robot is traveling on a flat ground, if it overturns due to obstacles on the road, the robot can still maintain the state of two adjacent wheel sets attached to the ground because the four wheel sets are radially distributed at equal angles around the first body 1. It can resume normal operation simply by changing the drive control strategy.

[0060] Example 2:

[0061] Based on the above embodiment one, as follows Figure 5 As shown, this embodiment provides another type of pipeline robot, which also includes a functional section consisting of a second body 16 and a second moving mechanism. The functional section and the drive section can be connected in series via connectors to form a combat section. The second body 16 mainly serves a load-bearing function. Specifically, the second moving mechanism includes at least three load-bearing wheels 3 evenly distributed on the outer periphery of the second body 16; in this embodiment, four are provided. The load-bearing wheels 3 are rotatably connected to the second body 16, and conical wheels 4 are fixedly provided at both ends of the load-bearing wheels 3; in addition, from Figure 5 As can be seen, the functional section also has a variable diameter mechanism similar in structure to that in the drive section.

[0062] It is worth noting that the load-bearing wheels 3 in the second moving mechanism can be fixed to the corresponding diameter-changing mechanism individually, or multiple load-bearing wheels 3 can be fixed to the corresponding diameter-changing mechanism as a group. Since there are no drive wheels 2 in the functional section, and no corresponding hub motors and electrical control modules are needed, various functional modules can be added to the empty space of the second body according to actual needs to form a serial pipeline robot with diverse functions and flexible operation.

[0063] Example 3:

[0064] Based on the above embodiment two, this embodiment provides another pipeline robot, such as... Figure 6 As shown, Figure 5 The middle combat sections can be further connected to form another type of serial pipeline robot (snake-like). A robotic arm can be added to the drive section at the front or rear end of this serial pipeline robot to perform more diverse tasks and improve the application range of the snake-like pipeline robot.

[0065] In summary, the above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A pipe robot, characterized in that, The drive section comprises a first body and a first moving mechanism; The first body comprises a power supply and an electrical control module; The first moving mechanism comprises at least three wheel sets arranged on the periphery of the first body; the wheel sets are rotatably connected to the first body; each wheel set comprises a driving wheel, a load wheel, a conical wheel, a track and a fixing member; the driving wheel is provided with a hub motor electrically connected to the power supply and the electrical control module; the driving wheel is rotatably mounted on the fixing member to provide power and support pressure; the load wheel is rotatably mounted on the fixing member to support pressure; the track is wrapped around the periphery of the driving wheel and the load wheel and is in transmission connection between the driving wheel and the load wheel; the wheel set is rotatably connected to the first body through the fixing member; The conical wheel is provided with a conical outer periphery and is coaxially fixedly mounted on both ends of the driving wheel and the load wheel; the conical angle of the conical wheel is 90°; The drive section further comprises a diameter changing mechanism corresponding to each wheel set; the diameter changing mechanism is used to change the distance of the first moving mechanism relative to the first body; The diameter changing mechanism comprises a scissor-type lifting frame; one end of the scissor-type lifting frame is rotatably connected to the first body and the other end is fixedly connected to the wheel set; The diameter changing mechanism further comprises a steering engine, an input gear, an idler, an output gear and a ball screw; The steering engine is fixedly mounted on the first body and is electrically connected to the power supply; The input gear is fixedly connected to the output end of the steering engine; The number of idlers corresponds to the number of scissor-type lifting frames, and each idler is in meshing connection with the input gear; The number of output gears corresponds to the number of idlers, and each output gear is in meshing connection with the idler; The number of ball screws corresponds to the number of output gears, and one end of each ball screw is fixedly connected to the output gear; The other end of the ball screw is fixedly connected to the end of the scissor-type lifting frame close to the first body through a screw nut.

2. The pipe robot of claim 1, wherein, The conical wheel is made of rubber material.

3. The pipe robot of claim 1, wherein, The number of wheel sets is four.

4. The pipe robot of claim 1, wherein, The fixing member is a bracket; The driving wheel is fixedly mounted on the bracket through the stator of the hub motor; The load wheel is rotatably connected to the bracket through a bearing.

5. The pipe robot of any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The functional section comprises a second body and a second moving mechanism; The second moving mechanism comprises at least three load wheels arranged on the periphery of the second body; the load wheels are rotatably connected to the second body and are provided with conical wheels at both ends; The functional section and the drive section are connected in series to form a combat section.

6. The pipe robot of claim 5, wherein, The pipeline robot comprises at least two combat sections connected in series.

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