Wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot

Abstract

A wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot relates to the technical field of wall-climbing robots and comprises a balance arm and a driving wheel assembly with a magnetic attraction device. At least three sets of passive telescopic mechanisms are hinged to the balance arm in the length direction at intervals, driving wheel assemblies are installed at one ends of the passive telescopic mechanisms, and by limiting the deflection angles of the passive telescopic mechanisms, the situation that one set of driving wheel assembly interferes with the adjacent driving wheel assembly when swinging front and back in the obstacle crossing process is avoided; compared with the prior art, the wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot disclosed by the invention automatically adapts to obstacles on a walking surface through the passive telescopic mechanism, an obstacle detection device and an active adjusting mechanism for adjusting the wheels to lift up so as to cross the obstacles are not needed, and the wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot is simple in overall structure, low in failure rate and high in practicability. And the difficulty of application to flammable and explosive environments is reduced, and the production cost is greatly reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of wall-climbing robots, and in particular to a wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot. Background Art

[0002] As is known, in the petrochemical industry, regular maintenance of the inner wall of the storage tank is essential, which includes key steps such as rust removal and painting to ensure the safety and durability of the storage tank; however, the traditional maintenance method often relies on operators to enter the storage tank in person to perform manual operations; in view of the height of the top wall of the storage tank, the operators need to build scaffolding first, and the working environment inside the storage tank is poor, such as poor air quality and the presence of flammable and explosive gases, which poses a serious threat to the health of the operators. In addition, due to the limitations of the human body, the single operation time shall not exceed two hours; therefore, a complete maintenance cycle of the inner wall of a storage tank often takes more than one month, which is not only inefficient, but also brings great labor intensity to the operators; In order to solve this problem, a variety of wall-climbing robot technologies have emerged in the market; these robots carry rust removal or spraying equipment, which can largely replace manual maintenance work on the inner wall of the tank, effectively reducing the labor intensity and time cost of personnel; however, when dealing with the special structure of the inner top wall of the tank, such as the reinforcing rib plate protruding 80mm from the inner top wall of the tank, most of the existing wall-climbing robots face the challenge of insufficient obstacle crossing ability; this results in them being only used for maintenance work on the outer wall of the tank, and unable to perform the more complex and critical maintenance task of the inner top wall of the tank; even if they have the ability to cross obstacles, the overall posture of the wall-climbing robot will fluctuate with the height of the obstacle when crossing the obstacle, affecting the operation effect of its accompanying operating equipment; A Chinese patent (Announcement No.: CN101947777A) discloses a wheel-foot combination obstacle-crossing non-contact magnetic adsorption wall-climbing robot system; the patent includes a robot frame, a five-degree-of-freedom mechanical arm, three sets of mobile adsorption mechanisms and their corresponding linear slides, lead screws and drive motors, the five-degree-of-freedom mechanical arm is located above the robot frame, the three sets of linear slides and lead screws are vertically arranged below the robot frame and the two ends are respectively connected to the robot frame and the mobile adsorption mechanism, and the drive motor is fixedly connected to the mobile adsorption mechanism; during the movement process, if the front distance sensor detects an obstacle, the patent structure first drives the rear lead screw to move the rear magnet assembly downward to reduce the gap between the magnet and the wall to increase the magnetic adsorption force, and then drives the lifting mechanism of the front wheel group to lift the front mobile and adsorption mechanism of the robot to exceed the height of the obstacle, and the drive motor makes the front wheel group of the robot cross the obstacle. This method not only has low obstacle crossing efficiency, but also has a complex overall structure and a high failure rate; especially when used in flammable and explosive environments, all its electrical components need to be explosion-proof, which increases its production cost by several times and greatly increases its use cost. Summary of the invention

[0003] In order to overcome the deficiencies in the background technology, the present invention discloses a wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot; In order to achieve the above-mentioned invention object, the present invention adopts the following technical scheme: A wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot comprises a balancing arm and a driving wheel assembly with a magnetic attraction device; the balancing arm is hinged with at least three groups of passive telescopic mechanisms at intervals along the length direction, and a driving wheel assembly is installed at one end of the passive telescopic mechanism. By limiting the deflection angle of the passive telescopic mechanism, interference with adjacent driving wheel assemblies when one group of driving wheel assemblies swings back and forth during the obstacle-crossing process is avoided.

[0004] Preferably, the passive telescopic mechanism includes a guide sleeve hinged to the balance arm, a guide rod is slidably inserted in the guide sleeve, a driving wheel assembly is installed at one end of the guide rod, and a limiting element is installed at the other end to prevent the guide rod from separating from the guide sleeve, and the guide rod body is provided with a spring for keeping the driving wheel assembly away from the balance arm.

[0005] Preferably, the guide sleeve is hinged to the balance arm via a ball joint assembly, and a limit plate is provided between the guide sleeve body and the ball joint assembly.

[0006] Preferably, a hinge assembly is provided between two adjacent driving wheel assemblies, and the hinge assembly includes two connecting rods respectively hinged to the two adjacent driving wheel assemblies, and the corresponding ends of the two connecting rods are hinged correspondingly through a hinge block provided with a long hinge hole.

[0007] Preferably, the guide sleeve is hinged to the balance arm via a hinge shaft whose axis is parallel to the axis of the driving wheel assembly.

[0008] Preferably, the cross section of the shaft of the guide rod and the guide sleeve that cooperate with each other is a non-circular structure.

[0009] Preferably, the driving wheel assembly is a permanent magnet wheel body; or the wheel frame of the driving wheel assembly is provided with a permanent magnet that can be magnetically attracted to the running surface of the driving wheel assembly.

[0010] Preferably, the passive telescopic mechanism is correspondingly connected to the driving wheel assembly via a connecting frame; and the driving wheel assembly is installed at both ends of the connecting frame.

[0011] Due to the adoption of the above-mentioned technical solution, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: The wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot disclosed in the present invention has a passive telescopic mechanism correspondingly hinged to a balancing arm. When one set of driving wheel assemblies encounters an obstacle, the corresponding passive telescopic mechanism can swing to the rear side of the walking direction. The driving wheel assemblies of the set are subject to the resistance of the obstacle and the thrust of the remaining driving wheel assemblies. When the passive telescopic mechanism reaches the maximum swing angle, it starts to shrink until the driving wheel assembly encountering the obstacle crosses the obstacle. Compared with a structure in which the passive telescopic mechanism and the balancing arm are vertically fixedly connected, the phenomenon of the driving wheel assembly directly getting stuck when encountering an obstacle can be effectively reduced. At the same time, the distance between the balance arm and the walking surface remains unchanged, and the loading platform can be connected to the balance arm to install the working devices in the prior art, such as rust removal devices, spraying devices or flaw detection devices; Compared with the prior art, the wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot disclosed in the present invention automatically adapts to obstacles on the walking surface through a passive telescopic mechanism, does not need to install an obstacle detection device, and has an active adjustment mechanism for adjusting the wheel lift to cross obstacles. The overall structure is simple, the failure rate is low, the difficulty of application in flammable and explosive environments is reduced, and the production cost is greatly reduced. In addition, since the driving wheel assembly is connected to the balance arm through a passive telescopic mechanism, the driving wheel assembly can automatically adapt to the walking surface. In addition to having the ability to overcome obstacles, the driving wheel assembly can also automatically adapt to the curved walking surface. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the present invention; Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a passive telescopic mechanism; Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of a first connection structure between a passive telescopic mechanism and a balance arm; Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a second connection structure between the passive telescopic mechanism and the balance arm; Figure 5 is a structural schematic diagram of a hinge assembly; Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a first layout structure of a driving wheel assembly; Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the second layout structure of the drive wheel assembly Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the third layout structure of the drive wheel assembly Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of the fourth layout structure of the drive wheel assembly.

[0013] In the figure: 1, balance arm; 2, driving wheel assembly; 3, passive telescopic mechanism; 3-1, guide sleeve; 3-2, guide rod; 3-3, limit element; 3-4, spring; 3-5, limit plate; 4, ball joint assembly; 5, connecting rod; 6, hinge block; 7, connecting frame; DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The present invention can be explained in detail through the following embodiments. The purpose of disclosing the present invention is to protect all technical improvements within the scope of the present invention. In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that if there are terms such as "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", etc. indicating directions or positional relationships, they only correspond to the drawings of the present application for the convenience of describing the present invention, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction.

[0015] Embodiment 1, in combination with Figures 1 to 5 A wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot comprises a balancing arm 1 and a driving wheel assembly 2 with a magnetic attraction device; the balancing arm 1 is hinged with at least three groups of passive telescopic mechanisms 3 at intervals along the length direction; a driving wheel assembly 2 is installed at one end of the passive telescopic mechanism 3; by limiting the deflection angle of the passive telescopic mechanism 3, it is avoided that one group of driving wheel assemblies 2 swings back and forth during the obstacle-crossing process to interfere with the adjacent driving wheel assembly 2; Working principle: the driving wheel assembly 2 is driven by a motor. When the walking surface is clear, the driving wheel assembly 2 drives the passive telescopic mechanism 3 and then drives the balancing arm 1 to walk along the walking surface; when one set of driving wheel assemblies 2 encounters an obstacle, the corresponding passive telescopic mechanism 3 can swing to the rear side of the walking direction. The driving wheel assembly 2 of this set is subject to the resistance of the obstacle and the thrust of the remaining driving wheel assemblies 2. When the passive telescopic mechanism 3 reaches the maximum swing angle, it begins to shrink until the driving wheel assembly 2 encountering the obstacle crosses the obstacle; compared with the structure in which the passive telescopic mechanism 3 and the balancing arm 1 are vertically fixedly connected, it can effectively reduce the phenomenon of the driving wheel assembly 2 being directly stuck when encountering an obstacle; It should be noted that, since the balancing arm 1 is hinged with at least three groups of passive telescopic mechanisms 3 at intervals along the length direction, when one group of passive telescopic mechanisms 3 encounters an obstacle and contracts, the other passive telescopic mechanisms 3 remain extended, so that the distance between the balancing arm 1 and the walking surface can always remain unchanged, and a loading platform can be connected to the balancing arm 1 to install an operating device in the prior art, such as a rust removal device, a spraying device or a flaw detection device; It should be noted that, since the driving wheel assembly 2 is connected to the balance arm 1 through the passive telescopic mechanism 3, the driving wheel assembly 2 can automatically adapt to the walking surface. In addition to having the ability to overcome obstacles, the driving wheel assembly 2 can also automatically adapt to the curved walking surface; Combined with Figure 2The passive telescopic mechanism 3 comprises a guide sleeve 3-1 hinged to the balance arm 1, a guide rod 3-2 is slidably inserted in the guide sleeve 3-1, a driving wheel assembly 2 is installed at one end of the guide rod 3-2, and a limiting element 3-3 is installed at the other end to prevent the guide rod 3-2 from being separated from the guide sleeve 3-1, and a spring 3-4 for keeping the driving wheel assembly 2 away from the balance arm 1 is sleeved on the guide rod 3-2; when one set of the passive telescopic mechanisms 3 encounters an obstacle, the guide rod 3-2 slides along the guide sleeve 3-1 to compress the spring 3-4, and when the set of passive telescopic mechanisms 3 passes over the obstacle, the guide rod 3-2 automatically resets under the action of the spring 3-4 until the limiting element 3-3 conflicts with the guide sleeve 3-1; It should be noted that the limiting element 3-3 only serves to prevent the guide rod 3-2 from being separated from the guide sleeve 3-1, and the limiting element 3-3 can be a nut, a limiting pin, or a retaining spring; It should be noted that, in order to avoid the interference of the spring 3-4 on the deflection of the guide rod 3-2, the spring 3-4 can be made to contact with the guide sleeve 3-1, so that the spring 3-4 can deflect with the guide rod 3-2; It should be noted that the guide sleeve 3-1 and the balance arm 1 can be correspondingly hinged in two ways; The first type: as attached Figure 3 As shown, the guide sleeve 3-1 is hinged to the balance arm 1 through the ball joint assembly 4. In order to prevent the guide sleeve 3-1 from swinging too much, a limit plate is provided between the guide sleeve 3-1 and the ball joint assembly 4. The limit plate contacts the outer shell of the ball joint assembly 4 to limit the swing angle of the guide sleeve 3-1. The second type: as attached Figure 4 As shown, the guide sleeve 3-1 is hinged to the balance arm 1 through a hinge shaft whose axis is parallel to the axis of the driving wheel assembly 2, and limit baffles can be set on both sides of the guide sleeve 3-1 to limit the swing angle of the guide sleeve 3-1; It should be noted that, since the guide sleeve 3-1 is hinged to the balance arm 1 via the ball joint assembly 4, the guide sleeve 3-1 has the ability to rotate; if the guide rod 3-2 is a cylindrical rod, the guide rod 3-2 can rotate relative to the guide sleeve 3-1; therefore, during the movement of the driving wheel assembly 2, the guide rod 3-2 will be driven to rotate axially, causing the driving wheel assembly 2 to deviate from the movement; in order to avoid the above problem, a hinge assembly is provided between two adjacent driving wheel assemblies 2, as shown in the attached figure. Figure 5 As shown, the hinge assembly includes two connecting rods 5 respectively hinged to two adjacent driving wheel assemblies 2, and the corresponding ends of the two connecting rods 5 are correspondingly hinged through a hinge block 6 provided with a long hinge hole. The hinge assembly does not affect the swing of the passive telescopic mechanism 3, and can limit the axial rotation of the driving wheel assembly 2 around the guide rod 3-2, thereby ensuring that the driving wheel assembly 2 can move in a straight line; If the guide sleeve 3-1 is hinged to the balance arm 1 through an articulated axis whose axis is parallel to the axis of the driving wheel assembly 2, it is only necessary to make the cross-section of the rod body of the guide rod 3-2 and the guide sleeve 3-1 a non-circular structure, that is, the cross-section of the rod body of the guide rod 3-2 and the guide sleeve 3-1 can be rectangular or triangular, or the guide rod 3-2 and the guide sleeve 3-1 are matched through a spline, so that the guide rod 3-2 can only telescope and slide along the guide sleeve 3-1 but cannot rotate.

[0016] Embodiment 2, in combination with Figure 1 , a wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot, which is different from Example 1 in that, based on Example 1, the driving wheel assembly 2 is a permanent magnetic wheel body; or the wheel frame of the driving wheel assembly 2 is provided with a permanent magnet that can be magnetically attracted to the walking surface of the driving wheel assembly 2, that is, the driving wheel assembly 2 can be firmly in contact with the walking surface through the permanent magnet.

[0017] Embodiment 3, in combination with Figures 6 to 9 , a wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot, based on embodiment 1 or 2, the passive telescopic mechanism 3 is correspondingly connected to the driving wheel assembly 2 through a connecting frame 7; the driving wheel assembly 2 is installed at both ends of the connecting frame 7, which can effectively improve the stability of the balance arm 1; If the balance arm 1 is hinged with three sets of passive telescopic mechanisms 3 at intervals along the length direction, each set of passive telescopic mechanisms 3 can be installed with two sets of driving wheel assemblies 2 through the connecting frame 7, as shown in the attached figure. Figure 6 or two sets of passive telescopic mechanisms 3 are installed through the connecting frame 7 to drive the wheel assembly 2, as shown in the attached Figure 7 or one of the passive telescopic mechanisms 3 is installed through the connecting frame 7 to the drive wheel assembly 2, as shown in the attached Figure 8 and 9 shown.

[0018] The parts of the present invention that are not described in detail are prior art. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments, and the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic characteristics of the present invention; therefore, no matter from which point of view, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-restrictive, and it is intended that all changes that fall within the meaning and scope of equivalent elements are included in the present invention.

Claims

1. A wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot, characterized by: The invention comprises a balancing arm (1) and a driving wheel assembly (2) with a magnetic attraction device; the balancing arm (1) is hinged with at least three groups of passive telescopic mechanisms (3) at intervals along the length direction; one end of the passive telescopic mechanism (3) is mounted with a driving wheel assembly (2); and by limiting the deflection angle of the passive telescopic mechanism (3), interference with an adjacent driving wheel assembly (2) when one group of driving wheel assemblies (2) swings back and forth during an obstacle crossing process is avoided.

2. The wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The passive telescopic mechanism (3) comprises a guide sleeve (3-1) hingedly connected to the balance arm (1), a guide rod (3-2) being slidably inserted in the guide sleeve (3-1), a driving wheel assembly (2) being mounted on one end of the guide rod (3-2), and a limiting element (3-3) for preventing the guide rod (3-2) from separating from the guide sleeve (3-1) being mounted on the other end, and a spring (3-4) for keeping the driving wheel assembly (2) away from the balance arm (1) being mounted on the body of the guide rod (3-2).

3. The wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The guide sleeve (3-1) is hingedly connected to the balance arm (1) via a ball joint assembly (4), and a limit plate is provided between the guide sleeve (3-1) and the ball joint assembly (4).

4. The wall-climbing and obstacle-crossing robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: An articulation assembly is provided between two adjacent driving wheel assemblies (2), the articulation assembly comprising two connecting rods (5) respectively articulated to the two adjacent driving wheel assemblies (2), and corresponding ends of the two connecting rods (5) are articulated to each other via an articulation block (6) provided with a long strip articulation hole.

5. The wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guide sleeve (3-1) is hingedly connected to the balance arm (1) via a hinge axis whose axis is parallel to the axis of the drive wheel assembly (2).

6. The wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot according to claim 5, characterized in that: The cross section of the rod body of the guide rod (3-2) matched with the guide sleeve (3-1) is a non-circular structure.

7. The wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving wheel assembly (2) is a permanent magnetic wheel body; or the wheel frame of the driving wheel assembly (2) is provided with a permanent magnet capable of magnetically attracting the running surface of the driving wheel assembly (2).

8. The wall-climbing obstacle-crossing robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The passive telescopic mechanism (3) is correspondingly connected to the driving wheel assembly (2) via a connecting frame (7); the driving wheel assembly (2) is mounted on both ends of the connecting frame (7).

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