Wheel foot device and equipment comprising same

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a wheel foot device comprising: a connecting member for mounting the wheel foot device to an object to be supported; comprising a connecting part and a supporting part, the connecting part is used for mounting a connecting component, and the supporting part comprises a motor mounting hole; comprising a foot driving motor, a sole component and a first connecting plate, the foot driving motor is installed in the motor installation hole, the sole component is fixedly connected with the first end of the first connecting plate, and the first connecting plate is installed to be capable of being driven by the foot driving motor so as to rotate around the central axis of the motor installation hole; comprising a wheel hub, a tire, a wheel rolling bearing and a wheel bearing compression ring, the tire is mounted on the wheel hub, and the wheel hub is mounted on the supporting part through the wheel rolling bearing and the wheel bearing compression ring and can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole. The present disclosure also relates to an apparatus comprising at least one such wheel foot device. The equipment can intelligently control the wheel foot device to operate in a foot mode or a wheel mode based on the AI technology.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of electromechanical technology, and in particular, to a wheel-foot device, and also to a device including the wheel-foot device. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of robotics technology, legged and wheeled robots have attracted more and more attention from researchers. On the one hand, legged robots have good agility and passability, and are basically bionic structures, so they have always been an important focus of many studies. But on the other hand, wheeled robots have characteristics such as high speed, stability and durability that legged robots still cannot achieve. Therefore, most of the existing commercial robots still use wheeled structures as a means of movement.

[0003] Therefore, it is desired to provide a wheel-foot device that can integrate the wheel structure and the foot structure and has a compact structure, so that the equipment using the wheel-foot device can achieve the characteristics of high speed, stability and durability in the wheel mode, and can have good agility and passability in the foot mode. Summary of the invention

[0004] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a wheel-foot device is provided, comprising: a connecting member, which is used to install the wheel-foot device to an object to be supported; a bracket, which comprises a connecting portion and a supporting portion, the connecting portion is used to install the connecting member, and the supporting portion comprises a motor mounting hole; a foot module, which comprises: a foot driving motor, a foot bottom member and a first connecting plate, wherein the foot driving motor is installed in the motor mounting hole, the foot bottom member is fixedly connected to the first end of the first connecting plate, and the first connecting plate is installed to be driven by the foot driving motor so as to be able to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole; a wheel module, which comprises a wheel hub, a tire, a wheel rolling bearing and a wheel bearing pressure ring, wherein the tire is installed on the wheel hub, the wheel hub is installed on the supporting portion through the wheel rolling bearing and the wheel bearing pressure ring, and can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole. In the foot mode, the first connecting plate is driven by the foot driving motor to rotate along the first direction, so that the sole member is lowered, thereby supporting the object only by the sole member, or supporting the object together by the sole member and the tire; in the wheel mode, the first connecting plate is driven by the foot driving motor to rotate along the second direction, so that the sole member is lifted up, thereby supporting the object only by the tire, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction.

[0005] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the foot module further includes a foot active flange, the foot active flange is fixedly connected to the output end of the foot drive motor, and the second end of the first connecting plate is fixedly connected to the foot active flange.

[0006] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the first connecting plate is integral with the foot active flange.

[0007] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the foot module also includes a second connecting plate, a foot follower flange, a foot follower flange bearing and a foot follower flange bearing pressure ring, wherein the first end of the second connecting plate is fixedly connected to the foot sole component, the second end of the second connecting plate is fixedly connected to the foot follower flange, and the foot follower flange is installed on the support portion through the foot follower flange bearing and the foot follower flange bearing pressure ring and can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole.

[0008] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the second connecting plate is integral with the foot follower flange.

[0009] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the foot follower flange bearing is a rolling bearing or a sliding bearing.

[0010] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the tire includes a plurality of sub-tires, and the wheel hub and the plurality of sub-tires constitute an omnidirectional wheel.

[0011] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the multiple sub-tires are divided into two groups of sub-tires, and each group of sub-tires is mounted on the wheel hub to form a wheel rim, wherein the two wheel rims formed by the two groups of sub-tires are arranged to be located side by side on the wheel hub and both surround the wheel hub, and along the circumferential direction of the two wheel rims, the sub-tires of one wheel rim are alternately arranged with the sub-tires of the other wheel rim.

[0012] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the connecting member includes a connecting flange installed at a connecting portion of the bracket.

[0013] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the wheel module also includes a hub motor, which includes a stator and a rotor, wherein: the stator includes a coil mounting ring and a plurality of conductive coils, wherein the plurality of conductive coils are embeddedly mounted in the coil mounting ring, and the coil mounting ring is mounted on the support portion, surrounding the motor mounting hole and coaxial with the motor mounting hole; the rotor includes a plurality of rotor magnets, and the plurality of rotor magnets are mounted on the surface of the wheel hub facing the stator.

[0014] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the rotor of the wheel hub motor further includes a magnetic flux leakage suppression ring, wherein the magnetic flux leakage suppression ring is installed between a surface of the wheel hub facing the stator and the plurality of rotor magnets.

[0015] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the magnetic flux leakage suppression ring is made of nickel-iron alloy.

[0016] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the wheel hub motor further includes a wheel hub motor speed sensor configured to measure a rotation speed of the wheel hub motor.

[0017] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the wheel hub speed sensor includes a magnetic encoder or an optical encoder.

[0018] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a device is provided, which includes the wheel-foot device according to the first aspect of the present disclosure and its various exemplary embodiments.

[0019] According to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the device includes a robot.

[0020] The wheel-foot device according to the present disclosure achieves at least the following beneficial technical effects: the foot drive motor is embedded in the support portion of the bracket, which can make the structure of the wheel-foot device simple and compact; the wheel-foot device can switch between the wheel mode and the foot mode, thereby allowing the foot bottom component to be completely retracted when not needed, without affecting the movement of the tire in the wheel mode, and when in the foot mode, the foot bottom component can achieve the support function alone, and can also achieve the support function together with the tire, thereby forming a larger range of support surface at the bottom of the wheel-foot device to increase the support stability of the wheel-foot device and increase the maximum load it can withstand. For the wheel-foot device using the active wheel module, since its wheel drive motor adopts a hub motor with a spindle-free design, the wheel hub is the rotor of the hub motor, and the force on the hub is directly borne by two equal-section bearings, so the structure is more compact. In addition, for equipment such as robots that use the wheel-foot device according to the present invention, since the wheel-foot device according to the present invention has a compact structure and a variety of deformation forms, it can meet the various needs of wheeled robots and footed robots, is conducive to the stable fixation of the robot in a complex environment, and can also greatly reduce the weight and structural complexity of the robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Hereinafter, various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings; in the accompanying drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 The structure of a wheel-foot device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown in the form of a stereogram;

[0023] Figure 2 The structure of a wheel-foot device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown in the form of a partially cutaway perspective view;

[0024] Figure 3 The structure of a wheel-foot device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown in the form of a stereogram;

[0025] Figure 4 The structure of a wheel-foot device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown in the form of a stereogram;

[0026] Figure 5 The structure of a wheel-foot device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown in the form of a partially cutaway perspective view; and

[0027] Figure 6 The structure of a device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown in the form of a block diagram.

[0028] It should be understood that the accompanying drawings are only schematic illustrations of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure, nor are they necessarily drawn to scale. In addition, in the accompanying drawings, identical or similar features are indicated by identical or similar reference numerals. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can fully understand and implement the technical solutions according to the present disclosure.

[0030] It should be understood that the wheel-foot device according to the present disclosure can be applied to devices such as robots to support and control their motion. At present, with the research and progress of artificial intelligence technology, artificial intelligence technology has been widely used in many fields, such as common smart homes, smart wearable devices, virtual assistants, smart speakers, smart marketing, unmanned driving, automatic driving, drones, digital twins, virtual people, robots, artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC), conversational interaction, smart medical care, smart customer service, game AI, etc. Therefore, devices such as robots can use artificial intelligence technology to control the wheel-foot device according to the present disclosure to achieve intelligent support and motion control.

[0031] Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the theory, method, technology and application system that uses digital computers or machines controlled by digital computers to simulate, extend and expand human intelligence, perceive the environment, acquire knowledge and use knowledge to obtain the best results. In other words, artificial intelligence is a comprehensive technology in computer science that attempts to understand the essence of intelligence and produce a new intelligent machine that can respond in a similar way to human intelligence. Artificial intelligence is to study the design principles and implementation methods of various intelligent machines so that machines have the functions of perception, reasoning and decision-making.

[0032] Artificial intelligence technology is a comprehensive discipline that covers a wide range of fields, including both hardware-level and software-level technologies. Basic artificial intelligence technologies generally include sensors, dedicated artificial intelligence chips, cloud computing, distributed storage, big data processing technology, pre-trained model technology, operation / interaction systems, mechatronics and other technologies. Among them, the pre-trained model is also called a large model or a basic model. After fine-tuning, it can be widely used in downstream tasks in various major directions of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence software technology mainly includes computer vision technology, speech processing technology, natural language processing technology, and machine learning / deep learning.

[0033] Specifically in the present application, a robot device including a wheel-foot device according to the present invention can utilize artificial intelligence technology to intelligently select the working mode of the wheel-foot device (i.e., select the foot mode or the wheel mode) based on environmental perception, computer vision, behavioral decision-making, path planning, motion control, etc., so as to provide stable support and flexible motion control for the robot device.

[0034] See also Figure 1 and Figure 2 ,in, Figure 1 The structure of the wheel-foot device 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown in the form of a stereogram, and Figure 2 The partially cutaway perspective view schematically shows Figure 1 The structural details of the wheel-foot device 100 are shown in FIG. Figure 1 As shown, the wheel-foot device 100 includes a connecting member 110 , a bracket 120 , a foot module 130 and a wheel module 140 .

[0035] The connecting member 110 is mounted on the bracket 120, which is used to mount the wheel-foot device 100 to an object to be supported, such as a robot, an instrument platform, etc. Figure 1 and Figure 2In the illustrated embodiment, the connecting member 100 may be a connecting flange, which can be connected to a corresponding flange component on the object to be supported, thereby facilitating the convenient installation of the wheel-foot device 100 to the object to be supported. It should be understood that the connecting member 110 may be a component having any suitable form, according to actual needs, as long as it can realize the function of installing the wheel-foot device 100 to the object to be supported. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the connecting member 110 may be a threaded fastener such as a bolt, or the connecting member 110 may also be a buckle or slot component such as an elastic buckle, which can be snap-fitted with a corresponding slot or buckle component in the object to be supported. The present disclosure does not impose any restrictions on the specific type of the connecting member 110.

[0036] The bracket 120 is the main supporting member in the wheel-foot device 100, which is used to install various components in the wheel-foot device 100 (for example, the foot module 130 and the wheel module 140, which will be described in detail below), and when the wheel-foot device 100 is used for support, it bears the load applied by the supported object and transmits the load applied by the supported object to the tire and / or foot structure of the wheel-foot device 100. Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the bracket 120 may include a connecting portion 121 and a supporting portion 122, and the connecting portion 121 and the supporting portion 122 are integrated. The connecting portion 121 can be used to install the connecting member 110 of the wheel-foot device 100, such as a connecting flange. The supporting portion 122 may include a motor mounting hole 122-1, which is used to accommodate the foot drive motor of the foot module, and the foot drive motor is used to drive the foot structure in the foot module 140 of the wheel-foot device 100 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1. Therefore, in the wheel-foot device 100 according to the present disclosure, by providing the motor mounting hole 122-1 in the supporting portion 122 of the bracket 120, the foot drive motor is installed in the wheel-foot device 100 in an embedded manner, omitting the transmission structure required for installing the motor in an external manner, saving the installation space required for the external installation of the motor, thereby making the structure of the wheel-foot device 100 compact and eliminating the risk of interference with the movement of the supported object (such as a robot). In addition, the bracket 120 can be made of any suitable material, such as but not limited to metal materials such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, or iron-based alloy. The present disclosure does not impose any limitation on the material used for the bracket 120.

[0037] exist Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the wheel-foot device 100 shown, the foot module 130 includes: a foot drive motor 131, a foot bottom member 132, a first connecting plate 133, a second connecting plate 134, a foot active flange 135, a foot driven flange 136, a foot driven flange bearing 137 and a foot driven flange bearing pressing ring 138. Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the foot drive motor 131 is installed in the motor mounting hole 122-1 of the support portion 122 of the bracket 120, and the rotation center axis of the output end of the foot drive motor 131 coincides with the center axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1. The foot drive motor 131 can be any suitable type of motor, such as a brushed motor or a brushless motor, etc., and the present disclosure does not impose any restrictions on the type of the foot drive motor 131. In addition, in some embodiments, the foot drive motor 131 can also be integrated with modules such as a drive circuit board, a brake, and an encoder.

[0038] The foot bottom member 132, the first connecting plate 133 and the second connecting plate 134 together constitute the foot structure of the wheel-foot device 100, which can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1 under the drive of the foot drive motor 131. The first ends of the foot bottom member 132 and the first connecting plate 133 and the second connecting plate 134 are fixedly connected. Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, the sole member 132 may further include a sole rubber, which may be securely fixed to the sole member 132 by, for example, bonding. The second end of the first connecting plate 133 may be fixedly connected to the foot active flange 135. For example, the second end of the first connecting plate 133 may be joined to the foot active flange 135 by shape matching, and then a secure fixed connection is achieved between the two by using a set screw. The foot active flange 135 is then fixedly connected to the output end of the foot drive motor 131. Thus, the first connecting plate 133 is installed to be driven by the foot drive motor 131, so that it can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1, thereby driving the sole member 132 and the second connecting plate 134 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1.

[0039] In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the first connecting plate 133 and the foot active flange 135 may be integrated. In this case, the foot active flange 135 is actually formed directly at the second end of the first connecting plate 133, so there is no separate foot active flange, but both are formed as separate components. By directly forming the foot active flange at the second end of the first connecting plate 133, the number of parts required for the wheel-foot device can be reduced, thereby facilitating the manufacture, assembly and maintenance of the wheel-foot device.

[0040] like Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, the second end of the second connecting plate 134 can be fixedly connected to the foot follower flange 136. For example, the second end of the second connecting plate 134 can be engaged with the foot follower flange 136 through shape matching, and then a fastening screw is used to achieve a firm fixed connection between the two. However, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the second connecting plate 134 and the foot follower flange 136 can be integrated, which can reduce the number of parts required for the foot module, thereby facilitating the manufacture, assembly and maintenance of the wheel-foot device. The foot follower flange 136 can be mounted on the supporting portion 122 of the bracket 120 through a foot follower flange bearing 137 and a foot follower flange bearing pressure ring 138, and is configured to be able to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1. Specifically, as Figure 2 As shown, the inner ring of the foot follower flange bearing 137 is mounted on the support portion 122 of the bracket 120 of the wheel-foot device 100, and is arranged to surround the motor mounting hole 122-1 of the support portion 122. The foot follower flange 136 is mounted on the outer ring of the foot follower flange bearing 137 and surrounds the outer ring, thereby enabling the foot follower flange 136 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1. The foot follower flange bearing pressure ring 138 is installed to press against the support portion 122 and the inner ring of the foot follower flange bearing 137, thereby limiting the position of the foot follower flange bearing 137 on the support portion 122 in the direction along the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1. With the above structure, when the foot drive motor 131 drives the first connecting plate 133 to rotate, the first connecting plate 133 can drive the second connecting plate 134 to rotate, thereby enabling the lifting and lowering of the foot sole member 132. The foot follower flange bearing 137 can be any suitable type of bearing, including but not limited to a rolling bearing or a sliding bearing. Compared with a rolling bearing, a sliding bearing has a lower rotational performance than a rolling bearing, but its structure is simpler, so it can be used in situations where the load of the wheel-foot device is small.

[0041] Figure 1 and Figure 2The foot structure of the wheel-foot device 100 shown includes two connecting plates, namely a first connecting plate 133 and a second connecting plate 134. The use of two connecting plates can make the foot structure of the wheel-foot device 100 bear more uniform force when bearing load, and the load distribution is more balanced, and thus it can withstand a larger load. However, it should be understood that in other embodiments of the present disclosure, when the load borne is small or there are restrictions on the weight of the wheel-foot device, the wheel-foot device may also have only one connecting plate, for example, only the first connecting plate 133 and the foot bottom member 132, and thus the second connecting plate 134, the foot follower flange 136, the foot follower flange bearing 137 and the foot follower flange bearing pressure ring 138 can be omitted. In this way, the number of parts required for the wheel-foot device can be reduced, which is beneficial to the manufacture, assembly and maintenance of the wheel-foot device. In some embodiments, the foot bottom member 132, the first connecting plate 133 and the second connecting plate 134 can be formed using a carbon plate made of a carbon fiber composite material, but it is also possible to use other suitable materials, for example, it can also be made of aluminum or other suitable metal materials. The present disclosure does not impose any limitation on the materials used for the sole member 132 , the first connecting plate 133 , and the second connecting plate 134 .

[0042] From the above analysis, it can be seen that according to the wheel-foot device 100 disclosed in the present invention, by providing a foot module 130 that can be driven by a foot drive motor 131, the foot structure can be lifted or lowered according to actual needs, thereby achieving a more flexible support mode. In addition, the foot drive motor 131 is installed in the motor mounting hole 122-1 in an embedded manner, saving the installation space required for an externally installed motor, making the wheel-foot device 100 compact in structure and eliminating the risk of interference with the movement of the supported object.

[0043] exist Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the wheel-foot device 100 shown, the wheel module 140 includes: a wheel hub 141, a tire 142, wheel rolling bearings 143-1, 143-2 and wheel bearing pressure rings 144-1, 144-2, 144-3. The tire 142 is mounted on the wheel hub 141, and the wheel hub 141 is mounted on the support portion 122 of the bracket 120 through the wheel rolling bearings 143-1, 143-2 and the wheel bearing pressure rings 144-1, 144-2, 144-3, thereby allowing the wheel hub 141 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1 of the support portion 122, and allowing the tire 142 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1 of the support portion 122. As a result, the wheel-foot device 100 can be used in its wheel mode. Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the wheel-foot device 100 shown, the tire 142 includes a plurality of sub-tires 142-1, and these sub-tires 142-1 and the wheel hub 141 together form an omnidirectional wheel. Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of sub-tires 142-1 are divided into two groups, each group of sub-tires is mounted on the wheel hub 141 to form a wheel rim, and therefore, in the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of sub-tires 142-1 form two wheel rims 142-2 and 142-3. The two wheel rims 142-2 and 142-3 are arranged to be located side by side on the wheel hub 141 and surround the wheel hub 141, and when observed along the direction in which the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1 extends, along the circumferential direction of the two wheel rims 142-2 and 142-3, the sub-tires 142-1 in the wheel rim 142-2 are staggered with the sub-tires 142-1 in the wheel rim 142-3. The plurality of sub-tires 142-1 are arranged in such a staggered manner, which is beneficial to avoid possible motion interference between adjacent sub-tires when rotating.

[0044] The inner rings of the wheel rolling bearings 143-1 and 143-2 are fixedly mounted on the support portion 122 of the bracket 120 and surround the motor mounting hole 122-1 in the support portion 122, and the central axis of the inner ring coincides with the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1. The wheel hub 141 is fixedly mounted on the outer rings of the wheel rolling bearings 143-1 and 143-2, thereby enabling the wheel hub 141 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1. The wheel bearing pressure ring 144-1 is installed to press against the support portion 122 and the inner ring of the wheel rolling bearing 143-1, the wheel bearing pressure ring 144-2 is installed to press against one side of the wheel hub 141 and the outer ring of the wheel rolling bearing 143-1, the wheel bearing pressure ring 144-2 is installed to press against the other side of the wheel hub 141 and the outer ring of the wheel rolling bearing 143-2, and the inner ring of the wheel rolling bearing 143-2 is pressed against a step on the support portion 122. In this way, the positions of the wheel rolling bearings 143-1, 143-2 and the wheel hub 141 on the support portion 122 are defined in the direction along the central axis of the motor mounting hole 122-1. It should be understood that the wheel rolling bearings 143-1, 143-2 can be any suitable type of rolling bearings, and the present disclosure is not limited to this. Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the illustrated embodiment, the wheel foot device 100 includes two wheel rolling bearings 143-1, 143-2. ​​However, this is not necessary, and the wheel foot device 100 may include fewer or more wheel rolling bearings according to actual needs. For example, in some embodiments not illustrated in the present disclosure, by providing a suitable number of annular grooves around the motor mounting hole in the support portion of the bracket, and providing corresponding annular grooves in the wheel hub, wheel rolling bearings can be provided in the corresponding pair of annular grooves, so that the wheel hub is mounted on the support portion and can rotate around the motor mounting hole. As a non-limiting example, the number of annular groove pairs, and therefore the number of wheel rolling bearings, can be one or three, etc.

[0045] Figure 1 , Figure 2 The wheel-foot device 100 shown is in use: when in the foot mode, the first connecting plate 133 is driven by the foot drive motor 131 to rotate in a first direction, so that the sole member 132 is lowered, so that only the sole member 132 contacts the support surface, or the sole member 132 and the tire 142 contact the support surface together; when in the wheel mode, the first connecting plate 133 is driven by the foot drive motor 131 to rotate in a second direction, so that the sole member 132 is lifted, so that only the tire 142 contacts the support surface, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction. It can be seen that the wheel-foot device 100 according to the present disclosure has achieved at least the following beneficial technical effects: the foot drive motor is embedded in the supporting part of the bracket, which can simplify the structure of the wheel-foot device and make its structure compact; the wheel-foot device can switch between the wheel mode and the foot mode, thereby, the foot sole component can be completely retracted when not needed, and will not affect the movement of the tire in the wheel mode; when in the foot mode, the foot sole component can achieve support alone, and can also achieve support together with the tire, thereby forming a larger support surface at the bottom of the wheel-foot device, which is beneficial to increase the stability of the support and increase the maximum load that can be borne.

[0046] See also Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 ,in, Figure 3 The structure of a wheel-foot device 300 according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is schematically shown in the form of a stereogram. Figure 4 The diagram schematically shows the Figure 3 The structure of the wheel-foot device 300 shown in FIG. Figure 5 The partially cutaway perspective view schematically shows Figure 3 and Figure 4 The structural details of the wheel-foot device 300 are shown in FIG. Figure 3 As shown, the wheel-foot device 300 includes a connecting member 310 , a bracket 320 , a foot module 330 and a wheel module 340 .

[0047] exist Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5In the illustrated embodiment, the connecting member 310 is mounted on the bracket 320, which is used to install the wheel-foot device 300 to the object to be supported, such as a robot. The connecting member 310 can also be a connecting flange, which can be connected to the corresponding flange component on the object to be supported, thereby facilitating the convenient installation of the wheel-foot device 300 to the object to be supported. It should be understood that the connecting member 310 can be a component having any suitable form, as long as it can realize the function of installing the wheel-foot device 300 to the object to be supported. In addition, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the connecting member 310 can also be a threaded fastener such as a bolt, or the connecting member 310 can also be a buckle or slot connecting member such as an elastic buckle, which can be snap-fitted with a corresponding slot or buckle in the object to be supported. The present disclosure does not impose any restrictions on the specific form of the connecting member 310.

[0048] The bracket 320 is the main supporting member in the wheel-foot device 300, which is used to install various components in the wheel-foot device 300 (for example, the foot module 330 and the wheel module 340, which will be described in detail below), and when the wheel-foot device 300 is used for support, it bears the load applied by the supported object and transmits the load applied by the supported object to the tire and / or foot structure of the wheel-foot device 300. Figure 5 As shown, the bracket 320 may include a connecting portion 321 and a supporting portion 322, and the connecting portion 321 and the supporting portion 322 are integrated. The connecting portion 321 can be used to install the connecting member 310 of the wheel-foot device 300, such as a connecting flange. The supporting portion 322 may include a motor mounting hole 322-1, which is used to accommodate the foot drive motor of the foot module, and the foot drive motor is used to drive the foot structure in the foot module 340 of the wheel-foot device 300 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1. Therefore, in the wheel-foot device 300 according to the present disclosure, by providing the motor mounting hole 322-1 in the supporting portion 322 of the bracket 320, the foot drive motor is installed in the wheel-foot device 300 in an embedded manner, omitting the transmission structure required for installing the motor in an external manner, saving the installation space required for the external installation of the motor, thereby making the structure of the wheel-foot device 300 compact and eliminating the risk of interference with the movement of the supported object (such as a robot). In addition, the bracket 320 can be made of any suitable material, such as but not limited to metal materials such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, or iron-based alloy. The present disclosure does not impose any limitation on the material used for the bracket 320.

[0049] exist Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5In the wheel-foot device 300 shown, the foot module 330 includes: a foot drive motor 331, a foot bottom member 332, a first connecting plate 333, a second connecting plate 334, a foot active flange 335, a foot driven flange 336, a foot driven flange bearing 337 and a foot driven flange bearing pressing ring 338. Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the foot drive motor 331 is installed in the motor mounting hole 322-1 of the support portion 322 of the bracket 320, and the rotation center axis of the output end of the foot drive motor 331 coincides with the center axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1. The foot drive motor 331 can be any suitable type of motor, such as a brushed motor or a brushless motor, etc., and the present disclosure does not impose any restrictions on the type of the foot drive motor 331. In addition, in some embodiments, the foot drive motor 331 can also be integrated with modules such as a drive circuit board, a brake, and an encoder.

[0050] The foot bottom member 332, the first connecting plate 333 and the second connecting plate 334 together constitute the foot structure of the wheel-foot device 300, which can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1 under the drive of the foot drive motor 331. The first ends of the foot bottom member 332 and the first connecting plate 333 and the second connecting plate 334 are fixedly connected. Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, the sole member 332 may further include a sole rubber, which may be securely fixed to the sole member 332 by, for example, bonding. The second end of the first connecting plate 333 may be fixedly connected to the foot active flange 335. For example, the second end of the first connecting plate 333 may be joined to the foot active flange 335 by shape matching, and then a fastening screw is used to securely connect the two. The foot active flange 335 is fixedly connected to the output end of the foot drive motor 331. Thus, the first connecting plate 333 is installed to be driven by the foot drive motor 331, so that it can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1, thereby driving the sole member 332 and the second connecting plate 334 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1.

[0051] In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the first connecting plate 333 and the foot active flange 335 may be integrated. In this case, the foot active flange 335 is actually formed directly at the second end of the first connecting plate 333, so there is no separate foot active flange, but both are formed as separate components. By directly forming the foot active flange at the second end of the first connecting plate 333, the number of parts required for the wheel-foot device can be reduced, thereby facilitating the manufacture, assembly and maintenance of the wheel-foot device.

[0052] like Figure 5As shown, the second end of the second connecting plate 334 can be fixedly connected to the foot follower flange 336. For example, the second end of the second connecting plate 334 can be engaged with the foot follower flange 336 through shape matching, and then a fastening screw is used to achieve a firm fixed connection between the two. However, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the second connecting plate 334 and the foot follower flange 336 can be integrated, which can reduce the number of parts required for the foot module, thereby facilitating the manufacture, assembly and maintenance of the wheel-foot device. The foot follower flange 336 can be mounted on the supporting portion 322 of the bracket 320 through a foot follower flange bearing 337 and a foot follower flange bearing pressure ring 338, and is configured to be able to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1. Specifically, as Figure 5 As shown, the inner ring of the foot follower flange bearing 337 is mounted on the support portion 322 of the bracket 320 of the wheel-foot device 300, and is arranged to surround the motor mounting hole 322-1 of the support portion 322. The foot follower flange 336 is mounted on the outer ring of the foot follower flange bearing 337 and surrounds the outer ring, thereby enabling the foot follower flange 336 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1. The foot follower flange bearing pressure ring 338 is installed to press against the support portion 322 and the inner ring of the foot follower flange bearing 337, thereby limiting the position of the foot follower flange bearing 337 on the support portion 322 in the direction along the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1. With the above structure, when the foot drive motor 331 drives the first connecting plate 333 to rotate, the first connecting plate 333 can drive the second connecting plate 334 to rotate, thereby enabling the lifting and lowering of the foot sole member 332. The foot follower flange bearing 337 can be any suitable type of bearing, including but not limited to a rolling bearing or a sliding bearing. Compared with a rolling bearing, a sliding bearing has a lower rotational performance than a rolling bearing, but its structure is simpler, so it can be used in situations where the load of the wheel-foot device is small.

[0053] Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5The foot structure of the wheel-foot device 300 shown includes two connecting plates, namely a first connecting plate 333 and a second connecting plate 334. The use of two connecting plates can make the foot structure of the wheel-foot device 300 bear more uniform force when bearing load, and the load distribution is more balanced, and thus it can withstand a larger load. However, it should be understood that in other embodiments of the present disclosure, when the load borne is small or there are restrictions on the weight of the wheel-foot device, the wheel-foot device may also have only one connecting plate, for example, only the first connecting plate 333 and the foot bottom member 332, and thus the second connecting plate 334, the foot follower flange 336, the foot follower flange bearing 337 and the foot follower flange bearing pressure ring 338 can be omitted. In this way, the number of parts required for the wheel-foot device can be reduced, which is beneficial to the manufacture, assembly and maintenance of the wheel-foot device. In some embodiments, the foot bottom member 332, the first connecting plate 333 and the second connecting plate 334 can be formed using a carbon plate made of a carbon fiber composite material, but it is also possible to use other suitable materials, for example, it can also be made of aluminum or other suitable metal materials. The present disclosure does not impose any limitation on the materials used for the sole member 332 , the first connecting plate 333 , and the second connecting plate 334 .

[0054] From the above analysis, it can be seen that according to the wheel-foot device 300 disclosed in the present invention, by providing a foot module 330 that can be driven by a foot drive motor 331, the foot structure can be lifted or lowered according to actual needs, thereby achieving a more flexible support mode. In addition, the foot drive motor 331 is installed in the motor mounting hole 322-1 in an embedded manner, saving the installation space required for an externally installed motor, making the wheel-foot device 300 compact in structure and eliminating the risk of interference with the movement of the supported object.

[0055] exist Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5In the wheel-foot device 300 shown, the wheel module 340 includes: a wheel hub 341, a tire 342, wheel rolling bearings 343-1, 343-2, wheel bearing pressure rings 344-1, 344-2, and a wheel hub motor 345. The tire 342 is mounted on the wheel hub 341, and the wheel hub 341 is mounted through the wheel rolling bearings 343-1, 343-2 and the wheel bearing pressure rings 344-1, 344-2 to be able to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1 relative to the support portion 322 of the bracket 320, and thereby the tire 342 can also rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1 of the support portion 322. As a result, the wheel-foot device 300 can be used in its wheel mode. Specifically, the inner rings of the wheel rolling bearings 343-1 and 343-2 are fixedly mounted on the support portion 322 of the bracket 320 and surround the motor mounting hole 322-1 in the support portion 322, and the central axis of the inner ring coincides with the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1. The wheel hub 341 is fixedly mounted on the outer rings of the wheel rolling bearings 343-1 and 343-2, thereby enabling the wheel hub 341 to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1. The wheel bearing pressure ring 344-1 is installed to press against the support portion 322 and simultaneously press against one side of the wheel hub 141 and the outer ring of the wheel rolling bearing 343-1, and the wheel bearing pressure ring 344-2 is installed to press against the other side of the wheel hub 341 and the outer ring of the wheel rolling bearing 343-1. In this way, the positions of the wheel rolling bearings 343-1, 343-2 and the wheel hub 341 on the support portion 322 are defined along the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1. It should be understood that the wheel rolling bearings 343-1, 343-2 may be any suitable type of rolling bearings, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, the wheel foot device 300 includes two wheel rolling bearings 343-1, 343-2. ​​However, this is not necessary, and the wheel foot device 300 may include fewer or more wheel rolling bearings according to actual needs. For example, in some embodiments not illustrated in the present disclosure, by providing a suitable number of annular grooves around the motor mounting hole in the support portion of the bracket, and providing corresponding annular grooves in the wheel hub, wheel rolling bearings can be provided in the corresponding pair of annular grooves, so that the wheel hub is mounted on the support portion and can rotate around the motor mounting hole. As a non-limiting example, the number of annular groove pairs, and therefore the number of wheel rolling bearings, can be one or three, etc.

[0056] The wheel-foot device 300 includes a wheel hub motor 345, which includes a stator 345a and a rotor 345b. The stator 345a of the wheel hub motor 345 includes a coil mounting ring 345-1 and a plurality of conductive coils 345-2. The conductive coil 345-2 can be, for example, a conductive coil wound by enameled wire, but it should be understood that the conductive coil 345-1 can be made of any suitable material and in any suitable method, and the present disclosure is not limited to this. A plurality of conductive coils 345-2 can be embedded and installed in the coil mounting ring 345-1, and the coil mounting ring 345-1 is fixedly installed on the support portion 322 of the bracket 320, surrounding the motor mounting hole 322-1. The rotor 345b includes a plurality of rotor magnets 345-3 and a leakage magnetic suppression ring 345-4. The rotor magnet 345-3 can be any suitable type of magnet, such as a neodymium iron boron magnet, and the leakage magnetic suppression ring 345-4 can be made of a nickel-iron alloy. like Figure 5 As shown, the leakage flux suppression ring 345-4 can be mounted on the wheel hub 341, located on the surface of the wheel hub 341 facing the motor mounting hole 322-1, and then the plurality of rotor magnets 345-3 can be mounted (e.g., bonded) on the surface of the leakage flux suppression ring 345-4 facing the coil mounting ring 345-1, and each of the plurality of rotor magnets 345-3 maintains a fixed gap with the surface of the coil mounting ring 345-1. In the above manner, the coil mounting ring 345-1 and the plurality of conductive coils 345-2 form the stator 345a, and the plurality of rotor magnets 345-3 and the leakage flux suppression ring 345-4 form the rotor 345b, and the stator 345a and the rotor 345b together constitute the wheel hub motor 345. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, when the hub 341 itself is sufficient to suppress leakage flux (for example, when the hub 341 itself is made of nickel-iron alloy), the leakage flux suppression ring 345-4 can be omitted, and a plurality of rotor magnets 345-3 can be directly bonded to the surface of the hub 341 facing the coil mounting ring 345-1 to form a rotor.

[0057] Continue to see Figure 3 and Figure 4 In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wheel module 340 of the wheel-foot device 300 may further include a wheel hub motor speed sensor 346, which may be configured to measure the rotation speed of the wheel hub motor 345, which is also the rotation speed of the wheel hub 341 and the tire 342 in the wheel module 340. Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown, the wheel hub motor speed sensor 346 can be a magnetic encoder, which includes an encoder reading head 346-1, an encoder bracket 346-2 and an encoder magnetic ring 346-3. The encoder magnetic ring 346-3 is installed so that it can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole 322-1 together with the wheel hub 341. The encoder magnetic ring 346-3 includes a plurality of magnets evenly distributed in the circumferential direction. The encoder bracket 346-2 is mounted on the supporting portion 322 of the bracket 320. The encoder reading head 346-1 is mounted on the encoder bracket 346-2, and is configured so that when the magnet in the encoder magnetic ring 346-3 rotates past the encoder reading head 346-1, the encoder reading head 346-1 generates a reading signal accordingly. It should be understood that Figure 3 and Figure 4 The structure of the magnetic encoder shown is merely exemplary and not restrictive. In fact, any other suitable type of encoder can also be applied to the wheel-foot device 300 to measure the rotation speed of the wheel hub motor 345. For example, an optical encoder can also be used in the wheel-foot device 300 to measure the rotation speed of the wheel hub motor 345. By using the wheel hub motor speed sensor 346 in the wheel module 340 to measure the rotation speed of the wheel hub motor 345, the operation of the wheel hub motor 345 can be controlled more accurately and flexibly, thereby facilitating more accurate and flexible control of the wheel-foot device.

[0058] It can be seen that the wheel-foot device 300 according to the present disclosure has at least achieved the following beneficial technical effects: the foot drive motor is embedded in the supporting part of the bracket, which can simplify the structure of the wheel-foot device and make its structure compact; the wheel-foot device can switch between the wheel mode and the foot mode, thereby allowing the foot sole component to be completely retracted when not needed, without affecting the movement of the tire in the wheel mode, and when in the foot mode, the foot sole component can achieve support alone, and can also achieve support together with the tire, thereby forming a larger support surface at the bottom of the wheel-foot device, which is conducive to increasing the stability of the support and increasing the load that can be borne; the wheel-foot device adopts a hub motor with a spindle-free design, and the wheel hub is the rotor of the hub motor. The force on the hub is directly borne through two equal-section bearings, thereby making the structure of the wheel-foot device more compact.

[0059] See also Figure 6 , which schematically shows the structure of a device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure in the form of a block diagram. Figure 6 As shown, the device 500 includes n wheel-foot devices 510-1 to 510-n, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1. When n is 1, the device 500 includes one wheel-foot device 510-1. The wheel-foot devices 510-1 to 510-n can be implemented as a combination of Figures 1 to 5The wheel-foot device 100, 300 and their various embodiments are described. In some exemplary embodiments, the device 500 can be implemented as a robot. However, it should be understood that the device 500 is not limited to this. According to actual needs, the device 500 can be implemented as any device that can be supported by a wheel-foot device, such as but not limited to a robot, an instrument platform, etc. Compared with the solution of an external motor, the use of the wheel-foot device according to the present disclosure can make the structure of a device such as a robot more compact, and the built-in motor will not affect the movement of the entire robot. In addition, because the motor is located in the wheel of the wheel-foot device (that is, the hub motor used and the built-in foot drive motor), direct transmission can be achieved without the need to design other different shaft transmission structures (such as belts, gears, etc.), and the inertia can also be placed in the middle position of the robot's legs, which is more conducive to the motion control of the robot.

[0060] Taking a four-legged robot dog as an example, when the wheel-foot device according to the present invention is adopted, it can have a variety of deformations to meet a variety of scenarios, such as: a four-wheel mode, which is used for passing scenes with flat terrain and some low-difficulty obstacles, and is suitable for a steady-state mobile environment that can withstand high loads; a two-wheel mode, which has a two-wheel mode similar to a balance car, and is suitable for an environment that can move quickly; a four-legged mode, this mode enables the robot to maintain high stability in a complex environment, and the four-legged mode can climb stairs in a steady state; a two-legged mode, which can make it reach a steady state in the two-wheel mode. The above modes enable the four-legged robot dog to pass through most human life scenes. Since the wheel-foot device according to the present invention has a compact structure and a variety of deformation forms, it can meet the various needs of wheeled robots and footed robots, is conducive to the steady-state fixation of the robot in a complex environment, and can also greatly reduce the weight and structural complexity of the robot.

[0061] The terms used in this disclosure are only used to describe the various embodiments in the disclosure and are not intended to limit the disclosure. As used in the disclosure, the singular forms "one", "an" and "the" are intended to also include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It is also to be understood that the terms "include" and "comprise" when used in the disclosure refer to the presence of the features described, but do not exclude the presence of one, one or more other features or add one or more other features. As used in the disclosure, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be understood that although the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. can be used to describe various features in the disclosure, these features should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one feature from another feature.

[0062] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in this disclosure have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It is also understood that terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the relevant art and / or the context of this specification, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined in this disclosure.

[0063] In the description of this specification, the description of the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. In addition, without contradicting each other and without violating technical principles, those skilled in the art may combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples, or may omit some technical features from the different embodiments or examples described in this specification, and the embodiments or examples obtained based on such combination, combination or omission are also considered to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0064] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail in conjunction with some exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure is not to be limited to the specific forms described. Rather, the scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A wheel-foot device, characterized in that: include: A connecting member, which is used to mount the wheel-foot device to an object to be supported; A bracket, comprising a connecting portion and a supporting portion, wherein the connecting portion is used to mount the connecting member, and the supporting portion comprises a motor mounting hole; A foot module, comprising: a foot drive motor, a foot sole member and a first connecting plate, wherein the foot drive motor is installed in the motor mounting hole, the foot sole member is fixedly connected to a first end of the first connecting plate, and the first connecting plate is installed to be driven by the foot drive motor so as to be able to rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole; A wheel module, comprising a wheel hub, a tire, a wheel rolling bearing and a wheel bearing pressure ring, wherein the tire is mounted on the wheel hub, and the wheel hub is mounted on the support portion through the wheel rolling bearing and the wheel bearing pressure ring, and can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole; in: In the foot mode, the first connecting plate is driven by the foot driving motor to rotate in a first direction, so that the foot sole member is lowered, so that the object is supported by only the foot sole member, or the foot sole member and the tire together support the object; In the wheeled mode, the first connecting plate is driven by the foot drive motor to rotate in a second direction, so that the sole member is lifted, thereby supporting the object only by the tire, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction.

2. The wheel-foot device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The foot module further includes a foot active flange, the foot active flange is fixedly connected to the output end of the foot drive motor, and the second end of the first connecting plate is fixedly connected to the foot active flange.

3. The wheel-foot device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first connecting plate is integral with the foot active flange.

4. The wheel-foot device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The foot module also includes a second connecting plate, a foot follower flange, a foot follower flange bearing and a foot follower flange bearing pressure ring, wherein the first end of the second connecting plate is fixedly connected to the foot bottom component, the second end of the second connecting plate is fixedly connected to the foot follower flange, and the foot follower flange is installed on the support portion through the foot follower flange bearing and the foot follower flange bearing pressure ring and can rotate around the central axis of the motor mounting hole.

5. The wheel-foot device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second connecting plate is integral with the foot follower flange.

6. The wheel-foot device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The foot follower flange bearing is a rolling bearing or a sliding bearing.

7. The wheel-foot device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tire includes a plurality of sub-tires, and the hub and the plurality of sub-tires constitute an omnidirectional wheel.

8. The wheel-foot device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The multiple sub-tires are divided into two groups of sub-tires, each group of sub-tires is installed on the wheel hub to form a rim, wherein the two rims formed by the two groups of sub-tires are arranged to be located side by side on the wheel hub and both surround the wheel hub, and along the circumferential direction of the two rims, the sub-tires of one rim are alternately arranged with the sub-tires of the other rim.

9. The wheel-foot device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The connecting member includes a connecting flange installed at a connecting portion of the bracket.

10. The wheel-foot device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The wheel module further includes a hub motor, which includes a stator and a rotor, wherein: The stator comprises a coil mounting ring and a plurality of conductive coils, wherein the plurality of conductive coils are embeddedly mounted in the coil mounting ring, and the coil mounting ring is mounted on the support portion, surrounding the motor mounting hole and coaxial with the motor mounting hole; The rotor includes a plurality of rotor magnets mounted on a surface of the hub facing the stator.

11. The wheel-foot device according to claim 10, characterized in that: The rotor of the wheel hub motor further includes a magnetic flux leakage suppression ring, wherein the magnetic flux leakage suppression ring is installed between a surface of the wheel hub facing the stator and the plurality of rotor magnets.

12. The wheel-foot device according to claim 11, characterized in that: The magnetic flux leakage suppression ring is made of nickel-iron alloy.

13. The wheel-foot device according to claim 10, characterized in that: The wheel hub motor further includes a wheel hub motor speed sensor configured to measure a speed of the wheel hub motor.

14. The wheel-foot device according to claim 13, characterized in that: The wheel hub speed sensor includes a magnetic encoder or an optical encoder.

15. An apparatus comprising a wheel-foot arrangement according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

16. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that The device includes a robot.

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