Automatic serving trolley

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic serving trolley, which can move on a track on which at least one direction sensing piece is arranged, and comprises a trolley body, a front wheel frame, a rear wheel frame, a plurality of front driving wheels, a plurality of rear driving wheels and a control device, particularly, an inductor which is connected with a control device and can detect the direction induction piece and two front drive motors which are connected with the front drive wheels are arranged on the vehicle body, and after the inductor detects a signal of the direction induction piece, the inductor transmits the signal to the control device. The control device is used for controlling the front drive motors to drive the front drive wheels located on the two sides of the front wheel frame to rotate at different rotating speeds, so that the vehicle body is controlled to make turning movement, the complexity of the turning structure design of the automatic serving vehicle is greatly reduced, and the manufacturing and follow-up maintenance cost is effectively reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a food delivery design, in particular to an automatic food delivery vehicle. Background Art

[0002] As modern people have more and more opportunities to dine out or have a rest for tea, catering operators have to constantly innovate to attract more customers. As for the conditions for successful catering operations, in addition to the deliciousness of the food, what is more important from the customer's psychological level is the efficiency and quality of the service, as well as the creativity used by the catering operators to attract customers. The services provided by restaurant staff are nothing more than greeting customers, showing them to their seats, taking orders, serving food, and clearing the table. However, due to the limited manpower of catering operators, sometimes when there are a large number of customers and the service content is more, customers often have to wait and food is served slowly. In addition, as wages increase, it is difficult to recruit and train personnel, and the shortage of workers is becoming more serious. Therefore, how to use automation equipment in this situation to replace staff, reduce the service items of service staff, and improve the quality and efficiency of other services is the direction of effort.

[0003] Check, see Figure 1 The existing automatic food delivery vehicle 1 includes a vehicle body 11 that can run on a track (not shown), a front wheel frame 12 and a rear wheel frame 13 respectively provided on the vehicle body 11, two front drive wheels 14 provided on the front wheel frame 12, two rear drive wheels 15 provided on the rear wheel frame 13, drive motors 16 respectively installed on the plurality of front and rear drive wheels 14, 15, a steering motor 17 for controlling the swing of the plurality of front and rear wheel frames 12, 13, and a control device 18 for controlling the rotation of the plurality of front and rear drive wheels 14, 15 and the front and rear wheel frames 12, 13; wherein, the existing automatic food delivery vehicle 1 utilizes a total of four drive motors 16 and two steering motors 17 for a total of six motors to control the rotation of the front and rear drive wheels 14, 15 of the vehicle body 11 and the rotation of the front and rear wheel frames 12, 13 to turn.

[0004] Therefore, during actual operation, it is mainly driven by multiple drive motors 16 and multiple steering motors 17, which has a high risk of failure rate. At the same time, when one of the drive motors 16 or one of the steering motors 17 is damaged, it will directly affect the operation and turning operation of the automatic food delivery vehicle 1. Moreover, the automatic food delivery vehicle 1 adopts different mechanisms for moving forward and turning, resulting in increased production and maintenance costs. Therefore, how to streamline the structure of the automatic food delivery vehicle 1 and reduce the manufacturing cost and subsequent maintenance cost of the automatic food delivery vehicle 1 is the purpose of the present invention. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic food delivery vehicle that can effectively reduce the manufacturing cost and subsequent maintenance cost of the turning structure.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention provides an automatic food delivery vehicle that can move on a track with at least one direction sensing element, and the automatic food delivery vehicle includes a vehicle body, front and rear wheel frames respectively arranged on the vehicle body, multiple front drive wheels arranged on the front wheel frames, multiple rear drive wheels arranged on the rear wheel frames, front drive motors that respectively drive the front drive wheels to rotate, and a control device that controls the drive of the multiple front drive motors; wherein, a sensor connected to the control device is provided on the vehicle body, and the sensor can detect the direction sensing element arranged on the track. After the sensor detects the signal of the direction sensing element, the control device will control the front drive motor to drive the multiple front drive wheels at different speeds, so that the front drive wheels arranged on both sides of the front wheel frame have different speed differences, and the front wheel frame will turn due to the deviation of the two front drive wheels. In this way, only the speed difference of the front drive wheels is required to make the front wheel frame produce an offset turn, and no additional complex steering motor and mechanism are required. The automatic food delivery vehicle can be driven to turn smoothly and accurately, effectively reducing manufacturing costs and subsequent maintenance costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of an existing automatic food delivery vehicle.

[0008] Figure 2 It is a structural diagram of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0009] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the usage status of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] Figure 4 It is a structural diagram of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 5 It is a partial schematic diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 6 FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram of linkage changes of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 7 FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram of linkage changes of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the structure of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention in use.

[0016] Explanation of symbols:

[0017] [Existing structure]

[0018] 1: Automatic food delivery car

[0019] 11: Car body

[0020] 12:Front wheel frame

[0021] 13: Rear wheel frame

[0022] 14:Front drive wheel

[0023] 15: Rear drive wheel

[0024] 16: Drive motor

[0025] 17: Steering motor

[0026] 18: Control device

[0027] [The present invention]

[0028] 3: Automatic food delivery car

[0029] 31: Car body

[0030] 311:Front limit slot

[0031] 312: Rear limit slot

[0032] 32:Front wheel frame

[0033] 33: Rear wheel frame

[0034] 34:Front drive wheel

[0035] 35: Rear drive wheel

[0036] 36: Control device

[0037] 37:Front drive motor

[0038] 38:Sensor

[0039] 39: Rear drive motor

[0040] 321: First guide wheel

[0041] 331: Second guide wheel

[0042] 4: Track

[0043] 41: Straight section

[0044] 42: Curved road section

[0045] 5: Direction sensor

[0046] 6: Reset sensor DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The foregoing and other technical contents, features and effects of the present invention will be clearly understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0048] See Figure 2 、 Figure 3 In a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, an automatic food delivery vehicle 3 is used to run on a track 4. The track 4 includes at least one straight section 41 and at least one curved section 42 connected to the straight section 41. At least one direction sensing element 5 is provided on the track 4, which means that the direction sensing element 5 can be set in front of the curved section 42.

[0049] For reference Figure 2 、 Figure 4 The automatic food delivery vehicle 3 includes a vehicle body 31, a front wheel frame 32 pivotally mounted on the vehicle body 31, a rear wheel frame 33 mounted on the vehicle body 31 and opposite to the front wheel frame 32, front drive wheels 34 respectively mounted on both sides of the front wheel frame 32, at least two rear drive wheels 35 mounted on the rear wheel frame 33, front drive motors 37 respectively driving the front drive wheels 34 to rotate, and a control device 36 for controlling the operation of the front drive motors 37; wherein, a sensor 38 connected to the control device 36 and capable of detecting the direction sensing element 5 is mounted on the vehicle body 31, and after the sensor 38 detects the direction sensing element 5, the sensor 38 transmits the signal to the front drive motor 37. The control device 36 controls the plurality of front drive motors 37 to generate different rotational speeds, that is, the two front drive motors 37 are respectively linked to the front drive wheels 34 on both sides of the front wheel frame 32. When the two front drive motors 37 are individually linked to the front drive wheels 34 on both sides of the front wheel frame 32 at different rotational speeds, a rotational speed difference will be generated between the two front drive wheels 34, causing the front wheel frame 32 to deflect toward the front drive wheel 34 with a slower rotational speed, thereby causing the front wheel frame 32 to generate a rotation angle, driving the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 to turn along the curved road section 42. In addition, in this embodiment, the two front drive motors 37 are respectively directly driven by the two front drive wheels 34 (such as Figure 5 ), or can be as Figure 6 For gear linkage, or Figure 7 It is belt-linked, and this embodiment is described below using direct linkage as an example; furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to make turning smoother, a front limit groove 311 can be opened on the vehicle body 31 in a timely manner, and the front limit groove 311 can be used for the front wheel frame 32 to be protruded and extended.

[0050] See Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4When the automatic meal delivery vehicle 3 is in use, it runs on a track 4, and the control device 36 of each automatic meal delivery vehicle 3 will control the front drive motor 37 to synchronously generate a certain speed, so that the two front drive wheels 34 run at the same speed on the straight section 41. When the automatic meal delivery vehicle 3 runs into the curved section 42, the sensor 38 will detect the direction sensing member 5 located on the track 4, and the control device 36 will control the two front drive motors 37 to generate different speeds to drive the two front drive wheels 34. That is, if one of the front drive motors 37 is linked to the device The front drive wheel 34 is arranged on the right side of the front wheel frame 32, and the other front drive motor 37 is linked to the front drive wheel 34 on the left side of the front wheel frame 32. If the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 is to be driven to the right, the control device 36 will control the front drive motor 37 linked to the front drive wheel 34 on the right side of the front wheel frame 32 to rotate at a speed lower than the front drive motor 37 on the front drive wheel 34 on the left side of the front wheel frame 32, thereby causing a speed difference between the two front drive wheels 34. The speed difference will drive the front wheel frame 32 to deflect to the right during the movement, thereby driving the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 to turn right.

[0051] On the contrary, when the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 is to be controlled to turn left, the control device 36 will control the multiple front drive motors 37. The front wheel frame 32 will generate a speed difference between the two front drive wheels 34 because the front drive motor 37 of the right front drive wheel 34 has a higher speed than the front drive motor 37 of the left front drive wheel 34 of the front wheel frame 32, prompting the front wheel frame 32 to deviate to the left and generate a left turn operation. At the same time, in this embodiment, the front limit groove 311 is provided to limit the front wheel frame 32 during turning, thereby preventing the front wheel frame 32 from excessive deflection and prompting the front wheel frame 32 to turn more smoothly. Therefore, the present invention utilizes the sensor 38 of the control device 36 in combination with the design of the direction sensing element 5, and there is no need to provide a complex control system or a turning mechanism on the automatic food delivery vehicle 3. The front drive motor 37 drives the two front drive wheels 34 to generate a speed difference, so that the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 performs a turning operation, effectively reducing manufacturing costs and subsequent maintenance costs. In addition, when the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 drives out of the straight section 41 from the curved section 42, the number of seconds for maintaining the speed difference can be preset on the control device 36, so that after the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 calculates the number of seconds, the control device 36 will control the first and second motors 321 and 322 to drive at the same speed. Alternatively, a return sensor 6 can be provided on the track 4. When the sensor 38 senses the return sensor 6, the control device 36 will control the first and second motors 321 and 322 to drive at the same speed, so that after the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 drives out of the curved section 42 and enters the straight section 41, the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 can operate stably on the track 4.

[0052] See Figure 8 、 Figure 9 , the second preferred embodiment of the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 of the present invention, the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 of this embodiment still includes the structure and connection relationship described in the first embodiment, and its structure and the intended effect are the same as those of the first embodiment, and will not be described in detail; in particular, in this embodiment, the rear wheel frame 32 is provided with rear drive motors 39 respectively connected to the plurality of rear drive wheels 35, and when the sensor 38 detects the direction sensing element 5, the control device 36 will control the plurality of rear drive motors 39 to drive the two rear drive wheels 35 at different speeds, so that the two rear drive wheels 35 have different speed differences, thereby causing the rear wheel frame 33 to produce a turning operation; in addition, a rear limit groove 312 is formed on the vehicle body 31, and the rear limit groove 312 is just for the rear wheel frame 33 to extend, so that the rotation process of the rear wheel frame 33 is limited within the rear limit groove 312, thereby preventing the rear wheel frame 33 from making an excessive turn. The first and second guide wheels 321 and 331 are provided on the outermost side of the front wheel frame 32, and the second guide wheels 331 are provided on the outermost side of the rear wheel frame 33. The first and second guide wheels 321 and 331 can run close to the track 4 to increase stability. Therefore, when the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 is driven, the multiple front drive motors 37 and the multiple rear drive motors 39 respectively control the multiple front and rear drive wheels 34 and 35. At the same time, the multiple front drive motors 37 are used to link the multiple front drive wheels 34 at different speeds to generate a speed difference, and the front wheel frame 32 is controlled to swing and turn, so as to smoothly drive the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 to move forward and turn. Furthermore, the multiple rear drive motors 39 can also be used to link the multiple rear drive wheels 35 at different speeds to generate a speed difference, and the rear wheel frame 33 can be controlled to swing and turn, so that the automatic food delivery vehicle 3 can be more stable and smooth when traveling on the track 4.

[0053] To summarize the foregoing, the automatic food delivery vehicle of the present invention is primarily characterized in that a direction sensing member is provided on the track in front of the curved road section, and a sensor is provided on the vehicle body that is connected to the control device and can detect the direction sensing member. After the sensor detects the direction sensing member, the control device controls the plurality of front drive motors to output different rotational speeds, respectively driving the two front drive wheels to generate different rotational speed differences, thereby causing the front wheel frame to deflect and controlling the automatic food delivery vehicle to perform a turning operation. In this manner, the automatic food delivery vehicle can be smoothly driven to turn without the need for an additional complex steering mechanism. This effectively reduces the manufacturing cost of the automatic food delivery vehicle and simplifies the overall structure of the automatic food delivery vehicle, thereby reducing subsequent maintenance costs. Therefore, the purpose of the present invention can be truly achieved.

[0054] The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. In other words, any simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application and the contents of the invention description should still fall within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic food delivery vehicle that moves on a track and includes a vehicle body capable of running on the track, a front wheel frame and a rear wheel frame respectively mounted on the vehicle body, two front drive wheels mounted on the front wheel frame, two rear drive wheels mounted on the rear wheel frame, and a control device for controlling the rotation of the plurality of front drive wheels and rear drive wheels; characterized in that: At least one direction sensing element is provided on the track; in addition, a sensor connected to the control device and capable of detecting the direction sensing element is provided on the vehicle body, as well as two front drive motors connected to the front drive wheels. When the vehicle body passes the position of the direction sensor, the sensor detects the direction sensing element signal, and the sensor transmits the signal to the control device, which controls the multiple front drive motors to drive the multiple front drive wheels to rotate at different speeds, so that the multiple front drive wheels generate different speed differences, so that the front wheel frame generates an offset action, thereby controlling the vehicle body to generate a turning movement.

2. The automatic food delivery vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: Rear drive motors are respectively provided on the plurality of rear wheel frames. When the sensor detects the direction sensing element, the control device also synchronously controls the plurality of rear drive motors to generate different speed outputs, so that the plurality of rear drive wheels rotate with different speed differences.

3. The automatic food delivery vehicle according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that: A front limiting groove is provided on the vehicle body, and the front limiting groove is just suitable for the front wheel frame to extend and limit the swing angle of the front wheel frame.

4. The automatic food delivery vehicle according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that: A rear limiting groove is provided on the vehicle body, and the rear wheel frame can be extended into the rear limiting groove to limit the swing angle of the rear wheel frame.

5. The automatic food delivery vehicle according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that: The return sensing element is on the track, and when the sensor senses the return sensing element, the control device controls the first motor and the second motor to drive at the same speed.

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