JP3055250B2 - Omni-directional mobile trolley - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention conveys materials, works, semi-finished products, products, etc., mainly in facilities such as unmanned vehicles, such as production factories, and performs distribution processes and services such as hotels and hospitals.
The present invention relates to a mobile trolley for transporting goods and the like in a service facility, and more particularly to an omnidirectional mobile trolley capable of not only moving forward and backward but also traversing and skewing in use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Mobile carts for unmanned transport were initially used in production plants, but were later widely used in the distribution process of products and in service institutions such as hotels and hospitals. The number and applications are increasing. In terms of functions, the automated guided vehicle at the beginning of development only has a function of moving forward and backward, and is used by traveling on a predetermined route guided by a guide line laid in advance on the ground or on the floor as needed. I was With the expansion of applications, there has been an increasing demand for mobile trolleys that can not only move forward and backward but also traverse and skew. This means that simply changing the direction of a large factory building or site along a large curve while moving in the direction of the curve will not be enough to meet the increasing demands of the complex. This is because a function of changing the direction or, in some cases, moving rightward at a right angle or moving backward at an acute angle is required. To date, a mobile trolley capable of responding to such a demand to some extent has been developed.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a typical structure of a conventional omnidirectional mobile trolley developed to date, FIG. 3 is a side view, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view. 3 and 4, reference numeral 10 denotes a vehicle body having a rectangular surface.
A universal wheel 16 is attached to each end of the column 10a hanging downward from the corner, and the vehicle body and the conveyed object are supported by the four universal wheels 16 to keep the vehicle body horizontal. At the center of the vehicle body 10, a turning shaft 18 having a turning center point 0 shown in FIG. 4 as an axis is suspended downward through a bearing 9, and is freely rotatable. The outer periphery of a portion of the turning shaft 18 slightly below the lower surface of the vehicle body 10 includes a turning shaft 18
A turning mechanism is provided so as to engage with a locking device 22 fixed to the back surface of the vehicle body 10 so as to engage integrally with the turning device 20, and a disc mechanism is constituted by the turning disk 20 and the locking device 22. I have. The turning shaft 18 is connected to an encoder 21a attached to the vehicle body 10 by power transmission means such as a chain, and the turning angle is detected. At the lower end of the turning shaft 18 below the lock device 22, the vertical slide mechanism 11 is configured to rotate integrally with the turning shaft 18. This vertical slide mechanism 11
A drive wheel mounting frame 15 is swingably mounted on the center of the lower end via a hinge pin 13. This drive wheel mounting frame 15, a pair of driving wheels assemblies, each of the drive wheel assembly 12, one by one of the drive wheels 12a, the motor 17, speed reducer 19, an encoder 21, a tachometer 23 consists battery 25 serving as a power source, with each of which is arranged symmetrically with respect to the pivot axis 18 is mounted is configured to be driven independently, both drive wheels 12a is such that contact with the certainty of the road surface Has been.

[0004] With such a structure, the drive wheel mounting frame 15 and the drive wheel assembly 12 can pivot with respect to the vertical slide mechanism 11, and only the turning angle is equal to that of the above-mentioned turning disk 20. is a locking device 22 to be fixed, both drive wheels 12a, even if there is unevenness on the road surface,
The total weight (especially the proportion occupied by the battery 25) of the vertical slide mechanism 11, the pair of drive wheel assemblies 12 including the battery 25, the drive wheel mounting frame 15, etc.
Distributed evenly 2a, it is always in contact with the road surface at a constant contact pressure.

[0005]

A transport trolley used for transport in a narrow space is required to have not only a function of moving forward and backward but also a function of traversing or skewing, and a reduction in size of a vehicle body. ing. For this purpose, it is necessary to reduce the size of the mechanism and components and to increase the mounting. On the other hand, batteries as power sources tend to be larger due to demands for improved performance such as traveling speed and transport weight, and the battery itself utilizes the fact that its weight is greater than other constituent members, and Since it is attached to the drive wheel mounting frame below the slide mechanism and helps to provide the necessary contact pressure to prevent slippage between the road surface and the driving wheel, it is inevitably up and down below the turning axis. By being attached below the slide mechanism, when the turning axis turns, the battery turns with respect to the vehicle body integrally with the pair of drive wheels and the like. For this reason, the vehicle body is required to have a size large enough to allow the battery to turn, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the vehicle body. Is becoming an obstacle.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the solution in which a combination of a plurality of cells of the battery 25a and the shape of the battery case are devised so as to effectively utilize space and to reduce the size of the vehicle body. This complicates the design, manufacturing, and assembly operations. Also,
When the pivot axis pivots, the battery also pivots, and there is a problem that the cable connecting the battery and electrical components such as a driver mounted on the vehicle body is easily pulled or twisted and damaged. Was.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body, a universal wheel for supporting the vehicle body, a turning shaft mounted on the vehicle body via a battery loading frame, and a hinge mechanism for the turning shaft. And a pair of driving wheel assemblies that are pivotally mounted on the driving wheel mounting frame and that are supported by the driving wheel mounting frame and that have driving mechanisms each including a driving wheel, and that are arranged to face each other. In the omnidirectional mobile trolley, the battery loading frame is loaded with a battery on its upper surface, and is engaged with the vehicle body by a vertical slide mechanism that guides the battery to be displaceable only in the vertical direction,
The present invention is achieved by an omnidirectional mobile trolley having a pivot mechanism mounted at a central portion thereof and having a lock mechanism capable of restraining and releasing rotation between the pivot shaft and the pivot shaft. In this case, it is preferable that the turning shaft is connected to an encoder attached to the battery loading frame by a power transmission means such as a chain so that a turning angle is detected.

[0008]

According to this structure, parts mounted on the battery loading frame include the battery and the frame itself.
As before, it serves to apply a constant contact pressure necessary to prevent slippage between the road surface and the driving wheels, but the battery loading frame is connected to the vehicle body via a vertical slide mechanism, and to the turning shaft. Because they are connected via bearings, the battery loading frame is maintained so that its relative position only changes vertically with respect to the vehicle body without following the rotation of the turning shaft even if the vehicle body turns with the drive wheels. In addition, the permissible loading space becomes much larger, and it is not necessary to particularly consider how to assemble the battery and the shape of the battery case, and the size of the vehicle body can be easily reduced.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the same members as those of the above-described prior art are illustrated using the same reference numerals as much as possible. FIG. 1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view. In the drawing, reference numeral 30 denotes a vehicle body, and four pillars 10a hanging downward from four corners thereof have , Each of which has a universal wheel 16 attached thereto, and
The vehicle body 30 is supported horizontally by supporting the universal wheels 16. Further, immediately below the back surface of the vehicle body 30, the four columns 1
A battery loading frame 26 is provided on the inside of the vehicle body 30 in the longitudinal direction. The battery loading frame 26 is mounted on the vehicle body 30 via a vertical slide mechanism 31 so that the horizontal position thereof is relatively invariable and vertically movable. Then, the battery 45 is loaded on the battery loading frame 26. This battery loading frame 26
A pivot shaft 38 hangs downward through a bearing 9 from the center of the vehicle body 30 and is arranged perpendicularly to the surface of the vehicle body 30 so as to be freely rotatable in a direction parallel to the surface of the vehicle body 30. A swivel disk 20 that rotates integrally with the swivel shaft 38 is attached to the outer periphery of the swivel shaft 38 slightly below the lower surface of the battery loading frame 26, and a part of the outer circumference can be stopped from above and below. as such, the locking device 22 is mounted on a part of the battery loading frame 26 constitute a locking mechanism of the disc brake type. In this embodiment, the lock mechanism is shown and described as a disk brake type, but it is needless to say that a drum brake type may be employed. The turning shaft 38 is connected to the encoder 21a attached to the battery loading frame 26 by power transmission means such as a chain, and the turning angle is detected.

A drive wheel mounting frame 35 is attached to the lower end of the pivot shaft 38 via the hinge pin 13 so as to be pivotable around the drive wheel mounting frame 35. One drive wheel 12a and one motor 1
7, the reduction gear 19 consists of an encoder 21 and tacho-generator 23, is mounted a pair of drive wheels assemblies 12, each being independently driven, both drive wheels 12a is mounted so as to contact to ensure the road surface I have. At four corners on the upper surface of the battery loading frame 26, vertical sliding mechanisms 31 are provided. The battery loading frame 26, the turning shaft 38, the drive wheel mounting frame 35, and the drive wheel assembly 12 can freely move up and down with respect to the vehicle body 30. It is possible.

With such a structure,
The turning shaft 38, the driving wheel mounting frame 35, and the driving wheel assembly 12 are in a pivotable state, the turning shaft 38 can be fixed by the turning disc 20 and the lock device 22, and both driving wheels 12a are uneven on the road surface. Is always in contact with the road surface with a constant contact pressure. In the above description, the center of the vehicle body 30 is opened and the battery 45 is opened.
Although an example in which the upper portion of the vehicle body 30 protrudes is shown, if there is room in the lower portion of the vehicle body 30, it is not always necessary to provide an opening at the center of the plane of the vehicle body 30.

Next, the operation will be described. When the lock device 22 is in a free state and each of the drive wheels 12a is rotated at the same speed in the opposite direction, the drive wheels 12a, the drive wheel mounting frame 35 and the turning shaft 38 are rotated. Together, they turn parallel to the vehicle body 30. Rotation when it reaches the turning angle set to stop, to operate the locking device 22, on which is fixed the turning direction, when both of the driving wheels 12 a are rotated at the same speed in the same direction the vehicle body 30 was set Proceed in the direction. If there are irregularities during the running road surface of the vehicle body 30, the vertical slide mechanism 31 and the hinge pin 13, the drive wheel mounting frame 35 is tilted in correspondence with irregularities, the two drive wheels 12a are both in contact with the road surface driving Generate force. In this case, the contact pressure between the road surface and the driving wheel 12a is mainly received by the total weight of the driving wheel 12a, the motor 17, the driving wheel mounting frame 35, the battery loading frame 26, the battery 45, etc. divided by approximately two. Account for a large percentage.

[0013]

Since the present invention is configured as described above,
It has the following excellent effects. (1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the size of the battery is the same or larger than that of the conventional battery, the battery is placed on the battery loading frame that can be freely displaced only up and down. The drive wheel mounting frame is mounted via the turning shaft and the hinge mechanism sequentially from the center of the lower surface of the battery loading frame, and the battery is mounted on the driving wheel mounting frame that rotates together with the turning shaft on which the conventional battery is mounted. Since the drive wheel mounting frame is not mounted, the drive wheel mounting frame is reduced in size, and the vehicle body designed in view of turning of the drive wheel mounting frame is downsized. Due to the above configuration, as in the prior art, the self-weight of the battery is properly transmitted from the battery loading frame to the driving wheels via the driving wheel frames, and the constant weight required to prevent slippage between the road surface and the driving wheels. Gives a contact pressure of Furthermore, since the battery does not displace in the horizontal direction with respect to the vehicle body, the cable connecting the battery and electrical components such as a driver mounted on the vehicle body is not damaged by being pulled or twisted, and unmanned transport is possible. Bogie reliability is improved. (2) In the second aspect of the present invention, the first aspect
In addition to the effects of the invention, the bogie can be automatically operated along a desired route by detecting the swivel angle of the swivel axis and using this detection signal as a feedback signal to a signal that regulates the swivel angle. It also has the effect of.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of an omnidirectional mobile trolley according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a conventional omnidirectional mobile trolley.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of another type of conventional omnidirectional mobile trolley.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Drive wheel assembly 12a Drive wheel 13 Hinge 16 Free wheel 20 Revolving disk 21a Encoder 22 Lock device 26 Battery loading frame 30 Body 31 Vertical slide mechanism 35 Drive wheel mounting frame 38 Revolving shaft 45 Battery

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vehicle body , a universal wheel for supporting the vehicle body,
A pivot shaft that will be attached to the vehicle body through the battery loading frame, a drive wheel mounting frame is mounted pivotally by a hinge mechanism with respect to the pivot axis, the drive wheel mounting frame
With drive mechanisms, each of which includes drive wheels.
An omnidirectional mobile trolley having a pair of drive wheel assemblies disposed opposite to each other , wherein the battery loading frame has a battery mounted on its upper surface.
Mounting to, together with between the vehicle body is engaged with the upper and lower slide mechanism for guiding only freely displaced vertically, the center
The swivel axis is attached to the section and the swivel axis is
An omni-directional mobile trolley comprising a lock mechanism for freely releasing a bundle and restraint . 2. The swing shaft according to claim 1, wherein the swing shaft is connected to an encoder attached to the battery loading frame by power transmission means such as a chain, and the swing angle is detected. Omnidirectional mobile trolley.