JP2602986B2 - Collection robot - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a recovery robot that recovers deposits deposited in a pipe, and is particularly suitable for a recovery operation in which the working environment in the pipe is extremely poor. A collection robot.

(Prior art) In a pipeline that transports a substance by a pipe, various deposits are generated according to the characteristics of the substance transported inside the pipe over a long period of use, so that the pipeline resistance increases and the transport efficiency increases. Deteriorate. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically clean the inside of such a pipeline.

By the way, in order to clean the inside of the pipe, the deposits collected by the cleaning are collectively collected in several places, a suction hose is inserted into that part, and the suction is collected by a power blower installed on the ground.

Conventionally, in the above-mentioned various works, when the diameter of the pipe is large, a person enters the work manually, and when the diameter of the pipe is small, the pipe route is divided into workable units according to the various works. I was doing. However, especially when people work inside large-diameter pipes, the pipes are dark and slippery, and because of the large diameter, it is extremely difficult to construct a work scaffold. Poisonous gas was generated due to oxygen deficiency and deposits, and was extremely dangerous.

Therefore, recently, in consideration of the safety of an operator, various types of pipe cleaning robots have been developed according to the type of pipe in order to automate the cleaning of the pipe. However, even though this cleaning robot can automate the cleaning work inside the pipe,
The recovery operation cannot be performed, and the subsequent recovery operation must rely on manual operations. That is, a person enters the pipe, collects the adhering matter collected by the cleaning operation by the cleaning robot once in each part in the pipe, pulls the suction hose to the vicinity thereof, and removes the power blower installed on the ground side. It is operated and the sediment is manually collected at the suction port at the end of the suction hose and collected by suction.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In order to collect the sediment collected by the cleaning robot in the pipe as described above, if the suction hose becomes longer due to stretching, the weight of the suction hose is heavy and the man can freely move it. Therefore, it is necessary to manually collect the sediment up to the suction port of the suction hose. Further, some of the sediment emits toxic gas depending on the type of the conveyed matter, and may affect the human body. There is a problem in that the inside of the pipe is slippery, and there is a safety problem, and when constructing a scaffold, the cost is high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object a collection robot that can safely and easily collect sediment in a pipe by remote control from the ground side without requiring any human intervention. To provide.

[Constitution of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a total of eight wheels, four in the axial front part and four in the rear part along the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder. Wheels are evenly mounted, and a suction hose having a spiral screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface in the axial direction of the center of the cylindrical body is provided so as to pass therethrough, and each wheel is inserted into the cylindrical body via a drive transmission mechanism. And a robot body having a motor for a suction hose that feeds or retracts the suction hose from the cylindrical body through a screw mechanism that meshes with the screw portion of the wheel drive motor that drives the wheel. A collection robot is constituted by a control means for remotely controlling the respective motors to control the traveling in the pipe and a means for sucking and collecting the sediment in the pipe from the suction hose.

(Operation) In the recovery robot having such a configuration, the robot body can be moved and moved to the position of the sediment in the pipe together with the suction hose connected to the ground side by remote control from the ground side. In addition, the sediment can be easily and safely collected without a person entering the pipe and performing manual work. In addition, the robot body has a total of eight wheels, four at the front in the axial direction and four at the rear along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. Even when the robot cannot keep its initial posture, such as when traveling, it is possible to travel without any problem.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an external view of a configuration example of a collection robot according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a drive mechanism thereof. First
In FIG. 2 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical robot main body which is easy to maintain its posture even if it falls down.
Axial front 4 places and rear 4 places along the outer peripheral surface of the
Wheels 2 for traveling and steering are equally mounted at the points via an axle. In this case, each wheel 2
A magnet is provided on the rolling surface of. Front and back 2 each
Each of the wheels 2 can be driven by a single traveling motor 3 via a drive transmission mechanism in which a number of gears 4 are combined. The front and rear wheels can be independently driven by a plurality of steering motors 5 via a drive mechanism in which a number of gears 6 are combined.

On the other hand, at the center in the axial direction of the robot body 1, a suction hose 7 having a spiral thread groove formed on the outer peripheral surface.
Is inserted. The suction hose can be extended and retracted through a screw mechanism 9 that is rotated and driven by a single suction hose motor 8 provided inside the robot body 1. A decoding cable consisting of a power line and a signal line is provided at the rear end of the robot body 1.
10 and a safety rope 11 are connected. Further, a monitor television camera 12 and a not-shown illumination are attached to the front and rear ends of the robot body 1, respectively. In addition,
Although not shown, the robot main body 1 has a built-in inclination sensor for detecting a posture during traveling.

The above is the configuration of the robot main body. Next, the configuration for performing each operation of the robot main body will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the composite cable 10 connected to the robot body 1 is connected to the composite cable processing device 13 so as to be capable of winding and rewinding, and an operation signal from the main operation panel 14 or information indicating the state of the robot body 1 is transmitted. Mutual transmission is possible. Further, the suction hose 7 of the robot body 1 is connected to the suction hose processing device 15 so as to be able to be wound up and rewinded, and is further connected to the power blower 16 so that the sediment sucked by the robot body 1 is collected. ing. Further, the safety rope 11 connected to the robot body 1 is connected by a winch 17 so as to be capable of winding and rewinding. In addition, suction hose processing equipment
The winch 15 and the winch 17 operate according to a command from the main operation panel 14.

Next, the operation of the recovery robot configured as described above at the time of collecting unnecessary objects in the pipe will be described with reference to FIG.

Now, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the robot body 1 which has been carried in is traveling downward by the traveling wheels 2 along the pipe wall to a position below the vertical pipe while being held by the safety rope 11. In this case, the magnet is applied to the rolling surface of the wheel 2 so that the wheel 2 travels so that the wheel 2 does not separate from the pipe wall, and the robot 1 is moved by the suction hose 7 and the composite cable 10.
Is not shaken. In addition, even if the robot cannot keep its initial posture for some reason when it is loaded from the manhole 18 and when it travels below the vertical tube 19, all of the traveling wheels and the steering wheels are driven simultaneously, which is a problem. I can run without. At this time, the attitude of the robot main body 1 is displayed on a monitor of the main operation panel 14 on the ground by an inclination sensor (not shown) built in the robot main body, and further, a television camera attached to the robot main body 1
12 also makes it possible to determine the situation.

The robot body 1 that has thus descended below the vertical tube 19
Captures the sediment 20 photographed by the television camera 12 on a monitor and advances to the vicinity thereof. Then deposit 20
The suction hose 7 is drawn out or the steering of the traveling wheel of the robot main body 1 is turned off to cause the robot main body 1 to travel left and right (in the circumferential direction of the pipe) depending on the scattering state of the robot. The sediment 20 is suctioned and collected by the power probe 16 installed on the ground. In this case, even if the left and right traveling distances are large and the robot body 1 falls, the posture is always kept horizontal because the wheels are eight wheels as described above.
It is possible to collect sediment by traveling over a wide range.

On the other hand, when the robot main body 1 is to be recovered after the work is completed, the robot main body 1 is operated in the reverse order to the above while the winch 17, the composite cable processing device 13, and the suction hose processing device 15 are linked to operate. Can be returned to the side.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a collection robot that can safely and easily collect sediment in a pipe by remote control from the ground side without requiring any manpower.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a robot main body in an embodiment of a recovery robot according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an internal mechanism diagram of the robot main body in the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of the embodiment, FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an operation by the collection robot of the embodiment. 1 ... Robot body, 2 ... Wheels, 3 ... Running motor, 4,6 ... Gear, 5 ... Steering motor, 7 ...
Suction hose, 8 ... Motor for suction hose,
9: Screw mechanism, 10: Composite cable, 11: Safety rope, 12: TV camera, 13: Composite cable processing device, 14: Main operation panel, 15: Suction hose processing device, 16 ... ... power blower, 17 ... winch.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An axially forward portion along the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical body.
A total of eight wheels are evenly mounted on the rear part of the cylinder, and a suction hose having a spiral threaded part formed on the outer peripheral surface in the axial direction of the central part of the cylindrical body is provided so as to pass therethrough; A motor for driving a wheel that drives each wheel via a drive transmission mechanism and a motor for a suction hose that feeds or feeds the suction hose from the cylindrical body through a screw mechanism that meshes with a screw portion of the suction hose. A recovery robot comprising: a robot main body provided; control means connected to the robot main body for remotely controlling the motors to control travel in the pipe; and means for sucking and collecting deposits in the pipe from the suction hose.