JP7126157B2 - traveling trolley - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a traveling vehicle capable of traveling on the outer surface of an object to be traveled, and more particularly to a traveling vehicle equipped with devices for inspecting and maintaining the outer surface of structures such as bridge piers and viaducts and capable of traveling on the outer surface of bridge piers and the like.

Recently, inspections of structures such as bridge piers and viaducts, which are erected at a position higher than the ground, are becoming obsolete. However, the fact is that floating, delamination, cracks, etc. occurring on the surface of the building are visually checked by hand.

The applicant of the present application has proposed a traveling truck disclosed in Patent Document 1 as a means that can be used for inspecting and maintaining a building. The traveling vehicle can easily and reliably travel over objects such as buildings that are installed in environments that are difficult to access, curved portions of objects that bend, and vertical portions that extend in the vertical direction.

Patent No. 5712426

Buildings such as bridge piers and elevated bridges described above may experience floats, peelings, cracks, and the like on their outer surfaces due to deterioration over time, resulting in changes in their outer surface dimensions. In addition, although the traveling carriage disclosed in Patent Document 1 can travel to various types of buildings having different dimensions, it is necessary to adjust the traveling vehicle according to the dimensions of the objects to be traveled.

The traveling truck disclosed in Patent Document 1 can cope with the current usage conditions, but when it is difficult to predict the dimensional change of the traveling object due to deterioration over time, at the site where the traveling object is installed, It is necessary to adjust the traveling carriage according to the shape and dimensions of the building. Therefore, in the future, it is expected that it will be difficult to secure time for actually running the traveling vehicle and performing inspection work and the like.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. That is, it is an object of the present invention to provide a traveling carriage that can be easily installed on a traveling object and can reliably perform inspection work even when the size and shape of the traveling object are unexpectedly different.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a traveling carriage for traveling on a traveling object, comprising a frame member arranged to surround the traveling object; a plurality of rolling members that can roll on the running object and grip the running object; an elastic member that connects the frame member and at least one of the plurality of rolling members; and a resilient member that is connected to the frame member. An arm member having one end and a swing member swingably connected to the other end of the arm member are provided, and at least one of the plurality of rolling members is attached to the swing member.

Further, according to a second aspect of the traveling carriage of the present invention, in the first aspect, the imaginary center line of the swing member is inclined with respect to the running direction of the rolling member.

According to a third aspect of the traveling carriage of the present invention, according to the first or second aspect, the swing center of the swing member is between the rotation axis of the rolling member and the frame member. located in

According to a fourth aspect of the traveling vehicle of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the arm member and the frame member are connected, and the arm member is attached to the frame member. a contacting/separating member that contacts/separates.

At least one of the plurality of rolling members for gripping the object to be traveled in the traveling carriage according to the present invention is mounted on a swingable swing member, so that it rolls in accordance with changes in the dimensions of the outer surface of the object to be traveled. The member can accurately grip the object to be traveled, and the traveling vehicle can reliably travel the object to be traveled.

(a) is a plan view of the traveling vehicle according to the embodiment, and (b) is a front view of the traveling vehicle according to the embodiment. (a) is a side view of the essential parts of the traveling truck shown in FIG. 1, (b) is a bottom view of the essential parts of the traveling truck shown in FIG. 2(d) is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 2(a). FIG. (a) to (d) are schematic diagrams of the traveling carriage taken along line III-III in FIG. 1, and are diagrams for explaining the process of installing the traveling carriage.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, it demonstrates, referring drawings for embodiment to which the traveling truck which concerns on this invention is applied. In addition, in each figure, the same reference numerals are given to the same constituent elements, and redundant explanations are omitted. Moreover, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

[Embodiment]
FIG. 1(a) is a plan view of the traveling vehicle 1 according to the embodiment, FIG. 1(b) is a front view of the traveling vehicle 1 according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2(b) is a bottom view of the main part of the traveling carriage 1 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2(c) is a side view of the main part of the traveling carriage 1 shown in FIG. 2(d) is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 2(a). FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), the traveling truck 1 is installed so as to surround an outer surface 101 of a bridge pier B having an I-shaped cross section to be traveled. The traveling carriage 1 includes a frame member 3 which is substantially rectangular in plan view, and a plurality of first wheels 5 which are mounted on the frame member 3 and which are first rolling members capable of rolling on the outer surface 101 of the pier B. and an electric motor 15 which is driving means for driving the first wheel 5 . The frame member 3 has two longitudinal frames 3a extending parallel to each other, and two short frames 3b extending parallel to each other and connecting ends of the longitudinal frames 3a. Although the details are omitted, the long frame 3a and the short frame 3b have connecting members such as joints so that their longitudinal dimensions can be adjusted. Furthermore, two second wheels 17 are arranged equidistant from the center line O2 passing through the midpoint of the longitudinal frame 3a of the pier B.

Further, in this embodiment, the traveling carriage 1 includes second wheels 17 that are second rolling members that cooperate with the plurality of first wheels 5 . The two second wheels 17 are arranged equidistant from the center line O1 passing through the midpoint of the short frame 3b of the pier B. In this embodiment, two sets of first and second wheels 5 and 17 are provided on each of the longitudinal frames 3a and each of the short frames 3b, but the positions and number of the wheels can be changed as appropriate. Needless to say.

Since the first wheel 5 and the second wheel 17 of this embodiment have the same size and the same configuration, one first wheel 7 and the second wheel 17 will be described. Tires made of synthetic rubber such as pneumatic styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) can be used for the first and second wheels 5,17. Further, in this embodiment, the first wheel 5 is composed of two tires 5a and 5b, the tires 5a and 5b have the same size and shape, and are coaxially mounted on the rotating shaft 27 of the electric motor 15, It is rotated by the driving force of the electric motor 15 . The second wheel 17 of this embodiment is rotatably supported without being connected to the driving means. Further, in the present embodiment, the rotating shaft 27 (see FIG. 2A) of the first wheel 5 and the rotating shaft of the second wheel 17 extend in directions perpendicular to each other.

The traveling carriage 1 includes a control section 81 for controlling each electric motor 15 . The control unit 81 is electrically connected to the electric motor 15 as each component of the traveling carriage 1 and controls the electric motor 15 . The control unit 81 includes a known CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a predetermined program, a RAM (Random Access Memory), and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) that stores various setting values. etc., and the CPU executes a control program stored in a ROM or the like to perform various functions such as traveling of the traveling vehicle 1 and control of an imaging camera (not shown) attached to the traveling vehicle 1, as will be described later. Execute the process. Therefore, the control unit 81 operates the traveling carriage 1 at a predetermined timing based on an operator's command input from an input means (not shown).

A rolling assembly 51 having a first wheel 5 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2(a)-(d). The rolling assembly 51 includes a base portion 53 fixed to the frame member 3 , an arm member 9 that can be raised and lowered, and a contact/separation member that connects the base portion 53 and the arm member 9 and allows the arm member 9 to contact and separate from the base portion 53 . 13 , a swing member 11 that is swingably connected to the arm member 9 , and a coil spring 7 that is an elastic member that constitutes a damper that connects the frame member 3 and the rolling member 5 . It should be noted that the two rolling assemblies 51 provided on the longitudinal frame 3a located in the upper part of FIG. 1 are bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the center line O2. Further, the two rolling assemblies 51 provided on the longitudinal frame 3a positioned above in FIG. 1 and the two rolling assemblies 51 provided on the longitudinal frame 3a positioned below in FIG. It is a vertically symmetrical configuration. Therefore, the constituent members of the four rolling assemblies 51 are identical in structure and size, but differ only in orientation.

The contact/separation member 13 of the present embodiment is a pantograph jack, and includes four arms 13a to 13d that connect the base 53 and the arm member 9, nuts (not shown) that pivotally connect the arms 13a and 13b, and It has a support tube, and an operating shaft 57 that spans between the nut and the support tube and is screwed to the nut. One ends of the arms 13b and 13d are pivotally connected to the arm member 9 by pins, and one ends of the arms 13a and 13c are pivotally connected to the base 53 by pins. Further, the other ends of arms 13a and 13b are pivotably pinned together, and the other ends of arms 13c and 13d are pivotably pinned together. The contact/separation member 13 configured as described above is moved in the direction in which the arm member 9 contacts/separates from the base portion 53 by rotating the handle 59 (see FIG. 3) connected to the operation shaft 57 .

Further, the base 53 has four rod-shaped support members 55 that protrude in the horizontal direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 2(a)). The arm member 9 has a flange portion 61 extending in a direction orthogonal to the plane of FIG. 2(a). The flange portion 61 has an opening 61a through which the support member 55 penetrates, and the support member 55 restricts the movement direction of the arm member 9 when the arm member 9 moves in the direction of separating and contacting the base portion 53 .

One end portion 71 of the coil spring 7 constituting the damper is connected to the bottom portion of the arm member 9, and the other end portion 73 of the coil spring 7 is a portion of the swing member 11 on which the rotating shaft 27 is rotatably supported. is connected to the neighborhood of One end 71 and the other end 73 of the spring 7 are rotatably supported. Also, the swing member 11 is connected to the arm member 9 via the support shaft 63 so as to be able to swing. Therefore, the swing member 11 swings around the support shaft 63 .

Further, the positional relationship between the arm member 9 and the swing member 11 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. 2(a) and 3(a) to (d). 3A to 3D are schematic diagrams of the traveling carriage 1 taken along line III-III in FIG. For clarity of the drawing, FIG. 3 shows only the components necessary for explaining the traveling carriage 1 in the drawing.

As shown in FIG. 3A, when the operator rotates the handle 59 in the direction of arrow C, the contact/separation member 13 extends in the direction of arrow E, and the flange portion 61 on which the tires 5a and 5b are mounted is extended. , move toward the outer surface 101 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 3(b), when the contact/separation member 13 extends in the direction of arrow E, the tires 5a and 5b come into contact with the outer surface 101. As shown in FIG. The traveling carriage 1 in the state shown in FIG. 3(b) corresponds to the traveling carriage 1 shown in FIG. . Further, the axial center of the rotating shaft 27 is arranged slightly above the imaginary horizontal line H (see FIG. 2A) passing through the axial center of the one end portion 71 of the coil spring 7 . The angle between the vertical line X and the imaginary center line Q passing through the rotation center of the support shaft 63 and the rotation center of the rotation shaft 27 is defined as an inclination angle R. One end portion 71 of the coil spring 7 is rotatably attached to the flange portion 61 , and the other end portion 73 of the coil spring 7 is rotatably connected to the swing member 11 .

As shown in FIG. 3C, when the contact/separation member 13 further extends in the direction of arrow E, the swing member 11 swings in the direction of arrow G while the tires 5a and 5b are in contact with the outer surface 101. At the same time, a load from the outer surface 101 is applied to the coil springs 7a and 7b.

Next FIG. 3(d) shows the initial state when the traveling carriage 1 is driven. That is, the contact/separation member 13 further extends in the arrow E direction from the state shown in FIG. 3(c). In this initial state, the axial center of the rotating shaft 27 ′ of the tire 5 b (see FIG. 2A ) is positioned on the imaginary horizontal line H passing through the axial center of the one end 71 of the coil spring 7 . By setting the initial state in this manner, the load applied to the support member 55, the base portion 53, and the like can be made uniform, and the traveling operation of the traveling carriage 1 can be further stabilized. The angle between the virtual center line Q' passing through the center of the support shaft 63 (swing center of the swing member 11) and the rotation center of the rotation shaft 27' and the vertical line X' passing through the rotation shaft 27' is , the inclination angle R′.

Here, when the driving force D is applied to the rolling member 5, the imaginary center line Q' of the swing member 11 has a predetermined inclination angle R' with respect to the vertical direction. A pressing force is applied to the outer surface 101 of the rolling member 5 via the swing member 11 (so-called anti-squat effect), and the degree of freedom in designing the load characteristics of the coil spring 7 (or damper) can be increased. Further, since the swingable cantilevered swing member 11 is provided, the traveling truck 1 can be reliably placed on the bridge pier B and traveled against the outer surface 101 having unexpected changes in size and shape.

The bridge pier B of the embodiment has an I-shaped outer shape, but the traveling object on which the traveling truck of the present invention can travel is not limited to this shape. For example, it goes without saying that the traveling carriage of the present invention can be used for bridge piers having various shapes such as polygonal and elliptical outer shapes. In addition, it can be used not only for solid running objects such as bridge piers, but also for hollow members and the like. Furthermore, the traveling truck of the present invention can be used for various types of steel such as H-shaped steel and I-shaped steel. The pier B of this embodiment has a structure having an outer surface 101 extending in the vertical direction in FIGS. The traveling truck of the present invention can travel.

Although the first rolling member of the embodiment has two tires, it is also possible to use a single tire or three or more tires. Moreover, although the second rolling member is configured to include a single tire, it may be configured to use a plurality of tires.

In addition, in this embodiment, two rolling assemblies 51 are arranged in each of the longitudinal frames 3a facing each other in the direction of the center line O2, and the bridge pier B is sandwiched. , and the longitudinal frame 3a is provided with a rotatable rolling member corresponding to the second rolling member. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, two rolling assemblies 51 are provided on each longitudinal frame 3a. is also possible.

In the above-described embodiment, the first and second rolling members use tires in which gas such as air is accommodated. can run without slipping on the outer surface of However, depending on the mode of use of the traveling carriage, slippage may not be a problem. In such cases, it is possible to use rolling members made of a less flexible material that provides line contact rather than surface contact.

Needless to say, the frame member of the traveling vehicle of the embodiment is not limited to a rectangular shape in a plan view, and can be changed to various shapes such as a polygonal shape, a circular shape, an elliptical shape, and the like.

In the embodiment, two first and second rolling members are arranged on the longitudinal frame 3a and the short frame 3b, respectively. The number and positions of the members can be changed as appropriate.

1 traveling carriage 3 frame member 5 first wheels 7, 7a, 7b coil spring 9 arm member 11 swing member 13 contact and separation members 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d arm 15 electric motor 17 second wheel 27 rotating shaft 51 rolling Assembly 53 Base 55 Support member 57 Operation shaft 59 Handle 61 Flange 61a Opening 63 Support shaft 81 Control unit 101 Outer surface B Bridge pier D Driving force H Imaginary horizontal lines O1, O2 Center line Q Imaginary center lines R, R' Inclination angle X, X' Vertical line V Running direction

Claims (3)

A traveling carriage for traveling a traveling object,
a frame member arranged to surround the running object;
a plurality of rolling members that can roll on the running target and grip the running target;
an elastic member connecting the frame member and at least one of the plurality of rolling members;
an arm member having one end connected to the frame member;
a swing member swingably connected to the other end of the arm member;
a contacting/separating member connecting the arm member and the frame member to contact and separate the arm member from the frame member ;
At least one of the plurality of rolling members is attached to the swing member.
2. The traveling truck according to claim 1, wherein the imaginary center line of the swing member is inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the rolling member.
3. The traveling carriage according to claim 1, wherein the swinging center of the swing member is located between the rotation axis of the rolling member and the frame member.

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