JPH0714719B2 - Wheel support device for mobile vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a moving vehicle in which the direction of wheels can be changed without changing the direction of a vehicle body, and particularly, the direction of wheels can be set to two directions, vertical and horizontal. The present invention relates to a wheel orientation holding device suitable for a movable vehicle that can be changed.

[Conventional technology]

In a moving vehicle that can change the direction of the wheels without changing the direction of the vehicle body, change the wheels to the required direction,
As a device for holding the orientation, that is, a device for holding the orientation, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-131462, a device composed of a potentiometer for angle measurement and clutch means for engaging and disengaging the steering rotation means. Alternatively, there is a device including clutch means that engages and disengages with the steering rotation means and lock means that locks the steering shaft to hold the wheels in a desired direction. These devices are extremely useful for a moving vehicle in which two wheels having steering rotation means are arranged in front and rear, and each wheel is steered individually in a desired direction. An electromagnetic device or a hydraulic device is required for engaging and disengaging the clutch and the locking and disengaging, so that the structure of the wheel orientation holding device becomes complicated, and it is inevitable that it will be expensive at the same time. There is.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned prior art, as a device for holding the direction after changing the direction of the wheel, as described above, the structure becomes complicated,
And there is the problem of becoming expensive.

An object of the present invention is, in place of the above-mentioned conventional technique, a wheel orientation holding device that is simple in structure and control, and is inexpensive, that steers a wheel having steering rotation means in a desired direction and holds the orientation. To provide.

[Means for solving problems]

The above object is to dispose a moving vehicle, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, by disposing drive wheels having steering rotation means on the left and right sides of the center of the vehicle body, and casters on the front and rear sides of the vehicle body, respectively. With the structure provided, steering is performed by holding the two drive wheels in the same direction and rotating their steering shafts at the same time to maintain the preset drive wheel direction.
By fixing the rotary switch shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7 to one of the front-aligned steering shafts and stopping the steering motor at the preset orientation angle, To be achieved.

That is, the wheel orientation holding device for a mobile vehicle according to the present invention has rotatable steering shafts mounted at positions equidistant from the center on the axis orthogonal to the center line of the vehicle body, and the lower ends of the respective steering shafts are attached. Drive wheels are attached to a wheel shaft that is orthogonal to the steering shaft in a section, without changing the direction of the vehicle body,
The direction of the drive wheels can be changed, and the first direction (angle 0 °) or the second direction (angle 90 °) selected by the traveling control device in accordance with a direction command previously input.
)), A steering switch that turns on and off, a steering motor that drives the steering shaft to change the direction of the driving wheel, and a steering wheel that is fixed to at least one of the steering shaft. Is supplied to the steering motor until the direction of the direction is the direction of the direction command, the power is cut off at the direction position, and the rotary switch is maintained.

[Action]

The rotary switch shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 fixed to one of the steering shafts of the driving wheels has two energizing series for turning off the power of the steering motor at the required orientation angle of the driving wheels. The steering motor operates until the steering shaft reaches the required orientation angle because it forms a narrow area consisting of If the steering shaft rotates more than the angle forming the narrow range, the control circuit shown in FIG. 8 automatically energizes the steering motor to return the steering shaft to the angle forming the narrow range. To be By the operation described above, the drive wheel is always held in the required direction.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a moving vehicle equipped with a drive wheel orientation holding device having a steering rotation means of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a drive section and a steering section of the drive wheel. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A ₁ -A ₁ , and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A ₂ -A ₂ in FIG. 1 showing the arrangement of drive wheels.

In FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a moving vehicle in which the directions of drive wheels 12 and 13 described later can be changed without changing the direction of the vehicle body 2. As shown in FIG. 3, 3 is fixedly installed on the axis line S-S orthogonal to the center line C-C on the vehicle body 2 at a position apart from the center line C-C by l / 2. It is a drive and steering device for drive wheels 12 and 13, which will be described later, and its configuration is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, 4 is a bearing cylinder fixedly mounted on the vehicle body 2, and 5 is a gear box 5b for housing a hollow shaft 5a penetrating the bearing cylinder 4 and a bevel gear 7 and a bevel gear portion 9b described later. It is a steering shaft that integrates and. 6 is for integrally driving a shaft portion 6a penetrating the steering shaft 5 and a support portion 6b for fixing a bevel gear 7 to be described later, for rotationally driving a drive wheel 12 (or 13) to be described later, It is a drive shaft. 7 is a support portion 6b of the drive shaft 6.
The bevel gear 8 is fixed to the steering wheel 5. The reference numeral 8 is a support cylinder for bearing a rotary shaft 9 of a drive wheel 12 (or 13) described later, which is fixed to the gear box 5b of the steering shaft 5. Reference numeral 9 denotes a shaft portion 9a that penetrates the support cylinder 8 and a bevel gear portion that meshes with the bevel gear 7.
9b (the number of teeth is the same as that of the bevel gear 7) and a fastening portion 9c for fastening and fixing a drive wheel 12 (or 13) described later are wheel shafts integrated with each other. Reference numeral 10 denotes a wheel gear that is fastened and fixed to the hollow shaft 5a of the steering shaft 5 and that meshes with a worm 21 described later. Reference numeral 11 is a bevel gear that is fastened and fixed to the drive shaft 6 and that meshes with a bevel gear 16 described later.

Returning to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, 12 and 13 are drive wheels fixed to the tightening portion 9c of the wheel shaft 9, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, respectively. Is from the center of the steering shaft 5,
It is arranged at a distance r equal to the radius r of the wheel. 14 and 15 are drive wheels fixedly mounted on the vehicle body 2.
This is a DC motor for rotating 12 and 13 respectively. 14a and 15a are attached to the DC motors 14 and 15,
It is a tacho generator for rotation speed control, 14b and 1
5b is a speed reducer. 16 is the speed reducer 14b, 15b,
It is a bevel gear that is fixed to each output shaft and meshes with a bevel gear 11 that is fastened and fixed to the drive shaft 6. Reference numeral 17 is a direct-current type steering motor fixed to the vehicle body 2 and provided with a speed reducer 17a for changing the direction of the drive wheels 12 and 13, that is, for steering. A bevel gear 18 is fastened and fixed to the output shaft of the speed reducer 17a, and meshes with a bevel gear 20 described later. Reference numeral 19 is a steering transmission shaft supported by a bearing body 19a fixed to the vehicle body 2, and 20 is
The bevel gear is fixed to the steering transmission shaft 19. Reference numeral 21 is a worm fixed to the steering transmission shaft 19, which is the worm gear described above.
Mesh with 10. Reference numeral 22 is a column that supports the mounting base 23. Numerals 24 and 25 are rotary encoders (incremental type) fixed to the mount 23 and connected to the drive shaft 6 by a joint 26 for measuring the rotational movement amount of the drive wheels 12, 13. Reference numeral 27 denotes a rotor portion 27a fastened and fixed to the steering shaft 5 and a contact piece support portion 2 fixedly provided on the vehicle body 2.
A rotary switch composed of 7b and 27c, as will be described later, for controlling the steering motor 17 to steer the driving wheels 12, 13 in a preset direction and to hold the steering wheel in that direction. is there. Reference numeral 28 denotes an angular velocity measuring device (rate gyro) for measuring the change in the orientation (change in posture angle) of the vehicle body 2 of the moving vehicle 1, which is mounted on the mounting base 23.
Although not described in detail, 29 is a traveling control device configured to include a microprocessor (central processing unit), a memory (storage device), and an interface (input / output signal processing device) for automatically guiding the moving vehicle 1 to travel. Is. 30 and 31 receive the speed command from the traveling control device 29, and the DC motor 14
And 15 is a speed control device (driver) for controlling the rotation speed. Reference numeral 32 is a keyboard (operation panel) attached to the traveling control device 29. 33 is a storage battery that serves as a power source, and 34
Is the storage box. Reference numeral 35 is a caster fixed to the front and rear of the vehicle body 2.

Next, the direction of the drive wheels 12, 13 is set to a preset direction, the steering motor 17 is rotated and steered, and then the device for holding the drive wheels 12, 13 in the above direction, that is, the direction. The rotary switch 27, which is a holding device, will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 using an example. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the structure of the rotor portion 27a. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the preset orientation angle of the drive wheels 12, 13 is 0 °, that is, the drive wheels 12, 13 are parallel to the center line CC of the vehicle body 2 shown in FIG. in cross-sectional view of the rotary switch 27, Fig. (a), (b) shows a diagram taken on the 5 B ₁ -B ₁ of FIG, B ₂ -B _2, respectively. Similarly, FIG. 7 shows the drive wheels 12, 1 as an example.
The required orientation angle of 3 is 90 °, that is, the drive wheels 12,13
Is a cross-sectional view of the rotary switch 27 when it is parallel to the axis S-S shown in FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5A and 5B respectively show B ₁ -B ₁ and B _{1 in} FIG. FIG. ₂ is a sectional view taken along line _2- B ₂ .

In FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, a rotor portion 27a includes a rotor I of a conductor, a rotor II having an arc IIa of a conductor and an arc IIb of an insulator on an outer peripheral portion, and the rotor. A rotor III having a conductor arc IIIa and an insulator arc IIIb, which are in the opposite configuration to II, is stacked around the insulator hub IV,
Insulation narrow range ΔS at the required orientation angle of drive wheels 12 and 13
Is formed and is swaged with a conductor rivet V to be integrated. Contact piece I is shown in FIGS. 5 and 8. The contact piece II and the contact piece III are fixedly mounted on the insulating contact piece support portion 27b, and always pass through the center of the steering shaft 5 and the center line C of the vehicle body 2 on the rotor I, rotor II, and rotor III, respectively. -A straight line Y parallel to C-
They are arranged so as to come into contact with each other on Y, and the contact piece IV,
The contact piece V is fixedly mounted on the insulating contact piece support portion 27c, and is always in contact with the rotor II and the rotor III, respectively, passing through the center of the steering shaft 5 and on the axis S-S of the vehicle body 2. It is arranged.

The above is the moving vehicle 1 in which the driving wheels 12 and 13 can be turned,
1 is a structure of a steering and orientation holding device for the drive wheels 12 and 13 of the present invention. Next, the operation of steering the drive wheels 12 and 13 and maintaining their orientation will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 is an example of a control circuit diagram for steering the drive wheels 12 and 13 and holding them in a preset direction. Reference numerals 36, 37 and 38 are relays. Reference numeral 39 is a steering switch for instructing the steering of the drive wheels 12 and 13, and performs the opening / closing operation based on the instruction of the traveling control device 29 described above. Further, in FIG. 8, the solid line display of each contact piece of the rotary switch 27 and the steering switch 39 shows the state when the orientation of the drive wheels 12, 13 is 0 °, and the contact pieces III, IV and IV of the rotary switch 27 are shown. The dotted line display of the contact piece of the steering switch 39 shows the state when the drive wheels 12, 13 are oriented at 90 °.

When the steering switch 39 is opened, the contact pieces II and III are respectively connected to the arc II of the insulator when the drive wheels 12 and 13 are oriented at 0 °.
It is held in contact with b and III b. If the steering shaft 5 rotates from 0 ° in the direction of the arrow P (shown in FIG. 6) and the contact piece III exceeds the insulating narrow area ΔS and comes into contact with the arc IIIa,
The contact piece III is energized, the relay 38 operates, the contact piece is switched from the a side to the b side, the steering motor 17 is driven, and the steering shaft 5 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow P, and the steering shaft 5, That is, the directions of the drive wheels 12 and 13 are automatically returned to 0 °.

To change the direction of the drive wheels 12, 13 from 0 ° to 90 °, the steering switch 39 which receives a command from the traveling control device 29 is closed, the relay 36 is energized, and the two contact pieces are moved from the a side. Then, the relay 37 is switched to the b side, and the relay 37 is energized by the contact piece IV of the rotary switch 27.
To the side, the steering motor 17 is driven, the steering shaft 5 rotates in the direction of arrow P (shown in FIG. 6), the contact piece IV contacts the arc II b of the insulator, and the orientation angle 90 This is done by stopping the steering motor 17 at °. Steering switch 37 for orientation 90 °
Under the closed condition, the contact pieces IV and V are held in contact with the arcs IIb and IIIb of the insulator, respectively, and if the contact piece IV or V is out of the insulation narrow region ΔS. , Arc II a or arc II
When it comes into contact with I a, the steering motor 17 is automatically energized, and the steering shaft 5 is moved to the arc II b with the contact piece IV and the arc II with the contact piece V.
Automatically return to the position where they come into contact with I b, that is, the direction 90 °.

To change the direction of the drive wheels 12, 13 from 90 ° to 0 °, the steering switch 39 that receives a command from the traveling control device 29 opens, and the contact piece of the relay 36 switches from the b side to the a side. Then, the contact piece III of the rotary switch 27 energizes the relay 38, and the contact piece of the relay 38 is switched from the side a to the side b.
The steering motor 17 is driven, the steering shaft 5 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow P (shown in FIG. 6), and the contact piece III becomes the arc III of the insulator.
This is performed by contacting b and stopping the steering motor 17 at an orientation angle of 0 °.

In the above-described operation, the insulating narrow area ΔS formed on the rotors II and III is related to the accuracy of steering the drive wheels 12 and 13 in a desired direction and holding the same in that direction, and thus requires accuracy. In this case, a small value is selected as appropriate. In addition, in this embodiment, the required direction is
Although the angle is 0 ° and 90 °, the present invention is not limited thereto, and can be applied to a case where the moving vehicle 1 is allowed to travel in a preset direction without changing the direction of the vehicle body 2.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the drive wheel 1
Steering the drive wheels 12, 13 in the required direction without changing the direction of the vehicle body 2 of the moving vehicle 1 capable of changing the direction of 2, 13,
The direction can be automatically maintained and the vehicle can be run.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, a mobile vehicle in which the direction of the drive wheels can be changed,
It is possible to steer the drive wheels in a preset direction without changing the direction of the vehicle body and automatically maintain the direction to drive the vehicle. In addition, since the motor for steering the drive wheels does not need a speed control device or the like, the structure and control of the drive wheel steering and orientation holding device can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a moving vehicle equipped with a drive wheel orientation holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is A _{1 in} FIG.
Sectional view taken on -A _1, Figure 3 is, A ₂ in Fig. 1 -
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A ₂ , FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the drive wheel steering and drive device, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a rotary switch that controls the steering and direction of the drive wheel, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line B ₁ -B ₁ in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line B ₂ -B ₂ in FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a control for performing steering and orientation holding control of the drive wheels. It is a circuit diagram. 3 ... Drive and steering device, 5 ... Steering shaft, 10 ... Wheel gear, 17 ... Steering motor, 19 ... Steering transmission shaft, 21 ... Worm, 27 ... Rotary switch, 27a ... Rotor part, 27b ...... Contact piece support, 27c ...... Contact piece support, 39 ...... Steering switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Wheels each having a rotatable steering shaft attached at positions equidistant from the center on an axis orthogonal to the center line of the vehicle body, and having their lower end portions orthogonal to the steering shaft. In a wheel orientation holding device for a moving vehicle, in which a driving wheel is attached to a shaft and the direction of the driving wheel can be changed without changing the orientation of the vehicle body, the traveling control device is selected by a pre-input direction command. Also, based on the first orientation (angle 0 °) or the second orientation (angle 90 °),
A steering switch that turns on and off, a steering motor that drives the steering shaft to change the direction of the drive wheels, and a steering motor that is fixed to at least one of the steering shafts so that the direction of the drive wheels is A wheel orientation holding device for a mobile vehicle, comprising: a steering motor that is energized until a commanded direction is obtained, the energization is stopped at the direction position, and a rotary switch that holds the direction is held.