JP2017029208A - vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle that can accurately detect an obstacle present in a traveling direction of a wheel and has a simple configuration, thereby being manufactured at low cost.SOLUTION: The vehicle 10 includes: a vehicle body 12; a turning part 22 provided to the vehicle body 12 so as to be rotatable; front wheels 14a, 14b supported by the turning part 22 and serving as a "steering wheel"; a steering mechanism 24 for turning the turning part 22; and a detection device 26 fixed to the turning part 22 to detect a state of a road surface positioned forward in the traveling direction of the front wheels 14a, 14b in a non-contact manner.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle including a detection device for detecting a road surface.

  Conventionally, there is a vehicle provided with a detection device for detecting a road surface. The conventional vehicle described in Patent Document 1 is an electric wheelchair having a vehicle body, and an obstacle detection sensor (detection device) is attached to the front portion of the vehicle body toward the front. The vehicle described in Patent Document 2 has a knuckle that supports tires, and a road condition grasping sensor (detection device) is attached to the bottom of the knuckle so as to face downward.

JP2011-177205 JP 2006-283920 A

  In the conventional vehicle described in Patent Document 1, since the obstacle detection sensor is attached to the vehicle body, when the wheel is rotated by the steering mechanism, the traveling direction of the wheel and the direction in which the obstacle detection sensor faces are different. There was a problem that the detection accuracy of obstacles was lowered because they did not match. In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to use a servo motor or the like to direct the obstacle detection sensor in the traveling direction of the wheel. In this case, however, the configuration becomes complicated and the manufacturing cost increases. there were.

  In the conventional vehicle described in Patent Document 2, since the road condition grasping sensor is directed vertically downward, an obstacle (such as a step on the road surface) in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle cannot be detected.

  The present invention has been made to cope with the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle that can accurately detect an obstacle in the traveling direction of a wheel and can be manufactured at a low cost with a simple configuration. .

  In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle according to the present invention is characterized in that a vehicle body, a rotation part rotatably provided on the vehicle body, a steering wheel supported by the rotation part, and the rotation part. A steering mechanism for rotating the steering wheel, and a detection device for detecting the state of the road surface that is fixed to the rotating portion and is located forward in the traveling direction of the steering wheel in a non-contact manner.

  In this configuration, since the detecting device is fixed to the rotating portion that supports the steering wheel, the steering wheel and the detecting device are simultaneously rotated when the rotating portion is rotated. Therefore, the traveling direction of the steering wheel can always coincide with the direction in which the detection device faces, and an obstacle ahead of the traveling direction of the steering wheel can be detected with high accuracy. Further, since a special driving device such as a servo motor is not used to rotate the detection device, it can be manufactured with a simple configuration at low cost.

  Another feature of the present invention resides in that the detection device is disposed above the steering wheel.

  In this configuration, since the distance between the detection device and the road surface is increased, it is possible to suppress the stone on the road surface that has been hit by the steered wheels from hitting the detection device.

  Another feature of the present invention is that a fender disposed between the detection device and the steering wheel is provided.

  In this configuration, the fender can effectively suppress the stone on the road surface hit by the steering wheel from hitting the detection device.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the rotating unit includes a pair of left and right knuckles to which the pair of left and right steering wheels are attached, and the detection device is fixed to at least one of the pair of left and right knuckles. There is to be.

  In this configuration, since the detection device is fixed to the knuckle to which the steering wheel is attached, when the knuckle is rotated, the steering wheel and the detection device are simultaneously rotated.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the steering wheel has a contact surface that contacts the road surface, passes through a center in the width direction of the contact surface that contacts the road surface, and extends in the traveling direction of the steering wheel. Assuming a straight line, the detection device is arranged outside the virtual straight line in the vehicle width direction in plan view.

  In this configuration, the detection device can easily detect an obstacle outside the virtual straight line, and therefore, the obstacle detection accuracy can be increased particularly when traveling on a road shoulder.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a driving wheel, a driving unit for driving the driving wheel, and a braking unit for stopping the driving wheel, wherein the steering wheel on the road surface is in contact with the first part. When the distance to the second portion detected by the detection device is a detection distance, and the distance that the drive wheel travels from when the braking means starts to the stop of the drive wheel is the braking distance, the detection The distance is determined to be longer than the braking distance.

  In this configuration, the driving wheel can be stopped before the steering wheel reaches the obstacle detected by the detection device.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the driving wheel, driving means for driving the driving wheel, braking means for decelerating or stopping the driving wheel, and when the detection device detects an abnormality in the road surface. And a control device for controlling the braking means so as to decelerate or stop the driving wheel.

  In this configuration, when the detection device detects an abnormality on the road surface, the driving wheel is decelerated or stopped, so that an obstacle or the like can be avoided.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the detection device includes a light emitting unit for emitting laser light obliquely from above toward the road surface, and a light receiving unit for receiving the laser light reflected by the road surface. The control device calculates a distance using a detection signal output from the light receiving unit, and determines the state of the road surface based on the distance.

  With this configuration, the state of the road surface can be easily determined using laser light.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the detection device includes a light emitting unit for emitting infrared rays obliquely from above toward the road surface, and a light receiving unit for receiving the infrared rays reflected by the road surface. The control device calculates a distance using a detection signal output from the light receiving unit, and determines the state of the road surface based on the distance.

  In this configuration, the state of the road surface can be easily determined using infrared rays.

  Another feature of the present invention is that the detecting device includes an ultrasonic wave transmitting unit for transmitting ultrasonic waves obliquely from above toward the road surface, and an ultrasonic wave receiving unit for receiving the ultrasonic waves reflected by the road surface. And the control device determines the state of the road surface based on a time required until the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic wave transmission unit is received by the ultrasonic wave reception unit. It is in.

  With this configuration, the state of the road surface can be easily determined using ultrasonic waves.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a front view illustrating a configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a knuckle and a detection apparatus. It is a front view which shows the detection method of the road surface state by a detection apparatus. (A) is a top view which shows the state of the detection apparatus when a vehicle goes straight ahead, and (B) is a top view which shows the state of the detection apparatus when a vehicle turns to the left. It is a block diagram which shows a control apparatus and various electrical components. It is a perspective view which shows the other attachment structure of a detection apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the vehicle which concerns on other embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, each direction of “front, back, left, right, up, down” used in the following description corresponds to the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a vehicle 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the configuration of the vehicle 10. A vehicle 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an electric wheelchair used by elderly people and persons with disabilities. In FIG. 1, the vehicle body 12 is indicated by a two-dot chain line (virtual line), and various components (such as a seat and a battery) mounted on the vehicle body 12 are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 10 includes a vehicle body 12, a pair of left and right front wheels 14a and 14b, a pair of left and right rear wheels 16a and 16b, and a front side connecting portion 18 that connects the pair of left and right front wheels 14a and 14b. And a rear side connecting portion 20 that connects the pair of left and right rear wheels 16a, 16b. In addition, the vehicle 10 includes a turning portion 22 that is turnably provided on the vehicle body 12 via the front connecting portion 18, a steering mechanism 24 for turning the turning portion 22, and a road surface G (FIG. 5). And a detecting device 26 for detecting the state.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle body 12 includes two rod-like vertical members 12 a and 12 b that are provided to extend in the front-rear direction with an interval in the left-right direction, and in the left-right direction with an interval in the front-rear direction. It has two rod-like transverse members 12c and 12d provided to extend. The front ends of the vertical members 12a and 12b are connected by a horizontal member 12c, and the rear ends of the vertical members 12a and 12b are connected by a horizontal member 12d.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a seat 28 on which a passenger sits and an armrest 30 are provided at the center in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 12. The armrest 30 is provided with a driving lever 32 for steering the front wheels 14a and 14b as “steering wheels”. A battery 34 and a control device 36 are provided at the rear of the vehicle body 12, and these are covered with a cover (not shown). The control device 36 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, drive motors 38a to 38d as “drive means” for driving these are connected to the pair of left and right front wheels 14a and 14b and the pair of left and right rear wheels 16a and 16b. . As a result, all of the four wheels 14a, 14b, 16a, 16b are “drive wheels”. Drive motors 38 a and 38 b provided on the front wheels 14 a and 14 b serving as “steering wheels” are attached to both ends of the front connecting portion 18 via the rotating portion 22. In other words, the front wheels 14a and 14b are supported by the rotating portion 22 via the drive motors 38a and 38b. The drive motors 38 c and 38 d provided on the rear wheels 16 a and 16 b are directly attached to both end portions of the rear side connecting portion 20. Each of the drive motors 38a to 38d of the present embodiment has an electromagnetic brake as “braking means” for decelerating or stopping the drive wheels.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each of the front side connecting portion 18 and the rear side connecting portion 20 is a rod-like member having a quadrangular cross section, and is arranged extending in the left-right direction below the vehicle body 12. A pair of left and right coil springs 40a and 40b are provided between the upper surface of the front connecting portion 18 and the lower surface of the vehicle body 12, so that vibrations transmitted from the front wheels 14a and 14b are absorbed by the coil springs 40a and 40b. It has become. A pair of left and right coil springs 40c, 40d are provided between the upper surface of the rear connecting portion 20 and the lower surface of the vehicle body 12, and vibrations transmitted from the rear wheels 16a, 16b are absorbed by the coil springs 40c, 40d. It has become so.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the knuckle 44 b and the detection device 26. As shown in FIG. 1, the rotating unit 22 includes a pair of left and right knuckles 44 a and 44 b to which a pair of left and right front wheels 14 a and 14 b as “steering wheels” are attached. As shown in FIG. 3, the right knuckle 44 b is configured in a substantially L shape in plan view, and is attached to the end of the front connection portion 18 via a king pin (steering shaft) 46 so as to be rotatable. Yes. A portion of the right knuckle 44b extending rearward from the portion where the king pin (steering shaft) 46 is provided (hereinafter referred to as “knuckle arm”) 48b is rotated by one end of the tie rod 52 via the connecting portion 50b. Connected movably. The left knuckle 44a shown in FIG. 1 is configured symmetrically with the right knuckle 44b shown in FIG.

  A steering mechanism 24 shown in FIG. 1 includes the tie rod 52 and a steering gear unit 54 described above. The tie rod 52 is a rod-shaped member for connecting a pair of left and right knuckle arms 48 a and 48 b, and a rack (not shown) is provided at the center in the length direction of the tie rod 52. The steering gear unit 54 has a pinion (not shown) meshed with the rack of the tie rod 52 and a steering motor 56 for rotating the pinion. When the steering motor 56 is driven, the tie rod 52 is moved in the axial direction by the rotational force, and the knuckles 44a and 44b are rotated to switch the directions of the front wheels 14a and 14b.

  FIG. 4 is a front view showing a road surface state detection method by the detection device 26. As shown in FIG. 4, the detection device 26 detects the state of the road surface G positioned forward in the traveling direction of the front wheels 14 a and 14 b as “steering wheels” in a non-contact manner. The detection device 26 of this embodiment receives a laser beam reflected from the road surface G and outputs a detection signal based on the light receiving state by emitting a laser beam obliquely from above toward the road surface G. Part 26b. The angle α formed by the laser light emitted from the light exit part 26a and the road surface G is not particularly limited, but is preferably in the range of 20 to 30 degrees (25 degrees in the present embodiment).

The control device 36 shown in FIG. 2 is configured to calculate a distance using the detection signal output from the light receiving unit 26b and determine the state of the road surface G based on the distance. In addition,
As a method of calculating the distance using the detection signal output from the light receiving unit 26b, a triangulation method that calculates the distance from the imaging position in the light receiving unit 26b may be used, or the light is output from the light emitting unit 26a. Alternatively, a time-of-flight method for calculating the distance from the time required until the laser light is received by the light receiving unit 26b may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the detection device 26 is fixed to at least one (both in the present embodiment) of a pair of left and right knuckles 44 a and 44 b constituting the rotating unit 22. In the present embodiment, the fender 62 is fixed to each of the pair of left and right knuckles 44 a and 44 b via two rod-shaped support members 60 a and 60 b, and the detection device 26 is fixed to the upper surface of the fender 62. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the detection device 26 is disposed above the front wheel 14 b as “steering wheel”, and the fender 62 is disposed between the detection device 26 and the front wheel 14 b.

  5A is a plan view showing a state of the detection device 26 when the vehicle 10 goes straight, and FIG. 5B is a plan view showing a state of the detection device 26 when the vehicle 10 turns to the left. It is. In these drawings, the hatched area is the area irradiated with the laser beam emitted from the detection device 26. As shown in FIG. 5A, the front wheels 14 a and 14 b as “steering wheels” have a contact surface S that contacts the road surface G. When assuming a virtual straight line Q passing through the center in the width direction of the road surface S in contact with the road surface G and extending in the traveling direction of the front wheels 14a and 14b as "steering wheels", the detection device 26 is a virtual straight line in plan view. It is arranged on the outer side in the vehicle width direction (left-right direction) than Q.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the control device 36 and various electrical components. As shown in FIG. 6, the drive motors 38 a to 38 d, the operation lever 32, the steering motor 56, and the detection device 26 are electrically connected to the control device 36 shown in FIG. 2. The control device 36 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM, RAM, and the like not shown. Each electrical component is controlled by the CPU executing arithmetic processing based on the control program stored in the ROM.

  When the detection device 26 shown in FIG. 5A or FIG. 5B detects an abnormality in the road surface G, the control device 36 shown in FIG. 6 decelerates the front wheels 14a and 14b and the rear wheels 16a and 16b as drive wheels. Alternatively, the electromagnetic brakes (braking means) of the drive motors 38a to 38d are controlled so as to be stopped. The passenger can select in advance whether to decelerate or stop. As shown in FIG. 4, the distance from the first part G1 that is in contact with the front wheel 14a as the “steering wheel” on the road surface G to the second part G2 detected by the detection device 26 is set as the detection distance D1, and braking by the braking means is started. Assuming that the distance traveled by each drive wheel from when the drive wheel is stopped to the braking distance D2, the detection distance D1 is set longer than the braking distance D2.

  Although these specific numerical values are not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the maximum speed of the vehicle 10 is 6 Km / h, the braking distance D2 at that time is 750 mm, and the detection distance D1. Is set to about 1000 mm. Therefore, when the detection device 26 detects an obstacle W such as a step at the position P in FIG. 4, the vehicle 10 may be stopped before the front wheel 14a as the “steering wheel” reaches the obstacle W. it can.

  According to the present embodiment, the following effects can be achieved by the above configuration. That is, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the traveling direction of the front wheels 14a and 14b as the “steering wheels” and the direction in which each detection device 26 faces can always coincide with each other. It is possible to accurately detect an obstacle in front of the traveling direction 14b. In addition, since a special drive device such as a servo motor is not used to rotate each detection device 26, it can be manufactured at a low cost with a simple configuration.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each detection device 26 is disposed above the front wheels 14 a and 14 b as “steering wheels”, so that the distance between each detection device 26 and the road surface G (FIG. 4) is increased. It is possible to suppress the stones and the like hit by the front wheels 14a and 14b from hitting the detection devices 26. Moreover, each detection apparatus 26 can be protected also by the fender 62 arrange | positioned between each detection apparatus 26 and front wheel 14a, 14b.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 (A) and 5 (B), the detection device 26 is arranged on the outer side in the vehicle width direction with respect to the virtual straight line Q in plan view. In particular, when traveling on a road shoulder or the like, the accuracy of detecting an obstacle can be increased. In addition, obstacles can be detected quickly when turning left and right.

  Since the detection distance D1 shown in FIG. 4 is set to be longer than the braking distance D2, when the detection device 26 detects the obstacle W, the front wheels 14a and 14b as “steering wheels” reach the obstacle W. The driving wheels 14a, 14b, 16a, 16b can be stopped before the operation.

  The control device 36 shown in FIG. 6 can calculate the distance using the detection signal indicating the state of the laser beam received by the light receiving unit 26b, and can easily determine the state of the road surface G based on the distance. When the road surface G is abnormal, the vehicle 10 can be decelerated or stopped.

  In carrying out the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the object of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the detection device 26 uses laser light, but infrared light or ultrasonic waves may be used instead of the laser light. In the case of using infrared rays, the detection device has a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion as in the case of using laser light, and the control device uses the detection signal based on the state of infrared light received by the light receiving portion. The distance is calculated by the triangulation method or the time-of-flight method, and the state of the road surface G is determined based on the distance. On the other hand, in the case of using ultrasonic waves, the detection device includes an ultrasonic wave transmission unit for transmitting ultrasonic waves obliquely upward toward the road surface G, and an ultrasonic wave reception for receiving ultrasonic waves reflected by the road surface G. The control device determines the state of the road surface G based on the time required for the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic wave transmission unit to be received by the ultrasonic wave reception unit.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another mounting structure of the detection device 26. As shown in FIG. 3, in the above embodiment, the detection device 26 is fixed to the upper surface of the fender 62. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the detection device 26 may be provided away from the fender 62. Good. In this case, the support member 70 may be fixed to the knuckle 44 b constituting the rotating unit 22, and the detection device 26 may be fixed to the support member 70.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a vehicle 80 according to another embodiment. Although the vehicle 10 according to the above embodiment is an electric wheelchair, the type of the vehicle to which the present invention is applied is not particularly limited, and a classic car, a vehicle simulating a classic car, a golf as shown in FIG. It may be a cart, an agricultural work vehicle, an unmanned traveling vehicle in a factory or a hospital, or an irregular terrain traveling vehicle.

  The number of “steering wheels” is not limited to two, but may be one or three or more. In this case, the detection device 26 may be provided corresponding to each of one or three or more “steering wheels”. The object for fixing the detection device 26 is not limited to a knuckle. For example, when there is one “steering wheel”, the detection device 26 is fixed to another rotating portion that supports the “steering wheel”. May be.

  When the rear wheel is a “steering wheel”, the detection device 26 may be provided to face the rear wheel. In this case, an obstacle can be detected when the vehicle is moved backward.

  The vehicle drive system may be an engine drive system or a hybrid drive system using both a motor and an engine. Furthermore, the drive motor may be provided only on one of the pair of left and right front wheels 14a and 14b and the pair of left and right rear wheels 16a and 16b.

  As a steering mechanism for steering the “steering wheel”, a steering wheel, a hydraulic cylinder, or the like that is manually rotated by a passenger may be used instead of the steering gear unit 54 (FIG. 1) of the above embodiment.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, it comprised so that the level | step difference of the road surface G ahead of the advancing direction of the vehicle 10 might be detected. However, in the present invention, the detection area of the detection device 26 is set in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle 10, and obstacles existing in front of the traveling direction can be widely detected. In the present invention, when the steered wheel is a rear wheel, a detecting device 26 is provided in the rotating portion of the rear wheels 16a and 16b so that an obstacle (including a step) behind the vehicle 10 can be detected. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle, 12 ... Vehicle body, 14a, 14b ... Front wheel, 22 ... Turning part, 24 ... Steering mechanism,
26. Detection device

Claims (10)

The car body,
A rotating portion provided rotatably on the vehicle body;
A steering wheel supported by the rotating part;
A steering mechanism for rotating the rotating part;
A vehicle, comprising: a detection device that is fixed to the rotating portion and that detects a state of a road surface that is positioned forward in the traveling direction of the steering wheel without contact.   The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the detection device is disposed above the steering wheel.   The vehicle according to claim 2, comprising a fender disposed between the detection device and the steering wheel. The rotating part has a pair of left and right knuckles to which the pair of left and right steering wheels are attached,
The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the detection device is fixed to at least one of the pair of left and right knuckles. The steered wheel has a road surface in contact with the road surface,
Assuming a virtual straight line that passes through the center in the width direction of the road surface in contact with the road surface and extends in the traveling direction of the steering wheel,
The vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the detection device is disposed on an outer side in the vehicle width direction than the virtual straight line in a plan view. Driving wheels,
Drive means for driving the drive wheels;
Braking means for stopping the drive wheel,
The distance from the first part of the road surface where the steered wheel comes into contact to the second part detected by the detection device is a detection distance,
When the braking distance is the distance traveled by the driving wheel from the start of braking by the braking means until the driving wheel stops,
The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the detection distance is set to be longer than the braking distance. Driving wheels,
Drive means for driving the drive wheels;
Braking means for decelerating or stopping the drive wheels;
The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a control device that controls the braking means so as to decelerate or stop the drive wheel when the detection device detects an abnormality in the road surface. The detection device has a light output part for emitting laser light obliquely from above toward the road surface, and a light receiving part for receiving the laser light reflected by the road surface,
The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the control device calculates a distance using a detection signal output from the light receiving unit, and determines the state of the road surface based on the distance. The detection device has a light output portion for emitting infrared rays obliquely from above toward the road surface, and a light receiving portion for receiving the infrared rays reflected by the road surface,
The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the control device calculates a distance using a detection signal output from the light receiving unit, and determines the state of the road surface based on the distance. The detection device has an ultrasonic transmission unit for transmitting ultrasonic waves obliquely from above toward the road surface, and an ultrasonic reception unit for receiving the ultrasonic waves reflected by the road surface,
The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the control device determines the state of the road surface based on a time required until the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic wave transmission unit is received by the ultrasonic wave reception unit.

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