JPS641895Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an automatic driving vehicle that automatically travels according to a memorized driving course. Specifically, the invention relates to an automatic driving vehicle that automatically travels according to a memorized driving course. A turning angle detector is provided, which is attached to the traveling vehicle body in a state where it can rotate freely around the traveling vehicle body, and detects the rotation angle of the bracket with respect to the traveling vehicle body, and the bracket is mounted on the traveling vehicle body in a state in which the bracket is rotatable around the vehicle body. The present invention relates to an automatic vehicle equipped with a control means for automatically controlling the steering of a vehicle body.

For example, in order to make this type of autonomous vehicle run automatically, when a person operates the vehicle, a control means or the like is used to control the amount of rotation of the vehicle body in accordance with the distance traveled from the starting point. An example of an automatic driving vehicle is a teaching playback system in which the vehicle is stored in a vehicle and during automatic driving, the stored travel distance is played back according to the distance traveled.

In automatic control using this method, deviations from a predetermined course during driving are caused by errors in the running direction, and deviations from the predetermined course due to this error depend on the distance traveled, and the distance traveled is long. It gets bigger. Therefore, for a practical vehicle to autonomously travel within a section using this method, a means is required for the vehicle to make a predetermined number of turns at a predetermined point.
A device is needed to accurately detect the amount of rotation.
As such a device, the above-mentioned means for detecting the rotation angle of the bracket around the vertical axis is used, but conventionally, a means for appropriately converting the turning angle of the traveling vehicle body into the rotation of the bracket is used. Therefore, the axle of the grounded vehicle is arranged at a fixed position on a bracket eccentric to the axis, so that the point of contact with the ground where the grounded vehicle is running does not coincide with the intersection of the axis with the running ground. .

However, with this conventional configuration, when the running vehicle changes from forward movement to reverse movement, or from reverse movement to forward movement, the bracket rotates nearly 180 degrees because the rotational friction of the bracket is smaller than the ground friction of the grounded vehicle. During this period, the detection signal from the turning angle detector has no relation to the turning of the traveling vehicle body, and there is a drawback that it becomes substantially unlimited.

In other words, in conventional autonomous vehicles of this type, moving forward or backward while driving can cause control errors.
It was considered impossible to move forward or backward.

In view of these drawbacks, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic driving vehicle that has means for accurately detecting the turning angle of the aircraft even when traveling on a predetermined course that includes both a forward section and a backward section. .

In order to achieve this object, in the automatic driving vehicle according to the present invention, a sliding guide part is formed in the bracket along the front-rear direction, and the stay is attached to the sliding guide part. The wheel is integrally connected to a sliding member slidably attached in the longitudinal direction, and in response to a forward operation of the traveling vehicle body, the grounding point of the grounding wheel with the traveling ground is aligned with the axis of the traveling vehicle. The sliding member is displaced to one end of the sliding guide portion located on the rear side of the axis line so as to be located on the rear side of the intersection with the ground, and in response to a backward movement operation of the traveling vehicle body, The bracket is provided with a drive mechanism that displaces the sliding member to the other end of the sliding guide portion located forward of the axis so that the grounding point is located forward of the intersection point. is the feature configuration.

In other words, the drive is performed so that the point of contact of the grounding wheel with the running ground is located behind or in front of the point between the rotation axis of the bracket and the running ground, depending on whether the running vehicle moves forward or backward. The mechanism moves the sliding member integrated with the grounding wheel via the stay to one end or the other end of the sliding guide part formed on the bracket, thereby changing the running direction of the vehicle body from forward to reverse or backward. Even when switching from forward to forward in the middle of traveling, the point of contact of the grounding wheels with the running ground can always be positioned further back in the traveling direction than the rotation axis of the bracket.
The bracket did not rotate 180 degrees when switching forward or backward, and the turning angle of the vehicle body could always be detected correctly.

Therefore, automatic driving, including switching between forward and backward travel, has become possible.

Examples will be described below based on the drawings.

This embodiment will be explained using the lawn mower shown in FIG. 1 as an example.

A lawn mowing device 4 is suspended from the middle part of the front and rear wheels 2 and 3 of the traveling vehicle body 1 so as to be able to move only vertically. The traveling vehicle body 1 is provided with a teaching playback control device, and a turning angle detecting device 5 is attached to the rear central portion of the vehicle body.

As shown in FIG. 3, a mounting base 6 is provided at the rear of the traveling vehicle body 1 via a parallel quadruple link type vertically adjustable joint 6'. A vertical shaft 8 projecting upward from the central portion of the bracket 7 is fitted and held in the mounting base 6 so as to be rotatable left and right. A potentiometer 9 which is a rotation angle detector for detecting the relative rotation angle between the shaft 8 and the mounting base 6 is provided on the upper part of the shaft 8. A sliding guide groove 10 is formed in the bracket 7 as a longitudinally long sliding guide part, and a sliding member 11 is engaged and held in the sliding groove 10 so as to be slidable longitudinally. Stays 12, 12 are fixed to the left and right sides of this sliding member, and a grounding wheel 13 is pivotally supported at the lower ends of the stays 12, 12. A DC motor 14 is installed on the bracket 7, and a part of the burnable endless belt 15 moved by the DC motor 14 is connected to the sliding member 11, thereby forming a drive mechanism K. . Limit switches 16, 16 are installed at both ends of the sliding groove 10, and these detect that the sliding member 11 has been brought to the end by the DC motor 14, and switch to the end side of the DC motor 14. This is to stop the rotation.

FIG. 4 shows the mounting structure of the grounding wheel 13. A pivot shaft 17 is fixed to the lower ends of the left and right stays 12, 12, and the boss portion 19 of the grounding wheel is externally attached to this shaft 17 via bearings 18. It is fitted.

Inside this boss portion 19, an annular body 20 is provided.
is installed. This annular body 20 is provided with a cutout 21 or a light along its circumference, and a light emitting body and a photo sensor are arranged on both sides to constitute a rotation pulse detector 22. The signal line 23 of this detector 22 is connected to the pivot shaft 17.
It is taken out to the outside through a hole 24 provided on one side of the.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the control means, in which the control circuit 25 measures the traveling distance by measuring pulses from the rotational pulse detector 22, and also controls the potentiometer 9 corresponding to the traveling distance. A forward or reverse signal is sampled from the value and the state of the forward/reverse switching clutch 27.

During teaching, the control circuit 25 stores these sampling values in the memory 26.

On the other hand, during playback, the sampling value and the stored value are compared, and feedback control is performed to drive the electromagnetic valve 28 and operate the steering wheel so that the stored value is reproduced, and the forward/reverse clutch is operated.

The forward and reverse rotational drive of the motor 14 is controlled by the control circuit 25 so as to be always in synchronization with switching of the forward/reverse clutch, and when the vehicle body 1 is moved forward, the sliding member 11 is moved into the sliding groove. It is located at the rear end of the sliding groove 10, and conversely, when traveling in reverse, it is located at the front end of the sliding groove 10.

In the embodiments described above, the configuration and object may be changed by one or more of the following combinations.

Attach a screw shaft to the bracket 7 with the axis directed in the front-rear direction, externally screw the sliding member 11 onto the screw shaft, and attach the screw shaft to the DC motor 1.
4, so that it is rotationally driven.

A hydraulic jack is attached to the bracket 7 with the axis of the piston rod directed in the longitudinal direction, and a stay is fixed to the free end of the piston rod.

In this way, the actuator itself may be provided with a sliding guide portion or a sliding member to form a driving mechanism.

In this case, it is the hydraulic switching valve that controls the expansion and contraction of the hydraulic jack that is switched in response to switching the vehicle body 1 forward or backward.

Instead of the sliding groove 10, a plurality of parallel shafts are fixed to the bracket 7 in the front-rear direction, and the sliding member 11 is slidably fitted onto the shaft.

It can be used not only for lawn mowers, but also for automatic driving control of power tillers, combine harvesters, and factory transport vehicles.

Note that although reference numerals are written in the claims section of the utility model registration for convenience of comparison with the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structure of the attached drawings by such entry.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of an automatic driving vehicle according to the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of a lawn mower, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the lawn mower, and Fig. 3 is a side view of the mounting structure of the turning angle detection device.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting structure of the ground contact wheel, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control device. 1... Running vehicle body, 7... Bracket, 10...
Sliding guide part, 11...Sliding member, 9...Turning angle detector, 12...Stay, 13...Grounding wheel, P...
...Axis line, R...Intersection, S...Grounding point, K...Drive mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The bracket 7 holding the stay 12 that pivotally supports the grounding wheel 13 is attached to the traveling vehicle body 1 in a state where it can freely rotate around an axis P along the vertical direction, and the rotation angle of the bracket 7 with respect to the traveling vehicle body 1 is adjusted. A turning angle detector 9 for detecting is provided, and
In an automatic traveling vehicle provided with a control means for automatically controlling the steering of the traveling vehicle body 1 based on the detection signal of the turning angle detector 9, a sliding guide portion 10 is formed in the bracket 7 along the front-rear direction. At the same time, the stay 12 is integrally connected to a sliding member 11 that is slidably attached to the sliding guide portion 10 in the front-rear direction, and the stay 12 is integrally connected to the sliding member 11 that is slidably attached to the sliding guide portion 10 in the front-rear direction, and in response to the forward movement of the traveling vehicle body 1. , the sliding member 11 is arranged such that the grounding point S of the grounding wheel 13 with the running ground is located on the rear side of the intersection R of the axis P with the running ground.
is displaced to one end of the sliding guide portion 10 located on the rear side of the axis P, so that the grounding point S is located on the front side of the intersection point R in response to a backward movement operation of the traveling vehicle body 1. An automatic driving vehicle characterized in that the bracket 7 is provided with a drive mechanism K for displacing the sliding member 11 to the other end of the sliding guide portion 10 located forward of the axis P.