Traveling inspection robot system

• US 5,351,621 A
• Filed: 02/17/1993
• Issued: 10/04/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Tanaka, Keiji, Yoshida, Tomiharu, Omote, Tatsuyuki, Kido, Tsuyoshi, Waki, Tetsuo, Kometani, Yutaka, Takahashi, Masaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Mark T.
• Application Number:
  US08/018,544
• Time in Patent Office: 594 Days
• Field of Search: 104/89, 104/93, 104/94, 104/118, 104/119, 104/121, 104/139, 104/108, 105/148, 105/154, 105/133
• US Class Current: 104/94
• CPC Class Codes: B61B 13/04 Monorail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control

Abstract

In a traveling inspection robot system, two carriages are each provided with one pair of guide rollers for guiding the travel in the vertical direction and two pairs of side rollers for guiding the travel in the horizontal direction. The two pairs of side rollers are arranged such that one pair locates on each of the front and rear sides of the pair of guide rollers as viewed in the direction of advance. The two carriages are interconnected by a coupling plate through parallel steering shafts, and a sprocket and a motor for driving the sprocket are provided as travel driving device on one carriage for giving a traction force to a transversely central portion of the upper inner surface of the monorail. An antenna and a current collector are provided on the other carriage. A control circuit unit and a span and tilt mechanism are attached to the coupling plate with a sensor unit mounted to the span and tilt mechanism. A swing motor and a tilt motor in the span and tilt mechanism are arranged in respective dead spaces created when the span and tilt mechanism swings and tilts. A chain, a trolley line and an antenna line are laid and wired on the upper inner surface of the monorail. With such an arrangement, the degree of freedom in rail design can be increased, the robot and the monorail can be both made small in size, and therefore the applicable range of the traveling inspection robot can be enlarged.

Claims

1. A traveling inspection robot system comprising a monorail and an inspection robot traveling along said monorail, said inspection robot comprising a travel unit and a sensor unit mounted to said travel unit, said system being operated by a control console installed on the ground, wherein:

(a) said monorail is a channel-shaped rail comprising a closed upper wall, a pair of side walls suspending from both transverse ends of said upper wall in opposite relation to form first travel guide surfaces, and a pair of lower walls extending inwardly from lower ends of said side walls to form second travel guide surfaces and spaced from each other in the transverse direction by a groove; and

(b) said travel unit comprises first and second carriages, each being provided with one pair of guide rollers contacting said second travel guide surfaces inside said monorail to guide the travel in the vertical direction and with two pairs of side rollers arranged on the front and rear sides of said pair of guide rollers as viewed in the direction of advance, respectively, and contacting said first travel guide surfaces inside said monorail to guide the travel in the horizontal direction, coupling means interconnecting said first and second carriages for independent rotation thereof through parallel steering shafts attached to said first and second carriages, respectively, and travel driving means provided on at least one of said first and second carriages for giving a traction force to a transversely central portion of said upper wall inside said monorail.

2. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, wherein said side walls of said monorail have an external height almost equal to the sum of the diameter of said guide rollers, the thickness of said upper wall, and the thickness of said lower walls.

3. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, wherein said travel driving means comprises a travel sprocket arranged in a transversely central portion of one of said first and second carriages at a middle position between said two pairs of side rollers, and a chain arranged in the transversely central portion of said upper wall and held in mesh with said travel sprocket inside said monorail.

4. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 3, wherein said travel unit further comprises a motor mounted on the same carriage as said sprocket for driving said sprocket.

5. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, wherein said travel unit further comprises a current collecting device, an antenna for wireless communication and/or other control units all mounted on the other of said first and second carriages inside said monorail.

6. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 5, wherein said travel unit further comprises a trolley line wired along one side of said upper wall in the transverse direction inside said monorail and an antenna line for wireless communication wired along the other side thereof, said current collecting device and said antenna for wireless communication being arranged at a middle position between said two pairs of side rollers of the other said carriage in opposite relation to said trolley line and said antenna line, respectively.

7. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, wherein said two pairs of side rollers are offset relatively in the vertical direction.

8. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, further comprising a gate-shaped pan and tilt mechanism attached to one of said first and second carriages to be swingable by a swing motor, wherein said sensor unit is attached to said gate-shaped pan and tilt mechanism to be tiltable by a tilt motor, said swing motor and said tilt motor being arranged in respective dead spaces created when said gate-shaped pan and tilt mechanism swings and tilts.

9. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 8, wherein said pan and tilt mechanism is arranged forwardly of the steering shaft of said one carriage as viewed in the direction of advance.

10. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, wherein said travel unit further comprises third and fourth carriages respectively attached to said first and second carriages through elastic support means.

11. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 10, wherein said third and fourth carriages each have a collision sensor and a collision damper attached to each of foremost and rearmost portions as viewed in the direction of advance.

12. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, further comprising holder means for holding said monorail to a stationary portion, wherein said holder means comprises a holder body covering said monorail from the outside, at least three long bolts attached to an upper portion of said holder body, and a support for fixing said at least three long bolts in such a manner as able to absorb setting errors of said monorail in both the longitudinal and perpendicular directions of said monorail and thermal expansion of said monorail.

13. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, wherein said monorail comprises a plurality of rail elements joined to each other to make up said monorail, and joint means for covering joined portions of adjacent rail elements from the outside, said joint means being fixed in place by tightly fastening bolts through the side walls of the adjacent rail elements such that inner surfaces of said rail elements become smooth.

14. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 13, wherein said travel unit further comprises a trolley line and an antenna line for wireless communication both being wired along said upper wall inside each of said rail elements, said trolley lines and/or said antennas for wireless communication in the adjacent rail elements being led out of said monorail through said joint means and connected to each other through connectors.

15. A traveling inspection robot system according to claim 1, wherein said sensor unit is attached to a lower portion of said travel unit through a pan and tilt mechanism.

16. A traveling inspection robot system comprising a monorail and an inspection robot traveling along said monorail, said inspection robot comprising a travel unit and a sensor unit mounted to said travel unit, said system being operated by a control console installed on the ground, wherein:

(a) said monorail is a channel-shaped rail comprising a closed upper wall, a pair of side walls suspending from both transverse ends of said upper wall in opposite relation to form first travel guide surfaces, and a pair of lower walls extending inwardly from lower ends of said side walls to form second travel guide surfaces and spaced from each other in the transverse direction by a groove;

(b) said travel unit comprises first and second carriages, each being provided with one pair of guide rollers contacting said second travel guide surfaces inside said monorail to guide the travel in the vertical direction and with two pairs of side rollers arranged on the front and rear sides of said pair of guide rollers as viewed in the direction of advance, respectively, and contacting said first travel guide surfaces inside said monorail to guide the travel in the horizontal direction, coupling means interconnecting said first and second carriages for independent rotation thereof through parallel steering shafts attached to said first and second carriages, respectively, and travel driving means provided on at least one of said first and second carriages for giving a traction force to a transversely central portion of said upper wall inside said monorail;

(c) said side walls of said monorail have a height almost equal to the sum of the diameter of said guide rollers, the thickness of said upper wall, and the thickness of said lower walls; and

(d) said travel driving means comprises a travel sprocket arranged in a transversely central portion of one of said first and second carriages at a middle position between said two pairs of side rollers, and a chain arranged in the transversely central portion of said upper wall and held in mesh with said travel sprocket inside said monorail.

17. An inspection robot traveling along a channel-shaped rail comprising a closed upper wall, a pair of side walls suspending from both transverse ends of said upper wall in opposite relation to form first travel guide surfaces, and a pair of lower walls extending inwardly from lower ends of said side walls to form second travel guide surfaces and spaced from each other in the transverse direction by a groove, said inspection robot comprising;

first and second carriages, each being provided with one pair of guide rollers contacting said second travel guide surfaces inside said monorail to guide the travel in the vertical direction and with two pairs of side rollers arranged on the front and rear sides of said pair of guide rollers as viewed in the direction of advance, respectively, and contacting said first travel guide surfaces inside said monorail to guide the travel in the horizontal direction, coupling means interconnecting said first and second carriages for independent rotation thereof through parallel steering shafts attached to said first and second carriages, respectively, and travel driving means provided on at least one of said first and second carriages for giving a traction force to a transversely central portion of said upper wall inside said monorail.

18. An inspection robot according to claim 17, wherein said travel driving means comprises a travel sprocket arranged in a transversely central portion of one of said first and second carriages at a middle position between said two pairs of side rollers, and a chain arranged in the transversely central portion of said upper wall and held in mesh with said travel sprocket inside said monorail.

19. An inspection robot according to claim 18, further comprising a motor mounted on the same carriage as said sprocket for driving said sprocket.

20. An inspection robot according to claim 17, further comprising a current collecting device, an antenna for wireless communication and/or other control units all mounted on the other of said first and second carriages inside said monorail.

21. An inspection robot according to claim 20, further comprising a trolley line wired along one side of said upper wall in the transverse direction inside said monorail and an antenna line for wireless communication wired along the other side thereof, said current collecting device and said antenna for wireless communication being arranged at a middle position between said two pairs of side rollers of the other said carriage in opposite relation to said trolley line and said antenna line, respectively.

22. An inspection robot according to claim 17, wherein said two pairs of side rollers are offset relatively in the vertical direction.