阅读说明：本技术 球体驱动式移动装置 (Ball driving type moving device ) 是由 宫本弘之 松本祥树 于 2019-11-07 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种球体驱动式移动装置(10),其在行驶面(G)上移动,并具有旋转体(14、15、16),该旋转体(14、15、16)以从两个不同的方向与n个驱动球体(11、12、13)分别接触的状态进行旋转驱动而使驱动球体(11、12、13)旋转,其中,将行驶面(G)设为水平面,各驱动球体(11、12、13)的中心(P1、P2、P3)位于假想倒n棱锥(H)的各侧边(S1、S2、S3)上,该假想倒n棱锥(H)的底面(η)配置在比各驱动球体(11、12、13)的中心(P1、P2、P3)高的位置并且远离底面(η)的顶点(O)配置在比各驱动球体(11、12、13)的中心(P1、P2、P3)低的位置,各旋转体(14、15、16)在比所接触的驱动球体(11、12、13)的中心(P1、P2、P3)高的位置并且在假想倒n棱锥(H)的内侧或假想倒n棱锥(H)的侧面(α、β、γ)上与驱动球体(11、12、13)接触,并且以与假想倒n棱锥(H)的侧面(α、β、γ)垂直的旋转轴(19、21、23)为中心进行旋转驱动。(A ball driving type moving device (10) which moves on a running surface (G) and has rotating bodies (14, 15, 16) which rotate and drive n driving balls (11, 12, 13) in a state of being in contact with the driving balls (11, 12, 13) from two different directions to rotate the driving balls (11, 12, 13), wherein the running surface (G) is set as a horizontal plane, the centers (P1, P2, P3) of the driving balls (11, 12, 13) are located on the sides (S1, S2, S3) of a virtual inverted n pyramid (H) whose bottom surface (η) is arranged at a position higher than the centers (P1, P2, P3) of the driving balls (11, 12, 13) and whose apex (O) distant from the bottom surface (η) is arranged at a position lower than the centers (P1, P2, P3) of the driving balls (11, 12, 13), the rotating bodies (14, 15, 16) are brought into contact with the drive balls (11, 12, 13) at a position higher than the centers (P1, P2, P3) of the drive balls (11, 12, 13) in contact with the drive balls (11, 12, 13) and inside the virtual inverted n-pyramid (H) or on the side surfaces (alpha, beta, gamma) of the virtual inverted n-pyramid (H), and are rotationally driven around the rotation axes (19, 21, 23) perpendicular to the side surfaces (alpha, beta, gamma) of the virtual inverted n-pyramid (H).)

1. A ball-driven moving device that moves on a running surface, comprising: n drive balls which roll on the running surface, respectively; and n or more rotating bodies which are rotationally driven to rotate the driving balls in a state of being in contact with the driving balls from two different directions,

the driving surface is a horizontal surface, the center of each driving sphere is located on each side of an imaginary inverted n-pyramid, the bottom surface of the imaginary inverted n-pyramid is arranged at a position higher than the center of each driving sphere and the vertex far from the bottom surface is arranged at a position lower than the center of each driving sphere,

the side surfaces of the imaginary inverted n-pyramid having the two side edges where the centers of the driving balls are in contact with the rotating bodies as a part of the outer edge are set as corresponding side surfaces of the rotating bodies, and the rotating bodies are brought into contact with the driving balls at a position higher than the centers of the driving balls in contact and on the inner sides of the imaginary inverted n-pyramid or the corresponding side surfaces and rotationally driven around a rotation axis perpendicular to the corresponding side surfaces,

wherein n is an integer of 3 or more.

2. A sphere-driven movement device according to claim 1,

each imaginary straight line J passing through the contact point of the driving sphere and the rotating body and the center of the driving sphere is perpendicular to the side where the center of the driving sphere is located.

3. A sphere-driven movement device according to claim 1,

each of the rotating bodies has a truncated cone shape, and a side surface of the rotating body is in contact with the driving ball, and an imaginary straight line J passing through a contact point between the driving ball and the side surface of the rotating body and a center of the driving ball perpendicularly intersects the side surface of the rotating body.

4. A sphere driven movement device according to any of claims 1 to 3,

each side face of the imaginary inverted n-pyramid is parallel to an imaginary straight line K passing through the rotating body between the two driving balls arranged at the centers on the two side edges constituting a part of the outer edge of the side face, the contact point of one of the driving balls and the contact point of the other of the driving balls.

5. A sphere driven movement apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4,

the bottom surface of the imaginary inverted n-shaped pyramid is an equiangular polygon.

6. A sphere driven movement apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 5,

the sizes of the driving balls are the same, the rotating bodies are in a cone frustum shape with the same size, and the side faces of the rotating bodies are in contact with the driving balls at the same height.

7. A ball-driven moving device that moves on a running surface, comprising: 2 driving balls which roll on the driving surface respectively; a driven rotary object that rolls on the running surface; and m rotating bodies which are rotationally driven to rotate the driving balls in a state of being in contact with the driving balls from two different directions,

each of the rotating bodies contacts the driving ball at a position higher than the center of the contacting driving ball,

the rotating body of the m rotating bodies which contacts with both of the 2 driving balls is in contact with the driving ball on the driven rotating body side or the imaginary inclined plane with reference to the imaginary inclined plane passing through the center of each driving ball, and is rotationally driven around a rotation axis perpendicular to the imaginary inclined plane,

wherein m is an integer of 3 or more.

8. A ball-driven moving device that moves on a running surface, comprising: 2 driving balls which roll on the driving surface respectively; a driven rotary object that rolls on the running surface; and r rotating bodies which are rotationally driven to rotate the driving balls in a state of being in contact with the driving balls from two different directions,

each of the rotating bodies contacts the driving ball at a position higher than the center of the contacting driving ball,

of the r rotating bodies, the rotating body to which a driving rotational force is given by a common motor is brought into contact with the driving ball on the driven rotating body side or the imaginary inclined surface with reference to the imaginary inclined surface passing through the center of each driving ball, and is rotationally driven around a rotational axis perpendicular to the imaginary inclined surface,

wherein r is an integer of 3 or more.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a ball-driven type moving device capable of moving a ball in all directions by rotationally driving the ball.

Background

A moving device (see patent document 1) having 3 balls and 3 driving means (driving motors) for applying a rotational force to the balls is effective for use in an electric wheelchair, a self-propelled carriage, and the like because the device can move in all directions. In the moving device of patent document 1, 2 rotating members that are rotationally driven by the driving of the driving unit respectively contact 1 ball from different directions. In this moving device, the rotary member and the spherical body are in contact at the same height position as the center of the spherical body, and an idler wheel (wheel-type caster wheel) for pressing the spherical body against the rotary member is provided. When the rotating element is idling, the moving device cannot move forward in a desired direction, and therefore, it is important to maintain the state in which the rotating element is pressed against the ball in order to stably travel the moving device.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2010-30360

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in the moving device of patent document 1, the rotating element and the ball may be in a non-contact state. When the user operates the moving device such as when the moving device is used in an electric wheelchair, the user can easily correct the moving direction by himself or herself, but when the moving device is used in a self-propelled carriage, for example, there are the following problems: in a system in which an operator of a mobile device is not present, the moving direction of the mobile device cannot be corrected, and the mobile device cannot travel as intended.

As a method of suppressing the idling of the rotary member, there is considered a multilayer structure in which the rotary member is made of materials having different elastic forces, but in this case, there is another problem that the durability of the rotary member is lowered and the abrasion of the rotary member becomes remarkable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a ball-driven type moving device capable of suppressing the idle rotation of a rotating body that is rotationally driven in a state of being in contact with a ball.

Means for solving the problems

The ball-driven moving device according to claim 1 of the above object moves on a running surface, and includes: n drive balls which roll on the running surface, respectively; and n or more rotating bodies that are rotationally driven in a state of being in contact with the respective driving balls from two different directions to rotate the driving balls, wherein the traveling surface is a horizontal plane, the center of each driving ball is located on each side of an imaginary inverted n-pyramid whose bottom surface is arranged at a position higher than the center of each driving ball and whose apex distant from the bottom surface is arranged at a position lower than the center of each driving ball, the side surface of the imaginary inverted n-pyramid having two side edges where the centers of the driving balls with which the rotating bodies are in contact are a part of the outer edge is set as a corresponding side surface of each rotating body, and each rotating body is in contact with the driving ball at a position higher than the center of the driving ball with which the rotating body is in contact and on the inside of the imaginary inverted n-pyramid or on the corresponding side surface, and rotationally driven around a rotation axis perpendicular to the corresponding side surface, wherein n is an integer of 3 or more.

According to the above object, a sphere driving type moving apparatus according to claim 2 moves on a traveling surface, the sphere driving type moving apparatus comprising: 2 driving balls which roll on the driving surface respectively; a driven rotary object that rolls on the running surface; and m rotating bodies that are rotationally driven in a state of being in contact with the respective driving balls from two different directions to rotate the driving balls, wherein the respective rotating bodies are in contact with the driving balls at a position higher than a center of the driving balls in contact, and the rotating body in contact with both of 2 driving balls out of the m rotating bodies is in contact with the driving ball on a side of the driven rotating body or on a virtual inclined surface with reference to the virtual inclined surface passing through the center of the respective driving balls and is rotationally driven around a rotation axis perpendicular to the virtual inclined surface, and m is an integer of 3 or more.

According to the above object, the ball-driven type moving apparatus according to claim 3 moves on a traveling surface, and includes: 2 driving balls which roll on the driving surface respectively; a driven rotary object that rolls on the running surface; and r rotating bodies that are rotationally driven in a state of being in contact with the respective driving balls from two different directions to rotate the driving balls, wherein the respective rotating bodies are in contact with the driving balls at a position higher than a center of the driving balls in contact, and among the r rotating bodies, the rotating body to which a driving rotational force is given by a common motor is in contact with the driving balls on a side of the driven rotating body or on a virtual inclined surface with reference to the virtual inclined surface passing through the center of the respective driving balls, and is rotationally driven around a rotational axis perpendicular to the virtual inclined surface, wherein r is an integer of 3 or more.

Effects of the invention

In the ball-driven moving device according to claim 1, the respective rotating bodies are brought into contact with the driving balls at a position higher than the center of the contacted driving ball and on the inner side of the virtual inverted n-pyramid or the corresponding side surface (the side surface of the virtual inverted n-pyramid having two side edges where the center of the driving ball is located as a part of the outer edge) with the traveling surface on which the n driving balls roll as a horizontal plane, and are rotationally driven around the rotation axis perpendicular to the corresponding side surface. The ball-driven moving device according to claim 2 includes 2 driving balls and a driven rotary object that roll on the travel surface, and the rotary bodies that contact both of the 2 driving balls out of the m rotary bodies that contact the driving balls at a position higher than the center of the driving ball that contacts each other are in contact with the driving ball on the driven rotary object side or on the virtual inclined surface with reference to the virtual inclined surface passing through the center of each driving ball, and are rotationally driven around the rotation axis perpendicular to the virtual inclined surface. The ball-driven moving device according to claim 3 includes 2 driving balls and a driven rotary body rolling on the traveling surface, and among the r rotary bodies in contact with the driving balls at a position higher than the center of the driving ball, the rotary body to which a driving rotational force is applied by a common motor is in contact with the driving ball on the driven rotary body side or on the virtual inclined surface based on the virtual inclined surface passing through the center of each driving ball, and is rotationally driven around a rotary shaft perpendicular to the virtual inclined surface.

Therefore, in the ball-driven type moving device according to the first, second, and third aspects of the present invention, the load of the ball-driven type moving device itself or the load of the object placed on the ball-driven type moving device is partially applied to the drive ball via the rotating body, and the rotating body can be reliably pressed against the drive ball, and the rotating body that is rotationally driven in a state of being in contact with the drive ball can be suppressed from idling.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an explanatory view of a sphere-driven moving device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the driving sphere and the rotating body of the sphere driving type moving device.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the driving sphere and the rotating body of the sphere driving type moving device.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory view showing a local coordinate system of a driving sphere of the sphere driving type moving apparatus.

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a coordinate system of a driving sphere of the sphere driving type moving device.

Fig. 6 is an explanatory view of the sphere-driven moving device according to embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Next, embodiments embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings in order to understand the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, 2, and 3, a ball-driven moving device 10 according to embodiment 1 of the present invention is a device that moves on a travel surface G, and the ball-driven moving device 10 includes 3 (one example of n, n being an integer of 3 or more) driven balls 11, 12, and 13 that roll on the travel surface G; and 3 (n or more examples) rotating bodies 14, 15, 16 that rotate the drive balls 11, 12, 13 by being rotationally driven in contact with the drive balls 11, 12, 13 from two different directions. The following description is made in detail.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, 2, and 3, the driving balls 11, 12, and 13 are spherical balls having the same size (equal diameter). In a state where the drive balls 11, 12, 13 are placed on the running surface G with the running surface G as a horizontal plane, the center P1 of the drive ball 11, the center P2 of the drive ball 12, and the center P3 of the drive ball 13 are located at the same height. Hereinafter, assuming that the running surface G is a horizontal surface, the drive balls 11, 12, 13 are placed on the running surface G.

The rotating bodies 14, 15, and 16 are truncated cone-shaped members having the same size and the same shape, and are arranged at the same height position. The side 28 of the rotary body 14 contacts the drive balls 11, 12 at the same height, the side 29 of the rotary body 15 contacts the drive balls 12, 13 at the same height, and the side 30 of the rotary body 16 contacts the drive balls 11, 13 at the same height. As shown in fig. 2, a rotary shaft 19 of a motor 18 is connected to the axial center of the rotary body 14, a rotary shaft 21 of a motor 20 is connected to the axial center of the rotary body 15, and a rotary shaft 23 of a motor 22 is connected to the axial center of the rotary body 16. The rotary body 14 is rotationally driven around the rotary shaft 19 by the operation of the motor 18, the rotary body 15 is rotationally driven around the rotary shaft 21 by the operation of the motor 20, and the rotary body 16 is rotationally driven around the rotary shaft 23 by the operation of the motor 22.

The rotary bodies 14, 15 contact the drive ball 12 from different directions, the rotary bodies 15, 16 contact the drive ball 13 from different directions, and the rotary bodies 14, 16 contact the drive ball 11 from different directions.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the ball caster 24 is in contact with the drive ball 11 in addition to the rotating bodies 14 and 16, the ball caster 25 is in contact with the drive ball 12 in addition to the rotating bodies 14 and 15, and the ball caster 26 is in contact with the drive ball 13 in addition to the rotating bodies 15 and 16.

In the present embodiment, the motors 18, 20, and 22 are fixed to a base member 27 (see fig. 1) that supports the ball casters 24, 25, and 26, and the rotating bodies 14, 15, and 16 are rotatably attached to a bearing mechanism attached to the base member 27. Fig. 1 and 2 show only the balls of the ball casters 24, 25, and 26. In addition, the drive balls 11, 12, and 13 may not be separated by using idle gears that are in contact with the drive balls 11, 12, and 13, respectively.

The contacts where the drive ball 11 contacts the side surface 28 of the rotating body 14 and the side surface 30 of the rotating body 16 are set to contacts T14 and T16, respectively, the contacts where the drive ball 12 contacts the side surface 28 of the rotating body 14 and the side surface 29 of the rotating body 15 are set to contacts T24 and T25, respectively, the contacts where the drive ball 13 contacts the side surface 29 of the rotating body 15 and the side surface 30 of the rotating body 16 are set to contacts T35 and T36, respectively, and the contacts T14, T16, T24, T25, T35, and T36 are arranged at the same height at a position higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11, the center P2 of the drive ball 12, and the center P3 of the drive ball 13 (thereby, the side surface 28 of the rotating body 14, the side surface 29 of the rotating body 15, and the side surface 30 of the rotating body 16 contact the drive balls.

That is, the rotary body 14 contacts the drive ball 11 at a position higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11, contacts the drive ball 12 at a position higher than the center P2 of the drive ball 12, the rotary body 15 contacts the drive ball 12 at a position higher than the center P2 of the drive ball 12, contacts the drive ball 13 at a position higher than the center P3 of the drive ball 13, the rotary body 16 contacts the drive ball 11 at a position higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11, and contacts the drive ball 13 at a position higher than the center P3 of the drive ball 13.

Here, as shown in fig. 1, 2, and 3, a triangular pyramid (an example of an n-pyramid) in which the bottom surface η of a triangle (an example of an equiangular polygon in this embodiment) is disposed at a position higher than the center P1 of the driving sphere 11, the center P2 of the driving sphere 12, and the center P3 of the driving sphere 13, and the vertex O distant from the bottom surface η is disposed at a position lower than the center P1 of the driving sphere 11, the center P2 of the driving sphere 12, and the center P3 of the driving sphere 13 is set as an example of an imaginary inverted triangular pyramid (an example of an imaginary inverted n-pyramid) H, and the sphere-driven moving device 10 in this embodiment is designed to satisfy all of conditions 1 to 6 described later.

In the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H, 3 vertexes of the bottom surface η are respectively set as vertexes A, B, C, a side surface of a triangle having a vertex O, A, B as 3 vertexes is set as a side surface α, a side surface of a triangle having a vertex O, B, C as 3 vertexes is set as a side surface β, a side surface of a triangle having a vertex O, A, C as 3 vertexes is set as a side surface γ, a linear side connecting the vertexes O, A is set as a side S1, a linear side connecting the vertexes O, B is set as a side S2, and a linear side connecting the vertexes O, C is set as a side S3. In the present embodiment, the bottom surface η is a regular triangle (an example of an equiangular polygon), and the sides S1, S2, and S3 have the same length. In fig. 2, the driving balls 11, 12, and 13, the rotating bodies 14, 15, and 16, and the like are depicted in a plan view. In fig. 3, the motors 18 and 22 are not shown.

Condition 1: the center P1 of drive ball 11, the center P2 of drive ball 12 and the center P3 of drive ball 13 are located on sides S1, S2 and S3, respectively.

Condition 2: the rotating body 14 contacts the drive spherical bodies 11 and 12 inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H (the contacts T14 and T24 are located inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H), the rotating body 15 contacts the drive spherical bodies 12 and 13 inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H (the contacts T25 and T35 are located inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H), and the rotating body 16 contacts the drive spherical bodies 11 and 13 inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H (the contacts T16 and T36 are located inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H).

Condition 3: the rotation shaft 19 is perpendicular to a side face α (corresponding side face of the rotation body 14) which is a side face S1 and S2 where the centers P1 and P2 of the drive balls 11 and 12 in contact with the rotation body 14 are respectively located, as a part of an outer edge, the rotation shaft 21 is perpendicular to a side face β (corresponding side face of the rotation body 15) which is a side face S2 and S3 where the centers P2 and P3 of the drive balls 12 and 13 in contact with the rotation body 15 are respectively located, as a part of an outer edge, the rotation shaft 23 is perpendicular to a side face γ (corresponding side face of the rotation body 16) which is a side face γ which is a rotation shaft 23 perpendicular to the side face γ and which is a side face γ which is a rotation shaft 23 of the drive balls 11 and S2 in contact with the rotation body 16, as a part of an outer edge, the rotation shaft 19 is perpendicular to the side face α, and the rotation shaft 14, The sides S1 and S3 of the center P1 and P3 of fig. 13 are part of the outer edge).

According to condition 3, it can be said that, in the present embodiment, the rotation axis 19 of the rotating body 14 in contact with the driving sphere 11 and the rotation axis 23 of the rotating body 16 are not parallel, the rotation axis 19 of the rotating body 14 in contact with the driving sphere 12 and the rotation axis 21 of the rotating body 15 are not parallel, and the rotation axis 21 of the rotating body 15 in contact with the driving sphere 13 and the rotation axis 23 of the rotating body 16 are not parallel.

In the present embodiment, the driving balls 11, 12, 13, the rotating bodies 14, 15, 16, and the rotating shafts 19, 21, 23 are arranged so as to satisfy the conditions 1, 2, 3, and by adjusting the angular velocities of the rotating bodies 14, 15, 16, the ball-driving-type moving device 10 can be moved in any direction on the running surface G while suppressing lateral sliding of the driving balls 11, 12 with respect to the rotating body 14, lateral sliding of the driving balls 12, 13 with respect to the rotating body 15, and lateral sliding of the driving balls 11, 13 with respect to the rotating body 16. The lateral sliding of the drive ball 11 with respect to the rotor 14 means that the relative movement of the drive ball 11 with respect to the rotor 14 at the contact point T14 is a movement other than a rotational movement about the contact point T14, and if the lateral sliding of the drive ball 11 with respect to the rotor 14 occurs, the wear of the rotor 14 and the drive ball 11 is promoted.

Further, since the rotating body 14 is in contact with the drive balls 11 and 12 at a position higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the center P2 of the drive ball 12, respectively, the rotating body 15 is in contact with the drive balls 12 and 13 at a position higher than the center P2 of the drive ball 12 and the center P3 of the drive ball 13, respectively, and the rotating body 16 is in contact with the drive balls 11 and 13 at a position higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the center P3 of the drive ball 13, respectively, a force of a vertical component acts on the drive ball 11 through the rotating bodies 14 and 16, a force of a vertical component acts on the drive ball 12 through the rotating bodies 14 and 15, and a force of a vertical component acts on the drive ball 13 through the rotating bodies 15 and 16. Therefore, the rotating body 14 can be pressed against the drive balls 11 and 12, the rotating body 15 can be pressed against the drive balls 12 and 13, and the rotating body 16 can be pressed against the drive balls 11 and 13 by the own weight of the base member 27, a weight placed on the base member 27, or the like, and idling of the rotating bodies 14, 15, and 16 can be suppressed.

When the contact point T14 is present at a position slightly higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the contact point T24 is present at a position slightly higher than the center P2 of the drive ball 12, the drive balls 11, 12 do not slide substantially laterally with respect to the rotary body 14 even if the rotary body 14 contacts the drive balls 11, 12 on the side face α (corresponding side face) of the imaginary inverted n-pyramid H, which is the same in the relationship between the rotary body 15 and the drive balls 12, 13 and the relationship between the rotary body 16 and the drive balls 11, 13.

Therefore, the following condition 2' can be satisfied instead of the condition 2.

Condition 2': the rotary body 14 contacts the drive balls 11 and 12 on a side surface α of the imaginary inverted triangular pyramid H (corresponding side surface of the rotary body 14), the rotary body 15 contacts the drive balls 12 and 13 on a side surface β of the imaginary inverted triangular pyramid H (corresponding side surface of the rotary body 15), and the rotary body 16 contacts the drive balls 11 and 13 on a side surface γ of the imaginary inverted triangular pyramid H (corresponding side surface of the rotary body 16).

Here, from the viewpoint of stably suppressing the occurrence of the idle rotation of the rolling element 14 with respect to the drive balls 11, 12, the idle rotation of the rolling element 15 with respect to the drive balls 12, 13, and the idle rotation of the rolling element 16 with respect to the drive balls 11, 13, it is more preferable that one of the following conditions 4, 5, 6 (more preferably, two are satisfied, and further preferably, all three are satisfied) is satisfied in addition to the conditions 1, 2, 3. Further, it was confirmed that the conditions satisfying the conditions 1, 2, and 3 are more important than the conditions satisfying the conditions 4, 5, and 6 in order to suppress the idling of the rotating bodies 14, 15, and 16.

Condition 4: an imaginary straight line J14 (an example of the imaginary straight line J) passing through the contact point T14 of the driving ball 11 and the center P1 of the driving ball 11 is perpendicular to the side S1 where the center P1 of the driving ball 11 is located (see fig. 1), and an imaginary straight line J16 (an example of the imaginary straight line J) passing through the contact point T16 of the driving ball 11 and the center P1 of the driving ball 11 is perpendicular to the side S1 where the center P1 of the driving ball 11 is located. An imaginary straight line J24 (an example of the imaginary straight line J) passing through the contact point T24 of the driving ball 12 and the center P2 of the driving ball 12 is perpendicular to the side S2 where the center P2 of the driving ball 12 is located (see fig. 1), and an imaginary straight line J25 (an example of the imaginary straight line J) passing through the contact point T25 of the driving ball 12 and the center P2 of the driving ball 12 is perpendicular to the side S2 where the center P2 of the driving ball 12 is located. An imaginary straight line J35 (an example of the imaginary straight line J) passing through the contact point T35 of the driving ball 13 and the center P3 of the driving ball 13 is perpendicular to the side S3 where the center P3 of the driving ball 13 is located, and an imaginary straight line J36 (an example of the imaginary straight line J) passing through the contact point T36 of the driving ball 13 and the center P3 of the driving ball 13 is perpendicular to the side S3 where the center P3 of the driving ball 13 is located.

Condition 5: an imaginary line J14 passing through the contact point T14 of the driving ball 11 and the center P1 of the driving ball 11 perpendicularly intersects the side 28 of the rotating body 14, and an imaginary line J24 passing through the contact point T24 of the driving ball 12 and the center P2 of the driving ball 12 perpendicularly intersects the side 28 of the rotating body 14. An imaginary straight line J25 passing through the drive ball 12 and the contact point T25 of the rotating body 15 and the center P2 of the drive ball 12 perpendicularly intersects the side 29 of the rotating body 15, and an imaginary straight line J35 passing through the drive ball 13 and the contact point T35 of the rotating body 15 and the center P3 of the drive ball 13 perpendicularly intersects the side 29 of the rotating body 15. An imaginary straight line J16 passing through the contact point T16 of the driving ball 11 and the center P1 of the driving ball 11 perpendicularly intersects the side 30 of the rotating body 16, and an imaginary straight line J36 passing through the contact point T36 of the driving ball 13 and the center P3 of the driving ball 13 perpendicularly intersects the side 30 of the rotating body 16.

Condition 6: a side face α of an imaginary inverted triangular pyramid H is parallel to an imaginary straight line K12 (an example of the imaginary straight line K) passing through a contact T14 and a contact T24, the contact T14 is a contact of the rotator 14 and one driving ball 11 between two driving balls 11, 12 arranged on two sides S1, S2 constituting a part of an outer edge of the side face α at centers P1, P2, the contact T24 is a contact of the rotator 14 and the other driving ball 12, the side face β of the imaginary inverted triangular pyramid H is parallel to an imaginary straight line K23 (an example of the imaginary straight line K) passing through a contact T25 and a contact T35, the contact T25 is a contact of the rotator 15 and one driving ball 12 between two driving balls 12, 13 arranged on two sides S2, S3 constituting a part of an outer edge of the side face β at centers P2, P3, the contact T35 is a contact of the rotator 15 and the other driving ball 13, a side surface γ of the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H is parallel to a virtual straight line K13 (an example of the virtual straight line K) passing through a contact point T16 and a contact point T36, the contact point T16 is a contact point of the rotator 16 and one driving ball 11 between the two driving balls 11 and 13 disposed on the two side edges S1 and S3 constituting a part of the outer edge of the side surface γ, respectively, at the centers P1 and P3, and the contact point T36 is a contact point T36 of the rotator 16 and the other driving ball 13.

Based on this, the movement of the sphere-driven mobile device 10 is studied using a mathematical expression.

Let the angle of the side edge S1 with respect to the running surface G (horizontal plane) be θ, and let the unit position vector from the center P1 of the drive ball 11 toward the contact point T14 be I as shown in fig. 4₁I represents a unit position vector from the center P1 of drive ball 11 toward the contact point T16₂Is shown by₁And I₂The angle is set asIn this embodiment, I₁Perpendicular to the vector starting at vertex O and ending at vertex A, and thereforeThe following formula (1) holds.

[ mathematical formula 1]

The following formula (2) is established.

[ mathematical formula 2]

|I₁|²＝|I₂|²＝a²+b²+c²

＝a²+c²(tan²θ+1)＝1 (2)

And, if it is, I₁、I₂Expressed as the following expression (3), the following expression (4) is established.

[ mathematical formula 3]

I₁＝(a，b，c)^T，I₂=(-a，b，c)^T (3)

From the expressions (2) and (4), the following expressions (5) and (6) are established.

[ mathematical formula 4]

1-cosφ＝2a² (6)

Thus, a, b, and c can be expressed by the following expressions (7), (8), and (9), respectively, according to expressions (1), (5), and (6).

[ math figure 5]

According to formula (7), formula (8), formula (9), I₁And I₂Can be expressed as the following expression (10) and expression (11), respectively.

[ mathematical formula 6]

Furthermore, due to I_xAnd I_ySince the following expression (12) is present, the following expression (13) is established.

[ math figure 7]

Due to the fact thatCan be represented by the following formula (14), therefore I_xAnd I_yThe following expressions (15) and (16) can be used, respectively.

[ mathematical formula 8]

Here, as shown in fig. 5, two vertical imaginary axes parallel to the running surface G are set as the x-axis and the y-axis, the distances from the centers of regular triangles having the center P1 of the driving ball 11, the center P2 of the driving ball 12, and the center P3 of the driving ball 13 as vertexes to the center P1 of the driving ball 11, the center P2 of the driving ball 12, and the center P3 of the driving ball 13 are set as l, and the distance from the contact point T14 (contact point T24) to the axis of the rotating body 14, when the distance from the contact point T25 (contact point T35) to the axial center of the rotating body 15 and the distance from the contact point T16 (contact point T36) of the rotating body 16 to the axial center of the rotating body 16 are each r (see fig. 4), the velocity vector of the ball-driving-type moving device 10 is V, and the angular velocity vector supplied from the rotating bodies 14, 15, 16 to the driving balls 11, 12, 13 is λ, V and λ have the relationship of the following expression (17).

[ mathematical formula 9]

in-QV

V=Q^-1λ (17)

Further, v represents the x-axis velocity of the ball-driven moving device 10_xV represents the speed of the ball-driven type moving device 10 in the y-axis direction_yLet ω be the rotation speed of the sphere-driven moving device 10, and V be the velocity vector V of the sphere-driven moving device 10 (V ═ V { (V) }_x，v_y，ω)^T。

The angular velocity transmitted from the rotating body 14 to the driving balls 11 and 12 is set to λ₁The angular velocity transmitted from the rotating body 15 to the driving balls 12 and 13 is set to λ₂The angular velocity transmitted from the rotating body 16 to the driving balls 11 and 13 is represented by λ₃The angular velocity vector λ is expressed as λ ═ (λ)₁，λ₂，λ₃)^T。

Q in formula (17) is represented by formula (18) below.

[ mathematical formula 10]

Therefore, Q-¹This is represented by the following formula (19).

[ mathematical formula 11]

Here, ifK can be represented by the following formula (20).

[ mathematical formula 12]

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the radius of each of the drive balls 11, 12, and 13 is R, the angle formed by the straight line connecting the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the center P2 of the drive ball 12 and the straight line connecting the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the center P3 of the drive ball 13, the angle formed by the straight line connecting the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the center P2 of the drive ball 12 and the straight line connecting the center P2 of the drive ball 12 and the center P3 of the drive ball 13, the angle formed by the straight line connecting the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the center P3 of the drive ball 13 and the straight line connecting the center P2 of the drive ball 12 and the center P3 of the drive ball 13 are ψ, the distance from the straight line connecting the contacts T14 and T24 to the side α, the distance from the straight line connecting the contacts T25 and T35 to the side β, and the distance from the straight line connecting the contact T16 and the side γ d to the side face d, the following expressions (21), (22), and (23) are satisfied, assuming that the angle of the side surface 28 with respect to the axial center of the rotating body 14, the angle of the side surface 29 with respect to the axial center of the rotating body 15, and the angle of the side surface 30 with respect to the axial center of the rotating body 16 are δ.

[ mathematical formula 13]

d＝Rsinδ (22)

r＝r+R(1-cosδ) (23)

The above-described study was conducted for the case where the 3 drive balls 11, 12, 13 were the same size, and the triangle having the center P1 of the drive ball 11, the center P2 of the drive ball 12, and the center P3 of the drive ball 13 as three vertices was a regular triangle, but the same result can be obtained even if the sizes (diameters) of the drive balls were different from each other and the 3 sides of the triangle having the center of each of the 3 drive balls as vertices were different from each other in length. In addition, the same result can be obtained even if the number of the drive balls is 4 or more. However, in the case where all the drive spheres have the same size and the polygon having the center of each drive sphere as a vertex is an equiangular polygon, it is easy to calculate how the rotation speed of each motor is to be performed to move the sphere-driving moving device in a desired direction. In addition, if the driving spheres have the same size, a polygon having the center of each driving sphere as a vertex and the bottom surface of the virtual inverted n-pyramid have the same shape and are different in size.

The ball-driven type moving apparatus 10 described above has 3 driving balls 11, 12, and 13, but the number of the driving balls may be 4 or more, or may be 2.

When the number of the drive balls is q (q.gtoreq.4), the arrangement of the drive balls and the rotating bodies is determined based on an imaginary inverted q-pyramid (pyramid is inverted upside down), and 2 rotating bodies are in contact with each drive ball.

In the case of 2 driving balls, 1 or more driven rotary objects (for example, a ball or a roller whose rotation axis can be changed in direction) rolling on the running surface are provided, and the ball-driving type moving device runs in a state where the 2 driving balls and the 1 or more driven rotary objects are in contact with the running surface.

A ball-driven moving device 40 having 2 driving balls 11 and 12 and 1 driven ball (an example of a driven rotary object) 43 will be described below with reference to fig. 6. In the sphere driving type moving device 40, the same components as those of the sphere driving type moving device 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

As shown in fig. 6, a sphere driven type moving device 40 according to embodiment 2 of the present invention is a device that moves on a running surface G, and the sphere driven type moving device 40 includes: 2 drive spheres 11, 12, which roll on the driving surface G, respectively; a driven ball 43 that rolls on the running surface G; and 3 (m is an integer of 3 or more, for example) rotating bodies 14, 45, 46 that rotate the drive balls 11, 12 by being rotationally driven in contact with the drive balls 11, 12 from two different directions.

The rotary body 14 is rotationally driven around the rotary shaft 19 of the motor 18 by the operation of the motor 18, the rotary body 45 is rotationally driven around the rotary shaft 47 by the operation of the motor 48 in which the rotary shaft 47 is coupled to the axial center of the rotary body 45, and the rotary body 46 is rotationally driven around the rotary shaft 49 by the operation of the motor 50 in which the rotary shaft 49 is coupled to the axial center of the rotary body 46.

The rotary bodies 14, 46 contact the drive ball 11 from different directions, and the rotary bodies 14, 45 contact the drive ball 12 from different directions. The driven ball 43 is held at a predetermined position by the ball casters 51, 52, 53 contacting the driven ball 43. In fig. 6, only the balls of the ball casters 24, 25, 51, 52, and 53 are shown.

The contact points at which the drive ball 11 contacts the side surface 28 of the rotating body 14 and the side surface 54 of the rotating body 46 are set to contacts T14 and T16', the contact points at which the drive ball 12 contacts the side surface 28 of the rotating body 14 and the side surface 55 of the rotating body 45 are set to contacts T24 and T25', and the contact points T14, T16', T24, and T25' are arranged at the same height at a position higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the center P2 of the drive ball 12 (in the present embodiment, the center P3' of the driven ball 43).

Thereby, the rotary body 14 contacts the drive ball 11 at a position higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11, contacts the drive ball 12 at a position higher than the center P2 of the drive ball 12, the rotary body 45 contacts the drive ball 12 at a position higher than the center P2 of the drive ball 12, and the rotary body 46 contacts the drive ball 11 at a position higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11.

A triangular pyramid in which the base surface η ' of the triangle (isosceles triangle in this embodiment) is disposed at a position higher than the center P1 of the driving ball 11, the center P2 of the driving ball 12, and the center P3' of the driven ball 43 and the apex O ' distant from the base surface η ' is disposed at a position lower than the center P1 of the driving ball 11, the center P2 of the driving ball 12, and the center P3' of the driven ball 13 is defined as a virtual inverted triangular pyramid H ', the three apexes of the base surface η ' are defined as apexes a ', B ', and C ', the side surface of the triangle having the apexes O ', a ', and B ' as three apexes is defined as a side surface α ' (an example of a virtual inclined surface passing through the center P1 of the driving ball 11 and the center P2 of the driving ball 12), the side surface of the triangle having the apexes O ', B ', and C ' as three apexes is defined as a side surface β ', and the apex O ' The ball driving type moving device 40 is designed to satisfy all of the conditions 7 to 9 described later, where the side surface of the triangle having the three vertexes a 'and C' is the side surface γ ', the linear side connecting the vertexes O' and a 'is the side S1', the linear side connecting the vertexes O 'and B' is the side S2', and the linear side connecting the vertexes O' and C 'is the side S3'.

Condition 7: the center P1 of the drive ball 11, the center P2 of the drive ball 12 and the center P3 'of the driven ball 43 are located on the sides S1', S2', S3', respectively.

Condition 8: the rotary body 14 contacts the drive balls 11 and 12 inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H '(i.e., the driven ball 43 side with reference to the side surface α' which is an example of the virtual inclined surface), the rotary body 45 contacts the drive ball 12 inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H ', and the rotary body 46 contacts the drive ball 11 inside the virtual inverted triangular pyramid H'.

Condition 9: the rotation axis 19 is perpendicular to the side α ', the rotation axis 47 is perpendicular to the side β ', and the rotation axis 49 is perpendicular to the side γ '.

In addition, when the contact T14 is present at a position slightly higher than the center P1 of the drive ball 11 and the contact T24 is present at a position slightly higher than the center P2 of the drive ball 12, the following condition 8' may be satisfied instead of the condition 8.

Condition 8': the rotary body 14 contacts the drive balls 11 and 12 on the side surface α 'of the imaginary inverted triangular pyramid H', the rotary body 45 contacts the drive ball 12 on the side surface β 'of the imaginary inverted triangular pyramid H', and the rotary body 46 contacts the drive ball 11 on the side surface γ 'of the imaginary inverted triangular pyramid H'.

Further, according to condition 9, the rotation axis 19 of the rotating body 14 and the rotation axis 49 of the rotating body 46 which are in contact with the driving ball 11 are not parallel, and the rotation axis 19 of the rotating body 14 and the rotation axis 47 of the rotating body 45 which are in contact with the driving ball 12 are not parallel. Further, by adjusting the angular velocities of the rotary bodies 14, 45, 46, the ball driving type moving device 40 can be moved in any direction on the running surface G while suppressing the lateral sliding of the driving balls 11, 12 with respect to the rotary body 14, the lateral sliding of the driving ball 12 with respect to the rotary body 45, and the lateral sliding of the driving ball 11 with respect to the rotary body 46.

In the ball-driven type moving apparatus 40, the rotary bodies 14, 45, and 46 are each in a truncated cone shape, as in the ball-driven type moving apparatus 10. An imaginary straight line passing through the contact point T14 of the drive ball 11 with the side face 28 of the rotary body 14 and the center P1 of the drive ball 11 perpendicularly intersects the side face 28 of the rotary body 14, an imaginary straight line passing through the contact point T24 of the drive ball 12 with the side face 28 of the rotary body 14 and the center P2 of the drive ball 12 perpendicularly intersects the side face 28 of the rotary body 14, an imaginary straight line passing through the contact point T16 'of the drive ball 11 with the side face 54 of the rotary body 46 and the center P1 of the drive ball 11 perpendicularly intersects the side face 54 of the rotary body 46, and an imaginary straight line passing through the contact point T25' of the drive ball 12 with the side face 55 of the rotary body 45 and the center P2 of the drive ball 12 perpendicularly intersects the side face 55. Further, the positional relationship of the driving balls 11, 12 and the rotating bodies 14, 45, 46 in the ball-driving type moving device 40 is also the same as the positional relationship of the driving balls 11, 12 and the rotating bodies 14, 15, 16 in the ball-driving type moving device 10.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and all modifications of conditions and the like which do not depart from the gist of the present invention fall within the scope of application of the present invention.

For example, 2 rotating bodies on which a power transmission belt or the like is mounted may be rotationally driven by 1 motor, and the 2 rotating bodies may be brought into contact with one and the other of the adjacent driving balls, or different rotating bodies may be brought into contact with the adjacent driving balls, and the motors may be coupled to the 2 rotating bodies, respectively.

A ball-driven moving device that moves on a running surface may include: 2 driving balls which roll on the running surface respectively; a driven rotary body that rolls on a running surface; and r (r is an integer of 3 or more) rotating bodies which are rotationally driven in a state of being in contact with the respective driving balls from two different directions to rotate the driving balls, wherein when 2 rotating bodies on which a power transmission belt or the like is bridged are rotationally driven by 1 motor and the 2 rotating bodies are respectively brought into contact with one and the other of the adjacent driving balls, the respective rotating bodies are brought into contact with the driving balls at a position higher than the centers of the contacted driving balls, and 2 rotating bodies to which a driving rotational force is given by a common motor among the r rotating bodies are brought into contact with the driving balls on the driven rotating body side or on an imaginary inclined surface with reference to the imaginary inclined surface passing through the centers of the respective driving balls and rotationally driven around a rotational axis perpendicular to the imaginary inclined surface. In this case, the positional relationship between the driving balls and the rotating bodies is the same as the positional relationship between the driving balls 11 and 12 and the rotating bodies 14, 15, and 16 in the ball-driving type moving device 10 and the positional relationship between the driving balls 11 and 12 and the rotating bodies 14, 45, and 46 in the ball-driving type moving device 40.

The rotating body does not have to be a truncated cone, and may be, for example, a cylindrical shape or a spherical shape.

The rotation axis of the rotating body may be a shaft (i.e., an actually existing member) or an imaginary axis.

Further, the driving ball is supported by not only a ball caster, but also a free roller wheel such as a free caster or an omni-directional wheel may be used instead of the ball caster.

Further, the driving balls may be different in size, and the rotating bodies may be different in size or shape. Further, the rotating bodies may be arranged so that the heights at which the rotating bodies come into contact with the driving balls are different in a state where the driving balls are placed on a horizontal plane.

Further, the present invention can also be applied to a ball-driven type moving device having a specific moving direction on a running surface (for example, a ball-driven type moving device capable of only advancing and retracting).

The ball-driven moving device according to the present invention can travel while suppressing the idle rotation of the rotating body in contact with the driving ball, and therefore can stably move along a desired path, and can be applied to a wheelchair or an automated guided vehicle.

Description of the reference symbols

10: a ball-driven moving device; 11. 12, 13: a drive ball; 14. 15, 16: a rotating body; 18: a motor; 19: a rotating shaft; 20: a motor; 21: a rotating shaft; 22: a motor; 23: a rotating shaft; 24. 25, 26: a ball caster; 27: a base member; 28. 29, 30: a side surface; 40: a ball-driven moving device; 43: a driven sphere; 45. 46: a rotating body; 47: a rotating shaft; 48: a motor; 49: a rotating shaft; 50: a motor; 51. 52, 53: a ball caster; 54. 55: a side surface; A. b, C, A ', B ', C ': a vertex; g: a driving surface; H. h': an imaginary inverted triangular pyramid; j14, J16, J24, J25, J35, J36: an imaginary straight line; k12, K13, K23: an imaginary straight line; o, O': a vertex; p1, P2, P3, P3': a center; s1, S2, S3, S1', S2', S3 ': a side edge; t14, T16, T24, T25, T35, T36, T16', T25': a contact; α, β, γ, α ', β ', γ ': a side surface; eta, eta': a bottom surface.