Crawler robot

Abstract

Disclosed is a crawler robot which, even of a small size, can climb over a high step and which can perform various aspects of operations. Rollers, are arranged at apexes of triangular frames, and elastic crawlers are wrapped around the rollers, with the two frames being connected by a central support shaft. Rotatably provided to the central support shaft is a one-joint link composed of a first link and a second link connected together by a rotation shaft. An end portion of the second link is rotatably connected with a front shaft of a subordinate crawler device equipped with crawlers wrapped around rollers. As a result, the crawler robot is composed of a triangular crawler device and the subordinate crawler device connected together by the one-joint link. The crawler robot can be operated by rotating and bending the link and by rotating the crawler devices in arbitrary directions.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views illustrating an operational aspect of an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating another operational aspect of the exemplary embodiment, of which FIG. 2A is a perspective view and FIG. 2B is a conceptual drawing;

FIGS. 3A through 3C are diagrams illustrating still another operational aspect of the exemplary embodiment, of which FIG. 3A is a perspective view, FIG. 3B is a conceptual drawing, and FIG. 3C is a conceptual drawing illustrating another operational aspect;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating yet another operational aspect of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an operational aspect of the exemplary embodiment when a step portion is to be climbed over;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating another operational aspect of the exemplary embodiment when a step portion is to be climbed over;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating an operational aspect of the exemplary embodiment when a relatively high step is to be climbed over;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an operational aspect of the exemplary embodiment in which guide rollers are caused to protrude from within a triangular crawler device to effect traveling in a manner analogous to that of wheels;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary embodiment, in which traveling is effected with a plurality of crawler robots linked together; and

FIGS. 10A through 10D are conceptual drawings illustrating still another exemplary embodiment, showing various operational aspects thereof.

Claims

1. A crawler robot, comprising: a triangular crawler device having on both sides thereof crawlers wrapped around rollers arranged at apexes of triangular frames whose centers are connected together by a support shaft;a subordinate crawler device having on both sides thereof crawlers wrapped around at least two rollers of frames that are connected together; anda link having at its ends the support shaft and the subordinate crawler device rotatably connected.

2. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the link is a one-joint link composed of a first link and a second link rotatably connected together.

3. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the triangular crawler device and the subordinate crawler device substantially differ in weight, and wherein the link rotates thereby displacing a center of gravity of the crawler robot.

4. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the crawler robot can travel with both the triangular crawler device and the subordinate crawler device in contact with ground.

5. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the link and the subordinate crawler device are accommodated within an outer peripheral edge of the triangular crawler device.

6. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the crawler robot can travel with the subordinate crawler device raised by the triangular crawler device.

7. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the crawler robot can travel with the triangular crawler device raised by the subordinate crawler device.

8. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the triangular crawler device is raised and placed on a step portion by the subordinate crawler device, and wherein the subordinate crawler device is raised to the step portion by the triangular crawler device.

9. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the triangular frames are rotated around the support shaft to raise front portions of the surfaces of the triangular crawlers from ground, to thereby effect an operation of climbing over a step.

10. The crawler robot according to claim 9, wherein the subordinate crawler device applies a pressure from a rear side, to substantially grip the surfaces of the triangular crawlers in contact with the ground, thereby configured to climb over a high step.

11. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the triangular crawler device is provided with crawler guides for causing the crawlers to protrude from within, which are retractable at midpoints of the sides of the triangular crawler device.

12. The crawler robot according to claim 9, wherein, with the crawler guides protruding, the crawler robot can travel through rotation of the frames of the triangular crawler device about the support shaft.

13. The crawler robot according to claim 1, wherein the subordinate crawler device is equipped with a connecting means for connecting with another crawler robot, and configurable to bead together a plurality of crawler robots.