Claims
- 1. In an automatic traveling apparatus comprising a self-propelling car having a self-propelling drive means, a carriage car allowing said self-propelling car to be mounted thereon in such a manner that said self-propelling car is dismountable therefrom and a driving-force transmission means capable of engaging with said self-propelling drive means of said self-propelling car when self-propelling car in mounted on said carriage car, said transmission means in its engagement with said self-propelling drive means driving said carriage into traveling, wherein said self-propelling car has wheels having an axis of rotation, said driving-force transmission means including a friction roller rotated by driving front wheels of said self-propelling car, a gear device rotated by said friction roller and capable of converting the forward rotation of said driving wheels into rotation in the direction in which said carriage car travels, said friction roller having the effect of stopping the self-propelling car at a predetermined position on said carriage car and wherein the axis of rotation of said front driving wheel is always approximately parallel to the direction of motion of said carriage car.
Priority Claims (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
| 63-232590 |
Sep 1988 |
JPX |
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/404,390, filed Sept. 8, 1989 now abandoned.
The present invention relates to an automatic traveling apparatus and, more particularly, to an automatic traveling apparatus in which such operations as the operation of changing the direction of a travel car can be effected automatically and easily using a carriage car.
An electric-motor driven self-propelling car has been employed in various types of work. For instance, the car is employed in sprinkling water or chemicals in a greenhouse where vegetables or the like are cultured, in such a manner that the car travels to and fro on a trough between adjacent ridges formed on the ground within the greenhouse.
The self-propelling car can automatically reciprocate on a trough in a vertical direction, i.e., in the direction in which the trough extends. However, when it is necessary for the car to move transversely, e.g., move to an adjacent trough, an operation is usually conducted in which the car is turned around by man power at one longitudinal end of a ridge.
In order to automatically effect this turning-around operation, Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 58-189783 proposes an apparatus provided with, in addition to the self-propelling car, an electric-motor driven self-propelling carriage car which is separate from the self-propelling car and is capable of moving transversely while the self-propelling car is mounted on the carriage car.
The conventional apparatus, however, involves various problems. For instance, two drive devices for the self-propelling car and the carriage car have to be provided separately. Further, during vertical or transverse movement, one of the drive devices which is not in operation stands totally useless. Still further, in order to enable the changing over of the two drive devices, a very complicated structure is required. This renders the entire apparatus large, heavy and expensive. In addition, the apparatus can be transferred and installed only with difficulty, and tends to cause failure.
The present invention has been made to overcome the problems encountered with the prior art.
An automatic traveling apparatus of the present invention is featured by the provision of a driving-force transmission means which, when the self-propelling car is mounted on the carriage car, engages with a self-propelling drive means of the self-propelling car to drive the carriage car into travelong.
According to the present invention, therefore, without any separate self-propelling drive means being provided on the side of the carriage car, it is possible to utilize the driving force of the self-propelling drive means on the side of the self-propelling car in such a manner as to cause automatic traveling of the carriage car while the self-propelling car is mounted thereon. Thus, by virtue of this utilization of the driving force generated by the drive of the self-propelling car, there is no need to provide any separate drive device for the carriage car. It is therefore possible to simplify the entire mechanism of the apparatus, and to make the apparatus small and light. In this way, the automatic traveling apparatus of the present invention is inexpensive, yet is capable of operating with high reliability, and is suitable for use in various unmanned operations.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 526017 |
Jun 1956 |
CAX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
404390 |
Sep 1989 |
|
Patent Grant
5097770
