Railways – Suspended – Track systems
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-14
2001-10-23
Morano, S. Joseph (Department: 3617)
Railways
Suspended
Track systems
C104S106000, C105S029100, C105S127000, C238S122000, C074S422000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305294
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus which circuits on a guide rail forming a closed track provided on the surface of a wall.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ARTS
Apparatuses traveling along the surface of a wall and which travel along a wall of a building have been proposed by the inventor of the present invention, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-279228 and Japanese Patent Application No. 11-95074.
Each of the proposed apparatuses for traveling along the surface of a wall basically includes a guide rail along the surface of a wall and a moving platform slidingly and movably coupled with the guide rail. The moving platform can be driven along the guide rail by a driving mechanism. The driving mechanism includes a plurality of mating units provided around a rotating member provided at an end of a rotating shaft of the moving platform. The moving platform is movable along the guide rail at a substantially constant speed by a driving force generated by the mating units mating with guide faces of driving guides disposed in parallel to each other along the wall, the guide faces having a cycloidal shape. An apparatus traveling along the surface of a wall of this type is hereinafter called a crawling-type moving apparatus.
Each of the proposed crawling-type moving apparatuses is designed so as to move upward and downward along steps or to move vertically between upper and lower floors of a building, that is, to move along a guide rail having end-points at the two ends thereof. Therefore, it is difficult to operate a plurality of moving platforms at one time along the-guide rail, and there is a limit in the capacity it can carry.
This problem can be overcome effectively when the moving platform circuits along a guide rail arranged as a closed track. Particularly when the moving platform is configured so as to move along such a closed track driven by a crawling-type moving apparatus, a plurality of the moving platforms can independently move on the closed track, thereby improving transportation capacity. Moreover, the moving platforms can be used much more conveniently compared to a case in which the moving platforms are connected by a rope or the like and the rope or the like is driven to circuit.
In order to move the moving platforms while maintaining them in the same orientation, at least two rails must be included in the guide rail so that the two rails support each moving platform at two points thereof separated from each other. In order to maintain the moving platforms more stably, at least three rails are required to support each moving platform at at least three points thereof separated from each other. When the moving platforms circuit on a plurality of the rails used as a guide rail which forms a closed track, the plurality of rails intersect each other at various parts of the rails and the crawling-type moving apparatus crosses the rails, whereby there is a risk that interference will occur at various locations when each moving platform is supported at a plurality of points thereof by a plurality of rails and is driven by the crawling-type moving apparatus, thereby mechanically complicating the apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The inventor has performed various examinations and research in order to overcome these problems and to enable the moving platforms to move along a closed track using the above-described crawling-type moving apparatus. As a result, it has been confirmed that smooth movement on the circuit along the closed track can be realized, in which supporting units of the moving platform are prevented from interfering with rails and with drive guides and the like of the crawling-type moving apparatus, particularly by considering a mounting structure of the supporting units on the moving platform when a guide rail is formed with two rails to be positioned at two sides of the moving platform and each of the supporting units which mate with these rails is provided at four sides of the moving platform, and generally by cutting away a part of the rails when the guide rail is formed with a plurality of rails and the moving platform is stabilized by the supporting units provided thereon to mate with the plurality of rails.
A technical object of the present invention, which is based on such knowledge, is to provide an apparatus for traveling on a closed track on the surface of a wall, in which the moving platforms of the above-described crawling-type moving apparatus can be driven to circuit along the closed track while being maintained in the same orientation.
A more specific technical object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for traveling on a closed track on the surface of a wall, in which a plurality of moving platforms can independently move along the closed track and mass transport along a guide rail is possible.
In order to achieve the above-described ends, according to the present invention, a crawling-type moving apparatus comprises a moving platform movable along a guide rail disposed on the surface of a wall of a building, the moving platform including a supporting unit to slidingly and movably mate with the guide rail; a rotational member to be connected to and driven to rotate by a driving mechanism, the rotational member being disposed on the moving platform; and a plurality of mating units disposed around the rotational member at the same distance from each other, mating with guide faces of driving guides disposed on the surface of a wall, and for generating a driving force. The guide faces of the driving guides disposed on the surface of a wall are formed in a substantially cycloidal shape so that a substantially constant speed in a direction of the movement along the surface of a wall is imparted to a rotational center of the rotational member. The crawling-type moving apparatus is characterized in that the guide rail disposed along the surface of a wall of a building includes a plurality of rails which form a closed track, the supporting units for mating with the rails are disposed at a plurality of positions of the moving platform separated from each other, the plurality of rails differ in phase from each other so as to support the moving platform, of which supporting units mate with the rails, substantially in the same orientation while the moving platform is traveling, and are disposed separated from each other so as not to come in contact with and intersect each other, and the guide faces of the driving guides project from the rails toward the moving platform.
In the apparatus for traveling on a closed track on the surface of a wall, the driving guides disposed in parallel to each other may be disposed toward one side from a line of the movement of a rotational center of the rotational member within a range of motion of the mating units of the rotational member when the rotational member moves along the guide rail, and the length of each driving guide may be set so that at least one mating unit is maintained mated with the guide face of the driving guide and each mating unit does not interfere with any driving guide during travel of the mating unit after the mating unit separates from the guide face of the driving guide until the same driving unit mates with the following guide face of the driving guide. With this arrangement, simple and stable driving is efficiently made possible.
In the apparatus for traveling on a closed track on the surface of a wall, the guide rail may include not less than three rails, the moving platform may be provided with the supporting units, each supporting unit may mate with one of the rails, and a part of the rails brought in contact with a supporting arm of the supporting unit during the movement of the moving platform may be cut away. The guide rail may include two pairs of rails to be positioned at two sides of the moving platform, respectively, the moving platform may be provided with the supporting units, each supporting unit to mate with one of the rails, supporting arms of the supporting units which mate with the
Agency of Industrial Science and Technology
Morano S. Joseph
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Olson Lars A.
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