A combined moving mechanism with independent movement in longitudinal direction and transverse direction

To make the detecting robot move on une surface of the finned tubes, a novel combined moving mechanism is developed. The combined moving mechanism is composed of sprocket wheel and drum-like small wheel installed on the chain. It can make the robot move independently in the direction parallel to the tubes and in the direction perpendicular to the tubes. This paper made a detailed discussion on the composition of the combined moving mechanism, the design method of the conjugate outline curve and the circular-arc outline curve of the drum-like small wheel that meshes with the tubes. The error of the circular-arc outline curve is also analyzed.