JP2833409B2 - Contact current supply device for battery charging on mobile vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact current supply device used for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle. The term "mobile vehicle" mainly refers to an unmanned transport vehicle that travels on a certain taxiway and passes through a charging station, but also includes vehicles equipped with batteries such as electric vehicles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An unmanned transport vehicle that moves along a fixed taxiway on a premises has a battery mounted on itself,
When the vehicle runs for a certain period of time and consumes the battery, the vehicle is temporarily stopped at a charging station installed on the way of the taxiway to be charged.

[0003] The proposed contact charging device for charging a battery is based on the concept that charging is performed by temporary electrical contact between a power supply side contact mechanism installed at a charging station and a contacted member mounted on a cart. The contact between the contact element between the power supply and the battery and the opening and closing thereof are automatically performed in conjunction with the temporary stop at the bogie station, and the electric contact between such contact elements during charging is established. It was a necessary condition to ensure that it was maintained. In recent years, for this type of battery charging, rapid charging has been demanded in a short time of about several minutes with a large current ranging from 200 to 300 amps.
The above conditions became increasingly severe.

[0004] The inventors, including some of the present invention, have proposed a contact current supply device for charging a battery that makes full use of Eiji to satisfy the above conditions, and an example is shown in FIG. 4 and thereafter.
(For details, refer to the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 4-94205.) The contact charging device for charging a battery shown in FIG. 4 includes a contact member 1 mounted on a truck and a power supply side mounted on a charging station side. Composed with the contact mechanism 2, the contacted member 1 provides a broadband contact surface with a contact material. On the other hand, the power supply side contact mechanism 2 includes a pressing contact member 3 with a planar contact material, a slide shaft 4, a drive base 5, and a compression spring 6. The pressing contact member 3 is pivotally attached to the protruding end of the slide shaft 4 via a spherical joint 7 so as to be able to swing. The slide shaft 4 is pivotally connected to a drive base 5 and a bottomed cylindrical body 8 attached to the base. The compression spring 6 is disposed so as to be slidable in the direction, and the compression spring 6 is arranged in the bottomed cylinder 8 so as to be linked to the bottom of the cylinder and the slide shaft 5. Reference numeral 9 denotes a terminal member which is electrically connected to the pressing contact member 3 via a flexible conductor.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the use of the above-described contact energizing device. The contacted member 1 is assembled on the side surface of the unmanned transport vehicle X, and the drive base 5 of the power supply side contact mechanism 2 is linearly connected at the charging station. It is connected to and supported by the driving actuator 10. Now, in a state where the automatic guided vehicle X stops at the charging station as shown in the figure. The drive base 5 is pushed out toward the carriage by driving the linear drive actuator 10. Then, the planar contact material of the pressing contact member 3 protruding to the front end is pressed in a state in which it is in surface contact with the contact surface of the contact member on the bogie side, and the slide shaft 4 is pushed back backward with this, and the compression spring 6 ( (See Figure 4)
The spring force corresponding to the compression becomes the surface contact pressure between the pressing contact member 3 and the contacted member, and the contact energization for providing a predetermined charge is performed. By using a noble metal contact material as the surface contact material and the contact material of the member to be contacted, the resistance at the time of contact is reduced so as to withstand repeated contact.

By the way, the above-described unmanned transport cart is
Cars that run one after another at a certain distance, run for a certain period of time, and waste the battery, stop at the charging station and provide a predetermined charge, but all the cars have the same angle of approach to the charging station and the inclination of the car. Is not necessarily
The position of the contacted member at the time of stoppage may deviate from the regular position and vary each time due to the tire pressure of the bogie or other conditions. For this reason, the pressing contact member 3 is
The contact member 1
The contact member 3 is additionally inclined and pressed by an amount corresponding to the inclination.

[0007]

According to the above-described contact charging / discharging device for charging a battery, a contact / contact contact mechanism such as a concavo-convex fitting contact mechanism and a lateral pressure contact mechanism (chuck type) proposed before that is used. Although high precision was required for alignment between the two elements, the disadvantages could be improved, and some results were obtained,
We needed to make further improvements. In other words, the inclination of the automatic guided vehicle is changed by the two operations of the swinging of the pressing contact member by the spherical joint and the sliding of the slide shaft in the axial direction, whereby the planar contact material of the pressing contact member is broadband contacted by the contact material of the contacted member. Although surface contact can be made at any position on the surface, until the predetermined charge is completed and before the next charge, the pressing contact member keeps the inclination received during the previous charging work. In some cases, when the next bogie is charged, the pressing contact member that is still inclined is pressed against the contacted member having different conditions from the previous one, and regular surface contact may not be performed.
Although it is possible to conduct electricity for a time even in a point contact state without surface contact, the problem arises that abnormal heat is generated at the contact portion and the surrounding insulating material is softened.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to further improve the battery charging / charging contact current supply device proposed as described above, and to provide a desired surface even if the posture of a moving vehicle that stops one after another is irregular each time. An object of the present invention is to provide a contact energizing device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle, which can achieve contact and has high flexibility.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a contact charging device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle, comprising: a mobile contact member attached to a mobile vehicle mounted with a battery;
A power supply side contact mechanism installed in the charging station, a movable contact member has a broadband contact surface made of a contact material, and a power supply side contact mechanism has a linear drive actuator.
Connected to the linear drive of the tutor or cylinder mechanism
Drive base and a direction perpendicular to the drive base.
Movement in its own axial direction and tilt movement with respect to its axial direction
It is loosely inserted into the through hole of the drive base as possible
Slide shaft and the protrusion of this slide shaft
Pivotable through the spherical joint at the front end
Pressed contact member and pressed end of this member
The surface contact material attached to the surface, the drive base and the
Between the protruding end of the id shaft and
Combined compression spring and rear end of slide shaft
With a stopper that is fixed and pressed against the drive base,
The parts where the stopper and the drive base are in pressure contact with each other
The tapered surfaces are configured to abut and engage with each other .

The compression spring is inserted through the slide shaft. One end in the compression direction abuts on a surface corresponding to the tapered surface of the drive base, and the other end abuts on the casing of the spherical joint. Is practical.

The slide shaft is hollow, and a terminal member is attached to the rear end side of the slide shaft. The terminal member and the pressing contact member are connected to each other through the inside of the slide shaft by a flexible conductor, so that the pressing contact member swings. The power cable can be connected to the terminal without restriction.

[0012]

When the compression spring is linked in a compressed state between the drive base and the protruding tip side portion of the slide shaft,
A force for projecting the slide shaft in the axial direction in front of the drive base is urged. On the other hand, the stopper, the press contact force to the drive base is increased by the amount of compressing the compression spring as described above, and by the taper engagement of the contact engagement surfaces,
The slide shaft is positioned so as to protrude in the horizontal direction while maintaining a predetermined angle (right angle) with respect to the drive base.

Now, when the moving vehicle stops at the charging station and the broadband contact surface of the contacted member is made to face the pressing contact member of the power supply side contact mechanism, the drive base of the power supply side contact mechanism is moved forward. The pushing causes the pressing contact member to be pressed into the broadband contact surface of the contacted member. At this time, even if there is a deviation in the stop position of the mobile vehicle, the contact position is secured by the contact surface in a wide band. Further, when the contact surface is inclined due to the stationary posture of the moving vehicle, the contact surface is tilted incidentally when the pressing contact member is pressed against the contact surface based on the swing motion by the spherical joint, and the inclined contact surface is inclined. To make surface contact. When the drive base is further pushed out of this state, the compression spring is compressed and the slide shaft is pushed backward through the loose through hole of the drive base, at which time the stopper also comes off the drive base and has a tapered contact engagement. Is released, and the slide shaft is inclined (eccentric) in accordance with the inclination of the pressing contact member, and in the inclined state, an axial force is generated on the slide shaft by a repulsive force corresponding to the compression of the compression spring, and the pressing contact member Comes into pressure contact with the contact surface.

After the charging is performed after a predetermined time as described above, the drive base is retracted to obtain
The slide shaft is protruded forward by the repulsive force of the compressed compression spring, and the stopper comes into contact with the drive base to engage in the taper, whereby the slide shaft is reset to the original horizontal state. When the drive base is further retracted, the contact pressure of the pressing contact member against the contacted member disappears. When the mobile vehicle is moved, the vehicle is immediately released from the contact energized state.

[0015]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a contact energizing device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle according to the present invention using only a power-side contact mechanism, and FIG. 2 schematically shows the entirety.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a contacted member attached to the mobile vehicle, and reference numeral 12 denotes a power supply side contact mechanism installed at a charging station on the ground.

Thus, the contacted member 11 forms a broadband contact surface with the flat plate 13 formed of the contact material, and the flat plate 13 made of the contact material is held by the supporting substrate 14 made of the insulating material. I have. This contacted member is the same as that of FIG. 4 already proposed by the present applicant. It is described in detail in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 4-94205, so please refer to the description.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the power supply side contact mechanism 12 includes, as main components, a pressing contact member 15 having a planar contact material, a hollow slide shaft 16, a drive base 17, A slide shaft 16 is slidably inserted into a drive base 17, and a contact member 15 is pressed against a protruding tip side of the slide shaft 16 via a spherical joint 20 so as to swing freely. , A compression spring 18 is linked between a drive base 17 and a spherical joint 20 which is a tip of the slide shaft 16, and a stopper 19 is attached to a rear end of the slide shaft 16.

The pressing contact member 15 is made of copper or a copper alloy in the shape of a bar and has a main body formed by sticking a planar contact material 21 to an end face thereof. The pressing contact member 15 is pivotally attached to a protruding end of the slide shaft 16 by a spherical joint 20 so as to swing. The spherical joint 20 includes a spherical journal 22 and a spherical bearing 23 and a casing 2 which are in an even relationship with the spherical journal 22.
4, the spherical journal 22 is fitted and fixed to the stepped shaft portion of the rod portion of the pressing contact member 15, and the spherical bearing 23 is fixed in the casing 24. A casing 24 is attached to the outer periphery of the end of the slide shaft 16 and is fixed with a set screw 25 so as not to come off.

The slide shaft 16 is made of a rigid pipe such as a stainless steel pipe. The outer surface of the slide shaft 16 is covered with a resin tube 26 made of a fluorine resin or the like so that at least the outer surface is electrically insulating and has good sliding characteristics. Thereby, the slide with respect to the drive base 17 described later can be easily performed.

The drive base 17 includes a slide shaft 16
A through hole 27 having an inside diameter sufficiently larger than the outside diameter of the slide shaft 16 is formed, and the slide shaft 16 is loosely inserted through this hole. Therefore, a positive gap 28 is held in the through hole 27 through which the slide shaft 16 is inserted.

The compression spring 18 is formed of a coil spring, and is inserted through the outer periphery of the slide shaft 16. One end of the compression spring 18 is in contact with the drive base 17, and the other end is in contact with the spherical joint casing 24. Have been. A counterbore 29 is formed on the drive base 17 to accommodate the end of the compression spring 18.
Are formed.

A terminal member 31 and a stopper 19 are fixed to the rear end of the slide shaft 16. Terminal member 3
1 is provided in the slide shaft and the stopper 19 is provided on the outer periphery of the slide shaft, and is fixed to the slide shaft by a spring pin 32 passing therethrough. 33 is a hole through which the spring pin passes.

The stopper 19 has a slide shaft 1
6 has an outer diameter increasing portion formed at its outer end, and its leading end abuts and engages with the drive base 17, and a taper 34 at its abutting engagement surface.
Are formed. The contact engagement including the taper 34
The position of the compression spring 18 is determined so as to be achieved in a compressed state. Thereby, the contact engagement is performed by the compression spring 1.
The slide shaft 16 is set so as to always protrude from the drive base 17 in the horizontal direction at a predetermined angle (right angle) based on the engagement of the taper 34 with the spring force of 8. In this set state,
The slide shaft 16 is centered so as not to touch the through hole 27 of the drive base.

A flexible conductor 35 made of a copper wire or the like is passed through the slide shaft 16, and the ends thereof are pressed to press the ends of the sleeve portion 36 of the contact member 15 and the sleeve portion of the terminal member 31. The connection between the pressing member 15 and the terminal member 31 is achieved by the compression connection of the pressing member 37. The flexible conductor 35 presses the contact member 1
5 to bend in response to the swing motion so as to allow the swing motion. Although the conductor 35 is shown linearly in the drawing, it is sufficient that the conductor 35 has an appropriate slack so as not to impose an extra restriction on the swinging motion of the pressing contact member 15.

The terminal member 31 includes a slide shaft 16
A plate-shaped portion 38 is provided to protrude from the rear end, and a terminal of a power-supply-side cable (not shown) is fastened here.

The power supply side contact mechanism 12 configured as described above connects the drive base 17 to a linear drive actuator and a linear drive section of a cylinder mechanism installed on the ground side (see FIG. 5). . On the other hand, the contacted member 1
1 is mounted so as to be exposed on an appropriate side surface of a mobile vehicle equipped with a battery (see FIG. 5).

When a mobile vehicle requiring charging stops at the charging station and is to be charged, the contacted member 11 faces the extension line of the pressing contact member 15 of the power supply side contact mechanism 12 so as to face the extended surface. Be positioned. Then, by pushing the drive base 17 forward, the planar contact material 21 of the pressing contact member 15 advancing with it is brought into surface contact with the vicinity of the center of the broadband contact surface of the contact member 13. If the stop position of the moving vehicle is not correct at this time, such an error is allowed by contacting the planar contact material 21 at a position displaced from the center of the broadband contact surface. Further, when the contact surface of the contacted member 13 is inclined without being perpendicular to the horizontal line as shown in FIG. 2 due to the inclination of the moving vehicle or the like, the pressing contact member 15 is swung in accordance with the inclination. It is incidentally inclined and attempts to make surface contact with the surface of the contacted member from a direction perpendicular to the surface. Following this state, when the drive base 17 is further pushed out,
The drive base 17 relatively moves with respect to the slide shaft 16 whose axial movement has already been suppressed by the leading end contact, thereby compressing the compression spring 18 and the taper 34 between the stopper 19 and the drive base 17. Is lost, whereby the slide shaft 16 released from the horizontal maintenance state is pressed, and the inclination (eccentricity) corresponding to the inclination and the pressing of the contact member 15 occurs, and the slide shaft in this inclined state 16 generates an axial force corresponding to the amount of compression of the compression spring 18, and thus the pressing contact member 15.
Of the contacted member 13 from the vertical direction is achieved under optimum conditions.

If the charging is performed for a certain period of time while the predetermined surface contact is achieved as described above, the driving contact 17 is merely retracted to push the contact member 15 into contact with the contact member 13.
From the vehicle, and can immediately move to the return traveling of the moving vehicle.
When the drive base 17 is retracted as described above, the slide shaft 16 is pulled so as to protrude forward while sliding through the through hole 27 of the drive base 17 due to the spring repulsive force corresponding to the compression of the compression spring 18. Then, the stopper 19 comes into contact with and engages with the drive base 17 to form a taper 34.
As a result, the slide shaft 16 inclined as described above is reset to the original horizontal state, and is horizontally supported until the subsequent charging.

FIG. 3 shows a specific application example of the contact energizing device for contact energization for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the power supply side contact mechanism is for three phases. Accordingly, the three slide shafts 16A, 16
B, 16C and three pressing contact members 15A, 15B, 15C attached thereto. By arranging these three mechanisms so as to be located at the respective vertices of the triangle as shown in the figure, the common drive base 17 can be provided in a space-saving manner, which contributes to downsizing of the apparatus.
Reference numeral 39 denotes a hole for passing a bolt, which is used for connecting a linear drive mechanism.

[0031]

According to the contact energizing apparatus for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle of the present invention as described above, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei.
No. 4205, the slide shaft is loosely inserted so that the slide shaft can be inclined with respect to the drive base, and a taper is formed on the engagement surface between the stopper and the drive base for abutting the stopper. Further, since the compression spring is linked between the drive base and the distal end of the slide shaft so as to provide a pressing force to the contact engagement surface thereof, the slide shaft is charged before charging the moving vehicle. Is set so as to always protrude in the horizontal direction by the engagement of the taper, and when the moving vehicle is parked at a predetermined position and the drive base is pushed forward during charging, the slide shaft is free and the loose through hole is formed. Can be inserted obliquely with respect to the moving vehicle, and according to the inclination of the contacted member attached to the moving vehicle, the swing of the pressing contact member and the slide With the inclination of the shaft (eccentricity), it is possible to press and contact under optimal conditions from a direction perpendicular to the surface of the contacted member, and after charging, the slide shaft is reset to the original horizontal state and prepared for subsequent charging, This kind of type, which can flexibly respond to the different stopping postures of many moving vehicles that stop one after another, always enables contact energization by accurate surface contact, and can sufficiently respond to the demand for rapid charging with large current An apparatus can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing an embodiment of a contact energizing device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle according to the present invention using only a power supply side contact mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view showing an operation example when the contact energizing device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle according to the present invention is used.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show an application example of the contact current supply device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 3A is a front view, and FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing an example of a contact energizing device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle proposed by the present applicant.

FIG. 5 is a perspective explanatory view showing an example of using a contact energizing device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle in a charging station.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Contacted member 12 Power supply side contact mechanism 13 Contacted surface 15 Press contact member 16 Slide shaft 17 Drive base 18 Compression spring 19 Stopper 20 Spherical joint 21 Planar contact material 27 Loose through hole 28 Gap 31 Terminal member 34 Taper Contact surface)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-164204 (JP, A) JP-A-5-49109 (JP, A) JP-A 52-75220 (JP, U) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B60L 11/00-11/18 H02J 7/00-7/12 B60L 5/00-5/42

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] The mobile contact member includes a movable contact member attached to a vehicle equipped with a battery, and a power source contact mechanism installed at a charging station. The movable contact member has a wide-band contact surface made of a contact material. , Power supply side contact mechanism , linear drive actuator or cylinder machine
A drive base connected to the
Its own axial movement in a direction perpendicular to the source and its axis
Through the drive base for tilting movement with respect to
A slide shaft that is loosely inserted through the through hole and this slide
Spherical joint at the end of the ride shaft protruding side
A pressing contact member pivotally mounted via
Planar contact material attached to the end face on the pressing side of this member
Material, drive base and slide shaft protruding end
A compression spring linked in a compressed state between the
Fixed to the rear end of the drive shaft and pressed against the drive base.
With the stopper, the drive base and
Abut against each other with the tapered surfaces of
A contact current supply device for charging a battery mounted on a mobile vehicle, characterized in that it is configured as follows . 2. The compression spring is inserted through the slide shaft, one end in the compression direction abuts on a surface corresponding to the tapered surface of the drive base, and the other end abuts on the casing of the spherical joint. Item 1. The apparatus according to Item 1. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slide shaft is hollow, and a terminal member is mounted on a rear end side thereof, and the terminal member and the pressing contact member are connected through the slide shaft by a flexible conductor.