JP2002158062A - External power connecting device for mobile robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a receiving terminal of a mobile robot not only to absorb deviation in halting position but also get contacted with the fixed equipment with enough contact pressure even at a halt in a slanting posture against it when the receiving terminal of the mobile robot is connected to a feeder terminal to feed power. SOLUTION: A plurality of electrodes 40, 41 of a feeder terminal 34 and a plurality of electrodes 59 of a receiving terminal 35 are arrayed in a row in a longitudinal direction respectively, and at same time, the electrodes of the feeder terminal are formed long sideways to absorb horizontal displacement. When receiving terminal 35 is moved toward the feeder terminal side by a rack 49, slanted faces 63a of a head cover 63 come in contact with slanted faces 42a of protrusions 42 equipped at the feeder terminal 34, whereby, vertical position of the feeder terminal 34 gets faced with that of the receiving terminal 45.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an external power supply connecting device for a mobile robot having an improved configuration for connecting a power receiving electrode provided on the mobile robot and a power supply electrode on a fixed facility side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing plant or an automobile parts manufacturing plant, a mobile robot having a robot arm mounted on an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) is moved between a plurality of work stations (fixed facilities). A system that performs an assembling operation or the like while doing so has been adopted.

In such a mobile robot, since it is necessary to run on its own, at least the running load is driven by a battery composed of a secondary battery, and an external AC power supply is stopped while the work station is stopped. It is common practice to charge a battery from a battery.

Specifically, as schematically shown in FIG. 10, a work station is provided with a charger 2 and a power supply terminal 3 for generating a relatively low-voltage current based on the output of a commercial AC power supply 1. A power supply device 4 is provided. The mobile robot 5 is provided with a power receiving terminal 6 connected to the power supply terminal 3 in a state where the mobile robot 5 is stopped at a work station. 7, the battery is charged by a DC / DC converter 8, and the voltage is boosted by a DC / DC converter 8 and supplied to a load such as a robot arm or a drive motor 10 of a self-propelled device through a controller 9.

FIG. 9 shows a state where the mobile robot 5 is supplied with power from the power supply device 4. As shown in the figure, the power supply terminal unit 3 is provided on the front surface of the power supply device 4, and the power supply terminal unit 3 has a pair of positive and negative power supply electrodes connected to the output terminal unit of the charger 2. 1
1, 12 and a grounded earth electrode 13 are provided. On the other hand, when the mobile robot 5 stops in front of the power supply device 4, the power receiving terminal portion 6 is provided on a side surface facing the power supply device 4 in a direction approaching and separating from the power supply device 4 by a driving device (not shown). It is provided movably. A battery 7 and a DC / D
A pair of rod-shaped power receiving electrodes 1 connected to the C converter 8
Ground electrodes 16 connected to the frames of the mobile robot 4 and 15 and the mobile robot 5 are provided.

[0006] With the mobile robot 5 stopped in front of the work station, the power receiving terminal 6 is connected to the power supply 4.
When moved to the side, the power receiving electrodes 14 and 15 and the ground electrode 16 are connected to the power supply electrodes 11 and 12 and the ground electrode 13 of the power supply terminal portion 6.

[0007]

A stop marker is provided on the floor in front of the work station, and the mobile robot 5 reads the stop marker and reads the stop marker at a proper position and is parallel to the front surface of the work station (power supply device 4). It is configured to stop while maintaining the posture, but there is actually an error, it stops at a position deviating from the normal stop position, or a posture slightly inclined instead of parallel to the front of the work station, that is, movement The robot may stop at a position slightly different from the work station before and after the robot 5, or may have a slight difference in height between the power receiving terminal portion 6 and the power supply terminal portion 3.

However, in the above-described conventional external power supply connection configuration, particularly when the mobile robot 5 stops in a posture inclined with respect to the front surface of the work station, the directions of the power supply terminal portion 3 and the power reception terminal portion 6 do not match. The distance from the partner electrode varies, and the contact pressure decreases between the farthest electrodes.

That is, the power receiving electrode 14 on the power receiving terminal 6 side
16 to 16 are pressed against the power supply electrodes 11 to 13 by the compression coil spring 17 for applying contact pressure. However, when the mobile robot 5 is inclined as described above, the compression amount of the compression coil spring 17 is reduced. As a result, the force (contact pressure) for pressing the power receiving electrode against the power supply electrode becomes large or small. Then, between electrodes having a small contact pressure, the electric resistance between them becomes large and a large current flows, causing a problem that a spark is generated or the electrode is melted. An oxide film is formed on the surface of the substrate, and the electric resistance is further increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object not only to be able to absorb the deviation of the stop position of the mobile robot, but also to stop the mobile robot in an inclined position with respect to the fixed equipment. Another object of the present invention is to provide an external power supply connection device for a mobile robot capable of bringing all of the plurality of power receiving electrodes on the mobile robot side into contact with the plurality of power supply electrodes on the fixed facility with a sufficient contact pressure.

[0011]

When a mobile robot stops in front of a fixed facility, the stop position may be shifted from a proper position or the posture may be inclined.
In such a case, according to the first aspect of the invention, at least one of the plurality of power supply electrodes and the plurality of power reception electrodes is formed to be horizontally long, so that the mobile robot moves in the horizontal direction (in front of the fixed equipment) with respect to the fixed equipment. (Positional displacement in the direction along), the laterally long electrode can absorb the lateral displacement.

When the mobile robot is displaced in the front-rear direction of the fixed equipment, the displacement is
If the height of the power receiving unit is different from the height of the power supply unit due to the displacement of the height position of the mobile robot and the fixed equipment, it can be absorbed by the moving amount of the driving means, The movably provided side moves in the vertical (up and down) direction to absorb the height deviation.

Further, when the posture of the mobile robot is deviated, the side of the power supply unit and the power reception unit which is provided to be capable of swinging in the horizontal direction may swing in the horizontal direction to coincide with the direction of the other party. Swell. As described above, it is possible to absorb the positional deviation and the deviation of the posture of the mobile robot, and it is possible to satisfactorily connect the power supply electrode and the power receiving electrode without causing insufficient contact pressure.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the power receiving unit provided in the mobile robot is vertically movable and laterally swung by the driving member moving in the direction approaching and separating from the power feeding unit. Since it is provided as possible, the power supply unit side, which is a fixed facility, can be made compact, and it can be prevented as much as possible from getting in the way when a person works.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the plurality of power supply electrodes and the plurality of power reception electrodes are arranged in a line in the vertical direction, the length of the horizontally long electrode is increased without being affected by the adjacent electrode. Therefore, the amount of lateral displacement of the mobile robot that can be absorbed can be increased.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the external power supply is an AC power supply, a battery comprising a high-voltage battery that can be charged by the mobile robot, and a charger for rectifying the AC power supply and charging the battery are mounted. Since there is no need to install a step-down transformer that reduces the voltage of the AC power supply to the charging voltage of the battery of the mobile robot on the external fixed equipment side, and a rectifier that converts the AC output of this step-down transformer into DC, there is no need to provide a fixed unit. The equipment can be made compact. Moreover, since high-voltage AC power can be supplied from the fixed facility to the mobile robot as it is, the current flowing through the power supply electrode and the power receiving electrode can be reduced. For this reason, both electrodes can be configured to have a small cross-sectional area, and the power supply unit and the power receiving unit can be configured to be small.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 8 shows an external configuration of the mobile robot 21. The mobile robot 21 is mounted on an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) 22 which is formed in a substantially rectangular box shape that is slightly longer in the front-rear direction (right and left in the figure) as a whole. To
For example, a robot arm 23 composed of a six-axis type arm is mounted.

Although not shown in detail, the automatic guided vehicle 2
2 has a traveling mechanism at the bottom of the main body frame 24 (only a part is shown in FIG. 1). The traveling mechanism includes, for example, four wheels 25 (only two wheels are shown), and two of the driving wheels are driven and steered by a motor.
Side wall covers 26 are provided on the front, rear, left and right outer wall portions of the main body frame 24, respectively.
6 is provided with an obstacle sensor 27 and the like. Although not shown, a pair of front and rear guide sensors for detecting a guide line laid along the traveling path and a stop marker provided in front of a fixed facility (work station) are provided at the bottom of the main body frame 24. Is provided with a stop marker sensor or the like for detecting.

Thus, the mobile robot 21 travels on the traveling path provided along the fixed facility by the traveling mechanism, stops at a predetermined work position (work station), and sets the parts by the robot arm 23. Work such as attachment and delivery is performed.

As shown in FIG. 7, the mobile robot 21 has a battery 28 serving as a power source during traveling.
The battery 28 is composed of a rechargeable high-voltage battery in which a large number of unit cells are connected in series and the output is, for example, 288 V. The battery 28 is connected to a controller 30 via a relay switch 29. . The output voltage of the battery 28 is applied to the controller 30 as it is, and the controller 30 is configured to drive the traveling mechanism of the automatic guided vehicle 22 and the drive motor 31 of the robot arm 23 which are loads.

When the mobile robot 21 is stopped at the work station, the power supply of the controller 30 is switched from the battery 28 to the three-phase AC power supply of 200 V, which is an external power supply, and the battery 28 is switched to the three-phase AC power supply of 200 V. Is configured to be charged. That is, a power supply device 32 is provided on the fixed facility side, and the power supply device 32 has a configuration including a three-phase AC power supply 33 and a power supply terminal unit 34 as a power supply unit connected thereto. ing.

On the other hand, on the mobile robot 21 side, a power receiving terminal 35 is provided as a power receiving unit connected to the power supplying terminal 34. The power receiving terminal 35 is connected to the controller 30 via a rectifier 36. Battery 28
Is connected via a charger 37 mainly composed of a rectifier. Note that the charger 37 is configured to apply the voltage of the AC power supply 33 as it is to the battery 28 for charging.

In the present embodiment, when the mobile robot 21 stops in front of the work station (fixed equipment), the power receiving terminal 35 moves to the power supply 32 and is connected to the power supply terminal 34. . Hereinafter, the connection configuration will be described in detail. First, as shown in FIG.
Is provided on the floor on the fixed facility side, and the power supply terminal portion 34 is provided so as to protrude from the front wall portion (the left wall portion in the figure) of the power supply device 32. As shown in FIG. 4, the power supply terminal portion 34 is mainly composed of an insulating housing 38 which is made of an electrically insulating material such as plastic and has a somewhat horizontally long rectangular block shape. Four horizontally elongated holes 39 opening in the front surface are formed vertically in the vertical direction, and a horizontally elongated fixed electrode plate is disposed deep in each of the holes 39. Of these fixed electrode plates, for example, the upper three are the feed electrodes 40 connected to the three-phase power lines of the AC power source 33, respectively, and the lowest one is a grounded ground line (not shown). ) Is connected to the ground terminal portion 41.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a pair of projecting portions 42 are provided on the front surface of the insulating housing 38 so as to be located on the upper and lower sides of the four holes 39. The inner surfaces of the pair of upper and lower projecting portions 42 are inclined surfaces 42a having, for example, an inclination angle of about 30 degrees so as to increase the facing interval toward the distal end.

On the other hand, on the side of the mobile robot 21 (inside the automatic guided vehicle 22), there is provided a movable unit 44 having the power receiving terminal portion 35 which comes and goes through an opening 43 formed in the side wall cover 26. I have. Note that a pair of the movable units 44 is provided symmetrically in a position shifted to the front and rear of the center of the automatic guided vehicle 22 in practice. The illustration and description will be given as a representative.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the movable unit 44, and FIG.
Is a sectional view of the movable unit 44 as viewed from below. 1 and 2, the main body frame 2 of the automatic guided vehicle 22 is shown.
A mounting frame 45 is fixed to 4, and a linear driving device 46 as driving means is mounted on the mounting frame 45. The linear driving device 46 includes a rack cylinder 47 that is long in the left-right direction and a pulse motor 48 serving as a driving source. As is well known, the rack cylinder 47 includes a rack 49 as a driving member therein, and a pinion (not shown) meshing with the rack 49 is rotated by the pulse motor 48 to linearly move the rack 49. belongs to.

The power receiving terminal 35 is a circular insulating housing 5 made of an electric insulating material such as plastic.
A base portion 51 also made of an electrically insulating material is fixed to the insulating housing 50. Support portions 51a are protruded from both upper and lower sides of the base portion 51, and bearing bushes 52 are fitted to the support portions 51a.

A shaft 53 serving as a swing center axis is fixed to the tip of a rack 49 of the rack cylinder 47 via a bracket 54 so as to be vertically oriented so as to be vertically oriented. A support portion 51a provided on a base portion 51 of an insulating housing 50 is provided on both upper and lower sides of a shaft 53 projecting up and down from the rack 49 so as to be swingable in a lateral (left and right) direction via the bearing bush 52. In addition, it is supported so as to be movable in a vertical (up and down) direction. A portion of the shaft 53 projecting upward from the rack 49 is provided with a compression coil spring 55 as a holding spring member located between the bracket 54 and the upper support portion 51a. 35 is the compression coil spring 5
By the resilience of No. 5, it is normally held at a substantially central position in the vertical movement range.

Now, the insulating housing 5 of the power receiving terminal portion 35
As shown in FIG. 3, the inside of 0 is partitioned into four upper and lower chambers by three partition plates 56 made of an electrically insulating material. A conductive member 57 made of a good conductive material such as copper is provided in each of the four chambers of the insulating housing 50, and a bush 58 made of a good conductive material is fitted to each conductive member 57. . A round rod-shaped movable electrode rod is supported by each bush 58 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. The upper three of these movable electrode rods are the receiving electrodes 59.
The lowest one is the ground electrode 60.

A tension coil spring 61 as a contact pressure applying spring member is provided in the rear half of the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60, respectively.
Are the front and rear ends of the electrodes 59 and 60 and the rear end of the bush 58.
And applies an urging force to each of the electrodes 59 and 60 in a direction in which the tip portion projects forward from the insulating housing 50. In addition, in the state of FIG.
The tension coil spring 61 is in a contracted state and the electrode 5
9 and 60 are held so as to protrude forward from the insulating housing 50.

The above-mentioned power receiving electrode 59 and earth electrode 60
The rear end of the conductive member 57 that is electrically connected to the projection protrudes from the base 51 of the insulating housing 50. Cables 62 are respectively connected to the rear ends of the conductive members 57, and the cables 62 of the conductive members 57 corresponding to the power receiving electrodes 59 are connected to the rectifier 36.
The cable 62 of the conductive member 57 corresponding to the ground electrode 60 is connected to the main body frame 24 of the automatic guided vehicle 22.

A head cover 63 as a movable housing made of an electrically insulating material is fitted to the insulating housing 50 of the power receiving terminal 35 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, a concave portion 64 extending in the front-rear direction is formed in the insulating housing 50, and the tip of the pin 65 fixed to the head cover 63 is inserted into the concave portion 64. Thereby, the head cover 6
Reference numeral 3 is such that it can slide in the front-rear direction within the range of the concave portion 64 with respect to the insulating housing 50.

The head cover 63 is connected to the power receiving terminal 35
And has a rectangular outer shape, and a hole 66 through which the tip of each of the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 is inserted is formed on the front surface thereof. The forward portions of the upper and lower outer surfaces of the head cover 63 are formed on an inclined surface 63a. The inclined surfaces 61a on both the upper and lower sides constitute a power receiving side guide portion, and correspond to the inclined surfaces 42a of the projecting portions 42 projecting from the insulating housing 38 of the power supply terminal portion 34, and receive power as described later. The terminal 35 is a power supply terminal 34
Side, the upper and lower inclined surfaces 42a of the protrusion 42
It comes in contact with.

The head cover 63 and the insulating housing 5
A tension coil spring 67 is provided as an interval maintaining spring member between the coil springs. As a result, the head cover 63 is urged forward, and is always held at the covering position where the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 are hidden in the hole 66. When receiving a force from the front to the rear, the head cover 63 moves rearward against the elastic force of the extension coil spring 67 and moves to the exposed position where the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 protrude from the hole 66. It is supposed to.

A detection switch 68 composed of a micro switch is provided in the base 51 of the insulating housing 50. When the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 contact the power supply electrode 40 and the ground electrode 41 on the other side, the detection switch 68 causes the base electrode 5 and the ground electrode 5 to contact each other.
The signal is input to a control unit (not shown) that controls the pulse motor 48, and thereafter, the control unit operates the pulse motor 48 at a low speed. By rotating the rack 49, the moving speed of the rack 49 is controlled to a low speed.

An electrode cover 68 made of an electrically insulating material is provided on the outer periphery of the head cover 63. The electrode cover 68 is formed so as to expand toward the tip, and covers the periphery of the power receiving terminal portion 35 and the power supply terminal portion 34 when they are connected. Then, in a state where the movable unit 44 is submerged in the automatic guided vehicle 22,
The periphery of the electrode cover 68 is in contact with the body frame 24 to close the opening 44.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. As described above, the mobile robot 21 travels (moves) on the travel path by the traveling mechanism of the automatic guided vehicle 22, and stops at a predetermined work position in front of the fixed facility to perform work. Power for the traveling mechanism during this movement is obtained from the battery 28. During this traveling, as shown in FIG. 1, the power receiving terminal portion 35 is at a position retracted in the automatic guided vehicle 22, and at this time, the head cover 63 is moved to the power receiving electrode 5.
9 and the ground terminal portion 60, so that the terminal portions 59 and 60 are not exposed to the outside.

When the mobile robot 21 stops at a predetermined work position in front of the fixed equipment, the front end surface of the head cover 63, which is the front end surface of the power receiving terminal portion 35, and the power supply terminal portion 34 of the power supply device 22 come to face each other. In this state, by driving the linear driving device 46 (pulse motor 48), the power receiving terminal portion 35 which has been in the retracted position is moved in the protruding (forward) direction (the right direction in FIG. 1 which is the connection direction). .

When the power receiving terminal 35 moves in the protruding direction, first, the front end of the head cover 63 is moved to the power supply terminal 34.
5, the upper and lower inclined surfaces 63 a of the head cover 63 come into contact with the inclined surfaces 42 a of the upper and lower projecting portions 42 of the power supply terminal 34 as shown in FIG. 5. At this time, if the power supply terminal portion 34 of the power supply device 32 and the power receiving terminal portion 35 of the mobile robot 21 are displaced vertically, first, one of the upper and lower inclined surfaces 63 a of the head cover 62 is inclined. The surface contacts one of the upper and lower inclined surfaces 42a on the side of the power supply terminal portion 34.

For example, the power receiving terminal 35 is
When the power supply terminal 34 is shifted downward, the lower inclined surface 63 a of the head cover 63 is
The inclined surface 42a. Then, the subsequent movement of the power receiving terminal 35 in the connection direction causes the power receiving terminal 35 to
Shaft 53 so as to ride on the second inclined surface 42a.
, And finally, the upper inclined surface 63 a of the head cover 63 also moves to the upper projecting portion 4 of the power supply terminal portion 34.
The second inclined surface 42a is hit. As a result, the vertical position of the power receiving terminal 35 coincides with the power supply terminal 34.

When the posture of the mobile robot 21 has shifted, that is, when the mobile robot 21
Is not parallel to the front surface of the power supply terminal portion 34, and stops when one of the inclined surfaces 63a of the head cover 63 comes into contact with the inclined surface 42a of the one protruding portion 42 of the power supply terminal portion 34 as described above. When the inclined surface 63a comes into contact with the inclined surfaces 42a of the both protruding portions 42, the power receiving terminal portion 35 is pushed by the rack 49 and swings laterally around the shaft 53 as shown in FIG. Upper and lower inclined surfaces 63
a is the inclined surface 42a of the upper and lower projecting portions 42 of the power supply terminal portion 34
To come into contact with

As a result, the front end face of the head cover 63 and the front end face of the power supply terminal section 34 are oriented in the normal direction facing each other in a parallel state. As described above, the projecting portion 4 of the power supply terminal portion 34
2 inclined surface 42a and inclined surface 63 of head cover 63
a functions as a guide portion, and by contacting each other, the vertical position of the power receiving terminal portion 35 is adjusted.
Vertical position guide part to be adjusted to fit
5 serves both as a horizontal position guide portion for correcting the horizontal direction of the power supply terminal portion 34 to match it.

Now, the head cover 63 has the upper and lower projecting portions 4.
2 is stopped by contact with the linear driving device 4
6 is further moved in the protruding direction thereafter, so that the insulating housing 50 further moves in the same direction, and the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 supported by the insulating housing 50 move forward from the hole 66 of the head cover 63. Protrude.

The power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 projecting from the hole 66 reach a position where they come into contact with the power supply electrode 40 and the ground electrode 41 of the power supply terminal portion 34 by the subsequent movement of the insulating housing 50 and stop there. Then
The detection switch 68 is connected to the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60.
The rotation of the pulse motor 48 is reduced to a low speed to detect the stop of the
Is slowly moved in the protruding direction. Then, the insulating housing 50 slowly moves to a position where the front end surface contacts the rear surface of the front end portion of the head cover 63.

When the insulating housing 50 moves in the protruding direction with the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 stopped, the tension coil spring 61 for applying the contact pressure is gradually expanded. The resilience provided gradually increases.

At this time, as described above, the head cover 6
3 and the distal end surface of the power supply terminal portion 34 are in a regular opposing state in which they face in a parallel state.
And the earth electrode 60 is in a state of vertically contacting the feed electrode 40 and the earth electrode 41. Accordingly, the elastic force of the extension coil spring 61 is applied to the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60.
Effectively acts as a pressure for contacting the power supply electrode 40 and the ground electrode 41, and the contact pressure is almost the same at the three power receiving electrodes 59 and the one ground electrode 60, resulting in an appropriate contact pressure. Therefore, the power receiving electrode 5
9 and the contact resistance between the ground electrode 60 and the power supply electrode 40 and the ground electrode 41 can be suppressed to a small range, and there is no possibility that problems such as generation of sparks and melting of the electrodes occur.

Of course, if the stop position of the mobile robot 21 is shifted in the horizontal direction along the front surface of the power supply device 32, that is, in the moving direction of the mobile robot, the shift is caused by the feed electrode 40 and the ground electrode 41 of the feed terminal section 34. Is absorbed by being horizontally long. In this case, the power supply electrode 40,
Since the ground electrode 41, the power receiving electrode 59, and the ground electrode 60 are arranged in a line in the vertical direction, the length of the power supply electrode 40 and the ground electrode 41 in the horizontal direction can be increased. Can be absorbed even if it is greatly shifted in the lateral direction.

If the stop position of the mobile robot 21 is orthogonal to the front surface of the power supply 32, that is, if the mobile robot 21 stops too close to or too far from the power supply 32, the position shift is made. This is absorbed by the amount of movement of the rack 49 for moving the insulating housing 50 to a position where the front end surface contacts the rear surface of the front end portion of the head cover 63.

When the power receiving electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 come into contact with the power supply electrode 40 and the ground electrode 41 with a large contact pressure as described above, power is supplied from the AC power supply 33 to the mobile robot 21, and the power is supplied. In response to this, the robot arm 23 performs a predetermined assembly operation and the like,
Battery 28 is charged.

At this time, particularly when the robot arm 23 is activated, a large amount of power is required. However, since the voltage of the AC power supply is applied to the mobile robot 21 as it is, the AC power supply is converted to a DC of about 24 V by the power supply device. Unlike the configuration in which the power is converted and supplied to the mobile robot side, the power supply electrode 40
And the current flowing through the power receiving electrode 59 is reduced. For this reason, the power supply electrode 40 and the power receiving electrode 59 can be configured to have a small cross-sectional area, and the power supply terminal portion 34 and the power receiving terminal portion 35 can be downsized. In particular, the downsizing of the power receiving terminal portion 35 is achieved by the linear drive device 4 for moving the power receiving terminal portion 35.
6 can also be downsized, and it is possible to cope with the requirement that the components mounted on the mobile robot 21 be small.

When the operation by the robot arm 23 is completed, the linear drive device 46 moves the power receiving terminal portion 35 in the immersion (retreat) direction, which is the immersion / separation direction (left direction in FIG. 1, which is the separation direction). The connection with the power supply terminal 34 is disconnected.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, but can be extended or modified as follows. The power supply electrode 40 and the ground electrode 41 of the power supply terminal 34 may be rod-shaped, and the power reception electrode 59 and the ground electrode 60 of the power reception terminal 35 may be horizontally long.
In addition, the power supply electrode 40, the ground electrode 41, the power receiving electrode 59,
All the ground electrodes 60 may be horizontally long. Instead of the power receiving terminal 35, the power supply terminal 34 may be moved by the linear driving device 45. The power receiving terminal portion 35 is held above the normal position by the compression coil spring 55, and the power supply terminal portion 34 includes only the upper protrusion 42. When the power supply terminal portion 35 moves in the connection direction, When the inclined surface 42a of the protrusion 42 of the head cover 63 comes into contact with the inclined surface 63a on the upper side of the head cover 63, the power receiving terminal portion 35 is lowered to a position where the distal end surface of the head cover 63 comes into contact with the distal end surface of the power supply terminal portion 34, thereby receiving power. Adjust the height position of the terminal portion 35 to the height position of the power supply terminal portion 34, and
When the front end surface of the head cover 63 is in surface contact with the front end surface of the power supply terminal portion 34, the power receiving terminal portion 35 is connected to the shaft 53.
May be pivoted around to adjust the direction of the power receiving terminal 35 to the direction of the power supply terminal 34. According to this configuration, the inclined surface 42a of the upper projecting portion 42 and the upper inclined surface 63a of the head cover 63 function as a vertical position guide portion, and the distal end surface of the head cover 63 and the power supply terminal portion 34
Functions as a lateral position guide.

The member that is configured to be movable in the vertical direction and swingable in the horizontal direction is not the power receiving terminal 35 but the power supply terminal 3.
It may be four. The same terminal can be moved vertically,
Further, it is not necessary to be able to swing in the horizontal direction, and one terminal may be movable in the vertical direction, and the other terminal may be swingable in the horizontal direction. For example, the power supply terminal portion 34 may be configured to be movable in the vertical direction, and the power receiving terminal portion 35 may be configured to be swingable in the horizontal direction. May be configured to be swingable in the lateral direction. On the power supply device 32 side, a 200 V AC power supply is
Of the battery 28 on the mobile robot 21 side by the 24 V DC supplied from the power supply device 32.
And 280 by the DC / DC converter.
A configuration in which the voltage is boosted to V and supplied to the controller 30 may be adopted.

The electrodes 59 and 60 of the power receiving terminal 35 are urged toward the electrodes 40 and 41 of the power supply terminal 34 by the tension coil spring 61 for applying contact pressure. The electrodes 40 and 41 may be provided so as to be movable, and may be biased toward the electrodes 59 and 60 of the power receiving terminal 35 by a spring member for applying a contact pressure. Further, both electrodes 40, 41 and 59, 60 may be configured to be urged toward the other electrode side by a contact pressure applying spring member.

The electrodes 59 and 60 of the power receiving terminal portion 35 and the electrodes 40 and 41 of the power supply terminal portion 34 are not limited to being arranged in one row in the vertical direction, and may be arranged in two rows and columns or one row in the horizontal direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a longitudinal sectional side view of a main part.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing a main part partially broken away.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional side view of a power receiving terminal portion.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a power supply terminal unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view for explaining the operation of correcting the vertical position of the power receiving terminal unit.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional plan view for explaining the operation of correcting the orientation of the power receiving terminal unit.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a mobile robot.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a connection configuration with a conventional external power supply.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a conventional electrical configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the figure, 21 is a mobile robot, 24 is a main body frame, 26
Is a side wall cover, 28 is a battery, 32 is a power supply, 33
Is an AC power supply, 34 is a power supply terminal portion (power supply portion), 35 is a power reception terminal portion (power reception portion), 38 is an insulating housing, 40 is a power supply electrode, 41 is a ground electrode, 42 is a protruding portion, and 42a is an inclined surface (guide). Section, vertical position guide section, rotation position guide section),
44 is a movable unit, 46 is a linear drive device, 47 is a rack cylinder, 48 is a pulse motor, 49 is a rack, 50
Is an insulating housing, 51 is a base, 53 is a shaft, 57
Is a conductive member, 59 is a power receiving electrode, 60 is a ground electrode, 63
Is a head cover.

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F060 HA02 HA13 5E021 FA04 FA09 FA14 FA16 FB21 FC31 HA05 HA07 HB13 KA09 LA01 MA23

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A fixed power supply unit having a plurality of power supply electrodes connected to an external power supply is provided on a fixed facility side, and a power receiving unit having a plurality of power reception electrodes is provided on a mobile robot side, and the mobile robot is connected to the fixed facility. An external power supply connection device for a mobile robot that connects the power receiving electrode to the power supply electrode and supplies power from the external power source to the mobile robot in a state where the power supply electrode and the power reception electrode are stopped. At least one of the power receiving unit and the power supply unit is configured to be moved by a driving unit in a direction approaching and moving away from the other, and the power supply unit and the power reception unit And at least one of the power supply unit and the power receiving unit is supported so as to be swingable in the horizontal direction. The power receiving unit is provided in the power receiving unit and the power receiving unit such that when the power receiving unit is relatively moved in a direction approaching the power feeding unit, the power receiving unit and the power receiving unit are vertically movable among the power feeding unit and the power receiving unit. A vertical position guide section for vertically moving the set side to adjust the vertical position of the power supply section and the power reception section, and the power reception section approaching the power supply section to the power supply section and the power reception section. When relatively moved in the direction in which the power supply unit and the power reception unit contact each other, the side of the power supply unit and the power reception unit that is provided to be capable of swinging in the lateral direction is rocked to change the orientation of the power supply unit and the power reception unit. A movable position guide unit for adjusting the position of the power supply unit and the power reception unit, and the power supply electrode and the power reception electrode are configured to contact each other in a state where the vertical position and the orientation of the power supply unit and the power reception unit are aligned. Power supply connection device. 2. A fixed power supply unit having a plurality of power supply electrodes connected to an external power supply is provided on a fixed facility side, and a power receiving unit having a plurality of power receiving electrodes is provided on a mobile robot side, and the mobile robot is connected to the fixed facility. In an external power supply connection device of a mobile robot that connects the power receiving electrode to the power supply electrode and supplies power from the power source to the mobile robot side in a state where the power supply electrode is stopped before, the plurality of power supply electrodes are formed horizontally. The mobile robot is provided with a driving member that moves in a direction approaching and moving away from the power supply unit, and the power receiving unit is provided on the drive member so as to be vertically movable and swingable in the horizontal direction. And the power receiving unit, when the power receiving unit is moved in a direction approaching the power supply unit by the driving member, by contacting each other, the power receiving unit is moved vertically and horizontally. Along with swinging in the direction, the power receiving unit is aligned with the vertical position of the power supply unit, and a guide unit that adjusts the direction of the power receiving unit with the direction of the power supply unit is provided. An external power supply connecting device for a mobile robot, wherein the power supply electrode and the power receiving electrode are configured to be in contact with each other in an aligned state. 3. The power feeding electrode and the power receiving electrode are arranged in a line in a vertical direction.
An external power connection device for the mobile robot according to the above. 4. The external power source is composed of an AC power source, and the mobile robot is equipped with a battery composed of a rechargeable high-voltage battery and a charger for rectifying the AC power source and charging the battery. The external power supply connecting device for a mobile robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: