JP2008126900A - Electric-driven truck - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric-driven truck allowing a driving device to be easily mounted to a truck while scarcely needing remodeling, ensuring the sufficient ground contact pressure of a driving wheel by a simple structure without using any spring, steering the truck by the driving device, and easily performing maintenance work. <P>SOLUTION: The electric-driven truck comprises a self-standing truck having a plurality of traveling wheels and a driving device for driving the truck via a connection member. In the connection member, one end thereof is pivotably attached to the truck in a rocking manner around the horizontal axis, and the other end thereof is integrally coupled with the driving device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric cart that is used for transporting an article by connecting a driving device to a cart that has a plurality of traveling wheels and can stand by itself.

  A self-supporting cart having a plurality of traveling wheels is convenient and widely used for transporting parts and products in a factory. Many of such carts are manually operated, but if the transport weight increases, it becomes difficult to operate with human power. In order to solve such a problem, an electric cart having a driving device attached to the cart has been proposed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 includes a hand frame, four non-drive wheels, a cargo bed surface, and one drive wheel. If the hand frame is pushed forward, the forward movement of the carriage is electrically assisted, and if it is pulled, the backward movement is electrically assisted. In addition, there is a mechanism for stopping when neither pushing nor pulling, but since the operation is equivalent to a normal manual L-type carriage, there is an assist hand carriage where the driving wheels are arranged between the two non-driven rear wheels or the front wheels. Proposed. It is disclosed that the driving wheel can be assisted with a stable driving force by always pressing the driving wheel against the traveling ground with a spring.

  According to Patent Document 2, a driving wheel provided at the bottom of a carriage, a motor for driving the driving wheel, an operating unit to which an operating force is applied, and a magnitude of the operating force applied to the operating unit. And a control unit that controls the motor, wherein a support member that supports the drive wheel is rotatably provided on a lower surface of the carriage, and the support member or the drive wheel is pressed against the road surface. A conveying device has been proposed that is provided with pressing means for pressing the drive wheels.

  Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a drive unit composed of a drive wheel, a motor for propelling the drive wheel, a speed reducer for amplifying the propulsive force of the motor, and a control unit for controlling the rotational speed of the motor. In an electric cart provided with a battery box composed of a controller and a battery for moving the motor, both the drive unit and the battery box are connected and integrated, and a carriage for sandwiching the cart bed from above and below is integrated. There has been proposed an electric travel unit for a hand cart that can be attached to a hand cart by providing the battery box with a U-shaped bracket.

  Patent Document 4 discloses an auxiliary vehicle for a carriage that has a traveling drive wheel and an auxiliary wheel, is maintained in a standing posture, and has a straight traveling performance forward, and an L-shaped claw member is engaged with the carriage. A cart auxiliary vehicle has been proposed in which an operator stands on either side of the cart and pushes or pulls the front side of the cart to correct the conveyance direction.

JP 2006-290319 JP JP 2000-43731 A JP-A-9-238404 JP 2005-178506 A

  However, in the cart according to Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, not only special modifications must be made in order to attach the drive device to the cart, but the driving wheel is prevented from floating when the ground is not flat. Therefore, a suspension (spring) that presses the driving wheel against the ground must be provided. Depending on the suspension, the suspension may be expanded and contracted due to a change in the amount of load loaded on the carriage, and the carriage may be inclined. Furthermore, there is a problem that the structure of the entire apparatus is complicated and it is not easy to mount and dismount the suspension.

  The electric traveling unit according to the proposal of Patent Document 3 is configured such that the driving wheel is grounded to the ground by a spring built in a U-shaped bracket, and has the same problem as the cart according to Patent Document 1 or 2. .

  The auxiliary vehicle for cart according to Patent Document 4 cannot steer the cart by itself, and the operator must steer the cart by pushing or pulling the front side of the cart while standing on the left or right side of the cart. There is a problem.

  In view of such a problem, the present invention is an electric cart that can be easily mounted with a drive device with little modification, and ensures a sufficient ground pressure of the drive wheel with a simple structure that does not use a spring. It is another object of the present invention to provide an electric cart that can be steered by a driving device and that can be easily maintained.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The invention according to claim 1 is a self-supporting carriage having a plurality of traveling wheels, and a drive device for driving the carriage via a connecting member. The connecting member is characterized in that one end of the connecting member is pivotally attached to the carriage so as to be swingable around a horizontal axis, and the other end is integrally coupled to the driving device.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the drive device includes a drive unit that drives a drive wheel that can turn around a vertical axis, a steering unit, and a control unit that controls the drive unit, The required ground pressure of the driving wheel is satisfied by the weight of the driving device.

  A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the second aspect, the center of gravity of the drive device is on the opposite side of the cart with respect to the ground point of the drive wheel.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect, the connection member can be attached with a capacitor or / and a weight for supplying driving electricity to the driving device. The ground pressure is satisfied by the weight of the capacitor or / and the weight.

  The invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that the connecting member is detachably coupled to the driving device in any one of claims 1 to 4.

  Further, the invention according to claim 6 is directed to prevent the rotation of the connecting member in the direction of gravity when the connecting device is detached from the driving device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 while being pivotally attached to the carriage. It is characterized by having a stopper.

  According to this invention, the drive device can be easily connected to the carriage to run the carriage. In addition, by securing an appropriate contact pressure of the drive wheels with a simple structure, the carriage can be stably transported regardless of the weight of the carriage and the flatness of the ground. Further, the drive device and the carriage can be easily detached and the maintenance work can be easily performed.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of an electric cart according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a layout diagram of an electric carriage according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the electric cart 100 includes a cart 10, a driving device 50 that drives the cart 10, and a connecting member 30 that couples the cart 10 and the driving device 50.

  The carriage 10 has a front traveling wheel 13 and a rear traveling wheel 14 provided on the left and right sides of the chassis 11 so as to be independent. In the case of this example, the four-wheel type, the front traveling wheel 13 is a fixed type, and the rear traveling wheel 14 is a caster type. In addition, if the trolley | bogie 10 can become independent, it can also be set as a 3 wheel type. Further, the front traveling wheels 13 can be caster type. However, the straight traveling performance is better when the front traveling wheels 13 are fixed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the carriage 10 is provided with a rail 12 for taking in and out the child carriage 20. The child cart 20 of this example accommodates, for example, a container 25 in which a liquid food material is placed, and the rail 12 is placed from the cart 10 into a processing tank (not shown) of a food machine (not shown) such as a steam cooking device. It is possible to carry it horizontally through.

  As shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, one end of the connecting member 30 is pivotally attached to the carriage 10 so as to be swingable around the horizontal axis, and the other end is integrally coupled to the drive device 50. That is, the connecting member 30 is connected to the carriage 10 via a U-shaped bracket 38 (38A, 38B) and a pin 39 (39A, 39B) fixed to the chassis 11 of the carriage 10, and the connecting member 30 is It can swing freely around 39. Thereby, the horizontality of the chassis 11 can be ensured even with respect to the vertical movement of the drive wheels 58 of the drive device 50 described later. The U-shaped bracket 38 is screwed to the chassis 11 so that it can be easily detached. Further, when connecting the carriage 10 and the connecting member 50, the carriage 10 only needs to be processed for the mounting hole of the U-shaped bracket 38, and no other special processing is required.

  On the other hand, the other end of the connecting member 30 is integrally coupled to the driving device 50. That is, the rear plate 36 of the connecting member 30 is integrally coupled to the connecting portion brat 56 of the driving device 50. As a result, the connecting member 30 and the driving device 50 are integrated and can swing around the pin 39. As shown in FIG. 3, the rear plate 36 and the connecting portion brat 56 are screw-coupled so that they can be easily attached and detached.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the connecting member 30 includes an arm 33 (33A, 33B) and a connecting arm 34 for connecting them. The length of the arm 33 is related to the turning radius of the electric carriage or the steering performance, and the length of the connecting arm 34 is related to the steering performance and the steering force. For this reason, appropriate lengths are selected for the lengths of the arm 33 and the connecting arm 34. Also, by preparing several types of arm 33 and connecting arm 34 having required lengths, it is possible to configure an electric cart with various specifications.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the drive device 50 includes a drive unit 53 that drives a drive wheel 58 that can turn around a vertical axis, a capacitor 66 (66A or 66B) that supplies drive electricity to the drive unit 53, and a drive unit 53. A control unit 63 and a steering unit 61 are provided. The capacitor 66 is of a type stored in the frame 51 (66A), a type provided with a case 71 that can be attached to the connecting member 30 and stored inside (66B), or a type having both types It is determined according to the specifications of the carriage 100 and the driving device 50. A type in which the capacitor 66 is housed in the frame 51 is preferable for a small electric cart. The type in which the capacitor 66 is not housed in the frame 51 but is housed in the case 71 has an advantage that the frame 51 and the driving device 50 can be made compact. The type in which the battery 66 is housed in the frame 51 and the case 71 is preferable for a large electric cart.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the drive device 50 has a structure in which the weights of the drive unit 53, the steering unit 61, and the control unit 63 are effectively added to the drive wheels 58. For this reason, a required ground pressure can be applied to the drive wheels 58 due to the weight of the drive unit 53, the steering unit 61, and the control unit 63. By securing the ground pressure and adopting a structure that can swing freely around the pin 39 of the driving device 50 described above, the electric cart 100 can be used for the weight and road surface of the cart 10 without using a spring. Smooth running is possible regardless of the flatness of 80. In order to increase the ground contact pressure of the drive wheel 58, the center of gravity of the entire drive device 50 is on the opposite side (distant side) from the pin 39 (the carriage 10) with respect to the contact point E with the road surface 80 of the drive wheel 58. Preferably there is.

  The required ground pressure of the driving wheel 58 varies depending on the specifications of the electric cart 100 (maximum transport weight, driving force of the driving device 50, etc.), and a capacitor and a weight can be used to secure the required ground pressure. In the present invention, as described above, the case 71 capable of accommodating the battery 66B can be attached to the connecting member 30, so as to secure the required ground pressure of the drive wheels 58 as shown in FIG. A capacitor 66B and a weight 73 having a necessary required weight can be attached.

  The electric cart 100 according to the present invention has been described above. The electric cart 100 of the present invention can connect the driving device 50 to the cart 10 with almost no processing, and the horizontality of the cart 10 without attaching a spring to the connecting member 30, the driving wheels 58, and the traveling wheels 13, 14. , Can ensure stability. Moreover, the electric cart 100 of the present invention is a cart even when the road surface 80 is not flat when the child cart 20 is transported through a rail 12 into a processing tank (not shown) of a food machine (not shown). The child cart 20 can be reliably transported horizontally without tilting 10. The connecting member 30 and the driving device 50 can be easily attached to and detached from the carriage 10, and various specifications can be obtained by preparing several types of connecting members 30 having different sizes and several types of driving devices 50 having different driving forces. The electric cart 100 can be easily configured.

  In the electric cart 100, it is preferable to provide a stopper when the drive device 50 is detached. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, by driving a bolt 43 whose length can be adjusted from the chassis 11 of the carriage 10 to the front arm 35 depending on the end of the arm 33 </ b> A of the connecting member 30, It is preferable to provide a stopper that prevents the connecting member 30 from rotating in the direction of gravity when 50 is removed from the connecting member 30. Accordingly, the drive device 50 can be easily attached and detached while the connecting member 30 is attached to the carriage 10.

  Further, the connecting member 30 and the driving device 50 are preferably attached so as to be biased to either the left or right of the carriage 10. For example, in the case of this example, the connecting member 30 and the drive device 50 are attached to the left side of the carriage 10 so that the operator who operates the drive apparatus 50 confirms the left front of the carriage, and the electric carriage 100. Can be run (FIG. 3).

It is a layout figure of the electric trolley | bogie which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows the detail of the connection member part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 carriage 11 chassis 12 rail 13 front running wheel 14 rear running wheel 20 child carriage 25 container 30 connecting member 33, 33A, 33B arm 34 connecting arm 35 front arm 36 rear plate 38, (38A, 38B) U-shaped bracket 39, ( 39A, 39B) Pin 43 Bolt 50 Drive device 51 Frame 53 Drive part 56 Connection bracket 58 Drive wheel 61 Steering part 63 Control part 66, 66A, 66B Battery 71 Case 73 Weight 80 Road surface

Claims (6)

An electric cart having a plurality of traveling wheels and capable of being self-supporting, and a drive device for driving the cart via a connecting member;
One end of the connecting member is pivotally attached to the carriage so as to be swingable about a horizontal axis, and the other end is integrally coupled to the driving device.   The drive device includes a drive unit that drives a drive wheel that can turn around a vertical axis, a steering unit, and a control unit that controls the drive unit, and a required ground pressure of the drive wheel depends on a weight of the drive device. The electric cart according to claim 1, wherein the electric cart is satisfied.   The electric trolley according to claim 2, wherein a position of a center of gravity of the drive device is on a side opposite to the trolley with respect to a ground point of the drive wheel.   The connecting member can be attached with a capacitor or / and a weight for supplying driving electricity to the driving device, and a required ground pressure of the driving wheel is satisfied by a weight of the capacitor or / and the weight. The electric trolley | bogie of Claim 2 or Claim 3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The electric cart according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the connecting member is detachably coupled to the driving device.   The said connecting member has a stopper which prevents the rotation of the gravitational direction, when the said drive device is removed in the state attached to the said trolley | bogie. Electric cart.

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