JP2013063052A - Controller for electric working machine and electric working machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control technology for an electric working machine, driving an electric motor only by a clear operation procedure, and to provide an electric working machine which adopts the technique.SOLUTION: The controller includes a battery unit for feeding power to an electric motor for transmitting power to a working unit through a power feeder wire, a power supply switch disposed on the power feeder, and a motor power supply control portion for controlling the power supply switch. The motor electricity supply control portion has a preferential signal evaluation portion which sets a negligible state for reserving a start control for the electric motor on the basis of an ON state signal from a sub-switch in the OFF state of a main switch, and cancels the negligible state by an OFF state signal from the sub-switch, and outputs, to the power-feeding switch, a control signal enabling to close power supply switch to feed power to the electric motor, when the ON states of both the main switch and the sub-switch is confirmed, when the negligible state is not set.

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device for an electric work machine and an electric work machine that are mounted on an electric work machine that uses the rotational force of an electric motor fed from a battery for tillage work or the like.

  Such a control device for an electric work machine operates an operation device such as an operation lever or an operation switch provided in the control unit to control power supply from the battery to the electric motor. A walking type electric field cultivator equipped with such a control device is known from Patent Document 1. The walking type electric field cultivator described in Patent Document 1 includes a cultivating unit that is operated by a motor, a main switch for operating the driving of the motor, and a handle having a lever switch that is turned ON / OFF by a lever. I have. Furthermore, an indicator for visually informing when the main switch is turned on is also provided. The anode of the battery provided in the case is connected to the control unit via an indicator, a main switch, and a lever switch. Furthermore, the anode of the battery is directly connected to the control unit. The control unit is grounded on the one hand and connected to the motor on the other hand. When the main switch is turned to ON, the indicator lights up. When the lever switch is turned on by grasping the lever on the handle and pulling it to the grip side, electric power is supplied to the motor, the motor rotates, and the tilling work by the tillage part is performed.

  In this walking type electric field cultivator, the motor rotates by turning on the main switch and turning on the lever switch by lever operation. The operator is made aware of the motor rotation through the operation of the two switches. However, since the main switch and the lever switch are turned on equally, even if the lever switch is turned on after the main switch is turned on, or the main switch is turned on after the lever switch is turned on, the motor is the same. Rotates. Therefore, if the lever switch is turned on unexpectedly due to some trouble, or if the operator unconsciously turns on the lever switch, the motor is immediately turned on when the main switch is turned on, and the tillage unit operates. The inconvenience arises.

Also, when setting the fuselage into the fuselage, if the position fixing convex part is inserted into the position fixing concave part and then lowered, the position fixing foot is inserted into the position fixing hole and the position fixing is performed. An electric power tiller including a battery case that can be taken out simply by pulling up is known from Patent Document 2. The electric field cultivator described in Patent Document 2 includes a rotary part (cultivation part), a motor for driving the rotary part, a power switch for turning on / off power to the root area of the handle frame, and a handle frame near the grip. An operation lever is provided for turning the motor on and off. When the operation lever is operated, the motor is turned on, and when it is released, the motor is turned off. Further, a safety device is provided in the vicinity of the operation lever so as to prohibit the motor drive-in operation by the operation lever at the initial position and to enable the motor drive-in operation when operated at the operation position.
In this electric field cultivator, thanks to the safety device, the possibility of unintentionally operating the operating lever to the motor drive position is reduced, but if the switch body is turned on unexpectedly due to some trouble, the power switch The inconvenience that the motor immediately turns on when the power is turned on and the tilling part operates can not be avoided.

JP 2006-55102 A (paragraph number [0017-0026], FIG. 5) JP 2011-5 (paragraph number [0006-0025], FIGS. 1 and 6)

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric working machine control technique in which an electric motor is driven only by a clear operation procedure and an electric working machine employing the technique.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electric work machine control device according to the present invention includes an electric motor that transmits power to a work unit, a battery unit that supplies power to the electric motor via a power supply line, and a power supply line. A power switch, a main switch and a sub switch that are provided in the control unit and output an ON state signal indicating an ON state and an OFF state signal indicating an OFF state, and a control signal that controls opening and closing of the power switch A motor power supply control unit that outputs to a switch, and the motor power supply control unit sets an ignorance state in which start control for the electric motor is suspended based on an ON state signal from the sub switch when the main switch is in an OFF state And a priority signal evaluation unit that cancels the neglected state by an OFF state signal from the sub switch. And when the ON state of both the main switch and the sub switch is confirmed when the neglected state is not set, the motor power supply control unit closes the power supply switch to supply power to the electric motor. A control signal for enabling is output to the power supply switch.

  According to this configuration, when the main switch is in the OFF state, if the sub switch is in the ON state, the start control for the electric motor is temporarily suspended, and an ignoring state in which the signal from the sub switch is ignored is set. The When this neglected state is set, an ON state signal is subsequently sent from the main switch, so that even if the ON state of both the main switch and the sub switch is confirmed, the power supply switch is sent to the electric motor. The electric motor is not started because the control signal permitting the power supply is not given. Moreover, this ignored state is canceled by the OFF state signal from the sub switch. Thus, the electric motor does not start unless the main switch is turned on and then the sub switch is turned on. Therefore, even if the sub switch is turned on due to some trouble when the main switch is in the off state, or even if the operator unconsciously operates the sub switch to the on state, the ignore state is set. Even if the main switch changes from the OFF state to the ON state, the electric motor does not start. Since the electric motor starts when the operator turns on the main switch and turns on the sub switch, a reliable operation procedure is established.

  In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the motor power supply control unit is incorporated in a battery unit that is detachable from the electric working machine. By incorporating the motor power supply control unit into the battery unit, there is no need to arrange a control device that is resistant to dust and moisture on the machine body side of the electric working machine. Since the battery unit is originally considered to be waterproof, the motor power supply control unit incorporated therein is protected from dust and moisture.

  As a preferred embodiment of the electric work machine equipped with the control device for an electric work machine according to the present invention, the control unit operated by the operator is composed of a pair of left and right handles, one handle is provided with a main switch, and the other handle When the auxiliary switch is provided, the operation of the main switch and the operation of the auxiliary switch are distributed to the left and right hands of the operator, making it easier for the operator to be aware of the operation procedure.

  Further, in one preferred embodiment, the main switch is a push button switch and the sub switch is a lever switch. As a result, the operator operates the main switch and the sub switch with different operation methods, and the operator's awareness of the operation is improved.

It is a schematic diagram illustrating the basic principle of electric motor power feeding control according to the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the electric management machine by this invention. It is a side view of an electric working machine. It is a side view of the body part of an electric working machine. It is a side view which shows mounting | wearing of the battery unit to the body of an electrically-driven working machine. It is a front view which shows mounting | wearing of the battery unit to the body of an electrically-driven working machine in a cross section. It is a functional block diagram of the control electronic system of an electric working machine. It is a flowchart figure which illustrates the flow of electric motor electric power feeding control.

  Before describing a specific embodiment of the present invention, the basic principle of electric motor power feeding control according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that the electric working machine is a walking type tiller, and its control unit is a pair of left and right handles, one handle having a main switch and the other handle having a sub switch. An electric motor (hereinafter simply referred to as a motor) transmits rotational power to a working unit configured as a tilling rotor. In the example of FIG. 1, a motor power supply control unit that controls power supply from a battery to a motor is incorporated with a battery in a battery unit that is removably mounted on the body of the electric working machine.

  A power supply switch that creates an open state (power supply state) and a closed state (cut-off state) by a control signal output from the motor power supply control unit is interposed in a power supply line from the battery to the motor. The main switch can be selectively switched between ON and OFF, and provides an ON state signal to the motor power supply control unit when switched to ON and an OFF state signal when switched to OFF. Similarly, the sub switch can be selectively switched ON and OFF, and when the switch is switched ON, an ON state signal is given to the motor power supply control unit.

  The motor power supply control unit includes a priority signal evaluation unit that manages operation procedures for the main switch and the sub switch. The priority signal evaluation unit sets an ignorance state in which the start control for the motor is suspended, that is, the power supply to the motor is kept off, based on the ON state signal from the sub switch when the main switch is in the OFF state. Further, when the priority signal evaluation unit receives the OFF state signal from the sub switch in the set ignoring state, the ignoring state is canceled.

  If the ignore state is not set by the priority signal evaluation unit, the motor power supply control unit can supply power to the electric motor by closing the power supply switch when the ON state of both the main switch and the sub switch is confirmed. A control signal is output to the power supply switch.

  That is, the priority signal evaluation unit has a normal state and an ignored state as internal states. The motor power supply control unit has an internal state of ON / ON indicating the ON state of the sub switch when the main switch is ON, ON / OFF state indicating the OFF state of the sub switch when the main switch is ON, It has an OFF / ON state indicating the ON state of the sub switch in the OFF state, and an OFF / OFF state indicating the OFF state of the sub switch in the OFF state of the main switch. Then, the neglected state shifted from the normal state by realizing the OFF / ON state returns to the normal state by realizing the ON / OFF state or the OFF / OFF state. When the ON / ON state is realized in the normal state, a control signal for closing the power supply switch is output in order to supply power to the motor.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described by taking an example in which an electric working machine is applied to a walking tiller.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the walking type tiller (hereinafter simply referred to as a tiller) 1 illustrated in this embodiment has a tiller rotor 2 at the bottom of the body 10, and a posture change by swinging back and forth. A steering handle 3 as a possible steering unit, a motor 5 for transmitting rotational power to the tilling rotor 2, and a battery unit 4 serving as a power source for the motor 5 are provided. The battery unit 4 is mounted on the support frame 14 rising obliquely rearward from the rear part of the body 10 so that the battery unit 4 can be mounted from the upper side and pulled out upward. A handle 4a is provided on the upper surface of the battery unit 4 so as to be easily carried. The steering handle 3 includes an arm-like right handle portion 3A and a left handle portion 3B, and is pivotally connected to a rearward projecting end portion of the support frame 14 on the base end side. Thereby, when not in use, the steering handle 3 can be folded forward. An artificial resin cover 11 covering the entire motor 5 and the lower half of the battery unit 4 forms the upper surface contour of the tiller 1 in a curved shape. The mounting table 100 whose outline is indicated by a two-dot chain line is a box body into which the lower part of the tiller 1 is inserted, and improves the stability and transportability of the tiller 1 when not in use.

  As can be understood from FIG. 4, the airframe 10 is substantially composed of a main frame 15 and a transmission case 17. The main frame 15 creates a motor support surface region for supporting the motor 5 and a battery support surface region for supporting the battery unit 4, and the motor support surface region and the battery support surface region are bent at an angle of about 30 degrees. ing. A swing arm 16 that can swing around a horizontal axis in the transverse direction of the aircraft is attached to the rear end of the main frame 15. The swing arm 16 has a downward posture (shown by a solid line in FIG. 3) and a rearward posture. (Indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3), a fixing means for fixing the swing arm 16 to the main frame 15 in each posture is provided. This fixing means is simply a lock pin and a lock hole.

  A moving wheel 12 is provided on the free end side of the swing arm 16, and a resistance rod 13 is attached to an intermediate portion of the swing arm 16. The moving wheel 12 is grounded in the downward posture of the swing arm 16, and the resistance bar 13 is grounded in the backward posture of the swing arm 16. The lifting height of the airframe 10 can be changed by changing the attachment position of the resistance rod 13 with respect to the swing arm 16 by the pin connection method.

  The transmission case 17 has a left and right bifurcated structure having a substantially L-shape in side view, in which the worm speed reducer 18 is incorporated, and the motor 5 is bolted to a flange portion formed at the upper end portion thereof. The output shaft of the motor 5 and the input shaft of the worm speed reducer 18 are connected by an intermediate transmission shaft drawn in dotted lines in FIG. 4, and the intermediate transmission shaft extends vertically in the transmission case 17. The output of the worm reducer 18 is transmitted to the drive shaft 20 of the tilling rotor 2 that extends from the lower end of the transmission case 17 to the left and right. A front guard 19 made of a round pipe steel material that extends forward in a loop shape that can be used as a grip portion when carrying the cultivator 1 is bolted to the upper portion of the transmission case 17.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the right handle portion 3A and the left handle portion 3B constituting the steering handle 3 are made of a round pipe material, and grips 3a and 3b are provided in the free end regions thereof. A nut-tightening mechanism with a knob is provided to fasten and fix the steering handle 3 to the support frame 14 by a swinging connection portion 30 between the steering handle 3 and the support frame 14. From this configuration, the steering handle 3 can set the steering handle 3 to an arbitrary posture with respect to the support frame 14 by operating the nut with knob.

  A lever switch device 31 is provided immediately on the machine body side of the grip 3a of the right handle portion 3A, and a push button switch device 32 is provided on the machine body side of the grip 3b of the left handle portion 3B. The lever switch device 31 incorporates a sub switch 82 that is turned ON / OFF by an operation displacement of a lever that can be operated by a hand holding the grip 3a. The push button switch device 32 incorporates a main switch 81 that is turned ON / OFF by a push operation. When the push button switch device 32 is pressed while rotating the operation unit, the main switch 81 is turned on, the ON state is maintained, and the operation unit is returned to the home position by further pushing the pushed operation unit. In this type, the main switch 81 is mechanically turned on so that the main switch 81 is turned off. As is well known, the sub switch 82 incorporated in the lever switch device 31 is a limit switch or such a switch that is turned from the OFF state to the ON state by pulling and swinging the lever toward the handle.

  As apparent from FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, in the battery support surface region of the main frame 15, the cover 11 forms a battery housing wall 11 a that creates a box-shaped housing space. The battery unit 4 has a rectangular cross section, and the rectangular cross section has the same or slightly larger area than the rectangular cross section of the storage space created by the battery storage wall 11a. Therefore, the battery unit 4 inserted into the housing space of the battery housing wall 11a is firmly held by the elasticity of the battery housing wall 11a.

  A connector 9 for electrical connection between the battery housing wall 11a and the battery unit 4 is provided. The connector 9 includes a battery side connector portion 9a provided at the center of the bottom surface of the battery unit 4 and a machine body side connector portion 9b provided at the center of the bottom surface of the battery housing wall 11a. Here, the battery-side connector portion 9a has a socket shape and the fuselage-side connector portion 9b has a plug shape, but they may be reversed. Since the battery unit 4 is guided by the battery housing wall 11a so that the center is not accurately shifted by the elasticity of the battery housing wall 11a, the battery unit 4 can be reliably inserted into the housing space with the help of gravity. The side connector portion 9a and the fuselage side connector portion 9b are connected. The battery unit 4 accommodated in the accommodation space is pressed and fixed from above by a clamp-type fixture 14 a provided on the handle support frame 14.

  The connector 9 includes a plurality of pins and pin sockets such as a terminal for a power supply line for supplying power from the battery unit 4 to the motor 5, a terminal for a signal line such as the main switch 81 and the sub switch 82, and a ground terminal. Connection terminal.

Next, the internal structure of the battery unit 4 and the power supply wiring to the motor 5 and the signal wiring for driving control of the motor 5 in the body 10 will be described with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG.
The battery unit 4 includes a battery main body 40, a charge / discharge switch unit 41, a controller 42, a power supply unit 43, a power supply line 44 connected to the positive side of the battery main body 40, and a ground wire 45 connected to the negative side of the battery main body 40. Various signal lines 46 and a current switching unit 7 are provided.

  The charge / power supply switch unit 41 includes a power supply switch 41a and a charge switch 41b arranged in series with the power supply line 44, and each is constituted by an FET and a diode as is well known. The power supply switch 41a cuts off the power supply line 44 in the OFF state and connects the power supply line 44 in the ON state to enable power supply from the battery body 40 to the external load. The charging switch 41b enables power from a power adapter (not shown) to be supplied to the battery body 40 via the power supply line 44 during charging.

  The controller 42 is substantially composed of a one-chip microcomputer, and a motor power supply control unit 50 that performs power supply control on the motor 5 and a charge control unit that performs charge control on the battery body 40 by executing hardware and programs. 52 is produced. The motor power supply control unit 50 turns on the power supply switch 41 a based on the ON state of the main switch 81 and the ON state of the sub switch 82, permits power supply from the battery body 40 to the motor 5, and drives the motor 5. Let The motor power supply control unit 50 detects the signal from the main switch 81 and the sub switch in order to perform the check control that permits the power supply to the motor 5 only when the ON state of the sub switch 82 following the ON state of the main switch 81 occurs. A priority signal evaluation unit 51 that performs time-series evaluation of signals from 82 is included.

  The power supply unit 43 functions as an internal power supply for the battery unit 4 and supplies power to the controller 42 and the current switching unit 7.

The battery side connector portion 9a provided in the battery unit 4 includes a power supply socket 91a as a power supply terminal for the power supply line 44, a first socket 92a that is a battery side terminal for the first signal line 46a, and a second signal. A second socket 93a which is a battery side terminal for the line 46b, a third socket 94a which is a battery side terminal for the third signal line 46c, and a fourth socket 95a which is a battery side terminal for the fourth signal line 46d. A fifth socket 96a as a battery side terminal for the fifth signal line 46e and an earth socket 97a as an earth terminal for the earth wire 45 are provided.
A fuselage-side connector portion 9b provided on the fuselage 10 side so as to correspond to the battery-side connector portion 9a includes a feed pin 91b as a feed terminal for the feed wire 44 and a battery side terminal for the first signal line 46a. For the first pin 92b, the second pin 93b as the battery side terminal for the second signal line 46b, the third pin 94b as the battery side terminal for the third signal line 46c, and the fourth signal line 46d A fourth pin 95b as a battery side terminal, a fifth pin 96b as a battery side terminal for the fifth signal line 46e, and a ground pin 97b as a ground terminal of the ground wire 45.

  The current switching unit 7 allows a weak current to flow through the signal line when the controller 42 is in a sleep state for the purpose of energy saving when the cultivator 1 is not working, and when the controller 42 wakes up, the signal line is larger than the weak current. Has the function of flowing a large current.

  On the machine body side, the power supply line 44 is connected to the positive contact of the motor 5, and the ground wire 45 is connected to the negative contact of the motor 5. In order to detect overheating of the motor 5, the motor 5 is provided with an overheat switch 83 that is switched off in an overheat state exceeding a predetermined value. One of the overheat switches 83 is connected to the second signal line 46b, and the other is connected to the fifth signal line 46e which is a ground line. One of the sub switches 82 is connected to the second signal line 46b, and the other is connected to the upstream side of the overheat switch 83 of the first signal line 46a. Thereby, when the overheat switch 8 is operated due to motor overheating, even if the sub switch 82 is in the ON state, the controller 42 can consider that the sub switch 82 is in the OFF state, and stops power supply to the motor 5. be able to. One of the main switches 81 is connected to the third signal line 46c, and the other is connected to the fifth signal line 46e, which is a ground line.

  As described above, the motor 5, the main switch 81, and the sub switch 82 are arranged on the machine body side, and all the control system devices that control the driving of the motor 5 based on signals from the main switch 81 and the sub switch 82 are batteries. Arranged in the unit 4. That is, the drive control of the motor 5 is replaced with the power supply control of the battery unit 4, and the discharge switch for the discharge control that the battery unit 4 originally has is used as the power supply switch unit 41 for the drive control of the motor 5. Therefore, the electronic devices and wiring on the airframe side are simple.

  Next, a power supply routine performed by the priority signal evaluation unit 51 based on the time series evaluation of the signal from the main switch 81 and the signal from the sub switch 82 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The basis of this time-series evaluation is that an ignorance state in which power supply to the motor 5, that is, start-up is suspended is set based on the ON state signal from the sub switch 82 when the main switch 81 is in the OFF state. Is released by the OFF state signal. In the case where the neglected state is not set, when the ON state of both the main switch 81 and the sub switch 82 is confirmed, a power supply signal is supplied that closes the power supply switch 41a and enables power supply to the motor 5. Output to the switch 41a.

  In the power supply routine shown in FIG. 8, a check flag is used as a flag for setting the above-described neglected state. Accordingly, when this power supply routine starts, first, the state of the check flag is checked (# 01). If the check flag is reset (ignore state is not set), the states of the main switch 81 and the sub switch 82 are further checked (# 02).

If the main switch 81 and the sub switch 82 are in the ON state in the check of step # 02, a power supply permission command is sent from the motor power supply control unit 50 to the power supply switch 41a, and the power supply switch 41a is in the ON state (the power supply line 44 is energized). State), power supply to the motor 5 is started, and the motor 5 is driven (# 03).
If only the main switch 81 is in the ON state and the sub switch 82 is in the OFF state in the check of step # 02, the power supply to the motor 5 is in a standby state after the sub switch 82 is switched from the OFF state to the ON state. (# 04). Even in the standby state, the power supply line 44 remains blocked by the power supply switch 41a.
If it is determined in step # 02 that the main switch 81 is OFF and the sub switch 82 is ON, the check flag is set (# 05). The feed line 44 is cut off by the feed switch 41a (# 06), and the motor 5 remains stopped.

In step # 01, if the check flag is set (ignore state is set), the state of the sub switch 82 is further checked (# 07).
If the sub switch 82 is in the ON state in the check of step # 07, the check flag is left set (continuation of the ignoring state), and the cutoff of the power supply line 44 by the power supply switch 41a is maintained (# 06). 5 remains stopped.
If it is determined in step # 07 that the sub switch 82 is in the OFF state, the check flag is reset (cancellation of the ignored state). The feed line 44 is cut off by the feed switch 41a (# 06), and the motor 5 remains stopped.

  One power feeding routine ends with the above-described flow. However, by repeating this simple power feeding routine, work control of the tiller 1 is performed.

[Another embodiment]
[1] The electric working machine is not limited to an electric power tiller in which a working rotor is applied to the working unit 2, but various electric motors such as an electric lawn mower and an electric snowblower can be changed by appropriately changing the working unit. The present invention can be applied to a work machine.
[2] The mechanical structures of the control unit 3 and the airframe 10 are not limited in the present invention, and various forms can be employed.
[3] Various cross-sectional shapes of the battery unit 4 can be adopted, and the shape of the battery housing wall 11a may be determined so as to create a housing space suitable for the shape.

  The present invention can be applied to various electric working machines equipped with the battery unit 4 and driving the work unit 2 with the motor 5.

1: Electric power tiller (electric working machine)
2: Tillage rotor (work unit)
3: Handle (control section)
3a, 3b: Grip 5: Electric motor 4: Battery unit 9: Connector 31: Lever switch device (lever switch)
32: Push button switch device (push button switch)
10: Airframe 40: Battery 41a: Power supply switch 42: Controller 44: Power supply line 46: Signal line 50: Motor power supply control unit 51: Priority signal evaluation unit 52: Charge control unit 81: Main switch 82: Sub switch

Claims (4)

An electric motor that transmits power to the work unit, a battery unit that supplies power to the electric motor via a power supply line, a power supply switch provided on the power supply line, an ON state signal that is provided on the control unit and that indicates an ON state And a main switch and a sub switch that output an OFF state signal indicating an OFF state, and a motor power supply control unit that outputs a control signal for controlling opening and closing of the power supply switch to the power supply switch,
The motor power supply control unit sets an ignoring state in which start control for the electric motor is suspended based on an ON state signal from the sub switch when the main switch is in an OFF state, and sets the ignoring state from the sub switch. A priority signal evaluation unit that is canceled by an OFF state signal, and the motor power supply control unit, when the ON state of both the main switch and the sub switch is confirmed when the neglected state is not set, A control device for an electric work machine that outputs a control signal to the power supply switch that closes the power supply switch and enables power supply to the electric motor.   The electric work machine control device according to claim 1, wherein the motor power supply control unit is incorporated in the battery unit that is detachable from the electric work machine. An electric work machine equipped with the control device for an electric work machine according to claim 1,
An electric working machine in which the steering unit is composed of a pair of left and right handles, the main switch is provided on one handle, and the sub switch is provided on the other handle.   The electric working machine according to claim 3, wherein the main switch is a push button switch and the sub switch is a lever switch.

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