JP2024055444A - Battery holding structure and construction machine - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a battery holding structure that can suppress damage to batteries caused by vibration without requiring extensive machining, and a construction machine equipped with the same. [Solution] A battery holding structure 25 includes a support plate 29 that is attached to the lower part of a plurality of batteries 20. A plurality of support plates 29 are attached to each battery 20. At least one of the plurality of support plates 29 attached to each battery 20 is integrated with one of the support plates 29 set on the battery 20 adjacent to that battery 20. [Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a battery holding structure that supports multiple battery units on a support unit, and a construction machine equipped with the same.

In recent years, there has been a demand for fuel-efficient and carbon-free construction machinery, and the demand for hybrid vehicles that combine an engine and an electric motor, and electric vehicles that are driven by electric motors, is increasing. In order to extend the operating time of such vehicles, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the batteries that power the electric parts. A structure that mounts multiple modularized battery units in consideration of battery handling is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

JP 2021-64575 A JP 2014-208509 A JP 2013-139675 A

To withstand the vibrations of construction machinery, the battery unit needs to be provided with anti-vibration measures. Generally, a structure is adopted in which the battery or the bottom of the battery unit is held in place via an elastic member.

Since the mounting space inside the vehicle is limited, the number of batteries that can be mounted is also limited, so there is a need to minimize the gaps between multiple batteries lined up in a row in order to maximize total capacity. However, in a structure in which an elastic member is provided at the bottom of each battery, there is a risk that the batteries that receive vibration will each have a different vibration system and may collide with each other.

Furthermore, to prevent stress that would twist the battery unit when it is fixed, mounting flatness is necessary. Therefore, if multiple battery units are mounted on a single plate and the whole is elastically supported, extensive machining is required, which increases costs.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these points, and aims to provide a battery holding structure that does not require extensive machining and can prevent damage to the battery caused by vibration, and a construction machine equipped with the same.

The invention described in claim 1 is a battery holding structure that includes a support plate attached to the lower part of a plurality of batteries, each battery being attached to a plurality of support plates, and at least one of the support plates attached to each battery being integrated with one of the support plates set for the battery adjacent to that battery.

The invention described in claim 2 is the battery holding structure described in claim 1, which is provided with an elastic member that elastically supports the support plate against the support portion.

The invention described in claim 3 is a battery holding structure in which the support plates in the battery holding structure described in claim 1 are formed long and are attached along mutually distant sides at the bottom of the battery, and the support plates attached along the sides of adjacent batteries are integrated with each other.

The invention described in claim 4 is a construction machine having an electric unit, a plurality of batteries that serve as power sources for the electric unit, a machine frame having a support section, and a battery holding structure described in any one of claims 1 to 3 that supports the batteries on the machine frame.

According to the invention described in claim 1, the flatness required for each battery can be achieved relatively inexpensively by machining each support plate, and the vibration systems of multiple adjacent batteries can be combined. Therefore, since the vibration directions of multiple batteries are the same, even if the batteries are close to each other, they will not come into contact with each other due to vibration, no extensive machining is required, and damage to the batteries caused by vibration can be suppressed.

According to the invention described in claim 2, the vibrations can be damped by the elastic member, so that the battery is not directly affected by the vibrations.

According to the invention described in claim 3, by arranging the batteries close to each other, it is possible to support multiple batteries together with a minimum support plate size.

The invention described in claim 4 makes it possible to provide a construction machine with a compact battery arrangement at low cost.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a battery holding structure according to the present invention; FIG. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of a construction machine equipped with the same battery holding structure. FIG. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of a battery holding structure according to the present invention.

The present invention will be described in detail below based on one embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 5 and another embodiment shown in Figure 6.

First, we will explain the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 5.

In this embodiment, the construction machine 1 shown in FIG. 5 will be described using an electric hydraulic excavator as an example. The construction machine 1 has a machine body 2 that includes a lower traveling body 3 and an upper rotating body 4 that is rotatably mounted on the lower traveling body 3, and a cab 6 that includes a working device 5 and an operator's seat is mounted on the upper rotating body 4 of the machine body 2. Note that, hereinafter, directions such as front/rear, left/right, and up/down will be described based on the operator's viewpoint.

In this embodiment, the working device 5 has a boom 7 whose base end is connected to the upper rotating body 4, an arm 8 whose base end is connected to the tip of the boom 7, and a bucket 9 connected to the tip of the arm 8. The boom 7 is rotated relative to the upper rotating body 4 in response to the expansion and contraction of a boom cylinder 11 which is a hydraulic actuator, the arm 8 is rotated relative to the boom 7 in response to the expansion and contraction of an arm cylinder 12 which is a hydraulic actuator, and the bucket 9 is rotated relative to the arm 8 in response to the expansion and contraction of a bucket cylinder 13 which is a hydraulic actuator. The boom 7, arm 8, and bucket 9 of the working device 5 are rotated in response to the expansion and contraction of each cylinder 11, 12, and 13, so that the construction machine 1 performs various tasks such as excavation work. Not limited to this, the working device 5 may be configured to be operated by any hydraulic actuator to perform work.

The upper rotating body 4 has a machine frame 15, which is a rotating frame. As shown in FIG. 4, the machine frame 15 is provided with a center frame 16 extending in the front-rear direction, and side frames 17, 18 are formed on the left and right sides of the center frame 16, extending in the front-rear direction. The base end of the boom 7 of the working device 5 shown in FIG. 5 is supported on the front end of the center frame 16. In addition, an electric motor, which is an electric part as a driving source, a hydraulic pump connected to the output shaft of the electric motor, a hydraulic oil tank, etc. are mounted on the rear part of the center frame 16. Furthermore, the cab 6 shown in FIG. 5 is supported on the front end of the side frame 17 shown in FIG. 4. In addition, a control valve is mounted on the side frame 18 shown in FIG. 4. Then, the hydraulic pump driven by the electric motor supplies and discharges high-pressure hydraulic oil from the hydraulic oil tank to hydraulic actuators such as cylinders 11, 12, and 13 shown in FIG. 5, and the flow rate and direction of the hydraulic oil supplied and discharged are controlled by the control valve.

As shown in FIG. 4, the machine frame 15 is equipped with a battery 20 that serves as the power source for the electric motor. In this embodiment, the placement space for the battery 20 is set in the center frame 16, behind the working device 5 and near the rear end of the machine frame 15.

As the battery 20, for example, a lithium ion battery is used. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the battery 20 is configured as a substantially rectangular parallelepiped unit in which a plurality of battery cells 21, which are the battery body, are stacked. That is, the battery 20 has a pair of long sides in a plan view and a pair of short sides perpendicular to the long sides. The lower part of the battery cell 21 is fixed to a base plate 22, which serves as a rectangular support, by a fixing member 23 such as a fastening bolt to configure the integrated battery 20. Note that the battery 20 may also include electrical equipment other than the battery cells 21. A plurality of batteries 20 are provided, and are held by a battery holding structure 25 on the aircraft frame 15 (Fig. 4).

The battery holding structure 25 shown in Figs. 1 to 4 holds and fixes the batteries 20 in an aligned state to the aircraft frame 15 for wiring convenience. In this embodiment, four batteries 20 are arranged, two adjacent to each other in the front, rear, left and right, with the long sides adjacent in the front-rear direction and the short sides adjacent in the left-right direction, that is, the longitudinal direction is the left-right direction. The battery holding structure 25 is configured such that a support plate 29 is elastically supported via an elastic member 28 on a mount base 27 as a support part on the aircraft frame 15 side.

The mount base 27 is formed in a flat plate shape from a metal material. In the example shown, the mount base 27 is configured in a planar shape from a single metal plate. The mount base 27 has an area that covers the entire arrangement of the multiple batteries 20. The lower part of the leg 31 protruding from the lower part of the mount base 27 is fixed integrally to the aircraft frame 15.

The elastic member 28 is a vibration absorbing member that absorbs vibrations of the vehicle body 2 that occur during driving, etc., and prevents them from being directly transmitted to the battery 20. The elastic member 28 may have a known configuration. For example, the elastic member 28 is configured by interposing an elastic body such as rubber between a lower mounting portion that is directly fixed to the mount base 27 and an upper mounting portion that is directly fixed to the support plate 29.

The support plate 29 is formed in a flat plate shape from a metal material. The lower part of the battery 20 is directly fixed to the support plate 29. That is, the base plate 22 of the battery 20 is fixed in a state of being stacked on the upper surface of the support plate 29. As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the battery 20 has a plurality of fixing parts 33, for example, four fixing holes, set on the base plate 22. The fixing parts 33 protrude at both ends in the longitudinal direction and both sides in the lateral direction at the lower part of the battery 20. That is, the fixing parts 33 are set at the ends of each long side of the battery 20, that is, near the four corners of the lower part (base plate 22). Therefore, two fixing parts 33 are set on each long side of the battery 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, a support fixing member 34 such as a fastening bolt is inserted into each fixing part 33, and the support fixing member 34 is fastened and fixed to the fixed part 35, which is a fastening hole formed in the support plate 29, so that the lower part of the battery 20 is integrally connected to the support plate 29.

As shown in FIG. 1, multiple support plates 29 are attached to each battery 20. The support plates 29 are formed to be long. In this embodiment, the support plates 29 are attached so that their longitudinal direction is along the longitudinal direction of the battery 20. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the lower part of the battery 20 has each long side attached to one support plate 29. In other words, the support plates 29 are attached to the lower part of the battery 20 at positions spaced apart in the short side direction.

If the support plate 29 does not meet the required flatness, stress that bends the battery 20 will be generated. Therefore, the support plate 29 is formed by machine cutting to meet the flatness required for the battery 20, preventing damage caused by twisting of the attached battery 20. In addition, if an attempt is made to support the entire battery 20 with a single support plate 29, machine cutting to meet the flatness of the entire large, wide, planar support plate 29 is required. However, by supporting the battery 20 by dividing it into long support plates 29, it is possible to meet the flatness at a relatively low cost.

On the other hand, when the batteries 20 are supported by multiple support plates 29, there is a concern that adjacent batteries 20 may come into contact or collide with each other due to vibrations or the like. In other words, if adjacent batteries 20 have independent vibration systems, when the batteries 20 tilt in a direction that brings them closer to each other, there is a risk that the batteries 20 may come into contact with each other if the distance between the batteries 20 is short. In particular, in the case of a construction machine 1 in which the installation space for the batteries 20 is narrow, it is desirable to place the batteries 20 as close as possible, but in order to place them close to each other, it is necessary to prevent the batteries 20 from coming into contact with each other due to vibrations.

In this embodiment, at least one of the multiple support plates 29 set on a battery 20 is integrated with one of the support plates 29 set on the battery 20 adjacent to that battery 20, thereby unifying the vibration systems of the adjacent batteries 20. In the illustrated example, the batteries 20 adjacent in the longitudinal direction and the batteries 20 adjacent in the lateral direction (front-rear direction) are unified into a single vibration system by the support plates 29.

For batteries 20 adjacent in the longitudinal direction (left-right direction), which is a first direction, the battery 20 located on one side in the longitudinal direction and the battery 20 located on the other side in the longitudinal direction are supported by a support plate 29 integrated in the longitudinal direction of the batteries 20. For batteries 20 adjacent in the transverse direction (front-rear direction), which is a second direction intersecting or perpendicular to the first direction, the other transverse side of the battery 20 located on one side in the transverse direction and one transverse side of the battery 20 located on the other side in the transverse direction are supported by a support plate 29 integrated in the transverse or width direction of the batteries 20.

Therefore, the support plate 29 is provided with a first support plate 29a and a second support plate 29b that are separate from each other.

In this embodiment, the first support plate 29a integrally supports adjacent batteries 20 in the longitudinal direction. The first support plate 29a supports the long side of the battery 20 that is opposite the battery 20 adjacent to the battery 20 in the short direction. In other words, in this embodiment, the first support plate 29a is set to integrally support the front long side of the two batteries 20 located in the front, and to integrally support the rear long side of the two batteries 20 located in the rear.

The second support plate 29b integrally supports adjacent batteries 20 in the longitudinal direction and adjacent batteries 20 in the lateral direction. The second support plate 29b has the same length as the first support plate 29a, is wider in the lateral direction than the first support plate 29a, and has a width at least twice that of the first support plate 29a. The second support plate 29b supports the long side of the battery 20 adjacent to the battery 20 in the lateral direction. In other words, in the case of this embodiment, the second support plate 29b integrally supports the rear long side of the two batteries 20 located in the front and the front long side of the two batteries 20 located in the rear. In other words, the adjacent sides of the adjacent batteries 20 are attached to the common second support plate 29b.

In the illustrated example, the first support plate 29a is located at both ends of the battery 20 in the short direction, and the second support plate 29b is located between the first support plates 29a, 29a. The first support plate 29a and the second support plate 29b are arranged parallel or approximately parallel to each other.

In addition, the support plate 29 is formed with fixed portions 35 for fixing the elastic member 28 at both ends in the longitudinal direction and at a middle portion between the both ends in the longitudinal direction. In this embodiment, the first support plate 29a is formed with one fixed portion 35 at each end in the longitudinal direction, and two fixed portions 35 are formed side by side in the width direction at the center between them. The second support plate 29b is formed with two fixed portions 35 at each end in the longitudinal direction, spaced apart in the width direction, and two fixed portions 35 at each end in the width direction, for a total of four fixed portions 35.

In the longitudinal direction of the support plate 29, between the fixed parts 35, 35, there are formed mounting parts 36 to which the upper mounting parts of the elastic member 28 are attached. A plurality of mounting parts 36 are set apart in the longitudinal direction of the support plate 29. In this embodiment, two mounting parts 36 are set between the fixed parts 35 in the longitudinal direction of the first support plate 29a. In addition, two mounting parts 36 are set per battery 20 between the fixed parts 35 in the longitudinal direction of the second support plate 29b, for a total of four mounting parts 36. These mounting parts 36 are located close to the fixed parts 35. That is, a plurality of elastic members 28 are set for each battery 20, and in this embodiment, four elastic members 28 are set per battery 20 to elastically support the vicinity of the four corners of the battery 20 in a plan view.

In the construction machine 1 configured as described above, the support plate 29 attached to the bottom of the battery 20 is elastically supported by the elastic member 28 on the mount base 27, so that vibrations that occur during travel, etc., can be dampened by the elastic member 28, preventing the battery 20 from being directly affected by the vibrations.

In addition, a plurality of support plates 29 are attached to each battery 20, and at least one of the plurality of support plates 29 set for each battery 20 is integrated with one of the support plates 29 set for the battery 20 adjacent to that battery 20. Therefore, by machining each support plate 29, the flatness required for each battery 20 can be met at a low cost compared to, for example, attaching a plurality of batteries 20 to a large single plate, and the vibration systems of the adjacent batteries 20 can be integrated. In this embodiment, the support plate 29 can be shared by the plurality of batteries 20 in each of the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the battery 20, and the four batteries 20 have the same vibration system. Therefore, since the vibration directions of the plurality of batteries 20 are the same, the batteries 20 do not come into contact with each other due to vibration even if they are close to each other.

Therefore, damage to the battery 20 caused by vibration can be suppressed without requiring extensive machining. In other words, the batteries 20 can be arranged close to each other without colliding with each other due to vibration. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the batteries 20 can be arranged close to each other with a gap G1 equivalent to the protruding width of the fixing portion 33 in the longitudinal direction of the battery 20 and a gap G2 smaller than that in the lateral direction of the battery 20. Therefore, there is no need to enlarge the support plate 29 itself, the cost of machining can be kept low, and the assembly is easy, the installation space can be reduced, and the battery can be arranged compactly.

The support plates 29 are formed long and are attached to the lower part of the batteries 20 along the sides that are spaced apart from each other, and the support plates 29 attached along the sides of adjacent batteries 20 are integrated with each other, so that by placing the batteries 20 close to each other, multiple batteries 20 can be supported together with a minimum size (area) of the support plate 29.

By providing the battery holding structure 25 described above, a construction machine 1 can be provided in which the battery 20 is arranged compactly at low cost.

Next, we will explain another embodiment shown in Figure 6.

In the battery holding structure 25 of this embodiment, the support plate 29 is divided into multiple pieces in the longitudinal direction of the battery 20. In other words, the support plate 29 of this embodiment is formed long in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support plate 29 in the first embodiment.

For batteries 20 adjacent in the longitudinal direction (left-right direction), which is the first direction, the other longitudinal side of the battery 20 located on one side of the longitudinal direction and one longitudinal side of the battery 20 located on the other side of the longitudinal direction are supported by a support plate 29 integrated in the longitudinal direction of the battery 20. For batteries 20 adjacent in the transverse direction (front-rear direction), which is the second direction intersecting or perpendicular to the first direction, the battery 20 located on one side of the transverse direction and the battery 20 located on the other side of the transverse direction are supported by a support plate 29 integrated in the transverse direction of the battery 20.

In this embodiment, the first support plate 29a integrally supports adjacent batteries 20 in the short direction. The first support plate 29a supports the short side of the battery 20 that is opposite the battery 20 adjacent to that battery 20 in the longitudinal direction. In other words, in this embodiment, the first support plate 29a is set to integrally support the left short side of the two batteries 20 located on the left side, and to integrally support the right short side of the two batteries 20 located on the right side.

The second support plate 29b integrally supports adjacent batteries 20 in the short direction and adjacent batteries 20 in the long direction. The second support plate 29b has the same length as the first support plate 29a, is wider in the short direction than the first support plate 29a, and has a width at least twice that of the first support plate 29a. The second support plate 29b supports the short side of the battery 20 adjacent to the battery 20 in the long direction. In other words, in the case of this embodiment, the second support plate 29b integrally supports the right short side of the two batteries 20 located on the left side and the left short side of the two batteries 20 located on the right side. In other words, the adjacent sides of the adjacent batteries 20 are attached to the common second support plate 29b.

In the illustrated example, the first support plate 29a is located at both longitudinal ends of the battery 20, and the second support plate 29b is located between the first support plates 29a, 29a. The first support plate 29a and the second support plate 29b are arranged parallel or approximately parallel to each other.

The fixed portion 35 and the attachment portion 36 are located in the same position as in the first embodiment with respect to the mount base 27, and the positions and distribution of the fixed portion 35 and the attachment portion 36 on the support plate 29 are set according to the position and shape of the support plate 29.

Thus, even if the relationship between the longitudinal direction of the support plate 29 and the longitudinal and lateral directions of the battery 20 is reversed from that of the first embodiment, the battery 20 has a similar configuration to that of the first embodiment in that at least one of the multiple support plates 29 set on the battery 20 is integrated with one of the support plates 29 set on the battery 20 adjacent to that battery 20, and thus does not require extensive machining, and can achieve the same effects as the first embodiment, such as suppressing damage to the battery 20 due to vibration.

In the above embodiments, the cases where the batteries 20 are adjacent in two directions, the first direction and the second direction, have been given as examples. However, even when the batteries 20 are adjacent in only one direction, similar effects can be achieved by supporting the adjacent batteries 20 with a similarly integrated support plate 29, without requiring extensive machining, and by suppressing damage to the batteries 20 due to vibration.

Even if three or more batteries 20 are adjacent to each other, the edges of the adjacent batteries 20 can be supported by an integrated support plate 29, which does not require extensive machining and can provide similar effects, such as preventing damage to the batteries 20 caused by vibration.

Furthermore, while an electric hydraulic excavator has been shown as an example of a construction machine 1, the present invention is not limited to this and can also be applied to, for example, a hybrid construction machine equipped with an engine as a drive source and an electric motor as an electric part.

The present invention has industrial applicability to businesses involved in the manufacturing and sales of battery-powered construction machinery.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Construction machine 15 Machine frame 20 Battery 25 Battery holding structure 27 Mount base as a support portion 28 Elastic member 29 Support plate

Claims (4)

A support plate is attached to a lower portion of the plurality of batteries,
Each battery is fitted with a number of support plates;
A battery holding structure, characterized in that at least one of a plurality of support plates attached to each battery is integrated with one of the support plates set for the battery adjacent to that battery. 2. The battery holding structure according to claim 1, further comprising an elastic member for elastically supporting the support plate against the support portion. The support plate is formed to be long and is attached along the sides separated from each other at the lower part of the battery,
2. The battery holding structure according to claim 1, wherein the support plates attached along the sides of the adjacent batteries are integrated with each other. The electric part,
A plurality of batteries that serve as power sources for the motorized parts;
An aircraft frame having a support portion;
A battery holding structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which supports a battery on an aircraft frame;
A construction machine comprising:

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