JP2858041B2 - Charge control method for explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a charge control method for completely unmanned automatic charging of an explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, an explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle has a structure in which a plug mounted on a vehicle body is housed in a case formed of a thick steel plate and a lid is locked.

〔Problems to be solved〕

The plug on the vehicle body mounted on the conventional explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle is housed in a case made of thick steel plate and the lid is locked. After removing the tightened lid, the vehicle-mounted plug and the charger-side plug were manually connected to perform charging. Therefore, when charging, when removing the locked lid or connecting the plug mounted on the vehicle body and the plug on the charger side, human labor is absolutely required, and complete unmanned automatic charging of the explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle cannot be performed. There was a problem that.

[Means to solve the problem]

The charge control method for an explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the invention method) according to the present invention includes stopping the explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle in front of a charger installed in a non-hazardous location, and then stopping the explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle. When the signal transmitted from the first sensor disposed in the charger is received by the second sensor disposed in the charger, the charger-side plug is horizontally moved by the horizontal moving means disposed in the vicinity of the charger. The vehicle-body-side plug, which is fixed to the explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle and is not housed in the explosion-proof case, is connected to the charger-side plug. The third sensor disposed in the vicinity of the plug mounted on the vehicle body is actuated to operate the contactor for the charger stored in the explosion-proof case on the charging side, and is stored in the case formed of a thick steel plate. When charging, the body-mounted plug, which has a locked structure, removes the locked lid and connects the body-mounted plug and the charger-side plug manually to charge the battery. This completes unmanned automatic charging without any work.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the method of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is an explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle (hereinafter, referred to as an automatic guided vehicle), 2 is a battery which is a driving energy source of the automatic guided vehicle 1, and 3 is an automatic guided vehicle. This is a load transfer device provided on the upper part of the vehicle body, and is used for load transfer during cargo handling work. Reference numeral 4 denotes a first control circuit for controlling the traveling / stopping of the automatic guided vehicle 1, reference numeral 5 denotes a second control circuit for performing predetermined control based on signals from various sensors described later provided in the automatic guided vehicle 1, and reference numeral 6 denotes the first control circuit. 2 is a contactor for a charger operated by a signal transmitted from the control circuit 5, and the first control circuit 4, the second control circuit 5, and the contactor 6 for the charger are all housed in an explosion-proof case.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a vehicle-body-side plug mounted on one side of the vehicle body of the automatic guided vehicle 1 without being accommodated in an explosion-proof case. Reference numeral 8 denotes a plug disposed near the vehicle-body-side plug 7, which will be described later. The first sensor 9 for transmitting a signal to the second sensor 9 transmits a signal from the first sensor 8 to a second sensor described later.
A charging operation start contactor 10 which is activated when it is received by the sensor is mounted on the charger, receives a signal from the first sensor 8 and controls a charging-related operation, and a second sensor 11 controls the charging. A protruding operating piece 12 provided on the automatic guided vehicle 1 for mechanically operating a fourth sensor (described later) provided on the charger side moves a charger-side plug (described later) in the horizontal direction, and A horizontal moving means 13 used for attaching and detaching the plug to and from the vehicle body mounting side plug 7 is provided on the vehicle body of the automatic guided vehicle 1, and is operated by a protruding operating piece provided on the horizontal moving means. , 14 are provided on the horizontal moving means, and the fourth sensor 15 operated by the protruding operating piece 11 provided on the automatic guided vehicle 1 side is a horizontal moving part of the horizontal moving means 12, which has a cylindrical shape. It consists of members.

16 is a charger-side plug mounted on the front of the horizontal moving unit 15, 17 is provided on the front of the horizontal moving unit 15, and a protruding operating piece provided on the horizontal moving means, 18 is the charging unit. The device side plug 16 is a cable for electrically connecting to a charger described later, and is disposed in the cylinder.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a rotation drive source for moving the horizontal movement means 12 in the horizontal direction, reference numeral 21 denotes a rack and pinion mechanism for mechanically connecting the rotation drive source 20 and the horizontal movement unit 15, and reference numeral 21A denotes the rotation drive source. A pinion 21B fixed to the rotation shaft 20 is a rack fixed to the cylindrical surface, and is fixed to a distance required for the horizontal movement distance.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a rotation speed control device that controls the rotation speed of the rotary drive source 20 to increase or decrease the horizontal movement speed, 23 denotes a charger, and 25 denotes a dangerous substance such as a paint factory or explosive gas. The dangerous area 25 has factories and warehouses that handle these dangerous substances.

26 is a non-hazardous area, which may be inside the building or under the eaves, but in the case of a building, the door from the danger area 25 and the door of the semi-hazardous area are doubled, After exhausting, the automatic guided vehicle 1 can be moved to a non-dangerous place 26 where charging can be performed.

[Action]

The operation of the method of the present invention will be described.
When the capacity of the battery 2 is reduced and the battery needs to be charged, the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels in front of the charger 23 installed in the non-hazardous area 26, and when the address signal indicating the point is detected, the automatic guided vehicle 1 The transport vehicle 1 stops. Next, the automatic guided vehicle 1 is pulled out by an outrigger (not shown) and positioned. When the extension of the outrigger is completed and the positioning is completed, the first sensor 8 disposed on the automatic guided vehicle 1 transmits a signal, and the second sensor 10 receives the signal. 15 is the feeding direction (arrow A direction)
Starts the horizontal movement operation.

The charger-side plug 16 is connected to the vehicle-body-side charging plug 7 by the horizontal movement of the horizontal moving part 15, and the operating piece 11 fixed in the vicinity of the vehicle-body-side charging plug 7 at this time is connected to the fourth sensor 14. The operation pieces 17 provided on the front surface of the horizontal moving section 15 actuate the third sensors 13, respectively, so that the electric circuit of the main driving circuit is interrupted by the signal transmitted from the second control circuit 5, and at the same time charging is performed. The contactor 6 operates.

When the operation of the charger contactor 6 is completed, a charging operation is started.

When charging completion is detected in the charger 6, a charging completion signal is output, and the operation of the charging contactor 6 and the charging operation start contactor 9 is released.

When this operation release signal is transmitted to the second sensor 10 via the first sensor 8 disposed on the automatic guided vehicle 1, a signal is transmitted from the second sensor 10 to the rotation control device 22, and the rotation control device 22 The rotation drive source 20 is driven by the output of the horizontal direction, and the horizontal moving section 15 of the horizontal moving means 12 starts the horizontal moving operation in the retraction direction.
Is disconnected.

While the horizontal movement operation of the horizontal movement unit 15 in the retraction direction is completed, the retraction operation of the outrigger is also completed,
The automatic guided vehicle 1 is in a runnable state, and charging is completed.

〔effect〕

According to the method of the present invention, the plug on the vehicle body side of the explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle is not housed in the explosion-proof case, the connection can be made by the horizontal movement of the charger-side plug. Since the charging contactor housed in the case is activated and energized, even an explosion-proof unmanned guided vehicle can be completely unattended and automatically charged without any human intervention, thus improving the work efficiency. Play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic guided vehicle used in the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the automatic guided vehicle and the charger used in the method of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a horizontal view disposed near the charger. FIG. 4 is a side view of the direction moving means, FIG. 4 is a system diagram showing a concept of using the method of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation state of the method of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Automatic guided vehicle, 2 ... Battery 3 ... Load transfer device 4, ... 1st control circuit 5 ... 2nd control circuit, 6 ... Contactor for charging 7 ... Body side plug, 8 ... … First sensor 9 …… Contactor for starting charging operation 13 …… Third sensor 14 …… Fourth sensor

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] After stopping an explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle in front of a charger installed in a non-hazardous area, a signal transmitted from a first sensor disposed on the explosion-proof automated guided vehicle is transmitted to the charger. When the signal is received by the arranged second sensor, the charger-side plug is horizontally moved by the horizontal moving means arranged near the charger, fixed to the explosion-proof automatic guided vehicle, and housed in the explosion-proof case. The vehicle body side plug and the charger side plug are connected, and when the vehicle body side plug and the charger side plug are connected, the third sensor arranged near the vehicle body side plug is operated by the horizontal moving means. And charging the contactor for the charger stored in the explosion-proof case to the charging side.