JP3434213B2 - Intelligent charger for self-propelled transport vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery charger for automatically charging a battery mounted on a self-propelled carrier. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a self-propelled transport vehicle that transports articles by unmannedly traveling on a floor surface in a factory or the like uses a battery built in the vehicle body as a power source, and uses a radio wave from a ground controller. The operation such as the conveyance of the article is performed according to the command. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a charging system for such a conventional self-propelled transport vehicle.
A charger A2 for charging a battery mounted on the self-propelled carrier A1 is installed at various places near the traveling path of the vehicle. These chargers A2 are respectively connected by cables to electrode plates (not shown) laid on the road surface of the traveling road, and are connected to the self-propelled carrier A1 stopped above the electrode plates from the toucher. Is lowered to make contact with the electrode plate, and the battery of the self-propelled carrier A1 is charged from the charger A2 via the electrode plate and the toucher. [0005] All operations for charging the self-propelled transport vehicle A1 from the charger A2 are controlled by the ground controller A3, and a control signal is transmitted between each charger A2 and the ground controller A3. Cable A for
4 are connected. [0006] The ground controller A3 supplies any of the chargers A2 to the self-propelled transport vehicle A1 whose battery has been exhausted.
While traveling to the position of the electrode plate connected to and stopping above the electrode plate, and then transmitting a command signal wirelessly to lower the toucher and contact the electrode plate,
A command signal is transmitted to the charger A2 through the cable A4 so that the battery is charged by supplying electricity to the electrode plate from the charger A2. [0007] Information such as the rise time of the charging current at the start of charging the battery is fed back to the ground controller A3 from the charger A2 via the cable A4. The charging current and charging time of A2 are appropriately controlled. When the battery is charged, the ground controller A3 terminates the energization of the battery from the charger A2 to the electrode plate and then makes the self-propelled carrier A1 stand by here or immediately returns the article. In order to carry out the transfer operation, the toucher is retracted upward, detached from the electrode plate, and moved to a predetermined place. As described above, in the conventional charger used for charging the battery of the self-propelled transport vehicle, the control of energization to the electrode plates is entirely performed by the ground controller. In a large-scale transport system in which a large number of self-propelled transport vehicles travel, electrode plates for charging the battery of the self-propelled transport vehicle are provided at several tens of places along the travel path. Are distributed and arranged. [0010] For this reason, it is necessary to construct a cable between the ground controller and the number of chargers provided corresponding to the respective electrode plates. There is a problem that it is difficult to change the layout of the traveling path of the traveling carrier and to change the installation location of the charger. Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and allows a self-propelled transport vehicle arriving on an electrode plate to respond to a remaining battery level without receiving a command from a ground controller. It is an object of the present invention to provide an intelligent battery charger for a self-propelled carrier that can automatically control a charging current and a charging time and prevent a battery from being insufficiently charged or overcharged. [0012] In order to achieve the above object, an intelligent charger for a self-propelled carrier according to the present invention includes a toucher of the self-propelled carrier and a traveling path of the self-propelled carrier. A voltage detection circuit that detects a voltage applied between a pair of electrode plates provided in the charging device, and a charging circuit that charges a battery mounted on a self-propelled carrier from the pair of electrode plates via the toucher. When the voltage detection circuit detects the voltage, the charging circuit starts charging, and when the charging current rises sharply at the start of charging, the charging current starts when the charging current reaches a predetermined value. The battery is charged for a certain time so that the battery is almost fully charged while maintaining the battery at a constant value equal to or less than the predetermined value.If the rise of the charging current at the start of charging is slow, the charging time is short. And a charge control circuit that controls charging so that the battery is not overcharged. A self-propelled transport vehicle having a reduced amount of charge of a battery mounted on a vehicle body travels over a pair of electrode plates, stops above the pair of electrode plates, lowers the toucher, and moves the toucher down. When the battery is brought into contact with the electrode plate and the voltage between the terminals of the battery is applied between the electrode plates via the toucher, the voltage detection circuit detects the voltage, and the charge control circuit receiving the detection signal causes the charge circuit to charge the battery to the battery. To start. The charging control circuit monitors the charging current of the charging circuit. If the remaining charge of the battery is small and the charging current rises sharply at the start of charging, the charging current reaches a predetermined value. From this point, the charging current is kept constant so as not to exceed the predetermined value, and charging is performed for a predetermined time so that the battery is almost fully charged. When the remaining charge of the battery is large and the rise of the charging current at the start of charging is slow, a charging circuit is provided so as to end charging in a short time from the start of charging and prevent overcharging of the battery. Control. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit block diagram showing one embodiment of an intelligent charger for a self-propelled carrier according to the present invention. The intelligent charger (hereinafter simply referred to as a charger) 1 according to the present invention includes a voltage. Detection circuit 2, charging circuit 3,
And a charge control circuit 4. An input terminal of the voltage detection circuit 2 and an output terminal of the charging circuit 3 are laid on the traveling path P of the self-propelled carrier 7 via voltage detection cables 5a and 5b and power supply cables 6a and 6b, respectively. The charging circuit 3 is supplied with power from a power source S outside the charger 1 via a charging control circuit 4. Further, the self-propelled carrier 7 is provided with a pair of touchers 9 which come into contact with the pair of electrode plates 8 at the time of lowering and separate at the time of raising so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. These touchers 9 are made of a metal material having low electric resistance, such as copper or brass, and are formed in a plate shape having high elasticity.
Is electrically connected to a terminal of a battery 10 mounted on the battery. Next, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a charging system constituted by using the above-described charger 1. A plurality of self-propelled carriers 7 are transmitted from a ground controller 11 by radio waves R.
Is controlled in such a manner that the vehicle travels and conveys the article in response to the command from the user, or performs the loading or unloading operation of the article at a predetermined position. The charging system shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a number of chargers 1 equal to or more than the number of self-propelled transport vehicles 7 used for transporting articles, and a pair of electrode plates is provided for each of these chargers 1. 8 are connected. The position above these electrode plates 8 is a standby position of the self-propelled transport vehicle 7. If there is no command from the ground controller 11 to transport the articles to the self-propelled transport vehicle 7, The self-propelled carrier 7 stands by with the toucher 9 in contact with the electrode plate 8. The self-propelled transporting vehicle 7 in the standby state receives a command from the ground controller 11 by a radio wave R,
The toucher 9 is lifted and separated from the electrode plate 8 and travels to the loading position, where an article is loaded and the article is transported to the unloading position. The self-propelled carrier 7 checks the remaining charge of the battery 10 mounted on the vehicle at regular time intervals.
When the remaining charge level of the battery is low, the self-propelled carrier 7 transmits a signal notifying the ground controller that the remaining charge level is low via a radio wave. Then, the ground controller 11 causes the self-propelled carrier 7 to move the article currently being conveyed to the unloading position or immediately to any one of the stand-by positions, and to move the electrode to the stand-by position. Stop on the board 8. At this time, the vehicle can be moved to a standby position specified in advance for each self-propelled transport vehicle 7 or to a nearest and vacant standby position. May be. Normally, no current is supplied to the electrode plates 8 so that there is no danger such as short-circuiting or electric shock even if an article falls on these electrode plates 8 or a person gets on them. Next, the ground controller 11 lowers the toucher 9 on the self-propelled carrier 7 and
To the touchers 9 respectively. When the toucher 9 descends to a position where it comes into contact with the electrode plate 8, a limit switch (not shown) provided on the self-propelled carrier 7 operates, and the limit switch operates to mount the self-propelled carrier 7 on the self-propelled carrier 7. The voltage between the terminals of the battery 10 is applied between the electrode plates 8. Then, the voltage is detected by the voltage detection circuit 2 via the voltage detection cables 5a and 5b. Voltage detection circuit 2 sends the detection signal to charge control circuit 4. Upon receiving the detection signal, the charging control circuit 4 causes the charging circuit 3 to start charging. The charging control circuit 4 constantly monitors the charging current flowing from the charging circuit 3 to the battery 10 of the self-propelled transport vehicle 7, and the battery 10 is consumed and the remaining charge is small. When the current rises rapidly, the charging current is reduced to a predetermined value equal to or less than the predetermined value from the time when the charging current reaches a predetermined value, in order to prevent the life of the battery from being exhausted early due to an excessive charging current. After the battery 10 has been charged for a certain period of time so as to be substantially fully charged, the power supply from the charging circuit 3 to the electrode plate 8 is cut off. Here, the predetermined value of the charging current and the time from when the charging current reaches the predetermined value to when the current is cut off are determined according to the type and charging characteristics of the battery 10 used. The remaining charge of the battery 10 is large,
If the rise of the charging current at the start of charging is slow, the charging circuit 3 is controlled so as to end charging in a short time from the start of charging and prevent overcharging of the battery 10. FIG. 3 is a layout diagram of a standby area adjacent to the rotary press area in which the charging system shown in FIG. 2 is provided.
It is used for feeding and transporting newspaper rolls, and for collecting the remnants of newspaper rolls from the paper feeder. Although the rotary press area is not shown here, the self-propelled carrier can travel freely on the traveling path P between the rotary press area and the standby area. At various points along the traveling path P in the waiting area,
There are provided a plurality of standby positions a to e, each group of which is provided with a pair of battery charging electrode plates. The chargers corresponding to the standby positions a to e are arranged along with the switchboard at five positions A to E, respectively. That is, there are six standby positions a, and six chargers and a distribution board for supplying power to these chargers are collectively arranged at the position A corresponding to these. Similarly, six chargers and a distribution board are provided at position B for six standby positions b, and sixteen chargers are provided at position C for sixteen standby positions c. And 9 switchboards at the D position for 9 standby positions d and 9 chargers at the E position for 9 standby positions e. And the distribution board are arranged together. One ground controller 10 is provided, and the ground controller 10 controls the operation of a plurality of self-propelled vehicles. In the example shown in FIG. 3 described above, a plurality of chargers and a distribution board for supplying power to these chargers are installed together, and each charger is separated from the electrode plate. Each charger may be located near the electrode plate to which it is connected. As described above, according to the intelligent charger for a self-propelled carrier of the present invention, a voltage is applied between a pair of electrode plates from a toucher of the self-propelled carrier. It automatically starts charging the battery by detecting that the battery has been charged, and the charging current and charging time can be controlled according to the remaining charge of the battery. The life of the battery can be prolonged, and since it is not controlled by the ground controller unlike the conventional charger, a cable connecting the ground controller and the charger can be eliminated. As a result, there is no need to construct a cable between the charger and the ground controller, and it is easy to change the layout of the traveling path of the self-propelled carrier and to change the location and number of chargers. It can be carried out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of an intelligent charger for a self-propelled carrier according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a charging system using the intelligent charger for a self-propelled carrier according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a layout diagram of a standby area adjacent to a rotary press area in which a charging system using the intelligent charger for a self-propelled carrier of the present invention is provided. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a charging system using a conventional charger. [Description of Signs] 1 charger 2 voltage detection circuit 3 charging circuit 4 charging control circuit 5a, 5b voltage detection cable 6a, 6b power supply cable 7 self-propelled carrier 8 electrode plate 9 toucher 10 battery 11 ground controller

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H02J ⁷ /00-7/36 B60L 11/18

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] A pair of electrode plates provided on a traveling path of a self-propelled carrier, and a voltage detection circuit for detecting a voltage applied between the pair of electrode plates. A charging circuit that outputs a charging voltage between the pair of electrode plates; and an intelligent charger for a self-propelled carrier having a charge control circuit that controls the charging circuit, wherein the voltage detection circuit includes the self-propelled carrier. The touch panel of the vehicle contacts the pair of electrode plates to detect a voltage of a battery mounted on the self-propelled carrier, and the charging circuit detects the voltage of the toucher from the pair of electrode plates. Through the battery charging the battery mounted on the self-propelled transport vehicle, the charging control circuit detects the voltage by the voltage detection circuit, and causes the charging circuit to start charging , Charge If the rise of the charging current at the start is abrupt, charging is performed for a certain period of time so that the battery is almost fully charged while maintaining the charging current at a constant value equal to or less than the predetermined value from the time when the charging current reaches a predetermined value. If the rise of the charging current at the start of charging is slow, the charging is terminated in a short time from the start of charging and the battery is controlled so as not to be overcharged. Intelligent charger.