JP3434214B2 - Battery charging system 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 charging system 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.
Travels to the position of the electrode plate connected to and stops above the electrode plate, and then sends a command signal by radio wave R so that the toucher is lowered and brought into contact with the electrode plate, and from the charger A2, A command signal is transmitted to the charger A2 through the cable A4 so that the electrode plate is energized to charge the battery. [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, and the ground controller A3 receives the information based on this information. Appropriately control the charging current and charging time. 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 a conventional battery charging system for a self-propelled carrier,
All of the control of energization of the electrode plates is performed by command signals from the ground controller, and in a large-scale transport system in which a large number of self-propelled vehicles travel, the battery for the self-propelled vehicles is charged. The electrode plates are dispersedly arranged at several tens of places along the traveling path. [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. Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, eliminates the need for a cable connection between the ground controller and the charger, and allows the self-propelled transport vehicle arriving on the electrode plate to retain the remaining battery. It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery charging system for a self-propelled carrier, which can automatically control a charging current and a charging time according to the amount, and can prevent insufficient charging or overcharging of a battery. [0012] In order to achieve the above object, a battery charging system for a self-propelled carrier according to the present invention comprises a plurality of batteries on a traveling path of a self-propelled carrier operated by using a battery as a power source. A plurality of intelligent chargers provided correspondingly to a pair of electrode plates, each of which is disposed at a location and contacted by a pair of self-propelled carrier touchers, and when the remaining charge of the battery is low, In response to the notification signal transmitted from the self-propelled carrier, the self-propelled carrier is driven to travel above any one of the pair of electrode plates on the traveling path, and the toucher is instructed to contact the pair of electrode plates. And a ground controller. Each of the intelligent chargers is mounted on a self-propelled carrier through a voltage detection circuit for detecting a voltage applied between the pair of electrode plates from the toucher and the toucher from the pair of electrode plates. A charging circuit for charging the battery, and the voltage detection circuit detecting the voltage to cause the charging circuit to start charging, and when the charging current rises sharply at the start of charging, the charging current is reduced to a predetermined value. The battery is charged for a certain period of time so that the battery is almost fully charged while the charging current is kept at a constant value equal to or less than the predetermined value from the time when the charging current is reached. And a charge control circuit for controlling charging so that the battery is not overcharged by ending the charging in time. The self-propelled carrier operates by using a battery mounted on the vehicle body as a power source to carry articles. And
When the remaining charge level of the battery becomes low, a notification signal is transmitted to the ground controller. The ground controller having received the notification signal causes the self-propelled carrier to move to a position above any one of a pair of electrode plates provided on the traveling path and to move above the pair of electrode plates. When the vehicle arrives, a command is issued to lower the toucher and make contact with these electrode plates. In the self-propelled carrier, after the toucher comes into contact with the pair of electrode plates, the voltage between the terminals of the battery is applied between the electrode plates via the toucher. Then, the voltage detection circuit of the intelligent charger detects the voltage, and the charging control circuit that has received the detection signal causes the charging circuit to start charging the battery. The charging control circuit monitors the charging current of the charging circuit. If the remaining charge of the battery is small and the rising of the charging current at the start of charging is sharp, 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. If 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. The battery charging system for a self-propelled carrier according to the present invention is mainly composed of a plurality of intelligent chargers 1 as shown in FIG. Each of these intelligent chargers (hereinafter simply referred to as a charger) 1 includes a voltage detection circuit 2, a charging circuit 3, and a charging 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 battery charging system for a self-propelled transport vehicle according to the present invention, which is configured using the charger 1 described above. Is
In response to a command from the ground controller 11 via the radio wave R, the vehicle is controlled to travel and convey articles, or to perform loading or unloading of articles at predetermined positions. The charging system shown in FIG. 1 is provided with more chargers 1 than the number of self-propelled transport vehicles 7 used for transporting articles, and each of these chargers 1 has a pair of electrode plates. 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 using 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 transport vehicle 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 moves the article currently being transported by the self-propelled transporting vehicle 7 to the unloading position or immediately moves it to any one of the standby positions. Stop on the board 8. At this time, the vehicle can be moved to a standby position designated in advance for each self-propelled carrier 7 or to the nearest empty 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 constant 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 above-described 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 of the self-propelled carrier,
A plurality of standby positions a to e are provided which are grouped into five groups in which a pair of electrode plates are arranged. The chargers corresponding to these standby positions a to e are respectively divided into five positions A to E and arranged together with the distribution board. 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 distribution boards 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 carriers. In the example shown in FIG.
A plurality of chargers and a distribution board for supplying power to these chargers are collectively installed, and each charger is separated from the electrode plate, but each charger is connected to an electrode plate. May be placed near the As described above, according to the battery charging system 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 installation location and the number of installed chargers. It can be carried out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of an intelligent charger used in a battery charging system for a self-propelled carrier according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing one embodiment of a battery charging system of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a layout diagram of a standby area adjacent to the rotary press area where the battery charging system of the present invention is provided. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a conventional battery charging system for a self-propelled carrier. [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) [Claims 1] A self-propelled carrier operated by a battery as a power source is arranged at a plurality of locations on a traveling path, respectively.
Multiple intelligent chargers, one for each pair of electrode plates contacted by the toucher of the self-propelled carrier, and a signal from the self-propelled carrier when the remaining battery charge is low And a ground controller that instructs the self-propelled carrier to travel above one of the pair of electrode plates on a traveling path in response to the notification signal to make the toucher contact the pair of electrode plates. In the battery charging system for a self-propelled carrier, the intelligent charger includes: a voltage detection circuit that detects a voltage applied between the pair of electrode plates; and a charging circuit that outputs a charging voltage between the pair of electrode plates. And a charging control circuit that controls the charging circuit, wherein the voltage detection circuit is configured to contact the toucher of the self-propelled carrier and the pair of electrode plates, Detecting the voltage of a battery mounted on the mobile carrier, the charging circuit charges the battery mounted on the self-propelled carrier from the pair of electrode plates via the toucher. The charging control circuit is configured to start charging the charging circuit by detecting the voltage by the voltage detecting circuit, and to charge the charging current when the rising of the charging current at the start of charging is abrupt. 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 charging current at a constant value equal to or lower than the predetermined value. A battery charging system for a self-propelled carrier, wherein the charging is completed in a short time from the start to control the battery from being overcharged.