JP7191788B2 - charging device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to charging devices.

Batteries are clean driving sources that do not emit exhaust gas, etc., and they can be reused by recharging after discharging, and they can be easily charged from a commercial power supply. Since it has , it has come to be widely used. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a battery (referred to as a "portable electrical energy storage device" in Patent Document 1) that can be used as a drive source for an electric scooter.

This battery has a cylindrical outer shell with a substantially square cross section and open upper and lower ends, and a cover (top case) and a base (bottom case) positioned at the upper and lower ends of the outer shell, respectively. has a housing containing A plurality of individual battery core packs are then contained within the housing. Furthermore, the cover is provided with a handle. A user can grip the handle to insert and remove the battery from a compartment located under the seat of the electric scooter.

It is preferable that the charging device for charging the battery can charge a plurality of batteries at the same time. This is because it is possible to store a large number of batteries that are charged and ready for use when needed. As a charging device of this type, one disclosed in Patent Document 2 is known. The charging device has a plurality of receptacles that individually house the batteries (portable electrical energy storage devices) so that the batteries can be collected, charged and distributed.

Further, Patent Literature 3 discloses a battery supply device for supplying a charged battery for an electrically assisted cycle. This battery supply device is provided with a chamber having a door for supplying and returning the battery in the front central portion thereof, and a battery supply port for supplying and returning the battery is provided in the chamber. An upper battery supply mechanism and a lower battery supply mechanism are housed inside a housing that constitutes the battery supply device. Both battery supply mechanisms have the same configuration, and have a rotary table, and eight slots for holding batteries are provided on the outer periphery of the rotary table. Each slot is spaced at an angle of 45° with respect to the center of rotation of the rotary table. Each slot is tiltable and in the tilted state is joined with a battery supply port for supplying or returning a battery. The battery inlet is located above the charger and battery power supply, i.e., at a relatively high position on the housing.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-534518 Japanese translation of PCT publication No. 2014-527689 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-182145

A battery or the like used as a drive source for an electric motorcycle or the like is large in size in order to secure a large capacity, and often has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. When a large battery having such a shape is accommodated in a charging device, it is preferable to take a vertically long standing posture. This is because the standing posture makes it easier to accommodate the battery in the charging device by gravity.

In this case, the battery-side charging connector is provided on the bottom surface of the battery. Therefore, when the battery is housed in the charging device, the user cannot see the battery-side charging connector. Therefore, if the user puts the battery in the charging device in the wrong direction (orientation), charging is not performed because the positions of the charging connector on the battery side and the charging connector on the device side do not correspond. Moreover, in this case, there is a concern that the device-side charging connector, which is a male type, may be damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a charging device capable of avoiding damage to the device-side charging connector even if the user inserts the battery in the wrong posture. With the goal.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a magazine-type charging device in which a battery requiring charging is stored at a storage position, and a charged battery can be transported to the storage position and removed from the storage position. and
a rotary table;
a driving device for rotating the rotary table;
a charging stand provided on a rotary table and on which a battery is mounted;
a device-side charging connector provided on the charging base and engaged with a battery-side charging connector of the battery;
with
The charging base includes a charging tray formed with a connector hole through which the device-side charging connector is passed;
a slide mechanism that displaces the charging tray in the front-rear direction;
a back plate extending along one side of the battery;
an elevating mechanism for vertically displacing the device-side charging connector;
has
A judgment projection is provided on the back plate,
the battery includes a handle part that is spaced apart from the upper surface of the battery and that is provided substantially in the center of the ceiling surface and that extends linearly;
an inlet forming portion provided at one end of the handle portion and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the extending direction of the handle portion and having an inlet into which the determination projection enters;
a protruding portion that protrudes from the upper surface and continues to the other end of the handle portion, the distance of the upper end from the upper surface being at least greater than the distance from the upper surface of the lower end of the inlet, and the distance between the upper surface and the upper end being a closed portion;
characterized by having

In this magazine-type charging device, after the charging tray is slid under the action of the slide mechanism to allow the determination protrusion to enter the entrance formed in the battery, the device-side charging connector can be raised. be. In other words, the device-side charging connector maintains its lowered position when the judging projection does not enter the entrance. That is, only when the battery is placed on the charging tray so that the end face on the side where the inlet is formed faces the judging protrusion, the device-side charging connector rises under the action of the lifting mechanism to charge the battery. engage the connector. This engagement causes the battery to be charged.

In short, when the user places the battery on the charging tray in the wrong posture, for example, the blocking portion comes into contact with the judging projection and the charging tray cannot be slid further toward the back plate. Under this circumstance, the device-side charging connector will not rise. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the device-side charging connector from coming into contact with the bottom surface of the battery and being damaged.

Moreover, when the device-side charging connector rises after the judging protrusion enters the entrance of the battery in the normal posture, the battery is pressed from below. For this reason, the insertion load reaction force acts on the determination projection, so that the battery is firmly fixed. That is, the occurrence of rattling in the battery is suppressed. This eliminates the concern that the device-side charging connector and the battery-side charging connector will be disengaged.

According to the present invention, the entrance is provided in the battery, and the judging protrusion is provided in the back plate constituting the magazine-type charging device. After that, the device-side charging connector is raised to engage with the battery-side charging connector. That is, when the judging projection does not enter the entrance because the battery is in the wrong position, the device-side charging connector does not rise. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the device-side charging connector from coming into contact with the bottom surface of the battery and being damaged.

Further, when the device-side charging connector is lifted to engage with the battery-side charging connector in a state where the judging projection has entered the inlet, the battery is pressed from below, and an insertion load reaction force acts on the judging projection. As a result, the battery is held firmly, and the battery is prevented from rattling.

FIG. 1A is a schematic overall perspective view of the battery from one direction, and FIG. 1B is a schematic overall perspective view from another direction. 1B is a bottom perspective view of the battery shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B; FIG. 1 is a schematic overall perspective view of a magazine-type charging device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the first unit magazine and the second unit magazine with casings omitted; 4 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a first unit magazine; FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of a main part showing a state in which the charging tray is positioned slightly forward in the charging section that constitutes the first unit magazine; FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of essential parts showing a state in which the charging tray of FIG. 6 is positioned at the rearmost position and the device-side charging connector is passed through the connector hole; FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement positions of batteries on the lower-stage rotary table that constitutes the first unit magazine; FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a slide mechanism, a lock mechanism, and an elevating mechanism arranged below the lower-stage rotary table; FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of the lock mechanism shown in FIG. 9; FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of essential parts showing a state in which the moving plate is displaced from the state shown in FIG. 10 and the link member is slightly rotated; FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a main part showing a state in which the link member is rotated further from the state shown in FIG. 11 and the moving plate is released; FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of the lifting mechanism shown in FIG. 9; FIG. 14 is a schematic side view of a main part showing a state in which the device-side charging connector is lowered under the action of the lifting mechanism of FIG. 13; FIG. 14 is a schematic side view of a main part showing a state in which the device-side charging connector is lifted under the action of the lifting mechanism of FIG. 13; It is a general|schematic whole perspective view from the downward direction of a lower stage side rotary table. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a main portion showing a state in which a lower-stage rotary table is supported by first to third cam followers; FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a main portion showing a state in which the lower-stage rotary table is supported by the first cam follower, the second cam follower, and the bearing receiver; FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of a first opening/closing shutter as an opening/closing shutter; FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a main part when the shutter body is in an open state; FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a charging station in which the magazine-type charging device shown in FIG. 3 is installed; FIG. 5 is a schematic flow diagram showing the posture of an advancing pawl member and the positional relationship between the pawl member and the cam member; FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which the claw member advances and the lock mechanism restrains the charging tray; It is a flow showing the index rotation of the lower-stage rotary table and the state of charge of the battery. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which a rack slide that constitutes the slide mechanism is retracted and the lock mechanism is operated to release the charging tray;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a charging device according to the present invention will be described in detail by citing a magazine-type charging device as a preferred embodiment and referring to the accompanying drawings.

First, the battery 10 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B will be described. The battery 10 has an oblong rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is used, for example, as a driving force supply source for an electric motorcycle EB (see FIG. 21). The upper surface of the battery 10 has an arch portion 12 (second handle portion) formed by bending both ends in the longitudinal direction and connected to the upper surface to form an arch shape, and a tab-shaped protrusion having an upper edge curved in an arc shape. The portions 14 (protruding portions) are provided so as to face each other. A distance H2 between the upper end of the tab-shaped projecting portion 14 and the bottom surface of the battery 10 is set larger than the distance H1 between the lower end of the arch portion 12 and the bottom surface of the battery 10 . The protrusion height of the tab-shaped protruding portion 14 and the protruding height of the arch portion 12 are substantially the same.

A grasping bar 16 (first handle portion) is bridged from the upper end of the arch portion 12 to the upper end of the tab-shaped projecting portion 14 . That is, the gripping bar 16 extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to the extending direction of the arch portion 12 . Here, since both upper ends of the arch portion 12 and the tab-shaped protruding portion 14 protrude from the upper surface of the battery 10 , the gripping bar 16 is separated from the upper surface of the battery 10 . Accordingly, a gripping clearance 18 is formed between the gripping bar 16 and the upper surface of the battery 10 . The user can grip the gripping bar 16 by inserting a hand (fingers) into the gripping clearance 18 .

Also, between the arch portion 12 and the upper surface of the battery 10, an inlet 20 is opened. A judging projection 108 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) enters into this inlet 20 . The entry port 20 continues to the gripping clearance 18 . On the other hand, the tab-shaped protruding portion 14 does not have an opening. That is, the space between the tab-shaped projecting portion 14 and the upper surface of the battery 10 is a closed portion.

As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, the battery 10 is provided with a battery-side charging connector 22 on the bottom surface of the side where the arch portion 12 (entry port 20) side is provided. This battery-side charging connector 22 is engaged with a device-side charging connector 112 (see FIG. 7), which will be described later, so that the lower-stage charger 52a or upper-stage charger 52b (see FIG. 4) and the battery 10 are both connectors. 22, 112 for electrical connection and charging. The battery-side charging connector 22 is composed of a plurality of plate-like terminal entry recesses 24 and two rod entry recesses 26 sandwiching the plate-like terminal entry recesses 24 (see FIG. 2).

When viewed from above, the battery 10 configured as described above has a substantially square or substantially rectangular shape (see FIG. 8 in particular). In this case, the space above the lower-stage rotary table 54a can be used more effectively than when the battery 10 has another shape in plan view.

Next, the magazine-type charging device will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the magazine-type charging device 30. As shown in FIG. The magazine-type charging device 30 has two vertically arranged (stacked) unit magazines, that is, a first unit magazine 32a and a second unit magazine 32b. The unit magazine 32b is accommodated in one casing 34. As shown in FIG. Each of the first unit magazine 32a and the second unit magazine 32b can store four batteries 10, and the first storage position 36a for storing the battery 10 in the first unit magazine 32a, the second unit A first opening/closing shutter 38a and a second opening/closing shutter 38b as opening/closing shutters are provided at a second housing position 36b for housing in the magazine 32b. As can be understood from FIG. 3, the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b are offset from each other in plan view. The first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b are also removal positions for removing the battery 10, which will be described later.

A receiver (communication means) (not shown) is mounted on the casing 34 . The receiver receives a signal transmitted by a smartphone or RF key possessed by the user, or an electric motorcycle EB (see FIG. 21). A controller 60 (see FIG. 4) provided within the casing 34 recognizes that the receiver has received this signal and takes control thereafter.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the magazine-type charging device 30 with the illustration of the casing 34 omitted. The lower base plate 50a constituting the first unit magazine 32a includes a lower charger 52a for charging the battery 10 mounted in the first unit magazine 32a, and a lower charger 52a for rotating the lower rotary table 54a. The driving motor 56a is provided so as to be close to each other. On the other hand, the middle base plate 50b constituting the second unit magazine 32b is provided with an upper drive motor 56b for rotating the upper rotary table 54b. The first unit magazine 32a and the second unit magazine 32b are partitioned by the middle base plate 50b.

As can be understood from FIGS. 3 and 4, the first unit magazine 32a and the second unit magazine 32b are stacked vertically, and the lower turntable 54a and upper turntable 54b are offset from each other. The lower-stage charger 52a, the lower-stage drive motor 56a, and the upper-stage drive motor 56b are arranged in the space created by this offset arrangement. Therefore, the area occupied by each magazine-type charging device 30 is reduced.

Further, the lower-side drive motor 56a is arranged on the side of the lower-side rotary table 54a, and the upper-side drive motor 56b is arranged on the side of the upper-side rotary table 54b. Therefore, the height positions of the lower-side rotary table 54a and the upper-side rotary table 54b are not restricted by the heights of the lower-side drive motor 56a and the upper-side drive motor 56b. In other words, the lower turntable 54a and the upper turntable 54b can be arranged at a height at which the battery 10 can be easily inserted and removed.

Above the second unit magazine 32b, an upper base plate 50c provided with an upper charger 52b for charging the battery 10 mounted in the second unit magazine 32b and the controller 60 is arranged. .

Next, the first unit magazine 32a will be described in detail. FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the first unit magazine 32a. In the first unit magazine 32a, the charging section 90 on which the battery 10 is mounted integrally rotates with the index rotation of the lower-stage rotary table 54a on the lower base plate 50a. The first opening/closing shutter 38a covers a portion of the charging section 90 so as to be exposed at the first housing position 36a (see FIG. 3). In other words, the charging portion 90 positioned at the first accommodation position 36a is exposed to the outside of the casing 34 when the first opening/closing shutter 38a is opened.

The charging section 90 will be described. 6 and 7 are schematic perspective views of main parts of the charging section 90 that constitutes the first unit magazine 32a. The charging section 90 has a turntable 92 that rotates integrally with the lower turntable 54 a and four charging stands 100 provided on the turntable 92 . The charging pedestals 100 are partitioned by a back plate 102, and each charging pedestal 100 is provided with a charging tray 104. - 特許庁A part of the charging stand 100 is passed through a through hole 105 formed in the turntable 92 and rotates integrally with the lower turntable 54a and the turntable 92 (see FIG. 5).

A proximity sensor 106 is installed on the back plate 102 , and a substantially U-shaped judging protrusion 108 is protruded above the proximity sensor 106 . A part of the back plate 102 protrudes from the lower surface of the turntable 92 and is connected to the lower turntable 54a. That is, the back plate 102 is supported by the lower turntable 54a in a standing posture. Therefore, the back plate 102 also rotates integrally with the lower-stage turntable 54 a and the turntable 92 .

The inner end face of the back plate 102 is arranged at a site offset from the end face of another back plate 102 . Therefore, by combining the four back plates 102 together, a quadrangular prism-shaped hollow portion 802 is formed at the center of the combination.

As shown in FIG. 8 , one battery 10 can be placed on one charging stand 100 . It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 8, the four batteries 10 are slightly offset from the completely facing positions in plan view. Here, in order to clearly distinguish the batteries 10, if the four batteries 10 in FIG. The third battery 10c faces each other, and the second battery 10b and fourth battery 10d face each other.

Also, when drawing a left virtual line L1 that contacts the corners of the left sides of the first battery 10a and the third battery 10c facing each other, and a right virtual line L2 that contacts the corners of the right sides, the left virtual line L1 is the second line. It crosses the battery 10b. Similarly, the right virtual line L2 intersects the fourth battery 10d.

Further, the second battery 10b and the third battery 10c, which are laterally adjacent to each other, have different top positions, and the first battery 10a and the second battery 10b, which are vertically adjacent to each other, have different left ends. Here, the above "left", "right" and "upper" represent directions when the user views charging unit 90 from above, and do not mean rightward, leftward and upward of battery 10 .

In this manner, the batteries 10 facing each other and the batteries 10 adjacent to each other are placed on the charging base 100 inside the casing 34 so as to be offset from each other. Therefore, compared to the case where the four batteries 10 are arranged at the vertex positions of the square and completely opposed to each other, the space on the lower turntable 54a can be effectively utilized.

8, the batteries 10 adjacent to each other, that is, the first battery 10a and the second battery 10b, the second battery 10b and the third battery 10c, the third battery 10c and the fourth battery 10d, the third battery 10c and the fourth battery 10d, In the four batteries 10d and the first battery 10a, the extending directions of the gripping bars 16 are substantially orthogonal to each other.

The charging tray 104 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is slidable in the direction of arrow A, that is, forward and backward (directions A1 and A2) when viewed from the front. Note that the direction of arrow A in subsequent drawings corresponds to the direction of arrow A in FIGS. Hereinafter, according to the sliding direction of charging tray 104, the side away from device-side charging connector 112 (A1 direction side) may be referred to as "front", and the approaching side (A2 direction side) may be referred to as "rear". Further, the "front end" in the following description represents the end on the A1 side, and the "rear end" represents the end on the A2 side.

The charging tray 104 is positioned at the forefront when the battery 10 is not placed in the first accommodation position 36a. Note that FIG. 6 shows a state in which the charging tray 104 is slightly biased forward. After the battery 10 is placed on the charging tray 104, the charging tray 104 is slid rearward (A2 side). When the position of the connector hole 110 corresponds to the position of the device-side charging connector 112 during this rearward sliding, the device-side charging connector 112 rises and passes through the connector hole 110 as shown in FIG.

Here, in the charging stand 100 other than the first accommodation position 36a, the charging tray 104 is positioned at the rearmost side (A2 side), the device side charging connector 112 is passed through the connector hole 110, and the battery 10 is mounted. are placed. Therefore, the charging tray 104 other than the first accommodation position 36a does not slide forward.

The charging base 100 includes a support board 200 facing the charging tray 104 with the insertion hole 105 interposed therebetween. That is, the support board 200 is arranged below the charging tray 104 . The support board 200 is positioned and fixed on the upper surface of the lower-stage rotary table 54a (see FIG. 5).

As shown in detail in FIG. 9, the device-side charging connector 112 is arranged on a support board 200 so as to be able to move up and down. The device-side charging connector 112 has a plate-like terminal 114 that can be inserted into or removed from the plate-like terminal insertion recess 24, and two engaging rods 116 that sandwich the plate-like terminal 114 therebetween. The engaging rod 116 enters or leaves the rod entering recess 26 .

Device-side charging connector 112 includes two guided portions 120 provided outside engaging rod 116 (see FIG. 13). A guide hole 122 is formed through the guided portion 120 along the vertical direction. A guide rod 526 , which will be described later, is slidably inserted through the guide hole 122 .

On the support board 200, there are a slide mechanism 300 that allows the charging tray 104 to slide back and forth, a locking mechanism 400 that positions and fixes the charging tray 104 that has slid backward, and an elevating mechanism that raises and lowers the device-side charging connector 112. 500 are provided.

Slide mechanism 300 includes a plurality of retractable rollers 302 on which charging tray 104 slides, a moving plate 304 connected to the lower surface of charging tray 104, and two rollers provided on the lower surface of charging tray 104. and a hanging plate 305 . The foldable rollers 302 are provided at positions sandwiching a plurality of shock absorbing springs 306 erected on the support board 200 .

The slide mechanism 300 further has a spring fixing portion 308 erected on the support board 200 . A tray ejection spring 310 (elastic member) is stretched between the spring fixing portion 308 and the locking plate 305 . That is, the front end of the tray ejecting spring 310 separated from the device-side charging connector 112 is hooked to the spring fixing portion 308 that is positioned and fixed. On the other hand, the rear end close to the device-side charging connector 112 is hooked to the hooking plate 305 that displaces together with the charging tray 104 .

As shown in FIG. 10, two columnar legs 312 are provided below the moving plate 304 so as to hang down. A substantially elliptical plate 314 is bridged between the legs 312 .

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the locking mechanism 400 includes a rack slide 404 displaceable along a set of rack guide rails 402 provided on the support plate 200, and a rack slide 404 attached to the rack slide 404. It has a claw member 406 supported by a displacement plate 405 and displaced integrally with the rack slide 404 and the displacement plate 405 , a cam member 408 and a snatch lock 410 .

The rack guide rail 402 therein extends along the direction of arrow A, and the rack slide 404, displacement plate 405 and claw member 406 are displaced so as to approach or separate from the device-side charging connector 112. (retreat or advance). Note that FIG. 9 shows a state in which the rack slide 404, the displacement plate 405, and the claw member 406 are closest to the device-side charging connector 112, that is, in the rearmost position. At this time, the charging tray 104 is also retracted toward the back plate 102 (direction A2) (see FIG. 7). Also, the device-side charging connector 112 is positioned at the bottom dead center.

The claw member 406 has a first cam portion 412 protruding substantially perpendicular to the arrow A direction. An insertion hole (not shown) is formed in one corner of the rear end of the claw member 406, and the first rotary shaft 414 is fitted into this insertion hole. The claw member 406 is connected to the displacement plate 405 via a first rotating shaft 414 and can rotate about the first rotating shaft 414 . Furthermore, one end of the first return spring 416 is hooked to another corner of the pawl member 406 opposite to the one corner.

One of the rack guide rails 402 is provided with a plate-shaped spring hooking portion 418 so as to protrude in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal direction. The spring hooking portion 418 hooks the other end of the first return spring 416 . That is, the first return spring 416 pulls and urges the pawl member 406 toward the spring engaging portion 418 side (the A1 side, which is the front side).

A pair of cam guides extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (arrow A direction) of the rack guide rail 402 is provided at the rear end of the rack guide rail 402 near the device-side charging connector 112 . Rails 420 are supported. The upper end of the cam member 408 is slidably held by a cam guide rail 420 .

As the rack slide 404 moves toward or away from the device-side charging connector 112, the cam member 408 is guided by the cam guide rail 420 and is substantially perpendicular to the direction of displacement of the rack slide 404. direction. This point will be described later.

Cam member 408 has a second cam portion 424 that cooperates with first cam portion 412 of pawl member 406 . The second cam portion 424 faces the first cam portion 412 .

The snatch lock 410 has a link member 430 , a hook member 432 , and a backup plate 434 that rotatably supports the link member 430 and the hook member 432 .

One end of the cam member 408 is connected to the rear end of the link member 430 via a connecting shaft 436 . Also, the front end of the link member 430 is rotatably connected to a backup plate 434 via a second rotation shaft 440 (see FIG. 12 in particular). Therefore, when the cam member 408 is displaced along the cam guide rail 420, the link member 430 changes its attitude as shown in FIGS.

The link member 430 has a first raised portion 442 projecting toward the hook member 432 at an intermediate portion between the connecting shaft 436 and the second rotating shaft 440 .

The hook member 432 is rotatably supported by the backup plate 434 via a third rotating shaft 444 provided substantially in the center thereof.

The hook member 432 is provided with a second raised portion 446 protruding toward the first raised portion 442 of the link member 430 . The first raised portion 442 and the second raised portion 446 can climb over each other when the link member 430 and the hook member 432 are rotated (see FIGS. 10-12).

The front end of the hook member 432 is formed with a hook portion 450 having a U-shaped notch that faces the link member 430 . Leg portion 312 of moving plate 304 is restrained by hook portion 450 when link member 430 and hook member 432 are in a predetermined positional relationship. As will be described later, this restraint positions and fixes charging tray 104 at the rearmost position. On the other hand, when rack slide 404 is displaced (retracted) toward device-side charging connector 112 and claw member 406 presses cam member 408, hook member 432 rotates as shown in FIGS. . This rotation releases the leg portion 312 of the moving plate 304 from the hook portion 450 .

A second return spring 452 is stretched between the hook member 432 and the link member 430 . One end of the second return spring 452 is locked to the rear end of the hook member 432 , and the other end of the second return spring 452 is locked to an intermediate portion of the link member 430 between the connecting shaft 436 and the first raised portion 442 . be done. The second return spring 452 pulls and biases the rear end of the hook member 432 toward the link member 430 .

As shown in FIG. 13, the lifting mechanism 500 for lifting the device-side charging connector 112 includes a lifting motor 502, a worm 504, a worm gear 506, a rack-side gear 508 having spur teeth, a rack slide 404, and a device-side and a link portion 510 that connects with the charging connector 112 . A worm 504 is provided on the rotating shaft of the lifting motor 502 and meshes with the worm gear 506 . The worm gear 506 and the rack-side gear 508 are connected via a transmission shaft 512 , and the rack-side gear 508 meshes with teeth (not shown) provided on the lower surface of the rack slide 404 .

The link portion 510 has a first shaft 514 provided at the rear end of the rack slide 404 and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of arrow A, and a long hole 516 through which the first shaft 514 is passed at the upper end thereof. and a pair of arm members 518 extending below the device-side charging connector 112 . The arm member 518 extends so as to incline from the A2 side to the A1 side, then bends and extends so as to incline from the A1 side to the A2 side. A second shaft 520 passes through a bending point between the pair of arm members 518 .

Furthermore, the rear end of the arm member 518 is connected to a bearing portion 522 provided near the guided portion 120 . That is, the bearing portion 522 is formed with an elongated hole 524 extending along the arrow A direction. A third shaft 525 is connected to the rear ends of the arm members 518 , and the third shaft 525 is passed through the long hole 524 .

When the lifting motor 502 is energized, the worm 504, worm gear 506, transmission shaft 512 and rack side gear 508 rotate. Therefore, the rack slide 404 is displaced along the A1 direction in FIG. As will be described later, following this displacement, the arm member 518 rotates as shown in FIGS. 14 shows a state where the device-side charging connector 112 is positioned at the bottom dead center, and FIG. 15 shows a state where it is positioned at the top dead center.

Lifting mechanism 500 further includes guide rod 526 inserted through guide hole 122 of guided portion 120 of device-side charging connector 112 . The guide rod 526 guides the device-side charging connector 112 to ascend or descend.

When the charging tray 104 is not restrained by the snatch lock 410, the tray ejecting spring 310 expands and pulls and urges the charging tray 104 in the A1 direction.

Next, the lower-stage rotary table 54a provided below the charging section 90 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 17, the lower base plate 50a is provided with a phase holding cylinder 600 (positioning mechanism) for holding the position of the lower rotary table 54a. This phase holding cylinder 600 has an advancing/retreating rod 602, and when advanced, the advancing/retreating rod 602 enters an engaging recess 604 formed in the side peripheral wall of the lower-stage rotary table 54a. As a result, the rotation of the lower-stage rotary table 54a is prevented and held at that phase.

The lower base plate 50a is further provided with a first cam follower 606 that receives a heavy load, a second cam follower 608 that receives a light load, a third cam follower 610 for centering the lower rotary table 54a, and an interlock switch 612. . The lower rotary table 54a is supported by the first cam follower 606, the second cam follower 608, and the third cam follower 610, so that it can be positioned slightly above the lower base plate 50a.

As shown in FIG. 16, the lower-stage rotary table 54a is configured by fitting a ring body 614 slightly thicker than the disk-shaped body 613 to the side peripheral wall of the disk-shaped body 613 . The first cam follower 606 and the second cam follower 608 are in sliding contact with the lower surface of the disk-shaped body 613 . On the other hand, the third cam follower 610 slides within a slide groove 615 formed in the inner peripheral wall of the ring body 614 . A winding groove (not shown) around which the timing belt 616 is wound is formed in the outer peripheral wall of the ring body 614 .

The engagement recess 604 and the latch groove 620 are formed on the outer peripheral wall of the ring body 614 . These engaging recesses 604 and latch grooves 620 are arranged every 90 degrees.

A bearing 622 may be provided on the lower base plate 50a instead of the third cam follower 610, as shown in FIG. In this case, a bearing receiver 624 is provided on the lower rotary table 54a (disk-shaped body 613), and the bearing 622 and the bearing receiver 624 can center the lower rotary table 54a. Therefore, there is an advantage that the number of parts is reduced. Therefore, there is no particular need to provide the third cam follower 610 .

The timing belt 616 is stretched over a pulley 630 that is fitted around the rotating shaft of the lower drive motor 56a. Accordingly, the pulley 630 rotates following the rotation of the rotating shaft of the lower drive motor 56a, the timing belt 616 rotates, and the lower rotary table 54a rotates. The interlock switch 612 detects the latch groove 620 of the rotating lower rotary table 54a.

As shown in FIG. 19, the first open/close shutter 38a has a shutter body 700. As shown in FIG. The shutter body 700 rotates under the action of a shutter opening/closing motor 702 . Among them, the shutter body 700 has a fan-shaped first portion 704 covering the upper surface side of the battery 10 (the arch portion 12, the tab-shaped projecting portion 14, and the gripping bar 16), and a second portion covering the side surface of the battery 10. 706 and a third portion 708 interposed between the first portion 704 and the second portion 706 so as to be curved. Further, an annular driving force transmission portion 710 is provided at the center of the first portion 704 , and a shutter bearing holder 712 and a shutter bearing 714 are provided in the driving force transmission portion 710 .

As shown in FIG. 20, the shutter body 700 includes a fourth portion 716 and a fifth portion 718 having different radii connecting the center of the shutter bearing 714 and the outer circumference of the second portion 706 in plan view. It further has a sixth portion 720 interposed between the fourth portion 716 and the fifth portion 718 .

The shutter bearing 714 is provided at a position higher than the upper end of the battery 10 placed on the charging base 100 (the arch portion 12, the tab-shaped projection portion 14 and the gripping bar 16). This prevents the battery 10 from interfering with the shutter bearing 714 .

Further, the shutter opening/closing motor 702 is provided on the side of the shutter bearing 714 and outside the outer periphery of the lower stage rotary table 54a (see FIG. 20). In other words, the shutter opening/closing motor 702 is not arranged at a position overlapping the lower side rotary table 54a or the upper side. Therefore, the height of the magazine-type charging device 30 can be reduced, and miniaturization can be achieved.

Outside the shutter bearing 714, a large pulley 722 (or a large sprocket) is provided as a transmission mechanism. An opening/closing belt 726 (or an opening/closing chain) is wound around the large pulley 722 and a small pulley 724 (or a small sprocket) provided on the rotating shaft of the shutter opening/closing motor 702 . A torque limiter 728 is preferably provided on the large pulley 722 .

A power transmission cable 800 (cable) is electrically connected to the device-side charging connector 112 . This power transmission cable 800 is passed through a through hole 801 (see FIGS. 5, 16 and 17) formed in the center of the lower turntable 54a, and placed on the charging base 100 above the center. From a position higher than the upper end of the battery 10, the battery 10 is passed through a quadrangular prism-shaped hollow portion 802 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) formed by combining the back plates 102 together. In addition, the power transmission cables 800 are bundled together by a bundle band 804, thereby preventing the twist from propagating to the lower charger 52a.

The second unit magazine 32b is configured according to the first unit magazine 32a. For this reason, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, in the second unit magazine 32b, the member corresponding to the lower base plate 50a of the first unit magazine 32a is the middle base plate 50b.

Magazine-type charging device 30 according to the present embodiment is basically configured as described above, and the effects thereof will now be described in relation to the method of fixing battery 10 . In the following, the case where two batteries 10 are replaced at the same time will be exemplified.

The battery 10 is used, for example, as a drive source for the electric motorcycle EB shown in FIG. The battery 10 that is used for running the electric motorcycle EB and whose discharge capacity has decreased is charged by the magazine-type charging device 30 described above.

The magazine-type charging device 30 is installed at a predetermined charging station ST provided outdoors. The user may approach the magazine-type charging device 30 while riding the electric motorcycle EB or on foot. At this time, both the first open/close shutter 38a and the second open/close shutter 38b are closed.

As described above, the electric motorcycle EB, or the smartphone or RF key possessed by the user is provided with a transmitter. Said receiver provided in the casing 34 of the magazine-type charging device 30 receives the signal emitted by the transmitter. The controller 60 recognizes that the receiver has received the signals over a predetermined period of time, and issues a command signal "open the shutter" to the shutter opening/closing motor 702 (see FIG. 19). The controller 60 keeps the shutters 38a and 38b open when the receiver receives the signal from the transmitter for a predetermined time.

In some cases, the electric motorcycle EB or the like only passes through the charging station ST. At this time, even if the receiver receives the signal from the transmitter, the reception period is short. In this case, control is performed so that the shutter body 700 does not rotate.

The shutter opening/closing motor 702 is energized based on the command signal "open the shutter", the small pulley 724 rotates, and the opening/closing belt 726 rotates. As a result, the large pulley 722, which is a transmission mechanism, rotates, and the shutter main body 700 rotates around the driving force transmission portion 710 provided with the large pulley 722 (see FIGS. 19 and 20). Therefore, the first open/close shutter 38a and the second open/close shutter 38b are opened. As a result, the charging units 90 positioned at the first housing position 36 a and the second housing position 36 b and, in turn, the charging base 100 are exposed to the outside of the casing 34 .

Thus, according to the present embodiment, the shutter body 700 automatically rotates, so the user does not need to rotate the shutter body 700 . Accordingly, the charged battery 10 can be taken out simply by approaching the magazine-type charging device 30, and the used battery 10 or the battery 10 with insufficient storage capacity can be set in the magazine-type charging device 30. - 特許庁

As shown in FIG. 20, the shutter body 700 includes a fourth portion 716 and a fifth portion 718 having different radial lengths connecting the center of the shutter bearing 714 and the outer circumference of the second portion 706 in plan view. have For this reason, the length in the depth direction required when the shutter main body 700 changes from the closed state to the open state is shortened. Therefore, the installation area per unit of the magazine-type charging device 30 can be reduced.

An object such as a user's hand may come into contact with the shutter body 700 while the shutter body 700 is being opened. At this time, torque acts on the shutter main body 700 . When the large pulley 722 is provided with a torque limiter 728 , the control device 60 detects that torque is applied via the torque limiter 728 and stops the opening operation of the shutter body 700 . Therefore, the shutter body 700 and the shutter bearing 714 are prevented from being subjected to an excessive load, and an object is prevented from being caught between the shutter body 700 and the shutter body 700 . Instead of stopping the opening operation, the shutter body 700 may be switched from the opening operation to the closing operation.

After the first open/close shutter 38a and the second open/close shutter 38b are opened, the user maintains the forward sliding state of each charging base 100 of the first unit magazine 32a and the second unit magazine 32b. The battery 10 that needs to be charged is placed on the charging tray 104 so that the inlet 20 faces the back plate 102 (judgment projection 108). That is, the battery 10 requiring charging is inserted into the casing 34 from the first housing position 36a and the second housing position 36b shown in FIG. Since the first housing position 36a and the second housing position 36b are offset from each other, the charged battery 10 can be removed from each charging stand 100 of the first unit magazine 32a and the second unit magazine 32b, and each charging stand 100 The insertion of the battery 10 requiring charging into the is significantly facilitated.

When placing the battery 10 that needs to be charged on the charging tray 104 , it is conceivable that the user may accidentally let go of the gripping bar 16 . In this case, the impact absorbing spring 306 (see FIG. 9) and the first cam follower 606 (see FIGS. 17 and 18) receive the load of the dropped battery 10, and the foldable roller 302 falls downward. Therefore, damage to the charging tray 104, the lock mechanism 400, the slide mechanism 300 including the roller body of the foldable roller 302, and the like can be avoided.

When the battery 10 requiring charging is placed on the charging tray 104, the device-side charging connector 112 is lowered and positioned below the lower-stage rotary table 54a (see FIG. 6). Therefore, for example, even if the user mistakenly places the battery 10 on the charging tray 104 with the tab-shaped projecting portion 14 facing the back plate 102 (judging projection 108), the battery-side charging connector 22 is The non-existing bottom surface is effectively prevented from coming into contact with the device-side charging connector 112 . Therefore, the device-side charging connector 112 is prevented from being damaged due to this contact.

After placing the batteries 10 on the charging tray 104 , the user presses the charging tray 104 toward the back plate 102 . In other words, the charging tray 104 is slid together with the battery 10 toward the back plate 102 (toward the rearward A2 direction). As the locking plate 305 is displaced rearward integrally with the charging tray 104 along with this sliding, the tray ejecting spring 310, which has contracted until then, expands. When the user slides charging tray 104 all the way back, charging tray 104 is locked in that position by snap lock 410 . The operation of the snatch lock 410 at this time will be further described below.

Before charging tray 104 is slid rearward, snatch lock 410 has hook portion 450 of hook member 432 separated from the front end of link member 430, as shown in FIG. At this time, the second protruding portion 446 is located forward of the first protruding portion 442 and is spaced apart from the first protruding portion 442 .

When charging tray 104 is slid backward, leg portion 312 on the rear side presses the inner wall of hook portion 450 on the rear end side. This pressure causes the hook member 432 to rotate around the third rotation shaft 444, the hook portion 450 approaches the front end of the link member 430, and the second return spring 452 gradually expands.

As the amount of rotation of the hook member 432 increases, the second raised portion 446 engages with the first raised portion 442 and presses it.

When the second raised portion 446 eventually climbs over the first raised portion 442 , the hook member 432 draws the link member 430 through the second return spring 452 . As a result, the attitude of the link member 430, that is, the direction of inclination of the link member 430 with respect to the A direction changes, and the cam member 408 is displaced toward the claw member 406 side. Then, the hook member 432 and the link member 430 stop rotating.

The opening of the hook portion 450 faces the link member 430 when the hook member 432 stops rotating. That is, the hook portion 450 is closed (see FIGS. 9 and 10). Also, in this state, the second raised portion 446 is located behind the first raised portion 442 . In this state, even if an attempt is made to slide charging tray 104 forward, the action of second raised portion 446 pushing first raised portion 442 forces hook member 432 and link member 430 to move unreasonably. Charging tray 104 does not slide. Therefore, leg portion 312 is restrained by hook portion 450 , and charging tray 104 is locked at a position close to device-side charging connector 112 .

Judgment projection 108 enters entrance 20 of battery 10 slid toward back plate 102 . In response to this approach, the proximity sensor 106 provided on the back plate 102 detects the presence of the battery 10 . Upon receiving this detection signal, control device 60 recognizes that "battery 10 has moved to the normal charging position".

On the other hand, when the tab-shaped projecting portion 14 faces the back plate 102 side because the battery 10 has been inserted by mistake, the tab-shaped projecting portion 14 abuts on the judging projection 108 . Since H2>H1 as shown in FIG. 1A, the upper end of the tab-shaped projection 14 is higher than the lower end of the arch portion 12 (bottom side of the inlet 20), and the tab-shaped projection 14 is the closing portion. Because. Therefore, the battery 10 stops, and the charging tray 104 cannot be slid further backward. In this case, proximity sensor 106 does not detect the presence of battery 10, and control device 60 does not recognize that "battery 10 has moved to the proper charging position." By visually recognizing this situation, the user can recognize that the battery 10 has been inserted in the wrong direction (orientation). In this case, the battery 10 should be taken out and reinserted in the proper posture.

When the control device 60 recognizes that "the battery 10 has moved to the proper charging position", it energizes the lifting motor 502 (see FIGS. 9 and 13) with a command signal. Along with this, the worm 504 rotates, and the worm gear 506, the transmission shaft 512, and the rack-side gear 508 are driven to rotate. That is, the rack slide 404 advances in direction A1.

As the rack slide 404 advances, the first shaft 514 provided at the rear end of the rack slide 404 also advances integrally in the A1 direction. Therefore, the upper end of the arm member 518 with the first shaft 514 passed through the elongated hole 516 is pulled forward (in the A1 direction). Thereby, the lower end of the arm member 518 rises. As a result, the arm member 518 rotates from the posture shown in FIG. 14 to the posture shown in FIG. Since the guided portion 120 is restrained by the guide rod 526, the device-side charging connector 112 follows the rotation of the arm member 518 and rises vertically upward.

Here, even if the rack slide 404 advances, the cam member 408 maintains the position displaced to the claw member 406 side, and the unlocking of the charging tray 104, which will be described later, is not performed. When the rack slide 404 advances, the displacement plate 405 and the claw member 406 advance integrally. At this time, as shown in FIG. 22 , the tip of the first cam portion 412 of the moving claw member 406 interferes with the tip of the second cam portion 424 of the cam member 408 .

When the rack slide 404 tries to move forward further, the tip of the first cam portion 412 interferes with the tip of the second cam portion 424 of the cam member 408 , so that the second cam portion 424 pushes the first cam portion 412 . The claw member 406 that receives this pressure rotates about the first rotation shaft 414 so that the first cam portion 412 moves rearward. At the same time, the first return spring 416 expands.

Due to the rotation described above, interference of the first cam portion 412 with the second cam portion 424 is avoided. When the first cam portion 412 is positioned forward of the second cam portion 424 as the rack slide 404 advances, the first return spring 416 contracts and pulls and biases the claw member 406 forward. As a result, the claw member 406 rotates in the opposite direction to the original posture. Further rotation of the claw member 406 in the opposite direction is restricted.

Guided portion 120 of device-side charging connector 112 is guided by guide rod 526 passed through guide hole 122 while ascending. As a result, the device-side charging connector 112 rises toward the connector hole 110 side. FIG. 23 shows a state in which the rack slide 404, displacement plate 405 and claw member 406 have advanced to the maximum.

The device-side charging connector 112 raised as described above passes through the connector hole 110 of the charging tray 104 and is engaged with the battery-side charging connector 22 . That is, the plate-like terminal 114 enters the plate-like terminal entering recess 24 (see FIG. 2), and the two engaging rods 116 enter the rod entering recess 26 .

The engagement of the device-side charging connector 112 with the battery-side charging connector 22 and the entry of the judging projection 108 into the inlet 20 firmly support the battery 10 on the charging base 100 . In particular, the judging projection 108 applies an insertion load reaction force to the bottom side of the inlet 20 . Therefore, the battery 10 is prevented from being displaced, rattling, or falling over.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the battery 10 requiring charging is inserted (accommodated) into the casing 34 of the magazine-type charging device 30 from the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b, the corresponding It can be determined whether or not the battery 10 is inserted in the correct posture by simply performing a simple operation of sliding the charging tray 104 with the battery 10 placed thereon toward the back plate 102 side. At the same time, damage to the device-side charging connector 112 or the battery-side charging connector 22 can be prevented, and the battery 10 can be held firmly.

Alternatively, a warning sound may be emitted when the device-side charging connector 112 does not rise even after a certain period of time has elapsed after the user has inserted the battery 10 that requires charging. This allows the user to recognize whether the battery 10 requiring charging is inserted in the wrong position, or whether the device-side charging connector 112 is raised for some reason.

After that, the control device 60 issues a command signal to the shutter opening/closing motor 702 to rotate the small pulley 724 and rotate the opening/closing belt 726 to rotate the large pulley 722 . As a result, the shutter main body 700 rotates around the driving force transmission portion 710 (see FIG. 20), and the first opening/closing shutter 38a and the second opening/closing shutter 38b are closed. This prevents the user from inserting his or her hand into the casing 34 .

Thus, in this embodiment, the battery 10 and the charging base 100 are protected by the casing 34, the first opening/closing shutter 38a, and the second opening/closing shutter 38b. Therefore, the battery 10, the charging base 100, and the like are prevented from coming into contact with rainwater and dust even outdoors. That is, the magazine-type charging device 30 can be suitably used outdoors.

The controller 60 then energizes the lower drive motor 56a and the upper drive motor 56b. As a result, the timing belt 616 rotates, thereby rotating the lower turntable 54a and the upper turntable 54b. The rotation operation at this time is shown in FIG. 24, taking the first unit magazine 32a as an example. Note that "empty", "small", "medium", and "full" in FIG. A battery 10 being charged, a battery 10 being charged whose discharge capacity has largely recovered after a certain amount of time has passed since the start of charging, and a fully charged battery 10 whose discharge capacity has recovered and is fully charged. That is, "empty" does not mean that the battery 10 does not exist.

When the battery 10 ("empty") requiring charging is inserted into the casing 34 from the first housing position 36a as described above, the lower rotary table 54a is indexed clockwise (to the right) by 90°. Rotate. As a result, the charging unit 90 including the rotating disk 92 is index-rotated integrally, so that the fully-charged battery 10 is transferred to the first housing position 36a.

The phase of the lower rotary table 54a after index rotation is determined by detecting the position of the latch groove 620 with the interlock switch 612 (see FIGS. 17 and 18). Then, after it is determined that the lower-stage rotary table 54 a is index-rotated by 90°, the advance/retreat rod 602 of the phase holding cylinder 600 advances and enters the engagement recess 604 . This entry (engagement) prevents the rotation of the lower-stage rotary table 54a.

Further, during index rotation of the lower-side rotary table 54a, the second cam follower 608 prevents the lower-side rotary table 54a from rattling, and the third cam follower 610 maintains the position of the center of rotation.

Of course, the upper rotary table 54b constituting the second unit magazine 32b also operates in the same manner as described above.

The control device 60 recognizes that the lower-side rotary table 54a has been index-rotated by 90°, and the charging stand is positioned at the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b, where the fully charged battery 10 has been transferred, in accordance with the command signal. Only the lifting motor 502 (see FIGS. 9 and 13) provided on the support plate 200 of 100 is energized. That is, the remaining three lift motors 502 are not energized simultaneously with the above energization.

As the lifting motor 502 is energized, the worm 504 rotates in the opposite direction. As the worm gear 506 , the transmission shaft 512 and the rack side gear 508 rotate following this rotation, the rack slide 404 is displaced so as to approach the device side charging connector 112 . That is, it retreats in the A2 direction.

As the rack slide 404 retreats, the first shaft 514 retreats integrally in the A2 direction. Accompanying this, the upper end of the arm member 518 is pulled rearward (direction A2), and the lower end of the arm member 518 descends. That is, the arm member 518 rotates from the posture shown in FIG. 15 to the posture shown in FIG. Following this rotation, the device-side charging connector 112 descends and separates from the battery-side charging connector 22, passes through the connector hole 110 of the charging tray 104, and is positioned below the lower turntable 54a. During the descent, device-side charging connector 112 is guided by guide rod 526 .

When the rack slide 404 retreats toward the device-side charging connector 112 as described above, the first cam portion 412 of the pawl member 406 advancing integrally with the device-side charging connector 112 moves the second cam portion 424 of the cam member 408 . press . The cam member 408 that receives this pressure is displaced along the cam guide rail 420 in a direction away from the rack guide rail 402 .

Therefore, the link member 430 changes its posture away from the hook member 432 , and the second raised portion 446 climbs over the first raised portion 442 and is positioned forward (A1 direction side) of the first raised portion 442 . Along with this, the link member 430 pulls the hook member 432 via the second return spring 452 .

The hook member 432 rotates about the third rotation shaft 444, and the hook portion 450 is separated from the link member 430 (see FIG. 12). That is, the hook portion 450 is opened.

As a result, leg portion 312 is released from hook portion 450 as shown in FIG. Along with this release, the tray ejection spring 310 contracts, and the charging tray 104 is pulled forward by the contracted tray ejection spring 310 .

Therefore, the charging tray 104 slides integrally with the latching plate 305 in the direction opposite to the device-side charging connector 112, that is, in the forward A1 direction. FIG. 25 shows the states of the slide mechanism 300 and the lock mechanism 400 together with the support board 200 when the charging tray 104 moves forward.

Thus, the charging tray 104 is returned to the forward position at the first housing position 36a. At this time, the charged battery 10 also advances integrally and separates from the back plate 102 . Accordingly, the entrance 20 of the battery 10 is separated from the judging protrusion 108 of the back plate 102 .

In the present embodiment, after proximity sensor 106 detects that charged battery 10 is separated from back plate 102 , controller 60 transmits a command signal to shutter opening/closing motor 702 . As a result, the small pulley 724 rotates to rotate the opening/closing belt 726, and the large pulley 722 rotates to open the first opening/closing shutter 38a and the second opening/closing shutter 38b. After that, the user can take out the fully charged battery 10 transferred to the first housing position 36a and the second housing position 36b from the casing 34 and mount it on the electric motorcycle EB.

As shown in FIG. 8, the extending directions of the gripping bars 16 of the adjacent batteries 10 are substantially perpendicular to each other. Therefore, the extending direction of the gripping bar 16 when the user takes out the fully charged battery 10 matches the extending direction of the gripping bar 16 when the battery 10 requiring charging is accommodated. Therefore, it is easy to take out the battery 10 .

As described above, the first open/close shutter 38a and the second open/close shutter 38b are opened after the charging tray 104 and the battery 10 are transferred to the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the user from inserting his/her hand into the casing 34 while the charging unit 90 is performing index rotation.

After the charged battery 10 is taken out, a command signal is transmitted from the control device 60 to the shutter opening/closing motor 702 to close the first opening/closing shutter 38a and the second opening/closing shutter 38b. Therefore, the user is prevented from touching the shutter main body 700 while removing the battery 10 . In addition, it is possible to prevent the user from inserting his or her hand into the casing 34 after taking out.

By removing the charged battery 10 as described above, the battery 10 is absent from the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b. Under this condition, power is supplied from the lower charger 52 a and the upper charger 52 b to the device charging connector 112 via the power transmission cable 800 . Accordingly, charging of each of the three batteries 10 remaining in the first unit magazine 32a and second unit magazine 32b (six in total) progresses, and the batteries 10 requiring charging that were "empty" until then become "small". ”. Similarly, the "small" battery 10 becomes "medium", and the "medium" battery 10 becomes "full". The battery 10 remains absent in the first storage position 36a and the second storage position 36b.

A second user accommodates the battery 10 requiring charging in the casing 34 from the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b in the same manner as described above. In this case, similarly to the above, the lower-stage rotary table 54a and the upper-stage rotary table 54b are index-rotated clockwise (rightward) by 90°. Accordingly, the lower-stage rotary table 54a and the upper-stage rotary table 54b are index-rotated by 180° from the initial positions.

After the fully charged battery 10 ("full") that has reached the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b is taken out, this state, that is, the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36a as described above, is removed. At 36b, charging is performed while the battery 10 is absent. As a result, "empty", "small" and "medium" become "small", "medium" and "full".

A third user accommodates the battery 10 requiring charging in the casing 34 from the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b in the same manner as described above. In this case, the lower-side rotary table 54a and the upper-side rotary table 54b index-rotate counterclockwise (to the left) by 270°. Therefore, the index rotation from the initial position of the lower-stage rotary table 54a and the upper-stage rotary table 54b is -90°.

After the fully charged battery 10 ("full") that has reached the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b is taken out, this state, that is, the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36a as described above, is removed. At 36b, the battery 10 is charged in the charging section 90 at a position other than the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b while the battery 10 is absent. As a result, "empty", "small" and "medium" become "small", "medium" and "full".

A fourth user accommodates the battery 10 requiring charging in the casing 34 from the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b in the same manner as described above. At this time, the lower-side rotary table 54a and the upper-side rotary table 54b are index-rotated clockwise (to the right) by 90°. Therefore, the index rotation from the initial positions of the lower-side rotary table 54a and the upper-side rotary table 54b is 0°.

After the fully charged battery 10 ("full") that has reached the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36b is taken out, this state, that is, the first accommodation position 36a and the second accommodation position 36a as described above, is removed. At 36b, charging is performed while the battery 10 is absent. By this charging, "empty", "small" and "medium" become "small", "medium" and "full".

The above index rotation is repeated for the fifth and subsequent users. Thus, in this embodiment, the lower-side rotary table 54a and the upper-side rotary table 54b do not rotate only clockwise or counterclockwise, but index in one direction up to a predetermined index angle. After rotating, it reversely rotates up to a predetermined index angle in the remaining one direction. Therefore, the power transmission cable 800 (see FIGS. 6, 7 and 19) is only twisted and untwisted within a predetermined rotation angle. That is, twisting in the same direction does not continue, and therefore damage to power transmission cable 800 is effectively avoided.

In addition, the power transmission cable 800 is passed from a position higher than the upper end of the battery 10 placed on the charging stand 100 through a quadrangular prism-shaped hollow portion 802 formed by combining the back plates 102 to the device side. It is electrically connected to charging connector 112 . Therefore, the length of power transmission cable 800 from the base point of twist to device-side charging connector 112 can be increased. In this case, the degree of twisting of power transmission cable 800 can be reduced compared to the case where the length from the base point of twisting to device-side charging connector 112 is short. This also effectively avoids damage to power transmission cable 800 .

Moreover, charging can be continued even while the lower-stage rotary table 54a is rotating.

Furthermore, since the lower turntable 54a and the upper turntable 54b index-rotate as described above, the user can easily take out the fully charged battery 10. FIG.

If the second user replaces the battery 10 immediately after the first user replaces the battery 10, the receiver continues to receive the signal emitted by the transmitter. When reception continues for a predetermined period of time in this manner, the shutter main body 700 may be kept open after the first user inserts the battery 10 that requires charging. As a result, the second user can quickly replace the battery 10 that requires charging with a fully charged battery 10 .

Moreover, in the present embodiment, a plurality of batteries 10 are stored while being charged on the magazine-type lower-stage rotary table 54a and upper-stage rotary table 54b (charging base 100). Therefore, it is possible to respond to requests from a plurality of users to replace batteries 10 that require charging.

The present invention is not particularly limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, the number of unit magazines may be increased and stacked. Alternatively, the magazine-type charging device may be configured with only one unit magazine.

Alternatively, the lower-stage rotary table 54a may be rotated by a plurality of gears (gear group). In this case, a gear is provided on each of the rotating shaft of the motor and the lower rotating table 54a, and the lower rotating table 54a is directly connected to the rotating shaft of the motor or indirectly via one or more separate gears. It suffices to rotationally energize the gear provided at . The same applies to the upper stage rotary table 54b.

The opening/closing shutter may also be composed of a plurality of gears as described above, and the first opening/closing shutter 38a and the second opening/closing shutter 38b may be opened and closed under the action of the gears.

Furthermore, even after the charged battery 10 has been removed from the charging stand 100, the removal detection means for the battery 10 keeps the shutters 38a and 38b open if the user's detection state is maintained. You may make it

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Battery 12... Arch part 14... Tab-shaped protrusion part 16... Grasping bar 18... Grasping clearance 20... Entrance port 22... Battery side charging connector 30... Magazine type charging device 32a, 32b... Unit magazine 34... Casing 36a, 36b... accommodation position 38a, 38b... open/close shutters 50a to 50c... base plate 52a, 52b... chargers 54a, 54b... rotary table 56a, 56b... drive motor 60... control device 90... charging section 100... charging stand 102... back plate DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 104... Tray for charge 106... Proximity sensor 108... Protrusion for judgment 110... Connector hole 112... Device side charge connector 120... Guided part 200... Support board 300... Slide mechanism 302... Retractable roller 304... Moving plate 305... Hook Stop plate 306 Impact absorption spring 310 Tray ejection spring 312 Leg 400 Lock mechanism 402 Rack guide rail 404 Rack slide 405 Displacement plate 406 Claw member 408 Cam member 410 Snatch lock 412, 424 Cam portions 414, 440, 444 Rotating shafts 416, 452 Return springs 418 Spring engaging portions 420 Cam guide rails 430 Link members 432 Hook members 434 Backup plates 442, 446 Rising portions 450 Hook portion 500 Lifting mechanism 502 Lifting motor 504 Worm 506 Worm gear 508 Rack side gear 510 Link portion 512 Transmission shaft 518 Arm member 600 Phase holding cylinder 602 Retraction rod 604 Engagement concave portion 606 First cam follower 608 Second cam follower 610 Third cam follower 612 Interlock switch 613 Disk-shaped body 614 Ring body 616 Timing belt 620 Latch groove 622 Bearing 624 Bearing receiver 700 Shutter body 702 Shutter Opening/closing motor 704 First part 706 Second part 708 Third part 710 Driving force transmission part 716 Fourth part 718 Fifth part 720 Sixth part 722 Large pulley 724 Small pulley 726 Opening and closing Belt 728 Torque limiter 800 Cable for power transmission 802 Hollow portion 804 Focusing band EB Electric motorcycle

Claims (17)

A charging device in which a battery requiring charging is housed at a housing position,
a charging base on which the battery is placed;
a device-side charging connector provided on the charging stand and engaged with a battery-side charging connector of the battery;
with
The charging base includes a charging tray having a connector hole through which the device-side charging connector is passed;
an elevating mechanism for vertically displacing the device-side charging connector;
has
The elevating mechanism has a drive unit that receives a command signal and raises the device-side charging connector,
When the position of the connector hole corresponds to the position of the device-side charging connector, the drive unit raises the device-side charging connector based on the command signal to pass the device-side charging connector through the connector hole. charging device. 2. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein said elevating mechanism has a link portion for transmitting driving force of said driving portion to said device-side charging connector. 3. The charging device according to claim 2, wherein the link portion has a rotating member connected to the device-side charging connector and rotated by a driving force of the driving portion,
A charging device in which the device-side charging connector moves up and down by rotating the rotating member. 4. The charging device according to claim 3, wherein the charging device has a displacement member that is displaced in the front-rear direction as the drive unit is driven,
A charging device in which the rotating member rotates as the displacement member is displaced. 5. The charging device of claim 4, wherein the drive portion comprises a worm and the displacement member comprises teeth;
The elevating mechanism has a first gear that meshes with the worm, a second gear that meshes with the tooth, and a transmission shaft that connects the first gear and the second gear,
A charging device in which the displacement member is displaced in the front-rear direction by rotating the second gear as the worm rotates. 6. The charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said driving section is arranged below said charging tray. 7. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the device-side charging connector has a guided portion formed with a hole, and the elevating mechanism has a guide portion passed through the hole. charging device. The charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the charging base includes a slide mechanism for sliding the charging tray in the front-rear direction,
After the charging tray slides and the position of the connector hole corresponds to the position of the device-side charging connector, the device-side charging connector is lifted based on the command signal to move the device-side charging connector to the connector hole. A charging device that passes through the 9. The charging device according to claim 8, further comprising a detector for detecting that the charging tray slides and the position of the connector hole corresponds to the position of the device-side charging connector. 10. The charging device of claim 9, wherein the charging base has a back plate extending along one side of the battery,
The back plate is provided with a judgment projection, and the battery has an entrance at a position higher than the upper surface of the battery, through which the judgment projection can enter,
The charging device, wherein the detector detects that the position of the connector hole corresponds to the position of the device-side charging connector when the judging projection enters the inlet. 11. The charging device according to claim 10 , wherein the battery is spaced apart from the upper surface of the battery and provided substantially in the center of the upper surface and extending linearly;
an entrance opening forming portion provided at one end of the handle portion and extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to an extending direction of the handle portion, and in which the entrance opening is formed;
A charging device further comprising: 12. The charging device according to claim 11, wherein the battery protrudes from the upper surface and continues to the other end of the handle, and the distance of the upper end from the upper surface is at least greater than the distance of the lower end of the inlet from the upper surface. The charging device further includes a protruding portion that is large and that is a closed portion between the upper surface and the protruding portion. The charging device according to any one of claims 8 to 12, further comprising a lock mechanism for positioning and fixing the charging tray,
The lock mechanism positions and fixes the charging tray when the charging tray slides and the position of the connector hole corresponds to the position of the device-side charging connector, while the device-side charging connector descends. A charging device that releases the positioning and fixing of the charging tray in conjunction with the charging tray. 14. The charging device according to claim 13, wherein the charging stand has an elastic member that elastically urges the charging tray forward when the positioning fixation is released. 15. The charging device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the lock mechanism has a cam member that can be displaced along the guide member, and the cam member to which the driving force of the drive unit is transmitted moves along the guide member. A charging device that positions and fixes the charging tray or releases the positioning and fixing of the charging tray by being displaced. 16. The charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 15, comprising a plurality of said charging cradles, and wherein said device-side charging connector and said elevating mechanism are provided for each of said plurality of charging cradles. . The charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein said battery is portable.

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