JPH04275001A - Charger for automatically guided vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate time loss and to enhance work efficiency by providing a power supply means for automatically guided vehicle in a work station where the automatically guided vehicle performs its essential work so that the battery thereof can be charged during the work. CONSTITUTION:A work station 4 where essential work is performed is provided with a power supply means for automatically guided vehicle 1. When the battery is charged during the work, a power receiving arm 7 provided with a power receiving terminal 13 is extended from the automatically guided vehicle 1. An electromagnet 17 in a moving body 15 supported by a spring 16 at the work station 4 is then fed with power and a magnetic body 12 in the arm 7 is attracted thereto. Consequently, a power receiving terminal 18 in the moving body 15 comes into contact with the power receiving terminal 13 of the arm 7. A switching circuit functions not to use the battery for load/unload work at the work station 4 but to charge the battery during the load/unload time.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle charging device that efficiently charges traveling and working batteries mounted on an automatic guided vehicle and has a simple configuration.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, a battery as a power source for traveling and working in an automatic guided vehicle is automatically charged at a charging station installed separately from a work station when the voltage drops.

[0003] Furthermore, at the battery exchange station, batteries are replaced automatically or manually.

On the other hand, Utility Model Application Publication No. 1-180102 (B
The charging device described in 60L 11/18) is provided with a power supply rail on which a current collector plug of the guided vehicle slides along the travel route of the automated guided vehicle.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When charging a battery or replacing a battery at the conventional charging station, the automatic guided vehicle cannot perform its original work during the charging time and during battery replacement, and There is a loss of
There is a problem that work efficiency decreases.

On the other hand, when using a power supply rail, there are problems in that it is difficult to bring the current collector plug of the automatic guided vehicle into sliding contact with the power supply rail properly, requiring considerable precision and making the configuration complicated. be.

[0007] The present invention has been made with the above points in mind, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic guided vehicle charging device that performs charging efficiently and has a simple configuration.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the automatic guided vehicle charging device of the present invention is an automatic guided vehicle that runs on the floor along a guide and is equipped with batteries for traveling and work. , a power receiving arm that extends from the guided vehicle when the guided vehicle reaches the work station, a power receiving terminal and a magnetic body provided at the tip of this arm, a moving body supported by a spring provided at the work station, and a moving body that is supported by a spring. An electromagnet that is installed on the body and is energized and attracted to a magnetic body when the arm is extended and receives power, a power supply terminal that is installed on the moving body that contacts the power reception terminal when the electromagnet is attracted to the magnetic body, and an output terminal of the battery that is connected to the battery when receiving power. It is equipped with a switching circuit that switches from an operating terminal for running and work to a charging terminal connected to a power receiving terminal via a charging circuit, and also switches the operating terminal to the power receiving terminal.

[0009]

[Operation] The automatic guided vehicle charging device of the present invention configured as described above is equipped with a power supply means for the guided vehicle at the work station where the automatic guided vehicle performs its original work, so that the battery is not charged during work. It can be charged easily, eliminating time loss and improving work efficiency.

[0010] Furthermore, when the power receiving arm equipped with the power receiving terminal extends from the transport vehicle and receives power, the electromagnet of the movable body supported by the spring of the work station is energized, the electromagnet is attracted to the magnetic body of the arm, and the arm is Since the power feeding terminal of the movable body contacts the power receiving terminal, even if there is a positional deviation between the power receiving terminal of the arm and the power feeding terminal, the contact is ensured.

Furthermore, the switching circuit eliminates the need for batteries to be used as a power source for tasks such as loading and unloading at a work station, and the battery is charged during that time, which is extremely effective for transport vehicles whose stop time is longer than their travel time. .

0012

Embodiment One embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes an automatic guided vehicle that runs on the floor along a belt-shaped guide 2, 3 a battery for traveling and work mounted on the guided vehicle 1, 4 a work station, 5 a power supply part of the work station 4, and 6 is an opening of the power feeding section 5, which is formed facing the conveyance vehicle 1 stopped to work at the work station 4.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a power receiving arm provided on the carrier 1, and when the carrier 1 arrives at the work station, the carrier 1
It is driven by a motor mounted on the machine and extends toward the work station 4 side. Reference numerals 8 and 9 are main and sub-rods formed by bifurcating the tip of the arm 7; 10 and 11 are transmission type sensors provided facing the inner surfaces of both the rods 8 and 9; When extended, the main rod 8 enters the power supply part 5 through the opening 6, the sub-rod 9 is located outside the power supply part 5, and the peripheral wall of the power supply part 5 interrupts both the sensors 10 and 11, and the sensor 10 due to the interruption The extension of the arm 7 is stopped by the off operation.

12 is a magnetic material fixed to the tip of the main rod 8;
13 is a power receiving terminal fixed to the upper and lower main rods 8 of the magnetic body 12, 14 is a support plate fixed to the inner wall of the power feeding section 5, 15 is a plate-shaped moving body, and 16 is a moving body whose both ends are connected to the support plate 14. 15 is a spring connected to movably supporting the movable body 15; 17 is an electromagnet fixed to the movable body 15; and 18 is a power supply terminal fixed to the movable body 15 above and below the electromagnet 17 and connected to a commercial AC power source. .

When the extension of the arm 7 is stopped by both sensors 10 and 11, the arrival of the carrier 1 and the power supply are transmitted from the carrier 1 to the work station 4 through communication, and in response to this, the work station 4 The electromagnet 17 is energized, the spring 16 is expanded, the electromagnet 17 is attracted to the magnetic body 12, and both power supply terminals 18 come into contact with both power reception terminals 13. At this time, even if the main rod 8, that is, both power receiving terminals 13 are not in the predetermined position, the spring 1
Since the electromagnet 17 supported by the electromagnet 17 is movable, the terminals 13 and 18 are brought into proper contact by being attracted to the magnetic body 12.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a power reception detection section connected to the power reception terminal 13; 20 a charging circuit section connected to the power reception detection section 19 via the rectifier circuit section 21; 22 a charging terminal connected to the charging circuit section 20; 23 is a rectifier terminal connected to the output terminal of the rectifier circuit section 21, 24 is an output terminal of the battery 3, 25 is an operating terminal on the input side of the DC stabilized power supply section 26, and 27 is connected to the output of the power supply section 26. This is a control unit and controls the traveling of the transport vehicle 1, work, etc.

Reference numeral 28 denotes a switching circuit, which is activated by the detection of power reception by the power reception detection section 19, switches the output terminal 24 from the operating terminal 25 to the charging terminal 22, and changes the connection between the operating terminal 25 and the rectifying terminal 23 from the open state to the closed state. Switch to state. That is, by connecting the power receiving terminal 13 to the power feeding terminal 18, the battery 3 is connected to the charging circuit section 20 and charged, the operating terminal 25 is switched from the battery 3 to the power receiving terminal 13, and the control section 27 is connected to the AC power supply. is activated.

When the work at the work station 4 is finished and the transport vehicle 1 leaves the work station 4, the operating terminal 25 is connected to the output terminal 24 of the battery 3 by the switching circuit 28, and the control section 27 is connected to the battery. 3, and the completion of the switching is notified to the work station 4 side. On the work station 4 side, power to the electromagnet 17 is turned off. Thereafter, the arm 7 is stored in the carrier 1, and the carrier 1 moves to the next station.

[0019]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it achieves the effects described below. Automatic guided vehicle 1
Since the work station 4 where the operator performs the original work is equipped with a means for supplying power to the carrier vehicle 1, the battery 3 can be charged during work, eliminating time loss and improving work efficiency.

[0020] When power is received from the transport vehicle 1 with the power receiving arm 7 equipped with the power receiving terminal 13 extended, the work station 4
The electromagnet 17 of the movable body 15 supported by the spring 16 is energized, the electromagnet 17 is attracted to the magnetic body 12 of the arm 7, and the power supply terminal 18 of the movable body 15 contacts the power receiving terminal 13 of the arm 7. Even if there is a positional deviation of the power receiving terminal 13 of No. 7 with respect to the power feeding terminal 18, the contact is ensured.

Furthermore, the switching circuit 28 does not use the battery 3 as a power source for loading, unloading, etc. at the work station 4, and the battery 3 is charged during that time, so that the transport vehicle 1 whose stop time is longer than its moving time Extremely effective.

Moreover, the structure is simple and can be made inexpensive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a right side view of a power supply section of an embodiment of an automatic guided vehicle charging device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the entire device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a power feeding section and an arm.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Automatic guided vehicle 2 Derivatives 3 Battery 4 Work station 7 Power receiving arm 12 Magnetic material 13 Power receiving terminal 15 Mobile object 16 Spring 17 Electromagnet 18 Power supply terminal 20 Charging circuit section 22 Charging terminal 24 Output terminal 25 Operation terminal

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automated guided vehicle that travels on the floor along a guide and is equipped with batteries for traveling and work, and a power receiving arm that extends from the guided vehicle when the guided vehicle reaches a work station. a power receiving terminal and a magnetic body provided at the tip of the arm; a movable body provided at the work station supported by a spring; a power supply terminal that is provided on the movable body and contacts the power receiving terminal when the electromagnet is attracted to the magnetic body; and an output terminal of the battery when the power is received from an operating terminal for running and work; An automatic guided vehicle charging device comprising: a switching circuit that switches the power receiving terminal to a charging terminal connected to the power receiving terminal via a charging circuit section; and a switching circuit that switches the operating terminal to the power receiving terminal.