JPH05104957A - Battery changing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change a battery without performing the vertical movement of a battery changing means. CONSTITUTION:A battery case 5 is housed in a battery housing part 7 provided on the side face of an unmanned carrier 6, and a battery case stopper 8 is engaged with a boss 7a provided at the unmanned carrier 6 by the energization of a spring 10 to hold the battery case 5. A hook part 2 is brought close to the battery case 5 in such a way as to fit a cutout part 3 in between collars 9, 9 and moved to the left as shown in the drawing. Then the engagement between the battery case stopper 8 and boss 7a is released, and a pin 11 is engaged with a hole 4, so that the hook part 2 is connected to the battery case 5 to pull out the battery case 5. At the push-in time of the battery case 5, reverse action is performed to release the connection between the hook part 2 and battery case 5, and the battery case 5 is fixed into the battery housing part 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery exchanging device for automatically exchanging a battery of an automated guided vehicle which conveys articles between stations in a warehouse or a factory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automated guided vehicle for transporting articles between stations in a warehouse or a factory is equipped with a battery. When the battery is exhausted, the battery must be replaced. In order to replace the battery, a bucket crane type battery replacement device capable of automatically replacing the battery is used. The bucket crane pulls out the exhausted battery from the battery storage section of the automated guided vehicle, instead, the charged battery is taken out from the shelf at the charging shelf and stored in the battery storage section of the automatic guided vehicle to automatically replace the battery. ing.

[0003]

The battery exchange is performed within the range of the lifting stroke of the crane, and the battery accommodated in the automatic guided vehicle is hooked from below or above the crane as the crane moves up and down. It is carried out by pulling it out and pushing it into the automatic guided vehicle. However, the total height of unmanned guided vehicles tends to be held low recently, and when the battery storage section is provided at a relatively high position of the guided vehicle body, there is no hindrance to battery replacement, but the battery storage section is more convenient. Since it is provided at a lower position, it is not possible to secure a space for hooking and pulling out the battery from above and below.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery exchanging device capable of exchanging a battery even when the battery storage portion is located at a lower position of the vehicle body.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems According to the means for solving the above problems, the battery is pulled out from the side surface of the automatic guided vehicle,
The replacement means of the battery replacement device to be pushed in can move relatively in a horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to the battery movement direction, and the movement in one direction releases the fixation between the battery and the automatic guided vehicle and connects the replacement means and the battery. In addition, the battery exchanging device fixes the battery and the automatic guided vehicle by moving in the other direction and releases the connection between the exchanging means and the battery.

[0006]

Since the battery exchanging device according to the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, it has the following effects.

In the battery exchanging device according to the present invention, first, the unmanned guided vehicle is stopped at the battery exchanging position, and the crane is moved up and down to move the exchanging means provided in the battery exchanging device so that the battery can be stored on the side surface of the unmanned guided vehicle. Place it in front of the section. Next, the exchanging means is brought close to a certain position to the automatic guided vehicle. Then, the exchange means is pulled out and relatively moved in one horizontal direction at right angles to the moving direction at the time of pushing in to release the fixation of the battery fixed in the battery storage portion, and the exchange means and the battery are connected. rear,
Pull out the depleted battery from the battery compartment. The exhausted battery is stored in a shelf-shaped charging device by a crane, and the charged battery is pulled out from the charging device instead and placed in front of the battery storage portion of the automatic guided vehicle by the battery exchanging device. The exchange means push the battery in,
The exchanging means is moved relative to the other horizontal direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the battery. Then, the battery is fixed in the battery storage portion, and the connection between the replacement means and the battery is released. The exchange means is returned to the original position and the battery exchange is completed.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of an essential part showing an embodiment of a battery exchanging device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a battery exchanging device 20 is provided with a handling unit 1 having a crane function, and a crane control unit (not shown) performs traveling and lifting. The slider 1a of the handling unit 1 can move back and forth. A hook portion 2 is attached to the front end of the handling unit 1. Further, a substantially semicircular cutout 3 is formed at the front end of the hook 2, and a hole 4 is provided below the cutout 3.

The battery case 5 having the battery housed therein is housed in a battery housing portion 7 provided on the side surface of the carrier body 6. Means corresponding to the hook portion 2 are provided on the end surface of the battery case 5. That is, the battery case stopper 8 is slidably supported in the axial direction by the support portions 5a and 5b provided on the end surface of the battery case 5. Two left and right flanges 9 that engage with the notches 3 of the hook portion 2 are fixed to the battery case stopper 8 at intervals. A spring 10 is interposed between the collar 9 of the battery case stopper 8 and the support portion 5b so that the battery case stopper 8 is biased rightward.

When the battery case 5 is stored in the battery storage portion 7, the tip of the battery case stopper 8 is engaged with the boss 7a fixed to the transport vehicle main body 6 to the right of the battery storage portion 7 in FIG. However, the battery case 5 is fixed. As described above, the fixing means of the battery case 5 is composed of the battery case stopper 8 and the boss 7a which are biased rightward.

A pin 11 projects from the support portion 5b toward the support portion 5a. As for the positional relationship between the pin 11 and the hole 4 provided in the hook portion 2, the handling unit 1 is moved leftward with the cutout portion 3 of the hook portion 2 inserted between the left and right collars 9, 9. The pin 11 is positioned so as to engage the hole 4 when it is made to move. By engaging the pin 11 with the hole 411, the handling unit 1
Can be pulled out by hooking the battery case 5.

The battery case 5 pulled out by the handling unit 1 is mounted on a mounting portion (not shown) provided in the battery exchange device body 20.

The battery exchanging device as described above operates as follows.

When the automatic guided vehicle 6 travels into a battery exchange station (not shown) for battery replacement and stops, the battery exchanging device main body 20 moves and a handling unit is provided on the front surface of the battery accommodating portion 7 of the main vehicle body 6. 1 stops.

Next, the slider 1a is slid toward the battery accommodating portion 7, and the notch 3 of the hook portion 2 is inserted between the collars 9 and 9 of the battery case stopper 8. Then, in this state, the handling unit 1 is moved to the left in FIG. As a result, the battery case stopper 8
The leading end of the is removed from the boss 7a, and the fixation between the battery case 5 and the automated guided vehicle 6 is released. Along with this, the pair of holes 4 of the hook portion 2 and the pin 11 on the end surface of the battery case 5
Are engaged with each other and the battery case 5 is held in a hooked state.

Thereafter, by retracting the slider 1a, the battery case 5 is pulled out by the handling unit 1 and placed on the mounting portion of the battery exchange device main body 20. The battery exchange device body 20 moves to the battery charging rack side (not shown) and stores the battery drawn in an empty rack. The rack is equipped with a charging device for charging a discharged battery. A boss 7a that engages with the battery case stopper 8 of the battery case 5 is also provided on the rack side so that the stored battery is fixed.

Next, the battery case 5 accommodating the charged battery is pulled out from the other rack by the above-mentioned pulling-out procedure, and the battery exchanging apparatus main body 2 is left as it is.
0 to the front of the battery compartment of the carrier body 6,
The battery case 5 holding the handling unit 1 by moving it forward is stored in the battery storage portion 7 of the transport vehicle body 6.

The handling unit 1 is moved to the right to disengage the hole 4 from the pin 11 and the battery case stopper 8 is engaged with the boss 7a to store the battery case 5 in the storage portion of the transport vehicle main body 6. Fix in 7. Then, the handling unit 1 is retracted to complete the battery replacement.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a mechanism for operating the handling unit 1 of the battery exchange device shown in FIG.

The hook portion 2 is fixed to the slide plate 21. Two linear guide rods 22, 22 and a feed screw 23 penetrate through the slide plate 21.
A screw is cut in the hole through which the feed screw 23 penetrates and is screwed. Both ends of the linear guide rods 22, 22 are supported by fixed plates 24, 25, respectively. The feed screw 23 is also rotatably supported at both ends by fixed plates 24 and 25, and a gear 26 is attached to a portion protruding from the fixed plate 24. The gear 26 meshes with the gear 27. The gear 27 is attached to the shaft of a motor 28 attached to the upper portion of the fixed plate 24.

The fixed plate 25 is attached to the movable table 29. The moving table 29 moves along the linear guide 30 in the arrow direction. A chain 31 is attached to the moving table 29, and the chain 31 includes sprockets 32, 33.
The movable table 29 can be moved by driving the sprocket 32 by a driving mechanism not shown in the drawing.

The hook portion 2 drives the motor 28 to rotate the feed screw 23 so that the fixed plate 24,
Battery case 5 by reciprocating between 25 as shown by the arrow.
And the hook portion 2 are connected and released, and the battery case 5 and the automatic guided vehicle 6 are fixed and released. The battery case 5 can be pulled out and pushed in by reciprocating the moving table 29.

According to the above-described embodiment, the battery exchanging device can exchange the battery without the need for the vertical movement, so that the battery accommodating portion 7 of the automatic guided vehicle 6 can be replaced.
The battery can be replaced even when the position is low.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the handling unit 1 is provided with a mechanism for moving horizontally as shown in FIG. 2, but this movement can also be achieved by moving the main body of the battery exchanging device 20, It can also be achieved by running the automatic guided vehicle 6 in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the battery case 5 and moving the hook portion 2 relatively.

[0026]

As described above, according to the battery exchanging device of the present invention, since the battery exchanging device does not have to move in the vertical direction when exchanging the battery, the overall height is low, and thus the battery accommodating portion is located at a low position. It is possible to automatically replace the battery even for an automated guided vehicle having a.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of an embodiment of a battery exchanging device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an operating mechanism of a battery exchanging means of the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Handling unit 2 Hook part 3 Notch part 4 Hole 5 Battery case 6 Automatic guided vehicle 7 Battery storage part 8 Battery case stopper 9, 9 Collar 10 Spring 11 Pin

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A battery exchanging device for pulling out and pushing a battery from a side surface of an automated guided vehicle can move relatively in a horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to a moving direction of the battery. A battery exchanging device for releasing fixing to a vehicle, connecting an exchanging means and a battery, fixing the battery and an automatic guided vehicle by moving in another direction, and disconnecting the exchanging means and the battery.