JPH06101883B2 - Battery exchange device for automated guided vehicles - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a battery exchange device mounted on an automated guided vehicle used in a factory, a warehouse, or the like.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

An automated guided vehicle adopts a system in which a guide member is laid on the road surface as a mechanism that moves along a predetermined route and the guided vehicle travels along this, and a battery is mounted as a drive source, and this battery is regularly replaced. There is a need to.

However, the battery has a considerable weight, and replacement requires labor and labor, and replacement requires a considerable amount of time, during which the automatic guided vehicle cannot be used, which affects work.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a battery exchanging device for an automatic guided vehicle, which can efficiently replace a battery mounted on the automatic guided vehicle and can charge the replaced battery during storage. To aim.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, a battery exchanging device for an unmanned guided vehicle according to the present invention is a battery exchanging device for an unmanned guided vehicle having a battery storage chamber and a battery transfer mechanism, and the battery accommodating chamber is a travel of the unmanned guided vehicle. It has a battery storage shelf provided under the road and provided with a plurality of battery pedestals and a charger, and the battery transfer mechanism receives the battery mounted on the automatic guided vehicle on the battery receiving plate of the battery exchanger. , Lower the battery into the battery storage room, then traverse it and place it on the battery pedestal, and receive the charged battery on the battery pedestal onto the battery support plate, let it traverse, and raise the battery storage room to carry out unmanned transportation. It is installed in the car.

The battery transfer mechanism can be composed of a battery exchanger, an elevating mechanism for elevating the battery exchanger, a traverse mechanism for traversing the battery receiving plate, and a lifter for elevating the battery receiving plate.

Further, an electrode that fits into an electrode insertion member provided on the battery bottom plate can be arranged on the upper surface of the battery pedestal.

[Action]

The battery transfer mechanism replaces the battery mounted on the transport vehicle with a charged battery on the battery storage shelf. The replaced battery is charged in the battery storage shelf.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments.

The automated guided vehicle 1 is laid on the floor surface FL of the traveling path, detects a guiding member C such as an electric wire or a guiding tape, and travels along the guiding member C. The transporting vehicle 1 uses a battery 2 as a power source as described later. It is mounted detachably.

The battery exchanging device 5 for exchanging the battery 2 is provided with a pit 6 as a battery storage chamber under the traveling path of the transport vehicle 1, and a battery transfer mechanism 7 and battery storage shelves 8, 8 ... Are provided in the pit 6. Prepare The battery transfer mechanism 7 is designed to replace the battery 2 with respect to the transport vehicle 1 and store a used battery in the battery storage rack 8. The battery transfer mechanism 10 transfers the battery 2 and the lifting mechanism 11 of the battery exchanger 10. Consists of.

The battery exchanger 10 includes a battery receiving plate 12 and a battery receiving plate.
It includes a traverse mechanism 13 that shifts 12 in the lateral direction in the drawing and a lifter 14 that moves up and down the traverse mechanism 13 including the battery receiving plate 12. The traverse mechanism 13 includes a sliding plate 15 having a rail 16 for supporting the battery receiving plate 12 slidably in the longitudinal direction on the upper surface and a receiving plate driving member 20. The receiving plate drive member 20 is provided with a rack plate 21 mounted on the lower surface of the sliding plate 15 in the longitudinal direction thereof and a pinion 22 meshing with the rack plate 21, and the pinion 22 is connected to a drive motor 24 mounted on a base 23. And the pulley 26 attached to one side of the sliding plate 15 and the pulley 26
The wire 27 is wound around the battery 27. One end of the wire 27 is fixed to the battery receiving plate 12, and the other end is fixed to the stop plate 28 and the support plate 29 provided on the base 23 opposite to the pulley 26. Be worn.

The rails 16 have an I-beam cross section, are provided in pairs on the sliding plate 15, and have a supporting leg attached to the base 23 in the concave groove on one side.
A support roller 32 supported by 31 is fitted, and a guide roller 33 attached to the pedestal 12 is fitted in the groove on the other side.

As a result, when the pinion 22 is rotated and the sliding plate 15 is moved to the pulley 26 side, the wire 27 is pulled, and as is well known, the battery receiving plate 12 is twice the moving distance of the sliding plate 15. To migrate.

In this embodiment, the battery receiving plate 12 is moved in both directions by the same means.
28, symmetrical to the support plate 29, the pulley 26a, the stop plate 28a, the support plate
29a is provided and the wire 27a is stretched. In the figure, 30 and 30a are support plate mounting legs.

Further, it is desirable to provide a plurality of the pinions 22 with a space left therebetween. As a result, the length of the reciprocating travel of the sliding plate 15 can be measured. The illustrated example shows an example in which two pinions 22 and 22 are provided, and each pinion 22 and 22 is driven from the drive motor 24 via the intermediate shaft 25 at the same peripheral speed in the same direction.

The lifter 14 is composed of, for example, a known table lifter. Reference numeral 35 is a lifter drive motor, 36 is a screw shaft rotated by the motor 35 via a gear 37, and a sliding cylinder 38 is attached to the screw shaft 36.
The sliding cylinder 38 and the movable end of the lever 39 are connected via a shoe 40 so that the shoe 40 travels along a rail 41. These are well-known structures. Omit it.

The lifting mechanism 11 of the battery exchange 10 includes a drive motor 50 arranged at the bottom of the pit 6 and a vertical screw shaft 52 driven by the motor 50 via a speed reducer 51. The screw shafts 52 are provided along both side walls of the pit 6 (front and rear side walls where the battery storage shelves 8 are not provided), and the mounting base 42 of the lifter 14 has screw cylinders 53 screwed thereto. Reference numeral 54 is a guide rail, and preferably four guide rails are provided, and shoes 55 fitted to the lifter mount 42 are attached to the lifter mount 42.

As a result, the rotation of the screw shaft 52 moves the battery exchanger 10 up and down along the guide rail 54.

The battery storage shelves 8 are provided on one side or both sides in multiple stages facing the ascending / descending path of the battery exchanger 10, and an appropriate number of battery storage shelves 8 are provided with a battery cradle 60 and a charger 61.
The pedestal 60 and the charger 61 may be provided in all battery storage shelves, or may be omitted in some shelves and used as storage shelves for charged batteries.

The battery 2 is designed to automatically connect an electric circuit when it is mounted on the carrier vehicle 1 and when it is mounted on the pedestal 60, and its procedure is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 shows a support mechanism for the battery 2 in the carrier vehicle 1. The battery 2 is provided with a top plate 72 and a bottom plate 73 in a storage box 71 that stores the battery main body 70. The top plate 72 and the bottom plate 73 are respectively an upper electrode insertion member 74, a lower electrode insertion member 75,
Upper and lower guide rod insertion holes 76, 77 are provided.

The battery support mechanism 80 includes a guide rod 81 fitted in the insertion hole 76,
An elevating plate 82 guided by the guide rod 81 and left and right lifting levers 83, 84 are provided. The elevating plate 82 is provided with an electrode 85 to be fitted into the electrode inserting member 74, is installed on the receiving plate 86, and is provided with a proximity switch LS for detecting it when pushed up as described later.

The upper ends of the lifting levers 83 and 84 are connected to the support shafts 87 and 88, respectively. The support shafts 87 and 88 are provided with connection levers 89 and 90 in opposite directions, and both levers are connected by a connection rod 91.
The one support shaft 87 is connected to the drive motor 92 via the belt 93, and the battery 2 is connected to the battery exchanger 10 as described later.
When the electrode insertion member 74 and the electrode 85 are connected to each other and are raised by being driven by the drive motor 92, the drive motor 92 is rotated to rotate the lifting levers 83 and 84 to move the battery 2 to the battery 2. The drive motor 92 is stopped by the operation of the proximity switch LS due to the rise of the lifting / lowering plate 82, and the battery is maintained in the gripped state.

FIG. 8 shows the details of the pedestal 601. The pedestal 60 includes guide rods 102 and 102 that are fitted into the insertion holes 77 of the battery support pedestals 101 and 101 and the battery bottom plate 73, and an electrode mounting plate 103 that is fitted into both guide rods 102 and 102.
The mounting plate 103 is provided with electrodes 104, 104 that fit into the electrode insertion member 75 of the battery bottom plate 73, and is urged upward by the spring 105. 106 is a spring guide rod.

The electrode mounting plate 103 is normally pushed upward by the spring 105, and when the battery 2 is placed, the guide rod 10
2, held in place, the electrode 104 is connected to the insert 75, and the electrode 104 is connected to the charger 61 to start charging the battery 2. The charger 61 is provided with an overcharge prevention member.

In the above configuration, when replacing the battery 2 of the automatic guided vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 is stopped at a fixed position close to the pit 6, and the battery exchanger 10 is lifted by the lifting mechanism 11.
Stop in place. Next, the battery receiving plate 12 is traversed.
It moves to the side of the carrier vehicle 1 by 13 and is inserted below the battery 2. The lifting may be performed only by the lifting mechanism 11, but a lifter 14 may be used together for fine adjustment.

After inserting the above battery support plate 12, the battery lifting lever
83, 84 are rotated to open the battery 2, and the battery 2 is placed on the battery receiving plate 12.

After that, the battery receiving plate 12 is returned to the old position, and the lifting mechanism is moved.
It descends by 11 and stops facing the predetermined battery storage rack 8. After that, the battery 2 is placed on the battery receiving plate 12, moves into the battery storage shelf 8, and is lowered by the lifter 14 to place the battery 2 on the support base 101. At this time, the guide rod 102 is fitted into the insertion hole 77 formed in the bottom plate 73 to perform positioning, and as the battery 2 descends, the electrode 104
Is fitted and closely fitted to the insertion member 75, and charging is started. After that, the backing plate 12 is returned to the old one, and the lifting mechanism 11 moves to the opposite position of another battery storage shelf, and the backing plate 12 is inserted and the lifter is moved.
The battery 2 that has been fully charged by the ascending by 14 is transferred onto the battery receiving plate 12, and is moved up to a predetermined position by the backward movement of the receiving plate 12 and the ascending by the elevating mechanism 11. After that, the battery 2 is mounted and mounted on the guided vehicle 1 by performing the reverse operation of the above-described taking-out operation on the guided vehicle 1.

The battery that has been charged is transferred by the battery transfer mechanism 7 by using an appropriate battery storage shelf as a storage shelf. Alternatively, all the battery storage shelves may be provided with the cradle 60 and the charger 61 so that the power supply circuit is automatically opened when charging is completed.

Further, in this embodiment, the battery storage box 71 is provided with the top plate 72 and the bottom plate 73, and when mounted on the transport vehicle 1, the electrode insertion member 74 provided on the top plate 72 is used as the electrode 85, and the battery storage shelf 8 is provided. Cradle 60
For example, although the example in which the electrode insertion member 75 provided on the bottom plate 73 is connected to the electrode 104 is shown, only the top plate 72 is provided in the battery storage box 71, and the procedure for connecting the electric circuit to the pedestal 60 is supported by the battery. The structure may be the same as that of the mechanism 80, or conversely, the storage box 71 may be provided with the bottom plate 73, and the carrier vehicle 1 may be provided with the same structure as the pedestal 60.

The series of operations described above can be automatically performed based on a program input in advance by the control device.

Further, in the present embodiment, the pit is provided as the battery storage chamber, but the present invention is not limited to the pit, and it is of course possible to use the space below the floor where the transport vehicle is traveling. is there.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, a heavy battery mounted on a transport vehicle can be replaced by a battery transfer mechanism without manpower. Further, the exchanged battery can be charged during storage in the battery storage rack. As a result, it is possible to save labor when exchanging the battery and shorten the down time for charging the battery, and to improve the efficiency of the work performed by the automatic guided vehicle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory view, and FIG.
The figure shows the front view of the battery exchanger, and Fig. 3 shows its left side view.
4 is a front view of the traverse mechanism, FIG. 5 is a left side view of the traverse mechanism, FIG. 6 is a view taken along the line I-I in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a front view of the battery support mechanism of the transport vehicle. , FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the battery storage rack pedestal, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a traveling route of the automatic guided vehicle. 1 is an automatic guided vehicle, 2 is a battery, 5 is a battery exchanging device, 6 is a battery storage chamber (pit), 7 is a battery transfer mechanism, 8 is a battery storage shelf, 10 is a battery exchanger, 11 is a lifting mechanism, and 12 is a battery. A receiving plate, 13 is a traverse mechanism, 14 is a lifter, 60 is a battery pedestal, 61 is a charger, 73 is a battery bottom plate, 75 is an electrode loading member, 80 is a battery supporting mechanism, and 104 is an electrode.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A battery exchanging device (5) for an automated guided vehicle having a battery storage chamber (6) and a battery transfer mechanism (7).
The battery storage chamber (6) has a battery storage shelf (8) provided under the traveling path of the automatic guided vehicle and provided with a plurality of battery pedestals (60) and a charger (61). Then, the battery transfer mechanism (7) receives the battery (2) mounted on the automatic guided vehicle on the battery receiving plate (12) of the battery exchanger (10) and lowers it into the battery storage chamber (6). The battery cradle (60) is made to traverse and is placed on the battery cradle (60), and the charged battery (2) on the battery cradle (60) is received on the battery cradle (12) and made to traverse to the battery storage chamber (6). ) A battery exchange device for an automated guided vehicle that is installed in an automated guided vehicle ascending inside. 2. A battery transfer mechanism (7) includes a battery exchanger (10), a lifting mechanism (11) for the battery exchanger, a traverse mechanism (13) for a battery receiving plate (12) of the battery exchanger (10), and a battery receiver. The battery exchange device for an automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, comprising a lifter (14) for moving up and down the plate (12). 3. The battery pedestal (60) is provided with an electrode (104) fitted on an electrode insertion member (75) of the battery bottom plate (73) on the upper surface thereof. Alternatively, the battery exchanging device for the automatic guided vehicle according to the second aspect.