JPH08168107A - Automatic charging system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To positively and safely perform charging. CONSTITUTION: An automatic charging system is provided with a position detection means for detecting that a mobile body stops at a specific chargeable position and a connection detection means for detecting that the mobile body and a charger are electrically connected so that a battery 2 starts to be charged when the position detection means detects the stop of the mobile body and the connection detection means detects an electrical connection. The position detection means is constituted of a reflection plate 40 provided at the mobile body and a photoelectric switch 30 provided at the charger, the reflection plate 40 is arranged at the deep part of a hole 16 for transmitting light being provided at the mobile body. Also, the photoelectric switch 30 is laid out at the deep part of a hole 26 for transmitting light being provided at the charger.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic charging system. In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic charging system capable of safely and reliably charging a battery mounted on a traveling body such as an automated guided vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a warehouse or a factory, an automated guided vehicle that transfers articles to and from a station is driven by a battery, and the battery needs to be charged when the battery is exhausted. .

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing a charging device for such an automatic guided vehicle.

In the figure, 1 is an automated guided vehicle, 2 is a battery mounted on the automated guided vehicle 1, 3 and 3 are contacts exposed in the casing of the automated guided vehicle 1, and 4 is a battery 2. Wirings 5 connecting the contacts 3 and 3 are fuses provided in the middle of the wiring 4.

Reference numeral 6 is a charger arranged at the charging station, and 7 and 7 are charging terminals of the charger 6, which are in contact with the contacts 3 of the automated guided vehicle 1 and the battery 2 of the automated guided vehicle 1. To charge.

According to such a charging device, when the battery 2 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is exhausted, the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels to the charging station where the charger 6 is installed and stops, The contacts 3, 3 are brought into contact with the charging terminals 7, 7 of the charger 6 to receive the charge of the battery 2.

[0007]

The conventional automatic charging system described above has the following problems.

The automated guided vehicle 1 stops at the side of the charger 6 and receives the charge from the charger 6.
Even when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is displaced with respect to the charger 6 and stopped, the charger 6 is operated regardless of whether the contactor 3 and the charging terminal 7 are in contact with each other. Therefore, charging in a state where the contactor 3 and the charging terminal 7 are not in contact with each other is dangerous.

In particular, when the contact position of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is displaced and the contact 3 and the charging terminal 7 are displaced, and the contact area is reduced, the contact portion may generate heat. there were.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide an automatic charging system capable of performing reliable and safe charging.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the automatic charging system according to claim 1 is a position detecting means for detecting that the traveling body has stopped at a predetermined chargeable position, and the traveling body. A connection detecting means for detecting that the charger and the charger are electrically connected, the position detecting means detects a stop of the traveling body, and the connection detecting means detects an electrical connection. In addition, it is characterized in that the charging of the battery is started.

An automatic charging system according to a second aspect is the automatic charging system according to the first aspect, wherein the position detecting means includes a reflector provided on the traveling body and a photoelectric switch provided on the charger. It is characterized by being configured.

An automatic charging system according to a third aspect is the automatic charging system according to the second aspect, wherein the reflector is
The photoelectric switch is arranged inside a hole for light passage provided in the traveling body, and the photoelectric switch is arranged behind a hole for light passage provided in the charger. .

[0014]

According to the automatic charging system of the first aspect, the position detecting means detects that the traveling body has stopped at a predetermined chargeable position, and the traveling body and the charger are electrically connected. When it is detected by the connection detection means that the battery is started to be charged, the traveling body stops at a predetermined chargeable position,
Moreover, the charging is performed only when the traveling body and the charger are electrically connected.

Therefore, reliable and safe charging can be performed.

According to the automatic charging system of the second aspect, in the automatic charging system of the first aspect, the position detecting means comprises a reflector provided on the traveling body and a photoelectric switch provided on the charger. Therefore, highly accurate position detection can be realized with a simple configuration.

According to the automatic charging system of the third aspect, in the automatic charging system of the second aspect, the reflecting plate is arranged at the back of the light passage hole provided in the traveling body, and the photoelectric conversion device is provided. Since the switch is disposed deep inside the light passage hole provided in the charger, it is less susceptible to the influence of light other than the photoelectric switch, and it is possible to realize more accurate position detection.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram for explaining an embodiment of an automatic charging system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of an automated guided vehicle showing a state in which the charger is stopped laterally, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a right side view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the charger.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes an automatic guided vehicle as a traveling body, which has a fork 10a. Reference numeral 20 is a charger provided in the charging station S. Charger 2
On the side of 0, a pair of connectors 21, which come into contact with a pair of charging terminals 11, 11 provided on the side of the automatic guided vehicle 10,
21 is provided.

The charging terminals 11 and 11 are shown in FIGS.
As shown in (b), it is formed in an inverted trapezoidal shape in a plan view, and protrudes in a mountain shape toward the side of the automatic guided vehicle 10. Reference numeral 12 is a conductive portion provided above and below the charging terminal 11 and made of a conductive member such as brass.

The connector 21 is, as shown in FIGS.
It is provided at a position facing the conductive parts 12, 12 of the charging terminal 11. The connector 21 is provided in a U-shaped side view fixed to the frame 20a and a base 22 which is retractable in the directions of arrows X1 and X2 in the drawing with respect to the base 22 and contacts the conductive portion 12 of the charging terminal 11. The child 23 and a spring 24 for urging the contact 23 in the direction of the arrow X1 in the figure.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a support rod fixed to the tip of the base portion 22, which is a vertically elongated hole 23a provided in the center of the contact 23.
The contactor 23 is guided through the hole.

In this embodiment, as an interlock of the charging circuit 51 provided in the charger 20, a position detecting means for detecting that the automatic guided vehicle 10 has stopped at a predetermined chargeable position and an automatic guided vehicle 10 are detected. And a connection detection means for detecting that the charger 20 and the charger 20 are electrically connected.

The position detecting means includes a photoelectric sensor 30 provided on the charger 20 and a reflection plate 4 provided on the automated guided vehicle 10.
It consists of 0. As shown in FIGS.
Is arranged behind a light passage hole 26 provided in the casing 20b of the charger 20. The reflection plate 40 is a hole 1 for light passage provided in the casing 10b of the automatic guided vehicle 10.
It is located at the back of 6.

In such a photoelectric switch 30, as shown in FIG. 3, the contact 23 of the connector 21 has the charging terminal 11
When it is located at the center of the top of the
It is arranged so as to be N. The photoelectric switch 30 has a make contact S1 that turns on the charging circuit 51.

The connection detecting means includes a battery voltage detecting relay 50. This battery voltage detection relay 50
As shown in FIG. 1, from the charging circuit 51 to the contact 23,
It is connected to the wiring leading to 23, and the charging circuit 51 is turned off.
It has a make contact S2 that turns off. In the battery voltage detection relay 50, the contact 23 contacts the charging terminal 11,
When the automatic guided vehicle 10 and the charger 20 are electrically connected, the contact S2 of the charging circuit 51 is turned on by receiving the voltage of the battery 2 of the automatic guided vehicle 10.

The charging circuit 51 is the photoelectric switch 3 described above.
Contact S1 of 0 and contact S2 of battery voltage detection relay 50
Only when both contact points of and are closed, the electric current is applied to the automatic guided vehicle 10. In FIG. 1, S3 is a make contact of a magnet switch (not shown), which is turned on when the automated guided vehicle 10 is stopped at a predetermined position of the charger 20. As a result, the voltage of the battery 2 is not directly applied to the charging terminal 11 except during charging, and a short circuit accident of the charging terminal 11 is prevented.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned automatic charging system will be described.

When the battery 2 of the automated guided vehicle 10 is exhausted, the automated guided vehicle 10 travels to the charging station in which the charger 20 is installed, and an encoder (not shown) mounted on the automated guided vehicle 10 is installed. The control stops at a predetermined position.

At this time, if the stop position of the automated guided vehicle 10 is not misaligned, the photoelectric switch 30 detects the reflector 40 and the contact S1 of the charging circuit 51 is turned on. In addition, the charging terminal 11 and the contact 23 are electrically connected,
The contact S2 of the charging circuit 51 is turned on. As a result, the two interlocks of the charging circuit 51 are released, and the automatic guided vehicle 1
The charging current will flow to zero.

If the stop position of the automated guided vehicle 10 is incorrect, the photoelectric switch 30 does not detect the reflector 40 or the charging terminal 11 and the contact 23 are not electrically connected. As a result, the interlock is not released and the charging circuit 51 does not operate.

Since the charging terminal 11 is formed in a chevron shape and the contactor 23 is freely retractable, as shown in FIG. 6A, the contactor 23 is initially charged. 11 is contacted with the inclined surface, and thereafter the automatic guided vehicle 1
As the vehicle travels 0, it is pushed in the direction of the arrow X2 in FIG. 6 (a) and comes into strong contact with the top of the charging terminal 11. Therefore, smooth and reliable contact between the charging terminal 11 and the contact 23 can be realized. Further, the contactor 23 is gradually pushed in as the unmanned guided vehicle 10 travels, so resistance to the traveling of the unmanned guided vehicle 10 is less likely to occur.

According to the above-described automatic charging system of the present embodiment, the position detecting means detects that the automatic guided vehicle 10 has stopped at a predetermined chargeable position, and the automatic guided vehicle 10 and the charger 20 are connected to each other. When the connection detecting means detects that the battery 2 is electrically connected, the battery 2 is started to be charged.
Is stopped at a predetermined chargeable position, and the automatic guided vehicle 10
The charging is performed only when the charger 20 and the charger 20 are electrically connected.

Therefore, reliable and safe charging can be performed.

Further, since the position detecting means is composed of the photoelectric switch 30 provided in the charger 20 and the reflecting plate 40 provided in the automated guided vehicle 10, highly accurate position detection is realized with a simple structure. can do.

Further, the reflection plate 40 is arranged in the back of the light passage hole 16 provided in the automatic guided vehicle 10, and the photoelectric switch 30 is provided in the charger 20 for the light passage hole 26. Since it is disposed at the back of the optical switch, it is unlikely to be affected by light other than the photoelectric switch 30 and is unlikely to malfunction.

Therefore, more highly accurate position detection can be realized.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0040]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram for explaining an embodiment of an automatic charging system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the automatic guided vehicle showing a state in which the charger is stopped to the side.

FIG. 3 is a partially transparent plan view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the charger.

FIG. 6A is an enlarged plan view of a charging terminal and a contact,
(B) is a left side view when (a) is a front view.

7A is an enlarged front view of a charging terminal, FIG. 7B is an enlarged plan view of the same, and FIG. 7C is a plan view of FIG.

8A is a front view of the contact, FIG. 8B is a plan view of FIG. 8A as a rear view, and FIG. 8C is a left side view of FIG. 8B as a front view. Similarly, d) is a right side view.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram for explaining a conventional charging system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Battery 10 Automated guided vehicle 16, 26 Hole for passing light 30 Photoelectric switch 40 Reflector 50 Battery voltage detection relay 51 Charger

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A position detecting means for detecting that the traveling body has stopped at a predetermined chargeable position, and a connection detecting means for detecting that the traveling body and the charger are electrically connected. The automatic charging system is configured so that charging of the battery is started when the position detecting means detects a stop of the traveling body and the connection detecting means detects an electrical connection. . 2. The automatic charging system according to claim 1, wherein the position detecting means includes a reflecting plate provided on the traveling body and a photoelectric switch provided on the charger. 3. The reflection plate is arranged deep inside a light passage hole provided in the traveling body, and the photoelectric switch is deep inside a light passage hole provided in the charger. 3. The automatic charging system according to claim 2, wherein the automatic charging system is arranged in.