JPH10234137A - Contact conduction unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure a stabilized contact state, regardless of curl or flexure of a flexible conductor by supporting a conductive rod on a guide member through a resilient member, while urging in a specified direction so that the terminal face follows up the attitude of the connection terminal of an apparatus to be connected. SOLUTION: A conductive rod 1 comprises a shaft part 1a and a flange part 1b, abutting on the back face of a cover 4. Female screw holes are made in the end face of a housing 3 and the cover 4 is secured by means of screws 11 driven thereinto. A protrusion 3a is formed in the housing 3 and a compression spring 12 is inserted between the protrusion 3a and the flange part 1b. The conductive rod 1 is moved independently of the housing 3 by the repelling force of the compression spring 12 to bring a contact member 2 into contact with a contact member on the power-receiving side with a specified pressing force. Furthermore, a case 5 is stopped not to be separated by the repelling force of a compression spring 13 by fitting a ring 8 in a groove 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact energizing device for a mobile device such as an automatic guided vehicle, and more particularly, to a ground charger and a mobile device which are electrically connected based on contact of a connection terminal.
The present invention relates to a contact energizing device that supplies current from a ground-side charger to a battery mounted on a mobile device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electric mobile devices that run by rotating a drive motor based on a current supplied from a vehicle-mounted battery have been widely used in factories and the like.

[0003] Such a charging contact energizing device for charging a battery of a mobile device has a contact element of an energizing device on a power supply side provided in the charging station in a state where the mobile device is temporarily stopped at a charging station on the ground. The charging is performed by electrically connecting the contact elements of the power receiving device provided on the mobile device to the power receiving side. Therefore, it is necessary that the contact elements can be attached and detached and that the contact state between the contact elements can be reliably maintained during charging.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-2926 discloses a method of charging by bringing the contact elements on the power supply side and the power receiving side into contact with each other.
There is a contact energizing device disclosed in JP-A-07-07.

FIG. 6 shows a contact energizing device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-292607, in which two sets of power supply side contact devices 23A and 23B provided in a charging station are provided.
And two sets of power-receiving-side contact devices 4 attached to mobile equipment
It has 0A and 40B.

The power supply side contact devices 23A and 23B are composed of a conductive rod 24 formed of a conductive material, a contact member 25 formed at the tip of the conductive rod 24, and a direction along a spherical sliding surface. Spherical bearing 26 movably supporting conductive rod 24
, A shaft 28 having a hollow cross section, a stopper 28A provided integrally with the shaft 28, a lid 30 penetrated by the shaft 28 and locked by the stopper 28A, and a shaft 28 Are disposed between a bottomed guide cylinder 32 penetrating through, a drive base 31 for integrally fixing the lid 30 and the bottomed guide cylinder 32 with bolts 29A and nuts 29B, and a shaft 28 in the bottomed guide cylinder 32. Compression spring 33, a ring 34 fixed to the shaft 28 protruding from the bottomed guide cylinder 32, a terminal conductor 36 fixed to the ring 34 by a spring pin 35, and a conductive sleeve crimped to the conductive rod 24. 37, a sleeve portion 38 to be crimped to the terminal conductor 36, and a flexible conductor connecting the conductive sleeve 37 and the sleeve portion 38. With 9.

The power receiving side contact devices 40A and 40B are composed of an insulating substrate 41 and nuts 42A, 42
A contact member 43 fixed by B, and a moving device side mounting base 45 to which the insulating substrate 41 is fixed by bolts 44A and nuts 44B.

FIG. 7 shows the power supply side contact devices 23A and 23A.
B is shown from the front, and the power supply side contact devices 23A and 23B are fixed to the drive base 31 by three bolts 29A, respectively.
Is formed in a circular shape.

FIG. 8 shows the power receiving side contact devices 40A and 40A.
B, the contact member 43 has a quadrangular shape with a larger area than the contact member 25 provided on the conductive rod, and is embedded in each of the depressions formed in the insulating substrate 41.

In the above-described contact energizing device, the mobile device is stopped at the charging station, and then the driving base 3 on the power supply side is turned off.
By moving 1 in the direction of the arrow, the contact members 25 of the power contact devices 23A and 23B and the contact members 43 of the power receiving contact devices 40A and 40B are brought into contact. If the posture of the mobile device is poor at the time of this contact, the contact members 25 and 43 come into contact with each other at an angle rather than from the front.

In this case, the entire surface of the contact member 25 is brought into contact by swinging the conductive rod 24 supported by the spherical joint 27 in accordance with the contact direction of the contact member 43.
When the drive base 31 further moves in the direction of the arrow, the compression spring 33 housed in the bottomed guide cylinder 32 is compressed via the stopper 28 of the shaft 28 to absorb the load,
Contact member 25 and contact member 43 are maintained in a predetermined contact state. In this way, the battery mounted on the mobile device is charged.

[0012]

However, according to the conventional contact current supply device, since the flexible conductor connected to the conductive rod of the power supply side contact device has a peculiar peculiarity and bending, the conductive material having the spherical bearing as a fulcrum is used. When trying to stabilize the contact state by swinging the rod, the movement direction of the conductive rod is restricted due to the above-mentioned habit and bending of the flexible conductor, and depending on how the contact member contacts the power receiving side contact device, the contact members may be correctly aligned. There is a problem that an unstable contact state is caused without contact. Therefore,
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a contact energizing device capable of obtaining a stable contact state even when a flexible conductor has a habit or bending.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an insulative guide member 3 which is elastically supported by a fixed system 5 via a resilient member 13 in a predetermined direction. And a conductive rod 1 having a terminal surface 2 protruding from one end of the guide member 3 to be in contact with the connection terminals 18A and 18B of the device to be connected, and penetrating through the guide member 3 connected to the conductive rod 1 In the contact current supply device provided with the power supply terminal 10 having the flexible conductor 9, the conductive rod 1
The terminal surface 2 is elastically supported by the guide member 3 via the elastic member 12 while being urged in the predetermined direction, so that the terminal surface 2 is connected to the connection terminals 18A and 18A of the connected device.
Provided is a contact energizing device configured to follow the posture of 8B.

In the above-described contact current supply device, the conductive rod 1
Has a shaft portion 1a through which the elastic member 12 is inserted, and a flange portion 1b which receives the elastic member 12 inserted through the shaft portion 1a,
Projection 3a and flange 1b raised on the inner diameter of guide member 3
The terminal surface 2 is projected from the opening by screwing an insulating lid 4 having an opening smaller than the outer diameter of the flange portion 1b to the end surface of the guide member 3 with an elastic member 12 disposed between the opening and the end. And may be integrated. This elastic member 12 may be a compression spring. The guide member 3 has a cylindrical outer peripheral portion having a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion, and the elastic member 13 is arranged between the compression spring accommodating portion 5b of the fixed system 5 and the small diameter portion to form the groove 3b. It is preferable that the fixing ring 8 is fitted to the fixing system 5 to be integrated with the fixing system 5. This elastic member 13
May be a compression spring.

[0015]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a contact current supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a contact-side power supply device on the power supply side provided as a ground charging station in an embodiment of the present invention, and a conductive rod 1 made of a conductive material such as metal.
A contact member 2 formed at the tip of the conductive rod 1; an insulating housing 3 for accommodating the conductive rod 1; and a lid 4 for projecting the tip of the conductive rod 1 to seal the end face of the housing 3.
And an insulating case 5 integrally formed with the supporting and fixing flange 5a and the compression spring accommodating portion 5b; a base 7 to which the flange 5a is fixed by the bolt 6; A ring 8, a flexible conductor 9 connected to the shaft 1a of the conductive rod 1, and a crimp terminal 1 crimped to an end of the flexible conductor 9.
Has zero.

FIG. 2 shows the contact power supply device on the power supply side from the front. The lid 4 is fixed to the end face of the housing 3 by six screws 11.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the contact current supply device on the power supply side. The conductive rod 1 is composed of a shaft portion 1a and a flange portion 1b, and the flange portion 1b is in contact with the back surface of the lid 4. A female screw is formed on an end surface of the housing 3, and the lid 4 is fixed by a screw 11 that is screwed into the female screw. Further, a projection 3a is formed inside the housing 3, and the compression spring 12 is inserted between the projection 3a and the flange 1b. The conductive rod 1 can move independently of the housing 3 based on the repulsive force of the compression spring 12, so that the contact member 2
Is brought into contact with a contact member (not shown) on the power receiving side with a predetermined pressing force.

The housing 3 and the compression spring housing 5b
A compression spring 13 is housed between the groove 3b and the case 5 so that the case 5 is not separated by the repulsive force of the compression spring 13.
The ring 8 is fitted and locked. The housing 3 is elastically supported by the case 5 based on the repulsive force of the compression spring 13.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact state between the contact power supply device on the power supply side and the contact power supply device on the automatic guided vehicle (power receiving side). Two sets of power supply side contact devices 1 fixed to the base 7 are shown.
4A and 14B, and two sets of power receiving side contact devices 15A and 15B embedded in the insulating substrate 16.

Contact-side power supply devices 15A and 15B on the power receiving side
Are contact members 18A and 18B fixed to insulating substrate 16 by bolts 17, and contact members 18A and 18B.
8B, crimp terminals 20A and 20B fixed by bolts 19, and a movable base 22 for fixing the insulating substrate 16 by bolts 21A and nuts 21B. The contact members 18A and 18B are electrically conductive as shown in FIG. It has a quadrangular shape with a larger area than the contact member 2 provided on the rod 1 and is buried in a recess formed in the insulating substrate 16.

In the contact energizing device described above, the contact energizing devices 15A and 15B on the power receiving side fixed to the movable base 22 have an angle with respect to the base 7 on the power supply side, and the base 7 is moved in the direction of the arrow. The operation of charging the battery by moving the power supply side to make contact with the contact energizing devices 14A and 14B will be described.

First, the contact energizing device 14B first contacts the contact energizing device 15B based on the movement of the base portion 7.
When the flange 1b of the conductive rod 1 compresses the compression spring 12 based on the contact with the contact member 18B, the repulsive force increases.

Based on the increased repulsion, the conductive rod 1
By applying a pressing force in the normal direction of the contact member 18B, the contact member 2 provided at the tip of the conductive rod 1 is brought into planar contact with the contact member 18B. In addition, the load generated due to the movement of the base portion 7 is absorbed by the compression spring 13 accommodated between the housing 3 and the compression spring accommodation portion 5b, so that the contact state between the contact members is favorably maintained. Is done.

Next, the contact energizing device 14A contacts the contact energizing device 15A. Also in this contact, the contact member 2 and the contact member 18B come into planar contact based on the above-described operation. After confirming that the connection on the power receiving side has been completed, charging is started.

When charging is completed, the contact energizing devices 14A and 14B are moved in the direction opposite to the arrow to separate the contact member 2 from the contact member 18B. After the separation, the conductive rod 1 accommodated in the housing 3 is arranged at a predetermined position based on the repulsive force of the compression spring 12.

[0027]

As described above, according to the contact energizing device of the present invention, the conductive rod is supported by the guide member while being urged in the predetermined direction via the elastic member, so that the contact member of the device to be connected can be supported. Since the posture is followed, a stable contact state can be obtained even if there is a habit or bending of the flexible conductor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a power supply side contact device of a contact energizing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a power supply side contact device of the contact energizing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a power supply side contact device of the contact energizing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a contact state between a power supply side contact device and a power receiving side contact device of the contact energizing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a power receiving side contact device of the contact energizing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a contact state between a power supply side contact device and a power receiving side contact device of a conventional contact energizing device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a power supply side contact device of a conventional contact current supply device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a power receiving side contact device of a conventional contact current supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, conductive rod 1a, shaft 1b, flange 2, contact member 3, housing 3a, protrusion 3b, groove 4, lid 5, case 5a, flange 5b, compression spring housing 6, bolt 7, base 8 , Ring 9, flexible conductor 10, crimp terminal 11, screw 12, compression spring 13, compression spring 14A, contact energizing device (power side) 14B, contact energizing device (power side) 15A, contact energizing device (power receiving side) 15B , Contact conduction device (power receiving side) 16, insulating substrate 17, bolt 18A, contact member 18B, contact member 19, bolt 20A, crimp terminal 20B, crimp terminal 21A, bolt 21B, nut 22, moving base 23A, power supply side contact Device 23B, power supply side contact device 24, conductive rod 25, contact member 26, spherical bearing 27, spherical joint 28, shaft 28A, stopper 29A, bolt 2 B, nut 30, lid 31, drive base 32, bottomed guide cylinder 33, compression spring 34, ring 35, spring pin 36, terminal conductor 37, conductive sleeve 38, sleeve 39, flexible conductor 40A, power receiving side contact Device 40B, power receiving side contact device 41, insulating substrate 42A, nut 42B, nut 43, contact member 44A, bolt 44B, nut 45, moving device side mounting base

Claims (5)

[Claims] An insulative guide member that is elastically supported while being urged in a predetermined direction by a fixed system via an elastic member, and a connection terminal of a device to be connected from one end of the guide member. A contact conducting device including a conductive rod 1 having a terminal surface 2 protruding from contact with 18A and 18B, and a power terminal 10 having a flexible conductor 9 connected to the conductive rod 1 and penetrating through the guide member 3. In the above, the conductive rod 1 is elastically supported by the guide member 3 through the elastic member 12 while being urged in the predetermined direction, so that the terminal surface 2 is connected to the connection terminal 18A of the connected device and A contact energizing device configured to follow the attitude of 18B. 2. The conductive rod 1 has a shaft portion 1a through which the elastic member 12 is inserted, and a flange portion 1b that receives the elastic member 12 through the shaft portion 1a. The elastic member 12 is disposed between the protrusion 3a raised to the inner diameter and the flange 1b, and the insulating lid 4 having an opening smaller than the outer diameter of the flange 1b is attached to the guide member 3. 2. The contact conduction device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal surface 2 protrudes from the opening so as to be integrated by being screw-fixed to an end surface. 3. 3. The contact energizing device according to claim 1, wherein said elastic member is a compression spring. 4. The guide member 3 has a cylindrical outer peripheral portion having a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion, and an elastic member 13 is provided between the compression spring accommodating portion 5b of the fixed system 5 and the small diameter portion. 2. The contact energizing device according to claim 1, wherein the contact energizing device is configured to be integrated with the fixing system 5 by disposing the fixing ring 8 in the groove 3 b. 3. 5. The contact energizing device according to claim 1, wherein said elastic member is a compression spring.