JPH10313543A - Battery supply unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To supply a charged battery for a plurality of users by charging batteries loaded to a plurality of loading sections through a charging circuit and keeping the charged state while locking such that the charged state and presence of a battery can be confirmed from the outside. SOLUTION: The battery supply unit 42 is provided, at the body section 98 thereof, with a plurality of sections 100 for loading batteries 18. Electrodes 104 to be connected with a charging circuit 102 and a sensor 106 for detecting presence of a battery are arranged on the bottom of the loading section 100. A locking mechanism 108 for blocking removal of the battery 18 is arranged on the inside of the loading section 100 and a light emitting element 110 for indicating the locked state of the battery 18 and a light emitting element 112 for indicating the charged state thereof are arranged at the opening of the loading section 100. According to the arrangement, the rending and returning process of battery is facilitated in the rental system for motor vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying a battery to an electric vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an electric vehicle such as an electric vehicle or an electric motorcycle is equipped with a battery, and a driving force by a power source thereof is used as a driving force or an auxiliary driving force. This battery must of course be charged in advance.

[0003] Such batteries are relatively expensive and require a considerable amount of time to charge at present. Therefore, a device that can arbitrarily supply a battery that is already charged is desired.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and is a battery capable of charging a battery loaded in an electric vehicle and supplying the battery to a plurality of users. It is intended to provide a supply device.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a battery supply device comprising: a plurality of loading portions into which a battery of an electric vehicle is loaded; a charging circuit for charging the battery loaded in the loading portion; A lock mechanism that locks the battery loaded in the loading section, a charging detection section that detects a state of charge of the battery loaded in the loading section, and a battery presence detection section that detects the presence or absence of the battery in the loading section. , Is provided.

[0006] In this case, the batteries loaded in the plurality of loading sections are respectively charged using a charging circuit and are kept in a locked state, and the charged state and the presence / absence of the battery can be confirmed from the outside, so that the Can be unlocked and taken out and provided to the user.

[0007]

FIG. 1 shows a rental system for an electric vehicle to which a battery supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

The electric vehicle rental system includes a bicycle parking lot 10 in which a plurality of electric vehicles can be rented, and a central control room 12 for managing the status of the bicycle parking lot 10 and users.

FIG. 2 shows an electric motorcycle 14 which is an example of an electric vehicle rented by the rental system. The electric motorcycle 14 includes an auxiliary driving unit 16 that assists the driving force of the pedal 15 and a battery 18 that supplies power to the auxiliary driving unit 16. The battery 18 is removably stored in a battery case 20 mounted on the front of the handle 19. Battery case 20
Has a lid 24 provided with a lock mechanism 22 in order to prevent the stored battery 18 from being stolen. Also, saddle 2
5, a U-shaped engaging portion 28 for locking a circle lock, which will be described later, provided in the bicycle parking lot 10, is provided on the main frame 26 below.
Is provided. Further, the rear wheel 30 includes the electric motorcycle 14
Is provided with a circle lock 32 for preventing theft at an arbitrary parking place. The lock mechanism 2 of the battery 18
2. A circle lock described later and a circle lock 32 of the rear wheel 30 provided in the bicycle parking lot 10 can be unlocked with the same key.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the bicycle parking lot 10 is used by a lending control device 34 for controlling the entire lending process of the electric motorcycle 14 in the bicycle parking lot 10 and a user card such as a contactless IC card. Identification device 36 for identifying a user, and display device 38 with a touch panel for displaying and selecting selection information related to the selectable electric motorcycle 14
A key supply device 40 that holds a plurality of keys of the electric motorcycle 14 parked in the bicycle parking lot 10 and can select a key related to a desired electric motorcycle 14, and a battery supply device 42 that holds a plurality of batteries 18 And a charging control device 43 for controlling charging of an electric motorcycle with a built-in battery
A bicycle parking device 44 that parks the plurality of electric motorcycles 14 in a locked state, an inventory response device 48 that responds to an inquiry from the user telephone 46 and that responds to the inventory status of the electric motorcycle 14 in the bicycle parking lot 10, Bicycle parking monitoring device 50 composed of a CCD camera or the like and monitoring the status of bicycle parking lot 10
And an emergency telephone 52.

As shown in FIG. 1, the central control room 12 includes a user management device 54 having a user registration function, a settlement function, and a management function of the bicycle parking lot 10, and a user identification card including a non-contact IC card and the like. A user certificate issuing device 56 for issuing
An emergency telephone answering device 58 that responds to an inquiry from the emergency telephone 52 installed in the bicycle parking lot 10. In addition, the user management device 54 and the rental control device 3 of the bicycle parking lot 10
4 transmits and receives information via the modem 60.

Next, a specific configuration of the battery supply device 42 and the bicycle parking device 44 arranged in the bicycle parking lot 10 will be described.

FIG. 4 shows the battery 18 loaded in the electric motorcycle 14 or the battery supply device 42. The battery 18 is formed in a box shape having a handle 90 at an upper portion, and an electrode (not shown) is provided at a bottom portion facing the handle 90. On the side, one surface on the handle 90 side is a flat engagement surface 92 orthogonal to the side, and the other surface separated from the handle 90 is inclined toward the engagement surface 92. Two protruding portions 96 serving as inclined surfaces 94 are formed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the battery supply device 42 includes
3 are provided (see FIG. 3).
reference). This loading section 100 has a charging circuit 1 at its bottom.
02, and a sensor 106 such as a microswitch as a battery presence / absence detecting means for detecting that the battery 18 is loaded.
Is arranged. In addition, a lock mechanism 108 that engages with one of the protrusions 96 provided on the side of the battery 18 to prevent the battery 18 from being removed is provided inside the loading unit 100. Further, at the opening of the loading unit 100, there are a light emitting element 110 which is a locked state display means such as an LED indicating the locked state of the battery 18 and a charge state display means such as an LED which indicates the charged state of the battery 18. A light emitting element 112 is provided. The charging circuit 102, the sensor 106, the lock mechanism 108, and the light emitting elements 110 and 112 are connected to the lending control device 34. Note that the lending control device 34 functions as a charge detection unit that detects the state of charge of the battery 18 based on a signal from the charging circuit 102.

Here, the lock mechanism 108 provided in the battery supply device 42 is configured as shown in FIGS. That is, the lock mechanism 108 is provided with the claw member 1 that engages with one of the protrusions 96 provided on the side
14, a holder 116 for holding the claw member 114, brackets 118 and 120 for supporting the holder 116, and a solenoid 122 for controlling the operation of the holder 116.

When the battery 18 is loaded into the loading section 100, the claw member 114 is provided with the inclined surface 94 of the projection 96.
(See FIG. 4) and the inclined surface 124 with which the projecting portion 9 slides.
6 and an engaging surface 126 that engages with the engaging surface 92, and is attached to the opening 128 of the holder 116. Holder 116
Has a locking portion 130 protruding to the side thereof, and the claw member 1
The surface opposite to the surface on which 14 is mounted is formed into an arcuate curved surface. A bracket 1 having a substantially U-shape is formed on the arc-shaped curved surface.
18 are arranged. The opening 128 on the side surface of the holder 116 substantially orthogonal to the locking portion 130 has a substantially L
One end of the bracket 120 having the letter shape is engaged. A spring 132 for maintaining the claw member 114 in the state shown in FIG. 7 is disposed between the other end of the bracket 120 and the bracket 118. On the other hand, the rod 1 of the solenoid 122 constituting the lock mechanism 108
A stopper 138 is mounted on the stopper 34 via a spring 136. The stopper 138 engages with the locking portion 130 of the holder 116 in a state where the rod 134 is projected in order to maintain the claw member 114 in the state of FIG.

In the bicycle parking lot 10, a plurality of electric motorcycles 14
Are provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the bicycle parking device 44 includes a guide rail 140 that positions the electric motorcycle 14 in a lateral direction, a positioning mechanism 142 that positions the front wheels, a lock mechanism 144 that locks the electric motorcycle 14, An outlet 145 for charging a battery-equipped electric motorcycle (not shown) parked in the bicycle parking device 44 is provided. Whether or not the battery-equipped electric motorcycle is connected to the outlet 145 and its charge state are controlled by the charge control device 43 under the management of the lending control device 34.

The lock mechanism 144 includes a guide rail 140
A support 160 provided between the support 160, a swing shaft 162 disposed at the upper end of the support 160, a swing arm 164 having one end fixed to the swing shaft 162, and a swing arm 164 having the other end thereof. And a circle lock 166 to be mounted.
The circle lock 166 is engaged with the U-shaped engaging portion 28 of the main frame 26 of the electric motorcycle 14 to prevent the electric motorcycle 14 from being stolen and to prevent the electric motorcycle 14 from tipping over during parking. is there. When the main frame 26 has a thin pipe shape, the circle lock 166 may be directly engaged with the main frame 26.

The rental system for an electric vehicle according to the present embodiment is basically configured as described above. Next, a rental and return process of the electric motorcycle 14 and the battery 18 using the rental system will be described. explain.

Prior to using the rental system, first,
Under the control of the user management device 54, using the user certificate issuing device 56 of the central control room 12, the address, name,
Register information such as the type (range) of the rented vehicle, bank account number, card ID number, user ID number, password, validity period, etc. for payment of usage fee, and user card such as contactless IC card Issue

Next, the user who owns the user's card calls the inventory response device 48 of the bicycle parking lot 10 by the user telephone 46, for example. In this case, the bicycle parking device 44 of the bicycle parking lot 10
Always supplies a signal related to the presence / absence data of the electric motorcycle 14 detected by a vehicle sensor (not shown) to the lending control device 34, and the lending control device 34
For example, the information is converted into voice information indicating the type of the electric motorcycle 14 and the number of units in stock, and is provided to the inventory response device 48 in real time. Thus, the user can determine the presence or absence of the desired electric motorcycle 14 according to the voice response from the inventory response device 48.

When the stock is confirmed, the user next rents out the desired electric motorcycle 14 in the bicycle parking lot 10. In this case, the user first brings the user identification card such as a non-contact IC card close to the user identification device 36 provided in the bicycle parking lot 10. The lending control device 34 is a user identification device 3
Then, user data such as a card ID number and a user ID number are read through 6 to check whether or not the user is an authorized user.

After it is confirmed that the user is an authorized user, the user selects a desired electric motorcycle 14 from the electric motorcycle 14 displayed on the display device 38 with a touch panel. The lending control device 34 checks whether or not the electric motorcycle 14 selected by the user is usable, and if it is usable, releases the unlock signal to the key box 64 that holds the key of the electric motorcycle 14. Is output.

The user removes the key from the key box 64 unlocked in accordance with the unlock signal. The removal of the key is detected by the lending control device 34, and it is confirmed that the lending of the electric motorcycle 14 corresponding to the key has been started.

Next, the display device 38 with a touch panel displays the rentable battery 18 based on the battery selectability data supplied from the rent control device 34. Here, the battery selectability data represents, for example, data on the selectable battery 18 created based on the presence / absence data of the battery 18 in each loading unit 100 of the battery supply device 42 and the availability data based on the state of charge. The presence or absence of the battery 18 is determined by the sensor 1 shown in FIG.
06, the charging state is confirmed by the lending control device 34 based on a signal from the charging circuit 102, and the light emitting element 112 is turned on.

The user selects a desired battery from the batteries 18 displayed on the display device 38 with a touch panel. In this case, if the selected battery 18 is usable, the lending control device 34 releases the lock mechanism 108 of the corresponding loading unit 100 of the battery supply device 42, and turns on the light emitting element 110.

That is, as shown in FIG.
The battery 18 is locked by engaging the engagement surface 92 of the protrusion 96 disposed on the side thereof with the engagement surface 126 of the claw member 114 constituting the lock mechanism 108. . In this state, the electrode (not shown) at the bottom of the battery 18 is in contact with the electrode 104 of the charging circuit 102, and the charging process is continued. The charge state can be detected from outside by the light emitting element 112.

Then, when an unlocking signal is supplied from the lending control unit 34 to the predetermined loading unit 100, as shown in FIG. 6, the solenoid 122 is actuated, the rod 134 retreats and the holder 116 is locked. Stopper 138 from the part 130
Will come off. In this state, when the operator removes the battery 18 from the loading portion 100, the battery 18
Claw member 114 of the lock mechanism 108 by the protrusion 96 of
, The holder 116 is inclined as shown in FIG. Therefore, the projecting portion 96 gets over the claw member 114, and the battery 18 is pulled out.

When the battery 18 is removed, the loading section 1
The sensor 106 provided at the bottom of the 00 detects that the battery 18 is not present, and transfers the detection signal to the lending control device 34. Next, the solenoid 12 of the lock mechanism 108
2 operates, the stopper 138 engages with the locking portion 130 of the holder 116 via the rod 134, and the locking mechanism 1
08 is again in the locked state, and the light emitting element 110 is turned off.

The lending control device 34 sends the vehicle number of the rented electric motorcycle 14, the lending time, data indicating that it is being lent, and the like via the modem 60 to the user management device 5.
Transfer to 4.

After the rental process is completed as described above, the user unlocks the corresponding electric motorcycle 14 of the bicycle parking device 44 using the key taken out from the key supply device 40. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the electric motorcycle 14 is locked to the bicycle parking device 44 by a circle lock 166 provided at a tip end of a turning arm 164 that constitutes a lock mechanism 144 disposed between the electric motorcycles 14. ing. Then, the circle lock 166 is unlocked using a key, and is removed from the U-shaped engaging portion 28 of the main frame 26. The pivot arm 164 from which the circle lock 166 is unlocked is
The vehicle turns around 60 and separates from the electric motorcycle 14. After unlocking as described above, the electric motorcycle 14
From the bicycle parking device 44.

Next, the user selects the electric motorcycle 1
4, the battery supply device 4
After loading the battery 18 taken out from the second and closing the lid 24, the lock mechanism 22 is locked by the key that unlocks the circle lock 166. The user gets on the electric motorcycle 14 loaded with the battery 18 in this way and moves to a desired place.

Next, a process for returning the used electric motorcycle 14 will be described. The user first brings the user identification card close to the user identification device 36 in the same manner as when renting the electric motorcycle 14 in the bicycle parking lot 10. The lending control device 34 reads the user data via the user identification device 36, compares the user ID number extracted from the user data with the registered user ID number, and performs the corresponding use. It is confirmed whether the user is an authorized user.

Therefore, the user returns the electric motorcycle 14 to a predetermined position of the bicycle parking device 44 and locks using the lock mechanism 144. The electric motorcycle 14 is provided with a predetermined bicycle parking device 44.
, A vehicle sensor (not shown) provided in the positioning mechanism 142 detects the return state, and transmits a return detection signal to the lending control device 34. Therefore, the lending control device 3
No. 4 determines that the predetermined electric motorcycle 14 has been returned. Similarly, the user removes the battery 18 from the battery case 20 and places the
Load to zero. The return of the battery 18 is detected by the lending control device 34. After the return of the electric motorcycle 14 and the battery 18 is completed, the user returns the key. The return state of the key is similarly set in the lending control device 3.
4 is detected.

The lending control device 34 clears the vehicle number of the returned electric motorcycle 14 and a flag indicating that lending is in progress to the user data, writes the lending end time, and writes the modem. The data is transferred to the user management device 54 via 60.

As described above, the return processing of the electric motorcycle 14 is completed. The usage status of the user who has rented the electric motorcycle 14 is managed by the user management device 54 based on the user data. For example, the usage status of the contract user is counted for each unit period. In addition, billing information is displayed via the display device 38 with a touch panel, and processing such as issuance of a usage statement and billing is performed.

In the above-described embodiment, since the battery 18 has the same form, the battery 18 is returned to an arbitrary empty loading section 100 among the plurality of loading sections 100 provided in the battery supply device 42. Can be
When the battery 18 has a plurality of types, it may be configured to indicate the loading unit 100 to be returned according to the type. In this case, the returnable loading unit 10
If the lock state is set to a value other than 0, it is possible to avoid a problem that a different type of battery is incorrectly loaded into the incompatible loading unit 100.

[0038]

As described above, according to the battery supply device of the present invention, the batteries loaded in the plurality of loading sections are charged using the charging circuit, respectively, and the desired charged battery is charged. It can be unlocked and provided to the user. Since the state of charge and the presence or absence of a loaded battery can be detected from the outside, it is possible to easily determine a battery that can be rented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a rental system for an electric vehicle.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an electric motorcycle.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a bicycle parking lot.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a battery.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a battery supply device.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a lock mechanism in the battery supply device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory sectional view showing a locked state of a lock mechanism in the battery supply device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory sectional view showing an unlocked state of a lock mechanism in the battery supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Bicycle parking area 12 ... Central control room 14 ... Electric motorcycle 18 ... Battery 38 ... Display device with a touch panel 40 ... Key supply device 42 ... Battery supply device 44 ... Bicycle parking device 48 ... Inventory response device 50 ... Bicycle parking lot monitoring device 54 ... User Management device 56 ... User certificate issuing device 58 ... Emergency telephone answering device 60 ... Modem 64 ... Key box 108, 144 ...
Lock mechanism 142: Positioning mechanism

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H01M 10/46 H01M 10/46 H02J 7/02 H02J 7/02 U

Claims (3)

[Claims] An electric vehicle includes a plurality of loading sections in which batteries are loaded, a charging circuit for charging the batteries loaded in the loading sections, and a lock mechanism for locking the batteries loaded in the loading sections. A battery supply device, comprising: charge detection means for detecting a state of charge of the battery loaded in the loading section; and battery presence / absence detection means for detecting presence / absence of the battery in the loading section. 2. The battery supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a charge state display means for displaying a charge state of the battery loaded in the loading section. 3. The battery supply device according to claim 1, further comprising a lock state display means for displaying a lock state of the battery.