JPS62230303A - Charger for unmanned traveling car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for the special accuracy of stoppage by bringing a moving electrode vertically moved in the direction approximately rectangular to a fixed electrode plate into contact with the fixed electrode plate having a spread approximately parallel with a traveling road surface and conducting the moving electrode. CONSTITUTION:When an unmanned traveling car 10 is stopped at the position of charging, the unmanned traveling car 10 changes over a circuit on the car to a charging circuit while transmitting a preparation completion signal over a controller on the ground side. The controller receiving the signal opens a cover 14. When the cover 14 is opened, a moving electrode 13 is projected upward, and brought into contact with a fixed electrode plate 12 mounted to the lower surface of the car 10. When a contact between the moving electrode 13 and the fixed electrode plate 12 is ensured, charging to a battery 16 on the car 10 is started from a charger through the contact section.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Objective of the Invention) (=Industrial Application Field) The present invention is directed to a transport vehicle that runs unmanned in an automated factory along a predetermined taxiway using a storage battery as a power source. The present invention relates to a charging device for an unmanned vehicle that runs unmanned.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, when a storage battery is exhausted in a traveling vehicle using a storage battery as a power source, energy is replenished by one of the following methods.

(1) After installing a charging plug receptacle on the running vehicle and stopping the running vehicle at the charging position, switch the electric circuit on the running vehicle to the charging side, and on the other hand, connect the plug with the charging cable connected to the charging device. Insert it into the plug holder and charge it.

(2) Replace with a charged storage battery.

The present invention relates to the recharging method (1).

(Problems to be solved by the invention) The problems with the recharging method are that it must be done manually, that it is difficult to automate, and that it is difficult to charge the vehicle while the vehicle is temporarily stopped. If you want to do that, you will need manpower.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a charging device for an unmanned vehicle that can carry out charging work unmanned with as little manual effort as possible.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means and effects for solving the problem) The charging device of the present invention includes a charging pit formed under the running road surface of a taxiway, a charging power supply device provided in the charging pit, and a charging pit that is normally connected to the charging pit. A cover that covers the battery and is opened when charging the storage battery, a fixed electrode plate provided on one side of the unmanned vehicle and the charging pit, and a fixed electrode plate provided on the other side that is fixed with the cover open. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a movable electrode that can electrically contact the electrode plate, and a charging power supply device charges the storage battery through the fixed electrode plate and the movable electrode.

(Example) Figures 1 to 4 show an example of the present invention. 1st
2 and 2 show the state during charging, and FIGS. 3 and 4 show the state before and after charging, respectively. A charging pit 15 is formed under the running road surface 11 on which the unmanned vehicle 10 runs. A charging power supply device 1 is installed in the charging pit 15.
A movable electrode 13 electrically connected to 6 is provided. Charging pit 15 is always covered by cover 14. The unmanned vehicle 10 is equipped with a storage battery 16 as a driving power source, and in order to charge the exhausted storage battery 16, a pair of fixed electrode plates 12 for charging are arranged on the lower surface. When charging the storage battery 16, the unmanned vehicle 10 is placed in the charging pit 1.
5, the cover 14 is opened, and the movable electrode 13 then springs upward and makes electrical contact with the fixed electrode plate 12 to form a predetermined charging circuit (Figs. 1 and 2). figure). When charging is completed, the movable electrode 13 is lowered and the cover 14 is closed (FIGS. 3 and 4).

FIG. 5 shows an example of drive mechanisms for the cover 14 and the movable electrode 301. In FIG. Note that the movable electrode 301 of this embodiment is of a type that reciprocates in the vertical direction. The movable electrode 301 is operated by a cylinder 303 via an electrical insulator 302 . The cylinder 303 is the solenoid valve 3
04 by controlling the flow of pressure medium.

The cover 14 is closed by the cylinder 402. Cylinder 402 is operated by solenoid valve 403.

When the unmanned vehicle 10 stops at the charging position shown in the figure, the unmanned vehicle 10 switches the circuit on the vehicle to the charging circuit and sends a signal indicating completion of preparation to a vIm device (not shown). Upon receiving this signal, the control device energizes the solenoid valve 403, causing the piston 0 of the cylinder 402 to protrude to the right in the figure, and causing the cover 1 attached to the tip of the piston rod to protrude to the right in the figure.
Open 4.

When the cover 14 is opened, the solenoid valve 304 is energized, causing the piston rod of the cylinder 303 to protrude upward. The movable electrode 301 connected to the tip of the piston rod contacts the fixed electrode plate 12 provided on the lower surface of the unmanned vehicle 1110 to establish electrical contact.

The stroke of the cylinder 303 is 111 M pole 301 before the piston reaches the stroke end of the cylinder.
is set so that it comes into contact with the fixed electrode plate 12. In addition, the push-up blade of the cylinder 303 has the movable electrode 301 connected to the fixed electrode plate 1.
The force applied to 2 is set to a value sufficient to maintain electrical contact. When the contact between the movable electrode 301 and the fixed electrode plate 12 is secured, the charging device starts charging the storage battery 16 on the unmanned vehicle 10 via this contact portion.

When charging is completed, the electromagnetic valve 304 is de-energized, the piston rod of the cylinder 303 is lowered, and the charging circuit is opened. Next, the solenoid valve 403 is de-energized, the piston rod of the cylinder 402 is retracted, and the cover 14 closes the charging pit 1.
Put the lid on step 5.

This completes a series of charging operations.

According to the above configuration, there is no need to form a device portion that protrudes onto the travel path of the unmanned vehicle 10, so that it does not interfere with the travel of other vehicles or the walking of humans.

Next, examples of the flip-up type movable electrode shown in Figures 1 to 4 will be explained with reference to Figures 6 and 7.The flip-up type movable electrode has the advantage that the charging pit can be made relatively shallow. There is. In this embodiment, the movable electrode is pressed against the fixed electrode plate 12 by spring force, and the cylinder is used to tension and loosen the spring. The fall of the movable electrode when it is released is due to its own weight. The contactor 311 of the movable electrode is fixed to a piece 315 which can be rotated at an appropriate angle about a pin 316. The top 315 is supported by two support plates 319 in a bin 316.

A tension spring 317 is provided between the top 315 and the support plate 319, and its tensile force acts to rotate the top 315 counterclockwise in FIG. 6 about the bottle 316.

The support plate 309 is fixed to the arm body 320 so as to sandwich the arm body 320 therebetween. The arm body 320 is the bin 3
The supporting metal fittings 32 can be rotated at an appropriate angle around 21.
It is attached to 3. Bin 321 and arm body 320
An insulating bearing 312 is installed between the two. bottle 32
In addition to the arm body 320, a spring is attached to the arm body 3 in 1.
A lever 324 for transmitting the signal to 20 is attached. One end of the lever 324 is connected to the arm body 32 via the bin 332.
It engages with a hole 329 drilled in 0. The tension of a tension spring 325 is applied to the other end via a pin 327. The direction of action is a direction in which the lever 324 and the arm body 320 are rotated clockwise around the bottle 321. The other end of the tension spring 325 engages the rod end of the cylinder 313 via a pin 326. The figure shows cylinder 3
This shows a state in which rod No. 13 is in full stroke. In other words, the spring 325 is tensioned.

With this configuration, good contact can be maintained even if the height of the fixed electrode plate 12 from the road surface changes somewhat.

The spring 317 is provided to make the contact 311 of the movable electrode slide and make complete contact. In the state shown, is the spring 317 tensioned or the arm body 320
When is falling, it is shrinking. When the arm body 320 rises, the contact 311 slides to the right in the figure, and the spring 3
17 is stretched.

Next, the action when the movable electrode descends will be described.

When the rod of cylinder 313 is retracted, spring 325 is compressed and the tension on lever 327 is lost. Therefore, the rotational force applied to the arm body 320 via the lever 329 is also lost. Arm body 32
0 is lowered by its own weight, and the contact 311 is fixed electrode plate 1
Stay away from 2.

In the process of separating, the top 315 rotates around the bottle 316 by the tension of the spring 317 in the counterclockwise direction in the figure until it is locked. When the fall is completed, the movable electrode settles below the running road surface 11, as shown by the imaginary line (dashed line) in FIG.

The limit switch 328 detects the completion of the fall of the arm body 320 and sends a start signal for the next closing operation of the cover 14.

Next, the opening/closing operation mechanism for opening and closing the cover 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. In the figure, the solid line shows the state in which the cover 14 is open, and the broken line shows the state in which the cover 14 is closed. The cover 14 has two sets each on the left and right, each consisting of links 414, 415 and link supports 423° and 424.
It is supported by a total of four sets of parallel links. An operating fluid pressure cylinder 412 is installed between the left or right two sets of parallel links. One end of the cylinder 412 is a parallel link 4
15 is fixed in the middle with a bin 421, and the other end is fixed with a bin 420 to a cylinder support 422 fixed to the ground. When N14 is closed, the rod of cylinder 412 is retracted. When opening the cover 14, the rod of the cylinder 412 is pushed out. cylinder 41
The pin at the end of the rod 2 is connected to the link 415 by a pin 421, and as the rod expands, the link 415 connects to the pin 4.
Rotate clockwise around 19. Due to the action of the parallel link, the cover 14 moves to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 8 while remaining parallel to the running road surface 11. Note that the solid line in the figure indicates the fully opened state. When the cover 14 is fully opened,
Link 415 actuates limit switch 425.

This activation signal is used as a signal to start raising the movable electrode. When this is the case, the opposite action may be performed after lowering the movable electrode.

In the embodiments described above, the fixed electrode plate is provided on the traveling vehicle side and the movable electrode is provided on the charging pit side, but the same effect as described above can be obtained even if the arrangement is reversed.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, a movable electrode that moves up and down in a direction approximately perpendicular to the fixed electrode plate, which extends approximately parallel to the road surface, is brought into contact with the fixed electrode plate to supply electricity. The stopping accuracy is rough but good. In other words, no special stopping precision is required for this purpose.

Furthermore, since the charging device of the present invention does not have a protruding portion above the road surface, it has the advantage that it can be installed anywhere on the road.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention in a charging state;
FIG. 2 is a plan view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a side view of the same embodiment in a non-charging state, FIG. 4 is a front view in the state shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. A side view showing another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a side view showing a specific example of the movable electrode operating mechanism in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the device shown in FIG. 6. , FIG. 8 is a side view showing a specific example of the cover operation mechanism, and FIG. 9 is a front view of the device shown in FIG. 8. 10... Unmanned vehicle, 11... Driving road surface, 12...
・Fixed electrode plate, 13... Movable electrode, 14... Cover,
15...Charging pit, 16...Storage battery, 17...
Charging device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A charging device for an unmanned vehicle that uses a storage battery as a power source and travels along a predetermined taxiway, comprising: a charging pit formed under the running road surface of the taxiway; A charging power supply device provided in the pit, a cover that normally covers the charging pit and is opened when charging the storage battery, and a fixed electrode provided on either side of the unmanned vehicle and the charging pit. plate, and a movable electrode provided on the other side and capable of electrically contacting the fixed electrode plate when the cover is open, the storage battery being charged by the charging power supply device through the fixed electrode plate and the movable electrode. A charging device for an unmanned vehicle, characterized in that it is configured to charge. 2. The charging device for an unmanned vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the fixed electrode plate is arranged substantially parallel to the running road surface. 3. The charging device for an unmanned vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the fixed electrode plate is arranged on the lower surface of the unmanned vehicle, and the movable electrode is arranged in the charging pit. 4. The charging device for an unmanned vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the fixed electrode plate is disposed in the charging pit, and the movable electrode is disposed in the unmanned vehicle.