JPS6258006B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for charging a traveling trolley equipped with a storage battery and traveling using the storage battery as a drive source for a travel drive motor.

In such traveling trolleys, the storage battery capacity decreases with the operating time of the trolley, and when the battery capacity decreases to the point where the trolley cannot run, the operator replaces the discharged storage battery on the trolley with another charged storage battery. Alternatively, the cart was moved to a storage battery charging position, charged, and then returned to its original traveling path to continue running.

Therefore, when the trolley stops midway along the travel route, a worker must carry a new charged storage battery to the trolley's stopping position, or a towing vehicle or other means is required to move the trolley to the charging position.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks. That is, when the electric capacity decreases to a preset value before the bogie becomes unable to run, the bogie issues a battery capacity insufficient signal to the ground control device, and the ground control device Upon receiving the above signal, the bogie is driven to a charging station, automatic charging is performed at the station, and after charging is completed, the charging station transmits a charging completion signal to the ground control device, and the ground control device receives the charging signal. , the vehicle is returned to the normal traveling path and started traveling, and the apparatus implementing the present invention will be explained below.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a running electric wire loop buried in the floor. A low-frequency current is passed through the electric wire, and the antenna of the trolley 2, which will be described later, senses the magnetic field of the electric wire and operates the drive motor. 2 runs along the track 1 made of the above-mentioned electric wires.

As shown in FIG. 2, the truck 2 includes a truck body 3, running wheels 4, 5, a pair of driving wheels 6, 7, storage batteries 8, 9 for driving the driving wheels, and electric wires buried in the floor. It is comprised of antennas 10 and 11 provided at the front and rear of the cart for receiving commands from and giving signals to electric wires, and a charging connector 13 that is connected to a charger 12 at a charging station.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the antenna 10 or 11 of the truck and the electric wire loop 14 for receiving signals on the truck buried in the floor of each station, where A is a plan view and B is a side view. Note that a plurality of receiving wire loops 14 are installed at arbitrary predetermined positions on the traveling course of the truck. That is, the above electric wire loop 1
The two wires 14a and 14b at the center of the antenna 10 or 11 are parallel to the running loop 1 so that the current flows in the same direction below the center of the antenna 10 or 11, and
A loop is formed so that the running electric wire 1 is located between the real electric wires 14a and 14b. The antenna 1 of the trolley is attached to the electric wire loop 14 buried in the floor surface.
An induced voltage is generated due to the electromagnetic induction effect of the low frequency current passed through 0 or 11. That is, when the low frequency current of the bogie battery capacity insufficient signal flows through the antenna, an induced voltage is generated in the loop, and since each of the loops 14 is connected to the ground control device (FIG. 1, 15), the ground control device is connected to the bogie battery. Receives a signal that the storage battery capacity is insufficient.

The method of the present invention will be explained using the apparatus as described above.

In FIG. 4, first on the truck side, 16 is a differential amplifier, and the differential amplifier 16 includes a storage battery 8,
9 and a reference voltage 18 are input. The reference voltage of the input voltage is made smaller than the battery voltage via the converter, and the storage battery input is reduced to the same voltage as the reference voltage by the resistor 19 and input. Above storage battery 1
When the capacity of battery 7 decreases, the voltage of battery 17 decreases,
The difference from the reference voltage 18 increases, that is, the output of the differential amplifier 16 increases. 20 is a constant voltage diode for overvoltage prevention. When the voltage of the storage battery 17 falls below the specified value, the output of the differential amplifier 16 becomes the AND input H of the next stage, and the clock circuit 2
With the H input of 1, the AND gate 22 is opened and the pulse digital signal output becomes the input to the modulation circuit 23. The output of the modulation circuit 23 becomes a frequency current and is input to the amplification circuit 24, where the amplification circuit 24 amplifies the frequency current to have enough power to flow through the antenna 10 or 11.

When the capacity of the storage battery 17 of the truck decreases, a low frequency current flows through the antenna 10 or 11 as described above, and a storage battery capacity insufficient signal is transmitted from the antenna. The bogie travels while issuing the shortage signal, and the shortage signal is received by the first receiving loop that the bogie passes through after it starts issuing the shortage signal among the plurality of receiving loops. input to circuit 25; As described above, each of the receiving loops 14 is individually connected to the control device 15, so the control device 15 knows from which receiving loop 14 the signal was sent, that is, at what position the storage battery ran out. is confirmed. The amplified output signal is input to the demodulation circuit 26 and converted into a digital signal, and the digital signal is output to the monostable 2.
7 is input. In the monostable circuit 27, a time constant is set so as to output a continuous signal while the digital signal is being input. Further, noise is removed through a delay circuit 28, amplified by a buffer 29, and a storage battery capacity insufficient output signal is output. Further, the monostable 27 outputs information indicating which receiving loop 14 has received the missing signal, that is, a truck position signal, and inputs it to the control circuit.

Furthermore, in FIG. 5, a storage battery capacity shortage signal 30 is input to a travel control circuit 31, while a bogie current position confirmation signal 32 is input, and a control signal output from the control circuit 31 is sent to a travel course determining circuit 33 and a start command circuit. 34. 35 is a low frequency current power supply circuit that supplies a low frequency current to each of the circuits 33 and 34 described above.

The running course determining circuit 33 causes a low frequency current to guide the bogie to flow through the running path so that the bogie can travel from the current position to the charging station 49. On the other hand, the start command circuit 34 causes the bogie to move from the current position to the charging station (49). A command 50 is given to start the vehicle toward 1, Figure 36). That is, in FIG. 1, when the storage battery capacity becomes insufficient at the position shown in the figure while the trolley 2 is traveling straight in the left direction in the figure, and the reception loop 14 at that position receives the shortage signal, the following occurs. Then, the trolley 2 is guided to the charging station 36. That is, from the current position of the bogie 2 based on the current position confirmation signal 32 of the bogie 2, the travel control circuit 31 determines that the center of FIG. It is determined that traveling along the traveling loop is the shortest course to the charging station 36, and an induced current flows through the central traveling loop so as to travel along this course. That is, when the bogie 2 enters the intersection, the current in the outer annular running loop is cut off and the current is passed through the central running loop.

The start command circuit 34 issues a command for permission to pass, and if the shortest course cannot be passed for some reason, the start command circuit 34 issues a pass (start) command 50.
The cart 2 is stopped on the spot without being released.

Therefore, no matter which position the traveling trolley 2 is in, it is controlled so that it heads toward the charging station 36, that is, travels to the charging station 36 along the traveling course determined by the control device and stops at a fixed position. be done.

At the automatic charging station 36, as shown in FIG. 6, the cart is stopped at a fixed position by turning on two non-contact switches 39 and 40 provided on the cart 2, for example, by two iron pieces 37 and 38 provided on the running path. do. At this time, the charging connector 13 on the truck is coupled to the charging electrode 41 of the ground-side power supply device 12. That is,
In FIG. 7, the trolley side connector 13 is a cylindrical body 42.
A coupling rod 43, which is slidable inside, is inserted into a receiving tube 44 on the charger side as the carriage moves, and togs 45, 45 at the ends of the coupling rod are inserted into electrodes 46, 46 in the receiving tube 44. The electrodes 46 include a plurality of docking confirmation electrodes 47 and two charging electrodes 4.
Consists of 8. When docking is confirmed, the charger starts charging the storage battery of the bogie, and after a certain period of time, a charging completion signal is issued by the timer, and the charging completion signal is input to the ground control device, thereby starting the bogie return loop. A current is applied to the electric wire, and a truck start signal is input to the truck, so that the truck starts running again and travels to a predetermined station.

As described above, in the present invention, an induced voltage is generated in the antenna provided on the bogie due to the low frequency current of the running electric wire loop buried in the floor and has a storage battery, and the battery of the self-propelled bogie that runs along the running electric wire loop is generated. When the capacity becomes lower than the set capacity, a battery capacity insufficient signal is sent from the bogie to a transmission wire loop buried in the floor via an antenna, and when the ground control device receives the battery capacity insufficient signal, A command is issued to make the trolley travel to the automatic charging station even if the trolley is at the automatic charging station, and when the charging connector is connected to the charger and charged after the trolley arrives at the automatic charging station, the charging station sends a charging completion signal to the ground control device. After receiving the charge completion signal, the ground control device sends a start signal to the bogie and returns the bogie to the running wire loop.
It is possible to automatically charge the storage battery on the trolley before the storage capacity of the storage battery decreases and the trolley becomes inoperable.
This enables unmanned operation of trolleys for long periods of time.

Furthermore, no matter where the trolley is located, it travels along a selected predetermined travel course to a charging station and is charged at the specific charging station, so only one charging station is required.

Furthermore, the driving course to the charging station is determined by inputting the battery capacity insufficient signal and the current position confirmation signal of the bogie that issued the signal to the ground-side control device, and determining the driving course from each of the above signals to the charging station. Since the determination is made by the determination circuit, it is possible to determine the shortest course, reducing the possibility that the battery will run out while traveling to the charging station, and shortening the charging work time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the running path of a bogie for carrying out the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the same bogie, Fig. 3 is a diagram of an example of the electric wire loop in the station, and Fig. 4 is A circuit diagram for transmitting a battery insufficient capacity signal to a control device, Fig. 5 is a block diagram for moving a trolley from a control device that receives a battery capacity insufficient signal to a charging station, and Fig. 6 shows a charging station. FIG. 7 is a side view showing the relationship between the trolley and the charger, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of coupling means for the trolley and the charger, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the electrodes of the charger. 1... Electric wire loop for traveling course, 2... Self-propelled trolley, 8, 9... Storage battery, 15... Ground control device,
18...Reference voltage, 30...Battery capacity insufficient signal,
32...Current position confirmation signal, 33...Driving course determination circuit, 36...Charging station.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An automatic charging method for a self-propelled trolley carrying a storage battery and traveling along the electric wire while following the magnetic field of the electric wire buried in the floor, comprising: is compared with the reference voltage, and if the battery capacity of the storage battery is less than the set battery capacity, a current is sent to the antenna of the bogie to transmit a battery capacity insufficient signal from the antenna, and the signal is sent to a predetermined route of the bogie. Among the plurality of receiving loops installed at the position, the signal is received by the first receiving loop that the bogie passes after starting to output the signal, and the signal received by the receiving loop is sent to the ground-side control device, and the signal is sent to the ground-side control device. In this step, a traveling course from the current position of the cart to the charging station is determined based on the received battery capacity shortage signal and the current position information of the cart determined from which receiving loop the signal image was sent from. An automatic charging method for a self-propelled trolley equipped with a storage battery, characterized in that the trolley is driven to a charging station by passing a trolley induced current through the electric wire of a determined running course, and is automatically charged at the charging station position.