KR101675426B1

KR101675426B1 - Apparatus for exchanging battery of electric vehicle

Info

Publication number: KR101675426B1
Application number: KR1020160000438A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 민광식
Original assignee: (주)래딕스; 엘에스산전 주식회사
Priority date: 2016-01-04
Filing date: 2016-01-04
Publication date: 2016-11-11

Abstract

The present invention relates to: A winder mounted on the top of the body; A plurality of lifting and lowering lines wound or unwound by a winder; A battery gripper which is connected to a plurality of ascending / descending lines at a lower portion of the body and is lifted or lowered according to the operation of the winder to be spaced apart or approach the electric car battery exchange position; And a load sensor for measuring loads acting on the plurality of lift lines, respectively.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS FOR EXCHANGING BATTERY OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE [0002]

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an apparatus for replacing a discharge battery of an electric car with a cushioning battery.

Fuel such as light oil, gasoline, and natural gas such as LNG and LPG are mainly used as vehicle fuel. In recent years, electric vehicles (EVs), which use electricity as an energy source, have attracted attention as an alternative to fossil fuel vehicles because of the problem of exhausting exhaust gases that pollute the environment when fossil fuels are used.

Electric vehicles include a battery powered EV, a fuel cell EV that uses a fuel cell as an electric motor, and a hybrid EV that uses an electric motor and an engine together. In addition, a variety of studies have been conducted on the construction of an EV charging infra for the expansion and activation of EVs.

The electric car is charged in a plug-in manner. Therefore, it takes a long time until the charging is completed, so the user is inconvenient to use the electric car, and the charging facility operator is not economical.

In order to solve such a problem, an electric car battery charging technique of replacing a discharge battery with a cushioning battery that has been charged in advance without charging the electric car battery directly has been proposed.

According to the electric vehicle battery exchange method, there is an advantage that an electric vehicle can be used without charging extra time for battery charging. However, there is a problem that a separate skilled person is required for the battery exchange operation.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for quickly and safely replacing a discharge battery of an electric vehicle with a cushioning battery.

The problems to be solved are not limited thereto, and other matters not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a battery pack comprising: a body installed above a battery exchange position; A winder mounted on the body; A plurality of elevating lines wound or unwound by the winder; A head sheave mounted on the body so as to be spaced apart from each other in a peripheral region of the winder and guiding the plurality of lifting and lowering lines downwardly of the body; A battery gripper for gripping or ungripping an electric vehicle battery by being lifted or lowered according to operation of the winder by being connected to the plurality of ascending / descending lines guided downwardly of the body by the head sheave, a battery gripper; And a load sensor for measuring loads acting on the plurality of lift lines, respectively, wherein the battery gripper includes: a gripper body having the plurality of lift lines connected thereto; And at least one pair of gripper hand assemblies disposed opposite each other at the bottom of the gripper body, wherein the pair of gripper hand assemblies are movable in a direction away from and relative to each other in the gripper body , And are moved in a direction away from or approach to each other by the hand assembly driving means.

The load sensor may be a load cell mounted to each of the plurality of head sheaves so as to measure a load applied to the head sheave by the lifting and lowering line engaged with the head sheave.

The battery exchange apparatus of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention stops operation of the winder when at least one of the load values for the plurality of ascending / descending lines measured by the load sensor exceeds a preset value And a control unit for controlling the display unit.

The winder may include: a rotating shaft; Two winding drums respectively mounted on both end portions of the rotary shaft and each having one or more winding regions in which the up / down lines are wound; And an axis driving means for rotating the rotary shaft.

The battery exchange apparatus of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a Z-axis guide unit for guiding the lifting and lowering of the battery gripper.

The apparatus for exchanging an electric car battery according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a stopper for limiting a descending distance of the battery gripper.

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Means for solving the problems will be more specifically and clarified through the embodiments, drawings, and the like described below. In addition, various solution means other than the above-mentioned solution means may be further proposed.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to swiftly and accurately and safely replace the discharge battery of an electric car with a cushioning battery, thereby greatly contributing to the dissemination, popularization and activation of an electric car.

Further, since the falling distance of the battery gripper can be limited by the Z-axis guide unit (which may be composed of a single or multiple scissors links or a plurality of telescopic rods) It is possible to more positively prevent the battery gripper and / or the electric car from being damaged or causing human injury due to a malfunction or an abnormality in the gripper lifting unit, and the battery gripper falls to the floor or collides with the electric vehicle.

Further, since the gap between the pair of gripper hand assemblies can be adjusted according to the front and rear and / or the size of the left and right sides of the battery of the electric vehicle, specifications of the battery can be used for replacement work of the electric car battery of various specifications.

Further, since it is possible to detect abnormality such as tension or breakage of the lift line by using a load cell for measuring the load values of the lift lines, or to detect that the external force such as wind force acts on the battery gripper, It is possible to prevent the battery gripper from crashing due to an abnormality in the ascending / descending line and damage or breakage of the Z-axis guide unit due to an external force acting on the battery gripper.

1 and 2 are schematic diagrams showing an overall configuration of an electric vehicle battery exchange apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
Figs. 3 and 4 are views showing the battery gripper shown in Figs. 1 and 2 from the front.
Fig. 5 is a configuration diagram showing the gripper lifting unit shown in Figs. 1 and 2 from above.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the head sheave shown in Fig. 5. Fig.
7 is a block diagram illustrating a safety device of an electric vehicle battery exchange apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an electric vehicle battery exchange apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For a better understanding of the invention, it is to be understood that the size of elements and the thickness of lines may be exaggerated for clarity of understanding. Further, the terms used to describe the embodiments of the present invention are mainly defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and thus may be changed depending on the intentions and customs of the user and the operator. Therefore, the terminology should be interpreted based on the contents of the present specification throughout.

The embodiment of the present invention is an electric car battery exchange device capable of swiftly, accurately and safely exchanging a discharge battery of an electric car with a cushioning battery, thereby contributing greatly to popularization and activation of the electric car.

An overall configuration of an electric vehicle battery exchange apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is schematically shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig.

1 and 2, an electric vehicle battery replacing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a body 10 disposed above a battery exchange position P1, Z A gripper lifting unit 40 for moving the battery gripper 30 and the battery gripper 30 in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) provided so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction in the vertical direction by the shaft guide unit 20A, .

The electric vehicle 5 may be of a type in which a battery is removably mounted on the upper portion of the vehicle body. For example, the electric vehicle 5 may be a bus equipped with a battery on the roof.

The battery exchange position P1 at which the battery of the electric vehicle 5 is replaced with the cushioning battery substantially corresponds to the battery mounting position at which the battery is mounted in the electric vehicle 5. [

The body 10 may be formed to have a rectangular panel structure having upper and lower portions that are generally flat.

A separate mounting structure may be used for mounting the body 10. For example, the structure for installing the body 10 may be a station for exchanging battery configured to enable entry and entry of the electric vehicle 5. [ In this case, the electric vehicle 5 that has entered the battery exchange station for battery replacement stops at the electric vehicle stop position where the battery attachment position corresponds to the battery exchange position P1.

The body 10 is moved in a horizontal direction X-axis direction (front-back direction) and / or a Y-axis direction (left-right direction) at a position spaced upward from the battery exchange position P1 to a separate mounting structure such as a battery exchange station It can be installed as much as possible.

The Z-axis guide unit 20A for guiding the battery gripper 30 to move in the vertical direction is disposed between the body 10 and the battery gripper 30 and includes a body 10 and a battery gripper 30, A plurality of unit rods each having a tubular structure, and a plurality of unit rods which are connected to each other in the Z-axis direction so that they can be retracted from each other, and a telescopic rod capable of expanding and contracting can be applied have.

With such a Z-axis guide unit 20A, for example, it is possible to prevent the battery gripper 30 from being excessively lowered to the battery exchange position P1 or lower. That is, the distance of descent of the battery gripper 30 can be limited. Therefore, in the battery replacement apparatus for an electric vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the gripper lifting unit 40 malfunctions or an error occurs in the gripper lifting unit 40, the battery gripper 30 falls to the floor, So that it is possible to prevent the battery gripper 30 and / or the electric vehicle 5 from being damaged or causing human injury.

The configuration of the battery gripper 30 is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig.

The battery gripper 30 is configured to grip or ungrip the battery. The battery gripper 30 is moved away from or approach the battery exchange position P1 in accordance with the movement direction (up and down) by the gripper lifting unit 40. [

3 and 4, the battery gripper 30 includes a gripper body 32 having a lower end portion of the Z-axis guide unit 20A connected thereto at an upper portion thereof, And a single or multiple pairs of gripper hand assemblies (34) arranged for viewing.

Here, the pair of gripper hand assemblies 34 are gripper hands 34-1 which are spaced apart from each other and are rotatable in an approaching direction so as to approach or separate from each other in the rotational direction to grip or ungrip the battery, . Referring to Fig. 3, the gripper hand 34A-1 of the paired gripper hand assembly 34 can be configured to rotate about an axis in the X-axis direction (front-back direction) or Y-axis direction (left-right direction).

Further, although not specifically shown, each gripper hand assembly 34 further includes hand driving means for rotating the gripper hand 34-1 in both directions. The hand driving means may include a motor directly connected to the axis of the gripper hand 34-1. Alternatively, the hand driving means may include a gear type, belt type or sieve type power transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotational force from the motor and the motor to the shaft of the gripper hand 34-1. A linear actuator may be used in place of the rotary motor depending on the operating conditions and a type in which the linear motion of the linear actuator is converted into a rotary motion to be transmitted to the axis of the gripper hand 34-1 Can be applied.

According to such a gripper hand assembly 34, the battery exchange device for an electric vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention can securely hold the battery on both sides by the gripper hand 34-1.

Referring to FIG. 4, the paired gripper hand assemblies 34 are mounted on the lower portion of the gripper body 32 so as to be movable in a direction in which they are spaced apart from each other. The battery gripper 30 further includes a hand assembly driving means 36 for moving the pair of gripper hand assemblies 34 in a direction away from and relative to each other.

The hand assembly driving means 36 includes a double rod type pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder having both piston rods connected to a pair of gripper hand assemblies 34 provided with piston rods on both sides thereof, . &Lt; / RTI > Of course, a linear motor or a ball screw driver or the like may be applied instead of such a cylinder. Or a power transmission mechanism that converts the rotary motion of the rotary motor and the rotary motor into linear motion and transmits the rotary motion to the pair of gripper hand assemblies 34.

According to such a handle assembly driving unit 36, the gap of the pair of gripper hand assemblies 34 can be appropriately adjusted according to the size of the battery back and forth and / or the left and right. Therefore, the battery exchange device for an electric vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention can be used for replacement work of batteries of various specifications.

When the gripper lifting and lowering unit 40 is operated, the battery gripper 30 is lowered and moved to the battery exchange position P1 located below the body 10 or reversely moved upward from the lowered position corresponding to the battery exchange position P1 And moved to a position spaced upward (raised position).

As described above, when the body 10 is provided so as to be movable in the X-axis direction (front-back direction) and / or the Y-axis direction (left-right direction), the electric vehicle battery replacing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, The gripper 30 separates the battery from the electric vehicle 5 while moving between the separate discharge battery storage position and the separate buffer battery storage position and the battery exchange position P1 to transport the battery to a separate discharge battery storage position, And to mount the cushioning battery from the battery storage position to the electric vehicle 5.

Alternatively, the electric vehicle battery replacing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is configured to move between a battery take-over position on the Z-axis movement path of the battery gripper 30, a separate discharge battery storage position and a separate buffer battery storage position It is possible to separate the battery 10 from the electric vehicle 5 by the battery gripper 30 and move it to the battery take-home position without moving the body 10 in the X-axis direction and / or the Y- And the cushioning battery carried from the separate cushioning battery storage position to the battery take-over position is transported to the battery exchange position P1 (P1) by the battery gripper 30, To be mounted on the electric vehicle 5, as shown in Fig.

5 is a configuration diagram showing the gripper lifting unit 40 viewed from above.

5, the gripper lifting unit 40 includes a winder 42 mounted on a central portion of the body 10, a plurality of lifting and lowering lines 42 wound or unwound by a winder 42, A plurality of lifting and lowering lines 44 are disposed at positions spaced apart from each other in a peripheral portion of the body 10 so as to be mounted on the upper portion of the body 10 and around the winder 42 A head sheave 46 for guiding a plurality of lift lines 44 from the winder 42 to the battery gripper 30 downward and a plurality of lift lines 44 mounted on the gripper body 32, And a connector 48 connected to the respective connectors 48 and 48, respectively.

The winder 42 is attached to both ends of the rotary shaft 42-1 and the rotary shaft 42-1 arranged in the Y axis direction and rotates together with the rotary shaft 42-1, Includes two winding drums 42-2 each having a single winding region or plural winding regions and a shaft drive means 42-3 for rotating the rotation shaft 42-1 so that the two winding drums 42-2 are rotated . The shaft driving means 42-3 may include a power transmitting mechanism for transmitting the rotating force of the rotating motor and the rotating motor to the rotating shaft 42-1. As the power transmitting mechanism of the shaft driving means 42-3, it is preferable to apply a deceleration mechanism including gears.

A rope or a wire may be used as the elevating line 44. A sheave may be applied to the connector 48 and a tip of the lift line 44 may be connected to the side of the body 10 with the sheave being engaged with the connector 48.

6 is a perspective view showing the head sheave 46. Fig. 6, each of the head sheaves 46 includes a wheel 46-1 having an outer circumferential concave groove formed on its outer periphery, a wheel 46-1 mounted on an upper portion of the body 10, A wheel bracket 46-2 for rotatably supporting the wheel 46-1 and a wheel cover 46-3 for preventing the lift of the lift line 44 caught in the groove of the wheel 46-1 . The sheave which is the connector 48 may be configured to be the same or similar to the head sheave 46 except that it is mounted on the upper portion of the gripper body 32 rather than the body 10.

Preferably, four elevation lines 44, a head sheave 46 and a connector 48 are provided, and two winding drums 42-2 each have two winding regions. The two of the head sheaves 46 are disposed so as to sandwich one of the winding drums (for example, the winding drum disposed on the left side in FIG. 5), and the other two are disposed on the other winding drum For example, the winding drum disposed on the right side in FIG. 5). The elevating lines 44 may be connected to the corresponding connector 48 through the body 10 in a state where the elevating lines 44 are respectively engaged with the corresponding head sheave 46. [

The gripper lifting unit 40 further includes a safety device (refer to 52 and 54 in Figs. 6 and 7) for controlling the operation of the winder 42 in accordance with the respective loads acting on the lifting lines 44 .

7 is a block diagram illustrating a safety device of an electric vehicle battery exchange apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 7, the safety device is capable of measuring the load applied to the head sheave 46 by the elevating line 44 caught in the head sheave 46, respectively, to the plurality of head sheaves 46 When at least one of the load values for the load cell 52 and the plurality of lift lines 44 measured by these load cells 52 exceeds a predetermined set value, And a control unit 54 for stopping the shaft driving means 42-3. The safeguard apparatus further includes an informing means for judging that an abnormality has occurred when at least one of the load values for the plurality of elevating and lowering lines 44 exceeds a set value and informing the occurrence of an abnormality visually and / .

A load cell 52 may be mounted on the shaft of the head sheave 46 or may be configured to form an axis of the head sheave 46 so as to be positioned between the shaft of the head sheave 46 and the wheel bracket 46-2 .

According to the safety device including the load cell 52, it is possible to detect abnormality such as tension or breakage of the lift line 44 by measuring the load values of the lift lines 44, 30 can be detected as a dangerous situation in which an external force such as wind force acts. Accordingly, the electric vehicle battery replacing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention can prevent the battery gripper 30 from falling due to an abnormality of the lifting and lowering line 44, Damage or breakage of the unit 20A can be prevented.

In place of applying the load cell 52 to each of the head sheaves 46, the load cell 52 may be applied to the sheave, which is the connector 48, to determine whether the lift line 44 is abnormal and / Or to detect a dangerous situation. Alternatively, the load cell 52 may be applied to the gripper hands 34-1, respectively, so as to detect the abnormality and / or the dangerous situation of the lift line 44 in the same manner.

8 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an electric vehicle battery exchange apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 8, the electric vehicle battery replacing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in the other constitution and the same operation effect, 20B are slightly different from each other.

The Z axis guide unit 20B of the electric vehicle battery exchange apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention is disposed between the body 10 and the battery gripper 30 and includes a body 10 and a battery gripper 30) having a plurality of link arms connected to an upper portion and a lower end portion of the link arm, the link arms being folded in the Z-axis direction in the Z-axis direction, ).

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Further, the technical ideas described in the embodiments of the present invention may be performed independently of each other, or two or more may be implemented in combination with each other.

5: Electric car
10: Body
20A, 20B: Z-axis guide unit
30: Battery gripper
32: Gripper body
34: gripper hand assembly
36: Hand assembly driving means
40: gripper lifting unit
42: Winder
42-1:
42-2: winding drum
42-3: shaft driving means
44: lift line
46: head sieve
46-1: Wheel
46-2: Wheel bracket
46-3: Wheel cover
48: connector
52: Load cell
54:

Claims

A body installed above the battery exchange position;
A winder mounted on the body; A plurality of elevating lines wound or unwound by the winder;
A head sheave mounted on the body so as to be spaced apart from each other in a peripheral region of the winder and guiding the plurality of lifting and lowering lines downwardly of the body;
A battery gripper for gripping or ungripping an electric vehicle battery by being lifted or lowered according to operation of the winder by being connected to the plurality of ascending / descending lines guided downwardly of the body by the head sheave, a battery gripper;
And a load sensor for measuring loads acting on the plurality of lift lines, respectively,
The battery gripper includes: a gripper body having the plurality of lifting and lowering lines connected thereto; And at least one pair of gripper hand assemblies disposed opposite each other at the bottom of the gripper body, wherein the pair of gripper hand assemblies are movable in a direction away from and relative to each other in the gripper body And moved in a direction away from or approaching each other by the hand assembly driving means,
Electric car battery exchange device.

The load sensor according to claim 1,
And a load cell mounted to each of the plurality of head sheaves so as to be capable of measuring a load applied to the head sheave by the lifting and lowering line engaged with the head sheave,
Electric car battery exchange device.

The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Further comprising a controller for stopping the operation of the winder when at least one of the load values for the plurality of lift lines measured by the load sensor exceeds a preset value,
Electric car battery exchange device.

The method according to claim 1,
The above-
A rotary shaft;
Two winding drums respectively mounted on both end portions of the rotary shaft and each having one or more winding regions in which the up / down lines are wound;
And shaft driving means for rotating the rotation shaft,
Electric car battery exchange device.

The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a Z-axis guide unit for guiding the lifting and lowering of the battery gripper,
Electric car battery exchange device.

The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a stopper that limits the downward distance of the battery gripper,
Electric car battery exchange device.

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