WO2018090668A1

WO2018090668A1 - Floating alignment device and method for battery swapping apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2018090668A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/095064
Authority: WO
Inventors: 朱浩; 赵志凌; 侯文洁
Original assignee: 蔚来汽车有限公司
Priority date: 2016-11-17
Filing date: 2017-07-28
Publication date: 2018-05-24
Also published as: CN106926825B; CN106926825A

Abstract

Disclosed are a floating alignment device and method for a battery swapping apparatus. The floating alignment device comprises a floating portion, this being capable of floating within a set range in the case of an external force being introduced; and at least one positioning mechanism, same being fixedly connected to the floating portion and being capable of limiting the external force. Under the restraints of the limitation, the floating portion can realize the alignment of the at least one positioning mechanism by means of floating. The technical solution of the present application solves the problem of realizing, without needing to use manpower for alignment, the simultaneous and accurate alignment of a plurality of locking and unlocking mechanisms with a locking portion of a battery, thereby laying the foundation for the application of a battery swapping apparatus to battery replacement for electric vehicles and even for the development of whole battery swapping stations.

Description

Floating alignment device and method for power changing equipment

Technical field

The invention belongs to the field of power exchange services, and in particular relates to a floating alignment device and method for a power changing device.

Background technique

With the promotion of electric vehicles, how to provide power supply for electric vehicles with insufficient power in a timely and effective manner has become a matter of great concern to both manufacturers and owners. By setting up a power station to change the electric vehicle, that is, directly replacing the exhausted power battery with a fully charged power battery, the power supply can be completed in a minute time. Therefore, the power exchange mode is a very efficient way to supplement the power.

At present, the application of the power-changing equipment for the power station is still in its infancy in China. An important function of the power-changing equipment is to fix or disconnect the battery from the battery by adding and unlocking the battery to realize the replacement of the battery of the electric vehicle. At present, the cost of the unlocking mechanism is relatively high, and it is usually required to manually position the battery and find the unlocking position. The operator needs to align the unlocking mechanism with the unlocking mechanism on the battery, which takes a long time. Moreover, the operator's work intensity is also large. In addition, the unlocking mechanism can smoothly unlock and unlock the battery locking portion, and the locking mechanism and the battery locking portion need to achieve precise alignment, so how to achieve precise alignment between the unlocking mechanism and the battery locking portion is also Problems to be solved.

Accordingly, the present invention proposes a floating alignment device for a power exchange device that addresses the problem of requiring manual alignment.

Summary of the invention

In order to solve the above problems in the prior art, in order to realize the problem of accurately aligning the unlocking mechanism with the locking portion on the battery in the case where manual operation is not required, the present invention provides a floating for the power changing device. Align the device. The floating alignment device includes: a floating portion that can float within a set range in the case of external force intervention; and at least one positioning mechanism that is fixedly coupled to the floating portion and capable of facing the outer The force is limited; the floating portion is capable of achieving alignment of the at least one positioning mechanism by floating under the constraint of the restriction.

In a preferred embodiment of the floating alignment device for a power changing device, the floating portion includes a plurality of floating bulls eye and a floating plate disposed on the plurality of floating bulls eye in a free contact manner. In the case where the position of the plurality of floating bulls is determined, the floating plate can float in a horizontal plane under the restriction of the plurality of floating bulls eye.

In a preferred embodiment of the above floating alignment device for a power changing device, the positioning mechanism includes a positioning pin and a servo motor that drives the positioning pin, the positioning pin is fixedly coupled to the floating plate, During the insertion of the positioning pin into the positioning hole at the bottom of the electric vehicle, the positioning pin receives a reaction force from the positioning hole due to the insertion, and the reaction force can drive the floating plate to float in a horizontal plane.

In a preferred embodiment of the above floating alignment device for a power changing device, the positioning pin includes a main positioning pin and a secondary positioning pin, and the main positioning pin is inserted into the bottom of the electric vehicle under the driving of the servo motor. The hole, while the auxiliary positioning pin abuts against the bottom of the electric vehicle.

In a preferred embodiment of the above floating alignment device for a power changing device, the floating alignment device further includes at least one unlocking mechanism, the at least one unlocking mechanism being disposed at the floating portion; In the case where one positioning mechanism is aligned, the unlocking mechanism can be aligned with the locking portion on the power battery.

In a preferred embodiment of the above-described floating alignment device for a power-exchange device, the unlocking mechanism is fixedly connected to the floating plate, and the reaction force drives the floating plate to float in a horizontal plane. The floating plate can drive the unlocking mechanism to float in a horizontal direction to align the unlocking mechanism with the locking portion on the power battery.

In a preferred embodiment of the above floating alignment device for a power-exchange device, the floating alignment device further includes a fixing plate, and the plurality of floating bulls eye are respectively fixed on the fixing plate, and the floating plate can Floating in a horizontal plane with respect to the fixed plate.

In a preferred embodiment of the above floating alignment device for a power changing device, the floating alignment device further includes a reset mechanism connectable to the floating plate for adjusting a position of the floating plate .

In a preferred embodiment of the above floating alignment device for a power changing device, the reset mechanism includes at least one spring disposed on the fixed plate and Between the floating plates, in the case where the external force is removed, the floating plate can be returned to an initial position determined by the preload of the spring.

In a preferred embodiment of the above floating alignment device for a power changing device, the floating plate is provided with a connecting member, one end of the spring is connected to the fixing plate, and the other end of the spring passes through the connection A piece is attached to the floating plate.

Furthermore, the present invention also provides a floating alignment method performed using the above floating alignment device, the method comprising: raising the positioning mechanism to a position aligned or fully aligned with a positioning hole portion at the bottom of the electric vehicle And the floating portion is floated in a horizontal plane in a case where the positioning mechanism is aligned with the positioning hole portion; and the positioning mechanism is further raised while or after the floating portion floats in a horizontal plane To a position that is fully aligned with the positioning hole, thereby aligning the unlocking mechanism provided on the floating portion with the locking portion on the power battery.

In the technical solution of the present invention, the rigid connection of the plurality of positioning pins and the floating plate causes the positioning pin to be linked with the floating plate, that is, the floating plate floats in the horizontal direction by the floating bull's eye, and then the floating pin, The driving and unlocking mechanism is precisely aligned with the locking portion on the power battery, and since the floating plate is rigidly connected with the plurality of unlocking mechanisms, the plurality of unlocking mechanisms can be realized simultaneously with the floating plate and the locking portion on the power battery. alignment. Therefore, the present invention solves the problem of realizing a plurality of locking mechanisms while accurately aligning the locking portions on the power battery without requiring manual alignment, for the replacement of the electric equipment in the electric vehicle battery replacement. The application and the development of the entire power station have laid the foundation, which has extremely important theoretical significance and engineering practical significance.

DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic view showing the overall structure of a floating alignment device for a power changing device of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the floating alignment device for a power exchange apparatus of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a partial enlarged view of a side view of a floating alignment device for a power exchange device of the present invention;

4A is a schematic view showing the first step in the alignment process of the floating alignment method of the present invention;

4B is a schematic view showing the second step in the alignment process of the floating alignment method of the present invention;

4C is a schematic diagram of the third step in the alignment process of the floating alignment method of the present invention.

detailed description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art should understand that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. For example, although the various components in the figures are drawn to a particular scale, such proportional relationships are merely exemplary and can be adjusted as needed by those skilled in the art to adapt to a particular application.

It should be noted that in the description of the present invention, the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside" The orientation or positional relationship of the indications is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and is merely for the convenience of describing the present invention and the simplified description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or component referred to has a specific orientation to be specific. The orientation and construction of the orientation are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Moreover, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

In addition, it should be noted that in the description of the present invention, the terms "installation", "connected", and "connected" are to be understood broadly, and may be a fixed connection, for example, unless otherwise specifically defined and limited. It may be a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be directly connected, or may be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and may be internal communication between the two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood on a case-by-case basis.

In order to clearly describe the technical solution of the present invention, the power changing device in the floating alignment device for the power changing device in the embodiment can carry the battery between the vehicle to be replaced and the charging platform capable of providing the fully charged battery. Take the electric car as an example. The floating alignment device mainly comprises a floating portion, a positioning mechanism fixedly connected to the floating portion and an unlocking mechanism, wherein the floating portion can float within a set range in the case of external force intervention; the positioning mechanism can perform the external force The limitation is that the floating portion is limited by the positioning mechanism during the process of the force floating, and it can also be understood that the positioning mechanism can drive the floating portion before inserting the positioning hole. Floating within the set range. During the floating of the floating portion, the floating plate 12 simultaneously drives the unlocking mechanism to float, so that the unlocking mechanism is aligned with the locking portion on the electric vehicle power battery. Referring to Figure 1 in conjunction with Figure 2, Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of the overall structure of a floating alignment device of the present invention. 2 is a side elevational view of the floating alignment device of the present invention; as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the floating portion primarily includes a floating bull's eye 11 and a floating plate 12 disposed in free contact with the floating bull's eye 11. Among them, the floating bull's eye 11 is provided in plurality, and in the case where the positions of the plurality of floating bull's eye 11 are determined, the floating panel 12 can float in the horizontal plane under the restriction of the plurality of floating bulls 11 . Further, referring to Fig. 3, Fig. 3 is a partial enlarged view of a side view of the floating alignment device of the present invention (mainly the thickness direction of the floating portion). As shown in FIG. 3, the floating alignment device further includes a fixing plate 13 on which the floating bull's eye 11 is fixedly disposed. In other words, the floating plate 12 and the fixed plate 13 are connected by the floating bull's eye 11 in a flexible connection, and after the fixed plate is at a certain position, the floating plate can generate a certain amount of floating in the horizontal plane (within a small range). In this embodiment, a person skilled in the art may set a suitable number of floating bull's eye 11 at different positions of the fixed plate 13 according to actual conditions, so that the floating plate 12 can generate the above floating amount under the action of the floating bull's eye 11. At the same time, the structural stability of the floating plate 12 can be ensured.

With continued reference to FIG. 1 and in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3, the positioning mechanism mainly includes a positioning pin 21 and a servo motor 22 capable of driving the positioning pin 21 to move in the thickness direction of the floating portion, and the positioning pin 21 is fixedly coupled to the floating plate 12. For example, in the case of replacing the fully-charged battery placed on the floating plate 12 into the battery compartment in the electric vehicle, the positioning pin 21 can drive the floating plate 12 to make the positioning pin 21 extend into the positioning hole of the electric vehicle chassis. The floating bull's eye 11 floats relative to the fixed plate 13. Specifically, in the process of replacing the electric vehicle with the electric vehicle, the top of the battery compartment is usually provided with a positioning hole matched with the positioning pin 21, and after the positioning pin 21 is aligned and inserted into the corresponding positioning hole, The unlocking mechanism on the electric trolley is aligned with the locking portion of the power battery. The process of aligning the battery locking mechanism with the locking portion by the positioning pin 21 is actually a process of gradually sliding the tapered surface of the front end of the positioning pin into the positioning hole by the floating of the floating plate 12. After the tapered surface is completely slid into the positioning hole, the positioning pin 21 can be aligned into the positioning hole. Due to the rigid connection of the positioning pin 21 and the floating plate 12, the gradual sliding of the front tapered surface causes the inner wall of the positioning hole to generate a reaction force against the positioning pin 21 before the positioning pin 21 is aligned into the positioning hole (the action point of the reaction force) The reaction force is applied to the floating plate 12 through the positioning pin 21, and the floating plate 12 can be horizontally positioned relative to the fixed plate 13 under the pulling of the positioning pin 21 by the intersection of the lowermost end of the inner wall and the tapered surface of the positioning pin 21. The inner range is floated until the positioning pin 21 is inserted into the corresponding positioning hole. In the case where the positioning pin 21 is fully inserted into the positioning hole, the unlocking mechanism simultaneously achieves its alignment with the locking portion on the power battery. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 , in this embodiment, there are four positioning pins 21 , two of which are main positioning pins, and the end portion near the positioning hole is substantially tapered or otherwise can be aligned and protruded into the positioning hole. The shape has a sharp structure inside, and the other two are auxiliary positioning pins, which are different from the main positioning pin, and the end portion may be a relatively flat plate-like structure capable of abutting against the top of the battery compartment. The main positioning pin is lifted by the servo motor and inserted into the positioning hole at the bottom of the electric vehicle, and the auxiliary positioning pin abuts to the corresponding position on the top of the battery compartment. It will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that if the four positioning pins 21 are the main positioning pins, it is easy to cause the servo motor to interfere with the positioning pins 21 during the process of driving the positioning pins 21 into the positioning holes, that is, the floating plate 12 produces a reaction force in multiple directions that affects the floating of the floating plate 12 in the horizontal plane.

With reference to FIG. 1 and in conjunction with FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the unlocking mechanism mainly includes a lock 31 and a driving device 32 (such as a servo motor) for driving the lock, and the driving device 32 of the unlocking mechanism is fixedly connected with the floating plate 12, When the positioning pin 21 drives the floating plate 12 to float in the horizontal direction, the floating plate 12 can drive the driving device 32 of the unlocking mechanism to float in the horizontal direction, so that the lock 31 of the unlocking mechanism and the lock on the electric vehicle power battery The stops are aligned. For example, the driving device 32 of the unlocking mechanism can be rigidly connected to the floating plate 12 by a fixing frame, such as the fixing frame fixedly connected to the floating plate 12 (also can be integrated with the floating plate 12), the locking head 31 and a drive unit 32 for driving the lock 31 may be located within the holder. Therefore, while the floating plate 12 drives the fixing frame to float, the fixing frame drives the locking head 31 to be aligned with the locking portion on the power battery. The above description is merely illustrative of the connection relationship and the acting relationship between the unlocking mechanism and the floating plate 12, and is not intended to limit the unlocking mechanism. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 , the unlocking mechanisms in the embodiment are arranged in ten, respectively distributed on the floating plate 12 , and the simultaneous alignment of the ten unlocking mechanisms can be realized by the positioning mechanism and the floating plate 12 . .

Further, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a plurality of springs 4 are disposed between the floating plate 12 and the fixed plate 13, and the springs 4 are respectively fixed to the floating plate 12 at both ends in the retractable direction (or rigidly connected with the floating plate). Structure) and fixing plate 13 (or a structure rigidly connected to the fixing plate 13). After the external force is removed (after the positioning pin 21 is disengaged from the positioning hole), the relative position between the floating plate 12 and the fixed plate 13 of the floating alignment device is returned to the initial position determined by the preload of the spring 4. For example, it can be set on the bottom surface of the floating plate 12 A connecting member 121 (an L-shaped connecting member is clearly shown in FIG. 3) is attached, one end of the spring 4 is connected to the fixing plate 13, and the other end of the spring 4 is connected to the floating plate 12 through the connecting member 121. In this embodiment, the bottom surface of the floating plate 12 is provided with a plurality of connecting members 121, so that a plurality of springs 4 are connected between the fixing plate 13 and the floating plate 12, and a plurality of springs 4 are present between the fixed plate 13 and the floating plate 12. In this case, the force receiving process of the floating alignment device can also be expressed as follows: during the insertion of the positioning pin 21, the spring 4 is forced to pull the floating plate 12 to float, and the floating plate 12 is pulled by the spring 4 to release the unlocking mechanism. In turn, the lock of the unlocking mechanism is aligned with the locking portion. In addition, since the floating plate 12 and the fixed plate 13 are connected by the floating bull's eye 11, the floating alignment device is made under the interaction of the forces between the plurality of springs 4 after the positioning pin 21 is disengaged from the positioning hole. Revert to the initial location. It should be noted that the spring 4 in the above is the reset mechanism of the floating alignment device in the embodiment, and the reset mechanism can also play a mutually restricting role in the floating portion of the floating portion, that is, the floating process of the floating plate 12 The spring 4 is stretched while its reaction force further limits the floating of the floating plate 12 in the horizontal plane.

Moreover, the present invention also provides a floating alignment method that is performed using a floating alignment device. 4A, 4B, and 4C are schematic views of respective steps in the floating alignment method, respectively.

The floating alignment method mainly includes the following steps:

S10. Raise the positioning mechanism to a position that is aligned or completely aligned with the positioning hole portion at the bottom of the electric vehicle.

S20. When the positioning mechanism is aligned with the positioning hole portion, the floating portion is caused to float in a horizontal plane.

S30, while the floating portion is floating in the horizontal plane or after, the positioning mechanism is further raised to a position that is completely aligned with the positioning hole, so that the unlocking mechanism disposed on the floating portion and the locking portion on the power battery quasi.

As shown in FIG. 4A, during the ascending process, the positioning pin 21 drives the floating plate 12 rigidly connected with the positioning pin 21 to rise synchronously. The front end of the positioning pin 21 has a tapered surface 211, and the positioning pin 21 is partially aligned with the positioning hole 5. In this case, the tapered surface 211 of the positioning pin 21 is in point contact with the inner wall of the positioning hole 5. At this time, the inner wall 51 of the positioning hole 5 is pressed by the tapered surface 211 of the positioning pin 21, and an anti-squeezing force is applied to the tapered surface 211, which can cause the floating plate 12 to float in the horizontal plane.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the floating of the floating plate 12 in the horizontal plane causes the positioning pin 21 to be disengaged from the inner wall 51 of the positioning hole 5, and the positioning pin 21 is moved to a position completely aligned with the positioning hole 5 with the floating plate 12. Referring to FIG. 4C, at this time, the positioning pin 21 is further raised and fully inserted into the positioning hole 5. In this embodiment, the floating plate 12 is floated in the horizontal plane, and the positioning pin 21 is further raised. At this time, the front end tapered surface 211 of the positioning pin 21 can gradually slide into the positioning hole 5 against the inner wall 51 of the positioning hole 5, until The positioning pin 21 is completely inserted into the positioning hole 5.

It should be noted that the partial alignment in the above may be interpreted as a position where the positioning pin 21 is substantially aligned with the positioning hole 5 (refer to FIG. 4A ), that is, the axis of the positioning pin 21 and the axis of the positioning hole 5 are not coincident. And this partial alignment can be converted to full alignment by the horizontal float of the floating plate 12. The full reference to the criterion can be explained as the case where the axis of the positioning pin 21 substantially coincides with the axis of the positioning hole 5 (refer to FIG. 4C). In the case where the positioning pin 21 is completely aligned with the positioning hole 5, the locking mechanism provided on the floating plate 12 and the locking portion on the power battery can achieve alignment. On this basis, the corresponding power change operation can be performed.

It should be noted that if the positioning pin 21 is completely aligned with the positioning hole 5 at the beginning, the tapered surface 211 of the positioning pin 21 does not abut against the inner wall of the positioning hole 4, and the floating plate 12 does not need to be laterally floated, and the positioning pin 21 can be directly raised and inserted into the positioning hole 5.

Heretofore, the technical solutions of the present invention have been described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings, but it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is obviously not limited to the specific embodiments. Those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or substitutions to the related technical features without departing from the principles of the present invention, and the technical solutions after the modifications or replacements fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

A floating alignment device for a power exchange device, characterized in that the floating alignment device comprises:

a floating portion that can float within a set range in the case of external force intervention;

At least one positioning mechanism that is fixedly coupled to the floating portion and capable of restricting the external force;

The floating portion is capable of achieving alignment of the at least one positioning mechanism by floating under the constraint of the restriction.
The floating alignment device for a power changing device according to claim 1, wherein the floating portion includes a plurality of floating bulls eye and a floating surface disposed on the plurality of floating bulls eye in a free contact manner The plate, in the case where the position of the plurality of floating bulls eye is determined, the floating plate can float in a horizontal plane under the limitation of the plurality of floating bulls eye.
A floating alignment device for a power changing device according to claim 2, wherein said positioning mechanism comprises a positioning pin and a servo motor for driving said positioning pin, said positioning pin being fixedly connected to said floating plate ,

During the insertion of the positioning pin into the positioning hole of the bottom of the electric vehicle, the positioning pin receives a reaction force from the positioning hole due to the insertion, and the reaction force can drive the floating plate to float in a horizontal plane.
The floating alignment device for a power changing device according to claim 3, wherein the positioning pin comprises a main positioning pin and a secondary positioning pin,

The main positioning pin is inserted into a positioning hole of the bottom of the electric vehicle under the driving of the servo motor, and the auxiliary positioning pin abuts against the bottom of the electric vehicle.
The floating alignment device for a power changing device according to claim 3, wherein the floating alignment device further comprises at least one unlocking mechanism, the at least one unlocking mechanism being disposed at the floating portion;

The unlocking mechanism can be aligned with the locking portion on the power battery in the event that the at least one positioning mechanism is aligned.
The floating alignment device for a power changing device according to claim 5, wherein the unlocking mechanism is fixedly connected to the floating plate, and the reaction force drives the floating plate to float in a horizontal plane. During the process, the floating plate can drive the unlocking mechanism to float in a horizontal direction to align the unlocking mechanism with the locking portion on the power battery.
The floating alignment device for a power changing device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the floating alignment device further comprises a fixing plate, and the plurality of floating bulls eye are respectively fixed at the On the fixing plate, the floating plate floats in a horizontal plane with respect to the fixed plate.
The floating alignment device for a power changing device according to claim 7, wherein the floating alignment device further comprises a reset mechanism connectable to the floating plate for adjusting the The position of the floating plate.
The floating alignment device for a power changing device according to claim 8, wherein the reset mechanism comprises at least one spring, and the spring is disposed between the fixed plate and the floating plate. In the case where the external force is removed, the floating plate can be returned to the initial position determined by the preload of the spring.
The floating alignment device for a power changing device according to claim 9, wherein the floating plate is provided with a connecting member, one end of the spring is connected to the fixing plate, and the other end of the spring Connected to the floating plate by the connector.
A floating alignment method performed by the floating alignment device of any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the method comprises:

Raising the positioning mechanism to a position aligned or fully aligned with a positioning hole portion at the bottom of the electric vehicle;

And floating the floating portion in a horizontal plane in a case where the positioning mechanism is aligned with the positioning hole portion;

Locating the positioning mechanism while or after floating the floating portion in a horizontal plane Further rising to a position that is fully aligned with the positioning hole, thereby aligning the unlocking mechanism provided on the floating portion with the locking portion on the power battery.