JPH01248902A - Automatic recharger for unmanned carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable stable recharge without applying excessive force onto respective members, by employing an articulation structure in a recharge arm for jointing a ground side terminal to a vehicle side electrode terminal. CONSTITUTION:Upon judgement that an unmanned carrier 11 traveled to a recharge station and stopped at a stopping position, a controller in a ground station elongates an air cylinder 28 to push out a ground side electrode terminal 36 arranged at the tip thereof. Consequently, a ground side electrode bracket 33 moves into the guide member 17 of the unmanned carrier 11. Upon completion of joint of the ground side and vehicle side electrode terminals 18, 36, recharge operation for a battery 12 is started. Then the ground electrode bracket 33 is supported movably up and down through a pin 34 and an arm support member 25 is supported rotatably by a support 23, thus achieving smooth elongating operation of the recharge arm when the electrode terminals 18, 36 are jointed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic charging device for an automatic guided vehicle.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as an automatic charging device for an automatic guided vehicle, one shown in FIG. 9 has been employed. This is because a battery (storage battery) 2 is mounted on the automatic guided vehicle 1, and the traveling motor of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is driven by the electric power stored in the battery 2, and the automatic guided vehicle 1 travels along a predetermined traveling route. A charging station is provided along the route of the automatic guided vehicle 1, and the automatic guided vehicle 1 is connected to the charging equipment 3 of the charging station.
At the same time, the charging rod 4 is guided by the trumpet-shaped guide member 5 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 and extended by the drive of the motor M of the charging equipment 3. Side electrode terminal 6 and the automatic guided vehicle 1
and the vehicle side electrode terminal 7 prepared in the above are joined. At this time, the charging rod 4 is made of a glass-reinforced plastic material with excellent elasticity and insulation properties, and while the rod 4 is guided and deformed by the guide member 5 of the automatic guided vehicle 1, the automatic guided vehicle 1 is moved over a wide range. Errors in the stopping position are allowed. Then, with the picture electrode terminals 6.7 connected, the battery 2 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is charged by the charger 8.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, when such an elastic material is used as the charging rod 4, the charging rod 4 cannot be extended smoothly during the work of joining the ground-side and vehicle-side electrode terminals 6 and 7. Furthermore, since charging is carried out over a long period of time, unreasonable stress continues to be applied to the charging rod 4 and the members that come into contact with the charging rod 4 for a long period of time, resulting in problems in durability and the like.

The purpose of this invention is to enable smooth extension of the charging rod (charging arm) during the work of connecting picture electrode terminals, and to avoid applying excessive force to each member even during long-term charging. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic charging device for automatic guided vehicles that can be stably charged.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an automatic guided vehicle equipped with a storage battery and traveling along a traveling route, and a charging facility disposed on the ground side in the middle of the traveling route. The automatic guided vehicle stops at a position separated from the charging equipment, and the charging arm of the charging equipment extends while being guided by the guide member of the automatic guided vehicle, and connects the ground side electrode terminal provided at the tip of the arm and the unmanned guided vehicle. In an automatic charging device for an automatic guided vehicle that charges a storage battery of an automatic guided vehicle by connecting it to a vehicle-side electrode terminal used in a vehicle, the charging arm has a joint structure so that the arm has multiple degrees of freedom. The gist of this invention is an automatic charging device for an automatic guided vehicle.

[Operation] When the charging arm extends while being guided by the guide member of the automatic guided vehicle and joins the ground side electrode terminal and the vehicle side electrode terminal, the jointed charging arm moves with multiple degrees of freedom.

[Example] An example embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic guided vehicle 11 is loaded with a battery 12 as a storage battery, and the automatic guided vehicle 11 is driven by a travel motor (not shown) driven by the battery 12.
1 runs along a running path formed by a guide line 13.

A lead-in guide wire 14 for guiding the automatic guided vehicle 11 to a charging station is branched in the middle of the guide wire 13, and a ground-side optical communication device 15 is installed at the charging station on the lead-in side. . Then, this automatic guided vehicle 11 travels on a running path formed by the pull-in guide $114, and the vehicle-side optical communication device 16 disposed on the side surface of the automatic guided vehicle 11 and the ground-side optical communication device 15 are connected to each other. When they come to a position where they face each other, the vehicle-side optical communication device 16 and the ground-side optical communication device 15 become able to communicate with each other, and the automatic guided vehicle 11 is stopped at this position.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a trumpet-shaped guide member 17 is provided at the rear of the automatic guided vehicle 11 and opens to the rear surface of the vehicle, and at the back thereof, positive and negative vehicle-side electrode terminals are provided at the top and bottom. 18 are arranged. The vehicle-side electrode terminals 18 are biased in the bias direction by springs 19, and are connected to corresponding electrodes of the battery 12, respectively. Note that a reverse connection prevention circuit 20 is provided between the positive side electrode of the battery 12 and the vehicle side type F7A#a child 18. In addition, the upper and lower vehicle side electrode terminals 1
A guide hole 21 extending horizontally is provided between the holes 8 and 8.
A limit switch 22 is installed in the inner part.

On the other hand, at a rear position of the automatic guided vehicle 11 at its stop position, a cylindrical support 23 is erected on the floor surface, and a cap 23a is removably provided on the upper part of the support 23. As shown in FIG. 4, a stopper bin 24 is inserted into this support 23 at a predetermined height, and a cylindrical arm support member 25 having a diameter slightly larger than that of the support 23 is inserted into the upper part of the support 23. The support member 25 is configured to slide on the outer periphery of the support column 23 while being held at a predetermined height by the stopper pin 24. A plurality of holes (not shown) for inserting the stopper bin 24 are provided above and below the support column 23, so that the arm support member 25 can be set at an appropriate height.

A horizontal arm 27 extending in the horizontal direction is connected to the arm support member 25 via a 7-lunge 26, and an air cylinder 28 is built in the arm 27. Further, two openings 29.30 are provided in the support column 23, one above the other, and each of the openings 29.30 extends in the horizontal direction. The air piping 31 of the air cylinder 28 is inserted into the upper opening 29 of these two openings 29 and 30, and the air piping 32 of the air cylinder 28 is inserted into the lower opening 30.
A power supply line connected to a ground-side electrode terminal 36, which will be described later, is inserted. Therefore, the horizontal arm 27 is arranged such that the air pipe 31.32 is inserted into the horizontally extending opening 29.30 and the air pipe 31.32 is inserted into the opening 29.3.
It is possible to rotate at an angle until it touches the left and right ends of 0.

A ground-side electrode bracket 33 is supported at the tip of the piston rod 28a of the air cylinder 28 so as to be rotatable up and down. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tip of the piston rod 28a of the air cylinder 28 is connected to the bottle 34.
A ground-side electrode bracket 33 is connected to the ground side electrode bracket 33 so as to be rotatable up and down, and a buffer packing 35 made of hard rubber is inserted into this connection portion. Therefore, the ground-side electrode bracket 33 is always held in a horizontal state by the buffer gasket 3-5, and when vertical force is applied, it rotates vertically using the bin 34 as a fulcrum against the elastic force. It is possible.

The above-mentioned ground side electrode bracket 33 has positive and negative ground side electrode terminals 36 installed above and below at its tip. Further, a guide bin 37 is protruded from the tip of the ground-side electrode bracket 33, and this bin 37 is inserted into the guide hole 21 of the automatic guided vehicle 11 while being guided by the extension action of the air cylinder 28. It is something that will be done.

The two air pipes 31 and 32 of the air cylinder 28 pass through the inside of the column 23 and are connected to an air solenoid valve 38 provided at the bottom of the column 23, and are further connected to an air supply source 40 via an air tube 39. connected (see Figure 3). Further, a power supply line from the ground side electrode terminal 36 passes through the inside of the column 23 and is connected to the ground station 41 from the lower part of the column 23.

The ground station 41 is equipped with a control device 42 and a charger 43,
The control device 42 detects that the automatic guided vehicle 11 has arrived at the stopping position for charging based on the signal from the ground-side optical communication device 15. The charger 43 performs a charging operation to the battery 12 via the power supply line and the ground side and vehicle side electrode terminals 36, 18 in response to a command from the control device 42.

In this embodiment, the pillar 23, the arm support member 25,
The charging equipment is composed of the horizontal arm 27, the air cylinder 28, the ground side electrode bracket 33, the ground side electrode terminal 36, the charger 43, etc., as well as the column 23, the arm support member 25, the horizontal arm 27, the air cylinder 28, A charging arm is constituted by the ground-side electrode bracket 33 and the like.

Next, the operation of the automatic charging device for an automatic guided vehicle configured as described above will be explained.

The υIM11 equipment 42 of the ground station 41 is the ground side optical communication device 15
When it is determined that the automatic guided vehicle 11 has traveled to the charging station and stopped at the charging station based on the signal from The ground side electrode terminal 36 at the tip is pushed out. And this air cylinder 28
Due to the extension operation, the ground-side electrode bracket 33 moves into the guide member 17 of the automatic guided vehicle 11, and the ground-side electrode bracket 33 moves against the surface of the guide member 17 due to the deviation of the stop position of the automatic guided vehicle 11. It moves while sliding. At this time, vertical movement of the ground-side electrode terminal 36 is allowed because it is supported by the bottle 34 with the buffer packing 35 interposed. In addition, the ground side electrode terminal 3
The left and right movement of 6 is caused by the arm support member 25 relative to the column 23.
Sliding is allowed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5, when the guide bin 37 enters the guide hole 21 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 and turns on the limit switch 22, the electrode terminals 18 and 36 on the ground side and the vehicle side are connected. is completed. The ON operation of this limit switch 22 is controlled by the vehicle-side and ground-side optical communication devices 16.
When the control equipment 42 of the ground station 41 detects it via 15,
The control device 42 causes the charger 43 to start charging the battery 12. Then, the control equipment 42 of the ground station 41
The charging operation is carried out for a predetermined period of time, and when the charging is completed, the air solenoid valve 38 is operated to extend and retract the air cylinder 28, thereby separating the vehicle side and ground side electrode terminals 18 and 36. After that, the automatic guided vehicle 11 moves away from the charging station.

As described above, in this embodiment, the ground-side electrode bracket 33 is vertically movably supported by the bin 34, and the arm support member 25 is rotatably supported by the column 23, so that the charging arm can be made into a joint structure. The charging arm is provided with a plurality of degrees of freedom, namely, two degrees of freedom: the vertical direction of the ground-side electrode bracket 33 and the horizontal direction of the horizontal arm 27. Therefore, the vertical movement of the ground-side electrode bracket 33 and the horizontal movement of the horizontal arm 27 are possible, allowing for deviations in the stopping position of the automatic guided vehicle 11 on the charging stage during the work of joining the picture electrode terminals 18 and 36. The extension operation of the charging arm can be performed smoothly, and long-term charging can be carried out using the electrode terminal, guide member 17, and ground-side electrode bracket 33.
Charging can be performed stably without applying excessive force to contact members such as the like.

Furthermore, in the past, the rod 4 was moved in the direction of approaching the vehicle by motor drive, but in this embodiment, the J cylinder 2
8 is used, controllability is improved because the air solenoid valve 38 is opened and closed only. Furthermore, the pillar 23
When the cap 23a is provided on the upper part of the support 23, the air piping of the air cylinder 28 and the power supply line for charging are built into the support 23, so the air piping and the power supply line are normally protected within the support 23. Maintenance can be easily performed by simply removing the cap 23a.

Furthermore, since the connection between the vehicle-side electrode terminal 18 and the ground-side electrode terminal 36 is maintained by the force of pressing the ground-side electrode terminal 36 against the vehicle-side electrode terminal 18, this force must be applied even during charging. If this kind of thing is done with the motor M, it is necessary to take care of the overheating of the motor M, which is not a good use for the motor M. However, in this embodiment, the air cylinder 28 is used to push with a constant pressure, so this is not possible. There is no need to consider points at all.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and its joint mechanism includes two pillars 44 and 45 as shown in FIG.
The arm 46 is supported by the rear support 45, and the front support 44 has a double cylindrical structure (sleeve structure) as shown in FIG. It may be possible to move up and down by intervening. Furthermore, the ground-side electrode terminal 48 may be connected and supported by a pin 47 at the tip of the 7-m 46 so as to be rotatable left and right. Alternatively, as shown in FIG.
5 may support the arm 46, and the rear column 44 may be movable up and down.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to smoothly extend the charging arm during electrode terminal bonding work, and also to avoid excessive force on each member even during long-term charging. It has an excellent effect of being able to charge stably without being charged.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view of an automatic charging device for an automatic guided vehicle embodying the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the automatic charging device for an automated guided vehicle, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the charging station, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the automatic charging device for an automated guided vehicle. is a perspective view showing the upper part of the column, FIG. 5 is a side sectional view for explaining the function of the automatic charging device for an automatic guided vehicle, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of the joint structure, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another example of a joint structure, and FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of a conventional automatic charging 21 device for an automatic guided vehicle. 11 is an automatic guided vehicle, 12 is a battery as a storage battery,
17 is a guide member, 18 is a vehicle side electrode terminal, 23 is a support column,
24 is a stopper bin, 25 is an arm support member, 27 is a horizontal arm, 28 is an air cylinder, 33 is a ground electrode bracket, 34 is a bin, 35 is a buffer packing, 36 is a ground side electrode terminal, and 43 is a charger.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1.Equipped with an automatic guided vehicle equipped with a storage battery and traveling along a traveling route, and a charging facility placed on the ground side in the middle of the traveling route, the automatic guided vehicle stops at a location separated from the charging facility. The charging arm of the charging equipment extends while being guided by the guide member of the automatic guided vehicle, and the ground-side electrode terminal provided at the tip of the arm is joined to the vehicle-side electrode terminal provided on the automatic guided vehicle, thereby achieving automatic transportation. An automatic charging device for an automatic guided vehicle that charges a storage battery of a vehicle, wherein the charging arm has a joint structure to give the arm multiple degrees of freedom.