JPH1036090A - Carrier positioning device for exchanging battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the positioning of the engagement means with each other even when the field of view is obstructed by a loaded battery, by putting a mark on an optical axis in parallel with the forward direction of a truck, and forming a mark position confirming means by which the position of the mark can be confirmed at the rear part of the truck, on the optical axis at the truck side. SOLUTION: The hooks 11, 11 corresponding to the engagement holes 5, 5 formed on a machine base 1a of an industrial 1, are installed on the front end face of a truck 8. Further a laser beam emitter 13 as a mark confirming means, for emitting a laser beam toward the true front face of the truck 8, is installed on one side edge of the truck 8. A seal on which a target is printed, is attached to a position on an optical axis I where the laser beam is to be emitted, that is, the position straight forward along the side edge of the truck 8, under the physical relationship satisfying that the hooks 11, 11 can be inserted into the engagement holes 5, 5 to be connected, when a carrier 2 is moved straight toward the industrial truck 1, to be pressed thereto.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for replacing a battery of an electric industrial vehicle, in which a used battery is transferred from the industrial vehicle to a table and transported to a charging place, while a fully charged battery loaded in a storage place is stored. Carry the battery to the replacement place where the industrial vehicle is waiting, where the replacement place
The present invention relates to a battery replacement carrier (hereinafter simply referred to as a “carrier”) positioning device used to transfer a loaded battery from a table to an industrial vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A carrier 2 is provided with a loading portion on which a battery M can be moved in the front-rear direction on a table of a cart 8 provided with a steering handle 7 at the rear, and a loading portion at the front end of the battery loading portion. A stopper 11 is provided to prevent the dropped battery M from dropping forward from the loading portion, and is provided on a front surface of the bogie 8 on a base below the battery accommodating opening 3a for connection with the industrial vehicle 1. Hooks 10 and 10 are provided as the other engaging means which are inserted into and engaged with the engaging holes 5 and 5 which are the other engaging means. The truck 8 incorporates an elevating mechanism using a hydraulic cylinder. The hooks 10, 10 are inserted into the engagement holes 5, 5 so that the truck 8 can be reliably connected by being lowered. It has become.

[0003]

When a battery is loaded in the loading section, the front view is impaired by the battery, and when the carrier is connected to an industrial vehicle, the positional relationship between the engaging hole and the hook is viewed from the rear of the carrier. Can not confirm. Therefore, apart from the operator who operates the carrier,
An auxiliary worker must be placed at a position where the positional relationship between the engagement hole and the hook can be checked, and the position must be adjusted according to the instructions of the auxiliary worker.If there is only one worker,
You will have to try many times while moving your carrier back and forth.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention enables the positional relationship between an engaging hole and a hook to be confirmed from the rear of the carrier while operating the carrier. When the vehicle is advanced in a direction perpendicular to the surface having the battery storage opening in the industrial vehicle, the engagement means provided between the front surface of the bogie in the battery replacement carrier and the surface having the battery storage opening is formed. When in an engaging positional relationship, a mark is provided at a position on an optical axis parallel to the forward direction of the bogie, passing a mark preset on the industrial vehicle, while the bogie side has a mark on the optical axis, The present invention is characterized in that a mark position confirming means capable of confirming the position of the mark is provided at the rear part of the cart. And the mark, a sticker on which the target is printed, affixed the target, or use the target printed on the seal, or can be replaced with a unique shape portion that is provided in the industrial vehicle and is easy to confirm,
Also, the position confirmation means may be a light source that irradiates a spot of visible light along the optical axis, a light beam emitted from the light source may be a laser beam, and the mark position confirmation means may be an optical sight or a television camera. Can be adopted.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A carrier positioning device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment, wherein 1 is an industrial vehicle (reach type forklift), 2 is a carrier, and the industrial vehicle 1 has a battery housing 3 provided in a machine base 1a. A conveyor roller 3b is provided on the bottom surface of the battery storage unit 3 inwardly from a storage opening 3a formed on a side surface of the base 1a. The storage opening 3a can be closed by an opening / closing door 4. I have. In the machine base 3, a pair of left and right engagement holes 5, 5 as one engagement means is formed at a lower position of the storage opening 3a, and a target 6 as a mark is provided on the right side thereof. Mark is printed.

On the other hand, the carrier 2 is provided with a conveyor roller 9 on a table of a truck 8 provided with a steering handle 7 also serving as a height adjusting lever at the rear portion, so that the mounted battery M can be moved in the front-rear direction. The battery M mounted on the roller conveyor 9 is provided at the front edge of the conveyor roller 9.
One end is pivoted and a breaker type stopper 10 is provided so that the front end does not move forward and drop. On the front end surface of the bogie 8, hooks 11, 11 which are the other engaging means corresponding to the engaging holes 5, 5 which are the one engaging means formed on the machine base 1 a of the industrial vehicle 1. Is provided. Further, a laser beam irradiator 13 as a mark position confirming means for irradiating a laser beam toward the front of the carriage 8 by operating a switch 12 attached to the handle 7 is provided on one side edge of the carriage 8. I have. The seal on which the target 6 is printed is such that when the carrier 2 is moved straight forward and pressed against the industrial vehicle 1, the hooks 11, 11 are inserted into the engagement holes 5, 5 to connect the two. When the laser beam is irradiated, the laser beam is applied to a position on the optical axis L which extends straight forward along the side edge of the carriage 9.

According to the industrial vehicle 1 and the carrier 2 formed as described above, even when the battery M is loaded on the carrier 2 and the front view cannot be secured, the carrier 2 is moved to the industrial vehicle 1 with respect to the battery storage portion 3. When the switch 12 is turned on with the switch 12 turned toward the storage opening 3a, a point mark of the laser beam is reflected on the side of the machine base 1a, and the positional shift amount of the carrier 2 can be grasped from the positional relationship between the mark and the target 6, The operator can easily align the mark by operating the handle 7 while correcting the mark so as to match the target 6.

In this positioning operation, the height can be easily adjusted as well as left and right as long as care is taken so that the carriage is oriented in a direction orthogonal to the side surface of the machine base having the battery storage opening. Since the height adjustment is performed via the hydraulic cylinder by performing a pumping operation on a handle provided at the rear portion of the carriage, all the positioning operations can be performed at the rear portion of the carriage.

In the above embodiment, a laser beam having excellent visibility is used for the mark confirmation means. However, it is also possible to use another light source by incorporating a condenser lens. It suffices if it is possible to visually identify whether or not the spot-shaped point mark matches the position of the mark (target). The light source is not limited to visible light. The position of the mark can be confirmed in a dark place by irradiating, so that the positional relationship between the engaging hole and the hook can be easily confirmed by the naked eye, and the alignment in the dark can be easily performed.

The mark confirming means may employ a structure in which a target is captured by optical means other than applying light to the mark, and an embodiment thereof will be described below. In FIG. 2 showing the second embodiment, a tubular peep sight 14 is provided at the front of the carriage 8 on the horizontal optical axis L along the side edge of the carriage, and the carrier is provided at the rear. 2 is equipped with an optical sight comprising a mirror 15 that allows the operator operating the rear part of the peep sight 14 to view the peep sight 14 as a mirror image, and the target 6 is positioned on the optical axis L. Then
Since the mark is displayed in the peep sight, the sight can be used for alignment. In this case, the target 6 includes FIG.
As illustrated in FIG. 3A, each area divided into four parts in the horizontal and vertical directions is color-coded to make it easy to distinguish left, right, up and down, while the mirror 15 has a cross-shaped part as shown in FIG. If the line 15a is provided, the operator can confirm a mirror image having an extremely high discriminating effect as shown in FIG. If such an optical mark confirmation means is employed, the structure is simple, there is no fear of failure or running out of battery, and it is economical. In addition, when adopting an optical means, by combining with a lens or a prism,
By simply lowering the line of sight while looking directly at the front through an eyepiece provided at the operation position at the rear of the carrier, operability can be improved by being able to check the image without left and right being reversed.

In the third embodiment, a television camera 16 is mounted on the optical axis L, and a monitor 17 is mounted at the operation position, as shown in FIG. Then, similarly to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to easily perform the alignment at the operation position at the rear of the carrier, and expand the adjustment range by attaching a zoom lens to the TV camera (the target is largely shifted if the angle is wide). Even
This can be captured with a camera) and the accuracy can be increased (the target becomes larger if telephoto is used, and the small amount of deviation can be easily identified). Further, by combining image processing functions, the development of automation can be expected. .

[0012] The mark is simple if the target is formed by sticking a sticker on which the target is printed. However, not only the sticker can be stuck but also the marking by paint may be performed. It is no longer necessary to newly form a specially shaped part such as a head, a hole, a corner, etc. of a stud provided from above, and the form of the mark may be arbitrarily selected. In addition, the position of the mark depends on where the optical axis is set and is not limited to the side of the engagement mechanism. Of course, it can be confirmed directly or indirectly from the rear of the carry with the battery loaded If so, it may be above or on the side of the engagement mechanism. Further, the engagement means for connecting the industrial vehicle and the carrier is not limited to the combination of the engagement hole and the hook.

[0013]

According to the present invention, even when the battery is loaded and the front view is obstructed, the position of the engaging means can be properly adjusted by using the mark confirming means. Can be matched. If the mark is formed by sticking a seal on which the target is printed, it is easy to form and the mark can be easily confirmed.If the mark is replaced with a unique shape part, it is not necessary to form the mark bothersome, Inconspicuous. If a light source is used as the mark checking means, the operation is easy and easy to recognize, and if a laser beam is used as the light beam, even the trajectory of the beam can be checked, so that the adjustment becomes easy. In addition, if the optical system is adopted, there is no risk of failure, and there is no need for a power supply to prevent the battery from functioning. Further, if electric means is employed, automation can be achieved by a combination with image processing technology.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a first embodiment of a carrier positioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a second embodiment of the carrier positioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a mark, a mirror, and a mirror image reflected on the mirror in the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a third embodiment of the carrier positioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Industrial vehicle, 2. Carrier, 3. Battery storage section, 3a Battery storage port, 3b Conveyor roller, 4. Opening / closing door, 5. Engagement hole, 6. Target, 7.・ ・
Steering wheel, 8 ··· cart, 9 ··· conveyor roller, 10 ·
・ Stopper, 11 ・ ・ Hook, 12 ・ ・ Switch, 13
..Laser beam irradiator, 14.Peep sight, 1
5 ... Mirror, 15a ... Cross-shaped line, 16 ... TV camera, 17 ... Monitor.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A front surface of a bogie of a battery replacement carrier and a surface having the battery storage opening when the battery is moved forward in a direction orthogonal to a surface having a battery storage opening in an industrial vehicle to which a battery is to be transferred. When the engaging means provided between them is in a positional relationship to be engaged, the mark passes through a mark specified in advance on the industrial vehicle, on an optical axis parallel to the forward direction of the bogie, and at the rear of the bogie. A positioning device for a carrier for battery replacement, comprising a mark position confirming means capable of confirming the position of the mark. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mark is a target printed on a sticker attached to an industrial vehicle. 3. The positioning device for a battery replacement carrier according to claim 1, wherein the mark is a unique shape portion provided on an industrial vehicle. 4. The positioning device for a battery replacement carrier according to claim 1, wherein said mark position confirmation means is a light source that irradiates a spot of light along an optical axis. 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the light beam is a laser beam. 6. The positioning device for a battery replacement carrier according to claim 1, wherein said mark position confirmation means is an optical sight. 7. The battery carrier positioning device according to claim 1, wherein said mark position confirmation means is a television camera.