Locking mechanism and energy cabinet

Abstract

The locking mechanism of the present application is arranged on a frame and used to lock a rechargeable battery. A plurality of pivots are arranged on a base of the locking mechanism. A positioning plate is arranged on the pivots and has a spacing distance with the base. A first lever and a second lever are respectively pivotally arranged on one of the pivots and located between the base and the positioning plate. The locking mechanism is locked by pivoting the first lever and the second lever. Since the levers are pivotally arranged on the pivots instead of being directly riveted, the friction of the levers is not too large to cause the operation disorder. When the locking mechanism is assembled, the riveting tightness of the pivots does not need to be adjusted, thereby saving the assembly time. The swinging range of the levers is limited by the positioning plate and the base to avoid the loosening of the levers. The energy cabinet of the present application uses the locking mechanism to improve the smoothness of locking the rechargeable battery.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a locking mechanism and an energy cabinet equipped with the locking mechanism and used for accommodating a plurality of rechargeable batteries. BACKGROUND

[0002] Electric motorcycles use electricity as driving energy. Users can replenish the driving energy of electric motorcycles by replacing rechargeable batteries inside the electric motorcycles. In order to facilitate users to replace rechargeable batteries, there is an energy cabinet. Users can take out rechargeable batteries of electric motorcycles and place them in the energy cabinet, and then take out another rechargeable battery from the energy cabinet and put it into the electric motorcycle to complete the replacement.

[0003] Since rechargeable batteries are exchanged one by one, in order to avoid users taking out another rechargeable battery from the energy cabinet without placing a rechargeable battery into the energy cabinet, or the rechargeable batteries being stolen, a plurality of racks for accommodating rechargeable batteries are provided in the energy cabinet. Each rack is provided with a locking mechanism. The rechargeable batteries in the energy cabinet are locked by the locking mechanisms of the racks. A controller electrically connected to the locking mechanisms is provided in the energy cabinet. When a user places a rechargeable battery into a rack in the energy cabinet, the locking mechanism of the rack locks the rechargeable battery and transmits a signal to the controller. The controller then controls the locking mechanism of the rack to be unlocked. The user can then take out the rechargeable battery from the rack.

[0004] Each locking mechanism includes a base, a first lever and a second lever. The first lever and the second lever are respectively pivoted to the base by rivets. When the locking mechanism is locked, the first lever can hook the rechargeable battery, and the first lever is abutted and limited by the second lever, so that the rechargeable battery is locked. When the locking mechanism is to be unlocked, the second lever of the locking mechanism is pivoted, so that the second lever stops abutting the first lever. The first lever is not limited and can be pivoted to release the rechargeable battery for the user to take out.

[0005] However, since the first and second knobs are respectively pivoted on the base by rivets and are only fixed by one rivet, if the rivet is fixed too tightly, the rivet has too much pressure on the base, resulting in insufficient tolerance, the friction between the knobs and the base is too large, the knobs are difficult to pivot, and the locking and unlocking of the locking mechanism are not smooth; if the rivet is not fixed tightly enough, resulting in insufficient pressure, the tolerance is too large, the knobs are easy to shake and difficult to lock against each other, and the locking mechanism is difficult to lock the rechargeable battery firmly. Therefore, the workers need to spend a lot of time adjusting the pressure of the rivet, resulting in an increase in the overall assembly operation time, and after a period of use, the rivet will be deformed and loose due to the pulling of the knobs, resulting in an increase in the tolerance, making the knobs easy to loosen, so the durability of the locking mechanism is poor, and there is still room for improvement. SUMMARY

[0006] The main purpose of the present application is to provide a locking mechanism and an energy cabinet, which aims to improve the structure of the current locking mechanism, which causes an increase in the overall assembly operation time, and the knobs in the locking mechanism are only fixed by rivets, so after a period of use, the knobs are easy to loosen, causing the durability of the locking mechanism to be poor.

[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the locking mechanism of the present application is installed on a frame, which is used to accommodate a rechargeable battery. The locking mechanism comprises:

[0008] A base is installed at the end of the frame and has a missing slot;

[0009] A plurality of pivots are provided on the base;

[0010] A positioning plate is provided between at least two pivots of the plurality of pivots, and a spacing distance is formed between the positioning plate and the base;

[0011] A first knob is pivoted on one of the plurality of pivots and located between the base and the positioning plate, and the first knob has a hook portion;

[0012] A second knob is pivoted on one of the plurality of pivots and located between the base and the positioning plate, and the second knob has a stop portion; wherein when the rechargeable battery enters the frame and extends into the missing slot of the base, the rechargeable battery pushes and rotates the first knob to a locked state of the locking mechanism, at which time the hook portion of the first knob and the missing slot of the base together limit the rechargeable battery, and the stop portion of the second knob abuts and limits the first knob;

[0013] a first switch disposed on the base, the first switch being triggered by the first lever to send a signal to a remote controller; and

[0014] a second switch disposed on the base, the second switch being triggered by the second lever to send a signal to the remote controller.

[0015] The locking mechanism of the present application can be used to lock the rechargeable batteries accommodated in the racks. Since the first lever and the second lever are located between the base and the positioning plate, and the base and the positioning plate are fixed by the pivots to form the spacing distance, the swinging range of the first lever and the second lever can be limited in the spacing distance by the base and the positioning plate, and the allowable tolerance between the pivots and the first lever and the second lever does not need to be considered. Therefore, when assembling the locking mechanism, the workers only need to install the first lever and the second lever on the pivots, and simply rivet the pivots on the base and the positioning plate, without spending extra time to adjust the riveting compression amount and tightness of the pivots, so that the working time can be effectively saved.

[0016] Furthermore, since the first lever and the second lever are not directly riveted and fixed by the pivots, even if the first lever or the second lever is deformed, the smoothness of the first lever and the second lever will not be affected. In addition, since the pivots are fixed by the base and the positioning plate, and the base and the positioning plate are fixed structures, the pivots are not easy to be pulled off, so the first lever and the second lever are not easy to be pulled off, and the durability of the locking mechanism is improved.

[0017] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the energy cabinet for accommodating a plurality of rechargeable batteries comprises:

[0018] a cabinet body, the cabinet body being provided with a controller;

[0019] a plurality of racks, the plurality of racks being spacedly disposed in the cabinet body, each of the racks being capable of accommodating one of the rechargeable batteries; and

[0020] a plurality of locking mechanisms as described above, each of the locking mechanisms being correspondingly disposed in one of the racks, the first switch and the second switch of each of the locking mechanisms being electrically connected to the controller of the cabinet body and transmitting signals to the controller.

[0021] The energy cabinet of the present application can be used to accommodate the plurality of rechargeable batteries, when accommodated in the frame body, the rechargeable batteries will be locked by the locking mechanism installed in the frame body, the energy cabinet of the present application can improve the smoothness of unlocking or locking the plurality of rechargeable batteries by applying the plurality of locking mechanisms, thereby improving the convenience of users and reducing the maintenance cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 : is an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the energy cabinet of the present application.

[0023] Figure 2 : is an exploded view of the frame body and the locking mechanism of the energy cabinet of the present application.

[0024] Figure 3 : is a perspective view of the locking mechanism of the present application.

[0025] Figure 4 : is a top plan view of the locking mechanism of the present application.

[0026] Figure 5 : is a side plan view of the locking mechanism of the present application.

[0027] Figure 6 : is an exploded view of the pivot post before being riveted of the locking mechanism of the present application.

[0028] Figure 7 : is a cross-sectional view of the pivot post before being riveted of the locking mechanism of the present application.

[0029] Figure 8 : is a cross-sectional view of the pivot post before being riveted of the locking mechanism of the present application. Figure 4

[0030] LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0031] 10: base

[0032] 11: notch

[0033] 20: pivot

[0034] 20a: first tab positioning shaft

[0035] 20b: second tab positioning shaft

[0036] 21: stepped surface

[0037] 22: abutting portion

[0038] 30: positioning plate

[0039] 40: first tab

[0040] 41: hook portion

[0041] ​42: limiting portion

[0042] 43: force receiving portion

[0043] 50: second dial

[0044] 51: stop portion

[0045] 52: connecting portion

[0046] 60: first switch

[0047] 70: second switch

[0048] 80: elastic member

[0049] 90: actuator

[0050] 100: cabinet

[0051] 110: frame

[0052] 101: controller DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] Referring to Figures 2 to 5 A preferred embodiment of the locking mechanism of the present application is shown in the drawings, which is installed in a frame 110 for accommodating a rechargeable battery. The locking mechanism comprises a base 10, a plurality of pivots 20, a positioning plate 30, a first dial 40, a second dial 50, a first switch 60 and a second switch 70.

[0054] As shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 The base 10 is installed at the end of the frame 110 and has a slot 11. The pivots 20 are arranged on the base 10.

[0055] As shown in Figures 3 to 5As shown, the positioning plate 30 is arranged between at least two pivots 20 of the plurality of pivots 20, and a spacing distance is formed between the positioning plate 30 and the base 10; the first toggle piece 40 is pivotally arranged on one of the plurality of pivots 20 and located between the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, and the first toggle piece 40 has a hook portion 41; the second toggle piece 50 is pivotally arranged on one of the plurality of pivots 20 and located between the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, and the second toggle piece 50 has a stop portion 51; when the rechargeable battery enters the frame 110 and extends into the missing groove 11 of the base 10, the rechargeable battery pushes and rotates the first toggle piece 40 to a locked state of the locking mechanism, at this time, the hook portion 41 of the first toggle piece 40 and the missing groove 11 of the base 10 jointly limit the rechargeable battery, and the stop portion 51 of the second toggle piece 50 abuts and limits the first toggle piece 40, wherein when the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the hook portion 41 of the first toggle piece 40 and the missing groove 11 of the base 10 form a closed profile to lock the rechargeable battery.

[0056] As shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 The first switch 60 is arranged on the base 10, and the first toggle piece 40 can trigger the first switch 60 to send a signal to a remote controller; the second switch 70 is arranged on the base 10, and the second toggle piece 50 can trigger the second switch 70 to send a signal to the remote controller, further, when the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the first toggle piece 40 triggers the first switch 60 and the second toggle piece 50 triggers the second switch 70.

[0057] The locking mechanism of the present application can be used to lock the rechargeable battery contained in the frame 110, wherein since the first toggle piece 40 and the second toggle piece 50 are located between the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, and the base 10 and the positioning plate 30 form the spacing distance by the fixing of the plurality of pivots 20, the swing range of the first toggle piece 40 and the second toggle piece 50 can be limited between the spacing distance by the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, and the allowable tolerance between the plurality of pivots 20 and the first toggle piece 40 and the second toggle piece 50 does not need to be considered, therefore, when assembling the locking mechanism, the worker only needs to assemble the first toggle piece 40 and the second toggle piece 50 on the plurality of pivots 20, and simply rivet the plurality of pivots 20 on the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, without spending additional time to adjust the riveting compression amount and the riveting tightness of the plurality of pivots 20, so that the assembly operation time can be effectively saved.

[0058] Furthermore, since the first and second knobs 40 and 50 are not directly fixed by the pivots 20, even if the first or second knobs 40 and 50 are deformed, the smoothness of the first and second knobs 40 and 50 will not be affected, the base 10 and the positioning plate 30 are parallel to each other, and the distance between the base 10 and the positioning plate 30 can accommodate the deformation of the first and second knobs 40 and 50 to a certain extent. In addition, since the pivots 20 are fixed by the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, which are both fixed structures, the pivots 20 are not easily pulled out, so the first and second knobs 40 and 50 are not easily pulled out, thereby improving the durability of the locking mechanism.

[0059] In addition, in the preferred embodiment of the present application, the number of pivots 20 is two, and the first and second knobs 40 and 50 are respectively arranged on different pivots 20. However, in other embodiments, the number of pivots 20 can be more than two, such as three or four.

[0060] As shown in Figures 3 to 5 The locking mechanism includes a resilient member 80 and an actuator 90, both ends of the resilient member 80 are connected to the first and second knobs 40 and 50, and the actuator 90 is controlled by the remote controller and connected to and can push the second knob 50. When the actuator 90 pushes the second knob 50 to pivot, the resilient member 80 pulls the first knob 40 to pivot, so that the locking mechanism is released from the locked state. The actuator 90 is preferably a motor or a solenoid valve.

[0061] When the charging battery is accommodated in the frame 110, and the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the hook portion 41 of the first knob 40 hooks and limits the charging battery. When it is desired to release the charging battery, the actuator 90 is actuated by the remote controller to pivot the second knob 50, and the resilient member 80 uses the elastic force to pivot the first knob 40, so that the locking mechanism is released from the locked state, and the hook portion 41 of the first knob 40 releases the charging battery, so that the charging battery can be taken out of the frame 110. By the design of the actuator 90 and the resilient member 80, only one actuator 90 is needed in the locking mechanism to actuate the first and second knobs 40 and 50, thereby simplifying the structure of the locking mechanism.

[0062] As shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown, the first dial 40 has a limiting portion 42, when the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the limiting portion 42 of the first dial 40 is abutted by the stop portion 51 of the second dial 50, the elastic member 80 is connected to a force receiving portion 43 of the first dial 40, one of the pivots 20 is defined as a first dial positioning pivot 20a, the first dial 40 is pivotally arranged on the first dial positioning pivot 20a, and the pivotally arranged position of the first dial 40 and the first dial positioning pivot 20a is located between the limiting portion 42 and the force receiving portion 43. In other words, the positions of the limiting portion 42 and the force receiving portion 43 on the first dial 40 are respectively located on both sides of the pivotally arranged position of the first dial 40 and the first dial positioning pivot 20a, when the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the force receiving portion 43 is pulled by the elastic force of the elastic member 80, which pushes the limiting portion 42 towards the stop portion 51 of the second dial 50, so that the clamping relationship between the first dial 40 and the second dial 50 is more firm, and when the actuator 90 pushes the second dial 50 to rotate and make the stop portion 51 away from the limiting portion 42, the elastic member 80 is also pulled by the rotating second dial 50 to increase the elastic force, and the first dial 40 is pulled to rotate by the elastic force of the elastic member 80, so that the first dial 40 is connected with the second dial 50, and only one actuator 90 is needed in the locking mechanism.

[0063] As shown, Figure 3 and Figure 4 The elastic member 80 is connected to a connecting portion 52 of the second dial 50, one of the pivots 20 is defined as a second dial positioning pivot 20b, the second dial 50 is pivotally arranged on the second dial positioning pivot 20b, and the pivotally arranged position of the second dial 50 and the second dial positioning pivot 20b is located in the extension direction of the connecting portion 52 towards the stop portion 51. In other words, on the second dial 50, the connecting portion 52, the stop portion 51 and the pivotally arranged position of the second dial 50 and the second dial positioning pivot 20b are sequentially arranged and slightly linear, the distance from the connecting portion 52 to the pivotally arranged position is greater than the distance from the stop portion 51 to the pivotally arranged position, if the pivotally arranged position is used as a fulcrum and the lever principle is used, the elastic force of the elastic member 80 can generate a greater torque on the stop portion 51, which enhances the force of the stop portion 51 abutting the limiting portion 42 of the first dial 40, thereby enhancing the locking ability of the locking mechanism.

[0064] As shown, Figures 6 to 8As shown, each pivot 20 defines two spaced apart stepped surfaces 21, one of the stepped surfaces 21 of the base 10 abuts against, and the other stepped surface 21 of the base 10 abuts against the positioning plate 30, so that the spacing distance between the positioning plate 30 and the base 10 is formed. In addition, each pivot 20 defines two abutting portions 22, which are respectively located at two ends of the pivot 20, and the two abutting portions 22 respectively abut against the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, so that the base 10 and the positioning plate 30 abut against the two stepped surfaces 21 of the pivot 20.

[0065] When the locking mechanism is assembled, the worker respectively installs the positioning plate 30 and the base 10 on the plurality of pivots 20 and abuts against the stepped surfaces 21 of the plurality of pivots 20, and simply rivets the plurality of pivots 20 on the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, so that the abutting portions 22 of the plurality of pivots 20 are formed, and the positioning plate 30 and the base 10 respectively abut against the two abutting portions 22 and the two stepped surfaces 21, without spending extra time to adjust the riveting compression amount and the riveting tightness of the plurality of pivots 20. The two stepped surfaces 21 of the plurality of pivots 20 can be used to control the spacing distance, preferably, the distance between the two stepped surfaces 21 is greater than the thickness of the first tab 40 and greater than the thickness of the second tab 50, thereby reserving the deformation allowance of the first tab 40 and the second tab 50, so that the first tab 40 and the second tab 50 are not easily deformed to cause the locking mechanism to be difficult to operate, and the operation fluency of the locking mechanism is improved.

[0066] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 A preferred embodiment of the energy cabinet of the present application is used to accommodate a plurality of rechargeable batteries, and includes a cabinet body 100, a plurality of shelf bodies 110, and a plurality of locking mechanisms.

[0067] The cabinet body 100 is provided with a controller 101; the plurality of shelf bodies 110 are spaced apart in the cabinet body 100, and each of the shelf bodies 110 can accommodate one of the rechargeable batteries; each of the locking mechanisms is correspondingly arranged in one of the shelf bodies 110, and the first switch 60 and the second switch 70 of each of the locking mechanisms are electrically connected to the controller 101 of the cabinet body 100 and transmit signals to the controller 101.

[0068] The energy cabinet of the present application can be used to accommodate the plurality of rechargeable batteries, when accommodated in the frame body 110, the rechargeable batteries will be locked by the locking mechanism installed in the frame body 110, the energy cabinet of the present application can improve the smoothness of unlocking or locking the plurality of rechargeable batteries by applying the plurality of locking mechanisms, thereby improving the convenience of the user and reducing the maintenance cost. In addition, the controller 101 is electrically connected to the first switch 60 and the second switch 70 of each locking mechanism, the energy cabinet can distinguish whether the plurality of locking mechanisms in the plurality of frame bodies 110 are in the locked state by the controller 101, and the plurality of locking mechanisms in the plurality of frame bodies 110 can be controlled by the controller 101 to control the actuators 90 of the plurality of locking mechanisms. The plurality of locking mechanisms can unlock the rechargeable batteries.

[0069] In summary, in the locking mechanism, the base 10 and the positioning plate 30 maintain the fixed interval distance by the plurality of pivots 20, the first lever 40 and the second lever 50 are limited by the base 10 and the positioning plate 30, so when assembling the locking mechanism, there is no need to spend extra time to adjust the riveting compression amount and riveting tightness of the plurality of pivots 20, which can effectively save the assembly time, and even if the first lever 40 or the second lever 50 is deformed, it will not affect the smoothness of the first lever 40 and the second lever 50.

Claims

1. A locking mechanism, characterized in that The locking mechanism comprises: a base installed at the end of the rack and having a notch; a plurality of pivots arranged in the base; a positioning plate arranged between at least two pivots of the plurality of pivots, and forming a spacing distance with the base; a first tab pivotally arranged on one of the plurality of pivots and located between the base and the positioning plate, the first tab having a hook portion; a second tab pivotally arranged on one of the plurality of pivots and located between the base and the positioning plate, the second tab having a stop portion; wherein when the charging battery enters the rack and extends into the notch of the base, the charging battery pushes and rotates the first tab to a locked state of the locking mechanism, at which time the hook portion of the first tab and the notch of the base together limit the charging battery, and the stop portion of the second tab abuts and limits the first tab; a first switch arranged on the base, the first tab can trigger the first switch to send a signal to a remote controller; and a second switch arranged on the base, the second tab can trigger the second switch to send a signal to the remote controller.

2. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein, The locking mechanism comprises a resilient member and an actuator, two ends of the resilient member are connected to the first tab and the second tab respectively, the actuator is controlled by the remote controller and is connected to and can push the second tab, when the actuator pushes the second tab to pivot, the resilient member pulls the first tab to pivot, so that the locking mechanism is out of the locked state.

3. The locking mechanism of claim 2, wherein, The first tab has a limiting portion, when the locking mechanism is in the locked state, the limiting portion of the first tab is abutted by the stop portion of the second tab, the resilient member is connected to a force receiving portion of the first tab, one of the plurality of pivots is defined as a first tab positioning shaft, the first tab is pivotally arranged on the first tab positioning shaft, and the pivoting position of the first tab and the first tab positioning shaft is located between the limiting portion and the force receiving portion.

4. The locking mechanism of claim 2, wherein, The resilient member is connected to a connecting portion of the second tab, one of the plurality of pivots is defined as a second tab positioning shaft, the second tab is pivotally arranged on the second tab positioning shaft, and the pivoting position of the second tab and the second tab positioning shaft is located in the extension direction of the connecting portion towards the stop portion.

5. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein, Each pivot respectively defines two spaced apart stepped surfaces, the base abuts one of the two stepped surfaces, and the positioning plate abuts the other stepped surface, so that the spacing distance is formed between the positioning plate and the base.

6. The locking mechanism of claim 5, wherein, The distance between the two stepped surfaces is greater than the thickness of the first tab and greater than the thickness of the second tab.

7. The locking mechanism of claim 5, wherein, Each pivot defines two abutting portions, which are respectively located at two ends of the pivot, and abut against the base and the positioning plate, so that the base and the positioning plate abut against the two different surfaces of the pivot.

8. An energy cabinet characterized by, It is used to accommodate a plurality of rechargeable batteries, and includes: A cabinet, wherein a controller is arranged; A plurality of racks, which are arranged in the cabinet at intervals, and each of the racks can accommodate one of the rechargeable batteries; And A plurality of locking mechanisms according to any one of claims 1-7, each of which is arranged in one of the racks, and the first switch and the second switch of each of the locking mechanisms are electrically connected to the controller of the cabinet and transmit signals to the controller.

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