Battery pack caching mechanism and battery replacing station

Abstract

The utility model provides a battery pack caching mechanism and a battery swap station, and relates to the technical field of battery swap stations, the battery pack caching mechanism comprises a guide rail, a carriage and a hook, the guide rail is fixedly arranged; the sliding frame is arranged on the guide rail in a sliding mode, the sliding frame is connected with a sliding driving mechanism, and a buffering area used for containing a battery pack is arranged below the sliding frame; the hook is fixed to the sliding frame, and a hooking part of the hook is located below the sliding frame and used for hooking the battery pack in the cache area during sliding; the battery pack caching mechanism can cache the battery pack, and in the transportation process of the RGV trolley, the stacking machine can transfer the battery pack between the battery rack and the battery pack caching mechanism, so that the waiting time of the RGV trolley in the battery replacement process is shortened, the replacement process of an insufficient-power battery and a full-power battery on the RGV trolley is rapidly completed, and the replacement efficiency of the RGV trolley is improved. And the battery replacement efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of battery swap stations, and in particular to a battery pack cache mechanism and a battery swap station. Background Art

[0002] Pure electric vehicles are developing rapidly, but one of the bottlenecks hindering their development is the difficulty of charging power batteries. The traditional method is to use charging stations for fast charging, but charging times are still relatively long. Battery swapping can solve this problem. Battery swapping involves replacing a depleted battery in an electric vehicle with a fully charged one at a battery swap station, where the replaced battery is then recharged.

[0003] The current battery swapping process at a battery swap station involves transporting depleted batteries to the station via an RGV (rail-guided vehicle). A stacker removes the depleted batteries from the RGV and transfers them to a battery rack. A fully charged battery is then removed from the rack and placed on the RGV. The RGV then transports the fully charged battery to the underside of the vehicle for installation. This cumbersome and time-consuming process results in low battery swapping efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of the present utility model is to provide a battery pack caching mechanism and a battery swap station to solve the problems existing in the prior art. The battery packs can be cached. During the transportation of the RGV trolley, the stacker can transfer the battery packs between the battery rack and the battery pack caching mechanism, thereby reducing the waiting time of the RGV trolley during the battery swap process, quickly completing the replacement process of the low-charged battery and the fully charged battery on the RGV trolley, and improving the battery swap efficiency.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides the following solutions:

[0006] A battery pack caching mechanism includes a guide rail, a slide and a hook, wherein the guide rail is fixed; the slide is slidably arranged on the guide rail, the slide is connected to a sliding drive mechanism, and a cache area for placing battery packs is provided below the slide; the hook is fixed to the slide, and the hooking portion of the hook is located below the slide, for hooking the battery pack in the cache area when sliding.

[0007] As an embodiment, the invention further includes a position sensor for sensing whether the battery pack is in place in the cache area.

[0008] As an embodiment, the position sensor includes at least one pair of opposing beam sensors, and each pair of opposing beam sensors is distributed on both sides of the buffer area.

[0009] As an embodiment, it further includes a fixed positioning seat, the lower surface of which is provided with a positioning hole for cooperating with a positioning pin on the battery pack transport trolley.

[0010] As an embodiment, it further includes a sliding drive mechanism, wherein the sliding drive mechanism is a telescopic mechanism, and the telescopic end of the telescopic mechanism is connected to the slide.

[0011] As an embodiment, the telescopic end of the telescopic mechanism is hinged to the slide frame via a hinge seat.

[0012] As one embodiment, the telescopic mechanism includes an electric cylinder, a cylinder barrel of the electric cylinder is fixed, and a telescopic end of the electric cylinder is connected to the slide.

[0013] As an embodiment, a fixing frame is further included, and the guide rail, the position sensor, the positioning seat and the telescopic mechanism are all fixed on the fixing frame.

[0014] The utility model also provides a battery swap station, comprising a battery rack and the above-mentioned battery pack cache mechanism, wherein the battery rack is used to store the battery pack.

[0015] As one embodiment, the battery pack cache mechanism is fixed to the bottom of the battery rack.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following technical effects:

[0017] The battery pack caching mechanism in the utility model can cache battery packs (fully charged batteries or low-charged batteries). During the transportation of the RGV cart, the stacker can transfer the battery packs between the battery rack and the battery pack caching mechanism, thereby reducing the waiting time of the RGV cart during the battery replacement process, quickly completing the replacement process of low-charged batteries and fully charged batteries on the RGV cart, and improving the battery replacement efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a battery pack cache mechanism in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure from an upward perspective;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the matching structure of the slide, guide rail and hook in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic structural diagram of a guide rail in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 5 This is a structural diagram of a hook in one embodiment of the present utility model;

[0024] Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of a beam sensor in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 7 This is a structural diagram of an electric cylinder in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 8 This is a structural diagram of a fixing frame in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 9 This is a structural diagram of a battery swap station in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Description of reference numerals:

[0029] 1. Guide rail; 2. Slide; 3. Hook; 4. Through-beam sensor; 5. Positioning seat; 6. Electric cylinder; 7. Fixing bracket; 8. Battery rack. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] The purpose of the present utility model is to provide a battery pack caching mechanism and a battery swap station to solve the problems existing in the prior art. The battery packs can be cached. During the transportation of the RGV trolley, the stacker can transfer the battery packs between the battery rack and the battery pack caching mechanism, thereby reducing the waiting time of the RGV trolley during the battery swap process, quickly completing the replacement process of the low-charged battery and the fully charged battery on the RGV trolley, and improving the battery swap efficiency.

[0032] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0033] Example 1:

[0034] like Figures 1 to 8 As shown, this embodiment provides a battery pack caching mechanism, including a guide rail 1, a slide 2 and a hook 3. The guide rail 1 is fixed and is usually a straight guide rail 1; the slide 2 is slidably set on the guide rail 1, the slide 2 is connected to the sliding drive mechanism, and a cache area for placing the battery pack is provided below the slide 2; the hook 3 is fixed on the slide 2, and the hooking portion of the hook 3 is located below the slide 2, and is used to hook the battery pack in the cache area when sliding.

[0035] During use, the battery pack temporarily stored in the cache area can be a low-charged battery or a fully-charged battery.

[0036] The battery pack temporarily stored in the cache area is replaced by a depleted battery in the following manner: the depleted battery on the electric vehicle is removed and placed on a device for transporting depleted batteries, which is usually an RGV trolley. The RGV trolley transports the depleted battery to the cache area. After the RGV trolley transports the depleted battery to the location, the slide 2 slides along the guide rail 1, and the hook 3 hooks the depleted battery while sliding with the slide 2. The unloaded RGV trolley can drive out of the cache area, and the depleted battery is temporarily stored in the cache area. The stacker then places the fully charged battery on the RGV trolley, and the RGV trolley transports the fully charged battery to the electric vehicle for installation; finally, the stacker extends the fork to the bottom of the depleted battery in the cache area to support the depleted battery, and the hook 3 moves in the opposite direction with the slide 2. The hook 3 is detached from the depleted battery, and the stacker transfers the battery pack to the charging area for charging, for example, to the battery rack 8. When this battery replacement method is used, while the RGV trolley is transporting the low-charged battery to the cache area, the stacker can grab the fully charged battery in advance for preparation. When the low-charged battery is hooked by hook 3 and the RGV trolley drives out of the cache area, the stacker can immediately place the fully charged battery on the RGV trolley, thereby reducing the waiting time of the RGV trolley.

[0037] The battery replacement method for fully charged batteries temporarily stored in the cache area is as follows: the stacker places the fully charged battery on hook 3 in advance. After the RGV trolley transports the depleted battery replaced from the electric vehicle to the destination, the stacker removes the depleted battery from the RGV trolley, and the empty RGV trolley drives to the cache area to support the fully charged battery. The hook 3 moves and detaches from the fully charged battery, and the RGV trolley transports the fully charged battery to the electric vehicle for installation. When using this battery replacement method, while the RGV trolley is transporting the depleted battery to the battery swap station, the stacker can first place the fully charged battery on hook 3. After the stacker removes the depleted battery from the RGV trolley, even if the stacker has not completed the storage of the depleted battery, the RGV trolley can move to the cache area to load the fully charged battery, thereby reducing the waiting time of the RGV trolley.

[0038] In actual use, the stacker and RGV trolley are both controlled by the background control system, and any of the above battery replacement methods can be reasonably selected according to the speed and difficulty of operation.

[0039] Therefore, the battery pack caching mechanism in this embodiment can cache battery packs (fully charged batteries or low-charged batteries). During the transportation of the RGV cart, the stacker can transfer the battery packs between the battery rack and the battery pack caching mechanism, thereby reducing the waiting time of the RGV cart during the battery replacement process, quickly completing the replacement process of low-charged batteries and fully charged batteries on the RGV cart, and improving the battery replacement efficiency.

[0040] In this embodiment, four hooks 3 are provided, which are respectively located at the four corners of the slide 2. The battery pack targeted by this embodiment requires the battery pack to have a hanging structure that cooperates with the hook 3. Currently, there are some types of battery packs with a hanging structure, and the battery pack caching mechanism in this embodiment can be directly applied to this type of battery pack. For battery packs that do not have a hanging structure, those skilled in the art can also design and install a hanging structure on such a battery pack in order to use the battery pack caching mechanism in this embodiment, for example, by providing a hanging ring or other structure on the outer shell of the battery pack.

[0041] The RGV trolley is a commonly used structure in this field, and it usually has a lifting function to ensure that the low-power battery can be lifted to a height where the hook 3 can hook it.

[0042] In one embodiment, the battery pack caching mechanism further includes a position sensor for sensing the presence of a battery pack within the caching area. By providing a position sensor to detect the presence of a battery pack within the caching area, the control system determines whether the RGV or stacker can place the battery pack within the caching area based on the sensing result of the position sensor and issues corresponding operational instructions. In this embodiment, the position sensor includes at least one pair of beamforming sensors 4. Two pairs of beamforming sensors 4 are provided on the carriage 2 in this embodiment, with the two beamforming sensors 4 in each pair located on the front and rear sides of the carriage 2 in the direction of its movement.

[0043] This embodiment also includes a fixed positioning seat 5, and the lower surface of the positioning seat 5 is provided with a positioning hole, such as Figure 2 A positioning pin is provided on the RGV trolley. When the RGV trolley moves to the buffer area, the RGV trolley is lifted. After the positioning pin is inserted into the positioning hole, the RGV trolley is positioned to prevent the RGV trolley from shaking when the hook 3 is hooked or away from the battery pack.

[0044] As an implementation method, this embodiment also includes a sliding drive mechanism, which is used to drive the slide 2 to move along the guide rail 1. The sliding drive mechanism can be in the form of a rotation drive, and can specifically include a drive motor, a gear is provided on the output shaft of the drive motor, and a rack meshing with the gear is provided on the slide 2, and the gear is rotated to drive the slide 2 to move. It can also be a telescopic mechanism, the telescopic end of the telescopic mechanism is connected to the slide 2, and the slide 2 is directly pushed to move by the telescopic mechanism. The telescopic mechanism can be a ball screw structure, a hydraulic cylinder, or an electric cylinder 6. In this embodiment, an electric cylinder 6 with a simpler structure is used. The cylinder barrel of the electric cylinder 6 is fixed, and the telescopic end of the electric cylinder 6 is hinged to one end of the slide 2 through an articulated seat. The articulated seat can be a single-axis hinge seat or a ball hinge. By providing the articulated seat, the parallelism requirement between the telescopic axis of the electric cylinder 6 and the axis of the guide rail 1 can be reduced.

[0045] In this embodiment, the guide rail 1, beam sensor 4, positioning seat 5, and electric cylinder 6 can all be directly fixed to the bottom of the battery rack 8, or the bottom of other structures, to achieve a battery pack caching function. To ensure the integrity of the battery pack caching mechanism, the battery pack caching mechanism also includes a fixing frame 7. The guide rail 1, position sensor, positioning seat 5, and telescopic mechanism are all fixed to the fixing frame 7. The specific fixing method can be bolted to facilitate the replacement of damaged components. During use, the fixing frame 7 can be directly fixed in the appropriate position.

[0046] In this embodiment, the fixing frame 7 can be made of square steel pipes and steel plates welded together. In order to improve the buffering capacity of the battery pack buffer mechanism, a plurality of guide rails 1 and slides 2 can be provided on the fixing frame 7.

[0047] Example 2:

[0048] like Figure 9 As shown, this embodiment provides a battery swap station, including a battery rack 8 and the above-mentioned battery pack caching mechanism. The battery rack 8 is used to store battery packs to meet the function of caching battery packs in the battery swap station and improve the efficiency of battery swapping. The battery pack caching mechanism is arranged close to the battery rack 8 to reduce the moving path and moving time of the RGV trolley. Specifically, the fixing frame 7 in the battery pack caching mechanism can be fixed on the battery rack 8, for example, fixed to one side of the battery rack 8. In order to reduce the space occupied by the battery pack caching mechanism and the battery rack 8, the fixing frame 7 can be fixed to the bottom of the battery rack 8.

[0049] Adaptive changes based on actual needs are all within the protection scope of this utility model.

[0050] The present invention uses specific examples to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. The above examples are only intended to help understand the method and core concept of the present invention. At the same time, those skilled in the art will find that the specific implementation methods and application scopes may vary based on the concept of the present invention. In summary, the contents of this specification should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Claims

1. A battery pack cache mechanism, characterized in that: include: A guide rail, wherein the guide rail is fixedly arranged; a slide, the slide being slidably disposed on the guide rail, the slide being connected to a sliding drive mechanism, and having a buffer area below the slide for placing a battery pack; and a hook, wherein the hook is fixed on the slide, and the hooking portion of the hook is located below the slide, and is used for hooking the battery pack in the cache area when sliding.

2. The battery pack cache mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a position sensor for sensing whether the battery pack is in place in the cache area.

3. The battery pack cache mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: The position sensor includes at least one pair of opposing beam sensors, and each pair of opposing beam sensors is distributed on both sides of the cache area.

4. The battery pack cache mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that: It also includes a fixed positioning seat, the lower surface of which is provided with a positioning hole for cooperating with a positioning pin on the battery pack transport trolley.

5. The battery pack cache mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: It also includes a sliding drive mechanism, which is a telescopic mechanism, and the telescopic end of the telescopic mechanism is connected to the slide.

6. The battery pack cache mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: The telescopic end of the telescopic mechanism is hinged to the slide frame through a hinge seat.

7. The battery pack cache mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that: The telescopic mechanism includes an electric cylinder, a cylinder barrel of the electric cylinder is fixedly arranged, and a telescopic end of the electric cylinder is connected to the slide.

8. The battery pack cache mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: It also includes a fixing frame, and the guide rail, the position sensor, the positioning seat and the telescopic mechanism are all fixed on the fixing frame.

9. A battery swap station, characterized in that: It comprises a battery rack and a battery pack cache mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the battery rack is used to store battery packs.

10. The battery swap station according to claim 9, characterized in that: The battery pack cache mechanism is fixed to the bottom of the battery rack.

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