Work vehicle

Abstract

To provide a work vehicle that is equipped with a connector for charging, and has a structure of the connector having excellent maintainability.SOLUTION: A work vehicle is equipped with an electric motor for running a running vehicle body loaded with a battery, and an electric motor for a work machine that drives the work machine attached to the running vehicle body, where a connector 40 for charging that is connected to a connector for supplying electric power in an external charging facility is provided in the running vehicle body, and the connector 40 for charging is provided to protrude outward from the running vehicle body. The connector 40 for charging comprises; a connector main body having a connection terminal part 43a; a cap 44 blocking the connection terminal part 43a of the connector main body openably and closably; wiring terminal parts 43b; and a cover 45 protecting wiring or the like between the wiring terminal parts 43b from the connection terminal part 43a. The connection terminal part 43a is provided to protrude an upper side of a horizontal surface part 46a of a stay member 46 and the cover 45 is arranged below the horizontal surface part 46a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a work vehicle such as a lawnmower that is driven through a park or the like to mow the grass therein, and more particularly to an electric work vehicle equipped with a battery. [Background technology]

[0002] A vehicle is known in which a charging connector is provided in a recess provided on the side of the vehicle body (Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6720808 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In work vehicles that often run in dusty environments, such as riding lawnmowers, locating the charging connector in a recess in the vehicle body can result in dust accumulating inside, making maintenance necessary.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a work vehicle equipped with a charging connector, the work vehicle having a connector configuration that allows for easy maintenance. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 is a work vehicle equipped with a battery 11 mounted on a traveling body 1, a traveling motor 10 that drives the traveling body 1, and a work machine electric motor 16 that drives a work machine 4 attached to the traveling body 1, in which a charging connector 40 is provided on the traveling body 1 to connect to a power supply connector of an external charging equipment, and the charging connector 40 is provided so as to protrude outward from the traveling body 1.

[0007] The invention described in claim 2 is the invention described in claim 1, in which the charging connector 40 includes a connector main body 43 having a connection terminal portion 43a, a cap 44 that opens and closes the connection terminal portion 43a side of the connector main body 43, a wiring terminal portion 43b, and a cover 45 that protects the wiring etc. between the connection terminal portion 43a and the wiring terminal portion 43b, and the connection terminal portion 43a is arranged to protrude above a horizontal surface portion 46a of a stay member 46, and the cover 45 is arranged below the horizontal surface portion 46a.

[0008] The invention as set forth in claim 3 is the invention as set forth in claim 1, in which a drain hole 45d leading to the cover 45 is formed in the vicinity of the connection terminal portion 43a, and a drain pipe 52 is formed in the cover 45. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the first aspect of the invention, the charging connector 40 is provided so as to protrude outward from the vehicle body 1, so that dust is less likely to accumulate thereon and maintenance is easier.

[0010] The invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effects described in claim 1, has a connection terminal portion 43a above the horizontal surface portion 46a of the stay member 46 and a cover 45 surrounding the wiring below, thereby preventing dust from entering the wiring portion, preventing accidents such as short circuits, and improving maintainability.

[0011] The invention described in claim 3 has the effect of preventing water droplets or rainwater from accumulating on charging connector 40 when washing a car, and enables water inside cover 45 to be discharged to the outside, in addition to the effect described in claim 1. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a left side view of a work vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a left side view of the work vehicle with the bonnet cover in an open position. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a work vehicle with its exterior omitted. [Figure 4] FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the control panel meter communication. [Figure 7] 1 is a perspective view of the work vehicle as viewed from the left front. [Figure 8] 1 is a perspective view of a work vehicle with a fender removed; [Figure 9] FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a charging connector, and FIG. 2B is a side cross-sectional view showing an attachment configuration. [Figure 10] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the wiring terminal portion. [Figure 11] FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a front view of a charging connector according to another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] As shown in Fig. 1, the work vehicle is a riding lawnmower having a traveling body 1, a pair of left and right front wheels 2 provided at the front of the traveling body 1, a pair of left and right rear wheels 3 provided at the rear of the traveling body 1, and a working implement 4 for cutting grass or the like provided between the front wheels 2 and the rear wheels 3 on the underside of the traveling body 1. In addition, a storage section 5 is provided at the front of the upper side of the traveling body 1, a control section 6 on which a driver sits is provided behind the storage section 5, a safety frame (ROPS) 8 for protecting the driver is provided behind the control section 6, and a grass collection container 7 for storing grass cut by the control section 4 is provided below the safety frame 8.

[0014] As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the housing section 5 is provided with a high-voltage battery 11 that stores electricity to be supplied to a traveling electric motor 10 that drives the rear wheels 3, etc., and the high-voltage battery 11 is covered with a bonnet cover 12.

[0015] A low-voltage battery 13 is disposed in front of the traveling motor 10 and high-voltage battery 11. This low-voltage battery 13 is configured to be able to supply power to the steering meter, various lamps such as headlights, control units, etc. This low-voltage battery 13 can also be covered with the bonnet cover 12.

[0016] The output rotation of the traveling electric motor 10 is configured to drive a hydrostatic continuously variable transmission (hereinafter, referred to as HST) 15 disposed in the center of the vehicle body 1 via a transmission belt 14 or the like. The HST 15 is configured to rotate the rear wheels 3 and the front wheels 2 by appropriately changing the speed using the output of a hydraulic motor that receives pressure oil from a hydraulic pump, with a known configuration.

[0017] In addition, the pump shaft of the HST 15 is extended rearward so as to drive an air compressor 17.

[0018] Furthermore, a work machine electric motor 16 that drives the work machine 4 is disposed in an appropriate location at the rear lower part of the vehicle body 1, and a driving force is transmitted between this work machine electric motor 16 and the work machine 4 via a connecting shaft.

[0019] The safety frame 8 is formed from a left support pillar 8L extending in the vertical direction, a right support pillar 8R extending in the vertical direction, and an inverted U-shaped connecting portion 8A connecting the upper parts of the left support pillar 8L and the right support pillar 8R.

[0020] Next, a control unit that drives the traveling motor 10 and the working machine motor 16 with a high voltage supplied from the high voltage battery 11 (e.g., 48V) will be described. As shown in Fig. 4, the traveling motor 10 is controlled through a vehicle controller 20 and a traveling driver unit 21 that are connected to each other so that they can exchange information via CAN (controller area network) communication. On the other hand, the working machine motor 16 is controlled through a vehicle controller 20 and a working machine driver unit 22 that are connected to each other so that they can exchange information via CAN communication. When the traveling motor 10 and the working machine motor 16 are switched off, regenerative braking is activated by the inertial force of the traveling vehicle body 1 and the inertial force of the working machine blade, and when the regenerative braking is activated, the traveling motor 10 and the working machine motor 16 function as a charging device that charges the high voltage battery 11.

[0021] An on-board charger 23 and a battery monitoring system (BMS) 24 that monitors the temperature, charging state, voltage protection, and short-circuit state of each cell of the high-voltage battery 11 are connected to the vehicle controller 20. The vehicle controller 20 is connected to a low-voltage battery (e.g., 12 V) 13 to receive power, and the low-voltage battery 13 is supplied with power from the high-voltage battery 11 after being stepped down via a DC-DC converter 25, enabling it to be charged.

[0022] The high-voltage battery 11 incorporates relay contacts such as a relay for an on-board charger 23 and a relay for a battery monitoring device 24 (both not shown) which are arranged on the output side of the vehicle controller 20, and is configured so that the relay contacts can be turned ON and OFF based on a command signal from the vehicle controller 20.

[0023] Next, the control panel meter 30 in Fig. 5 will be described. It is equipped with a liquid crystal display 31, and is configured so that the remaining charge of the high voltage battery 11 is displayed as a percentage in large characters on the central display 31a. An upper display 31b is provided above this central display 31a, and switches between displaying, for example, the RPM of the work machine electric motor 16 and the vehicle speed. A lower display 31c is provided below the central display 31a, and is configured to display the power-on time or motor drive time, which will be described later, in slightly smaller characters.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 6, the steering meter 30 and the vehicle controller 20 are connected by a wired communication line 33. The vehicle controller 20, which receives state of charge (SOC) information from the battery monitoring device (BMS) 24, can calculate the remaining battery charge. The state of charge is a numerical value received from the battery monitoring device 24. A battery remaining charge calculation unit 34 can calculate the remaining battery charge (%) from the state of charge (SOC) using the relational expression: state of charge (%) = (remaining capacity / capacity at full charge) x 100. The calculated remaining battery charge (%) is displayed on the central display unit 31a of the liquid crystal display unit 31 via the wired communication line 33.

[0025] Furthermore, rotation speed information of the traveling electric motor 10 can be received from the traveling driver unit 21, and the vehicle speed is calculated from this rotation speed information in the vehicle speed calculation unit 35. The vehicle speed can be displayed on the upper display portion 31b of the liquid crystal display unit 31. Similarly, rotation speed information of the work machine electric motor 16 can be received from the work machine driver unit 22, and this rotation speed can be displayed on the upper display portion 31b of the liquid crystal display unit 31. Note that a selection switch 36 can be used to arbitrarily select whether to display the vehicle speed or the rotation speed on the upper display portion 31b.

[0026] As described above, the power-on time or the motor drive time is displayed on the lower display section 31c of the liquid crystal display section 31. The selection is based on the operation of a second selection switch 37 arranged in a position symmetrical to the selection switch 36. Incidentally, the power-on accumulated time Ts is calculated by a power-on time accumulating means Ss, which counts the time from when the key switch 38 serving as the power switch is turned ON to when the key switch 38 is turned OFF, and accumulates the accumulated time.

[0027] On the other hand, the motor drive accumulated time Tm is calculated by a motor drive time accumulating means Sm to accumulate the drive time of the traveling electric motor 10 or the work machine electric motor 16 in the drive mode, and the drive time of the traveling electric motor and the work machine electric motor drive time are accumulated by a timer means which can input a drive output signal and a drive stop signal from the traveling driver unit 21 or the work machine driver unit 22. The motor drive time during a so-called drive mode in which the traveling electric motor 10 and the work machine electric motor 16 are both driven or independently driven is accumulated, and the motor drive time during this drive mode is displayed as the motor drive accumulated time Tm.

[0028] By displaying the power-on accumulated time Ts using the power-on time accumulation means Ss, the maintenance timing of the high-voltage battery 11 and the low-voltage battery 13 can be managed, and by displaying the motor drive accumulated time Tm using the motor drive time accumulation means Sm, the maintenance timing of the traveling motor 10 and the work machine electric motor 16 can be managed.

[0029] The motor drive time accumulation means Sm may manage the motor drive accumulated time Tm as follows. That is, the motor drive accumulated time Tm may be the accumulated drive time of only the traveling motor 10, or the accumulated drive time of only the work machine motor 16. By accumulating the accumulated drive time of only the traveling motor 10, the maintenance timing of the driving system such as the drive wheels can be accurately measured, and by accumulating the accumulated drive time of only the work machine motor 16, the maintenance timing of the PTO shaft, the work machine rotating part, etc. can be accurately measured.

[0030] Furthermore, the following configuration may be used. In the above case, the integration is performed during the driving mode, that is, when the traveling electric motor 10 and the work machine electric motor 16 are both driven or each is driven independently, so the configuration is such that integration is not performed during the charging mode, but the configuration may be such that integration is performed during this charging mode as well. In this way, if the period during charging is included, the total battery usage time during the driving mode and the charging mode can be known.

[0031] Next, the configuration of the charging connector 40 to be connected to the power supply connector of the external charging equipment will be described. As shown in Fig. 7, operation unit panels 42L, 42R are provided on the upper surfaces of the left and right fenders 41L, 41R of the control unit 6, and the charging connector 40 is configured on one side of the left and right operation units (the left operation unit panel 42L in the illustrated example).

[0032] The charging connector 40 has a connector body 43 having a connection terminal portion 43a, a cap 44 that opens and closes the connection terminal portion 43a side of the connector body 43, a wiring terminal portion 43b, and a cylindrical cover 45 that protects the wiring between the connection terminal portion 43a and the wiring terminal portion 43b, and is supported by a horizontal surface portion 46a of a T-shaped stay member 46 fixed to the frame portion of the vehicle body 1.

[0033] That is, a cylindrical cover 45 formed in a cylindrical cup-shaped main body 45a and having a square flange portion 45b integrally molded at the top is fitted into a circular hole 46b formed in a horizontal surface portion 46a of a stay member 46. A flange 47 is provided with a small-diameter mounting hole 47a formed to match the outer periphery of the flange portion 45b. The connection terminal portion 43a is fixed in a state of protruding upward into the mounting hole 47a of this flange 47, and the flange 47 and flange portion 45b are overlapped on the horizontal surface portion 46a and fixed with bolts 48.

[0034] The cap 44 is supported by a cap holding portion 44b which is rotatable about a horizontal axis 44a, and this rotation of the cap 44 switches the top surface of the connection terminal portion 43a between a covered state and an open state.

[0035] The connection terminal portion 43a can be connected to a power supply connector (not shown) connected to an external power source such as a charging facility installed in a house or a charging facility (a charging stand or a charging station), and the battery 11 can be charged.

[0036] The cylindrical cover 45 is attached to the bottom wall portion 45c in a state in which a cable gland 49 formed integrally with the connection terminal portion 43a penetrates vertically, protrudes above the bottom wall portion 45c, and is fixed by screwing a lock nut 50.

[0037] Incidentally, as shown in Fig. 10, the terminal holding structure member forming the connection terminal portion 43a is provided with a cap 44, but since there is a risk of rainwater entering due to the cap 44 being unexpectedly released, the terminal holding structure member is provided with a water drain hole 51. The water droplets passing through the water drain hole 51 are configured to reach the inside of the cylindrical cover 45 below.

[0038] A drain hole 45d is formed in the bottom wall portion 45c of the cylindrical cover 45, and a drain pipe 52 is connected to the drain hole 45d. The drain pipe 52 is connected to a vertical plate portion 46c of the stay member 46 so as to pass therethrough.

[0039] The charging connector 40 has a connection terminal portion 43a supported by a horizontal surface portion 46a of a stay member 46, and the charging connector 40 itself is provided in a state where it protrudes upward from the vehicle body 1, which makes it difficult for dust to accumulate and improves maintainability. Note that, as long as it protrudes from the vehicle body 1, the orientation of the connection terminal portion 43a may be horizontal or oblique.

[0040] In addition, by providing the connection terminal portion 43a above the horizontal surface portion 46a of the stay member 46 and a cylindrical cover 45 surrounding the wiring below it, dust can be prevented from entering the wiring portion, accidents such as short circuits can be prevented, and maintainability can be improved.

[0041] A drain hole 45d that leads to the cylindrical cover 45 is formed near the connection terminal portion 43a, and a drain pipe 52 is formed in the cover 45, so that water droplets during washing the car and rainwater can be prevented from accumulating in the charging connector 40, and the water inside the cover 45 can be drained to the outside.

[0042] The charging connector 40 is located in the same position as the fuel filler port of an engine-equipped riding lawnmower. Therefore, by locating the power supply connector using the existing fuel filler opening formed in the fender 41L or operation panel 42L, the connector placement position can be easily confirmed and the connector connection work can be facilitated. In addition, the horizontal surface portion of the stay member 46 of the charging connector 40 can be formed to a size that covers the existing opening in the fender 41L or operation panel 42L, improving the appearance.

[0043] The drainage effect can be improved by forming the bottom wall portion 45c of the cover 45, to which the charging connector 40 and the drain pipe 52 are connected, in an inclined shape (FIG. 12).

[0044] A collector rotating lever 55 and a cleaner lever 56 for discharging remaining grass on the guide path to the grass collector to the outside of the machine are disposed on the operation panel 42L, 42R on the upper surface of the fender 41L, 41R. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1. Vehicle body 11 High voltage battery (battery) 10. Electric motor for driving 4 Work equipment 16 Electric motor for work equipment 40 Charging connector 43 Connector body 43a Connection terminal 43b Wiring terminal section 44 Cap 45 Cover 45a Drain hole 46 Stay member 46a Horizontal part 52 Drain pipe

Claims

1. This work vehicle is equipped with a battery (11) mounted on a running body (1), a running electric motor (10) for running the running body (1), and a work machine electric motor (16) for driving a work machine (4) attached to the running body (1), characterized in that the running body (1) is provided with a charging connector (40) for connecting to a power supply connector of an external charging equipment, and the charging connector (40) is provided so as to protrude outward from the running body (1).

2. 2. The work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the charging connector (40) comprises a connector body (43) having a connection terminal portion (43a), a cap (44) that opens and closes the connection terminal portion (43a) side of the connector body (43), a wiring terminal portion (43b), and a cover (45) that protects wiring between the connection terminal portion (43a) and the wiring terminal portion (43b), and wherein the connection terminal portion (43a) is provided so as to protrude above a horizontal surface portion (46a) of a stay member (46), and the cover (45) is disposed below the horizontal surface portion (46a).

3. 2. The work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a drain hole (45d) leading to the cover (45) is formed in the vicinity of the connection terminal portion (43a), and a drain pipe (52) is formed in the cover (45).

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