Storage container

Abstract

To provide a storage container which can efficiently secure a storage space of a battery, and improve convenience and safety in electric power supply.SOLUTION: A storage container which may be installed in a moving body comprises: a reinforcing part which is provided in a side wall of the storage container, protrudes toward the outside of the storage container from the side wall and has a space inside thereof; and a power storage part which is detachably installed in the internal space of the reinforcing part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] SUMMARY The present disclosure relates to a storage container. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, from the perspective of reducing the environmental impact, electrification has been progressing in the field of mobile work vehicles, such as dedicated container vehicles with detachment devices (hereinafter referred to as container cars), refuse cars, freight cars and other work vehicles, freight trains, and ships.

[0003] For example, electric work vehicles consume more power than passenger vehicles because they consume electricity according to the weight of the load (e.g., containers) and the loading and unloading of the load, and therefore require larger batteries. However, depending on the work vehicle, a larger battery may not be possible due to the vehicle's bodywork.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a container vehicle that can efficiently perform container unloading operations. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-206690 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When mounting a battery on a container vehicle such as that disclosed in Patent Document 1, a loading arm device for loading and unloading the container is provided on the platform, so the space available for mounting the battery on the vehicle body is limited.

[0007] To cope with this problem, it is possible to install a battery in the container, but housing the battery inside the container reduces the volume of the container. Even if the battery is installed outside the container, if it is installed on the bottom surface, there is a risk that the battery will be damaged when the container is moved from the moving body.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a storage vessel such as a container that can efficiently secure storage space for batteries and improve the convenience and safety of power supply. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present disclosure has been made to solve at least some of the problems described above, and can be realized in the following aspects or application examples.

[0010] The storage container of this application example is a storage container that can be mounted on a moving body, and is characterized in that it comprises a reinforcing section provided on a side wall of the storage container, protruding from the side wall toward the outside of the storage container and having a space inside, and a storage unit removably installed in the internal space of the reinforcing section.

[0011] By providing the power storage unit in the internal space of the reinforcing part provided on the side wall of the storage container in this way, it is possible to efficiently secure the storage space for the power storage unit without sacrificing the space on the mobile body side or the storage space inside the storage container. In addition, by providing a removable power storage unit in the storage container mounted on the mobile body, charging is possible when the power storage unit is removed from the storage container or when the storage container is taken off from the mobile body, improving the convenience of power supply to the mobile body. Furthermore, since the power storage unit is installed in the internal space of the reinforcing part, there is little risk of damage to the battery. This makes it possible to efficiently secure the storage space for the battery (power storage unit) and improve the convenience and safety of power supply. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a container (storage vessel) according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional perspective view taken along the line AA in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a battery arrangement in a container (storage vessel) according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the contents described below, and can be modified as desired without departing from the gist of the present invention. In addition, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments are all schematic representations of components, and may be partially emphasized, enlarged, reduced, or omitted to facilitate understanding, and may not accurately represent the scale, shape, etc. of the components.

[0014] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a container (storage vessel) 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a moving body on which the container 1 is mounted, and Fig. 2 is a sectional perspective view taken along the line AA in Fig. 1. A vehicle (moving body) 2 on which the container 1 of this embodiment is mounted is a container car.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 1, a container 1 is loaded onto or unloaded from the platform of a vehicle body using a loading arm 2a of the vehicle. In the following explanation, the front, rear, left and right directions of the container 1 will be explained based on the posture when the container 1 is loaded onto the vehicle 2.

[0016] The vehicle 2 has a battery 2b for driving mounted on a chassis frame 2c and a motor 2d for driving. The vehicle 2 of this embodiment is an electric vehicle that can be driven by the motor 2d that is driven by power supplied from at least one of the battery 2b for driving and a battery unit 30 on the container 1 side, which will be described later.

[0017] The container 1 has a box shape with an open top and is mainly made of weathering steel. The container 1 includes a bottom wall 10, four vertical frame members 11, four upper frame members 12, and four side walls 13 on the front, back, left and right sides. In the following description, components visible from the left side of the container 1 are illustrated and labeled with reference numerals, and other components are not illustrated or labeled.

[0018] The bottom wall 10 has a generally rectangular plate shape and is the bottom of the container 1. The vertical frames 11 each have a square prism shape extending generally vertically upward from the four corners of the bottom wall 10, i.e., the front, rear, left and right. The upper frame 12 connects the upper ends of the vertical frames 11. The bottom wall 10, the vertical frames 11 and the upper frame 12 form the main body of the container 1.

[0019] The side walls 13 have four sides, front, back, left and right, the front side wall has an engagement part 14 that engages with the loading arm part 2a, and the rear side wall has an opening and closing door (not shown). The left and right side walls have the same structure, and the following explanation will be given of the left side wall 13 shown in Figure 1, and the explanation of the right side wall will be omitted.

[0020] 1 and 2, the side wall 13 of the container 1 has an inner base surface 13a and an outer reinforcing surface 20. A reinforcing portion 21 extending in the front-rear direction (the longitudinal direction of the container 1) is formed at approximately the center in the height direction of the reinforcing surface 20. The reinforcing portion 21 protrudes from the side wall 13 toward the outside of the container 1 in a hat shape.

[0021] More specifically, reinforcing portion 21 has a U-shaped cross section made up of upper surface 22, side surface 23, and lower surface 24. In other words, reinforcing portion 21 forms an internal space surrounded by inner upper surface 22a, inner side surface 23a, inner lower surface 24a, which are the inner surfaces of each surface, and base surface 13a.

[0022] Here, the protruding length R of the reinforcing portion 21, i.e., the length from the surface of the side wall 13 (reinforcing surface 20) to the outer surface 23b which is the outer surface of the reinforcing portion 21, is configured to be shorter than the overhang length L from the side wall 13 (reinforcing surface 20) of the vertical frame body 11. In other words, the reinforcing portion 21 has a thickness that fits within the overhang length L of the vertical frame body 11, and is configured so that the outermost surface of the container 1 does not become the outer surface 23b of the reinforcing portion 21. Although not shown, the overhang length of the upper frame body 12 is the same as the overhang length of the vertical frame body 11, and the reinforcing portion 21 has a thickness that fits within the overhang length of the upper frame body 12.

[0023] An opening / closing part 25 that communicates with the internal space is provided on the side surface 23 of the reinforcement part 21 (see FIG. 1). The opening / closing part 25 is provided on the front side of the container 1, and is configured to be openable and closable by a connecting member on the upper side of the reinforcement part 21 in the openable / closable portion (so-called flip-up type).

[0024] As shown in Fig. 2, a battery unit 30 (power storage unit) is detachably installed in the internal space of the reinforcing part 21. Fig. 3 is a diagram explaining the configuration of the battery unit 30, Fig. 3(a) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3(b) is a schematic diagram showing the battery unit 30.

[0025] 2, the size of the battery unit 30 is such that it can be accommodated in the internal space of the reinforcing portion 21, and the height of the battery unit 30 is approximately the same as the length in the height direction of the inner surface 23a of the reinforcing portion 21. In this embodiment, a description will be given of one battery unit 30 being mounted in the reinforcing portion 21, but a plurality of battery units 30 may be mounted in the reinforcing portion 21.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 3(b), the battery unit 30 has a plurality of battery cells 31 arranged in parallel inside. The battery cells 31 are, for example, lithium ion batteries. The container 1 is provided with a connector (not shown) capable of supplying electric power stored in the battery unit 30 to the driving motor 2d of the vehicle 2 when the container 1 is mounted on the vehicle 2. It is preferable that the connector can be connected to an electrical system on the vehicle 2 side and also connected to an external charger so that the battery unit 30 can be charged. The connector connected to the vehicle 2 side and the connector for charging may be the same or separate.

[0027] Next, a method for attaching and detaching the battery unit 30 to and from the internal space of the reinforcing portion 21 will be described. As described above, the battery unit 30 inside the reinforcement part 21 can be accessed by opening the opening / closing part 25 on the front side of the reinforcement part 21. By opening the opening / closing part 25, the battery unit 30 can be removed or installed.

[0028] After the battery unit 30 is mounted in the internal space of the container 1, the opening / closing portion 25 is closed, thereby completing the storage of the battery unit 30.

[0029] As described above, in the container 1 according to this embodiment, by providing the battery unit 30 in the internal space of the reinforcement portion 21 of the left and right side walls 13, the storage space for the battery unit 30 can be efficiently secured without sacrificing the space on the vehicle 2 side or the storage space inside the container 1. In addition, by providing a detachable battery unit 30 in the container 1 mounted on the vehicle 2, charging is possible even when the battery unit 30 is removed from the container 1 or when the container 1 is being unloaded from the vehicle 2, and the convenience of power supply to the vehicle 2 is improved. Furthermore, by installing the battery unit 30 in the internal space of the reinforcement portion 21, there is little risk of the battery unit 30 being damaged. As a result, the container 1 according to this embodiment can efficiently secure the storage space for the battery unit 30 and improve the convenience and safety of power supply.

[0030] In particular, since the protruding length R of the reinforcing portion 21 is configured to be shorter than the overhanging length L of the vertical frame body 11, the outer surface 23b of the reinforcing portion 21 does not become the outermost surface of the container 1. This makes it possible to prevent damage to the battery unit 30 even if the container 1 receives an external impact, such as a collision with a vehicle or the like. In particular, when the container 1 is mounted on the vehicle 2, the reinforcing portion 21 is located at a high position on the vehicle 2, so it is less susceptible to the impact of a side collision of a low-height passenger car or the like. In addition, since the bottom wall 10 may hit the ground or a vehicle when the container 1 is loaded and unloaded, it is more preferable that the reinforcing portion 21 be provided on the side wall 13.

[0031] This concludes the description of the embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

[0032] The mobile body in the above embodiment is a container vehicle, but the present invention is also applicable to other mobile bodies. For example, the mobile body may be other work vehicles such as a garbage truck or a freight car, or may be a ship or a freight train, not limited to a vehicle. In other words, the storage container in this specification includes a container for storing the load of a mobile body, such as the container in the above embodiment, a container (marine container) loaded onto a ship, a room for collecting garbage in a garbage truck, a luggage compartment of a freight car, or a container of a freight train.

[0033] Also, in the above embodiment, the reinforcing portion is provided at approximately the center position in the height direction of the side wall 13, but the position of the reinforcing portion is not limited to approximately the center position. For example, the reinforcing portion may be provided at the upper or lower position in the height direction of the side wall 13. Also, in the above embodiment, one reinforcing portion extending in the front-rear direction is provided on the side wall 13 of the container, but the number and shape of the reinforcing portions are not limited to this, and for example, two or more reinforcing portions may be provided on the side wall, or a reinforcing portion extending in the height direction may be provided, and a battery unit may be mounted in the internal space of each reinforcing portion.

[0034] Furthermore, the opening and closing portion of the reinforcing part is not limited to the front side of the reinforcing part, but may be provided on the rear side of the container, or the top surface of the reinforcing part itself may be configured to be openable and closable. Also, for example, the reinforcing portion 21 may be detachably attached to the side wall 13 by a fastening member such as a bolt.

[0035] In the above embodiment, the power storage unit is a battery unit configured by arranging a plurality of battery cells in parallel, but the power storage unit may be a battery having another configuration. For example, the power storage unit may be a battery unit having a plurality of rows of battery cells arranged in series. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1 Container (storage container) 2. Vehicles (moving objects) 2a Loading arm section 2b Running battery 2c Chassis frame 2d Driving motor 10 Bottom wall 11 Vertical frame 12 Upper frame 13 Side wall 13a Foundation surface 14 Engagement part 20 Reinforcement surface 21 Reinforcement 22 Top side 22a Inner top surface 23 Side 23a Inside surface 23b External surface 24 Bottom side 24a Inner lower surface 25 Opening and closing section 30 Battery Unit 31 Battery Cell

Claims

[Claim 1] A storage container that can be mounted on a moving body, a reinforcing portion provided on a side wall of the container, protruding from the side wall toward an outside of the container and having a space therein; a storage unit detachably installed in the internal space of the reinforcing portion.

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