Parking facilities

Abstract

This parking facility provides a more efficient way to take out and store charging cables than conventional systems. [Solution] The parking equipment comprises a rectangular pallet for moving vehicles, a charging cable for charging vehicles placed on the pallet, and a cable holder installed on one side of the pallet and extending along that side. The cable holder has a rising wall extending along its longitudinal direction, and the charging cable is stored in the cable holder after being folded back around the end of the rising wall.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to parking facilities.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 below discloses a pallet for a parking device that can supply power to a vehicle. Further, Patent Document 1 discloses, as a structure for storing a charging cable, a structure in which the charging cable is wound and stored in multiple layers inside the storage device body (see FIGS. 23 and 25), and a structure in which the charging cable is stored inside the storage device body while shifting the position of the bent portion of the charging cable by a retracting mechanism (see FIGS. 11, 12, 16, and 17).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Among the above - described structures, in the structure in which the charging cable is wound and stored in multiple layers inside the storage device body, if the charging cable is hard, it may develop a winding kink, making it difficult to take it out from the storage device body and stretch it. Further, in the structure in which the charging cable is stored inside the storage device body while shifting the position of the bent portion of the charging cable by a retracting mechanism, if the charging cable is hard, it may not be possible to smoothly shift the position of the bent portion, and there is a risk that the charging cable cannot be properly stored.

[0005] Therefore, an object of this application is to provide a parking facility with higher workability in taking out and storing a charging cable than in the prior art.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A parking device according to one aspect of this application comprises a rectangular pallet for moving a vehicle, a charging cable for charging a vehicle placed on the pallet, and a cable holder installed on one side of the pallet and extending along that side, wherein the cable holder has a rising wall extending along the longitudinal direction of the cable holder, and the charging cable is stored in the cable holder in a folded state around the end of the rising wall.

[0007] This configuration allows the charging cable to be stored with a minimum number of folds and at the same fold point. Therefore, even stiff charging cables can be smoothly taken out and stored while minimizing the effects of coiling. Consequently, the above configuration significantly improves the ease of taking out and storing the charging cable compared to conventional methods. In this book, "stiff" refers to "difficult to bend into small curves due to low flexibility" and "tends to retain kinks when bent."

[0008] Furthermore, in the above-described parking facility, the cable holder may have a counter wall that faces the rising wall, sandwiching the portion of the charging cable closer to the tip than the folded portion.

[0009] With this configuration, the portion of the charging cable closer to the tip than the folded-back section is housed between the rising wall and the opposing wall, thus preventing the charging cable from protruding from the cable holder.

[0010] Furthermore, in the above-described parking facility, the cable holder may have a restrictive cover that covers at least a portion of the storage area formed between the rising wall and the opposing wall from above.

[0011] With this configuration, the portion of the charging cable closer to the tip than the folded-back section is covered from above by the regulating cover, thus preventing the charging cable from protruding from the cable holder.

[0012] Furthermore, in the above-described parking facility, the charging cable may have a charging connector at its tip, and a notch opening upward may be formed at a longitudinal position on the opposing wall corresponding to the charging connector.

[0013] This configuration makes it easy to store the charging cable in the cable holder and to remove the charging cable from the cable holder.

[0014] Furthermore, in the above-described parking facility, the cable holder may have a protective wall that covers the folding area where the charging cable folds back from the horizontal outside.

[0015] With this configuration, the folded-over area is covered by a protective wall, which prevents the charging cable from protruding from the storage area.

[0016] Furthermore, in the above-described parking facility, one end of the protective wall may face the end of the rising wall with a gap that allows the charging cable to pass through.

[0017] This configuration allows the charging cable to be routed through the gap between the protective wall and the rising wall into the loop area.

[0018] Furthermore, in the above-described parking facility, the rising wall is located at the end of the rising wall and has a rising end face on the inside of the pallet, and the rising end face may be inclined toward the opposing wall with respect to the longitudinal direction of the cable holder.

[0019] This configuration allows charging cables to be routed smoothly through the gap between the protective wall and the rising wall into the return area.

[0020] Furthermore, in the above-described parking facility, the rising wall may have a storage groove that extends along the longitudinal direction of the cable holder and stores the portion of the charging cable closer to the base end than the folded portion.

[0021] According to this configuration, it is possible to suppress the portion of the charging cable on the proximal side of the folded portion from protruding from the cable holder toward the tire tread surface side. That is, the charging cable can be stored so as not to be easily stepped on by the tires of the vehicles entering and leaving the warehouse.

[0022] In addition, in the above parking facility, the folding area where the charging cable folds may be located at the longitudinal end of the cable holder.

[0023] According to this configuration, since the entire cable holder can be effectively used to store the charging cable, the number of folding times of the charging cable can be suppressed.

Effect of the Invention

[0024] According to the present application, it is possible to provide a parking facility with higher workability for taking out and storing a charging cable than in the past.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0025] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an overall view of the parking facility. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pallet and the cable holder. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rear end portion of the cable holder. Among these, (a) is a view in a state where the regulation lid is closed, and (b) is a view in a state where the regulation lid is open. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a side view of the rear end portion of the cable holder seen from the inside. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a side view of the rear end portion of the cable holder seen from the outside. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the VI-VI arrow in (a) of FIG. 3.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0026] (Overall Configuration of the Parking Facility) The parking facility 100 according to this embodiment will be described below. First, the overall configuration of the parking facility 100 will be explained. Figure 1 is an overall view of the parking facility 100. Here, the left side of Figure 1 will be referred to as the "front side," the right side as the "back side," and the left-right direction of the paper as the "depth direction."

[0027] The parking facility 100 is a facility for accommodating the vehicle 101. The parking facility 100 in this embodiment is mechanical and belongs to the elevator type of mechanical system. However, the parking facility 100 is not limited to the elevator type and may be a box-type circulating type, a horizontal circulating type, a planar reciprocating type, a vertical and horizontal moving puzzle type, or other types.

[0028] As shown in Figure 1, the parking facility 100 according to this embodiment includes a parking tower 10, a plurality of pallets 20 on which vehicles 101 are placed, and a carrier 16 for moving the pallets 20 between the entrance 11 and the storage 13 within the parking tower 10. In this embodiment, the vehicle 101 enters the parking tower 10 from the front side, and in the case of a vehicle to be charged, the charging connector 32 of the charging cable 30 (described later) is connected to the charging connection port (not shown) of the vehicle 101. The vehicle 101 that has entered the parking tower 10 is rotated 90 degrees at the entrance 11, which corresponds to the first floor of the parking tower 10. The pallets 20, with the rotated vehicle 101 on them, are moved upward by the carrier 16 along the elevator shaft 12 located in the center of the depth direction of the parking tower 10, and then stored in the parking racks 14 of the storage 13, which are located in front of and behind the elevator shaft 12. Furthermore, when the vehicle 101 is to be removed from the parking tower 10, the pallet 20 carrying the vehicle 101 is moved downward from the parking rack 14 through the elevator shaft 12 towards the entrance 11 by the carrier 16. Upon arriving at the entrance 11, the vehicle 101 is rotated 90 degrees, and if the charging cable 30 is connected, it is disconnected and the vehicle is removed from the front side of the parking tower 10.

[0029] In the parking equipment 100 according to this embodiment, if the vehicle 101 placed on the pallet 20 is an electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid vehicle, the vehicle 101 can be charged while it remains on the pallet 20. In this embodiment, each of the above-mentioned parking racks 14 is equipped with a parking rack-side connector 15, and each pallet 20 is equipped with a pallet-side connector 21 (see also Figure 2). These pallet-side connectors 21 and parking rack-side connectors 15 are connected simultaneously when the pallet 20 is stored in the parking rack 14.

[0030] Furthermore, the pallet 20 is equipped with a charging cable 30 for charging the vehicle 101 placed on the pallet 20. After the pallet 20 is stored in the parking rack 14 and the pallet-side connector 21 and the parking rack-side connector 15 are connected, power is supplied from the parking rack-side connector 15 to the pallet-side connector 21. The power supplied to the pallet-side connector 21 is then supplied to the vehicle 101 via the charging cable 30. When the charging cable 30 is not in use for charging the vehicle 101 or when it is removed from the vehicle 101 during departure, it is stored in the cable holder 40 described below.

[0031] (Overview of the cable holder) Next, we will describe the outline of the cable holder 40 that houses the charging cable 30. Figure 2 is a plan view of the pallet 20 and the cable holder 40, and also shows the parking rack side connector 15 when stored in the parking rack 14. In the following explanation, the right side of Figure 2 will be referred to as "front," the left side as "rear," the bottom of the page as "right," and the top of the page as "left." Also, the left-right direction of Figure 2 will be referred to as the "front-back direction," and the up-down direction as the "left-right direction."

[0032] As shown in Figure 2, the pallet 20 of this embodiment is rectangular in shape and has a long side 22 extending in the front-to-back direction and a short side 23 extending in the left-to-right direction. The cable holder 40 is installed on the right long side 22 of the pallet 20 and extends along the right long side 22. However, the cable holder 40 may be installed on any of the four sides of the pallet 20. For example, the cable holder 40 may be installed on the front short side 23 of the pallet 20 and extend along the front short side 23.

[0033] As described above, in this embodiment, since the cable holder 40 is provided along one side of the pallet 20, the parking space on the pallet 20 is less likely to be compressed by the cable holder 40, and the parking space can be used effectively. In addition, the cable holder 40 in this embodiment can also function as a wheel guide for the vehicle 101.

[0034] The cable holder 40 of this embodiment has an equipment housing section 41 at its front end. The pallet-side connector 21 is located in the equipment housing section 41. As mentioned above, the pallet-side connector 21 is a device that connects to the parking rack-side connector 15. A control box 31 is located near the pallet-side connector 21 in the equipment housing section 41. The control box 31 is connected to the pallet-side connector 21 and is a device that adjusts the supply voltage and amount of power supplied to the vehicle 101. A charging cable 30 is connected to the control box 31, and the power supplied from the parking rack-side connector 15 to the pallet-side connector 21 can be supplied to the vehicle 101 via the control box 31 and the charging cable 30.

[0035] As described above, the base end of the charging cable 30 is connected to the control box 31 located at the front end of the cable holder 40. In other words, the base end of the charging cable 30 is located at the front end of the cable holder 40. However, the position of the base end of the charging cable 30 is not limited to the above. In this embodiment, the control box 31 is mounted inside the cable holder 40, i.e., on the pallet 20, but the control box 31 may be installed on the parking rack 14, or if a similar function is built into the vehicle 101, it does not need to be provided in the parking equipment 100. In this case, the base end of the charging cable 30 may be directly connected to the pallet-side connector 21.

[0036] When the charging cable 30 is stored in the cable holder 40 (hereinafter simply referred to as "storage"), the charging cable 30 first exits the cable holder 40 from its front end (towards the vehicle), then extends rearward along the rising wall 50, folds back around the rear end of the rising wall 50 located at the rear end of the cable holder 40, and is then stored in the cable holder 40 in that state. Details of the cable holder 40 will be described later.

[0037] (Details of the cable holder) Next, we will describe the details of the cable holder 40. In the following, the side of the pallet 20 that is towards the center of the cable holder 40 will be referred to as the "inside," and the side of the pallet 20 that is opposite the center of the cable holder 40 will be referred to as the "outside." Furthermore, the longitudinal direction of the cable holder 40, which corresponds to the front-to-back direction, will simply be referred to as the "longitudinal direction."

[0038] Figure 3 is a plan view of the rear end of the cable holder 40. The upper side of Figure 3 is the "inside" and the lower side is the "outside". Figure 3(a) shows the state with the restrictive cover 80 (described later) closed, and Figure 3(b) shows the state with the restrictive cover 80 open. Figure 4 is a side view of the rear end of the cable holder 40 as seen from the inside. Figure 5 is a side view of the rear end of the cable holder 40 as seen from the outside. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in Figure 3(a). Figures 3 to 6 show the charging cable 30 housed in the cable holder 40, and Figures 4 to 6 show the state with the restrictive cover 80 closed.

[0039] As shown in Figure 3, the cable holder 40 of this embodiment has a rising wall 50, an opposing wall 60, a protective wall 70, and a restricting cover 80. These components will be described in order below.

[0040] <Rising wall> The rising wall 50 is a wall-like portion that extends along the longitudinal direction of the cable holder 40. In this embodiment, the rising wall 50 extends from the front end portion to the rear end portion of the cable holder 40. As shown in Figure 6, the rising wall 50 in this embodiment forms the inner side surface of the cable holder 40. As shown in Figure 2, a top plate portion 51 is provided in the longitudinal central portion of the rising wall 50, extending outward from the upper end portion of the rising wall 50. In this embodiment, the top plate portion 51 is also provided at the front end portion to cover the top of the control box 31 and the pallet side connector 21, but it can be omitted.

[0041] As shown in Figure 6, a storage groove 54 opening inward is formed in the rising wall 50. As shown in Figure 4, the storage groove 54 extends along the longitudinal direction. When stored, the charging cable 30 is located inside the rising wall 50, extends along the rising wall 50 from the tip to the rear end of the cable holder 40, and then folds back at the rear end of the cable holder 40. The storage groove 54 then accommodates the portion of the charging cable 30 that is along the rising wall 50. In other words, the portion of the charging cable 30 closer to the base end than the folded portion is accommodated in the storage groove 54.

[0042] As mentioned above, when stored, the charging cable 30 is folded back at the rear end of the cable holder 40. More specifically, as shown in Figure 3(b), the charging cable 30 is folded back around the rear end of the rising wall 50 at the folding area 42 located at the rear end of the cable holder 40. The portion of the charging cable 30 that is closer to the tip than the folded portion is then stored in the storage area 43 of the cable holder 40.

[0043] Thus, in this embodiment, the folded portion of the charging cable 30 is always the same, and the number of folds is only one. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if the charging cable 30 is stiff, it is possible to smoothly take it out and store it while minimizing the effect of coiling in the charging cable 30. Accordingly, according to this embodiment, the workability of taking out and storing the charging cable 30 is significantly improved compared to conventional methods.

[0044] As shown in Figure 4, the rising wall 50 has a rising end face 52 located at the rear end and inside the pallet, and a rising main face 53 located forward of the rising end face 52. Of these, the rising end face 52 is inclined outward with respect to the longitudinal direction (i.e., toward the opposing wall 60, which will be described later), as shown in Figure 3. By inclining the rising end face 52 toward the opposing wall 60 in this way, the charging cable 30 can be easily guided into the folding area 42.

[0045] <Opposite wall> The opposing wall 60 is a wall-like portion that faces the rising wall 50. As shown in Figure 3(b), the opposing wall 60 faces the rising wall 50 with the portion of the charging cable 30 that is closer to the tip than the folded portion in between. Also, as shown in Figure 6, the opposing wall 60 forms the outer side surface of the cable holder 40. Furthermore, a storage area 43 is formed between the rising wall 50 and the opposing wall 60, which accommodates the portion of the charging cable 30 that is closer to the tip than the folded portion.

[0046] Thus, in this embodiment, the portion of the charging cable 30 that is closer to the tip than the folded portion is sandwiched between the rising wall 50 and the opposing wall 60, which prevents the portion of the charging cable 30 that is closer to the tip than the folded portion from protruding from the storage area 43.

[0047] Here, the charging cable 30 has a charging connector 32 at its tip for connecting the charging cable 30 to the vehicle 101. The worker often grasps the area around this charging connector 32 to store the cable in the cable holder 40 or to remove the charging cable 30 from the cable holder 40.

[0048] Therefore, as shown in Figure 5, a notch 61 opening upward is formed in the longitudinal position of the opposing wall 60 corresponding to the charging connector 32 in this embodiment. In this way, since a notch 61 is formed in the longitudinal position of the opposing wall 60 corresponding to the charging connector 32 in this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the worker's hand from interfering with the opposing wall 60 during storage and retrieval operations. As a result, storage and retrieval operations can be performed easily. Note that a retaining device (not shown) for holding the charging connector 32 in a fixed position may be provided within the storage area 43.

[0049] <Protective wall> The protective wall 70 is a wall-like portion that covers the aforementioned folded area 42 from the horizontal outside. As shown in Figure 3(b), the protective wall 70 in this embodiment is located at the rear edge of the cable holder 40 and is arranged to surround the folded area 42 in a plan view.

[0050] The inner end 71 of the protective wall 70 faces the rising end face 52 located at the end of the rising wall 50. However, a gap is formed between the inner end 71 of the protective wall 70 and the rising end face 52 through which the charging cable 30 can pass. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the charging cable 30 that has passed inside the cable holder 40 can be guided to the return area 42 through the gap. The gap formed between the inner end 71 of the protective wall 70 and the rising end face 52 may be parallel, or it may be formed to become narrower or wider as it goes upwards.

[0051] Furthermore, the outer end 72 of the protective wall 70 is connected to the rear end of the opposing wall 60. However, the outer end 72 of the protective wall 70 and the rear end of the opposing wall 60 do not necessarily have to be connected. As described above, in this embodiment, the folding area 42 where the charging cable 30 is folded is covered by the protective wall 70, that is, the portion of the charging cable 30 that is folded is covered by the protective wall 70, so that the folded portion of the charging cable 30 does not protrude from the storage area 43.

[0052] <Regulatory cover> The restrictive cover 80 is a component that covers the aforementioned storage area 43 from above. In this embodiment, the restrictive cover 80 covers only a portion of the storage area 43. Specifically, the restrictive cover 80 in this embodiment does not cover the portion of the storage area 43 corresponding to the charging connector 32 of the charging cable 30, that is, the portion corresponding to the notch 61 (see Figure 5) of the opposing wall 60. However, the restrictive cover 80 may cover the entire storage area 43.

[0053] As described above, in this embodiment, the storage area 43 is covered from above by the restrictive cover 80, that is, the portion of the charging cable 30 beyond the folded portion is covered from above by the restrictive cover 80, so that when the charging cable 30 is stored, the portion of the charging cable 30 beyond the folded portion is prevented from protruding from the storage area 43. In this embodiment, the restrictive cover 80 is flat, but the restrictive cover 80 may be formed in the shape of a fence made up of frames, or it may be formed in the shape of a mesh.

[0054] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b), the restrictive cover 80 is attached to the opposing wall 60 via a hinge member 81 so that it can be opened and closed. Therefore, according to this embodiment, closing the restrictive cover 80 prevents the charging cable 30 from protruding from the storage area 43, while opening the restrictive cover 80 makes it easy to store the cable in the cable holder 40 or to remove the charging cable 30 from the cable holder 40. Also, if the charging port of the vehicle 101 is close to the storage area 43, the charging connector 32 can be connected to the vehicle 101 with the restrictive cover 80 open, leaving the excess portion of the charging cable 30 in the storage area 43. When the pallet 20 is stored in the parking rack 14 in this state, the restrictive cover 80 can also prevent the charging cable 30 from protruding due to shaking. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 20 pallets 22 Long side 23 Short side 30 charging cables 32 charging connectors 40 Cable holders 42 Turnaround Area 43 Storage Area 50 Retaining wall 52 Rising end face 54 Storage grooves 60 Opposing wall 61 Notches 70 protection wall 71 Inner end 80 Regulatory cover 100 Parking facilities 101 vehicles

Claims

1. A rectangular pallet for transporting vehicles, A charging cable for charging the vehicle placed on the aforementioned pallet, The pallet comprises a cable holder installed on one side and extending along that side, The cable holder has a rising wall that extends along the longitudinal direction of the cable holder, The charging cable is folded back around the end of the rising wall and stored in the cable holder, in a parking facility.

2. The parking equipment according to claim 1, wherein the cable holder has an opposing wall that faces the rising wall, sandwiching the portion of the charging cable closer to the tip than the folded portion.

3. The parking facility according to claim 2, wherein the cable holder has a restrictive cover that covers from above at least a portion of the storage area formed between the rising wall and the opposing wall.

4. The aforementioned charging cable has a charging connector at its tip. The parking equipment according to claim 2, wherein a notch opening upward is formed at a longitudinal position on the opposing wall corresponding to the charging connector.

5. The parking equipment according to claim 2, wherein the cable holder has a protective wall that covers the folding area of ​​the charging cable from the horizontal outside.

6. The parking facility according to claim 5, wherein one end of the protective wall faces the end of the rising wall with a gap that allows the charging cable to pass through.

7. The aforementioned rising wall is located at the end of the rising wall and has an inner rising end face of the pallet. The parking equipment according to claim 6, wherein the rising end face is inclined toward the opposing wall with respect to the longitudinal direction of the cable holder.

8. The parking facility according to claim 1, wherein the rising wall has a storage groove that extends along the longitudinal direction of the cable holder and stores the portion of the charging cable closer to the base end than the folded portion.

9. The parking facility according to claim 1, wherein the folding area of ​​the charging cable is located at the longitudinal end of the cable holder.

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