Charging device

Abstract

To provide a charging device capable of easily and accurately positioning a power supply terminal and a charging terminal.SOLUTION: A charging device 20 includes a first holding portion 34 holding a power supply terminal 31, and a second holding portion 44 holding a charging terminal 41, and brings the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41 into surface contact by guiding and fitting the lower end portion of the second holding portion 44 into a concave portion 39 provided in the first holding portion 34 to cause a battery 5v to perform charging through the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41. The charging device 20 includes a slide support member 36 that slidably supports the first holding portion 34 along a plane parallel to the contact surface (front end surface 33c of a primary core 33) of the power supply terminal 31 with the charging terminal 41, and a box body 35 containing the first holding portion 34 and the slide support member 36.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a charging device, and more particularly to a charging device that can be suitably used for charging a storage battery mounted on an autonomously traveling vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] The following Patent Document 1 describes a charging device for charging a storage battery mounted on an autonomously traveling vehicle. In this charging device, a first coupling member having a tapered recess is provided on the vehicle, and a second coupling member that fits into the recess is provided on the charging station, and when the second coupling member is fitted (guided and fitted) into the recess, a charging terminal held by the first coupling member comes into contact (surface contact) with a power supply terminal held by the second coupling member, thereby charging the storage battery.

[0003] Furthermore, in the charging device of Patent Document 1, the first connecting member is provided with a top plate whose bottom surface (lower surface) is formed as a flat surface extending horizontally, and the second connecting member is provided with a sloped portion whose upper surface slopes downward toward the tip. When the vehicle approaches the charging station, the top plate of the first connecting member rides up onto the sloped portion of the second connecting member, causing the front wheels of the vehicle to lift off the ground. In this state, if the vehicle is moved further toward the charging station (forward) in this state, the lateral movement of the vehicle is no longer hindered by the front wheels being on the ground (the front wheels receiving resistance from the ground), and the second connecting member can be firmly fitted into the recess of the first connecting member, i.e., the power supply terminal and charging terminal can be accurately positioned. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-27428 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The technical solution employed in Patent Document 1 utilizes a slope (incline) on the second coupling member to guide the charging terminal held by the first coupling member to the appropriate position (where the charging terminal makes surface contact with the power supply terminal held by the second coupling member). However, as the first coupling member climbs up the slope on the second coupling member, a vertical load resulting from the vehicle weight is applied to the second coupling member via the first coupling member. Therefore, if the autonomous vehicle equipped with the first coupling member and storage battery is a large, heavy vehicle, such as one used to transport automobiles, the first coupling member may adhere too tightly to the second coupling member, potentially making it impossible to guide the charging terminal held by the first coupling member to the appropriate position—that is, to accurately position the power supply terminal and charging terminal. If the terminals are not accurately positioned, the charging efficiency of the storage battery decreases.

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a charging device that can easily and accurately position the power supply terminal and the charging terminal required when charging a storage battery. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention, which has been invented to achieve the above object, is a charging device that includes a first holding part that holds a power supply terminal and a second holding part that holds a charging terminal, and in which a tip end of either the first holding part or the second holding part is guided and fitted into a recess provided in the other, thereby bringing the power supply terminal and the charging terminal into surface contact, and charging a storage battery via the power supply terminal and the charging terminal, The device is characterized by having a slide support member that supports the first holding portion so that it can slide freely along a surface of the power supply terminal that is parallel to the contact surface with the charging terminal, and a box body that houses the first holding portion and the slide support member.

[0008] In the charging device according to the present invention having the above configuration, when the tip end of one of the first and second holding parts is fitted into the recess provided in the other, the first holding part can be slid inside the box along a plane parallel to the contact surfaces of the power supply terminal and the charging terminal. Therefore, even if the power supply terminal and the charging terminal are misaligned along the plane parallel to the contact surfaces at the start of the charging process for charging the storage battery, the other tip end can be fitted (guided fitting) into one of the recesses while correcting this misalignment by sliding the first holding part.

[0009] In short, the configuration of the present invention eliminates the need to move the power supply terminal (the first holding portion that holds it) and the charging terminal (the second holding portion that holds it) relative to each other while they are tightly attached when positioning and arranging the power supply terminal and the charging terminal. Therefore, even when charging a storage battery mounted on a large autonomous vehicle that transports automobiles via the power supply terminal and the charging terminal, for example, the charging terminal can be positioned easily and accurately relative to the power supply terminal.

[0010] The slide support member may be supported by the box body via an elastic member. In this way, the first holding portion is supported by the box body via the slide support member and the elastic member. Therefore, even if the first holding portion is tilted relative to the second holding portion when one of the first holding portion and the second holding portion is guided and fitted into a recess provided in the other, the tilt can be absorbed by the elastic member. This makes it possible to more easily and accurately position the charging terminal relative to the power supply terminal.

[0011] The present invention as described above is, for example, The power supply terminal is composed of a primary core wound with a primary coil electrically connected to a power source, and the charging terminal is composed of a secondary core wound with a secondary coil electrically connected to a storage battery, The primary core and the secondary core are both U-shaped cores having a pair of parallel legs and a connecting portion that connects the base ends of the pair of legs together, When the other tip end portion is guided and fitted into the recess, the tip end surfaces of the legs of the primary core and the secondary core come into contact with each other (surface contact). The present invention can be preferably applied to a charging device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] As described above, the charging device of the present invention allows the positioning of the power supply terminal and the charging terminal, which should be in surface contact when charging the storage battery, to be performed easily and accurately, thereby enabling efficient charging of the storage battery. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view conceptually showing the movement of an automatic transport device in which a charging device according to an embodiment of the present invention is used when charging a storage battery. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the automatic transport device (automatic transport device during vehicle transport). [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of an automatic transport device. [Figure 4] FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a right side view of FIG. 5. [Figure 7] 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams illustrating an embodiment of a charging process for charging a storage battery, in which (a) shows an initial stage of the process, (b) shows an intermediate stage of the process, and (c) shows an intermediate stage of the process. [Figure 8] 1 is a partial schematic perspective view of a charging device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams illustrating an arrangement of elastic members provided in the power supply unit. [Figure 10] 10 is a schematic diagram showing an arrangement of a box body and a first holding part. FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 1(a) is a front view of the main part of the charging device when charging the storage battery, and FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1(a). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] A charging device according to an embodiment of the present invention can be suitably used as a charging device for charging a storage battery mounted on an autonomously traveling vehicle. An example of the autonomously traveling vehicle is an automatic guided transport device 1 that autonomously travels in the manner shown in Fig. 1, specifically, an automatic guided transport device 1 that travels back and forth between a factory (vehicle assembly factory) F and a container yard Y in accordance with a wireless command Sa from a system control unit S, and that automatically transports a vehicle (here, a front-wheel drive automobile) C assembled at the factory F to the container yard Y when traveling from the factory F to the container yard Y. Below, a specific example of the automatic guided transport device 1 will be briefly described with reference to Figs. 1 to 6, and then the charging device will be described.

[0016] 1 to 6 transports an automobile C with its front wheels W1 mounted and its rear wheels W2 grounded, and includes a main body 2 on which the front wheels W1 of the automobile C are mounted, and a pair of left and right drive wheel units 3 provided at both ends of the main body 2 in the width direction (vehicle width direction of the automobile C). The main body 2 is equipped with a wheel stopper 4 for preventing the front wheels W1 from falling off, a storage battery 5 that stores power to be supplied to the drive wheel units 3, and a control unit (not shown) that controls the drive wheel units 3.

[0017] Each drive wheel unit 3 includes a pair of front and rear wheels 9, a travel motor 11 that drives the wheels 9 to travel, a steering mechanism 10 that rotates the wheels 9 around a steering axis 14 extending vertically using a steering motor 12, a brake mechanism (not shown) that brakes the wheels 9, and a casing 13 that houses these components. Note that part of the casing 13, wheel chocks 4, etc. are not shown in Figures 3 to 6. Because each drive wheel unit 3 is equipped with the above-mentioned steering mechanism 10, the automatic transport device 1 can be switched between a longitudinal travel mode in which the automatic transport device 1 can travel along the longitudinal direction of the main body 2 (automobile C), and a widthwise travel mode in which the automatic transport device 1 can travel along the widthwise direction of the main body 2 (vehicle width direction of automobile C).

[0018] As shown in Fig. 4, the traction motor 11 is an in-wheel motor built into each wheel 9. The traction motor 11 and the steering motor 12 are electrically connected to the storage battery 5 and the control unit mounted on the main body 2, and are driven to rotate based on commands from the control unit.

[0019] The steering mechanism 10 is configured so that when the steering motor 12 is driven to rotate, multiple (here, two) steering shafts 14 rotate synchronously. Here, the output shaft 12a of the steering motor 12, which is arranged horizontally, and the intermediate shaft 15, which is arranged vertically, are connected via a bevel gear, a worm gear, or the like (not shown) so as to be able to transmit torque, and a belt (or chain) 18 is stretched between two pulleys 16 arranged on the intermediate shaft 15 and pulleys 17 provided on each of the steering shafts 14, so that when the steering motor 12 is driven to rotate, the two steering shafts 14 rotate synchronously.

[0020] An angle sensor 19 is attached to the upper end of the intermediate shaft 15, and the steering angle of the steered shaft 14 (wheels 9) is calculated based on the rotation angle of the intermediate shaft 15 detected by this angle sensor 19. As the angle sensor 19, for example, a potentiometer can be used.

[0021] Although not shown in the figures, the automatic conveying device 1 of this embodiment has a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the main body 2 (strictly speaking, the portion of the main body 2 on which the front wheels W1 of the automobile C are mounted). This lifting mechanism raises and lowers the main body 2 between two positions, a lowered position and an elevated position, and positions the main body 2 in the lowered position when loading and unloading the front wheels W1 of the automobile C onto and from the main body 2, and positions the main body 2 in the elevated position when transporting the automobile C. By providing such a lifting mechanism, the automatic conveying device 1 can easily and efficiently load and unload the automobile C.

[0022] Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 1 etc., a brief description will be given of the procedure for transporting the automobile C by the automatic transport device 1 having the above configuration.

[0023] First, in the factory F, the main body 2 of the automatic transport device 1, which is positioned in the lowered position, is moved under the automobile C, and the front wheel W1 of the automobile C is loaded onto the main body 2. Once the front wheel W1 has been loaded onto the main body 2, the lifting mechanism is driven to move the main body 2 from the lowered position to the raised position. With the main body 2 positioned in the raised position, the front wheel W1 of the automobile C is lifted while the rear wheel W2 of the automobile C is in contact with the ground, as shown in Figure 2.

[0024] When the front wheels W1 of the automobile C are loaded onto the main body 2, the automatic guided vehicle 1 automatically travels along a predetermined route (indicated by arrow P1 in FIG. 1 ) in accordance with a wireless command Sa from the system control unit S. Specifically, when the wireless command Sa from the system control unit S is input to the control unit of the automatic guided vehicle 1, the control unit controls the drive / stop of the traction motors 11 and steering motors 12 provided in each drive wheel unit 3 and the braking / release of the wheels 9 by the brake mechanisms in accordance with the wireless command Sa. In this way, the automobile C loaded onto the automatic guided vehicle 1 is automatically transported to the container yard Y. Note that in FIG. 1 , the travel mode of the automatic guided vehicle 1 when transporting the automobile C from the factory F to the container yard Y is basically the "forward / rearward travel mode." When the automobile C is transported to a predetermined position within the container yard Y, the main body 2 is moved from a raised position to a lowered position, and then the automatic guided vehicle 1 retreats from below the automobile C. As a result, the front wheels W1 of the automobile C are lowered from the main body 2 of the automatic conveying device 1, and the transportation of the automobile C to the container yard Y is completed.

[0025] In the automatic guided vehicle 1 that has become empty inside the container yard Y after the automobile C has been unloaded, the steering motor 12 is driven to rotate while the travel motor 11 is stopped in accordance with the wireless command Sa from the system control unit S, and the steering shaft 14 rotates approximately 90° around its axis. This switches the travel mode of the automatic guided vehicle 1 from the longitudinal travel mode to the widthwise travel mode. Then, the automatic guided vehicle 1 automatically travels within the container yard Y in the widthwise travel mode in accordance with the wireless command Sa from the system control unit S, and when it exits the container yard Y (the vehicle placement area provided in the container yard Y) (see arrow P2 in FIG. 1), the travel motor 11 stops. When the travel motor 11 stops, the steering motor 12 is driven to rotate, and the steering shaft 14 rotates approximately 90° around its axis. This switches the travel mode of the automatic guided vehicle 1 from the widthwise travel mode to the longitudinal travel mode. Then, the automatic guided vehicle 1 automatically travels to the factory F in forward / backward travel mode in accordance with a wireless command Sa from the system control unit S (see arrow P3 in FIG. 1). When the automatic guided vehicle 1 arrives at the factory F, a new car C is loaded onto the automatic guided vehicle 1 in the same manner as described above.

[0026] By repeating the above process, the automobiles C produced one after another in the factory F are automatically transported to the container yard Y in sequence by the automatic transport device 1.

[0027] When the remaining charge of the storage battery 5 mounted on the automatic transport device 1 that automatically transports the automobile C as described above falls below a predetermined level, the automatic transport device 1 automatically travels to a charging station (not shown) installed at a fixed location in a factory F, for example, to charge the storage battery 5. A charging device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention is used to charge the storage battery 5. Details of the charging device 20 will be described below with reference to Figs. 7 to 11. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of the charging process for charging the storage battery 5, FIG. 8 is a partial schematic oblique view of the charging device 20, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the elastic member 37 provided in the power supply unit 30 constituting the charging device 20, FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the box body 35 and first holding portion 34 constituting the power supply unit 30, FIG. 11(a) is a front view of the main part of the charging device 20 when charging the storage battery 5 (a view of the charging device 20 along the Y direction shown in FIG. 8 etc.), and FIG. 11(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow AA of FIG. 11(a).

[0028] 7(a) to 7(c), the charging device 20 of this embodiment is configured to charge the storage battery 5 via the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41 by moving the power receiving unit 40, which has a charging terminal 41, relatively closer to the power supply unit 30, which has a power supply terminal 31, and bringing the charging terminal 41 into contact (surface contact) with the power supply terminal 31 in an energized state (power is applied to the power supply terminal 31 with the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41 in surface contact). Here, the power supply unit 30 is fixedly attached to the structure of the charging station, and the power receiving unit 40 is attached to the main body 2 of the automatic transport device 1, which is capable of rising and falling. Since the power receiving unit 40 is attached to the main body 2 of the automatic conveying device 1, which can be raised and lowered, the power receiving unit 40 moves horizontally (along the direction of arrows X and Y (XY plane) shown in Figure 7, etc.) as the automatic conveying device 1 travels, and moves vertically (along the direction of arrow Z shown in Figure 7, etc.) as the main body 2 of the automatic conveying device 1 rises and falls.

[0029] Next, a detailed description will be given of the power supply unit 30. As shown in Fig. 8, the power supply unit 30 includes a power supply terminal 31, a first holding portion 34 that holds the power supply terminal 31, a box body 35 with an open top that houses the first holding portion 34, and a slide support member 36 and an elastic member 37 that are interposed between the first holding portion 34 and the bottom of the box body 35.

[0030] As shown in FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c), the power supply terminal 31 includes a primary coil 32 electrically connected to a power source 6 installed in a charging station, and a primary core 33 around which the primary coil 32 is wound. The primary core 33 is generally U-shaped and integrally includes a pair of parallel legs 33a and a connecting portion 33b connecting the base ends of the legs 33a. A first holding portion 34 holds the power supply terminal 31 (the primary core 33) in a vertical position with the connecting portion 33b located on the lower side. A tip end surface 33c of the leg 33a of the primary core 33 is a flat surface extending horizontally (XY plane). When charging the storage battery 5, the tip end surface 33c of the leg 33a comes into surface contact with a tip end surface 43c of the leg 43a of the secondary core 43 constituting the charging terminal 41, the tip end surface 33c being opposite the tip end surface 33c. Therefore, in this embodiment, the tip end surface 33c corresponds to the "surface of the power supply terminal that comes into contact with the charging terminal" according to the present invention.

[0031] The primary core 33 is formed, for example, by a laminate of multiple metal plates, each of which is substantially U-shaped in front view and stacked in the thickness direction. In this case, the tip surface 33c of the primary core 33 is a layered surface formed by the longitudinal ends of the multiple metal plates stacked in layers. The metal plates may be soft magnetic metal plates, such as pure iron plates with an iron content of 97% by mass or more, or iron-based alloy plates such as Fe-Si alloys, Fe-Ni alloys (Permalloy), Fe-Si-Al alloys (Sendust), and iron-based amorphous alloys. The primary core 33 may also be a so-called dust core, which is obtained by heating a compact of soft magnetic metal powder.

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 8, 10, and 11(b), the first holding portion 34 has a pair of holding members 38, 38 that sandwich the primary core 33 in the thickness direction (direction along arrow Y). The holding members 38 are made of an insulating material such as resin or ceramics, and are preferably made of a resin material containing a fluororesin such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Both holding members 38 are housed in the box 35 with their upper ends protruding above the primary core 33 (and the box 35). The upper end (protruding portion) 38a of one holding member 38 cooperates with the protruding portion 38a of the other holding member 38 to form a recess 39 into which the tip end (lower end) of a second holding portion 44 (details of which will be described later) that holds the charging terminal 41 is fitted. A tapered guide surface 38b is formed on the inner surface of each protrusion 38a, which guides the second holding portion 44 (the tip surface 43c of the secondary core 43 held by it) toward the tip surface 33c of the primary core 33 held by the first holding portion 34 as the power receiving unit 40 arranged above the power supply unit 30 moves downward.

[0033] The open-top box 35 housing the first holding unit 34 having the above-described configuration has a rectangular cross section as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 and is fixedly installed in the charging station. As shown in FIG. 10, the X-direction and Y-direction dimensions of the first holding unit 34 are smaller than the X-direction and Y-direction dimensions of the internal space of the box 35, respectively, and a gap δ is formed between the first holding unit 34 and the box 35. Furthermore, there is no means for fixing the first holding unit 34 housed in the box 35 in a fixed position. Therefore, the first holding unit 34 is housed in the box 35 in a state where it can slide along the XY plane extending horizontally.

[0034] The slide support member 36 interposed between the first holding part 34 and the bottom of the box body 35 is preferably a plate-shaped member whose support surface (upper surface) that contacts and supports the first holding part 34 from below is formed of a fluororesin with a low coefficient of friction, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Therefore, the slide support member 36 may be, for example, a plate-shaped member entirely made of fluororesin, or a plate-shaped member made of a material other than fluororesin with a film-like fluororesin sheet attached to its upper surface. The latter is preferable in terms of cost. The provision of such a slide support member 36 allows the first holding part 34 to slide smoothly along the XY plane.

[0035] The elastic member 37 is disposed between the slide support member 36 and the bottom of the box body 35 in a compressible and deformable state. The elastic member 37 may be a coil spring or one formed of an elastic material such as rubber. In this embodiment, the elastic members 37 are disposed at the four corners of the internal space of the box body 35, as conceptually shown in FIG. 9. By providing the elastic members 37 in this manner, the first holding portion 34 (and the slide support member 36) that holds the primary core 33 is elastically supported by the box body 35.

[0036] Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the power receiving unit 40 includes a charging terminal 41 and a second holding portion 44 that holds the charging terminal 41.

[0037] As shown in FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c), the charging terminal 41 includes a secondary coil 42 electrically connected to the storage battery 5 mounted on the automatic conveying device 1, and a secondary core 43 around which the secondary coil 42 is wound. Similar to the primary core 33, the secondary core 43 is generally U-shaped and integrally includes a pair of parallel legs 43a and a connecting portion 43b connecting the base ends of the legs 43a. A second holding portion 44 holds the power receiving terminal 41 (the secondary core 43) in a vertical orientation, with the connecting portion 43b located on the upper side. The distal end surfaces 43c of the legs 43a of the secondary core 43 are flat surfaces extending horizontally (in the XY plane). Similar to the primary core 33, the secondary core 43 may be formed of a laminate of soft magnetic metal plates stacked in the thickness direction, or may be formed of a powder magnetic core. The secondary core 43 has the same shape and volume as the primary core 33, that is, it is the same as the primary core 33.

[0038] 8 and 11(b), the second holding portion 44 has a pair of holding members 45, 45 that sandwich the secondary core 43 in the thickness direction (direction along arrow Y). Like the holding member 38 that constitutes the first holding portion 34, the holding member 45 is made of an insulating material such as resin or ceramics, and is preferably made of a resin material containing a fluororesin such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). A tapered surface 45a is formed on the outer periphery of the lower end of the holding member 45, and is substantially parallel to the tapered guide surface 38b formed on the holding member 38 that constitutes the first holding portion 34.

[0039] When the charging device 20 having the above configuration is used, the storage battery 5 mounted on the automatic transport device 1 is charged as follows.

[0040] First, the automatic transport device 1 equipped with the storage battery 5 and the power receiving unit 40 autonomously travels toward a charging station where the power source 6 and the power supply unit 30 are installed, causing the power receiving unit 40 to move horizontally toward the power supply unit 30. Then, as shown in FIGS. 7(b) and 8, when the power receiving unit 40 is positioned above the power supply unit 30, the main body 2 of the automatic transport device 1 to which the power receiving unit 40 is attached is lowered, and the charging terminal 41 provided on the power receiving unit 40 is brought into surface contact with the power supply terminal 31 (power supply terminal 31 in an energized state) provided on the power supply unit 30. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 7(c) and 11(a) and 11(b), the tip surface 33c of the primary core 33 that constitutes the power supply terminal 31 is brought into surface contact with the tip surface 43c of the secondary core 43 that constitutes the charging terminal 41.

[0041] In the energized power supply terminal 31, magnetic flux is generated around the primary coil 32 electrically connected to the power source 6, and this magnetic flux interlinks with the primary core 33 around which the primary coil 32 is wound. The magnetic flux interlinked with the primary core 33 flows from one leg 33a constituting the primary core 33 to the other leg 33a via the connecting portion 33b. The magnetic flux flowing through the primary core 33 passes through the tip surface 33c of one of the pair of legs 33a and the tip surface 43c of one leg 43a of the secondary core 43 that is in surface contact with it, before flowing into (one leg 43a of) the secondary core 43. The magnetic flux that has flowed into the secondary core 43 flows through the secondary core 43 in the same manner as the primary core 33, and then passes through the tip surface 43c of the other leg 43a and the tip surface 33c of the other leg 33a of the primary core 33 that is in contact with it, before flowing into the other leg 33a of the primary core 33. As magnetic flux flows through the primary core 33 and the secondary core 43 in this manner, an induced current flows through the secondary coil 42 wound around the secondary core 43, charging the storage battery 5 electrically connected to the secondary coil 42.

[0042] The efficiency of charging the storage battery 5 is greatly affected by the contact area between the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41, that is, the contact area between the tip surface 33c of the leg 33a of the primary core 33 and the tip surface 43c of the leg 43a of the secondary core 43. Therefore, when charging the storage battery 5, it is necessary to accurately position and arrange the tip surface 43c of the secondary core 43 relative to the tip surface 33c of the primary core 33.

[0043] In this regard, in the charging device 20 of this embodiment, the power supply unit 30 includes a support member 37 that supports the first holding portion 34, which holds the power supply terminal 31, so that the first holding portion 34 can slide freely along a plane (an XY plane extending horizontally) parallel to the contact surface of the power supply terminal 31 with the charging terminal 41 (the tip surface 33c of the leg portion 33a of the primary core 33), and a box body 35 that houses the first holding portion 34 and the sliding support member 37 (see Figure 8).

[0044] According to this configuration, when the lower end of the second holding portion 44 is guided and fitted into the recess 39 provided at the upper end of either the first holding portion 34 or the second holding portion 44 (here, the first holding portion 34), the first holding portion 34 can be freely slid along the horizontally extending XY plane inside the box 35. Therefore, even if the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41 are misaligned in the XY plane at the start of the charging process for charging the storage battery 5, the second holding portion 44 can be guided and fitted into the recess 39 while correcting this misalignment by sliding the first holding portion 31, and the end face of the power supply terminal 31 (the leading end face 33c of the primary core 33) and the end face of the charging terminal 41 (the leading end face 43c of the secondary core 43), which should be in surface contact with each other, can be brought into surface contact with precision.

[0045] In short, due to the configuration of the present invention, when positioning and arranging the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41, it is not necessary to move the power supply terminal 31 (the first holding portion 34 that holds it) and the charging terminal 41 (the second holding portion 44 that holds it) relative to each other while they are in tight contact with each other. Therefore, even in cases such as this embodiment where a storage battery 5 mounted on an automatic conveying device 1 for transporting automobile C is charged via the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41, the positioning of the charging terminal 41 relative to the power supply terminal 31 can be performed easily and accurately.

[0046] Furthermore, in the charging device 20 of this embodiment, the slide support member 36 is supported by the box 35 via the elastic member 37. In this way, the first holding portion 34 holding the power supply terminal 31 is supported by the box 35 via the slide support member 36 and the elastic member 37. Therefore, even if one holding portion is tilted relative to the other holding portion when the lower end of the second holding portion 44 is guided and fitted into the recess 39 provided in the first holding portion 34, the tilt can be absorbed by the elastic member 37. This makes it possible to position the charging terminal 41 relative to the power supply terminal 31 more easily and accurately.

[0047] Therefore, the charging device 20 of this embodiment can efficiently charge the storage battery 5 mounted on the automatic transport device 1.

[0048] Although the charging device 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above-described one.

[0049] For example, in the above embodiment, the recess 39 is provided in (the upper end of) the first holding portion 34 that holds the power supply terminal 31, and (the lower end of) the second holding portion 44 that holds the charging terminal 41 is guided and fitted into this recess 39, but the recess 39 may also be provided in the lower end of the second holding portion 44. In this case, when the upper end of the first holding portion 34 is fitted into the recess 39, the power supply terminal 31 and the charging terminal 41 come into surface contact, and the storage battery 5 is charged.

[0050] In the above embodiment, the slide support member 36 that slidably supports the first holding portion 34 within the box body 35 is a plate-shaped member whose support surface (upper surface) that contacts and supports the first holding portion 34 from below is made of a fluororesin with a low coefficient of friction. However, other slide support members 36 may also be used. Although not shown, for example, if a plurality of balls are arranged below the first holding portion 34 so that they can roll, the first holding portion 34 can be slidably moved within the box body 35 by the balls. In other words, a so-called free ball bearing may also be used as the slide support member 36. Note that when a free ball bearing is used as the slide support member 36 and an elastic member 37 is interposed between the bottom of the box body 35 and the slide support member 36, a plate may be interposed between the balls and the elastic member 37 to separate them vertically. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1 Automatic transport device 5. Storage battery 6 Power supply 20 Charging device 30 Power Supply Unit 31 Power supply terminal 34 1st holding part 35 Box body 36 Slide support member 37 Elastic member 39 Recess 40 Power receiving unit 41 Charging terminal 44 Second holding part C vehicle

Claims

1. The device includes a first holding portion that holds the power supply terminal and a second holding portion that holds the charging terminal, a charging device in which the power supply terminal and the charging terminal are brought into surface contact with each other by guiding and fitting a tip end of either the first holding portion or the second holding portion into a recess provided in the other holding portion, and a storage battery is charged via the power supply terminal and the charging terminal, A charging device comprising: a slide support member that supports the first holding portion so that it can slide freely along a surface of the power supply terminal that is parallel to the contact surface with the charging terminal; and a box body that houses the first holding portion and the slide support member, wherein a gap is formed between the first holding portion and the box body.

2. 2. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein the slide support member is supported by the box body via an elastic member.

3. the power supply terminal is formed by a primary core around which a primary coil electrically connected to a power source is wound, and the charging terminal is formed by a secondary core around which a secondary coil electrically connected to the storage battery is wound, The primary core and the secondary core are both U-shaped cores having a pair of parallel legs and a connecting portion that connects the base ends of the pair of legs, 3. The charging device according to claim 1, wherein when the other end portion is guided and fitted into the recess, the end surfaces of the legs of the primary core and the secondary core come into contact with each other.

Images