Battery car for driving in tunnels

Abstract

To provide a battery car suitable for transporting material in a limited narrow space such as a small diameter tunnel and even on a steep slope and a slope with a lot of irregularities.SOLUTION: A battery car for traveling in a tunnel is provided with: a battery loading part on which a battery is loaded, a power console panel, and a control console panel, which are arranged on an upper surface of a chassis frame; a plurality of driving parts provided with a motor, a shaft connected to the motor, and wheels attached on both ends of the shaft, respectively, which are positioned on a lower surface of the chassis frame along a travel direction in the tunnel; and a driver sheet arranged on the chassis frame.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1A

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery car suitable for traveling inside a tunnel, for example, a small-diameter tunnel with an inner diameter of about 1 m, to transport materials used in tunnel construction. [Background technology]

[0002] As the backbone pipelines of water facilities, centered on the main transmission, transmission, and distribution pipes, age, an increasing number of medium- to large-diameter pipelines are in need of replacement. When laying medium- to large-diameter pipelines, if the ground is excavated to lay them, the excavation width becomes large, which may have a negative impact on road traffic and underground utilities. For this reason, in recent years, in urban areas, a construction method has become increasingly common in which a sheath pipe (outer pipe) is constructed using the jacking or shield tunneling method, and then a new water pipe is inserted and laid inside the sheath pipe.

[0003] Unlike sewerage construction, which is based on gravity flow, waterworks construction involves pressure pumping, so the laying of sheath pipes is often done on steep slopes. In addition, the starting and arrival shafts are made as shallow as possible, and the pipes are laid out to avoid obstacles on the route, so the slope changes significantly.

[0004] Various types of transport vehicles that can travel through tunnels have been developed (for example, Patent Document 1). These transport vehicles usually run by rotating two or four wheels driven by a single motor, and can travel without any problems if the tunnel is almost flat or has a gentle gradient.

[0005] However, in small-diameter tunnels with significant gradient changes, conventional battery cars have a serious lack of capacity and are not satisfactory on steep or varied gradients. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-126044 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a battery car suitable for transporting materials in a limited narrow space such as a small-diameter tunnel, even on a steep or varied gradient. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The battery car of the present invention is designed for travel in tunnels, and has a battery mounting section with a battery mounted thereon, a power panel section, and an operation panel section arranged on the upper surface of the chassis frame. Also, a plurality of drive units, each comprising a motor, an axle connected to the motor, and wheels attached to both ends of the axle, are arranged along the direction of travel through the tunnel on the underside of the chassis frame, and a passenger seat is also provided on the chassis frame. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The battery car of the present invention is equipped with multiple drive units each equipped with a motor to drive the wheels, which increases propulsion force, and the increased number of wheels increases the contact area, preventing the wheels from spinning even on steep or varied gradients in tunnels, as well as on S-shaped curves, allowing for stable driving. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1A] 1 is a side view showing a battery car according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1B is a plan view of the battery car shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2] FIG. 1B is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1A. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of a motor and wheels. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an end view taken along line AA′ in FIG. 1A. [Figure 5] FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB′ in FIG. 1A. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a front view of the battery car showing a state in which the battery mounting section shown in FIG. 5 has been slid. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, a battery car for driving in tunnels according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1A is a side view of the battery car according to this embodiment, and Fig. 1B is a plan view thereof. In the following description, the "front" refers to the front part in the direction of travel of the battery car, and the "rear" refers to the opposite side.

[0012] As shown in Figures 1A and 1B, the battery car 1 according to this embodiment is used to transport materials and the like in a tunnel 2. The tunnel 2 is a small-diameter tunnel with an inner diameter of about 1 m, usually about 1 to 1.5 m. Rails 3 (pipe rails in this embodiment) are laid inside the tunnel 2, and the battery car 1 runs on these rails 3.

[0013] The battery car 1 has a battery mounting section 6 equipped with a battery 5, a power panel section 7, and an operation panel section 8 arranged on the upper surface of the chassis frame 4, in that order from the front to the rear in the direction of travel within the tunnel 2.

[0014] A passenger seat 13 for a passenger 12 is attached to the rear of the chassis frame 4. As shown in Fig. 1A, the passenger seat 13 is configured so that the passenger 12 sits in a nearly supine position when traveling through a narrow tunnel 2, and the backrest 13a is retractable and adjustable. A rear camera 13b, a taillight 13c, and a warning flashlight 13d are attached to the backrest 13a. In order to hold the passenger seat 13 in a predetermined inclined position, one end of a chain 15 (fixture) is connected to the chassis frame 4 and the other end is engaged with the passenger seat 13 .

[0015] At the front of the chassis frame 4, a connecting portion 14a for connecting a dolly (not shown) loaded with materials and the like, and a headlamp 14b are provided.

[0016] In this embodiment, the battery mounting section 6 is composed of a frame body on which four batteries 5 are mounted. That is, two batteries are connected in series and two of these are connected in parallel. In this embodiment, the four motors 9 drive a total of eight wheels, which increases the traction capacity, but this results in rapid consumption of electricity, so this is compensated for by installing four batteries 5. Furthermore, by installing four batteries 5, the weight of the battery car 1 itself increases without adding weights, which contributes to improving the traction capacity by increasing the wheel contact area. The number of batteries 5 mounted is not limited to four, and may be more.

[0017] The power panel 7 is a device that supplies electricity from the battery 5 to the motor 9 to drive it, and contains control devices and equipment for driving the motor 9, such as an inverter for converting direct current to alternating current. 1A and 1B, footrests 18 for the occupant 12 are provided on both sides of the power panel 7, and a brake pedal of a hydraulic disc brake 23 (see FIG. 5) or a hand brake may be provided on the side at the front of one of the footrests 18 as a braking device. Furthermore, an electromagnetic brake pedal may be provided on the front of the other footrest 18 as a stopping device to switch between running and stopping. The footrest 18 may be connected to the side of the chassis frame 4, or may utilize the frame body of the chassis frame 4 itself.

[0018] The control panel 8 provided at the rear of the power panel 7 is provided with a monitor screen 16 for viewing the front or rear, as well as a speed adjustment knob and the like to control the travel of the battery car 1. The battery car 1 of this embodiment can be switched between 1st to 3rd gears (low / medium / high speed) to accommodate steep gradients and the like.

[0019] A first drive unit 25 and a second drive unit 251 are arranged in this order on the underside of the chassis frame 4 along the direction of travel within the tunnel 2. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the first drive unit 25 includes a first mounting plate 17a arranged on the underside of the chassis frame 4, two motors 9, 9 attached to the underside of this first mounting plate 17a, and axles 10 and wheels 11 connected to each of the motors 9, 9. Similarly, the second drive unit 251 is also connected to a second mounting plate 17b disposed on the underside of the chassis frame 4. 2 Mounting plate 17 b The vehicle is equipped with two motors 9, 9 attached to the underside thereof, and an axle 10 and a wheel 11 connected to each motor 9, 9. As shown in Figure 3, the two motors 9, 9 are arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel in the tunnel 2, and are connected to axles 10 with the output shafts of the motors 9 facing in opposite directions. This provides high propulsion and traction forces.

[0020] The motor 9 to be used may be, for example, an AC geared motor, i.e., a gear motor (geared motor) packaged with a reducer (gear) connected, such as the "Hyponic Gear Motor" (registered trademark) or "Hyponic Reducer" (registered trademark) manufactured by Sumitomo Machinery Gear Motor Co., Ltd. Speed ​​control can be achieved by using an inverter control system, which allows speed switching (1st, 2nd, 3rd gear).

[0021] As shown in Figure 2, the first and second mounting plates 17a, 17b are held at their centers by a central shaft 19 hanging down from the chassis frame 4, and are each independently rotatable horizontally relative to the chassis frame 4. This allows the first and second drive units 25, 251 to yaw left and right in a plan view independently of each other relative to the chassis frame 4. At this time, the yawing angle (angle α shown in Figure 3) is approximately ±3° to 5° with respect to the direction of travel, and particularly approximately ±4°. This allows all eight wheels to reliably contact the rails 3 even on sharp curves, preventing spinning.

[0022] Specifically, the first and second mounting plates 17a, 17b each include an upper plate 171a, 171b attached to the central shaft 19, and a lower plate 172a, 172b disposed on the lower surfaces of the upper plates 171a, 171b and having two motors 9, 9 attached to the lower surfaces thereof. The upper plates 171a, 171b are rotatably held by the central shaft 19. It is preferable that there be a gap between the first and second mounting plates 17a, 17b and the chassis frame 4, which allows for pitching, as will be described later.

[0023] As shown in Fig. 3, the lower plate 172a is made up of two lower plates that respectively hold the two motors 9, 9, but it may be made up of only one plate as long as it has equivalent strength. For ease of explanation, the other lower plate 172b is not shown in Fig. 3, but the lower plate 172b is also made up of two lower plates.

[0024] As shown in Figures 4 and 5, side bearings 20 are provided on both sides of the underside of the chassis frame 4 via the central axle 19, respectively, and hang down. In addition, side axles 24 are provided on both sides of the lower plates 172a, 172b, respectively, and these side axles 24 are supported by the side bearings 20, allowing the lower plates 172a, 172b to pitch up and down relative to the upper plate. At this time, the pitching angle (angle β shown in Figure 2) is approximately ±2° to 4° with respect to the horizontal direction, and particularly approximately ±3.25°. This allows all eight wheels to reliably contact the rails 3 even on steep gradients, preventing freewheeling.

[0025] In FIG. 5, reference numeral 21 denotes a gear box that houses a reducer, and a coupling 22 (for example, an Oldham coupling for rolls) and a disc brake 23 are attached to this gear box 21 along the axle 10.

[0026] The battery car 1 configured as described above runs stably on the rails 3 inside the tunnel 2 with eight wheels 11, and can run without slipping even on steep or varied gradients, and can transport carts with high propulsion and traction forces.

[0027] When the battery car 1 reaches the work site, the occupant 12 needs to unload materials from the dolly (not shown) connected to the front of the battery car 1 and start work, but as shown in Fig. 5, the battery 5 is large and bulky, so the occupant 12 cannot move to the front of the battery car 1. For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 6, rails extending horizontally, perpendicular to the direction of travel, are provided on the battery mounting unit 6 or chassis frame 4, and the battery mounting unit 6 is held slidably on the chassis frame 4. This allows the occupant 12 to move through a space S created on one side, allowing work to be done smoothly.

[0028] While the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various improvements, modifications, and variations are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to small-diameter tunnels. Furthermore, while the rails 3 in this embodiment are pipe rails, other rails such as light rails may be used, or tire-type wheels without rails may be used. Furthermore, while eight wheels 11 are used in this embodiment, six or ten or more may be used. The number of drive units is not limited to two and may be more. In addition, in this embodiment, the passenger seating portion 13 is provided at the rear of the chassis frame 4, but it may be provided at the front, and is not particularly limited. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1 Battery Car 2. Tunnel 3 Rail 4 Chassis frame 5 Battery 6 Battery compartment 7 Power panel section 8 Operation panel section 9 motors 10 axles 11 wheels 12 crew members 13 Passenger seating area 14a Connection 14b Headlight 15 Chain (fixing device) 16 Monitor screen 17a First mounting plate 17b Second mounting plate 171a, 171b upper plate 172a, 172b lower plate 18 Footrest 19 Central shaft 20 Side bearing part 21 Gearbox 22 Joints 23 Disc brake 24 Side shaft 25 First drive unit 251 Second Drive Unit

Claims

1. A battery mounting section having a battery mounted thereon, a power panel section, and an operation panel section are arranged on the upper surface of the chassis frame, a plurality of drive units are arranged on the underside of the chassis frame along the direction of travel in the tunnel, the drive units including a mounting plate disposed on the underside of the chassis frame, a motor attached to the underside of the mounting plate, an axle connected to the motor, and wheels attached to both ends of the axle; a passenger seating portion is provided on the chassis frame, the mounting plate includes an upper plate attached at a central portion to a central shaft hanging down from the chassis frame, and a lower plate disposed on a lower surface of the upper plate and having the motor attached to a lower surface thereof; Side bearing portions are provided on both sides of the underside of the chassis frame via the central shaft body, and extend downward. A battery car in which a shaft body is provided on each side of the lower plate, and this shaft body is supported by the side bearing portion, thereby allowing the lower plate to swing up and down at a predetermined angle relative to the upper plate.

2. 2. The battery car according to claim 1, wherein the motor is an AC geared motor and is variable speed in at least three stages.

3. 3. The battery car according to claim 1, wherein the battery mounting section is slidable in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of travel in the tunnel.

4. 4. The battery car according to claim 1, wherein a bogie mounting portion is provided at the front of the chassis frame in the direction of travel within the tunnel.

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