Method and apparatus for lifting a battery

Abstract

Apparatus for lifting a battery for installation on a battery mounting assembly comprising a lifting device mounting assembly adapted to be removably attached to a battery mounting assembly and at least one hoist, coupled to the lifting device mounting assembly, adapted to lift a battery onto a battery mounting system. A method of operating the apparatus is also disclosed.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LIFTING A BATTERYBACKGROUNDField

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to installation of battery energy storage systems and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for lifting a battery during installation.Description of the Related Art

[0002] Commercial and residential battery storage systems comprise batteries that may weigh more than 90kg. These batteries need to be lifted and attached to a wall mounted battery mounting assembly comprising a plurality of vertical rails and at least one battery mounting bracket attached to the rails. The battery is typically lifted by two or more installers and positioned onto the mounting bracket. The process of lifting and attaching the battery can be dangerous to the installers and, if the battery is dropped, may result in damage to the battery.

[0003] Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for lifting a battery onto a battery mounting assembly.SUMMARY

[0004] A method and apparatus for lifting a battery is provided substantially as shown in and / or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

[0005] Various features and advantages of the present disclosure may be appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the present disclosure, along with the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] So that the manner in which the various features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a particular description of the invention, may be had byreference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

[0007] FIG. 1 depicts a front plan view of a battery mounting assembly including a pair of removable lifting devices in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention;

[0008] FIG. 2 depicts a side, exploded view of the battery mounting assembly of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention;

[0009] FIG. 3 depicts a perspective exploded view of one of the lifting devices in FIG. 1 in accordance at least one embodiment of the invention;

[0010] FIG. 4 depicts an end view of one of the lifting devices in FIG. 1 in accordance at least one embodiment of the invention;

[0011] FIG. 5 depicts a front view one of the lifting devices in FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention;

[0012] FIGs. 6A, 6B, and 6C depict the operation of the lifting devices to position a battery upon the battery mounting assembly in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention;

[0013] FIG. 7 depicts a front view of a removable lifting device in accordance with at least one alternative embodiment of the invention;

[0014] FIG. 8 depicts a front view of a battery mounting assembly with a lifting device attached to the mounting assembly towards the bottom of the assembly in accordance with at least one alternative embodiment of the invention;

[0015] FIG. 9 depicts a front view of a removable lifting device in accordance at least one alternative embodiment of the invention; and

[0016] FIG. 10 depicts a side view of the removable lifting device of FIG. 9 in accordance at least one alternative embodiment of the invention.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Embodiments of the present invention comprise a method and apparatus for lifting a battery onto a battery mounting assembly. Such a lifting device is helpful in reducing the number of installers necessary for assembling a battery energy storage system as well as protecting installers from injury and / or equipment from damage.

[0018] Various embodiments include a lifting device comprising a mounting arm and at least one hoist. The mounting arm is removably attached to the battery mounting assembly and the at least one hoist is used to lift a battery into position on the battery mounting assembly. When using the lifting device, only a single installer is needed to position the battery onto the battery mounting assembly.

[0019] FIG. 1 depicts a front plan view of a battery mounting assembly 100 including a pair of removable lifting devices 102A and 102B in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 depicts a side, exploded view of the battery mounting assembly 100 of FIG. 1 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 depicts a perspective exploded view of one of the lifting devices of FIG. 1 , FIG. 4 depicts an end view of one of the lifting devices of FIG. 1 , and FIG. 5 depicts a front view of one of the lifting devices of FIG. 1. Reference numbers are commonly used across FIGs. 1-5.

[0020] The battery mounting assembly 100 comprises at least one battery mounting bracket 106 that is mounted, for example, to one or more wall studs (a pair 104A and 104B are shown). The mounting bracket 106 is attached to the studs 104A and 104B using bolts or screws 130.

[0021] The battery mounting bracket 106 comprises a plurality of battery holders 108. The battery holders 108 may be any form of device to facilitate attaching a battery (not shown) to the battery mounting bracket 106. Such devices 108 include a pluralityof cleats or keyhole slots that extend from the plane of the bracket 106. The cleats or keyhole slots extend from the surface of the bracket 106 and interacts with pins on the back of the battery to mount the battery onto the mounting bracket 106.

[0022] In one embodiment, the mounting bracket 106 comprises a plurality of lifting device mounting pockets 110A and 11 OB located on the front surface 1 12 of the mounting bracket 106. The pockets 110A and 11 OB have a square cross section and are located near the top of the mounting bracket 106. The lifting devices 102A and 102B are removably inserted into the pockets 110A and 1 10B. The pockets 110A and 110B have a depth that is equal to or less than the distance the battery holders 108 extend from the plane of the bracket 106.

[0023] After the mounting bracket 106 is attached to the studs 104A and 104B, the lifting devices 102A and 102B are inserted into the pockets 110A, 110B as indicated by arrow 128. The details of the structure of the lifting devices 102A and 102B are described with respect to FIGs. 3, 4 and 5 below. Once the lifting devices 102A, 102B are attached to the battery mounting assembly 100, they can be used to lift a battery into place as described with reference to FIGs. 6A, 6B and 6C below. Once a battery is positioned and attached to the assembly 100, the lifting devices 102A, 102B are removed from the battery mounting assembly 100.

[0024] As depicted in FIGs. 3, 4, and 5, each of the lifting devices (only 102A is shown in FIGs. 3, 4, and 5) comprises a mounting assembly 114A and a hoist 1 16A. Components of lifting device 102B of FIG. 1 are labelled in FIG. 1 with corresponding reference numbers having a “B” suffix. Each of the mounting assemblies 114A comprise a vertical bar 118 and a horizontal bar 120A whose ends overlap and are connected to each other at a right angle. The bars are typically connected by welding, but could be connected by other means (e.g., bolts). The vertical bar 118A is adapted to be inserted into a respective pocket 110A such that the end of the vertical bar 118A rests on the bottom of the pocket 110A. The square or rectangular cross-sectional dimensions of the bar 1 18A is slightly smaller than the square or rectangular cross- sectional dimensions of the pocket 1 10A.

[0025] Each horizontal bar 120A is attached to a hoist 116A by a pair of clamps 122A. Although a pair of clamps 122A are shown as attaching the hoist 116A, other forms of attachment may be used such as bolts, screws, and the like. Each hoist 120A may be an electric hoist or a mechanical hoist. An example of an electric hoist is a model PA200 manufactured by Vevor. An example of a mechanical hoist (winch) is a 10001b lifting capacity hand-crank winch manufactured by Haul-Master. Each hoist 1 16A and 116B comprises an actuator (not shown) (e.g., an electric motor or mechanical winch) coupled to a cable 124A and 124B and a hook 126A and 126B (or some other attachment device) located proximate a distal end of the cable 124A and 124B to temporarily attach the cable 124A and 124B to the battery.

[0026] FIGs. 6A, 6B, and 6C depict the operation of the lifting devices to position a battery upon the battery mounting assembly in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6A depicts the lifting devices 102A and 102B in place on the battery mounting assembly 100. The cables 124A and 124B are extended and the hooks 126A, 126B (or other attachment devices) are removably attached to the battery 600. In FIG. 6B, the lifting devices 102A and 102B lift the battery into position on the mounting bracket 106 such that the battery is supported by the flange 108 or other mounting device (e.g., pins and slots, bolts, etc.). In some embodiments, multiple batteries may be mounted to the battery mounting assembly 100. In such a case, addition battery mounting brackets 612 would be used. The lifting devices 102A and 102B may be used to lift a second battery into position on a second mounting bracket 612. Once the battery is in position and attached to the assembly 100, as shown in FIG. 6C, the hooks 126A and 126B are disconnected from the battery and the lifting devices 102A and 102B are removed from the battery mounting assembly 100. In this manner, a battery energy storage system 606 may be rapidly installed by a single installer with less risk of injury to the installer and / or damage to the equipment.

[0027] FIG. 7 depicts a front view of a removable lifting device in accordance with at least one alternative embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the horizontal bar 700 is extended to couple the two lifting devices of FIG. 1 together to form a single integrated lifting device 702. The components of the integrated liftingdevice 702 are the same as the components of the individual lifting devices 102A and 102B and are labelled as such in FIG. 7. Operation of the integrated lifting device 702 is identical to the operation of the individual lifting devices 102A and 102B, except that the integrated lifting device 702 is attached to the battery mounting assembly in a single step.

[0028] FIG. 8 depicts a front view of a battery mounting assembly 800 with a lifting device 802 attached to the mounting assembly 800 towards the bottom of the assembly in accordance with at least one alternative embodiment of the invention. In this alternative embodiment, the lifting device 802 comprises a hoist assembly 804 and a pulley assembly 806. The hoist assembly 804 comprises a horizontal bar 808 and a pair of removeable hoists 810A and 810B. The horizontal bar 808 is removably attached to the battery mounting assembly 800. The pulley assembly 806 comprises a horizontal bar 812, a pair of vertical bars 814A and 814B attached to the horizontal bar 812, and a pair of pulleys 816A and 816B attached near the ends of the horizontal bar 812. The pulley assembly 806 is removably attached to the battery mounting bracket 106 using pockets 110A and 110B as described previously.

[0029] To assemble the lifting device 802, the horizontal bar 808 of the hoist assembly 804 is temporarily attached to the battery 820, then the hoists 810A, 810B are slid onto the end of the horizontal bar 808 and the clamps tightened to secure the hoists 810A, 810B to the bar 808. The pulley assembly 806 is then temporarily mounted to the mounting bracket 106. A cable 818A, 818B from each hoist 810A, 810B is threaded over the pulleys 816A, 816B and temporarily attached to the battery 820 using attachment devices located at the distal end of each cable 818A, 818B. When the hoists 810A, 810B are activated, the cables 818A, 818B move in the direction of the arrows 822A, 822B and the battery 820 is lifted in the direction of arrows 824A, 824B until the battery 820 is positioned upon the mounting bracket 106.

[0030] FIG. 9 depicts a front view of a removable lifting device 900 in accordance at least one alternative embodiment of the invention. FIG. 10 depicts an end view of the removable lifting device 900 of FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the lifting device 900 comprises a horizontal bar 902, a plurality of vertical bars 904A, 904B, 904C (threeare shown) are attached to the horizontal bar 902, and at least one hoist assembly 906 is slidably attached to the horizontal bar 902. The horizontal and vertical bars form the mounting assembly 922 for the lifting device 900. Depending on battery weight and size, the number of hoist assemblies 906 may be increased or decreased, i.e., some batteries may be lifted with a single hoist assembly and other batteries may require two or more hoist assemblies to be lifted.

[0031] The at least one hoist assembly 906 comprises a hoist 908 (mechanical or electrical, as described above) and a coupler 910. An exemplary coupler 910 comprises a horizontal portion 912, a hoist mounting plate 916 and a vertical portion 914 that connects the horizontal portion 912 to the hoist mounting plate 916. The hoist mounting plate 916 is typically attached to the hoist 906 by screws or bolts. The horizontal bar 902 comprises a hollow region 918 and a slot 920 that together form a rail along which the coupler 910 may slide. As such, in this embodiment, the horizontal portion 912 of the coupler 910 may be slid into the hollow region 918 via the end of the bar 902 and the hoist assembly 906 may be slidably positioned anywhere along the bar 902. This form of coupler 910 is meant to be exemplary. Those skilled in the art will understand that any form of coupler that facilitates movement of the hoist assembly along the bar 902 may be used.

[0032] Here multiple examples have been given to illustrate various features and are not intended to be so limiting. Any one or more of the features may not be limited to the particular examples presented herein, regardless of any order, combination, or connections described. In fact, it should be understood that any combination of the features and / or elements described by way of example above are contemplated, including any variation or modification which is not enumerated, but capable of achieving the same. Unless otherwise stated, any one or more of the features may be combined in any order.

[0033] As above, figures are presented herein for illustrative purposes and are not meant to impose any structural limitations, unless otherwise specified. Various modifications to any of the structures shown in the figures are contemplated to bewithin the scope of the invention presented herein. The invention is not intended to be limited to any scope of claim language.

[0034] Where conditional language is used, including, but not limited to, “can,” “could,” “may” or “might,” it should be understood that the associated features or elements are not required. As such, where conditional language is used, the elements and / or features should be understood as being optionally present in at least some examples, and not necessarily conditioned upon anything, unless otherwise specified.

[0035] Where lists are enumerated in the alternative or conjunctive (e.g., one or more of A, B, and / or C), unless stated otherwise, it is understood to include one or more of each element, including any one or more combinations of any number of the enumerated elements (e.g. A, AB, AC, ABC, ABB, etc.). When “and / or” is used, it should be understood that the elements may be joined in the alternative or conjunctive.

[0036] While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.

Claims

Claims:1 . Apparatus for lifting a battery for installation on a battery mounting assembly comprising: a lifting device mounting assembly adapted to be removably attached to a battery mounting assembly; and at least one hoist, coupled to the lifting device mounting assembly, adapted to lift a battery onto a battery mounting system.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the lifting device mounting assembly comprises at least one vertical bar coupled to at least one horizontal bar, where the at least one horizontal bar is adapted to have the at least one hoist mounted thereto and the at least one vertical bar is adapted to temporarily attach to the battery mounting assembly.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the battery mounting assembly comprises at least one pocket into which the at least one vertical bar temporarily mounts.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each hoist of the at least one hoist comprises an actuator coupled to a cable having an attachment device located proximate a distal end of the cable.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the actuator is an electric motor or a mechanical winch.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the lifting device mounting assembly comprises a plurality of vertical bars coupled to a horizontal bar, where the horizontal bar is adapted to have the at least one hoist mounted thereto, and the plurality of vertical bars are adapted to temporarily attach to the battery mounting assembly.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the battery mounting assembly comprises a plurality of pockets into which the plurality of vertical bars temporarily mount.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the lifting device mounting assembly comprises: a hoist assembly temporarily mounted to a battery; and a pulley assembly temporarily mounted to the battery mounting assembly.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the pully assembly comprises a plurality of vertical bars coupled to a horizontal bar, where the horizontal bar is adapted to have a plurality of pulleys mounted thereto and the plurality of vertical bars are adapted to temporarily attach to the battery mounting assembly.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the battery mounting assembly comprises a plurality of pockets into which the plurality of vertical bars temporarily mount.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the hoist assembly comprises: a horizontal bar adapted to removably attach to a battery; and a pair of hoists, attached to the horizontal bar, where each hoist comprises a cable that is stung over a pulley and has an attachment device at a distal end for temporarily attaching the cable to the battery.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the lifting device mounting assembly comprises a plurality of vertical bars coupled to a horizontal bar, where the horizontal bar is adapted to have the at least one hoist assembly slidably attached thereto and the plurality of vertical bars are adapted to temporarily attach to the battery mounting assembly.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the at least one hoist assembly comprises a coupler comprising a horizontal portion, a hoist mounting plate coupled to a hoist and a vertical portion attaching the hoist mounting plate to the horizontal portion,where the horizontal portion is adapted to slidably interact with a hollow region of the horizontal bar.

14. A method of lifting a battery onto a battery mounting assembly comprising: removably attaching at least one lifting device to the battery mounting assembly; temporarily attaching a cable from the at least one lifting device to a battery; operating the at least one lifting device to lift the battery onto the battery mounting assembly to mount the battery thereupon; detaching the cable from the battery; and removing the at least one lifting device from the battery mounting assembly.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the at least one lifting device comprises at least one vertical bar coupled to at least one horizontal bar, where the at least one horizontal bar is adapted to have the at least one hoist mounted thereto and the at least one vertical bar is adapted to temporarily attach to the battery mounting assembly, wherein the removable attaching comprises inserting the at least one vertical bar into a pocket of the battery mounting assembly.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein operating comprises activating the at least one hoist to manipulate the cable and lift the battery.

17. Apparatus for lifting a battery for installation on a battery mounting assembly comprising: a lifting device mounting assembly adapted to be removably attached to a battery mounting assembly, wherein the lifting device mounting assembly comprises at least one vertical bar coupled to at least one horizontal bar, where the at least one horizontal bar has at least one hoist mounted thereto and the at least one vertical bar is adapted to temporarily attach to the battery mounting assembly.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the battery mounting assembly comprises at least one pocket into which the at least one vertical bar temporarily mounts.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein each hoist of the at least one hoist comprises an actuator coupled to a cable having an attachment device located proximate a distal end of the cable.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the actuator is an electric motor or a mechanical winch.

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