Detachable Battery Carrier Structure for Electric Work Vehicles

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing electric work vehicles face challenges in designing battery carriers that allow for easy manual pushing and transport while accommodating larger wheels and wider or longer manual push handles, as these features often obstruct the battery mounting unit when installed on the electric work machine.

Innovation Solution

The battery carrier is configured with a support frame for the wheels and manual push handle that can be easily attached and detached from the battery housing unit, allowing them to be housed separately from the battery mounting unit, enabling easier manual pushing and transport without obstructing the installation process.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the outer diameter of the wheels is increased to easily go over unevenness of transport ground, then the ease of operation is improved, but the battery housing unit size must be constrained to avoid becoming an obstacle to loading

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of manual pushing and transportVSAvoidbattery housing unit size
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The battery carrier is divided into two separate functional parts: the battery housing unit (containing the battery) and the support frame (containing the wheels and manual push handle). This segmentation allows each part to be optimized independently - the wheels can be made large for easy transport while the battery housing unit maintains a compact size for easy loading onto the electric work machine.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Ease of operation

If the manual push handle is made large in width or length to facilitate pushing or steering, then the ease of operation is improved, but the battery housing unit size must be constrained to avoid becoming an obstacle to mounting

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of pushing and steeringVSAvoidbattery housing unit size
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The manual push handle is integrated into the support frame as a separate component from the battery housing unit. This allows the push handle to be designed with optimal dimensions for pushing and steering operations without being constrained by the size requirements of the battery housing unit, which needs to remain compact for mounting operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Ease of operation

If the wheels and manual push handle are designed to facilitate manual pushing and transport, then the ease of operation is improved, but they become obstacles to the installation of the battery on the electric work machine

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of manual pushing and transportVSAvoidinstallation process complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The support frame containing the wheels and manual push handle is completely separated from the battery housing unit. During installation, only the compact battery housing unit needs to be mounted onto the electric work machine, while the support frame remains on the ground. This eliminates the obstacle problem entirely as the wheels and handle do not interfere with the mounting space.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The support frame with its transport-related components (wheels and manual push handle) is extracted as a separate entity from the battery housing unit. This extraction allows the transport function to be optimized independently while the battery housing unit maintains its compact form factor suitable for installation on the electric work machine.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP4039516B1Electric work vehicle
Publication Date: 2024.02.07 KUBOTA CORP
  • EP4039516B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4039516B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4039516B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An electric work vehicle comprising: an electric work machine (A) including a battery mounting unit (10) on which a battery (17) is detachably mountable; a battery housing unit (30) supported by at least one wheel (31,32) and configured to house the battery; and a battery carrier including the at least one wheel (31,32) and a manual push handle (33) configured to be manurally pushed to move the battery housing unit, wherein the battery housing unit (30) is detachably mountable on the battery mounting unit for the battery to be mounted on the battery mounting unit, and the at least one wheel (31,32) and the manual push handle (33) are separable from the battery housing unit (30).