Battery-driven traveling device

• US 10,112,471 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2017
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Higuchi, Atsushi, Itoh, Tetsushi, Taka, Kyosuke, Okahashi, Yoshitaka, Tanaka, Kosuke, Hirata, Kiyotaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Meyer, Jacob B
• Application Number:
  US15/596,386
• Publication Number:
  US 20170334279A1
• Time in Patent Office: 532 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 1/04 of the electric storage means for propulsion exchanging batteries for electric propulsion of vehicles B60L53/80; for auxiliary purposes only B60R16/04; supplying batteries to, or removing batteries from, vehicles B60S5/06
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 17/043 Transmission unit disposed in on near the vehicle wheel, or between the differential gear unit and the wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2001/0477 from the back
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2001/0494 with arrangements for sliding
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2007/0046 the motor moving together with the vehicle body, i.e. moving independently from the wheel axle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2007/0061 the motor axle being parallel to the wheel axle
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 7/0007 the motor being electric
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2270/145 Structure borne vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/64 Constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/66 Arrangements of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

The present invention provides a battery-driven traveling device including: a framework section disposed on at least a bottom part of a vehicle body for ensuring strength of the vehicle body; two slide rails being composed of a left slide rail and a right slide rail and being supported by the framework section and extending substantially horizontally; a battery supporting member that is mounted to be insertable into the vehicle body and extractable from the vehicle body by using the two slide rails; and a plurality of dampers disposed on a path through which vibration of the vehicle body is transmitted from each of the slide rails to the battery supporting member for relaxing the vibration transmitted from the vehicle body to the battery while the device travels, wherein the left slide rail is disposed on left side of the battery supporting member and the right slide rail is disposed on right side of the battery supporting member, and each of the dampers is disposed above or below the left slide rail or the right slide rail.

Claims

1. A battery-driven traveling device comprising:

a framework section disposed on at least a bottom part of a vehicle body for ensuring strength of the vehicle body;

two slide rails being composed of a left slide rail and a right slide rail and being supported by the framework section and extending substantially horizontally;

a battery supporting member that is mounted to be insertable into the vehicle body and extractable from the vehicle body by using the two slide rails; and

a plurality of dampers are non-rotatably disposed on a path through which vibration of the vehicle body is transmitted from each of the slide rails to the battery supporting member for relaxing the vibration transmitted from the vehicle body to the battery while the device travels, wherein

the left slide rail is disposed on a left side of the battery supporting member and the right slide rail is disposed on a right side of the battery supporting member, and each of the dampers is disposed above or below the left slide rail or the right slide rail, wherein each of the dampers has an end that is attached to a portion of the respective left slide rail or right slide rail.

2. The battery-driven traveling device according to claim 1, wherein

each of the dampers is configured such that a spring constant in a Z direction out of X, Y, and Z directions which are three-dimensionally orthogonal is larger than those in the X and Y directions, and the dampers on left and right sides are disposed in such a way that, in a plane perpendicular to an insertion-and-extraction direction of the battery supporting member, the Z directions of the dampers are inclined in a symmetrical manner relative to a vertical direction.

3. The traveling device according to claim 1, wherein each of the dampers is disposed above the left slide rail or the right slide rail.

4. The traveling device according to claim 1, wherein

the battery supporting member is disposed on the bottom part of the vehicle body for supporting the battery, and

the battery is replaceable.

5. The traveling device according to claim 2, wherein

the dampers are composed of at least two dampers which are disposed in the insertion-and-extraction direction such that an inclination degree of a Z direction relative to the vertical direction is increased toward a damper distant from a turning center when the vehicle body turns.

6. The traveling device according to claim 2, wherein

the dampers are composed of at least two dampers which are disposed in the insertion-and-extraction direction of the battery supporting member such that a Z direction of at least one of the two dampers is inclined relative to the vertical direction in a plane parallel to the insertion-and-extraction direction.

7. The traveling device according to claim 6, wherein

the two dampers are disposed such that the Z directions of the two dampers are inclined in a same direction or in opposite directions in the plane parallel to the insertion-and-extraction direction.

8. The traveling device according to claim 7, wherein

the two dampers are disposed such that the rear one of the two dampers is more greatly inclined than the front one in the plane parallel to the insertion-and-extraction direction.

9. The traveling device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a pair of left and right side plates including a side surface section located on the side of each slide rail along the insertion-and-extraction direction, and an upper surface section that is substantially horizontally flat, wherein

the dampers are disposed between the upper surface sections of the side plates and the battery supporting member.

10. The traveling device according to claim 1, wherein

the battery has a power supply connector that is engaged with a connector being disposed at the vehicle body side for supplying electric power to the vehicle body, the power supply connector being provided on a leading end of the battery on an insertion side in the insertion-and-extraction direction or on a leading end of the battery on an extraction side in the insertion-and-extraction direction, and

the dampers are disposed on each the insertion side and the extraction side in the insertion-and-extraction direction across a center of gravity of the battery in a state where the battery is inserted into the framework section, the damper close to the power supply connector being disposed closer to the center of gravity than the damper distant from the power supply connector.

11. The traveling device according to claim 1, wherein

the battery has a power supply connector that is engaged with a connector being disposed at the vehicle body side for supplying electric power to the vehicle body, the power supply connector being provided on a leading end of the battery on an insertion side in the insertion-and-extraction direction or on a leading end of the battery on an extraction side in the insertion-and-extraction direction,

the dampers are disposed on each the insertion side and the extraction side in the insertion-and-extraction direction across a center of gravity of the battery in a state where the battery is inserted into the framework section,

the dampers absorb vibration by being deformed, and the damper close to the power supply connector has a property of having a smaller deformation amount with respect to vibration than the damper distant from the power supply connector.

12. The traveling device according to claim 1, wherein

the battery has a power supply connector that is engaged with a connector being disposed at the vehicle body side for supplying electric power to the vehicle body, the power supply connector being provided on a leading end of the battery on an insertion side in the insertion-and-extraction direction or on a leading end of the battery on an extraction side in the insertion-and-extraction direction,

the dampers are disposed on each the insertion side and the extraction side in the insertion-and-extraction direction across a center of gravity of the battery in a state where the battery is inserted into the framework section,

the dampers absorb vibration by being deformed, and the damper close to the power supply connector has a property of having a smaller deformable range with respect to vibration than the damper distant from the power supply connector.