Transport vehicle equipped with current collector

• US 9,022,153 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2012
• Issued: 05/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
• Inventors: Tojima, Masanori, Yamashita, Kouichi, Sudou, Tsugio, Takeda, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Restifo, Jeffrey J
• Application Number:
  US14/110,799
• Publication Number:
  US 20140041951A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,091 Days
• Field of Search: 180/2.1, 180/167, 180/169, 191/33.R
• US Class Current: 180/167
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 1/00 Arrangement or mounting of electrical propulsion units B60K7/00 takes precedence; arrangement or mounting of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion B60K6/00; electric transmission arrangements B60K17/12; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles per se B60L; current-collectors for power supply lines of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L5/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/36 Vehicles designed to transport cargo, e.g. trucks
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2220/44 Wheel Hub motors, i.e. integrated in the wheel hub
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/12 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/32 Driving direction
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/62 Vehicle position
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/70 Interactions with external data bases, e.g. traffic centres
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2250/16 by display
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2260/28 Four wheel or all wheel drive
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0023 Detecting, eliminating, remedying or compensating for drive train abnormalities, e.g. failures within the drive train
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 5/00 Current collectors for power supply lines of electrically-propelled vehicles current collectors in general H01R41/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 5/045 with trolley wire finders
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 5/24 Pantographs
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 5/36 with means for collecting current simultaneously from more than one conductor, e.g. from more than one phase
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/13 using AC generators and AC motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 9/00 Electric propulsion with power supply external to the vehicle electric propulsion for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways B60L13/00; in combination with batteries or fuel cells within the vehicle B60L50/53
• 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 10/72 Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

A transport vehicle equipped with a current collector, includes: a vessel to load a load; a current collector that extends to receive electric power from an overhead line and contracts and retracts so as to be disposed away from the overhead line; and a vehicle body that rotationally drives driving wheels by at least one of the electric power from the current collector and a self-propelled driving source and on which the vessel is placed; a pantograph position detector that detects a relative position of the current collector and the overhead line; and a control device that controls a driving direction of the vehicle body or gives an instruction of information with which a direction in which the vehicle body is to be operated can be recognized, so that the relative position is brought to a position where the current collector and the overhead line are connected.

Claims

1. A transport vehicle equipped with a current collector, comprising:

a vessel to load a load;

a current collector that extends to receive electric power from an overhead line and contracts and retracts so as to be disposed away from the overhead line;

a vehicle body that rotationally drives driving wheels by at least one of the electric power from the current collector and a self-propelled driving source and on which the vessel is placed;

a pantograph position detector that detects a relative position of the current collector and the overhead line, the pantograph position detector being disposed on the vehicle body; and

a control device that controls a driving direction of the vehicle body or gives an instruction of information with which a direction in which the vehicle body is to be operated can be recognized, so that a deviation amount between the current collector and the overhead line is reduced based on the relative position.

2. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body includes an obstacle detector to detect an obstacle on a traveling path, and

when the obstacle detector detects an obstacle on the traveling path, the control device controls the current collector to contract and retract.

3. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 2, wherein when there is the overhead line in the traveling path along which the vehicle body is planned to drive, and the pantograph position detector recognizes a relative position between the current collector and the overhead line, the control device controls the current collector to extend and receive the electric power from the overhead line.

4. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein when the pantograph position detector detects that the current collector is deviated from the overhead line, the control device controls the current collector to contract and retract.

5. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 4, wherein when there is the overhead line in a traveling path along which the vehicle body is planned to drive, and the pantograph position detector recognizes a relative position between the current collector and the overhead line, the control device controls the current collector to extend and receive the electric power from the overhead line.

6. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body is a manned transport vehicle, and the information is displayed on a display unit.

7. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body is a manned transport vehicle.

8. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein the pantograph position detector includes an image pickup device.

9. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein when a present position of the vehicle body is in an overhead-lined section, the control device controls the driving direction of the vehicle body or gives the instruction of information with which the direction in which the vehicle body is to be operated can be recognized, so that the deviation amount between the current collector and the overhead line is reduced based on the relative position, and when the present position of the vehicle body is in a self-propelled section, the control device does not control the driving direction of the vehicle body or give the instruction of information with which the direction in which the vehicle body is to be operated can be recognized, so that the deviation amount between the current collector and the overhead line is reduced based on the relative position.

10. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein the overhead-lined section includes a sloping road.

11. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein when the deviation amount between the current collector and the overhead line exceeds a predetermined deviation amount, the control device controls the driving direction of the vehicle body or gives the instruction of information with which the direction in which the vehicle body is to be operated can be recognized, so that the deviation amount between the current collector and the overhead line is reduced based on the relative position.