Transport vehicle equipped with current collector

• US 9,315,107 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2012
• Issued: 04/19/2016
• 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): Le, Mark
• Application Number:
  US14/110,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20140027229A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,441 Days
• Field of Search: 191/59.1, 191/33.R, 191/66, 191/59, 191/45.R, 191/50, 191/55, 191/87, 191/90
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 2240/70 Interactions with external data bases, e.g. traffic centres
• 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 5/24 Pantographs
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/11 using DC generators and DC motors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 9/04 fed from dc supply lines
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 9/18 fed from dc supply lines
• CPC Class Codes: B60M 7/00 Power lines or rails specially adapted for electrically-propelled vehicles of special types, e.g. suspension tramway, ropeway, underground railway
• 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 below the vessel; 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.

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 disposed above the vessel and contracts and retracts so as to be disposed below the vessel; 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, wherein the vessel is on the vehicle body,

wherein the contracted and retracted current collector is disposed on an inner side of an outline of the vessel when viewed from a top side of the vessel, and the current collector is capable of retracting below the vessel and inside the outline of the vessel and extending above vessel while the vessel remains fixed relative to the vehicle body.

2. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein the current collector includes a first current collector part disposed at a front side and a second current collector part disposed at a rear side opposite the front side in a moving direction of the vehicle body.

3. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body is an unmanned transport vehicle without a cab.

4. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 1, wherein the current collector includes a slider that slidably comes in contact with the overhead line, a first arm to which the slider is attached, and a second arm that is connected with the first arm using a joint and is contracted and retracted to be folded so as to accommodate the first arm.

5. The transport vehicle equipped with the current collector according to claim 2, wherein when the transport vehicle travels along a sloped road and elevates one of the first and second current collector parts relative to the other of the first and second current collector parts, the one elevated current collector part is configured to extend to receive electric power from the overhead line while the other current collector part is retracted.