Transportation vehicle system and charging method for the transportation vehicle system

• US 9,430,950 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2013
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Murata Machinery Limited (Muratec)
• Original Assignee: Murata Machinery Limited (Muratec)
• Inventors: Hayashi, Takao
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jason C
• Application Number:
  US14/101,069
• Publication Number:
  US 20140172196A1
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: 320/109
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/30 Constructional details of charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/65 involving identification of vehicles or their battery types
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/66 Data transfer between charging stations and vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/12 responding to state of charge [SoC]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 9/00 Traffic control systems for craft where the kind of craft is irrelevant or unspecified
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/167 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for supporting the interoperability of electric or hybrid vehicles, i.e. smartgrids as interface for battery charging of electric vehicles [EV] or hybrid vehicles [HEV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 30/14 Details associated with the interoperability, e.g. vehicle recognition, authentication, identification or billing

Abstract

A plurality of transportation vehicles travel with power from an energy storage member along a predetermined travel route under control of a ground controller. A charging area having charging equipment for charging the energy storage member of the transportation vehicle is provided in the travel route, and the transportation vehicles report a position and remaining capacity of the energy storage member to the ground controller. The ground controller controls a transportation vehicle having remaining capacity of a threshold value or less to travel to the charging area for charging the energy storage member, and controls transportation vehicles in the charging area to travel to positions outside the charging area in accordance with transportation requests.

Claims

1. A transportation vehicle system for running a plurality of transportation vehicles having an energy storage member as a power supply under control of a ground controller along a predetermined travel route, wherein

a charging area having charging equipment for the energy storage member of the transportation vehicles is provided in the travel route,

the transportation vehicles have means for reporting positions and remaining capacities to the ground controller, and

the ground controller has a charge control unit controlling the transportation vehicles having the remaining capacities of the energy storage member not more than a threshold value to travel to the charging area for charging the energy storage members and a vehicle placement control unit for controlling the transportation vehicles in the charging area to travel to positions outside the charging area.

2. The transportation vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein the charge control unit makes the threshold larger for the transportation vehicles remote from the charging area and makes the threshold smaller for the transportation vehicles near from the charging area.

3. The transportation vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein the energy storage member comprises a secondary battery comprising single cells or cell units connected in series, wherein the transportation vehicles are overhead traveling vehicles configured to report electromotive forces and internal resistances of each single cell or each cell unit, and amounts of charge and discharge and the remaining capacity of the secondary battery to the ground controller;

and

wherein the ground controller detects an overhead traveling vehicle having a secondary battery that requires maintenance.

4. The transportation vehicle system according to claim 3, wherein the charging equipment comprising non-contact electricity feeding lines and power supplies for the non-contact electricity feeding lines, provided in the charging area and in straight segments in the travel route outside the charging area,

wherein the overhead traveling vehicles charge the secondary battery in the charging area when the remaining capacity of the secondary battery is the threshold value or less,

and wherein the traveling vehicles charge the secondary battery in the straight segments outside the charging area when the remaining capacity of the secondary battery is the threshold value or more.

5. The transportation vehicle system according to claim 3, wherein the overhead traveling vehicles have means for charging the secondary battery with regenerative electricity from a travel motor.

6. The transportation vehicle system according to claim 3, wherein the ground controller reduces the threshold value when occurrence frequency of transportation instructions is relatively high, and increases the threshold value when occurrence frequency of transportation instructions is relatively low.