Method for operating a production plant comprising a vehicle and at least one charging point, and production plant having a vehicle for carrying out the method

• US 10,730,404 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2017
• Issued: 08/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sew-Eurodrive GmbH & Company KG (BV Beteiligung GmbH & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: Sew-Eurodrive GmbH & Company KG (BV Beteiligung GmbH & Company KG)
• Inventors: Soder, Johann
• Primary Examiner(s): Parihar, Suchin
• Application Number:
  US16/095,610
• Publication Number:
  US 20190126778A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,225 Days
• Field of Search: 320108
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/44 Industrial trucks or floor conveyors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/40 using propulsion power supplied by capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/50 using propulsion power supplied by batteries or fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/12 Inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/122 Circuits or methods for driving the primary coil, e.g. supplying electric power to the coil
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/126 Methods for pairing a vehicle and a charging station, e.g. establishing a one-to-one relation between a wireless power transmitter and a wireless power receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/32 by charging in short intervals along the itinerary, e.g. during short stops
• CPC Class Codes: B60M 1/36 Single contact pieces along the line for power supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/60 Electric or hybrid propulsion means for production processes
• 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

In a method for operating a production plant having a vehicle and at least one charging point, and in a production plant having a vehicle for carrying out the method: in a first method step, the vehicle drives to the charging point; in a second method step, the vehicle is rotated, in particular with the aid of the omnidirectional drive or the differential drive; in a third method step, the vehicle moves on; and electrical energy is inductively transmitted from the charging point to the vehicle during the second method step.

Claims

1. A method for operating a production plant including a vehicle and at least one charging point, comprising:

driving the vehicle to the charging point;

after the driving step, rotating the vehicle with the aid of an omnidirectional drive and/or a differential drive;

after the rotating step, driving the vehicle from the charging point;

wherein electrical energy is inductively transmitted from the charging point to the vehicle during the rotating step.

2. A production plant having a vehicle for performing the method according to claim 1, wherein the charging point includes a primary winding into which a medium-frequency current is impressable.

3. The production plant according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle includes a secondary winding.

4. The production plant according to claim 3, wherein a capacitance is connected to the secondary winding, in series and/or in parallel, such that a resonant frequency of a resulting oscillating circuit corresponds to a frequency of alternating current impressed into the primary winding.

5. The production plant according to claim 3, wherein the secondary winding is provided on an underside of the vehicle and/or on a side of the vehicle that faces a floor.

6. The production plant according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle includes an omnidirectional drive, includes a differential drive, and/or is steerable or rotatable without locomotion.

7. The production plant according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle includes Mecanum wheels and/or a tank-tread drive.

8. The production plant according to claim 2, further comprising:

workstations to which a respective charging point is allocated, the vehicle being adapted to approach the workstations, the charging points adapted to inductively transmit electrical energy to the vehicle while transport goods transported by the vehicle are being processed at the respective workstation.

9. The production plant according to claim 3, wherein the secondary winding is electrically connected to a terminal of a power rectifier on an alternating voltage side, and an energy store, from which an electromotoric drive of the vehicle is suppliable, is chargeable via a terminal of the power rectifier on a direct voltage side.

10. The production plant according to claim 9, wherein the energy store includes a double-layer capacitor and/or an ultracap.

11. The production plant according to claim 2, further comprising driving paths provided for the vehicle and/or a net of driving paths provided for the vehicle, and a charging point being located at each turn-off region, a curve region, and/or an intersection region.

12. The production plant according to claim 2, wherein the primary winding is arranged underneath a cover part across which the vehicle drivable, and/or is arranged on an inner side of a cover part that covers the charging point in a direction of the vehicle and which is smoothly connected to a floor accommodating the charging point.

13. The production plant according to claim 2, further comprising a linear conductor to which an alternating current applicable is installed along a portion of a driving path provided for the vehicle and/or between two workstations.

14. The production plant according to claim 3, wherein the primary winding and/or the secondary winding includes a ring winding.

15. The production plant according to claim 14, wherein a ring axis of the ring winding corresponds to a pivot point during the rotation of the vehicle.

16. The production plant according to claim 2, further comprising a further primary conductor arranged lengthwise between two charging points, an inductive energy supply of the vehicle adapted to be performed within a provided driving path section.

17. The production plant according to claim 16, wherein the further primary conductor is arranged along connection line and/or a straight connection line between the two charging points.

18. The production plant according to claim 16, wherein the further primary conductor is set apart from the charging points.

19. The production plant according to claim 16, wherein an alternating current is impressable into the further primary conductor having a frequency that corresponds to a frequency of current impressed into the primary winding.

20. The production plant according to claim 2, wherein an upper side of a cover part and/or a side of the cover part that faces the vehicle is circular, a ring axis of the primary winding extending through a center point of the circular cover part.