Battery unit of automated guided vehicle

{
  "publication_number": "US9698393B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Battery unit of automated guided vehicle",
  "abstract": "A battery unit of an automated guided vehicle comprises a casing installed in a chassis of the automated guided vehicle, a battery housed in the casing, a control panel housed in the casing to monitor a charge and discharge state of the battery, and electric components housed in the casing and electrically connected to the battery. The battery is arranged in the casing such that a battery bottom surface is separated from the casing bottom surface.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A battery unit of an automated guided vehicle, comprising a casing installed in a vehicle body of the automated guided vehicle, a battery that is housed in the casing and has a hole penetrating in a vertical direction, a control panel housed in the casing and included in a monitor to monitor battery condition information, electric components housed in the casing and electrically connected to the battery, a sleeve located between the battery and a bottom of the casing such that the battery is separated from the bottom of the casing, and a bolt used to fix the battery to the casing while the bolt penetrates the hole of the battery and the sleeve, wherein the casing is formed in a box shape by casing walls, the casing being arranged in the automated guided vehicle such that a casing wall facing a charger during a charging operation is exposed to an outside of the vehicle body, a vertical wall is arranged inside the casing to face the casing wall facing the charger, the vertical wall being erected from the bottom of the casing so as to partition an inner area of the casing, the battery is arranged in a back side area of the casing from the vertical wall, the electric components are arranged in a front side area of the casing from the vertical wall, the electric components being arranged in a position separated from the bottom of the casing, a horizontal beam bracket is fixed to an upper side of the vertical wall, a support plate is provided on the horizontal beam bracket and arranged to cover an upper side of the battery, and the control panel is arranged on an upper surface of the support plate.",
    "2. The battery unit of the automated guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the battery comprises a stack of a plurality of battery modules each comprised of a lithium ion battery, and a spacer is interposed between neighboring battery modules such that a gap is formed between the neighboring battery modules.",
    "3. The battery unit of the automated guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is a cylindrical sleeve.",
    "4. The battery unit of the automated guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve fits over and encloses the bolt.",
    "5. The battery unit of the automated guided vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the sleeve is located between a bottom surface of a lowermost battery module in the stack of the plurality of battery modules and the bottom of the casing such that the lowermost battery module is separated from the bottom of the casing.",
    "6. An automated guided vehicle comprising: a vehicle body; a plurality of wheels arranged under the vehicle body; a plurality of spindles vertically extending toward a floor surface; a driving unit provided for each of the spindles; a plurality of pairs of driving wheels, each pair of driving wheels driven by a driving motor in a driving unit; and the battery unit of claim 1, the battery unit configured to drive the driving motor."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "This invention relates to a battery unit of an automated guided vehicle that uses a battery as a power supply.\n\nIn general, a lead storage battery is employed as a driving source of a motor in an automated guided vehicle used in a factory or a depot. In the technique discussed in JP 1991-37967 A, an automated guided vehicle is disclosed, which is used after a battery of the automated guided vehicle is fully charged in a charging station provided in a factory or a depot. In addition, in the technique discussed in JP 2007-74800 A, a lithium ion battery that can be partially charged instead of the full charging is used as a battery of the automated guided vehicle.\n\nIn the automated guided vehicle discussed in JP 2007-74800 A, the automated guided vehicle travels by virtue of electric power of the lithium ion battery. The battery of the automated guided vehicle is charged in the charging station included in a battery charge and discharge management system. In the charging station, the charging operation starts when a remaining capacity of the battery reaches a charging start capacity. The charging operation stops when the remaining capacity of the battery reaches a charging stop capacity.\n\nIn an automated guided vehicle that uses a lithium ion battery as a battery, a battery unit is configured by integrating and housing a battery, a control panel such as a charge and discharge monitor that monitors a charge and discharge condition of the battery, and other electric components in a battery casing.",
  "cpc": [
    "H01M 10/425",
    "B60L 11/1816",
    "B60L 11/1879",
    "B60L 50/64",
    "B60L 53/14",
    "H01M 10/052",
    "H01M 10/0525",
    "H01M 10/482",
    "H01M 10/625",
    "H01M 2/1083",
    "H01M 2010/4271",
    "H01M 2220/20",
    "H01M 50/20",
    "H01M 50/204",
    "H01M 50/249",
    "Y02E 60/10",
    "Y02E 60/122",
    "Y02P 70/50",
    "Y02T 10/70",
    "Y02T 10/7011",
    "Y02T 10/7072",
    "Y02T 90/14"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B60L 50/64",
    "H01M 10/0525",
    "H01M 10/42",
    "H01M 10/48",
    "H01M 2/10",
    "H01M 10/052"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Nissan Motor Co Ltd"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Toshihito Fukui",
    "Mitsuru Hirayama"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2013-07-31",
  "publication_date": "2017-07-04",
  "grant_date": "2017-07-04",
  "priority_date": "2012-08-02",
  "application_number": "US-201314418263-A",
  "family_id": "50028049",
  "cited_by_count": 3,
  "citations": [
    "JPH0226936U",
    "JPH0337967A",
    "JP2006024445A",
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    "EP1710859A1",
    "US20060246350A1",
    "JP2006313733A",
    "US20070017720A1",
    "JP2007074800A",
    "US20080053716A1",
    "JP2007250515A",
    "WO2007145304A1",
    "US20090167077A1",
    "WO2008035873A1",
    "JP2008277050A",
    "US20090239136A1",
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  ]
}