JP7761895B2 - Battery car for driving in tunnels - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a battery car suitable for traveling inside tunnels, such as small-diameter tunnels with an inner diameter of approximately 1 m, to transport materials used in tunnel construction.

As the backbone pipelines of water facilities, primarily the main transmission, transmission, and distribution pipes, age, an increasing number of medium- to large-diameter pipelines are in need of replacement. Laying medium- to large-diameter pipelines by excavating the ground requires a large excavation width, which could have a negative impact on road traffic and underground utilities. For this reason, in recent years, construction methods have become more common in urban areas, where a sheath pipe (outer pipe) is constructed using the jacking or shield tunneling method, and then a new water pipe is inserted and laid inside the sheath pipe.

Unlike sewerage construction, which relies on gravity flow as a rule, waterworks construction involves pressure pumping, so the sheath pipes are often laid on steep slopes. Furthermore, the starting and ending shafts are made as shallow as possible, and the pipes are laid out to avoid obstacles along the route, resulting in significant changes in slope.

A variety of transport vehicles that can travel through tunnels have been developed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). These vehicles typically run by rotating two or four wheels driven by a single motor, and can travel without any problems if the tunnel is mostly flat or has a gentle gradient.

However, in small-diameter tunnels with dramatic gradient changes, conventional battery-powered cars have a severe lack of capacity, and are not satisfactory on steep or varied gradients.

JP 2018-126044 A

The objective of this invention is to provide a battery car suitable for transporting materials in limited, narrow spaces such as small-diameter tunnels, even on steep or varied gradients.

The battery car of the present invention is designed for travel in tunnels, and has a battery mounting section equipped with a battery, a power panel, and an operation panel arranged on the upper surface of the chassis frame. Additionally, on the underside of the chassis frame, multiple drive units are arranged along the direction of travel through the tunnel, each including a motor, an axle connected to the motor, and wheels attached to both ends of the axle. Furthermore, the chassis frame is provided with a passenger seat.

The battery car of the present invention is equipped with multiple drive units each equipped with a motor that drives the wheels, resulting in high propulsion force, and the increased number of wheels increases the contact area, preventing wheel spin even on steep or varied gradients in tunnels and on S-shaped curves, enabling stable driving.

1 is a side view showing a battery car according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a plan view of the battery car shown in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1B is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1A. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of a motor and wheels. FIG. 1B is an end view taken along line AA′ of FIG. 1A. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB' in FIG. 1A. FIG. 6 is a front view of the battery car showing a state in which the battery mounting section shown in FIG. 5 has been slid.

The following describes a battery car for driving in tunnels according to one embodiment of the present invention, with reference to the drawings. Figure 1A is a side view of the battery car according to this embodiment, and Figure 1B is its plan view. In the following description, "front" refers to the front of the battery car in the direction of travel, and "rear" refers to the opposite side.

As shown in Figures 1A and 1B, the battery car 1 according to this embodiment is used to transport materials and the like within a tunnel 2. The tunnel 2 is a small-diameter tunnel with an inner diameter of approximately 1 m, typically 1 to 1.5 m. Rails 3 (pipe rails in this embodiment) are laid within the tunnel 2, and the battery car 1 travels on these rails 3.

The battery car 1 has a battery mounting section 6 equipped with a battery 5, a power panel section 7, and an operation panel section 8 arranged on the upper surface of the chassis frame 4, in that order from the front to the rear in the direction of travel within the tunnel 2.

A passenger seat 13 for seating a passenger 12 is attached to the rear of the chassis frame 4. As shown in Fig. 1A, the passenger seat 13 is configured so that the passenger 12 sits in a nearly supine position when traveling through a narrow tunnel 2, and the backrest 13a is retractable and adjustable. A rear camera 13b, a taillight 13c, and a warning flashlight 13d are attached to the backrest 13a.
In order to hold the passenger seat 13 in a predetermined inclined position, one end of a chain 15 (fixture) is connected to the chassis frame 4 and the other end is engaged with the passenger seat 13 .

The front of the chassis frame 4 is provided with a connecting portion 14a for connecting a dolly (not shown) carrying materials, etc., and a headlamp 14b.

In this embodiment, the battery mounting section 6 is composed of a frame on which four batteries 5 are mounted. That is, two batteries are connected in series and two of these are connected in parallel. In this embodiment, the four motors 9 drive a total of eight wheels, which increases the traction capacity. However, this results in rapid power consumption, so the installation of four batteries 5 compensates for this. Furthermore, by installing four batteries 5, the weight of the battery car 1 itself increases without adding weights, which contributes to improving the traction capacity by increasing the wheel contact area.
The number of batteries 5 mounted is not limited to four, and may be more than four.

The power panel 7 is a device for supplying electricity from the battery 5 to the motor 9 to drive it, and contains control devices and equipment for driving the motor 9, such as an inverter for converting direct current to alternating current.
1A and 1B, footrests 18 for the occupant 12 are provided on both sides of the power panel 7, and a brake pedal of a hydraulic disc brake 23 (see FIG. 5) or a hand brake may be provided on the side at the front of one of the footrests 18 as a braking device. Furthermore, an electromagnetic brake pedal may be provided on the front of the other footrest 18 as a stopping device to switch between running and stopping. The footrest 18 may be connected to the side of the chassis frame 4, or may utilize the frame body of the chassis frame 4 itself.

The control panel 8, located at the rear of the power panel 7, is equipped with a monitor screen 16 for viewing the front or rear, as well as a speed adjustment knob and other controls to control the travel of the battery car 1. The battery car 1 of this embodiment can be switched between 1st to 3rd gears (low/medium/high speed) to accommodate steep gradients, etc.

A first drive unit 25 and a second drive unit 251 are arranged in this order on the underside of the chassis frame 4 along the direction of travel within the tunnel 2. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the first drive unit 25 includes a first mounting plate 17a arranged on the underside of the chassis frame 4, two motors 9, 9 attached to the underside of this first mounting plate 17a, and axles 10 and wheels 11 connected to each of the motors 9, 9.
Similarly, the second drive unit 251 includes a second mounting plate 17b arranged on the underside of the chassis frame 4, two motors 9, 9 attached to the underside of this second mounting plate 17b , and axles 10 and wheels 11 connected to each of the motors 9, 9.
As shown in Figure 3, the two motors 9, 9 are arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel in the tunnel 2, and are connected to axles 10 with the output shafts of the motors 9 facing in opposite directions. This allows for high propulsion and traction forces.

The motor 9 to be used may be, for example, an AC geared motor, i.e., a gear motor (geared motor) packaged with a reducer (gear) connected, and specific examples include the "Hyponic Gear Motor" (registered trademark) and "Hyponic Reducer" (registered trademark) manufactured by Sumitomo Machinery Gear Motor Co., Ltd.
Speed control can be achieved by using an inverter control system, which allows speed switching (1st, 2nd, 3rd speed).

As shown in Figure 2, the first and second mounting plates 17a, 17b are held at their centers by a central shaft 19 hanging down from the chassis frame 4, and are each independently rotatable horizontally relative to the chassis frame 4. This allows the first and second drive units 25, 251 to yaw left and right in a plan view independently of each other relative to the chassis frame 4. At this time, the yawing angle (angle α shown in Figure 3) is approximately ±3° to 5° with respect to the direction of travel, and particularly approximately ±4°. This ensures that all eight wheels remain in contact with the rails 3 even on sharp curves, preventing spinning.

Specifically, the first and second mounting plates 17a, 17b each include an upper plate 171a, 171b attached to the central shaft 19, and a lower plate 172a, 172b disposed on the lower surfaces of the upper plates 171a, 171b and having two motors 9, 9 attached to the lower surfaces thereof. The upper plates 171a, 171b are rotatably held by the central shaft 19.
It is preferable that the first and second mounting plates 17a, 17b have a gap between them and the chassis frame 4, which allows for pitching as described below.

As shown in Figure 3, the lower plate 172a consists of two lower plates that hold the two motors 9, 9, respectively, but it may consist of only one plate as long as it has equivalent strength. For ease of explanation, the other lower plate 172b is not shown in Figure 3, but the lower plate 172b is also similarly composed of two lower plates.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, side bearings 20 are attached to both sides of the underside of the chassis frame 4 via the central axle 19, depending downward. Side axles 24 are attached to both sides of the lower plates 172a, 172b, respectively. Supported by the side bearings 20, these side axles 24 allow the lower plates 172a, 172b to pitch vertically relative to the upper plates. At this time, the pitching angle (angle β shown in Figure 2) is approximately ±2° to 4°, particularly approximately ±3.25°, relative to the horizontal. This ensures that all eight wheels are in contact with the rails 3, even on steep gradients, preventing freewheeling.

In Figure 5, reference numeral 21 denotes a gearbox that houses a reducer, and a coupling 22 (e.g., an Oldham coupling for rolls) and a disc brake 23 are attached to this gearbox 21 along the axle 10.

The battery car 1 configured as described above runs stably on the rails 3 inside the tunnel 2 using eight wheels 11, and can travel without skidding even on steep or varied gradients, and can transport carts with high propulsion and traction forces.

When the battery car 1 reaches the work site, the occupant 12 needs to unload materials from the cart (not shown) connected to the front and begin work. However, as shown in Figure 5, the battery 5 is large and bulky, preventing the occupant 12 from moving to the front of the battery car 1. For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, rails extending horizontally, perpendicular to the direction of travel, are provided on the battery mounting unit 6 or chassis frame 4, and the battery mounting unit 6 is slidably supported on the chassis frame 4. This allows the occupant 12 to move through the space S created on one side, allowing for smooth work.

While the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various improvements, modifications, and variations are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, the present invention is not limited to small-diameter tunnels. Furthermore, while pipe rails are used as the rails 3 in this embodiment, other rails such as light rails may be used, or tire-type wheels without rails may be used. Furthermore, while eight wheels 11 are used in this embodiment, six or ten or more may be used. The number of drive units is not limited to two and may be more.
In addition, in this embodiment, the occupant seating portion 13 is provided at the rear of the chassis frame 4, but it may be provided at the front, and is not particularly limited.

1 Battery car 2 Tunnel 3 Rail 4 Chassis frame 5 Battery 6 Battery mounting section 7 Power panel section 8 Operation panel section 9 Motor 10 Axle 11 Wheel 12 Occupant 13 Occupant seating section 14a Connection section 14b Headlight 15 Chain (fixing device)
16 Monitor screen 17a First mounting plate 17b Second mounting plate 171a, 171b Upper plate 172a, 172b Lower plate 18 Foot rest 19 Central shaft body 20 Side bearing portion 21 Gear box 22 Joint 23 Disc brake 24 Side shaft body 25 First drive portion 251 Second drive portion

Claims (4)

A battery mounting section having a battery mounted thereon, a power panel section, and an operation panel section are arranged on the upper surface of the chassis frame,
a plurality of drive units are arranged on the underside of the chassis frame along the direction of travel in the tunnel, the drive units including a mounting plate disposed on the underside of the chassis frame, a motor attached to the underside of the mounting plate, an axle connected to the motor, and wheels attached to both ends of the axle;
a passenger seating portion is provided on the chassis frame,
the mounting plate includes an upper plate attached at a central portion to a central shaft that hangs down from the chassis frame, and a lower plate that is disposed on a lower surface of the upper plate and has the motor attached to its lower surface;
Side bearing portions are provided on both sides of the underside of the chassis frame via the central shaft body, and extend downward.
A battery car in which a shaft body is provided on each side of the lower plate, and this shaft body is supported by the side bearing portion, thereby allowing the lower plate to swing up and down at a predetermined angle relative to the upper plate. 2. The battery car according to claim 1 , wherein the motor is an AC geared motor and is variable speed in at least three stages. 3. The battery car according to claim 1, wherein the battery mounting section is slidable in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of travel in the tunnel. The battery car according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein a bogie mounting portion is provided at the front of the chassis frame in the direction of travel within the tunnel.