Electric work vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11069936-B2
Application number	US-201715622401-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2017
Priority date	Jul 22, 2016
Publication date	Jul 20, 2021
Grant date	Jul 20, 2021

Abstract

An electric work vehicle includes a battery container provided in a traveling vehicle body and including a guiding unit, and a battery pack removably attached to the battery container and including a guided unit. A pair of rollers are provided in one of the guiding unit and the guided unit, and a pair of engaging portion to be engaged with the rollers are provided in the other of the guiding unit and the guided unit. When the battery pack is loaded or unloaded onto/from the battery container at the loading/unloading position, the rollers engage with the engaging portions, thereby functioning as pivot fulcrums for enabling the battery pack to pivot for loading and unloading.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric work vehicle comprising:
a traveling vehicle body;
a battery container provided in the traveling vehicle body;
a battery pack that is removably attached to the battery container, the battery pack comprising a plurality of battery modules therein;
a guiding unit provided in the battery container, the guiding unit being configured to guide the battery pack between a loading/unloading position at which the battery pack is loaded onto and unloaded from the battery container and a containing position at which the battery pack is contained; and
a guided unit provided in the battery pack, the guided unit being guided by the guiding unit,
wherein a pair of rollers are provided in one of the guiding unit and the guided unit,
a pair of engaging portions to be engaged with the rollers are provided in the other of the guiding unit and the guided unit, and
when the battery pack is loaded and unloaded at the loading/unloading position, the rollers are configured to function as pivot fulcrums for enabling, by engaging with the engaging portions, the battery pack to pivot for loading and unloading relative to the battery container.

2. The electric work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the rollers are provided in the guiding unit, and the engaging portions are provided in the guided unit,
the guiding unit includes a pair of right and left guiding rails,
the guided unit includes right and left guided rails that span both ends of the battery pack in a front-rear direction and are guided by the guiding rails,
the engaging portions are arranged in lower faces of the guided rails on a front side thereof, and the rollers are configured to guide the lower faces of the guided rails toward a loading/unloading position side of the battery container,
the guiding rails include lower guiding portions configured to guide the lower faces of the guided rails, and upper guiding portions configured to guide upper faces of the guided rails, and
the guiding rails are arranged on a containing position side of the battery container, in a state of allowing the battery pack to pivot for loading and unloading.

3. The electric work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the rollers are provided in the guiding unit, and the engaging portions are provided in the guided unit,
the guided unit includes right and left guided rails that span both ends of the battery pack in a front-rear direction, and the engaging portions are steps formed in lower faces of the guided rails on a front side thereof,
the guiding unit includes the rollers configured to guide the lower faces of the guided rails and a pair of second rollers configured to guide upper faces of the guided rails,
the rollers are arranged on a loading/unloading position side of the battery container, and
the second rollers are arranged in the battery container at a position on a containing position side relative to the roller, in a state of allowing the battery pack to pivot for loading and unloading.

4. The electric work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the pivot fulcrums are located at or adjacent a centroid position of the battery pack when the battery pack pivots for loading and unloading.

5. The electric work vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a pair of right and left wheels arranged in a lower portion of the battery pack; and
a handle arranged in a rear portion of the battery pack,
wherein lower ends of the wheels are located below a bottom face of the battery pack, and rear ends of the wheels are located rearward of a rear face of the battery pack, and
the handle extends upward from the rear portion of the battery pack with a top of the handle above the battery pack.

6. The electric work vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a handle arranged in a rear portion of the battery pack,
wherein the handle includes a fixed portion fixed to the battery pack, and a movable portion capable of being displaced relative to the fixed portion,
an upper end of the fixed portion is located at the same height or substantially the same height as an upper end of the battery pack, and
the movable portion is supported by the fixed portion so as to be able to be displaced between a use position located above the fixed portion and a storage position located at substantially the same height as the fixed portion.

7. The electric work vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the battery pack includes a battery unit comprising the plurality of battery modules, a battery case in which the battery unit is contained, and a plurality of rubber cushions, and
the rubber cushions support the battery unit in a vibration-isolating manner between the battery case and the battery unit.

8. The electric work vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein
the plurality of rubber cushions include a plurality of first rubber cushions arranged between a bottom plate of the battery case and a bottom face of the battery unit, and a plurality of second rubber cushions arranged between a rear plate of the battery case and a rear face of the battery unit.

Assignees

• Kubota Kk

Inventors

• Ito Hirokazu
• Koike Kazuo
• Manji Yasuhiro

Classifications

• B60K1/04 Primary

  of the electric storage means for propulsion · CPC title

• H01M50/242

  adapted for protecting batteries against vibrations, collision impact or swelling · CPC title

• H01M50/249

  specially adapted for aircraft or vehicles, e.g. cars or trains (constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles B60L50/64) · CPC title

• H01M50/204

  Racks, modules or packs for multiple batteries or multiple cells · CPC title

• H01M50/24

  adapted for protecting batteries from their environment, e.g. from corrosion (thermal insulation H01M10/658) · CPC title