Charging station and charging station guide for autonomously navigating utility vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016285288-A1
Application number	US-201615080250-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 24, 2016
Priority date	Mar 27, 2015
Publication date	Sep 29, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

In a charging station for charging a battery installed on an autonomously navigating utility vehicle equipped with a prime mover powered by the battery to travel about a working area delineated by a boundary wire, there are provided with a pair of charging terminals installed on the station to be capable of connecting with a pair of charging terminals installed on the vehicle, a first wire installed on the station at a location inside of the working area and being formed as a circular shape having a center, and a second wire installed on the station to be formed as a shape that is symmetrical with respect to a center line obtained by connecting a midpoint of the terminals and the center of the first wire.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A charging station for charging a battery installed on an autonomously navigating utility vehicle equipped with a prime mover powered by the battery to travel about a working area delineated by a boundary wire in order to perform work autonomously, comprising:
a pair of charging terminals installed on the station to be spaced apart each other via a midpoint, the pair of charging terminals being capable of connecting with a pair of charging terminals installed on the vehicle; a first wire installed on the station at a location inside or outside of the working area and being formed as a circular shape having a center; and a second wire installed on the station to project toward the location of the first wire, the second wire being connected to the boundary wire and being formed as a shape that is symmetrical with respect to a center line obtained by connecting the midpoint of the pair of charging terminals and the center of the first wire.

2 . The charging station according to claim 1 , wherein the first wire has a circular shape portion and line segments connected to the circular shape portion.

3 . The charging station according to claim 2 , wherein the second wire is formed as a shape of trapezoid having an inner area, and the circular shape portion of the first wire is installed on the station at a position outside of the inner area of the second wire.

4 . The charging station according to claim 1 , further including:
an electric current supplier that supplies electric current to the first wire to generate magnetic field of a first pattern around the first wire and supplies electric current to the second wire to generate magnetic field of a second pattern around the second wire, the second pattern being different from the first pattern generated around the first wire.

5 . A guide for guiding an autonomously navigating utility vehicle equipped with a prime mover powered by a battery to travel about a working area delineated by a boundary wire, to a charging station for charging the battery, comprising:
a pair of charging terminals installed on the station to be spaced apart each other via a first midpoint; a first wire installed on the station at a location inside or outside of the working area and being formed as a circular shape having a center; a second wire installed on the station to project toward the location of the first wire, the second wire being connected to the boundary wire and being formed as a shape that is symmetrical with respect to a first center line obtained by connecting the first midpoint of the pair of charging terminals and the center of the first wire; a pair of charging terminals installed on the vehicle to be connected with the pair of charging terminals installed on the station, the pair of charging terminals installed on the vehicle being spaced apart each other via a second midpoint; a first magnetic sensor installed on the vehicle at a location on a second center line extending from the second midpoint of the pair of charging terminals installed on the vehicle in a forward direction of the vehicle, the first magnetic sensor being adapted to produce an output indicating magnetic field generated by electric current supplied to the first wire; a pair of second magnetic sensors installed on the vehicle to be spaced apart each other and symmetrically with respect to the second center line, the pair of second magnetic sensors being adapted to produce outputs indicating magnetic field generated by electric current supplied to the first wire and the second wire; and a travel controlling unit that controls operation of the prime mover to make the vehicle move to bring the second center line into coincidence with the first center line based on the outputs of the first magnetic sensor and the pair of second magnetic sensors.

6 . The guide according to claim 5 , wherein the travel controlling unit comprises:
a first guiding unit that controls operation of the prime mover to guide the vehicle to a position where the first magnetic sensor is placed on the center of the first wire; a second guiding unit that controls operation of the prime mover to guide the vehicle to turn around the first magnetic sensor such that the second center line is brought into coincidence with the first center line when the vehicle is guided to the position; and a third guiding unit that controls operation of the prime mover to guide the vehicle toward the pair of charging terminals installed on the station when the second center line is brought into coincidence with the first center line.

7 . The guide according to claim 5 , wherein the second wire is formed as a shape of trapezoid that is symmetrical with respect to the first center line, and the pair of second magnetic sensors is installed on the vehicle to be spaced apart each other by a first distance that is smaller than a second distance between two legs of the trapezoid in a direction perpendicular to the second center line.

8 . The guide according to claim 5 , wherein the first wire has a circular shape portion and line segments connected to the circular shape portion, the second wire is formed as a shape of trapezoid having an inner area, and the circular shape portion of the first wire is installed on the station at a position outside of the inner area of the second wire.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamamura Makoto
• Kawakami Toshiaki
• Nishimura Jin
• Matsui Yuki

Classifications

• H02J2105/37

  exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] · CPC title

• H02J7/70

  characterised by the mechanical construction · CPC title

• Y02T90/14

  Plug-in electric vehicles · CPC title

• B60L11/1833

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• H02J7/0027 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic