Systems and Methods for Charging a Material Handling Vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023278444-A1
Application number	US-202318117283-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 3, 2023
Priority date	Mar 3, 2022
Publication date	Sep 7, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A charging system for a material handling vehicle includes a charger plate assembly that is pivotally moveably coupled to a distal end of the mounting assembly arm. The charger plate assembly includes a first electrical contact that is configured to electrically couple with a second electrical contact of a charging port of the material handling vehicle. The charger plate assembly is configured to move relative to the mounting assembly arm when the first electrical contact electrically couples with the second electrical contact, which causes a scrubbing action between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contacts, thereby passively cleaning the contacts.

First claim

1 . A charging system for a material handling vehicle, the charging system comprising:
a mounting assembly arm; and a charger plate assembly moveably coupled to a distal end of the mounting assembly arm, the charger plate assembly including a first charger plate electrical contact that is configured to electrically couple with a second vehicle electrical contact of a charging port of the material handling vehicle, wherein, when the first charger plate electrical contact electrically couples with the second vehicle electrical contact, the charger plate assembly is configured to move relative to the mounting assembly arm to cause a scrubbing action between the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact.

2 . The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the charger plate assembly is pivotally coupled to distal end of the mounting assembly arm.

3 . The charging system of claim 2 , wherein contact between the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact causes the charger plate assembly to pivot from a first rotational position to a second rotational position to cause the scrubbing action between the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact.

4 . The charging system of claim 3 , further comprising a biasing element configured to bias the charger plate assembly to the first rotational position.

5 . The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the mounting assembly arm is configured to move along a first direction to change a distance between the charger plate assembly and the charging port of the material handling vehicle.

6 . The charging system of claim 5 , further comprising:
a base configured to movably support the mounting assembly arm; and a first actuator coupled between the base and the mounting assembly arm, the first actuator being configured to extend and retract to change the distance between the charger plate assembly and the charging port of the material handling vehicle.

7 . The charging system of claim 6 , further comprising a pair of guide rails supported on the base, wherein the mounting assembly arm is coupled to the guide rails by a plurality of wheels arranged within the guide rails.

8 . The charging system of claim 1 , further comprising a second actuator coupled between the charger plate assembly and the mounting assembly arm, the second actuator being configured to selectively adjust a position of the charger plate assembly along a second direction that is different from the first direction.

9 . The charging system of claim 1 , further comprising a first sensor coupled to the charger plate assembly, the first sensor being configured to sense a distance between the charger plate assembly and a charging port of a material handling vehicle.

10 . The charging system of claim 9 , further comprising a second sensor coupled to the charger plate assembly, the second sensor being configured to detect a target arranged on a material handling vehicle.

11 . The charging system of claim 1 , wherein the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact are configured for at least one of transferring electrical power for charging a battery of the material handling vehicle and transmitting electrical communications between the material handling vehicle and the charging system.

12 . The charging system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first charger plate electrical contact and the second vehicle electrical contact is configured as a spring-biased contact.

13 . A charging system for a material handling vehicle, the material handling vehicle including a battery and a charging port having a first vehicle electrical contact electrically coupled to the battery, the charging system comprising:
a mounting assembly arm; and a charger plate assembly pivotally coupled to rotate relative to the mounting assembly arm to move between a first orientation and a second orientation, the charger plate assembly including a second charger plate electrical contact electrically coupled to a power source, the second charger plate electrical contact being configured to couple to the first vehicle plate electrical contact of the material handling vehicle for charging.

14 . The charging system of claim 13 , wherein, in the first orientation, a head plane defined by the charger plate assembly is angled relative to a mounting plane defined by the mounting assembly arm,
wherein, in the second orientation, the head plane is parallel to the mounting plane, and wherein a biasing element is positioned between the charger plate assembly and the mounting assembly arm to bias the charger plate assembly to the first orientation.

15 . The charging system of claim 13 , wherein, as the charging port is brought into contact with the charger plate assembly, the second charger plate electrical contact of the charger plate assembly slides across the first vehicle electrical contact of the charging port to cause sliding frictional contact therebetween to passively clean each of the second charger plate electrical contact and the first vehicle electrical contact.

16 . The charging system of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first vehicle electrical contact and the second charger plate electrical contact is configured as a plurality of electrical contacts.

17 . A method of charging a material handling vehicle, the material handling vehicle including a battery and a charging port having a first vehicle electrical contact electrically coupled to the battery, the method comprising:
moving a mounting assembly arm toward the material handling vehicle to engage a charger plate assembly with the charging port, the charger plate assembly having a second charger plate electrical contact configured to electrically couple to the first charger plate electrical contact; moving the charger plate assembly relative to the mounting assembly arm; and sliding the second charger plate electrical contact across the first vehicle electrical contact to cause sliding frictional contact therebetween.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein engaging the charging port with the charger plate assembly causes pivoting movement of the charger plate assembly about the mounting assembly arm, and
wherein the pivoting movement of the charger plate assembly about the mounting assembly arm causes the sliding between the first vehicle electrical contact and the second charger plate electrical contact.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the sliding frictional contact between the first vehicle electrical contact and the second charger plate electrical contact is configured to remove contaminants from each of the first vehicle electrical contact and the second charger plate electrical contact.

20 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
determining that a charge of the battery is below a threshold; and navigating the material handling vehicle toward the charger plate assembly, based on a determination that the charge is below the threshold.

21 - 40 . (canceled)

Assignees

• Raymond Corp

Inventors

• Bartels Alan W
• Stamer Alexander
• King David
• Weaver Matthew

Classifications

• B60L53/35 Primary

  Means for automatic or assisted adjustment of the relative position of charging devices and vehicles · CPC title

• B60L53/16 Primary

  Connectors, e.g. plugs or sockets, specially adapted for charging electric vehicles · CPC title

• B60L53/62

  in response to charging parameters, e.g. current, voltage or electrical charge · CPC title

• B60L53/31

  Charging columns specially adapted for electric vehicles · CPC title

• Y02T90/14

  Plug-in electric vehicles · CPC title