CN112455275B

CN112455275B - AGV positioning mechanism and positioning method

Info

Publication number: CN112455275B
Application number: CN201910844084.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄巨明; 吴永海
Original assignee: Hangzhou Hikrobot Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hangzhou Hikrobot Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-06
Filing date: 2019-09-06
Publication date: 2024-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-06
Also published as: WO2021043054A1; CN112455275A

Abstract

The application discloses a positioning mechanism and a positioning method of an AGV. The mechanism comprises a first positioning module and a second positioning module; the first positioning module is used for positioning the position of the AGV in a first horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the wheel by positioning the wheel of the AGV; the second positioning module is used for positioning the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis. The method comprises the following steps: positioning the position of the AGV in a first horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the wheel by positioning the wheel of the AGV; and positioning the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis, and keeping the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction unchanged all the time in the positioning process along the second horizontal direction. The AGV positioning mechanism and the AGV positioning method disclosed by the embodiment of the application can improve the positioning precision of the AGV and reduce the replacement failure rate of the battery module.

Description

AGV positioning mechanism and positioning method

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of logistics transportation, in particular to a positioning mechanism and a positioning method of an AGV.

Background

With the development of society, logistics systems are increasingly automated and intelligent. In the current logistics sorting and transportation operation, a great number of AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) abbreviations, namely 'automatic guiding transportation vehicles', are required to be used, and the transportation vehicles can travel along a specified guiding path and have the functions of safety protection and various transfer.

The AGV generally adopts a battery carried by the AGV to provide power, and when the power of the battery is near to exhaustion, the battery needs to be timely supplemented, so that automatic power supply equipment for the AGV is needed in the system.

In the related art, some devices for replacing battery modules of an AGV have been developed. However, because it is difficult to ensure that the AGV itself is moved to the exact replacement station, these devices lack a positioning mechanism that effectively positions the AGV, and therefore the accuracy of the engagement with the AGV is low, resulting in a high failure rate in the replacement of the battery module.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a positioning mechanism and a positioning method of an AGV (automatic guided vehicle) so as to solve the problems.

The embodiment of the application adopts the following technical scheme:

the embodiment of the application provides a positioning mechanism of an AGV, which comprises a first positioning module and a second positioning module;

The first positioning module is used for positioning the position of the AGV in a first horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the wheel by positioning the wheel of the AGV;

the second positioning module is used for positioning the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis.

Optionally, in the above positioning mechanism of an AGV, the first positioning module includes a positioning slider and a guide rail;

The positioning slide block is provided with a positioning groove for positioning the wheels of the AGV along the first horizontal direction, the positioning groove and the guide rail extend along the second horizontal direction, and the positioning slide block is in sliding fit with the guide rail and can slide along the second horizontal direction.

Optionally, in the above positioning mechanism for an AGV, the positioning slot has a V-shaped cross section perpendicular to the second horizontal direction.

Optionally, in the above positioning mechanism for an AGV, the positioning slide is further provided with a guiding inclined plane, and one side of the guiding inclined plane is adjacent to one side of the positioning slot.

Optionally, in the above positioning mechanism of an AGV, the first positioning module further includes a reset elastic element, where the reset elastic element is connected to the positioning slide, and when the positioning slide is in a reset position, the reset elastic element is in a stress balance state.

Optionally, in the above positioning mechanism for an AGV, the first positioning module further includes a wheel detection sensor, where the wheel detection sensor is disposed on the positioning slider and is configured to detect whether a wheel of the AGV exists in the positioning slot.

Optionally, in the above positioning mechanism of an AGV, the second positioning module includes a horizontal pushing assembly;

The horizontal pushing assemblies are symmetrically arranged on two sides along the second horizontal direction and used for pushing the AGVs along the second horizontal direction to position the AGVs in the second horizontal direction.

Optionally, in the above positioning mechanism for an AGV, the horizontal pushing assembly includes a fixed bracket, a movable bracket, a horizontal pushing power unit, and a pushing guide unit;

The fixed support and the movable support are connected through the pushing guide unit, and the movable support can move and push the AGV relative to the fixed support along the second horizontal direction under the driving of the horizontal pushing power unit.

Optionally, in the above positioning mechanism for an AGV, a flexible clamping block is disposed on the moving support, and the moving support pushes the AGV through the flexible clamping block.

Optionally, the positioning mechanism of the AGV further includes a reference identifier for providing a positioning reference in the second horizontal direction.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a positioning method for an AGV, including the following steps:

positioning the position of the AGV in a first horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the wheel by positioning the wheel of the AGV;

And positioning the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis, and keeping the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction unchanged all the time in the positioning process along the second horizontal direction.

Optionally, in the above positioning method of an AGV, the step of positioning the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the wheel by positioning the wheel of the AGV specifically includes:

the wheel of AGV rolls into one along the constant head tank that the second horizontal direction extends in the second horizontal direction along the second horizontal direction, makes the wheel card in the constant head tank under the action of gravity to the position of location AGV in first horizontal direction.

Optionally, in the above method for positioning an AGV, the step of always keeping the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction unchanged during the positioning process specifically includes:

The AGV is in the constant head tank in the in-process wheel that removes along the second horizontal direction.

Optionally, in the above method for positioning an AGV, the step of always clamping the wheel in the positioning groove during the process of moving along the second horizontal direction by the AGV specifically includes:

The AGV drives the positioning groove to move along the second horizontal direction together through friction force in the process of moving along the second horizontal direction.

Optionally, in the positioning method of the AGV, in the step of positioning the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis, and the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction is always kept unchanged during the positioning process along the second direction, the step of:

When it is detected that the AGV has completed positioning of the position in the first horizontal direction, positioning of the position of the AGV in the second horizontal direction along the wheel axis is started.

Optionally, in the positioning method of the AGV, in the step of positioning the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis, and the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction is always kept unchanged during the positioning process along the second direction, the method for determining that the positioning of the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction has been completed specifically includes:

The presence of the AGV wheel in the alignment slot is detected.

Optionally, in the positioning method of the AGV, in the step of positioning the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis, and the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction is always kept unchanged in the positioning process along the second horizontal direction, the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis is positioned according to the acquired position difference between the AGV and the reference mark in the second horizontal direction.

Optionally, in the above method for positioning an AGV, the step of positioning the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis specifically includes:

And simultaneously applying force to two sides of the AGV along the second horizontal direction, so that the AGV is pushed to a positioning position in a clamped state.

The above at least one technical scheme adopted by the embodiment of the application can achieve the following beneficial effects:

the AGV positioning mechanism and the AGV positioning method disclosed by the embodiment of the application can improve the positioning precision of the AGV and reduce the replacement failure rate of the battery module.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and do not constitute a limitation on the application. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is an overall structural view of a power exchange station according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a battery replacing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a front structural view of a battery replacing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a specific configuration of an AGV according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a specific structural view of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a view showing the bottom structure of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the cooperation of the latch and latch module and the unlocking jack according to the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a view showing a fitting structure of a lifting frame, a main frame and an auxiliary frame according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a specific structural view of a lifting frame according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a top view of a support table and a positioning mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a specific structural view of a first positioning module according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is a specific structural view of a second positioning module according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 13 is a specific structural view of a battery dismounting mechanism and a slope according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 14 is a specific structural view of a battery attaching and detaching mechanism according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 15 is an overall structural view of a battery compartment system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 16 is a specific structural view of a battery pick-and-place device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 17 is a top view of a battery pick-and-place device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 18 is a specific structural view of a charging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 19 is a specific structural view of a charging stand according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 20 is a schematic view of a fire fighting device according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 21 is a view showing the mating structures of a battery module receiving mechanism and a detector according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a battery replacement method for an AGV according to an embodiment of the application.

Reference numerals illustrate:

1-battery replacing device, 10-lifting frame, 100-supporting table, 1000-supporting surface, 1000 a-accommodating cavity, 1001-avoiding area, 1002-opening, 101-positioning mechanism, 1010-first positioning module, 1010 a-positioning slide block, 1010 b-guide rail, 1010 c-positioning groove, 1010 d-guiding inclined plane, 1010 e-reset elastic piece, 1010 f-wheel detection sensor, 1011-second positioning module, 1011 a-horizontal pushing component, 1011a 1-fixing bracket, 1011a 2-moving bracket, 1011a 3-horizontal pushing power unit, 1011a 4-pushing guiding unit, 1011a 5-flexible clamping block, 1012-reference mark, 102-subframe pressing mechanism, 1020-pressing power unit, 1021-pressing part, 103-subframe lifting mechanism 104-main frame pushing mechanism, 1040-pushing power unit, 1041-pushing member, 105-supporting frame, 1050-main body portion, 1051-extension portion, 106-precharge mechanism, 1060-precharge electric connector, 1061-precharge power unit, 11-lifting frame lifting mechanism, 12-battery dismounting mechanism, 120-abutment table, 1200-abutment surface, 1201-ball unit, 121-coarse positioning module, 1210-coarse positioning column, 122-fine positioning module, 1220-fine positioning column, 1221-fine positioning power unit, 123-unlocking module, 1230-unlocking ejector pin, 1231-unlocking power unit, 124-battery module detection sensor, 125-pulling module, 1250-drag hook, 1251-drag hook power unit, 126-elastic propping modules, 127-propping sensors, 128-walking modules, 129-substrates and 13-slopes;

2-battery compartment system, 20-battery pick-and-place device, 200-loading platform, 2000-battery module fixing piece, 2001-limit mechanism, 2001 a-limit piece, 2001 b-limit power unit, 201-transfer mechanism, 2010-telescopic module, 2011-rotating module, 202-battery lifting mechanism, 203-battery replacement port, 204-battery storage port, 205-fire-fighting waste port, 206-fixing frame, 207-main support, 2070-lifting channel, 21-storage device, 210-charging seat support, 211-charging seat, 2110-charging station, 2110 a-receiving surface, 2111-charging seat coarse positioning module, 2111 a-charging seat coarse positioning column, 2112-charging seat fine positioning module, 2112 a-charging seat fine positioning column, 2113-connector module, 2113 a-connector, 2114-charging seat ball unit, 2115-charging seat battery module detection sensor, 6-support frame, 2117-mounting platform, 2118-integrated power unit;

The fire-fighting equipment comprises a 3-fire-fighting device, a 30-battery module receiving mechanism, a 300-telescopic supporting module, a 3000-fixing part, a 3001-supporting part, a 3002-telescopic power unit, a 3003-guide rail, a 31-fire-fighting box, a 32-fire-fighting material containing box, a 320-discharge port, a 33-discharge valve, a 34-fire-fighting bracket and a 35-detector;

9-AGV, 90-main frame, 91-auxiliary frame, 910-lock catch, 9100-unlocking lever, 9101-U-shaped lock head, 9102-lock body, 92-pin hole, 93-battery module, 930-locking module and 931-positioning hole;

a-a first horizontal direction, b-a second horizontal direction.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to specific embodiments of the present application and corresponding drawings. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.

The following describes in detail the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The embodiment of the application provides a power exchange station suitable for an AGV, and FIG. 1 shows a two-wheel drive AGV structure suitable for the power exchange station of the application. However, the AGV9 according to the present application is not limited to the two-wheel drive AGV shown in fig. 4, and may be a four-wheel drive or bionic travel AGV, and may travel/stop in an automatic navigation manner, and may detach/load the battery module 93 from the AGV9 to the lower side. The AGV9 shown in fig. 4 includes a main frame 90 and an auxiliary frame 91, and in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the main frame 90 and the auxiliary frame 91 are disposed back and forth along the traveling direction of the AGV9, and the auxiliary frame 91 may be configured to be fixedly connected to the main frame 90 of the AGV9 in the vertical direction and to be capable of being connected to the outside, and the main frame 90 and the auxiliary frame 91 may be subjected to external force to change the posture of the main body of the AGV 9.

The battery module 93 according to the present application may be a nickel-metal hydride battery, a lithium battery, or a non-rechargeable battery, and may be attached to the sub-frame 91, and may be detached from or attached to the sub-frame 91 of the AGV9 downward in accordance with the present application, not only in the shape shown in fig. 1. Of course, in other embodiments, which do not exclude the case where the battery module 93 is mounted to the main frame 90, the present embodiment merely describes the related structure of the power exchange station by way of example of mounting in the sub-frame 91, and those skilled in the art will be fully able to combine similar power exchange station solutions corresponding to AGVs where the battery module 93 is mounted to the main frame 90, even at other locations, according to the description of the present embodiment.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the battery replacing device 1 and the battery compartment system 2 are used in a matched manner, and in the specific implementation process, the battery replacing device 1 and the battery compartment system 2 can be used independently.

The battery replacing apparatus 1 will be described in detail first.

The battery exchanging device 1 of the present embodiment is used to detach/mount the battery module 93 from/to the AGV 9.

To be able to replace the battery from the AGV9 to the lower side, in this embodiment, the battery replacing device 1 includes a lifting frame 10, a lifting frame lifting mechanism 11, and a battery disassembling mechanism 12, and in a specific use process, the lifting frame 10 and the lifting frame lifting mechanism 11 may be connected to each other as shown in fig. 3. The lifting frame lifting mechanism 11 may be provided as a frame type so that the lifting frame 10 is lifted and lowered inside thereof.

The lifting frame 10 includes a support table 100, and after the AGV9 travels onto the support table 100, the lifting frame lifting mechanism 11 can lift the lifting frame 10, and thereby lift the AGV 9. The battery dismounting mechanism 12 can be located the below of hoisting frame 10 after hoisting frame 10 is lifted, therefore hoisting frame elevating system 11 can adjust the vertical interval between the bottom of AGV9 and the battery dismounting mechanism 12, and then from bottom dismouting battery module 93, hoisting frame elevating system 11 can also set up to structures such as jack that support hoisting frame 10, can rise and put down hoisting frame 10 as required can. The support table 100 of the lift frame 10 is normally not in close proximity to the floor, so a ramp 13 may be provided in front of the lift frame 10 to facilitate the AGV9 to drive up the support table 100.

Each part of the lifting frame 10 will be described below, including the first positioning module 1010, the second positioning module 1011, the subframe pressing mechanism 102, the subframe lifting mechanism 103, the main frame pressing mechanism 104, and the like, in practical application, each part of the lifting frame 10 may be used independently, or may be used in any combination according to different process requirements, and the invention is not limited to the technical scheme using all the above parts shown in the embodiment, and it is only required to smoothly detach the battery module 93 from the AGV 9. The various parts of the lifting frame 10 each have different functions, while some parts may have other additional functions when used in combination. The respective portions of the lifting frame 10 will be described separately.

First, when the battery module 93 is detached or attached, the fitting accuracy of each device is extremely important, and if the fitting accuracy is too low, a large deviation occurs in the relative positions of each device, and the device cannot complete the setting operation.

In this embodiment, to facilitate the battery module 93 to be smoothly assembled and disassembled by the battery assembling and disassembling mechanism 12, the lifting frame 10 includes a positioning mechanism 101. The positioning mechanism 101 is capable of positioning the relative attitude and relative position of the AGV9 and the lift frame 10, mainly the AGV9 and the support table 100. Specifically, since the AGV9 can directly park on the support table 100, the position of the AGV9 and the support table 100 in the vertical direction can be disregarded. As shown in fig. 9, the positioning mechanism 101 generally only needs to consider the parking position of the AGV9 in the horizontal plane. The positioning mechanism 101 may achieve positioning of the AGV9 by positioning the position of the wheel axis of the AGV9 in a first horizontal direction a perpendicular to the wheel axis and in a second horizontal direction b along the wheel axis.

To position the AGV9 in a first horizontal direction a perpendicular to the wheel axis, as shown in FIG. 9, the positioning mechanism 101 may include a first positioning module 1010; and for the position of the AGV9 along the second horizontal direction b of the wheel axis, the positioning mechanism 101 may include a second positioning module 1011, so that the position of the AGV9 in the horizontal direction can be fixed by the positioning action of the first positioning module 1010 and the second positioning module 1011, thereby facilitating the positioning and the disassembly of the battery module 93 by the battery disassembly and assembly mechanism 12.

Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in fig. 10, the first positioning module 1010 may include a positioning slider 1010a and a guide rail 1010b, in order to position the AGV9 along the first horizontal direction a, a positioning slot 1010c extending along the second horizontal direction b is provided on the slider 1010a, and the positioning slot 1010c may be configured as a V-shape as shown in fig. 11, so that the wheel of the AGV9 may be automatically clamped in the V-shaped positioning slot 1010c, and of course, it is also conceivable to set the positioning slot 1010c to a rectangular, inverted trapezoid, semicircular or other shape that exactly accommodates the wheel of the AGV9, and when the wheel of the AGV9 passes through the positioning slot 1010c, the wheel of the AGV9 can be sunk into the positioning slot 1010c and be fixed by the positioning slot, so that the positioning of the AGV9 in the first horizontal direction a is achieved.

The support surface 1000 is provided on the upper surface of the support table 100, and the support surface 1000 may be provided as a complete plane as shown in fig. 10, or may be provided as a mesh-like surface, so as to be able to support the AGV9 and allow the AGV9 to travel thereon. In order to enable the wheels of the AGV9 to smoothly sink into the positioning groove 1010c and be positioned, in this embodiment, a receiving cavity 1000a formed by downwardly sinking the self-supporting surface 1000 is provided on the supporting surface 1000, and the receiving cavity 1000a can receive the first positioning module 1010, so that most of the structure of the first positioning module 1010 can be located below with respect to the supporting surface 1000, and thus the positioning groove 1010c and the supporting surface 1000 can be substantially level, and the wheels of the AGV9 can easily travel into the positioning groove 1010c of the positioning slider 1010a by the supporting surface 1000.

The positioning slide 1010a is further provided with a guiding inclined plane 1010d, as shown in fig. 11, one side of the guiding inclined plane 1010d is flush with the supporting surface 1000, and the other side of the guiding inclined plane 1010d is flush with one side of the positioning slot 1010c, so that the wheel of the AGV9 can be easily guided from the supporting surface 1000 into the positioning slot 1010c by the guiding inclined plane 1010 d.

Since the positioning mechanism 101 needs to position the AGV9 in both the first horizontal direction a and the second horizontal direction b, after the AGV9 is positioned in the first horizontal direction a by the first positioning module 1010, the position of the AGV9 in the second horizontal direction b needs to be adjusted when the position of the AGV9 is positioned in the second horizontal direction b by the second positioning module 1011, and the wheel also moves in this direction when the position of the AGV9 is adjusted.

In order to ensure that the AGV9 maintains the position in the first horizontal direction a while locating the position in the second horizontal direction b, and also to reduce the difficulty of moving the AGV9 in the second horizontal direction b, as shown in fig. 10, in this embodiment, the locating slot 1010c and the guide rail are both extended in the second horizontal direction b, and the locating slider 1010a is slidingly engaged with the guide rail, so that the locating slider 1010a can slide in the second horizontal direction b. Like this when AGV9 moves along second horizontal direction b, location slider 1010a can be along second horizontal direction b along with AGV9 under the guide of guide rail 1010b, not only can make AGV9 more convenient along second horizontal direction b remove, also can ensure that AGV9 does not change in first horizontal direction a's position simultaneously.

The first positioning module 1010 may further include a return elastic member 1010e, where the return elastic member 1010e is connected to the positioning slider 1010a, and the return elastic member 1010e is adjusted to stably maintain the positioning slider 1010a in a return position. When the positioning slider 1010a slides from the reset position to the other positions along the second horizontal direction, the reset elastic member 1010e is compressed, stretched or otherwise elastically deformed and stores elastic potential energy, and when the external force disappears, the elastic potential energy of the reset elastic member 1010e is released and the positioning slider 1010a can be automatically restored to the reset position along the second horizontal direction b. After the first AGV9 has traveled off the lift frame 10, the positioning slide 1010a may return itself to the original position in preparation for the next AGV9 to be accessed and positioned. The reset elastic member 1010e may be a spring, a shrapnel, a highly elastic rubber band, etc., and has elasticity and can elastically push the positioning slider 1010a to a reset position, in this embodiment, as shown in fig. 10, the reset position is generally designed in the middle of the accommodating cavity 1000a, so that a certain gap is left between the positioning slider 1010a and both sides of the accommodating cavity 1000a for moving. A reset elastic member 1010e may be provided at both sides of the positioning slider 1010a, respectively, to make the movement of the positioning slider 1010a smoother.

The first positioning module 1010 may further include a wheel detection sensor 1010f, where the wheel detection sensor 1010f may be disposed on the positioning slider 1010a and is configured to detect whether there is a wheel of the AGV in the positioning slot 1010c, and the wheel detection sensor 1010f may be embedded in an upward surface of the positioning slider 1010a as shown in fig. 11, or may be disposed on a side of the positioning slider 1010a in a protruding manner; the wheel detection sensor 1010f may be a photoelectric sensor or a pressure sensor, and may sense whether the wheel of the AGV9 reaches the positioning groove 1010c, which will not be described in detail herein.

By the above arrangement, the AGV9 can automatically travel to automatically position the wheels of the AGV9 and the position of the AGV9 in the first horizontal direction a on the positioning slider 1010a of the first positioning module 1010 by the supporting surface 1000, and at this time, the wheel detection sensor 1010f synchronously detects the wheels, notifying the central control mechanism such as the central processing unit that the AGV9 has reached the battery replacing apparatus 1. The cpu issues instructions to the second positioning module 1011 to continue positioning the position of the AGV9 in the second horizontal direction b.

In this embodiment, a second positioning module 1011 is used to position the AGV9 in a second horizontal direction b, the second positioning module 1011 including a horizontal pushing assembly 1011a. The horizontal pushing assemblies 1011a are symmetrically disposed on both sides of the support table 100 in the second horizontal direction b and are positioned in the second horizontal direction b in such a manner as to push the AGV9 in the second horizontal direction b.

As shown in fig. 9, when the position of the AGV9 in the first horizontal direction a is positioned by the first positioning module 1010, the second positioning module 1011 starts to operate, and the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a extends along the second horizontal direction b and abuts against the side surface of the AGV9, which corresponds to the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a gripping the AGV9 when viewed from above, so that the AGV9 can move along with the movement of the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a, thereby achieving the positioning in the second horizontal direction b.

As shown in fig. 12, in the present embodiment, the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a may include a fixed bracket 1011a1, a movable bracket 1011a2, a horizontal pushing power unit 1011a3, and a pushing guide unit 1011a4;

The fixing bracket 1011a1 is fixed with the supporting table 100, and is used for fixing and supporting other mechanisms of the horizontal pushing component 1011a, in the embodiment shown in fig. 12, the fixing bracket 1011a1 is configured as a plate, or may be configured as a supporting column extending upwards, and can perform a fixing and supporting function; the fixed bracket 1011a1 and the movable bracket 1011a2 are connected by a pushing guide unit 1011d, and in the embodiment shown in fig. 12, the pushing guide unit 1011a4 may be provided as a guide rail, or may be provided as a guide rod or a guide column, and may be capable of guiding the movable bracket 1011a2 along the second horizontal direction b, and the horizontal pushing power unit 1011a3 may be provided as a hydraulic rod as shown in fig. 12, or may be provided as a mechanical arm, a servo motor, or the like, and may be capable of pushing the movable bracket 1011a2 along the second horizontal direction b and pushing the AGV9 to the positioning position. Because the moving bracket 1011a2 moves along the second horizontal direction b, when a pair of moving brackets 1011a2 extend and push the AGV9 at the same time, the two sides of the AGV9 can be uniformly stressed, and the AGV9 is prevented from twisting due to uneven stress.

In order to avoid the damage of the outer surface of the AGV9 in the clamping process of the movable support 1011a2, the movable support 1011a2 is provided with a flexible clamping block 1011a5, and the flexible clamping block 1011a5 can be arranged as a small block protruding from one surface of the movable support 1011a2 facing the AGV9 as shown in FIG. 12, and can also be arranged to cover one surface of the movable support 1011a2 facing the AGV9, and the movable support 1011a2 can alleviate the stress between 1011c and the AGV9 when pushing the AGV9 through the flexible clamping block 1011a 5.

In this embodiment, the positioning data of the second positioning module 1011 may be provided by a camera or other type of recognition device capable of observing the relative position of the AGV9 and the support table 100 in the second horizontal direction b, in this embodiment, a reference mark 1012 may be provided on the support table 100, the reference mark 1012 may be provided in the form of a cross line mark, a two-dimensional code, or the like on the support table 100, and may be recognized by the recognition device on the AGV9, when the AGV9 recognizes the reference mark 1012, the difference between the current position of the AGV9 in the second horizontal direction b and the reference mark 1012 may be calculated, and the central control device such as a central processor may be notified, and then the central control device may control the second positioning module 1011 to push the AGV9 and move it to face the reference mark 1012, so as to complete the positioning of the main body of the AGV9 in the horizontal direction.

After the positioning of the main body of the AGV9 is completed, the AGV9 also needs to be secured in preparation for the next removal/installation of the battery module 93.

For the AGV9 shown in FIG. 4, the main frame 90 and the subframe 91 may be fixedly connected, or may be movably connected by a hinge. For the structure that the main frame 90 and the auxiliary frame 91 are hinged, the angle between the main frame 90 and the auxiliary frame 91 can be changed due to relative rotation, so that on one hand, the positioning accuracy can be negatively affected, and on the other hand, the structural stress of the AGV9 can be changed in the process of installing or detaching the battery module 93, so that the operation difficulty is increased.

Since the battery module 93 is disposed on the subframe 91, in order to avoid the above-mentioned problem, the lifting frame 10 in this embodiment further includes a subframe pressing mechanism 102 and a subframe lifting mechanism 103 as shown in fig. 12, and at this time, the support table 100, the subframe pressing mechanism 102 and the subframe lifting mechanism 103 may constitute a subframe fixing assembly of the AGV 9. The auxiliary frame pushing mechanism 102 is used for pushing the auxiliary frame 91 of the AGV9 downwards, the auxiliary frame lifting mechanism 103 is used for lifting the auxiliary frame 91 of the AGV9 upwards, and at least the auxiliary frame 91 of the AGV can be fixed firmly by applying force to the auxiliary frame 91 on two opposite sides in the vertical direction.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 12, the subframe depressing mechanism 102 may be provided on one horizontal pushing assembly. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the horizontal pushing assembly may be a separate horizontal pushing structure different from the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a in the second positioning module 1011. Further, the positioning mechanism 101 may be included in the embodiments, or the positioning mechanism 101 may be included in the embodiments including the positioning mechanism 101, or the positioning mechanism 101 may include the second positioning module 1011 or not include the second positioning module 1011, or the second positioning module 1011 may include the horizontal pushing component 1011a or not include the horizontal pushing component 1011a in the embodiments including the second positioning module 1011.

When the lifting frame 10 is provided with the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a belonging to the second positioning module, the sub-frame depressing mechanism 102 may also be provided on the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a for the sake of simplifying the structure. The position of the subframe hold-down mechanism 102, whether a separate horizontal pushing assembly or a horizontal pushing assembly 1011a attached to the second positioning module, is required to correspond to the subframe 91 of the AGV 9. The specific position of the subframe pressing mechanism 102 in this embodiment may be designed according to the structure of the AGV9 and the position of the bearing surface, and for different AGVs 9, the subframe pressing mechanism 102 may be disposed at different positions, but no matter where the subframe pressing mechanism 102 is disposed, it should be ensured that when the horizontal pushing component 1011a pushes the AGV9 along the second horizontal direction b, the subframe pressing mechanism 102 can be driven to move above a certain bearing surface of the subframe 91. The subframe depressing mechanism 102 may then press down on the pressure bearing surface.

Of course, the sub-frame depressing mechanism 102 may be provided on another structure capable of moving to above the pressure bearing surface of the sub-frame 91.

In order to make the subframe 91 receive uniform downward pressure and avoid uneven stress, the subframe depressing mechanism 102 may be symmetrically disposed on the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a along the second horizontal direction b.

For further fixing the AGV9, in this embodiment, the lifting frame 10 may further include a main frame pressing mechanism 104, as shown in fig. 9, where the main frame pressing mechanism 104 and the auxiliary frame pressing mechanism 102 are arranged on the horizontal pushing assembly 1011a along the first horizontal direction a, and the main frame pressing mechanism 104 can press the main frame 90 of the AGV9 downward, so that the main frame 90 and the auxiliary frame 91 can be pressed simultaneously, and the unstable posture of the AGV9 caused by uneven stress is avoided.

In this embodiment, to realize stable pressing, as shown in fig. 12, the subframe pressing mechanism 102 includes a pressing power unit 1020 and a pressing member 1021, the pressing member 1021 is connected with the pressing power unit 1020, the pressing member 1021 extends along the second horizontal direction, as shown in fig. 12, the pressing member 1021 is configured as a pin extending along the second direction, a pin hole 92 with a bearing surface is correspondingly provided on the AGV9, the pressing member 1021 may also be configured as a convex strip extending along the second direction, a groove with a bearing surface is correspondingly provided on the AGV9, the pressing member 1021 can be moved above the bearing surface of the AGV9 by a horizontal pushing component 1011a, that is, the pin stretches into the pin hole 92, the pressing power unit 1020 pushes the pressing member 1021 to move downward, the pressing member 1021 presses the bearing surface downward, and then applies downward pressing force to the AGV 9. Similarly, the main frame pressing mechanism 104 may include a pressing power unit 1040 and a pressing member 1041, and the structure and the working principle thereof are the same as those of the sub frame pressing mechanism 102, which are not described herein again.

In this embodiment, the subframe lift mechanism 103 may provide upward lifting force to the AGV9 alone or in combination with the support table 100. Especially for some embodiments, in order to make the battery module 93 smoothly separate from the AGV9 downwards, an avoidance area 1001 for the battery module 93 to pass through in the vertical direction is formed on the support table 100, where the avoidance area 1001 may be a closed hollow area on the support table 100, or may also be a notch extending to one side of the support table 100 and forming an opening 1002, and the shape of the avoidance area 1001 shown in fig. 10 is approximately coincident with the projection of the battery module 93 shown in fig. 18 in the vertical direction, or may be set to be not coincident, and may only allow the battery module 93 to pass through in the vertical direction.

Because of the avoidance area 1001, the subframe 91 may not be lifted by the support stand 100, and it is more important to provide the subframe lifting mechanism 103 to lift the subframe 91 alone.

To fix the subframe lifting mechanism 103, the lifting frame 10 may include a support frame 105, where the support frame 105 is fixedly connected to the support table 100, and the support frame 105 is also used to fix the subframe lifting mechanism 103. The support frame 105 includes a main body 1050 and an extension portion 1051, as shown in fig. 8, where the main body 1050 is fixedly connected to the support stand 100, and the extension portion 1051 extends from the main body 1050 to one side of the support stand 100, and the subframe lifting mechanism 103 may be fixed on the extension portion 1051, so as to have a larger installation space and a better lifting position.

When the avoidance area 1001 includes the opening 1002, the sub-frame lifting mechanism 103 may face the opening 1002, and the sub-frame lifting mechanism 103 may be configured to extend toward the opening 1002 and lift the sub-frame 91 when the AGV9 is at a predetermined position on the support table 100.

As shown in fig. 6, the sub-frame lifting mechanism 103 includes a lifting piece 1030 and a lifting power unit 1031; the lifting power unit 1031 is fixedly connected with the extension portion 1051, the lifting member 1030 is driven by the lifting power unit 1031 to move to the lower portion of the auxiliary frame 91, when the auxiliary frame 91 needs to be lifted, the lifting member 1030 can move upwards to lift the auxiliary frame 91, in the embodiment shown in fig. 9, the lifting member 1030 is provided with a lifting surface and is matched with the bottom surface of the auxiliary frame 91, or is provided with a protruding abutting portion, and the auxiliary frame 91 can be lifted in an abutting manner.

The AGV9 can be positioned and fixed by the cooperation of the support base 100, the positioning mechanism 101, the sub-frame pressing mechanism 102, the sub-frame lifting mechanism 103, and the main-frame pressing mechanism 104.

Since the AGV9 will be in the battery module 93-free state for some time during the replacement of the battery module 93, the AGV9 may be completely powered off. However, this may be confusing for subsequent control of the AGV 9. Therefore, in order to keep the AGV9 in the on state at any time, as shown in fig. 9, the lifting frame 10 of this embodiment may further include a pre-charging mechanism 106, when the AGV9 is positioned to a predetermined position, the pre-charging mechanism 106 may be matched with a pre-charging matching device disposed on the AGV9 to pre-charge the AGV9, the pre-charging mechanism 106 may include a pre-charging electrical connector 1060 electrically connected to the pre-charging matching device, and the pre-charging electrical connector 1060 may be a charging coil capable of being mutually matched with the pre-charging matching device, or may be a plug or other plug capable of being mutually electrically connected to the pre-charging matching device, and a structure capable of being electrically connected to and charging the pre-charging matching device will not be described herein. In addition to the pre-charge mechanism 106 including a cylinder, turret or other form of pre-charge power unit 1061, the pre-charge power unit 1061 may be secured to the extension 1051 or other component of the lift frame 10 with the pre-charge electrical connection 1060 driven by the pre-charge power unit 1061. The precharge mating arrangement of the AGV9 is just within the path of travel of the precharge electrical connector 1060 when it is positioned in the predetermined position, and the precharge power unit 1061 may drive the precharge electrical connector 1060 to move and electrically connect with the precharge mating arrangement when it is desired to precharge the AGV. When the precharge state needs to be canceled, the precharge electrical connection 1060 can be disconnected from the precharge mating apparatus by simply driving the precharge power unit 1061 in reverse.

After the AGV9 is positioned and fixed in the lifting frame 10, the lifting frame 10 can be controlled by the central processing unit to drive the AGV9 to lift so as to adjust the relative position of the AGV9 and the battery dismounting mechanism 12.

In this embodiment, the battery module 93 is provided with a locking module 930 as shown in fig. 5, the locking module 930 may be a lock hook or other structures, meanwhile, a lock catch 910 is provided on the subframe 91, and the lock catch 910 may be provided as a common quick-hang structure, as shown in fig. 7, including an unlocking lever 9100, a U-shaped lock 9101 and a lock body 9102, where the unlocking lever 9100 and the U-shaped lock 9101 are both rotatably connected with the lock body 9102. When the locking module 930 extends upwards into the opening of the U-shaped lock 9101, the U-shaped lock 9101 can rotate to face the horizontal direction and be fixedly overlapped with the unlocking lever 9100 under the driving of the locking module 930, so that the locking module 930 is locked. Then, the unlocking lever 9100 is lifted up by an external force to enable the unlocking lever 9100 to rotate, so that the lap joint fixing structure of the unlocking lever 9100 and the U-shaped lock 9101 is broken, the U-shaped lock 9101 can restore to freely rotate, and the locking module 930 is released. Of course, the locking module 930 and the lock 910 may also be configured with other structures that can be automatically locked and easily unlocked, such as an unlock button. These are known in the art and are not described in detail herein.

As shown in fig. 13 and 14, the battery attaching/detaching mechanism 12 includes an abutment 120, a rough positioning module 121, a fine positioning module 122, and an unlocking module 123, and as shown in fig. 6, positioning holes 931 corresponding to the rough positioning module 121 and the fine positioning module 122 are provided in the battery module 93. The coarse positioning module 121, the fine positioning module 122, and the unlocking module 123 are all disposed on the abutment table 120.

In order to carry the battery module 93, as shown in fig. 14, the abutment 120 has an abutment surface 1200, and the coarse positioning module 121 in this embodiment may include coarse positioning posts 1210, where the coarse positioning posts 1210 protrude from the abutment surface 1200 and correspond to positions of positioning holes 931 on the battery module 93, and these positioning holes 931 corresponding to the coarse positioning posts 1210 may be referred to as coarse positioning holes in this embodiment. The fine positioning module 122 in this embodiment includes a fine positioning column 1220 and a fine positioning power unit 1221. These fine positioning posts 1220 correspond to other positioning holes 931 on the battery module 93, and in this embodiment, these positioning holes 931 corresponding to the fine positioning posts 1220 may be referred to as fine positioning holes, and it should be noted that the coarse positioning holes and the fine positioning holes in this embodiment are only used to distinguish different corresponding relationships, but there is no limitation on the structure, shape, size, etc. of the coarse positioning holes and the fine positioning holes, for example, the shape and configuration of the coarse positioning holes and the fine positioning holes may be identical, or the aperture of the coarse positioning holes is smaller than that of the fine positioning holes. Also, other positioning holes 931 in the present embodiment may have the same or different structures, shapes or sizes, without limitation. These fine positioning posts 1220 are normally retracted below the abutment surface 1200 and can be projected from the abutment surface 1200 by the fine positioning power unit 1221. The fine positioning power unit 1221 may be configured as a hydraulic ram or as an electric telescopic rod.

When the battery module 93 of the AGV9 abuts against the abutment surface 1200 under the driving of the lifting frame 10, the thick positioning column 1210 can first extend into the positioning hole 931 corresponding to the thick positioning column, so as to realize thick positioning of the battery dismounting mechanism 12 and the battery module 93. The thick positioning column 1210 is much finer than the size of the positioning hole 931, so that the annular gap formed between the thick positioning column 1210 and the positioning hole 931 is wider. The purpose is to enable the coarse positioning column 1210 to smoothly extend into the positioning hole 931 to complete coarse positioning when the two positions differ greatly.

After the thick positioning column 1210 extends into the positioning hole 931, the fine positioning power unit 1221 is turned on to extend the fine positioning column 1220 into the corresponding positioning hole 931. As shown in fig. 14, the annular gap formed between the fine positioning post 1220 and the positioning hole 931 is much smaller than the coarse positioning post 1210, so that the positioning hole 931 can be substantially filled. Therefore, the precision positioning column 1220 and the positioning hole 931 have high matching degree, and when the precision positioning column 1220 smoothly stretches into the positioning hole 931, the battery module 93 and the battery dismounting mechanism 12 can be accurately positioned.

Whether coarse positioning or fine positioning, the positions of the positioning holes 931 on the battery module 93 and the coarse positioning columns 1210 or the fine positioning columns 1220 may have larger deviation, so that the coarse positioning columns 1210 and the fine positioning columns 1220 still can smoothly extend into and move the battery module 93 to realize the positioning function when having certain deviation from the positioning holes 931, and the edges of the heads of the coarse positioning columns 1210 and the fine positioning columns 1220 or the positioning holes 931 may be provided with guide surfaces, which may be inclined surfaces or cambered surfaces.

As described above, in the process of positioning the battery module 93 by the cooperation of the coarse positioning posts 1210, the fine positioning posts 1220 and the positioning holes 931, the battery module 93 may move, and at this time, if there is a large friction force between the abutment 120 and the battery module 93, the moving effect of the battery module 93 may be affected, or even worn.

In order to avoid the above-described problem, in the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 14, the surface of the abutment surface 1200 is convexly provided with the ball unit 1201, and when the battery module 93 is placed on the abutment table 120, the battery module 93 can be rolling-fitted at the ball unit 1201 so as to avoid excessive friction.

After the accurate positioning of the battery module 93 relative to the battery dismounting mechanism 12 is achieved through the interaction of the coarse positioning column 1210, the fine positioning column 1220 and the positioning hole 931, the condition of unlocking the locking module 930 by using the unlocking module 123 is provided. The unlocking module 123 in this embodiment may specifically include an unlocking power unit 1231 and an unlocking ejector rod 1230 corresponding to the position of the locking module 930, that is, each locking module 930 has an unlocking ejector rod 1230 corresponding to the locking module 930 for unlocking, so that no omission occurs. The unlocking ejector rod 1230 can be protruded from the abutment surface 1200 or retracted below the abutment surface 1200 by the unlocking power unit 1231.

As described above, the lock catch 910 used in the present embodiment is provided with the unlocking lever 9100, and the opening of the lock catch 910 can be rotated and the locking module 930 can be released by pushing up the unlocking lever 9100 by an external force, so that the unlocking of the locking module 930 is achieved, and therefore, in the present embodiment, the unlocking jack 1230 is actually required to align the unlocking lever 9100 on the lock catch 910 that is locked with each locking module 930 from below.

When the unlocking jack 1230 protrudes out of the abutment surface 1200 under the driving of the unlocking power unit 1231, the unlocking jack 1230 can push the unlocking lever 9100 upward to unlock the locking module 930. When all of the locking modules 930 are unlocked, the battery module 93 may be disengaged from the sub-frame 91. After that, the lifting frame 10 is lifted again, and the agv9 is lifted together with the lifting frame 10, and the battery module 93 remains on the battery attaching/detaching mechanism 12. Of course, other unlocking structures that enable the unlocking lever 9100 to be lifted upwards may be used in some embodiments, and will not be described here.

In order to improve rough positioning efficiency and rough positioning accuracy, as shown in fig. 14, the battery disassembling and assembling mechanism 12 of the embodiment of the present application may include a plurality of rough positioning modules 121, and the plurality of rough positioning modules 121 are preferably distributed along a diagonal line of the battery module 93, and the farther the distance, the higher the positioning accuracy. Meanwhile, in order to improve the precision positioning efficiency and precision, the battery disassembling and assembling mechanism 12 of the embodiment of the present application may also include a plurality of precision positioning modules 122, and the plurality of precision positioning modules 122 are preferably distributed along another diagonal line of the battery module 93, and the two arrangements may be used independently or may cooperate.

In order to improve the automatic control efficiency, the battery dismounting mechanism 12 may further include a battery module detection sensor 124, where the battery module detection sensor 124 is disposed on the abutment table 120 and is used to detect whether the battery module 93 is present on the abutment table 120, and the battery module detection sensor 124 used in this embodiment may be a photoelectric sensor, or may be a pressure sensor or the like in other embodiments, so as to determine whether the battery module 93 is placed in the battery dismounting mechanism 12.

In the process of disassembling the battery module 93, the battery module 93 may be blocked in the subframe 91, which may cause a problem that the battery module 93 cannot be separated from the subframe 91, so in this embodiment, as shown in fig. 14, the battery disassembling mechanism 12 may further include a pulling module 125, where the pulling module 125 includes a pulling hook 1250 and a pulling hook power unit 1251, and the pulling hook 1250 protrudes from the abutment surface 1200 and can be driven by the pulling hook power unit 1251 to complete the rotation and hook the action of the battery module 93. In this embodiment, the periphery of the battery module 93 has a ring of raised edges that can be hooked, and the hook 1250 can rotate and hook the raised edges, thereby preventing the battery module 93 from rising together when the AGV9 is lifted again by the lifting frame 10, and separating the two.

As shown in fig. 14, since the bottom surface of the battery module 93 has a large area, if it is made of an non-durable material such as plastic, it is easily deformed during use, resulting in that the partially unlocking post 1230 cannot unlock the locking module 930 even if it is extended. Therefore, in this embodiment, an abutment 120 and an unlocking module 123 may be disposed corresponding to each locking module 930, and an elastic tightening module 126 is disposed at the bottom of each abutment 120 to adapt to the deformation of the bottom surface of the battery module 93.

The lifting frame 10 is adopted to drive the AGV9 to descend to a position capable of pressing all the abutting platforms 120 simultaneously, and at the moment, the elastic jacking module 126 can jack up each abutting platform 120 and cling to the battery module 93, so that each unlocking ejector rod 1230 is close to the corresponding locking module 930 as much as possible. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 14, the elastic tightening module 126 may be configured as a spring, or may be configured as another structure such as an elastic material block, and may have elasticity and be capable of jacking up the abutment 120.

In order to further ensure that each abutment 120 can be lifted up and pressed to a predetermined position, the battery mounting and dismounting mechanism 12 according to the present embodiment further includes a tightening sensor 127, and the tightening sensor 127 may determine whether at least one abutment 120 is pressed to the predetermined position, as shown in fig. 14, the tightening sensor 127 may be a pressure sensor or a distance measuring sensor, and may determine the position of the abutment 120.

The battery attaching and detaching mechanism 12 in the present embodiment may be provided below the lifting frame 10 at all times, for example, by setting the initial position of the lifting frame 10 at half-empty, or by forming a recess below the battery replacing device 1 to accommodate the battery attaching and detaching mechanism 12. The former of these approaches may cause the AGV9 to have difficulty accessing the lift frame 10, and the latter approach may cause the battery module 93 to be transported with difficulty.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the initial position of the battery disassembling and assembling mechanism 12 is set at the side of the lifting frame 10, after the relative position of the AGV9 and the lifting frame 10 is located, the lifting frame 10 will be lifted up and give the battery module 93 a space for disassembling and assembling, and in order to make the battery disassembling and assembling mechanism 12 reach the side of the AGV9 facing downward from the side, the battery disassembling and assembling mechanism 12 further includes a traveling module 128, as shown in fig. 13, the traveling module 128 may be set as a track, a screw, a wheel set or other power structure, and the traveling module 128 can drive each module including the abutment table 120, the coarse positioning module 121, the fine positioning module 122, the unlocking module 123, the elastic propping module 126 and the like to horizontally move from the initial position to the lower side of the battery module 93.

In the specific implementation process, a plurality of walking modules 128 may be used according to actual situations and respectively drive a part of the abutment table 120 to move, as in the embodiment shown in fig. 13, other modules of the battery disassembling and assembling mechanism 12 may be divided into two parts, which are respectively disposed at two sides of the lifting frame 10, and the two parts of modules respectively use two walking modules 128 to move below the battery module 93.

In this embodiment, a base 129 may be matched with each traveling module 128, and the portion of the abutment 120, the coarse positioning module 121, the fine positioning module 122, the unlocking module 123, the elastic tightening module 126 and the like that need to be driven by the traveling module 128 may be uniformly disposed on the base 129, so that the traveling module 128 can drive a corresponding portion of the modules to move by driving the base 129 matched with the traveling module 128.

When the battery module 93 is disassembled, the walking module 128 drives the abutting platform 120 to reach the lower side of the battery module 93, then the abutting platform 120 is mutually abutted with the battery module 93 under the cooperation of the elastic jacking module 126 and the lifting frame 10, the unlocking module 123 can align the locking module 930 on the battery module 93 and complete the unlocking action through the positioning action of the coarse positioning module 121 and the fine positioning module 122, at this moment, the lifting frame 10 is lifted by the lifting frame lifting mechanism 11, and the battery module 93 is separated from the auxiliary frame 91 under the cooperation of self gravity and the pulling module 125, so that the disassembly of the battery module 93 is completed.

When the battery module 93 is installed, the battery module 93 is only required to be positioned to a position where the battery module 93 can be installed by the positioning action of the coarse positioning module 121, and the AGV9 approaches the battery module 93 along with the descent of the lifting frame 10, so that the locking module 930 extends into the opening of the lock catch 910 extending into the subframe 91 and rotates the opening, and the battery module 93 is automatically locked, thereby completing the installation of the battery module 93.

Through the cooperation of battery dismouting mechanism 12 and hoisting frame 10, hoisting frame elevating system 11, can dismantle/install battery module 93 with certain automatic step from AGV9 to the automatic power change process of AGV9 provides the support basis.

The battery compartment system 2 will be described in detail.

After the battery module 93 is detached/installed, the battery module 93 that has consumed the electric power needs to be transferred to the battery compartment system 2 for storage, and even the battery compartment system 2 can store the battery module 93 and charge the battery module 93 at the same time, and transfer the battery module 93 that has completed charging to the battery detaching mechanism 12 for ready installation, for which the battery compartment system 2 is further included in the battery replacement station.

In order to be able to move, store and charge the battery module 93, as shown in fig. 15, the battery compartment system 2 includes a battery pick-and-place device 20 and a storage device 21, wherein the storage device 21 only has a function of storing the battery module 93 and does not have a charging function, or the storage device 21 may have both a storing and charging function, and the latter will be described as an example in this embodiment.

The battery taking and placing device 20 is used for taking out or placing in the battery module 93 from the battery dismounting mechanism 12 or the storage device 21 as required, transferring the battery module 93 between the battery dismounting mechanism 12 and the storage device 21, and a plurality of charging seats 211 are arranged inside the storage device 21 and used for storing the battery module 93 and charging the battery module 93. A plurality of charging stands 211 may be provided on the charging stand bracket 210.

In this embodiment, the battery picking and placing device 20 according to this embodiment includes a carrying table 200, a transfer mechanism 201, and a battery lifting mechanism 202, where the carrying table 200 may be configured as a flat plate as shown in fig. 15, or may be configured as a battery clamp, etc., and may be configured to carry the battery module 93 and transfer the battery module 93 between the carrying table 200 and the battery attaching/detaching mechanism 12 or between the carrying table 200 and the charging stand 211 by movement in the vertical direction.

The transfer mechanism 201 and the carrying table 200 may be directly and fixedly connected as shown in fig. 15, or may be connected to each other via a connecting member, and the transfer mechanism 201 may drive the carrying table 200 to move the battery module 93 to the battery mounting/dismounting mechanism 12 or the storage device 21. The transfer mechanism 201 may be moved in a horizontal plane or may be moved in a more complicated manner.

In this embodiment, the transfer mechanism 201 may be configured to include a telescopic module 2010 and a rotating module 2011 as shown in fig. 16, and the rotating module 2011 may be configured to be a rotating shaft structure as shown in fig. 16, or may be configured to be a circular track, so as to drive the carrying platform 200 to horizontally rotate and change the horizontal direction of the carrying platform 200. The telescopic module 2010 may be provided as a telescopic arm having a rail as shown in fig. 16, or may be provided as a hydraulically controlled telescopic arm, and may be linearly telescopic in a horizontal plane, so that the position and posture of the battery module 93 placed on the carrying table 200 may be changed by the cooperation of the rotary module 2011 and the telescopic module 2010 through rotation and telescopic, and the battery dismounting mechanism 12 or the charging stand 211 may be matched, thereby achieving the transfer purpose.

In order to enable the carrying table 200 to perform the movement in the vertical direction and to perform the transfer operation of the battery module 93 between the carrying table 200 and the battery attaching/detaching mechanism 12 or between the carrying table 200 and the charging stand 211, in this embodiment, the battery lifting mechanism 202 is connected to the transfer mechanism 201 using the battery lifting mechanism 202, and the battery lifting mechanism 202 may be provided as a lifting chain as shown in fig. 15, and the transfer mechanism 201 is fixedly connected to the lifting chain to perform the lifting. The battery lifting mechanism 202 may also be provided as a hydraulic rod extending in the vertical direction or other structure having a lifting function.

The carrying platform 200 is first moved to a position lower than the battery module 93 by the battery lifting mechanism 202, and then the transfer mechanism 201 controls the carrying platform 200 to move horizontally below the battery module 93, at this time, the carrying platform 200 may be slightly lower than the abutment platform 120, and aligned with different areas of the battery module 93 with the abutment platform 120 respectively. Then, the battery lifting mechanism 202 lifts the carrying platform 200 upwards, and the carrying platform 200 supports the battery module 93 from below until the battery module 93 is completely separated from the battery dismounting mechanism 12, thereby completing the transfer of the battery module 93 from the battery dismounting mechanism 12 to the carrying platform 200.

When the fully charged battery module 93 needs to be transferred from the carrying table 200 to the battery dismounting mechanism 12, only reverse operation is needed, the carrying table 200 carrying the battery module 93 is moved to a position higher than the battery dismounting mechanism 12, the abutting table 120 is aligned to the battery module 93, and then the battery lifting mechanism 202 is controlled to move downwards until the battery module 93 is supported by the abutting table 120 of the battery dismounting mechanism 12 and completely separated from the carrying table 200, so that the transfer process of the battery module 93 from the carrying table 200 to the battery dismounting mechanism 12 is completed.

In order to facilitate connection of the battery lifting mechanism 202, in this embodiment, the transfer mechanism 201 may be disposed on the fixing frame 206, and then the battery lifting mechanism 202 may be connected to the fixing frame 206.

In order to limit the horizontal movement of the battery module 93 on the carrying platform 200 and avoid accidental falling during transferring of the battery module 93, in this embodiment, a battery module fixing member 2000 may be disposed on the carrying platform 200, as shown in fig. 17, the battery module fixing member 2000 may be disposed as upward fixing pins capable of being inserted into some positioning holes 931 of the battery module 93, or may be a structure such as a clamping plate, a claw, etc. for clamping the battery module 93. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that since the positioning holes 931 corresponding to the rough positioning posts 1210 and the fine positioning posts 1220 will always be occupied before the battery module 93 is removed from the battery mounting and dismounting mechanism 12, the positioning holes 931 corresponding to the fixing pins of the carrying table 200 should be different from the positioning holes 931 corresponding to the rough positioning posts 1210 and the fine positioning posts 1220 on the battery mounting and dismounting mechanism 12.

In order to limit the relative vertical movement of the battery module 93 on the carrying platform 200 and avoid the unexpected falling caused by jumping or even separating from the battery module fixing member 2000 during the transferring of the battery module 93, in this embodiment, a limiting mechanism 2001 may be further disposed on the carrying platform 200, and as shown in fig. 17, the limiting mechanism 2001 includes a limiting member 2001a for limiting the upward movement of the battery module 93 and separating from the battery module 93, and a limiting power unit 2001b for driving the limiting member 2001 a. The limiting member 2001a may be configured as a limiting rod, a limiting plate, etc. capable of moving to the upper side of the battery module 93 and limiting the battery module 93 under the driving of the limiting power unit 2001b as shown in fig. 17, so as to prevent the battery module 93 from being separated from the carrying table 200 along the vertical direction, which is not described herein. The movement of the stopper 2001a may be performed by various means such as expansion, rotation, and translation.

In this embodiment, in order to allow the battery module 93 to reach the battery replacing device 1 and the storage bin or the storage device 21 from the battery taking and placing device 20, the battery taking and placing device 20 needs to be provided with a battery replacing port 203 and at least one battery storage port 204, and the battery replacing port 203 and the battery storage port 204 can both be horizontally passed by the carrying platform 200, the battery replacing device 1 faces the battery replacing port 203, and the storage device 21 faces the battery storage port 204.

In fig. 17, in order to simplify the design and facilitate the manufacturing, the battery pick-and-place device 20 may include a main support frame 207, and the battery exchange port 203 and the battery storage port 204 are provided on the main support frame 207. Meanwhile, the main support 207 further has a lifting channel 2070, the battery lifting mechanism 202 is disposed on the main support 207, and the loading platform 200 and the transfer mechanism 201 are disposed in the lifting channel 2070 and can vertically move along the lifting channel 2070 under the driving of the battery lifting mechanism 202.

In this embodiment, the battery storage opening 204 and the battery replacement opening 203 may be disposed adjacently, as shown in fig. 17, the main support frame 207 of the battery taking and placing device 20 may be a rectangular frame structure, and one battery storage opening 204 is disposed at two sides adjacent to the battery replacement opening 203, so that the moving distance of the battery module 93 may be reduced, and the time in transit may be saved. Of course, when the battery storage amount is large, the battery storage port 204 may be provided on the side opposite to the battery replacement port 203 in the present embodiment, and although the battery storage port 204 is far from the battery replacement port 203, the space around the battery picking and placing device 20 may be fully utilized. When the main support frame 207 of the battery taking and placing device 20 adopts other structures, such as a hexagonal prism structure, the number of battery storage ports 204 and even battery replacement ports 203 may be greater.

And, each battery storage port 204 may be vertically provided with a plurality of charging seats 211 to save a floor space. The structure of the charging stand 210 may be designed according to the position of the battery replacement port 203, the number of charging stands 211, and the number of the arrangement in the vertical direction, and the charging stand 210 may be an integrated structure, or may be divided into several independent structures, and a part of the charging stands 211 are fixed respectively.

As shown in fig. 19, the cradle 211 may include a cradle 2110, a cradle coarse positioning module 2111, a cradle fine positioning module 2112, and a connector module 2113. The cradle coarse positioning module 2111 and the cradle fine positioning module 2112 are both provided on the charging stand 2110.

In order to carry the battery module 93, as shown in fig. 19, the charging stand 2110 has a carrying surface 2110a, the coarse positioning module 2111 for charging stand includes coarse positioning posts 2111a for charging stand, and these coarse positioning posts 2111a protrude from the carrying surface 2110a and correspond to the positions of some positioning holes 931 on the battery module 93, and in this embodiment, these positioning holes 931 corresponding to the coarse positioning posts 2111a for charging stand may be referred to as coarse positioning holes for charging stand. The cradle fine positioning module 2112 in the present embodiment includes a cradle fine positioning column 2112a and a cradle fine positioning power unit. These positioning holes 931 corresponding to the positioning holes 2112a of the charging seat fine positioning columns 2112a correspond to other positioning holes 931 on the battery module 93, and in this embodiment, these positioning holes 931 corresponding to the positioning holes 2112a of the charging seat fine positioning columns may be referred to as the positioning holes of the charging seat fine positioning columns, and the positioning holes of the charging seat fine positioning columns in this embodiment are also only used for distinguishing different corresponding relations, but there is no limitation on the structure, shape, size, etc. of the positioning holes and the positioning holes of the charging seat fine positioning columns. The charging seat fine positioning posts 2112a can be driven by the charging seat fine positioning power unit to extend into the positioning holes 931. The charging seat fine positioning power unit can be arranged as a hydraulic ejector rod or an electric telescopic rod.

It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that since the positioning holes 931 corresponding to the fixing pins of the carrier 200 will always be occupied before the battery module 93 is removed from the carrier 200, the positioning holes 931 corresponding to the coarse positioning columns 2111a and the fine positioning columns 2112a of the charging stand should be different from the positioning holes 931 corresponding to the fixing pins of the carrier 200. Also, the positioning holes 931 corresponding to the seat coarse positioning column 2111a and the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a may be identical, partially identical, or completely different from the positioning holes 931 corresponding to the coarse positioning column 1210 and the fine positioning column 1220.

When the battery module 93 is transferred onto the charging stand 2110 by the carrying stand 200, the charging stand coarse positioning column 2111a can first extend into the positioning hole 931 corresponding to the charging stand coarse positioning column, so that coarse positioning of the charging stand 211 and the battery module 93 is realized. The charging seat thick positioning column 2111a is much finer than the positioning hole 931 in size, so that the annular gap formed between the charging seat thick positioning column 2111a and the positioning hole 931 is wider. The purpose is to enable the charging seat thick positioning column 2111a to still smoothly extend into the positioning hole 931 to finish thick positioning when the two positions differ greatly.

After the coarse positioning column 2111a of the charging seat extends into the positioning hole 931, the fine positioning power unit of the charging seat is started to extend the fine positioning column 2112a of the charging seat into the corresponding positioning hole 931. The annular gap formed between the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a and the positioning hole 931 is much smaller than the charging seat coarse positioning column 2111a, and the positioning hole 931 can be substantially filled. Therefore, the degree of fit between the precise positioning column 2112a of the charging seat and the positioning hole 931 is high, and when the precise positioning column 2112a of the charging seat smoothly extends into the positioning hole 931, the precise positioning between the battery module 93 and the charging seat 211 can be realized.

Similarly, whether the positioning is coarse positioning or fine positioning, the positioning hole 931 on the battery module 93 may have a large deviation from the position of the coarse positioning column 2111a or the fine positioning column 2112a, so that the coarse positioning column 2111a and the fine positioning column 2112a still can smoothly extend into and move the battery module 93 to achieve the positioning function when there is a certain deviation from the positioning hole 931, and the head of the coarse positioning column 2111a and the fine positioning column 2112a or the edge of the positioning hole 931 may be provided with a guiding surface, which may be an inclined surface or an arc surface.

As described above, in the process of positioning the battery module 93 by the cooperation of the coarse positioning column 2111a of the charging stand, the fine positioning column 2112a of the charging stand and the positioning hole 931, the battery module 93 may move, and at this time, if a large friction exists between the charging stand 2110 and the battery module 93, the moving effect of the battery module 93 may be affected and even wear may be caused.

In order to avoid the above-mentioned problem, in the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 19, the surface of the receiving surface 2110a is convexly provided with the charging seat ball unit 2114, and when the battery module 93 is placed on the charging stand 2110, the battery module 93 can be engaged with the charging seat ball unit 2114 in a rolling manner so as to avoid excessive friction.

In order to improve rough positioning efficiency and rough positioning accuracy, as shown in fig. 19, the charging stand 211 according to the embodiment of the present application may include a plurality of charging stand rough positioning modules 2111, and the plurality of charging stand rough positioning modules 2111 are preferably distributed along a diagonal line of the battery module 93, and the further the distance, the higher the positioning accuracy. Meanwhile, in order to improve the fine positioning efficiency and the fine positioning precision, the charging stand 211 according to the embodiment of the present application may also include a plurality of fine positioning modules 122, and a plurality of coarse positioning modules 2111 of the charging stand are distributed along another diagonal line of the battery module 93, and the two settings may be used independently or may cooperate.

After the accurate positioning of the battery module 93 relative to the charging seat 211 is achieved through the interaction of the charging seat coarse positioning column 2111a, the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a and the positioning hole 931, the condition that the connector module 2113 is electrically connected with the battery module 93 and charges the battery module is provided.

In order to complete the electrical connection operation between the connector module 2113 and the battery module 93, in this embodiment, the connector module 2113 may be provided with a connector 2113a and a connector power unit, and the connector power unit may be configured as a telescopic rod, or may be configured as another power mechanism such as a mechanical arm, and may be capable of driving the connector 2113a to complete the electrical connection operation with a corresponding electrical socket on the battery module 93. In practical applications, the connector 2113a is configured to correspond to an electrical socket on the battery module 93, for example, one is a socket, and the other is a plug, which will not be described herein.

In order to improve the automation efficiency, in this embodiment, the charging stand 2110 is further provided with a charging stand battery module detection sensor 2115, and the charging stand battery module detection sensor 2115 is used for detecting whether the battery module 93 is already placed on the charging stand 2110, and the charging stand battery module detection sensor 2115 used in this embodiment may be a micro switch, when the battery module 93 is placed on the charging stand 2110, the micro switch is triggered, so that the precise positioning and the electrical conduction operation can be started. Of course, the charging stand battery module detection sensor 2115 may be provided as another sensing switch such as a photoelectric sensor, and it is sufficient to determine whether the battery module 93 is already placed on the charging stand.

To facilitate the transfer of the battery module 93 between the carrying platform 200 and the charging stand 211, in this embodiment, the charging platform 2110 may be configured as a U-shaped structure as shown in fig. 19, and the charging stand fine positioning posts 2112a and the connectors 2113a are located above the charging platform 2110 and face the hollow area of the U-shaped structure. At this time, the protruding direction of the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a is opposite to the protruding direction of the charging seat coarse positioning column 2111a, i.e., protruding downward. The charging seat fine positioning power unit drives the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a to move in the vertical direction.

Thus, a gap is formed between the charging stand 2110 and the cradle finishing positioning column 2112a and the connector 2113 a. When the battery module 93 with the electric charge being depleted is transferred from the carrying platform 200 to the charging stand 211, the carrying platform 200 can extend the battery module 93 from the gap under the driving of the transferring mechanism 201 and place the battery module 93 between the charging platform 2110 and the charging stand fine positioning column 2112a and the connector 2113a, and then the height is lowered by the battery lifting mechanism 202, so that the battery module 93 is supported by the charging platform 2110, and meanwhile, the carrying platform 200 can pass through the hollow area of the U-shaped structure, so as to complete the transfer between the battery module 93 and the charging stand 211. It should be noted that, the charging stand 2110 in this embodiment may also adopt other structures that allow the carrying stand 200 to pass through from below, and will not be described here again.

The coarse positioning is simultaneously completed when the battery module 93 is transferred, and then the charging seat fine positioning power unit of the charging seat fine positioning module 2112 drives the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a to descend and extend into the corresponding positioning hole 931 to complete fine positioning. Finally, the connector power unit drives the connector 2113a to be electrically connected with the battery module 93.

Similarly, when the fully charged battery module 93 needs to be taken out from the charging stand 211, only the reverse operation is needed, the charging stand precise positioning column 2112a and the connector 2113a are separated from the matching state with the battery module 93, then the carrying platform 200 is moved to the lower side of the battery module 93 and lifted upwards, and the carrying platform 200 can lift the battery module 93 and separate from the matching state with the charging stand 2110 and the charging stand coarse positioning module 2111 in the lifting process, so as to complete the taking-out process.

In the present embodiment, the orientation of the connector 2113a may be the same as the protruding direction of the cradle fine positioning column 2112a, or may be different from the protruding direction of the cradle fine positioning column 2112 a. When the protruding direction of the fine positioning column 2112a of the charging seat is opposite to the coarse positioning column 2111a of the charging seat, i.e. the protruding direction is downward, and the direction of the connector 2113a may be the same as the protruding direction of the fine positioning column 2112a of the charging seat, the connector power unit may drive the connector 2113a to move in the vertical direction, i.e. the moving direction of the connector 2113a and the fine positioning column 2112a of the charging seat is the same.

In order to fix the charging stand fine positioning module 2112 and the connector module 2113 in this embodiment, the charging stand 211 may further include a supporting frame 2116, the supporting frame 2116 extends upward from the bottom of the U-shaped structure, and the charging stand fine positioning module 2112 and the connector module 2113 may be disposed on the supporting frame 2116.

As can be seen from the foregoing analysis, in different operation processes, the moving directions of the connector 2113a and the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a are the same, so in order to save space and improve efficiency, in this embodiment, the mounting table 2117 may be used to fix the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a and the connector 2113a at the same time, and the charging seat fine positioning power unit and the connector power unit are integrally provided as an integral power unit 2118, as shown in fig. 19, the integral power unit 2118 is fixedly provided on the supporting frame 2116, and the mounting table 2117 can be driven by the integral power unit 2117a to move along the vertical direction, so that the charging seat fine positioning column 2112a and the connector 2113a can be moved together, and the fine positioning and electrical conduction operations are completed synchronously.

The battery module 93 may be ignited or even exploded during the charging process due to the problems of current overload, overheat, etc. At this time, if the fire is not suppressed in time, the fire may spread to other battery modules, with serious consequences. Therefore, once the above-described problem occurs, it is necessary to be able to move the accident battery module 93 away from other battery modules 93 as soon as possible and perform fire fighting treatment.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in fig. 20, the power exchanging station may further include a fire fighting device 3, and the battery taking and placing device 20 further includes a fire fighting waste port 205, and the fire fighting device 3 faces the fire fighting waste port 205. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 20, the fire fighting waste port 205 may be disposed opposite to the battery replacement port 203, and the battery replacement device 1, the battery compartment system 2, and the fire fighting device 3 may be sequentially arranged.

In the present embodiment, the fire fighting device 3 includes a battery module receiving mechanism 30, a fire fighting box 31, a fire fighting material containing box 32, and a discharge valve 33. The battery module receiving mechanism 30 is configured to receive a battery module 93 requiring fire protection, and is capable of conveying the battery module 93 into the fire box 31. Fire-fighting material container 32 is used to hold fire-fighting material, such as sand. And fire-fighting material container 32 has a discharge port 320, discharge port 320 is required to be opposite to fire-fighting box 31, and discharge valve 33 is provided on discharge port 320. When the fire-fighting operation needs to be performed on the battery module 93 in the fire-fighting box 31, the discharge valve 33 is opened to allow the fire-fighting material stored in the fire-fighting material storage box 32 to enter the fire-fighting box 31, thereby realizing fire-fighting. In this embodiment, the fire-fighting support 34 shown in fig. 20 may be further provided, and each of the above devices may be fixed to the fire-fighting support 34.

In this embodiment, the fire box 31 may be disposed below the battery module receiving mechanism 30, and the battery module receiving mechanism 30 may deliver the battery module 93 to the fire box 31 by dropping. As shown in fig. 20, when the battery module 93 is placed on the battery module receiving mechanism 30, the battery module receiving mechanism 30 may remove the receiving force according to a predetermined procedure, thereby dropping the battery module 93.

In this embodiment, the battery module 93 may be transferred to the battery module receiving mechanism 30 through the battery picking and placing device 20, and the transferring principle is the same as that of the battery module 93 transferred from the carrying table 200 to the charging seat 211, and is realized through movement in the vertical direction, which is not described herein.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 21, the battery module receiving mechanism 30 may be provided with two telescopic support modules 300. Normally, the battery module 93 can be held when the telescopic support module 300 is in the extended posture, and the battery module 93 can be dropped when the telescopic support module 300 is in the retracted posture. In general, the above-described scheme can be implemented by the relative extension directions of the two telescopic support modules 300. For some battery modules with larger hollow areas in the middle, the extending directions of the telescopic supporting modules 300 may deviate from each other.

As shown in fig. 21, the telescopic support module 300 may include a fixing portion 3000, a support portion 3001, and a telescopic power unit 3002, and the telescopic support module 300 may be fixed to the fire fighting bracket 34 or other components by the fixing portion 3000. While the telescopic power unit 3002 is fixed to the fixing portion 3000. The telescopic power unit 3002 is configured to drive the support portion 3001 to perform a telescopic operation, and the telescopic power unit 3002 may be configured as a telescopic arm or a telescopic rod, and may be configured to have two states of extension/retraction in the horizontal direction.

In order to allow the support portion 3001 to be smoothly extended and retracted, the telescopic support module 300 may be further provided with a telescopic rail 3003, the support portion 3001 and the fixing portion 3000 being connected by the telescopic rail 3003, the support portion 3001 being guided by the telescopic rail 3003 during the telescopic operation.

In addition to the above-described manner of using the telescopic support module 300, the battery module receiving mechanism 30 may be provided in the form of a fire-resistant conveyor belt or the like, and may be capable of receiving the battery module 93 and conveying the battery module 93 to the fire box 31.

The fire-fighting material containing box 32, the discharge valve 33, the battery module receiving mechanism 30 and the fire-fighting box 31 in this embodiment may be sequentially arranged from top to bottom, so that the transfer of the battery module 93 to the fire-fighting box 31 or the transfer of the fire-fighting material to the fire-fighting box 31 can be realized by gravity without setting other power.

To detect the degree of automation of lifting the fire protection device, the fire protection device 3 in this embodiment may further include a detector 35, and the detector 35 may detect whether the battery module 93 is received by the battery module receiving mechanism 30. The detector 35 may be a thermal sensor, or may be another type such as a micro switch, and may be configured to detect whether the battery module 93 is present on the battery module receiving mechanism 30.

When the detector 35 detects that the battery module 93 is received by the battery module receiving mechanism 30, a detection signal can be sent to the central processing unit, and the central processing unit can send an instruction to the battery module receiving mechanism 30 after receiving the signal, so as to control the battery module receiving mechanism 30 to transfer the battery module 93 into the fire box 31. And then the discharge valve 33 is controlled to be opened to release the fire-fighting material in the fire-fighting material containing box 32, so that the dangerous situation of the battery module 93 in the fire-fighting box 31 is restrained, and the fire-fighting operation is completed.

In summary, the power exchange station suitable for the AGV provided by the embodiment of the application has the advantages of saving power exchange time, improving the working efficiency of the AGV, being high in shop exchange speed, precision and automation degree, and the like.

Another embodiment of the present application also provides a battery replacement method for an AGV, which may be implemented by the above-described battery replacement station for an AGV, or by other devices.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 22, the battery replacement method of the AGV includes the steps of:

S10, arranging a battery dismounting mechanism below the AGV;

S20, abutting the old battery module on the AGV with a battery dismounting mechanism and disconnecting the old battery module from the AGV;

s30, separating the old battery module from a battery module assembly area of the AGV;

S40, taking down the old battery module from the battery dismounting mechanism and butting the new battery module with the battery dismounting mechanism;

and S50, relatively moving and approaching the new battery module and the AGV, so that the new battery module is placed in a battery module assembly area and establishes a connection relationship with the AGV.

The battery module in the original power failure state on the AGV can be taken down through the five steps, and the battery module in the new full power state is replaced into the AGV, so that the whole replacement process of the battery module is completed. This method of replacing the battery can save a lot of time compared to the way to wait for the charge. It should be noted that, in the foregoing steps S10 to S50, other steps may not be strictly sequenced (e.g., S10 and S20) except for the case where the implementation of a certain step needs to depend on the result of another step, any two or more of these steps may be executed simultaneously or another step may be executed when a step proceeds to a certain stage, and the step executed later may also be executed before the step executed earlier. And the battery module of the AGV can be updated only by finally completing all five steps.

Next, each step will be described separately.

S10 is a preparation step for replacing the battery module on the AGV, wherein the battery removing mechanism may be the battery removing mechanism 12 in the battery replacing station or other mechanism for removing the battery.

If the battery removal mechanism is initially already under the load bearing equipment of the AGV (e.g., the lift frame 10 in the power exchange station described above), this step may be accomplished naturally by simply moving the AGV onto the load bearing equipment by self-movement or other equipment assisted movement, etc.

If the battery dismounting mechanism is not initially located below the bearing device of the AGV, but is located on two sides of the bearing device, the AGV is only located at the initial position after being moved to the bearing device, and then the AGV is required to be lifted upwards by a certain height from the initial position, so that the battery dismounting mechanism can be horizontally moved below the AGV. After lifting the AGV, the battery dismounting mechanism is also horizontally moved to the lower part of the AGV. In the above-mentioned power exchange station, the lifting process of the AGV can be realized by driving the lifting frame 10 by the lifting frame lifting mechanism 11, and the battery disassembling and assembling mechanism 12 is also provided with a corresponding traveling module 128 for horizontal movement. The process of horizontally moving the battery assembly and disassembly mechanism may begin after the AGV has stopped too much, after the AGV has begun to lift for a period of time, or simultaneously with the lifting process of the AGV. Further, the process of horizontally moving the battery attaching/detaching mechanism may end before or after the stop of the AGV, or both processes may end at the same time.

Since the AGV generally needs to be moved from another position to above the battery removing mechanism, and for the above-mentioned battery exchanging station or other similar devices, the AGV also needs to be moved up and down by the lifting frame 10, so the overall horizontal position of the AGV has a certain influence on the smooth operation of S20. And the improvement of the position certainty of the whole AGV is also helpful to improve the success rate of S20, so that the horizontal position of the AGV can be synchronously positioned in the process of S10.

In this embodiment, locating the horizontal position of the AGV can also be divided into two stages. In the first stage, the positioning of the position of the AGV in a first horizontal direction a perpendicular to the wheel axis is achieved by positioning the wheels of the AGV. In the second stage, the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction b of the wheel axis is positioned, and in order to avoid the positioning failure in the first stage, the position of the AGV along the first horizontal direction a needs to be kept unchanged all the time during the positioning of the AGV along the second horizontal direction b. Through the two stages, the positioning of the horizontal position of the whole AGV can be realized.

For the first stage, the AGV can be positioned by using the positioning groove, and the specific process can be as follows: the wheel of the AGV rolls into a positioning groove extending along the second horizontal direction b, and the wheel is clamped in the positioning groove under the action of gravity so as to position the AGV in the first horizontal direction a. The relevant structure of the positioning slot can be referred to the power exchange station in the above embodiment.

When the second stage is executed, the AGV can always clamp the wheels in the positioning grooves in the process of moving along the second horizontal direction b, so that the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction is kept. Because the constant head tank extends along second horizontal direction b, even if the constant head tank can remove for the constant head tank in the in-process of removing along second horizontal direction b, still can guarantee that the constant head tank can retrain wheel and AGV whole position in first horizontal direction all the time.

In a more preferred scheme, the AGV can enable the wheels to drive the positioning groove to move along the second horizontal direction b together through friction force in the process of moving along the second horizontal direction b. This allows the positioning groove to remain relatively stationary with the wheel while the second stage is being performed, and thus higher positioning accuracy can be obtained. The above-described arrangements may be implemented with the power exchange station of the above-described embodiments, or with other structures or devices than the corresponding structures described in the power exchange station.

In order to improve the automation efficiency and the positioning accuracy, the state of the AGV can be synchronously detected in the process of carrying out the first stage, and when the AGV is detected to finish positioning at the position of the first horizontal direction a, the AGV starts to position along the second horizontal direction b of the wheel axis. There are many methods of determining that the AGV has completed positioning at the position of the first horizontal direction a, such as detecting whether the position of a certain marker on the AGV is within a defined range, if so, considering that the positioning in the first horizontal direction has been completed, or detecting whether the time that the AGV is in a stationary state exceeds a defined threshold, and when the defined threshold is exceeded, considering that the positioning in the first horizontal direction has been completed, and so on.

The embodiment provides a simpler judgment mode by combining the positioning characteristics of the positioning groove, namely detecting whether the AGV wheels exist in the positioning groove. When the presence of a wheel in the positioning groove is detected, the positioning in the first horizontal direction is considered to be completed. The related implementation structure has been explained in the power exchange station in the above embodiment, and the wheel detection sensor 1010f may be disposed in the first positioning module 1010 of the positioning mechanism 101, which is not described herein.

In the second stage, the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction b of the wheel axis may be located according to the acquired position difference between the AGV and the reference mark in the second direction. The reference mark may be in various forms such as a notch, a two-dimensional code, a contour of a specific structure, and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment.

And, when positioning the AGV in the second horizontal direction b, it is not necessary to apply a force to the AGV in the second horizontal direction b to move it. If force is applied to the AGV from only one side, the AGV may continue to move forward by a distance under the influence of inertia when the force is stopped, resulting in a decrease in positioning accuracy. To avoid this problem, the present embodiment can apply force to both sides of the AGV in the second horizontal direction b simultaneously during the positioning of the position of the AGV in the second horizontal direction b, so that the AGV is pushed to the positioning position in a clamped state. By the method, the moving distance of the AGV due to inertia can be effectively controlled, and therefore positioning accuracy is improved. In the embodiment of the power exchange station, the above functions can be achieved by the horizontal pushing component 1011a of the second positioning module 1011, and the related structures and principles are described in detail in this embodiment, which is not described herein.

The purpose of S20 is to disconnect the old battery module on the AGV from the main body portion of the AGV. In S10, the AGV is not in direct contact with the battery attaching/detaching mechanism 12 as a whole, but a certain distance is provided, so in this step, if the battery attaching/detaching mechanism is to operate the old battery module, the old battery module needs to be docked with the battery attaching/detaching mechanism.

There are several easy to think of ways of docking, one of which is to move the battery removal mechanism upward, bring it closer to the AGV, and finally achieve the docking of the two. Another way, instead, is to move the AGV entirely downward to a position that interfaces with the battery removal mechanism. In addition, the two can move in opposite directions at the same time, even can move in the same direction and approach at different speeds, and finally the butt joint is realized. The second way of using the lifting mechanism 11 in the battery replacing apparatus 1 to move the lifting frame 10 and the AGV downward as a whole and to interface with the battery dismounting mechanism 12 is to be adopted for the battery replacing station in the above embodiment.

For the battery dismounting mechanism, if it is desired to smoothly and quickly contact the connection relationship between the old battery module and the AGV, it is generally necessary to maintain high positioning accuracy of both. Therefore, the horizontal position of the old battery module can also be positioned during the process of docking the old battery module with the battery dismounting mechanism. The positioning process may begin before, during, or even after docking begins, and may be completed before, at or after docking is completed. For the above-mentioned power exchange station, the positioning process may generally be arranged to start during the docking process and to end after the docking is completed.

Specifically, the process of positioning the horizontal position of the battery module in this embodiment may be divided into two stages, where the first stage is to perform coarse positioning in the horizontal direction on the battery module of the AGV, that is, positioning with lower accuracy and larger error. And the second stage is to perform horizontal fine positioning on the battery module of the AGV, namely positioning with higher precision and smaller error.

For the first stage, this embodiment may perform coarse positioning in the horizontal direction on the battery module of the AGV by extending the coarse positioning column into the coarse positioning hole of the battery module from below. Meanwhile, for the second stage, the embodiment can adopt the fine positioning hole in which the fine positioning column extends into the battery module from the lower part to perform the fine positioning in the horizontal direction on the battery module of the AGV. And the width of an annular gap formed by the fine positioning column and the fine positioning hole is smaller than that of an annular gap formed by the coarse positioning column and the coarse positioning hole. The size of the annular gap is used as the basis of the accuracy, the larger the annular gap is, the lower the accuracy is, and conversely, the smaller the annular gap is, the higher the accuracy is.

In view of the above structure of the battery assembling and disassembling mechanism 12 of the battery replacing station, the process of extending the thick positioning column 1210 into the thick positioning hole of the battery module from below can be synchronously completed in the process of moving the battery module 93 to the abutting surface 1200 of the abutting table 120 of the battery assembling and disassembling mechanism 12 below, and the battery module 93 is in an abutting state with the abutting surface 1200 when the thick positioning in the horizontal direction is completed.

The process of extending the precise positioning column 1220 into the precise positioning hole of the battery module 93 from the lower side may specifically be performed by moving the precise positioning column 1220 from the lower direction of the abutment surface 1200 to the direction protruding from the abutment surface 1200 and extending into the precise positioning hole of the battery module 93, so as to perform the precise positioning of the battery module of the AGV in the horizontal direction. The specific positioning component structure and the related positioning principle are all explained in the above embodiments of the power exchange station, and are not described herein again.

When the horizontal positioning of the battery module is completed or basically completed, the battery dismounting mechanism can start to release the connection relation between the battery module and the AGV. A locking module 930, such as described in the embodiments of the battery exchange station described above, is disposed between the battery module and the main body of the AGV in a coupled relationship with the catches 910 of the sub-frame 91 of the AGV. Thus, the disengagement of the battery module from the AGV is actually the disengagement of the locking module 930 from the catch 910 to unlock the locking module 930. For the AGV provided in this embodiment, the battery module of the AGV can be unlocked by the unlocking module, the structure of the unlocking module can be described with reference to the above-mentioned power exchanging station, the unlocking module 123 is provided with the unlocking post 1230, and the locking module 930 can be unlocked in the process that the unlocking post 1230 of the unlocking module 123 protrudes from the lower direction of the abutment surface 1200 to the direction of the abutment surface 1200. The related unlocking structure and principle are explained in detail in the embodiments of the power exchange station, and are not repeated here.

For one battery module 93, it may be necessary to provide a plurality of locking modules 930 in different orientations. Because the area of the bottom surface of the battery module 93 is large, if it is made of an non-durable material such as plastic, it is easy to deform during use, and the deformed bottom surface may cause a change in the relative position between the locking module 930 and the unlocking post 1230, so that the unlocking post 1230 cannot unlock the locking module 930 even if it is extended.

In order to avoid or improve the above-mentioned problem, in the process that the battery module 93 moves and approaches to the abutment surface 1200 of the abutment 120 located below the battery module 93 in the vertical direction, the battery module 93 presses the abutment 120 downward and elastically deforms the elastic tightening module 126 connected to the abutment 120. This process is stopped after the abutment 120 is pressed to the predetermined position, that is, the relative movement of the battery module 93 and the abutment 120 is stopped. The abutment surface 1200 can be closely attached to the bottom surface of the battery module 93 by such elastic pressing, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the relative position between the lock module 930 and the unlock jack 1230.

Although S20 releases the connection between the old battery module and the AGV, since the old battery module is still located in the battery module mounting area (e.g., sub-frame 91) of the AGV at this time, the old battery module is limited to the space positions of both sides, and it is difficult to directly transfer the old battery module, and thus S30 is also required to separate the old battery module from the battery module mounting area of the AGV.

In the execution process of S30, since the old battery module is already docked with the battery dismounting mechanism below in S20, the battery dismounting mechanism is generally separated from the carrying device of the main body of the AGV in the vertical direction, and since the old battery module is docked with the battery dismounting mechanism, the old battery module and the battery dismounting mechanism can remain relatively stationary, and the AGV is carried by the carrying device, and the old battery module and the battery module assembling area of the AGV remain relatively stationary, detachment of the old battery module from the battery module assembling area of the AGV can be achieved. Likewise, the AGV may be disengaged from the old battery module by either being stationary and the other being vertically spaced apart, or both moving in directions away from each other, or even both moving in the same direction and away from each other at different rates. For the above described battery exchange station, it is common to utilize the cooperation of the lift frame lifting mechanism 11 and the lift frame 10 to move the AGV up to the battery module assembly area where the old battery module is disengaged from the AGV.

In some AGV disassembly processes, a temporary fixing structure may be formed by interference, extrusion, or the like at other positions where the fixing structure should not be formed, even though the two have been released from the locking relationship of the locking module, due to the dimensional accuracy problem of the AGV itself and the battery module. Due to the fixing structures, even if the battery dismounting mechanism and the bearing table thereof are mutually far away from the bearing equipment of the AGV and the AGV in the vertical direction, the battery module can be fixed with the AGV without separation.

At this time, in order to remedy by the automation device, the following steps may be included in S30:

the abutting table and the AGV are mutually far away in the vertical direction, and whether a battery module exists on the abutting table is detected; ending S30 when it is detected that the battery module is already present on the abutment table; when the absence of the battery module on the abutment table is detected, the following steps are performed:

The battery module moves relatively to the abutting surface of the abutting table below the battery module along the vertical direction and abuts against the battery module again;

Hooking the drag hook on the battery module;

The abutment table and the AGV are separated from each other again in the vertical direction.

In the process of keeping away from each other once more, because battery module has been hooked by the drag hook and can't follow the AGV and remove together, consequently keep away from each other in-process foretell temporary fixation structure will be destroyed to make battery module and AGV break away from smoothly. In the embodiment of the power exchanging station described above, the process of detecting whether the battery module 93 is present on the abutment table 120 may be implemented by the battery module detection sensor 124. The drag hook 1250 is provided in the battery removal mechanism 12, but in other arrangements, the drag hook may be provided on other structures or devices that do not move with the AGV.

After the AGV is in a state that can be smoothly transferred or conveyed, execution of S40 can be started, the old battery module is taken down from the battery dismounting mechanism, and the new battery module is in butt joint with the battery dismounting mechanism. The process can be completed manually or by using the power exchange station. After the butt joint of the new battery module and the battery disassembly and assembly mechanism is completed, S50 can be executed, so that the new battery module is placed in a battery module assembly area and establishes a connection relationship with the AGV, and the whole process of battery replacement is completed.

In order to improve the automation efficiency, it may be detected whether the battery module is newly present on the abutment table in the process of S40, and S50 may be executed again when it is detected that the battery module is newly present on the abutment table. There are various ways to determine whether the battery module is present on the abutment table, for example, a counter or counting software is used in conjunction with the battery module detection sensor 124.

Since a long distance exists between the battery dismounting mechanism and the AGV in S30, after the new battery module is docked to the battery dismounting mechanism in S40, a long distance still exists between the new battery module and the AGV, and the new battery module cannot be directly assembled. Therefore, it is necessary to relatively move and approach the new battery module and the AGV in S50, and the distance between the two is shortened so that the new battery module is placed in the battery module mounting area. This approach may be accomplished by moving the AGV downward in its entirety, and as the AGV moves downward, new battery modules may gradually enter the battery module assembly area of the AGV. The mode of establishing the connection relation between the new battery module and the AGV can enable the locking module to be locked again through the arranged mechanism, and the mode and the locking principle of the mechanism are correspondingly adjusted according to the different locking modules and the matching structures of the locking module.

For example, if the operation actions of the locking module to be unlocked/locked are identical, the unlocking module 123 may be used as both the unlocking and locking mechanism. The unlocking ejector rod 1230 stretches out for the first time to unlock the locking module, the connection relation between the battery module and the AGV is released, the unlocking ejector rod 1230 stretches out for the second time to lock the locking module again, and the connection relation between the battery module and the AGV is established. For another example, if the operation actions of the locking module to be unlocked/locked are completely reversed, the locking action may be performed by providing a mechanism opposite to the control action of the unlocking module 123. For the matching structure of the locking module 930 and the latch 910 provided in the above embodiment, there is a faster locking method, that is, the locking of the locking module 930 and the latch 910 can be automatically achieved while the battery module 93 moves into the battery module assembling area, without other redundant steps.

Since each system of the AGV may need to receive, send, store and retrieve multiple instructions or other information at all times during its operation, these functions may be lost even if the information stored within the AGV is lost once the AGV is powered down. Therefore, each system of the AGV typically needs to remain energized at all times, even when the batteries are replaced. Normally, the power of the AGV is supplied from the battery module thereon, and in the four steps S20 to S50, especially, during the period of time from when the old battery module is about to be disconnected from the AGV until the new battery module is in connection with the AGV, the AGV may not be connected to the battery module, and thus the power of the battery module cannot be used. Therefore, in order to ensure that the AGV is not powered off during the execution of the four steps, the embodiment may always keep the AGV in the pre-charge state during the execution of the four steps S20 to S50. The pre-charge state temporarily powers the AGV by way of an external temporary connection.

In this embodiment, the precharge circuit may have completed communication with the AGV before executing S20. Specifically, the precharge circuit may complete communication with the AGV before executing S10, and then execute S10. Or the precharge circuit may complete communication with the AGV while performing the process of S10. For example, in the embodiment of the power exchange station described above, the precharge circuit may be synchronized during the positioning of the horizontal position of the AGV. Of course, in other embodiments, the precharge circuit may be executed before or after the AGV positioning is initiated. Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the AGV may be disconnected from the precharge circuit after the completion of S50. The connection structure between the precharge circuit and the AGV can refer to the related structure of the precharge mechanism 106 of the power exchange station described above, and will not be described herein. In addition, the precharge circuit may complete communication with the AGV after S10 is completed and before S20 starts to be executed.

For embodiments in which there is a step of lifting the AGV upward from the initial position and horizontally moving the battery assembly and disassembly mechanism to the lower side of the AGV, the new battery module may be further separated from the battery assembly and disassembly mechanism after the completion of S50, and the battery assembly and disassembly mechanism is horizontally moved out of the lower side of the AGV and the AGV is lowered downward to the initial position, thereby returning the device to the original state. The AGV is beneficial to leaving from the initial position and entering of the next AGV. The process can equally be carried out by the above-described power exchange station, and the relevant embodiments have been elucidated in the examples described above.

In summary, the battery replacement method for the AGV provided by the embodiment of the application has the advantages of saving the power replacement time, improving the working efficiency of the AGV, along with high speed, high precision, high automation degree and the like.

The foregoing embodiments of the present application mainly describe differences between the embodiments, and as long as there is no contradiction between different optimization features of the embodiments, the embodiments may be combined to form a better embodiment, and in view of brevity of line text, no further description is provided herein.

The foregoing is merely exemplary of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Various modifications and variations of the present application will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. which come within the spirit and principles of the application are to be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. The AGV comprises a main frame and an auxiliary frame connected with the main frame, wherein the main frame and the auxiliary frame are arranged back and forth along the running direction of the AGV, and the positioning mechanism comprises a first positioning module, a main frame pressing mechanism, an auxiliary frame pressing mechanism and a second positioning module;

The first positioning module is used for positioning the position of the AGV in a first horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the wheel by positioning the wheel of the AGV; the first positioning module comprises a positioning sliding block; the positioning slide block is provided with a positioning groove for positioning the wheels of the AGV along the first horizontal direction;

The first positioning module further comprises a wheel detection sensor, wherein the wheel detection sensor is arranged on the positioning slide block and used for detecting whether the AGV wheels exist in the positioning groove or not, and determining that the AGV has completed positioning at the position of the first horizontal direction under the condition that the AGV wheels exist in the positioning groove are detected;

the second positioning module comprises horizontal pushing assemblies which are symmetrically arranged on two sides along a second horizontal direction and are used for simultaneously applying force to two sides of the AGV along the second horizontal direction when determining that the AGV has completed positioning at the position of the first horizontal direction, so that the AGV is pushed to a positioning position in a clamped state to position the AGV at the position of the AGV in the second horizontal direction, and the second horizontal direction is the axial direction of the wheel;

The main frame pushing mechanism and the auxiliary frame pushing mechanism are arranged on the horizontal pushing assembly along the first horizontal direction, and the main frame pushing mechanism and the auxiliary frame pushing mechanism can simultaneously push down the main frame and the auxiliary frame when the horizontal pushing assembly pushes the AGV along the second horizontal direction.

2. The AGV positioning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the first positioning module includes a positioning slide and a guide rail;

the positioning groove and the guide rail extend along the second horizontal direction, and the positioning sliding block is in sliding fit with the guide rail and can slide along the second horizontal direction.

3. The AGV positioning mechanism according to claim 2, wherein said positioning slot has a V-shaped cross section perpendicular to said second horizontal direction.

4. The AGV positioning mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the positioning slide further comprises a guide ramp, wherein one side of the guide ramp abuts one side of the positioning slot.

5. The AGV positioning mechanism according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first positioning module further comprises a return spring coupled to the positioning slide, the return spring being in a force balance state when the positioning slide is in the return position.

6. The AGV positioning mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the horizontal pushing assembly includes a stationary bracket, a movable bracket, a horizontal pushing power unit, and a pushing guide unit;

7. The AGV positioning mechanism according to claim 6 wherein a flexible gripping block is provided on the movable carriage, the movable carriage pushing the AGV through the flexible gripping block.

8. The AGV positioning mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a reference mark for providing a positioning reference in the second horizontal direction.

9. The utility model provides a location method of AGV, its characterized in that, AGV include main frame and with the sub vehicle frame that main frame links to each other, main frame with the sub vehicle frame is followed the direction of travel of AGV sets up back and forth, the location method includes following steps:

positioning the position of the AGV in a first horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the wheel by positioning the wheel of the AGV; determining that the AGV has completed positioning of the position in the first horizontal direction if the presence of the wheels of the AGV in the positioning slot is detected;

the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis is positioned, and the position of the AGV along the first horizontal direction is always kept unchanged in the positioning process along the second horizontal direction;

the step of locating the position of the AGV along the second horizontal direction of the wheel axis specifically comprises the following steps:

When it is determined that the AGV has completed positioning at the position in the first horizontal direction, the forces are applied to both sides of the AGV in the second horizontal direction at the same time, so that the AGV is pushed to the positioning position in a clamped state,

And simultaneously pressing down the main frame and the auxiliary frame when pushing the AGV along the second horizontal direction.

10. The method of positioning an AGV according to claim 9, wherein the step of positioning the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction perpendicular to the wheel axis by positioning the wheels of the AGV is specifically:

The wheel of AGV rolls into one along the constant head tank that the second horizontal direction extends along first horizontal direction in, makes the wheel card in the constant head tank under the action of gravity to the position of location AGV in first horizontal direction.

11. The method for positioning an AGV according to claim 10, wherein the step of maintaining the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction constant throughout the positioning process comprises:

12. The method of positioning an AGV according to claim 11, wherein the step of the AGV always engaging the wheel in the positioning slot during the movement along the second horizontal direction comprises:

13. The method of positioning an AGV according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein in the step of positioning the position of the AGV in the second horizontal direction along the wheel axis, and wherein the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction is maintained constant throughout the positioning in the second direction, the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction is maintained:

14. The method of positioning an AGV according to claim 13, wherein in the step of positioning the position of the AGV in the second horizontal direction along the wheel axis and keeping the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction unchanged throughout the positioning in the second direction, the method for determining that the positioning of the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction has been completed is specifically:

The presence of the AGV wheel in the alignment slot is detected.

15. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein in the step of positioning the position of the AGV in the second horizontal direction along the wheel axis and keeping the position of the AGV in the first horizontal direction unchanged throughout the positioning in the second horizontal direction, the position of the AGV in the second horizontal direction along the wheel axis is positioned based on the acquired position difference between the AGV in the second horizontal direction and the reference mark.