Device for the combined renting of electrically driven vehicles, especially scooters, and the exchange and recharging of the veh cle batter es .

Technical Field

This invention relates to a device for accomodat ng electrically driven battery powered vehicles, especially two and three—wheel scooters, for automat cally handling the vehicle renting procedures and for exchanging and recharging the batter es.

Background Art

Usually, only liquid fuel vehicles are rented, but these are not the most suitable vehicles for city use because of the well known problems of pollution and traff c that they cause, besides, these vehicles require fuelling at dedicated service stations, which hardly ever coinc de with the rental company premises .

A first alternative consists of vehicles powered by rechar- geable batteries at the points of departure or arrival, this mode of transportation, in order to be compatible with an inten¬ sive use, requires the automatic exchange of the batteries for recharging, at the least. The known automatic battery exchange systems are.-usually capable of dealing with only one user at a time, and, therefore, the are unable to cater for a large number of useres without increasing the number of recharching stations; but this solut on would require a greater amount of space and more facilities. A further drawback s related to the shape of

the batteries, which must be adapted to the structure of the bat¬ tery exchange system which, in the majority of cases, is not com¬ patible with the batteries commonly for sale .

The state of the art currently prov des the technical solutions requiring the vehicles to park in automated parking areas and separate facilities for renting the vehicles and for exchanging and recharging the batteries; as regards the automated park ng areas, we would like to mention the patents UD/92/A/48 by Grion and UD/92/A/108 by Fabris. The former relates to a multilevel garage for motor vehicles with a main li t and a set of roller decks or conveyors controlled by a computerized unit for accomo— dating the vehicles inside a parking space and recording the po¬ sition of each vehicle; the latter patent relates to a cylinder- shaped multilevel structure with a varible and rotating lift running up and down a vertical ax s and enabling the access of the cars to the various levels from the ground floor.

Both the above mentioned solutions feature the drawback of requiring very large structures, w th no spec al facilities for electrically drive, vehicles, such as renting and battery exchange and recharging facilities, nor do they allow for a combined use by different types of vehicles. There are also some computerized systems for exchanging and recharging the batteries of electri¬ cally driven vehicles, such as the European patent application EP 0476405, by Borgel, which relates to a goods handling system in a factory, where the battery powered vehicles run in dedicated aisles and the batteries feature a hardware card storing a code for their univocal identification and for recording all the charge data, which is transmitted to a computerized central unit, where the data is assessed, according to certain algorithms, to deter— mine whether the vehicles must be called in to exchange and recharge

the batteries. Although this patent concerns a d fferent field of applicat on than the present invention, it must be pointed out that the vehicles are trucks used for handling goods and mov ng within dedicated aisles and that the patent provides for no automated systems for exchanging and recharging the batteries. With reference to the specific field of application of the present invention, relating to the automated exchange and sub¬ sequent recharging of the batteries, a solut on is given in the patent FI/S1/A 258 fay D'Ascanju; whose key feature is the possi— bility of exchanging the batteries exclusively from the underside of the vehicle; this entaiIs such characteristic features as; the battery exchange station must consist of a pit located beneath the vehicle parking space; the shape of the batteries must be such as to be f tted into and removed from the vehicle with ease besides the plugging into the sockets and the handling of the batteries by means of special trucks.

This patent also provides for computerized means for monito¬ ring and performing the operat ons, at both the battery rechar¬ ging stations and in the batteries themselves. A first drawback of the D'Ascanio patent, however, is that the battery exchange station requires a battery storeroom for each exchange device, entailing excavat on and underground construction work; a further drawback is that it provides only for the use of custom- made batteries.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention principally relates to a combined system for renting electrically driven battery powered vehicles for city use and for exchanging and recharging the batteries, all in one place . The invention also relates to a system capable of catering

for a large number of users at a single battery exchange and recharging station.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a system providing for the use of batteries commonly found for sale, compatibly with the equipment, in order to avo d having to manufacture special batteries .

Last but not least, the present invention relates to a system that is easy to use and economic to procedure, without the need of any complex know-how or skilled labour. These and other characterist cs are achieved in this combined device for renting electrically driven vehicles, especially scooters, and exchanging and recharging the batteries used to power the vehicles, composed of:

- a box-shaped structure w th a number of housings at the front of the same shape as the vehicle ;

- at least one dev ce moving on a vertical deck,consisting of container supports forcarrying a certain number of batteries;

- devices for removing and fitting the containers from and into the vehicles and the supports; — a device for opening and closing the doors of the veh cle housing spaces ;

- a device for locking and unlocking the vehicle inside its housing and, at the same time, for opening and closing the vehicle door; - a device for correctly positioning the vehicle ins de the above mentioned housings ;

- means of connection between the batteries and the mains, and between the vehicles and the computerized units for moni¬ toring and handling the vehicle renting and battery exchange and recharging operations.

The further character stics and benefits of the system shall be illustrated in the detailed description of the specific embodiment of the nvent on, g ven by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings in which: Br ef Description of the Drawings

Figure 1, shows a cross-section of the device, with the conveyor and the battery fitting and removal device ;

Figure 2, shows the I-I section of the device, with the conveyor and the housing door opening and closing device; Figure 3, shows the II-II section of the device, with the horizontally pivoted platform and the conveyor ;

Figure 4, shows the V-V section of the device, which has been enlarged compared to the scale of the preceding figures, with a detail of part of the supporting means and the connec— tions;

Figures 5 and 6, show a cross—section of the device, as seen from the top, with the battery removal and fitting device in the position of linking together the battery and the vehicle and in the position of f tting the battery into the housing, respectively;

Figures 7 and 8, show the III-III section of the device, with the housing—door opening/closing device and the vehicle door opening/closing device and the locking of the same in the closed and open positions, respectively; Figure 9, shows the IV-IV section of the conveyor;

Figure 10, shows a lateral perspective of the IV-IV section of the conveyor;

Figure 11, shows the vehicle housing door opening/closing device; Figure 12, shows the IX-IX section of the device, with the

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battery container support;

Figure 13, shows the VI-VI section of the gripping mechanism of the battery removal and fitting device ;

Figure 14, shows the VII-VII section of the gripping mecha- nism of the battery removal and fitting device;

Figure 15, shows the VIII-VTII section of the gripping mecha¬ nism of the battery removal and f tting device ;

Figures 16 and 17, show the plug and thesocket of the electri¬ cal connection, in "the open and closed position, resμect vel . Referring to the drawings, the device comprises a rectangular box 1 containing a certain number of hous ngs 3 and 103 on the front 31, which housings are shaped so as to accomodate an electric vehicle 2, especially a scooter.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, inside the box 1 there is a frame 10 supporting a conveyor 20, at a suitable distance from the floor 8; this conveyor, by means of rotations and translations on a vertical plane, enables the positioning of a number of supports 50 in a number of recharging spaces 13 in line with each housing 3 to 103, each sup¬ port holds a container 47 capable of accomodating a number of batte— ries 5 connected the one to the others. On the floor 8, inside the box 1, and for each of the housing 3 and 103, there is a dev ce 80 for fitting and removing the batteries 5 into and from both the vehicle 2 and the supports 50; there s also a device 160, for opening and closing each of the doors 14 of the housings 3 and 103. For each of the housings 3 and 103, at the back 31 of the box 1, there is a device 180, as shown n figures 7 and 8, for locking the vehicle 2 and, at the same time, opening the door 9 of the vehicle; furthermore, on the floor 8 there is an oscilla¬ ting platform 125 enabling the vehicle 2 to move crosswise so as to be correctly accomodated inside each housing. Each housing is

provided with a plug 130 for the electrical and electronic con¬ nection with a socket 230 on the vehicle 2.

A computerized system, which is not shown in the drawings, monitors all the above mentioned operations and, at the same time, handles the vehicle 2 renting operations.

In the upper part 11 of the box 1 there are inspection holes (not shown in the drawings) through which the maintenance opera¬ tions can be carried out, as required; the housings 3 and 103, as shown in the figures 5 and 6, are separated the one from the other by means of a partition 15 whose walls 16 guide the vehicle 2 in its approach to the door 14, thus achieving the correct in¬ troduction of the plug 130 into the socket 230.

The frame 10 consists of a primary structure 18, adjacent to the rear part 41 of the box 1, consisting of the posts 105,106,107 and the beams 111, 112, 113, and the supports 17, 117, and a secondary structure 118, adjacent to the front section 31 of the box 1, con¬ sisting of the posts 108, 109, 110, the beams 114, 115, 116, and the supports 120,140.

The conveyor 20, as shown in figure 2, s located between the upper beams 111 and 114 and the intermediate beams 112 and 115, respect vely, of the primary structure 18 and the secondary structure 118, so as to create, inside box 1, a space above the floor 8 large enough to house some of the above mentioned devices, the com— ponznr elements of which will be described later on. Th s conveyor is powered by the motor 33 and driven by meabs of a chain 35 enga¬ ging a primary gear wheel 34 and a secondary gear wheel 36, the former is driven by the motor 33, wh le the latter is integral w th a power shaft 30, to which a spoke wheel 23 is fastened,the shaft is supported by the support 17. A primary roundabout 21, located on the primary structure 18, is equipped w th two spoke

wheels 23 and 123 and two gu des 27 and 147; in a likewise, a secondary roundabout 22, located in the secondary structure 118, is equipped with two spoke wheels 24 and 124 and two guides 28 and 148. These L—shaped guides are placed between the respective ends of the vertical diameters of the spoke wheels and, as shown in figures 9 and 10, present an attachment 19 and 29, which follows the curvature of the spoke wheels, so as to guide the supports 50 during both the translat on and the rotation. As shown in figure 4, to several of the links 44 of the chains 25 and 26 is attached a first set of two plates 58 and 59, rotating according to the axis 45 of the links; each of the plates of this first set is made integral with a second plate 43 by the known means 46, wh ch, together with the bea- rings 37 and 38, are connected, by the known means 39, to both ends 100 and 101 of a rod 51, which is a part of the support 50, as shown in figure 1. These supports are driven by the chains 25 and 26, thanks to the rolling of the bearings 37 and 38 along the gui es 27 and 147 of the primary roundabout 21 and along the gu des 28 and 148 of the second roundabout 22, thus carrying the batteries 5 housed in the container 47; this container s box—shaped, open at the top, which has a rectangu¬ lar flared edge 48, furthermore, on the lower side of the face 40, facing the rear 102 of the vehicle 2, there is a handle 49 which engages a gripping mechanism 90 of the battery fitting and removal device 80.

During the introduction into the support 50, the container 47 runs on 2-L-shaped guides 52 and 152, with its flared edge 48, stopping against a ledge 53. The L-shaped gu des 52 and 152 are carried by the support 50,

by means of a number of hooks 149, 150, 151, fastened along the entire length of the rod 51, the length of the sides 155 156, 157 of these hooks proportionally increase from the rear 41 to the front 31 of the box 1, so that the inclinat on of the guides is equal to that of the guide 4, constructed in the same manner, placed ins de the vehicle 2; to facilitate the in¬ troduction in the support 50 and in the vehicle 2 the guides are provided, at their ends 55 and 104, wi h a lead 56 and 6 and a small wheel S7 and 7 _: s ec i ly, as shown in figure 8. When the flared edge 48 of the container 47 approaches the ledge 53 of the support 50, it determines the closing of the pri¬ mary electr cal connection 60, cons sting of a set of two plates 61 and 66 for each pole, located on the flared edge 48 and connected to the battery 5 by means of a bipolar cable 62, as shown in figures 4 and 12; another set of two plates 63 and 67, with a rounded edge 64 and 79, supported by two small brackets 65 and 68 projecting from the ledge 53 determines the perfect adherence between the first and the second set of plates, thanks to their elasticity. A second electrical connection 69 is achieved by means of two toroidal rings 70 and 71, joined securely to the rod 51 and con¬ nected to the primary connection 60 by means of the cable 72; the surface of these rings is coated with an electrical conductor and, as a result of the translation of the support 50, they engage with the concavity 75 of the base 74 of the two U-shaped conductors 76 and 176. These U—shaped elements are supported by a support 77 fixed to the upper beam 111 of the frame 10, at the end 177 of which support there is a flexible link-up 78 of the two conductors 76 and 176.

The above mentioned operations, namely,the introduction and re— moval of the batteries 5 into and from the vehicle 2 and the sup-

ports 50, are performed by the device 80 consisting of an oscillating lever 81 on a slightly inclined horizontal surface 81. One extremity 83 of this lever features a pivot 84 which connects this arm to a piston 85; in the proximity of this first extremity there is a fulcrum pin 86, achieved by means of a known system, around which the lever rotates, a second extremity 87, curved compared to the stra ht lever 81, is provided with a gripping mechanism 90 which engages the handle 49 of the con¬ tainer 47 . This operation, as shown in the figures 13,14 and 15, is performed by means of a small piston 119, fixed inside the end 87, which translate the two plates 91 and 92 in both directions, each of which features an oblique hole 93 and 94; a pin 95 runs ins e the above mentioned obl que holes and in two vertical holes 88 and 89 in the extremity 87, thus imparting a vertical translation to a pawl 96; this pawl has a semispherical end 97 for acilitating theengagement to the handle 49 and a cylindrical channel 98 placed axially along a diameter in the end 99 opposite to the semispherical extremity 97. Before exchanging the batteries 6, the door 14 of the housing 3 is opened by the device 160; this device is provided with a piston 161 whose cylinder 162 is fastened to the floor 8 by means of a fastening 164 and whose plunger 163 causes the vertical ro¬ tation of a rod 165. The end 166 of this rod is hinged to the box 1 and is connected, in its centre-line 167, to the plunger 163 by means of a pivot 168; theend 169, opposite to the extre¬ mity 166, is connected to the door 14 by known means,enabling their relative rotation. This door, as shown in figures 7 and 8, is opened and closed by the rod 165 and oscillates vertically thanks to the two pins 158 and 159 sliding in a guide 178 and

179, respectively, in the box 1. The unauthorized use of the vehicle 2 is prevented by the vehicle locking mechanism 180, which also enables the opening of the door 9 of the vehicle 2; this mechanism consists of a first lever 181 which may be activated either by the wheel 32 or by other known means, and whose fulcrum pin 182 is hinged to the box 1 close to the floor 8. This first lever rotates and engages a pin 183, fixed to the end 184 opposite "the fulcrum pin 182 inside a housing 186 in the first extremity 187 of a second lever 185; this may simul— taneously lock the vehicle 2 and cause the second lever 185 to rotate. This second lever is L-shaped, with the angle 188 hinged to the vehicle 2; this housing 186 is open and is shaped like one half of the slot, so as to enable the pin 183 to approach it and then run inside t. A third lever 191, also hinged with an extremity 192 to the vehicle 2, features a longitudinal slot 193 inside which there runs a pin 189 of a second extremity 190 of the L-εhaped lever 185; this running movement causes the rota¬ tion of the third lever 191 around the axis of the extremi y 192 determining the opening or closing of the door 9, since this door is fastened, by means of a know system, to the extremity 195 of the third lever 191.

The platform 125 is located on the floor 8 and oscillates above a horizontal plane by means of two rods 126 and 127, hinged to the respective extremities 128 and 129 and connected by known means to the above mentioned platform,at the extremities 121 and

122; the platform 125, as previously mentioned, allows the correct positioning of the vehicle 2 in the housings 3 and 103, so as to enable the perfect introduction of the plug 130 into the relative socket 230 of the veh cle 2. The socket consists of an L-shaped housing 231 inside which there is a first cavity 232, coaxial with

the longer side 233, this first cavity features a final part 234 w h a smaller section compared to the initial part 235, and a second cavity 236 inside the internal corner 237, and communica¬ ting with the first cavity. Inside the first cavity there runs a small rod 238 whose end 239, facing towards theplug 130, featu¬ res a bulb 240 housed in the initial part 235 and running inside it; inside the final part 234 and coaxially to the small rod 238 there is a spring 241, between a first 242 and a second 243 lock; the former is integral with the small rod 238, while the latter is fastened to the vehicle 2.

A first contact 244, prov ded with a convex portion 245 projecting in the first cav ty 232 and a second flat portion 246 fastened to the housing of the 231, is housed inside the second cavity and adheres to a second contact 144 when the plug 130 s introduced into the socket 230. The second contact is housed inside a pocket 131 to the receptacle 132; this receptacle is fastened by an extremity 133 to a support 134 enabling the running, along its entire length, of anogival bush 136, which translates, coaxially to the recep acle by means of a through hole 137 whose axis coinci es with that of the receptacle; the bush 136 is returned to its closed position by two springs 138 and 139 housed inside two blind cavities 141 and 142 made on the bottom 143 of the bush; these springs are coaxial with the two guides 145 and 146 introduced inside the bush and sliding in the support 134. The global operation of the equipment features an initial request phase, when the user requests thz renting, and a second phase when the computerized system activates the various mechanical devices .

The request is made by a known computerized means and consists in the transmission of the user data and the granting of the

vehicle .

Once this phase has been completed, the computerized system commands the mechanism 180 to disengage the vehicle 2 and close the door 9; the user may now use the vehicle 2 and, when he/she has finished, returns it by positioning it in the housing 3 or 103 of the box 1 which accepts it, due to its shape . This operation, thanks to the plataform 125 which correctly po¬ sitions the vehicle, determines the introduction of the plug 130 into the socket 230, thus enabling the transmission of ie data relative to the use of the vehicle 2 to the computer zed system. The user may thus view the price to be pa d and make the payment, interacting solely with the computerized system. At the del very of the vehicle 2 the computer!zedsystem,through known means, measures the charge of the batteries 5 used for powering the vehicle and exchanges them, if necessary. These operations con¬ sists in the following: a first phase, when the door 14 of the box 1 is opened by the device 160; a second phase, when the device 80 engages the battery 5, by means of the gripping mechanism 90, removes t from the guides 4 inside the vehicle 2 and introduces it into the guides 52 of the support 50; a third phase, when the conveyor 20 places a charged battery in line with the housing 3; a fourth phase, when the device 80 performs the previous operations the other way round .

Besides being exchanged, the batteries 5 are also recharged in the housings 13, prov ded for in various points of the conveyor 20; these housings are connected to themains, by means of the electrical connections 60 and 69 .

The batteries 5 may also be recharged, if necessary,directly from the vehicle 2, by means of the plug 130 and socket 230 system. The embodiment of the invention described herein may be amended,

preserving the basic idea, and all the details may be replaced with technically equivalent ones.