The present invention relates to a charging dock and a charging device therewith, and more specifically, to a charging dock capable of preventing a collision damage of an electrically conductive component and avoiding an electric shock, and a charging device therewith.
With development of technology, robots, automated guided vehicles (AGS) or other automated apparatuses have been widely used in different fields. In order to prevent the robot or the automated guided vehicle from shutting down due to running out of battery, the robot or the automated guided vehicle can be set to move toward a charging station and then dock with a charging dock of the charging station for charging when the battery is low. In order to facilitate docking of the robot or the automated guided vehicle with the charging dock, the charging dock usually has an electrically conductive component with an exposed design. However, the exposed electrically conductive component may not only be easily damaged by collision but also cause a potential electric shock hazard. Therefore, an improvement is needed.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a charging dock capable of preventing a collision damage of an electrically conductive component and avoiding an electric shock, and a charging device therewith for solving the aforementioned problem.
In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention discloses a charging dock. The charging dock includes an immovable component, a movable component and at least one electrically conductive component. The movable component is movable along a first direction. The at least one electrically conductive component is disposed through the movable component and movable along the first direction. Each of the at least one electrically conductive component includes a first protruding structure. The movable component includes at least one second protruding structure. The at least one electrically conductive component is moved along the first direction to drive the movable component to move along the first direction by an abutment of the first protruding structure and the at least one second protruding structure.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable component further includes at least one third protruding structure, and the first protruding structure moves toward the at least one third protruding structure along a second direction opposite to the first direction in response to the at least one electrically conductive component moves along the second direction.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes at least one resilient component disposed between the immovable component and the movable component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes at least one recovering component disposed between the movable component and the at least one electrically conductive component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an equivalent elastic coefficient of the at least one recovering component is less than an equivalent elastic coefficient of the at least one resilient component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable component further includes a first body and a second body. The first body is detachably connected to the second body. The at least one second protruding structure is formed on the first body. The at least one electrically conductive component is disposed through the first body and the second body. Each of the at least one electrically conductive component includes an electrically conductive body and a sleeve body disposed outside the electrically conductive body. Two ends of the electrically conductive body protrude out of the sleeve body, and the first protruding structure is formed on the sleeve body.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable component further includes at least one third protruding structure formed on the second body, and the first protruding structure of the at least one electrically conductive component moves toward the at least one third protruding structure along a second direction opposite to the first direction in response to the at least one electrically conductive component moves along the second direction.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes at least one resilient component disposed between the immovable component and the second body and configured to drive the movable component to move along a second direction opposite to the first direction.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes at least one recovering component disposed between the at least one second protruding structure and the first protruding structure of the at least one electrically conductive component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes a sensor disposed on the immovable component and configured to cooperate with the at least one electrically conductive component, so as to generate a signal for providing electricity to the at least one electrically conductive component.
In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention further discloses a charging device. The charging device includes a main body and a charging dock. The charging dock includes an immovable component, a movable component and at least one electrically conductive component. The immovable component is fixedly disposed on the main body. The movable component is movable along a first direction. The at least one electrically conductive component is disposed through the movable component and movable along the first direction. Each of the at least one electrically conductive component includes a first protruding structure. The movable component includes at least one second protruding structure. The at least one electrically conductive component is moved along the first direction to drive the movable component to move along the first direction by an abutment of the first protruding structure and the at least one second protruding structure.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable component further includes at least one third protruding structure, and the first protruding structure moves toward the at least one third protruding structure along a second direction opposite to the first direction in response to the at least one electrically conductive component moves along the second direction.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes at least one resilient component disposed between the immovable component and the movable component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes at least one recovering component disposed between the movable component and the at least one electrically conductive component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, an equivalent elastic coefficient of the at least one recovering component is less than an equivalent elastic coefficient of the at least one resilient component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable component further includes a first body and a second body. The first body is detachably connected to the second body. The at least one second protruding structure is formed on the first body. The at least one electrically conductive component is disposed through the first body and the second body. Each of the at least one electrically conductive component includes an electrically conductive body and a sleeve body disposed outside the electrically conductive body. Two ends of the electrically conductive body protrude out of the sleeve body, and the first protruding structure is formed on the sleeve body.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the movable component further includes at least one third protruding structure formed on the second body, and the first protruding structure of the at least one electrically conductive component moves toward the at least one third protruding structure along a second direction opposite to the first direction in response to the at least one electrically conductive component moves along the second direction.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes at least one resilient component disposed between the immovable component and the second body and configured to drive the movable component to move along a second direction opposite to the first direction.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging dock further includes at least one recovering component disposed between the at least one second protruding structure and the first protruding structure of the at least one electrically conductive component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the charging device further includes a power supply unit disposed on the main body and electrically connected to the at least one electrically conductive component, and the charging dock further includes a sensor disposed on the immovable component and configured to cooperate with the at least one electrically conductive component, so as to generate a signal for controlling the power supply unit to provide electricity to the at least one electrically conductive component.
In summary, in the present invention, when the electrically conductive component is forced along the first direction, the electrically conductive component can move along the first direction, so that the second protruding structure is forced to drive the movable component to move along the first direction for allowing a two-stage movement of the electrically conductive component along the first direction. Therefore, the present invention can effectively prevent a collision damage of the electrically conductive component when the robot or the automated guided vehicle is docked with the charging dock or the charging device. Furthermore, in the present invention, the sensor can cooperate with the electrically conductive component for selectively generating a signal for starting or stopping providing electricity. Therefore, the present invention also prevents an electric shock hazard due to an accidental touch of electrically conductive component.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “back”, etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. The components of the present invention can be positioned in a number of different orientations. As such, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. Also, if not specified, the term “connect” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical/mechanical connection. Thus, if a first device is connected to a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical/mechanical connection, or through an indirect electrical/mechanical connection via other devices and connections.
Please refer to
However, the number of the electrically conductive component is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, the charging dock can include only one electrically conductive component.
Please refer to
More specifically, as shown in
Furthermore, as shown in
However, the numbers of the second protruding structure and the third protruding structure are not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, the movable component can include only one second protruding structure and one third protruding structure.
In this embodiment, the first protruding structure 1231, the second protruding structure 1221 and the third protruding structure 1222 can be protruding rims. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, the first protruding structure, the second protruding structure and the third protruding structure can be protruding lugs or protruding blocks.
Besides, as shown in
However, the numbers of the resilient component and the recovering component are not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, the charging dock can include only one resilient component and one recovering component. Furthermore, a position of the resilient component can be determined according to practical demands. For example, in another embodiment, when the charging dock can include only one resilient component, the resilient component can be positioned adjacent to a central portion of the movable component.
It should be noticed that an elastic coefficient of each of the recovering components 125 can be less than an elastic coefficient of each of the resilient components 124. In such a way, when each of the electrically conductive components 123 is pushed by the corresponding electrical contact of the robot or the automated guided vehicle, the recovering components 125 can be resiliently deformed apparently before deformations of the resilient components 124, so that the charging device 1 switches from the state as shown in
However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, the charging dock can include more resilient components arranged in parallel to increase an equivalent elastic coefficient of the resilient components, so as to allow the recovering components to be resiliently deformed apparently before deformations of the resilient components, i.e., the elastic coefficient of each of the recovering components can be not less than the elastic coefficient of each of the resilient components as long as an equivalent elastic coefficient of the recovering components is less than the equivalent elastic coefficient of the resilient components.
In this embodiment, the resilient component 124 can be a compression spring disposed between the immovable component 121 and the movable component 122. The recovering component 125 can be a compression spring disposed between the first protruding structure 1231 and the second protruding structure 1221. In other words, in this embodiment, the first protruding structure 1231 forces the second protruding structure 1221 by the recovering component 125, and the first protruding structure 1231 does not contact with the second protruding structure 1221 directly. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, the resilient component and/or the recovering component can be a torsional spring, a leaf spring or a rubber elastomer. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the recovering component can be an extension spring disposed between the first protruding structure and the third protruding structure.
In order to facilitate assembly of the charging dock 12, as shown in
In addition, please refer to
In this embodiment, the sensor 127 can be a contact sensor and include a probe 1271. When the electrically conductive component 123 corresponding to the sensor 127 moves to the third position as shown in
However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in another embodiment, the sensor can be a non-contact sensor, e.g., a light sensor, and cooperates with the sleeve body of the electrically conductive component or any other structure in a non-contacting manner, so as to selectively generate a power-off signal to control the power supply unit to stop providing electricity to the electrically conductive body 1232, e.g., when e.g., the light sensor is blocked from receiving light by the sleeve body of the electrically conductive component.
Detailed description for operational principle of the present invention is provided as follows. The robot or the automated guided vehicle can be set to stop pushing the electrically conductive components 123 along the first direction by the electrical contacts when each of the electrically conductive components 123 moves to the third position. When each of the electrically conductive components 123 is pushed by the corresponding electrical contact of the robot or the automated guided vehicle along the first direction D1, the recovering components 125 can be resiliently deformed apparently before deformations of the resilient components 124, so that the charging device 1 can switch from the state as shown in
In some scenarios, due to inaccurate positioning or delay of signal controlling of the robot or the automated guided vehicle, the robot or the automated guided vehicle might still push the electrically conductive components 123 along the first direction D1 by the electrical contacts even when each of the electrically conductive components 123 moves to the third position. At this moment, since each of the recovering components 125 cannot be resiliently deformed anymore, each of the resilient components 124 is resiliently deformed apparently, so as to allow the movable component 122 to move from the second position as shown in
When the robot or the automated guided vehicle moves away from the charging device 1 after completion of charge, each of the electrically conductive components 123 is released, so that each of the resilient components 124 and each of the recovering components 125 can respectively drive the movable component 122 and the corresponding electrically conductive component 123 to move back to the second position and the fourth position as shown in
In contrast to the prior art, in the present invention, when the electrically conductive component is forced along the first direction, the electrically conductive component can move along the first direction, so that the second protruding structure is forced to drive the movable component to move along the first direction for allowing a two-stage movement of the electrically conductive component along the first direction. Therefore, the present invention can effectively prevent a collision damage of the electrically conductive component when the robot or the automated guided vehicle is docked with the charging dock or the charging device. Furthermore, in the present invention, the sensor can cooperate with the electrically conductive component for selectively generating a signal for starting or stopping providing electricity. Therefore, the present invention also prevents an electric shock hazard due to an accidental touch of electrically conductive component.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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111148535 | Dec 2022 | TW | national |