Abstract:
A battery type forklift which is driven with power of a battery mounted on a vehicle body, includes: a fork arranged at a front part of the vehicle body; and a counter weight arranged at a rear part of the vehicle body, wherein the battery is mounted on the vehicle body in a state of being capable of being removed to a rear side of the vehicle body, and the counter weight comprises a guide unit which prevents sway of the battery in a right-left direction of the vehicle body when removing the battery and which guides movement of the battery along a front-rear direction of the vehicle body.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a battery type forklift driven with a battery which is mounted on a vehicle body. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Forklifts to perform loading-unloading and moving of packages respectively with a folk arranged at a front part of a vehicle body include a type to be driven with a battery mounted on the vehicle body. The above battery type forklift is advantageous in performing loading-unloading operation indoors owing to not causing problems of noise and exhaust gas compared to a type of being driven with an engine. However, it cannot be continuously used by replenishing fuel as the type of being driven with an engine and replacement with a full-charged battery is required when battery charges are decreased. Since a counter weight is arranged at a rear part of the vehicle body of forklift, loading-unloading of the battery is performed from a side face of the vehicle body, normally (e.g., see Patent Literature 1). 
       CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
       [0000]    
       
         Patent Literature 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-308582 
       
     
       SUMMARY 
     Technical Problem 
       [0004]    By the way, a larger battery is required to sufficiently ensure operating time of a forklift. Here, components structuring a vehicle body such as rear stays are arranged at a rear part of the forklift. Therefore, when a large-sized battery is mounted, loading-unloading of the battery from a side face of the vehicle body is required to be performed while avoiding interference with the vehicle body structuring components such as the rear stays. Accordingly, the operation becomes drastically complicated. 
         [0005]    In view of the above situations, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery type forklift enabling to easily perform operation to load and unload a battery even when a large-sized battery is mounted. 
       Solution to Problem 
       [0006]    To overcome the problems and achieve the object, according to the present invention, a battery type forklift which is driven with power of a battery mounted on a vehicle body, comprises: a fork arranged at a front part of the vehicle body; and a counter weight arranged at a rear part of the vehicle body, wherein the battery is mounted on the vehicle body in a state of being capable of being removed to a rear side of the vehicle body, and the counter weight comprises guide means which prevents sway of the battery in a right-left direction of the vehicle body when removing the battery and which guides movement of the battery along a front-rear direction of the vehicle body. 
         [0007]    According to the present invention, post-like members protruded upward are arranged at both right and left sides of the counter weight, and the guide means being the post-like members guides movement of the battery along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body between the post-like members. 
         [0008]    According to the present invention, the post-like members are formed by casting integrally with the counter weight. 
         [0009]    According to the present invention, the counter weight comprises an abutting portion which restricts movement of the battery to a rear side of the vehicle body when the battery is mounted on the vehicle body. 
         [0010]    According to the present invention, a front end portion of the post-like member is located at the front side from a rear end portion of the battery in a state that the battery is mounted on the vehicle body. 
       Advantageous Effects of Invention 
       [0011]    According to the present invention, since a battery is mounted on a vehicle body in a state of being removed to a rear side of the vehicle body and guide means which prevents sway of the battery in the right-left direction of the vehicle body when removing the battery and which guides movement of the battery along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body is arranged at the counter weight, loading-unloading operation of the battery can be easily performed without causing interference with the counter weight and vehicle body structuring components such as rear stays. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a battery type forklift of a first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a side view of a state that loading-unloading operation of a battery is performed in the battery type forklift illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a rear view of a state that the battery is hoisted in the battery type forklift illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the battery type forklift illustrated in  FIG. 1  viewing from the rear side. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a state that a battery hood is tilted and the battery is exposed in the battery forklift illustrated in  FIG. 1  viewing from the rear side. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a state that the battery is hoisted in the battery type forklift illustrated in  FIG. 1  viewing from the rear side. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a state that the battery is removed to the rear side in the battery type forklift illustrated in  FIG. 1  viewing from the rear side. 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a rear view of a battery type forklift of a second embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 9  is a rear view of a battery type forklift of a third embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]    In the following, preferable embodiments of a battery type forklift according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. 
         [0022]      FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  4  and  5  illustrate a battery type forklift of a first embodiment of the present invention. The battery type forklift exemplified here being provided with a front wheel  11  at each front end corner of a vehicle body  10  and a rear wheel  12  at each rear end corner of the vehicle body  10  drives as having the front wheels  11  as driving wheels with driving of an electric motor (not illustrated). 
         [0023]    A fork  13  for performing loading-unloading and moving of a package is arranged at a front part of the vehicle body  10 . The fork  13  is supported by a mast  14  which is arranged along the vertical direction and is capable of being raised and lowered along the mast  14  with driving of a mast cylinder  15  which is arranged at a space against the mast  14 . Here, not illustrated in the drawing, the mast  14  is attached to the vehicle body  10  as being rotatable at a lower end part thereof about a horizontal axis along the right-left direction and is further provided with a tilt cylinder (not illustrated) at a space against the vehicle body  10  to be capable of having a frontward-tilted posture and a rearward-tilted posture against the vehicle body  10  with driving of the tilt cylinder (not illustrated). 
         [0024]    A counter weight  20  is arranged at a rear end part of the vehicle body  10 . The counter weight  20  being a metal-made weight for valancing when the fork  13  supports a package is laid from a part above the rear wheel  12  to a part of a rear end of the vehicle body  10 . As is evident from  FIG. 3  as well, the counter weight  20  is formed to have a concave portion at an upper face thereof being opened in the front-rear direction. Specifically, the counter weight  20  having the concave portion at the upper face thereof is structured by arranging a pair of post-like members  22  at both sides of a weight body  21  having a flat upper face in an upward-protruded manner. The post-like members  22  are convex portions having guide faces  22   a  which are mutually in parallel along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body  10  as being protruded to the upper side and the front side of the vehicle body  10  from mutually-faced sections at both sides of the weight body  21  and are molded by casting integrally with the weight body  21 . Here, a resin-made weight cover  23  which covers a rear face of the counter weight  20  is illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
         [0025]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  5 , a battery  30  being a power source is mounted at a center part of the vehicle body  10 . The battery  30  is structured by storing a number of battery cells  32  at the inside of a battery case  31  which is shaped like a rectangular solid having an opened upper face. As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the battery case  31  has a dimension along the right-left direction of the vehicle body  10  set slightly smaller than a distance between the mutual guide faces  22   a  formed at the post-like members  22  as being capable of passing between the mutual post-like members  22 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  5  and  7 , the battery  30  is mounted on a battery mount face  16  ( FIG. 7 ) which is set at the front side from a front face of the weight body  21  and at the lower side from an upper face of the weight body  21  at the vehicle body  10 . The battery mount face  16  is set to be located so as to be overlapped with the counter weight  20  as an upper rear end part of the battery  30  being interposed between the mutual post-like members  22  when the battery  30  is mounted on an upper face thereof. A part of the counter weight  20  facing to the upper rear end part of the battery  30  functions as an abutting portion  20   a  which restricts movement of the battery  30  to the rear side of the vehicle body  10  by being abutted to the battery  30 . The abutting portion  20   a  may be abutted to the battery  30  as being shaped like a flat plane or may be abutted to the battery  30  as being protruded as a plurality of convex portions. Further, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , location of the above is set so that a front end face  22   b  of the post-like member  22  is located at the front side from a rear end face  30   a  of the battery  30  when the battery  30  is mounted on the battery mount face  16 . 
         [0026]    A battery hood  33  is arranged above the battery  30  mounted on the battery mount face  16 , and further, a driver seat  34  is arranged at an upper face of the battery hood  33 . The battery hood  33  is sized sufficiently large to cover an upper face of the battery case  31  and a front end edge thereof is supported by a support bracket  35  of the vehicle body  10  via a support shaft  33   a  along the right-left direction of the vehicle body  10 . By being rotated about the axial center of the support shaft  33   a , the battery hood  33  is capable of being moved to a horizontal position to cover the upper side of the battery  30  as illustrated in  FIG. 1  and to a frontward-tilted position to open the upper side of the battery  30  as illustrated in  FIG. 2  by having a rear end edge thereof thrown up upward. In a case that the battery hood  33  is moved to the frontward-tilted position, the battery  30  can be lifted to a height position (hereinafter, called a battery transfer position) where a bottom face of the battery case  31  is slightly above an upper face of the weight body  21  without causing mutual interference between the battery hood  33  and the battery case  31 , as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 6 . 
         [0027]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 2 ,  6  and  7 , the support bracket  35  which supports the battery hood  33  is arranged as being raised upward from a part positioning at a front end of the battery mount face  16  and a cushion material  35   a  is arranged at a face thereof positioning at the rear side of the vehicle body  10 . The cushion material  35   a  formed like a rectangular solid with elastic material such as rubber is attached so that the longitudinal direction is oriented vertically. The cushion material  35   a  is arranged as the longitudinal direction being oriented vertically to be capable of being abutted to a front face upper part of the battery case  31  when the battery  30  is mounted on the battery mount face  16  and being abutted to a front face of the battery case  31  even when the battery  30  is lifted to the battery transfer position. 
         [0028]    Meanwhile, as illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 4 , a top plate  40  is arranged at the upper side of the vehicle body  10 . The top plate  40  is structured by arranging a plurality of bars  42  at an approximately rectangular frame body  41  having a size to cover an area above the driver seat  34  and a dimension thereof along the right-left direction of the vehicle body  10  is set smaller than the vehicle body  10 . The top plate  40  is attached to the vehicle body  10  via a pair of front stays  43  and a pair of rear stays  44 . 
         [0029]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the front stays  43  are extended downward from front end corners of the top plate  40  as being tilted frontward and each lower end part thereof is fixed to a front end part of the vehicle body  10 . A mutual distance (“a” in  FIG. 3 ) of the front stays  43  is approximately the same over the entire length. 
         [0030]    In contrast, the rear stays  44  respectively have an expanding portion  44   a  which is linearly protruded sideward to be gradually apart from each other toward the lower side from rear end corners of the top plate  40  and a stay body  44   b  which is extended downward to be approximately vertical from a lower end part of the expanding portion  44   a  as each lower end part thereof being fixed to the rear end part of the vehicle body  10 . The stay bodies  44   b  which are arranged in parallel to each other in the rear stays  44  have a mutual distance (“b” in  FIG. 3 ) being approximately the same as a mutual distance of the guide faces  22   a  arranged at the post-like members  22  enabling the battery case  31  and the battery hood  33  to pass therethrough. The joint position between the stay body  44   b  and the expanding portion  44   a  is set at a position as high as possible so that the battery hood  33  is not interfered with the rear stay  44  even when being moved from the horizontal position to the frontward-tilted position and that the battery  30  is not interfered with the battery case  31  even when being placed at the battery transfer position. 
         [0031]    As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , a slit  45  is formed at the top plate  40 . The slit  45  is formed from a rear end of the top plate  40  to the front side along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body  10  as being arranged to have a front end part thereof located at the front side from the center point of a dimension of the battery  30  in the front-rear direction. 
         [0032]    The battery type forklift structured as described above is used for loading-unloading operation in a state that the battery  30  mounted on the battery mount face  16  is covered with the battery hood  33  and the rear face of the counter weight  20  is covered with the weight cover  23 . That is, owing to operation of a driver sitting on the driver seat  34 , driving is performed by the electric motor (not illustrated) via the front wheels  11  and the rear wheels  12  and desired loading-unloading operation can be performed by appropriately raising and lowering the fork  13 . 
         [0033]    Here, according to the abovementioned battery forklift, a part of the battery  30  is mounted on the vehicle body  10  in a state that the part of the battery  30  is located at the rear side across the rear stay  44  which supports the top plate  40  as being overlapped with the counter weight  20 . Therefore, the weight of the battery  30  effectively functions as a balancing weight and the vehicle body  10  can be structured as remarkably reducing the weight of the counter weight  20  itself. Accordingly, energy saving can be achieved such that power consumption of the battery  30  is reduced as lightening the weight of the vehicle body  10 , and the like. 
         [0034]    In addition, since the battery  30  is mounted at a position above the rear wheels  12 , a dimension of the battery  30  along the right-left direction can be ensured to be large. Therefore, even in a case that the battery  30  having the same weight is mounted, the battery  30  can be placed at the further rear side of the vehicle body  10  as reducing the dimension of the battery  30  along the right-left direction. Accordingly, it is possible to utilize as the balancing weight more effectively. 
         [0035]    Further, the concave portion is formed at the upper face of the counter weight  20  through which the battery case  31  can pass in the front-rear direction and the mutual distance between the rear stays  44  which support the top plate  40  is also formed in size to enable the battery case  31  to pass therethrough. Furthermore, the slit  45  is formed at the top plate  40  as being extended along the front-rear direction and opened to the rear end thereof. Accordingly, when the weight cover  23  is removed and the battery hood  33  is moved to the frontward-tilted position as illustrated in  FIG. 5  and hoisting is performed with a wire W from the above state as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the battery  30  can be lifted to the battery transfer position. When the battery  30  is directly translated to the rear side, the battery  30  can be removed from the vehicle body  10 , as illustrated in  FIG. 7 . In a case of mounting the battery  30  on the vehicle body  10 , it is only required to perform the reverse operation. 
         [0036]    During the above, there is no obstruction with the rear stays  44  arranged at the sides of the vehicle body  10  and ancillary operation such as detaching-attaching the rear stays  44  is not required when moving the battery  30  in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body  10 . Accordingly, there is not a fear that operability of loading-unloading of the battery  30  is diminished. 
         [0037]    In addition, since the post-like members  22  are arranged at both sides of the upper face of the weight body  21  of the counter weight  20 , the guide face  22   a  formed at each post-like member  22  becomes to a guide when the battery  30  is moved in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body  10 . Accordingly, there is not a fear to cause problems of collision of the battery  30  during being transferred with another component as being swayed in the right-left direction of the vehicle body, mutual damage thereof, and the like. 
         [0038]    Similarly, since the cushion material  35   a  is arranged at the support bracket  35  which supports the battery hood  33 , even when the battery case  31  collides with the support bracket  35  by momentum of mounting the battery  30 , there is not a fear to cause severe damage for both thereof. 
         [0039]    Here, in the abovementioned first embodiment, the pair of post-like members  22  is arranged only at the counter weight  20  and the battery  30  is to be guided between the post-like members  22 . However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, in a second embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 8 , a protruded stripe portion  122  extended in the front-rear direction is arranged at the center part of an upper face of a counter weight  120  and a guide groove  131   a  enabling the protruded stripe portion  122  to be inserted therethrough is arranged at a bottom face of a battery case  131 . In the second embodiment as well, owing to that the protruded stripe portion  122  is inserted to the guide groove  131   a , the protruded stripe portion  122  and the guide groove  131   a  function as the guide for moving the battery  30  in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body  10 . Accordingly, there is not a fear to cause problems of collision of the battery  30  during being transferred with another component as being swayed in the right-left direction of the vehicle body, mutual damage thereof, and the like. 
         [0040]    Similarly, in a third embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 9 , a guide groove  222  is arranged at the center part of an upper face of a counter weight  220  along the front-rear direction and a protruded stripe portion  231   a  capable of being inserted to the guide groove  222  is formed at a bottom face of a battery case  231 . In the third embodiment as well, owing to that the protruded stripe portion  231   a  is inserted to the guide groove  222 , the protruded stripe portion  231   a  and the guide groove  222  function as the guide for moving the battery  30  in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body  10 . Accordingly, there is not a fear to cause problems of collision of the battery  30  during being transferred with another component as being swayed in the right-left direction of the vehicle body, mutual damage thereof, and the like. 
         [0041]    Here, in the second embodiment and the third embodiment, the same numeral is given to the same structure of the first embodiment and detailed description thereof will not repeated. 
         [0042]    Further, each of the abovementioned first to third embodiments exemplifies the battery which stores a number of battery cells in the battery case. However, the structure of the battery is not limited thereto. 
       REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 
       [0000]    
       
         
           
               10  Vehicle body 
               13  Fork 
               16  Battery mount face 
               20  Counter weight 
               21  Weight body 
               20   a  Abutting portion 
               22  Post-like member 
               22   a  Guide face 
               22   b  Front end face 
               30  Battery 
               30   a  Rear end face 
               40  Top plate 
               44  Rear stay 
               120  Counter weight 
               122  Protruded strip portion 
               131  Battery case 
               131   a  Guide groove 
               220  Counter weight 
               222  Guide groove 
               231  Battery case 
               231   a  Protruded strip portion