ENERGY TRANSMISSION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ENERGY TRANSMISSION

Abstract

An energy transmission device for a watercraft includes a tower arranged on land, a telescoping boom connected to the tower for pivoting about a horizontal axis and about a vertical axis, said boom including a free end, and a first plug connected to the free end of the boom and designed to electrically contact for transmission of electrical energy a second upwardly oriented plug on the watercraft via a vertical plugging motion from above by pivoting the boom relative to the tower.

Claims

1.-11. (canceled)

12. An energy transmission device for a watercraft, said energy transmission device comprising; a tower arranged on land; a telescoping boom connected to the tower for pivoting about a horizontal axis and about a vertical axis, said boom including a free end; and a first plug connected to the free end of the boom and designed to electrically contact for transmission of electrical energy a second upwardly oriented plug on the watercraft via a vertical plugging motion from above by pivoting the boom relative to the tower.

13. The energy transmission device of claim 12, further comprising: a drive operably connected to the boom; a sensor arranged on at least one of the first and second plugs for positioning the first plug relative to the second plug; and an evaluation and control unit designed to convert data from the sensor into a control signal for activating the drive so as to pivot the boom in order to couple or uncouple the first and second plugs.

14. The energy transmission device of claim 13, further comprising reflectors arranged on the first and second plugs for reflecting a sensor signal from the sensor.

15. The energy transmission device of claim 12, wherein the first plug is connected to the boom for rotation about three axes.

16. The energy transmission device of claim 13, further comprising centering elements having inclined surfaces for engagement in centering receptacles on the other one of the first and second plugs, when the first and second plugs are coupled.

17. The energy transmission device of claim 16, further comprising compression springs arranged on at least one of the first and second plugs and configured to apply a spring force which after mechanical centering via the centering elements and centering receptacles opposes a further approach of the first and second plugs, so that an electrical contact between the first and second plugs only exists when the spring force is less than a force generated as the boom is actively lowered.

18. The energy transmission device of claim 12, wherein the boom includes conductor lines and current collectors in contact with the conductor lines so as to transmit electrical energy from a non-telescoped section of the boom to a telescoped section of the boom.

19. The energy transmission device of claim 12, further comprising a boom lifter coupled to the boom and designed to exert on the boom a boom lifting force which is solely sufficient to separate the first plug from the second plug.

20. The energy transmission device of claim 19, wherein the boom lifter includes a counterweight which is arranged on an end of the boom which end faces away from the first plug.

21. A method for the transmission of electrical energy to a watercraft via an energy transmission device which comprises a boom with a first plug, said method comprising: maneuvering the watercraft to bring a second plug within range of the first plug; telescoping and pivoting the boom horizontally and vertically into a position in which the first plug is located above the second plug; measuring with a sensor a distance between the first and second plugs to generate data; and lowering the boom as a function of control data calculated from the measured data in opposition to a spring force acting between the first and second plugs such that mechanical centering elements and centering receptacles become engaged between the first and second plugs and an electrical contact between the first and second plugs for energy transmission is established.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising releasing a plug connection between the first and second plugs by reducing a force which lowers the first plug until the first plug is lifted by a boom lifting force of a boom lifter.

Description

[0029] The invention is explained hereinafter with reference to schematically shown exemplary embodiments. It is shown in:

[0030] FIG. 1 a perspective view of an energy transmission device;

[0031] FIG. 2 the energy transmission device of FIG. 1 during a positioning process;

[0032] FIG. 3 the positioning device of FIG. 1 before being lowered onto a socket on a watercraft;

[0033] FIG. 4 the energy transmission device of FIG. 1 in the plugged state;

[0034] FIG. 5 the energy transmission device from FIG. 1 in a parking position;

[0035] FIG. 6 a purely schematic representation of a further exemplary embodiment of an energy transmission device;

[0036] FIG. 6a a purely schematic representation of a further exemplary embodiment of an energy transmission device;

[0037] FIG. 7 the energy transmission device of FIG. 6 with the plug being lifted;

[0038] FIG. 8 the energy transmission device of FIGS. 6 and 7 with the plug deflected to the side;

[0039] FIG. 9 a perspective view from above of the plug of FIG. 8;

[0040] FIG. 9a an enlarged view of the plug 5 of FIG. 6a;

[0041] FIG. 10 a side view of the plug of FIG. 9 in the coupled state; and

[0042] FIG. 11 a bottom view of the plug of FIG. 10.

[0043] FIG. 1 shows an energy transmission device 1 for a watercraft 2, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5. The watercraft 2 is a ferry that is operated electrically. The energy transmission device 1 includes a tower 3 and a boom 4 which is arranged at the top of the tower 1 and has two legs. The tower 3 is arranged in a central region of the boom 4 and divides it into a longer and a shorter region. The boom 4 is pivotable relative to the tower 3. The arrows drawn in FIG. 1 indicate that the boom 4 can be pivoted both about a horizontal axis, which is designated by Y, and about a vertical axis, which is designated by Z. FIG. 6 shows a simplified illustration of the kinematic principle. In addition, the boom 4 can be telescoped in its longitudinal direction. The positions of the boom 4, shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, point respectively in the X-direction of the Cartesian coordinate system. The boom 4 can also be telescoped even when it was previously pivoted about the horizontal axis Y or the vertical axis Z, i.e. it does not point in the X direction.

[0044] The boom 4 has a plug 5 at its free end. The plug 5 is representative of a larger assembly (plug head, coupling unit), the main task of which is to establish an electrically conductive contact for power transmission from the land side to the watercraft 2. For this purpose, the plug 5 has to be brought into the correct position relative to the counterpart on the watercraft 2. FIG. 2 shows that the boom 4 is initially pivoted to such an extent that the plug 5 is located on the watercraft 2 above a plug 6 serving as a socket (FIG. 3, concealed). The socket is located in a tower-like structure 7 on the watercraft 2. The tower-like structure 7 has an upper end which carries the socket. The socket itself is situated within a housing 8 at the upper end of the structure 7 to protect the socket from weather conditions when not in use. The housing 8 has a roof-like closure 9 on the topside. The closure 9 is closed in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, the closure 9 is open. A flat roof construction may be involved, which is made of one or more segments that open when being shifted relative to each other in the horizontal direction to thereby expose the inside socket (sliding roof).

[0045] To establish a plug connection, the plug 5 has to be lowered onto the socket 6. This is shown in FIG. 4. The plug contact is maintained as long as energy and/or data are to be transmitted. The boom 4 is then raised again and pivoted into a parking position, as shown in FIG. 5. The closure 9 on the housing 8 above the socket 6 is closed again. The watercraft 2 can depart.

[0046] The method according to the invention will be explained in detail hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 6 to 11. The reference signs introduced above continue to be used for essentially the same components.

[0047] FIG. 6 shows the kinematic principle of the energy transmission device 1 according to the invention. The boom 4 is pivotable on the tower 3 about the shown horizontal axis Y and about the vertical axis Z. A translational movement is possible in X direction. The plug 5 is arranged at one end of the boom 4. Arranged at the other end of the boom 4 is a counterweight to serve as boom lifter 10. The boom lifter 10 uses its weight G to exert an upward boom lifting force F on the boom 4 or the plug 5. As the horizontal axis Y is located between the boom lifter 10 and the plug 5, the movements of the ends of the boom 4 in the vertical direction are opposite. When the boom 4 is raised, as shown in FIG. 7, a rigid connection between the plug 5 and the boom 4 would result in an angle change at the plug 5. In order to avoid this, a drive can be provided on the plug 5, by means of which the plug 5 is tilted. As a result, the plug 5 is situated at all times parallel to the ground. The plug 5 is mounted in a ball joint.

[0048] FIG. 6a shows an exemplary embodiment with various drives. The energy transmission system includes a drive 24 for the vertical rotation axis and a drive 25 for a horizontal rotation axis. In addition, a drive 26 is arranged at the rear end of the arm 4, which is responsible for telescoping and the counterweight.

[0049] Another drive 27 at the opposite end causes the plug 5 to incline in the desired direction. Finally, provision is made for another drive 28 to turn the plug 5 in the desired direction, The drives are shown purely schematically and are shown again in FIG. 9a on an enlarged scale.

[0050] FIG. 8 shows the interaction of the drives. When, for example, the plug 5 should be pivoted or also shifted only in parallel relation to the starting position, the pivot angle W1 has to be adjusted on the tower 3 through horizontal pivoting of the arm. At the same time, the pivot angle W1 has to be pivoted relative to the boom 4 through pivoting the plug 5 in the opposite direction. Depending on how far the boom 4 is telescoped, the position of the boom lifter 10 in the form of the counterweight may also have to be adjusted.

[0051] The rough positioning of the landside plug 5 in relation to the watercraft-side socket is carried out using a 3D sensor system. The functional principle of the sensors is based in particular on a time-of-flight process. The sensors can be provided both on the landside plug 5 and on the water-side socket, The first positioning is realized using a photonic mixing detector (PMD). The relative spatial position of the landside reflectors to the ship-side reflectors is ascertained with the photonic mixing detector. The landside plug 5 is then moved in such a way that the preset target value of the position of the landside reflectors in relation to the ship-side reflectors is reached.

[0052] This is followed by a fine positioning with the aid of ultrasonic sensors. Outer metal sheets or positioning surfaces of the plug 5 or socket 6 are preferably funnel-shaped for this purpose. FIGS. 9 and 9a show that the positioning surfaces 11, which are arranged in a rectangle or square, are each set at an angle, so that a downwardly tapering truncated pyramid is formed. A sensor 12 in the form of an ultrasonic sensor is located on each of the four longitudinal positioning surfaces 11. The sensors 12 determine per ultrasound the distance to the corresponding positioning surfaces on the socket. The plug is aligned until all four ultrasonic sensors 12 indicate an approximately equal distance to the corresponding positioning surface 11 on the socket. The magnitude of this target distance is defined in advance.

[0053] The two successive steps of rough positioning and fine positioning generally enable a sufficiently precise position of the plug 5 relative to the socket 6.

[0054] FIGS. 9 and 10 further show that the plug 5 is comprised of two assemblies that are movable relative to one another. The plug 5 and includes on one hand a support plate 13. Several power contacts 14 are arranged on the support plate 13, The support plate 13 is mounted suspended on the boom 4 via a strut 15. The strut 15 is pivotally displaceable relative to the boom 4 in three spatial directions. The plug 5 can be raised and lowered by the boom 4 via the strut 15 and also rotated into the correct position,

[0055] The support plate 13 has connecting elements 16 in each corner area. The support plate 13 is movably connected via the connecting elements 16 to a positioning frame 17 as lower assembly. The positioning frame 17 includes the positioning surfaces 11 which are arranged in a funnel shape. The positioning frame 17 is optionally supported against the support plate via compression springs 18 which surround the connecting elements 16. Provision may be made for holding electromagnets 19 as an alternative or in addition to the compression springs 18 in order to initially hold the connecting elements 16 in the moved-out position.

[0056] In this exemplary embodiment, centering elements 20 in the form of several centering cones are situated in addition on the ship-side. These centering cones engage in the correct position in centering receptacles 21. The centering receptacles 21 are located below the connecting elements 16. The connecting elements 16 are firmly connected to the positioning frame and are mounted on the support plate 13 for longitudinal displacement. The connecting elements 16 guide the support plate 13 against lateral displacements and prevent the support plate 13 from twisting relative to the positioning frame 17. Thus, when the connecting elements 16 are centered exactly on the centering receptacles 21, not only is the positioning frame 17 in the correct position, but also the support plate 13 with the electrical contacts. FIG. 10 shows the centering receptacle 20 as having a funnel shape, whereas the centering element 21 has a matching cone shape.

[0057] When the plug 5 is twisted in relation to the socket in space or when the positioning by the ultrasonic sensors is not quite accurate enough, a mechanical positioning is realized via the centering elements 20 and the centering receptacles 21. At this point in time, anchoring of the connecting elements, i.e. either compression springs, which act between the scope 13 and the positioning frame 17, or holding electromagnets, hold the support plate 13 still at a vertical distance to the positioning frame 17. The plug 5 is now lowered further by overcoming the spring force or the retention force via the boom 4. As a result, the power contacts 14 of the plug 5 come into contact with the associated plug contacts on the socket.

[0058] When plugging in, contact is first established between a grounding contact mounted on the support plate 13 and the opposite side (watercraft), Then, the main current contacts interlock. Only then do the pilot contacts attached to the support plate 13 and the opposite side (watercraft) make contact. A signal that is sent via the pilot contacts releases the current to activate the holding electromagnets 23 mounted on the support plate 13, Instead of holding electromagnets, other anchoring means can be provided to hold the plug 5 in the socket during energy transmission. These anchors, for example via holding electromagnets, hold the landside plug with the ship-side socket together, so that the boom drive of the boom 4 does not have to continuously apply so much torque to ensure a secure contact.

[0059] FIG. 11 shows a view from below of the outer positioning frame 17 with its funnel-shaped positioning surfaces 11 and the support plate 13 with five evenly distributed power contacts 14 as well as several pilot contacts 22, which are arranged in a square. In addition, there are holding electromagnets 23 in alternating relation with the power contacts 14 on the underside of the support plate 13.

[0060] The positioning frame 17 furthermore shows the sensors 12 for ultrasonic positioning and the conical centering receptacles 21, which are each arranged in the corner region of the positioning frame 17. FIG. 9a also shows reflector plates 29 arranged in the corner region.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0061] 1—energy transmission system [0062] 2—watercraft [0063] 3—tower [0064] 4—boom [0065] 5—plug [0066] 6—socket [0067] 7—structure [0068] 8—housing [0069] 9—closure [0070] 10—boom lifter (counterweight) [0071] 11—positioning surface [0072] 12—sensor [0073] 13—support plate [0074] 14—power contact [0075] 15—strut [0076] 16—connecting element [0077] 17—positioning frame [0078] 18—compression spring [0079] 19—holding electromagnet [0080] 20—centering elements [0081] 21—centering receptacle [0082] 22—pilot contact [0083] 23—holding electromagnet [0084] 24—drive [0085] 25—drive [0086] 26—drive [0087] 27—drive [0088] 28—drive [0089] 29—reflector plates [0090] F—boom lifting force [0091] G—weight force [0092] W1—pivot angle [0093] Y—horizontal axis [0094] Z—vertical axis