IP Library Granted Patent US 12709869
Granted Patent B2
US 12709869 · App. 18/647,250 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Driving apparatus, driving method, and driving program

Inventor: Kazuhito Nakamura (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: NABTESCO CORPORATION
E02F9/207B60L15/32E02F3/38B60L2200/40B60L2210/40
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12709869
App. No.
18/647,250
Granted
Aug 18, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A driving apparatus of an electric construction machine including a lower traveling body, an upper rotating body that is attached to the lower traveling body, a boom attached to the upper rotating body, an arm that is attached to the boom, and a bucket that is attached to the arm, includes: a battery that generates DC power, DC/AC converters that convert the DC power generated by the battery into AC power, a contactless transmission unit that contactlessly transmit the AC power converted by the DC/AC converters in joint components of the electric construction machine, and an actuator that drives the joint component based on the AC power transmitted from the contactless transmission unit.

Claims (64)

1 . A driving apparatus comprising:

a conversion unit that converts power generated by a power source to AC power having a higher frequency;

a contactless transmission unit that contactlessly transmits the converted AC power in a joint component of an electric machine;

a drive unit that drives the joint component based on the transmitted AC power; and

an AC voltage bus,

wherein

the electric machine is a construction machine comprising a plurality of joint components,

the power source is a DC power source that generates DC power,

the conversion unit converts the DC power into AC power,

the conversion unit is provided in at least one of the plurality of joint components,

the joint component is at least one of a lower traveling body that can travel on the ground, an upper rotating body that is rotatably attached to the lower traveling body, a boom capable of being raised and lowered that is attached to the upper rotating body, an arm that is bendably attached to the boom, and a bucket that is bendably attached to the arm,

the conversion unit is provided in the upper rotating body,

the contactless transmission unit includes a boom transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the boom, an arm transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the arm, and a bucket transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the bucket,

the conversion unit transmits the converted AC power to the boom transmission unit,

the boom transmission unit transmits the AC power to the arm transmission unit, and

the arm transmission unit transmits the AC power to the bucket transmission unit, and

the AC voltage bus directly connects the boom transmission unit, the arm transmission unit, and the bucket transmission unit.

2 . The driving apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a drive information acquisition unit that acquires drive information of a plurality of the drive units;

an identification unit that identifies, based on the drive information, the operation performed by the construction machine through the lower traveling body, the boom, the arm, and the bucket; and

a determination unit that determines the power to be transmitted to the plurality of drive units via the contactless transmission unit, in accordance with the identified operation of the construction machine.

3 . The driving apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the contactless transmission unit includes a lower traveling body transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the lower traveling body, and wherein

the lower traveling body transmission unit comprises a step-down transmission unit that steps down the AC voltage converted by the conversion unit of the upper rotating body at the rotating portion between the upper rotating body and the lower traveling body, and contactlessly transmits it, and a step-up transmission unit that steps up the AC voltage stepped down by the step-down transmission unit, and contactlessly transmits the power to the drive unit of the lower traveling body.

4 . The driving apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the DC power generated by the DC power source is transmitted to the drive unit of the upper rotating body without being converted by the conversion unit.

5 . The driving apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a regenerative power charge unit that charges regenerative power collected in the drive unit, wherein

the contactless transmission unit contactlessly transmits the AC power of the regenerative power collected in the drive unit to the conversion unit, and wherein

the conversion unit converts the AC power of the regenerative power transmitted from the contactless transmission unit into DC power and transmits it to the regenerative power charge unit.

6 . The driving apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an AC superimposition unit that superimposes AC power on the DC power generated by the DC power source, and wherein

the conversion unit is connected to the output of the AC superimposition unit and is configured by a DC removal filter that removes the DC power and allows the AC power to pass through.

7 . The driving apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising an AC conversion unit that converts the frequency of the AC power that has passed through the DC removal filter and transmits it to the contactless transmission unit.

8 . The driving apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the conversion unit converts the power generated by the power source into AC power with a frequency of 1 kHz or higher.

9 . A driving method comprising:

convert, by a conversion unit, power generated by a power source to AC power having a higher frequency;

contactlessly transmit, by a contactless transmission unit, the converted AC power in a joint component of an electric machine; and

drive, by a drive unit, the joint component based on the transmitted AC power,

wherein

the electric machine is a construction machine comprising a plurality of joint components,

the power source is a DC power source that generates DC power,

the conversion unit converts the DC power into AC power,

the conversion unit is provided in at least one of the plurality of joint components,

the joint component is at least one of a lower traveling body that can travel on the ground, an upper rotating body that is rotatably attached to the lower traveling body, a boom capable of being raised and lowered that is attached to the upper rotating body, an arm that is bendably attached to the boom, and a bucket that is bendably attached to the arm,

the conversion unit is provided in the upper rotating body,

the contactless transmission unit includes a boom transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the boom, an arm transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the arm, and a bucket transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the bucket,

the conversion unit transmits the converted AC power to the boom transmission unit,

the boom transmission unit transmits the AC power to the arm transmission unit,

the arm transmission unit transmits the AC power to the bucket transmission unit, and

the driving method further comprises directly connecting an AC voltage bus to the boom transmission unit, the arm transmission unit, and the bucket transmission unit.

10 . A driving program causing a computer to perform:

convert, by a conversion unit, power generated by a power source to AC power having a higher frequency;

contactlessly transmit, by a contactless transmission unit, the converted AC power in a joint component of an electric machine; and

drive, by a drive unit, the joint component based on the transmitted AC power,

wherein

the electric machine is a construction machine comprising a plurality of joint components,

the power source is a DC power source that generates DC power,

the conversion unit converts the DC power into AC power,

the conversion unit is provided in at least one of the plurality of joint components,

the joint component is at least one of a lower traveling body that can travel on the ground, an upper rotating body that is rotatably attached to the lower traveling body, a boom capable of being raised and lowered that is attached to the upper rotating body, an arm that is bendably attached to the boom, and a bucket that is bendably attached to the arm,

the conversion unit is provided in the upper rotating body,

the contactless transmission unit includes a boom transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the boom, an arm transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the arm, and a bucket transmission unit that contactlessly transmits power to the drive unit of the bucket,

the conversion unit transmits the converted AC power to the boom transmission unit,

the boom transmission unit transmits the AC power to the arm transmission unit,

the arm transmission unit transmits the AC power to the bucket transmission unit, and

the boom transmission unit, the arm transmission unit, and the bucket transmission unit are directly connected to an AC voltage bus.