JPH06310208A - Charging connector for electric vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To hold one connector in the temporarily fitted state. CONSTITUTION:A charger-side connector has a locking groove 22 formed thereon, and a vehicle-side connector has a holding claw 7 to be fitted to the locking groove 22, so that they can be engaged when the charger-side connector is fitted to a prescribed depth position. Thus, the charger-side connector is held in the temporarily fitted position. In a one having a drawing plate 15 for encouraging the fitting of both the connectors in which the drawing plate 15 is simultaneously engaged with the vehicle-side connector in the temporary fitting position, the temporarily fitting position corresponds to the operation starting position of the drawing plate 15 as it is.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a charge connector for electric vehicles. And, in particular, it relates to a charger side connector that can be held in a temporarily locked state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Practical application of electric vehicles is expected in the near future. In this case, the problem of charging the battery is indispensable, and among them, the charging connector is one of the important issues to be considered. For example, in the charging operation, the vehicle-side connector fixed to the vehicle side is connected to the tip of the power supply cable extending from the charger in the charger-side connector.

[0003]

In the one used for charging the electric vehicle as described above, the charge current is also high, and the size of the terminal accompanying this causes the connector itself to be relatively large. In addition, the connector on the charger side is attached to the end of a long cable as described above, so when it is held in hand, the weight of the cable acts in addition to the weight of the connector itself, so it is expected that the overall weight will be considerable. It Therefore, considering the work of fitting the connectors together, it is necessary to achieve good operability especially for the connector on the charger side.

That is, the connectors must be locked by locking after the fitting operation to prevent the connectors from coming off. However, until the locking operation is performed, the fitting force must be continuously applied, which causes fatigue. Invite. In this case, if the hand is released in a state where the fitting is incomplete, the connector may come off and fall and be damaged. Especially, considering the weight of the charging side connector, such a thing is fully expected.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electric vehicle connector which can be held in a temporarily fitted state.

[0006]

The structure of the invention according to claim 1 for achieving the above object is a vehicle side connector fixed to a vehicle body, and a fitting operation can be performed with respect to the vehicle side connector. In order to hold the charger-side connector at a predetermined fitting position with respect to the vehicle-side connector, one of the vehicle-side connector and the charger-side connector is provided with respect to the mating connector. The present invention is characterized in that a temporary locking mechanism that locks in a detachable manner is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-described charge connector, the charger-side connector is engaged with the vehicle-side connector by a retracting operation so as to fit both connectors. A retracting mechanism for assisting the fitting operation is provided, and the fitting depth position when the temporary locking mechanism is locked to the mating connector is
The retracting mechanism is substantially aligned with a position where the retractable mechanism can be engaged with the vehicle-side connector.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when the charger side connector is fitted into the vehicle side connector to a certain depth, both connectors are engaged with each other by the temporary locking mechanism, whereby the charger side connector is It becomes possible to hold.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when both connectors are held by the temporary locking mechanism, the retracting mechanism provided on the charger side connector is positioned at the locking position for the vehicle side connector. Therefore, the pulling-in operation by the pulling-in mechanism can be immediately performed at the temporary locking position, and the fitting operation of the connectors can be correctly performed.

[0010]

The effects of the present invention are as follows. Since the temporary locking mechanism is set, the charger-side connector can be held when both connectors are temporarily fitted. Therefore,
During the fitting work, the worker does not need to continue the fitting force, and damage due to the charger-side connector falling off can be avoided in advance.

Further, in the case where the charger side connector is provided with the retracting mechanism, since the temporary fitting position and the locking position where the retracting mechanism engages with the vehicle side connector can be made to coincide with each other, the retracting mechanism is There is an advantage that the pulling operation can be surely performed without redoing the locking operation of.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the vehicle-side connector 1 and the charger-side connector 2 as a whole. First, the vehicle-side connector 1 will be explained. Although not shown in the housing 3 of the connector, charging connected to a battery is performed. There are terminals for various signal lines, such as for detecting the connection status or fitting status. The housing 3 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a pair of protrusions 4 is provided on a part of the outer peripheral surface (only one side is shown in FIG. 1).

On the other hand, on the inner peripheral surface of the housing 3 of the vehicle side connector 1, at a predetermined depth position from the opening surface, a metal holding ring 5 for holding the charger side connector 2 in a temporarily fitted state. Are provided (see FIG. 5).
The mounting is performed by the housing 3 of the vehicle-side connector 1.
It is performed by fitting the inner peripheral surface of the mounting groove 6 which is recessed along the circumferential direction. In this example, the retaining ring 5 is provided with retaining claws 7 at a total of four locations at regular intervals. Each holding claw 7 is a charger side connector 2
One of the slits is formed as a free end between both slits cut along the fitting operation direction, and each of them is bent inward in a substantially mountain-like shape and protrudes, and is bent in the direction in which this shape collapses. Modifications that allow this are allowed.

Next, the charger side connector 2 will be described.
The connector 2 on this side has a gun type main body 8 for facilitating the fitting operation, and a cylindrical connector housing 9 is provided on the tip side thereof. Various terminals corresponding to the vehicle-side connector 1 are incorporated therein, and when the both connectors 1 and 2 are fitted to each other, electrical connection between the corresponding terminals of both connectors 1 and 2 is made. It is possible. In order to obtain a complete fitting state of both connectors 1 and 2 and to realize this with a light operating force, a retracting mechanism for assisting the fitting operation of both connectors 1 and 2 is provided in this example. It is set.

A grip 10 is provided on the rear portion of the main body 8, and an upper end side of a lever 11 that can be gripped is supported on an upper portion of the grip 10. The lever 11 is rotatably mounted around the support pin 12, and a torsion spring (not shown) is attached to the support pin 12 to urge the lever 11 in the returning direction. Further, the hook ring 1 is attached to the lower end of the lever 11.
3 is attached, and the lever 11 can be held in a gripped state (a state in which it is brought close to the grip 10 side) by being hooked on the grip 10 side.

On the other hand, the outer peripheral portion of the connector housing 9 is covered with the front cover 14,
Both left and right sides of the cover 14 are bulged along the length direction. Further, here, a pair of pull-in plates 15 for engaging the both protrusions 4 of the vehicle-side connector 1 to perform a pull-in operation (fitting assist operation) is arranged. That is, the two protrusions 4 are provided on the leading end side of the both pull-in plates 15.
The window portions 16 for engaging with each other pass through, and the rear side protrudes from the front cover 14, is bent along the wall surface of the main body 8 and further extends rearward.
Further, both of the pull-in plates 15 can be guided by a guide piece 17 so that they can be moved back and forth along the length direction of the main body 8.

Further, as a mechanism for moving the both retracting plates 15 forward and backward, in this example, the both retracting plates 1 are used.
5 and the lever 11 are linked through the following gear mechanism.

That is, a pair of left and right sector gears 18 are attached to the support pin 12 of the lever 11, and the lever 1
It is possible to swing in conjunction with the first grip operation. Also,
Both sector gears 18 mesh with a first gear 19 which is attached to the main body 8 in a freely rotatable manner, and the first gear 19 meshes with a second gear 20 adjacent to the first gear 19. Further, the second gear 20 meshes with rack teeth 21 formed on the rear ends of the two pull-in plates 15. Although the first and second gears 19 and 20 have the same number of teeth in this example, the gear ratio may be changed to make the pull-in operation lighter. Further, the main body 8 is provided with a rear cover 25 that covers the above-mentioned gear mechanism portion.

By the way, the inner peripheral surface of the housing 9 of the charger side connector 2 is formed with a locking groove 22 which is detachably engaged with each holding claw 7 of the vehicle side connector 1 along the entire circumference. . When each holding claw 7 engages with the locking groove 22, the charger-side connector 2 is set to the vehicle-side connector 1 and the engaging force is set so that the detachment can be reliably avoided. ing. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when the holding claws 7 are engaged with the locking groove 22, the window portions 16 of the two pull-in plates 15 are simultaneously fitted to the both protrusions 4 of the vehicle-side connector 1. In this sense, the engagement between the holding claw 7 and the locking groove 22 serves as a positioning means that defines the insertion depth of the pull-in plate 15.

As shown in FIG. 5, the two retracting plates 15 normally have a slightly expanded front end side, and interfere with the protrusions 4 when the charger side connector 2 is pushed into the temporary fitting position. I try not to. However, when the lever 11 is gripped at the temporary fitting position,
When the two retracting plates 15 are slightly retracted, the closing operation is performed in the following manner. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the two retracting plates 15 are each formed with a convex portion 23, which normally rides on the wall surface of the housing 9 which faces the convex portion 23. The wall 9 has a groove 24 that is engraved in a predetermined length range on the wall surface of the wall 9 to be closed.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment configured as described above will be specifically described. When fitting both connectors 1 and 2, the grip 10 is grasped, the charger side connector 2 is matched with the vehicle side connector 1, and it pushes in as it is. Then, the tip of the housing 9 of the charger-side connector 2 passes through the holding ring 5 while flexibly deforming the holding claws 7 and is pushed to a predetermined depth position (temporary fitting position). Elastically returns to engage with the locking groove 22. However, until reaching here, both pull-in plates 1
5 is in the expanded state, and interference with the protrusion 4 is avoided.

The charger-side connector 2 is held at the temporary fitting position by the engagement between the holding claws 7 and the locking groove 22 described above. Therefore, the situation in which the charger side connector 2 is inadvertently dropped off even if the hand is released in this state is avoided in advance. Further, when the lever 11 is lightly gripped and operated at the time of temporary fitting, the both pull-in plates 15 are slightly retracted through the engagement of the sector gear 18 and the first and second gears 19 and 20. As a result, a closing operation is performed in which the convex portions 23 of the two pull-in plates 15 fall into the groove portions 24 and approach the main body 8 side. It is automatically positioned so that it fits in. Therefore, when the lever 11 is further gripped, the pull-in plate 15 can be pulled in as it is, and the charger-side connector 2 releases the engagement between the holding claws 7 and the locking groove 22 and completes the connection to the vehicle-side connector 1. Move forward to the fitting position (state in FIG. 8). Thus, the fitting of the connectors 1 and 2 is completed.
Then, if the hooking ring 13 is hooked on the grip 10, the lever 11 is maintained as it is when it is gripped.

When the charger side connector 2 is to be removed after charging is completed, first the hooking ring 13 is removed and the lever 11 is released. As a result, when the lever 11 is returned in the returning direction by a torsion spring (not shown), the gear mechanisms rotate in the opposite directions to the above, and when the both pull-in plates 15 reach near their forward ends, the convex portion rides up from the groove portion. As a result, they are forcibly expanded and deformed.
Therefore, the engagement between the pull-in plates and the vehicle-side connector is released, and the connectors 1 and 2 are pulled out.

As described above, since the charger side connector 2 is held at the temporary fitting position in this example, the lever 11 is held until the charger side connector 2 is displaced to the complete fitting position thereafter. Since it is not necessary to continuously apply the pressing force (fitting force) to the whole by simply grasping the
The fitting operation becomes easy. Further, it is possible to avoid the situation where the charger-side connector 2 is dropped and damaged in the temporary fitting state. Furthermore, in this example, the gripping timing of the lever 11 is regulated at the time of temporary fitting, so that the lever can be operated without error and the workability can be improved.

It should be noted that the present invention should not be limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but various modifications can be made.
For example, instead of the form of the holding claw 7 of the holding ring 5,
A method in which a ball urged by a spring is engaged with a notch on the other side is also conceivable. Also, the pull-in plate 1
The mechanism for moving back and forth 5 does not have to be a gear mechanism in particular, and any type of mechanism may be used as long as it can move both retracting plates 15 forward and backward in conjunction with the operation of the lever 11. Furthermore, in particular, even when it is not necessary to reduce the fitting force between the connectors 1 and 2, even the mechanism for retracting may be omitted. Further, as a mechanism for complete fitting, a push-in type mechanism can be considered as opposed to the pull-in mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle-side / charger-side connector

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state before fitting.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a temporarily fitted state.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a completely fitted state.

FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view showing a temporarily fitted state.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a holding state during temporary mating.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view showing a completely fitted state.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a relationship between a convex portion and a groove portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Vehicle-side connector 2 ... Charger-side connector 7 ... Holding claw (temporary locking mechanism) 15 ... Retracting plate (retracting mechanism) 22 ... Locking groove (temporary locking mechanism)

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 16, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Added

[Correction content]

[Claims]

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0007

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-described charge connector, the charger-side connector is engaged with the vehicle-side connector by retracting the connector so as to fit the two connectors. A retracting mechanism for assisting the fitting operation is provided, and the fitting depth position when the temporary locking mechanism is locked to the mating connector is
The retracting mechanism is substantially aligned with a position where the retractable mechanism can be engaged with the vehicle-side connector. Further, the configuration of the invention according to claim 3 is the vehicle side.
Charger side connector that can be inserted into the connector and operated
A charge connector for an electric vehicle having:
A lever that is provided on the charger side connector and that can be gripped
And the lever on the vehicle side in conjunction with the grip operation of the lever.
Plate for pulling the battery into the charger side connector
And the pull-in plug to the connector on the charger side.
Guide means for recessing and deforming the rate is provided, and
The tip of the plate is always open,
It has a feature that it deforms in accordance with the grip operation of the
It is a characteristic.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when both connectors are held by the temporary locking mechanism, the retracting mechanism provided on the charger side connector is positioned at the locking position for the vehicle side connector. Therefore, the pulling-in operation by the pulling-in mechanism can be immediately performed at the temporary locking position, and the fitting operation of the connectors can be correctly performed. Further, in the invention according to claim 3, the vehicle-side connector
When fitting the charger side connector to the
The tip of the rate is widened and both connectors are fitted together.
After pulling the lever,
The end is deformed into a recess and engages with the vehicle-side connector. But
At the end of the pull-in plate when fitting both connectors.
The end can be fitted without hitting the vehicle side connector.
Wear.

[Procedure Amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Further, in the case where the charger side connector is provided with the retracting mechanism, since the temporary fitting position and the locking position where the retracting mechanism engages with the vehicle side connector can be made to coincide with each other, the retracting mechanism is There is an advantage that the pulling operation can be surely performed without redoing the locking operation of. Further, in the invention according to claim 3, both connectors are connected.
At the time of fitting, the pull-in plate is expanded
Can prevent the smooth fitting of the pull-in plate.
The deformation can be prevented without fail, and reliable and reliable pulling is possible.
The effect that a complicated operation can be realized is achieved.

[Procedure correction 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0022

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

The charger-side connector 2 is held at the temporary fitting position by the engagement between the holding claws 7 and the locking groove 22 described above. Therefore, the situation in which the charger side connector 2 is inadvertently dropped off even if the hand is released in this state is avoided in advance. Further, when the lever 11 is lightly gripped and operated at the time of temporary fitting, the both pull-in plates 15 are slightly retracted through the engagement of the sector gear 18 and the first and second gears 19 and 20. Thus, although the closing operation protrusion 23 of both retraction plate 15 approaches to the main body 8 side depressed in the groove 24 is performed, as described above, the temporary fitting
The window portion 16 is automatically positioned so that the window portion 16 fits with the protrusion 4 at the position. Therefore, the lever 11
When the user grasps and operates the retraction plate 15, the retraction plate 15 can be retracted as it is, and the charger-side connector 2 has the holding claws 7
The engagement between the locking groove 22 and the locking groove 22 is released, and the vehicle is advanced to the complete fitting position ( state in FIG. 9 ) with respect to the vehicle side connector 1. Thus,
The mating of the connectors 1 and 2 is completed. Then, if the hooking ring 13 is hooked on the grip 10, the lever 11 is maintained as it is when it is gripped.

[Procedure Amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Brief description of the drawing

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle-side / charger-side connector

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a state before fitting.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a temporarily fitted state.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a completely fitted state.

FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view showing a state before fitting.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a holding state during temporary mating.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a holding state before reaching a temporary mating state .
Figure

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a relationship between a convex portion and a groove portion.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view showing a completely fitted state.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ... Vehicle side connector 2 ... Charger side connector 7 ... Holding claw (temporary locking mechanism) 15 ... Retracting plate (retracting mechanism) 22 ... Locking groove (temporary locking mechanism)

[Procedure Amendment 8]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Figure 9

[Correction method] Added

[Correction content]

[Figure 9]

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tsutomu Tanaka 1-14 Nishisuehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. (72) Eiji Saijo 1-14 Nishisuehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Denso Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle-side connector fixed to a vehicle body, and a charger-side connector that can be inserted into and operated on the vehicle-side connector, wherein the charger-side connector is predetermined with respect to the vehicle-side connector. In order to hold it in the fitted position, either one of the vehicle-side connector and the charger-side connector is provided with a temporary locking mechanism that is detachably locked to the mating connector. Charge connector for electric vehicles. 2. The electric vehicle charge connector according to claim 1, wherein the charger-side connector is engaged with the vehicle-side connector by a retracting operation in a state in which the both connectors are engaged with each other. A retracting mechanism for assisting is provided, and a fitting depth position when the temporary locking mechanism is locked to the mating connector is substantially aligned with a position where the retracting mechanism can be hooked to the vehicle side connector. A charge connector for an electric vehicle, which is characterized in that