DE102022100067A1 - MODULAR SYSTEM FOR MANUFACTURING DIFFERENT VARIANTS OF CHARGING SOCKET ELEMENTS, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A CHARGING SOCKET ELEMENT, CHARGING SOCKET ELEMENT AND CHARGING CABLE UNIT - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a modular system and a method for producing different variants (A, B) of charging plug elements (1, 1A, 1B), by means of which an on-board network (30) of a motor vehicle (20) and an electric charging device for charging an electric motor vehicle energy store can be coupled to one another are. The invention also relates to a plug-in charging element and a charging cable unit. The modular system includes variants (3A, 3B) of adapters (3), each of which has an adapter variant-specific busbar arrangement (8), by means of which electrical contact elements (5), which are arranged according to a contact element layout, and corresponding cable connecting elements (7) of the same adapter ( 3, 3A, 3B), which are arranged according to a cable connection element layout (10), are electrically connected to one another, the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B) of the modular system having different contact element layouts (6, 6A, 6B) and a common, identical cable connection element layout (10) have.

Description

technical field

The present invention relates to a modular system for producing different variants of charging plug elements. A vehicle electrical system of a motor vehicle and an electric charging device for charging an electric motor vehicle energy store can be coupled to one another by means of such plug-in charging elements. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method by means of which such a plug-in charging element is produced using the modular system. Furthermore, the invention relates to a charging plug element that was produced by means of the method in which the modular system is used. In addition, according to the invention, a charging cable unit is proposed which has the charging plug element.

State of the art

The electrification of private transport is being pushed ever further these days. In particular, hybrid motor vehicles and motor vehicles that can be driven purely electrically are becoming increasingly important. The motor vehicle has an energy store--a so-called traction accumulator--which is or can be electrically contacted with an on-board network. The vehicle electrical system includes a charging interface, via which the motor vehicle energy store can be coupled to a charging device, such as a charging station, a charging infrastructure. A charging cable unit is usually used for this purpose, which on the one hand has a plug-in element that corresponds to the charging interface of the motor vehicle and on the other hand has a plug-in element that corresponds to the charging station. For safe operation and to avoid incorrect plugging of the charging cable unit into the charging interface and into the charging station, the plug-in elements have special contact element layouts and/or plug-in element links, so that the plug-in elements can only be connected to the charging interface and the charging station in the correct alignment. However, over time, depending on the intended use, region of use, performance of the motor vehicle energy storage device, etc., different contact element layouts and plug-in element layouts have become established, for example Type 1 US, Type 2 EU, Type China GBT etc. Manufacturers of motor vehicle electrical systems and/or charging cable units therefore have to use a large number of different charging cable units with different contact element layouts and different connector elements in order to be able to serve the corresponding markets.

The charging cable units are currently manufactured using a particularly high proportion of manual work in order to assign individual cables of a charging cable to the corresponding charging cable unit from case to case to the contact element layout to be manufactured and to connect them to the associated contacts. This leads to a particularly complex manufacturing process, which is economically unfavorable, among other things.

Description of the invention

It is the object of the invention to simplify the production of a large number of charging plug element variants.

This object is solved by the subject matter of the independent patent claims. Features, advantages and possible configurations that are presented in the description for one of the subject matter of the independent claims are to be regarded at least analogously as features, advantages and possible configurations of the respective subject matter of the other independent claims as well as any possible combination of the subject matter of the independent claims. Further possible configurations of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims, the description and the figures.

According to the invention, a modular system for producing different variants of charging plug elements is proposed. A vehicle electrical system of a motor vehicle and an electric charging device for charging an electric motor vehicle energy store can be coupled to one another by means of the charging plug element. The charging plug element forms a component of a charging cable unit, with the charging cable unit comprising other components in addition to the charging plug element, for example a charging cable having several individual cables, sealing elements, a grip element, protective caps or covers, etc.

In the intended installation position of the charging plug element, the charging cable unit therefore has the charging plug element.

Different variants of adapters are sorted in the modular system, with the respective adapter variant having a busbar arrangement specific to the adapter variant. The modular system thus has two or more adapter variants, which differ from one another at least because of the different busbar arrangements. The modular system has additional components, in particular via the different adapter variants, which are used to produce the charging plug elements. These components are about different contact element variants that differ in terms of shape, size, design (socket, Ste cker) etc. differ from each other. Further components are, in particular, different sealing elements, different electrical/electronic functional component variants (resistors, diodes, etc.). The modular system can therefore have all the components required to produce the charging plug element. It is also conceivable for the modular system to be expanded into a modular system for producing different variants of charging cable units, with the modular system then comprising further components, in particular different charging cable variants, different grip element variants, different plug-in elements, etc. The modular system then has everything for producing the charging cable unit required components.

The adapter has electrical contact elements which are arranged on a plug-in element side of the corresponding adapter according to a predetermined contact element layout--for example due to a region of use or approval, a purpose of use, a performance of the motor vehicle energy store. Furthermore, the same adapter has cable connection elements which are arranged according to a predetermined cable connection element layout on a cable connection side of the adapter opposite the plug element side. In the charging cable unit that has the adapter, the individual cables of the charging cable are connected to the cable connection side of the adapter. In this case, the plug-in element side of the adapter, through which in particular a plug-in element side of the charging cable unit is formed, corresponds to a plug-in element of another charging cable unit.

Although it is conceivable that the element layouts are congruent with one another, as a result of which the conductor rail arrangement can be designed in a particularly simple manner, the element layouts differ from one another in at least one of the adapter variants. This means that the cable connection element layout and the contacting element layout are not congruent with one another in at least one of the adapter variants. Consequently, there is a different element layout on the plug-in element side than on the cable connection side. The different element layouts are then translated by means of the adapter or by means of the corresponding busbar arrangement, so that the contact elements on the plug element side are arranged according to a type 1 US contact element layout, whereas with the same adapter on the cable connection side the cable connection elements according to a type 2-EU cable connector layout are arranged.

The contact elements of the respective adapter arranged according to the contact element layout and the respective corresponding cable connection elements of the same adapter arranged according to the cable connection element layout are electrically conductively connected to one another by means of the respective adapter-specific busbar arrangement.

In order to be able to produce the different variants of the charging plug elements, which differ at least in terms of the contact element layout depending on the intended use, region of use, performance of the motor vehicle energy storage unit, etc., using the modular system in a particularly simple and/or inexpensive manner, the adapter variants of the modular system have different contact element layouts and a single common one , same cable connector layout on. In other words, the contact element layouts vary from adapter variant to adapter variant, whereas a variance in the cable connection element layouts is zero. This means that the cable connector layouts are the same from adapter variant to adapter variant. The one single cable connector layout can be, for example, a manufacturer-specific determined/specified cable connector layout.

The contact element layout, which varies from variant to variant, and the cable connection element layout, which is always the same from variant to variant, are thus electrically translated into one another by means of the adapter variant-specific busbar arrangements. Since the cable connection element layout is always the same, there are advantages in the production of the charging plug element and consequently for the production of the corresponding charging cable unit: It is possible in a particularly advantageous manner to automate production steps that previously had to be done manually, in particular the connection of the individual cables with the associated cable connection elements, which were previously arranged differently from case to case depending on the contact element layout. The more automated manufacture also increases the quality of the charging plug element and, as a result, the charging cable unit due to the reduced proportion of manual labor and keeps it at a constantly high level of quality. In addition, due to the high level of automation involved in production, incorrect connection of the individual cables to the wrong cable connection elements is virtually impossible. This prevents the production of missing parts and the associated rejects, which is ecologically beneficial. A reduced process duration and the associated economic advantages are also advantageous.

In a further development of the modular system, the cable connection side of at least one of the adapter variants is designed to be electrically connected to the individual cables of a vehicle-internal charging cable of the vehicle electrical system, whereas the plug-in element side of the same adapter variant corresponds to a plug-in element of a vehicle-external charging cable unit. Accordingly, this adapter variant is used to create a charging interface that is installed in or on the motor vehicle. In this case, the charging cable is part of the vehicle electrical system, the charging interface and the motor vehicle energy store being electrically coupled or capable of being coupled to one another by means of the charging cable or by means of the individual cables of the charging cable. As a result, different variants of charging cable units inside the motor vehicle can be produced particularly easily and with little effort.

In another development of the modular system, the cable connection side of at least one of the adapter variants is designed to be connected to the individual cables of a vehicle-external charging cable, whereas the plug-in element side of the same adapter variant corresponds to a plug-in element of a vehicle-internal charging cable unit, in particular to the charging interface. Accordingly, this adapter variant is used to produce a charging cable unit that is produced separately from the motor vehicle, in particular separately from its vehicle electrical system. As a result, different variants of vehicle-external charging cable units (which can be referred to in simplified terms as “charging cables” by customers in particular) can be produced efficiently using particularly little effort. The charging cable unit connects a user of the motor vehicle to the motor vehicle, ie to the charging interface, on the one hand, and to the electrical charging infrastructure, ie to the charging device, on the other. The user thus establishes an electrical connection between the motor vehicle energy store and the charging infrastructure in order to provide electrical energy to the motor vehicle energy store and/or the charging infrastructure (such as a power grid of an energy supplier).

The two aforementioned developments make the modular system particularly flexible and versatile, since both different variants of vehicle-external charging cable units and different variants of vehicle-internal charging cable units, in particular different variants of vehicle electrical systems or charging interfaces, can be produced.

In a further refinement of the modular system, at least one of the adapter variants is/are integrated into the conductor rail arrangement, an electrical and/or electronic functional component or more electrical functional components. The (respective) functional component is, for example, a diode, a light-emitting diode, a capacitor, an ohmic resistor, etc., which, for example - as provided in a further development of the modular system - as a respective surface-mountable or surface-mounted electrical/electronic component or SMD -Component (SMD: surface mounted device) are formed. Due to the SMD design, the functional component is particularly small and therefore particularly easy to accommodate in the charging plug element. By selecting the appropriate adapter, in whose busbar arrangement the functional component or functional components are integrated, whereby the busbar arrangement has the functional component, the manual arrangement and electrical connection (for example soldering) of the respective functional component with the corresponding contacting elements and/or is advantageously eliminated cable connectors. Instead, if the charging plug element to be manufactured or the charging cable unit to be manufactured is to have one or more of the functional components, the corresponding adapter variant is selected from the modular system.

In a further development, the functional component is an ohmic resistor, by means of which a characteristic value of an electrical charging process can be provided when the adapter or the charging plug element or the charging cable unit is operating as intended, for example in charging operation. The characteristic value is, for example, an electrical charging current that can be transmitted at most by means of the charging cable unit without excessive unwanted side effects occurring, such as excessive heating of the charging cable. A PP contact (PP: plug present) on the charging cable unit is used to determine before or during charging how much the connected charging cable unit can be loaded. For this purpose, the ohmic resistance is installed between the PP contact and a PE contact (PE: protective earth - protective conductor). The resistance value of the ohmic resistor integrated into the conductor rail arrangement, which is recruited from a predetermined group of resistance values, characterizes the line cross-section of the individual cables of the charging cable unit, which limits the performance of the charging cable unit. The following resistance values are possible: 1.5 kΩ (cable cross-section 1.5 mm ² ; maximum charging current 13 A), 680 Ω (cable cross-section 2.5 mm ² ; maximum charging current 20 A), 220 Ω (cable cross-section 4-6 mm ² ; maximum charging current 32 A), 100 Ω (cable cross-section 10-16 mm ² ; maximum charging current 63 A). By selecting the appropriate adapter variant from the modular system during the construction of the charging cable unit - in particular automatically or automatically, for example by means of a robot etc. - it is ensured that the correct ohmic resistance is always installed. This increases the safety of the charging cable unit. Provision can furthermore be made for the functional component for producing the charging plug element to be selected from the modular system and only then integrated into the busbar arrangement which is also used to construct the same charging plug element.

According to a further embodiment of the modular system, the adapter variants each have a carrier body, with the conductor rail arrangement being embedded in an electrically insulating material of the carrier body. Accordingly, the carrier body has the electrically insulating material, for example an electrically insulating plastic, a ceramic and/or an electrically insulating metallic material. The busbar arrangement is embedded in the carrier body to such an extent that contact points of the busbar arrangement, at which an electrically conductive or electrically conductive connection between the contact elements or cable connecting elements and busbars of the busbar arrangement is or is made, are free of the material of the carrier body or after be freed from the material by encasing the entire conductor rail arrangement. The carrier body facilitates handling, in particular automated handling, of the adapter when removing it from the modular system and/or when handling it in the course of manufacturing the charging plug element. In addition, the material of the carrier body acts as a safety element, which prevents the busbar arrangement from being touched. Furthermore, during operation of the charging cable unit having the adapter, the material of the carrier body absorbs heat that is given off by the conductor rail arrangement, so that the charging cable unit, in particular a handle element, heats up less on the outside.

In a further development of the modular system, the adapter variants have a cable connection plug-in element on the respective cable connection side, which corresponds to a cable connection plug-in element of the charging cable (i.e. with the charging cable of the charging cable unit external to the motor vehicle or with the charging cable of the vehicle electrical system), the cable connection plug-in elements being designed in accordance with the common, identical cable connection element layout . This makes it even easier to connect the individual cables of the corresponding charging cable. At least in this case, it is provided that the manufacturer of the charging plug element or the charging cable unit produces or maintains charging cables, all of which are equipped with the cable connecting plug element on the charging cable side, with the cable connecting plug element on the charging cable side always having the same cable connecting element layout. Then, when electrically contacting the individual cables with the cable connecting elements, the manual assignment of the individual cables to the associated cable connecting elements and the separate connection for each individual cable is eliminated. Instead, the cable connecting plug elements are connected to one another in a simple manner and the individual cables of the charging cable and the cable connecting elements are thus electrically contacted. This prevents cable connection elements from being connected to the wrong one of the individual cables. In addition, a highly automated production is further favored.

In a further aspect of the invention, a method for producing a charging connector element or different variants of charging connector elements is proposed. In the method, depending on a designated use of the charging connector element, one of the adapter variants is selected from a modular system designed according to the above description and used to produce the corresponding charging connector element variant. By using the modular system, the production of the charging plug element or the charging plug element variants is particularly simple, that is associated with particularly little effort.

In a further refinement of the method, the designated purpose of use of the charging plug element is determined as a function of one or more specifications. One of the specifications is whether the charging plug element to be manufactured is to be used as part of a vehicle-external charging cable unit. This means that it is determined whether the charging plug element is used to form the vehicle-external charging cable unit, which the user couples to the charging interface of the motor vehicle and the electric charging device in order to charge the motor vehicle energy store. Another of the specifications is whether the charging plug element to be manufactured is to be used as part of a vehicle-internal charging cable unit. This means that it is determined whether the charging plug element is used to form the vehicle-internal charging cable unit, through which the on-board electrical system of the motor vehicle is or is at least partially formed. In this case, the charging plug element is used, for example, to form the charging interface of the motor vehicle, which is arranged on/in the outer skin of the motor vehicle. Another possible specification is in which region of use the charging plug element is part of the ent speaking charging cable unit is to be used. Based on the specifications, that one of the adapter variants is then selected from the modular system that has the contact element layout that matches the specification or specifications and/or possibly the functional component that matches the specification or specifications. Accordingly, it is determined during / for the manufacture of the charging plug element which contact element layout and/or which busbar arrangement the adapter should have in order to be able to be used as intended in the designated application region and/or according to the intended use of the charging plug element. Thus, different variants of charging plug elements and, as a result, different charging cable units can be produced particularly easily and with little effort using the modular system.

The charging plug element can generally have other components in addition to the adapter, in particular a form-fitting element arranged on the plug-in element side, in order to reliably mechanically connect the charging plug element to a corresponding form-fitting element (e.g. the charging cable unit external to the vehicle or the charging cable unit internal to the vehicle). By means of the form-locking elements, a form-locking connection that can be releasably non-destructively released between the charging plug-in element and, for example, the charging interface can be formed for this purpose. Another possible component of the charging connector element can be formed by a grip element, on which a user of the charging connector element or the charging cable unit can grasp, hold and manipulate the charging connector element.

A further embodiment of the method provides for the adapter and the form-fitting element of the charging plug element to be inserted into an injection mold, with the form-fitting element being arranged on the plug-in element side under the insertion. Thereafter, the adapter and the positive-locking element are each at least partially sprayed with an injection molding material—for example, a plastic that is electrically insulating at least in the fully reacted state—and thereby embedded in the injection molding material. In this case, the injection molding material is used to create a material bond with one another, in that the injection molding material hardens actively (under the influence of a hardening agent, UV light, heat, pressure, etc.) or passively (in the ambient air). By the same injection molding, by which the adapter and the form-fitting element are also connected to one another in a materially bonded manner, a handle element of the charging plug element is formed from the injection molding material on the cable connection side. In this respect, an injection mold of the injection molding tool has, for example, a handle part that is filled with the injection molding material during injection molding, as a result of which the handle element is produced. On the one hand, the adapter and the positive-locking element are fixed to one another in a particularly reliable manner, as a result of which the charging plug element—and consequently the charging cable unit that has the charging plug element—is particularly stable and durable. On the other hand, the separate provision of handle components, such as handle shells, associated fastening means, etc., can advantageously be dispensed with. In addition, when manufacturing the charging plug element, there is advantageously no need for time-consuming positioning, holding and fixing of such handle components, which further supports and promotes a particularly efficient production of the charging plug element.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to a charging plug element which was produced by means of a method described above, ie using the modular system also described above. Depending on the variant of the charging plug element, a further processing of the charging plug element can produce a charging cable unit inside the vehicle (ie at least part of the vehicle electrical system) or a charging cable unit external to the vehicle. The charging cable unit, referred to simply as the “charging cable” by customers, and an electrical network of the charging device are to be regarded as a respective embodiment of the charging cable unit external to the motor vehicle.

• - als Teil des Kraftfahrzeugs zwischen dem Bordnetz des Kraftfahrzeugs und der kraftfahrzeugexternen Ladekabeleinheit,
• - als Teil der kraftfahrzeugexternen Ladekabeleinheit zwischen dem Bordnetz des Kraftfahrzeugs und der Ladevorrichtung (das heißt an einem ersten und/oder an einem zweiten Ende des „Ladekabels“),
• - als Teil der Ladevorrichtung zwischen der kraftfahrzeugexternen Ladekabeleinheit und einem internen Netz der Ladevorrichtung bzw. der Ladeinfrastruktur.

It is therefore to be understood that the charging plug element can be used as intended in the following locations or installation locations:

• - as part of the motor vehicle between the vehicle electrical system and the vehicle-external charging cable unit,
• - as part of the vehicle-external charging cable unit between the vehicle electrical system and the charging device (i.e. at a first and/or at a second end of the "charging cable"),
• - As part of the charging device between the vehicle-external charging cable unit and an internal network of the charging device or the charging infrastructure.

In addition, a further aspect of the invention relates to a vehicle-internal or vehicle-external charging cable unit with a charging plug-in element designed according to the above description. The charging cable unit includes a charging cable that is formed from more than two individual cables or "single wires". With the charging cable unit, the individual cables of the charging cable are connected via the cable connection elements of the used Adapter connected to the contact elements of the same adapter. The individual cables and the cable connection elements are mechanically and electrically conductively or conductively connected to one another, for example, by means of a non-positive, positive and/or material connection. This connecting device has, for example, an integral connecting means which can be produced by means of gluing, soldering, fusion welding, pressure welding (in particular ultrasonic welding), etc. Alternatively or additionally, the connecting device has a non-positive and/or positive connection means, such as a plug-in connection (e.g. by means of a plug-socket connection), a clamp connection (e.g. by means of a spring-cage terminal, luster terminal, etc.), a crimp connection, for example a crimp connection .

As provided in a further embodiment of the charging cable unit, one or more of the individual cables and the correspondingly associated one or the correspondingly associated ones of the cable connection elements are connected to one another by means of laser welding. On the one hand, the laser welding creates a particularly reliable, stable and precise connection, which advantageously takes up little space, between the individual cable and the associated cable connection element. On the other hand, the laser welding—which takes place in a highly automated manner, for example by means of a laser welding system, in particular a laser welding robot—takes place particularly quickly, which advantageously leads to a particularly short production time for the charging cable unit. The production of the charging cable unit is therefore simplified again.

The present description is not limited to just two different variants of the adapter, the busbars, the contact elements, the cable connection elements, the positive-locking element, the functional component, the carrier body, the cable connection plug-in elements, etc. Instead, the modular system can have a large number of different variants of the elements mentioned, which can be used to produce the charging plug element variants or charging cable unit variants.

Further advantages, features and details of the invention can result from the following description of possible exemplary embodiments and from the drawing. The features and feature combinations mentioned above in the description and the features and feature combinations shown below in the description of the figures and/or in the figures alone can be used not only in the combination specified in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own, without going beyond the scope of the invention to leave.

character list

• 1 eine schematische Ansicht einer Steckelementseite einer ersten Ladesteckelementvariante mit einer ersten Adaptervariante, die aus einem Baukastensystem zum Herstellen von unterschiedlichen Varianten von Ladesteckelementen oder Ladekabeleinheiten stammt;
• 2 eine schematische und entlang einer Schnittebene II-II (siehe 1) geschnittene Ansicht der ersten Ladesteckelementvariante;
• 3 eine schematische Ansicht einer Steckelementseite einer zweiten Ladesteckelementvariante mit einer zweiten Adaptervariante, die ebenfalls aus dem Baukastensystem stammt;
• 4 eine schematische und entlang einer Schnittebene IV-IV (siehe 3) geschnittene Ansicht der zweiten Ladesteckelementvariante;
• 5 eine schematische und zum Verständnis teilweise transparent dargestellte Ansicht der zweiten Ladesteckelementvariante;
• 6 eine perspektivische Ansicht einer kraftfahrzeugexternen Ladekabeleinheit, die ein Ladesteckelement aufweist;
• 7 eine schematische und zum Verständnis teilweise transparent dargestellte Ansicht eines Teils der kraftfahrzeugexternen Ladekabeleinheit, die die erste Ladesteckelementvariante aufweist;
• 8 eine schematische und zum Verständnis teilweise transparent dargestellte Ansicht eines Teils der kraftfahrzeugexternen Ladekabeleinheit, die die zweite Ladesteckelementvariante aufweist;
• 9 eine schematische und zum Verständnis teilweise transparent dargestellte Ansicht eines Teils einer kraftfahrzeuginternen Ladekabeleinheit, die die erste Ladesteckelementvariante aufweist; und
• 10 eine schematische und zum Verständnis teilweise transparent dargestellte Ansicht eines Teils der kraftfahrzeuginternen Ladekabeleinheit, die die zweite Ladesteckelementvariante aufweist.

The drawing shows in:

• 1 a schematic view of a plug element side of a first charging plug element variant with a first adapter variant, which comes from a modular system for producing different variants of charging plug elements or charging cable units;
• 2 a schematic and along a section plane II-II (see 1 ) sectional view of the first charging plug element variant;
• 3 a schematic view of a plug element side of a second charging plug element variant with a second adapter variant, which also comes from the modular system;
• 4 a schematic and along a section plane IV-IV (see 3 ) sectional view of the second charging plug element variant;
• 5 a schematic view of the second charging plug element variant, shown partially transparent for understanding;
• 6 a perspective view of a vehicle-external charging cable unit having a charging plug element;
• 7 a schematic view of a part of the vehicle-external charging cable unit, which is partially transparent for understanding and has the first charging plug element variant;
• 8th a schematic view of a part of the vehicle-external charging cable unit, which is partially transparent for understanding, and which has the second charging plug element variant;
• 9 a schematic and partially transparent view of part of a motor vehicle internal charging cable unit, which has the first charging connector element variant; and
• 10 a schematic view of part of the charging cable unit inside the motor vehicle, which is partially transparent for understanding and has the second charging plug element variant.

Identical and functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference symbols in the figures. In the following, a modular system for producing different variants 1A, 1B of charging plug elements 1, a method for producing such a charging plug element 1, the Charging plug element 1 set out in itself and a charging cable unit 2 in a common description.

The modular system includes different variants 3A, 3B of adapters 3 for producing the different charging connector element variants 1A, 1B or for producing different charging cable unit variants 2A, 2B. Depending on the intended use of the charging connector element 1 or the charging cable unit 2, the method for producing the corresponding charging connector element variant 1A, 1B or the corresponding charging cable unit variant 2A, 2B, one of the adapter variants 3A, 3B is selected from the modular system and used. For the sake of a simple description, only two different variants A, B are treated here—just by way of example; however, it should be understood that the modular system and the products that can be produced with it are not limited to these two variants A, B, but rather that a large number of different product variants can be produced using the modular system.

It shows 1 a schematic view of a plug element side 4 of a first variant 1A of the charging plug element 1 with a first variant 3A of the adapter 3 (first shown in 2 ), which comes from the modular system for producing the different variants 1A, 1B of charging plug elements 1 or different variants 2A, 2B of charging cable units 2. 2 shows a schematic and along a section plane II-II (see 1 ) Sectional view of the first charging connector variant 1A. The respective adapter 3 has electrical contact elements 5, which are arranged on the plug element side 4 of the charging plug element 1 or the adapter 3 according to a predetermined contact element layout 6A, for example due to regional or country-specific approval regulations. Furthermore, the same adapter 3 has cable connection elements 7, each of the cable connection elements 7 and a respective associated contact element 5 being contacted or connected to one another in an electrically conductive/conductive manner by means of an adapter variant-specific busbar arrangement 8 of the adapter 3. The cable connection elements 7 are arranged on a cable connection side 9 opposite the plug-in element side 4 according to a predetermined cable connection element layout 10 .

3 shows a schematic view of the plug element side 4 of the second charging plug element variant 1B with a second adapter variant 3B (first shown in 4 ), which also comes from the modular system. In 4 is in schematic and along a section plane IV-IV (see 3 ) Sectional view of the second charging plug element variant 1B shown. It can be seen that - for example due to other regional or country-specific approval regulations - the contact elements 5 of the second charging connector element variant 1B are arranged according to a different predetermined contact element layout 6B than the contact elements 5 of the first charging connector element variant 1A. In order to ensure that the charging plug elements 1 can be produced particularly easily and/or with little effort, it is provided here that all adapter variants of the modular system, including the adapter variants 3A, 3B, have different contact element layouts 6A, 6B from variant to variant, but always only have the single, common, same cable connector layout 10. This is particularly evident 4 out. Although the charging plug element variants 1A, 1B or their adapter variants 3A, 3B differ in terms of the contact element layouts 6A, 6B (see 1 and 3 ), the cable connection elements 7 are arranged according to the same cable connection element layout 10 in both charging plug element variants 1A, 1B (see 2 and 4 ).

The cable connection element layout 10 and the contact element layout 6 can be congruent with respect to the sides 4, 9 of the charging plug element 1 (see 1 and 2 ), which leads to a particularly simply designed adapter variant, here to the adapter variant 3A, or even to the possibility of omitting the adapter 3. With the help of the modular system, at least one charging connector element, for example the second charging connector element variant 1B, can be produced in which the cable connection element layout 10 and the contact element layout 6 are not congruent with respect to the sides 4, 9 of the charging connector element 1, i.e. the second charging connector element variant 1B means to fall apart (see 3 and 4 ).

In 5 a schematic view of the second charging plug element variant 1B is shown, which is partially transparent for understanding. The viewer looks at the cable connection side 9. The contact elements 5 on the plug element side 4 of the charging plug element 1 are shown in dashed lines, whereas the cable connection elements 7, which are arranged on the cable connection side 9, are drawn in solid lines. The conductor rail arrangement 8 of the adapter 3 used or the adapter variant 3B is shown in a different dashed line. The busbar arrangement 8 has busbars 11 by means of which the contact elements 5 and the cable connection elements 7 are electrically connected to one another in pairs within the adapter 3 . In 5 the bus bars 11 are shown as simple electrical connectors as in a circuit diagram, but it is herein provided that the respective busbar 8 is designed as a flat conductor element, which can be referred to as a busbar, for example.

Out of 5 also shows that at least in one of the adapter variants 3A, 3B that can be selected from the modular system, in the present case in the adapter variant 3B, the busbar arrangement 8 has an electrical and/or electronic functional component 12 that is integrated into the busbar arrangement 8. It is conceivable - for example with another of the adapter variants of the modular system - that more than one functional component 8 is integrated into the corresponding busbar arrangement 8, for example in the form of an electrical functional circuit formed from two or more interconnected functional components 12 . In the present example, the functional component 12 is designed as an SMD component, ie as a surface-mounted electrical component. The functional component 12, in particular an SMD component, is in the present case an ohmic resistor, by means of which a characteristic value of an electrical charging process can be provided when the charging plug element 1 is operated as intended.

In a perspective view is in 6 the charging cable unit 2, specifically a vehicle-external charging cable unit 13, is shown, which has the charging plug element 1. By selecting a corresponding one of the adapter variants 3A, 3B, different variants of charging cable units 13 external to the motor vehicle can therefore be produced. For this purpose, the cable connection side 9 of the charging plug element 1 or the adapter 3 is designed in at least one variant to be connected to individual cables 14 (first shown in 7 ) of a charging cable 15 to be connected, which in 7 is shown in more detail. The charging cable 15 is used as a charging cable external to the motor vehicle. The vehicle-external charging cable unit 13 therefore has at least the charging connector element 1, i.e. one from the charging connector element variants 1A, 1B or from other charging element variants that can be produced using the modular system, and the charging cable 15, which is formed from the individual cables 14. The plug element side 4 of the same charging plug element 1, which partially forms the same vehicle-external charging cable unit 13, corresponds in terms of contact element layout 6, electrical wiring of the contact elements 5 (of which in 6 for reasons of clarity, only some are provided with the corresponding reference numbers), shape of a form-fitting element 16 etc. with a plug-in element 17 of a charging cable unit 18 inside the motor vehicle (see 9 ). The vehicle-external charging cable unit 13 is designed to be connected, on the one hand, to a charging interface 19 (likewise 9 ) of a motor vehicle 20 and on the other hand to be connected to a charging infrastructure (not shown), in particular a charging device of the charging infrastructure, such as a charging station. By plugging the vehicle-external charging cable unit 13 into both the charging interface 19 and the charging device, the user establishes an electrical connection between the charging infrastructure and an electrical motor vehicle energy store (not shown), for example a traction battery, of the motor vehicle 20. For this purpose, the vehicle-external charging cable unit 13 has a plug-in element 33 formed by the charging plug element 1 at a first end 21 and a coupling unit 23 at the other end 22, which corresponds electrically and mechanically to a coupling unit (not shown) of the charging device in order to establish an electrical connection.

7 shows a schematic view of part of the vehicle-external charging cable unit 13, which is partially transparent for understanding and has the first charging plug element variant 1A. Thus shows 7 one the first charging cable unit variant 2A. As already in 2 and 4 shown, the respective adapter 3, which is selected for producing the charging plug element 1 from the modular system, has a carrier body 24 which is made of an electrically insulating material 25, for example a plastic. The busbars 8 of the respective adapter 3 are embedded in the carrier body 24 or in its material 25 , for example, they have been overmoulded by the material 25 during manufacture of the adapter 3 or cast into the material 25 .

In addition, 7 a cable connecting plug element 26 is shown, which is formed here by extensions 27 of the cable connecting elements 7 of the charging plug element 1 and can be part of the charging cable unit 2, for example the charging cable unit 13 external to the motor vehicle. Furthermore, a plug-in cable connection element 28 (dashed for reasons of clarity) is shown, which is attached to the charging cable 15 on the latter. The cable connecting plug elements 27, 28 correspond to each other mechanically/geometrically and electrically to form an electrically conductive connection between the individual cables 14 and the cable connecting elements 7. In this case, this means that the cable connecting plug elements 27, 28 are designed according to the common, same cable connecting element layout 10. Because the individual cables 14 of the charging cable 15 are electrically conductively connected to the cable connection elements 7 of the adapter 3 used, the individual cables 14 are connected to the contact elements 5 of the same adapter 3 via the cable connection elements 7 of the adapter 3 used. The ark points cable unit 2 does not have a cable-side cable connecting plug element 28, the individual cables 14 and the cable connecting elements 7 can be electrically conductively connected to one another in some other way, for example by means of laser welding.

In 8th To illustrate the possibilities of the modular system, with the help of which different vehicle-external charging cable unit variants 13A, 13B can be produced, a schematic view of a part of the vehicle-external charging cable unit 13 in the second variant 13B, which is partially transparent for understanding, is shown. In contrast to the first vehicle-external charging cable unit variant 13A, the second vehicle-external charging cable unit variant 13B has the second charging plug element variant 1B instead of the first charging plug element variant 1A. The two vehicle-external charging cable unit variants 13A, 13B can otherwise be of the same design. Optionally, the vehicle-external charging cable unit variants 13A, 13B differ alternatively or additionally with regard to the shape of the form-fitting element 16.

9 shows a schematic view of a part of the charging cable unit 2, shown partially transparently for better understanding, namely the charging cable unit 18 inside the motor vehicle, which has the first charging plug element variant 1A. The cable connection side 9 of the charging plug element 1 or of the adapter 3 is designed in at least one variant to be connected to the individual cables 14 of one of the charging cables 15, which in this case is used as an internal vehicle charging cable. The in-vehicle charging cable unit 18 therefore has at least the charging connector element 1, i.e. one from the charging connector element variants 1A, 1B or from other charging element variants that can be produced using the modular system, and the charging cable 15, which is formed from the individual cables 14. The plug element side 4 of the same charging plug element 1, which partially forms the same vehicle-internal charging cable unit 18, corresponds in terms of contact element layout 6, electrical interconnection of the contact elements 5, shape of the positive-locking element 16, etc. with a plug-in element of a vehicle-external charging cable unit, for example with the charging plug element 1 of the vehicle-external charging cable unit 13. The Motor vehicle-internal charging cable unit 18 forms at least partially the charging interface 19 of the motor vehicle 20, which is arranged on an outer skin 29 of the motor vehicle 20. The charging cable 15 arranged inside the vehicle forms part of an on-board network 30 of the motor vehicle 20 , the charging interface 19 and the motor vehicle energy store being or being electrically coupled to one another by means of the charging cable 15 or via the on-board network 30 . By plugging the vehicle-external charging cable unit 13 into both the charging interface 19 and the charging device, the user creates an electrical connection between the charging infrastructure and the motor vehicle energy store. For this purpose, the charging cable unit 18 inside the motor vehicle ends in/at the charging interface 19 or at least partially forms it and is connected to the motor vehicle energy store by means of the charging cable 15 or by means of the individual cables 14 .

In 10 To illustrate the possibilities of the modular system, with the help of which different vehicle-internal charging cable unit variants 18A, 18B can be produced, a schematic view of a part of the vehicle-internal charging cable unit 18 in the second variant 18B, which is partially transparent for understanding, is shown. In contrast to the first vehicle-internal charging cable unit variant 18A, the second vehicle-internal charging cable unit variant 18B has the second charging plug element variant 1B instead of the first charging plug element variant 1A. The two vehicle-internal charging cable unit variants 18A, 18B can otherwise be of the same design. Optionally, the vehicle-internal charging cable unit variants 18A, 18B differ alternatively or additionally with regard to the shape of the form-fitting element 16.

• - ob das Ladesteckelement 1 als Teil der kraftfahrzeugexternen Ladekabeleinheit 13 eingesetzt wird;
• - ob das Ladesteckelement 1 als Teil der kraftfahrzeuginternen Ladekabeleinheit 18 eingesetzt wird;
• - in welcher Einsatzregion das Ladesteckelement 1 bzw. die Ladekabeleinheit 13 oder 18 eingesetzt wird.

When producing the respective variant 1A, 1B of the charging plug element 1 or the respective variant 13A, 13B, 18A, 18B of the charging cable unit 2, the designated use of the charging plug element 1 is determined depending on one or more of the following specifications:

• - whether the charging plug element 1 is used as part of the vehicle-external charging cable unit 13;
• - Whether the charging plug element 1 is used as part of the vehicle's internal charging cable unit 18;
• - In which application region the charging plug element 1 or the charging cable unit 13 or 18 is used.

Based on the specification, that one of the adapter variants 3A, 3B is then selected from the modular system that has the contact element layout 6A or 6B that matches the specification or specifications.

• - der Adapter 3 bzw. die ausgewählte Adaptervariante 3A, 3B und das Formschlusselement 16 (oder eine - insbesondere eine aus dem Baukastensystem ausgewählte - Formschlusselementvariante) des Ladesteckelements 1 in ein Spritzgießwerkzeug (nicht dargestellt) eingelegt werden, wobei das Formschlusselement 16 auf der Steckelementseite 4 angeordnet wird;
• - der Adapter 3 und das Formschlusselement 16 jeweils zumindest teilweise mit einem Spritzgießmaterial 31 bespritzt und dadurch in das Spritzgießmaterial 31 eingebettet sowie miteinander stoffschlüssig verbunden werden; und
• - durch dasselbe Spritzgießen aus dem Spritzgießmaterial 31 auf der Kabelverbindungsseite 9 ein Griffelement 32 des Ladesteckelements 1 ausgebildet wird.

Referring again to 7 and 8th the charging plug element 1 is made in particular by

• - The adapter 3 or the selected adapter variant 3A, 3B and the form-fitting element 16 (or a form-fitting element variant - in particular one selected from the modular system - form-fitting element variant) of the charging plug element 1 are inserted into an injection mold (not shown), with the form-fitting element 16 on the plug-in element side 4 is arranged;
• - The adapter 3 and the form-fitting element 16 are each at least partially sprayed with an injection-molding material 31 and are thereby embedded in the injection-molding material 31 and bonded to one another; and
• - A grip element 32 of the charging plug element 1 is formed by the same injection molding from the injection molding material 31 on the cable connection side 9 .

The modular system, the method for producing the charging connector element 1, the charging connector element 1 itself and the charging cable unit 2 show how a large number of charging connector element variants (e.g. the charging connector element variants 1A, 1B) can be simplified.

Reference List

A

first variant

B

second variant

1

charging connector

2

charging cable unit

3

adapter

4

plug-in side

5

contact element

6

contact element layout

7

cable connector

8th

power rail arrangement

9

cable connection side

10

Cable connector layout

11

power rail

12

functional component

13

vehicle-external charging cable unit

14

single cable

15

charging cable

16

interlocking element

17

plug-in element

18

in-vehicle charging cable unit

19

charging interface

20

motor vehicle

21

End

22

End

23

coupling unit

24

carrier body

25

material

26

cable connector plug

27

extension

28

cable connector plug

29

outer skin

30

electrical system

31

injection molding material

32

grip element

33

plug-in element

Claims (15)

Modular system for producing different variants (A, B) of charging plug elements (1, 1A, 1B), by means of which an on-board network (30) of a motor vehicle (20) and an electrical charging device for charging an electrical motor vehicle energy store can be coupled to one another, the modular system having different variants (3A, 3B) of adapters (3), which each have an adapter variant-specific busbar arrangement (8), by means of which electrical contact elements (5) of the respective adapter (3, 3A, 3B) which, according to a predetermined contact element layout (6, 6A, 6B) are arranged on a plug-in element side (4) of the corresponding adapter (3, 3A, 3B), and in each case corresponding cable connection elements (7) of the same adapter (3, 3A, 3B), which according to a predetermined cable connection element layout (10) on one of the plug-in element side (4) opposite cable connection side (9) of the adapter (3, 3A, 3B) are arranged, are electrically conductively connected to each other, the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B) of the modular system having different contact element layouts (6, 6A, 6B) and a common Having the same cable connector layout (10). modular system claim 1 , characterized in that in at least one of the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B) the element layouts (6, 10) fall apart. modular system claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the cable connection side (9) of at least one of the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B) is designed with individual cables (14) of a motor vehicle internal charging cable (15) of the vehicle electrical system (30) to be electrically connected, whereas the plug-in element side (4) of the same adapter variant (3, 3A, 3B) corresponds to a plug-in element (33) of a vehicle-external charging cable unit (13). Modular system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cable connection side (9) of at least one of the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B) is designed to be connected to individual cables (14) of a motor vehicle-external charging cable (15), whereas the plug-in element side ( 4) of the same adapter variant (3, 3A, 3B) with a plug-in element (17) of a vehicle-internal charging cable unit (18). Modular system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an electrical and/or electronic functional component (12) is integrated into the busbar arrangement (8) of at least one of the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B). modular system claim 5 , characterized in that the functional component (12) is an ohmic resistor, by means of which a characteristic value of an electrical charging process can be provided. modular system claim 5 or 6 , characterized in that the functional component (12) is designed as an SMD component. Modular system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B) each have a carrier body (24), and the conductor rail arrangement (8) is embedded in an electrically insulating material (25) of the carrier body (24). Modular system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B) have a cable connection plug element (26, 27) on the respective cable connection side (9), which corresponds to a cable connection plug element (28) of a charging cable (15), wherein the cable connecting plug elements (26, 27, 28) are formed according to the common, same cable connecting element layout (10). A method for producing a charging connector element (1, 1A, 1B), depending on the intended use of the charging connector element (1, 1A, 1B) from one according to one of Claims 1 until 9 trained modular system one of the adapter variants (3, 3A, 3B) is selected and used to produce the charging plug element (1, 1A, 1B). procedure after claim 10 , characterized in that the designated purpose of use of the charging plug element (1, 1A, 1B) is determined depending on one or more of the following specifications: - Use of the charging plug element (1, 1A, 1B) as part of a vehicle-external charging cable unit (2, 13, 13A, 13B); - Use of the charging plug element (1, 1A, 1B) as part of a vehicle-internal charging cable unit (2, 18, 18A, 18B), through which the vehicle electrical system (30) is at least partially formed; - Designated region of use of the charging plug element (1, 1A, 1B); based on the specification, that adapter variant (3, 3A, 3B) that has the contact element layout (6, 6A, 6B) that matches the specification or specifications is selected from the modular system. procedure after claim 10 or 11 , characterized in that - the adapter (3, 3A, 3B) and a form-fitting element (16) of the charging plug element (1, 1A, 1B) are inserted into an injection mold, the form-fitting element (16) being arranged on the plug-in element side (4). ; - The adapter (3, 3A, 3B) and the positive-locking element (16) are each at least partially sprayed with an injection-molding material (31) and thereby embedded in the injection-molding material (31) and bonded to one another; and - a handle element (32) of the charging plug element (1, 1A, 1B) is formed by the same injection molding from the injection molding material (31) on the cable connection side (9). Charging connector element (1, 1A, 1B) by means of one of Claims 10 until 12 trained process is made. Charging cable unit (2, 2A, 2B, 13, 13A, 13B, 18, 18A, 18B) with a post Claim 13 formed plug-in charging element (1, 1A, 1B) and a charging cable (15), with individual cables (14) of the charging cable (15) being connected to the contact elements (5) of the same adapter via the cable connecting elements (7) of the adapter (3, 3A, 3B) used (3, 3A, 3B) are connected. Charging cable unit (2, 2A, 2B, 13, 13A, 13B, 18, 18A, 18B). Claim 14 , characterized in that at least one of the individual cables (14) and the corresponding associated cable connecting elements (7) are connected to one another by means of laser welding.

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