JP2012076599A - Charging port cover - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it hard to access a locking release part provided in a rear face of a cover.SOLUTION: When charging, a charging port cover 35 is attached to a lid 7 being in a state in which an opening part 17 for the charging port of a vehicle is opened, and in this state, the lid 7 is closed together with the charging port cover 35, and an opening part 36 is closed. Thereby, mischief to the inside is inhibited during a long charging period of time. In the charging port cover 35 used at that time, a striker 51 at a cover side of a lock mechanism part 45 is engaged with and locked to a locking device 34 at a vehicle side. A lock release lever 47 for releasing lock of the striker 51 at the cover side to the lock device 34 at the vehicle side, is provided on a rear face of a front part 37 which is opposite to a notch 43 for a charging cable with the lock mechanism part 45 interposed between the lock release lever 47 and the notch 43.

Description

  The present invention closes the opening formed between the open / closed body and the vehicle body when charging with a charging gun attached to the charging port with the open / close body opened to the vehicle body. The present invention relates to a cover for a charging port.

  Conventionally, for example, when charging a battery mounted on an electric vehicle, a lid that can be opened and closed with respect to an opening of a vehicle body including a charging port for mounting a charging gun is provided, and the lid is opened, A charging gun is attached to the charging port to perform charging.

JP-A-11-318044

  By the way, at the time of charging, the lid is opened with respect to the opening of the vehicle body, and the charging gun attached to the charging port is exposed to the outside through the opened opening. For this reason, there is a risk that the gun may be tampered with from the outside, particularly when charging for a long time. In order to cope with this, it is conceivable to cover the open part between the lid in the open state and the vehicle body with a cover prepared separately.

  However, when the lid is opened with a cover prepared separately, it is necessary to provide a mechanism that can lock the cover with respect to the lid and the vehicle body and a lock release mechanism that releases the lock. On the other hand, the cover needs a notch for drawing the cable connected to the charging gun to the outside when the cover closes the opening and performs charging, and from this notch It is conceivable to access the unlocking mechanism by inserting a finger or the like.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it difficult to access the unlocking portion.

  The present invention provides a cover body with an unlocking portion for releasing a locking mechanism between the cover body and the opening / closing body, and this unlocking portion is a cable extending from the charging gun with the locking mechanism of the cover body in between. It is provided on the back surface opposite to the notch for insertion.

  According to the present invention, even when an attempt is made to access the unlocking portion from the outside through the notch portion for inserting the cable of the cover body with the cover body closing the open portion between the opening and closing body and the vehicle body during charging, The mechanism gets in the way, making it difficult to access.

It is a perspective view which shows the charge port of the vehicle front end part by embodiment of this invention, and has shown the state which the lid opened. It is a side view which shows the state which attaches the cover for charge ports which concerns on this invention to the lid of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which attached the cover for charge ports to the lid and closed. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the lid of FIG. 3 as viewed obliquely from the rear of the vehicle. It is the perspective view which looked at the cover for charge ports by embodiment of this invention from upper diagonally forward. It is the perspective view which looked at the cover for charge ports by embodiment of this invention from diagonally back. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the inner side of the side part of the cover for charge ports. It is sectional drawing in the bending part of the cover for charge ports. It is the perspective view which looked at the cover for charge ports which folded the side part from back. It is a perspective view which shows the engagement mechanism with the lid and vehicle body side in the cover for charge ports. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which closes the lid which assembled | attached the cover for charge ports. It is a perspective view which shows the gap sealing member by embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, an electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery is taken as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to a so-called hybrid vehicle equipped with a battery similar to the above.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a bumper 1 is provided along the vehicle width direction at the front end of the vehicle, and a hood 3 that covers the motor room from above is provided on the rear side of the bumper 1. The bumper 1 and the hood 3 constitute a part of the vehicle body.

  A lid 7 serving as an opening / closing body that can be opened / closed in the vertical direction (front / rear direction) is provided at the center in the vehicle width direction at the front end of the hood 3 via lid-side hinges 5 provided on the left and right sides. The lid 7 is formed in a substantially trapezoidal shape in plan view, the length of the rear edge 9 is longer than the length of the front edge 11, and the side edges 13, 13 are directed inward in the vehicle width direction toward the front. It is formed along the diagonal.

  The lid-side hinge 5 includes a first hinge arm 5a, a second hinge arm 5b, and a link bracket 5c. The first hinge arm 5a has one end (lower end) rotatably supported on the vehicle body side and the other end (upper end) supported rotatably on the outer surface of the lower end of the link bracket 5c. On the other hand, one end (lower end) of the second hinge arm 5b is rotatably supported toward the vehicle body on the front side of the first hinge arm 5a, and the other end (upper end) is an inner surface slightly above the lower end of the link bracket 5c. Is rotatably supported.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a charging port 15 is provided at the front end portion of the bumper 1 at the center in the vehicle width direction. The lid 7 is a member that seals the charging port opening 17 as an opening formed at the upper end of the vehicle width direction central portion of the bumper 1. Further, in the back of the charging port opening 17, a quick charging port 19 is arranged on the right side (left side) of the vehicle, and a normal charging port 21 is arranged on the left side (right side of the vehicle). In FIG. 1, a state where the charging gun 30 is inserted into the normal charging port 21 is shown. If the quick charging port 19 is used, charging is completed in a short time, but if the normal charging port 21 is used, it takes a long time to complete charging.

  A pair of left and right brackets 23, 23 having L-shaped cross sections are attached to the back surface of the lid 7, and rail members 25, 25 to be described later are attached to the outer sides of the brackets 23, 23 in the vehicle width direction. Specifically, a part 23 a of the bracket 23 having an L-shaped cross section is bent in a convex shape to form a gap between the rear surface of the lid 7. By inserting a gap sealing member 27 (described later) into this gap, the gap sealing member 27 is held by the lid 7.

  Further, a lid-side striker 29 that protrudes downward (on the back side of the lid 7) is provided at the center of the front end of the lid 7 in the vehicle width direction, and the bottom surface 31 of the charging port opening 17 includes A striker insertion opening 33 extending in the front-rear direction is formed at the front end of the vehicle width direction center. The lid-side striker 29 is formed in a U shape in a side view. When the lid 7 is closed, the lid-side striker 29 is inserted into the striker insertion port 33 and then engaged with the vehicle body-side locking device 34. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a charging port cover 35 can be attached to the back side of the lid 7 in the opened state, and the state in which the lid 7 is closed together with the charging port cover 35 in this attached state is shown in FIG. FIG. 3 and 4, in the charging port opening 17, both sides in the vehicle width direction facing the axial direction (vehicle width direction) of the lid side hinge 5 (see FIG. 1), and the lid side hinge 5 (front of the vehicle) is covered with a charging port cover 35.

  The portion covered by the charging port cover 35 is an open portion 36 (see FIG. 5) formed between the lid 7 in the open state (open state between fully open and fully closed) and the vehicle body (bumper 1 and hood 3). 11), and the charging port cover 35 includes a cover body that closes the opening 36.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a gap is formed in the vertical direction between the rear edge 9 of the lid 7 to which the charging port cover 35 is attached and the hood front end 3 a, but the gap provided in the lid 7 is sealed. The member 27 prevents a hand or a tool from being inserted into the charging port opening 17 through the gap.

  FIG. 2 shows a state where the lid 7 with the charging port cover 35 attached is fully opened. As shown in FIG. 3, the charging port cover with the charging port cover 35 attached to the lid 7 is shown. When the cover side striker 51 of 35 is engaged with the vehicle body side locking device 34, the lid 7 is in a state located between the fully open state and the fully closed state.

  Next, the charging port cover 35 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the charging port cover 35 is formed in a substantially U shape in plan view, and includes a front surface portion 37 disposed on the front side in a state of being mounted on the vehicle, and the front surface portion 37. Bending portions 39, 39 bent rearward from the left and right ends, and a pair of left and right side portions 41, 41 configured separately from the bent portions 39, 39 and extending rearward from the rear end of the bending portion 39, are provided. ing. The front surface portion 37, the bent portions 39, 39 and the side surface portions 41, 41 constitute a cover body.

  A longitudinal charging cable cutout 43 as a cutout portion extending upward from the lower end is formed on the left side of the vehicle in the front surface portion 37, and the rear surface of the central portion in the vehicle width direction is directed to the back surface side (rear). A protruding wall-like lock mechanism 45 is formed. A cable connected to the charging gun 30 (see FIG. 1) is inserted into the charging cable notch 43 during normal charging.

  On the rear side of the right side of the vehicle, there is provided a lock release lever 47 as a lock release part capable of releasing the engagement between the lid striker 29 provided on the lid 7 and the lock mechanism part 45. That is, the charging cable cutout 43 and the lock release lever 47 are located on the opposite sides of the lock mechanism 45 therebetween. The lock mechanism portion 45 includes a wall portion 48 serving as a partition wall that covers the built-in lock mechanism, and the wall portion 48 is integrated with the back surface of the front surface portion 37.

  As shown in FIG. 8 to be described later, the front surface portion 37 and the bent portion 39 include an outer member A and an inner member B positioned on the back surface, and these members A and B are brought into contact with each other and fixed. The wall portion 48 described above is integrated with the inner member B. As shown in FIG. 6, the stopper surface 79 and both side edges of the stopper surface 79 are formed on the back surface of the front surface portion 37, that is, on both sides of the wall portion 48. A pair of left and right inclined surfaces 48b are provided so as to increase the distance from each other toward the general surface 48a of the positioned inner member B.

  Further, a striker insertion groove 49 into which the lid-side striker 29 can be inserted is formed at the upper end of the lock mechanism portion 45, and a cover-side striker 51 that is substantially U-shaped in side view protrudes downward at the lower end. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the rear end of the bent portion 39 of the charging port cover 35 is a divided portion 53 in which the side surface portion 41 is bent inward with respect to the bent portion 39. As shown in FIG. 6, the striker insertion groove 49 and the cover-side striker 51 of the charging port cover 35 are arranged in the vertical direction along the opening / closing locus of the lid 7 when the charging port cover 35 is mounted. ing. Further, the side surface portion 41 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the bent portion 39 via a side surface portion side hinge 42.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a shielding portion 55 is formed on the inner side of the side surface portion 41 so as to protrude toward the inner side (back side). As shown in FIG. 4, the shielding portion 55 is provided to prevent a hand, a tool, or the like from entering through a gap formed at the left and right corners of the lid trailing edge 9. Further, the inner end portion of the shielding portion 55 is an engaging portion 59 that can be inserted into and engaged with the groove 57 of the rail member 25 (see FIG. 1) attached to the lid 7. A locking projection 61 is formed. The shielding portion 55, the engaging portion 59, and the locking protrusion 61 are integrally formed on the side surface portion 41. As shown in FIG. 7, the locking protrusion 61 is configured to be locked in a locking hole 63 formed at the tip of the rail member 25.

  As shown in FIG. 5, ridge lines 65 are formed along the front-rear direction on the upper and lower portions of the charging port cover 35 over the front surface portion 37, the bent portion 39, and the side surface portion 41. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, in the bent portion 39, the upper end surface 67 and the lower end surface 69 are formed in an arc shape in cross section, and the intermediate surface 71 between the upper end surface 67 and the lower end surface 69 is The upper end surface 67 and the lower end surface 69 are formed in a concave portion 75 that is recessed inward with respect to an alternate long and two short dashes line 73.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the top surface of the lock mechanism portion 45 is a flat stopper surface 79 against which a contact portion 77 formed at the tip of the side surface portion 41 abuts. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, in a state where the left and right side surface portions 41, 41 are completely closed so as to be folded on the back surface of the front surface portion 37, the contact surface 77 of the side surface portion 41 is The position of the side surface portion 41 in contact with the stopper surface 79 is closed.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the lid-side striker 29 includes a support plate 81 attached to the back surface of the lid 7 and a striker body 83 having a U-shape in side view protruding downward from the support plate 81. A locking member 85 that rotates in conjunction with the lock release lever 47 is rotatably supported in the lock mechanism 45 of the charging port cover 35.

  That is, the cover-side striker 51 and the locking member 85 are integrated with each other via the wall portion 48 as a coupling member in the lock mechanism portion 45.

  A lower end portion of the locking member 85 is rotatably supported via a pin 87, and an upper end portion of the locking member 85 is formed in a flange portion 89 whose tip is bent. The locking member 85 is pressed in a direction in which the collar portion 89 is locked to the striker main body 83 as shown in FIG. 10 by a torsion coil spring (not shown) provided on the pin 87.

  Further, an arm portion 47a that projects toward the lock mechanism portion 45 is integrally provided on the lock mechanism portion 45 side of the lock release lever 47, and an unillustrated centering on the vertical direction is provided at the tip portion thereof. The rotation support shaft is rotatably supported on the above-described wall portion 48 of the lock mechanism portion 45. Further, the above-described arm portion 47a is integrally provided with a locking member pressing portion 47b that bends in a direction away from the front surface portion 37 at a substantially right angle to the arm portion 47a. The front end of the locking member pressing portion 47b can contact the side surface of the locking member 85 on the right side (left side in FIG. 10) in the vehicle width direction. That is, the lock release lever 47 that is integrally provided with the arm portion 47a and the locking member pressing portion 47b can be rotated about the rotation support shaft (not shown).

  The locking member 85 is housed in the hollow wall 48, and therefore the arm portion 47a penetrates one inclined surface 48b which is the side surface of the wall 48, and the locking member pressing portion 47b is inserted. The front end side including it is also located in the wall part 48.

  As described above, in the normal state, the collar portion 89 of the locking member 85 is locked to the striker main body 83 of the lid-side striker 29 and pushes the lock release lever 47 in the direction of the arrow (the direction toward the front surface portion 37). Then, the locking member pressing portion 47b rotates around the pin 87 while pressing the locking member 85 against the torsion coil spring (not shown), and as a result, the collar portion 89 is detached from the striker body 83. .

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the cover-side striker 51 includes a resin-made holding bracket 91 and a striker main body 93 that is attached to the holding bracket 91 and has a square shape when viewed from the side. The striker main body 93 rotates integrally with the holding bracket 91 around the rotation center 52 of the holding bracket 91 with respect to the wall portion 48 described above.

  The lower corner portion 95 of the striker body 93 on the front surface 37 side is bent toward the inner peripheral side to form an inclined portion 95a. The inclined portion 95a is used when the charging port cover 35 attached to the lid 7 is closed. The vehicle body is configured to abut against the opening end 97 on the vehicle body side.

  Further, the front end 99 of the holding bracket 91 can come into contact with the abutting portion 101 of the lock mechanism portion 45, and this abutment causes the holding bracket 91 to rotate forward (clockwise in FIG. 11). On the other hand, it is allowed to rotate backward. Therefore, the cover-side striker 51 rotates only backward as indicated by the arrow.

  That is, when the charging port cover 35 attached to the lid 7 is closed, the inclined surface 95a of the striker main body 93 comes into contact with the opening end 97 on the vehicle body side, so that the cover side striker 51 rotates in the arrow direction. The opening end 97 on the vehicle body side that becomes an obstacle can be avoided.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the gap sealing member 27 is formed of a plate-like resin having elasticity, and a main body portion 103 that is long in the horizontal direction and left and right sides that extend upward from the left and right ends of the main body portion 103. A pair of locking portions 105 and 105 are integrally formed. The main body 103 includes a general surface 107 disposed at both ends and in the middle, and a concave surface 109 formed between the general surfaces 107. The concave surface 109 is recessed on the back side (rear side of the vehicle) in a state where the concave surface 109 is attached to the lid 7 than the general surface 107. The concave surface 109 on the left side is a portion that serves as an escape portion of the charging gun when the charging gun for quick charging is inserted into the quick charging port 19, and the concave surface 109 on the right side faces the charging gun 30 for normal charging. It is a part that becomes a relief part of the charging gun 30 when it is normally inserted into the charging port 21. As described above, the gap sealing member 27 is held by fitting both end portions 105a of the locking portion 105 into the gap between the bracket 23 and the back surface of the lid 7 shown in FIG.

  Next, a charging operation performed using a normal charging port 21 that takes a long time to charge a battery (not shown) mounted on the vehicle will be described. First, when the lid 7 is closed, the lock release lever in the vehicle is operated to release the lock between the lid striker 29 and the vehicle body side locking device 34, so that the lid 7 is fully opened as shown in FIG. State. In this state, the charging gun 30 is attached to the normal charging port 21 to perform charging.

  FIG. 2 shows the charging port cover 35 in which the side surface portions 41 and 41 are opened with respect to the front surface portion 37 as shown in FIG. 5 with the charging gun 30 attached to the normal charging port 21. As shown in FIG. At this time, the engaging portion 59 of the charging port cover 35 shown in FIG. 6 is inserted into the groove 57 of the rail member 25 shown in FIG. In this insertion, the lock release lever 47 shown in FIGS. 6 and 10 is rotated so as to be pressed against the back surface of the front surface portion 37, so that the lid-side striker 29 and the locking member 85 are moved. The engagement lock state is released.

  When the engaging portion 59 of the charging port cover 35 is inserted into the groove 57 of the rail member 25, the pressing operation of the unlocking lever 47 is released, so that the engaging member pressing portion 47b on the distal end side of the unlocking lever 47 engages. The pressing to the stop member 85 is released. As a result, the locking member 85 is rotated by a torsion coil spring (not shown), and the collar portion 89 is locked and locked to the striker body 83 as shown in FIG.

  The operation of pressing the lock release lever 47 against the back surface of the front surface portion 37 is performed, for example, by grasping both side portions of the lock mechanism portion 45 in the front surface portion 37 of the charging port cover 35 from below with both hands. At that time, the thumbs of both hands are positioned on the front surface side of the front surface portion 37, and the other four fingers of both hands are positioned on the back surface side of the front surface portion 27, and at least of the four fingers on the back surface side. The lock release lever 47 may be pushed by one. Such a release operation of the lock release lever 47 can be easily performed without any change from the above-described operation of simply holding the charging port cover 35 with the front thumb and the four fingers on the back side.

  After the charging port cover 35 is mounted while being locked to the lid 7 in this way, the lid 7 is closed together with the charging port cover 35 as shown in FIGS. When closing the charging port cover 35, the inclined portion 95 a of the striker body 93 in the cover-side striker 51 comes into contact with the opening end 97 on the vehicle body side. By this contact, the cover-side striker 51 enters the striker insertion port 33 while rotating around the rotation center 52 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Engage and lock.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 11, the charging port cover 35 has an open portion 36 formed between the lid 7 and the vehicle body such as the bumper 3, for example, in a half-open state between the fully open and fully closed lid 7. It will be in a state where it is closed. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the intrusion of a hand or a tool due to mischief into the charging port opening 17 particularly during nighttime when charging is performed for a long time.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the shielding portion 55 provided on the charging port cover 35 is connected to the inside of the charging port opening 17 from the gap formed at the left and right corners of the lid rear edge 9. Suppresses the intrusion of tools and tools. Further, the gap sealing member 27 provided on the lid 7 suppresses insertion of a hand or a tool into the charging port opening 17 from the gap between the rear edge 9 of the lid 7 and the hood front end 3a.

  After the charging is completed, the lock release lever in the vehicle is operated to unlock the cover side striker 51 and the vehicle body side locking device 34 of the charging port cover 35 in the state shown in FIG. 7 is opened together with the charging port cover 35.

  Thereafter, an operation opposite to the operation of attaching the charging port cover 35 to the lid 7 in FIG. 2 is performed, and the charging port cover 35 is removed from the lid 7. When the charging port cover 35 is removed, the charging gun 30 shown in FIG. 1 is pulled out from the normal charging port 21, the normal charging port 21 is covered with a cap (not shown), and then the lid 7 is closed.

  As shown in the state of FIG. 5 to the state of FIG. 9, the removed charging port cover 35 is overlapped so that the side surface portions 41 and 41 are folded on the back surface of the front surface portion 37. At that time, the abutment portion 77 at the tip of the side surface portions 41 and 41 abuts against the stopper surface 79 of the lock mechanism portion 45, and the position of the side surface portion 41 in the closed state is maintained.

  According to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the lock release lever 47 of the charging port cover 35 has the back surface of the front surface portion 37 opposite to the charging cable notch 43 with the lock mechanism portion 45 interposed therebetween. Provided. As a result, even when an attempt is made to access the unlocking lever 47 from the outside through the charging cable cutout 43 while the open portion 36 between the lid 7 and the vehicle body is closed by the charging port cover 35 during charging, the locking mechanism The part 45 becomes obstructive and difficult to access.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the lock mechanism portion 45 includes the wall portion 48 serving as a partition wall that separates the charging cable cutout 43 and the lock release lever 47. By this wall portion 48, access to the lock release lever 47 from the outside through the charging cable cutout 43 can be more reliably suppressed.

1 Bumper (Body)
3 Hood (car body)
7 Lid (Opening and closing body)
17 Charging port opening (opening)
21 Normal Charging Port 30 Charging Gun 36 Opening Portion Formed Between Car Body 37 Front Portion of Cover for Charging Port (Cover Body)
39 Bent part of cover for charging port (cover body)
41 Side of cover for charging port (cover body)
43 Notch for charging cable (notch)
45 Lock mechanism (lock mechanism)
47 Unlocking lever (unlocking part)
48 Wall that separates notch for charging cable and unlock lever

Claims (2)

  When the battery mounted on the vehicle is charged with a charging gun attached to the charging port, the opening / closing body that can open and close the opening provided in the vehicle body including the charging port is opened. A cover body that closes an opening formed between the vehicle body, and the cover body includes a lock mechanism that engages and locks the opening and closing body and the vehicle body when the opening portion is closed; The cover body is provided with a lock release portion for releasing the lock mechanism between the cover body and the opening / closing body, and the lock release portion is interposed between the lock mechanism of the cover body and the charging gun A charging port cover provided on the back surface opposite to the notch for inserting the cable extending from the cable.   The charging port cover according to claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism of the cover body includes a wall portion that separates the cutout portion and the unlocking portion.

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