JP3013662B2 - Electric vehicle charging connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector used for charging an electric vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, an electric vehicle equipped with a battery has attracted attention due to social demands such as environment and energy, and some electric vehicles have already been put into practical use. In such an electric vehicle, charging of the battery is indispensable, so that the battery and the charger need to be easily connected. Therefore, in the related art, a connection between the two is generally made by a connector, and as an example thereof, a technique as shown in FIG. 8 is considered.

FIG. 8 shows a female connector 100 arranged on the vehicle body side (battery side) on the left side, and a male connector connected to a charger via a flexible cable on the right side of FIG. 110. The distal end of the male connector 110 has a shape that can be fitted to the guide tube portion 102 of the female connector 100, and by fitting here, the terminal groups of the connectors 100 and 110 are connected to each other to be electrically conductive. State. In order to assist such fitting connection, a spiral groove 104 is formed in the guide cylinder 102 of the female connector 100, while a sleeve 112 is provided rotatably at the tip of the male connector 110,
An engaging pin that engages with the spiral groove 104 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the second. When the two connectors are connected, the male connector 110 is held with one hand, and the engaging pin formed on the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve 112 is engaged with the open end of the spiral groove 104 formed on the guide cylinder 102 of the female connector 100. Then, the sleeve 112 is rotated with the other hand. Then, the engagement pin is turned into the spiral groove 10.
4, the sleeve 112, that is, the male connector 110 advances toward the female connector 100, and both connectors are connected.

[0004]

However, according to the prior art, when connecting the connector, the male connector 110 is held with one hand.
To rotate the sleeve 112 with the other hand,
There is a problem that operation with both hands is required, which leads to a decrease in workability. In order to connect the two connectors by guiding the engaging pins of the sleeve 112 to the spiral groove 104 of the guide cylindrical portion 102, the sleeve 112 with a slippery hand should be substantially one.
There is also a problem that it is necessary to rotate about a turn, which leads to an increase in working time and poor working efficiency.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector for charging an electric vehicle, which suitably improves workability and work efficiency at the time of connection.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a charger-side connector which is connected to a charging cable led out from a charger and has terminals arranged substantially concentrically. , Installed on the body of an electric car,
A vehicle-side connector having terminals arranged on substantially concentric circles connectable to the terminals of the charger-side connector, wherein the charger-side connector is fitted to the vehicle-side connector to be detachably connected. Connector for
One of the vehicle-side connector and the charger-side connector is formed along the circumferential direction at a fitting end thereof, and the starting end is at a half-fitting position of the two connectors, and the end is at a complete fitting position. A spiral path corresponding to the above, and an engaging portion projectingly provided at the other end of the charger-side connector or the vehicle-side connector to be fitted and detachably engageable with the spiral path; A handle disposed on the outer periphery, engaging the engaging portion with the start end of the spiral path, rotating the charger-side connector to move the engaging section along the spiral path to the end thereof, A holding portion that is disposed on one of the vehicle-side connector and the charger-side connector, and that holds the two connectors at a completely fitted position when the engagement portion moves to the end of the spiral path; Further, the charger-side connector and In the corresponding terminal ends of the serial vehicle connector is position in the circumferential direction in the half-fitting position
The charger is arranged so as to be in a non-contact state by being displaced, and when the charger reaches the fully fitted position by rotating the entire connector on the charger side, the alignment is performed , and power is supplied from the charger to the vehicle side. The present invention is characterized in that an enabling device is provided. Further, the invention of claim 2
Item 1. A convex portion is provided on one of the charger-side connector and the vehicle-side connector, and the other side is engaged with the convex portion at the half-fitted position on the other side. An elastically deformable piece is provided that regulates disengagement of the connector in the axial direction and that releases the engagement with the protrusion when the charger-side connector rotates toward the completely fitted position. It is assumed that.

[0007]

When connecting the connectors, first, the handle portion is gripped with one hand, and the engaging portion is engaged with the starting end of the spiral path to bring both connectors into a half-fitted state. Next, the handle part gripped by one hand is operated, and the charger side connector is rotated to move the engagement part along the spiral path. Then, the engaging portion moves along the spiral path to the end thereof by one-handed operation, and the charger-side connector and the vehicle-side connector are completely fitted to each other, and are fixed by the holding portion in this completely fitted state. Moreover, since the terminals of the charger-side connector and the terminals of the vehicle-side connector are arranged on substantially concentric circles that can be connected, the two connectors are rotated with each other when transitioning from the half-fitted state to the fully-fitted state. Also, both terminals are connected.

[0008]

As described above, according to the electric vehicle charging connector of the present invention, when connecting the connector, it is only necessary to hold and rotate the handle with one hand, so that operation with one hand becomes possible. An excellent effect that workability can be improved is exhibited. Further, at the time of connection, it is not necessary to turn a sleeve or the like on which the hand is slippery, so that the working time can be reduced and the working efficiency can be improved.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the present example includes a vehicle-side connector 1 attached to a vehicle body (not shown) of an electric vehicle, and a charger-side connector 2 connected to the vehicle-side connector 1. The vehicle-side connector 1 is connected to a battery circuit of the electric vehicle, and the charger-side connector 2 is provided at an end of a charging cable 3 drawn from a charger (not shown), and connects the connectors 1 and 2 together. Thus, the battery of the electric vehicle can be charged.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle-side connector 1 has a guide tube portion 11 and a rectangular flange portion 12 integrally formed. As shown in FIG. 2, power supply terminals 13a and 13b are provided on the inside of the guide cylinder 11, and signal terminals 13c are provided on the outside thereof.
Are respectively arranged on the concentric circumference. The power terminals 13a and 13b are provided over the entire circumference, and the signal terminals 13c are arranged scattered on the circumference.

Also, as shown in FIG.
A pair of spiral grooves 14 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the inner peripheral surface 1 at substantially axially symmetric positions from the start end 14a to the end end 14b. The spiral groove 14 moves along an engagement protrusion 22 of the charger-side connector 2 to be described later, and shifts both connectors 1 and 2 from a half-fitted state to a fully-fitted state. The start end 14a of the spiral groove 14 is open to the outside. As described later, when the engagement projections 22a and 22b of the charger-side connector 2 are located at this position, the two connectors 1 and 2 are half-fitted at the time of connection. Corresponds to the combined state. Further, when the engagement projection 22 of the charger-side connector 2 is located at the end 14b of the spiral groove 14, it corresponds to a completely fitted state when the connectors 1 and 2 are connected. In addition, a convex portion 15 for positioning when connecting to a charger-side connector 2 to be described later is protrudingly provided on an upper inner peripheral surface of the guide tube portion 11. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, a pair of holding mechanisms 16 for holding the two connectors 1 and 2 in a completely fitted state are provided inside the guide cylinder 11 at substantially axially symmetric positions as described later. Have been. The holding mechanism 16 is formed in the guide cylinder 11 in the radial direction, and is formed in a storage recess 16 a communicating with the inner peripheral surface;
Plunger ball 1 housed in housing recess 16a
7 and a spring 18 for urging the plunger ball 17 toward the inner peripheral surface in the storage recess 16a. The plunger ball 17 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the storage recess 16a, Surface side opening 16b
Is further reduced to prevent the plunger ball 17 from coming out of the storage recess 16a. A recess for engaging the plunger ball 17 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the charger-side connector 2 at a position where the plunger ball 17 comes into contact with the plunger ball 17 in a completely fitted state.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the charger side connector 2 has power supply terminals 24a and 24b inside,
On the outside, three signal terminals 24c are arranged on a concentric circle, respectively. These are connected to the power supply terminals 13a, 13a, 1
3b and the signal terminal 13c. Here, the power supply terminals 24a and 24b are provided over the entire circumference, and the signal terminals 24c are scattered around the circumference.
It is deviated from the signal terminal 13c of the vehicle-side connector 1 described above. That is, in a state where both connectors 1 and 2 are half-fitted,
The power terminals 13a, 13b and the power terminals 24a, 24b come into contact with each other, and the signal terminal 13c does not come into contact with the signal terminal 24c. Are arranged so as to contact with each other. Due to the contact between the signal terminals 13c and 24c, the completely fitted state of the connectors 1 and 2 is detected on the charger side, and the power terminals 24a and 24b are connected to the power terminals 13a and 13a.
3b is energized by the safety circuit of the charger.

As shown in FIG. 1, the charger connector 2 has a pair of engaging projections 22a and 22b formed at substantially axially symmetric positions on the outer peripheral portion of a cylindrical shell 21.
), The engaging projections 22a, 22b
Each of them engages with one spiral groove 14. A hand lever 23 that rotates the charger-side connector 2 with respect to the vehicle-side connector 1 by being gripped with one hand extends in the radial direction behind the engagement protrusions 22a and 22b.

Further, a concave groove 25 into which the convex portion 15 provided on the guide tube portion 11 is inserted is formed at the top end of the upper surface of the charger-side connector 2. An elastically deformable piece 26 is provided on the upper surface of the charger-side connector 2 following the concave groove 25 toward the rear. This elastic deformation piece 26
Is extended rearward as a free end with a base 26a fixed at a position deeper than the bottom of the concave groove 25 as a fixed end. A concave portion 26d that engages with the convex portion 15 when the connectors 1 and 2 are in a half-fitted state is formed in the extension portion 26b that is continuous with the base portion 26a. This convex part 15 and concave part 2
The engagement with 6d prevents the charger connector 2 from being inadvertently dropped from the vehicle connector 1 in the half-fitted state (see FIG. 5). The extension portion 26b is further provided with a push-down portion 26c continuously and rearward, and the push-down operation allows the protrusion 15 and the recess 26d to be dissociated. Further, following the concave portion 26d, along the circumferential direction of the charger-side connector 2, the convex portion 15 guides the convex portion 15 in accordance with the rotation of the charger-side connector 2.
Although not shown in detail, 7 is provided along the spiral direction.

Next, the connection operation between the vehicle-side connector 1 and the charger-side connector 2 of the present embodiment will be described. First,
Hold the hand lever 23 with one hand, and
Of the vehicle-side connector 1 is inserted into the concave groove 25 of the charger-side connector 2, and the projection 15 of the vehicle-side connector 1 is inserted into the groove 25 of the charger-side connector 2. 22b are respectively inserted into the start ends 14a of the spiral grooves 14 of the corresponding vehicle-side connector 1. Thereafter, the charger-side connector 2 is brought closer to the vehicle-side connector 1 by one-handed operation of the hand lever 23. Then, the convex portion 15 advances from the concave groove 25 onto the elastically deformable piece 26 and fits into the concave portion 26d, whereby the charger-side connector 2 is held in a half-fitted state (see FIG. 5).

Therefore, the charger side connector 2 is connected to the vehicle side connector 1 by operating the hand lever 23 with one hand as shown in FIG.
In the direction of the arrow P shown in FIG. Then, the convex portion 15 moves along the escape groove 27 from the concave portion 26d, while the engaging protrusions 22a and 22b move from the start end 14a of the spiral groove 14 toward the end end 14b. As a result, the vehicle-side connector 1 and the charger-side connector 2 are completely fitted. In addition, the holding mechanism 16 shown in FIG. 4 is operated at the position where the battery is completely fitted, and the charger-side connector 2 is fixed to the vehicle-side connector 1 in the completely fitted state. In addition, the power supply terminals 24a and 24b of the charger-side connector 2 and the signal terminal 2
4c is disposed concentrically and the power supply terminals 13a, 13b and the signal terminal 13c of the vehicle-side connector 1 are disposed concentrically to be connectable. , The terminals are finally electrically connected. That is, in the half-fitted state, only the power terminals 24a, 24b of the charger-side connector 2 and the power terminals 13a, 13b of the vehicle-side connector 1 are connected, and the signal terminal 24c and the signal terminal 13c are biased on the circumference. Are not connected because they are positioned at the same position.
c is connected. This allows the charger to detect a completely fitted state, so that the charger can be energized to the vehicle.

Next, in order to remove the charger connector 2 from the vehicle connector 1, the hand lever 23 is moved with one hand as shown in FIG.
To rotate in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow P, and rotate the charger-side connector 2 in the direction opposite to the direction at the time of connection. Then, the engagement protrusion 22
a, 22b are from the end 14b of the spiral groove 14 to the start 14a.
Then, the convex portion 15 moves from the clearance groove 27 to the concave portion 26d, and the connectors 1 and 2 shift from the completely fitted state to the semi-fitted state. Therefore, the hand lever 23 is operated by one hand operation.
Is pulled out from the charger side connector 2 through the elastically deformable piece 26 and the concave groove 25 from the concave portion 26d, and the engaging protrusions 22a and 22b are also connected to the starting end 14 of the spiral groove 14.
Exit from a. In this manner, the charger-side connector 2 can be disengaged from the vehicle-side connector 1.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
When connecting the charger side connector 2 to the vehicle side connector 1,
Since it is only necessary to hold the hand lever 23 with one hand and rotate the connectors 1 and 2 after positioning, the one-handed operation can be realized and the workability of the connection work can be improved. Also,
At the time of the connection work, it is only necessary to hold the hand lever 23 and perform fitting and rotating operations, and no operation on other parts is required, so that the working time can be shortened and the working efficiency is improved. Further, the fact that the engagement between the convex portion 15 and the concave portion 26d of the elastic deformation piece 26 has led to the semi-fitting state
The movement of the spiral groove 14 from the start end 14a to the end 14b of the spiral groove 14a and 22b can be recognized by the sense of the hand operating each of them in a completely fitted state. Also, the holding mechanism 1
Since the completely fitted state is maintained by the operation of 6, it is possible to prevent disconnection and poor connection during charging.

In this embodiment, a spiral groove 14 is formed in the vehicle-side connector 1 and the engagement protrusion 2 is formed in the charger-side connector 2.
Although 2a and 22b are provided, it is also possible to provide a configuration in which an engagement protrusion is provided on the vehicle-side connector 1 and a spiral groove is provided on the charger-side connector 2. In the present embodiment, the spiral groove 14 and the engagement protrusions 22a and 22b are connected by engagement. However, for example, a rail-shaped spiral guide protrusion and a detachably fitted movable A similar effect can be achieved by various mechanisms that move along a spiral guide path, such as a combination with a concave portion or a combination of a spiral groove cam and a rod.
Further, in this embodiment, the holding mechanism 16 is connected to the vehicle-side connector 1.
, But may be provided on the charger-side connector 2,
Both connectors 1 and 2 can be provided respectively.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the second embodiment, instead of the holding mechanism 16 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.
An engagement concave portion 32 is formed in the inner peripheral portion of the device 1 and functions as a holding portion that holds a completely fitted state by engagement of these. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the second elastic deformation piece 30 is provided in the circumferential direction near the position substantially symmetrical to the elastic deformation piece 26. The second elastically deformable piece 30 has a cantilever structure having a base end 30a as a fixed end, and a free end 30b extends rearward. At the center of the second elastically deformable piece 30, an engagement piece 31 protruding from the upper surface by a predetermined amount is formed. A guide slope 31a is formed on the front side of the engagement piece 31. When the charger-side connector 2 is inserted into the vehicle-side connector 1, the guide slope 31a is formed.
Is smoothly inserted along. The second elastically deformable piece 3
Below 0, a relief recess 33 is provided in which the second elastically deformable piece 30 is bent and deformed and enters.

When the charger-side connector 2 is inserted into the vehicle-side connector 1 so as to be in a half-fitted state, the engagement piece 31 of the second elastically deformable piece 30 is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the guide cylinder 11. Therefore, the second elastically deformable piece bends and enters the relief recess 33 (the state shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 7). Next, the engagement piece 31 engages with the inner peripheral surface of the guide cylinder 11 while drawing a spiral trajectory until the charger-side connector 2 is rotated in the direction of the arrow P and reaches a completely fitted state. To the recess 32, and as a result,
The engagement piece 31 and the engagement recess 32 are engaged, and second, the elastically deformable piece 30 elastically returns (the state of the solid line in FIG. 7). Thus,
By the engagement between the engagement pieces 31 and the engagement recesses 32, the completely fitted state is maintained.

As described above, according to the configuration of the second embodiment, a sufficient mounting space for disposing the above-described holding mechanism 16 of the first embodiment in the charger-side connector 2 or the vehicle-side connector 1 is provided. If the holding mechanism 16 including the plunger ball 17 and the spring 18 does not have a sufficient thickness inside the guide cylinder 11,
The engagement piece 31 provided on the elastically deformable piece 30 of FIG.
By reducing the thickness in combination with the engagement concave portion 32 provided on the inner peripheral surface, it is possible to realize a mechanism excellent in mountability that maintains a completely fitted state even when the thickness is small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state where a charger-side connector is detached from a vehicle-side connector.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a vehicle-side connector.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a charger-side connector.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view when the vehicle-side connector and the charger-side connector are in a completely fitted state.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional side view when the vehicle-side connector and the charger-side connector are in a half-fitted state;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the charger-side connector of the second embodiment is detached from the vehicle-side connector.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the second embodiment when the vehicle-side connector and the charger-side connector are in a fitted state.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a conventional connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle side connector 2 ... Charger side connector 13a, 13b, 24a, 24b ... Power supply terminal 13c, 24c ... Signal terminal 14 ... Spiral groove 14a ... Start end 14b ... End end 16 ... Holding mechanism 22a, 22b ... Engagement protrusion 23 ... Hand lever 30 second elastic deformation piece 31 engagement piece 32 engagement recess

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A charger-side connector connected to a charging cable led out from a charger and having a terminal disposed substantially concentrically; and a substantially connector provided on a body of an electric vehicle and connectable to a terminal of the charger-side connector. A vehicle-side connector having terminals arranged on concentric circles, wherein the connector for the electric vehicle is detachably connected by fitting the charger-side connector to the vehicle-side connector; A spiral path is formed along the circumferential direction at the tip of one of the charger-side connectors to be fitted, the starting end of which is in the half-fitting position of the two connectors, and the end of which is a spiral path corresponding to the fully fitting position. An engaging portion protruding from the other end of the charger-side connector or the vehicle-side connector to be fitted and detachably engaged with the spiral path; and disposed on an outer periphery of the charger-side connector. A handle for engaging the engaging portion with the start end of the spiral path, rotating the charger-side connector to move the engaging section to the end along the spiral path, and the vehicle-side connector or A holder disposed on one of the charger-side connectors, the holder being configured to hold both connectors in a completely fitted position when the engagement portion moves to the end of the spiral path; The battery-side connector and the corresponding terminal of the vehicle-side connector are arranged so as to be displaced in the circumferential direction at the half-fitted position so as to be in a non-contact state, and the rotation operation of the entire charger-side connector is performed. An electric vehicle charging connector, which is positioned when the battery reaches the complete fitting position, thereby enabling current to flow from the charger to the vehicle. 2. A convex portion is provided on one of the charger-side connector and the vehicle-side connector, and the other connector is engaged with the convex portion at the half-fitting position so that the two connectors are connected to each other. An elastically deformable piece is provided which regulates the disengagement in the axial direction and releases the engagement with the projection when the charger-side connector rotates toward the completely fitted position. The connector for charging an electric vehicle according to claim 1 .