JP3139668B2 - Power supply 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 power supply connector used for charging, for example, an electric vehicle, which can be very easily attached to and detached from a power receiving connector by electric power.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of power supply side connector, there is one shown in FIG.
0444). The power supply side connector a uses a principle of a roller and a spring e as means for moving a connector body c accommodating a plurality of terminals b with respect to a case d. That is, when the lever f is gripped, the pin P _1
It has a mechanism that pushes the connector body c via the handle g with ₂ as the point of action, and can be fitted with the power receiving connector with low insertion force. Insertion force reducing rate at this time, the fulcrum P ₁ and the point P ₂
If the length between them is L ₁ and the length between the fulcrum P ₁ and the force point P _{3 of the} lever f is L ₂ , then (L ₁ / L ₂ ) × 100 (%).

[0003]

In the power supply side connector a described above, the lever f is grasped with one hand or both hands, so that a large lever stroke cannot be obtained. In other words, it can not be actually so large a L _2, not be taken larger stroke of the connector body c. Therefore, the size of the connector body and the reduction in insertion force are limited, and there is a problem that it is difficult to put the connector body into practical use as a large connector for supplying a large current.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a power supply side connector for supplying a large current, which is suitable for a large size that can be operated very easily by an off operation.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power supply side connector according to the present invention, wherein the power supply side connector is slidably mounted on a cylindrical case.
A connector main body accommodating a plurality of terminals, and a motor built in the case and for moving the connector main body connected to the rear half of the connector main body via a deceleration mechanism to advance and retreat.

[0006] The power supply connector, as set forth in claim 2, comprising a lock release pin against the lock arm and the lock arm where the casing is engaged with the power receiving connector when fitting between the power receiving connector Is desirable.
Further, it is preferable that the connector main body includes a lock release preventing piece that prevents release of the lock arm when the power receiving side connector and the power feeding side connector are completely fitted (claim 3).

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power supply side connector having a cylindrical shape in which a connector accommodating chamber is formed in the first half, a feed gear accommodating chamber is formed in the second half, and an operation chamber is provided on one side. A case, a connector body slidably mounted in the connector accommodating chamber of the case and accommodating a plurality of terminals, a motor fixed to the operation chamber, and a motor and a reduction mechanism in the feed gear accommodating chamber. And a feed gear provided with a female thread on the inner periphery, and a cylindrical screw connected to the rear portion of the connector body is screwed to the feed gear,
The connector body is configured to advance and retreat by forward and reverse rotation of the motor.

A wire connected to a plurality of terminals in the connector main body is led out through the inside of the cylindrical screw (claim 5), and the cylindrical screw is connected to a rear end of the connector main body. A wire connected non-rotatably to the metal shell fixed to the portion and connected to the plurality of terminals is focused and fixed by the metal shell.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the connector body moves forward and backward by the forward and reverse rotation of the motor, it is only necessary to insert the power supply side connector into the power receiving side connector. Can be detached. As a result, a large connector that requires a large insertion force by ordinary manual work can be handled with a small force, and development and commercialization of a large connector are facilitated.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the case is provided with a lock arm engaged with the power receiving connector when the case is fitted to the power receiving connector, and a lock release pin for the lock arm. The connector on the power supply side and the connector on the power receiving side do not come off, and can be operated safely. According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the connector main body is provided with the lock release preventing piece for preventing release of the lock arm when the power receiving side connector and the power feeding side connector are completely fitted, the connector body may be erroneously charged during charging. The lock is not released even if the lock release pin is pushed, and the safety is high.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in addition to the same operation as the first aspect of the invention, the overall length of the power supply side connector is reduced by employing a speed reduction mechanism and a bolt-nut mechanism (a cylindrical screw and a feed gear). It can be made compact without increasing the size.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the wires connected to the plurality of terminals pass through the inside of the cylindrical screw and are led out to the outside, so that the wires do not become entangled with a driving mechanism such as a motor. Smooth advance and retreat of the connector main body is secured while preventing breakage of the wire.

According to the invention of claim 6, the cylindrical screw is non-rotatably inserted into the metal shell fixed to the rear end of the connector body, and the wires connected to the plurality of terminals are connected to the metal shell by the metal shell. Since the wires are focused and fixed, the wire always advances and retreats integrally with the connector main body, so that the terminal can be securely prevented from coming off from the connector main body.

[0014]

1 is a front view of a power supply side connector, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a left side view, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a state separated from a power receiving side connector, and FIG. The figure is shown. As shown in FIG. 4, the charging connector includes a power supply side connector A provided in a power supply device (not shown) and a power reception side connector B fixed to a vehicle body or the like.

In the power supply side connector A, reference numeral 1 denotes a tying case comprising a pair of split type cases 1A and 1B opposed to each other, and a connector body 11 is slidably mounted in a front half thereof, and a connector body 11 is provided in a rear half thereof. A driving member (a feed gear 28 and a cylindrical screw 26) for moving back and forth is housed, a motor 31 serving as a driving source is housed at an upper part, and a cable C extending from a power feeding device (not shown) is housed at a rear end of the case 1. Corrugated pipe 10 is attached.

The case 1 has a connector housing 2 in the first half,
A feed gear housing chamber 3 is provided in the rear half, a corrugated pipe connection part 4 is formed at the rear end, and an operation chamber 5 is continuously formed on the upper side of the feed gear housing chamber 3 so as to swell. A handle 7 is formed between the case and the rear end of the case via an elongated hole 6. The operation room 5 includes a motor housing room 8 on the split mold case 1A side.
The corrugated pipe 10 is fitted and fixed to the corrugated pipe connecting part 4 by a plurality of grooves 4a provided on the inner periphery.

Further, the split case 1 constituting the case 1
A stepped portion 1a is provided on the outer periphery of the terminals A and 1B on the side of the terminal accommodating chamber 2, and a cutout portion 1c having a rib 1b is opened at the upper butted portion of both cases 1A and 1B. A lock window for a lock arm 39 described later is formed. Further, a guide groove 1d is formed in the rear part of the outer periphery of the split case 1A, 1B on the side of the feed gear accommodating chamber 3, and a metal shell 23, 2 described later is formed in the guide groove 1d.
3 'fixing pieces 23f, 23f are slidably mounted.

A stepped portion 2a is provided on the inner peripheral front side of the terminal accommodating chamber 2, and a connector main body 11 is slidably mounted on the lower stepped portion side. The connector main body 11 includes three types of female terminals 12, 13, and 14, which are accommodated in a housing 15. The large female terminal 12 is for a power line for charging, the medium female terminal 13 is for a ground line of the power supply connector A, and the small female terminal 14 is for a signal line. Are manufactured from copper round bars by cutting. As the small female terminal 14, a normal connector terminal is used.

The housing 15 has a large female terminal 1
2, two terminal receiving chambers 16A corresponding to the medium-sized female terminals 13 at the center, and four terminal receiving chambers 16C corresponding to the small female terminals 14 at the lower part. . In the first half of the housing 15, the female terminals 12
The waterproof packing 17 is individually fitted to the base end portion of the outer peripheral wall of the terminal housing chamber 16A.
6C are arranged collectively in one hood 18, and a waterproof packing 17 ′ is fitted around the outer periphery of the hood 18.
In the rear half of the housing 15, as shown in FIG. 8, two terminal accommodating chambers 16A and one terminal accommodating chamber 16B form
And a plurality of locking projections 21 are provided on the outer periphery of the connection ring 20. An unlocking prevention piece 15a is provided at an intermediate portion of the outer peripheral wall of the housing 15 to prevent the power supply side connector A from being detached during charging as described later.

The rear end of the connector body 11 is connected to a motor 31 fixed to the motor housing 8 by a bolt-nut mechanism 22 and a speed reduction mechanism 33. The bolt-nut mechanism 22 includes two metal shells 23 and 23 ′ connected to the connection ring 20 of the housing 15, a cylindrical screw 26 (hereinafter simply referred to as a drum) fitted on the outer periphery thereof, a feed gear 28, and the like. .

The metal shell 23 (23 ') is formed by coupling a large-diameter portion 23A that matches the outer periphery of the connection ring 20 with a small-diameter portion 23C via an inclined portion 23B. A flange 23a is formed at the edge of the large-diameter portion 23A, and a locking hole 23b is formed at the front half thereof, and a locking lance 23c is formed at the rear half thereof. An elongated locking hole 23d is provided in parallel with the axial direction, and a fixing piece 23 having bolt holes 23e on both side edges of the small-diameter portion 23C.
f is stretched.

A pair of metal shells 23 and 23 'are attached to each other so as to tie the connection ring 20 from above and below, and are positioned by the locking projection 21 and the locking hole 23b.
3f and 23f are fastened with the bolt 24 and the nut 25. Thereby, the metal shell 23,
23 'is fixed so as not to rotate and the female terminal 12
The group of wires 47 connected to 〜14 is also focused and fixed. Therefore, the group of wires 47 always moves integrally with the metal shells 23 and 23 ', that is, the connector main body 11, so that the female terminals 12 to 14 fall out of the terminal accommodating chambers 16A to 16C,
Entanglement and breakage are prevented.

From the rear of the metal shells 23, 23 ', that is, from the small-diameter portion 23C side, a drum 26 having an external thread 26a provided on the outer periphery and a plurality of ribs 26b projecting in the axial direction on the inner periphery is inserted outside. 26b is engaged with the long locking hole 23d, and the C-ring 27 is fitted to the rear end of the drum 26 at the portion of the locking lance 23c and tightly fastened. That is, the drum 26 is engaged with the metal shell 2 by the engagement between the rib 26b and the locking long hole 23d.
3, 2 'non-rotatable and forward flange
3a and the rear C-ring 27, it is fixed in a state where it cannot advance or retreat. A feed gear 28 having a female screw 28a on the inner periphery and a spur tooth 28b on the outer periphery is screwed to the outer periphery of the drum 26.

The portion of the bolt-nut mechanism 22 is housed in the feed gear housing chamber 3 of the case 1. That is, a pair of front and rear drum receivers 29 and 2 are provided on the inner peripheral wall of the feed gear housing chamber 3.
The connector body 11 is formed by the drum receivers 29, 29 and the lower step side of the connector housing chamber 2.
And the drum 26 are integrally and slidably supported. A gear cover 30 having a window 30a opened at the top is fitted between the drum receivers 29, 29.
0a, the spur teeth 28b of the feed gear 28
It is linked to

The speed reduction mechanism 33 includes a first gear 34 fixed to the motor shaft 31a of the motor 31 fixed to the mounting seat 32 in the motor housing 8, a second gear 35 meshed with the first gear 34, and a second gear 35. The third gear 36 meshing with the small gear 35a of the third gear 36 and the fourth gear meshing with the small gear 36a of the third gear 36
A fourth gear 37 passes through a window 30a of the gear cover 30 and has spur teeth 28b of the feed gear 28.
It is engaged with.

A switching switch 38 for driving the motor is mounted on the top of the motor chamber 8, and the lock chamber 9 facing the chamber 8 has a lower half above the lock arm 39 from the base end of the lock arm 39. A mounting frame 40 is supported by a pin 41, and a lock release pin 43 urged upward by a return spring 42 is mounted on the upper half part by a pair of flanges 45, 45 so as to be vertically movable. 43 head 44
Are exposed at the top of the lock chamber 9. In addition, the pin 41
It is planted on a mounting plate (not shown) mounted on the split mold case 1B side . The lock arm 39 has a tapered inclined surface 39a.
And a locking recess 39b for the power receiving side connector B via the
It is constantly urged upward by a spring (not shown) mounted between the pin 41 and the mounting frame 40.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 47 denotes the female terminals 12 to
Wires connected to 14 terminals, 48 is a waterproof rubber stopper, 4
Reference numeral 9 denotes a screw insertion hole (or a screw) for fixing the split cases 1A and 1B.

The power receiving connector B is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, a shell for receiving the front end of the case of the power feeding connector A in front of the connector body 50 accommodating the large, medium and small male terminals 51, 52, 53. A shell 54 is formed, and the shell 54 is fixed to a vehicle body (not shown) by a bolt with a flange 55 extending around the outer periphery. A locking projection 54a that engages with the locking recess 39b of the lock arm 39 is provided on the inner surface of the shell 54.
Are provided, and caps 56, 5 are provided in the openings.
One end of each of the caps 6 'is openably and closably attached by a hinge portion 57, and locking portions 56a, 56a' are provided on the other side edges of the caps 56, 56 'with steps, respectively. 56a, 56a 'are adapted to be locked by engagement with two rotatable locks 58, 58' provided on the flange 55. Numerals 59A, 59B, 59C denote terminal accommodation chambers for accommodating and locking large, medium and small male terminals 51, 52, 53, respectively, and numerals 60, 60 'denote waterproof rubber plugs.

Next, the operation of fitting, charging and disconnecting the power supply side connector A and the power reception side connector B will be described.
As shown in FIG. 9, the cap 56 of the power receiving side connector B,
The power supply side connector A faces the shell 54 by opening 56 '. Next, as shown in FIG. 10, when the tip of the case 1 of the power supply connector A is inserted into the shell 54, the tip of the shell 54 is
When the connector a and the connector B are temporarily locked, the locking projection 39a in the shell 54 is engaged with the locking recess 39b of the lock arm 39, and the connector A and B are temporarily locked.

FIG. 11 shows a completely fitted (charged) state of the connectors A and B. That is, after the temporary locking, when the changeover switch 38 in the upper part of the operation room 5 in the power supply side connector A is slid from the neutral to the forward side, the motor 31 rotates in the forward direction, and the feed gear 28
Rotates. As a result, the drum 26 and the connector main body 11 connected to the drum 26 are pushed out, until the drum 26 and the power receiving connector B are completely fitted, that is, the connection between the female terminal 12 and the male terminal 51 or the tip of the case 1 Move forward in case 1 until it reaches the bottom. When the connectors A and B are completely fitted, the motor 31 cannot rotate. At this time, an overcurrent flows through the motor 31, and this overcurrent is detected by a detection circuit (not shown), and the motor 31
The power supply to the plant is stopped.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which the temporary locking of both connectors A and B is released. When the changeover switch 38 is slid backward after charging, the motor 31 rotates in the reverse direction, and the connector main body 11 moves backward by the reverse operation. When the motor 31 is completely retracted, the motor 31 cannot rotate in the same manner as described above. Therefore, the overcurrent at this time is detected and the power supply is stopped. Then, when the head 44 of the lock release pin 43 is pressed down against the return spring 42, the lower end thereof is attached to the mounting frame 4 of the lock arm 39.
0, the lock arm 39 rotates in the opposite direction to the clock about the pin 41, the engagement between the engagement recess 39b and the engagement protrusion 54a of the shell 54 is released, and the temporary engagement between the connectors A and B is established. The stop state is released.

Incidentally, even if the head 44 of the unlock pin 43 is erroneously pressed during the charging shown in FIG.
Since the lock release preventing piece 15a is located in the rotation space of the lock arm 39, the rotation of the lock arm 39 is prevented,
The lock release pin 43 cannot be operated. Thereby, disconnection of the power supply side connector A during charging is reliably prevented.

In the above, the female terminals 12, 1 are connected to the power supply side connector A.
Although an example has been described in which the male terminals 51, 52, and 53 corresponding to the power-receiving-side connector B are inserted, the configuration may be reversed.

[0034]

As described above, in the power supply side connector of the present invention, the connector main body is moved forward and backward by the rotation of the motor. Easy to do. In addition, the connector main body can obtain a large propulsive force by the motor deceleration mechanism, so that it is suitable for developing a large connector for supplying a large current.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a power supply side connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the power supply side connector and the power reception side connector of FIG. 1 in a separated state.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of an essential part showing a part of a bolt-nut mechanism and a speed reduction mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows the connector body 11, metal shells 23 and 2 of FIG.
3 'is an exploded perspective view of a drum 26. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state before the power supply side connector A and the power reception side connector B are fitted to each other.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a temporarily locked state between the power supply side connector A and the power reception side connector B.

11 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a completely fitted (charged) state of the power supply side connector A and the power reception side connector B. FIG.

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a lock (temporary locking) release state between the power supply side connector A and the power reception side connector B;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional power supply side connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS A Power supply side connector B Power reception side connector 1 Case 1A, 1B Split type case 2 Connector accommodation room 3 Feed gear accommodation room 5 Operation room 11 Connector main body 12-14 Female terminal 15 Housing 15a Lock release prevention piece 22 Bolt-nut mechanism 23, 23 'metal shell 23f fixing piece 26 drum (cylindrical screw) 28 feed gear 28a female screw 31 motor 33 reduction mechanism 39 lock arm 43 lock release pin 47 wire

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-81285 (JP, A) JP-A-7-194703 (JP, A) JP-A-63-29467 (JP, A) JP-A-7-263086 (JP, A) JP-A-7-37644 (JP, A) JP-A-6-236780 (JP, A) JP-A-7-282902 (JP, A) JP-A-6-188044 (JP, A) 3-39266 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/62-13/639

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] A power supply side connector detachably fitted to a power receiving side connector provided on a vehicle body, comprising: a cylindrical case; and a connector slidably mounted on the case and accommodating a plurality of terminals. A power supply-side connector comprising: a main body; and a motor built in the case and configured to move a connector main body connected to a rear half of the connector main body via a deceleration mechanism. 2. A power supply side connector detachably fitted to a power receiving side connector provided on a vehicle body, comprising: a cylindrical case; and a connector slidably mounted on the case and accommodating a plurality of terminals. A main body, a motor built in the case, and a motor for moving the connector main body connected to the rear half of the connector main body via a deceleration mechanism, and wherein the case receives the power receiving side when the case is fitted with the power receiving side connector. A power supply side connector comprising: a lock arm that engages with the connector; and a lock release pin for the lock arm. 3. The connector body according to claim 2, wherein the connector main body includes a lock release preventing piece for preventing release of the lock arm when the power receiving side connector and the power feeding side connector are completely fitted. Power supply side connector as described. 4. A power supply side connector detachably fitted to a power receiving side connector provided on a vehicle body, wherein a connector housing chamber is formed in a first half, a feed gear housing chamber is formed in a second half, and an operation chamber is formed on one side. A cylindrical case provided; a connector body slidably mounted in the connector housing chamber of the case, housing a plurality of terminals; a motor fixed to the operation chamber; and the motor in the feed gear housing chamber. And a feed gear connected to the feed gear with a female screw on the inner periphery, and a cylindrical screw connected to the rear part of the connector body is screwed to the feed gear, and the connector is rotated by forward / reverse rotation of the motor. A power supply-side connector having a structure for moving the main body forward and backward. 5. The power-supply-side connector according to claim 4, wherein wires connected to the plurality of terminals in the connector main body are led out through the inside of the cylindrical screw. 6. The cylindrical screw is non-rotatably inserted into a metal shell fixed to a rear end portion of the connector body, and wires connected to the plurality of terminals are fixed and focused by the metal shell. The power supply side connector according to claim 5, wherein: