JP5517881B2 - Vehicle charging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle charging device.

  As a structure of a charging device for a vehicle that charges an electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid car, for example, in Patent Document 1, a charging cable having a charging connector at the tip is provided integrally with the charging device, and when charging is performed, A structure is described in which the charging connector is removed from the charging device and connected to an electric vehicle, and the charging connector and the charging cable are stored on the outer surface of the electric vehicle charging device when not in use. A structure is described in which the connector portion at the tip of the charging connector is inserted into and coupled to the provided cylindrical connector housing portion.

  However, in a vehicle charging device of the type having such a charging cable integrated with the charging device, if rain or snow falls during charging when the charging connector is connected to the automobile, water is collected in the connector housing. There was a problem. As a method for avoiding this problem, for example, it is conceivable to provide a door that covers the connector housing. In this case, the user closes the door that covers the connector housing after removing the charging connector from the charging device, and performs charging. After the completion, it is necessary to open the door again and store the charging connector in the connector storage section, which is not preferable because the labor involved in the charging operation becomes complicated. Moreover, the waterproof measure by adding waterproof parts such as the door described above is not preferable because it leads to an increase in the number of parts of the charging device.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-122714

  An object of the present invention is to provide a charging cable having a charging connector at the tip integrally with a vehicle charging device, and when charging, remove the charging connector from a connector housing provided in the charging device and connect to an electric vehicle. When the vehicle is charged with rain or snow during charging when the charging connector is connected to the vehicle, without resolving the above problem and adding a waterproof part to the connector housing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle charging device having a structure in which moisture does not accumulate in the connector housing portion.

  The vehicle charging device of the present invention made to solve the above-described problems is provided with a power feeding means inside a casing, and a charging connector provided at the end of a charging cable drawn out from the casing is not charged. In a vehicular charging device including a connector housing portion that is sometimes housed, the connector housing portion is formed with a concave part of the front surface of the housing, and the connector housing portion is coupled to the connector portion at the tip of the charging connector. A connector holding portion, and a back space portion and a lower space portion that are formed in communication on the back side and the lower side of the connector holding portion, and the connector holding portion includes the back space portion and the connector. The connector housing portion has a through-hole that penetrates the holding portion, and the lower portion of the connector housing portion has a double structure in which the surface of the housing is further covered with a front panel, and is formed between the surface of the housing and the front panel. Front space and front Has a communicating portion for communicating the lower space portion, and is characterized in that the bottom of the front surface space to the opening.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle charging device according to the first aspect, the connector holding portion has a connector coupling surface having an inclination angle downward toward the rear surface of the housing, The lower space portion is characterized in that the floor surface has an inclination angle downward toward the front surface of the housing.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle charging apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the floor surface of the connector housing portion has an inclination angle that rises from the near side toward the far side, and the floor surface The charging connector introducing portion is formed from a wide portion to a narrow portion from the near side toward the deep side.

  In the vehicle charging device according to the present invention, the connector housing portion is connected to the connector portion at the tip of the charging connector, and the back surface formed in communication with the back side and the lower side of the connector holding portion. The connector holding portion is provided with a through-hole penetrating the back space portion and the connector holding portion, and the lower portion of the connector housing portion has a surface of the housing. Furthermore, it has a double structure covered with a front panel, and has a front space formed between the front surface of the housing and the front panel, and a communication portion for communicating the lower space with the front space. By adopting a configuration in which the lowermost part of the charging connector is an opening, even if rain or snow falls during charging when the charging connector is connected to the automobile and water drops enter the connector housing, The connector holding Flows into the lower space section from the rear space portion exits the through-hole from further and can be discharged to the bottom of the front surface space from the opening flows into the front space. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively avoid the problem of moisture retention in the connector housing portion regardless of means for adding a waterproof part (for example, a door) to the connector housing portion. In addition, according to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to take a waterproof measure without imposing a burden on the user with special work (for example, opening and closing work of the waterproof door), and no additional waterproof parts are required. Various effects associated therewith are also obtained, and further aesthetics are preferable.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the connector coupling surface of the connector holding portion has a downward inclination angle toward the back surface of the housing, and the floor surface of the lower space portion faces downward toward the front surface of the housing. By adopting the configuration having the inclination angle, water droplets that have entered the connector housing portion can be drained more quickly.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the charging connector is mounted on the connector holding portion, the operator can reliably perform the mounting operation by pushing the front end lower portion of the tip connector portion forward while contacting the charging connector introduction portion. It can be performed.

It is a whole perspective view of the charging device for vehicles at the time of non-charging. It is sectional drawing of the connector accommodating part of FIG. It is a front view of the charging device for vehicles in charge. FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of the connector storage portion of FIG. 3. It is explanatory drawing at the time of charging connector attachment to a connector holding part.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below.
The vehicle charging device according to the present invention includes a power supply device connected to a power supply source such as a high-voltage power receiving facility and a control for performing various controls associated with power supply in the housing 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The part etc. are stored. The casing 1 is made of a steel material having high strength in order to protect internal devices and the like, and a resinous front panel excellent in design is attached to the front surface thereof. The front panel also functions as a light shielding plate. In addition, a side door is provided on the side of the housing to facilitate access to the internal devices.

  A charging cable 4 is drawn from the inside of the housing 1, and a charging connector 3 is provided at the end thereof. The vehicle is charged by inserting the charging connector 3 into a connector port on the vehicle side.

  On the front surface of the housing 1, there are arranged an operation unit in which a switch for performing an operation such as forced stop of charging and a disconnection check, and a display unit for displaying a charge amount, an amount of money, and the like. The connector housing portion 2 for housing the charging connector is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the connector housing part 2 is formed with a part of the front surface of the housing 1 having a concave shape. The connector housing part 2 has a charging connector 3 on the back side of the connector housing part 2 when not charged. A connector holding portion 5 that holds the charging connector 3 is disposed in combination with the tip connector portion 31.

  The shape of the tip connector portion 31 is not particularly limited, but in the present embodiment, it is substantially cylindrical and includes a removal button 32 on the side surface near the tip, and a claw that is linked to the removal button 32 at the tip portion. And a connection pin for charging, a ground wire connection pin, and a pin for an information communication line with an automobile. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the housing-side connector holding portion 5 includes a hollow portion 51 in which each of the pins is inserted and held.

  From the viewpoint of the operability of the attachment / detachment work between the distal connector portion 31 and the connector holding portion 5, the connector coupling surface of the connector holding portion 5 may have a downward inclination angle toward the back surface of the housing 1. In this case, water drops that have entered from the connector coupling surface side tend to stay in the recess 51. If, for example, rainwater or the like is accumulated in the recess 51, a pin inserted into the recess 51 may be wetted, and if the wet pin is inserted into the connector on the automobile side, there is a risk of causing a leakage accident or the like. It is a danger. In order to avoid this danger, the recess 51 is provided with a water draining mechanism including a water draining hole or groove.

  In the present invention, as the configuration of the drainage mechanism, the rear space portion 6 and the lower space portion 7 are formed in communication with the back surface side and the lower side of the connector holding portion 5, and the connector holding portion 5 is further formed. Is configured to include a penetrating portion (not shown) that allows water droplets entering from the coupling surface with the tip connector portion to flow out to the back space portion. Furthermore, the surface of the housing located in the lower part of the connector housing portion 2 has a double structure covered with the front panel 11, and the front space portion 8 formed between the surface of the housing and the front panel 11 has By adopting a configuration in which the communication portion 10 communicating with the lower space portion 7 is formed and the lowermost portion of the front space portion 8 is the opening portion 12, the charging connector is connected to the automobile during charging. Even if snow falls and water drops enter the connector housing, the water drops that have entered the connector holding part 5 pass through a through hole (not shown) and flow from the back space part 6 to the lower space part 7, Furthermore, it flows into the front space part 8 and is discharged from the opening 12 located at the lowermost part of the front space part.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, the problem of moisture retention in the connector housing portion 2 can be effectively avoided regardless of means for adding a waterproof part (for example, a door) to the connector housing portion 2.

  In addition, according to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to take a waterproof measure without imposing a burden on the user with special work (for example, opening and closing work of the waterproof door), and no additional waterproof parts are required. Various effects associated with it can also be obtained.

  As another effect, in the present invention, water droplets that have entered the rear space portion 6 and the lower space portion 7 are discharged from the lowermost opening of the front space portion 8 without making a hole in the floor surface in front of the connector holding portion. By adopting such a configuration, the discharging portion is eliminated from the connector housing portion where the line of sight is good, and a vehicular charging device with excellent aesthetics is realized. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, by adopting a configuration in which the floor surface of the lower space portion 7 has a downward inclination angle toward the front surface of the housing, water droplets that have entered the connector housing portion can be more quickly removed. There is also an effect that drainage is possible.

  In addition, it is preferable to provide the flange 9 at the upper opening portion of the connector housing portion 2 so that rainwater does not blow directly onto the connector housing portion 2. In the case where the flange portion 9 is provided, there is an effect that rainwater is not directly blown against the connector housing portion 2, while the connector holding portion 5 is difficult to visually recognize from the outside, and it is difficult to mount the tip connector portion 31. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the floor surface in front of the connector holding portion 5 is inclined, and the inclined surface has a wide portion from the near side to the far side. The above-mentioned problem is solved by forming the recessed charging connector introduction part 13 which becomes a narrow part from the first. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, when attaching the charging connector 3 to the connector holding portion 5, the operator pushes the front end lower portion of the front end connector portion 31 forward while contacting the charging connector introduction portion 13. Installation work can be performed by operation. In addition, the charging connector introducing | transducing part 13 is good also as a recessed step part like this embodiment, and good also as an upright wall part.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing | casing 2 Connector accommodating part 3 Charging connector 31 Tip connector part 32 Removal button 33 Claw part 4 Charging cable 5 Connector holding part 51 Recessed part 6 Back space part 7 Lower space part 8 Front space part 9 Grow part 10 Communication part 11 Front panel 12 Opening 13 Charging connector introduction part

Claims (3)

In the charging device for a vehicle provided with a power supply means inside the housing, and provided with a connector housing portion for housing the charging connector provided at the end portion of the charging cable drawn out from the inside of the housing during non-charging,
The connector housing is formed with a concave part of the front surface of the housing,
The connector housing portion has a connector holding portion that is coupled to the tip connector portion of the charging connector, and a back space portion and a lower space portion that are formed in communication with the back side and the lower side of the connector holding portion. ,
The connector holding portion includes a penetration portion that allows water droplets entering from the coupling surface with the tip connector portion to flow out to the back space portion,
The lower part of the connector housing part has a double structure in which the surface of the housing is further covered with a front panel,
A front space formed between the front surface of the housing and the front panel, and a communication portion that communicates the lower space,
A charging device for a vehicle, wherein the lowermost portion of the front space is an opening. The connector holding surface of the connector holding portion has a downward inclination angle toward the back surface of the housing, and the floor surface of the lower space portion has a downward inclination angle toward the front surface of the housing. The vehicle charging device according to claim 1.   The floor surface of the connector housing portion has an inclination angle that rises from the near side to the far side, and the charging connector introduction portion that has become a narrow portion from the wide side toward the far side from the near side on the floor surface The vehicle charging device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle charging device is formed.

Images