WO2017143295A1

WO2017143295A1 - Charge connector with liquid cooling

Info

Publication number: WO2017143295A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/018516
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chi Hung CAO; Boaz Jie CHAI
Original assignee: Faraday&Future Inc.
Priority date: 2016-02-18
Filing date: 2017-02-17
Publication date: 2017-08-24
Also published as: CN109076717A

Abstract

A connector for charging rechargeable batteries includes liquid coolant channels to dissipate heat generated during charging. The connector on a vehicle charge station comprises a body having a connection face and one or more liquid coolant channels in thermal contact with the body or component within the body.

Description

CHARGE CONNECTOR WITH LIQUID COOLING

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to charging of batteries, such as are found in electric vehicles.

Description of the Related Art

Electric vehicles, for example, contain rechargeable batteries. To perform the recharging, the user of the vehicle typically parks the vehicle near a charging station at their home or at some other location such as a parking lot. A connector on the charging station is coupled to a connector on the vehicle to deliver charging current to the vehicle from the charging station.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one implementation, a connector on a vehicle charge station comprises a body and liquid coolant channels in thermal contact with the body and/or components within the body. The body may have a cross sectional area perpendicular to its longitudinal axis of less than 1000 square mm. The longitudinal cross section of the connector body may have a width of less than 50 mm and a height of less than 20 mm.

In another implementation, a charging station for charging rechargeable batteries comprises a liquid coolant reservoir and a charging cable. A connector coupled to the end of the charging cable comprises liquid coolant channels coupled to the liquid coolant reservoir.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an illustration of a charging station with a power cable and connector.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a charging station with a liquid cooled connector.

FIGs. 3 A and 3B illustrate two alternative example connectors for a charging station FIG. 4 is an illustration of the internal components of one implementation of a connector for a charging station.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a cooling channel that may be incorporated in a charging station connector. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMB ODEVIENT Various aspects of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methods are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. Aspects of this disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein, one skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methods disclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or combined with any other aspect. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope is intended to encompass such an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations and permutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure. Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects are mentioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited to particular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of the disclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to automotive systems and/or different wired and wireless technologies, system configurations, networks, including optical networks, hard disks, and transmission protocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in the figures and in the following description of the preferred aspects. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the disclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the disclosure being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Figure 1 illustrates a charging station for rechargeable batteries. The batteries may, for example, be in an electric vehicle. The charging station includes a power supply 12, generally coupled to the utility power grid at a residence or business. One or more output cables 14 exit the power supply 12 and terminate in a connector 16 that during the charging process is connected to a charging input port (not shown) on, for example, the electric vehicle (not shown).

For charging large batteries in a relatively short time, the cable(s) 14 and the conductors in the connector 16 carry large amounts of current, often many hundreds of amps. This can lead to a significant amount of resistive heating in the conductors and connection junctions between conductors in the connector 16 and the conductors in the charging input port on the electric vehicle. This problem is increased as the connector itself is made smaller, as there is less material volume and surface area to dissipate the heat generated in that area. It would be desirable to shrink the size of the connector 16 without limiting heat by reducing the amount of charging current.

Figure 2 illustrates a solution to this problem. In the implementation of Figure 2, the charging station includes a liquid coolant reservoir 18 that is in fluid communication with coolant channels 24 inside the connector. A pump 22 may circulate the coolant liquid through the channels 24 to cool the connector 16 during the charging process. The coolant liquid may, without limitation, be water, glycol, or various oil based liquids.

Figures 3 A and 3B illustrate example connectors 16 having different sizes. The connector has a body 30 with a connection face 28 defining a plane that is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis 26 of the body. The longitudinal axis 26 extends along the body in the direction of the connecting pins or sockets of the connector and is typically along the direction of insertion of the connector 16 into the charge port of the vehicle. It is advantageous for the connection face 28 to have a low profile. Rectangular or oblong shapes are suitable, where one dimension perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 26 is longer than the other at the connection face 28. It has been found advantageous if the connection face 28 height is less than 20 mm, or even less than 15 mm. The width may be less than 100 mm or less than 50 mm. Thus, the surface area of the connection face may advantageously be less than 2000 square mm. With these designs it is advantageous to distribute connection pins along the width of the connector, since this allows a very low profile height. If round, the diameter of the pins/sockets 34 where the actual connection is made may be 12 mm or 10 mm for example, with larger size associated with higher current carrying capacity.

Figure 4 illustrates one implementation of components which may be inside the connectors 16 of Figures 1-3. An output cable 40 is coupled (e.g. by welding) to a bus bar 42, which is in turn coupled to the rear of the pin/socket 34 that extends out to or through the connection face 28 of the connector 16. A heat pipe 44 which may be made of a metal such as copper is thermally coupled to the bus bar 42. The heat pipe 44 is also thermally coupled to the cooling channels 48. Because the cable 40 may be at a high voltage relative to ground, it is advantageous to electrically isolate the cable 40 from the fluid in the cooling channels 48. This may be done by including a silicone pad or other relatively thermally conductive but electrically insulating material between the bus bar 42 and the heat pipe 44. The cooling channels may also or alternatively be formed from a polymer film that electrically isolates the fluid in the channels from the heat pipe 44. The cooling fluid can enter and exit the cooling channels either through inlet and outlet connectors (e.g. luer fittings or the like) that are on the connector itself, or the channels may run all the way up and down the cable 14 to and from the reservoir 18 of the charging station, where, for example, the reservoir may be incorporated into the power supply 12 of Figure 1. A thermocouple 46 or other temperature sensing element may be attached to the bus bar or other location of the connector 16 to monitor the temperature of the connector during a charge cycle. This can be used by the charging station to control the pump 22, such that coolant liquid is only circulated through the cooling channels when the temperature is getting high enough to warrant liquid coolant.

Figure 5 shows an example configuration of cooling channels 50. Surface area may be enhanced by back and forth paths, which may engage with a matching structure on the heat pipe 44 for example to maximize surface area contact between the cooling channels 50 and the heat pipe 44.

The foregoing description and claims may refer to elements or features as being "connected" or "coupled" together. As used herein, unless expressly stated otherwise, "connected" means that one element/feature is directly or indirectly connected to another element/feature, and not necessarily mechanically. Likewise, unless expressly stated otherwise, "coupled" means that one element/feature is directly or indirectly coupled to another element/feature, and not necessarily mechanically. Thus, although the various schematics shown in the Figures depict example arrangements of elements and components, additional intervening elements, devices, features, or components may be present in an actual embodiment (assuming that the functionality of the depicted circuits is not adversely affected).

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions for achieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

It is to be understood that the implementations are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the implementations.

Although this invention has been described in terms of certain embodiments, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments that do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this invention. Moreover, the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. In addition, certain features shown in the context of one embodiment can be incorporated into other embodiments as well.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A connector on a vehicle charge station comprising:

a body having a connection face;

one or more liquid coolant channels in thermal contact with the body and/or components within the body.

2. The connector of Claim 1, wherein the liquid coolant channels are thermally coupled with a heat pipe within the body.

3. The connector of Claim 2, wherein the heat pipe is thermally coupled to a bus bar coupled to a charging cable.

4. The connector of Claim 1, wherein the body has a cross sectional area perpendicular to its longitudinal axis of less than 2000 square mm at the connection face.

5. The connector of Claim 4, wherein the longitudinal cross section of the body at the connection face has a width of less than 100 mm and a height of less than 20 mm.

6. A charging station for charging rechargeable batteries comprising:

a liquid coolant reservoir;

a charging cable;

a connector coupled to the end of the charging cable, the connector comprising liquid coolant channels coupled to the liquid coolant reservoir.

7. The charging station of Claim 6, further comprising a radiator coupled to or formed as the liquid coolant reservoir.

8. The charging station of Claim 7, further comprising a fan positioned to circulate air over the radiator.

9. The connector of Claim 6, wherein the connector has a body forming a connection face, and wherein the body has a cross sectional area perpendicular to its longitudinal axis of less than 2000 square mm at the connection face.

10. The connector of Claim 9, wherein the longitudinal cross section of the body at the connection face has a width of less than 100 mm and a height of less than 20 mm.