WO2019087127A1

WO2019087127A1 - Electrical vehicle charging system and method of manufacture

Info

Publication number: WO2019087127A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/058591
Authority: WO
Inventors: Keith CHURCHES
Original assignee: Flex Ltd
Priority date: 2017-11-01
Filing date: 2018-11-01
Publication date: 2019-05-09

Abstract

The present disclosure is an electric vehicle charger including a high voltage sector having an electrical mains connection, an in-molded relay limiting current flow from the electrical mains until closure of the in-molded relay, a plurality of electrical traces in electrical communication with the electrical mains and the relay, an in-molded current sensor sensing the current flowing through a portion of the electrical traces upon closure of the relay, and a charge connector in electrical communication with the relay and for receiving a cable and applying current to a vehicle. The electric vehicle charger including a low voltage sector having a control circuit receiving current data from the current sensor, and controlling the in-molded relay, and a display displaying data relevant to the charging of a vehicle. The high and low voltage sectors being connected by at least one flexible circuit.

Description

Electrical Vehicle Charging System and Method of Manufacture

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure is directed to an electrical vehicle charging system and a method of assembling and manufacturing the same. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to a charging system employing in-molding techniques to replace traditional wiring.

2. Background

There exist a number of electric vehicles charging systems that are commercially available. These range from level 1 systems which employ 240 V AC and 13 or 16 Amps that can be accessed from most commercial and residential buildings but require 6-10 hours for a full charge of an electric vehicle battery set, to industrial DC charging stations which utilize up to 500V DC at 300-350A. All of these systems, however, suffer from inefficiencies in their design and manufacture. Essentially, these charging stations are no different from any other controller comprised of a number of relays, printed circuit boards, and other consumer off the shelf (COTS) components. These COTS components are typically installed on DIN rails and connected via wiring and cabling.

As can be readily appreciated, the installation of the COTS components and the wiring of them together is a manual, labor intensive job. In addition, the COTS components themselves have significant costs associated with them as each must be approved, tested, and designed for ease of use and installation on DIN rails for a variety of purposes. The present disclosure is directed at addressing the shortcomings of these manual wiring processes and use of expensive COTS components.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to an electric vehicle charger including a high voltage sector having an electrical mains connection, a plurality of electrical traces in electrical communication with the electrical mains connection, at least one in-molded current sensor sensing the current flowing through a portion of the electrical traces, and a charge connector in electrical communication with the electrical traces. The charger also includes a low voltage sector having at least one control circuit receiving current data from the current sensor, a display displaying data relevant to the charging of a vehicle, and at least one flexible circuit electrically connecting the low and high voltage sectors.

The electric vehicle charger may include at least one relay electrically connecting the electrical mains to the charge connector. The relay may limit current flow from the electrical mains until closure of the relay. The relay may be in-molded or a consumer-off-the-shelf relay.

The electrical vehicle charger may further include a power supply, where the power supply outputs a DC voltage. The power supply may output at least two DC voltage.

The electrical vehicle charger may include a flexible circuit board connecting the high voltage sector and the low voltage sector. The electrical vehicle charger may further include one or more pre-formed connectors. Still further the electrical vehicle charger may include an FID reader.

Further, to the extent consistent, any of the aspects described herein may be used in conjunction with any or all of the other aspects described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Objects and features of the presently disclosed system and method will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when descriptions of various embodiments thereof are read with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 depicts the internal components of a known electrical vehicle charger control panel;

Fig. 2 depicts an example of in-molded electronics in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure;

Fig. 3 depicts a sketch of an electric vehicle charger control panel in accordance with the present disclosure; Fig. 4 depicts a schematic of an electric vehicle charger control panel in accordance with the present disclosure;

Fig. 5A depicts an example of a plug-n-play electrical connector in accordance with the present disclosure; and

Fig. 5B depicts a further example of a plug-n-play electrical connector in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 depicts a hybrid approach to the present disclosure using a combination of the electrical connectors of Figs. 5A and 5B.

Figs. 7A-7C depict a right perspective, a front, and a left perspective view of an electrical charger in accordance with a further aspect of the present disclosure.

Figs. 8A and 8B depicts the electric vehicle charger of Figs. 7A-7C with the housing removed;

Figs. 9A and 9B depict front and side views of an in-molded electric vehicle charger component;

Figs. 10A and 10 B depict a side view and a cross sectional view of the electric vehicle charger of Figs. 8A and 8B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is directed to an electrical vehicle charging (EV charger) system and a method of assembling and manufacturing the same. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to a charging system employing in-molding techniques to replace traditional wiring. With reference to Fig. 1, known examples of electrical vehicle charging systems are relatively straight forward. Each EV charger 10 includes a connection to the AC power mains (e.g., 110 V, 220V, 440V etc.) and may consist of a single phase or three phase arrangement. Alternatively, the input power may be DC and may have a different configuration, requiring no rectifier. Regardless, a variety of switches 12, current measurement devices 14, and relays 16 (COTS components) are employed within the cabinet of the EV charger.

Each of these COTS components is comprised of the bare component, for example a bare relay, that is placed within a housing and to which terminals are provided for electrical connection to the relay. In addition, a backbone is provided to enable the affixing of relay to a DIN rail 18. This entirety is sold as a complete component that is ready for any number of uses and is typically certified by one or more of the certification processes (e.g., UL or CE). As a result, each of these completed components, a number of which can be seen in the controller of Fig. 1, adds greatly to the costs associated with a completed EV charger. Further, each of these components, with its individual terminals, must be manually wired to the other components of the EV charger. This requires a highly skilled electrician and can be a time- consuming process. Further, once assembled, the entire EV charger must again be certified by a certification agency before it can be sold.

Fig. 2 depicts an example of a circuit in accordance with the present disclosure. The circuit in Fig. 2 has been formed using in-mold electronics (IME) manufacturing. That is, rather than utilize coated wires to connect components such as relays and switches, the electrical traces 20 are formed of bare metal and are then affixed to a first side component 22. A second side component (not shown) is utilized to create a clam shell effect, such that when the first and second side components are brought together, the electrical traces are housed between them and the electrical traces are isolated from their environment just as coated wires would be. As can be seen in Fig. 2, printed circuit boards 24 may also be employed in the layout, though these will typically be formed somewhat separately as they form a low voltage (e.g., 24 VDC) portion of the EV charger.

As can be imagined, using IME techniques allows for the elimination of standard COTS relays and other components such as current sensors and the like. Instead, a bare relay, which is controlled by a low voltage connection, can be placed for example in a recess formed in the plastic molding and in contact with an input and output portion of the electrical trace. When the first side and second side components are brought together, the bare relay is held in place, and further in electrical

communication with the input and output portions of the electrical trace, and both the electrical trace and the bare relay are isolated from the environment creating a solid electrical connection and minimizing access and the potential for a connection to loosen over time. Further, the bare relay is connected to the control circuitry (e.g., a 24 V control system).

Fig. 3 depicts a sketch of an EV charger 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. As can be seen in Fig. 3, the mains voltage (110V or 220V) is provided to one side of a high voltage board 102 which acts as a power supply for the EV charger 100 on a high voltage side 104 of the charger 100. In- molded in the high voltage side 104 of the charger 100 are relays 106 which are used to control the application of power to the load (in this case the batteries of the electric vehicle) which are connected via a cable not shown which connects to the connector 108 on the output side of the charger 100. Also, in-molding may be a rectifier used to convert the AC power to DC power for charging of the batteries. Further, current sensing coils 110 may be in-molded to measure and sense the current being drawn by the load. A standard connector 108 is depicted for connection to the electrical vehicle via cable (not shown).

In addition to the high-power side 104, a lower voltage side 112 may be connected using one or more flexible circuit boards 114. These flexible circuit boards 114 may be connected to, for example, the sense side of the current coils 110 and may provide a signal representative of the current being drawn by the load to a control circuit 116 (e.g., a programmable logic controller, or other

processor/controller) incorporated on the low voltage side. This same control circuit connects to the control side of the relays 106 to control their switching. In addition, on the low voltage side there may be a display (or other peripheral) 118 which outputs information to a user regarding the charging process or FID readers 121 to permit access to the EV charger. In addition, the data related to the effect of the charging is typically supplied back to the EV charger through a charge cable and the standard connector. These signals are fed back to the low voltage side of the EV charger through the flexible circuits to the control circuit. For ease of understanding the traces connecting these components are now shown in Fig. 3, however, the are similar to what is shown in Fig. 2. One major distinction is that it is not just the electrical traces which are in-molded into the circuit, but also the structural components such as relays and current sensors.

Fig. 4 depicts a simplified schematic of the EV charger of the present disclosure. As depicted in Fig. 4 a single phase of EV charging power is being applied to the load via charge connector 108. As will be appreciated, if three phases are employed, the primary difference will be three parallel sets of contactors (relays) 106 and current measurement components 110. A single charge connector will typically suffice, though more than one may use used in certain circumstances. Whether single or three phase the systems need just a single low voltage supply 103 (as depicted in Fig. 4) which connects to the lower power side 112 (e.g., the control board).

Figs. 5A and 5B depict pre-formed electrical connectors 120 that may be employed in an EV charger 100 as shown in Fig. 6. These electrical connectors 120 may be coated similar to wires but are preformed to enable quick and relatively unskilled connection to components of an EV charger. In at least one embodiment, the connectors 120 connect to components and traces for the in-molded electronics (discussed above). Again, the use of these pre-formed electrical connectors, which are particularly useful for carrying the high charging currents, reduces the need for highly skilled electricians and increases the speed at which an EV charger 100 can be assembled.

Fig. 6 depicts a hybrid approach of the present disclosure in which a single DIN rail 18 and some COTS componentry 12, 16 (e.g., relays and rectifier) are connected to the charge connector 108 using the pre-formed electrical connector 120. Flexible connectors 114 are employed to connect to printed circuit boards 118 on a low voltage side of the EV charger 100. The low voltage side includes the control circuitry 116 for controlling the relays and receives the sense signals from a current sensor that may be connected on the DIN rail 18. The low voltage side also includes a display 118 and other components that provide information to the user.

Figs. 7A-10B depict a further approach of the present disclosure and EV charger 100. Fig. 9A depicts an in-molded base charger component 200. As can be seen this in-molded base 200 includes in-molded current sensors 210, as described above. The in-molded base 200 is formed by bring establishing wiring traces 20 as depicted in Fig. 2 and bringing two halves together, as described above. All of the necessary electrical connections 201 for connecting components such as the PCB 216, relays 212, switches 214, etc., are incorporated into the closed design of the in-molded base 200. Some of the internal electrical traces 203 connecting the various components can be seen in Fig. 10B which is a cross section of Fig. 10A. The only visible portion of this in-molded electrical connection can be seen in Fig. 9A as contacts 201 for receiving each of these components. These components may be held in place using clips or the like that mate with the traces to place them in electrical communication. The clips (not shown) may be similar to currently available connectors for mounting such components on DIN rails and secure the electrical component to the in-molded base charger component. As a result, assembly of the electric vehicle charger 100 as seen in Figs. 7A-C is simplified into a simple plug and play arrangement requiring little to no skilled electrical work.

As can be seen in Fig. 8A, the connector 208 for receiving a charge cable is connected to the in- molded base 200 by pre-formed (and possibly color coded) electrical connectors 120, as described above. Again, because these components can be pre-planned and specifically formed, little to no high skilled electrical work is necessary for assembly. Unlike some embodiments described herein, COTS relays 206, PCB's 216, and switches 212 are still employed in the final assembly, however, their interconnection has been pre-planned in the in-molded base charger component. As will be appreciated, any of these COTS components may also be part of the in-molded base charger component (like the current sensors) if so desired.

Although embodiments have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings for the purpose of illustration and description, it is to be understood that the inventive processes and apparatus are not to be construed as limited thereby. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications to the foregoing embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. An electric vehicle charger comprising:

a high voltage sector including:

an electrical mains connection;

a plurality of electrical traces in electrical communication with the electrical mains connection;

at least one in-molded current sensor sensing the current flowing through a portion of the electrical traces; and

a charge connector in electrical communication with the electrical traces; and a low voltage sector including:

at least one control circuit receiving current data from the current sensor; and a display displaying data relevant to the charging of a vehicle; and

at least one flexible circuit electrically connecting the low and high voltage sectors.

2. The electric vehicle charger of claim 1 further comprising at least one relay electrically

connecting the electrical mains to the charge connector.

3. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 2, wherein the relay limits current flow from the electrical mains until closure of the relay.

4. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 2, wherein the relay is in-molded.

5. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 2, wherein the relay is a consumer-off-the-shelf relay.

6. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 1, further comprising a power supply.

7. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 6, wherein the power supply outputs a DC voltage.

8. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 7, wherein the power supply outputs at least two DC voltage.

9. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 1, further comprising a flexible circuit board connecting the high voltage sector and the low voltage sector.

10. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 1, further comprising one or more pre-formed connectors.

11. The electrical vehicle charger of claim 1, further including an RFID reader.