WO2023162755A1

WO2023162755A1 - Charging inlet

Info

Publication number: WO2023162755A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/004825
Authority: WO
Inventors: 賢木下
Original assignee: 住友電装株式会社
Priority date: 2022-02-25
Filing date: 2023-02-13
Publication date: 2023-08-31
Also published as: JP2023124268A

Abstract

Provided is a charging inlet, in which a charging connector is inserted into or pulled out from the charging inlet to charge a battery of a vehicle, the charging inlet comprising: a housing that includes a housing body that is fixed to a body of the vehicle; a cover that is a separate piece from the housing body; and a rubber ring for attaching the cover to the housing. The direction in which the charging connector is pulled out is defined as a first direction and the direction in which the charging connector is inserted is defined as a second direction. In this case: the housing comprises a plurality of cylindrical sections which protrude in the first direction from the housing body and on the inner side of which terminals are provided, and a plurality of outer walls that are partially disposed along a virtual circle that surrounds a formation region of the plurality of cylindrical sections and that protrude from the housing body in the first direction; the cover comprises a cover main body that is visible when the charging connector is being inserted and that covers a part of the housing main body excluding the formation region, and an attachment piece that is disposed so as to extend from the cover main body in the second direction; the attachment piece is located between two of the outer walls that are adjacent along the virtual circle; and the rubber ring is disposed along outer surfaces of the outer walls and an outer surface of the attachment piece.

Description

charging inlet

The present disclosure relates to charging inlets.
This application claims priority based on Japanese Application No. 2022-027930 filed on February 25, 2022, and incorporates all the descriptions described in the Japanese Application.

A charging inlet is provided on a part of the body of the vehicle to charge the battery installed in the vehicle such as an electric vehicle. A charging connector (charging gun) connected to an external power supply is connected to the charging inlet, and the battery is charged through the charging inlet. A charging inlet is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

JP 2016-219312 A

A charging inlet of the present disclosure is a charging inlet for inserting and removing a charging connector for charging a battery of a vehicle, and includes a housing having a housing body fixed to the body of the vehicle, and a cover separate from the housing body. and a rubber ring for attaching the cover to the housing. a plurality of cylindrical portions projecting from the housing body in the first direction and provided with terminals inside; a plurality of outer walls protruding in a first direction, wherein the cover is visible when the charging connector is inserted and covers a portion of the housing body excluding the forming region; and the cover. a mounting piece extending from the main body in the second direction, the mounting piece being positioned between the two adjacent outer walls along the virtual circle, and the rubber ring It is provided along the outer surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the mounting piece.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a vehicle with a charging inlet and a charging station. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a charging inlet. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the charging inlet shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of the housing. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cover as seen from the rear. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the arrangement of the mounting pieces and outer wall with the cover attached to the housing. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the upper mounting piece and the outer walls on both sides thereof. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a second form of charging inlet. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the charging inlet shown in FIG. 8. FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a third form of charging inlet. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the charging inlet shown in FIG. 10. FIG.

<Problems to be solved by the present disclosure>
When not in use, ie when the vehicle is running, the charging inlet is covered by a door of the same color as the body of the vehicle, for example. When charging, open the door and connect the charging connector to the charging inlet. Although the charging inlet is used in this way, there are cases where it is desired to improve its commercial value by devising a design.

Here, in the case of electric vehicles, since the noise performance is high, abnormal noises such as slight vibration noise can be annoying to passengers. For this reason, it is particularly necessary to suppress the generation of abnormal noises as much as possible in electric vehicles. Care must be taken not to cause abnormal noise even if the design of the charging inlet is devised.

In addition, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a housing body (inlet body) is provided with a plurality of cylindrical portions (terminal accommodating portions) projecting therefrom, and a plate-shaped mask member covers the surrounding portions of these cylindrical portions. It is A cavity seal made of an elastic member is attached to the outer periphery of the tubular portion, and in Patent Document 1, the mask member is attached to the housing main body after the cavity seal is attached to the tubular portion. The mask member is only attached to the housing body by the locking claws, and is not pressed against the housing body by the cavity seal. As a result, the mask member may vibrate and repeatedly come into contact with the housing body while the vehicle is running, generating abnormal noise.

Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a charging inlet that is excellent in design and that does not reduce silent performance.

<Effects of the present disclosure>
Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present disclosure, it is possible to obtain a charging inlet that is excellent in design and that does not deteriorate silent performance.

<Outline of Embodiment of Present Disclosure>
An outline of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described below.
(1) The charging inlet of the present embodiment is a charging inlet into which a charging connector is inserted and removed in order to charge a battery of a vehicle. A case in which a cover as a body and a rubber ring for attaching the cover to the housing are provided, the direction in which the charging connector is pulled out is defined as the first direction, and the direction in which the charging connector is inserted is defined as the second direction. , the housing includes a plurality of cylindrical portions protruding from the housing body in the first direction and provided with terminals inside; a plurality of outer walls protruding from the housing body in the first direction, and the cover is visible when the charging connector is inserted and covers a part of the housing body excluding the forming area. and a mounting piece extending from the cover main body in the second direction, the mounting piece being positioned between two of the outer walls adjacent to each other along the imaginary circle, the rubber A ring is provided along the outer surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the mounting piece.

According to the present embodiment, the cover body is visible when an operator inserts the charging connector into the charging inlet, and the cover body covers a part of the housing body, which makes the charging inlet excellent in design. is obtained.
A mounting piece of the cover is positioned between two outer walls of the housing, the mounting piece is tightened by a rubber ring, and the cover is attached to the housing. Although the cover is separate from the housing, the vibration of the cover is suppressed by the rubber ring, which does not reduce the quietness of the vehicle.

(2) Preferably, the outer surface of the mounting piece is located farther from the formation area than the outer surface of the outer wall in a direction perpendicular to the imaginary line along the first direction. In this case, the elastic force of the rubber ring can generate a force for directing the mounting piece of the cover toward the center of the charging inlet, which is the forming area side. In other words, the action of the rubber ring to tighten the mounting piece of the cover to the center is enhanced. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively suppress the vibration of the cover.

(3) Preferably, the mounting pieces are provided at four locations in areas where two axes perpendicular to the virtual line along the first direction and perpendicular to each other and the virtual circle intersect. In this case, the force of the rubber ring aligns the cover with the center of the charging inlet on the forming area side. That is, the cover is centered.

(4) Preferably, the rubber ring contacts both the outer surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the mounting piece. With this configuration, the outer wall and the mounting piece are clamped by the rubber ring, and the cover is attached to the housing.

(5) Preferably, a gap is provided between the cover and the housing, so that in a state before the rubber ring is attached, the cover is positioned along the first direction with respect to the housing. , and relative displacement of the cover with respect to the housing in a direction perpendicular to an imaginary line along the first direction is suppressed after the rubber ring is attached. In this case, the gap facilitates the work of assembling the cover to the housing. After the operation, the cover can be displaced with respect to the housing before the rubber ring is attached, but after the attachment, the cover is positioned and attached to the housing by the rubber ring.

(6) Preferably, the cover has an engaging portion that engages with the housing. In this case, the rubber ring can be attached to the cover and the housing after the cover is temporarily fixed to the housing by the engaging portion. The assembly workability of the charging inlet is improved.

(7) Preferably, the cover has a guide piece extending from the cover main body in the second direction, and the housing is provided with a hole for guiding and inserting the guide piece. there is In this case, the cover can be positioned with respect to the housing by guiding and inserting the guide piece into the hole when attaching the cover to the housing along the second direction. Attachment of the cover to the housing is facilitated.

(8) Further preferably, in the charging inlet of (7), the guide piece is not in contact with the rubber ring. In this case, the mounting piece and guide piece of the cover function independently.

(9) Preferably, a drainage channel is provided at a lower position between the cover and the housing for allowing water to pass from an internal space formed between the cover and a portion of the housing to the outside thereof. ing. In this case, even if rainwater, for example, enters between the housing and the cover, the rainwater can be discharged through the drainage channel.

<Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure>
Hereinafter, details of embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. At least part of the embodiments described below may be combined arbitrarily.

[Overall Configuration of Charging Inlet 10]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a vehicle 5 having a charging inlet 10 and a charging station 1. FIG. A charging inlet 10 is provided in a portion of a body 7 of a vehicle 5 such as an electric vehicle, and is used to charge a battery (secondary battery) 6 mounted on the vehicle 5 . A door 9 is provided on the body 7, and the charging inlet 10 is exposed to the outside by opening the door 9. - 特許庁

The charging station 1 includes a charging connector 4 and a converter 3. The charging connector 4 is also called a charging gun. Converter 3 is connected to external power supply 2 and charging connector 4 . When the charging connector 4 is connected to the charging inlet 10 , the battery 6 is charged by the charger 8 mounted on the vehicle 5 based on the energy of the external power source 2 . Thus, the charging inlet 10 is a device to which the charging connector 4 is inserted and removed in order to charge the battery 6 of the vehicle 5 . FIG. 2 is a perspective view of charging inlet 10 .

Define the orientation for the charging inlet 10 of the present disclosure. The direction (first direction) in which the charging connector 4 (see FIG. 1) is pulled out from the charging inlet 10 is defined as “forward”, and the direction (second direction) in which the charging connector 4 is inserted into the charging inlet 10 is defined as “rearward”. . That is, when the door 9 (see FIG. 1) is opened, the front portion of the charging inlet 10 is exposed. With the charging inlet 10 fixed to the body 7 of the vehicle 5, the "top and bottom" of the charging inlet 10 are defined. When the charging operator sees the charging inlet 10 fixed to the body 7, the left hand side is defined as "left" and the right hand side is defined as "right".

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of charging inlet 10 shown in FIG. Charging inlet 10 includes housing 11 fixed to body 7 of vehicle 5 (see FIG. 1 ), cover 12 , and rubber ring 13 for attaching cover 12 to housing 11 . The cover 12 serves as a design cover capable of hiding functionally shaped portions (concavo-convex portions) such as the ribs 36 formed on the housing 11 . Each configuration of charging inlet 10 will be described below.

[Regarding the housing 11]
The housing 11 is made of synthetic resin and manufactured by injection molding. The housing 11 has a housing body 14 fixed to the body 7 of the vehicle 5 (see FIG. 1), a plurality of cylindrical portions 15, and a plurality of outer walls 17. As shown in FIG.
The housing body 14 has a flat plate portion 31 and a bottomed cylindrical hood portion 32 . The plate portion 31 has fixing portions 33 fixed to the body 7 of the vehicle 5 at four locations. The fixing portion 33 is fixed to the body 7 with bolts (not shown). A plurality of outer walls 17 are provided on the plate portion 31 . The hood portion 32 is provided in the center of the plate portion 31 and penetrates the plate portion 31 . The hood portion 32 opens forward. A plurality of cylindrical portions 15 are provided inside the hood portion 32 .

In the form shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 11 has four cylindrical portions 15. Each of the four cylindrical portions 15 is provided to protrude forward from the bottom plate 34 of the receptacle 32 . The tubular portion 15 has a hollow shape, and a terminal 35 is provided inside thereof. The tubular portion 15 serves as a terminal accommodating portion that accommodates a terminal 35 made of metal. The charging inlet 10 has, as the terminals 35, two

power terminals

35a and 35b for power supply and two

signal terminals

35c and 35d for signals. The

power terminals

35a and 35b are terminals for supplying power to the battery 6 (see FIG. 1), and are connected to a power supply cable (not shown). The

signal terminals

35c and 35d are terminals used for communicating information such as the charge amount of the battery 6 between the charger 8 (see FIG. 1) and the charging station 1, and are connected to the charger 8 (not shown). Connected with signal cable.

In the form shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 11 has four outer walls 17. The outer wall 17 is a wall projecting forward from the plate portion 31 of the housing body 14 . The outer wall 17 has an arc shape. The outer wall 17 is provided at four locations of the upper left, upper right, lower left and lower right of the plate portion 31 . As shown in FIG. 4, the four outer walls 17 are arranged along a virtual oval circle K1. FIG. 4 is a view of the housing 11 viewed from the front, and a virtual circle K1 is indicated by a chain double-dashed line. The virtual circle K1 is a virtual circle set at a position away from the hood portion 32 in the vertical and horizontal directions.

As described above, the four cylindrical portions 15 are provided inside the hood portion 32 . That is, the region inside the hood portion 32 becomes the formation region 16 of the four cylindrical portions 15 (see FIG. 2). The four outer walls 17 are partially arranged along an imaginary circle K<b>1 surrounding the forming region 16 of the four cylindrical portions 15 . A rib 36 is provided between the outer wall 17 and the front portion of the hood portion 32 . The outer walls 17 need only be provided along the virtual circle K1, and the arrangement thereof can be changed, and the number of the outer walls 17 can also be changed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper left outer wall 17 and the upper right outer wall 17 are each provided with a recessed portion 37 recessed toward the formation region 16 side. A protrusion 38 is provided in the recess 37 . An engaging portion 24 (see FIG. 5) of the cover 12, which will be described later, engages with the projection 38. As shown in FIG. The outer wall 17 on which the concave portion 37 is provided may be the lower left and lower right outer walls 17 . In this embodiment, the cover 12 is engaged with the housing 11 at three points by the engaging portions 24 . For this purpose, the housing 11 has an auxiliary wall 40 in its lower portion, and the auxiliary wall 40 is formed with a recess 39 that is recessed toward the forming area 16 side. The auxiliary wall 40 is a wall projecting forward from the plate portion 31 . A protrusion 38 with which the engaging portion 24 engages is provided in the recessed portion 39 .

In FIG. 4, the upper left outer wall 17 and the upper right outer wall 17 are provided with holes 19 into which guide pieces 25 (see FIG. 5) of the cover 12, which will be described later, are inserted. Hole 19 functions when cover 12 is attached to housing 11 . Its function will be explained later. The hole portion 19 is formed between a portion of the outer wall 17 and a portion of the hood portion 32 and is a hole that opens forward.

[Regarding cover 12]
The cover 12 is made of synthetic resin and is manufactured separately from the housing 11 by injection molding. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the cover 12 is separate from the housing 11 (housing body 14). The cover 12 has one cover body 21 and a plurality of mounting pieces 22 . The cover main body 21 is a plate-like portion having a thickness direction in the front-rear direction and a hole provided in the center. The cover main body 21 has an outer peripheral contour shape that is larger than the virtual circle K1 for a smaller dimension. When the cover 12 is attached to the housing 11, the cover body 21 covers from the front part of the housing body 14 except for the forming regions 16 of the four cylindrical portions 15 of the housing 11, as shown in FIG. The formation area 16 is not covered with the cover main body 21 and opens forward. Each part of the charging connector 4 (see FIG. 1) is connected to the tubular portion 15 of the forming region 16, and the mating terminal of the charging connector 4 is electrically connected to the terminal 35, so that the battery 6 is charged.

As shown in FIG. 2, the front portion of the hood portion 32 and the fixing portion 33 of the housing body 14 are not covered by the cover body 21 either. Cover main body 21 is a portion that is visible to a worker when inserting charging connector 4 into charging inlet 10 with charging inlet 10 fixed to body 7 of vehicle 5 (see FIG. 1). becomes. The front surface 21a of the cover main body 21 is a decorative surface, and it is preferable that the front surface 21a is subjected to texturing, for example, in order to enhance the design. On the other hand, the housing main body 14 is not processed to enhance its design. Since the cover 12 and the housing 11 are separate members, it is easy to decorate the cover 12 by embossing.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cover 12 viewed from the rear. The mounting piece 22 is provided to extend rearward from the plate-shaped cover body 21 . In the present embodiment, the cover 12 is provided with mounting pieces 22 at four locations on the top, bottom, left, and right. As mentioned above (see FIG. 4), the housing 11 has four outer walls 17, which are spaced apart along the imaginary circle K1. Therefore, a missing region 45 is formed between the two

outer walls

17, 17 adjacent to each other along the virtual circle K1. The missing region 45 is provided with the attachment piece 22 shown in FIG. The mounting piece 22 is positioned between two adjacent

outer walls

17, 17 along the virtual circle K1. A rib 48 is provided on the rear surface of the cover 12 to reinforce the cover body 21 .

With the cover 12 attached to the housing 11, the mounting pieces 22 and the outer walls 17 are alternately arranged along the virtual circle K1 as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the arrangement of the mounting pieces 22 and the outer wall 17 when the cover 12 is attached to the housing 11. As shown in FIG. In FIGS. 5 and 6, a virtual line passing through the forming area 16 and running in the front-rear direction is denoted by "Q1".

As will be described later (see FIG. 7), the rubber ring 13 is provided along the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 and the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22, and is elastically deformed in the diameter expanding direction in the attached state. The elastic restoring force of the rubber ring 13 presses the cover 12 through the mounting pieces 22 from the top, bottom, left, and right, so that the cover 12 is attached to the housing 11 while being centered (see FIG. 6). The centered state is the complete mounting state.

The four mounting pieces 22 and the four outer walls 17 are arranged along one common virtual circle K1. However, in the present embodiment, the attachment piece 22 protrudes farther from the formation area 16 than the outer wall 17 in the attachment completed state (see FIG. 7). In other words, the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 is positioned farther from the formation region 16 than the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 by a small dimension in the direction perpendicular to the imaginary line Q1.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the upper mounting piece 22 and the

outer walls

17, 17 on both sides thereof in the mounting completed state. The outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 and the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 are not arranged on the same surface (the same curved surface), and the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 protrudes outside the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17. . There is a dimensional difference between the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 and the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 when the center side of the forming area 16 (see FIG. 6) is used as a reference. That is, when the central side of the forming area 16 (see FIG. 6) is used as a reference, the dimension from the reference to the outer surface 23 of the attachment piece 22 is larger. Said dimensional difference is for example less than 1 millimeter. Note that the outer surface 23 and the outer surface 18 are surfaces viewed radially outward when the center of the forming area 16 is used as a reference.

As shown in FIG. 7, a gap e is provided between the mounting piece 22 and the

outer walls

17, 17 on both sides thereof. As a result, a gap e is provided between the cover 12 and the housing 11 . The gap e facilitates the work of assembling the cover 12 to the housing 11 . Before the rubber ring 13 is attached (see FIG. 6), the cover 12 can be displaced relative to the housing 11 in a direction perpendicular to the imaginary line Q1, that is, in the left-right direction and the up-down direction. In the attachment completion state in which the rubber ring 13 is attached, displacement of the cover 12 due to the gap e is suppressed (limited). In FIG. 7, the rubber ring 13 (ring portion 51, which will be described later) is indicated by a chain double-dashed line.

Regarding the positional relationship between the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 and the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 and the gap e between the mounting piece 22 and the outer wall 17 described with reference to FIG. , 17 and the relationship between the lower mounting piece 22 and the

outer walls

17, 17 on both sides thereof.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cover 12 has a guide piece 25 extending rearward from the cover body 21 . The guide pieces 25 are provided at two locations on the left and right sides of the cover body 21 . As described above (see FIG. 4), the housing 11 is provided with the hole 19 into which the guide piece 25 is guided and inserted. The guide piece 25 has an inclined surface 49 for reducing the overall shape toward the rear. According to this guide piece 25 , when the cover 12 is brought closer to the housing 11 and attached, the guide piece 25 can be guided and inserted into the hole portion 19 . As a result, attachment of the cover 12 to the housing 11 is facilitated.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cover 12 has an engaging portion 24 that engages with the housing 11. As shown in FIG. The engaging portion 24 is provided to extend rearward from the cover body 21 . The engaging portions 24 are provided at three locations on the left and right sides of the cover body 21 and at the bottom. The engaging portion 24 has claws 47 that engage with the projections 38 (see FIG. 4) of the housing 11 . With the cover 12 attached to the housing 11 , the claws 47 are positioned behind the protrusions 38 . When the cover 12 tries to move forward, the claws 47 come into contact with the protrusions 38, and the forward movement of the cover 12 becomes impossible. That is, the cover 12 cannot fall off from the housing 11 . When the cover 12 is attached to the housing 11, the engaging portion 24 including the claw 47 moves over the projection 38 and is elastically deformed. This allows the cover 12 to be attached.

On each of the left and right sides of the cover 12, one engaging portion 24 and one guide piece 25 are provided so as to be adjacent to each other. The guide piece 25 is guided by the hole 19 and the cover 12 is attached to the housing 11 . Then, the engaging portion 24 is engaged with the projection 38 which is a part of the housing 11 and the cover 12 is temporarily fixed to the housing 11 . After this temporary fixing, the rubber ring 13 is attached to the outside of the mounting piece 22 and the outer wall 17 , thereby permanently fixing the cover 12 to the housing 11 .

[Regarding the rubber ring 13]
The rubber ring 13 is made of synthetic rubber. The rubber ring 13 is annular as a whole. As described above (see FIG. 7), the rubber ring 13 is provided along the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 and the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 . The rubber ring 13 (see FIG. 3) has a ring portion 51 that contacts the outer wall 17 and the mounting piece 22 .

Before the rubber ring 13 is attached to the outer wall 17 and the mounting pieces 22 , the inner peripheral contour shape of the ring portion 51 is smaller than the contour shape of an imaginary annular surface passing through the outer surfaces 23 of the four mounting pieces 22 . Furthermore, before the rubber ring 13 is attached, the inner peripheral contour shape of the ring portion 51 is smaller than the contour shape of an imaginary annular surface passing through the outer surfaces 23 of the four outer walls 17 . For this reason, the rubber ring 13 (ring portion 51) is elastically deformed in the radially expanding direction in a mounted state in which it is fitted over the outer wall 17 and the mounting piece 22. Both sides of the outer surface 23 are contacted. The rubber ring 13 is brought into close contact with the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 and the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 .

[Regarding the drainage structure of the charging inlet 10]
As shown in FIG. 6, a groove 42 is formed in the lower portion of housing body 14 . In this embodiment, the grooves 42 are formed at two locations on both sides of the auxiliary wall 40 . The groove 42 is formed so as to pass through the inner and outer sides of the virtual circle K1. The groove 42 opens at the lower surface 14b of the housing body 14. As shown in FIG. When the cover 12 is attached to the housing 11 , a space is formed between the cover 12 (lower mounting piece 22 ) and the groove bottom surface 43 of the groove 42 facing forward. This space becomes the drainage channel 20 . Even if water such as rainwater enters the internal space formed between the cover 12 and a portion of the housing 11 covered by the cover 12, the water is discharged to the outside through the drainage channel 20. .

The position of the grooves 43 and the number of the grooves 43 for configuring the drainage channel 20 can be changed. Further, instead of forming the groove 43 on the housing body 14 side, a notch (not shown) may be provided at a lower position of the cover 12 and the notch may constitute a drainage channel. As described above, it is sufficient that the drainage channel 20 is provided at a lower position between the cover 12 and the housing 11 . Drain 20 allows water to pass from and out of the interior space defined between cover 12 and the portion of housing 11 covered by cover 12 .

[Second Form of Charging Inlet 10]
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a second form of charging inlet 10, and FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of charging inlet 10 shown in FIG. One of the differences between the second embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 (first embodiment) is the extent to which the cover 12 covers the housing 11 . In addition, in the second embodiment, the form of the cylindrical portion 15 that accommodates the

signal terminals

35c and 35d for signals is different from that shown in FIG. 2 (the first form). In the second form, the number of tubular portions 15 is greater than in the first form.

In the charging inlet 10 shown in FIG. 2, the cover 12 covers the entire periphery of the region 16 where the plurality of cylindrical portions 15 are formed. On the other hand, in charging inlet 10 shown in FIG. 8 , cover 12 covers both the left and right sides of formation region 16 of plurality of cylindrical portions 15 and the lower range, but does not cover the upper range. That is, the housing body 14 is partially exposed from the upper part of the central opening provided in the cover 12 . This is because, in the second embodiment, the latch portion 61 with which the charging connector 4 (see FIG. 1) engages is provided on the upper portion of the receptacle portion 32 that defines the forming area 16 . That is, when the charging connector 4 is connected to the charging inlet 10 , a portion of the charging connector 4 passes through the upper portion of the cover 12 .

8 and 9, charging inlet 10 also includes housing 11 having housing body 14 fixed to body 7 of vehicle 5 (see FIG. 1), and housing body 14 and housing body 14. A cover 12 as a body and a rubber ring 13 for attaching the cover 12 to the housing 11 are provided. The same reference numerals are given to the same configurations in the first and second embodiments, and detailed descriptions of the same configurations are omitted here. A charging inlet 10 according to the second embodiment includes each configuration of the charging inlet 10 according to the first embodiment.

[Third form of charging inlet 10]
FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of charging inlet 10, and FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of charging inlet 10 shown in FIG. One of the differences between the third embodiment and the embodiment (first embodiment) shown in FIG. 2 is the extent to which the cover 12 covers the housing 11, as in the second embodiment. In charging inlet 10 shown in FIG. 10 , cover 12 covers both the left and right sides of formation region 16 of plurality of cylindrical portions 15 and the lower range, but does not cover the upper range. That is, the housing body 14 is partially exposed from the upper part of the central opening provided in the cover 12 . The reason for this is that, like the second embodiment, the upper portion of the receptacle 32 is provided with a latch portion 61 with which the charging connector 4 (see FIG. 1) engages.

In addition, the charging inlet 10 of the third embodiment further has a cylindrical portion 15 that houses a grounding terminal 35e in addition to the cylindrical portions 15 that house the

power terminals

35a and 35b for the power source. , different from the first form (see FIG. 2) and the second form (see FIG. 8). Furthermore, in the third form, the form of the cylindrical portion 15 that accommodates the

signal terminals

35c and 35d for signals is different from the first and second forms.

In the third embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, charging inlet 10 includes housing 11 having housing body 14 fixed to body 7 of vehicle 5 (see FIG. 1), and housing body 14 and housing body 14. A cover 12 as a body and a rubber ring 13 for attaching the cover 12 to the housing 11 are provided. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same configurations in the first and third embodiments, and detailed descriptions of the same configurations are omitted here. A charging inlet 10 according to the third embodiment includes each configuration of the charging inlet 10 according to the first embodiment.

[Regarding the charging inlet 10 of each form described above]
The charging inlet 10 of each of the first, second, and third forms is a device to which the charging connector 4 is inserted and removed in order to charge the battery 6 of the vehicle 5 (see FIG. 1). Charging inlet 10 includes housing 11 having housing body 14 , cover 12 which is separate from housing body 14 , and rubber ring 13 for attaching cover 12 to housing 11 .

As shown in FIGS. 3, 9 and 11, the housing 11 has a plurality of cylindrical portions 15 projecting forward from the housing body 14 and a plurality of outer walls 17 projecting forward from the housing body 14 . The tubular portion 15 is a terminal accommodating portion in which terminals 35 are provided. The outer wall 17 is partially arranged along an imaginary circle K<b>1 surrounding the forming region 16 of the plurality of cylindrical portions 15 . The cover 12 has a cover body 21 and an attachment piece 22 extending rearward from the cover body 21 . The cover main body 21 is visible when the charging connector 4 is inserted, and covers a part of the housing main body 14 excluding the forming area 16 . The mounting piece 22 is positioned between two adjacent

outer walls

17, 17 along the virtual circle K1. The rubber ring 13 is provided along the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 and the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 .

According to the charging inlet 10 of each of the above-described forms, as shown in FIGS. 2, 8, and 10, the cover body 21 is visible when the operator inserts the charging connector 4 into the charging inlet 10. , the cover main body 21 partially covers the housing main body 14, so that the charging inlet 10 with excellent design can be obtained.
The mounting piece 22 of the cover 12 is positioned between the two

outer walls

17 , 17 of the housing 11 , the mounting piece 22 is tightened by the rubber ring 13 , and the cover 12 is attached to the housing 11 . Although the cover 12 is separate from the housing 11, the vibration of the cover 12 is suppressed by the rubber ring 13, so that the silent performance of the vehicle 5 is not lowered.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the cover 12 is attached to the housing 11 without, for example, a screw-fastening structure.
In each of the above embodiments, the cover 12 is not only temporarily fixed to the housing 11 by the engaging portion 24 (see, for example, FIG. 5), but is also fixed by tightening the cover 12 to the housing 11 by the rubber ring 13 (permanently fixed). ). Temporary fixing alone may cause the cover 12 to vibrate and repeatedly contact the housing 11 to generate abnormal noise. However, the rubber ring 13 suppresses the vibration of the cover 12, prevents the cover 12 from repeatedly contacting the housing 11, and makes it possible to suppress the occurrence of abnormal noise.

6 and 7, the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 extends from the formation region 16 in the direction perpendicular to the imaginary line Q1 extending in the front-rear direction, rather than the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17. located far away. Therefore, the elastic force of the rubber ring 13 can generate a force for directing the attachment piece 22 toward the center of the charging inlet 10 on the forming area 16 side. In other words, the action of the rubber ring 13 to tighten the mounting piece 22 to the center is enhanced.

The rubber ring 13 provides a binding force of the cover 12 to the housing 11, so that the vibration of the cover 12 can be suppressed more effectively. The rubber ring 13 contacts both the outer surface 18 of the outer wall 17 and the outer surface 23 of the mounting piece 22 . The outer wall 17 and the mounting piece 22 are tightened by the rubber ring 13 and the cover 12 is mounted on the housing 11 .

Since the gap e (see FIG. 7) is provided between the cover 12 and the housing 11, the cover 12 is positioned perpendicular to the imaginary line Q1 with respect to the housing 11 before the rubber ring 13 is attached. can be displaced to However, after the rubber ring 13 is attached, the displacement of the cover 12 relative to the housing 11 in the direction orthogonal to the phantom line Q1 is suppressed. After the operation of assembling the cover 12 to the housing 11, the cover 12 can be displaced with respect to the housing 11 before the rubber ring 13 is attached. can be installed.

In each of the above-described embodiments (representatively described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6), a first vertical axis Z orthogonal to the imaginary line Q1 extending in the front-rear direction and a second horizontal axis X orthogonal to the imaginary line Q1 The mounting pieces 22 are provided at four locations in the region where each of them intersects with the virtual circle K1. Specifically, the mounting pieces 22 are provided at four locations on the top, bottom, left, and right along the virtual circle K1 at intervals. Therefore, the force of the rubber ring 13 aligns the cover 12 with the center of the charging inlet 10 on the forming area 16 side. That is, the cover 12 is centered. Even when a gap is formed between the cover 12 and the hood portion 32, the gap is likely to be uniform and the appearance is good.

The arrangement of the mounting pieces 22 can be changed as well as the arrangement of the outer wall 17 of the housing 11. However, it is preferable that the mounting pieces 22 are provided at four locations in the region where the virtual circle K1 intersects with each of the two axes that are perpendicular to the virtual line Q1 and are perpendicular to each other. By centering the cover 12 with respect to the housing 11, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the appearance due to displacement of the cover 12. - 特許庁

In each of the above embodiments, the cover 12 has a guide piece 25 extending rearward from the cover body 21 (see FIG. 5). A hole 19 for guiding and inserting the guide piece 25 is provided in the housing 11 (see FIG. 6). Therefore, when the cover 12 is brought closer to the housing 11 and attached, the guide piece 25 can be guided and inserted into the hole portion 19 . Attachment of the cover 12 to the housing 11 is facilitated. The hole portion 19 is provided inside the virtual circle K1, and the guide piece 25 inserted into the hole portion 19 is out of contact with the rubber ring 13 . Therefore, the attachment piece 22 and the guide piece 25 of the cover 12 function independently.

〔others〕
The outer contour shape of the housing 11 and the receptacle 32 of the housing 11 may be other than those shown in the drawings. Further, the hood portion 32 may have a holding portion or the like for holding a cable connected to the terminal 35 (not shown).
Although the mounting pieces 22 are provided at four locations, namely, top, bottom, left, and right, it is preferable that the mounting pieces 22 are provided at at least four locations. Note that the mounting pieces 22 may be provided at two or three locations apart from each other along the virtual circle K1.

The above embodiments are illustrative in all respects and are not restrictive. The scope of rights of the present invention is indicated by the scope of claims rather than the above embodiments, and includes all modifications within the scope of equivalents to the structure described in the scope of claims.

Reference Signs List 1 charging station 2 external power source 3 converter 4 charging connector 5 vehicle 6 battery 7 body 8 charger 9 door 10 charging inlet 11 housing 12 cover 13 rubber ring 14 housing main body 14b lower surface 15 cylindrical portion 16 forming area 17 outer wall 18 outer surface 19 hole Part 20 Drainage channel 21 Cover body 21a Front face 22 Mounting piece 23 Outer surface 24 Engagement part 25 Guide piece 31 Plate part 32 Hood part 33 Fixing part 34 Bottom plate 35

Terminals

35a,

35b Power terminals

35c, 35d Signal terminal 35e Terminal for grounding 36 Rib 37 Recess 38 Projection 39 Recess 40 Auxiliary wall 42 Groove 43 Groove bottom surface 45 Missing area 47 Claw 48 Rib 49 Inclined surface 51 Ring part 61 Latch part K1 Virtual circle Q1 Virtual line e Gap

Claims

A charging inlet for inserting and removing a charging connector for charging a vehicle battery,
a housing having a housing body fixed to the body of the vehicle;
a cover separate from the housing body;
a rubber ring for attaching the cover to the housing;
with
When the direction in which the charging connector is pulled out is defined as the first direction and the direction in which the charging connector is inserted is defined as the second direction,
The housing is
a plurality of cylindrical portions protruding from the housing body in the first direction and provided with terminals inside;
a plurality of outer walls that are partially arranged along an imaginary circle surrounding the formation area of the plurality of cylindrical portions and protrude from the housing body in the first direction;
has
The cover is
a cover body that is visible when the charging connector is inserted and covers a part of the housing body excluding the forming area;
a mounting piece extending from the cover body in the second direction;
has
the mounting piece is positioned between two adjacent outer walls along the virtual circle;
The rubber ring is provided along the outer surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the mounting piece,
charging inlet.
The charging inlet according to claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the mounting piece is located farther from the forming area than the outer surface of the outer wall in a direction perpendicular to the imaginary line along the first direction.
1 or 2, wherein the mounting pieces are provided at four locations in a region where two axes perpendicular to the virtual line along the first direction and perpendicular to each other and the virtual circle intersect each other. 2. The charging inlet according to 2.
The charging inlet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rubber ring contacts both the outer surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the mounting piece.
Since the gap is provided between the cover and the housing, the cover is displaced relative to the housing in a direction orthogonal to a virtual line along the first direction before the rubber ring is attached. is possible and
5. The cover according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein in a state after the rubber ring is attached, relative displacement of the cover with respect to the housing in a direction orthogonal to an imaginary line along the first direction is suppressed. charging inlet as described in .
The charging inlet according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cover has an engagement portion that engages with the housing.
the cover has a guide piece extending from the cover body in the second direction,
The charging inlet according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the housing is provided with a hole into which the guide piece is guided and inserted.
The charging inlet according to claim 7, wherein said guide piece is not in contact with said rubber ring.
2. A drainage channel is provided at a lower position between the cover and the housing for allowing water to pass from an interior space defined between the cover and a portion of the housing to the outside thereof. 9. A charging inlet as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.