Battery swapping connector

Abstract

The present invention relates to a battery swapping connector, which includes a floating housing component, a socket housing that is floatingly assembled in the floating housing component in the front-rear direction. A metal cover plate is provided inside the socket housing. The mating end of the socket housing has a mating cavity located at the front end of the metal cover plate. A power component is installed inside the socket housing. The power component includes a power contact housing and power contacts installed in the power contact housing. The mating end of the power contacts is arranged in the mating cavity. Dust discharge holes are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the mating end of the power contacts. An adapted dust discharge hole corresponding to the dust discharge holes is provided on the power contact housing. A dust discharge groove located in the mating cavity is formed on the socket housing. The dust discharge groove is communicated with the inner cavity of the floating housing component. A dust discharge port communicated with the inner cavity is provided at the rear end of the floating housing component. The dust discharge holes are arranged towards the dust discharge groove. The present invention considers the application environment at the station end and designs a dust discharge structure, which facilitates efficient dust discharge when the station end maintains the connector.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of connectors, and particularly relates to a battery swapping connector. Background Art

[0002] The battery swapping connectors for new energy pure electric vehicles are divided into a battery end, a vehicle end, and a station end. The station end is the interface for charging the battery pack in the battery swapping station. As Figure 1 shown in the figure, it is a schematic structural diagram of an existing battery swapping connector, including a floating housing component 100 and a socket housing 200 floatingly assembled in the floating housing component along the plugging and unplugging direction. A power component 300 and a signal component 400 are provided in the front inner cavity 201 of the socket housing. Due to the harsh application environment of pure electric commercial heavy trucks, the station end connector products on the market often have dust accumulation. The dust accumulates in the front inner cavity and jacks of the connector, and it is not easy to clean the dust. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a battery swapping connector, and a dust discharging structure is designed thereon to facilitate efficient dust discharging during the maintenance of the battery swapping connector at the station end.

[0004] The purpose of the present invention and the solution to its technical problems are achieved by adopting the following technical solutions. A battery swapping connector according to the present invention includes a floating housing component and a socket housing floatingly assembled in the floating housing component along the front-rear direction. A metal cover plate is provided in the socket housing. The mating end of the socket housing has a mating cavity located in front of the metal cover plate. A power component and a signal component are installed in the socket housing. The power component includes a power contact housing and a power contact installed in the power contact housing. The mating end of the power contact is arranged in the mating cavity. Dust discharging holes are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the mating end of the power contact. An adapted dust discharging hole corresponding to the dust discharging holes is provided on the power contact housing. A dust discharging groove located in the mating cavity is formed on the socket housing. The dust discharging groove extends perpendicular to the front-rear direction and is communicated with the inner cavity of the floating housing component. A dust discharging port communicated with the inner cavity is provided at the rear end of the floating housing component. The dust discharging holes are arranged towards the dust discharging groove.

[0005] Further, the signal component includes a signal jack assembly and a signal pin assembly. The signal jack assembly includes a signal jack insulator and a signal jack installed in the signal jack insulator. The signal pin assembly includes a signal pin insulator and a signal pin installed in the signal pin insulator. The front end of the signal pin is used for mating with the rear end of the corresponding signal jack. A water drainage groove is formed on the front end surface of the signal pin insulator. The water drainage groove has an arc-shaped groove structure with the middle higher than both sides.

[0006] Further, crisscross water drainage grooves are formed on the front end surface of the signal pin insulator.

[0007] Furthermore, dust discharge grooves are formed on both opposite sides of the socket housing, and corresponding dust discharge holes are provided on the power contact member and are respectively oriented towards different sides of the dust discharge grooves.

[0008] Furthermore, the power contact member housing includes an upper housing and a lower housing that are snap-fitted to each other to install and fix the power contact member. The lower housing is fixed inside the socket housing, and the upper housing and the metal cover plate are in limit fit in the forward direction.

[0009] Furthermore, the lower housing is provided with accommodation holes for accommodating corresponding power contact members. Side openings are formed on the sides of the accommodation holes to enable the power contact members to be inserted into the accommodation holes in the radial direction. A limiting plate and a rotation stopping key provided on at least one side of the limiting plate are arranged in the accommodation holes. A ring groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the power contact member. The limiting plate is snapped into the ring groove to limit the power contact member in the front-back direction. The ring groove is surrounded by two flanges distributed front and back, and rotation stopping grooves for radially stopping and cooperating with the rotation stopping key are formed on the flanges.

[0010] Furthermore, the upper housing has an installation cylinder extending forward. The installation cylinder extends into the insertion cavity. The adapter dust discharge holes are formed on the installation cylinder, and the insertion end of the power contact member is sleeved inside the installation cylinder.

[0011] Furthermore, a rotation stopping platform is provided on the inner wall of the upper housing, and a rotation stopping surface for radially stopping and cooperating with the rotation stopping platform is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the power contact member.

[0012] Furthermore, the upper housing and the lower housing are connected by a snap structure. The snap structure includes snaps provided on the lower housing and snap holes provided on the upper housing.

[0013] Furthermore, a first sealing ring is embedded on the outer peripheral surface of the power contact member for sealing cooperation with the upper housing; a second sealing ring is embedded on the lower surface of the metal cover plate for sealing cooperation with the upper housing; a third sealing ring is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the metal cover plate for sealing cooperation with the inner wall of the socket housing.

[0014] The present invention designs a new power exchange connector for the station end. This power exchange connector takes into account the application environment at the station end, adjusts the structure of the power exchange connector at the station end, designs a dust discharge structure, which facilitates dust discharge during the maintenance of the connector at the station end. By using the air blowing method, the function of facilitating cleaning of the power exchange connector at the station end is achieved, reducing the maintenance cost and difficulty. At the same time, it is also convenient to drain the liquid dripping on the surface of the connector.

[0015] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to understand the technical means of the present invention more clearly, it can be implemented according to the content of the description. And in order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the following specifically gives preferred embodiments and, in conjunction with the drawings, details are described as follows. Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1 Schematic structural diagram of a battery swapping connector in the prior art.

[0017] Figure 2 Schematic structural diagram of the battery swapping connector of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 3 Schematic sectional view showing the principle of dust removal of the battery swapping connector of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 4 Schematic sectional view of the signal component in the battery swapping connector of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 5 Exploded view of the signal component in the battery swapping connector of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 6 Schematic exploded view of the upper housing, power contact and lower housing in the present invention.

[0022] Figures 7 to 8 All are schematic diagrams of the power contact in the present invention.

[0023] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the lower housing in the present invention.

[0024] Figure 10 Schematic diagram of the upper housing in the present invention.

[0025] Figure 11 Schematic diagram of the signal pin assembly in the present invention.

[0026] Figure 12 Schematic structural diagram of the drainage groove in the signal pin assembly. Detailed implementation manners

[0027] The following is a further detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments.

[0028] An embodiment of a battery swapping connector, as Figures 2 to 12As shown, it includes a floating housing component 1 and a socket housing 2 that is floatingly assembled in the floating housing component 1 in the front-rear direction. A metal cover plate 3 is fixedly arranged in the socket housing 2. Defining the front end of the socket housing 2 as the mating end for mating with the mating connector, the mating end of the socket housing 2 has a mating cavity 21, and the mating cavity 21 is located at the front end of the metal cover plate 3. A power component and a signal component are installed in the socket housing 2. The power component can achieve power transmission, and the signal component can achieve signal interaction. Among them, the power component includes an upper housing 4, a lower housing 5, and a power contact 6 assembled between the upper housing and the lower housing. The upper housing and the lower housing form a power contact housing. The lower housing 5 is fixed in the socket housing 2. The upper housing and the lower housing are buckled with each other to achieve relative positioning and front-rear positioning of the power contact. Both the upper and lower housings are insulating housings. The mating end of the power contact is located in the mating cavity. In this embodiment, the power contact is a jack contact, and the front end of the jack contact is a jack structure. The battery swapping connector is a socket connector.

[0029] In this embodiment, the upper and lower shells are snap-connected through a snap structure to improve the installation efficiency. The snap structure includes a snap 51 provided on the lower shell and a snap hole 41 provided on the upper shell. In this embodiment, the snap 51 includes a plurality of elastic claws distributed in the circumferential direction, and the snap hole 41 is a corresponding circular through hole. Further, the lower shell 5 is provided with a receiving hole 52 for receiving a corresponding power contact. A side opening 521 is formed on the side of the receiving hole 52 to enable the power contact to be inserted into the receiving hole along the radial direction. A limiting plate 522 and anti-rotation keys 523 provided on the front and rear sides of the limiting plate are arranged in the receiving hole. The limiting plate 522 is a radially extending arc-shaped plate structure; correspondingly, a ring groove 61 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the power contact 6, and the limiting plate 522 is snapped into the ring groove 61 to limit the power contact in the front and rear directions; the ring groove is formed by two flanges 62 distributed front and rear, and anti-rotation grooves 63 corresponding to the anti-rotation keys 523 are provided on the flanges to realize the radial anti-rotation function of the power contact. The upper shell 4 has an installation cylinder 42 extending forward, and the front end of the power contact 6 is sleeved in the installation cylinder. The installation cylinder 42 is used to realize functions such as radial limitation and protection of the insertion end of the power contact. In addition, the installation cylinder can also limit the power contact in the forward direction. After the upper and lower shells position the power contact front and rear, the metal cover plate 3 is pressed on the front end face of the upper shell 4 to prevent the upper shell from moving forward. The installation cylinder 42 and the front end of the power contact inside it both penetrate through the metal cover plate 3 and are located in the insertion cavity, so as to facilitate the insertion of the power contact inside the installation cylinder and the mating contact. Since the metal cover plate and the installation cylinder are in a relationship of being mutually inserted, the structural strength of the installation cylinder can be increased, the radial movement of the installation cylinder can be avoided, and the insertion stability of the power contact can be improved. In addition, a anti-rotation platform 43 is provided on the inner wall of the upper shell 4, and an anti-rotation surface 64 for radial anti-rotation cooperation with the anti-rotation platform 43 is provided on the power contact 6 to improve the binding tightness between the power contact and the upper shell.

[0030] The power contact 6 is provided with an ash discharge hole 60, and the mounting column 42 is provided with an adapting ash discharge hole 420 which is connected to the ash discharge hole in a one-to-one correspondence. The ash discharge hole is coaxially arranged with the corresponding adapting ash discharge hole. The ash discharge hole should be arranged near the rear end face of the plug-in end of the power contact, that is, near the front end of the hole bottom of the plug-in structure of the power contact, so as to facilitate the rapid discharge of dust when blowing dust and reduce the amount of dust blown out in the reverse direction (forward). The socket housing 2 is provided with an ash discharge groove 20 located in the plug-in cavity, and the ash discharge hole 420 is arranged corresponding to the ash discharge groove 20, that is, the ash discharge hole is opened toward the ash discharge groove, so that the dust blown out from the ash discharge hole can directly enter the ash discharge groove; the ash discharge groove 20 extends along a first direction perpendicular to the front-to-back direction, that is, the extension direction of the ash discharge groove is the arrangement direction of the power contact, and it is in a long strip shape as a whole, which can cover or be compatible with multiple power contacts, so as to receive dust blown out of the ash discharge holes of multiple power contacts. The dust discharge groove 20 is connected to the inner cavity 10 of the floating shell component 1, and the rear end of the floating shell component is provided with a dust discharge port 11; when air is blown into the plug-in cavity by air blowing, the air flow direction is as follows: Figure 2 , the dust in the power contact enters the inner cavity of the floating shell component from the ash discharge hole, the matching ash discharge hole, and the ash discharge groove in turn, and is finally discharged from the ash discharge port at the rear end. Through the design of this ash discharge flow channel, the amount of dust blown in the opposite direction toward the cleaning personnel can be significantly reduced. When the ash discharge grooves are provided on both opposite sides of the socket shell, corresponding ash discharge holes facing different ash discharge grooves can be provided on the power contact, and the matching ash discharge holes can be provided correspondingly. At this time, there are ash discharge holes on both sides of the power contact, which makes the ash discharge efficiency faster; the present invention does not limit the number and shape of the ash discharge grooves and ash discharge holes. The floating shell component 1 includes an installation shell 12, a spring 13 arranged in the installation shell, and an upper cover 14. The socket shell 2 is floatingly arranged in the installation shell 12 through the spring 13, and is sealed and abutted with the upper cover 14 under the forward elastic force of the spring. The upper cover 14 can limit the socket shell from coming out forward. The installation shell 12 is used to fix the entire power exchange connector on the corresponding carrier. The ash discharge port 11 can be formed by the gap between the socket shell and the installation shell.

[0031] The signal component includes a signal jack assembly 7 and a signal pin assembly 8 that are inserted into each other. The signal jack assembly 7 includes a signal jack insulator 71 and a signal jack 72 installed in the signal jack insulator. The signal pin assembly 8 includes a signal pin insulator 81 and a signal pin 82 installed in the signal pin insulator. The front end of the signal pin is inserted into the rear end of the corresponding signal jack, and the rear end of the signal pin is used to connect the signal line. The front end of the signal jack passes through the metal cover plate and is arranged in the insertion cavity. The signal component is limited front and rear through the metal cover plate and the socket housing. Therefore, the cleaning of the signal component adopts a detachable structure. By removing the metal cover plate from the socket housing, the signal component can be directly taken out. During cleaning and maintenance, the signal jack assembly and the signal pin assembly can be disassembled and cleaned separately, which is convenient for cleaning the dust inside the signal jack in the station. In addition, both the signal jack insulator and the signal pin insulator adopt the form of two sub-insulators buckling with each other to limit the corresponding signal jack and signal pin, and the signal jack assembly and the signal pin assembly can be further disassembled and cleaned.

[0032] On the front end face of the signal pin insulator 81, there are criss-cross drainage grooves 811, and the drainage grooves are in an arc structure 8111 that is high in the middle and low on both sides. The liquid flowing from the signal jack assembly to the front end face of the signal pin assembly can be discharged along the drainage grooves, and the water discharged from the drainage grooves flows along the gap or hole between the signal pin insulator and the socket housing and is discharged to the battery swapping connector, without affecting the electrical performance of the product. Further, a wire sealing body 22 is provided in the socket housing 2 at the rear end of the signal component to improve the sealing performance and tensile strength of the signal line; a cable protective cover 23 is provided at the rear end of the socket housing to seal and provide tensile strength for the cable connected to the rear end of the power contact.

[0033] Further, in order to improve the sealing performance, a first sealing ring 65 is embedded on the outer peripheral surface of the power contact 6, and the first sealing ring is used for sealing cooperation with the upper housing; a second sealing ring 31 is embedded on the lower surface of the metal cover plate 3, and the second sealing ring is used for sealing cooperation with the upper housing; a third sealing ring 32 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the metal cover plate, and the third sealing ring is used for sealing cooperation with the inner wall of the socket housing.

[0034] In this embodiment, the signal component is located in the middle of the insertion cavity, and the power contacts are distributed on both sides of the signal component, but the distribution form is not limited.

[0035] In this embodiment, the battery swapping connector is a rectangular connector as a whole. In other embodiments, it can also be a circular connector.

[0036] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the details not described are all prior arts; any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the technical solution of the present invention, any simple modification, equivalent change and modification made to the above embodiments according to the technical essence of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. Battery swapping connector, comprising a floating housing component, a socket housing floatingly assembled in the floating housing component in the front-rear direction, a metal cover plate is provided in the socket housing, and the mating end of the socket housing has a mating cavity located at the front end of the metal cover plate, characterized in that: Inside the socket housing, there are installed a power component and a signal component. The power component includes a power contact housing and power contacts installed inside the power contact housing. The mating end of the power contact is disposed in the mating cavity. Dust-discharging holes are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the mating end of the power contact. An adapted dust-discharging hole corresponding to the dust-discharging hole is provided on the power contact housing. A dust-discharging groove located in the mating cavity is formed on the socket housing. The dust-discharging groove extends perpendicularly to the front-back direction. The dust-discharging groove communicates with the inner cavity of the floating housing component. A dust-discharging port communicating with the inner cavity is provided at the rear end of the floating housing component. The dust-discharging holes are oriented towards the dust-discharging groove.

2. The power exchange connector according to claim 1, wherein: The signal component includes a signal jack assembly and a signal pin assembly. The signal jack assembly includes a signal jack insulator and signal jacks installed in the signal jack insulator. The signal pin assembly includes a signal pin insulator and signal pins installed in the signal pin insulator. The front end of the signal pin is used to mate with the rear end of the corresponding signal jack. Drainage grooves are formed on the front end face of the signal pin insulator. The drainage grooves are in an arc-shaped groove structure with the middle higher than both sides.

3. The power exchange connector according to claim 2, wherein: Drainage grooves that crisscross each other are formed on the front end face of the signal pin insulator.

4. The power exchange connector according to claim 1, wherein: Dust-discharging grooves are formed on both opposite sides of the socket housing. Corresponding dust-discharging holes respectively oriented towards different-side dust-discharging grooves are provided on the power contact.

5. The power exchange connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: The power contact housing includes an upper housing and a lower housing that are buckled together to fix the installation of the power contact. The lower housing is fixed inside the socket housing. The upper housing is in a limit fit with the metal cover plate in the forward direction.

6. The power exchange connector according to claim 5, wherein: The lower housing is provided with a receiving hole for receiving the corresponding power contact. A side opening enabling the power contact to be inserted into the receiving hole in the radial direction is formed on the side of the receiving hole. A limiting plate and anti-rotation keys provided on at least one side of the limiting plate are arranged in the receiving hole. A ring groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the power contact. The limiting plate is snapped into the ring groove to limit the power contact in the front-back direction. The ring groove is surrounded by two flanges distributed front and back. Anti-rotation grooves for radially anti-rotation cooperation with the anti-rotation keys are formed on the flanges.

7. The power exchange connector according to claim 5, wherein: The upper housing has an installation cylinder extending forward. The installation cylinder projects into the mating cavity. The adapted dust-discharging hole is formed on the installation cylinder. The mating end of the power contact is sleeved inside the installation cylinder.

8. The power exchange connector according to claim 7, wherein: A anti-rotation platform is provided on the inner wall of the upper housing. An anti-rotation surface for radially anti-rotation cooperation with the anti-rotation platform is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the power contact.

9. The power exchange connector according to claim 5, wherein: The upper housing and the lower housing are connected by a snap structure. The snap structure includes snaps provided on the lower housing and snap holes provided on the upper housing.

10. The power exchange connector according to claim 6, characterized in that: A first sealing ring is embedded on the outer peripheral surface of the power contact. The first sealing ring is used for sealing cooperation with the upper housing. A second sealing ring is embedded on the lower surface of the metal cover plate. The second sealing ring is used for sealing cooperation with the upper housing. A third sealing ring is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the metal cover plate. The third sealing ring is used for sealing cooperation with the inner wall of the socket housing.

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