Kit for making a charging connector for electric and hybrid vehicles

Abstract

The invention relates to a set for manufacturing a charging connector (1) for electric and hybrid vehicles, comprising a housing (6), a first pair (11) charging contacts (2) for contacting corresponding charging contacts (3) of a corresponding charging connector (4), and a second pair (13) charging contacts (2) for contacting corresponding charging contacts (3) of a corresponding charging connector (4), wherein the charging contacts (2) each have a contact element (5), wherein the contact elements (5) are all either at least partially cylindrical contact pins or contact sleeves with a respective at least partially cylindrical bore, the housing (6) having a pair of receptacles (9) for receiving either the first pair (11) of charging contacts (2) or the second pair (13) of charging contacts (2).of the second pair (13) of charging contacts (2) and the charging contacts (2) of the first pair (11) and the charging contacts (2) of the second pair (13) are designed such that the central axes (12) of the contact elements (5) of the first pair (11) are spaced further apart from each other in a state arranged in the receptacles (9) than the central axes (12) of the contact elements (5) of the second pair (13) in a state arranged in the receptacles (9). In this way, a set for the manufacture of charging connectors is provided, with which the compatibility of the charging connectors is extended.

Description

The invention relates to a set for producing a charging plug connector for electric and hybrid vehicles, having a housing and a pair of charging contacts for contacting corresponding charging contacts of a corresponding charging plug connector.Electric and hybrid vehicles have a rechargeable energy store, generally a high-voltage battery, which provides energy to an electric drive motor during driving operation. The storage capacities of these high-voltage batteries are limited, so that they must be recharged periodically at a charging station. The battery is charged via a charging cable provided between the charging station and the vehicle, wherein the charging cable is provided, for example, according to European Standard IEC 62196 type 2 on one side with a charging plug which can be inserted into a charging socket provided at the charging station and on the other side with a charging coupling which can be connected to a charging plug installed in the electric and hybrid vehicle. In the present case, charging sockets, charging plugs, charging couplings and charging plug-in connectors are subsumed under the term "charging plug-in connector". Charging sockets and charging couplings are provided with charging contacts which in turn have contact sleeves as contact elements, and charging plugs and charging plugs which can be installed in electric and hybrid vehicles have contact pins as contact elements which can be inserted into the contact sleeves.The charging device of an electric or hybrid vehicle comprises the charging station with charging cable and the charging plug connector on the charging station side or the charging plug connector on the vehicle side with electrical lines which, in the case of the charging plug connector on the vehicle side, lead from the charging plug connector to the battery of the vehicle.The charging plug connectors themselves can be designed in various ways. In particular, the distances of the contact elements and the distances of the charging contacts are not always uniform. Such a case is present, for example, in charging plug connectors according to the SAE J1772 standards, also called combo charging standard type 1 (CCS1), and the European standard IEC 62196 type 2, also called combo charging standard type 2 (CCS2). Both standards describe requirements for the distances of the contact elements of the charging contacts which differ from one another. This means that a charging plug connector according to the IEC 62196 Type 2 standard, which may be a charging plug mountable in an electric or hybrid vehicle, is not compatible or couplable with a corresponding charging coupling according to the SAE J1772 standard. This constitutes a problem in particular for the manufacturers, since different charging plug connectors have to be offered for the respective markets on account of the different plug-in faces provided by the standards.Proceeding from this, it is the object of the present invention to provide a set for producing charging plug connections, with which set the compatibility of the charging plug connectors is extended.This object is achieved by the subject matters of the independent claims. Preferred developments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.According to the invention, a set for producing a charging plug connector for electric and hybrid vehicles is thus provided, having a housing, a first pair of charging contacts for contacting corresponding charging contacts of a corresponding charging plug connector and a second pair of charging contacts for contacting corresponding charging contacts of a corresponding charging plug connector, wherein the charging contacts each have a contact element, wherein the contact elements are all either at least sectionally cylindrical contact pins or contact sleeves with a respective at least sectionally cylindrical bore, the housing has a pair of receptacles for receiving either the first pair of charging contacts or the second pair of charging contacts, and the charging contacts of the first pair and the charging contacts of the second pair are formed in such a way, the central axes of the contact elements of the first pair in a state arranged in the receptacles are spaced further apart from one another than the central axes of the contact elements of the second pair in a state arranged in the receptacles.In the present case, a receptacle means an opening in the housing of the charging plug connector, which is designed to receive the charging contacts such that the charging contacts are arranged in a fixed position in the housing of the charging plug connector. For this purpose, the charging contacts are inserted during production into the receptacles, which then correspondingly encompass the charging contacts and hold them in a fixed position in the housing of the charging plug connector.According to the requirements placed on the mating face of the charging plug connector to be produced, the first pair of charging contacts or the second pair of charging contacts can be arranged in the receptacles, so that the charging contacts are correspondingly spaced apart from one another.An essential aspect of the invention is here that such a procedure avoids the use of manufacturing different housing types and charging plug connectors, which can be provided exclusively for electric or hybrid vehicles in a specific country or a specific region of the corresponding combo charging standard type. Further structural characteristics of the charging plug connectors, such as cooling devices, heat accumulators or sensor arrangements, do not have to be rearranged and formed on account of otherwise indispensable changes in the housings of the charging plug connectors. Instead, the charging contacts can be arranged in a housing which is always uniform and which has identical dimensions irrespective of the requirements for the distances of the contact elements of the charging contacts.As already mentioned, the contact elements are to be understood as being part of the charging contacts which can be contacted galvanically conductively with the respectively corresponding contact elements, such that a current can be transmitted from a charging plug connector to a corresponding charging plug connector. The contact elements are formed as at least sectionally cylindrical contact pins or contact sleeves with an at least sectionally cylindrical bore. In order that a charging current can finally be transmitted, the contact pins are designed such that they can be inserted into the contact sleeves.The central axis of the contact element relates here to the at least sectionally cylindrical part of the element, so that the central axis either runs coaxial to a center of the bore of the contact sleeve or a center of the tip of the contact pin. One property of the present charging contact with contact element is that the arrangement of charging contact and contact element does not necessarily have to be designed rotationally symmetrically.The charging contact without a contact element is generally designed rotationally symmetrically. The central axis of the contact element itself, however, is to be viewed as being separate from the axis of symmetry of the charging contact and does not have to coincide with it.If a corresponding charging plug connector is mentioned here, this means, on the one hand, a charging plug connector which has the same plug face as the charging plug connector, wherein the one plug face has contact pins, however, if the other plug face has contact sleeves, and vice versa. The charging plug connector and the corresponding charging plug connector can thus be plugged together. On the other hand, a corresponding charging plug connector is also referred to in the present case when the plug faces only partially correspond in the aforementioned sense, i.e. the corresponding charging plug connector does not have all the contacts which are present in the charging plug connector, for example, it is likewise not necessary for the contact elements of the charging contacts to be spaced apart from one another in the same way. Rather, it is sufficient if the existing contacts of the corresponding charging plug connector correspond to the charging plug connector from the plug face, so that the charging plug connector and the corresponding charging plug connector can be plugged together.Such a case is present, for example, in a charging coupling connected to a charging cable for a direct current charging according to European Standard IEC 62196 Type 2. such a charging coupling can be inserted into a charging plug installed in the body of an electric or hybrid vehicle and suitable for an alternating current charging and for a direct current charging, wherein only the communication contacts and the protective contact are present in the alternating current plug face of the direct current charging coupling, but no contacts for outer conductors and a central conductor for an alternating current charging.The provision of two sets of charging contacts makes it possible to plug a combo charging standard type 1 charging coupling according to the SAE J1772 standard, which is connected to a charging cable, into a combo charging standard type 2 charging plug according to the European standard IEC 62196 type 2, which is installed in the body of an electric or hybrid vehicle and is suitable for alternating current charging and for direct current charging, the second pair of charging contacts being arranged in the receptacles in the charging plug.In the present case, such contacts are referred to as DC charging contacts which are provided exclusively for charging with DC current. DC charging contacts are arranged separately laterally next to one another under the AC charging contacts both in the case of combo charging standard type 2 and in the case of combo charging standard type 1. For the adaptation of the respective contact elements of one standard to those of the other standard, therefore, in the case of DC charging contacts, initially only the lateral spacing of the DC charging contacts per se must be taken into account. Therefore, the use of the invention for DC charging contacts is particularly preferred.In contrast to DC contacts, there are AC charging contacts. This means the outer conductors and the neutral conductor (middle conductor), which are also provided for charging with alternating current at any rate. An outer conductor (also referred to colloquially as a phase) is referred to here as a conductor which is under voltage during normal operation and can contribute to the transmission or distribution of electrical energy, but is not a neutral conductor. A neutral conductor is a conductor that is electrically connected to the neutral point and is capable of contributing to electric power distribution. In the European standard IEC 62196 type 2, the contacts, which are referred to herein as alternating current charging contacts, are referred to as L1, L2 and L3 (outer conductor) and N (neutral conductor) and the direct current charging contacts are referred to as DC+ and DC-. It is not intended to oppose this understanding that European Standard IEC 62196 type 2 also knows an operating mode according to which direct current charging takes place via the contacts L 1, L 2, L 3 and N.In principle, the charging contacts can be arranged in the receptacles in various ways. According to a preferred development of the invention, however, it is provided that the receptacles and at least one pair of charging contacts each have a fit such that the pair of charging contacts can be received in the receptacles exclusively in a single orientation. A single orientation is understood here to mean the positioning of the charging contacts at a specific angle in the receptacles with respect to a rotation about the axis of symmetry of the charging contacts. This is intended to ensure during assembly that a predefined distance between the contact elements can be achieved. For this purpose, the charging contacts and the receptacles can be designed in such a way that a fault protection with regard to the orientation of the charging contacts in the receptacles is provided in the form of a poka-yoke design, such that the individual charging contact can be arranged in the receptacle exclusively in the orientation predefined by the poka-yoke design. The Japanese term "poka yoke" denotes a multi-element principle which includes technical provisions for immediate error detection and prevention. Poka yoke is similar as a fault-preventing principle to a key-lock principle: only if a matching counterpart is used can the function protected by means of poka yoke be activated, i.e. the correct orientation can be assumed here.In principle, different types of fault protection can be realized in the present case. According to a preferred development of the invention, however, it is provided that the charging contacts with the fit or the receptacles each have a groove in which a corresponding extension formed in the respective receptacle or in the charging contact with the fit can be received. A further preferred embodiment provides that the charging contacts with the fit and the receptacles are each flattened on a section of the circumference, so that mating surfaces corresponding to one another are obtained. The fit and the fit surfaces are designed such that charging contacts provided exclusively for this purpose can be arranged in one orientation in receptacles provided for this purpose. Fitting shape here means the respective shapes of the charging contact which are fitted in the receptacles with corresponding negatives which can be mating surfaces, extensions, grooves or recesses of the respective shapes.In principle, the contact elements can be spaced apart from one another to different extents. According to a preferred development of the invention, however, it is provided that the central axes of the contact elements of the first pair of charging contacts are spaced apart from one another by 27 mm in a state arranged in the receptacles and the central axes of the contact elements of the second pair of charging contacts are spaced apart from one another by 26 mm in a state arranged in the receptacles. This makes it possible for the charging plug connector to be couplable to the first pair of charging contacts arranged in the receptacles with corresponding charging plug connectors of the combo charging standard type 1 and for the charging plug connector to be couplable to the second pair of charging contacts arranged in the receptacles with corresponding charging plug connectors of the combo charging standard type 2.According to a preferred development of the invention, it is provided that the contact elements of the second pair of charging contacts are arranged eccentrically, the charging contacts can be accommodated in the receptacles in two orientations, and the contact elements are spaced further apart from one another in a second orientation of the charging contacts in the receptacles than in the first orientation. This makes it possible to realize both spacings with a pair of charging contacts in different orientations. The first orientation preferably differs by 180° from the second orientation, so that the central axes of both contact elements lie in one plane with the axes of symmetry of the charging contacts.It is possible to arrange the bores in the charging contacts in various ways. According to a preferred development of the invention, however, it is provided that the charging contacts are contact sleeves with bores in which corresponding contact pins can be accommodated, and the bores of at least one pair of charging contacts are arranged eccentrically in the respective charging contact. The central axis of the bore is therefore not arranged coaxially with the axis of symmetry of the charging contact, but extends at a distance parallel to the axis of symmetry.The invention also relates to the use of a charging plug connector according to one of the preceding claims on the vehicle body of an electric or hybrid vehicle.The invention is described in more detail below with reference to the drawings on the basis of preferred exemplary embodiments.In the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a charging plug connector according to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention in a perspective view, FIG. 2 shows a plug connector corresponding to the plug connector from FIG. 1, FIG. 3 shows the charging plug connector from FIG. 1 in a side view, FIG. 4 ashows a first pair of charging contacts in a housing of the charging plug connector FIG. 4 bshows a second pair of charging contacts in a housing of the charging plug connector, and FIG. 5 shows the installation of a charging plug connector according to a preferred exemplary embodiment on the body of an electric or hybrid vehicle.FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a charging plug connector 1 according to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention. This is a charging plug-in connector for installation in the vehicle body 17 of an electric or hybrid vehicle 16, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 5. The present charging plug connector 1 is essentially and from its plug-in aspect a charging plug-in connector according to European standard IEC 62196 type 2. besides alternating current charging contacts, a protective contact and communication contacts, which are not further provided with reference numerals, the charging plug connector 1 has two direct current charging contacts 2 for direct current charging.The charging plug connector 1 can be coupled to a corresponding charging plug connector 4, which is illustrated in FIG. 2. This is a charging coupling which can be fastened to a charging cable and can be plugged together with the plug-in charging connector. The charging coupling shown here by way of example is one for a DC charging and therefore has corresponding DC charging contacts 3, a protective contact and communication contacts. The corresponding charging plug connector 4 has contact elements 5 on the corresponding charging contacts 3, which contact elements are designed as contact sleeves. These contact elements 5 are 26 mm apart from each other.The charging plug connector shown in FIG. 3 can be provided with a first pair 11 of charging contacts 2 or with a second pair 13 of charging contacts 2 in receptacles 9. In the present case, it is now the case that, in the first pair 11 of charging contacts 2, an axis of symmetry 14 of the charging contacts 2 coincides coaxially with a central axis 12 of the contact elements 5, and the contact elements 5, which in the present case are designed as contact pins which can be inserted into the contact sleeves, are spaced 27 mm apart from one another. The charging plug connector 1 in FIG. 3, however, is formed with the second pair 13 of charging contacts 2 in the receptacles 9. The contact elements 5 are arranged with their central axis 12 eccentrically with respect to the respective axes of symmetry 14. As a result, the contact elements 5 are spaced 26 mm apart from one another, so that the corresponding charging plug connector 4 can be inserted into the charging plug connector 1. In the side view in FIG. 3, the axis of symmetry 14 and the central axis 12 fall into one plane. In order to ensure that the provided distance between the contact elements can be achieved with the respective pair of charging contacts 2, these charging contacts 2 can be accommodated in the receptacles 9 only in one orientation by means of a poka-yoke design.Two different poka-yoke variants are evident in Figures 4a and 4b. FIG. 4 bshows the first pair 11 of charging contacts 2 in the receptacles 9 of the housing 6 of the charging plug connector 1. the contact elements 5 are spaced apart from one another in an orientation 27 mm in an orientation in a slot 8 formed in the charging contacts 2 and the extension 10 of the receptacle 9 fitted on the housing side.In FIG. 4 a, the second pair 13 of charging contacts 2 is spaced apart from one another in an orientation of 26 mm by means of corresponding mating surfaces 7 with a further Poka-Yoke variant. The axis of symmetry 14 and the central axis 12 lie in one plane and run parallel to one another. This further Poka-Yoke variant is not compatible with the Poka-Yoke variant shown above. A set according to the invention comprising a first pair 11 and a second pair 13 of charging contacts 2 can correspondingly comprise only one of the two variants shown above.List of reference characters1 Charging plug connector 2 Charging contact 3 Corresponding charging contact 4 Corresponding charging plug connector 5 Contact element 6 Housing 7 Mating surface 8 Groove 9 Receptacle 10 Extension 11 First pair 12 Central axis 13 Second pair 14 Axis of symmetry 16 Electric or hybrid vehicle 17 Vehicle body

Claims

Set for producing a charging plug connector (1) for electric and hybrid vehicles, having a housing (6), a first pair (11) of charging contacts (2) for contacting corresponding charging contacts (3) of a corresponding charging plug connector (4) and a second pair (13) of charging contacts (2) for contacting corresponding charging contacts (3) of a corresponding charging plug connector (4), wherein the charging contacts (2) each have a contact element (5), wherein the contact elements (5) are all either at least sectionally cylindrical contact pins or contact sleeves having a respective at least sectionally cylindrical bore, the housing (6) has a pair of receptacles (9) for receiving the first pair (11) of charging contacts (2) and the second pair (13) of charging contacts (2), respectively, and the charging contacts (2) of the first pair (11) and the charging contacts (2) of the second pair (13) are formed such that the central axes (12) of the contact elements (5) of the first pair (11) in a state arranged in the receptacles (9) are spaced further apart from one another than the central axes (12) of the contact elements (5) of the second pair (13) in a state arranged in the receptacles (9).Charging plug connector (1) according to claim 1, wherein the receptacles (9) and at least one pair of charging contacts (2) each have a fit such that the pair of charging contacts (2) can be received in the receptacles (9) exclusively in a single orientation.Charging plug connector (1) according to claim 2, wherein the charging contacts (2) with the fit or the receptacles (9) each have a groove (8), in which a corresponding extension (10) formed in the respective receptacle (9) or in the charging contact (2) with the fit can be received.Charging plug connector (1) according to claim 2, wherein the charging contacts (2) with the fit and the receptacles (9) are each flattened on a section of the circumference, so that mutually corresponding mating surfaces (7) are obtained.Charging plug connector (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the central axes (12) of the contact elements (5) of the first pair (11) of charging contacts (2) are spaced apart from one another by 27 mm in a state arranged in the receptacles (9), and the central axes (12) of the contact elements (5) of the second pair (13) of charging contacts (2) are spaced apart from one another by 26 mm in a state arranged in the receptacles (9).Charging plug connector (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact elements (5) of the second pair (13) of charging contacts (2) are arranged eccentrically, the charging contacts (2) can be accommodated in the receptacles (9) in two orientations, and the contact elements (5) are spaced further apart from one another in a second orientation of the charging contacts (2) in the receptacles (9) than in the first orientation.Charging plug connector (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact elements (5) are contact sleeves with bores in which corresponding contact pins can be accommodated, and the bores of at least one pair of charging contacts (2) in the respective charging contact (2) are arranged eccentrically.Use of a charging plug connector according to one of Claims 1 to 7 on the vehicle body (17) of an electric or hybrid vehicle (16).

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