Inlet attachment

Abstract

To provide an attachment for an inlet capable of absorbing a difference in arrangement of inlet terminals and a tolerance of a rigid wire when the rigid wire is used.SOLUTION: An inlet attachment 30 relays an inlet terminal 18 of a charging inlet 12 and a rigid wire 24 in a vehicle, the inlet attachment 30 including an attachment body 32, an inlet connection portion 34 provided in the attachment body 32 and connected to the inlet terminal 18, and a wire connection portion 36 to which the rigid wire 24 is attached, the wire connection portion 36 including a slit 46 formed in the attachment body 32 and a second fastening bolt 54 to which the rigid wire 24 is attached, the second fastening bolt 54 being slidable along the slit 46.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present specification discloses an inlet attachment that connects an inlet terminal of a charging inlet and a wire in a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, vehicles equipped with secondary batteries have become widespread. To connect the secondary battery to an external power source, vehicles are provided with a charging inlet that accepts a charging plug. The charging inlet has multiple inlet terminals. Each inlet terminal is electrically connected to a charging circuit inside the vehicle via a wire. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2023 / 181114 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Some proposals have focused on using a relatively hard, ribbon- or rod-shaped rigid wire as the wire connecting the inlet terminal and the charging circuit. Rigid wires have poor flexibility, making it difficult to significantly change the position of the inlet-side end of the rigid wire. Meanwhile, there are multiple standards for charging inlets, and the pitch of the inlet terminals varies depending on the standard. Therefore, when using a rigid wire, it is necessary to interpose a highly flexible electric wire between the end of the rigid wire and the inlet terminal to accommodate any misalignment. However, this type of electric wire connection is time-consuming and results in a complex configuration at the connection point.

[0005] Patent Document 1 discloses an adapter that connects a charging station's power supply connector to a vehicle's inlet. However, this adapter is designed to accommodate differences in connector shapes between aftermarket products and cannot be used when using rigid wires inside a vehicle.

[0006] Therefore, this specification discloses an inlet attachment that can accommodate differences in the arrangement of inlet terminals and tolerances of rigid wires when rigid wires are used. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The inlet attachment disclosed in this specification is an inlet attachment that relays an inlet terminal of a charging inlet and a wire in a vehicle, and is characterized in that it has an attachment main body, an inlet connection portion provided on the attachment main body and connected to the inlet terminal, and a wire attachment portion to which the wire is attached, and the wire attachment portion has a slit formed in the attachment main body and a fastening member to which the wire is attached, the fastening member being slidable along the slit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the attachment disclosed in this specification, the fastening member is slidable, so that it can accommodate differences in the arrangement of the inlet terminal and tolerances of the rigid wire. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the periphery of the charging inlet. [Figure 2] FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The configuration of inlet attachment 30 will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the periphery of charging inlet 12. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of attachment 30, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of attachment 30.

[0011] As is well known, some vehicles have a secondary battery (not shown) that can be charged by an external power source. In addition to the secondary battery, such vehicles also have a charging circuit (not shown) and a charging inlet 12. The charging circuit transforms and AC / DC converts power supplied from the external power source, and then supplies the power to the external power source.

[0012] Charging inlet 12 is a connector to which a charging connector of an external power source can be attached / detached. Charging inlet 12 is provided, for example, on the outer surface of vehicle body 10. In the example of FIG. 1, a recess is formed on the outer surface of vehicle body 10, and charging inlet 12 is disposed in this recess.

[0013] The charging inlet 12 has a housing 14 and a plurality of inlet terminals 18. The housing 14 is made of an insulating material such as resin. The housing 14 has a plurality of receiving sleeves 16, and the inlet terminals 18 are disposed inside the receiving sleeves 16. Similarly, a charging connector is typically provided with a plurality of terminals, and the terminals of the charging connector are inserted into the receiving sleeves 16 and come into contact with the inlet terminals 18, thereby electrically connecting the external power source and the charging inlet 12.

[0014] The multiple inlet terminals 18 are electrically connected to the charging circuit via rigid wires 24 and attachments 30. The rigid wires 24 are strip- or rod-shaped members made of a conductive material. The rigid wires 24 are formed by press-molding a metal plate or the like.

[0015] While such rigid wire 24 is suitable for transmitting large amounts of power, it lacks flexibility. Therefore, if the attachment 30 described below is not used, there are cases where the attachment 30 cannot be properly connected to the inlet terminal 18. That is, as described above, the attachment 30 lacks flexibility. Therefore, even if the shape error of the attachment 30 is within the tolerance range, the position of the tip of the attachment 30 may be misaligned with respect to the corresponding inlet terminal 18, and the tip of the attachment 30 may not be attached to the inlet terminal 18.

[0016] Additionally, multiple standards have been proposed for charging inlets 12 in recent years. The pitch of inlet terminals 18 varies depending on the standard. Rigid wire 24, which lacks flexibility, cannot accommodate these differences in terminal pitch. Therefore, there has been a problem in that rigid wire 24 molded for one standard cannot be used for charging inlets 12 that comply with a second standard.

[0017] Therefore, some have proposed interposing a flexible electric wire between the rigid wire 24 and the inlet terminal 18. With this configuration, the electric wire can absorb any misalignment between the inlet terminal 18 and the rigid wire 24. However, when such an electric wire is used, it is necessary to connect the electric wire to the inlet terminal 18 and the electric wire to the rigid wire 24, respectively, which is time-consuming. Furthermore, the electric wire needs to be thick to prevent overheating even when a large amount of power flows, which also leads to the problem of increased costs.

[0018] In this example, an attachment 30 is provided to properly connect the inlet terminal 18 and the rigid wire 24 without using such an electric wire. The attachment 30 is a member that relays the inlet terminal 18 and the rigid wire 24. One inlet terminal 18 and one rigid wire 24 are mechanically and electrically connected to one attachment 30.

[0019] As shown in Fig. 2, the attachment 30 has a main body 32, a first fastening bolt 52, and a second fastening bolt 54. The main body 32 further has a first block 38 and a second block 48. The first block 38 and the second block 48 are both made of a metal with high thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity, such as aluminum. The first block 38 and the second block 48 are joined by any joining means, such as welding, adhesive bonding, or screwing.

[0020] The first block 38 is broadly divided into an upper portion 40 and a lower portion 42. A connecting hole 44 is formed in the upper portion 40, penetrating the upper portion 40 in the thickness direction. The area around the connecting hole 44 functions as the inlet connection portion 34 that connects to the inlet terminal 18. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 , the inlet terminal 18 has a female thread 20 that extends axially from its base end. The connecting hole 44 is smaller than the outer diameter of the inlet terminal 18 and larger than the diameter of the female thread 20. The first fastening bolt 52 is inserted into the connecting hole 44 from the opposite side of the inlet terminal 18 and threadedly engages with the female thread 20 of the inlet terminal 18. Then, by tightening the first fastening bolt 52 while the first fastening bolt 52 is threadedly engaged with the female thread 20, the inlet terminal 18 is electrically and mechanically connected to the first block 38 and, ultimately, to the attachment 30.

[0021] The lower part 42 is located below the upper part 40 and is thinner than the upper part 40. In other words, the first block 38 has a rectangular shape with half of the thickness of the lower part cut out. The second block 48 is placed in the rectangular space formed by this cutout.

[0022] A slit 46, which is a narrow through-hole elongated in the width direction, is formed in the lower portion 42. The height of this slit 46 is larger than the diameter of the male thread of a second fastening bolt 54 (described later) and smaller than the diameter of a head 56 of the second fastening bolt 54.

[0023] The second block 48 is a member that is fixed to the first block 38 while overlapping the lower portion 42 of the first block 38 in the thickness direction. A head opening 50 is formed in the second block 48 at a location facing the slit 46. The head opening 50 is a generally rectangular opening that is elongated in the width direction. The height dimension of the head opening 50 is slightly larger than the diameter of the head 56 of the second fastening bolt 54. Therefore, when the head 56 of the second fastening bolt 54 is placed in the head opening 50, the second fastening bolt 54 can slide in the width direction, but rotation around its axis is restricted.

[0024] The head opening 50, the slit 46, and the second fastening bolt 54 function as a wire attachment portion 36 (the reference numeral is only shown in FIG. 3 ) to which the rigid wire 24 is attached. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the second fastening bolt 54 is inserted from the head opening 50 into the slit 46. Because the height of the slit 46 is smaller than the diameter of the head 56, the head 56 remains in the head opening 50, while the male threaded portion 57 passes through the slit 46 and protrudes outward. The male threaded portion 57 protruding from the first block 38 is passed through the connection hole 26 of the rigid wire 24. Then, in this state, a nut 58 is screwed onto the male threaded portion 57 and tightened. Here, the second fastening bolt 54 cannot rotate around its axis because its head 56 is positioned in the head opening 50. Therefore, the operator does not need to manually press the second fastening bolt 54 when turning the nut 58. As a result, it is possible to simplify the work of tightening the nut 58. Then, when the nut 58 is sufficiently tightened, the rigid wire 24 is connected to the first block 38. This allows the rigid wire 24 and the inlet terminal 18 to be electrically connected via the first block 38.

[0025] As is clear from the above description, the rigid wire 24 is attached to the male thread portion 57 of the second fastening bolt 54, which is slidable in the width direction. Therefore, even if the position of the connection hole 26 of the rigid wire 24 relative to the attachment 30 changes due to differences in the standards of the charging inlet 12 and variations in the shape of the rigid wire 24 within the tolerance range, the change in position can be accommodated by the sliding of the second fastening bolt 54. As a result, there is no need to change the shape of the rigid wire 24 depending on the standards of the charging inlet 12, and components can be standardized. This reduces the effort and cost required for connecting the charging inlet 12 and the rigid wire 24. Furthermore, because an electric wire is not required, the structure can be simplified.

[0026] The attachment 30 is made of a metal with high thermal conductivity, such as aluminum. This configuration effectively dissipates heat generated during the power transmission process, thereby effectively preventing overheating of components. In this example, the heat dissipation performance required of the attachment 30 can be freely adjusted by changing the volume and material of the main body 32. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 10 vehicle body, 12 charging inlet, 14 housing, 16 receiving sleeve, 18 inlet terminal, 20 female screw, 24 rigid wire, 26 connection hole, 30 attachment, 32 main body, 34 inlet connection portion, 36 wire attachment portion, 38 first block, 40 upper portion, 42 lower portion, 44 connection hole, 46 slit, 48 second block, 50 head opening, 52 first fastening bolt, 54 second fastening bolt, 56 head, 57 male thread portion, 58 nut.

Claims

[Claim 1] An inlet attachment that connects an inlet terminal of a charging inlet to a wire in a vehicle, The attachment body, an inlet connection portion provided on the attachment body and connected to the inlet terminal; a wire attachment portion to which the wire is attached; The wire attachment portion has a slit formed in the attachment body; a fastening member to which the wire is attached, the fastening member being slidable along the slit; An inlet attachment comprising:

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