Charging socket for electric energy storage devices

Abstract

The present invention relates to a charging socket for an electric energy storage device, comprising: two or more power contacts (18) each electrically connected to a shielded power cable (24); and a grounding conductor assembly for connecting the ground of the energy storage device to the shielding casing of the power cable (24), wherein the grounding conductor assembly comprises two or more separate shielding tapping elements (44) each connected to a grounding conductor, and the shielding tapping elements are movable relative to each other in the longitudinal direction of the power cable (24).

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a charging socket for an electric energy storage device, comprising: two or more power contacts each electrically connected to a shielded power cable; and a grounding conductor assembly for connecting the ground of the energy storage device to the shielding casing of the power cable.

[0002] In particular, the present invention deals with a charging socket for electric vehicles. Background Technology

[0003] When the battery of an electric vehicle needs to be charged, the charger is connected to the battery mounted on the vehicle via a charging cable and a charging plug, and via a charging socket attached to the vehicle body for external access. When the charging plug is inserted into the charging socket, the power contacts of the charging socket engage with the corresponding mating contacts of the charging plug to form an electrical connection. The charging socket and the charging plug also have a plug connector for a signal line used to exchange control signals between the charger, the battery, and the relevant electronic devices within the vehicle.

[0004] Power cables are used to transfer charging current from the power contacts of a charging socket to the battery. Each charging cable is equipped with a central core having high conductivity, and the cross-section of this central core is designed for high charging current strength. The central core is coaxially surrounded from the inside out by an inner insulator, an electrically conductive shielding casing connected to ground, and an outer insulator. Within the charging socket, the central core of each charging cable is connected to one of the power contacts, and the shielding casing of each charging cable is electrically connected to a ground conductor assembly, which is connected to the ground contact of the battery.

[0005] Generally, both power contacts are arranged side by side within a single plane, and the connected power cables also extend parallel to each other within the said plane. In the case of a known charging socket, the ground conductor assembly is provided with a shielding tapping glass having two axially parallel openings, and an end section of a charging cable with its outer insulation removed is inserted through each of the openings so that a shielding casing, which is subsequently exposed and formed mostly of a shield braid, comes into contact with the inner circumference of the corresponding opening of the shielding tapping glass, and as a result, an electrically conductive connection is formed between the shielding casing and the shielding tapping glass.

[0006] At the end of the power cable across from the shielding tapping glass, the shielding casing and internal insulation are also removed, and the central core is connected to the relevant power contact at a predetermined distance from the shielding tapping glass.

[0007] Although the charging cable has a certain degree of flexibility, it is relatively resistant to bending due to the large line cross-section of the central core, so the cable can be installed in the vehicle only with a corresponding radius of bending. This presupposes that there is sufficient installation space in the vehicle.

[0008] The German Patent Office searched the following prior art in the priority application of the present application:

[0009] DE 10 2008 006 340 A1, DE 10 2019 120 373 A1, US 2005 / 0164543 A1 and US 2013 / 0029524 A1. The problem to be solved

[0010] The objective of the present invention is to provide a charging socket that facilitates space-saving installation of a power cable. means of solving the problem

[0011] The above problem is solved according to the present invention by having two or more separate shielding tapping elements each connected to a grounding conductor, and by allowing these shielding tapping elements to move relative to each other in the longitudinal direction of a power cable.

[0012] Since the shielding tapping elements are movable relative to one another, they do not need to be positioned at the same height along the length of the power cable. This makes it possible to arrange the power cable in such a way that the longitudinal axis of the power cable already forms an angle with the longitudinal axis of the respective power contact at the location of the shielding tapping elements. Consequently, the power cable can be tilted or bent in the desired direction at the end section located between the power contact and the shielding tapping elements. This facilitates guiding the power cable past components positioned at a certain distance behind the charging socket inside the vehicle body.

[0013] Preferred embodiments and improvements of the present invention are specified in the dependent claims.

[0014] In one embodiment, the shielding tapping element is housed within a housing having a bushing for a power cable at one end and flexibly connected to a contact carrier for a power contact at the opposite end. In this way, electrical components can be protected from contact and environmental influences, while high variability is achieved with respect to the orientation and course of the line cable.

[0015] The end of the conductive core of the power cable can be connected to a power contact through an L-shaped contact lug, and the legs of this contact lug form an angle that determines the angle between the longitudinal axis of the power contact and the longitudinal axis of the power cable. Therefore, this angle can be simply changed by replacing the contact lug with a contact lug having a different angle or by bending it into a different shape if necessary.

[0016] A ground conductor connected to a shielding tapping element may have a flexible section inside the charging socket that enables relative movement of the shielding tapping element. In this case, the end of the flexible section opposite the shielding tapping element may still be integrated into a single ground conductor inside the charging socket, and this ground conductor is guided from the housing to the outside through a bushing.

[0017] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a charging socket according to the present invention. Figure 2 is an axial cross-sectional view of a charging socket according to Figure 1. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a charging socket at a different usage location. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0019] The charging socket illustrated in FIG. 1 has a so-called inlet (10) that can be screwed into an unillustrated part of the vehicle body by four screw connection points (12). The inlet (10) has a hollow cylindrical insulator (14) which faces outward with respect to the vehicle body and is positioned to be accessible from the outside—after opening a flap inside the vehicle body if necessary—so that a plug of a charging cable can be inserted into the insulator (14).

[0020] At the inner end of the vehicle, the insulator (14) is closed by a disc-shaped contact carrier (16), and within this contact carrier, two power contacts (18) are fixed by a fixing clip (17) (schematically illustrated in FIG. 2), and these power contacts are placed parallel to each other and protrude axially into the interior of the insulator (14). When the plug of the charging cable is inserted, these power contacts (18) engage with the corresponding relative contact of the plug. The ends of the power contacts (18) facing the interior of the vehicle are each connected to the conductive central core (22) of the power cable (24) through L-shaped contact lugs (20).

[0021] An annular cover (26) that supports a coaxial fixed connection (28) for an insulating housing (30) is flanged to the contact carrier (16), and the insulating housing is shown transparently in this drawing only by a dashed line. Two parallel bushings (32) for power cables (24) are formed on the bottom of the port-type housing (30). Additionally, the bottom of the housing (30) further forms one or more bushings (34) for signal cables and one or more bushings (36) for ground conductors.

[0022] The charging cable to be connected to the charging socket includes multiple signal lines in addition to two main conductors for charging current, through which control signals are exchanged between the charger and the electronic battery system in the vehicle. The charging socket has plug connectors, which are not shown in this drawing for clarity. These connectors connect the signal conductors of the charging cable to the aforementioned signal cables, which are guided outward through bushings (34).

[0023] To explain the structure of the power cable (24), FIG. 1 shows a stripped end section of such a power cable once again separately. A central core (22) (e.g. made of copper) is surrounded by an inner insulator (38), which supports a shielding casing (40) made of an electrically conductive shielding braid on its outer periphery. The shielding casing (40) is surrounded by an outer insulator (42). The shielding casing (40) of the power cable serves to shield the surroundings of the cable from electromagnetic fields during the charging process and to ensure electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

[0024] Within the housing (30) of the charging socket, an annular shielding tapping element (44) is provided for each power cable (24), and this shielding tapping element contacts the stripped section of the shielding casing (40) by using a crimp casing (46) to tightly surround it. In the illustrated example, the shielding tapping element is formed entirely annularly and is secured within the housing (30) only by the power cable. A connecting pin (48) originates from each shielding tapping element (44), and a flexible ground conductor (50) (Fig. 2) can be connected to this connecting pin. The ground conductor is guided externally in a hermetic manner through a bushing (36). As can be seen more clearly in Fig. 2, as a length section of the main wall of the housing (30) is implemented as a bellows (52), the main part of the housing (30) is flexibly connected to the connecting part (28) of the annular cover (26). In the state illustrated in FIG. 2, the axis of the cylindrical insulator (14) and the axis of the housing (30) are not coaxial, and these axes form an angle with each other. Correspondingly, the axis of each power contact (18) also forms an angle with the axis of the associated power cable (24). The inclination of the power cable (24) with respect to the power contact (18) is determined by the shape of the L-shaped terminal lug (20) in the illustrated example, but can also be changed within a certain limit by the bending of the section of the power cable (24) placed inside the housing (30). This inclination of the power cable (24) with respect to the inlet (10) and thereby to the outer surface of the vehicle body may be advantageous, for example, when the vehicle part through which the power cable (24) must pass is located further inside the vehicle, i.e., to the right side of FIG. 2.

[0025] In the example illustrated in the drawing, the terminal lugs (20) are rigidly connected to the ends of the conductive core (22) by ultrasonic welding, while the legs of these terminal lugs extending laterally with respect to the power contact (18) are fixed to the ends of the power contact by screw connections. Thus, when manufacturing the charging socket, the inclination configuration of the power cable (24) can be varied by using terminal lugs (20) in which the legs form different angles depending on the vehicle type.

[0026] If necessary, the leg of the terminal lug connected to the conductive core may also have a certain degree of flexibility.

[0027] In another embodiment, tilt adjustment can be achieved by electrically conductively and articulatedly connecting the power contact (18) and the conductive core (22) to each other in any suitable manner.

[0028] The end of the power cable (24) is stripped in the same manner as in the example shown in FIG. 2, and as a result, the section where the shielding casing (40) is exposed is positioned at the same distance from the end of the conductive core (22) in both cables. Correspondingly, the shielding tapping element (44) also has the same distance from the end of the conductive core (22). In this case, the inclined profile of the power cable (24) results in the shielding tapping element (44) not being positioned at the same height in the axial direction of the housing (30) and in the axial direction of the power cable (24). However, since the two shielding tapping elements (24) are mechanically completely separated from each other and can move freely toward one another, the inclination of the power cable (24) can be freely selected.

[0029] In FIG. 2, two flexible ground conductors (50) are also shown by dotted lines, each connected to one of the connecting pins (48) and extending toward the bushing (36). However, the bushing is not visible in FIG. 2 because it lies on a plane offset from the cross-sectional plane. The two ground conductors (50) can pass through the bushing (36) together. However, since they may optionally be connected to a single common connecting conductor (54) inside the housing (30), only this connecting conductor (54) needs to pass through the bushing.

[0030] FIG. 3 shows a modified embodiment in which the angle of inclination of the power cable (24) is clearly smaller. Correspondingly, in this figure, the shielding tapping element (44) is positioned at nearly the same height. Additionally, in this embodiment, an annular terminal lug (56) is provided instead of a connecting pin (48) for electrical connection between the shielding tapping element (44) and a ground conductor (not shown in FIG. 3).

Claims

Claim 1 A charging socket for an electric energy storage device, comprising: two or more power contacts (18) each electrically connected to a shielded power cable (24); and one grounding conductor assembly for connecting the ground of the energy storage device to the shielding casing of the power cable (24); wherein the grounding conductor assembly comprises two or more separate shielding tapping elements (44) each connected to a grounding conductor (50), wherein the shielding tapping elements are movable relative to each other in the longitudinal direction of the power cable (24), and the power cable (24) is arranged such that the longitudinal axis of the power cable (24) forms an angle with the longitudinal axis of each associated power contact (18) at the location of the shielding tapping elements (44). Claim 2 In claim 1, the charging socket has an inlet (10) and a port-shaped housing (30) connected to the inlet, a bushing (32) for a power cable (24) is formed on the bottom of the housing, and the main wall of the housing is flexible at least in part of its length so that the housing (30) can pivot relative to the inlet (10). Claim 3 A charging socket according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each power contact (18) is connected to a conductive core (22) of one of the power cables (24) through an L-shaped terminal lug (20). Claim 4 A charging socket according to paragraph 3, wherein each terminal lug (20) is connected to a power contact (18) and / or a conductive core (22) by welding. Claim 5 A charging socket in which each terminal lug (20) is connected to the end of a power contact (18) by a screw connection in paragraph 3. Claim 6 A charging socket according to paragraph 2, wherein each power cable (24) is flexibly connected to an associated power contact (18) through a bent cable section and / or joint inside a housing (30). Claim 7 A charging socket according to claim 1, 2 or 6, wherein each shielding tapping element (44) contacts the shielding casing (40) of the power cable (24) by means of a crimp casing (46). Claim 8 A charging socket according to claim 1, 2 or 6, wherein each shielding tapping element (44) has a connecting pin (48), and a flexible ground conductor (50) is connected to the connecting pin. Claim 9 A charging socket according to claim 1, 2 or 6, wherein each shielding tapping element (44) has an annular terminal lug (56) for connecting a ground conductor (50). Claim 10 A charging socket according to claim 1, 2 or 6, wherein a grounding conductor (50) is connected to a common connecting conductor (54), and the connecting conductor is guided from the charging socket to the outside through a bushing (36).

Images