Charging plug connector for electric and hybrid vehicles

Abstract

The invention relates to a charging plug connector (1) for electric and hybrid vehicles (25), comprising a housing (6), which has a first housing component (7) and a second housing component (8), and charging contacts (2), which are provided in the housing (6). At least one charging contact (2) is in thermally conductive contact with the second housing component (8), and cooling ribs (9) are formed on the outer face of the second housing component (8) such that a heat sink is formed by the second housing component (8) and heat can be dissipated from the charging contact (2) to the second housing component (8). This is a simple way of achieving improved heat dissipation in a charging plug connector (1) that is not equipped with a cooling system from a charging station.

Description

[0001] Charging connectors for electric and hybrid vehicles

[0002] The invention relates to a charging connector for electric and hybrid vehicles, with a housing having a first housing component and a second housing component and charging contacts arranged in the housing.

[0003] Electric and hybrid vehicles have a rechargeable energy storage device, usually a high-voltage battery, which supplies energy to an electric drive motor during operation. The storage capacity of these high-voltage batteries is limited, so they must be recharged regularly at a charging station. The battery is charged using a charging cable provided between the charging station and the vehicle. The charging cable, for example, in accordance with European standard IEC 62196 Type 2, is equipped with a charging plug on one end that can be plugged into a charging socket provided on the charging station, and with a charging coupling on the other end that can be connected to a charging plug installed in the electric or hybrid vehicle. In the present case, charging sockets, charging plugs, charging couplings and charging plugs are subsumed under the term "charging connector".Charging sockets and charging couplings have contact sleeves as charging contacts, and charging plugs as well as charging plugs that can be installed in electric and hybrid vehicles have contact pins as charging contacts that can be inserted into the contact sleeves.

[0004] The charging device of an electric or hybrid vehicle comprises the charging station with charging cable as well as the charging station-side or vehicle-side charging connectors with electrical cables which, in the case of the vehicle-side charging connector, lead from the charging connector to the vehicle's battery. As explained, for example, in EP 3 043 421 A1, a charging current flowing through the charging connector causes it to heat up due to ohmic current heat losses. However, the heating of the charging connector is legally limited to a limit temperature increase. For example, according to the IEC 62196-3 standard, the limit temperature increase is restricted to 50 K. This in turn leads to a maximum charging current for largely standardized connector geometries that generally cannot exceed 200 A in continuous load operation.However, with intermittent charging of the battery of an electric or hybrid vehicle, higher charging currents are required over limited periods of time in order to charge the battery in the desired short time. This leads to temporary heating of the charging connectors, which exceeds the limit temperature increase. However, the cable cross-section of the electrical connector bodies cannot be increased indefinitely, since the connector geometries are standardized and, in addition, the smallest possible amount of conductive material, usually copper, should be used for the electrical connector bodies.

[0005] In this respect, according to EP 3 043 421 A1, the object is to be achieved by providing an electrical connection body which enables increased charging currents with limited heating and therefore has an increased short-time current carrying capacity. This object is to be achieved by providing an electrical connection body for a charging plug or a charging socket, wherein the electrical connection body has a first connection region for the galvanic connection to an electrical energy receiver and a second connection region for the galvanic connection to an electrical energy source, wherein the electrical connection body is designed such that it has a cooling fluid channel formed in the electrical connection body, wherein the cooling fluid channel of the electrical connection body is fluidically connected to a cooling fluid source which is arranged in a charging station.

[0006] Cooling of a charging plug connector for electric and hybrid vehicles, which cooling starts at the side of the charging station, is also well known from the prior art. DE 10 2015 119 338 A1 describes, for example, two connection points for coolant lines being arranged on a contact sleeve element of a charging plug. By means of a spiral-shaped plug-on element, coolant is guided in a circle around the contact sleeve element. The two connection points serve as inlet and outlet for the coolant, which is guided from the charging station to the charging plug. EP 3 433 902 B1 likewise describes a plug connector part with cooled contact elements. Here, too, the supply of coolant via coolant lines to the contact elements of the charging socket connected to the charging cable is provided on the charging station side.A fluid is provided as a coolant, which is guided perpendicular to the contact element into the hollowed contact element and flows back within the contact element.

[0007] Finally, 10 2016 105 361 B4 also describes a connector part with a cooled contact element, whereby here too a coolant is supplied to the contact elements of a charging socket connected to the charging cable via coolant lines on the charging station side. Guide elements are arranged on the contact elements to ensure that the coolant in the form of compressed air flows around the contact elements. However, solutions are also known from the prior art which can also be used for a charging connector that is not cooled directly by the charging station, such as a charging connector built into the vehicle body of an electric or hybrid vehicle, such as a built-in charging plug according to the European standard IEC 62196 Type 2.

[0008] For example, DE 10 2016 107 409 A1 describes a plug connector part for connecting to a mating connector part, the plug connector part comprising a housing which has a plug-in section for plugging into the mating connector part and a contact element arranged on the plug-in section for electrically contacting an associated mating contact element of the mating connector part. In addition, a heat pipe connected to the contact element and a heat sink arranged in the housing are provided, which heat sink is in thermally conductive connection with the contact element for dissipating heat from the contact element via the heat pipe. In this way, a plug connector part with a contact element is provided which can have a high current-carrying capacity, for example for use in a charging system for charging an electric vehicle.

[0009] Furthermore, DE 20 2019 102 461 U1 describes a plug connector part for connecting to a mating connector part, comprising a housing, a plug-in section arranged on the housing for plugging into the mating connector part, an electrical contact element arranged on the plug-in section for transmitting a current between the plug connector part and the mating connector part, and a cooling element arranged on the contact element for cooling the contact element, wherein a fan device is provided for generating an air flow at the cooling element. However, this system and the system described in DE 10 2016 107 409 A1 are very complex.

[0010] Based on this, it is the object of the present invention to achieve in a simple manner an improved heat dissipation in a charging contact which itself is not equipped with a cooling system on the part of a charging station.

[0011] This object is achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Preferred developments of the invention are described in the subclaims.

[0012] According to the invention, a charging connector for electric and hybrid vehicles is thus provided, with a housing having a first housing component and a second housing component, charging contacts arranged in the housing, wherein at least one charging contact makes thermally conductive contact with the second housing component, and cooling fins are formed on the outside of the second housing component, so that a heat sink is formed with the second housing component and heat can be dissipated from the charging contact to the second housing component.

[0013] It is therefore essential to the invention that the second housing component is designed as a heat sink, so that the heat generated in the interior of the housing during a charging process is carried away from the charging contact to the second housing component. A heat sink is understood to be a body which means that in the charging connector according to the invention the heat generated in the charging contact is dissipated, absorbed in the heat sink and released into the environment. The heat dissipation away from the charging contact, to which the heat sink is connected, is better than without the heat sink. The installation of the heat sink therefore improves the possibility of dissipating heat generated on or in the charging contact. Since the second housing component is designed as a heat sink with ribbing in the form of cooling fins, the heat is carried away from the charging connector by convection with the environment.In this case, the outer side is the side of the second housing component that does not face the interior of the housing. The heat generated during the charging process is thus dissipated from the housing through the thermally conductive contact between the charging contact and the second housing component, significantly extending the duration of the charging process until the limit temperature is reached.

[0014] The cooling fins are arranged on the outside of the second housing component, which is part of the outside of the housing itself. Such cooling fins improve the heat transfer of the resulting heat sink to its surroundings by providing an enlarged surface area through which the heat can be dissipated.

[0015] The charging contact can make thermally conductive contact with the second housing component directly or with a heat-conducting element. A heat-conducting element is an element which, in a charging connector, ensures that the thermal conductivity between the charging contact, to which the heat-conducting element is connected, and the second housing component, to which the heat-conducting element is also connected, is better than without the heat-conducting element, unless the charging contact is in direct thermal contact with the second housing component. The installation of the heat-conducting element therefore improves the possibility of dissipating heat generated at or in the charging contact to the second housing component. Likewise, a thermally conductive and galvanically non-conductive heat-conducting element can enable galvanically insulating but thermally conductive contact between the charging contact and the second housing component.

[0016] In principle, it is possible for the first housing component and the second housing component to be connected to one another in various ways. However, according to a preferred development of the invention, the first housing component is connected to the second housing component in a fluid-tight manner. This is achieved, for example, by a circumferential seal at the transition between the first and second housing components. Overall, the fluid-tight closure promotes heat dissipation by thermal conduction and reduces the air exchange from the environment into the housing interior. In addition, the penetration of liquids into the housing interior is prevented.

[0017] It is possible for the second housing component and the first housing component to delimit one another. However, according to a preferred development of the invention, the second housing component with the cooling fins on the outside of the housing extends beyond the first housing component, so that an overlap is formed between the first housing component and the second housing component. This has the advantage that the second housing component has an enlarged surface which, with the additional cooling fins, enables improved cooling by the second housing component.

[0018] In this context, according to a particularly preferred development of the invention, the first housing component is formed integrally with the second housing component. According to a further preferred development, the first housing component and the second housing component are formed as a two-component component, which is manufactured using a two-component injection molding process.

[0019] In principle, it is possible to manufacture the second housing component from different materials. However, according to a preferred development of the invention, the second housing component is an elastomer, in particular a silicone. In this context, the first housing component is preferably a polymer, in particular a polycaprolactam. This combination of elastomer and polymer is suitable for integrating the first housing component with the second housing component using two-component injection molding. Since the second housing component in the present case is a thermally conductive and galvanically non-conductive elastomer, the second housing component can be designed such that it makes direct contact with the charging contact. Likewise, a plurality of charging contacts can be thermally conductively contacted with this second housing component without there being a risk of a short circuit.

[0020] It is possible to make direct contact with the charging contact. However, according to a preferred development of the invention, the charging connector is designed with a heat-conducting element, the heat-conducting element being thermally conductive and galvanically non-conductive, the second housing component being metallic, and the heat-conducting element making thermally conductive contact with the charging contact and the second housing component. In this context, it is particularly preferred for the heat-conducting element to be an elastomer, in particular a silicone pad. Advantageously, second housing components which are metallic or consist entirely of metal can be used with the heat-conducting element. A second housing component made of aluminum is particularly preferred in the present case. Metals as a whole have good heat-conducting properties, which ensure improved dissipation of the heat generated during the charging process.To prevent the second housing component from being exposed to the charging current, the heat-conducting element is designed to be galvanically non-conductive. This also makes it possible to design the second housing component in such a way that it can be used to thermally conductively contact multiple charging contacts.

[0021] In principle, various charging contacts of the charging connector can make thermally conductive contact with the second housing component. However, it is preferable for the charging connector to have two DC charging contacts, and for each DC charging contact to make thermally conductive contact with the second housing component.

[0022] According to a preferred development of the invention, it is provided that the charging contact has a heat accumulator and the charging contact makes thermally conductive contact with the heat accumulator. Here too, according to a preferred development of the invention, it is provided that the charging plug connector has two direct current charging contacts and each direct current charging contact has a heat accumulator that contacts the second housing component. However, it can also be provided that each charging contact is assigned a heat accumulator and each charging contact is assigned a second housing component, i.e. the housing has a second housing component that is separate or interrupted by the first housing component. In the present case, reference is made to a heat accumulator if the charging plug connector is provided with this heat accumulator as an additional element whose task is to absorb and store the heat generated during the charging process.In particular, this heat can be stored more effectively with a heat accumulator than with the charging contact itself, so that the heating of other devices in the charging connector can be delayed.

[0023] According to the invention, it is also provided that the heat accumulator contacts the second housing component in a thermally conductive manner, so that the heat dissipated in the heat accumulator is transferred to the second housing component. Due to the synergistic effect thus achieved between the heat accumulator and the heat sink, the time until the limit temperature is reached is increased many times over.

[0024] In principle, it is possible to design the heat storage device in various ways. However, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the heat storage device comprises water or a mixture of water and glycol, or an oil, or a phase-change material. The oil can be, for example, a mineral oil, a vegetable oil, or a silicone oil.

[0025] If the heat accumulator contains a phase change material, the heat accumulator is a latent heat accumulator whose phase transition from the solid to the liquid phase can be used to cool the charging contact. According to a particularly preferred development, the phase change material has a phase transition from the solid phase to the liquid phase in the temperature range between 60 ° C and 80 ° C, preferably between 65 ° C and 75 ° C. Preferably, a material with paraffin and / or a material with salt hydrate is used as the phase change material. Such materials are known as phase change materials and can be set to a melting temperature of, for example, 70 ° C.

[0026] Latent heat storage systems are based on the utilization of the enthalpy of thermodynamic changes in the state of a storage medium. The principle used here is the exploitation of the phase transition from the solid phase to the liquid phase, i.e., the transition from a solidified medium to a molten medium. For this purpose, the latent heat storage system contains a phase-change material. Phase-change materials are materials that can release or absorb heat or cold during their phase change, depending on their respective melting point and the ambient temperature.

[0027] The amount of energy stored in the temperature range of the phase change is significantly greater than the energy absorption in an equally large temperature interval during heating without a phase transition. During such heating without a phase transition, the energy absorption is determined solely by the specific heat capacity of the respective material. Therefore, phase-change materials have an advantage in terms of heat storage density, especially at small temperature differences.

[0028] If a phase change material is heated and its temperature approaches the melting temperature, the heat absorbed by the phase change material is used to carry out the phase change. During the transformation from the solid phase to the liquid phase, there is therefore no increase in temperature. As soon as the phase change material is completely liquid, the phase change material continues to heat up as before the phase transition. Because the phase change material does not heat up any further during the phase transition, the heating is delayed compared to heating without a phase transition. This is exploited according to the invention in order to keep the temperature at the charging contact, which is in thermally conductive contact with the latent heat storage device, as low as possible. In this way, it is possible to extend the time during a charging process until a critical temperature is reached at which the charging process must be interrupted.

[0029] Alternatively, according to a further development of the invention, the heat storage device is made entirely of metal. Such a heat storage device has the advantage of low production costs and can be easily installed in the charging connector according to the invention.

[0030] It is possible to arrange the heat accumulator in the housing of the charging connector in various ways. However, according to a preferred development of the invention, the heat accumulator is formed on the second housing component, and the heat accumulator has a contact surface on its side facing the second housing component, with which contact surface a corresponding contact surface formed on the second housing component is thermally conductively contacted. The thermal contact by means of the contact surface and the corresponding contact surface enables particularly efficient heat transfer from the heat accumulator to the second housing component. In this context, the heat accumulator contacts the second housing component directly if the second housing component is an elastomer.If the second housing component is metallic , the heat conducting element is placed between the heat accumulator and the second housing component to ensure galvanic insulation between the second housing component and the heat accumulator .

[0031] In principle, the heat accumulator can be designed with the charging contact in various ways. However, according to a preferred development of the invention, the charging contact has a first part, a second part and the heat accumulator, the first part of the charging contact is designed to make contact with a corresponding charging contact of a corresponding charging plug connector, the second part is designed for galvanic conductive connection to electrical lines on the side opposite the first part, and the heat accumulator is arranged between the first part and the second part, so that the heat accumulator contacts the first part and the second part in a thermally and galvanically conductive manner and heat dissipation from the first part and the second part of the charging contact can be absorbed in the heat accumulator.

[0032] The heat generated during the charging process can thus be dissipated directly to the heat accumulator. At the same time, the heat generated in the electrical lines can also be dissipated directly to the heat accumulator. This has the particular advantage that the area over which the dissipated heat is transferred to the environment by convection is reduced. Otherwise, the lost heat would continuously heat the charging connector, even if the heat accumulator can still absorb the lost heat. The design of the charging connector according to the invention delays this heating of the charging connector by the heat being dissipated directly into the heat accumulator formed in the charging contact. The heat accumulator thermally contacts both the first and the second part of the charging contact. At the same time, the first and the second part of the charging contact are in contact with one another in a thermally and galvanically conductive manner via the heat accumulator.This enables the most even heat to be transferred to the heat storage device. The even heating of the heat storage device contributes to good heat absorption, which prevents uneven thermal loading of the heat storage device. For a particularly compact design, the electrical lines can be connected to the second part of the charging contact in a galvanic manner in the form of ribbon cables. If in this case the heat storage device is not made entirely of metal, at least one housing of the heat storage device, which contains water or a mixture of water and glycol or an oil or a phase change substance, is metallic or coated with a metal, so that the heat storage device connects the first part of the charging contact to the second part of the charging contact in a galvanic connection.

[0033] When reference is made here to a corresponding charging plug connector, this means, on the one hand, a charging plug connector which has the same plug face as the charging plug connector according to the invention, whereby one plug face has contact pins while the other plug face has contact sleeves, and vice versa. The set comprising the charging plug connector according to the invention and the corresponding charging plug connector can therefore be plugged together. On the other hand, the term corresponding charging plug connector is also used here when the plug faces in the aforementioned sense only partially correspond, i.e. the corresponding charging plug connector, for example.does not have all the contacts that are present in the charging plug connector according to the invention, but the existing contacts of the corresponding charging plug connector correspond to the charging plug connector according to the invention in terms of the plug face, so that the charging plug connector according to the invention and the corresponding charging plug connector can also be plugged together in this case.

[0034] One such case is a charging connector connected to a charging cable for direct current charging in accordance with the European standard IEC 62196 Type 2. Such a charging connector can be plugged into a charging plug installed in the body of an electric or hybrid vehicle and suitable for both alternating current and direct current charging, whereby the alternating current plug face of the direct current charging connector only contains the communication contacts and the protective contact, but no contacts for the outer conductor and a center conductor for alternating current charging.

[0035] According to a preferred development of the invention, the heat accumulator is arranged eccentrically to the longitudinal axis of the first part of the charging contact. The eccentric arrangement of the heat accumulator with respect to the longitudinal axis of the charging contact makes it possible to provide the heat accumulator as such with a larger volume, so that the amount of heat that can be absorbed is likewise increased by an enlarged heat accumulator. In the present case, eccentric means the non-centric placement of cuboid-shaped or cylindrical heat accumulators with respect to a longitudinal axis of the first part of the charging contact. A charging contact is generally typically axially symmetrical and has a longitudinal axis that extends from a connection region into a plug-in region of the charging connector.In the present case, reference is made to a plug-in area of ​​the charging plug connector according to the invention in which the charging plug connector, when plugged into the corresponding charging plug connector, overlaps with the corresponding charging plug connector in the plug-in direction and the charging contacts of the two plug-in connectors are in galvanically conductive contact with one another. Such a plug-in area of ​​a charging plug connector is generally also defined and geometrically limited in that the charging plug connector has a device which ensures that the two charging plug connectors, in the plugged-in state, overlap with one another over a certain maximum length which corresponds to the fully plugged-in state of one charging plug connector in the other charging plug connector. In the connection area of ​​the charging plug connector, the charging contacts are connected in a galvanically conductive manner to the electrical lines which lead to a battery of the vehicle.

[0036] Likewise, according to yet another development of the invention, it can be provided that the second part of the charging contact is arranged both eccentrically to the first part of the charging contact and eccentrically to the heat accumulator. This makes it possible to design the charging contact in such a way that an extended thermal conduction takes place in the heat accumulator, which in turn improves heat dissipation. An additional advantage is that the connection to the electrical lines with the second part of the charging contact can be selected more variably. A still further advantage is that this arrangement can enable improved thermal contact with the second housing component. The second housing component can also be made larger.

[0037] In principle, it is possible to connect the first and second parts of the charging contact to the heat accumulator in various ways. However, according to a preferred development of the invention, the first part of the charging contact and the second part of the charging contact are bonded to the heat accumulator. According to the invention, a bonded connection is preferably achieved by laser or friction welding. Welding the first and second parts to the heat accumulator further improves the conductivity of the charging contact as such.

[0038] Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of a charging connector as described above on the vehicle body of an electric or hybrid vehicle.

[0039] Furthermore, the invention relates to a system comprising the charging plug connector described above and a charging plug connector corresponding thereto, wherein the corresponding charging plug connector is provided with a cooling element that can be acted upon by a cooling fluid and corresponding charging contacts of the corresponding charging plug connector are designed as contact sleeves into which the charging contacts of the charging plug connector designed as contact pins can be inserted.

[0040] This system is preferably designed in such a way that it further comprises a charging station and a charging cable connected to the charging station and carrying the corresponding charging plug connector, wherein the charging station has a cooling fluid source and the charging cable is provided with cooling fluid lines in order to transport the cooling fluid from the cooling fluid source to the cooling element of the corresponding charging plug connector and back again.

[0041] The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings using preferred embodiments. In the drawings,

[0042] Fig. 1a shows a charging connector according to a preferred

[0043] Embodiment of the invention in a perspective view,

[0044] Fig. 1b shows a section of the charging connector from Fig. 1a in a perspective view,

[0045] Fig. 2 shows a charging connector corresponding to the charging connector shown in Fig. 1a,

[0046] Fig. 3a shows a charging connector according to a further preferred embodiment of the invention in a first perspective sectional view,

[0047] Fig. 3b shows the charging connector from Fig. 3a in a second perspective sectional view,

[0048] Fig. 4a shows a charging contact of the charging connector of Figures 1a and 1b according to a preferred embodiment of the invention in a perspective view,

[0049] Fig. 4b shows a charging contact of the charging connector of Figures 3a and 3b according to a further preferred embodiment of the invention in a perspective view, and

[0050] Fig. 5 schematically shows a system with a charging connector, a corresponding charging connector, a charging cable, a charging station and a cooling system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

[0051] 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 for installation in the vehicle body 17 of an electric or hybrid vehicle 25, as shown schematically in Fig. 5. The present charging plug connector 1 is essentially, in terms of its plug face, a charging plug according to the European standard IEC 62196 Type 2. In addition to AC charging contacts (not further provided with reference symbols), a protective contact and communication contacts, the charging plug connector 1 has two charging contacts 2 in the form of DC charging contacts for DC charging.

[0052] The charging connector 1 can be coupled to a corresponding charging connector 4, which is shown in Fig. 2. This is a charging coupling that can be attached to a charging cable and plugged into the charging plug. The charging coupling shown here as an example is for direct current charging and therefore has corresponding direct current charging contacts 3, a protective contact, and communication contacts. Both the charging plug shown here and the coupling shown here correspond to the European standard IEC 62196 in terms of their plug-in face.

[0053] The charging connector 1 shown in Fig. 1a has two of the charging contacts 2 shown in Fig. 4a. The charging contacts 2 in turn comprise a first part 10, a second part 12 and a heat accumulator 14 arranged between the first part 10 and the second part 12. The heat accumulator 14 is arranged eccentrically to the first part 10 and the second part 12. The second part 12 of the charging contact is connected on its side opposite the first part 10 to an electrical line 20 which leads to a battery (not further designated) of the electric or hybrid vehicle 25.

[0054] A housing 6 of the charging connector 1 from Fig. 1a has a first housing component 7 and a second housing component 8. The first housing component 7 is a polycaprolactam, the second housing component 8 is an elastomer. Both housing components 7, 8 are integrally connected to one another in a fluid-tight manner by means of two-component injection molding. A respective second housing component 8 is assigned to each charging contact 2. On the side facing the respective charging contact, a corresponding contact surface 16, which can be seen in Fig. 1b, is formed in the second housing component 8 and makes thermally conductive contact with the contact surface of the heat accumulator 14 of the charging contact. On the outside of the housing 6 facing the environment, the second housing component 8 is also provided on its outside with cooling fins 9, so that a heat sink is formed.

[0055] The heat accumulator 14 is materially connected to the first part 10 and the second part 12 by means of laser welding and has a metallic housing in which a mixture of water and glycol is arranged.

[0056] Finally, Figures 3a and 3b show a further charging connector 1 according to a further preferred embodiment of the invention. The charging connector 1 shown here is a charging connector according to SAE J3400, the North American charging standard, NACS for short, which is characterized, among other things, by the fact that the charging contacts 2 are used for both direct current charging and alternating current charging. This charging connector 1 can of course also be contacted via a corresponding charging connector 4 (not shown here) according to the SAE standard J3400 with corresponding charging contacts 3.

[0057] The charging plug connector 1 shown in Figures 3a and 3b has charging contacts 2, which can be seen in Figure 4b and are characterized by a heat accumulator 14 made entirely of aluminum. This heat accumulator 14 is thermally conductive and galvanically non-conductive and is in contact with the second housing component 8 of the housing 6 via a heat conducting element 18. The second housing component 8 is also made of aluminum, and the heat conducting element 18 is a silicone pad which thermally contacts and galvanically insulates the heat accumulator 18 at the contact surfaces 15, 16 of the second housing component 8. The second housing component 8 extends beyond the direct contact surface with the heat accumulator 14 and part of the first housing component 7 and thus has an overlap with the first housing component 7.The second housing component 8 is therefore enlarged, enabling improved cooling performance through the additional cooling fins 9, as can be seen in Fig. 3a. Of course, the charging contacts 2 of Fig. 4a can be inserted into the charging plug 1 of the NACS type, and the charging contacts 2 of Fig. 4b can be inserted into the charging plug 1 of the European standard IEC 62196 Type 2. The same applies to the second housing component 8 and the heat accumulator 14.

[0058] It has already been mentioned above that the charging connector 1 is used in the form of a built-in plug on the vehicle body 17 of an electric or hybrid vehicle 25. In this context, reference may be made to Fig. 5, which schematically shows a system according to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, which system comprises a charging connector 1 installed in a vehicle body 17 of an electric or hybrid vehicle 25, a charging connector 4 corresponding to it, a charging station 26 and a charging cable 21 connected to the charging station 26 and carrying the corresponding charging connector 4. What is essential in this preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention is that the corresponding charging connector 4 is provided with a cooling element 19 to which a cooling fluid can be applied for cooling the corresponding charging contacts 3.In order to achieve cooling of the corresponding charging contacts 3 via the cooling elements 19, the charging station 26 is provided with a cooling fluid source 23 and the charging cable 21 has cooling fluid lines 28 in order to transport the cooling fluid from the cooling fluid source 23 to the cooling element 19 of the corresponding charging connector 4 and back again.

[0059] Because the charging device installed in the vehicle body 17 of the electric or hybrid vehicle 25 is now provided with the charging connector 1 and charging contacts 2 having a heat accumulator 14, as well as with the second housing component 8, on the one hand, the corresponding charging contacts 3 on the charging station side are subjected to the charging station-side cooling, and on the other hand, the thermal coupling between the charging connector 1 installed in the vehicle body 17 of the electric or hybrid vehicle 25 and the corresponding charging connector 4 attached to the charging cable 21 in the plugged-in state of the two charging connectors 1, 4 is significantly improved, so that the active cooling in the corresponding charging connector 4 with the cooling fluid from the cooling fluid source 23 can also be used indirectly to cool the charging connector 1 installed in the vehicle body 17 of the electric or hybrid vehicle 25 and the charging contacts 2. is .

[0060] Reference symbol list

[0061] 1 charging connector

[0062] 2 charging contacts

[0063] 3 corresponding charging contact

[0064] 4 corresponding charging connectors

[0065] 6 housings

[0066] 7 first housing component

[0067] 8 second housing component

[0068] 9 cooling fins

[0069] 10 first part

[0070] 12 second part

[0071] 14 Heat storage

[0072] 15 Contact area

[0073] 16 corresponding contact surface

[0074] 17 vehicle body series

[0075] 18 Heat conducting element

[0076] 19 Cooling element

[0077] 20 electrical cables

[0078] 21 charging cables

[0079] 23 Cooling fluid source

[0080] 25 electric or hybrid vehicles

[0081] 26 charging stations

[0082] 28 cooling fluid lines

Claims

Patent claims 1. Charging plug connector (1) for electric and hybrid vehicles (25), with a housing (6) having a first housing component (7) and a second housing component (8), charging contacts (2) arranged in the housing (6), wherein at least one charging contact (2) makes thermally conductive contact with the second housing component (8), and cooling fins (9) are formed on the outside of the second housing component (8), so that a heat sink is formed with the second housing component (8) and heat dissipation from the charging contact (2) to the second housing component (8) is made possible.

2. Charging connector (1) according to claim 1, wherein the first housing component (7) is connected to the second housing component (8) in a fluid-tight manner.

3. Charging connector (1) according to claim 2, wherein the first housing component (7) is formed integrally with the second housing component (8).

4. Charging connector (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second housing component (8) is an elastomer, in particular a silicone.

5. Charging connector (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, with a heat-conducting element (18), wherein the heat-conducting element (18) is thermally conductive and galvanically non-conductive, wherein the second housing component (8) is metallic, and the heat-conducting element (18) makes thermally conductive contact with the charging contact (2) and the second housing component (8).

6. Charging connector (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the charging contact (2) has a heat accumulator (14) and the charging contact (2) contacts the second housing component (8) with the heat accumulator (14) in a thermally conductive manner.

7. Charging connector (1) according to the preceding claim, wherein the heat accumulator (14) comprises water or a mixture of water and glycol or an oil or a phase change material.

8. Charging connector (1) according to claim 6, wherein the heat accumulator (14) consists entirely of metal.

9. Charging connector (1) according to one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the heat accumulator (14) is formed on the second housing component (8), and the heat accumulator (14) has a contact surface (15) on its side facing the second housing component (8), with which contact is made in a thermally conductive manner with a corresponding contact surface (16) formed on the second housing component (8).

10. Charging connector (1) according to one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the charging contact (2) has a first part (10), a second part (12) and the heat accumulator (14), the first part (10) of the charging contact (2) is designed to contact a corresponding charging contact (3) of a corresponding charging connector (4), the second part (12) is designed for galvanically conductive connection to electrical lines (20) on the side opposite the first part (10), and the heat accumulator (14) is arranged between the first part (10) and the second part (12), so that the heat accumulator (14) contacts the first part (10) and the second part (12) in a thermally and galvanically conductive manner and heat dissipation from the first part (10) and the second part (12) of the charging contact (2) can be absorbed in the heat accumulator (14).

11. Charging connector (1) according to claim 10, wherein the heat accumulator (14) is arranged eccentrically to the longitudinal axis of the first part (10) of the charging contact (2).

12. Charging connector (1) according to one of claims 10 or 11, wherein the first part (10) of the charging contact (2) and the second part (12) of the charging contact (2) are materially bonded to the heat accumulator (14).

13. Use of a charging connector (1) according to one of claims 1 to 12 on the vehicle body (17) of an electric or hybrid vehicle (25).

14. System comprising the charging connector (1) according to one of claims 1 to 12 and a charging connector (4) corresponding thereto, wherein the corresponding charging connector (4) is provided with a cooling element (19) which can be supplied with a cooling fluid and corresponding charging contacts (3) of the corresponding charging connector (4) are designed as contact sleeves into which the charging contacts (2) of the charging connector (1), designed as contact pins, can be inserted.

15. System according to claim 14, further comprising a charging station (26) and a charging cable connected to the charging station (26) and carrying the corresponding charging connector (4) (21), wherein the charging station (26) has a cooling fluid source (23) and the charging cable (21) is provided with cooling fluid lines (28) in order to transport the cooling fluid from the cooling fluid source (23) to the cooling element (19) of the corresponding charging connector (4) and back again.

Images