Charging Inlet Cap Adhesion via Segmented Packing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional charging inlet devices experience cap adhesion issues due to the packing material sticking to the front wall when the cap is held in a closed position for a long time, requiring manual intervention to open, complicating the operation.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating non-adhesion regions on the front wall or packing, such as recesses or notches, to reduce the adhesion area and force between the packing and the front wall, allowing the cap to be opened reliably by spring force alone.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the packing is made of rubber material to ensure sealing and eliminate gaps, then the sealing reliability is improved, but the packing adheres to the front wall when the cap is closed for a long time, making automatic opening unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The contact surface between the packing and front wall is segmented into adhesion regions and non-adhesion regions. The non-adhesion regions create separation zones that prevent complete adhesion, allowing the torsion coil spring to reliably open the cap while the adhesion regions maintain sealing effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the packing-front wall interface have different properties: adhesion regions provide strong sealing through material adhesion, while non-adhesion regions provide release capability. This local differentiation allows the same packing to simultaneously achieve both reliable sealing and reliable automatic opening.
2Weight of moving object
If the packing is made of lightweight rubber material to reduce vehicle weight, then the vehicle weight is reduced, but the packing adheres strongly to the front wall, complicating the opening operation
Solution Approach 1:
The contact interface is divided into adhesion and non-adhesion regions, allowing the lightweight rubber packing to maintain sealing where needed while having release zones that prevent complete adhesion, enabling automatic opening without requiring heavier materials.
3Reliability
If the packing is made of highly-elastic material to eliminate gaps and prevent unstableness, then the sealing performance is improved, but the packing adheres to the front wall, requiring manual intervention to open the cap
Solution Approach 1:
The highly-elastic packing material is configured with adhesion and non-adhesion regions. The adhesion regions provide strong sealing through elastic deformation and contact pressure, while the non-adhesion regions prevent complete adhesion bonding, allowing the spring to reliably open the cap.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the packing have different functional properties: high adhesion in sealing-critical areas and low adhesion in release areas. This local quality differentiation allows the same elastic material to provide both strong sealing and reliable automatic opening.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Minimizes the risk of cap adhesion, ensuring the cap can be opened automatically by the torsion coil spring, simplifying the operation and maintaining effective sealing against water and dust.
Implementation Method 1
The cap 53 is biased by a torsion coil spring 60 toward the open position
Implementation Method 2
the packing 56 is directly attached to the front wall 54. The packing 56 thus reliably prevents water or dust from entering the terminal insertion holes 55
Data Source
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AI summary
A charging inlet device (1) includes: a connector housing (2) provided, on a front wall (3) thereof, with terminal insertion holes (4) through which mating terminals are inserted; a cap (20) arranged to be movable between a closed position where the cap (20) is attached to the front wall (3) to block the terminal insertion holes (4) and an open position where the cap (20) is separated from the front wall (3) to open the terminal insertion holes (4) to the outside; and a packing (25) placed on the inner surface of the cap (20), wherein the front wall (3) is provided with recesses (5) at positions displaced from the terminal insertion holes (4).