Cooled EV Charging Plug Housing for High-Current Durability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Charging assemblies for electric vehicles face challenges in accommodating higher charging currents, cooling systems, and monitoring components within standardized, compact, and durable plug housings, while also being resistant to mechanical impacts and easy to maintain and repair.
Innovation Solution
A charging assembly design featuring a shell-like charging plug with a primary housing encompassed by a secondary protective housing, incorporating a strain relief mechanism, cooling surfaces, and integrated thermal sensors, allowing for easy replacement of components and protection against vandalism and environmental influences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If higher charging currents are used to transfer more energy per time, then charging speed is improved, but heat generation increases requiring cooling systems
Solution Approach 1:
The charging plug is divided into a primary plug housing containing electrical components and a secondary plug housing providing protective enclosure. This segmentation allows the cooling system to be integrated in the primary housing while the secondary housing provides mechanical protection, resolving the contradiction between high current handling and heat management.
Solution Approach 2:
A cooling system with cooling channels and cooling surfaces acts as an intermediary between the high current charging process and the environment. The cooling fluid circulates through channels surrounding the conductors, absorbing heat generated by high charging currents and transferring it to the environment, enabling sustained high-power charging.
2Productivity
If cooling systems and monitoring components are integrated into the charging plug, then charging performance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling channels are integrated into the primary plug housing structure itself, merging the housing function with the cooling function. Monitoring components are embedded within the same housing, combining multiple functions (structural support, cooling, monitoring) into a single integrated unit, thereby improving charging performance without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The primary plug housing serves multiple functions: it provides structural support for electrical components, contains the cooling channels and fluid circulation system, and houses monitoring components. This multi-functionality allows the charging plug to achieve high performance with a unified design rather than separate components.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the charging plug is designed with standardized dimensions, then compatibility is improved, but space for components is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling channels are arranged in a three-dimensional configuration around the conductors within the constrained plug volume. The secondary plug housing extends the available space in radial directions while maintaining standardized external dimensions, allowing integration of cooling and monitoring components without compromising compatibility.
4Reliability
If the charging plug is made durable against mechanical impacts and environmental influences, then reliability is improved, but ease of repair worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The charging plug is segmented into a primary plug housing containing serviceable components and a secondary plug housing providing protective enclosure. The secondary housing can be removed to access the primary housing and its components, maintaining durability during operation while enabling easy repair by separating the protective function from the serviceable function.
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
The design enables efficient energy transfer, effective cooling, and reliable monitoring, while ensuring durability and ease of maintenance, thus shortening charging times and extending the lifespan of charging assemblies.
Implementation Method 1
At least one tube for conveying of a cooling fluid, which is arranged in the first interstitial space
Implementation Method 2
a cooled charging cable and charging plug requires more parts being integrated in the plug housing
Data Source
AI summary
A charging assembly includes a charging plug and a charging cable for connecting a charging station to the battery of an electric vehicle. The charging plug includes a primary plug housing with a first throughout opening in which a first conductor end piece is arranged, which is attached to the end of a first conductor of the charging cable and includes opposite to the first conductor a first charging contact extending in an axial direction. The charging plug further includes a second throughout opening in which a second conductor end piece is arranged, which is attached to the end of a second conductor of the charging cable and includes opposite to the second conductor a second charging contact laterally spaced apart from and extending parallel to the first charging contact in the axial direction. The first and the second conductor end piece each include at least one cooling surface, exposed to a circulating cooling agent, fluidly interconnected to a respective cladding tube surrounding the first or second conductor for conducting the circulating cooling agent along the first or second conductor.