Patent Application
20150008274
This international application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-018559 filed Jan. 31, 2012 in the Japan Patent Office and the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-121003 filed May 28, 2012 in the Japan Patent Office, and the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-018559 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-121003 are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a storage device for storing a charging cable for an electrically-driven vehicle.
The electrically-driven vehicle means a vehicle having an electric motor for traveling. Specifically, the electrically-driven vehicle means, for example, an electric vehicle having only an electric motor as a driving source, a hybrid vehicle having an electric motor and an internal combustion engine as driving sources, and the like.
For example, the invention according to Patent Document 1 (the invention relating to a charging-cable storage device) includes a charging cable having a vehicle-side connector (socket) provided at one end thereof and a charging-device-side connector (socket) provided at the other end thereof, a rotating drum around which the charging cable is wound and held, and a housing to rotatably hold the rotating drum. The vehicle-side connector (socket) is connected to a connector provided to an electrically-driven vehicle (specifically, a plug-in hybrid vehicle). The charging-device-side connector (socket) is connected to a connector provided to a charging power supply.
When charging the electrically-driven vehicle, it is necessary to pull out the charging cable wound around the rotating drum and attach the vehicle-side connector to the electrically-driven vehicle, and to attach the power-supply-side connector to the charging device, in a state in which the entirety of the storage device is fixed to the charging device provided to the charging power supply.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-115037
Generally, an electrically-driven vehicle is provided with a charging cable as standard equipment. Mileage of an electrically-driven vehicle is not as excellent as that of a vehicle having an internal combustion engine as a driving source, and thus, it is preferred to always have a charging cable stored in the trunk or the like in preparation for power shortage.
However, the charging cable provided as standard equipment is generally provided as a lone cable and is long in length. Thus, the charging cable has difficulties in storability and loadability when being stored in the trunk or the like.
Especially, the invention according to Patent Document 1 has a problem in terms of loadability because it is necessary to load the entirety of the storage device in the vehicle in addition to the charging cable provided as standard equipment.
It is preferred to improve storability and loadability of the charging cable.
The present invention relates to a storage device configured to store a charging cable (3) for use in an electrically-driven vehicle having an electric motor for traveling. The storage device includes a holder-side socket (11) to be electrically connected to a side of a charging power supply, a holder (10) provided with the holder-side socket (11), a reel (20) that is attachably and detachably attached to the holder (10) and that includes a rotating drum (23) to wind up the charging cable (3), and a reel-side socket (25) that is provided to the reel (20) and fitted to the holder-side socket (11) to thereby electrically connect the side of the charging power supply and the charging cable (3) to each other. At least either the holder-side socket (11) or the reel-side socket (25) is rotatable. The holder (10) and the reel (20) are respectively provided with identification marks (Mh and Mr) indicating a position in which the reel-side socket (25) can be fitted to the holder-side socket (11).
Due to such a configuration, in the present invention, the holder (10) may be set in a place, such as a garage and a parking lot, where charging can be performed, and solely the reel (20) may be stored (loaded) in the trunk or the like because the charging cable (3) is stored in a wound-up state and the reel (20) is attachable to and detachable from the holder (10).
In the present invention, at least either the holder-side socket (11) or the reel-side socket (25) is rotatable. Therefore, if the rotatable socket rotates after the reel (20) is detached from the holder (10), a position of the reel-side socket (25) with respect to the holder-side socket (11) is displaced, and thus, there is a possibility that the reel-side socket (25) cannot be fitted to the holder-side socket (11) when the reel (20) is being attached to the holder (10) on the next occasion.
To cope with this, in the present invention, the identification marks (Mh and Mr) indicating the position in which both sockets can be fitted to each other are provided on the holder (10) and the reel (20), respectively. Therefore, even in a case where the position of the reel-side socket (25) with respect to the holder-side socket (11) is displaced, the reel-side socket (25) can be easily fitted to the holder-side socket (11) by rotating the rotatable socket using the identification marks (Mh and Mr) as guides.
As described above, in the present invention, the reel-side socket (25) can be easily fitted to the holder-side socket (11) to thereby enable workability for attaching the reel (20) to be improved, and storability and loadability of the charging cable (3) is improved by allowing the reel (20) to be attachable to and detachable from the holder (10).
The above reference numerals in parentheses are those showing an example of correspondence relationships with specific implementations described in embodiments to be described later. Thus, the configuration of the present invention is not limited to the specific implementations indicated with the above reference numerals in the parentheses.
The embodiments of the present invention will be described below, by way of example, with reference to the drawings. It is to be noted that invention-specifying matters and the like described in the claims are not limited to the specific implementations, structures, and the like shown in the embodiments below.
1 . . . storage device, 3 . . . charging cable, 3A . . . charging control box, 3B . . . terminal-side cable, 3C . . . wound-up-side cable, 3D . . . terminal connector, 3E . . . vehicle-side connector, 10 . . . holder, 11 . . . holder-side socket, 11A . . . guide portion, 11B . . . incline, 13A . . . power-supply-side cable, 13 . . . contact box, 15 . . . holder main body, 15A . . . support portion, 15B . . . hook portion, 15C . . . arm portion, 15D . . . arm portion, 15E . . . concave portion, 15F . . . protruding portion, 17 . . . attachment, 20 . . . reel, 21 . . . back plate, 21A . . . concave portion, 21B . . . engagement portion, 21C . . . protruding portion, 21E . . . grip portion, 21D . . . release button, 21F . . . support portion, 21G . . . locking hook portion, 23 . . . rotating drum, 23A . . . drum plate, 23B . . . wind-up rim, 23C . . . flange portion, 23D . . . fitting portion, 23E . . . fixing portion, 23F . . . cable-side connector, 23G . . . handle portion, 25 . . . reel-side socket, 25A . . . guide portion, Mh . . . identification mark, Mr . . . identification mark
As shown in
1. Structure of Charging-Cable Storage Device
1.1. Overview of Charging-Cable Storage Device
As shown in
1.2. Structure of Holder
As shown in
The holder-side socket 11 is electrically connected to a power-supply-side cable 13A via a sliding contact such as a slip ring (not shown) provided within a contact box 13 of a disk shape, as shown in
The power-supply-side cable 13A is a cable to electrically connect the charging power supply and the holder-side socket 11 to each other. The power-supply-side cable 13A is connected to a fixed-side brush (not shown) of the slip ring (not shown). On the other hand, a rotating-side electrode ring (not shown) of the slip ring (not shown) is connected to the holder-side socket 11.
The contact box 13 is coupled to a holder main body 15. As shown in
The support portion 15A supports a bottom end side of the reel 20, whereas the hook portion 15B is engaged with a top end side of the reel 20 to hold the top end side. This allows the entirety of the reel 20 to be held by the support portion 15A and the hook portion 15B.
As shown in
As shown in
A protruding portion 21C to be engaged with the protruding portion 15F is provided in the engagement portion 21B. The protruding portion 21C is pressed by a spring (not shown) against a position in which engagement with the protruding portion 15F is enabled.
When the reel 20 is being attached to the holder 10, the concave portion 21A of the reel 20 is fitted to the support portion 15A, and in such a state, the reel 20 is caused to swing about the support portion 15A as a supporting point such that the reel 20 is pressed toward the holder 10. In this way, the hook portion 15B is fitted into the engagement portion 21B, and the protruding portion 21C in the reel 20 and the protruding portion 15F in the holder 10 are engaged with each other. As a result, the reel 20 is fixed to the holder 10.
When the reel 20 is being detached from the holder 10, the engagement between the protruding portion 21C and the protruding portion 15F is released by operation of a release button 21D provided to a grip portion 21E of the reel 20 (the back plate 21). In such a state, the reel 20 only has to be caused to swing about the support portion 15A as a supporting point so as to be spaced apart from the holder 10.
1.3. Structure of Reel
As shown in
As shown in
The drum plate 23A has a fitting portion 23D provided thereto. The fitting portion 23D is configured such that a support portion 21F having a cylindrical shape provided to the back plate 21 is fitted into the fitting portion 23D in a slidably contacting manner. The rotating drum 23 can rotate with respect to the back plate 21 due to the sliding contact between an inner periphery 23d of the fitting portion 23D and an outer periphery 21f of the support portion 21F.
As shown in
In many cases, the charging control box 3A is supplied as part of the charging cable 3 by a vehicle manufacturer or the like. Hereinafter, the charging cable 3 situated closer to the charging power source in relation to the charging control box 3A is referred to as a terminal-side cable 3B, and the charging cable 3 situated closer to the electrically-driven vehicle in relation to the charging control box 3A is referred to as a wound-up-side cable 3C.
A terminal connector 3D for connection to a side of the power supply is provided at an end of the terminal-side cable 3B, whereas a vehicle-side connector 3E for connection to the electrically-driven vehicle is provided at an end of the wound-up-side cable 3C.
The charging cable 3 according to the present embodiment is configured to include the charging control box 3A, the terminal-side cable 3B, the wound-up-side cable 3C, the terminal connector 3D, the vehicle-side connector 3E, and the like.
A cable-side connector 23F to which the terminal connector 3D can be attached is provided on a side of the fixing portion 23E of the drum plate 23A, whereas, as shown in
Therefore, when the holder-side socket 11 and the reel-side socket 25 are fitted to each other in a state in which the terminal connector 3D is attached to the cable-side connector 23F, the charging cable 3 and the power-supply-side cable 13A become conductible with each other.
When the wound-up-side cable 3C wound up around the rotating drum 23 is let out, the holder-side socket 11 and the reel-side socket 25 are rotated in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating drum 23. Nevertheless, the conduction state between the charging cable 3 and the power-supply-side cable 13A is maintained by means of the slip ring (not shown) provided in the contact box 13.
The back plate 21 has a locking hook portion 21G provided thereto that locks an end side of the wound-up-side cable 3C. Therefore, in a state in which the end side of the wound-up-side cable 3C is locked by the locking hook portion 21G, even when the rotating drum 23 rotates, there is no possibility that the wound-up-side cable 3C, which has been reeled in, becomes so loose.
1.4. Fit between Holder-Side Socket and Reel-Side Socket
As shown in
Specifically, when the rotating drum 23 rotates with respect to the back plate 21 after the reel 20 is detached from the holder 10, the reel-side socket 25 rotates. Thus, when the reel 20 is being attached to the holder 10 on the next occasion, the reel-side socket 25 cannot be fitted to the holder-side socket 11.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, identification marks Mh and Mr indicating a position in which the both sockets 11 and 25 can be fitted to each other are provided on the holder 10 and the reel 20, respectively, as shown in
Specifically, as shown in
As shown in
The identification marks Mh and Mr according to the present embodiment include a figure (a triangular figure in the present embodiment) colored with a color different from the ground color of the regions where the identification marks Mh and Mr are provided.
2. Features of Charging-Cable Storage Device According to the Present Embodiment
In the present embodiment, the charging cable 3 (the wound-up-side cable 3C) is stored in a wound-up state, and the reel 20 can be attached to and detached from the holder 10. Therefore, the holder 10 may be set in a place, such as a garage and a parking lot, where charging can be performed, and solely the reel 20 may be stored in the trunk or the like.
When the rotating drum 23 rotates to cause the reel-side socket 25 to rotate in a state in which the reel 20 is detached from the holder 10, there is a possibility that the reel-side socket 25 cannot be fitted to the holder-side socket 11 when the reel 20 is being attached to the holder 10, as described above.
To cope with this, in the present embodiment, the identification marks Mh and Mr indicating the position in which the both sockets 11 and 25 can be fitted to each other are provided on the holder 10 and the reel 20, respectively. Therefore, even in a case where the position of the reel-side socket 25 with respect to the holder-side socket 11 has been displaced, the reel-side socket 25 can be fitted to the holder-side socket 11 by rotating the rotatable socket (the reel-side socket 25 in the present embodiment) using the identification marks Mh and Mr as guides.
As described above, in the present embodiment, by allowing the reel 20 to be attachable to and detachable from the holder 10, the reel-side socket 25 can be easily fitted to the holder-side socket 11 and workability for attaching the reel 20 can be improved, while storability and loadability of the charging cable 3 is improved.
In a case where the position of the reel-side socket 25 is displaced with respect to the position of the holder-side socket 11, it is necessary to operate the handle portion 23G to thereby rotate the holder-side socket 11. Since the identification mark Mr is provided on the handle portion 23G, it is possible to operate the handle portion 23G while visually observing the identification mark Mr with ease.
The present second embodiment is an example in which the identification mark Mh on the holder 10 is provided on an outer peripheral side of the holder 10, as shown in
The present second embodiment is an example in which an attachment 17 of a disk shape, on which the identification mark Mh is placed, is assembled to the holder-side socket 11. However, the present second embodiment is not limited to this. The identification mark Mh may be provided on an outer peripheral side of an outer periphery of the holder 10, which outer periphery is made wider than that in the first embodiment.
As shown in
Specifically, as shown in
More specifically, the plurality of guide portions 11A are provided around the holder-side socket 11 in such a manner that an outer peripheral side of the holder-side socket 11 is divided into three in a circumferential direction thereof centered at the rotational center of the holder-side socket 11. In the present embodiment, the plurality of guide portions 11A are three in number. Each of the plurality of guide portions 11A is configured in a triangle-like shape pointed on a side of the reel 20 so as to have inclines 11B inclined with respect to an insertion direction of the reel 20 (shown by an arrow X in
The plurality of guide portions 25A in the reel 20 are provided so as to surround a rotational center of the reel-side socket 25 concentrically with the rotational center, in a similar manner to that in the plurality of guide portions 11A.
Specifically, as shown in
Due to the above, in the present third embodiment, the reel 20 can be attached to the holder easily and reliably because the sockets 11 and 25 are rotated so as to be guided to the position in which the sockets 11 and 25 can be fitted to each other upon attachment of the reel 20 to the holder 10.
In the present third embodiment, the identification marks Mh and Mr according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment are not provided. However, the identification marks Mh and Mr may be provided similarly to the first embodiment or the second embodiment.
Although the terminal connector 3D is electrically connected to the reel-side socket 25 via the cable-side connector 23F in the above-described embodiments, the cable-side connector 23F and the reel-side socket 25 are not provided in the present fourth embodiment. Instead, the terminal connector 3D is configured to be directly fitted into the holder-side socket 11.
Specifically, in the present fourth embodiment, a plurality of fixing portions 23H to fix the charging control box 3A to the flange portion 23C are provided as shown in
In the present fourth embodiment, the center of volume is not positioned perfectly on the rotational center axis L1, and the center of volume deviates to the left side of the drawing sheet with respect to the rotational center axis L1. “The center of volume of the charging control box 3A is positioned on the rotational center axis L1” means not only a case where the center of volume is positioned perfectly on the rotational center axis L1 as a matter of course, but also a case where the center of volume deviates from the rotational center axis L1 to the extent that a large rotational imbalance does not occur.
“The deviation to the extent that a large rotational imbalance does not occur” means, for example, a deviation approximately equal to or less than one-half of a sum of a width dimension W1 of the charging control box 3A and a width dimension W2 of the terminal connector 3D, in a case where the charging control box 3A has a rectangular tube-like shape.
A connector portion 27 for connection of the terminal connector 3D to the power supply side is provided in a position that is on the same side as a side on which the plurality of fixing portions 23H are positioned in the rotating drum 23 and that deviates with respect to the rotational center axis L1 in a direction orthogonal to the rotational center axis L1.
As shown in
The connector portion 27 has at least one locking portion 27B provided. The locking portion 27B suppresses the terminal connector 3D from falling off from the rotating drum 23, i.e., from the reel 20.
The locking portion 27B according to the present fourth embodiment is configured to include a locking hook 27C and a resilient portion 27D, for example. The locking hook 27C is formed in an arm-like shape as a whole, and one end thereof is formed in a hook-like shape. Specifically, the locking hook 27C has a protrusion 27F to be engaged with a locked portion 27E provided on the terminal connector 3D. The protrusion 27F is provided at one end side of the locking hook 27C in a longitudinal direction thereof. A middle portion of the locking hook 27C in the longitudinal direction thereof is swingably coupled to the rotating drum 23.
The resilient portion 27D applies an elastic force that retains a locking state between the protrusion 27F and the locked portion 27E to the other end side of the locking hook 27C in the longitudinal direction thereof. The resilient portion 27D according to the present fourth embodiment includes at least one coil spring.
The attachment port 27A has, at a side of the holder-side socket 11 thereof, at least one protruding portion 27G provided that locks the terminal connector 3D inserted into the attachment port 27A. The protruding portion 27G is a region protruding from an inner periphery of the attachment port 27A toward the center thereof.
Upon insertion of the terminal connector 3D into the attachment port 27A, the terminal connector 3D is locked by the protruding portion 27G, and thus, the terminal connector 3D is suppressed from penetrating out to a side of the holder 10. In addition, since the terminal connector 3D is in a state held between the protruding portion 27G and the locking hook 27C, the terminal connector 3D is suppressed from falling off from the reel 20.
In the above-described embodiments, the holder-side socket 11 and the reel-side socket 25 are both rotatable. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is acceptable that at least either the holder-side socket 11 or the reel-side socket 25 is rotatable. For example, in a configuration in which the holder-side socket 11 is not rotatable, the identification mark Mh may be provided on the holder main body 15.
In the above-described embodiments, the terminal connector 3D is electrically connected to the reel-side socket 25 via the cable-side connector 23F. However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, the terminal connector 3D itself may be caused to function as the reel-side socket 25 by fixing the terminal connector 3D in the position of the reel-side socket 25.
In the above-described embodiments, the charging control box 3A is fixed to the drum plate 23A. However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, the charging control box 3A may be configured to be fixed to the wind-up rim 23B.
In the above-described embodiments, the identification marks Mh and Mr include a figure colored with a color different from the ground color of the regions where the identification marks Mh and Mr are provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, the identification marks Mh and Mr may include a convex portion, a concave portion (including a through-hole), or the like. According to the identification marks Mh and Mr that include such a convex portion or convex portion, the identification marks Mh and Mr can be identified also by a sense of touch.
In the above-described embodiments, the plurality of guide portions 11A and 25A having a triangle-like shape are each three in number. However, the present invention is not limited to this and, for example, the plurality of guide portions 11A and 25A having other shapes may be provided. Moreover, the number of the plurality of guide portions 11A and 25A may be each two, or four or more.
In the above-described embodiments, the example regarding the charging cable 3 including the charging control box 3A has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to the charging cable 3 not including the charging control box 3A.
The present invention only has to be consistent with the spirit of the invention described in the claims, and is not limited to the above-described embodiments.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-018559 | Jan 2012 | JP | national |
| 2012-121003 | May 2012 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2012/076225 | 10/10/2012 | WO | 00 |
