Patent Application
20240186742
This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. CN202211542028.9 filed on Dec. 2, 2022, in the State Intellectual Property Office of China, the whole disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a connector for connecting to a charging seat and a charging seat assembly including the connector.
In charging assemblies of the prior art, a copper wire is usually electrically connected to a charging terminal of a charging seat. In order to connect the wire to the terminal, a connecting terminal is typically connected at one end of the wire and fastened to one end of the charging terminal with a bolt. The connection operation associated with this arrangement, however, is very inconvenient, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Moreover, assembly of the copper wire and the housing of the charging seat is relatively complex, making it difficult to achieve automated production and requiring manual operation, greatly reducing production efficiency. In addition, in the prior art, as one end of the copper wire is inserted into the housing of the charging seat, if the copper wire requires replacement, the housing of the charging seat must be disassembled first before the wire can be removed from the charging terminal. This makes subsequent maintenance operations difficult.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a connector adapted to connect a charging seat includes a housing, a cover, a conductive bar, and a connecting piece. The housing is formed with a terminal hole that allows one end of a charging terminal of the charging seat to be inserted. The cover is installed on an end of the housing and formed with a bar opening. One end of the conductive bar is inserted into the housing through the bar opening of the cover. The connecting piece is provided in the housing for connecting the one end of the conductive bar to the one end of the charging terminal.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a connector adapted to connect to a charging seat is provided. The connector includes: 1) a housing formed with a terminal hole that adapted to receive an end of a charging terminal of the charging seat; 2) a cover installed on an end of the housing and formed with a conductive element hole; 3) a conductive element or bar, one end of which is inserted into the housing through the conductive element hole of the cover; and 4) a connecting piece provided in the housing and adapted to connect the one end of the conductive element to the one end of the charging terminal.
According to another embodiment, a charging seat assembly comprises the above connector and a charging seat. The charging seat includes a charging seat housing, a charging terminal arranged in the charging seat housing; and an end cover installed on an end of the charging seat housing. The housing of the connector is fixed to the end cover of the charging seat. One end of the charging terminal passes through the end cover and is inserted into the housing of the connector to be electrically connected to the conductive element of the connector.
As shown in
In the illustrated embodiments, a snapping slot 13a is formed on the peripheral wall 131 of the cover 13. A protrusion 10a is formed on the exterior of the rear end of the housing 10. The protrusion 10a is engaged into the snapping slot 13a to fix the cover 13 to the rear end of the housing 10.
As shown in
As shown in
A through hole 106 is formed in the connecting ear 10b, which includes a first hole portion 106a and a second hole portion 106b that are coaxial and communicated with each other. The inner diameter of the second hole portion 106b is greater than that of the first hole portion 106a. The second hole portion 106b is used to position an end of the connecting post 23b of the charging seat 2, and the connecting screw 15 passes through the first hole portion 106a and is connected to a blind hole 2b formed in the connecting post 23b.
The connector further includes an elastic seal 14, which is installed in the rear port 105 of the housing 10. The metal bar 11, 12 passes through the elastic seal 14. The elastic seal 14 is compressed between the inner wall of the housing 10 and the metal bar 11, 12 to achieve sealing between the two. In this way, it is possible to prevent water vapor from entering the housing 10 through the rear port 105 of the housing 10. A positioning step 104 is formed in the rear port 105 of the housing 10, and the positioning step 104 and the cover 13 respectively abut against both ends of the elastic seal 14 to maintain the elastic seal 14 in the rear port 105 of the housing 10.
As shown in
The connecting holes 11a, 12a includes a first connecting hole 11a formed in the first metal bar 11 and a second connecting hole 12a formed in the second metal bar 12. The connecting piece 161, 162 includes a first connecting piece 161 and a second connecting piece 162 that pass through the first connecting hole 11a and the second connecting hole 12a, respectively. The first connecting piece 161 and the second connecting piece 162 are used to connect the first metal bar 11 and the second metal bar 12 to the first charging terminal 21 and the second charging terminal 22, respectively.
The dimension of the first connecting hole 11a and the second connecting hole 12a in the length direction of the metal bars 11, 12 are greater than that in the width direction of the metal bars 11, 12. This allows the first connecting member 161 and the second connecting member 162 to move along the length direction of the metal bars 11, 12 in the first connecting hole 11a and the second connecting hole 12a, respectively. In this way, the position error between the metal bar 11, 12 and the charging terminal 21, 22 can be absorbed, making the installation and operation of the metal bar 11, 12 easier and more convenient. The central axis of the first connecting hole 11a and the central axis of the second connecting hole 12a are parallel to each other and located in the same plane perpendicular to the width direction of the metal bars 11, 12.
The first metal bar 11 includes a flat first metal conductor 110 and a first insulator 112 wrapped on the first metal conductor 110. The first metal conductor 110 has a first connection end 111 exposed out of the first insulator 112 for electrical connection to the first charging terminal 21. The first connecting hole 11a is formed in the first connection end 111.
The second metal bar 12 includes a flat second metal conductor 120 and a second insulator 122 wrapped on the second metal conductor 120. The second metal conductor 120 has a second connection end 121 exposed out of the second insulator 122 for electrical connection to the second charging terminal 22. The second connecting hole 12a is formed in the second connection end 121.
The first connection end 111 is spatially avoided from the second connection end 121. In this way, the first connecting hole 11a of the first connection end 111 is not obstructed by the second connection end 121. Therefore, the first connecting piece 161 can be inserted into the first connecting hole 11a of the first connection end 111.
In the illustrated embodiments, the first connection end 111 extends along the length direction of the metal bar 11, 12. The width of the first connection end 111 is not more than half of the width of the metal bar 11, 12, and is offset to one side of the width direction of the metal bar 11, 12. The second connection end 121 is L-shaped, including a first extension portion 121a extending along the length direction of the metal bar 11, 12 and a second extension portion 121b extending along the width direction of the metal bar 11, 12. The first extension portion 121a extends along the length direction of the metal bar 11, 12 beyond the first connection end 111, and the width of the first extension portion 121a is not more than half of the width of the metal bar 11, 12, and is offset to the other side of the width direction of the metal bar 11, 12. Therefore, the first connection end 111 and the second connection end 121 are spatially staggered from each other to ensure that there is no problem of mutual obstruction between the two.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a charging seat assembly is also disclosed. The charging seat assembly mainly includes the connector 1 and the charging seat 2. The charging seat 2 includes the charging seat housing 20, the charging terminal 21, 22 and the end cover 23. One end of the charging terminal 21, 22 is used for electrical connection with the metal bar 11, 12, and the other end of the charging terminal 21, 22 is used for mating with a mating terminal in a charging gun. The end cover 23 is installed on an end of the charging seat housing 20. In the illustrated embodiment, a snapping slot 23a is formed on the peripheral wall 231 of the end cover 23, and a protrusion 20a is formed on the outside of the charging seat housing 20. The protrusion 20a is snapped into the snapping slot 23a to fix the end cover 23 to the end of the charging seat housing 20.
The housing 10 of connector 1 is fixed to the end cover 23 of the charging seat 2, and one end of the charging terminal 21, 22 passes through a terminal through hole 202 formed in the end cover 23 and is inserted into the housing 10 of connector 1 through the terminal hole 102 of the housing 10 to be electrically connected to the metal bar 11, 12 of connector 1. In the illustrated embodiments, there are multiple connecting posts 23b formed on the top plate 232 of the end cover 23, which are used to respectively connect with multiple connecting ears 10b on the housing 10 of the connector 1 to fix the housing 10 of the connector 1 to the charging seat 2.
The charging terminal 21, 22 includes a first charging terminal 21 and a second charging terminal 22, with the central axes of the first charging terminal 21 and the second charging terminal 22 parallel to each other. One end of the first charging terminal 21 extends axially beyond one end of the second charging terminal 22, so that the end face of one end of the first charging terminal 21 is at a different height position from the end face of one end of the second charging terminal 22. One end of the first metal bar 11 of connector 1 is fastened to the end face of one end of the first charging terminal 21 by the first connecting piece 161. One end of the second metal bar 12 of connector 1 is fastened to the end face of one end of the second charging terminal 22 by the second connecting piece 162.
The charging seat assembly further includes a sealing ring 17, which is arranged between the housing 10 of connector 1 and the end cover 23 of charging seat 2 to achieve sealing between the two. Therefore, it is possible to prevent water vapor from entering the housing 10 of connector 1 and the charging seat housing 20 through a gap between the housing 10 of connector 1 and the end cover 23 of charging seat 2. In the illustrated embodiment, a sealing ring installation groove 234 is formed on the end cover 23 of the charging seat 2, and the sealing ring 17 is installed in the sealing ring installation groove 234.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the aforementioned metal bar 11, 12 can be an aluminum bar or any other suitable metal bar.
The following will refer to
In addition, those areas in which it is believed that those of ordinary skill in the art are familiar, have not been described herein in order not to unnecessarily obscure the invention described. Accordingly, it has to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrative embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims.
It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.
Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural of the elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments “comprising” or “having” an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202211542028.9 | Dec 2022 | CN | national |
