1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a connector used for a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid electric vehicle, and in particular, to an inlet connector used for a charging inlet device.
2. Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-275653 proposes a charging inlet device to which a charging connector as a mating connector is fitted and which is provided to a vehicle in order to charge a battery to be mounted to a vehicle body such as an electric vehicle (EV) or a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). A description will be given of such a charging inlet device with reference to
As illustrated in
The inlet connector 510 includes a connector housing 511 provided with a plurality of terminals 530 (see
As illustrated in
Meanwhile, it is not limited that the insertion direction ID of the charging connector necessarily matches a longitudinal direction of the terminal 530 when the charging connector is inserted into the charging inlet device 500. In other words, if the charging connector is inserted being inclined with respect to the connector housing 511, an axial core of the terminal 530 is inclined in accordance with the inclination of the mating terminal.
Therefore, the insertion force of the changing connector into the charging inlet device 500 increases, a problem (for example, decrease in durability of the terminal 530 or decrease in reliability of connection between the terminal 530 and the mating terminal) occurs due to the increased insertion force.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector capable of eliminating such a problem caused by the insertion force by reducing the insertion force of the mating connector even when the mating connector is inserted being inclined with respect to the connector housing.
A connector in accordance with some embodiments includes: a terminal to be connected to a mating terminal by a relative movement between the terminal and the mating terminal; a connector housing supporting the terminal; and a terminal displacement portion displaceably supporting the terminal in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the relative movement between the terminal and the mating terminal.
The terminal displacement portion may include: a first plate portion positioned at a supporting point side of the connector housing; a second plate portion positioned at a mating terminal contact portion side of the terminal; and a twisted portion positioned between the first plate portion and the second plate portion and arranging the first plate portion and the second plate portion to be orthogonal to each other.
The terminal displacement portion may include: an elastic support member supporting the terminal against the connector housing; and a flexible conductive member connected to an opposite side of a mating terminal contact portion of the terminal.
The terminal displacement portion may include: an elastic support member supporting the terminal against the connector housing; and a leaf spring contact portion provided to an opposite side of a mating terminal contact portion of the terminal.
According to the configuration described above, the terminal may be freely displaced by a terminal displacement portion. Therefore, even when the mating connector is inserted being inclined with respect to the connector housing, an axial core of the terminal is displaced in accordance with the inclination of the mating terminal (that is, a so-called core alignment). In this manner, the insertion force of the charging connector decreases so that it is possible to prevent the problem caused by such an insertion force.
A description will be given of a charging inlet device provided with an inlet connector as a connector according to the present invention with reference to the drawings. Incidentally, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference signs in the description of the drawing hereinafter. However, it should be noted that the figures are only schematically illustrated, and ratios of dimensions and the like thereof are different from actual ones. Accordingly, specific dimensions and the like should be determined by reference to the following description. Further, the portions in which dimensional relationships and ratios are different from each other may be included among the drawings.
A description will be given of a configuration of a charging inlet device 1 according to a first embodiment with reference to the drawings.
As illustrated in
The inlet connector 100 includes a connector housing 110 provided with a plurality of terminals 10 therein, an outer hood 120 covering a periphery of the connector housing 110, and a vehicle body mounting flange 130 projecting outwardly from the outer hood 120.
The connector housing 110 is configured by a front housing 110A arranged inside the outer hood 120 and an inner housing 110B attached to the front housing 110A at the rear connector 200 side via a packing 90.
The front housing 110A is formed integrally with the outer hood 120 and the vehicle body mounting flange 130. A plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 111 is formed in the front housing 110A so as to accommodate the plurality of terminals 10. A connector projection 112 (see
The inner housing 110B is interposed between the front housing 110A and the rear connector 200. As illustrated in
A plurality of terminal support portions 115, which is arranged to an insertion side of the charging connector (not illustrated) and supports the plurality of terminals 10, is provided in the inner body portion 113. Each terminal 10 supported by the terminal support portion 115 is configured by a charging terminal, a signaling terminal, a grounding terminal and the like. A configuration of each terminal 10 will be described later. An elastic arm 116 is provided in the inner overhanging portion 114 in which a claw portion (not illustrated) projecting inwardly is formed at a distal end thereof.
A lock portion 121 is provided in the outer hood 120 so as to maintain the engagement with the mating terminal (not illustrated). The vehicle body mounting flange 130 can abut on a vehicle body panel p (see
The rear connector 200 is attached with the inner housing 110B to which the terminals 10 are fixed and mounted to the front housing 110A of the inlet connector 100. The rear connector 200 is provided with a rear body portion 210 and an electric wire pull-out terminal 220 arranged in the rear body portion 210.
The rear body portion 210 is provided with a rear overhanging portion 211 in which an engagement hole 211A is formed to be engaged with the claw portion (not illustrated) of the elastic arm 116 arranged in the inner housing 110B, and an engagement arm 212 to be engaged with the connector projection 112 arranged in the front housing 110A at an outer side of the rear body portion 210 (see
The electric wire pull-out terminal 220 is insert-molded into the rear connector 200 and is bent in an L shape from the insertion direction ID of the charging connector toward the cross direction CD. In other words, one end of the electric wire pull-out terminal 220 projects from the rear connector 200 to the inner housing 110B side and is connected to the terminal 10. Meanwhile, the other end of the electric wire pull-out terminal 220 projects inside the connector insertion portion 213 of the rear connector 200 and is connected to a terminal (not illustrated) inside a connector C (see
One of a plurality of the electric wire pull-out terminals 220 is connected to the earth terminal among the plurality of terminals 10 and is formed as an earth portion 221 projecting from the rear body portion 210 to the inlet connector 100 side without being led into the connector insertion portion 213. The earth portion 221 is conductively connected to the vehicle body panel P when the charging inlet device 1 is assembled to the vehicle body panel p (see
Next, a description will be given of the configuration of the terminal 10 described above with reference to
As illustrated in
An insulative distal end portion 20A (made of resin) to prevent a finger of a user from contacting the mating terminal contact portion 20 is provided at a distal end of the mating terminal contact portion 20.
The terminal displacement portion 30 displaceably supports the terminal 10 in the cross direction CD (more particularly, a vertical direction UD, a lateral direction LR, and inclination directions I1 and I2 in
As illustrated in
The first plate portion 31 can be flexurally deformed in the vertical direction UD and displace the mating terminal contact portion 20 with respect to the vertical direction UD. The first plate portion 31 is fixed to the terminal support portion 115 and then connected to the electric wire pull-out terminal 220 of the rear connector 200. The first plate portion 31 and the electric wire pull-out terminal 220 are connected to each other by welding, for example, a resistance welding or the like.
The second plate portion 32 is orthogonal to the first plate portion 31 via the twisted portion 33. The second plate portion 32 can be flexurally deformed in the lateral direction LR and displace the mating terminal contact portion 20 with respect to the lateral direction LR.
These first plate portion 31 and the second plate portion 32 can displace the mating terminal contact portion 20 with respect to the inclination directions I1 and I2 by the respective flexural deformation described above.
Next, a brief description will be given to a attachment work of the above-described charging inlet device 1 to the vehicle body panel P with reference to
First, as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
Here, the connector C attached to the electric wire W routed to the vehicle side may be fitted into the connector insertion portion 213 of the rear connector 200 at the time of assembling the charging inlet device 1, and in addition, may be fitted into the connector insertion portion 213 of the rear connector 200 after the charging inlet device 1 is fastened to the vehicle body panel P by a bolt or the like.
In the first embodiment described above, an axial core of the terminal 10 is displaced in accordance with the inclination of the mating terminal (that is, a so-called core alignment) since the terminal 10 may be displaced with respect to the vertical direction UD, the lateral direction LR, and the inclination directions I1 and I2 by the terminal displacement portion 30 even when the charging connector is inserted being inclined with respect to the front housing 110A. Therefore, the insertion force of the charging connector decreases so that it is possible to prevent a problem caused by the insertion force. In other words, load of the terminal 10 to the mating terminal contact portion 20 is reduced to improve the durability of the terminal 10. In addition, the mating terminal contact portion 20 of the terminal 10 is not deformed so that it is possible to suppress reduction in reliability of connection between the terminal 10 and the mating terminal (not illustrated).
In the first embodiment, the terminal displacement portion 30 is formed by the first plate portion 31, the second plate portion 32 and the twisted portion 33, and those portions are integrally formed with the mating terminal contact portion 20 of the terminal 10. Therefore, an additional member is not necessary to form the terminal displacement portion 30 so that it is possible to suppress increase in manufacturing cost of the charging inlet device 1.
In particular, since the first plate portion 31 and the second plate portion 32 are orthogonal to each other by the twisted portion 33, the terminal 10 may be easily displaced in various directions (the vertical direction UD, the lateral direction LR and the inclination directions I1 and I2 in FIG. 6) by the terminal displacement portion 30. Incidentally, with regard to a twisted angle of the twisted portion 33, it may not be necessarily about 90 degree, but may be arbitrarily set as long as the angle allows the terminal 10 to be displaced in various directions.
Next, a description will be given of a charging inlet device 2 according to a second embodiment with reference to the drawings.
In the first embodiment described above, the terminal displacement portion 30 is integrally formed with the terminal 10 (the mating terminal contact portion 20). On the contrary, in the second embodiment, the terminal displacement portion 30 is formed as a separate body from the terminal 10.
First, a description will be given of a configuration of the terminal 10. As illustrated in
The terminal body 10A is formed by bending a conductive plate having a predetermined shape by press processing. The terminal body 10A is provided with a tubular mating terminal contact portion 20 with which a mating terminal (not illustrated) is in contact, a terminal side crimping portion 21 to which a conductive member 35 of the terminal displacement portion 30 to be described later is fixed by crimping, and a connection portion 22 (see
The insulating member 10B is configured by a distal end portion 23 projecting to the front from a distal end of the mating terminal contact portion 20, a terminal holding portion 24 arranged at an outer circumference of the connection portion 22 at a rear end side of the mating terminal contact portion 20, and a communication portion 25 which is provided in the mating terminal contact portion 20 and connects the distal end portion 23 and the terminal holding portion 24 to each other.
Ribs 24a and 24b are provided projecting along the entire circumference of the terminal holding portion 24 at both end of the outer circumference thereof. A fitting recess 26 formed by the pair of ribs 24a and 24b is provided in the outer circumference of the terminal holding portion 24.
Next, a description will be given of a configuration of the terminal displacement portion 30. As illustrated in
The elastic support member 34 is formed using an elastic body such as rubber. The elastic support member 34 is mounted to the fitting recess 26 in a state of being positioned by the pair of ribs 24a and 24b.
The conductive member 35 has flexibility and connects the terminal 10 to an electric wire pull-out terminal 220 of a rear connector 200. One end of the conductive member 35 is fixed by crimping to the terminal side crimping portion 21 and connected to the terminal 10. Meanwhile, the other end of the conductive member 35 is fixed by crimping to rear side crimping portions 222 (see
In such a charging inlet device 2 according to the second embodiment, the terminal 10 is fixed to the inner housing 110B by being fitted to a terminal support portion 115 (see
Thus, as illustrated in
In the second embodiment described above, the terminal displacement portion 30 is formed by the elastic support member 34 and the flexible conductive member 35 so that it is possible to freely support the displacement of the terminal 10 by the elastic support member 34 at the time of inserting the charging connector into the charging inlet device 2, and to connect the terminal 10 to the electric wire pull-out terminal 220 by the conductive member 35. In this manner, similarly to the first embodiment, the axial core of the terminal 10 is displaced in accordance with the inclination of the mating terminal (that is, a so-called core alignment) so that the insertion force of the charging connector decreases and it is possible to prevent a problem caused by the insertion force.
Next a description will be given of a charging inlet device 3 according to a third embodiment with reference to the drawings.
In the second embodiment described above, the terminal displacement portion 30 is formed as a separate body from the terminal 10. On the contrary, a part of the terminal displacement portion 30 is formed integrally with the terminal 10, and an elastic support member 34 of the terminal displacement portion 30 is formed as a separate body from the terminal 10 in the third embodiment.
More specifically, as illustrated in
The elastic support member 34 is mounted to a fitting recess 26 in a state of being positioned by a pair of ribs 24a and 24b provided at an outer circumference of a terminal holding portion 24, similarly to the second embodiment.
The leaf spring contact portion 36 is integrally formed with the mating terminal contact portion 20 of the terminal 10. The leaf spring contact portion 36 is configured by a high current leaf spring 37 provided to a thick terminal (for example, a charging terminal or a grounding terminal) among the terminals 10, and a low current leaf spring 38 provided to a thin terminal (for example, a signaling terminal) among the terminals 10.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In such a charging inlet device 3 according to the third embodiment, the terminal 10 is fixed to the inner housing 110B by being fitted into the terminal support portion 115 (see
Thus, as illustrated in
In the third embodiment described above, the terminal displacement portion 30 is formed by the elastic support member and the leaf spring contact portion 36 so that the displacement of the terminal 10 may be freely supported by the elastic support member 34 when the charging connector is inserted into the charging inlet device 3, and the connection between the terminal 10 (the mating terminal contact portion 20) and the electric wire pull-out terminal 220 may be maintained by the leaf spring contact portion 36. Therefore, similarly to the first and second embodiments, the axial core of the terminal 10 is displaced in accordance with the inclination of the mating terminal (that is, a so-called core alignment) so that the insertion force of the charging connector decreases and it is possible to prevent a problem caused by the insertion force.
As described above, the disclosure has been made for the content of the present invention on the basis of the embodiment of the present invention; however, it should not be understood that the description and the drawings, which forma part of this disclosure, limit the present invention. From this disclosure, varieties of alternative embodiments, examples and operation technologies will be obvious for a person skilled in the art.
For example, the embodiment of the present invention may be altered as follows. More specifically, the description has been made in the first to third embodiments for the case in which the terminal displacement portion 30 is provided to the inlet connector 100 of the charging inlet device 1. However, without being limited thereto, the terminal displacement portion 30 may be provided to a vicinity of the electric wire pull-out terminal 220 of the rear connector 200. In addition, the terminal displacement portion 30 may be provided to the charging connector, and of course, may be applicable to connectors of various other types.
In addition, the description has been made in the first to third embodiments for the case in which the pull-out direction of the electric wire W is the downward direction of the rear connector 200. However, without being limited thereto, the pull-out direction of the electric wire W may be an upward direction or a lateral direction of the rear connector 200.
In this way, the present invention includes various embodiments not described above. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is determined only by the invention identification matters according to claims reasonable from the foregoing description.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012-249023 | Nov 2012 | JP | national |
This application is a Continuation of PCT Application No. PCT/JP2013/080220, filed on Nov. 8, 2013, and claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-249023, filed on Nov. 13, 2012, the content of both of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2013/080220 | Nov 2013 | US |
Child | 14698256 | US |