US-12620750-B2 - Connector lock device

US12620750B2US 12620750 B2US12620750 B2US 12620750B2US-12620750-B2

Abstract

A connector lock device includes: a charging connector that supplies power to a battery; an inlet to which the charging connector is fitted; and a locking member that is driven forward and backward by an actuator provided in a housing of the charging connector, and of which a tip portion is retracted into the housing at a retracted position and protrudes out of the housing at an advanced position to be locked to a locked portion of the inlet and prevent the charging connector from being separated from the inlet.

Inventors

Takenori OHMURA
Yoshitaka Tsushima
Seiji Kozono

Assignees

YAZAKI CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230623
Priority Date: 20220714

Claims (4)

1 . A connector lock device comprising: a charging connector that supplies power to a battery; an inlet to which the charging connector is fitted; a locking member that is driven forward and backward by an actuator provided in a housing of the charging connector, and of which a tip portion is retracted into the housing at a retracted position and protrudes out of the housing at an advanced position to be locked to a locked portion of the inlet and prevent the charging connector from being separated from the inlet; an actuator accommodating portion that is recessed in a front end of the housing and accommodating the actuator; and a notch groove formed in a top wall of the housing that faces the tip portion of the locking member, the notch groove extending rearward from an open end of the actuator accommodating portion, wherein at least a portion of the actuator is inside the inlet if the tip portion is in the advanced position and loc ked to the locked portion.
2 . A connector lock device comprising: a charging connector that supplies power to a battery; an inlet to which the charging connector is fitted; a locking member that is driven forward and backward by an actuator provided in a housing of the charging connector, and of which a tip portion is retracted into the housing at a retracted position and protrudes out of the housing at an advanced position to be locked to a locked portion of the inlet and prevent the charging connector from being separated from the inlet; an actuator accommodation portion that is recessed in a front end of the housing for accommodating the actuator; a cover member that is attached to an open end of the actuator accommodation portion to prevent the actuator from falling off; and a locking portion that is provided on the cover member and that locks the cover member to the housing with predetermined locking force that does not damage the locking member at the advanced position and the locked portion when the charging connector moves in a separation direction.
3 . The connector lock device according to claim 2 , wherein the locking portion includes a cantilever-shaped locking arm including a locking protrusion at a tip that engages with a locking hole formed in the housing.
4 . The connector lock device according to claim 2 , wherein a lead wire connected to the actuator is provided with an extra length portion that allows the lead wire to extend when the actuator falls off from the actuator accommodation portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese patent application No. 2022-113334 filed on Jul. 14, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention The present disclosure relates to a connector lock device that prevents a charging connector from coming off from an inlet. 2. Description of the Related Art For example, an electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid vehicle is charged by supplying commercial power to a battery installed in the vehicle by fitting a charging connector, which is connected via a cable to a power supply device installed in a home or a station, into an inlet installed in the vehicle. Therefore, the charging connector is provided with a locking mechanism capable of maintaining a state where the charging connector is fitted to the inlet and preventing mutual separation (see JP2014-75299A). Such a locking mechanism includes a locking arm (locking member), a locking claw provided at a tip of the locking arm and engaged with a locking protrusion (locked portion) of the inlet, a lock operation portion provided at a rear end of the locking arm and allowing a worker to operate the locking arm, and a coil spring (biasing member) that biases the locking arm toward a locking position. The locking arm is provided to be swingable about a swing fulcrum between a locking position where the locking claw engages with the locking protrusion of the inlet and a release position where the engagement between the locking protrusion and the locking claw is released. The locking mechanism is accommodated in a connector case of the charging connector, and the locking claw and the lock operation portion are exposed outside the connector case. When the charging connector is fitted into the inlet, the locking claw of the locking arm engages with the locking protrusion of the inlet to prevent mutual separation. When releasing the engagement between the inlet and the charging connector, the charging connector can be pulled out from the inlet by pressing the lock operation portion and swinging the locking arm to the release position. By the way, the above-described locking mechanism of the related art requires the locking arm to be swingably provided in the connector case, and it is necessary to consider a swing space. Therefore, a height dimension of the charging connector tends to be large. The locking claw and the lock operation portion of the locking arm as the locking member are exposed to the outside of the connector case. Therefore, there is a possibility that the locking arm may be damaged by a direct impact such as when the charging connector is dropped. The locking arm is always biased toward the locking position by the coil spring, and when the charging connector is attached to or detached from the inlet, the locking claw repeatedly comes into sliding contact with an outer surface of the inlet or the locking protrusion. Here, there is a possibility that the locking claw and the locking protrusion are worn. Therefore, there is a concern that the charging connector may easily come off from the inlet due to damage such as breakage or wear of the locking arm. SUMMARY The present disclosure is made in view of the circumstances described above, and an object thereof is to provide a compact connector lock device that can prevent a locking member from being damaged and reliably prevent a charging connector from coming off from an inlet. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a connector lock device including: a charging connector that supplies power to a battery; an inlet to which the charging connector is fitted; and a locking member that is driven forward and backward by an actuator provided in a housing of the charging connector, and of which a tip portion is retracted into the housing at a retracted position and protrudes out of the housing at an advanced position to be locked to a locked portion of the inlet and prevent the charging connector from being separated from the inlet. According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a compact connector lock device that can prevent a locking member from being damaged and reliably prevent a charging connector from coming off an inlet. The present disclosure is briefly described above. Details of the present disclosure will be further clarified by reading the following description of embodiments (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawing which is given by way of illustration only, and thus is not limitative of the present disclosure and wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a charging connector and an inlet provided with a connector lock device according to an embodime