US-12623560-B2 - Charging inlet with nose-suppressing cap closing mechanism

US12623560B2US 12623560 B2US12623560 B2US 12623560B2US-12623560-B2

Abstract

A charging inlet includes an inlet body, a DC socket cap (inlet cap) configured to occlude a DC socket area (occlusion area) of a penetration hole in a housing to make the occlusion area to be openable and closable and to cover a DC socket (mechanical portion) of a socket portion (connection mechanism) in an occlusion state; and a connection portion, characterized in that the DC socket cap (inlet cap) includes a cap body portion, and an inlet abutment portion which is a projection locally provided at a position separating from the connection portion in a facing portion of the inlet body, wherein the inlet abutment portion comes into contact with the inlet body earlier than any other portion in the cap body portion when the cap body portion rotates to reach the occlusion state.

Inventors

Shigeyuki Ogasawara

Assignees

YAZAKI CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20231220
Priority Date: 20221222

Claims (8)

1 . A charging inlet, comprising: an inlet body comprising: a housing including an outer wall, the outer wall including a penetration hole; a connection mechanism configured to connect with a mating connector for charging, the connection mechanism being accommodated in the housing to be exposed from the penetration hole; an inlet cap configured to occlude an occlusion area forming at least part of the penetration hole in the housing to make the occlusion area to be openable and closable and to cover a mechanical portion of the connection mechanism that is positioned in the occlusion area during an occlusion state; and a connection portion configured to connect a portion of a circumferential edge of the inlet cap to the outer wall of the housing in a hinge-connection style; wherein the inlet cap comprises a plate-shaped cap body portion configured to face the occlusion area and a peripheral surface of the occlusion area on an external surface of the outer wall in the occlusion state; and an inlet abutment portion that is a projection provided in a facing portion of the cap body portion at a position separated from the connection portion, the facing portion configured to face the peripheral surface, and wherein the inlet abutment portion comes into contact with a portion of the inlet body earlier than any other portion of the cap body portion when the cap body portion rotates to reach the occlusion state, the portion of the inlet body being outside of the penetration hole.
2 . The charging inlet according to claim 1 , wherein in the occlusion state, while the portion of the circumferential edge is connected to the outer wall in the hinge-connection style and the inlet abutment portion comes into contact with the inlet body, the cap body portion faces the occlusion area and the peripheral surface in a non-contact state in which a gap between the cap body portion with the mechanical portion of the connection mechanism and the peripheral surface is formed.
3 . The charging inlet according to claim 1 , wherein the inlet abutment portion is provided at the farthest position from the connection portion in the facing portion to sandwich the mechanical portion therebetween with the connection portion in the occlusion state.
4 . The charging inlet according to claim 1 , wherein the connection mechanism is accommodated in the housing in a state in which a gap is formed between an inner circumferential edge of the penetration hole and the mechanical portion, an annular entrance rib wall is provided at an inner side of the facing portion in the cap body portion, the entrance rib wall configured to enter the gap so as to surround the mechanical portion in the occlusion state, and the inlet abutment portion has a shape raising in a semi-cylindrical form extending from a circumferential surface of the entrance rib wall toward a circumferential side of the cap body portion.
5 . The charging inlet according to claim 1 , wherein the inlet body further comprises an edge rib wall that protrudes from the peripheral surface of the inlet body, outside of the penetration hole, along an edge of the occlusion area, and the inlet abutment portion comes into contact with a tip edge of the edge rib wall when the occlusion state is reached.
6 . The charging inlet according to claim 5 , wherein the inlet abutment portion has a shape raising in a semi-cylindrical form extending from a center side toward an outer circumferential side of the cap body portion in the facing portion with a direction intersecting with the tip edge of the edge rib wall as a longitudinal direction, in the occlusion state.
7 . A charging inlet, comprising: an inlet body comprising: a housing including an outer wall, the outer wall including a penetration hole; a connection mechanism configured to connect with a mating connector for charging, the connection mechanism being accommodated in the housing to be exposed from the penetration hole; an inlet cap configured to occlude an occlusion area forming at least part of the penetration hole in the housing to make the occlusion area to be openable and closable and to cover a mechanical portion of the connection mechanism that is positioned in the occlusion area during an occlusion state; and a connection portion configured to connect a portion of a circumferential edge of the inlet cap to the outer wall of the housing in a hinge-connection style; wherein the inlet cap comprises a plate-shaped cap body portion configured to face the occlusion area and a peripheral surface of the occlusion area on an external surface of the outer wall in the occlusion state; and an inlet abutment portion that is a projection provided in a facing portion of the cap body portion at a position separated from the connection portion, the facing portion configured to face the peripheral surface, wherein the inlet abutment portion comes into contact with the inlet body earlier than any other portion of the cap body portion when the cap body portion rotates to reach the occlusion state, wherein the inlet body further comprises an edge rib wall that protrudes from the peripheral surface of the inlet body along an edge of the occlusion area, wherein the inlet abutment portion comes into contact with a tip edge of the edge rib wall when the occlusion state is reached, and wherein the inlet abutment portion has a shape raising in a semi-cylindrical form extending from a center side toward an outer circumferential side of the cap body portion in the facing portion with a direction intersecting with the tip edge of the edge rib wall as a longitudinal direction, in the occlusion state.
8 . A charging inlet, comprising: an inlet body comprising: a housing including an outer wall, the outer wall including a penetration hole; a connection mechanism configured to connect with a mating connector for charging, the connection mechanism being accommodated in the housing to be exposed from the penetration hole; an inlet cap configured to occlude an occlusion area forming at least part of the penetration hole in the housing to make the occlusion area to be openable and closable and to cover a mechanical portion of the connection mechanism that is positioned in the occlusion area during an occlusion state; and a connection portion configured to connect a portion of a circumferential edge of the inlet cap to the outer wall of the housing in a hinge-connection style; wherein the inlet cap comprises a plate-shaped cap body portion configured to face the occlusion area and a peripheral surface of the occlusion area on an external surface of the outer wall in the occlusion state; and an inlet abutment portion that is a projection provided in a facing portion of the cap body portion at a position separated from the connection portion, the facing portion configured to face the peripheral surface, wherein the inlet abutment portion comes into contact with the inlet body earlier than any other portion of the cap body portion when the cap body portion rotates to reach the occlusion state, wherein the connection mechanism is accommodated in the housing in a state in which a gap is formed between an inner circumferential edge of the penetration hole and the mechanical portion, wherein an annular entrance rib wall is provided at an inner side of the facing portion in the cap body portion, the entrance rib wall configured to enter the gap so as to surround the mechanical portion in the occlusion state, and wherein the inlet abutment portion has a shape raising in a semi-cylindrical form extending from a circumferential surface of the entrance rib wall toward a circumferential side of the cap body portion.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a charging inlet including an inlet body and an inlet cap. BACKGROUND ART A charging inlet is used as a vehicle-side connector for charging a battery mounted on an Electric Vehicle (EV), a Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) or the like from an external energizer. As described in Patent Document 1, a charging inlet the mechanism having a plurality of terminals and corresponding to a charging standard for connecting with a charging-side connector. Also, this charging inlet is provided with an inlet body having a connection mechanism with a mating connector for charging and an inlet cap that is attached to the inlet body to be openable and closable, wherein the inlet cap covers the connection mechanism with the mating connector in an occlusion state. This inlet cap is in a closed state at a non-charge timing. CITATION LIST Patent Documents [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-99256A SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Technical Problem Here, when the inlet cap in the above-described charging inlet is to be closed, the inlet body abuts to the plate-shaped inlet cap so as to generate collision noise. At this time, in the charging inlet, an abutting surface between the inlet cap and the inlet body is wide such that the collision noise tends to be loud. It is possible that the collision noise being too loud leads to discomfort for the user. Accordingly, the present invention is made by focusing on the above-described technical problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a charging inlet capable of closing the inlet cap while suppressing the collision noise with the inlet body. Solution to Problem In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problem, a charging inlet is characterized by including an inlet body having a connection mechanism connecting with a mating connector for charging, the connection mechanism being accommodated in a housing to be exposed from a penetration hole provided on an outer wall of the housing; an inlet cap configured to occlude an occlusion area forming at least part of the penetration hole in the housing to make the occlusion area to be openable and closable and to cover a mechanical portion of the connection mechanism that is positioned in the occlusion area during an occlusion state; and a connection portion configured to connect a portion of a circumferential edge of the inlet cap to the outer wall of the housing in a hinge-connection style; wherein the inlet cap includes a plate-shaped cap body portion configured to face the occlusion area and a peripheral surface of the occlusion area on an external surface of the outer wall in the occlusion state; and an inlet abutment portion which is a projection locally provided at a position separating from the connection portion in a facing portion in the cap body portion hat faces the peripheral surface, wherein the inlet abutment portion comes into contact with the inlet body earlier than any other portion in the cap body portion when the cap body portion rotates to reach the occlusion state. Effect of the Invention According to the above-described charging inlet, it is possible to close the inlet cap while suppressing the collision noise with the inlet body. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exterior perspective view showing a charging inlet according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exterior perspective view showing an inlet body in the charging inlet shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a view showing a DC socket cap shown in FIG. 1 when viewed from an occlusion-surface-side facing a DC socket area. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view on a cross section taken along the V11-V11 line in FIG. 1 for showing the DC socket cap and the inlet body in an occlusion state. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a charging inlet will be described. FIG. 1 is an exterior perspective view showing a charging inlet according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exterior perspective view showing an inlet body in the charging inlet shown in FIG. 1. According to the present embodiment, a charging inlet 100 is formed in a Combined Charging System (CCS) Type-1 socket shape, however, the charging inlet 100 may be formed in a socket shape corresponding to other charging standard. The charging inlet 100 is a member used in the Electric Vehicle (EV), the Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) or the like for charging the battery mounted on the vehicle body from the external energizer. The charging inlet 100 includes an inlet body 110, a DC socket cap (inlet cap) 120, and a connection portion 130 of the DC socket cap 120. The inlet body 110 is a configuration in which a socket portion 111 as a connection mechanism with a mating connector for charging is accommodated in a housing 112 while being exposed from a penetration hole 112a provided on an outer wall of the housing 112. The housing 112 may be, for example, formed of an insulating resin. The socket portion 111 is formed in a shape corresponding to the charg