US-12627131-B2 - Cable inlet pass-through strain relief guide

US12627131B2US 12627131 B2US12627131 B2US 12627131B2US-12627131-B2

Abstract

A wire guide assembly includes a seal cover having a cover opening defined therethrough and a fixation element. A seal is fitted to the seal cover and defines a seal opening aligned with the cover opening in an axial direction of the assembly. A strain relief guide of the assembly is fitted to a side of the seal opposite the seal cover and defines a guide opening aligned with the seal opening and the cover opening in the axial direction.

Inventors

Matthew Bryan Hitchcock
Nathan Philip Myer
Ram Kishore Venkatesan
Troy Agner
Subodh Patil
Barakissa Gakou
Andrew Jacob Vasbinder

Assignees

TE CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220721

Claims (19)

1 . A wire guide assembly, comprising: a monolithic seal cover, including: at least one cover wire opening defined therethrough and sized to receive at least one wire; and a plurality of retaining protrusions extending in the axial direction; a strain relief guide defining at least one guide wire opening aligned with the at least one cover opening in an axial direction of the assembly and sized to receive the at least one wire; and a seal arranged between and separating the seal cover and the strain relief guide and defining at least one seal wire opening therethrough and a plurality of retaining openings, the at least one seal wire opening aligned with the at least one cover opening and at least one guide opening in the axial direction and sized to form a seal with the at least one wire inserted therethrough, the plurality of retaining openings receiving the retaining protrusions and fixing the seal to the seal cover, the seal cover defines a first face, the retaining protrusions extending from the first face in the axial direction and toward the strain relief guide, a first axially facing side of the seal opposingly abuts the first face of the seal cover and a second axially facing side of the seal opposite the first axially facing side of the seal opposingly abuts the strain relief guide.
2 . The wire guide assembly of claim 1 , wherein the strain relief guide includes a plurality of retaining protrusions received within the plurality of retaining openings of the seal and fixing the strain relief guide to the seal.
3 . The wire guide assembly of claim 1 , wherein the strain relief guide includes an alignment protrusion extending from an end thereof opposite the seal.
4 . The wire guide assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one seal wire opening comprises a diameter varying along the axial direction.
5 . The wire guide assembly of claim 4 , wherein the at least one seal wire opening defines a plurality of internal sealing ribs, each rib sized to form a seal with an outer insulation of a wire passing therethrough.
6 . The wire guide assembly of claim 5 , wherein the seal cover includes at least one guide post coaxially aligned with the at least one cover wire opening and extending into the at least one seal wire opening.
7 . The wire guide assembly of claim 6 , wherein the at least one guide post engages with a portion of the plurality of internal sealing ribs of a corresponding seal wire opening, the at least one guide post adapted to receive the at least one wire therethrough.
8 . The wire guide assembly of claim 1 , wherein the seal comprises a ribbed circumferential exterior sealing surface.
9 . The wire guide assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one seal wire opening is closed in the axial direction via flashing.
10 . The wire guide assembly of claim 1 , wherein the seal cover includes a latch adapted to engage with a corresponding catch of an electronics device housing.
11 . An electrical assembly, comprising: an electrical device having a body defining a wire opening; a wire guide assembly at least partially insertable into the wire opening of the electrical device and including: a cover selectively fixable to the body over the wire opening, and defining a wire opening sized to receive a wire; a guide arranged in the wire opening of the electrical device and having a wire opening a sized to receive the wire; and a seal arranged in the wire opening of the electrical device and positioned between and completely separating the cover and the guide, and defining a wire opening sized to receive the wire, the cover defines a first face, a first axially facing side of the seal opposingly abuts the first face of the cover and a second axially facing side of the seal opposite the first axially facing side of the seal opposingly abuts the guide.
12 . The electrical assembly of claim 11 , wherein the cover and the guide are fixedly attached to the seal.
13 . The electrical assembly of claim 11 , wherein the wire opening of the seal defines a plurality of internal sealing ribs each sized to form a seal with an outer insulation of the wire passing therethrough.
14 . The electrical assembly of claim 11 , wherein the seal cover includes a hollow guide post coaxially aligned with the wire opening of the cover and extending into the wire opening of the seal.
15 . A charging inlet for an electric vehicle, comprising: a body for housing at least one conductive terminal, the body including at least one inlet opening; a wire inserted through the inlet opening of the body; and a wire guide assembly receiving the wire and inserted through the inlet opening of the body, including: a seal cover removably attached to the at least one inlet opening and including a cover wire opening defined therethrough and receiving the wire; a strain relief guide defining a guide wire opening aligned with the cover opening and receiving the wire; and a seal arranged between and completely separating the seal cover and the strain relief guide and defining at a seal wire opening aligned with the cover opening and the guide opening in the axial direction, the seal opening receiving the wire and forming a seal therewith, the seal cover defines a first face, a first axially facing side of the seal opposingly abuts the first face of the seal cover and a second axially facing side of the seal opposite the first axially facing side of the seal opposingly abuts the strain relief guide.
16 . The charging inlet of claim 15 , wherein the seal wire opening defines a plurality of internal sealing ribs, each rib sized to form a seal with an outer insulation of the wire passing therethrough.
17 . The charging inlet of claim 15 , wherein the strain relief guide includes an alignment protrusion extending from an end thereof opposite the seal and engaging with the body for fixing the axial position of the wire guide assembly.
18 . The charging inlet of claim 15 , wherein the cover defines a hollow post extending from the cover opening in a direction of the seal, the post extending partially through the seal with the seal fitted to the cover.
19 . A wire guide assembly, comprising: a monolithic seal cover, including: at least one cover wire opening defined therethrough and sized to receive at least one wire; and at least one guide post coaxially aligned with the at least one cover wire opening and adapted to receive the at least one wire; a strain relief guide defining at least one guide wire opening aligned with the at least one cover opening in an axial direction of the assembly and sized to receive the at least one wire; and a seal arranged between and separating the seal cover and the strain relief guide and defining at least one seal wire opening therethrough, the at least one seal wire opening aligned with the at least one cover opening and at least one guide opening in the axial direction and sized to form a seal with the at least one wire inserted therethrough, the at least one guide post extending into and engaging with the at least one seal wire opening, the seal cover defines a first face, the at least one guide post extending from the first face in the axial direction and toward the strain relief guide, a first axially facing side of the seal opposingly abuts the first face of the seal cover and a second axially facing side of the seal opposite the first axially facing side of the seal opposingly abuts the strain relief guide.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure relates to electrical wire or cable handling systems, and more particularly, to a pass-through cable guide and cable seal. BACKGROUND In order to achieve reliable operation of electrical systems, it is often desired to seal associated electrical components from harsh operating environments. By way of non-limiting example, electric vehicles (EVs) are increasing in popularity as their practicality and usability improves. Such improvements in performance for both personal and commercial applications require ongoing optimization to extract maximum performance and reliability. One critical aspect of EV performance includes the ability to consistently charge the batteries of an EV as quickly as possible. In this way, it is desired to minimize any degradation in charging performance over the life of the vehicle. Charging performance can be negatively affected by any number of factors, including water, dirt and other debris contaminating and/or degrading the electrical terminals or contacts of a vehicle's charging inlet or socket housing. Accordingly, it is desired to prevent the ingress of contaminants into the inlet. Further, wire or cable routing in and around these devices is often space constrained. As a result, wiring paths implementing tight bends immediately before and/or after a cable enters an inlet housing may be required. According to the prior art, pass-through cable guides may be used to guide and seal a cable as it enters into a housing of an electronic device, such as a charging inlet of an EV. However, the presence of tight bends in the cable before and/or after entering the housing often results in stress or strain being applied to the cable. This may cause the cable to pull away from a sealing surface (e.g., glands or sidewalls) of a sealing element of the guide or deflect the guide from a sealing surface of the housing, thereby preventing its ability to provide an effective seal. Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods for preventing ingress of contaminants into an electrical device housing. SUMMARY In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a wire guide assembly includes a seal cover having at least one cover opening defined therethrough and at least one fixation element. A seal is fitted to a face of the seal cover and defines at least one seal opening aligned with the at least one cover opening in an axial direction. A strain relief guide of the assembly is sized to be fitted to a side of the seal opposite the seal cover and defines at least one guide opening aligned with the at least one seal opening and the at least one cover opening in the axial direction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a charging inlet assembly useful for describing embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 2A is an exploded view of a cable strain relief guide according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2B is another exploded view of the cable strain relief guide of FIG. 2A; FIG. 2C is a perspective view of the strain relief guide of FIGS. 2A and 2B in an assembled state; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the strain relief guide of FIG. 2C in an installed state on a charging inlet; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the strain relief guide of FIG. 3 with wires or cables installed therethrough; FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a strain relief guide according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the strain relief guide of FIG. 5 in an installed state on a charging inlet; and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a strain relief guide according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. In addition, 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. However, it is apparent that one or more embodiments may also be implemented without these specific details. Referring generally to FIG. 1, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in use with an exemplary charging inlet 10, such as that used for charging an electric vehicle. The inlet 10 includes a multi-component body or housing 12 adapted to receive a charging plug in an inlet socket 14 thereof. As understood by one of ordinary skill in the art,