Charge port covering assembly and covering method

• US 10,442,290 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2017
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Khafagy, Hafiz Shafeek, D'Annunzio, Julie, Salam, Mahmud, Guido, Maria
• Primary Examiner(s): Morrow, Jason S
• Application Number:
  US15/656,167
• Publication Number:
  US 20190023126A1
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: 296 9722
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 15/05 Inlet covers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2015/053 with hinged connection to the vehicle body
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2015/0569 with actuator fixed to the inlet cover
• CPC Class Codes: E06B 3/38 with a horizontal axis of rotation at the top or bottom of the opening E06B3/5036 takes precedence

Abstract

An exemplary charge port covering assembly includes, among other things, a biasing device configured to move to a first position when a charger is decoupled from a charge port, and to a second position when the charger is coupled to the charge port. A charge port door is moveable to a closed position when the biasing device is in the first position, and is held in an open position when the biasing device is in the second position. An exemplary charge port covering method includes, among other things, biasing a charge port door toward an open position with a biasing device in a first position, and moving the biasing device from the first position to a second position to close the charge port door.

Claims

1. A charge port covering assembly, comprising:

a first biasing device configured to move to a first position when a charger is decoupled from a charge port, and to a second position when the charger is coupled to the charge port;

a charge port door that is moveable to a closed position when the first biasing device is in the first position, the first biasing device in the second position holding the charge port door in the open position;

a slideable member configured to slide from a retracted position to an extended position to move the first biasing device from the first position to the second position;

an actuator configured to move between activated position and a deactivated position, the actuator including a first actuator member and a second actuator member, the actuator in the activated position configured to move the slideable member from the retracted position to the extended position, the actuator in the deactivated position configured to permit movement of the slideable member from the extended position to the retracted position,

wherein the second actuator member is moved when in the deactivated position to provide an open area for the first actuator member to fall downward and permit the slideable member to move to the retracted position; and

a second biasing device that biases the actuator toward the deactivated position.

2. The charge port covering assembly of claim 1, wherein the first biasing device is a spring.

3. The charge port covering assembly of claim 1, wherein the first biasing device is coupled to both the charge port door and the slideable member.

4. The charge port covering assembly of claim 3, wherein the slideable member is a pin.

5. A charge port covering method, comprising:

biasing a charge port door toward an open position with a first biasing device in a first position;

moving a slideable member to move the first biasing device from the first position to a second position to close the charge port door, wherein the first biasing device moves from the first position to the second position in response to a coupling of a charger to a charge port, wherein the first biasing device moves from the second position to the first position in response to a decoupling of the charger from the charge port;

coupling the charger to the charge port to move an actuator to an activated position, and decoupling the charger from the charge port to move the actuator to a deactivated position, wherein the actuator includes a first actuator member and a second actuator member, wherein the second actuator member is moved when in the deactivated position to provide an open area for the first actuator member to fall downward and permit the slideable member to move to the retracted position, wherein the moving of the actuator to the activated position moves the slideable member from the retracted position to the extended position, and the moving of the actuator to the deactivated position permits movement of the slideable member from the extended position to the retracted position; and

biasing the actuator toward the deactivated position using a second biasing device, wherein coupling the charger to the charge port overcomes a biasing force applied by the second biasing device, the biasing force applied by the second biasing device biasing the actuator toward the deactivated position.

6. The charge port covering method of claim 5, wherein the first biasing device is coupled to the slideable member and the charge port door.

7. The charge port covering method of claim 5, wherein the slideable member is configured to slide from the retracted position to the extended position to move the biasing device from the first position to the second position.

8. The charge port covering method of claim 7, further comprising applying the biasing using a spring.

9. A charge port covering assembly, comprising:

a first biasing device configured to move to a first position when a charger is decoupled from a charge port, and to a second position when the charger is coupled to the charge port;

a charge port door that is moveable to a closed position when the biasing device is in the first position, the biasing device in the second position holding the charge port door in the open position;

a slideable member configured to slide from a retracted position to an extended position to move the first biasing device from the first position to the second position;

an actuator configured to move from a deactivated position to an activated position to move the slideable member from the retracted position to the extended position, the actuator further configured to move from the activated position to the deactivated position to permit movement of the slideable member from the extended position to the retracted position, wherein the actuator includes first actuator member and a second actuator member, the second actuator member moved when in the deactivated position to provide an open area for the first actuator member to fall downward and permit the slideable member to move to the retracted position; and

a second biasing device that biases the actuator toward the deactivated position.