ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A cable management system for an electric vehicle (EV) charging station, the system comprising:
- an upstanding enclosure having a cable opening though which an EV charging cable can be pulled for extension, the EV charging cable being provided at a free end thereof with an EV charging connector for connection with an EV charging socket of an EV, the EV charging cable being provided at an opposed fixed end thereof with an electric connector for connection with a mating connector mounted inside the enclosure, a fixed pulley mounted within the upstanding enclosure for rotation about a first axis normal to an upstanding axis of the enclosure, and a mobile pulley rotatable about a second axis parallel to the first axis and vertically translatable within a guiding structure mounted inside the upstanding enclosure for movement towards and away from the fixed pulley, the fixed pulley being mounted at a higher elevation than the mobile pulley, wherein the EV charging cable extends over the fixed pulley and the mobile pulley between its opposed free and fixed ends, wherein the mobile pulley is moveable against gravity from a lowered position to a raised position by the application of a sufficient pulling force at the free distal end of the EV charging cable, and wherein the mobile pulley returns at least partly under gravity to its lowered position upon release of the EV charging cable, thereby automatically retracting the cable inside the upstanding enclosure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A cable management system for an electric vehicle (EV) charging station comprises an upstanding enclosure having a cable opening though which an EV charging cable can be pulled for extension. The EV charging cable is provided at a free end thereof with an EV charging connector for connection with an EV charging socket of an EV. The EV charging cable is provided at an opposed fixed end thereof with an electric connector for connection with a mating connector mounted inside the enclosure. A fixed pulley is mounted within the upstanding enclosure for rotation about a first axis normal to an upstanding axis of the enclosure. The system further comprises a mobile pulley rotatable about a second axis parallel to the first axis. The mobile pulley is vertically translatable within a guiding structure mounted inside the upstanding enclosure for movement towards and away from the fixed pulley. The fixed pulley is mounted at a higher elevation than the mobile pulley. The EV charging cable extends over the fixed pulley and the mobile pulley between its opposed free and fixed ends. The mobile pulley is moveable against gravity from a lowered position to a raised position by the application of a sufficient pulling force at the free distal end of the EV charging cable. The mobile pulley returns at least partly under gravity to its lowered position upon release of the EV charging cable, thereby automatically retracting the cable inside the upstanding enclosure.
23 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A cable management system for an electric vehicle (EV) charging station, the system comprising:
- an upstanding enclosure having a cable opening though which an EV charging cable can be pulled for extension, the EV charging cable being provided at a free end thereof with an EV charging connector for connection with an EV charging socket of an EV, the EV charging cable being provided at an opposed fixed end thereof with an electric connector for connection with a mating connector mounted inside the enclosure, a fixed pulley mounted within the upstanding enclosure for rotation about a first axis normal to an upstanding axis of the enclosure, and a mobile pulley rotatable about a second axis parallel to the first axis and vertically translatable within a guiding structure mounted inside the upstanding enclosure for movement towards and away from the fixed pulley, the fixed pulley being mounted at a higher elevation than the mobile pulley, wherein the EV charging cable extends over the fixed pulley and the mobile pulley between its opposed free and fixed ends, wherein the mobile pulley is moveable against gravity from a lowered position to a raised position by the application of a sufficient pulling force at the free distal end of the EV charging cable, and wherein the mobile pulley returns at least partly under gravity to its lowered position upon release of the EV charging cable, thereby automatically retracting the cable inside the upstanding enclosure.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- 10. An electric vehicle (EV) charging station comprising an upstanding enclosure, an EV charging cable having an EV charging connector at a free end thereof for connection with an EV charging socket of an EV and an electric connector at an opposed fixed end of the EV charging cable connected to a mating electric connector provided within the upstanding enclosure, the EV charging cable being displaceable between a retracted position in which a major portion of a length of the EV charging cable is stored within the enclosure and an extended position in which a sufficient length of cable is withdrawn from the enclosure for allowing a user to connect the EV charging connector to the EV charging socket of his/her EV, the EV charging cable between its opposed free and fixed ends being looped around a fixed pulley mounted within an upper end portion of the upstanding enclosure and one mobile pulley reciprocable along an upstanding axis inside the enclosure, wherein upon a sufficient tensile force acting on the free end of the EV charging cable, the mobile pulley is translated upwardly against gravity towards the fixed pulley, thereby extending the length of the EV charging cable available on a cable free end side of the fixed pulley.
Specification