PLUG CONNECTOR PART HAVING A TEMPERATURE SENSOR DEVICE

• US 20170237205A1
• Filed: 07/09/2015
• Published: 08/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Phoenix Contact E-Mobility Gmbh (Phoenix Contact GmbH & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: Phoenix Contact E-Mobility Gmbh (Phoenix Contact GmbH & Company KG)
• Inventors: FUEHRER, Thomas, ROSE, Markus, FINKEN, Bodo
• Granted Patent: US 10,439,336 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/36 Temperature of vehicle components or parts
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/529 Current
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0023 Detecting, eliminating, remedying or compensating for drive train abnormalities, e.g. failures within the drive train
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/04 Cutting off the power supply under fault conditions protective devices and circuit arrangements in general H01H; H02H
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/16 Connectors, e.g. plugs or sockets, specially adapted for charging electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/16 Special arrangements for conducting heat from the object to the sensitive element
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6683 with built-in sensor
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/70 Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/7072 Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

A plug connector part for connection to a mating plug connector part includes: at least one electrical contact element for carrying an electrical current and establishing electrical contact with at least one other contact element of a mating plug connector part; and a temperature sensor device for recording an increase in temperature of the plug connector part, the temperature sensor device including at least one sensor element, which is designed to detect infrared radiation emitted by the at least one electrical contact element.

Claims

1. A plug connector part for connection to a mating plug connector part, comprising:

at least one electrical contact element configured to carry an electrical current and to establish electrical contact with at least one other contact element of a mating plug connector part; and

a temperature sensor device configured to record an increase in temperature of the plug connector part, the temperature sensor device comprising at least one sensor element configured to detect infrared radiation emitted by the at least one electrical contact element.

3. The plug connector part according to claim 1, wherein the plug connector part comprises a plurality of contact elements.

4. The plug connector part according to claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor device comprises plurality of sensor elements, each sensor element being associated with an electrical contact element to detect infrared radiation emitted by the associated contact element.

5. The plug connector part according to claim 4, wherein the sensor elements are arranged on a printed circuit board of the temperature sensor device.

6. The plug connector part according to claim 5, wherein the sensor elements are arranged on the printed circuit board so as to be offset from one another.

7. The pine connector part according to claim 5, wherein at least one sensor element is arranged on a first side of the printed circuit board and at least one other sensor element is arranged on a second side of the printed circuit board that faces away from the first side.

8. The plug connector part according to claim 5, wherein an electronics device configured to process sensor signals generated by the sensor elements is arranged on the printed circuit board.

9. The plug connector part according to claim 5, wherein the printed circuit board extends in a shape, of a plate along an extension plane, which is spanned by an insertion direction in which the at least one contact element is configured to be brought into plugged engagement with thy;

at least one other contact element, and a transverse direction.

10. The plug connector part according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor element is spatially spaced apart from the at least one contact element such that the at least one sensor element is configured to receive infrared radiation emitted by the at least one contact element via an air interface.

11. The plug connector part according to claim 1, wherein a conducting element configured to conduct infrared radiation from the at least one contact element to the at least one sensor element is arranged between the at least one sensor element and the at least one contact element.

12. The plug connector part according to claim 11, wherein the conducting element comprises an inner space, into which a plurality of contact elements of the plug connector part extend, the conducting element being designed configured to conduct infrared radiation emitted by the at least one contact elements to the at least one sensor element.

13. The plug connector part according to claim 12, wherein the conducting element comprises an inner wall which delimits the inner space and is configured to reflect infrared radiation.

14. The plug connector part according to claim 13, wherein the inner wall comprises a reflective coating.

2. The plug connector part according to claim I, wherein the at least one sensor element is configured to detect infrared radiation in a wavelength range of between 0.7 μ

m and 1000 μ

m.

20. The plug connector part according to claim 2, wherein the at least one sensor element is configured to detect infrared radiation in a wavelength range of between 1 grin and 100 μ

m.

15. A plug connector part for connection to a mating plug connector part, comprising:

a plurality of electrical contact elements for configured to carry an electrical current and to establish electrical contact with other contact elements of a mating plug connector part; and

a temperature sensor device configured to record a rise in temperature of the plug connector part, the temperature sensor device comprising, a plurality of sensor elements and a printed circuit board on which the plurality of sensor elements are arranged, each of the sensor elements being associated with one of the contact elements order to detect an increase in temperature of the associated contact element.

16. The plug connector part according to claim 15, wherein the sensor elements are configured to 5detect infrared radiation emitted by the contact elements.

17. The plug connector part according to claim 16, wherein a conducting element configured to conduct infrared radiation to the sensor element is arranged between each sensor element and the associated contact element.

18. The plug connector part according to claim 15, wherein the sensor elements comprise temperature sensors configured to record a change in temperature of the contact elements.

19. The plug connector part according to claim 18, wherein a conducting element configured to conduct heat is arranged between each sensor element and the associated contact element.