Electrical connector with a flexible blade-shaped housing with a handle with an opening

• US 7,972,167 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2009
• Issued: 07/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Charge Peak Limited
• Original Assignee: Better Place GmbH
• Inventors: Harber, Chadwick John, Etgar, Inbal, Amit, Gad, Massucco, Mike
• Primary Examiner(s): Prasad; Chandrika
• Application Number:
  US12/559,462
• Publication Number:
  US 20110065305A1
• Time in Patent Office: 659 Days
• Field of Search: 439/456, 439/34, 439/138, 439/299, 439/492, 439/310, 320/109, 320/48
• US Class Current: 439/456
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2270/32 of electricity
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2270/34 of parts
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/40 using propulsion power supplied by capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/16 Connectors, e.g. plugs or sockets, specially adapted for charging electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/18 Cables specially adapted for charging electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 12/59 for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/5829 the clamping part being flexibly or hingedly connected to the housing
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/60 Means for supporting coupling part when not engaged
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6275 Latching arms not integral with the housing H01R13/6276, H01R13/6277, H01R13/6278 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 31/06 Intermediate parts for linking two coupling parts, e.g. adapter with a holder adapted for supporting apparatus to which its counterpart is attached H01R33/94
• 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 90/12 Electric charging stations
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/14 Plug-in electric vehicles

Abstract

The flexible electrical connector is designed to facilitate electrical connections between a power receiving device, such as an at least partially electric vehicle, and a power supplying device, such as an electric vehicle charging station. The flexible electrical connector has a blade shaped housing attached to a power cord that extends to the power supplying device. The blade shaped housing has a substantially rigid end portion with an electrical interface configured to detachably mate with a corresponding electrical interface on the power receiving device. The blade shaped housing also has a handle portion made of a substantially flexible material such which is configured to flex about the rigid end portion along an arc in a single plane. As such, the flexible handle can absorb impacts it receives rather than transferring them to the rigid and breakable electrical interface components.

Claims

1. A flexible electrical connector for supplying power to a receiving device, the flexible electrical connector comprising:

a blade-shaped housing having a first portion and an opposing second portion;

an electrical interface at the first portion of the housing, wherein the electrical interface is configured to detachably mate with a corresponding electrical interface on a receiving device;

a handle formed in the second portion, the handle defining an opening in the second portion that allows a user to slide his fingers through the opening; and

a power cord extending from the second portion of the housing, wherein the second portion of the housing is configured to flex about the first portion of the housing along an arc in a single plane.

2. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the blade-shaped housing is made of a resilient material.

3. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the receiving device is an at least partially electric vehicle and the single plane is parallel to a plane formed by a bottom surface of the at least partially electric vehicle.

4. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the blade-shaped housing cannot flex in an additional plane.

5. The flexible electrical connector of claim 4, wherein the additional plane is perpendicular to the single plane.

6. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the blade-shaped housing is further configured to at least partially twist about a line extending from the first portion to the second portion.

7. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the blade-shaped housing configured to flex along the arc at least plus and minus 35°

from a line extending from the first portion to the second portion when the flexible electrical connector is in a rest position.

8. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the blade-shaped housing configured to flex along the arc less than plus and minus 180°

from a line extending from the first portion to the second portion when the flexible electrical connector is in a rest position.

9. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the blade-shaped housing has a length, a height, and a width;

the length extending between a remote end of the first portion to a remote end of the second portion, wherein the length is substantially larger than the height which is substantially larger than the width.

10. The flexible electrical connector of claim 9, wherein the length is at least twice as long as the height and the height is at least twice as long as the width.

11. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the power cord is substantially flat.

12. The flexible electrical connector of claim 11, wherein the power cord is foldable with attachment mechanisms for attaching to itself, the attachments mechanisms selected from the group consisting of metal snaps, flexible snaps, magnets, clips, and hook and loop elements.

13. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the power cord includes high current power cables and low current data cables.

14. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the first portion further comprises a lock for fixing the flexible electrical connector to the receiving device.

15. The flexible electrical connector of claim 14, wherein the lock is configured to release when one or more of the following occur:

the receiving device is fully charged, a user remotely unlocks the receiving device using a wireless unlocking device, and the charging is cancelled.

16. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the blade-shaped housing has a length, a height, and a width;

wherein when attached to the receiving device the length extends from a remote end of the first portion to a remote end of the second portion along a first plane extending there through, the height extends parallel to a second plane extending from a top of the receiving device to a bottom of the receiving device, and the width extends parallel to a third plane orthogonal to said first and said second planes; and

wherein the second portion of the housing is configured to flex about the first portion of the housing along an arc in the first plane which is orthogonal to the second and the third planes.

17. The flexible electrical connector of claim 1, wherein the plane extends through both the electrical interface and the corresponding electrical interface on the receiving device.

18. A flexible electrical connector kit for supplying power to a receiving device, the flexible electrical connector kit comprising:

a first blade-shaped housing having a first portion and an opposing second portion;

an electrical interface at the first portion of the housing, wherein the electrical interface is configured to detachably mate with a corresponding electrical interface on a receiving device;

a handle formed in the second portion, the handle defining an opening in the second portion that allows a user to slide his fingers through the opening;

a power cord extending from the second portion of the housing, wherein the second portion of the housing is configured to flex about the first portion of the housing along an arc in a single plane; and

a second housing having a first portion and an opposing second portion;

an electrical interface at the first portion of the second housing, wherein the electrical interface is configured to detachably mate with a corresponding electrical interface on a power supply device; and

the power cord extending from the second portion of the second housing.

19. The flexible electrical connector kit of claim 18, wherein the first portion of the blade-shaped housing and the first portion of the second housing are made of a substantially rigid material.

20. The flexible electrical connector kit of claim 18, wherein the second portion of the blade-shaped housing defines a hole there through and the second portion of the second housing comprises a protruding element shaped to fit the hole in the blade-shaped housing such that the protruding element will remain at least partially frictionally restrained in the hole after the protruding element and the hole have been pressed together.

21. A flexible electrical connector for supplying power to a receiving device, the flexible electrical connector comprising:

a blade-shaped housing having a first portion and an opposing second portion;

the blade-shaped housing having a length, a height, and a width;

the length extending between a remote end of the first portion to a remote end of the second portion, wherein the length is larger than the height which is larger than the width;

a handle formed in the second portion, the handle defining an opening in the second portion that allows a user to slide his fingers through the opening;

an electrical interface at the first portion of the housing, wherein the electrical interface is configured to detachably mate with a corresponding electrical interface on an at least partially electric vehicle; and

a power cord extending from the second portion of the housing, wherein the second portion of the housing is configured to flex about the first portion.