Electrical connection assembly

• US 8,636,527 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2011
• Issued: 01/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Staubli Electrical Connectors AG (Stäubli Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Multi-Holding Ag
• Inventors: Hengel, Christian, Chabirand, Michel, Tiberghien, Alain-Christophe, Guin, Philippe, Feron, Jrme
• Primary Examiner(s): Figueroa, Felix O
• Application Number:
  US13/154,514
• Publication Number:
  US 20110300738A1
• Time in Patent Office: 966 Days
• Field of Search: 439/34, 439/141, 439/374, 439/378, 439/380, 439/381, 439246-248, 439/379
• US Class Current: 439/141
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/16 Connectors, e.g. plugs or sockets, specially adapted for charging electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/38 specially adapted for charging by inductive energy transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/44 Means for preventing access to live contacts making use of a switch actuated by engagement of counterpart H01R13/7036
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/53 Bases or cases for heavy duty; Bases or cases for high voltage with means for preventing corona or arcing
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6315 allowing relative movement between coupling parts, e.g. floating connection for coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, H01R12/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2201/26 for vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 24/58 Contacts spaced along longitudinal axis of engagement
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0016 using shunting, discharge or bypass circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/35 with light sensitive cells
• 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

An electrical connection assembly includes a female element having at least one electrical contact and a male element to be inserted in the female element and which includes a plug and a sleeve that surrounds and is movable relative to the plug and at least one electrical contact is carried by the plug and is electrically engageable to the electrical contact of the female element. An external surface of the sleeve has at least two stages with diameters which are smaller in a direction toward a free end of the male element and the female element has a body with an internal surface having at least two stages with diameters which are larger in a direction toward a mouth of the female element and such that the at least two stages of the external and internal surfaces seat with one another when the male element is inserted into the female element.

Claims

1. An electrical connection assembly comprising, a female element which includes at least one electrical contact and a male element for inserting into the female element, the male element including a plug that extends along a longitudinal axis (A₄), a sleeve that surrounds the plug and that is movable relative to the plug, and at least one electrical contact that is carried by the plug and that is electrically engageable with the at least one electrical contact carried by the female element, an exterior connection surface of the at least one electrical contact of the male element being covered by the sleeve in a first axial position of the sleeve relative to the plug and uncovered in a second axial position of the sleeve relative to the plug, an external radial surface of the sleeve including at least two cylindrical stages each having a circular cross section and having diameters of which are smaller relative to one another in a direction toward a free end of the male element, and the female element including a body having an internal radial surface which includes at least two stages having diameters which are larger in a direction toward a mouth of the female element, and wherein external surfaces of the at least two stages of the sleeve are complementary to external surfaces of the at least two stages of the internal surface of the body of the female element, the at least two stages of the sleeve having respectively substantially the same diameters as the at least two stages of the body of the female element such that when the sleeve is fully inserted in the female element a stage of larger diameter of the male element is engaged in a stage of larger diameter of the female element and a stage of smaller diameter of the male element is engaged in a stage of smaller diameter of the female element.

2. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein the male element includes a connecting element for fixing, to a support, an element forming one end of the plug or the sleeve opposite the free end and in that the connecting element allows movement of the support relative to the plug or the sleeve in at least one direction intersecting the longitudinal axis (A₄) of the plug.

3. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 2, wherein the connecting element is an elastically deformable element.

4. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 2, wherein the connecting element is articulated to one of the plug or the sleeve.

5. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 2, wherein the connecting element is hollow to accommodate at least one electrical cable therein.

6. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 2, wherein the connecting element extends axially along the longitudinal axis (A₄) of the plug.

7. The electrical-connection assembly according to claim 2, wherein spring means are adapted to return the connecting element to an initial position in which the connecting element extends along the longitudinal axis (A₄) of the plug.

8. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein the male element includes spring means disposed axially between the sleeve and an end element of the plug to urge the sleeve axially toward the first position of the sleeve relative to the plug.

9. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein the male element includes at least two electrical contacts in a form of parallel annular conductive tracks disposed along the longitudinal axis (A₄).

10. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein at least one electrical contact of the male element is on an external radial surface of the plug.

11. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein the plug projects axially from the sleeve and constitutes the free end of the male element.

12. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein the female element includes a flap movable axially relative to the body of the female element between a first position in which the flap covers the at least one electrical contact of the female element and a second position in which the at least one electrical contact is uncovered by the flap.

13. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 12, wherein the flap has an axial side disposed on a same side as the mouth of the female element and that is made from a conductive material and in that one end of the plug at a same end as the free end of the male element includes a conductive part.

14. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 12, including at least one sensor that detects the mobile flap in the second position thereof and/or the sleeve in a configuration fully inserted inside the female element and in that a control unit is adapted to control the supply of electrical power to the at least one electrical contact as a function of an output signal of the at least one sensor.

15. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein, in the fully inserted configuration of the sleeve inside the female element, an axial length over which the stage of larger diameter of the sleeve and the stage of larger diameter of the body of the female element overlap is greater than an axial length over which the stage of smaller diameter of the sleeve and the stage of smaller diameter of the body of the female element overlap.

16. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein a first element of a pair of elements consisting of the male element and the female element is electrically connected to a battery and a second element of the pair of elements consisting of the female element and the male element is electrically connected to a source of electrical power that is one of a capacitor or an electrical distribution system.

17. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 1, wherein a first of the elements of a pair of elements consisting of the male element and the female element is mounted on a vehicle and a second element of the pair of elements consisting of the female element and the male element is mounted on a fixed charging station.

18. The electrical connection assembly according to claim 17, wherein the first of the elements that is mounted on the vehicle includes at least one additional electrical contact connected to a control unit of the vehicle.

19. The electrical connection assembly of claim 3 wherein the elastically deformable element is a spring.