CN220492332U - Plug connector and other electrical connectors with emergency unlocking assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application discloses plug connectors and other electrical connectors with emergency unlocking assemblies. A plug connector according to the present patent application, comprising: a plug outer housing (100); and an emergency unlocking assembly (500) slidably mounted in a mounting groove (115) of the insulating wall of the plug outer housing, and a movable pin shaft (530) is mounted in the emergency unlocking assembly. Similarly configured emergency unlocking assemblies may be employed in other types of electrical connectors with locking devices and electronic lock modules.

Description

Plug connector and other electrical connectors with emergency unlocking assembly

Technical Field

The present application relates to a plug connector, and more particularly to a plug connector with an emergency release assembly.

Background

New energy vehicles, including electric vehicles EV and hybrid electric vehicles HEVs, are typically equipped with a charging outlet for receiving power delivered by a charging plug (often referred to as a charging gun). Typically, the power supply terminals in the charging plug are pin terminals, the power supply terminals in the charging receptacle are jack terminals, and when the charging plug and the charging receptacle are plugged in place, the housings of the two are locked, while the pin terminals and the jack terminals establish an electrical connection, and thus charging current from the power supply device (e.g., the charging post) can be charged into the vehicle.

Generally, an electronic lock device is arranged in the charging plug to ensure locking at a charging interface in the charging process and unlock the charging plug after the charging is finished. However, since the electronic lock is driven by electric power, the electronic lock may malfunction due to accidents such as power failure or poor contact, and the charging plug may be locked in the charging socket, resulting in inconvenience.

Many commercial charging plugs are already equipped with emergency unlocking devices, and the principle of the charging plug is that the emergency unlocking devices are used for pushing the lock tongue of the electronic lock. However, most of the existing emergency unlocking devices are plug-in unlocking tools, and unlocking operation is not convenient. For example, the charging gun solution described in chinese patent No. CN217468980U includes such a plug-in unlocking tool. The externally hung unlocking tool is easy to lose due to improper use and maintenance, so that the client cannot complete emergency unlocking, and complaints are generated.

Another charging gun is described in chinese patent application CN111478117a, which sets an unlocking piece in the gun body shell, and the rear end of the unlocking piece is provided with a slot, so that a vehicle key can be inserted, and the unlocking piece is pushed to move along the movable slot, so as to unlock the electromagnetic lock assembly in the gun body shell. However, this solution requires that the slot of the unlocking piece of the charging gun is able to receive the front end of the vehicle key, so it is difficult for the application scenario of the public charging post to make the charging gun compatible with various forms of vehicle keys.

Disclosure of Invention

To above-mentioned problem, this patent application provides an emergent unblock subassembly for charging plug, and this kind of emergent unblock subassembly has portable, prevents losing characteristics, and in some realization mode, further has the function of auto-lock and the characteristics of self-reset.

According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided a plug connector comprising: a plug outer housing; and an emergency unlocking assembly which is assembled into the mounting groove of the insulating wall of the plug outer shell and is provided with a movable pin shaft.

In the above-mentioned plug connector's scheme, as a further implementation manner, the plug connector still includes the electronic lock module of installing in the cavity of plug shell body, the electronic lock module includes the spring bolt that can switch between locking position and unblock position, emergent unblock subassembly the movable round pin axle can be moved between initial position and emergent unblock position, emergent unblock subassembly the movable round pin axle is moved to emergent unblock position can promote the spring bolt leaves the locking position.

In the above-mentioned plug connector, as a further implementation manner, the plug connector further includes a mechanical locking lever pivotally mounted in an opening extending in a front-rear direction of the plug outer housing so as to be rotatable about a pivot point.

In the above-mentioned plug connector's scheme, as a further implementation mode, the body of rod front end of mechanical locking lever is equipped with the latch hook, and body of rod rear portion is equipped with the locking dog, the locking dog can with the spring bolt cooperation of the locking position of electronic lock module, prevent the rotation of body of rod around the pivot point.

In the above-mentioned plug connector, as a further implementation manner, the emergency unlocking component includes a spring, and a spring cover that accommodates the spring, where the spring cover includes a mounting plate, and a pin shaft barrel extending laterally from the mounting plate to one side, and the spring is mounted in the pin shaft barrel.

In the above-mentioned plug connector, as a further implementation manner, the notch of the mounting groove is wedge-shaped, and the mounting plate has a shape matching with the wedge-shaped notch of the mounting groove.

In the above-mentioned plug connector, as a further implementation manner, a baffle is disposed at the top end of the barrel of the pin barrel, a pin outlet is disposed in the baffle, and the front end of the shaft body of the pin can extend from the pin outlet.

In the above-mentioned solution of the plug connector, as a further implementation manner, the rear end of the pin may be completely pushed into the cylinder body of the pin cylinder.

In the above-mentioned plug connector, as a further implementation manner, a pin hole is provided on the plug outer housing, and when the mounting plate is mounted in place in the mounting groove, the rear portion of the shaft body of the pin shaft can enter and exit the pin hole.

In the above-mentioned plug connector, as a further implementation manner, a flange is provided at the rear portion of the shaft body of the pin, and the flange of the pin is larger than the diameter of the pin hole, so as to be capable of abutting against the periphery of the pin hole.

In the above-mentioned plug connector, as a further implementation manner, an emergency unlocking mark area surrounding the pin shaft hole is provided on the plug outer housing.

In the above-mentioned solution of the plug connector, as a further implementation manner, the plug connector is a plug.

According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided an electrical connector comprising: a connector outer housing; the electronic lock module is arranged in the cavity of the connector outer shell, the electronic lock module comprises a lock tongue capable of being switched between a locking position and an unlocking position, the emergency unlocking component is arranged in an installation groove of the insulating wall of the connector outer shell, a movable pin roll is arranged in the emergency unlocking component, the pin roll can move between an initial position and an emergency unlocking position, and when the pin roll moves to the emergency unlocking position, the lock tongue of the electronic lock module can be pushed to leave the locking position.

In the above-mentioned electric connector, as a further implementation manner, the notch of the mounting groove is wedge-shaped, and the emergency unlocking component is provided with a wedge-shaped mounting plate which is matched with the wedge-shaped notch in shape.

In the above-mentioned scheme of the electric connector, as a further implementation manner, a pin hole is provided on the connector outer shell, and when the mounting plate is mounted in place in the mounting groove, the rear portion of the shaft body of the pin shaft can enter and exit the pin hole.

In the above-mentioned electric connector, as a further implementation manner, the electric connector further includes a mechanical locking lever, where the mechanical locking lever is pivotally mounted on the connector housing so as to rotate around a pivot point, and the front end of the mechanical locking lever is provided with a latch hook, and the rear end of the mechanical locking lever is provided with a locking stop, where the locking stop contacts with a latch tongue at a locking position, so as to prevent the mechanical locking lever from lifting the latch hook with a pivotal motion.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the utility model and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the utility model and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the utility model. In the accompanying drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic view of a plug outer housing and a mating emergency release assembly in a separated state according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the plug outer housing shown in fig. 1 with its emergency unlocking assembly assembled in place.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the plug outer housing shown in fig. 2 from another perspective.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial view of the plug outer housing shown in fig. 1 and a cross-sectional view of the emergency release assembly.

Fig. 5A and 5B are perspective views of a spring cover in an emergency unlocking assembly.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a pin in the emergency unlocking assembly.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a spring in the emergency release assembly.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a mechanical locking lever for use with the plug outer housing shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view showing the spatial positional relationship of the mechanical lock lever and the panic lock release assembly shown in fig. 8 when installed in place.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the plug housing shown in fig. 1 and an included electronic lock module.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the emergency unlocking module shown in FIG. 10 after being installed.

Detailed Description

In the following description, the present patent application is described with reference to various embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other alternative and/or additional methods, materials, or components. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of various embodiments of the present patent application. Similarly, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present patent application. However, the present patent application may be practiced without specific details. Furthermore, it should be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings are illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

The various embodiments and variations of the present application are further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a plug outer housing 100 and a mating emergency release assembly 500 in a separated state according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the plug outer housing 100 shown in fig. 1 with its emergency unlocking assembly 500 assembled in place. Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the plug housing body 100 shown in fig. 2 from another perspective. Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial view of the plug outer housing 100 shown in fig. 1 and a cross-sectional view of the emergency release assembly 500. Fig. 5A and 5B are perspective views of the spring cage 510 in the emergency unlocking assembly. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a pin 530 in the emergency unlocking assembly. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the spring 520 in the emergency release assembly. Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a mechanical locking lever 200 for use with the plug housing 100 shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view showing a spatial positional relationship of the mechanical lock lever 200 and the emergency release assembly 500 shown in fig. 8 when installed in place.

As shown in fig. 1, a plug housing 100 of a charging plug includes a front end opening 111 for coupling with a housing of a charging socket (not shown), and a rear end opening 112 for a cable to enter and exit, the direction of the front end opening 111 and the direction of the rear end opening 112 being at an angle to each other, and a grip 113 is further formed above the rear of the plug housing 100 for a user to hold.

With further reference to fig. 5, 6 and 9, above the plug housing 100, there is provided an opening 114 extending in the front-rear direction, in which opening 114 a substantially rod-shaped mechanical lock lever 200 can be fitted, and a middle portion of a lever body 220 of the mechanical lock lever 200 is pivotally connected to the plug housing 100 so as to be rotatable about a pivot point. It will be appreciated that a structure suitable for pivoting may be provided in the middle of the lever body 220 of the mechanical locking lever 200 and at a corresponding position of the plug outer housing 100. Such pivoting structure itself may be achieved by various means known in the art. For example, a pair of through holes are respectively formed in the left side wall 116L and the right side wall 116R of the plug housing 100, a pair of pivot protrusions are respectively formed in the middle of the rod 220, and each pivot protrusion is respectively provided with a through hole, so that the rod 220 can be pivotally mounted to the plug housing 100 by using a pivot shaft passing through the through holes in the side walls of the housing and the through holes in the rod.

As further shown in fig. 6, a latch hook 210 is provided at the front end of the lever 220, and a latch stopper 230 is provided at the rear of the lever. The shackle 210 is adapted to form a locking relationship with corresponding structure in a mating receptacle housing (not shown), and the locking stop 230 is adapted to cooperate with a locking tongue (sometimes referred to as a lock head) of an electronic lock (described below) to block pivoting of the lever 220 to raise the shackle 210, thereby maintaining the shackle 210 from unlocking the receptacle housing.

Also shown in fig. 1 is an emergency unlocking assembly 500 according to an embodiment of the present application, which includes a spring case 510, a spring 520, and a pin 530. The emergency release assembly 500 is adapted to be slip fit into a wedge groove 115 on one side wall (right side wall 116R in fig. 1) of the plug outer housing 100.

As further shown in fig. 4, the spring cage 510 includes a mounting plate 514 and a pin shaft 515 extending laterally to one side from the mounting plate 514. The mounting plate 514 may have a wedge-shaped configuration such that it may be pushed into the shape-mating wedge groove 115 on the plug outer housing 100 from top to bottom. The pin 530 of the emergency release assembly 500 includes a cylindrical shaft body 5301, and a ring of flanges 5302 is provided on the shaft body 5301. The barrel of the pin barrel 515 includes a bottom end 5140 connected to the mounting plate 514 and an opposite top end 5150. The top of the cylinder is provided with a baffle, the middle of the baffle is provided with a pin shaft outlet 5151, and the diameter of the pin shaft outlet 5151 is equal to or slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft body 5301 of the pin shaft 530. The bottom end of the barrel is provided with a pin mounting inlet 5141 penetrating the mounting base 514, the pin mounting inlet 5141 having an inner diameter equal to or slightly larger than the outer diameter of the flange 5301 of the pin 530. At the wedge groove 115 of the plug outer housing 110, there is provided a pin hole 114 penetrating the insulating wall of the housing, the diameter of the pin hole 114 being equal to or slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft 5301 of the pin 530 but smaller than the diameter of the shaft 5301 of the pin 530.

The spring 520 is sleeved on the shaft body 5301 of the pin 530, and is installed in the pin cylinder 515 together with the shaft body 5301, one end of the spring 520 abuts against a baffle at the top end of the pin cylinder 515, and the other end abuts against the flange 5302 of the pin 530. Referring to fig. 4, by pressing the shaft body 5301 of the pin 530 from the right side, the pin 530 can move leftward in the pin cylinder 515, so that the front end portion of the shaft body 5301 of the pin 530 passes through the pin outlet 5151, and the rear end portion of the shaft body 5301 of the pin 530 is completely pushed into the cylinder body of the pin cylinder 515. At the same time, the pressing action may accumulate elastic potential energy in the spring 520. When the emergency unlocking module 500 in this state is installed in the wedge groove 115, the pin installation inlet 5141 at the bottom end of the cylinder corresponds to the pin hole 114 on the plug outer case 110, so that the pressing of the shaft body 5301 of the pin 530 is released, the shaft body 5301 withdraws from the cylinder body of the pin cylinder 515 under the restoring force of the spring 520, and at this time, the rear end portion of the shaft body 5301 passes through the pin hole 114 to reach the outside of the plug outer case. When the shaft is retracted to the point where the flange 5302 abuts the outer housing 110, the shaft reaches the end of the retraction stroke due to interference from the flange 5302. Thus, self-locking in the assembly process is realized. The position at which the pin 530 is located may be referred to as an initial position.

Optionally, a visual emergency unlock prompt 1141 may be provided on the plug outer housing 100 to mark the location of the pin bore 114.

In actual use, the user can press the rear end portion of the shaft body 5301 exposing the pin shaft hole 114 according to the emergency unlocking prompt area 1141 on the housing, so that the front end portion of the shaft body 5301 of the pin 530 passes through the pin outlet 5151 to leave the cylinder, and the position where the pin 530 is located can be referred to as an emergency unlocking position. As described below, this displacement of the front end portion of the shaft 5301 constitutes an unlocking action, pushing the locking tongue of the electronic lock module out of its locked position. When the user's pressing is released, the restoring force of the spring 520 causes the shaft body 5301 to retreat to the initial position again, thereby achieving self-resetting during use.

Fig. 10 and 11 further illustrate the relative positioning and principle of the emergency unlocking assembly 500 and the electronic lock module 300. Wherein fig. 10 is a schematic view showing the plug housing 100 and the contained electronic lock module 300 shown in fig. 1, and fig. 11 is a schematic view after the emergency unlocking module 500 is installed on the basis of fig. 10.

As shown in fig. 10, the electronic lock module 300 is installed in the inner cavity of the plug outer housing 100, and as shown in fig. 11, its latch tongue 310 can be moved under the latch stop 230 of the lever 220 by electric actuation, thereby preventing the pivoting of the lever 220, which in turn makes the latch hook 210 of the lever front end 220 unable to lift up, but always maintain a locking engagement with the socket. At this time, if an emergency unlocking operation is required, the user may push the pin 530 in the emergency unlocking assembly 500, specifically, the rear end portion of the shaft body 5301 exposed outside the outer case 110, so that the shaft body 5301 moves leftwards in the pin barrel 515, and the front end portion of the shaft body 5301 passes through the pin outlet 5151, thereby pushing the locking tongue 310 out of its locking position. After the unlocking action is completed, the shaft body 5301 is reset under the action of the spring, and at this time, the downward movement of the locking stop block 230 of the rod body 220 is not interfered by the lock tongue 310, so that the unlocking between the plug and the charging socket can be successfully completed.

By the implementation manner, the present application achieves at least one of the following advantages: the emergency unlocking assembly 500 only comprises three parts, and the installation process does not need other tools or screws and the like to realize fixation, so that the assembly and disassembly of the emergency unlocking assembly are realized without damage and screws, the assembly is quick and convenient, and the cost is saved; the emergency unlocking assembly 500 is embedded in the plug housing 100, thereby preventing the unlocking tool from being lost in the terminal application scenario; because no additional external tool is needed for unlocking and the self-resetting is realized, the operation is convenient, the customer experience can be improved, the customer complaint rate can be reduced, and the material cost in man-hour can be reduced.

It will be appreciated that while in fig. 1, the emergency release assembly 500 is mounted to the right side wall 116R, in other implementations, the emergency release assembly 500 may be mounted to the left side wall 116L, or to other locations of the plug outer housing 100, so long as pushing the pin in that location may cause the deadbolt position of the electronic lock to be changed.

It will be appreciated that although in fig. 1, the emergency release assembly 500 is a sliding fit into the mounting slot 115, and thus does not require the use of fasteners such as screws for installation. In other implementations, however, the mounting strength of the emergency release assembly 500 may be further enhanced by fasteners such as locks.

It will be appreciated that the concepts disclosed herein, which extend around an emergency release assembly, may be applied to other electrical connectors containing an electronic lock in addition to a plug connector to emergency change the locking bolt position of the electronic lock.

In the context of this application, the words "a," "an," "the," and/or "the" are not specific to the singular, but may include the plural, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In general, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" merely indicate that the steps and elements are explicitly identified, and they do not constitute an exclusive list, as other steps or elements may be included in a method or apparatus.

This application uses specific words to describe embodiments of the application. Reference to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is associated with at least one embodiment of the present application. Thus, it should be emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various positions in this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, certain features, structures, or characteristics of one or more embodiments of the present application may be combined as suitable.

Meanwhile, what may appear throughout the text is meant by "and/or" and/or "includes three schemes, including a scheme, or B scheme, or a scheme where a and B meet simultaneously, for example.

Furthermore, descriptions such as those referred to as "first," "second," and the like, are provided for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implying an order of magnitude of the indicated technical features in the present disclosure. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, the technical solutions of the embodiments may be combined with each other, but it is necessary to base that the technical solutions can be realized by those skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory or cannot be realized, the combination of the technical solutions should be considered to be absent and not within the scope of protection claimed in the present utility model.

It should be further noted that all directional indicators (such as up, down, left, right, front, and rear … …) in the embodiments of the present utility model are merely used to explain the relative positional relationship, movement conditions, etc. between the components in a specific posture (as shown in the drawings), and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indicators are correspondingly changed.

While the basic concepts have been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing disclosure is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting. Although not explicitly described herein, various modifications, improvements, and adaptations of the present application may occur to one skilled in the art. Such modifications, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested within this application, and therefore, such modifications, improvements, and modifications are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims (16)

1. A plug connector, comprising:

a plug outer housing (100); and

an emergency unlocking assembly (500) is fitted into a mounting groove (115) of an insulating wall of the plug outer housing, and a movable pin shaft (530) is mounted in the emergency unlocking assembly.

2. The plug connector of claim 1, wherein,

the plug connector further includes an electronic lock module (300) mounted within the cavity of the plug outer housing (100), the electronic lock module including a locking tongue (310) switchable between a locked position and an unlocked position,

the movable pin (530) of the emergency unlocking assembly is movable between an initial position and an emergency unlocking position,

when the movable pin shaft of the emergency unlocking assembly moves to the emergency unlocking position, the lock tongue can be pushed to leave the locking position.

3. The plug connector of claim 2, further comprising a mechanical locking lever (200) pivotally mounted in an opening (117) extending in a front-rear direction of the plug outer housing so as to be rotatable about a pivot point.

4. A plug connector according to claim 3, wherein the front end of the lever body of the mechanical locking lever (200) is provided with a locking hook (210), and the rear end of the lever body is provided with a locking stop (230) which can cooperate with a locking tongue of the locking position of the electronic lock module to prevent rotation of the lever body about a pivot point.

5. The plug connector of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the emergency release assembly includes a spring (520) and a spring housing (510) that houses the spring, the spring housing (510) including a mounting plate (514), and a pin barrel (515) extending laterally from the mounting plate to one side, the spring being mounted in the pin barrel.

6. The plug connector of claim 5, wherein the slot opening of the mounting slot (115) is wedge-shaped and the mounting plate (514) has a shape that mates with the wedge-shaped slot opening of the mounting slot.

7. The plug connector of claim 5, wherein a baffle is provided at a top end of the barrel of the pin barrel, a pin outlet (5151) is provided in the baffle, and a front end of the shaft body (5301) of the pin is extendable from the pin outlet.

8. The plug connector of claim 5, wherein the rear end of the pin (530) is fully pushed into the barrel of the pin barrel (515).

9. The plug connector of claim 5, wherein a pin bore (114) is provided in the plug outer housing, the mounting plate (514) being accessible from the pin bore (114) at a rear portion of the shaft body (5301) of the pin when mounted in place in the mounting slot (115).

10. Plug connector according to claim 9, characterized in that a flange (5302) is provided at the rear of the shaft body of the pin, which flange is larger than the pin bore diameter so as to be able to rest against the periphery of the pin bore (114).

11. Plug connector according to claim 9, wherein the plug outer housing is provided with an emergency unlocking mark zone (1141) surrounding the pin bore.

12. The plug connector of claim 1, wherein the plug connector is a plug.

13. An electrical connector, comprising:

a connector outer housing;

an electronic lock module mounted within a cavity of the connector housing, the electronic lock module including a locking tongue switchable between a locked position and an unlocked position,

an emergency unlocking assembly mounted in a mounting groove of an insulating wall of the connector outer housing, and in which a movable pin is mounted, the pin being movable between an initial position and an emergency unlocking position,

when the pin shaft moves to the emergency unlocking position, the lock tongue of the electronic lock module can be pushed to leave the locking position.

14. The electrical connector of claim 13, wherein the slot of the mounting slot (115) is wedge-shaped, and the emergency unlocking assembly has a wedge mounting plate (514) that is shape-mated with the wedge slot.

15. The electrical connector of claim 14, wherein a pin bore (114) is provided in the connector housing, the mounting plate being accessible from the rear of the body of the pin when mounted in place in the mounting slot.

16. The electrical connector of claim 13, further comprising a mechanical locking lever pivotally mounted to the connector housing for rotation about a pivot point, the mechanical locking lever having a latch hook at a front end and a latch stop at a rear end, the latch stop (230) contacting a latch tongue in a latched position to prevent the mechanical locking lever from lifting the latch hook in a pivotal motion.