Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Limited

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toshiyuki Matsuda

Toshifumi Ichio

Tooru Shimizu

Eiji Kitano

Hironobu Hashimoto

Kenya Takahashi

Daisuke Ito

Masahiro Karasawa

Ryota Sakai

It is aimed to provide a charging inlet easily mountable on a body of a vehicle. A charging inlet is fixed to a vehicle body () and includes a housing main body () having a plurality of terminals accommodated inside, a mounting plate provided on an outer peripheral surface of the housing main body and arranged on an inner surface side of the vehicle body (), bolts () inserted into first through holes formed in the mounting plate and second through holes formed in the vehicle body (), and nuts () provided on an outer surface side of the vehicle body () and threadably engaged with the bolts ().

Charging inlet

A charging inletdescribed in this specification includes a cable lock mount portionfor mounting a cable lock. The cable lock mount portionincludes: locking wallsincluding locking holesA,B for insertion of a cable lock pin; a pin lockto be locked on the cable lock pinfor retaining the cable lock pin; and a displacement restricting portion (support walls) for restricting displacement of the cable lock pin when the cable lock pinis displaced in a direction toward the pin lock. The displacement restricting portion restricts the displacement of the cable lock pinby abutting on the cable lock pinin a position at which the cable lock pindoes not contact the pin lock

A vehicle-side connector () is to be connected to a battery in a vehicle. The vehicle-side connector () includes a housing main body () fixed to a body of the vehicle, and a sub-housing () fit to the housing main body () from an inner side of the vehicle. A seal () is sandwiched between the housing main body () and the sub-housing () to cut off the interior of the vehicle from water. A water guide () is formed by a clearance (S) between the housing main body () and the sub-housing () and is outside a water cut-off area defined by the seal (). A water drain () opens down from the water guide () in the housing main body () and is configured to drain water to an outer side of the vehicle.

Vehicle-side connector

A vehicle-side connector () to be connected to a charging connector () to charge a battery mounted in a vehicle includes a housing () provided in the vehicle such that the charging connector () is fittable thereinto from front, terminal fittings () respectively connected to a plurality of wires (P,S) drawn out from the interior of the vehicle including the battery, a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers () provided in the housing () and configured such that the respective terminal fittings () are accommodated thereinto by being inserted from behind, and a retainer () assemblable with a rear surface of the housing () to lock and retain each terminal fitting (). A wire holding portion () capable of bundling and holding the respective wires (P,S) arranged on a rear surface side of the retainer () by a tying member (T) is formed to project from the retainer ().

A vehicle-side connector () is connected to a battery mounted in a vehicle and is configured so that a charging connector () connected to a charger is connectable thereto from the front. The vehicle-side connector () includes a forwardly open lock fitting () configured so that a tip part of a lock arm () in the charging connector () is fit therein from the front. A locked portion () in the lock fitting () is formed by mounting a metal lock plate (B) on a base (A). The lock plate (B) is made of metal and is configured so that the tip part of the lock arm () is to be locked thereto. A mounting hole (C) for mounting the lock plate (B) from behind is formed on a back wall (B) of the lock fitting () and a cover () is provided to close the mounting hole (C).

A vehicle-side connector (C) to which a charging connector is to be connected includes a housing () capable of accommodating vehicle-side terminal fittings () fixed to ends of wires () drawn out from a battery in a vehicle. A connector fitting portion () is provided in a front part of the housing (), and the charging connector can fit therein so that terminal connecting portions () of the vehicle-side terminal fittings () are electrically connectable to the charging connector. A terminal accommodating portion () is provided in a rear part of the housing () and is capable of accommodating parts of the vehicle-side terminal fittings () behind the terminal connecting portions (), The terminal accommodating portion () is formed with a first draw-out opening () through which the wires () can be drawn backward and a second draw-out opening () through which the wires () can be drawn out laterally.

Vehicle-side connector having a housing with wire draw-out openings in different directions

A vehicle-side connector () is provided for connection to a battery of a vehicle. The vehicle-side connector includes a housing main body () for mating with a charging connector () that is connected to a charger. An indication device () with LED indicators () is mounted into the housing main body () and insulated wires () are drawn out from the LED indicators (). Wire holders () are provided in the indication device () and hold the insulated wires () against a pulling force when the insulated wires () are pulled. The housing main body () includes mounting portions () to be mounted to a body of the vehicle and partition walls (D) are formed between the wire holders () and the mounting portions ().

Growing community of inventors

Yokkaichi, Japan

Toshiyuki Matsuda