Door assembly for charging port of electric vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9662990-B2
Application number	US-201414570863-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2014
Priority date	Jun 25, 2014
Publication date	May 30, 2017
Grant date	May 30, 2017

Abstract

A door assembly for a charging port for an electric vehicle may include a link assembly mounted to a back of a charging port door to perform a swing operation, in which the door is mounted in a structure capable of being kept at a minimum distance between the door and a vehicle body when the door is open according to the swing operation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A door assembly for a charging port for an electric vehicle including:
a link assembly mounted to a back of a charging port door, wherein the charging port door is open according to a swing operation of the charging port door,
wherein a separate rail plate is fixedly mounted to the back of the charging port door, and the link assembly is both pivotally and slidably mounted to the separate rail plate to perform the swing operation of the charging port door with respect to the link assembly and to perform a sliding operation of the charging port door along the separate rail plate, and
wherein the link assembly includes:
a first link and a second link which are pivotally mounted to the separate rail plate through hinge pins; and
a third link, an outer end of which is hinged to the second link, and an inner end of which is engaged within a rail mounted on an end portion of an inner surface of the charging port door.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein
the first link includes an outer end of which is mounted to a first end portion of the inner surface of the charging port door to be swingable through a first hinge pin of the hinge ins, and an inner end of which is hinged to a vehicle body; and
the second link includes an outer end of which is mounted to an intermediate portion of the inner surface of the charging port door to be swingable through a second hinge pin of the hinge pins, and an inner end of which is hinged to the vehicle body,
wherein the link assembly further includes an elastic member attached between the first link and the charging port door to exert an elastic restoring force toward an opening direction of the charging port door.

3. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein, at the outer end of the first link, an angle limitation end adapted to be supported in close contact with a back of the rail plate during opening of the charging port door to limit a door opening angle is formed to be bent.

4. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein, at a position apart from the outer end toward the inner end of the second link at a predetermined distance, a third hinge pin of the hinge pins, to which the third link is hinged, is mounted.

5. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the elastic member is adopted as a coil spring, a first end of which is fixed to the first link, and a second end of which is inserted and fastened to the first hinge pin, while being fixed to the rail plate.

6. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the separate rail plate is fixedly mounted to the back of the charging port door, and the link assembly is mounted to the rail plate to perform the swing operation and the sliding operation.

7. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein an outer end of the first link of the link assembly is mounted to a first end portion of the separate rail plate via a first hinge pin of the hinge pins so as to perform the swing operation,
an outer end of the second link of the link assembly is mounted to an intermediate portion of the separate rail plate via a second hinge pin of the hinge pins so as to perform the swing operation,
the inner end of the third link of the link assembly is fastened to a second end portion of the rail plate so as to perform the slide operation within a rail of the separate rail plate, and
an elastic member adapted to apply an elastic restoring force toward an opening direction side of the charging port door is attached between the first link and the rail plate.

8. A door assembly for a charging port for an electric vehicle including:
a link assembly mounted to a back of a charging port door, wherein the charging port door is open according to a swing operation of the charging port door,
wherein a separate rail plate is fixedly mounted to the back of the charging port door, and the link assembly is both pivotally and slidably mounted to the separate rail plate to perform the swing operation of the charging port door with respect to the link assembly and to perform a sliding operation of the charging port door along the separate rail plate, and
wherein the link assembly includes:
a sliding plate slidably fastened to the separate rail plate; and
a first link and a second link which are hinged to the sliding plate to be swingable.

9. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein at an outer end of the second link, an angle limitation end adapted to be supported in close contact with a back of the sliding plate during opening of the charging port door to limit a door opening angle is formed to be bent.

10. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the rail plate is integrally formed with a rail guide to protrude therefrom, and the sliding plate is formed with a rail groove into which the rail guide is slidably inserted.

11. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein an elastic member is a roll spring, a first end portion of the elastic member being fixed to the rail plate, and a second end portion thereof being fixed to the sliding plate.

12. The assembly of claim 8 ,
wherein the first link includes an outer end of which is hinged to a first end portion of the sliding plate to be swingable, and an inner end of which is hinged to a vehicle body;
wherein the second link includes an outer end of which is hinged to an intermediate portion of the sliding plate to be swingable, and an inner end of which is hinged to the vehicle body; and
wherein the link assembly further includes an elastic member attached between the separate rail plate and the sliding plate to exert an elastic restoring force toward an opening direction of the charging port door.

13. A door assembly for a charging port for an electric vehicle including a link assembly mounted to a back of a charging port door,
wherein the charging port door is open according to a swing operation of the charging port door,
wherein a separate rail plate is fixedly mounted to the back of the charging port door, and the link assembly is both pivotally and slidably mounted to the separate rail plate to perform the swing operation of the charging port door with respect to the link assembly and to perform a sliding operation of the charging port door along the separate rail plate, and
wherein the link assembly includes:
a first link, an outer end of which is mounted to a first end portion of an inner surface of the charging port door to be swingable through a first hinge pin, and an inner end of which is hinged to a vehicle body;
a second link, an outer end of which is mounted to an intermediate portion of the inner surface of the charging port door to be swingable through a second hinge pin, and an inner end of which is hinged to the vehicle body;
a third link, an outer end of which is hinged to the second link, and an inner end of which is engaged within a rail mounted on a second end portion of the inner surface of the charging port door; and
an elastic member that is attached between the first link and the charging port door to exert an elastic restoring force toward an opening direction of the charging port door.

Assignees

• Kia Motors Corp
• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Cams Co Ltd

Inventors

• Jeong Yong Won
• Shin Yong Suk
• Cho Young Ik
• Jeong Hwan

Classifications

• B60L11/1818 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60K15/05

  Inlet covers · CPC title

• B60K2015/0523

  with sliding connection to the vehicle body · CPC title

• B60K1/00 Primary

  Arrangement or mounting of electrical propulsion units (B60K7/00 takes precedence; arrangement or mounting of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion B60K6/00) · CPC title

• B60K2015/053

  with hinged connection to the vehicle body · CPC title