Charge head landing switch

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9809122-B2
Application number	US-201514980697-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2015
Priority date	Dec 28, 2015
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

A charging station for charging an electric vehicle may include a charge head movably attached to a charge head assembly and at least one head landing switch including a lever and a contact element. A first end of the lever may be rotatably coupled to the charge head and an opposite second end of the lever may be rotatably coupled to the contact element. At least a bottom surface of the contact element may be positioned below the bottom surface of the charge head such that the contact element can contact the roof of the electric vehicle before the bottom surface of the charge head can contact the roof. And, a width of the contact element may be greater than a width of the seam on the charging interface.

First claim

We claim:

1. A charging station for charging an electric vehicle, the electric vehicle including a charging interface on its roof, the charging interface including a landing zone with a seam extending along a direction of vehicle movement, comprising:
a charge head assembly arranged to overhang the roof of the electric vehicle;
a charge head movably attached to the charge head assembly, the charge head being configured to descend from the charge head assembly such that a bottom surface of the charge head contacts the landing zone of the charging interface on the roof of the electric vehicle; and
at least one head landing switch including a lever and a contact element, wherein a first end of the lever is rotatably coupled to a rotary switch on the charge head at a pivot point, and an opposite second end of the lever extends below the bottom surface of the charge head and is rotatably coupled to the contact element, wherein, when the charge head descends, the contact element contacts the landing zone before the bottom surface of the charge head contacts the landing zone, and causes the lever to rotate about the pivot point to move the contact element towards the bottom surface of the charge head and activate the rotary switch, and wherein a width of the contact element is greater than the width of the seam on the landing zone, and the contact element is configured to roll or slide on the landing zone across the seam.

2. The charging station of claim 1 , wherein the contact element is a cylindrical wheel configured to rotate about the lever about a first axis and the lever is configured to rotate about the pivot point about a second axis substantially parallel to the first axis.

3. The charging station of claim 2 , wherein the bottom surface of the charge head includes a pocket configured to receive the contact element therein, and wherein the lever is configured to rotate about the second axis to position the contact element in the pocket when the charge head contacts the landing zone of the electric vehicle.

4. The charging station of claim 2 , wherein the width of the contact element is between about 15-50 mm (0.59-1.96 inches).

5. The charging station of claim 2 , wherein a width of the contact element is between 25-30 mm (0.98-1.18 inches) and a diameter of the contact element 144 is between about 17-20 mm (0.67-0.79 inches).

6. The charging station of claim 2 , wherein the contact element includes one of a polymer or a metal.

7. The charging station of claim 2 , wherein the contact element extends from a first end to a second end, wherein the first end is attached to the lever and the second end includes a chamfer.

8. The charging station of claim 1 , wherein the lever of the head landing switch makes an angle of about 20-70 degrees with an axis normal to the bottom surface of the charge head.

9. The charging station of claim 1 , wherein the charge head includes cavity that extends along a longitudinal axis of the charge head, the cavity being configured to receive electrodes of the electric vehicle therein, and wherein the at least one head landing switch includes two head landing switches symmetrically positioned about the longitudinal axis on opposite sides of the cavity.

10. A charging station for charging an electric vehicle, the electric vehicle including a charging interface on its roof, the charging interface including a landing zone with a seam extending along a direction of vehicle movement, comprising:
a charge head configured to provide charge to the electric vehicle, the charge head including a cavity that extends along a longitudinal axis of the charge head from one end of the charge head to an opposite end of the charge head, the charge head being configured to descend and land on the landing zone of the charging interface such that a bottom surface of the charge head contacts the landing zone; and
multiple head landing switches attached to the charge head and positioned symmetrically about the longitudinal axis on opposite sides of the cavity, each head landing switch of the multiple head landing switches including a lever and a substantially cylindrical contact element, wherein a first end of the lever is rotatably coupled to a rotary switch on the charge head at a pivot point, and an opposite second end of the lever extends below the bottom surface of charge head and is attached to the contact element, wherein, when the charge head descends, the contact element contacts the landing zone before the bottom surface of the charge head contacts the landing zone, and causes the lever to rotate about the pivot point to move the contact element towards the bottom surface of the charge head and activate the rotary switch, and wherein a width of the contact element is greater than the width of the seam on the landing zone, and the contact element is configured to roll or slide on the landing zone across the seam.

11. The charging station of claim 10 , wherein the bottom surface of the charge head includes a pocket configured to receive the contact element therein, and wherein the lever is configured to rotate about the pivot point to position the contact element in the pocket when the charge head contacts the landing zone of the electric vehicle.

12. The charging station of claim 10 , wherein the width of the contact element is between about 15-50 mm (0.59-1.96 inches).

13. The charging station of claim 10 , wherein the width of the contact element is between 25-30 mm (0.98-1.18 inches) and a diameter of the contact element 144 is between about 17-20 mm (0.67-0.79 inches).

14. The charging station of claim 10 , wherein the contact element includes one or a polymer or a metal.

15. The charging station of claim 10 , wherein the contact element extends from a first end to a second end, wherein the first end is attached to the lever and the second end includes a chamfer.

16. The charging station of claim 10 , wherein the lever of the head landing switch makes an angle of about 20-70 degrees with an axis normal to the bottom surface of the charge head.

17. An electric vehicle charging system, comprising:
an electric vehicle with a charging interface on a roof of the vehicle, the charging interface including:
a landing zone with multiple doors configured to be opened and closed;
a seam formed between the multiple doors; and
a plurality of electrodes; and

a charge head assembly configured to provide charge to the electric vehicle, the charge head assembly being arranged to overhang the roof of an electric vehicle, the charge head assembly including:
a charge head movably attached to the charge head assembly, the charge head being configured to descend from the charge head assembly such that a bottom surface of the charge head contacts the landing zone on the roof of the electric vehicle; and
at least one head landing switch attached to the charge head, the at least one head landing switch including a lever and a cylindrical contact element, wherein a first end of the lever is rotatably coupled to a rotary switch on the charge head at a pivot point, and an opposite second end of the lever extends below the bottom surface of charge head and is rotatably coupled to the contact element, wherein, when the charge head descends, the contact element contacts the landing zone before the bottom surface of the charge head contacts the landing zone, and causes the lever to rotate about the pivot point to move the contact element towards the bottom surface of the charge head and activate the rotary switch, and wherein a width of the contact element is greater than the width of the seam o

Assignees

• Proterra Inc

Inventors

• Mcgrath Seamus T
• Watts Ryan P

Classifications

• B60L2200/18

  Buses · CPC title

• B60L53/36

  by positioning the vehicle · CPC title

• B60L53/16

  Connectors, e.g. plugs or sockets, specially adapted for charging electric vehicles · CPC title

• H02J2105/37

  exchanging power with electric vehicles [EV] or with hybrid electric vehicles [HEV] · CPC title

• H02J7/751

  concerning the insertion or the connection of the batteries · CPC title