DE102013016550A1 - Electrical coupling unit and sensor module configured for this purpose - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical coupling unit (2) for an electrical plug connection (8), in particular a charging plug for an electric vehicle, comprising a plug connector (4) with at least two contact elements (10) and a sensor module (22), wherein the sensor module (22) a support plate (26) and at least one sensor (28) mounted thereon for monitoring the electrical connector (8) and further comprises a on the support plate (26) mounted communication unit (30) for transmitting information obtained in the context of monitoring.

Description

The invention relates to an electrical coupling unit for an electrical plug connection, in particular a charging plug or a charging cable for an electric vehicle, comprising a connector with at least two contact elements. It further relates to a sensor module for a corresponding coupling unit.

For the required coupling of an electric vehicle to an electrical supply network, in particular a household supply network, a charging cable is generally provided, by means of which an electrical plug connection between the supply network and the electric vehicle can be produced, so that its accumulator can be charged via the supply network.

In most cases, either the electric vehicle is equipped with a permanently installed charging cable or the charging cable is part of a charging station connected to the supply network.

The international standard IEC 62196 With reference to further standards, specifications are specified for various connector types and charging modes. Mode 1 charging mode is intended for a slow charging of household sockets. Plug types include ordinary household plugs, in Germany, for example Schuko plug into consideration. The mode 2 charging mode is designed for a current up to 32 amps and requires a pilot contact in the plug. The Mode 3 and Mode 4 charging modes are designed for fast charging with higher currents and require special monitoring measures.

In such charging cable partially Kontrolboxen ("in cable control box") are integrated, which among other things establish a communication with the charger in the vehicle.

For safety reasons, a temperature monitoring is often provided in order to reduce or switch off the charging current in the event of an undesirably high temperature in the mains connection plug.

Unfavorable here is that such trained power connector, so power connector with integrated temperature sensor, are not provided in the associated standards and therefore not available as standard elements. Instead, appropriately designed power connectors are manufactured as custom-made in small quantities by only a few manufacturers and also special releases for the consumer market are required for such power connector so that appropriately designed power connector required relatively high costs.

Based on this, the present invention seeks to provide an advantageous electrical coupling unit for an electrical connector.

This object is achieved by an electrical coupling unit with the features of claim 1 and by a sensor module for a corresponding electrical coupling unit with the features of claim 11. Preferred developments are contained in the dependent claims. The advantages and preferred embodiments cited with regard to the electrical coupling unit are analogously applicable to the sensor module and vice versa.

By means of an electric coupling unit presented here, an electrical connector can be produced, wherein the coupling unit is preferably designed to couple an electric vehicle for charging a battery in the electric vehicle to a supply network, so for example to a charging socket of a supply station or charging station or a household socket.

For this purpose, the electrical coupling unit comprises a connector having at least two contact elements and a sensor module, wherein the sensor module has a support plate and at least one sensor mounted thereon for monitoring the connector and further comprises a mounted on the support plate communication unit for transmitting information obtained in the context of monitoring.

The connector is in this case preferably as a standardized connector, for example, as a conventional household plug according to the respective country variants, and thus designed as a standard component, the connector more preferably as well as the sensor module are prefabricated as modules and subsequently assembled to form the coupling unit. The connector is therefore not designed as a custom-made and consequently no special release is required for the connector for approval of the consumer market.

This embodiment is based on the consideration that an integration directly into the plug is advantageous for monitoring, in particular temperature monitoring. However, this requires in conventional standard connectors, especially for the mode 2 charging modes, a custom-made connector, for security reasons, a special release of the respective Licensing authorities is required. This is - especially against the background of the low numbers of such special plug - associated with high costs. The arrangement of the sensor module on the connector whose integrity is not touched as a standard shared plug, so that therefore a cost-effective upgrade of a conventional standard connector is possible.

In the simplest case, the coupling unit is constructed of the connector and the sensor module, wherein the sensor module, for example, reversibly releasably attached to the connector, in particular on or plugged. Thus, the sensor module can be replaced in the event of a defect, and also can be retrofitted in use coupling units according to the prior art with a corresponding sensor module. The functionality of the connector remains fully intact, in particular due to the flat design of the sensor module, which is essentially characterized by the carrier plate. The thickness of the sensor module is only a maximum of 1-3 mm. This makes it possible, for example, to simply set up the sensor module from the front onto the charging plug and, for example, to put it over pin-shaped contact elements.

Advantageously, the sensor module is arranged in the region of the contact elements of the connector and designed to monitor the contact elements. It is assumed that unwanted operating states of the coupling unit that occur in the event of a fault, ie, for example, overheating, can be sensed particularly easily or particularly quickly in the area of the contact elements.

Preference is further given to an embodiment of the coupling unit in which the connector is designed as a charging plug, or short plug, with at least two contact pins as contact elements and in which the contact pins are passed through the support plate of the sensor module. In the support plate, a preferably as accurate as possible implementation are designed accordingly for each contact element. As a result, the carrier plate is held in a defined position and, moreover, there is preferably a direct heat-conducting contact between the carrier plate and the contact elements. In order to improve the heat transfer to the sensor module, it is further preferred to provide a type of thermal bridge which is realized, for example, by a spring or by thermal paste. Alternatively, thermally conductive, electrically insulating plastics or ceramics are arranged.

In an advantageous development, the plug also has a housing from which the contact pins are led out, wherein the support plate of the sensor module is furthermore preferably arranged outside the housing. This embodiment is to be realized, inter alia, without major technical effort and if a reversibly releasable connection between the connector and the sensor module is provided, this can be realized advantageously by a clamping action between the support plate and the contact pins.

Alternatively, the sensor module is permanently connected to the connector and this preferably adhered to the connector. This variant is particularly advantageous if the sensor module is simple and has a particularly high life expectancy. In this case, there is no need for interchangeability, and it makes more sense to ensure that the sensor module does not undesirably come off the connector. According to a further alternative embodiment variant, the sensor module for this purpose is not glued to the connector, but embedded in an additional encapsulation, so for example in a plastic compound which is applied to the connector and in particular to the housing of the plug.

Furthermore, the sensor of the sensor module is preferably designed as a temperature sensor and, as a result, the sensor module is set up to monitor the temperature of the contact elements. For this purpose, the temperature sensor comprises, for example, a high-resistance NTC or PCT thick film, which is interposed between the contact elements. In this case, the resistance value of the thick film is typically chosen such that on the one hand a sufficient current flows through it, so that conclusions can be drawn on the basis of the voltage drop to the temperature at the contact elements and on the other hand, the resulting power loss is negligible to a good approximation. In an alternative embodiment, the temperature sensor or even the sensor module is not electrically conductively connected to the contact elements, instead, only a thermal coupling between the temperature sensor and the contact elements is given, so that the temperature at the temperature sensor corresponds to a good approximation of the temperature at the contact elements.

In particular, in cases where the sensor of the sensor module is not electrically connected to the contact elements, an internal power supply, in particular for the supply of the communication unit, is provided for the sensor module, which is ensured for example by means of a battery. Alternatively, a power supply of the sensor module is realized inductively, capacitively or optically in the case of the use of optical waveguides.

The connector is usually part of a charging cable. Often, a control unit is integrated in the charging cable, the so-called In-Cable Control Box, via which the charging process is monitored. Accordingly, a cable connects to the connector with electrical supply lines over which the charging current flows. In addition, additional data lines for the transmission of information between the charging station and the motor vehicle are partially integrated.

In a further refinement, an optical waveguide is integrated in the cable sheath of the charging cable, and the communication unit of the sensor module is set up for coupling in the optical waveguide, for example, by means of a light-emitting diode.

According to an alternative preferred embodiment, the communication unit of the sensor module for the particular wireless coupling of information obtained in the context of the monitoring in at least one of the lines of the connected cable, in particular in the supply lines set. The wireless signal coupling then takes place, for example, inductively or capacitively.

When using the (energy) supply lines for signal transmission, the communication unit preferably operates in the manner of a carrier frequency system with wireless signal coupling. As a result, a so-called "powerline communication" is then realized, are used in the already existing power supply lines in addition to the transmission of information. Thus, no additional lines are needed to transmit information.

This concept of using existing, integrated in the cable lines for the data transmission of the data collected by the sensor to an evaluation unit is of particular importance, since this no changes to the cable design must be made. It is only the retrofitting of an evaluation or monitoring unit required. Preferably, this is integrated in the In-cable Control Box, so that only short transmission paths are required.

In addition to the coupling of the sensor data in existing lines of the charging cable wireless signal transmission is carried out by means of radio signals in a preferred alternative. Accordingly, the communication unit is designed to generate suitable radio signals.

Overall, therefore, the coupling unit is preferably designed as a charging cable for a hybrid or electric vehicle, which preferably has an integrated control unit, in particular the so-called in-cable control box. The information obtained in the context of monitoring, ie in particular the sensory detected temperature at the contact elements are transmitted using the communication unit of the sensor module via the cable and in particular via the electrical lines to the control unit and further processed in this and / or evaluated. According to a preferred development, in such a coupling unit is also the connector according to the standard IEC 62196 , in particular designed as Mode 2 plug type.

Embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to a schematic, highly simplified drawing. Show:

1 in a sectional view of an electrical coupling unit with a sensor module and

2 in a top view, the sensor module.

Corresponding parts are provided in all figures with the same reference numerals.

An example described below and in 1 shown electrical coupling unit is as a charging cable 2 , more precisely than IEC 61851-1 "Mode 2" charging cable 2 , Running and used for coupling an unspecified electric vehicle to a supply network. For this purpose, the charging cable 2 a plug 4 on, for charging an accumulator also not shown in the electric vehicle in a socket 6 is inserted, creating an electrical connector 8th will be produced. About this plug connection 8th gets electrical energy through the charging cable 2 fed into the accumulator.

In 1 are two pins 10 shown, which consists of a connector housing 12 led out and trained electrical connector 8th in two complementarily designed shots 14 in the connection socket 6 plugged in and connected to these electrically conductive. Inside the connector housing 12 are the contact pins 10 each with an electrical line 16 connected, in turn, through the connector housing 12 through and in a directly to the connector housing 12 subsequent cables 18 are continued.

In the cable 18 is near the plug 4 an in-cable control box 20 integrated, which monitors as monitoring and control unit each charging process and intervenes when needed in the charging process, for example, the charging current is limited or by the charging process is canceled.

For monitoring the electrical connector 8th has the charging cable 2 also a sensor module 22 on, which in the area of the contact pins 10 positioned and trained electrical connector 8th between connection socket 6 and plugs 4 is arranged. That sensor module 22 is about a glue point 24 cohesively with the plug 4 connected and accordingly captive on the plug 4 attached.

As in 2 sketched forms a support plate 26 the basis for the sensor module 22 and on this carrier plate 26 are a temperature sensor 28 and a communication unit 30 attached. Next, the carrier plate 26 two bushings 32 on, through which the contact pins 10 in the final assembled state of the charging cable 2 passed through.

Using the sensor module 22 is the temperature at the contact pins 10 monitored and the information obtained is sent to the In-Cable Control Box 20 transmitted. For this purpose, the temperature sensor 28 an NTC thin film, which serves as a temperature-dependent ohmic resistance in a simple evaluation circuit, so that the temperature at the contact pins 10 is sensed indirectly by a voltage measurement at the ohmic resistance. The NTC layer is high-resistance at uncritical temperatures and electrically conductive with the contact pins 10 connected.

The temperature thus determined is determined using one of the In-Cable Control Box 20 processable sensor signal to the In-Cable Control Box 20 transmitted by this sensor signal inductively into the electrical lines 16 is coupled. The sensor signal is then transmitted via the electrical wires 16 to the In-Cable Control Box 20 transmitted and evaluated there, wherein when exceeding a predetermined temperature threshold, a safety mechanism in the In-Cable Control Box 20 which triggers the flow of current through the electrical wires 16 interrupts and thus stops the charging process. The information transfer between the sensor module 22 and the In-Cable Control Box 20 thus follows the principle of "Powerline Communication".

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. Rather, other variants of the invention can be derived therefrom by the person skilled in the art without departing from the subject matter of the invention. In particular, all the individual features described in connection with the exemplary embodiment can also be combined with each other in other ways, without departing from the subject matter of the invention

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

2

charge cable

4

plug

6

socket

8th

Electrical plug connection

10

pin

12

plug housing

14

admission

16

Electrical line

18

electric wire

20

In-Cable Control Box

22

sensor module

24

gluepoint

26

support plate

28

temperature sensor

30

communication unit

32

execution

QUOTES INCLUDE IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant has been generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited non-patent literature

• IEC 62196 [0004]
• IEC 62196 [0027]
• IEC 61851-1 [0032]

Claims (14)

Electrical coupling unit ( 2 ) for an electrical connector ( 8th ), in particular a charging plug for an electric vehicle, comprising a plug connector ( 4 ) with at least two contact elements ( 10 ) and a sensor module ( 22 ), wherein the sensor module ( 22 ) a carrier plate ( 26 ) and at least one sensor ( 28 ) for monitoring the electrical connector ( 8th ) and furthermore one on the carrier plate ( 26 ) attached communication unit ( 30 ) for the transmission of information obtained during the surveillance. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to claim 1, wherein the sensor module ( 22 ) in the region of the contact elements ( 10 ) is arranged. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the connector ( 4 ) as a plug ( 4 ) with at least two contact pins ( 10 ) as contact elements ( 10 ) and wherein the contact pins ( 10 ) through the carrier plate ( 26 ) of the sensor module ( 22 ) are passed. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to claim 3, wherein the plug ( 4 ) a housing ( 12 ), from which the contact pins ( 10 ) and wherein the carrier plate ( 26 ) outside the housing ( 12 ) is arranged. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sensor module ( 22 ) unsolvable with the connector ( 4 ) connected is. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to claim 5, wherein the sensor module ( 22 ) on the connector ( 4 ) is glued. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the sensor ( 28 ) of the sensor module ( 22 ) by a temperature sensor ( 28 ) given is. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the connector ( 4 ) a cable ( 18 ) with integrated optical waveguide, and wherein the sensor module ( 22 ) is set up for coupling information obtained during the monitoring into the optical waveguide. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the connector ( 4 ) a cable ( 18 ) with electrical lines ( 16 ) connected to the contact elements ( 10 ) of the connector ( 4 ) are electrically conductively connected, and wherein the communication unit ( 30 ) of the sensor module ( 22 ) for coupling information obtained as part of the monitoring into at least one of the electrical lines ( 16 ) is set up. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to claim 9, wherein the electrical lines ( 16 ) in the cable ( 18 ) as power supply lines ( 16 ) and wherein the communication unit ( 30 ) as a carrier frequency system unit ( 30 ) for wireless signal coupling into the power supply lines ( 16 ) is trained. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to claim 10, wherein the coupling takes place inductively or capacitively. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to one of claims 8 to 11, wherein in the cable ( 18 ) a control unit ( 20 ) in such a way that the information obtained during the surveillance 18 ) to the control unit ( 20 ) and the control unit ( 20 ) is set up to process this information. Coupling unit ( 2 ) according to one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the connector ( 4 ) according to standard IEC 62196. Sensor module ( 22 ), in particular for a coupling unit ( 2 ) according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a carrier plate ( 26 ), a sensor ( 28 ) as well as a communication unit ( 30 ) and set up to monitor an electrical plug connection ( 8th ) by means of the sensor ( 28 ) and for the transmission of information obtained in the context of surveillance.

Images