"Electric Vehicle Charging Stand"

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric vehicle charging stand installed in a service area of a motorway, a parking lot of a commercial facility, a parking lot of an apartment building or other like places. Background of the Invention In recent years, attention is paid to a hybrid car powered by both an internal combustion engine (e.g., a gasoline engine or a diesel engine) and an electric motor, and an electric vehicle powered by an electric motor alone. There cars are capable of reducing emission of carbon dioxide and consumption of petroleum (e.g., gasoline or diesel oil) and are better for the environment. Up to now, the majority of hybrid cars are of the type in which a secondary battery is charged during travel. However, it is expected that there will be soon commercially available a hybrid, car of the type in which a secondary battery is charged with a commercial AC power source (AC 100 V or 200 V) during parking. In this hybrid car, an electric motor initially works and an internal combustion engine works as a backup when the electric charge of the secondary battery is depleted. This type of hybrid car is called a

plug-in hybrid car. In order for electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars (hereinafter collectively referred to as "electric vehicles") to become widespread, there is a need to prepare infrastructures for charging secondary batteries. More specifically, multiple power sources (sockets) usable by the general public need to be installed in public spaces such as a service area of a motorway, a parking lot of a commercial facility and a parking lot of an apartment building. In this regard, as one example of sockets installed in an outdoor area, there is conventionally provided a socket device (also called a power feed pole) which includes a pole with a lower portion embedded in the ground, and sockets arranged in the pole and connected to power feed lines branched from household power distribution boards of individual houses (inside houses) (see, e.g., Patent document 1} . In the power feed pole described in Patent document 1, a casing with a door is attached to the upper portion of a cylindrical pole. Two sockets are accommodated within the casing. Power plugs are inserted into the sockets in the casing in a state that the door of the casing is opened. Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H10-223339 In case where the power feed pole described above is used as an electric vehicle charging stand, at most two

electric vehicles can be simultaneously charged with one electric vehicle charging stand (power feed pole). However, in order to charge three or more electric vehicles at the same time, it is necessary either to install a plurality of electric vehicle charging stands (power feed poles) or to install another type of electric vehicle charging stand (power feed pole) in which three or more sockets are arranged in a casing. Accordingly, when one wishes to increase the number of sockets in keeping with the increase in the penetration rate of electric vehicles, there is a need to newly install an electric vehicle charging stand (power feed pole). There is also proposed an electric vehicle charging stand which includes a stand body provided with a plurality of storage spaces and installed on a ground surface on which electric vehicles are parked and a socket unit provided with a box-shaped housing with a front side opened and sockets held in the housing. The socket unit is removably stored in one of the storage space of the stand body. This charging stand can adapt itself to the increase in the number of sockets and can carry out maintenance works such as repairing or replacing more efficiently. However, the charging stand referred to above suffers from a problem in that the terminal portions of the sockets are hidden inside the housing, which makes it difficult to perform a task of connecting a power feed cable to the

terminal portions of each of the sockets. Summary of the Invention In view of the above, the present invention provides an electric vehicle charging stand capable of making it easy to perform a task of electrically connecting a power feed cable to the terminal portions of a socket.

[0009] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an electric vehicle charging stand including: a stand body; and a socket unit stored within the stand body. Herein, the socket unit includes a socket, a housing for holding the socket in place and connection terminals connected to power cables and power feed terminals of the socket, and the connection terminals are exposed outside the housing. Further, the stand body may be provided with at least one storage space defined therein and is installed upright on a ground surface on which electric vehicles are parked, and the socket unit may be removably stored within the storage space. The socket may have the power feed terminals and an insertion hole to which a plug of a power feed cable for use in charging the electric vehicles is removably inserted. The housing may be formed into a forwardly-opened box shape to have an internal space and may be configured to hold the socket such that the insertion hole is exposed to

the internal space with the power feed terminals of the socket kept hidden. The socket unit may further include a terminal block having the connection terminals such that the power cables are connected to the power feed terminals of the socket through the terminal block and the terminal block may be attached to the housing such that the connection terminals are exposed outside the housing. With such configuration, the power feed terminals of the socket and the terminal block are electrically connected to each other at the manufacturing step of the charging stand, and, at the installation step, the power cables are connected to the connection terminals of the terminal block exposed outside of the housing. This provides an advantage in that the task of electrically interconnecting the power feed terminals of the socket and the power cables can be performed with ease. Further, the stand body may have an internal space divided into a wiring space for arrangement of the power cables and the storage space by a partition wall installed upright along a vertical direction. The partition wall has a hole through which the terminal block stored in the storage space is exposed to the wiring space. With such configuration, the inside of the stand body is divided into the wiring space for arrangement of the power cables and the storage space by the partition wall installed upright along the vertical direction. The

terminal block of the socket unit is arranged to be exposed to the wiring space through the hole. This provides an advantage in that the task of connecting the. power cables to the connection terminals of the terminal block can be performed with ease. Further, the wiring space may be provided with a space for installation of an earth leakage breaker interposed between the power cables and the connection terminals of the terminal block. With such configuration, the space for installation of the earth leakage breaker interposed between the power cables and the connection terminals of the terminal block is provided in the wiring space within the stand body. Accordingly, the accident due to the electricity leakage can be easily prevented by interposing the earth leakage breaker between the power cables and the socket. In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to easily perform a task of electrically connecting a power feed cable to the terminal portions of a socket. Brief Description of the Drawings The objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments, given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view showing an electric vehicle charging stand in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which is seen at the right rear side thereof; Fig. 2 is a front view of the charging stand; Fig. 3 is a section view of the charging stand taken along line III-III' shown in Fig. 2 ; Fig. 4 is a section view of the charging stand taken along line IV-IV shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a front perspective view showing the outward appearance of the charging stand; Fig. 6 is a right side view of the charging stand; Fig. 7 is a rear view of the charging stand; Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the charging stand; Fig. 9 is a front perspective view showing a socket unit employed in the charging stand; Fig. 10 is a rear perspective view showing the socket unit employed in the charging stand; Fig. 11 is a partial perspective view of the charging stand, which is seen at the front side thereof; Fig. 12 is a partial rear view of the charging stand with a back plate omitted; and Fig. 13 is a schematic configuration view schematically illustrating the connection relationship between a socket, a terminal block and an earth leakage breaker in the charging stand.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be given to like parts, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, an electric vehicle charging stand in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes a stand body 1 installed upright on a ground surface on which electric vehicles are parked and a socket 20 having an insertion hole 20a (see Fig. 3) into which a power plug 110 of a power feed cable 100 for use in charging an electric vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a charging cable) is removably inserted. The stand body 1 is formed into a polygonal tube shape with open front, top and bottom sides by assembling three elongated rectangular metal plates (a left plate 2, a right plate 3 and a back plate 4) together. The upper opening of the stand body 1 is closed by a flat box-shaped cover 5. An attachment plate 6 is attached to the inner surfaces of the left plate 2 and the right plate 3 in a parallel relationship with the back plate 4 (see Figs. 3 and 4). The attachment plate G is formed of a rectangular metal plate. The substantially transverse (horizontal) center portion of

the attachment plate 6 is bent into a step-like shape along the front-rear direction. In other words, the interior of the stand body 1 is divided into front and rear spaces by the attachment plate 6. Each of the socket units 10 to be described later is stored in the front space defined at the front side of the attachment plate 6. An earth leakage breaker 200 and power cables 50 (see Fig. 13) to be described later are stored (arranged) in the rear space defined at the rear side of the attachment plate 6. A plurality of screw holes 6a for use in attaching the socket units 10 and the earth leakage breaker 200 is pierced in the attachment plate 6 at a regular interval along the up-down direction and the left-right direction. An upper panel 7A and a lower panel 7B, both of which have a rectangular plate shape, are attached to the uppermost and lowermost portions of the front side of the stand body 1. In the front space extending from the lower end of the upper panel 7A to the upper end of the lower panel 7B, four storage spaces 8 for storing socket units 10 are arranged one below another along the up-down direction. However, the number of the storage spaces 8 is not limited to four but may be, e.g., two, three, five or more. Referring to Fig. 9, each of the socket units 10 includes a box-shaped housing 11 having a front opening 11a, a socket block 12 held within the housing 11, a door 13 horizontally swingable between a closing position (see Fig.

5) where the opening 11a is closed and an opening position where the opening 11a is opened, and a synthetic-resin-made unit cover 16 covering the upper portion of the housing 11. As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the housing 11 has a back plate 11b, the substantially transverse center portion of which is bent into a step-like shape along the front-rear direction. The socket block 12 is arranged at one corner (the left corner) where the depth from the opening 11a to the back plate 11b is larger than at the other corner. The socket block 12 includes a socket 20 having a rectangular box-shaped main body 20b with an insertion hole 20a formed on the front surface thereof and a flat socket panel 21 having a fit hole 21a to which the front end portion of the socket 20 is fitted. The socket 20 is attached to the socket panel 21 at the rear side of the socket panel 21. The socket panel 21 is formed into a substantially hexagonal shape and is attached to the left corner of the housing 11 so that the lower end of the socket panel 21 can be positioned more rearward than the upper end thereof and the right end of the socket panel 21 can be positioned more rearward than the left end thereof. The socket 20 is stored within the spaced surrounded by the inner wall surfaces of the housing 11 and the socket panel 21. The insertion hole 20a of the socket 20 is exposed to the internal space of the housing 11 through the fit hole 21a of the socket panel 21.

The socket 20 is well-known in the art and includes plug-pin receivers (not shown) for receiving contactors (plug pins) of a plug 110 inserted into the insertion hole 20a and terminals 20c and 20d (see Fig. 13) for connecting the plug-pin receivers to external electric wires 60 (see Fig. 13). The plug-pin receivers and the terminals 20c and 2 0d are arranged within a main body 2 0b made of an insulating material. Since the socket panel 21 is attached within the housing 11 so that the lower end of the socket panel 21 can be positioned more rearward than the upper end thereof and the right end of the socket panel 21 can be positioned more rearward than the left end thereof, the insertion and removal direction of the plug 110 with respect to the insertion hole 20a of the socket 20 attached to the socket panel 21 is obliquely intersected with the opening 11a in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. In other words, the direction of the insertion hole 20a (the direction normal to the front surface of the socket 20) is inclined rightward and downward with respect to the direction of the opening 11a (the direction normal to the opening surface of the opening 11a) (see Figs. 2 and 3). As shown in Figs. 10 and 13, a terminal block 22 is attached to the rear surface of the housing 11. The terminal block 22 includes first connection terminals 22c and 22d connected to the terminals 20c and 20d of the socket

2 0 through the through-holes (not shown) formed in the back plate 11b (in reality, through an interlock device 23 to be described later) and second connection terminals 22a and 22b to which the electric wires 60 connected to the secondary terminals of the earth leakage breaker 200 as set forth below are connected. In other words, since the socket 20 is stored within the space surrounded by the inner wall surfaces of the housing 11 and the socket panel 21, the connection task can be easily performed by attaching the terminal block 22 to the outside of the housing 11 and interconnecting the terminals 20c and 20d and the external electric wires 60 through the terminal block 22. The door 13 is formed into a flat rectangular box shape. As shown in Fig. 9, the left end portion of the door 13 is pivotally attached to the front left end portion of the housing 11 by a pair of upper and lower hinges 14. A lock device 15 is attached to the rear surface of the door 13. The lock device 15 has a key hole 15a exposed to the front surface of the door 13 (see Fig. 2). When the door 13 is in the closing position, a gap (lead-out hole), through which a charging cable 100 is led out, is formed between the lower end of the door 13 and the front lower end of the housing 11 (see Fig. 2). As shown in Fig. 9, each of the socket units 10 includes an interlock device 23 for switching off the electric connection to the socket 20 when the door 13 is not

in the closing position and switching on the electric connection to the socket 20 only when the door 13 is in the closing position. The interlock device 23 is well-known in the art and includes an actuator 23a pressed by a U-like drive piece 13a arranged on the rear surface of the door 13. When the door 13 is in the closing position, the actuator 23a is pressed by the drive piece 13a to allow an electric power to flow to the socket 20 through a power feed path. When the door 13 is not in the closing position, the actuator 23a is not pressed by the drive piece 13a to interrupt the flow of the electric power to the socket 20 through the power feed path. Each of the socket units 10 configured as above is stored into the storage space 8 of the stand body 1 from the front side of the stand body 1 and is fixed to the stand body 1 by screw-fixing the housing 11 to the attachment plate 6. As stated above, four storage spaces 8 having the same size are arranged one below another along the up-down direction within the stand body 1. Each of the socket units 10 can be stored into any one of the four storage spaces 8. In this regard, the attachment plate 6 has a plurality of rectangular holes 6b formed in a corresponding relationship with the storage spaces 8. If the socket units 10 are stored within the storage spaces 8, the terminal block 22 attached to the rear surface of the housing 11 is inserted into each of the holes 6b and is exposed to the space (the

wiring space 9 shown in Figs. 3 and 4) defined at the rear side of the attachment plate 6 (see Figs. 10 and 12). While the socket units 10 are stored within all the four storage spaces 8 in the present embodiment, it is not always necessary to store the socket units 10 into all the four storage spaces 8. It is only necessary that at least one of the socket units 10 be stored within one of the storage spaces 8. As shown in Figs. 3, 4, 12 and 13, the earth leakage breaker 200 is attached to the rear surface of the forwardly-protruding portion (the left portion in Fig. 12) of the attachment plate 6 and is arranged within the wiring space 9. Power cables 50, through which an AC power is supplied from a commercial AC power source, are led into the wiring space 9 through the cable insertion holes la formed in the bottom surface of the stand body 1 and are arranged within the wiring space 9 (see Fig. 8). The power cables 50 arranged within the wiring space 9 are connected to the primary side of the earth leakage breaker 200. The secondary side of the earth leakage breaker 200 is connected to the first connection terminals 22a and 22b (the connection terminals existing within the wiring space 9) of the terminal block 22 by the electric wires 60. The second connection terminals 22c and 22d (the connection terminals existing within the housing 11) of the terminal block 22 are connected to the terminals 20c and 20d of the socket 20

through the interlock device 23. The wiring task set forth above can be easily performed by merely removing the back plate 4 of the stand body 1. Next, description will be made on the use order of the electric vehicle charging stand in accordance with the present embodiment. First, the door 13 is opened and the contactors of the plug 110 of the charging cable 100 are inserted into the insertion hole 20a of the socket 20, thereby connecting the plug 110 to the socket 20. Since the insertion hole 20a of the socket 20 is positioned at the left side within the housing 11 and the direction of the insertion hole 20a is inclined rightward and downward with respect to the direction of the opening 11a, a large enough space required in inserting and removing the plug 110 can be secured within the housing 11. This makes it possible to easily perform the inserting task of the plug 110. Further, even in the rainy weather, the rainwater entering the housing 11 through the opening 11a is hard to reach the insertion hole 20a. After connecting the plug 110 to the socket 20, the door 13 is closed and the lock device 15 is locked with a key (not shown). If the insertion hole of the socket faces substantially frontward in the horizontal direction with respect to the opening of the socket-storing casing as in the power feed pole disclosed in Patent document 1, the

lead-out position of the power feed cable (the charging cable) having the plug connected to the socket substantially coincides with the position of the insertion hole of the socket in the horizontal direction. Therefore, if a plurality of sockets is arranged one below another along the vertical direction, the hanging power feed cable overlaps with the insertion holes of the below-positioned sockets when seen at the front side. This poses a problem in that it becomes difficult to connect the plugs of other power feed cables to the sockets positioned below. In the present embodiment, however, the respective sockets 20 are arranged within the stand body 1 (within the socket units 10) so that the direction of the insertion hole 2 0a can be inclined rightward and downward with respect to the direction of the opening 11a. Accordingly, even when the plug 110 of the charging cable 100 is connected to the upper-positioned socket 20, the charging cable 100 hanging from the opening 11a does not overlap with the insertion holes 20a of the below-positioned sockets when seen at the front side. This makes it easy to connect the plugs 110 of other charging cables 100 to the sockets 20 positioned below. As shown in Fig. 2, a plurality of (e.g., three) cable Holders (retainers) 40 is attached to the outer circumferential surface (the right surface in the present embodiment) of the stand body 1. Referring to Figs. 4 to 7,

each of the cable holders 40 is formed by bending a band-like metal plate into a substantially U-like cross-sectional shape. The cable holders 40 are screw-fixed to the right plate 3 of the stand body 1 in the vicinity of the second through fourth storage spaces 8 from above so that the longitudinal direction thereof can extend in the up-down direction with the groove thereof facing backward. Accordingly, if the charging cable 100 leading to the outside (front side) of the stand body 1 through the opening 11a (the lead-out hole) is fitted to the groove of each of the cable holders 40 and is held in place by each of the cable holders 40, the doors 13 of the socket units 10 positioned below can be opened without being significantly hindered by the charging cable 100 having the plug 110 connected to the socket 20 positioned thereabove. Even when the charging cable 100 is pulled inadvertently, it is possible to relieve the tension applied to the plug 110 and to prevent the plug 110 from being removed from the insertion hole 20a of the socket 20. This is because the charging cable 100 is held in place by each of the cable holders 40. In the present embodiment, three cable holders 40 are arranged along the up-down direction in different positions shifted in the front-rear direction of the stand body 1. Thus, the plurality of charging cables 100 held by the cable holders 4 0 do not become an obstacle with respect to one

another. In the present embodiment, the cable holder 40 positioned relatively downward is arranged more frontward of the stand body 1 than the cable holder 40 positioned relatively upward. For that reason, the cable holder 40 positioned relatively downward lies more frontward of the stand body 1 than the charging cable 100 held by the cable holder 40 positioned relatively upward (see Figs. 5 and 6). This provides an advantage in that the charging cable 100 held by the cable holder 40 positioned relatively upward does not become an obstacle when the charging cable 100 is held in the cable holder 40 positioned relatively downward. If an electric vehicle is fully charged, the lock device 15 is unlocked to open the door 13 and the plug 110 is removed from the insertion hole 20a of the socket 20. When the door 13 is kept opened, the electric connection to the socket 20 is switched off by the interlock device 23. The makes it possible to prevent occurrence of an electric shock accident when inserting and removing the plug 110 to and from the insertion hole 20a of the socket 20. As described above, the charging stand in accordance with the present embodiment includes the stand body 1 having one or more storage spaces 8 and the socket units 10 removably stored within the storage spaces 8 of the stand body 1. Each of the socket units 10 includes the socket 20 having the power feed terminals 20c and 20d and the insertion hole 20a to which the plug 110 of the charging

cable 100 for charging the electric vehicle is removably inserted, the housing 11 formed into a forwardly-opened box shape and configured to hold the socket 20 so that the insertion hole 20a can be exposed to the internal space of the housing 11 with the power feed terminals 20c and 20d kept hidden, and the terminal block 22 having the connection terminals 22a and 22b to which the power cables 50 are connected, the terminal block 22 being configured to connect the power cables 50 to the terminals 20c and 20d of the socket 20. The terminal block 22 is attached to the housing 11 so that the connection terminals 22a and 22b can be exposed to the outside of the housing 11. Therefore, the terminals 20c and 20d of the socket 20 and the terminal block 22 are electrically connected to each other at the manufacturing step of the charging stand, and, at the installation step, the power cables 50 are connected to the connection terminals 22a and 22b of the terminal block 22 exposed to the outside of the housing 11. This provides an advantage in that the task of electrically interconnecting the terminals 20c and 20d of the socket 20 and the power cables 50 can be performed with ease. The inside of the stand body 1 is divided into the wiring spaces 9 for arrangement of the power cables 50 and the storage spaces 8 by the partition wall (the attachment plate 6) installed upright along the vertical direction. The attachment plate 6 has the holes 6b through which the

terminal blocks 22 of the socket units 10 stored in the storage spaces 8 is exposed to the wiring spaces 9. If the inside of the stand body 1 is divided into the storage spaces 8 and the wiring spaces 9 for arrangement of the power cables 50 by the attachment plate 6 and if the terminal blocks 22 of the socket units 10 are arranged to be exposed to the wiring spaces 9 through the holes 6b, there is provided an advantage in that the task of connecting the power cables 50 to the connection terminals 22a and 22b of the terminal blocks 22 can be performed with ease. The space for installation of the earth leakage breaker 200 interposed between the power cables 50 and the connection terminals 22a and 22b of the terminal blocks 22 is provided in the wiring space 9 within the stand body 1. This provides an advantage in that the accident due to the electricity leakage can be easily prevented by interposing the earth leakage breaker 200 between the power cables 50 and the socket 20. In case where the earth leakage breaker 200 is installed between the power cables 50 and the commercial AC power source, it is not always necessary to install the earth leakage breaker 200 in the wiring space 9 of the stand body 1. While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as

defined in the following claims.

We claim: 1. An electric vehicle charging stand comprising: a stand body; and a socket unit stored within the stand body, wherein the socket unit includes a socket, a housing for holding the socket in place and connection terminals connected to power cables and power feed terminals of the socket, and the connection terminals are exposed outside the housing. 2. The electric vehicle charging stand of claim 1, wherein the stand body is provided with at least one storage space defined therein and is installed upright on a ground surface on which electric vehicles are parked, and the socket unit is removably stored within the storage space, wherein the socket has the power feed terminals and an insertion hole to which a plug of a power feed cable for use in charging the electric vehicles is removably inserted, wherein the housing is formed into a forwardly-opened box shape to have an internal space and is configured to hold the socket such that the insertion hole is exposed to the internal space with the power feed terminals of the socket kept hidden, and wherein the socket unit further includes a terminal block having the connection terminals such that the power

cables are connected to the power feed terminals of the socket through the terminal block and the terminal block is attached to the housing such that the connection terminals are exposed outside the housing. 3. The electric vehicle charging stand of claim 2, wherein the stand body has an internal space divided into a wiring space for . arrangement of the power cables and the storage space by a partition wall installed upright along a vertical direction, the partition wall having a hole through which the terminal block stored in the storage space is exposed to the wiring space. 4. The stand of claim 3, wherein the wiring space is provided with a space for installation of an earth leakage breaker interposed between the power cables and the connection terminals of the terminal block.

ABSTRACT

An electric vehicle charging stand includes a stand body and a socket unit stored within the stand body. The socket unit has a socket, a housing for holding the socket in place and connection terminals connected to power cables and power feed terminals of the socket. The connection terminals are exposed outside the housing.