ELECTRIC CHARGING HOLSTER WITH LATCHING MECHANISM

A holster for an electric vehicle charging station is provided with a locking mechanism to selectively secure a charging gun within the holster. The locking mechanism includes a locking finger that is selectively received in an aperture of a docking collar of the charging gun. A release lever or handle of the locking mechanism is biased toward a non-released position. The biasing member may be in the form of a spring. Alternatively, the biasing member may take the form of a magnet.

FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to electric charging stations and, more specifically, to holsters for electric vehicle charging stations, the holsters provided with a latching mechanism to releasably secure an electric vehicle charging gun within the holster.

BACKGROUND

Not all charging guns (for electric vehicles and the like) include integral locks to secure the charging plug in the holster of an associated charging station, such as an electric vehicle charging station. For charging guns that lack a latch or other lock to secure the charging gun to a holster, there is increased risk of the charging gun falling out of the holster, or losing a firm engagement with the holster, causing user inconvenience and potentially compromising the ability of the electric charging station to recognize the charging gun is within the holster and take appropriate action such as communicating signals that the charging gun is available for use, and/or upon disengagement of the charging gun from the holster, signal a graphical user interface of the charging station to initiate a set of prompts, an audio and/or video message, or alert a local or remote monitoring station that the particular charging gun has been disengaged from the holster. Accurate data as to the number, and frequency, of disengagements of particular charging guns from their respective holsters can be collected to inform maintenance schedules, inform decisions as to power distribution among a plurality of charging stations, indicate the level of demand to inform decisions as to installation of additional charging stations, or to track user-preferred locations among a plurality of closely-situated charging stations to inform decisions as to recommended layouts of new electric charging station centers.

SUMMARY

A releasable locking mechanism for selectively securing an electric vehicle charging gun to a holster. The locking mechanism includes a locking finger or tang received in a complementary aperture provided in a docking collar of the charging gun. The releasable locking mechanism is holster-mounted and includes a release handle to disengage the locking finger or tang from the aperture in the docking collar of the charging gun. The locking mechanism includes a biasing member, such as a spring, to bias the release handle into an unreleased position, such that the locking finger or tang remains in locking engagement with the aperture of the docking collar of the charging gun.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the several views of the drawing, a charging gun10for an electric vehicle (not shown) is selectively received in a holster20of an electric vehicle charging station. The holster20includes a locking mechanism18to secure the charging gun10in the holster20. In one embodiment, as best illustrated inFIG.5, the locking mechanism includes a locking finger22that is formed as an integral extension of a release lever, also referred to herein as a release handle24.

The locking finger22is received in an aperture26aof a docking collar26of the charging gun10. In one embodiment, pulling on the release handle24causes the locking mechanism to pivot about a rod28within the holster20, as illustrated inFIGS.3and4, which rod28passes through pivot rod-receiving apertures30in engagement arms32of the release handle24. A spring34is secured to a second rod, which serves as a stop rod29, and to the locking mechanism18. The spring34serves to bias the locking finger22into its position of locked engagement with the aperture26aof the docking collar26of the charging gun10, while also biasing the release handle24toward its raised, non-released position.

A charging gun10, with a cable (not shown), can collectively weigh approximately 10-20 pounds. Removing a charging gun10from a holster20can require both hands of the user, so it is preferable that the locking finger22be easily removable from the aperture26aof the docking collar26with minimal force applied to the release handle24by the user. In selecting a stiffness of the spring34, it is desirable to select a stiffness that provides a sufficient biasing force to push the release handle24into its raised, non-released position when the charging gun10is in the holster, and even if the user lets go of the charging gun10when the docking collar26is only partially inserted in the holster20, so long as at least a portion of the locking finger22is in the aperture26aof the docking collar26, the biasing force applied by the spring34, in cooperation with a curvature of the locking finger22that tends to direct the locking finger22into the aperture26a, achieves a mechanical semi-automatic locking engagement. However, the spring34should not be so stiff as to require the user to apply more than just a few pounds of force to the release handle24to overcome the biasing force and disengage the locking finger22from the aperture26aof the docking collar26. The stiffness of the spring34and geometry of the release handle24are preferably selected such that the release handle24can be manipulated from its raised, non-released position to its lower, released position with just a push by the user's thumb, finger, forearm, elbow, or the like.

To facilitate the mechanical semi-automatic locking engagement of the locking finger22into the aperture26a, the lower front corner23of the locking finger22is radiused, although it could alternatively, or additionally, be inclined or sloped. As can be appreciated fromFIGS.6and7, in addition to aperture26a, the docking collar26can include multiple apertures, such as rectangular apertures26b,26c, and26d. While the locking mechanism18is configured in the holster20so as to selectively engage the aperture26aon the top wall of the docking collar26, it would be within the scope of the present disclosure to orient a locking mechanism in a holster20such that one or more locking fingers of the locking mechanism instead selectively engage one or more apertures26b,26c, and26dalong a different wall of the docking collar26. If desired, the release handle24may be provided with indicia36, such as the word “PUSH”, or an arrow pointing in the direction of a charging gun10received in the holster20, to aid a user in understanding how to manipulate the release handle24to disengage the charging gun10from the holster20. The indicia may be printed on, etched in, or cut entirely through a tab portion of the release handle24.

Referring toFIGS.10-15, in an alternate embodiment, where all corresponding elements are referenced by similar reference numbers to those of the above-described embodiment, increased by 100, a locking finger122is formed integrally with a release lever124. Rather than a spring, a magnet150is provided on the holster120in a position below a rearwardly-extending ledge152of the locking mechanism118. The magnet150is tunable, in that it can be selected to have a strength that, when factoring in the nominal distance of the magnet150from the rearwardly-extending ledge152when the release lever124is in its raised, non-released position, affords sufficient biasing force to urge the release lever124to maintain its raised, non-released position and keep the locking finger122engaged with the aperture126aof the docking collar126of an associated charging gun110, yet still permit the release handle134to be depressed with a modest amount of force by a user's thumb, finger, elbow, forearm, or the like, to disengage the locking finger122from the aperture126aof the docking collar126in order to release the charging gun110from the holster120.

As in the above-described embodiment, the locking finger122may be provided with a geometry that facilitates insertion of the docking collar126, such as providing a lower front corner123with an incline or slope, which promotes ease of insertion of the docking collar126to a position in which a portion of the docking collar distal to the aperture126a(or whichever aperture of the docking collar is to receive the locking finger122) passes the locking finger122so the locking finger122will enter the aperture126a. As with the previous embodiment, apertures126b,126emay be included in different walls the docking collar126than the top wall, and a locking mechanism of the present disclosure could be configured in such a way that its locking finger selectively engages one of these other apertures such as aperture126bor126e.

While various embodiments have been described herein, it will be understood that variations can be made thereto that are still within the scope of the appended claims.