Abstract:
A temperature monitoring vehicle charger cord assembly includes a wall plug; a pair of power prongs carried by the wall plug; at least one thermal sensor carried by the wall plug, the at least one thermal sensor adapted to monitor a charging temperature; a battery electric vehicle electrical plug; and a microprocessor electrically interfacing with the power prongs, the at least one thermal sensor and the battery electric vehicle electrical plug. The microprocessor is programmed to perform at least one of terminating electrical current and reducing amperes of electrical current flowing from the pair of power prongs to the battery electric vehicle electrical plug if the charging temperature at least meets a predetermined maximum threshold charging temperature. A temperature monitoring vehicle charging method is also disclosed.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). More particularly, illustrative embodiments of the disclosure relate to an HEV charger cord assembly and charging method in which temperatures incurred during electrical charging of an HEV are monitored and controlled. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) require the use of an electric vehicle supplied equipment (EVSE) 110V AC charger cord set which allows a vehicle operator to charge the vehicle in a garage or at other locations having a 110 VAC outlet. The cord set may require a 15-20 amp circuit and may draw up to 15 amps of current during charge. 
         [0003]    Accordingly, an HEV charger cord assembly and charging method in which temperatures incurred during electrical charging of an HEV are monitored and controlled. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure are generally directed to a temperature monitoring vehicle charger cord assembly. An illustrative embodiment of the assembly includes a wall plug; a pair of power prongs carried by the wall plug; at least one thermal sensor carried by the wall plug, the at least one thermal sensor adapted to monitor a charging temperature; a battery electric vehicle electrical plug; and a microprocessor electrically interfacing with the power prongs, the at least one thermal sensor and the battery electric vehicle electrical plug. The microprocessor is programmed to perform at least one of terminating electrical current and reducing amperes of electrical current flowing from the pair of power prongs to the battery electric vehicle electrical plug if the charging temperature at least meets a predetermined maximum threshold charging temperature. 
         [0005]    Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure are further generally directed to a temperature monitoring HEV charging method. An illustrative embodiment of the method includes monitoring a charging temperature, comparing the charging temperature to a maximum threshold charging temperature and performing at least one of terminating electrical charge current and reducing amperes of electrical charge current if the charging temperature at least meets the maximum threshold charging temperature. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary wall plug component of an illustrative embodiment of the temperature monitoring HEV charger cord assembly; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative embodiment of the temperature monitoring HEV charger cord assembly; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2A  is a block diagram of an exemplary control circuit which is suitable for implementation of an illustrative embodiment of the temperature monitoring HEV charger cord assembly; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view, partially in section, of an illustrative embodiment of the temperature monitoring HEV charger cord assembly; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a bottom view of an exemplary wall plug component of an illustrative embodiment of the temperature monitoring HEV charger cord assembly; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view, taken along section lines 5-5 in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view, taken along section lines 6-6 in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of an HEV in exemplary application of an illustrative embodiment of the temperature monitoring HEV charger cord assembly; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a side view of a portion of the illustrative temperature monitoring HEV charger cord assembly, with the wall plug inserted in a wall outlet in exemplary application of the assembly; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a flow diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a temperature monitoring HEV charging method. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable users skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Moreover, the illustrative embodiments described herein are not exhaustive and embodiments or implementations other than those which are described herein and which fall within the scope of the appended claims are possible. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. 
         [0018]    Referring initially to  FIGS. 1-8 , an illustrative embodiment of the temperature monitoring HEV charger cord assembly, hereinafter assembly, is generally indicated by reference numeral  1  in  FIGS. 2-6 . As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8  and will be hereinafter described, the assembly  1  may be used to connect a wall outlet  62  or other electrical outlet or socket to a charging port  52  on a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle)  50  for the purpose of charging a battery pack  56  onboard the BEV  50  from the wall outlet  62 . In some applications, the wall outlet may include a standard or conventional 110 VAC electrical socket. The wall outlet  62  may be installed in a wall  60  of a garage or other structure. 
         [0019]    The assembly  1  may include a wall plug  2 . The wall plug  2  is adapted to mechanically and electrically interface with the wall outlet  62 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  4 , in some embodiments, the wall plug  2  of the assembly  1  may include a wall plug housing  3 . The wall plug housing  3  may be plastic or other material and may include a generally semi-cylindrical sensor housing portion  4  and a housing extension portion  5  which extends from the sensor housing portion  4 . A pair of spaced-apart power prongs  10 , each of which is an electrically-conductive material, extends from the sensor housing portion  4 . An electrically-conductive ground prong  12  extends from the sensor housing portion  4  generally between and in spaced-apart relationship to the power prongs  10 . 
         [0020]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4 , at least one thermal sensor  16  is provided in the sensor housing portion  4  of the well plug housing  3 . The thermal sensor  16  may include any device or material which is capable of sensing an elevation in temperature inside the sensor housing portion  4 . In some embodiments, the thermal sensor  16  may include at least one thermistor, which is a type of resistor the resistance of which varies significantly with temperature. The thermistor may include a ceramic or polymer material as is known by those skilled in the art. In some embodiments, the thermal sensor  16  may be disposed between the power prongs  10  inside the sensor housing portion  4  of the wall plug housing  3 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0021]    A pair of power prong wires  20  ( FIG. 6 ) may be disposed in electrical contact with the respective power prongs  10  on the wall plug  2 . A ground prong wire  22  may be disposed in electrical contact with the ground prong  12 . A pair of thermal sensor wires  24  may be disposed in electrical contact with the thermal sensor  16  in the wall plug housing  3  of the wall plug  2 . In some embodiments, the power prong wires  20 , the ground prong wire  22  and the thermal sensor wires  24  may be routed together in a flexible wiring bundle  18 . 
         [0022]    In some embodiments, a wiring conduit  30  may extend from the housing extension portion  5  of the wall plug housing  3 . The wiring conduit  30  may be plastic or other rigid or semi-rigid material and may have a wall plug end  31  at the wall plug housing  3  and a connector end  32  opposite the wall plug end  31 . A flexible conduit connector  36  may terminate the connector end  32  of the wiring conduit  30 . A conduit spacer flange  38  may terminate the conduit connector  36  for purposes which will be hereinafter described. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the power prong wire  20 , the ground prong wire  22  and the thermal sensor wires  24  of the wiring bundle  18  may extend from the wiring conduit  30  ( FIG. 3 ) through corresponding wire openings (not illustrated) in the conduit spacer flange  38 . 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) electrical plug  40  may terminate the wiring bundle  18 . The BEV electrical plug  40  may be a standard or conventional plug which interfaces with the charging port  52  ( FIG. 7 ) on the BEV  50 . Standard or conventional BEV electrical plugs are well known by those skilled in the art and need not be discussed herein in detail. 
         [0024]    An exemplary control circuit  44  which is suitable for implementation of an illustrative embodiment of the assembly  1  is shown in  FIG. 2A . The control circuit  44  may include a microprocessor  45 . The power prongs  10  and the thermal sensor in the wall plug  2 , and the BEV electrical plug  40 , may electrically interface with the microprocessor  45 . In application of the assembly  1 , throughout charging of the BEV  50  ( FIG. 7 ), the thermal sensor  16  monitors and reports the monitored temperature inside the sensor housing portion  4  of the wall plug housing  3  to the microprocessor  45 . The microprocessor  45  may be programmed to compare the monitored temperature as reported by the thermal sensor  16  to a predetermined maximum threshold charging temperature previously stored in the microprocessor  45 . In some embodiments, the microprocessor  45  may be programmed to maintain electrical contact between the power prongs  10  and the BEV electrical plug as long as the monitored temperature remains below the predetermined maximum threshold charging temperature. The microprocessor  45  may be programmed to terminate further flow of electrical current from the power prongs  10  to the BEV electrical plug  40  in the event that the monitored temperature reaches or exceeds the maximum threshold charging temperature. In other embodiments, the microprocessor  45  may be programmed to reduce the amperes of electrical current which flows to the BEV electrical plug  40  in the event that the monitored temperature reaches or exceeds the maximum threshold charging temperature. In some embodiments, the microprocessor  45  may be programmed to re-establish flow of electrical current or increase the amperes of electrical current which flows from the power prongs  10  to the BEV electrical plug  40  in the event that the wall plug  2  cools until the monitored temperature falls below the maximum threshold charging temperature. 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , in exemplary application of the assembly  1 , the BEV electrical plug  40  of the assembly  1  is connected to the charging port  52  on the BEV  50 . The wall plug  2  of the assembly  1  is connected to the wall outlet  62  in the wall  60 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , in some embodiments, the wiring conduit  30  may extend downwardly from the wall plug  2  adjacent to the wall  60 . The conduit spacer flange  38  may engage the wall  60  to maintain spacing between the wiring conduit  30  and the wall  60 . The wiring bundle  18  may extend horizontally from the conduit spacer flange  38  to the BEV electrical plug  40  at the charging port  52  of the BEV  50 . 
         [0026]    The microprocessor  45  ( FIG. 2A ) of the control circuit  44  normally maintains electrical contact between the power prongs  10  on the wall plug  2  and the BEV electrical plug  40 . Accordingly, electrical current flows from the wall outlet  62  through the power prongs  10 , the power prong wires  20 , the microprocessor  45  and the BEV electrical plug  40 , respectively, of the assembly  1  and then through the charging port  52  and the BECM (Battery Energy Control Module)  54  and into the battery pack  56 , respectively, of the BEV  50 . Throughout the charging operation, the thermal sensor  16  continually monitors the temperature in the interior of the wall plug housing  3  of the wall plug  2 . As long as the monitored temperature remains below the predetermined maximum threshold charging temperature which was previously programmed into the microprocessor  45 , the microprocessor  45  maintains flow of electrical current from the power prongs  10  to the BEV electrical plug  40 . However, in the event that the monitored temperature which is reported by the thermal sensor  16  meets or exceeds the maximum threshold charging temperature, the microprocessor  45  may either terminate further flow of electrical current or reduce the amperes of electrical current flowing from the power prongs  10  to the BEV electrical plug  40 . Therefore, the temperature of the wall plug  2  remains within acceptable limits to ensure safety to the garage or other structure in which charging is being carried out. In some embodiments, the microprocessor  45  may re-establish flow of electrical current or increase the amperes of electrical current flowing from the power prongs  10  to the BEV electrical plug  40  in the event that the wall plug  2  cools until the monitored temperature falls below the maximum threshold charging temperature. After charging of the battery pack  56  is completed, the charging operation may be terminated. 
         [0027]    Referring next to  FIG. 9 , a flow diagram  100  of an illustrative embodiment of a temperature monitoring HEV charging method is shown. The method may begin at block  102 . At block  104 , a charging temperature may be monitored. At block  106 , a determination may be made as to whether the monitored charging temperature meets or exceeds a predetermined maximum threshold charging temperature. If yes, then the charging operation may be terminated or the amperes of the electrical current may be reduced at block  112 . If not, then the charging operation may continue at block  108 . The method may end at the termination of the charging operation at block  110 . 
         [0028]    In some embodiments, after the charging operation is terminated or the amperes of the electrical current is reduced at block  112 , the charging temperature may continue to be monitored at block  104 . The determination may again be made as to whether the monitored charging temperature meets or exceeds a predetermined maximum threshold charging temperature at block  106 . If yes, then the charging operation may be terminated or the amperes of the electrical current may be reduced again at block  112 . If not, then the charging operation may continue at block  108 . 
         [0029]    Although the embodiments of this disclosure have been described with respect to certain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the specific embodiments are for purposes of illustration and not limitation, as other variations will occur to those of skill in the art.