Patent Description:
Electric drive vehicles draw energy from batteries, which must be charged from an external source. For charging, a charging module is arranged in the body, usually on the vehicle side, having an electrical socket arranged in the bottom of the dish-shaped bulge of the body, covered by a lid. The lid of the charging module for electric drive vehicles is usually arranged and made identically to the lid of the filling module for combustion drive vehicles. Lids of charging and filling modules, as known so far, are firmly connected to one shaped arm, mounted pivotally in the vehicle body with the free end thereof. The pivotal mounting of the free end of the shaped arm is located deeper in the body and it is necessary to create a large free space in the body for it to be able to move. Creating such free space is difficult to manufacture and expensive, and the free space itself is undesirable. The lids of the charging and filling modules, as known so far, only close the charging module at the point of the body dish-shaped bulge orifice. A separate cap must be provided to close the filler neck or the charging socket opening. According to the prior art, the lids must be large enough to cover the filling or charging opening and, at the same time, engage with the locking member and the contact sensor, which are, therefore, arranged on the opposite side of the body dish-shaped bulge than the lid hinge is arranged. When opened, the lid extends far out of the body, forming an obstacle for the vehicle operation at a gas station. The lid, extending far out of the body, may become damaged by twisting.

<CIT> discloses a vehicle filling module lid, which is mounted swivelly in a filling module housing movable between a closed position where the lid covers the filling module opening flush with the body and an open position where the lid is tilted perpendicular to the body and opens the filling module opening. When opening, tilting of the lid is enabled by placing the lid on two interlocking support arms rotating in the phase of tilting the lid in opposite directions so that the lid does not hit the outer panel. The filling module must contain a large internal space for accommodating and moving the support arms, however, such space is not desirable. The lid is not very stable in the tilted position and creates an obstacle for the operator's movement.

<CIT> discloses a door assembly for a charging port for an electric vehicle including a link assembly mounted to a back of a charging port door to perform a swing operation. The door assembly includes a first link, a second link and a third link. The outer end of the first link is mounted to one end portion of an inner surface of the charging port door to be swingable through a first hinge pin, and an inner end of which is hinged to the vehicle body. The outer end of the second link is mounted to an intermediate portion of the inner surface of the charging port door to be swingable through a second hinge pin, and an inner end of which is hinged to the vehicle body. The outer end of the third link is hinged to the second link, and an inner end of which is engaged within a rail mounted on another end portion of the inner surface of the charging port door. The inner ends of the first and of the second link are hinged to the vehicle body by means of suspension pins arranged in the body of the vehicle next to each other in parallel with the lid and in parallel with the front of the charging socket. The first and second links are arranged in such a way that they intersect when the lid is closing or opening. When opening the lid, the first link passes through the cutout of the second link, therefore the second link must have a cutout of substantial dimensions. When the lid closed the first and second links take up too much space and extend too far in the direction perpendicular to the lid.

<CIT> discloses a flat lid of a vehicle charging module, which is hinged in a housing of the charging module to cover the opening of the charging module. In the closed position, the lid covers the opening of the charging module flush with the body. Flipping the lid when opening is made possible by placing the lid on two supporting arms placed with one inner end rotatably on the inner wall of the charging module and the other outer ends rotatably on the inner side of the lid. The rotatable bearing of the outer ends of the support arms on the inner side of the lid is arranged on one part of the inner surface of the lid so that the remaining second part of the inner surface of the lid covers the opening of the charging module in the closed position of the lid. The charging module must contain a large internal space next to the opening of the charging module for storage and movement of the support arms, therefore the housing of the charging module is significantly longer than the charging module itself. After covering the opening of the charging module, the cap is not pressed against the opening of the charging opening and the covering is therefore leaky.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a vehicle charging module, which is less space-consuming, has a more reliable and stronger suspension and is suitable for charging with one as well as both AC/DC electric currents.

The disadvantages of the prior art are substantially eliminated and the object of the invention is achieved by a vehicle charging module comprising an electric charging socket housed in a bottom of a dish-shaped bulge of a vehicle body and with its front, provided with at least one connection hole, opened in the direction of the longitudinal axis thereof to the orifice of the dish-shaped bulge, and a lid swing mounted in the vehicle body to close the dish-shaped bulge orifice using two arms, carrying ends of which are pivotally mounted on the lid inside by means of carrying pins and support ends of which are pivotally mounted in the body by means of support pins arranged on one side of the charging socket, whereas, the arms and the lid form a parallelogram to move the lid in a position parallel to the vehicle body surface, wherein the support pin of the arm, which is closer to the charging socket is in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the charging socket, is closer to the front of the charging socket than the support pin of the arm, which is more distant from the charging socket, according to the invention consisting in that a cap for the connection hole of the charging socket is arranged on the side of one of the arms facing the charging socket.

Preferably, the cap can be pivotally mounted on the support pin of the arm which is closer to the charging socket for movement between the arm and the connection hole of the charging socket.

The charging module according to the invention has the advantage in that.

The vehicle charging module of the invention is illustrated in the drawings, where.

According to <FIG>, a dish-shaped bulge <NUM> is formed in the body <NUM>, in the bottom <NUM> of which an electric charging socket <NUM> is accommodated, which with its front <NUM> with connection holes <NUM>, <NUM> faces in the direction of the longitudinal axis α thereof to the orifice <NUM> of the dish-shaped bulge <NUM>. The lid <NUM> is swing mounted in the body <NUM> to close the dish-shaped fillings <NUM>. On its inner side, the lid <NUM> is provided with housings to accommodate carrying pins <NUM>, <NUM>, on which the lid <NUM> is hinged. The carrying pins <NUM>, <NUM> are accommodated in the free carrying ends <NUM>, <NUM> of the arms <NUM>, <NUM>, which form a parallelogram with the lid <NUM>. Preferably, the carrying pins <NUM>, <NUM> are mounted in housings of the lid <NUM> firmly and in the free carrying ends <NUM>, <NUM> of the arms <NUM>, <NUM> pivotally; the pivotal mounting can also be performed reversely: firm mounting of the carrying pins <NUM>, <NUM> in free carrying ends <NUM>, <NUM> of the arms <NUM>, <NUM> and pivotal mounting in the housings of the lid <NUM>. Preferably, the arms <NUM>, <NUM> can be connected to a carrying element, on which the lid <NUM> itself only snaps into place, by means of carrying pins <NUM>, <NUM>. Similarly to the carrying pins <NUM>, <NUM> being mounted in the free carrying ends <NUM>, <NUM> of the arms <NUM>, <NUM>, the second free support ends <NUM>, <NUM> of the arms <NUM>, <NUM> are pivotally mounted on the support pins <NUM>, <NUM> mounted in the body <NUM>. Alternatively, the pivotal mounting can be performed in such a way that the support pins <NUM>, <NUM> are mounted firmly in the housings of the free support ends <NUM>, <NUM> and pivotally in the body <NUM>. The arms <NUM>, <NUM> form opposite arms of the parallelogram and their support pins <NUM>, <NUM> are arranged on one side of the dish-shaped bulge <NUM> of the body, so that, in the open position of the lid <NUM> according to <FIG>, the arm <NUM>, pivotally mounted on the support pin <NUM>, is closer to the dish-shaped bulge <NUM> and the charging socket <NUM> than the second arm <NUM>. Around the support pin <NUM>, double-return spring <NUM> is arranged, which, according to <FIG>, presses the arm <NUM> into the open position and, when rotated in the direction of the lid <NUM> closing, the double-return spring <NUM> begins to act the arm <NUM> in the direction of the lid <NUM> closing. The support pins <NUM>, <NUM> are arranged on one side of the charging socket <NUM> and the support pin <NUM> of the arm <NUM> closer to the charging socket <NUM> is preferably closer to the front <NUM> of the charging socket <NUM> than the support pin <NUM> of the arm <NUM> farther from the charging socket <NUM> in the longitudinal axis (α) of the charging socket <NUM>. On the side of the arm <NUM> that is facing the dish-shaped bulge <NUM> of the charging socket <NUM>, caps <NUM>, <NUM> are arranged for to cover the connection holes <NUM>, <NUM> of the charging socket <NUM>. When the lid <NUM> is closed, the caps <NUM>, <NUM> fit on the connection holes <NUM>, <NUM> of the charging socket <NUM>. Such an arrangement of the support pins <NUM>, <NUM> allows the arm <NUM> to easily fit the bottom <NUM> of the dish-shaped bulge <NUM> of the charging socket <NUM>. One or both caps <NUM>, <NUM> may be preferably arranged on a separate arm <NUM>, which is pivotally mounted on the support pin <NUM> of the arm <NUM> closer to the charging socket <NUM> so that the arm <NUM> can move independently of the arm <NUM> and the caps <NUM>, <NUM> on the arm <NUM> can cover one or both connection holes <NUM>, <NUM> independently of the position of the arm <NUM>. Preferably, the arm <NUM> may be lockably connect to the arm <NUM>. Alternatively, the cap <NUM>, <NUM> may be fixedly mounted on one of the arms <NUM>, <NUM>. In this case, the caps <NUM>, <NUM> cover the connection holes <NUM>, <NUM> whenever the lid <NUM> is closed and uncover whenever the lid <NUM> is opened.

According to <FIG>, the vehicle charging module is in the closed state, when the lid <NUM> is in a position aligned with the outside of the body <NUM>. The arms <NUM>, <NUM> are turned into the space of the dish-shaped bulge <NUM> contrary to the open state of the charging module. The support pin <NUM> arranged closer to the front <NUM> of the charging socket <NUM> allows the arm <NUM> to fit the bottom <NUM> of the dish-shaped bulge <NUM> and the caps <NUM>, <NUM> to fit fully the connection holes <NUM>, <NUM> of the charging socket <NUM> substantially in the direction of the longitudinal axis α. In the state of closed charging module, the inner side of the lid <NUM> fits the locking element <NUM>, which is in contact with the respective catching element on the inner side of the lid <NUM>. On the opposite side of the dish-shaped bulge <NUM>, oppositely to the locking element <NUM>, a switching element of the sensor <NUM> is arranged to detect and signal the closed position of the lid <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A vehicle charging module, in particular of an electric
drive vehicle, comprising an electric charging socket (<NUM>) housed in a bottom (<NUM>) of a dish-shaped bulge (<NUM>) of a vehicle body (<NUM>) and with its front (<NUM>) provided with at least one connection hole (<NUM>, <NUM>), opened in the direction of the longitudinal axis (α) thereof to the orifice (<NUM>) of the dish-shaped bulge (<NUM>), and
a lid (<NUM>) swing mounted in the vehicle body (<NUM>) to close the dish-shaped bulge (<NUM>) orifice (<NUM>) by means of two arms (<NUM>, <NUM>), carrying ends (<NUM>, <NUM>) of which are pivotally mounted on the lid (<NUM>) inside by means of carrying pins (<NUM>, <NUM>) and support ends (<NUM>, <NUM>) of which are pivotally mounted in the vehicle body (<NUM>) by means of support pins (<NUM>, <NUM>) arranged on one side of the charging socket (<NUM>), whereas the arms (<NUM>, <NUM>) and the lid (<NUM>) form a parallelogram to move the lid (<NUM>) in a position parallel to the vehicle body (<NUM>) surface,
wherein the support pin (<NUM>) of the arm (<NUM>), which is closer to the charging socket (<NUM>) is in the direction of the longitudinal axis (α) of the charging socket (<NUM>), is closer to the front (<NUM>) of the charging socket (<NUM>) than the support pin (<NUM>) of the arm (<NUM>), which is more distant from the charging socket (<NUM>), characterized in that
a cap (<NUM>, <NUM>) of the connection hole (<NUM>, <NUM>) of the charging socket (<NUM>) is arranged on the side of one of the arms (<NUM>, <NUM>), facing the charging socket (<NUM>).