Liquid-cooled contact element

Abstract

An electrical contact element for a car charging plug connector is disclosed, which electrical contact element has a contact part and a connection part, wherein the connection part can be connected to an electrical conductor of a cable. Cooling liquid can be delivered to the contact element. As a result, the heat produced on the contact element is extracted directly. Therefore higher currents can be transmitted by such a contact element than by known contact elements.

Claims

1. A system, comprising: a fluid-cooled electric cable having at least one electrical conductor and a central cooling fluid line surrounded by hollow buffer elements, the at least one electrical conductor, the central cooling fluid line and the hollow buffer elements extending along a length of the fluid-cooled electric cable; and an electric contact element including a contact part and a connecting part, wherein the connecting part is adapted to be connected to the at least one electrical conductor of the fluid-cooled electric cable, wherein coolant can be conveyed to the contact element via the hollow buffer elements of the fluid-cooled electric cable, wherein the electric contact element has an at least two-part design and the connecting part and the contact part are each formed by separate components which can be reversibly connected to each other, and wherein the connecting part has a cavity through which the coolant can flow before exiting the electric contact element into the central cooling fluid line of the fluid-cooled electric cable.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the connecting part and the contact part of the electric contact element are adapted to be screwed to each other.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the contact part of the electric contact element is designed as a jack.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the jack has four or six blades.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the connecting part of the electric contact element has an essentially cylindrical design and has a hollow cylinder.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the connecting part of the electric contact element has at least one opening in fluid communication with the cavity.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the connecting part of the electric contact element has two, three, or four openings in fluid communication with the cavity.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the cavity of the connecting part of the electric contact element is accessible by one or more openings in the connecting part, and wherein the cavity is connected to a cavity of the hollow cylinder.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein coolant can flow from the hollow buffer elements of the fluid-cooled electric cable into the one or more openings of the connecting part, and the coolant can flow out through the hollow cylinder into the central cooling fluid line of the fluid-cooled electric cable.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the electric contact element further comprises a sleeve which at least partially covers the connecting part.

11. The system of claim 5, wherein the hollow cylinder of the connecting part has an outlet opening at an end thereof, and wherein a blade structure is provided on the hollow cylinder.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plug connector in which the electric contact element is received.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the plug connector is a car charging plug connector.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and explained in detail below. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view in section of a contact element with a connected cable,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a perspective exploded drawing of the contact element with a sleeve on the connecting part,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a contact part of the contact element,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a connecting part of the contact element,

(6) FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a crimp sleeve,

(7) FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a cable with an integrated coolant line,

(8) FIG. 7 shows a perspective exploded drawing of the contact element,

(9) FIG. 8 shows a perspective view in section of a plug connector with an integrated contact element,

(10) FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the contact element with a connected cable and a two-part crimp sleeve, and

(11) FIG. 10 shows a view in section of the connecting part.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(12) The Figures contain partially simplified schematic views. The same reference numerals are partly used for the same but possibly non-identical elements. Different views of the same elements could be shown at different scales.

(13) FIG. 1 shows a contact element 1 which is electrically connected to a cable 2 with an integrated coolant line. The contact element 1 consists or comprises of a connecting part 3 and a contact part 4. The connecting part 3 comprises an axial bore 25 and the contact part 4 comprises an axial through-bore 26. Both the bore 25 and the through-bore 26 each comprise an internal thread 5 and can be connected reversibly to each other via a screw (not shown). A knurl 27, which prevents rotation between the connecting part 3 and the contact part 4, is formed on the contact part 4. If the contact part 4 becomes worn after many plugging cycles, a fresh contact part 4 can be attached without there being any need for the cable 2 to be reconnected to the contact element 1. The cable 2 can remain permanently on the connecting part 3.

(14) The contact part 4 is designed as a so-called jack with a total of 6 blades 7. The connecting part has an essentially cylindrical design. A hollow cylinder 6 is integrally formed on a main body of the connecting part 3 so that it protrudes axially therefrom. The hollow cylinder 6 can also be viewed as a hollow needle. The hollow cylinder 6 tapers toward the end and opens out in an outlet opening 13. A blade structure 14 is applied on the hollow cylinder 6 between the outlet opening 13 and the main body. Openings 15, which allow access to a cavity 16 inside the connecting part 3, are introduced in the connecting part 3. A plurality of openings 15 are provided rotationally symmetrically along the sheath surface of the connecting part 3. The openings 15 each have the same spacing from one another. The cavity 16 is likewise connected to the cavity which forms the hollow cylinder 6.

(15) The cable 2 connected to the contact element 1 comprises, in cross-section, of a central coolant line 8. Individual conductors 9, in this case copper cores, are positioned around the coolant line 8. The copper cores are surrounded by a liquid-tight film 10 (FIG. 6). So-called buffer elements 11 lie on this film 10 and are finally surrounded by a solid cable sheath 12. The buffer elements 11 likewise have a hollow design such that a coolant can flow in the region between the liquid-tight film 10 and the cable sheath 12. The cable 2 is fastened on the contact element 1 via a sleeve 17. The connecting part 3 has two circumferential grooves 19 in each of which a seal (not indicated for illustrative reasons) is arranged. The sleeve 17 is sealed so that it is media-tight via the sealing rings.

(16) The outlet opening 13 of the hollow cylinder 6 of the connecting part 3 is pushed into the central coolant line 8 of the cable 2. The internal diameter of the coolant line 8 is matched to the external diameter of the hollow cylinder 6 or of the outlet opening 13. The geometry of the outlet opening 13 prevents the hollow cylinder 6 from slipping out of the coolant line 8. The electrical conductors 9 of the cable 2 bear in an electrically conductive fashion on the blade structure 14 of the hollow cylinder 6. The conductors 9 are fastened on the hollow cylinder 6 via crimp sleeve 18 (FIG. 5). On the cable 2 side, the crimp sleeve 18 covers part of the liquid-tight film 10. At the other end, the crimp sleeve 18 seals the main body of the connecting part 3 liquid-tightly. The conductors 9 are accordingly sealed liquid-tightly.

(17) The connecting part 3 has a cavity 16 through which coolant can flow. The volume of the cavity can be adjusted such that sufficient heat can be discharged via the coolant but the connecting part 3 still has sufficient solidity.

(18) On the cable sheath side, the coolant flows, with reference to FIG. 1, in the direction of the arrow 20 through the sleeve 17 and from there in the direction of the arrow 21 into the openings 15 of the connecting part 3. Coolant flows through the cavity 16 of the connecting part 3. The heat which is generated here during operation is absorbed by the coolant and transported away again via the cavity of the hollow cylinder 6 in the direction of the arrow 22 via the central liquid line 8. In a remote system, the coolant can be cooled down again and be recycled to the openings 15.

(19) An open housing of a plug connector 23, in which the contact element 1 is installed and connected to a cable 2, is shown in FIG. 8. The plug connector 23 generally comprises at least two contact elements 1 and also two cables 2 connected thereto which contain a coolant. The plug connector 23 can contain further non-cooled contact elements (not shown), for example for control signals, which are in each case connected to a cable with no cooling function. The two cables 2 and further cables are combined in a flexible tube (not indicated for illustrative reasons) which departs from the cable outlet 24 of the plug connector 23.

(20) FIG. 9 shows an alternative embodiment of the contact element 1 with a connected coolant-conducting cable 2. The crimp sleeve 18 here has a two-part design. Only part of the two-part crimp sleeve 18 is shown in FIG. 9 for illustrative reasons.

(21) A particular type of crimping of the crimp sleeve 18 is shown in FIG. 10. The crimp sleeve 18 is made into a so-called hex star crimping form. A uniform and particularly gas-tight crimping is achieved as a result. This type of crimping moreover has very low resistance values. The individual conductors 9 are squeezed together beneath the crimp sleeve 18 and are in contact with one another. A closed conductive copper layer is consequently formed around the connecting part 3. In the region of the buffer elements 11, the coolant can flow via the crimp sleeve 18 as far as the contact element 1 and its connecting part 3.

(22) In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.