Overhead cable management for electric vehicle charging
AssigneeControl Module, Inc.
InventorsJames S. Bianco, John Fahy, David B. Palmer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An overhead cable management for charging an electric vehicle employs a reel which receives a cable with an EV connector. A drive assembly employs a bi-positionable clutch and a gear assembly which sequentially engages a drive gear for the reel to unwind the cable from an overhead position to an ADA height, allow the cable and connector to be extended to connect with the EV and to wind the cable until a locked home position is obtained. The cable management is incorporated into an EVSE which is ceiling mounted, or an EVSE which is mounted to a pole or a wall. Numerous modules and features are optionally employed in connection with the operation of the cable management.
Claims29
An EVSE installation comprising:
- a housing having a bottom cover defining an opening;
- a reel disposed in said housing above said bottom cover and having a central hub rotatable about an axis;
- an electrical cable with a vehicle connector at one end and connectable to a power supply at the other end and being retractable and extendable through said opening onto and from said reel;
- a cable management system comprising a drive assembly for said reel and having a drive mode to retract said cable and a release mode to drivably extend said cable and said cable being manually extendable when said drive assembly is in said release mode;
- wherein said drive assembly drives said cable onto said reel so that said cable progressively winds on the hub to form a coiled configuration and said cable and connector are disposed at a stable home position with said connector disposed below said opening.
A cable management system for charging electric vehicles comprising:
- a cable connectable to a power supply and having an EV connector;
- a rotatable reel which receives said cable and releases and retracts said cable;
- a drive assembly for said reel comprising an electrically operated motor which connects via a clutch with a bi-positionable gear assembly engageable with a continuous transfer member operatively engageable with said reel to bi-directionally rotatably drive said reel;
- and
- a controller which automatically controls said drive assembly wherein said cable is lowerable to an access position, is manually extendable from said reel while being lowered to said access position and is manually extendable at said access position for connection to an EV and retractable to store the connector in a locked position.
A cable management system for charging electric vehicles comprising:
- a cable connectable to a power supply and having an EV connector;
- a rotatable reel which receives said cable and releases and retracts said cable;
- a drive assembly for said reel comprising an electrically operated motor which connects via a clutch with a bi-positionable gear assembly engageable with a continuous transfer member operatively engageable with said reel to bi-directionally rotatably drive said reel, wherein said gear assembly comprises a first drive gear pinned to a motor shaft, a clutch drive gear with a clutch bearing, a retractor idler gear, and a deployment idler gear wherein each of said idler gears are sequentially engageable with a drive sprocket gear;
- and
- a controller which automatically controls said drive assembly wherein said cable is lowerable to an access position, manually extendable for connection to an EV and retractable to store the connector in a locked position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.