Electricity: motive power systems – Motor-reversing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-08
2001-02-27
Ip, Paul (Department: 2837)
Electricity: motive power systems
Motor-reversing
C318S139000, C318S568100, C439S034000, C320S118000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06194854
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging lid opening and closing device for protecting a receiving coupler on an electric vehicle which is powered by electric energy supplied from a battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent years have seen progress in the development of electric vehicles as means of transportation for reducing the rate of consumption of existing fossil fuels and avoiding possible environmental pollution. Electric vehicles are powered by electric energy stored in and supplied from batteries mounted thereon. The battery on an electric vehicle needs to be charged with electric energy from an external source from time to time. For supplying electric energy to the battery, the electric vehicle has a receiving coupler that can be fitted over an energy supplying coupler of an electric energy supply station.
If, when the electric vehicle is moved to the electric energy supply station, the energy supplying coupler can automatically engage the receiving coupler and start automatically charging the battery through the receiving coupler, then the burden on attendants at the electric energy supply station can be minimized. The receiving coupler of the electric vehicle needs to be protected against dirt and dust, and requires an openable and closable lid for giving the electric vehicle a neat appearance. If the battery is to be automatically charged through the receiving coupler, then it is desirable that the openable and closable lid should automatically be opened and closed.
Many gasoline-powered vehicles have a fuel inlet lid that is manually openable and closable for supplying gasoline to the gasoline tank. Users of electric vehicles are usually accustomed to such a manually openable and closable fuel inlet lid, and hence possibly tend to manually open and close the openable and closable lid for the receiving coupler.
If an automatically openable and closable lid for the receiving coupler is manually opened and closed, then an excessive load is liable to be imposed on a mechanism for automatically opening and closing the lid. When the lid is manually opened and closed, if the lid is not fully open, a feeding coupler may not normally be fitted into the receiving coupler, and if the lid is not fully closed, then the lid may wobble as it is partially open, and possibly adversely affect the way in which the electric vehicle runs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a charging lid opening and closing device which allows an automatically openable and closable charging lid to be manually opened and closed without imposing an undue load on a mechanism for automatically opening and closing the lid, and also keeps the charging lid reliably in an open or closed state.
A major object of the present invention is to provide a charging lid opening and closing device which allows a charging lid to automatically switch from a manually opening and closing mode to an automatically opening and closing mode.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a charging lid opening and closing device which can shorten a motor idling time when a charging lid switches from a manually opening and closing mode to an automatically opening and closing mode.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
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Ozawa Akira
Shimada Michio
Sone Toshihiro
Uchibori Kenji
Arent Fox Kintner & Plotkin & Kahn, PLLC
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Ip Paul
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