Field

In general, the present disclosure relates to the handling of a supply cable at a supply station for supplying power means for a corresponding vehicle driven by the supplied power means. In particular, the present disclosure concerns a supply cable handling assembly to be integrated into or mounted to a corresponding supply station by which the user experience of handling the supply cable is improved.

Note, the power means may be electrical energy but can be also any other kind of conventional power means such as liquid fuels like gasoline, auto gas, liquified petroleum gas, hydrogen, just to name a few non exhaustive examples.

Background

The following background information is provided solely to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure and should by no means be construed as an admitted prior art unless expressly designated as such. Fig. 1 from US 2019/0217717 A1 illustrates an electrified vehicle 12 parked near a charging station 32 for charging a battery (not shown) inside the vehicle 12 that powers an electrified powertrain of the vehicle 12. The station 32 itself is powered by a schematically shown external power source 34 that, for example, may include utility grid power and/or power from an alternative energy source. The station 32 includes a housing 36 and a charging cable 38. The housing 36 houses various internal components of the station 32. For example, the housing 36 includes a display 40 for displaying charging information to an user 42.

There is ongoing research and development in charging technologies aiming amongst others for reducing the charging time. As the charging voltage(s) cannot be increased at will, one option is to configure the charging cable 38 for transferring higher electrical currents per time unit. This results in the cable 38 becoming heavier in weight; for example, current charging cables weigh approximately 10 kg per meter in length. For instance, a charging cable with 3 m lengths weights about 30kg. Apparently one-handed handling such ponderous cables 38 at the station 32 is not easy and a comfortable experience for the user 42, at all. In the example shown in Fig. 1 the cable 38 is stowed at the station 32. In order to enable the user 42 to bridge various distances between the station 32 and a charging port 46 at the electrified vehicle 12, the cable 38 must be provided with sufficient length. To this end, the cable 38 is entwined into a cable bundle 41 stowed at the station 32. For charging the vehicle 12, the user 42 needs to wrench sufficient cable 38 from the bundle 41 at the station 32 to connect a charging connector 44 of the charging cable 38 to the charging port 46 of the vehicle 12. After charging, the user 42 needs to return the cable 38 back to the station 32 by entwining it again into the bundle 41 as before stowed at the station 32. Thus, besides the required charging time itself, the handling of the cable 38 before and after charging renders additional time and puts additional burden on the user 42. Particularly, the cable 38 is prone to contact or to lie on the ground, thereby getting dirty and even being damaged. Moreover, on the ground lying cables 38 become an obstacle for pedestrians and/or other vehicles.

Finally, futures charging cables are expected to become even heavier so that the afore- discussed drawbacks are likely to become worse.

Summary

It is an aim of the present disclosure to provide a solution by which the above described drawbacks in the conventional handling of charging cables can be overcome or at least reduced. The aim may be achieved with the features of the attached independent claims. Further exemplary implementations and developments are defined in respective dependent claims.

Flere, features and details that are defined in connection with the supply station comprising the smart cable handling assembly according to the present disclosure are correspondingly valid for the corresponding cable handling method and vice versa. For this reason, reciprocal reference is made with respect to the present disclosure of the individual aspects.

The core concept of the present disclosure is a smart stow-away system for a supply cable by means of a smart cable handling assembly provided at a supply station for supplying vehicles with driving power means via the supply cable. As said before, the driving power means may be electrical energy but can be also any other kind of conventional power means such as liquid fuels like gasoline, auto gas, liquified petroleum gas, hydrogen just to name a few examples. The proposed smart cable handling assembly basically has a support arm that is pivotable mounted to the supply station in a way so that the support arm can be pivoted about a predetermined range, e.g. a range of 0 degrees up to 270 degrees, whilst the supply cable is attached to the support arm and exits the support arm at the free end thereof. This way, by the pivoting support arm the point at which the supply cable is fixed to the supply station becomes moveable along a circular path around the point at which the support arm is pivotably fixed to the supply station.

Since the support arm carries the complete weight of the supply cable attached to it, the support arm extends the area of service reachable by the supply cable around the supply station without adding any additional cable weight to be handled by the user. Moreover, the support arm also carries the portion of the supply cable suspending from the support arm down to the lowest point of the supply cable (in a side view). In effect, the user needs to lift basically only the portion of the supply cable running from said lowest point up to the end of the supply cable with the connector. Thus, in total the support arm carries roughly between 30% up to 60% of the total supply cable, depending on the total length of the supply cable, the length of the support arm, and the height with respect to ground at which the support arm is fixed to the supply station.

Thus, a first aspect of the present disclosure provides a supply station for supplying driving power means to a corresponding vehicle. The supply station comprises a supply cable handling assembly for handling a supply cable, the supply cable having a first cable end connected to the supply station and a second cable end connectable via a connector to a vehicle to be supplied with the driving power means. The cable handling assembly comprises a support arm fixed at a first arm end to the supply station by at least one pivot by which the support arm is pivotable in a horizontal plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the gravitation force from a predetermined stow-away position of the support arm at the supply station. The supply cable is guided along the support arm supporting a predetermined length of the support cable which is defined by the length of the support arm.

Thus, for example, assumed one meter supply cable weights about 10 kg, a support arm with ½ meter length may directly carry about 5kg supply cable plus the length of the supply cable directly suspending from the support arm; assumed the support arm is installed at a height of 2 meters, about additional 1.5 meter supply cable is carried by the support arm corresponding to about 15 kg weight. Further assumed the user carries the reminder of the supply cable with about 1.5 meter, it becomes apparent that the support arm carries more than 50%, nearly 60% of the supply cable. As a result, the service area of the supply station is increased whilst the handling of the supply cable with respect to its weight is eased.

Further, the pivotable support arm describes a circular point of supply line defined by the support arm length, the at least one pivot, and the angle range about which the support arm is pivotable, e.g. 180 degrees. Thus, the supply line is a half-circle in the 180 degrees example. As discussed above, only up to about half of the cable length suspending from the supple line and running to the vehicle to be supplied counts to the cable weight to be handled by the user. Thus, the support arm supporting the supply cable of the predetermined length stowed therein compensates for a substantial portion of the total cable weight.

In a particular configuration, the support arm may be fixed at the one end to the supply station by two pivots defining a pivot axis substantially parallel to the direction of the gravitation force. In the predetermined stow-away position, the support arm may be arranged closely adjacent to an outer surface of the supply station. Alternatively, the support arm may be completely or partially arranged in a recess that is defined in the supply station whereby the support arm is embedded in the outer surface of the supply station. This way, if the support arm is not needed or the supply station is not used at all, the cable length carried by the support arm is stowed away and protected against any kind of environmental influences such as sunlight, rain and so on.

The support arm having the first arm end fixed to the supply station at the at least one pivot has a second arm end freely pivotable about the at least one pivot.

In particular configurations, the supply cable is guided into the support arm at the first arm end at the at last one pivot, along the support arm, and out of the support arm at the second arm end. To this effect, for example, the support arm may have a tubular shape so that the supply cable can run through the support arm, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the support arm which is defined as being substantial orthogonal to the support arm and the supply cable carried by it is at least one of or a combination of rectangle, square, polygon, or circle.

For example, it has turned out to be particularly useful, if the support arm has a horizontal length along which the supply cable is guided, and which is about 40 cm up to 150 cm. For example, it has turned out to be particularly useful, if the support arm is fixed to the supply station at a predetermined height that is defined with respect to the ground on which the station is disposed. For instance, the height may be in the range of 150 cm up to 220 cm, preferably in the range of 170 cm up to 200 cm, most preferably in the range of 175 cm up to 195 cm. In a particular example, the height is about 180 cm. In effect, setting the height of the pivot, i.e. the point where the support arm is fixed to the supply station, at least above the usual height of the vehicle charging port or power connector, the support arm effectively helps the user in handling the weight of the cable.

For example, it has turned out to be particularly useful, if the fixed external length of the supply cable that is defined from the supply station to the free end of the free supply cable is in the range of 2 m up to 4 m. That is to say, the fixed external length here also includes the length of the supply cable that is supported by the support arm but does not include any optional extra supply cable length that may be stored internally to the supply station.

Depending on the point at which the at least one pivot is fixed to the supply station, the support arm may be pivotable about the at least one pivot in a range from 0 degree up to 90, 180, or even up to 270 degrees.

In a further development, the cable handling assembly may further comprise a retraction system which is coupled to the support arm and to the supply station. The retraction system may be configured to move the support arm into the predetermined stow-away position, when no pulling force is exerted on the supply cable by the user. In other words, as soon as the supply cable is not used, e.g. the charging connector at the free end is placed in a corresponding holder of the supply station, the support arm is automatically moved into the stow-away position. To this end, the retraction system may be configured to move the support arm with the supply cable back into the stow-away position via a rotational movement about the pivot once no pulling force is exerted to the support arm by the user.

Practically, the retraction system may comprise a traction element which is coupled the at one end to the support arm and at the other end to a retraction force unit configured to provide a retraction force via the traction element to the support arm once the support arm is pivoted out of the stow-away position. For example, the retraction force unit may comprise a resilient element, such as a coil spring, for example, which is stretched once the support arm is moved out of the stow-away position via the traction element building up or storing retraction power for retracting he support arm back into the stow-away position. In a further development, there may be at least one bump stop unit that is fixed to the supply station or to the support arm or is freely moveable disposed between the supply station and the support arm at the traction element. The at least one bump stop unit may be configured to dampen an impact force of a mechanical stop when the support arm is returned to the predetermined stow-away position.

The traction element may be a cord or wire running through a through-hole in the bump stop unit. The at least one bump stop unit may be a flexible element made from an elastic material such as rubber and has preferably the shape of a ball or a cube.

In a further development, the supply station may further comprise an internal supply cable roller or spool configured to provide an extra supply cable length of up to extra 4 meters and coupled to a retraction system for retracting the extra supply cable length into the supply station. Thus, the extra supply cable can be pulled from the internal supply cable roller or spool and out of the supply station by the user, as needed. This extra pulled out supply cable can be automatically pulled back into the supply station by a retraction force provided by the retraction system to the internal supply cable roller or spool once no pulling force is exerted onto the cable.

In a particular configuration, the horizontal length of the support arm corresponds to and is defined by the longitudinal length of a housing of the supply station. In other words, the support arm extends over the whole side of the supply station. Depending on the position of the at least one pivot, the support arm can be pivoted about 90, 180, or even 270 degrees.

The herein proposed supply station with the supply cable handling assembly is easy to operate by the user and achieves at least the following advantages:

Firstly, the predetermined horizontal length about 40 cm up to 150 cm of the support arm defines the length of the cable stowed in the support arm. The corresponding weight of the cable of the predefined length is supported by the support arm. In other words, the weight is reduced for the user. It was found that the cable weight can be compensated by at least 30% up to more than 50% or even 60% by means of employing the support arm in comparison to a charging station without such support arm when handling the supply cable of the same length. As discussed before the effective compensation depends mainly on the support arm length, the total supply cable length, and the height at which the support arm is fixed to the supply station. Secondly, the support arm is pivotable about the pivot axis at the supply station. This is useful since the mounting position of a charging port in each vehicle can be different, for example in the front, rear, left or right of a vehicle. By pivoting the support arm as well as the cable from the predetermined stow-away position to a supply position along a corresponding rotational movement path, the user can adjust and optimize the angle and the route to the charging port of the vehicle. After completion of supplying, the support arm returns from the supply position to the stow-away position automatically by the effect of the predetermined retraction force provided by the retraction force unit.

Thirdly, extra supply cable length can be stowed in the supply station. The extra supply cable stowed in the supply station may be entwined into a cable roller or spool and configured to be coupled to a retraction system fixed in the supply station. The user can pull out the required extra supply cable out from the supply station to connect the supply cable with a charging port of a vehicle if the cable it not enough long. After completion of supplying once no pulling force is exerted onto the extra pulled out supply cable, it returns into the supply station by a retraction force provided by the retraction system. Since the supply cable is stowed in the supply station instead of outside of a charging station as shown in the prior art Fig. 1, it prevents the cable from lying on the ground, blocking adjacent parking lots, becoming an obstacle for pedestrians, getting dirty and even being crushed and damaged by vehicles. Summarizing, the supply cable handling assembly creates an easy and friendly user experience. No additional steps from the user ^’ s side are required except of connecting the supply cable with a charging port of a vehicle and replacing the supply cable to a holder at the supply station after supplying as the support arm and the extra pulled out cable returns to the predetermined positions automatically. The cable handling assembly can be equipped at a prior art charging station without significant modifications.

A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for handling a supply cable for supplying a vehicle at a supply station according to the first aspect of the present disclosure. The method may comprise the steps:

Step S100: a pulling step of pulling a cable connector at the free end of the supply cable out of a holder at the supply station and towards a charging port of a vehicle to be supplied by the supply station via the supply cable. Step S200: a rotation step of rotating the support arm out of the predetermined stow-away position into a supply position along a rotational movement path (A-B) into the direction of the vehicle thereby providing additional supply cable length.

Step S400: a supplying step of supplying the vehicle with driving power means via a connection between the connector and the charging port of the vehicle.

Step S500: a removing step of removing the connector into the holder.

Step S600: a simultaneous pulling step of pulling the support arm from the supply position back to the predetermined stow-away position along a rotational movement about the at least one pivot. In a further development, the method may further comprise the following steps:

After the step S200, a step S300: an optional pulling-out step of pulling out an extra cable length stowed in the supply station, if the supply cable outside of the supply station is not long enough to reach the charging port of the vehicle.

After the step S600, a step S700: a corresponding pulling-in step of pulling in the extra pulled out supply cable back into supply station, if the optional step S300 was initiated by the user.

For example, in an usual use scenario, the user takes the free supply cable end, which usually may comprise a connector, such as a pistol for connection the connector with a corresponding interface of a vehicle, such as a charging port, out from a corresponding holder at the supply station. Whilst pulling the supply cable towards the charging port of the vehicle, the support arm starts rotating about a pivot axis from the predetermined stow-away position at the supply station to a supply position in order to adjust and optimize a corresponding angle and route to the charging port of the vehicle.

Optionally, if the supply cable, positioned outside of the supply station, is not long enough to reach the charging port of the vehicle, the user may pull an additionally required extra cable out from the supply station. After supplying is being completed, the user replaces the connector such as a pistol into the holder at the supply station. Simultaneously, the support arm returns from the supply position to the predetermined stow-away position automatically and the pulled out extra cable returns to the supply station automatically. The here proposed cable handling assembly may be particularly useful for a charging cable of a charging station for an electric vehicle which may be an automobile, but may, in principle, also be any other kind of vehicle, such as an aircraft, watercraft, or rail vehicle. Such electric vehicle may have an electric drive system only which is supplied with electrical energy by a corresponding internal power supply system, which may be a battery in case of electrical energy as the driving power means, or a fuel tank in case of a convention liquid fuel as driving power means. The vehicle may also be a hybrid vehicle that additionally has other types of drive or power supply, such as a conventional internal combustion engine or a fuel cell. Thus, the herein proposed cable handling assembly may also be used in conventional fuel pumps for supporting the fuel hose for refueling motor vehicles which do have a conventional combustion engine supplied with gasoline or similar liquids.

Brief Description of the Drawing Figures

Other advantages, features, and details of the present disclosure arise from the following description, in which exemplary implementations are described in detail with reference to drawings. The features described in the claims and in the description may be relevant to the present disclosure individually or in any combination. Likewise, the features mentioned above and below can each be used individually or collectively in any combination. Functionally similar or identical parts or components are in some cases labelled with the same reference symbols. The terms “left”, “right”, “up,” and “down,” used in the description of the exemplary implementations relate to the drawings in an orientation with the legends legible in the normal fashion or reference characters legible in the normal fashion. The implementations shown and described are not to be taken as exhaustive but serve as examples for explaining the present disclosure. The detailed description is for the information of those of ordinary skill in the art, which is why known structures and methods are not shown or explained in detail in the description, to avoid complicating the understanding of the present description.

Fig. 1 shows a prior art electrical charging station for an electrified vehicle disclosed in US 2019/0217717 Al.

Fig. 2 is perspective view of an exemplary supply station equipped with the cable handing assembly according to the present disclosure wherein the support arm is in the predetermined stow-away position.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the support arm of the supply station shown in Fig. 2 from a first point of view.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of Fig. 3 from second point of view. Fig. 5 is a first detail view of the supply station shown in Fig. 2 from a first point of view where the support arm is moved out of the predetermined stow away position into a supply position.

Fig. 6 is the detail view of Fig. 5 from a second point of view.

Fig. 7 is a full view of the supply station of Fig. 2 from a different point of view further illustrating implementations of a bump stop unit with one bump stop unit positioned at the supply station and an alternative bump stop unit disposed freely moveable at a traction element via a corresponding through hole of the bump stop unit.

Fig. 8 illustrates further implementations of the bump stop unit in comparison to

Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is another full perspective view of the supply station wherein in the example shown the support arm is completely embedded into a corresponding recess of the supply station such that the support arm is flush with the outer surface of the supply station when in the stow-away position.

Fig. 10 illustrates a schematic overview of the herein proposed supply station for providing driving power means to an electrified vehicle.

Fig. 11 shows a flow chart illustrating steps of handling the support arm and the cable at the supply station.

Detailed Description of exemplary implementations

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic overview of a particular implementation of the here proposed supply station 1 and the supply cable handing assembly 2 thereof. For sake of reference, a coordinate system with the coordinates x, y, z is introduced. The coordinate y defined by the negative direction of the gravitation force corresponds to the height of the supply station 1. The coordinate z running orthogonal out of the plane of Fig. 2 corresponds to the depth of the supply station 1. The coordinate x orthogonal to both the coordinates y and z corresponds to the width of the supply station 1. The supply station 1 is positioned on the ground 25 or mounted into a wall which is orthogonal to a horizontal plane defined by the coordinates x and z. The coordinate system introduced in Fig. 2 is also shown in all following Figures for general reference and sake of orientation.

The supply station 1 provides driving power means to a vehicle 27 (cf. Fig. 10) and comprises a supply cable handing assembly 2, a supply cable 3, a connector 18 in form of a charging pistol for connecting the supply cable 3 to a charging port 19 (cf. Fig. 10) of the vehicle 27 (cf. Fig. 10), a holder 16 for disposing the connector 18 at the supply station 1 and a display 21 for inputting and/or outing information from/to the user 20 (cf. Fig. 10). Additionally, the supply station 1 may also comprise a lighting device 28 for lighting the supply station 1 in the dark, e.g. at night.

The cable handling assembly 2 includes a support arm 8 positioned horizontal at the supply station 1. Precisely speaking, in the example shown, the longitudinal length of the support arm 8 corresponds to the width of front outer surface 10 of the supply station 1 defined by the coordinate x.

In the shown configuration, the support arm 8 is configured to be positioned closely adjacent to the outer surface 10 of the supply station 1 as the stow-away position. Alternatively, in the further development shown in Fig. 9 the support arm can be embedded totally or partially into a corresponding recess 13 (cf. Fig. 9) of the supply station 1.

The support arm 8 has two arm ends 23, 22 and is pivotable fixed at the supply station 1 by two pivots 24 defining a pivot axis 7. In other words, the first arm end 23 is pivotably fixed to the supply station 1, whilst the second arm end 22 is freely pivotable about the pivot axis 7 in a predetermined angle range. The stow-away position may define the zero degrees position and the maximum pivot angle may be up to 270°.

The support arm 8 may have a tubular shape through which the supply cable 3 runs. That is to say, the supply cable 3 enters the support arm 8 at the pivots 24 and exits the support am at the second arm end 22. The shape of the cross-section of the support arm 8 may be one of or a combination of a rectangle, a square, a circle, a polygon to name some examples. In the shown example, the cross-section of the support arm 8 has substantially a square shape defined by a U-shaped profile of the support arm.

The predetermined longitudinal length of the support arm 8 may be in practical implementations about 40 cm up to 150 cm. As said before, the length direction of the support arm corresponds to the x coordinate and is defined by the longitudinal length of the housing of the supply station 1.

The supply cable 3 connected to the supply station 1 is carried by the support arm 8 and thus supported by it such that the rotational movement of the support arm 8 about the pivot axis 7 results in a corresponding joint movement of the supply cable 3 and the support arm 8 along a curved path described by the moveable service starting point corresponding to the second arm end 22 of the support arm 8 from which the supply cable exits when being pivoted about the pivots 24. An inputting and/or outputting display 21 for displaying supplying information to the user 20 is positioned on one side 32 of the supply station 1 corresponding to the depth of the supply station 1. The display 21 may be also positioned at the front surface 10 of the supply station 1. In Fig. 2 ( as well as in Fig. 7 and 10) the horizontal length L of the support arm 8 as well as the height FI of the support arm with respect to the ground 25 on which the supply station 1 is mounted are depicted.

In the example shown, the support arm 8 has a horizontal lengths along which the supply cable is guided of about 40 cm. Note, the support arm may have a horizontal length L in the range of about 40 cm up to 150 cm.

In the example shown, the support arm 8 is fixed to the supply station at a predetermined height H of about 180 cm. Flowever, it is noted, the height FI may be in the range of 150 cm up to 220 cm, preferably in the range of 170 cm up to 200 cm, most preferably in the range of 175 cm up to 195 cm. As said before, in the particular example shown, the height FI is about 180 cm. With additional reference to Fig. 10, if the height H of the support arm 8 corresponding to the point between the two pivots 24 by which the support arm 8 is fixed to the supply station 1, is set to be at least above the usual height h (cf. Fig. 10) of the vehicle charging port 19, the support arm 8 effectively helps the user 20 in handling the weight of the cable 3. In the example shown, the fixed external length of the supply cable 3 is set to be 3 m. The fixed external length of the supply cable 3 is defined from the supply station 1 to the free end of the supply cable 3 with the connector 18 (Fig. 10). It is noted, the fixed external length may be in the range of 2 m up to 4 m.

Depending on the point at which the at least one pivot is fixed to the supply station, the support arm may be pivotable about the at least one pivot in a range from 0 degree up to 90, 180, or even up to 270 degrees.

Figures 3 and 4 are detail views of the proposed support arm 8 in the predetermined stow away position A from different point of views. The supply cable 3 connected internal to charging circuitry of the supply station 1 enters the support arm at the first arm end 23, runs through the support arm 8, and exits the support arm 8 at the second arm end 22, and finally is terminated by the charging connector 18 which is in the shape of a charging pistol. Correspondingly, the supply cable 3 has a first cable end 4 connected to charging circuitry inside the supply station 1 and a second cable end 5 comprising the charging connector 18 for connecting to a charging port 19 of a vehicle 27.

In a further development, the supply station 1 may comprise extra supply cable 3 internally which extra supply cable may be stowed for example by means of cable roller or spool (not shown in the figures) inside the supply station 1. This way, the supply station 1 may be configured to provide an extra supply cable length of up to 4 meters. The roller or spool storing extra supply cable may be further coupled to a retraction system with a retraction force unit for retracting the extra supply cable length back into the supply station 1 once no longer required. Thus, when the supply cable 3 is not long enough to reach a charging port 19 of a vehicle

27 (cf. Fig. 10), the user 20 may pull required extra supply cable 3 out of the supply station 1 until the connector 18 reaches the charging port 19 of the vehicle 27. After completion of the supply procedure, the extra supply cable automatically returns back into the supply station 1 by means of the retraction force provided by the retraction force unit of the retraction system in the supply station 1 once no pulling force is exerted onto the supply cable 3 by the user 20.

At least one bump stop unit 1 la-1 If of the cable handling assembly 2 positioned either at the support arm 8 or at the supply station 1 is in contact both with the support arm 8 and the supply station 1 in the predetermined stow-away position A. The function of the at least one bump stop unit 1 la-1 If will be described later.

Figures 5 and 6 show further views of the particular implementation of proposed cable handling assembly 2 with reference to Figures 2-4. The support arm 8 is moved from the predetermined stow-away position A into a supply position B along rotational movement paths therebetween. As described before, the support arm 8 is pivotable fixed at the supply station 1 wherein the first arm end 23 of the support arm 8 is fixed by the pivots 24 at the supply station 1 and the second arm end 23 of the support arm 8 is rotational about the pivot axis 7. The rotational movement path of a service starting point of the supply cable 3 from the predetermined stow-away position A to a particular supply position B corresponds to a movement on a circular line in counterclockwise direction in the horizontal plane defined by the coordinates x and z, and vice versa. The rotational angle between the support arm 8 positioned in the predetermined stow-away position A and a supply position B may vary depending on the position of the pivots 24 from 0 degree up to 270 degrees. Fig. 5 also schematically illustrates an internal retraction system 15 of the cable handling assembly 2. The retraction system 15 has a traction element 14 such as a wire that is configured to connect the support arm 8 with a retraction force unit 12 such as a coil spring 12 as a resilient element. The retraction system further comprises a deflection roller 17 for deflecting the traction element 14.

The retraction system 15 is configured to automatically move the support arm 8 from a supply position B back into the predetermined stow-away position A by the retraction force provided by the retraction force unit 12 once no pulling force is exerted onto the supply cable 3 by the user 20. The predetermined retraction force is adjusted to be just enough to move the support arm 8 as well as the supply cable 3 back to the supply station 1.

In Fig. 5, the retraction system 15 comprises further a bump stop unit 11a fixed at the second arm end 22 of the support arm 8. The shown bump stop unit 11a is a flexible element made from an elastic material in the shape of a rubber ball and is for dampen an impact force during the mechanical stop when the support arm 8 returns from the supply position B to the predetermined stow-away position A. In the predetermined stow-away position A the bump stop unit 11a positioned on the support arm 8 is stowed away as well by fitting the pump stop unit 11a within a corresponding recess of the supply station 1. This way, the support arm 8 can be disposed closely adjacent to the outer surface 10 of the supply station 1 in the predetermined stow-away position A. In the particular implementation of the cable handling assembly 2 in Fig. 5, one end of the traction element 14 runs into the supply station 1 via a corresponding through hole in the outer surface 10 of the supply station 1, is deflected about 90° by the deflection roller 17, and connects to the retraction force unit 12. The other end of traction element 14 is coupled to the support arm 8. The traction element 14 runs through the bump stop unit 11a via a corresponding through-hole in the bump stop unit 11a. That is to say, the bump stop unit 11a is threaded by the traction element 14.

Figures 7 and 8 shows schematic views of further implementations of the bump stop unit lib, 11c. There is a bump stop unit lib being a rubber ball positioned at the supply station 1 at a corresponding recess of the supply station 1. There is bump unit 11c threaded on the traction element 14 and freely moveable between the supply station 1 and the support arm 8 via a corresponding through hole 38c in the bump unit 11c. Fig. 8 shows bump stop units lid, lie, Ilf having the shape of a cube in comparison to the bump stop units 11a, 11b,

11c having the shape of a ball. Of course, any other reasonable combinations of the position of bump stop units and or any other reasonable shapes of a bump stop unit are possible.

Figures 9 shows a perspective view of another implementation of the proposed cable handing assembly 2, particular in comparison with the implementation shown in Figures 2-8. Importantly, in Fig. 9, the support arm 8 is shown in the stow-away position A in which the support arm 8 is completely embedded into a recess 13 at the supply station 1, as well as in a supply position B.

The depth direction of the recess 13 corresponds to the z coordinate. Thus, an outer surface

26 of the support arm 8 (which is not shown in Fig. 9) can be made flush with the outer surface 10 of the supply station 1 so that the cable handling assembly 2 is safely stowed away when the support arm 8 is in the predetermined stow-away position A. Of course, if desired, the support arm 8 may be positioned between the two extreme exemplary stow-away positions shown by Figures 2-8 and the one shown by Fig. 9 as well, i.e. the support arm 8 may also be only partially embedded into a recess at the supply station 1, as well. Fig. 10 shows the here proposed supply station 1 during use, i.e. during supplying a vehicle 27. The supply station 1 and the vehicle 27 are positioned on the ground 25. The vehicle

27 has a charging port 19 positioned at the front left side thereof which is located at a height h above ground 25. The supply station 1 is powered and connected to a schematically shown external not shown supply source 30 that provides driving power for the vehicle 27. The user 20 has taken the charging connector 18 from the holder 16 at the supply station 1 and is going to connect the connector 18 with the charging port 19 of the vehicle 27. In order to bridge the distance between the charging station 1 and the charging port 19, the user 20 pulls the supply cable 3 towards the vehicle and thereby rotates the support arm 8 to which the supply cable 3 is coupled. Since the support arm 8 is pivotable about within a range from 0 degrees to 270 degrees, the user 20 can easily adjust and optimize the angle of the support arm 8 to route the supply cable 3 to the charging port 19.

After completion of supplying, the user 20 replaces the charging connector 18 back into the holder 16 at the supply station 1. By means of the retraction system, simultaneously the support arm 8 as well as the cable 3 are returned to the predetermined stow-away position A automatically due to the retraction force provided by the retraction system. In an optional further development, if the supply cable 3 positioned outside of the supply station 1 is not long enough to reach the charging port 19 of the vehicle 27, the user may pull an extra supply cable 3 that is stowed inside the supply station 1 out of the supply station 1. The pulled out extra supply cable 3 may be returned into the supply station 1 automatically by a corresponding retraction system provided internal in the supply station 1 and coupled to the supply cable 3.

In Fig. 10 (as in Fig. 2 and 7) the horizontal length L of the support arm 8 as well as the height FI of the support arm 8 with respect to the ground 25 on which the supply station 1 is mounted are depicted. In the example shown, the support arm 8 has the horizontal lengths L along which the supply cable 3 is guided of about 40 cm. Further, the support arm 8 is shown in the service position B which is at an pivot angle out of the stow-away position A of about 90°. Flowever, in the shown example, the support arm 8 may be pivoted out of the stow-away position A over about 180° into the service position B*.

In the example shown, the support arm 8 is fixed to the supply station at a predetermined height FI of about 180 cm. As can be seen from Fig. 10, the height H of the support arm 8 that corresponds to the point between the two pivots by which the support arm 8 is fixed to the supply station 1, is set to be above the height h of the vehicle charging port 19 so that the support arm 8 effectively helps the user 20 in handling the weight of the cable 3. Finally, in the example shown, the fixed external length of the supply cable 3 is set to be about 3 m. Note, the fixed external length of the supply cable 3 is defined from the supply station 1 to the free end of the supply cable 3 with the connector 18. It is noted, the fixed external length may be longer or shorter, e.g. out of the range of 2 m up to 4 m.

Fig. 11 shows a flow chart illustrating the cable handling at the supply station 1 with reference to Figures 2-10. The proposed improved cable handling comprises the following steps: A pulling step S100 with pulling the charging connector 18 by the user 20 from the holder 16 at the supply station 1 towards a charging port 19 of a vehicle 27 to be charged.

As required by the position of the charging port 19 on the vehicle 27, next a rotational step S200 takes place with rotating the support arm 8 about the pivots out of the predetermined stow-away position A into a supply position B along a rotational movement path in order to adjust and optimize a corresponding support arm angle to better route the supply cable 3 to the charging port 19 of the vehicle 27. There may be the optional pulling step S300 of pulling extra supply cable 3 that is stowed in the supply station 1 out of the supply station 1 by the user 20, if the supply cable 3 positioned outside the supply station 1 is not long enough to reach the charging port 19 of the vehicle 27. Then, a supplying step S400 takes place with connecting the charging connector 18 with the charging port 19 of the vehicle 27 and supplying the vehicle 27 with the required or desired amount of driving power means, i.e. electrical energy.

Subsequently, a replacing step S500 follows with placing back the charging connector 18 into the holder 16 at the supply station 1 by the user 20 when the supplying is completed. For example, the display 21 positioned on the side outer surface 32 of the supply station 1 may inform the user 20 of the completion of supplying by outputting a corresponding information.

A simultaneous returning step S600 with pulling the support arm 8 as well as the supply cable 3 from the supply position back to the predetermined stow-away position along a corresponding rotational movement path (B-A) about the pivot axis defined by the pivots 24 automatically by means of the predetermined retraction force provided by the retraction force unit 12 of the retraction system 15.

There may be an optional retracting step S700 of retracting the extra pulled out supply cable 3 back into supply station 1 automatically by a retraction force provided by a retraction system fixed in the supply station 1 if the user 20 has pulled extra supply cable 3 out of the supply station 1.

The above detailed description only illustrates certain exemplary implementations of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in the art understand the description as a whole so that technical features described in connection with the various implementations can be combined into other implementations understandable to those of ordinary skill in the art. Also, any equivalent or modification of the described implementations as well as combinations thereof do not depart from the spirit and principle of the present disclosure and falls within the scope of the present disclosure as well as of the appended claims. As such, provided that these modifications and variants fall into the scope of the claims and equivalent technologies thereof, it is intended to embrace them within the present disclosure as well.