US Patent 10286799 Hands-free conductive battery charger for an electric vehicle

A conductive charging system for use with an offboard AC or DC power supply and a plug-in vehicle includes a conductive armature, an electromagnetic relay, and a switch. The armature is connected directly to the power supply and deploys into electrical contact with the vehicle in response to the vehicle weight. The switch closes in response to the vehicle weight to connect an auxiliary power device to an inductive coil. The relay moves to a first position connecting the charge coupler to an AC-DC converter or the battery pack when the switch is open, and to a second position bypassing the charge coupler when the switch is closed. A vehicle includes the system, charge coupler, HV battery pack, auxiliary power device, and armature.