Patent attributes
A charging apparatus includes at least one housing including a compartment, an access door connected to the housing and covering the compartment, the access door being movable from an open position to a closed position, a releasable latching mechanism configured to latch the access door in the closed position, a charging terminal in the compartment, a voltage sensing terminal, and a door release circuit coupled to the voltage sensing terminal and to the releasable latching mechanisms and configured to sense a charging voltage applied to the voltage sensing terminal. The door release circuit is configured to selectively unlatch the releasable latching mechanism in response to a voltage within a predetermined voltage range being applied to the voltage sensing terminal.