CHARGING PORT ALIGNMENT METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ROBOTIC CAR CHARGERS

An apparatus for interconnecting a vehicle charging connector with a charging port of a vehicle wherein a latch arm is slidably mounted in the charging connector to slide toward and away from the charging port and toward and into an opening in the charging port. A tip portion is positioned on the latch arm so as to be insertable downwardly into a cavity formed in an interior surface of the opening of the charging port and a linear actuator is configured to drive the latch arm towards and away from the charging connector. In an illustrative embodiment, the charging connector comprises part of a robot configured to move the tip of the latch arm downwardly into the cavity in the opening of the charging port to enable pulling the charging connector and charging port together to establish electrical contact.