JP4771410B2 - Fuel cell motorcycle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell motorcycle, and more particularly, to a fuel cell motorcycle capable of easily mounting a fuel cell having a relatively large size and weight on a vehicle and improving the motion performance of the vehicle.

From the viewpoint of environmental protection and securing energy resources to replace fossil fuels, fuel cells have attracted attention, and fuel cell motorcycles that are driven using the electrical energy generated by fuel cells are also known. . For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-125840 discloses a fuel in which a fuel cell is arranged around a seat on which a passenger sits, below a passenger's feet, or in the middle of a down tube having an upper end attached to a head pipe. Battery motorcycles have been proposed.
JP 2005-125840 A

  In order to drive a large motorcycle, it may be necessary to mount a large fuel cell. From the viewpoint of motion performance, that is, traveling performance, as shown in Patent Document 1 as an example, the fuel is placed below the seat. It is conceivable to arrange a battery.

  However, if a large fuel cell is placed in a body frame structure with a monotonous appearance with a constant width and height, the entire body frame will expand in the width direction, ensuring passengers to get on and off and freedom of suspension. Can not. In addition, the vehicle body frame must be provided with a frame strength that can sufficiently withstand a heavy fuel cell. Furthermore, the process of assembling and removing a large fuel cell from the vehicle body at the time of manufacturing and maintenance of the motorcycle must be simplified.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell motorcycle that can easily assemble and remove a fuel cell that is heavy and has a large width dimension while maintaining the motion performance of the vehicle.

The present invention for solving the above-described problems includes an upper frame and a lower frame that extend from the head pipe supporting the steering means to the rear left and right of the vehicle in the fuel cell motorcycle. with the placed cage mainframe so as to form a substantially rectangular, of the upper frame and the lower frame, the arrangement interval of the right and left, are widened in a vehicle rearward, and the frame and a lower after being widened to the left and right The rear end portion of the main frame including the rear end portion of the frame is edged by a cross member to form a substantially rectangular open portion, and extends upward and rearward from the widened portion of the upper frame. , further comprising a reinforcing member that is joined to the upper portion of the cross member forming the opening portion, the holding of the motor in the rear end portion of the main frame A first feature is that a pivot bearing is provided to support the material so as to swing up and down, and the fuel cell is disposed in front of the pivot bearing surrounded by the cross member at a widened portion in the main frame. There is.

  Further, the present invention has a second feature in that, in the widened portion, the upper and lower frames of the pair of upper and lower frames are respectively connected by a reinforcing member.

The present invention, among the frames the provided upper and lower pair by upper and lower frames are associated with one another at the rear end, said with pivot bearings is arranged The association unit, the cross member, the pivot bearing A third feature is that the first cross pipe connects each other and the second cross pipe connects the upper frames of the pair of upper and lower frames.

  Further, according to the present invention, both ends of the first cross pipe are joined to the pivot bearing, and an intermediate portion is curved downward from the pivot bearing, and the bottom portion of the fuel cell is fixed to the curved portion. There is a fourth feature in that a mounting member is provided.

  According to the invention having the first feature, the fuel cell is housed in the saddle-type main frame and thus is not directly affected by external force. The fuel cell can be loaded into or unloaded from the vertical mainframe through the mainframe opening, which is wide open by removing the drive motor holding member from the pivot bearing, making it easy to install and remove the fuel cell. is there. Further, since the heavy fuel cell can be positioned in the vicinity of the pivot bearing, that is, in the center of the weight of the vehicle, the motion performance of the motorcycle can be improved. Further, since the fuel cell can be disposed in the widened portion of the main frame, a fuel cell having a large capacity can be mounted.

  According to the invention having the second feature, since the frame forming the widened portion is reinforced by the reinforcing member, the external force on the fuel cell can be reliably eliminated.

  According to the invention having the third feature, the pivot bearings are connected by the first cross pipe, and the pair of left and right upper frames are connected by the second cross pipe. The dimensional accuracy can be maintained.

  According to the present invention having the fourth feature, the fuel cell can be mounted at a lower position than the pivot bearing.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded side view of a fuel cell motorcycle according to an embodiment of the present invention. The fuel cell motorcycle includes a fuel generator system including a hydrogen supply system for generating electric energy through an electrochemical reaction, an oxygen supply system, and a cell stack (including electrodes, separators, electrolytes, and the like). In this specification, a cell stack and a casing (including a member attached to the casing) that accommodates the cell stack are referred to as a fuel cell.

  In FIG. 1, a fuel cell motorcycle 1 includes a main frame 3 having a front portion joined to a head pipe 2, a rear frame 4 joined to a rear portion of the main frame 3 and further extended rearward, And a swing arm 5 pivotally supported by a bearing 30 provided below the rear part. A steering stem (not shown) is rotatably supported on the head pipe 2, and a front fork 7 that supports the front wheel 6 is coupled to the lower end of the steering stem. A steering bar 8 is coupled to the upper end of the steering stem. The main frame 3 is provided with a rear cushion 9 having an upper end coupled and extending obliquely rearward and downward, and a lower end of the rear cushion 9 is coupled to the swing arm 5. The swing arm 5 is provided with an electric motor 10 which is a prime mover of the motorcycle 1, and a rear wheel 12 is coupled to a rear wheel shaft 11 driven by the electric motor 10. On the upper part of the main frame 3 and the rear frame 4, a control device, that is, an ECU 14 housed in a case 13 is provided. A passenger seat (not shown) is provided so as to cover the case 13.

  As will be described in detail later, the main frame 3 is formed in a cradle type, that is, a bowl shape, and a space surrounded by the bowl-shaped main frame 3 includes a water pump 15, a supercharger 16, a humidifier 17, A fuel cell 18 and a VCU (voltage regulation unit) 19 are accommodated. Specifically, the water pump 15 is arranged at the front upper part in the main frame 3, the supercharger 16 and the humidifier 17 are arranged below the central part, and the VCU 19 is arranged above the supercharger 16 and the humidifier 17. Is done. The fuel cell 18 is housed in the ECU 14, that is, below the seat, at the rearmost part of the main frame 3, that is, immediately before the bearing 30. The fuel cell 18 has a rectangular case in side view, and is installed so that the rectangle is vertically long.

  A catch tank (gas-liquid separator) 20 and a dilution box 21 are provided below the fuel cell 18. A cooling water radiator 22 for the fuel cell 18 is provided in front of the main frame 3, and an air cleaner 23 and a reserve tank 22 </ b> A for the radiator 22 are provided so as to surround the head pipe 2. The air introduced into the air cleaner 23 is supplied to the supercharger 16 via the air flow sensor 24 and supplied to the fuel cell 18 via the humidifier 17. A pair of hydrogen cylinders 25 for supplying hydrogen to the fuel cell 18 are mounted on the left and right sides of the rear frame 4. The hydrogen filled in the hydrogen cylinder 25 is supplied to the fuel cell 18 after being reduced in pressure by a regulator described later. A pair of batteries (for example, Ni-MH batteries) 26 that are arranged vertically are provided on the left and right sides of the front fork 7.

  In the fuel cell 18, electrons are separated from the hydrogen supplied from the hydrogen cylinder 25 by the action of the fuel electrode (minus electrode), and the hydrogen ions from which the electrons have been separated move to the air electrode (plus electrode) through the electrolyte. On the other hand, a circuit is provided so that electrons separated from hydrogen return to the air electrode, and oxygen in the air and the returned electrons react to generate water vapor at the air electrode. By this reaction, electrons continuously move in the external circuit, and current flows. The electric power generated by the fuel cell 18 is temporarily stored in the battery 26 and supplied to the motor 10 from here.

  Next, a detailed structure of the main frame and a more specific arrangement of the fuel cell will be described. 2 is a perspective view of the main frame as viewed from the upper left rear, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the main frame as viewed from the upper left front in a state where the fuel cells are stacked, and FIG. 4 is a top view of the main frame. In these drawings, the main frame 3 includes a pair of upper frames 31A and 31B having one end joined to the upper portion of the head pipe 2. The front portions of the upper frames 31A and 31B are a pair of reinforcing pipes 32A and 32B joined to the lower portion of the head pipe 2, the upper bracket 33A and the lower bracket 33B, and the reinforcement joined to the lower bracket 33B and the upper frames 31A and 31B. Reinforced with pipes 34A and 34B. The upper frames 31A and 31B are formed so as to extend from the head pipe 2 to the left and right, respectively, and extend downward and rearward as a whole. The upper frames 31A and 31B have horizontal portions 311 and 312 at intermediate portions thereof, and rear portions of the horizontal portions 311 and 312 extend downward through portions 313 and 314 bent outward in the left and right directions.

  The reinforcement pipes 32A and 32B are provided with lower frames 35A and 35B whose upper ends are joined. The lower frames 35A and 35B have vertical portions 351 and 352 and subsequent horizontal portions 353 and 354, and the rear portions of the horizontal portions 353 and 354 extend further rearward through portions bent outward in the left and right directions.

  The bearing 30 (30A, 30B) is joined to the rear end where the upper frames 31A, 31B and the lower frames 35A, 35B meet. Both ends of a pivot cross pipe 36 curved downward are joined to the bearings 30A and 30B, respectively. End portions of the upper frame cross pipe 37 curved upward are joined to the rear portions of the upper frames 31A and 31B. Further, a pair of reinforcing pipes 38A and 38B that join the upper frames 31A and 31B and the upper frame cross pipe 37, and two pairs of reinforcing pipes 39A and 39B that join the upper frames 31A and 31B and the lower frames 35A and 35B, 39C and 39D are provided. Further, lower frame cross pipes 40A and 40B for connecting the lower frames 35A and 35B to each other are provided.

  The lower frames 35A and 35B are respectively provided with support pipes 41A and 41B for supporting a floor on which a passenger puts his / her foot. The front portions of the support pipes 41 </ b> A and 41 </ b> B and both ends of the auxiliary pipe 42 extending left and right from the head pipe 2 are coupled to the lower portion and the upper portion of the battery 26 to support the battery 26.

  The rear ends of the support pipes 41A and 41B on the floor are connected to the lower frames 35A and 35B through the collars 43A and 43B together with the cross pipe 43 for mounting the fuel cell 18. Stays 44 </ b> A and 44 </ b> B are welded to the cross pipe 43 for attaching the fuel cell 18, while stays 45 </ b> A and 45 </ b> B are also welded to the pivot cross pipe 36. The fuel cell 18 is placed and fixed on these stays 44A, 44B and 45A, 45B. Further, a stay 46 that supports the upper end of the rear cushion 9 and stays 47, 48, 49, and 50 that support the rear frame 4 are welded to the upper frame cross pipe 37. A pair of brackets 51A and 51B for supporting the main stand are welded to the lower portion of the pivot cross pipe 36.

  FIG. 5 is a cooling system diagram of the fuel cell 18. As a whole, the rectangular parallelepiped fuel cell 18 is provided with a cooling water inlet member 52 on the lower surface and a cooling water outlet member 53 on the upper surface. A cooling water inlet pipe 54 is connected to the cooling water inlet member 52, and a cooling water discharge pipe 55 is connected to the cooling water outlet member 53. The cooling water discharge pipe 55 has a downward slope portion provided from the upper part of the fuel cell 18 toward the front of the vehicle body, and an end thereof is connected to the water pump 15. The water pump 15 is further connected to the upper portion of the radiator 22.

  The cooling water introduction pipe 54 is connected to the lower part of the radiator 22 via a thermostat 57. A branch pipe 58 extending to the thermostat 57 is connected to the cooling water discharge pipe 55, and an ion exchanger 59 is provided in the branch pipe 58. Since the cooling water discharge pipe 55 is provided with a downward slope portion, bubbles generated in the fuel cell 18 are likely to accumulate on the upper portion of the slope portion, and the bubbles are discharged from the gas vent holes provided in the cooling water outlet member 52. Cheap.

  6 is a schematic diagram of the cooling system diagram of FIG. 5, and the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 5 denote the same or equivalent parts. The radiator 22 has a bypass path 22A for directly sending the cooling water introduced via the water pump 15 to the thermostat 57. When the cooling water temperature is low, the thermostat 57 is opened and the bypass path 22A is opened. The cooling water can be supplied to the fuel cell 18 via The fuel cell 18 is for warm-up operation because the power generation efficiency decreases when the temperature is low, such as at the start. In FIG. 6, during the warm-up operation, the cooling water circulates along the dotted arrow B, and after the warm-up, the cooling water circulates along the solid arrow A.

  FIG. 7 is an air supply system diagram. The outside air taken in from the air cleaner 23 is supplied to the supercharger 16 via the air flow sensor 24 to increase the pressure, and the dryer 61 passes through the supercharged exhaust pipe 60 as indicated by a dotted arrow. Is sent to. The air dried by passing through the dryer 61 as indicated by the chain line arrow is humidified by the humidifier 17. The humidified air is discharged from the connecting pipe 63 through the humidified exhaust pipe 62. The connection pipe 63 is connected to an air introduction pipe 64 (see FIG. 5) on the lower surface of the fuel cell 18 so that dry air can be supplied to the fuel cell 18. The dryer 61 includes a bypass pipe 66 that bypasses and feeds air before drying to the connecting pipe 63 in the direction of the dotted line arrow via a bypass valve 65. Since the temperature of the air that has passed through the humidifier 17 decreases and the power generation efficiency of the fuel cell 18 decreases, for example, at the time of start-up, the bypass valve 65 is opened and the air is directly passed through the fuel cell without passing through the dryer 61 and the humidifier 17. 18 is supplied.

  Spent air discharged from the fuel cell 18 is introduced into the dilute separator 69 via the air return pipe 67 as indicated by the solid arrow. Exhaust gas from the fuel cell 18 is introduced into the dilute separator 69 through the exhaust port 68. Hydrogen extracted by gas-liquid separation in the dilute separator 69 is circulated to the fuel cell 18 and reused. However, if the reuse is continued, the impurity concentration increases, and therefore it is sometimes discharged. The discharged hydrogen is introduced into the dilution box 71 and diluted with the exhaust air of the fuel cell 18. The diluted hydrogen is released to the outside air through a silencer (described later). Hydrogen discharged from the drain pipe 70 of the fuel cell 18 is also introduced into the gas-liquid separator 69.

  FIG. 8 is a supply system diagram of fuel, that is, hydrogen. In FIG. 8, the hydrogen cylinder (two cylinders in this example) 26 is provided with a hydrogen filling port 74 having a check valve. Hydrogen in the hydrogen cylinder 25 is taken out via the in-tank electromagnetic valve 75. The regulator unit 76 includes a plurality of regulators 77 and 78 that depressurize the hydrogen supplied from the hydrogen cylinder 25 and adjust it to an appropriate pressure. The pressure is adjusted to a pressure value fixed by the regulator 77, and further adjusted to a proper pressure value by the regulator 78. In the regulator unit 76, an electromagnetic shut-off valve 79 that operates in an emergency and a manual valve 80 as an auxiliary valve for the electromagnetic valve 79 can be provided. Hydrogen discharged from the regulator unit 76 is sucked by the negative pressure generated by the ejector 81 and fed to the fuel cell 18.

  The fuel cell 18 supplies the exhaust gas after the electrochemical reaction to the dilute separator 69. Water generated in the dilute separator 69 is discharged via the dilution box 71, and hydrogen is returned to the ejector 81 via the circulation pipe 82. Further, the electromagnetic exhaust valve 83 is opened to supply hydrogen having a reduced purity to the dilution box 71, and mixed with the discharge air and diluted and discharged.

  A procedure for mounting the fuel cell 18 on the motorcycle will be described. The fuel cell 18 is mounted lastly after mounting all the devices and components mounted on the main frame 3, that is, the supercharger 16, the humidifier 17, the dilute separator 69, the dilution box 71, and the like. The main frame 3 configured as described above is bent so as to increase in size in the width direction and the height direction near the rear of the vehicle body. Therefore, the rear of the bent portions 313 and 314 of the upper frames 31A and 31B constitutes an enlarged storage space. The rear edge of the housing space, that is, the substantially rectangular portion formed by the pivot cross pipe 36, the rear end portions of the upper frames 31A and 31B, and the upper frame cross pipe 37 is directed toward the rear of the vehicle body. It has a large opening. A housing space in front of the vehicle body adjacent to the opening is a space suitable for housing the fuel cell 18.

  Therefore, when the fuel cell 18 is mounted, the fuel cell 18 is pushed into the housing space from the rear side of the vehicle body through the opening. At this time, the fuel cell 18 is placed so that the bottom faces the stays 44A and 44B on the mounting cross pipe 43 and the stays 45A and 45B on the pivot cross pipe 36. Then, the fuel cell 18 is fixed on the main frame 3 with bolts passing through these stays 44A, 44B and 45A, 45B.

  If the fuel cell 18 is mounted, a connecting portion provided at the foremost part of the swing arm 5 is positioned between the bearings 30A and 30B, and a connecting rod (pivot shaft) (not shown) is connected between the bearings 30A and 30B and the swing arm 5. And nuts or the like are screwed to both ends of the pivot shaft so that the pivot shaft does not come out of the bearings 30A and 30B. Thereafter, the rear cushion 9 is attached between the upper frame cross pipe 37 and the swing arm 5.

  In this way, the fuel cell 1 can be accommodated in the vicinity of the pivot bearings 30A and 30B at the rear of the main frame 3, that is, below the seat on which the driver is seated. The rear portion of the main frame 3 is a portion whose strength is increased by many reinforcing pipes and frames, and can firmly support and protect the heavy fuel cell 18.

  Further, when the fuel cell 18 is maintained, if the swing arm 5 and the rear cushion 9 are removed, the rear portion of the main frame 3 is greatly opened, and the fuel cell 18 can be easily removed.

1 is an exploded side view of a fuel cell motorcycle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view seen from the upper left back of the main frame. It is the perspective view of the main frame seen from the upper left front in the state which loaded the fuel cell. It is the upper side figure of the main frame seen from the upper left front in the state which loaded the fuel cell. 2 is a cooling system diagram of the fuel cell 18. FIG. It is the figure which showed typically the cooling system of the fuel cell. It is an air supply system figure. It is a supply system diagram of hydrogen.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Motorcycle, 2 ... Head pipe, 3 ... Main frame, 4 ... Rear frame, 10 ... Motor, 14 ... ECU, 16 ... Supercharger, 17 ... Humidifier, 18 ... Fuel cell, 25 ... Hydrogen cylinder, 26 ... battery, 30 ... pivot bearing, 31A, 31B ... upper frame, 35A, 35B ... lower frame, 36 ... pivot cross pipe, 37 ... upper frame cross pipe

Claims (4)

In a fuel cell motorcycle driven by a motor (10) powered by electric power generated in the fuel cell (18),
The vehicle has an upper frame (31A, 31B) and a lower frame (35A, 35B) extending from the head pipe (2) supporting the steering means to the rear left and right of the vehicle. With a saddle-shaped main frame (3) arranged as follows:
The upper frame (31A, 31B) and of the lower frame (35A, 35B), the arrangement interval of the right and left, are widened in a vehicle rearward, and the rear end portion of the frame and the lower frame on which is widened in the left and right The rear end portion of the main frame (3) that is included is edged by a cross member (36, 37) to form a substantially rectangular open portion,
A reinforcing member that extends upward and rearward from the widened portion of the upper frame (31A, 31B) and is joined to the upper side of the cross member (36, 37) forming the open portion. (38A, 38B)
A pivot bearing (30) is provided at the rear end of the main frame (3) to support the holding member of the motor (10) so as to swing up and down.
The fuel cell (18) is disposed in front of the pivot bearing (30) by being surrounded by the cross members (36, 37) at the widened portion in the main frame (3). Motorcycle.   2. The fuel cell motorcycle according to claim 1, wherein in the widened portion, the upper frame and the lower frame are connected to each other by a reinforcing member (39 </ b> C, 39 </ b> D). The upper frame and the lower frame meet each other at the rear end, and the pivot bearing (30) is disposed at the meeting portion,
A first cross pipe (36) for connecting the pivot bearings to each other;
The fuel cell motorcycle according to claim 1, comprising a second cross pipe (37) for connecting the upper frames.   The first cross pipe (36) is joined at both ends to the pivot bearing (30A, 30B), and an intermediate portion is curved downward from the pivot bearing (30A, 30B). The fuel cell motorcycle according to claim 3, further comprising an attachment member (45A, 45B) for fixing the bottom of the fuel cell (18).

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