JP2001018661A - Support structure for battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of part items for weight reduction. SOLUTION: A motor-driven four-wheeled vehicle is equipped with a converter 30 having a structure in which a converter circuit-equipped substrate 31 is housed in a converter case 30C made of aluminum. The converter 30 is connected directly to a side member 20 by a bracket 34B integrally formed with the converter case 30C, the front face of which is provided with a battery support part 35 for supporting the back end of a battery 21 in the rearmost row. The converter 30 can thus have, in common, a conventionally required bracket for supporting the converter and a conventionally required support member adjacent to the converter for supporting the battery, thereby reducing the support structure of the battery in weight.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a battery support structure for an electric vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows the state of attachment of a battery and a converter provided in an electric vehicle of this type. The battery 4 includes a battery bracket 6 and a pair of left and right side frames 2 and 2 (FIG. 5 shows only the front side).
The mounting is performed by the support member 5 inserted between the members. In addition, a converter 1 is arranged behind it,
The converter 1 is mounted by a bracket 3 inserted between a pair of left and right side frames 2.

[0003]

In an electric vehicle, weight reduction is an extremely important problem. In the specifications of the individual dedicated support members as described above, it can be said that there is room for weight reduction by changing the structure, including the abolition of the members. However, since the battery mounted on the electric vehicle has a considerable weight, it is not possible to simply abolish or standardize the members. Responding to the demand for lighter weight while maintaining sufficient supporting strength for the battery has never been easier.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a battery support structure capable of reducing the number of parts and reducing the weight.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a battery and a casing which is disposed adjacent to the battery and houses an electric circuit unit therein are mounted. In an electric vehicle,
The casing is supported in a state of being extended between a pair of side frames arranged along the front-rear direction of the electric vehicle, and the battery is provided on a surface of the casing facing the battery. The feature is that it is supported by the battery support. The invention according to a second aspect is characterized in that, in the battery support structure according to the first aspect, a casing support portion attached to the side frame is formed integrally with the casing.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the casing of the electric circuit unit is supported in a state of being extended to the side frame of the electric vehicle, and the battery supporting portion formed on the casing supports the battery. To support. For this reason, since the casing fulfills the function of a conventional supporting member for supporting the battery, it is possible to reduce the number of such supporting members provided on the side of the casing facing the battery. Therefore, the weight of the battery support structure can be reduced. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the casing supporting portion is formed integrally with the casing, the battery supporting structure can further reduce the number of parts and achieve a lighter weight.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The electric four-wheeled vehicle 10 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 uses rear wheels as drive wheels and incorporates a power motor (DC brushless motor) 16 in these wheels.
This is a so-called wheel-in motor type electric vehicle.

The electric four-wheeled vehicle 10 includes a pair of left and right aluminum side frames 20 extending in the front-rear direction in a floor portion 11. And side frame 2
As shown in FIG. 3, the right and left batteries 21 and 21 are connected between the electrodes 21A and 21A, respectively, as shown in FIG.
Are set in opposition to each other, and a plurality of sets are mounted in tandem. In this embodiment, a total of six batteries 21 are mounted by arranging three sets in tandem.

As shown in FIG. 2, an aluminum battery member 22 is installed between the front and rear batteries 21 and 21. The battery member 22 is extended between the side frames 20, and both ends thereof are fixed by welding or the like. A battery bracket 23 is attached to a lower surface of the battery member 22. In the battery bracket 23, the front edge and the rear edge of the mounting surface 23A mounted on the lower surface of the battery member 22 are bent downward at right angles so as to face in parallel, and then the lower edges are bent forward and rearward at right angles. Battery support piece 23
B is formed overhanging. The battery support piece 23B of the battery bracket 23 supports the front edge or the rear edge of the lower surface of the battery 21 (see FIG. 2).
Although not shown, a battery member having a battery bracket is also installed in front of the frontmost battery to support the front end of the frontmost battery.

[0010] As shown in FIG. 2, a converter 30 is provided behind the battery 21 in the last row. Converter 30 is a substrate on which a converter circuit is mounted (DC-DC converter: electric circuit unit of the present invention)
31 and an aluminum converter case (the casing of the present invention) 30C for accommodating the same.

Further, the converter case 30C comprises a lower case 32, an upper panel 33 for closing the upper surface thereof, and side panels 34 for closing both side surfaces of the lower case 32 (see FIG. 4).

As shown in FIG. 4, the lower case 32 includes a front plate 32F and a rear plate 32R which stand vertically from the front and rear edges of the bottom plate 32B. A prismatic lower beam 32L is provided over the entire width of the front edge and the rear edge of the bottom plate 32B, so that the bottom plate 32B is connected to the front plate 32F and the bottom plate 3F is connected.
The connection between 2B and rear plate 32R is made strong. The lower beam 32L has a chamfered inner corner of the lower case 32, which facilitates the work of installing the converter circuit 31 on the bottom plate 32B. A draw-out hole 32A of a harness (not shown) is formed through the front plate 32F and the rear plate 32R, and a rectangular column-shaped upper beam 32U over the entire width is provided at the upper end edge of each of the front plate 32F and the rear plate 32R. Is provided. A plurality of fins 32C project downward from the lower surface of the bottom plate 32B of the lower case 32 in order to cool the converter 30.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper panel 33
It is reinforced by bending and raising both left and right edges upward in a flat plate shape,
The lower case 32 is attached to upper end surfaces of the upper beams 32U, 32U by bolts. The side panel 34 is a flat plate-like upper beam 32 of the lower case 32.
U and 32U and lower beams 32L and 32L are attached to both left and right end surfaces by bolts. The converter case 30C thus configured includes the lower beam 32L and the upper beam 32U to improve the strength.

A bracket 34B is formed by bending the front and rear end portions of the upper end edge of the side panel 34 outward.
Attached to Further, the brackets 34B are reinforced by being bent from the inner edge of each bracket 34B to the upper edge of the side panel 34.

Further, on the front surface of the converter case 30C, there is provided a battery support portion 35 formed by extending the lower edge of the front plate 32F downward over its entire width and then bending it vertically forward to project.

In the converter 30 configured as described above, the converter case 30C includes the lower beam 32L and the upper beam 32U, and is reinforced at various points to maintain sufficient strength. Then, converter case 30C is assembled with brackets 34B integrally formed on the left and right sides of side frames 20, 20 of electric four-wheel vehicle 10 with fixing bolts 30B, and directly passed over side frames 20 (see FIG. 2). ). Further, as shown in FIG. 2, both ends of the lower surface of the battery 21 in the last row are supported by the battery bracket 23 of the battery member 22 and the battery support 35 of the converter case 30C. In addition, the battery mounted in the present embodiment is fixed by a belt (not shown) and the displacement is regulated.

The converter 30 is electrically connected to the battery 21 and the power motor 16 by a harness (not shown). Then, the converter circuit mounted on the substrate 31 converts the voltage of the battery 21 into an appropriate voltage value and sends it to the power motor 16, which drives the drive wheels 15.

As described above, the converter 30 of the electric four-wheeled vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment is directly inserted into the side frame 20 by the bracket 34B formed integrally with the converter case 30C. Further, the converter case 30C has sufficient strength and is provided with a battery support portion 35 to support the rear end of the battery 21 in the last row. For this reason, converter 30 shares bracket 3 supporting converter 1 and support member 5 adjacent to converter 1 among support members 5 supporting battery 4 in the conventional example shown in FIG. Can be Therefore, the battery support structure of the electric four-wheeled vehicle 10 can reduce the number of parts and reduce the weight. Further, in the electric four-wheeled vehicle 10 using the battery support structure of the present embodiment, the number of assembly steps is reduced, so that it is possible to improve work efficiency. Further, the degree of freedom in designing the electric four-wheeled vehicle 10 is increased, and for example, the wheelbase can be shortened, and the running performance can be improved.

In the converter case 30C of the converter 30 according to the present embodiment, the lower surface of the bottom plate 32B provided with the fins 32C is exposed downward (see FIGS. 1 and 3). Therefore, the electric four-wheeled vehicle 10
It is possible to improve the cooling efficiency of the heat generated by the operation of.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
In addition to the following, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the converter case 30C has the battery support portion 35 formed on the front surface and supports the battery 21 in the last row. However, the converter case 30C has the battery support portion 35 on the rear surface or on both front and rear surfaces. It may be formed to support the frontmost battery, or to support the front and rear adjacent batteries, respectively.

(2) In the electric four-wheeled vehicle 10 of the above embodiment, the battery 21 is directly supported by the battery bracket 23 or the battery support 35, but the battery brackets 23, 23 or the battery bracket 23
Laying a plate material or the like that bridges the
The battery 21 may be supported via the plate or the like. (3) In the electric four-wheeled vehicle 10 of the above embodiment, one set of one battery 21 on the left and right is mounted in a plurality of columns, but the batteries 21 are arranged one by one or three or more on the left and right. They may be mounted in tandem as one set. (4) In the above embodiment, the board 31 on which the converter circuit is mounted is used as the electric circuit unit. However, an electric circuit unit on which another circuit such as a computer circuit is mounted may be used. (5) In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a wheel-in motor type electric vehicle, but may be applied to another type of electric vehicle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of an electric four-wheeled vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a battery support structure.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the battery support structure.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating components of a converter.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a mounting state of a conventional battery and converter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Electric four-wheeled vehicle (electric vehicle) 20 ... Side frame 21 ... Battery 30C ... Converter case (casing) 31 ... Board (electric circuit unit) 35 ... Battery support part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electric vehicle including a battery and a casing disposed adjacent to the battery and accommodating an electric circuit unit therein, wherein the casing is disposed along a front-rear direction of the electric vehicle. The battery is supported in a state of being inserted between the pair of side frames, and the battery is supported by a battery support portion provided on a surface of the casing facing the battery. Battery support structure. 2. The battery support structure according to claim 1, wherein a casing support portion attached to the side frame is formed integrally with the casing.