JP2011011619A - Fuel cell drive vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently use a space in a front box of a fuel cell drive vehicle so that the layer number of fuel cells can be increased.SOLUTION: In the fuel cell drive vehicle 1, a cowl top 7 is projected downward from the rear end of the front box 2. A fuel cell stack 14, an electric motor 9, and a reducer 13 are mounted inside the front box 2. The fuel cell stack 14 comprises a plurality of upward laminated fuel cells, and is arranged in a backward tilted state in a forward moving direction of the vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to an arrangement of a fuel cell stack in a front box of a fuel cell drive vehicle that runs using a fuel cell as an energy source.

Regarding a fuel cell-driven vehicle that travels using a fuel cell as an energy source, Patent Document 1 proposes an arrangement of a fuel cell stack in a front box of the vehicle.
Specifically, it has been proposed to mount the fuel cell stack so that the stacking direction of the fuel cells is vertical in the front box. Even when the number of stacked fuel cells is increased to increase the output of the electric motor, by arranging the fuel cell stack in this way, the output can be increased without affecting the longitudinal and lateral dimensions of the vehicle body. It is because it can plan.

JP 2003-173790 A

  In a general passenger car type vehicle, the upper part of the front box is defined by a bonnet. There is a cowl top between the bonnet and the windshield. The cowl top projects downward into the front box.

  In such a vehicle, when a fuel cell stack in which fuel cells are stacked in the vertical direction is arranged in the front box, as the number of stacked fuel cells increases, the fuel cells eventually interfere with the cowl top. That is, the number of stacked layers is determined depending on the position of the cowl top.

  However, even when the fuel cells are stacked up to the upper limit that does not interfere with the cowl top, the space in the front box still often has room. This is because the cowl top protrudes downward from most parts of the hood.

  Although the prior art of Patent Document 1 has an advantage that it does not affect the longitudinal and lateral dimensions of the vehicle body, it is not necessarily in terms of effective use of space in the front box and maximization of the number of stacked fuel cells. Not the best arrangement.

  An object of the present invention is to realize more efficient use of the space in the front box on which the fuel cell stack is mounted and further increase in the number of stacked fuel cells.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a front box having a cowl top projecting downward at a rear end portion, and a fuel cell drive vehicle in which a fuel cell stack is mounted in the front box is stacked upward. A fuel cell stack composed of a plurality of fuel cells is disposed in the front box in a state where the fuel cell stack is tilted backward with respect to the forward direction of the vehicle.

  By placing the fuel cell stack, which is a stack of multiple fuel cells facing upward, in the front box while tilting backward, avoiding interference with the cowl top protruding downward at the rear end of the front box, Thus, it becomes possible to stack a larger number of fuel cells. As a result, the space in the front box can be efficiently used to increase the output of the electric motor.

It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part of the fuel cell drive vehicle by embodiment of this invention.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a front box 2 is defined at a front portion of a passenger car type fuel cell drive vehicle 1 by being positioned substantially above the front wheels 4 by a bonnet 3.

  A cowl top 7 located between the windshield 6 and the hood 3 of the vehicle projects downward at the rear end of the front box 2.

  Similarly, the radiator 8 is disposed at a front end portion of the front box 2 in a state where the radiator 8 is slightly inclined backward.

  The front wheel 4 is rotationally driven by the electric motor 9 via the speed reducer 13. The speed reducer 13 includes drive wheels 10 and driven wheels 12 that are linked to the drive wheels 10 via a belt 11. The driving wheel 10 is coupled to the output shaft of the electric motor 9, and the rotation of the driven wheel 12 is transmitted to the front wheel 4. The speed reducer 13 decelerates the rotation of the electric motor 9 and transmits it to the front wheels 4. Therefore, the diameter of the driven wheel 12 is set larger than the diameter of the driving wheel 10.

  The fuel cell stack 14 that rotationally drives the electric motor 9 is composed of a plurality of fuel cells stacked upward. In order to avoid interference with the cowl top 7, the fuel cell stack 14 is fixed in the front box 2 in a state of being tilted backward with respect to the forward direction of the vehicle.

  The electric motor 9 and the speed reducer 13 are disposed below the fuel cell stack 14. The space below the rearwardly inclined fuel cell stack 14 increases in height toward the front. In order to effectively use this space, the speed reducer 13 is arranged such that the large-diameter driven wheel 12 is positioned in front of the drive wheel 10.

  An auxiliary machine 15 is further disposed above the fuel cell stack 14. The auxiliary machine 15 is preferably arranged in a state of being tilted backward in the same manner as the fuel cell stack 14.

  Next, the operation provided by the above arrangement of the fuel cell stack 14 in the front box 2 will be described.

  In this embodiment, since the fuel cell stack 14 composed of a plurality of fuel cells stacked upward is disposed in the front box 2 in a tilted state, the fuel cell stack 14 and the rear end portion of the front box 2 face downward. Thus, an environment in which the cowl top 7 projecting from the surface does not easily interfere with each other is obtained. Therefore, more fuel cells can be stacked as compared with the conventional technique in which the fuel cell stack in which the fuel cells are stacked upward is disposed in the front box 2 without tilting backward.

  If the backward tilt angle of the fuel cell stack 14 is determined based on the projecting dimension of the cowl top 7 to the front box 2, when the number of stacked fuel cells is increased, the fuel cell stack 14 and the cowl top 7 When starting to interfere, the fuel cell stack 14 also begins to interfere with the bonnet 3. In other words, at the stage where the fuel cell stack 14 and the cowl top 7 begin to interfere, there is almost no extra space remaining in the front box 2, and the space in the front box 2 is maximized to increase the number of stacked fuel cells. Can be used.

  An electric motor 9 and a speed reducer 13 are disposed below the fuel cell stack 14. The upper and lower dimensions of the space formed below the rearwardly inclined fuel cell stack 14 are large in the front of the vehicle and smaller in the rear. Since the speed reducer 13 has the driven wheel 12 having a larger diameter in front of the drive wheel 10, the electric motor 9 and the speed reducer 13 can be disposed in this space below the fuel cell stack 14 without waste.

  Arranging the fuel cell stack 14 in a rearward tilted state is also preferable in order to avoid interference with the rearward tilted radiator 8.

  Further, by arranging the auxiliary machine 15 in the rearward inclined state similarly above the fuel cell stack 14, the space formed between the cowl top 7 and the bonnet 3 can be used effectively, and the number of stacked fuel cells can be reduced. The auxiliary machine 15 can be arranged without reducing. However, the arrangement of the auxiliary machine 15 is not limited to the upper side of the fuel cell stack 14. It can be placed in any free space in the front box 2.

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the fuel cell stack 14 is disposed in the front box 2 in a rearwardly inclined state, avoiding interference with the cowl top 7 protruding downward at the rear end portion of the front box 2. The number of fuel cell stacks of the fuel cell stack 14 can be ensured to the maximum. Therefore, the room for increasing the output of the electric motor 9 without changing the dimensions of the vehicle body is expanded, and the effect of improving the response to the output increase request of the fuel cell driven vehicle is obtained.

  Further, by arranging the speed reducer 13 and the electric motor 9 below the fuel cell stack 14 tilted backward, the space generated below the fuel cell stack 14 tilted backward can be used effectively. Furthermore, by arranging the speed reducer 13 so that the large-diameter driven wheel 12 is positioned in front of the drive wheel 10, the space below the rearwardly inclined fuel cell stack 14 can be utilized more effectively.

  As described above, the present invention has been described through specific embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications or changes to these embodiments within the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel cell drive vehicle 2 Front box 7 Cowl top 8 Radiator 9 Electric motor 10 Drive wheel 11 Belt 12 Driven wheel 13 Reducer 14 Fuel cell stack 15 Auxiliary machine

Claims (6)

In a fuel cell drive vehicle having a front box with a cowl top protruding downward at the rear end, and a fuel cell stack mounted in the front box,
A fuel cell drive vehicle, characterized in that a fuel cell stack composed of a plurality of fuel cells stacked upward is disposed in a front box in a state of being tilted backward with respect to the forward direction of the vehicle.   2. The fuel cell drive vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the rearward tilt angle of the fuel cell stack is set in accordance with a protruding dimension of the cowl top into the front box.   The electric motor driven by the output current of the fuel cell stack and the speed reducer for reducing the rotation of the electric motor are arranged in a space below the fuel cell stack in the front box. Fuel cell powered vehicle.   The speed reducer includes a driving wheel coupled to the electric motor and a driven wheel having a diameter larger than that of the driving wheel that rotates on a different axis from the driving wheel according to the rotation of the driving wheel, and the speed reducer places the driven wheel in front of the driving wheel. 4. The fuel cell drive vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle is disposed below the fuel cell stack in the disposed state.   The fuel cell drive vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an auxiliary machine tilted backward is disposed above the fuel cell stack in the same manner as the fuel cell stack.   The fuel cell drive vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a rearwardly inclined radiator in front of the fuel cell stack in the front box with respect to a vehicle forward direction.

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