JP2016052831A - Electric vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for suppressing damage to a power converter at a vehicle collision.SOLUTION: A hybrid vehicle includes: a transmission 2, housed in a front compartment, having an upper surface 2a inclined toward a forward of the vehicle; and a power converter 10 disposed on the upper surface 2a of the transmission 2, with a part of the power converter positioned forward disposed lower than a part thereof positioned rearward. The power converter 10 includes: a case 50; a conversion circuit for converting power of a battery; an electro-conductive member 62, disposed toward a rear end within the case 50 in a front-rear direction of the vehicle, for supplying the conversion circuit with power of the battery; and a lib 54, disposed adjacent to the electro-conductive member 62, extending toward the front-rear direction and downward of the vehicle. The lib 54 is extended downward than a side wall of the case 50, with a length of the lib 54 extending downward from the side wall increasing toward the front of the vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric vehicle. The “electric vehicle” in the present specification includes a hybrid vehicle and a fuel cell vehicle each having both a motor and an engine.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a hybrid vehicle. In the hybrid vehicle, an engine, a drive train, and an inverter are mounted in the front compartment of the vehicle. The inverter is fixed to the upper surface of the drive train with a gap. The inverter is fixed forwardly on the upper surface of the drive train.

JP 2013-233836 A

  When the vehicle collides, a load from the vehicle front to the rear may be applied to the inverter. In this case, the inside of the inverter may move rearward of the vehicle and come into contact with the drive train. It is desired to suppress damage to a power converter such as an inverter at the time of a vehicle collision.

  Provided is a technique for suppressing damage to a power converter at the time of a vehicle collision.

  The technology disclosed in this specification is housed in a front compartment of a vehicle, and a transmission having an upper surface inclined forward of the vehicle, and a portion of the upper surface of the transmission that is located on the front side in the front-rear direction of the vehicle is located on the rear side. A power converter disposed so as to be positioned below a portion where the power converter is positioned, and the power converter is housed in the case, the conversion circuit for converting the battery power, and the inside of the case The conductive member that supplies battery power to the conversion circuit and the rib that is disposed adjacent to the conductive member and extends in the front-rear direction and downward of the vehicle. The rib protrudes downward from the side wall of the case, and the length of the rib protruding downward from the side wall of the case becomes longer toward the front of the vehicle. It is a dynamic vehicle.

  In this configuration, when a collision load directed from the front to the rear of the vehicle is applied to the power converter, the power converter moves to the rear of the vehicle due to the collision load. As a result, the power converter contacts the transmission located behind and below the power converter. At this time, since the rib projects downward from the side wall of the case, the rib contacts the transmission before the conductive member disposed at the rear end of the power converter. Thereby, it can suppress that a conductive member contacts a transmission. For this reason, it can suppress that a conductive member is damaged. Moreover, since the rib protrudes downward from the side wall of the case, after the rib contacts the transmission, the power converter moves backward in a state where the rib and the transmission are in contact. Since the length in which the rib protrudes downward from the side wall of the case is longer toward the front of the electric vehicle, the moving direction of the power converter can be controlled.

It is a perspective view showing the device layout in the front compartment of the electric vehicle of an Example. It is a bottom perspective view of a power converter. It is a bottom perspective view showing the state where the bottom cover of the power converter is removed. It is a side view for demonstrating the attachment state of a power converter. It is a side view which shows the movement of the power converter at the time of a vehicle collision.

  The electric vehicle will be described with reference to the drawings. The electric vehicle 100 of an Example is a hybrid vehicle provided with two motors and one engine for driving | running | working. FIG. 1 shows a device layout in the front compartment 94 of the electric vehicle 100. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front compartment 94. Note that FIG. 1 is a simplified representation of the shape of the device in the front compartment. Further, the x-axis in the figure corresponds to the front of the vehicle, the y-axis corresponds to the lateral direction of the vehicle, and the z-axis corresponds to the upper side of the vehicle.

  The main devices mounted in the front compartment 94 are the power converter 10 that supplies AC power to the engine 97, the transmission 2, the sub battery 6, the radiator 96, and a motor (not shown). In addition, the code | symbol 92 shows a relay box and the code | symbol 93 shows the compressor of an air-conditioner. The transmission 2 amplifies the output torque of the motor and engine. The transmission 2 is stored together with a first motor and a second motor that drive the wheels, and a differential. Hereinafter, the transmission 2, the first motor, the second motor, and the differential are collectively referred to as “drive train”. The drive train is sometimes called a power train or a transaxle. The engine 97 and the transmission 2 are fixed to a side frame 95 (side member) constituting a chassis frame.

  The hybrid vehicle switches between the engine 97 and the motor depending on the situation. When a large driving force is required, the engine 97 and two motors are used simultaneously as driving sources. Otherwise, at least one motor is used as a generator for generating power. The transmission 2 switches the output of the engine 97 and the output of the motor, or adds both to transmit to the differential. The transmission 2 may transmit a part of the driving force of the engine 97 to the motor. In that case, the motor generates power by the driving force of the engine. Further, the motor may convert deceleration energy (regenerative energy) during braking into electric energy.

  The upper surface 2a of the transmission 2 is inclined forward of the vehicle. The power converter 10 is fixed to the upper surface 2a by a front bracket 12 and a rear bracket 13 with a gap between the upper surface 2a.

  The power converter 10 converts the supplied DC power into AC power from the main battery stored in the rear seat or in the rear compartment via the battery cable 40 (see FIG. 4) and supplies it to the motor. To do. Thereby, the power converter 10 controls the motor. The power converter 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a bottom perspective view of the power converter 10. FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the power converter 10 with the under cover 52 removed from the case 50. The power converter 10 includes a case 50, an under cover 52, a conversion circuit 60, a conductive member 62, and a rib 54.

  The case 50 includes a side wall 50a and an upper wall. The upper wall is a rectangular flat plate. The side wall 50a surrounds the outer edge of the upper wall over the entire circumference. The height from the upper wall of the side wall 50a is constant over the entire circumference of the outer edge of the upper wall. An under cover 52 is fixed to the bottom end of the side wall 50a, that is, the end located on the side opposite to the upper wall. The under cover 52 is fixed to the bottom end of the side wall 50 a and closes the case 50.

  The case 50 accommodates a conversion circuit 60, a conductive member 62, and a rib 54. Conversion circuit 60 includes a converter circuit that boosts the voltage of the battery, and an inverter circuit that converts the boosted power into alternating current. The AC power converted by the inverter circuit is supplied to the motor. The conversion circuit 60 is supplied with electric power from the battery via the conductive member 62. That is, high voltage power is supplied to the conductive member 62 from the battery. The conductive member 62 is formed of a bent flat bus bar. The conductive member 62 extends from one end of the battery cable 40 (see FIG. 4) connected to the rear end of the case 50 to the lower end surface of the conversion circuit 60. The rear end of the conductive member 62 is fixed to the rear end portion of the case 50 with screws or the like, and the front end of the conductive member 62 is fixed to the lower end surface of the conversion circuit 60 with screws or the like.

  Ribs 54 are disposed on both sides of the conductive member 62 in the vehicle left-right direction (ie, the Y-axis direction). Each rib 54 is adjacent to the conductive member 62. Each rib 54 extends downward from the inside of the case 50. Each rib 54 further extends in the vehicle front-rear direction (that is, the X-axis direction) along the conductive member 62.

  FIG. 4 shows a side view of the power converter 10. In FIG. 4, the rib 54 and the conductive member 62 housed in the case 50 and the under cover 52 are indicated by broken lines. FIG. 4 further shows a schematic shape of the upper surface 2 a of the transmission 2. The upper surface 2a on the rear side of the vehicle is one step higher than the upper surface 2a on the front side of the vehicle. The rib 54 extends downward beyond the side wall 50 a of the case 50. The lower end of the rib 54 is inclined with respect to the lower end of the case 50, and the length of the rib 54 protruding downward from the side wall 50a is longer toward the front of the vehicle. A part of the lower end of the rib 54 is covered with the under cover 52 while being in contact with the under cover 52.

  In FIG. 5, the side view of the power converter 10 for demonstrating the movement of the power converter 10 when the electric vehicle 100 is collided from the front is shown. When electric powered vehicle 100 collides from the front, load L is applied to power converter 10 toward the rear of the vehicle. As a result, the front bracket 12 and the rear bracket 13 are deformed, and the power converter 10 is moved rearward and downward. The rear end portion of the under cover 52 of the power converter 10 is It collides with the upper surface 2a. At this time, the rib 54 collides with the upper surface 2a with the under cover 52 interposed therebetween. As a result, the ribs 54 can suppress the undercover 52 and the case 50 from being deformed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the high-voltage conductive member 62 from being damaged by the collision. Further, when a load L is further applied from the state of FIG. 5, the power converter 10 moves rearward on the upper surface 2 a along the shape of the rib 54. According to this configuration, the moving direction of the power converter 10 can be controlled by the shape of the rib 54.

  The rib 54 is in contact with the under cover 52. As a result, the rigidity of the under cover 52 can be improved, and not only the deformation at the time of collision but also the vibration and noise of the power converter 10 can be suppressed.

  Specific examples of the present invention have been described in detail above, but these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above. The technical elements described in this specification or the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technology exemplified in this specification or the drawings can achieve a plurality of objects at the same time, and has technical usefulness by achieving one of the objects.

2: Transmission, 2a: Upper surface, 6: Sub battery, 10: Power converter, 12: Front bracket, 13: Rear bracket, 40: Battery cable, 50: Case, 50a: Side wall, 52: Under cover, 54: Rib , 60: conversion circuit, 62: conductive member, 94: front compartment, 95: side frame, 96: radiator, 97: engine, 98: front frame, 100: electric vehicle

Claims (1)

A transmission housed in a front compartment of a vehicle and having an upper surface inclined forward of the vehicle;
A power converter disposed on the top surface of the transmission so that a portion located on the front side in the front-rear direction of the vehicle is located below a portion located on the rear side;
The power converter is
Case and
A conversion circuit that is housed in the case and converts the power of the battery;
A conductive member disposed at the rear end of the vehicle in the front-rear direction in the case, and supplying the power of the battery to the conversion circuit;
A rib disposed adjacent to the conductive member and extending in the front-rear direction and downward of the vehicle;
The rib protrudes downward from the side wall of the case,
The length of the rib projecting downward from the side wall of the case is longer in the forward direction of the vehicle.

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