JP3510457B2 - Controller cooling structure for electric vehicles - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a controller for controlling electric power supplied from a battery to an electric motor or a charge controller for controlling the charging of the battery with air. The present invention relates to a controller cooling structure for an electric vehicle. 2. Description of the Related Art An electric vehicle has been put into practical use in which electric power supplied from a battery to an electric motor is controlled by a motor controller so that the electric vehicle runs with the propulsion generated by the electric motor. In general, this type of electric motor adopts a cooling structure in which the motor controller is mounted on the vehicle interior side and the motor controller is cooled by air supplied by a cooling fan. In this type of cooling structure, a motor controller is housed in a case, air is sent into the case by a cooling fan, and air having absorbed the heat of the controller is discharged to the outside of the vehicle through an exhaust duct. The motor controller is cooled. Here, in the above cooling structure, when the exhaust port of the exhaust duct is opened downward from the bottom wall of the passenger compartment, a waterproof structure for preventing muddy water or the like jumped up by wheels from entering the exhaust port. It needs to be adopted. As such a waterproof structure, a method of forming the exhaust port portion into a maze structure has conventionally been adopted. However, in the above-described method of forming the exhaust port portion into a maze structure, it is necessary to increase the capacity of a cooling fan for introducing outside air into the controller case because exhaust resistance increases. Further, there is a problem that the structure of the exhaust duct becomes complicated due to the maze structure and the manufacturing cost increases. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a controller cooling structure for an electric vehicle in which the capacity of a cooling fan can be reduced and the structure of an exhaust duct can be simplified, thereby reducing costs. Is an issue. [0007] The present invention provides a battery,
An electric vehicle, comprising: an electric motor that rotates by electric power supplied from the battery to generate vehicle propulsion; and a controller that controls power supply to the electric motor or controls charging of the battery. In a structure in which the controller is cooled by cooling air, the spare tire is suspended and supported near a corner formed by a lower surface of a bottom wall of the vehicle compartment and a cross member extending in the vehicle width direction, and the controller is disposed in the vehicle compartment. An exhaust duct for discharging the cooling air supplied to the controller to the outside of the cabin is led downward from the bottom wall of the cabin, and an exhaust port of the exhaust duct is sandwiched between the bottom wall of the cabin, the cross member, and the spare tire. It is characterized in that it is opened to the space and to the cross member. According to the controller cooling structure for an electric vehicle according to the present invention, the exhaust port of the exhaust duct is provided in the space sandwiched between the bottom wall of the vehicle compartment, the cross member, and the spare tire, and Since the opening is made toward the cross member, rainwater or the like heading for the exhaust port is blocked by the spare tire or the cross member and hardly enters the exhaust port,
Therefore, rainwater or the like can be prevented from reaching the controller through the exhaust duct. Further, the present invention employs a structure in which the exhaust port of the exhaust duct is disposed in the space formed by the bottom wall of the vehicle compartment, the cross member, and the spare tire. Such exhaust resistance does not increase, and the problem of increasing the capacity of the cooling fan does not occur. Further, the waterproof structure of the present invention is constructed by using a spare tire and a cross member conventionally provided in a vehicle, and has a structure compared with a conventional exhaust duct employing a maze structure. Is easy. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 4 are views for explaining a motor controller cooling structure of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the electric vehicle, and FIG. 2 is a battery, a motor controller, a spare tire and the like. FIG. 3 is a schematic rear view of the air intake port, and FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view (a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2) of the exhaust duct. . In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an electric vehicle (electric vehicle) that travels by transmitting the rotation of an electric motor 2 to wheels 3 via a transmission 2a. Electric power supplied from a battery 4 to the motor 2 is as follows. It is controlled by the motor controller 28. A charger 27 for charging the battery 4 has a built-in charge controller for controlling the start and end of charging of the battery 4 and a current value. The vehicle body 5 of the electric vehicle 1 has side panels 6, 6 'on the right and left sides between a floor panel (bottom wall) 5a and a roof panel 5b, and a front panel 5c on the front and rear sides. , A box-shaped structure having a back panel 5d erected. A rear cross member 5e is arranged at the rear end of the lower surface of the floor panel 5a so as to extend in the vehicle width direction. A rear bumper (not shown) is mounted on the rear surface of the rear cross member 5e. A corner portion is formed by the front surface of the rear cross member 5e and the floor panel 5a, and a spare tire 32 is suspended and supported near the corner portion. The spare tire 32 is supported with the rear side lowered,
An upper surface of the spare tire, a lower surface of the floor panel 5a,
The space A surrounded by the front surface of the rear cross member 5e has a substantially triangular shape in a side view. A front door 6a is provided at the front of the side panels 6, 6 ', and a rear door 6b is provided at the center. The side panels 6 and 6 ′ have an intermediate structure including an outer panel 7 and an inner panel 8, and a gap of several centimeters is provided between the panels 7 and 8.
Reference numeral 13 denotes a center pillar formed on the vehicle interior side of the inner panel 8. In this embodiment, the gap between the outer and inner panels 7 and 8 of the right side panel 6 is defined as a cooling air entrance passage 9, and the gap between the outer and inner panels 7 and 8 of the left side panel 6 'is defined as cooling air. This is a discharge passage 9 '. A rear combination lamp 14 is provided on the rear end surface of the right side panel 6, and a wiring hole 1 for passing wiring to the lamp 14 is provided at the lower end thereof.
5 are formed, and air intake ports 11 and 12 are formed above and below the wiring hole 15. A combination lamp is also provided on the rear end surface of the left side panel 6 ', similarly to the right side, and wiring holes, air outlets 11', 1 are provided.
2 'is formed. The above air inlet 1
1, 12 and the wiring hole 15 are covered by a rear bumper (not shown) with a gap through which air enters and exits. The battery 4 is configured by connecting in series 20 batteries 1 to 20 each generating a voltage of 12 V. Batteries 1 to 5 and batteries 15 to 20 are connected to a battery case 17.
The batteries 6 to 14 are housed in a battery case 18. Note that the bottom surfaces of the battery cases 17 and 18 are formed by the floor panel 5a, and a gap is formed between the floor panel 5a and the side wall of the battery case to allow cooling air to enter and exit. Reference numeral 23 denotes a DC-DC converter for converting a battery voltage into a predetermined voltage or the like, and reference numeral 24 denotes a sub-battery used as a power supply for driving auxiliary equipment. The entrance passage 9 of the right side panel 6
Cooling fans 19 and 20 are provided in the left side panel 6 'and the cooling fans 21 and 20 are provided in the discharge passage 9' of the left side panel 6 '.
2 are provided. The outside air is the air intake 11,
12 is introduced into the battery case 17 through the entrance passage 9 and the introduced air is discharged from the air discharge ports 11 'and 12' through the discharge passage 9 '. Cooling fans 34 to 37 for sucking air into the case 18 and discharging the air toward the battery case 17 are arranged behind the battery case 18 on the vehicle side. A temperature sensor 33 is attached to the battery 9, and the cooling fans 19 to 22, 34 to
37 is set to operate when the value detected by the temperature sensor 33 is 30 ° C. or higher and stop when the value detected is 25 ° C. or lower. A charger 27 for charging the battery 4 and a motor controller 2 for controlling power supply to the motor 2
8 is the battery case 18 of the floor panel 5a.
On the rear part of the vehicle. The controller 28 is housed in a case 29, in which a cooling fan 31 is provided. An inlet 29 a for introducing cooling air into the case 29 is formed in the front wall of the case 29. An exhaust duct 30 for discharging the introduced air to the outside of the vehicle compartment is connected to a lower surface of the case 29. The exhaust duct 30 extends downward through the floor panel 5a into the space A, and the exhaust port 30a is located between the floor panel 5a and the spare tire 32 and faces the rear cross member 5e. It is open. Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 33 provided in the battery 9 becomes 30 ° C. or higher when the battery 4 is charged, the cooling fans 19 to 22, 3
4 to 37 are turned on. Thus, as shown by the solid arrows in FIG. 9 and is introduced into the battery case 17, and cooling air is introduced into the battery case 18 by the cooling fans 34 to 37 from the front of the passenger compartment. The introduced air flows inside the battery case 17 as shown by the dashed arrow in FIG. 2 to cool each battery, and then the space between the outer panel 7 and the inner panel 8 on the left side panel 6 ′ is formed. The air is discharged from the air discharge ports 11 'and 12' through the air discharge passage 9 '. On the other hand, if the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 33 is 2
When the temperature becomes 5 ° C. or less, the cooling fans 19 to 22
4 to 37 are stopped. It should be noted that the cooling fan may always be operated at the time of charging the battery. During operation of the vehicle 1 of the embodiment, cooling air is introduced into the case 29 through the inlet 29a by the rotation of the cooling fan 31. The air absorbs the heat generated by the controller 28 and
0, and is discharged toward the rear of the vehicle so as to face the inside of the corner portion A, in particular, the rear cross member 5e. As described above, when the battery 4 is charged, if the battery temperature exceeds a predetermined value, the battery 4 is cooled by the air forcibly sucked by the cooling fan. The temperature can be improved, and abnormal temperature rise during charging can be prevented. In realizing the cooling structure of the battery 4, the outer panel 7 constituting the side panels 6, 6 '
The gap between the inner body 8 and the inner panel 8 is defined as a cooling air entrance passage 9 and a discharge passage 9 ', so that the battery cooling efficiency can be improved without changing the existing vehicle body structure. When the vehicle is operating, the controller 28 is configured to be cooled by air, and the exhaust port 3
0a is disposed on the upper side of the spare tire 32 so as to substantially overlap in plan view, and is opened toward the rear cross member 5e, so that the controller 28 can be cooled and the wheels 3 can be cooled.
The muddy water splashed up by the spare tire 32,
The exhaust port 30a is shut off by the rear cross member 5e and the like.
Muddy water and the like can be prevented from entering the controller 28. Although the cooling of the motor controller 28 has been described in the above embodiment, the scope of the present invention is not limited to this.
Of course, the present invention can also be applied to cooling of a charge controller inside.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electric vehicle to which a motor controller cooling structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a mounted state of a motor controller, a battery and the like of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic rear view showing an air intake portion of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional side view (a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2) illustrating the motor controller cooling structure of the embodiment. [Description of Signs] 2 Motor 4 Battery 5a Floor panel (vehicle bottom wall) 5e Cross member 28 Motor controller 30 Exhaust duct 30a Exhaust port 32 Spare tire A sandwiched between the bottom wall, the cross member and the spare tire space

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60L 15/00 B60K 1/04 B60K 13/04 B62D 43/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] A battery, an electric motor that rotates by electric power supplied from the battery to generate vehicle propulsion, and controls power supply to the electric motor, or In a structure of an electric vehicle having a controller for controlling charging of the battery, the controller includes a controller for cooling the controller with cooling air, wherein a spare tire is formed by a lower surface of a bottom wall of a vehicle compartment and a cross member extending in a vehicle width direction. The suspension is supported in the vicinity of the part, the controller is disposed in the vehicle interior, an exhaust duct for discharging the cooling air supplied to the controller to the outside of the vehicle interior is led downward from the vehicle interior bottom wall, and the exhaust port of the exhaust duct is An opening in a space between the bottom wall of the vehicle compartment, the cross member and the spare tire and toward the cross member. Elephants.