JP6181397B2 - Swing arm unit for electric vehicles - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric vehicle swing arm unit, and more particularly to an electric vehicle swing arm unit that incorporates a battery and a motor and is established as a common unit for multiple models.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been disclosed an electric vehicle that includes a motor that drives a rear wheel and a battery that supplies electric power to the motor and travels only by the driving force of the motor.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a scooter type electric two-wheeled vehicle in which a rear wheel is rotatably supported and a motor and a battery are housed in a swing arm that is swingably supported by a vehicle body frame. Has been.

JP 2011-246020 A

  By the way, in the electric vehicle which uses a motor as a driving source, even if the vehicle grade is the same, the distance that the engine vehicle can travel with one charge is shorter than the distance that the engine vehicle can travel with full fuel. Become. In this regard, if the battery capacity is increased, the cruising range can be increased.However, in a two-wheeled vehicle having a large weight ratio of the battery to the vehicle weight, simply placing an additional battery in the surplus space can improve drivability by changing the weight distribution. It is possible that the impact will increase.

  On the other hand, in order to increase the number of user selection opportunities, it is preferable to share the main components when developing electric vehicles in multiple models. In this regard, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is intended to obtain a swing arm designed exclusively for an electric vehicle, and a structure suitable for deployment to many models has not been studied.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a swing arm unit for an electric vehicle that solves the above-described problems of the prior art, suppresses fluctuations in the weight distribution of the vehicle, and ensures a large battery capacity.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a motor (M) that drives a drive wheel (WR) of an electric vehicle (1), and batteries (B1, B2) that supply electric power to the motor (M). An electric vehicle swing arm unit (SU) pivotably supported with respect to a pivot shaft (16) of a body frame (2) of the electric vehicle (1), wherein the batteries (B1, B2) are The first battery (B1) and the second battery (B2) having a smaller volume than the first battery (B1), and the second battery (B2) is disposed in the vicinity of the pivot shaft (16). And has a first feature in that the first battery (B1) is disposed adjacent to the front side of the vehicle body and extends to the front side of the vehicle body.

  The first battery (B1) has a second feature in that the longitudinal direction of the first battery (B1) is arranged in the vehicle width direction.

  A third feature is that the dimension (W2) in the vehicle width direction of the second battery (B2) is set smaller than the dimension (W1) in the vehicle width direction of the first battery (B1).

  A fourth feature is that the height dimension (T2) of the second battery (B2) is set lower than the height dimension (T1) of the first battery (B1).

  A fifth feature is that the second battery (B2) is disposed below the front surface of the vehicle body of the first battery (B1).

  A sixth feature is that each of the first battery (B1) and the second battery (B2) is an aggregate of a plurality of battery cells (S) whose longitudinal direction is oriented in the vehicle width direction. .

  Further, a PDU (27) for controlling electric power supplied from the battery (B1, B2) to the motor (M) is provided, and the PDU (27) sandwiches the drive wheel (WR) and the motor (M). There is a seventh feature in that it is arranged on the opposite side of the.

  According to the first feature, the battery includes the first battery and the second battery having a smaller volume than the first battery, the second battery is disposed in the vicinity of the pivot shaft, and the vehicle body of the first battery. Because it is located adjacent to the front side and extends to the front side of the vehicle body, the battery capacity can be increased to increase the cruising range that can be traveled with a single charge, and fluctuations in the vehicle weight distribution can be suppressed. can do. Furthermore, by following the space occupied by the unit swing of the scooter type engine vehicle, the battery can be arranged, so that the engine vehicle and the electric vehicle can be separately made using a common body frame.

  According to the second feature, since the first battery is arranged with its longitudinal direction oriented in the vehicle width direction, if the unit swing of the scooter type engine vehicle is used, the space occupied by the engine crankcase is used. Thus, the capacity of the first battery can be increased. This makes it possible to lower the center of gravity of the vehicle while increasing the cruising distance.

  According to the third feature, since the dimension in the vehicle width direction of the second battery is set smaller than the dimension in the vehicle width direction of the first battery, a cylinder having a narrower width than the crankcase is used for a unit swing of a scooter type engine vehicle. The battery capacity can be increased by utilizing a layout that extends toward the front side of the vehicle body.

  According to the fourth feature, since the dimension in the height direction of the second battery is set lower than the dimension in the height direction of the first battery, if the unit swing of the scooter type engine car, the cylinder portion is separated from the crankcase. By matching the shape of the battery to the layout extending to the front side of the vehicle body, it is possible to attach the swing arm unit for the electric motorcycle without largely changing the vehicle body side.

  According to the fifth feature, since the second battery is disposed below the front surface of the vehicle body of the first battery, the vehicle body has a lower center of gravity while matching the outer shape of the unit swing of the scooter type engine vehicle. Can be achieved.

  According to the sixth feature, since each of the first battery and the second battery is an aggregate of a plurality of battery cells whose longitudinal directions are oriented in the vehicle width direction, the external shape of the entire battery can be easily changed, and the layout It is possible to improve the degree of freedom.

  According to the seventh feature, the PDU for controlling electric power supplied from the battery to the motor is provided, and the PDU is disposed on the opposite side of the motor with the driving wheel interposed therebetween, so that the electric vehicle is necessary for obtaining the driving force. Since the battery, motor and PDU are all provided on the swing arm unit side, the vehicle body can be easily shared. In addition, the weight balance in the vehicle width direction can be adjusted by arranging the PDU at the position where the muffler is mounted in the unit swing of the scooter type engine vehicle.

1 is a left side view of an electric motorcycle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the vehicle body frame of an electric motorcycle. Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged plan view of the electric motorcycle. Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged front view of the electric motorcycle. It is a perspective view of the swing arm unit which concerns on the modification of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the driving force control system of an electric motorcycle.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a left side view of an electric motorcycle 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a body frame 2 of the electric motorcycle 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the same part, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of the same part. The electric motorcycle 1 is a scooter type electric vehicle that has a low floor 14 on which an occupant puts both feet together and drives a motor M with electric power of a vehicle-mounted battery.

  The vehicle body frame 2 includes a main frame 3 that supports the head pipe 6 and extends rearward and an underframe 4 that extends from the lower end of the main frame 3 in the vehicle width direction and extends rearward of the vehicle body. A pair of left and right rear frames 5 extending upward and rearward are connected to the rear end portion of the under frame 4. Reinforcing gussets 24 are provided at the connecting portion between the main frame 3 and the underframe 4, and four brackets 26 for supporting the low floor 14 from below are provided on the upper surface of the underframe 4.

  A steering stem 7 connected to the steering handle 8 is rotatably supported on the head pipe 6. A pair of left and right front forks 12 that rotatably support the front wheel WF is attached to the lower end portion of the steering stem 7. The front body of the head pipe 6 is covered with a front cowl 10. A headlamp 9 is disposed in front of the steering handle 8, and a front fender 11 is attached above the front wheel WF.

  A pair of pivot plates 15 are attached to the lower portion of the curved portion 30 where the rear frame 5 rises rearward and upward in the vehicle width direction. A swing arm unit SU as a swing arm for an electric vehicle according to the present invention is pivotally supported on a pivot shaft 16 formed on the pivot plate 15 so as to be swingable.

  An under connecting pipe 29 that connects the left and right under frames 4 is provided in the vicinity of the pivot plate 15. On the other hand, a rear connection pipe 25 that connects the left and right rear frames is provided above the pivot plate 15.

  A luggage box 19 for storing luggage and a helmet is disposed below the seat 20 on which a passenger sits. The luggage box 19 is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the left and right rear frames 5, and the bottom portion in front of the vehicle body is supported from below by a pair of left and right mounting stays 28 provided on the rear connection pipe 25. .

  A rear fender 23 supported by the arm portion 17 is disposed above the rear wheel WR. A PDU 27 that controls the motor drive current based on various sensor signals is disposed on the right side in the vehicle width direction across the rear wheel WR. The PDU 27 is attached to the arm portion 17 at its front end.

  The rear wheel WR is rotatably supported on the right side of the motor case 18 in the vehicle width direction. A gear reduction mechanism or the like may be provided between the motor M and the axle of the rear wheel WR. The motor case 18 is connected to an operation cable 13 for a rear wheel brake routed from the front of the vehicle body.

  A first battery B1 and a second battery B2 (hereinafter simply referred to as batteries B1 and B2) are attached to the upper portion of the arm portion 17. Each of the batteries B1 and B2 is configured as a battery module in which a plurality of cylindrical battery cells S connected in series are housed in a case such as a hard resin. The battery cell S is disposed such that its cylindrical axis is oriented in the vehicle width direction. Since the battery cell S has a cylindrical shape, it becomes easy to form a battery assembly in which the gaps between the battery cells are uniform.

  The arm portion 17 of the swing arm unit SU has a wide portion having the same width as that between the pivot plates 15 at a portion through which the pivot shaft 16 passes, and is integrated into a cantilever arm only on the left side in the vehicle width direction at the lower portion of the battery B1. Then, the motor case 18 is connected.

  The swing arm unit SU includes a motor case 18 that houses a motor M as a power source, an arm portion 17 that supports the motor case 18, batteries B1 and B2 as in-vehicle batteries, and a rear wheel WR as drive wheels. The swing arm unit SU is pivotally supported on the pivot shaft 16 at the front end of the arm portion 17 and is suspended from the rear frame 5 by a rear cushion 22 connected to the motor case 18. The swing arm unit SU is attached to the vehicle body so as to have a predetermined sag angle (for example, 15 ° in an empty state) with respect to the horizontal as a margin for swinging according to road surface unevenness and the like.

  In general, a unit swing in a scooter type engine vehicle is a structure in which a transmission such as a V-belt continuously variable transmission and an engine (single cylinder or parallel two cylinders) are integrated, and the engine cylinder is placed in front of the vehicle body. A transmission case that accommodates the transmission and accommodates the transmission functions as a support arm for the rear wheel. In such a unit swing, the fuel injection device and the air cleaner box are also concentrated on the upper side of the forward tilted cylinder, and a muffler is disposed on the opposite side of the arm portion across the rear wheel WR.

  That is, most of the elements necessary for generating the driving force are included in the unit swing of the scooter type engine vehicle. For this reason, if the swing arm for an electric vehicle is configured in accordance with the function of this unit swing, it is possible to minimize the dedicated design portion and to separately create the engine vehicle and the electric vehicle using a common body frame. Become. Further, if the vehicle body side is common, the luggage box 19 or other accessory case can be used as it is, and the convenience as a scooter type vehicle is not impaired. Conversely, it is also conceivable to newly use unnecessary fuel tank space.

  The main elements required for the electric vehicle are a motor, a battery, a PDU, and a transmission. The swing arm unit SU according to the present embodiment uses the space occupied by the unit swing of the engine car when replacing the unit swing of the engine car with the swing arm for the electric vehicle, thereby reducing the center of gravity and the battery capacity. Increase.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a driving force control system of the electric motorcycle. The PDU 27 includes information on a throttle opening sensor SE1 that detects an operation amount of a throttle device attached to the steering handle 8, a vehicle speed sensor SE2 that is attached to a front wheel WF, and a battery state sensor SE3 that detects a charge amount of the battery B. Based on this, the electric power supplied from the batteries B2 and B1 to the motor M is controlled, thereby driving the rear wheels WR. The battery state sensor SE3 may be inside the swing arm unit SU or outside the swing arm unit SU.

  Here, the harnesses for flowing a large current are required between “battery B and PDU 27” and “between PDU 27 and motor M”. In the electric vehicle 1 according to this embodiment, since the PDU 27, the battery B, and the motor M are all on the swing arm unit SU side, even if the swing arm unit SU swings with respect to the vehicle body frame 2, the vehicle body side sensor and the PDU 27. The sensor wiring that connects the two moves only slightly, and the large current harness is not bent.

  FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged plan view of the electric vehicle 1. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged front view of the electric motorcycle. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the steering mechanism supported by the vehicle body by the head pipe 6 is removed. First, the battery B1 is arranged with its longitudinal direction oriented in the vehicle width direction. The batteries B1 and B2 arranged in the front-rear direction of the vehicle have mutually different dimensions and volumes in the width direction. In the present embodiment, the battery B2 having the width W2 is disposed in the vicinity of the pivot shaft 16, and is disposed adjacent to the vehicle body front side of the battery B1.

  This is because the battery B2 on the front side of the vehicle body is efficiently arranged corresponding to the space occupied by the cylinder head of the engine. Specifically, the battery capacity is increased without increasing the position of the center of gravity by extending the front end portion of the battery B2 from the pivot shaft 16 to the front of the vehicle body in the same manner as the cylinder head surface of the engine vehicle. The front end of the battery B2 is protected from above and below by the rear frame connecting pipe 25 and the underframe connecting pipe 29, like the cylinder of the engine vehicle. Further, the battery B1 and the battery B2 are housed in battery cases (not shown) and attached to the swing arm.

  The width W1 of the battery B1 in the vehicle width direction is allowed to increase at least to the crankcase width of the engine vehicle. Moreover, you may form the recessed part for expanding battery capacity, avoiding interference with the rear-wheel WR in the vehicle body back side of battery B1.

  Further, in a scooter type engine vehicle, when an arm for supporting the rear wheel WR is arranged on the left side in the vehicle width direction, a muffler is often arranged on the right side in the vehicle width direction across the rear wheel WR. In this respect, in the present embodiment, by arranging the PDU 27 which is a heavy object instead of the muffler, the weight balance in the vehicle width direction is adjusted while securing the battery arrangement space. In addition, it is preferable to provide a cover for protecting the PDU 27 composed of a large number of electronic components. However, the design of this cover has a high degree of freedom, and may have an external appearance such as a muffler of an engine car, for example.

  Referring to FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the heights of batteries B1 and B2 are the same, and the swing arm unit is given a predetermined sagging angle. The upper surface height H1 of the battery B1 is positioned below the height H2. In this respect, there is a surface that facilitates lowering the center of gravity because the battery B1 having a large dimension in the vehicle width direction is located at a lower position. You can also use the space to further increase battery capacity.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a swing arm unit according to a modification of the present invention. Also in this modification, it is the same as that of the said embodiment by the point that the vehicle width direction dimension of battery B2 which is the aggregate | assembly of the battery cell S is set small corresponding to a cylinder head. However, by making the height T1 of the battery B1, which is an assembly of the battery cells S, larger than the height T2 of the battery B2, the battery capacity can be significantly increased. In other words, since the height of the battery B1 is increased, the battery B2 is relatively disposed below the front surface of the vehicle body of the battery B1.

  In this modification, the transmission case 51 and the motor case 53 that house the transmission have an appearance similar to that of an engine vehicle, and the positions of the pivot shaft 52 and the rear cushion mounting portion 54 are the same as those of the engine vehicle. In the engine vehicle and the electric vehicle that are separately formed according to the vehicle body, not only the appearance but also the steering characteristics are not different.

  Further, in the engine vehicle, when the rear wheel WR is attached to and detached from the axle 55, it is necessary to remove the exhaust pipe from the cylinder and remove the muffler on the right side in the vehicle width direction of the rear wheel WR. For example, since only the PDU 56 fixed to the swing arm unit SU2 is removed, the maintainability around the rear wheels is also improved.

  As described above, according to the swing arm unit for an electric vehicle according to the present invention, the space occupied by the swing unit in the scooter type engine vehicle is followed, and the battery is arranged in the range of the outer shape of the cylinder and the crankcase. While maintaining a low center of gravity, the battery capacity can be increased and the cruising distance of the electric vehicle can be extended. In addition, it is possible to make an engine vehicle and an electric vehicle separately by exchanging the unit swing portion while using a common body frame.

  The configuration of the swing arm unit, the shape and structure of the arm part and the battery, the connecting method of the arm part and the battery, the shape and structure of the motor case, the form of the battery cell, etc. are not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made. Is possible. For example, the cantilever direction of the arm portion can be the right side in the vehicle width direction, or the arm portion can be a double-supported type. In addition, in order to increase the number of user choices, a swing arm unit with a different battery capacity is prepared, or a vehicle with different motility can be selected by a swing arm unit with different dimensions and tire widths between the pivot shaft and the rear wheel axle. You can also. The swing arm unit for an electric vehicle according to the present invention can be applied to various vehicles such as a straddle-type electric tricycle.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electric vehicle, 2 ... Body frame, 3 ... Main frame, 4 ... Under frame, 6 ... Head pipe, 15 ... Pivot plate, 16 ... Pivot shaft, 17 ... Arm part, 18 ... Motor case, 27 ... PDU, SU ... Swing arm unit (swing arm unit for electric vehicle), M ... Motor, B ... Battery, B1 ... First battery, B2 ... Second battery, S ... Battery cell, WR ... Rear wheel (drive wheel)

Claims (6)

A motor (M) for driving the drive wheels (WR) of the electric vehicle (1) and batteries (B1, B2) for supplying electric power to the motor (M), and a vehicle body frame ( 2) In the swing arm unit (SU) for an electric vehicle pivotally supported by the pivot shaft (16) of 2),
The battery (B1, B2) is composed of a first battery (B1) and a second battery (B2) having a smaller volume than the first battery (B1),
The second battery (B2) is disposed in the vicinity of the pivot shaft (16), and is disposed adjacent to the vehicle body front side of the first battery (B1), thereby extending to the vehicle body front side,
The front end of the second battery (B2) extends to the front of the pivot shaft (16) ;
A PDU (27) for controlling power supplied from the battery (B1, B2) to the motor (M);
The swing arm unit for an electric vehicle, wherein the PDU (27) is disposed on the opposite side of the motor (M) with the drive wheel (WR) interposed therebetween .   The swing arm unit for an electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the first battery (B1) is arranged such that a longitudinal direction thereof is oriented in a vehicle width direction.   The dimension (W2) in the vehicle width direction of the second battery (B2) is set smaller than the dimension (W1) in the vehicle width direction of the first battery (B1). Swing arm unit for electric vehicles.   The height dimension (T2) of the second battery (B2) is set lower than the height dimension (T1) of the first battery (B1). The swing arm unit for electric vehicles described in 2.   The swing arm unit for an electric vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the second battery (B2) is disposed below a front surface of the vehicle body of the first battery (B1).   The first battery (B1) and the second battery (B2) are each an assembly of a plurality of battery cells (S) whose longitudinal direction is oriented in the vehicle width direction. The swing arm unit for electric vehicles in any one of.