JP7120926B2 - Modular rolling chassis for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

(Cross reference to related applications)
This application is filed at 35 U.S.C. with the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/341,781, filed May 26, 2016 entitled "Modular Rolling Chassis for a Vehicle." S. C. §119(e), which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to a modular rolling chassis for vehicles.

Designing and manufacturing a vehicle can be a complex process. Efficiency can be achieved through modular construction whereby each module is modified and manufactured where it is most cost effective, after which the modules can finally be assembled together.

For lightweight yet robust vehicles, such as electric vehicles, composites can be a desirable material choice, but they can be labor intensive to form into custom parts, especially for low volume production. Light vehicles of this type may require particular attention to weight distribution (center of gravity) and torsional and bending stiffness.

What is needed, therefore, is a modular method of constructing a rolling chassis that uses composite materials, without custom forming, and that provides proper weight distribution (center of gravity) and torsional and bending stiffness.

The present invention addresses this need.

According to one aspect of the invention, a platform frame having a front bulkhead and a rear bulkhead, a front subframe attachable to the front bulkhead, a rear subframe attachable to the rear bulkhead, and the front bulkhead and a control module operably coupleable to the front subframe through. The platform frame is a pair of side battery compartments extending from the front bulkhead to the rear bulkhead for removably mounting battery modules for electrical connection to at least one of the rear subframe and the front subframe. Further includes a pair of lateral battery compartments adapted to receive the same.

The platform frame may be constructed from composite panels.

The platform frame may include a cockpit portion between a pair of side battery compartments, the pair of side battery compartments may have at least one cooling inlet and at least one cooling outlet, and at least one The two cooling air intakes may be connected to receive air from the cockpit portion. The cockpit portion can form a structural support member.

At least one cooling intake can be positioned proximate the front bulkhead, at least one cooling exhaust can be positioned proximate the rear bulkhead, and at least one cooling exhaust can be positioned proximate the rear bulkhead. The alternatively includes an exhaust fan whereby air received at the cooling intake flows rearwardly through a pair of side battery compartments and is discharged adjacent the rear bulkhead. In this regard, were it not for the at least one cooling intake, the pair of lateral battery compartments would be heat sealed from the cockpit portion. Air received from the cockpit portion may be conditioned in the cockpit portion.

The chassis includes a pair of elongated trays adapted to be removably received within a pair of lateral battery compartments of the platform frame, and a pair of elongated trays supported on the pair of elongated trays together in an electrical circuit as a power source. A battery module having a plurality of connected batteries can be further included. At least one of a pair of elongated trays and a plurality of batteries, or in combination, can form a structural support member.

The rear subframe includes a motor controller electrically connectable to receive power from battery modules housed in the side battery compartments, a motor electrically connected to the motor controller, a swing arm, and a swing arm. Depending from the drive wheels and a driveline coupling the motor to the drive wheels may be supported. The motor controller may also be electrically connectable to the control module. The rear subframe may further support cooling ducts between the motor and the motor controller to direct air propelled by the motor to the motor controller for cooling.

A front subframe is operably connected to an independent suspension and a pair of freewheeling hubs on opposite ends of the independent suspension, each hub adapted to retain a front wheel. The steering linkage and the

In some cases, the control module may include a steering column, the steering linkage may include a single central universal joint, and the steering column may be operably connectable to the steering linkage through the universal joint. . A steering column may be attached to a column support bracket, which may be attachable to the front bulkhead to form a structural support member.

In some cases, at least one of the front bulkhead, the rear bulkhead, and a pair of side battery compartments extending therebetween, or a combination thereof, may form a structural support member.

In some cases, at least one of the front subframe and rear subframe, or a combination thereof, may form a structural support member.

Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following drawings, description and claims.

The present invention will be explained more fully by the following detailed description of specific non-limiting embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures. In the figures, similar elements and/or features may have the same reference label. Moreover, various elements of the same type can be distinguished by following a reference label with a distinguishing second label among similar elements. If only the first reference label is identified in a particular passage of the detailed description, then that passage is one of the similar elements with the same first reference label, regardless of the second reference label. describes one of the

1 is a top front right perspective view of one embodiment of a rolling chassis in accordance with aspects of the present invention; FIG. Figure 2 is a bottom rear right perspective view of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment of Figure 1; FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, looking through section 4-4 shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 as viewed through section 5-5 shown in FIG. 3; 2 is a right side elevation detail view of the front subframe and control module of the embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a top front right perspective view of the front subframe and control module shown in FIG. 6; FIG. 7 is a bottom rear right perspective view of the front subframe and control module shown in FIG. 6; FIG. Figure 2 is an exploded right side elevational view of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 2 is an exploded top front right perspective view of the embodiment of Figure 1; 2 is an exploded bottom rear right perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a front elevational detail view of fasteners for securing composite panels in the embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG. Figure 13 is a right side elevational detail view of the fastener shown in Figure 12; 13 is a top plan detail view of the fastener shown in FIG. 12; FIG. 13 is a top front right perspective detail view of the fastener shown in FIG. 12; FIG. 13 is a top front left perspective detail view of the fastener shown in FIG. 12; FIG. 13 is a bottom front right perspective detail view of the fastener shown in FIG. 12; FIG. Figure 13 is a bottom front left perspective detail view of the fastener shown in Figure 12;

(a) Structures of Specific Embodiments Structures of the present invention will now be illustrated by descriptions of specific non-limiting exemplary embodiments shown in drawing figures and described in more detail herein. will be

1-18 illustrate a modular rolling chassis for a vehicle, generally designated 100, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The chassis is formed on platform frame 110 and further includes rear subframe 140 , front subframe 160 and control module 180 .

For example, composite panels formed as fiberglass skins over an aluminum honeycomb core have been found to be suitable materials for manufacturing portions of chassis 100, as further described below. Panel cores may also be formed from, for example, Nomex® (meta-aramid polymer), foam, titanium, plastic, or wood. Panel skins may also be formed from, for example, carbon fiber, Kevlar® (para-aramid synthetic fiber), aluminum, titanium, steel, stainless steel, or wood. Additionally, biocomposites (eg, made of flax or hemp fibers), recycled carbon fibers, and recycled glass fibers may be incorporated into this type of panel for use in these applications.

Composite panels of this type provide tensile and compressive strength while allowing bending and folding, and they can be cast, cut, and more to achieve the desired size, shape, configuration, and properties. It can generally be formed by machining. In this regard, such panels are readily available in standard sizes and other characteristics or can be custom manufactured to specifications.

Careful deployment of this type of composite panel can result in a chassis 100 that is an order of magnitude lighter than a traditional steel chassis. An analogy can be drawn for a pizza box formed from a sheet of cardboard cut to shape and then folded into a three-dimensional box.

As shown, the platform frame 110 is cut or otherwise formed to the desired size and shape and is provided with fasteners 114 (detailed in FIGS. 12-18), for example, aircraft as shown. It may be formed from readily available or manufactured composite panels 112 connected together by fasteners commonly used in space industry manufacturing, or by adhesives or welds, for example.

Platform frame 110 is formed as a platform 116 supporting a plurality of longitudinal joists 118 fixed thereto, both of which have front bulkhead 120 and rear bulkhead 122 fixed thereto. Platform frame 110 extends from the front bulkhead to the rear bulkhead and detachably houses battery module 200 for electrical connection to at least one of rear subframe 140 and front subframe 160 . It further includes a pair of lateral battery compartments 124 adapted to the. Platform frame 110 further includes a cockpit portion 126 between a pair of lateral battery compartments 124, which can form a structural support member for platform frame 110, thereby providing additional torsion and bending resistance. Provides stiffness to chassis 100 .

A front bulkhead 120, a rear bulkhead 122, and a pair of side battery compartments 124 extending therebetween may individually or in combination form the structural support members of the platform frame, thereby providing chassis 100 with Provides additional torsional and bending stiffness.

A pair of side battery compartments 124 have at least one cooling inlet (not shown) and at least one cooling outlet 130 that draws air, e.g., conditioned air, from the cockpit portion 126 . Connected to receive. A cooling intake may be positioned proximate to the front bulkhead 120 and a cooling exhaust 130 may be positioned proximate to the rear bulkhead 122 so that the cooling air intake is received at the cooling inlet. The air may flow rearwardly through a pair of side battery compartments 124 and be exhausted adjacent the rear bulkhead 122 , and in this regard, the cooling exhaust 130 may include an exhaust fan 132 . Aside from the cooling intakes, the pair of side battery compartments 124 may be thermally sealed from the cockpit portion 126 so that the battery modules 200 themselves need not be sealed from the surrounding environment.

The battery modules 200 are supported on a pair of elongated trays 202 adapted to be removably received within a pair of side battery compartments 124 of the platform frame 110, and as a power source. and several batteries 204 connected together in an electrical circuit. Tray 202 and battery 204 may alone or in combination form structural support members, thereby providing additional torsional and bending stiffness to chassis 100 . Also, the heavy battery 204 (and relatively light composite panel 112) lowers the center of gravity of the chassis 100. FIG.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate the electrical contacts 206, such as a pair of elongated trays 202, to enable the battery module 200 to be readily electrically connected to at least one of the rear subframe 140 and the front subframe 160. It will be appreciated that it is also possible to have top contacts 206 . Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the battery module 200 may further include mounting hardware 208 , such as straps for holding the batteries 204 in the pair of elongated trays 202 .

The front bulkhead 120 can support a windshield frame 134 and the rear bulkhead 122 can support a foldable roof panel 136 for connecting to the windshield frame 134 to surround the cockpit portion 126 . can.

A rear subframe 140 is attachable to the rear bulkhead 122 and includes a motor controller 142 electrically connectable to receive power from the battery module 200, a motor 144 electrically connected to the motor controller 142, by reference swing arm 146, which may be the swing arm disclosed in co-pending International Application PCT/CA2017/050321 filed March 10, 2017, which is incorporated herein; drive wheel 148 depending from swing arm 146; , and a driveline 150 that couples the motor 144 to the drive wheels 148 . Motor controller 142 may be electrically connectable to control module 180 such that control module 180 may be used by a user to direct motor controller 142 . Motor controller 142 is mounted on subframe 140 directly above motor 144 . This regulates the torque/power going to the motor 144 to control the vehicle speed and acceleration. Rear subframe 140 may form a structural support member, thereby providing additional torsional and bending stiffness to chassis 100 . A metal subframe 141 used to attach a seat belt D-ring is supported by the rear subframe 140 .

Rear subframe 140 may further support cooling ducts 152 between motor 144 and motor controller 142 to direct air propelled by motor 144 to motor controller 142 for cooling. Cooling duct 152 is a small duct that connects motor controller 142 to the motor. Motor 144 draws air over motor controller 142 through cooling duct 152 .

The rear subframe 140 may be formed from readily available or manufactured composite panels 112 that are cut or otherwise formed to the desired size and shape and connected together, for example, by fasteners 114 or welds. .

6-8, the front subframe 160 is attachable to the front bulkhead 120 and has an independent suspension 162 and a pair of freewheeling hubs on either side of the independent suspension 162. 164 , each of the hubs 164 adapted to retain the leading wheels 166 , a steering linkage 170 operably connected to the hubs 164 , and a braking device 168 operably connected to the hubs 164 . can support Steering linkage 170 may include a single central universal joint 172 . Front subframe 160 may form a structural support member, thereby providing additional torsional and bending stiffness to chassis 100 .

The front subframe 160 may be formed from readily available or manufactured composite panels 112 cut or otherwise formed to the desired size and shape and connected together, for example, by fasteners 114 or welds. .

Control module 180 includes a steering column 182 and a column support bracket 184 to which steering column 182 may be attached. Column support bracket 184 may be attached to front bulkhead 120 to form a structural support member, for example, in place of a cross car beam. Steering column 182 is operably connectable to steering linkage 170 through universal joint 172 . Control module 180 may include other controls, such as brake controller 186 operably coupled to brake system 168 .

(b) Operation of Certain Embodiments Referring now to Figures 1-18, assembly of the rolling chassis 100 will now be described.

Platform frame 110 may be manufactured from composite panels 112 and fasteners 114 instead of more labor intensive custom formed composite parts. Composite panels 112 may simply be cut to size and shape and perforated as needed, and then easily assembled together to platform frame 110 by a simple fastening operation.

Battery modules 200 may be manufactured elsewhere and shipped to rolling chassis 100 for subsequent assembly. Similarly, for maintenance, an expired battery module 200 can be easily removed rearwardly from the battery compartment 124 and a replacement battery module 200 can be inserted in its place. In this regard, the batteries 204 would be wired together as desired and supported on a pair of elongated trays 202 . Batteries 204 may also be retained in a pair of elongated trays 202 by mounting hardware 208 . Module 200 may be placed in electrical connection with at least one of rear subframe 140 and front subframe 160 via contacts 206 .

The rear subframe 140 and front subframe 160 and their supported components may also be similarly manufactured elsewhere and delivered to the rolling chassis 100 for subsequent assembly. Similar to battery module 200, this type of modular assembly may also be advantageous for maintenance or repair. Rear subframe 140 and front subframe 160 may be simply secured to rear bulkhead 122 and front bulkhead 120 , respectively, from composite panel 112 to composite panel 112 by fasteners 114 . Fastener 114 is manufactured by Witten Company, Inc.; Standard panel fasteners, such as the threaded inserts manufactured by Co., Ltd., which are potted in place.

Control module 180 may also be similarly manufactured elsewhere and shipped to rolling chassis 100 for subsequent assembly. Similar to battery module 200, rear subframe 140 and front subframe 160, this type of modular assembly may also be advantageous for maintenance or repair. For assembly, column support bracket 184 may be attached to front bulkhead 120 to form a structural support member, and steering column 182 may be operably coupled to steering linkage 170 through universal joint 172. Similarly, other controls such as brake controller 186 may be operably coupled to brake device 168, for example.

This modular manufacturing and subsequent assembly facilitates parallel production and module level encapsulation, optimization and testing.

(c) Description Summary Thus, from the foregoing embodiments and examples, a modular method of constructing a rolling chassis using composite materials to provide proper weight distribution (center of gravity) and torsional and bending stiffness without custom forming is described. you will see that it is.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention, which is construed according to the scope of the appended claims. should be considered.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, and substitutions may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the principles and scope of the invention as expressed in the claims made herein. be understood.

Claims (22)

a) a platform frame,
i) a front bulkhead;
ii) a rear bulkhead; and iii) a central cockpit portion extending longitudinally between said front bulkhead and said rear bulkhead;
b) a front subframe attachable to the front bulkhead;
c) a rear subframe attachable to the rear bulkhead;
d) a vehicle chassis arrangement comprising: a control module operably coupleable to said front subframe through said front bulkhead;
said platform frames being a pair of side battery compartments respectively located on respective outboard sides of said central cockpit and extending longitudinally from said front bulkhead to said rear bulkhead and said rear sub-frame and said front sub-frame; a pair of lateral battery compartments adapted to removably house battery modules for electrical connection to at least one of the
The rear subframe is
a) a motor controller electrically connectable to receive power from a battery module contained within the lateral battery compartment;
b) a motor electrically connected to the motor controller;
c) a swing arm;
d) a drive wheel depending from said swing arm;
e) a driveline coupling said motor to said drive wheels;
A vehicle chassis device that supports a said pair of side battery compartments having at least one cooling inlet and at least one cooling outlet;
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least one cooling air intake is connected to receive air from said cockpit portion. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said cockpit portion forms a structural support member. the at least one cooling intake is positioned proximate to the front bulkhead;
the at least one cooling exhaust is positioned proximate to the rear bulkhead;
3. The apparatus of claim 2 whereby air received at said cooling intake flows rearwardly through said pair of side battery compartments and is discharged adjacent said rear bulkhead . 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the pair of lateral battery compartments are thermally sealed from the cockpit portion except for the at least one cooling intake. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said air received from said cockpit portion is conditioned. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said cooling exhaust includes an exhaust fan. a) a pair of elongated trays adapted to be removably received within said pair of side battery compartments of said platform frame;
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: b) a battery module supported on said pair of elongated trays and having a plurality of batteries connected together in an electrical circuit as a power source. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein at least one of said pair of elongated trays and said plurality of batteries, or a combination thereof, form a structural support member. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said motor controller is further electrically connectable to said control module. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rear subframe further supports cooling ducts between the motor and the motor controller to direct air propelled by the motor to the motor controller for cooling. The front subframe is
a) an independent suspension;
b. a pair of freewheeling hubs on opposite ends of said independent suspension, each of said hubs being adapted to retain a front wheel;
2. The device of claim 1, further comprising: c) a steering linkage operably connected to said hub . a) said control module comprises a steering column;
b) said steering linkage supported by said front subframe includes a single central universal joint;
c) the steering column is operably connectable to the steering linkage through the universal joint; 14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the steering column is attached to a column support bracket. 15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein said column support bracket is attachable to said front bulkhead to form a structural support member. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the platform frame is constructed at least in part from composite panels. 17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein at least one or a combination of the front bulkhead, the rear bulkhead, and the pair of side battery compartments extending therebetween form a structural support member. . 17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein at least one of said front sub-frame and said rear sub-frame, or a combination thereof, form a structural support member. 17. The apparatus of Claim 16 , wherein the composite panel has a panel skin covering a panel core. 20. The apparatus of Claim 19 , wherein the composite panel has a fiberglass skin covering an aluminum honeycomb core. 20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein said composite panel has a skin formed from a material selected from the group consisting of carbon fiber, para-aramid synthetic fiber, aluminum, titanium, steel, stainless steel, and wood. 20. The apparatus of Claim 19 , wherein said composite panel has a core formed from a material selected from the group consisting of meta-aramid polymer, foam, titanium, plastic, and wood.

Images