JPH06197417A - Electric vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To mount various types of electric controllers out of a passenger compartment without increasing a weight, a size and a cost to waterproof, dustproof and cool the controllers. CONSTITUTION:An electric vehicle 1 to be driven by an electric motor 7 contains a plurality of electric controllers in one box 14 in a sealed manner to an integral control unit 3, and mounts a strut bar 24 and a side frame 25 in a front room 5 provided in front of a can room 3 beyond a dashboard 4. An air conduit 29a is connected to a cooling medium inlet of the box 14, an air conduit 29b is connected to a cooling medium outlet, the conduit 29 is connected to a blower 28, and the conduit 29b is extended to the outside of the room 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric vehicle driven by an electric motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-16733 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-500080 disclose such electric vehicles. These electric vehicles have a battery pack in which a large number of batteries are arranged. An electric motor, which is provided under the floor and is fed from the battery, is provided at the rear part of the vehicle. Then, the rear wheels are driven from this electric motor through the speed reducer and the final drive device. Further, below the front position of the vehicle, an electric control device including a choke and a chopper for converting a direct current from the battery into a variable current and supplying the variable current to the motor, or a driver-operated electric control device is arranged.

Generally, in an electric vehicle, as a control device, for example, a power drive unit (P) for controlling and supplying a high voltage of a battery to a motor for driving a vehicle.
DU), various electric controllers such as a downverter for stepping down the high voltage and supplying it to a required part or an inverter for an air conditioner for controlling an electric motor for a compressor of an air conditioner. These electric controllers were individually fixed and mounted on the vehicle body.

[0004]

By the way, since these electric controllers use a high voltage as compared with the 12V system used in general automobiles, they require waterproof and dustproof measures.

Further, in an electric vehicle, in order to reduce the electric resistance and increase the efficiency, the wiring of the control system has a large cross-sectional area, so that the electric controller itself becomes large. At the same time, a cooling device is required as a measure against heat generation during operation, and the size becomes even larger.

If each electric controller is placed in the vehicle compartment,
Although it is advantageous from the viewpoint of dust prevention, this reduces the effective space inside the vehicle interior, and if these are arranged outside the vehicle interior, each controller must have a sealed structure for waterproof, dustproof and mudproof. However, the weight is increased and the cost is disadvantageous.

Further, since each electric controller is individually attached to the vehicle body, the number of assembling steps is large, which is disadvantageous in terms of mass productivity, and the vehicle body structure is complicated.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in the present invention, in an electric vehicle driven by an electric motor, a plurality of electric controllers are The control unit is provided as a single control unit by hermetically housing it in a box having a cooling medium inlet at the other end and a cooling medium outlet at the other end.

According to the present invention, a plurality of electric controllers are hermetically housed in one box, and this box serves to waterproof and dustproof each electric controller, so that each electric controller is individually sealed. It does not have to be a structure. Therefore, even if the electric controller is provided outside the passenger compartment, the weight does not increase particularly for waterproofing and dustproofing. Moreover, by circulating the cooling medium through the cooling medium inlet and outlet in the box,
Since it is possible to cool each electric controller in a lump and it is not necessary to provide a cooling device for each electric controller, the weight can be further reduced, the size can be further reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

Further, since it is not necessary to individually mount each electric controller on the vehicle body, and a control unit in which these are integrated together can be mounted, the number of mounting steps is remarkably reduced. Since the control unit can be assembled outside the main line of vehicle production, the control unit assembled outside the main line can be assembled to the vehicle body on the main line to improve vehicle productivity and mass productivity. .

This is also advantageous when the production of conventional vehicles (gasoline vehicles) is switched to the production of electric vehicles, and changes in the production main line of conventional vehicles can be suppressed to a minimum, so that capital investment can be reduced. be able to. Further, by disposing the control unit in the front room provided in front of the vehicle compartment with the dashboard separated, that is, in a portion corresponding to the engine room of the conventional vehicle, the body structure is largely changed from that of the conventional vehicle. There is no need to do it.

In this case, by mounting the control unit on the strut bar connecting the upper ends of the left and right strut towers projecting into the front room and the side frame connected to the strut tower, the control unit is firmly attached to the vehicle body. It can be installed,
The control unit can connect the left and right side frames to improve the rigidity of the vehicle body.

[0013]

Embodiments FIGS. 1 to 8 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a front portion of an electric vehicle 1, and 2 is a front wheel. A front room 5 is provided in front of the vehicle compartment 3 with a dashboard 4 interposed therebetween. The upper part of the front room 5 is covered with a hood 6 (FIG. 7) so as to be openable and closable. This structure is the same as a conventional gasoline vehicle, and the gasoline engine has a gasoline engine mounted in the front room 5.

On the other hand, in the electric vehicle 1,
Electric motor (hereinafter referred to as motor) in the front room 5
7 is mounted. The motor 7 is operated by being supplied with power from a battery arranged below the floor surface of the vehicle body as in the above-mentioned conventional example, and the power transmission device 8 attached to the motor 7 is operated.
The left and right front wheels 2 are driven via (FIG. 7). A power unit including a motor 7 and a power transmission device 8 is arranged in a lower portion of the front room 5, and various electric controllers constituting an electric control system of the electric vehicle 1 are integrally assembled above the front room 5 and near the dashboard 4. An embedded control unit 9 is arranged.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the control unit 9, FIG.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view thereof. The control unit 9 of the present embodiment incorporates three types of electric controllers: a power drive unit 10, a downverter 11 and an air conditioner inverter 12. These controllers 10, 11 and 12 are fixed to the mounting frame 13,
It is supported and hermetically housed in the box 14.

As shown in FIG. 4, the mounting frame 13 includes a base plate 15 having a bottom plate portion 15a and an upper plate portion 15b projecting opposite to each other, and a pair of brackets on an upper side portion of a gate-shaped pipe portion 16a. A base pipe 16 provided with a protruding portion 16b, and a bottom plate portion 15a at the lower ends of both leg portions of the pipe portion 16a.
Further, the tip of the bracket portion 16b is screwed to the upper plate portion 15b, respectively. And the downverter
The air conditioner inverter 12 and the air conditioner inverter 12 are fixed on the bottom plate portion 15a of the base plate 15, respectively, and the power drive unit 10 is fixed on the base pipe 16 between the bracket portions 16b and 16b, and is arranged in two upper and lower stages.

The box 14 is divided into an upper box 14a and a lower box 14b.
Flange 17a, 17b provided with 14a, 14b respectively
Box 14 that is sealed by joining and fastening
Is formed. A seal rubber 18 is sandwiched between the flanges 17a and 17b to completely seal the joint. However, a cooling medium inlet 19 is provided on the right end surface of the upper box 14a, and a cooling medium outlet 20 is provided on the left end surface of the lower box 14b.

The power drive unit 10, the downverter 11, and the air conditioner inverter 12 mounted on the mounting frame 13 as described above are mounted by screwing the bottom plate portion 15a of the base plate 15 on the inner surface of the bottom wall of the lower box 14b. By doing so, it is placed in the box 14. Base plate 15
The upper plate portion 15b is screwed to the plate-shaped portion 21 provided on the lower box 14a so as to project rearward.

A base bracket 22 for mounting the control unit 9 on the vehicle body is fixed by screws to the outer surface of the bottom wall of the lower box 14b, that is, the lower surface of the box 14. The base bracket 22 includes a pair of left and right mounting legs 22a that extend obliquely downward from the bottom surface of the box to the left and right.
Is equipped with. The base bracket 22 is fastened together with the bottom plate portion 15a of the base plate 15 and attached to the box bottom wall.

Further, a pair of left and right mounting brackets
23 is fixed to the lower surface of the plate-like portion 21 of the lower box 14b and protrudes rearward. These brackets 23 are weld bolts 23a and nuts 23b protruding from the brackets,
It is fastened together with the upper plate portion 15b of the base plate 15 and screwed to the plate-like portion 21 (see FIG. 6).

As shown in FIG. 1, strut towers 24 for supporting the upper ends of the shock absorbers of the front wheels 2 and side frames 25 connected to the strut towers 24 project from the left and right sides of the front room 5. The upper ends of the left and right strut towers 24 are connected to each other by a strut bar 26, and the strut bar 26 is connected to the upper end edge of the dashboard lower plate 4a via a connecting piece 27 in the middle to be reinforced (FIG. 5).

The control unit 9 fastens the mounting leg 22a of the base bracket 22 to the upper surface of the side frame 25, fastens the bracket 23 to the end of the connecting piece 27 on the strut bar 26 side, and through the connecting piece 27, the strut bar 26. By being fixed to the vehicle body, it can be firmly attached to the vehicle body in the front room 5. Further, since the left and right side frames 25 are connected to each other by the control unit 9 itself, the vehicle body rigidity is improved.

The control unit 9 is first installed with the upper box 14a removed, and then the lower box 14a.
b Fasten the upper box 14a on the top with the clip 33. Therefore, maintenance of the controllers 10, 11 and 12 is done by the upper box 14a.
It can be easily done by removing the chisel.

As shown in FIG. 7, the front-rear width X of the control unit 9 is narrower than the front-rear width Y of the power units 7 and 8. Therefore, a space is formed above the power unit extending in the vehicle width direction and in front of the control unit 9. Has been done. With such an arrangement, the control unit 9 can be protected against external input from the front.

A blower 28 is arranged on the right side of the space,
The other end of the air duct 29a connected to the discharge port is connected to the cooling medium inlet 19 of the control unit 9. A blower conduit 29b is connected to the cooling medium outlet 20. Air duct
29b is a wheel house 30 as shown schematically in FIG.
Penetrates through and extends to the outside. In the present embodiment, the air blow conduit 29b is again guided into the front room 5 and connected to the motor 7, and the exhaust air from the control unit 9 cools the inside of the motor 7.
May be terminated at the point where it penetrates the wheel house 30, and the exhaust air may be discharged to the outside as it is. Further, the entire air duct 29b from the control unit 9 to the motor 7 may be arranged in the front room 5.

The cooling medium inlet 19 is provided in the upper box 14a, and the power drive unit 10 is disposed near this inlet, so that the power drive unit 10, which generates a large amount of heat, is effectively cooled. The unit 10 is provided with cooling fins 10a.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, since the box 14 serves to waterproof and dustproof the power drive unit 10, the downverter 11 and the air conditioner inverter 12, it is not necessary to individually form these controllers. Absent. In addition, each controller 11 to 12 in the box 14 is attached to the mounting frame 13
Mounted in the box 14 and arranged with a proper gap therebetween, the fan 28 is sufficiently cooled by the cooling air forced to flow in the box 14 from the cooling medium inlet 19 to the cooling medium outlet 20. It is not necessary to provide a cooling device in the. As a result, the power drive unit 10, the downverter 11, and the air conditioner inverter 12 are all light and small, and the cost is reduced. Also, the entire control unit 9 becomes relatively small.

Further, it is not necessary to individually mount the power drive unit 10, the downverter 11 and the air conditioner inverter 12 on the vehicle body, and since it is sufficient to mount the control unit 9 in which these are integrated, the mounting man-hour is remarkably reduced and Vehicle productivity and mass productivity are improved.

Further, when the production of the conventional gasoline vehicle is switched to the production of the electric vehicle, it is not necessary to make a large change to the conventional production line or the body structure, which is extremely advantageous.

The electric controller integrated as the control unit 9 is not limited to the power drive unit 10 of the above embodiment.
Not only the downverter 11 and the air conditioner inverter 12,
In addition to these, or instead of these, other types of electric controllers may be attached to the attachment frame 13. In FIG. 9, the downverter 11 is attached to the mounting frame 13 at the position where the air conditioner inverter 12 was attached in the above embodiment.
An example in which a jean cushion box 31 is attached to the position where 11 was attached instead of the air conditioner inverter 12 is shown.

FIG. 10 shows an example in which an air cleaner 32 is inserted into the air blow conduit 29a on the inlet side in order to prevent dust and the like from entering the box 14 along with the cooling air.

[0032]

According to the present invention, various electric controllers in an electric vehicle can be installed outside the passenger compartment without increasing the weight, increasing the size and cost for waterproofing, dustproofing and cooling. it can. Further, the man-hours for mounting these electric controllers are significantly reduced, and the productivity of the vehicle is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a front portion of an electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a control unit.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a control unit.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a mounting frame.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a strut bar.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a mounting structure of a rear portion of the control unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing a positional relationship between a control unit and an electric motor in a front room.

FIG. 8 is a schematic front view for explaining an arrangement mode of air ducts.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an electric controller in a control unit according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Electric vehicle, 2 ... Front wheels, 3 ... Vehicle compartment, 4 ... Dashboard, 5 ... Front room, 6 ... Bonnet, 7 ... Motor, 8 ... Power transmission device, 9 ... Control unit, 10 ... Power drive unit, 11 ... Downverter, 12 ... Air conditioner inverter, 13 ... Mounting frame, 14 ... Box, 15 ... Base plate, 16 ... Base pipe, 17 ... Flange, 18 ... Seal rubber, 19 ... Cooling medium inlet, 20 ... Cooling medium outlet, 21 ... Plate Shaped portion, 22 ... Base bracket, 23 ... Bracket, 24 ... Strut tower, 25 ... Side frame, 26 ... Strut bar, 27 ... Connecting piece, 28 ... Blower, 29 ... Blower conduit, 30 ... Wheel house, 31 ... Jean cushion box , 32… Air cleaner, 33… Clip.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An electric vehicle driven by an electric motor, wherein a plurality of electric controllers are hermetically housed in one box having a cooling medium inlet at one end and a cooling medium outlet at the other end. An electric vehicle comprising a single control unit, the control unit being provided outside a vehicle compartment. 2. The electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is mounted at a high place on the dashboard side in a front room provided in front of the vehicle compartment with a dashboard therebetween. 3. The electric vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is attached to a strut bar that connects upper ends of left and right strut towers that project into the front room and a side frame that is connected to the strut tower. 4. An air blow conduit is connected to each of the cooling medium inlet and the cooling medium outlet, an air blow conduit on the cooling medium inlet side is connected to a blower arranged in front of the control unit, and an air blower on the cooling medium outlet side is connected. The electric vehicle according to claim 2, wherein a conduit extends outside the front room. 5. An air blow conduit is connected to each of the cooling medium inlet and the cooling medium outlet, an air blow conduit on the cooling medium inlet side is connected to a blower arranged in front of the control unit, and an air blower on the cooling medium outlet side is connected. The electric vehicle according to claim 2, wherein a conduit is communicated with the inside of the electric motor arranged below the control unit. 6. The electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electric controllers are attached to an integral mounting frame and housed in the box. 7. The electric vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of electric controllers are mounted on the mounting frame by being arranged in a plurality of upper and lower stages.