JPH0976769A - Fixing structure of battery for electric vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fixing method for a battery for an electric vehicle, by which the fracture resistance of a battery jar, especially the fracture resistance of the of the top is improved while the strength of the battery jar is improved and the decrease of the effective capacity of the battery jar is prevented. SOLUTION: A front plate, a rear plate, an upper plate 5 and a lower plate 6 connected to one another surround the side surfaces of a battery jar 10 while closely adhering to the side surfaces of the battery jar 10 of a battery for an electric vehicle. A pressing plate 8 which is fixed to the car body and disposed above the top 14 of the battery jar 10 is joined to a pair of support plates 52 individually extended from the upper plate 5 upward. Thus, the external force applied to the pressing plate 8 downward is applied to the upper side plate 5, but not applied to the top 15 of the battery jar 10, so that the top 15 of the battery jar 10 will not be broken.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery fixing structure for an electric vehicle, and more particularly to a vertical movement restricting system thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional battery fixing structure for an electric vehicle, in order to prevent relative displacement and relative vibration of a battery case (battery case) in a vertical direction with respect to a vehicle body, the battery case is placed on a tray and each battery There has been proposed a vertical fixing structure in which a holding plate is placed on the top surface of the tray and the tray and the holding plate are fastened with long bolts for fastening. It has also been proposed to insert a cushioning material between the pressing plate and the top surface of the battery case in order to reduce the concentration of pressure on the top surface of the battery case.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-115359 discloses that
The battery case is placed on a tray and fixed under the floor plate of the vehicle body, and the top surface of the battery case is pressed by a pressing plate that is hung from the lower surface of the floor plate to prevent relative vertical movement of the battery case. .

[0004]

In the method of pressing the top surface of the battery case by the pressing plate to prevent the battery container from vertically moving relative to the vehicle body, the pressing plate moves the battery case from the pressing plate when the vehicle collides or rolls over. There is a possibility that a large shock will be applied to the top surface. However, the resin that is usually used as the material of the battery case is much inferior in impact resistance compared to the metal member such as the pressing plate, so in order to withstand such a large pressure concentration from the pressing plate, the thickness of the battery case Has to be significantly increased, which has brought about serious problems such as reduction of effective battery volume, increase of battery case weight and increase of battery case cost.

Inserting, for example, an elastic cushioning material between the pressing plate and the battery case relieves stress concentration on the top surface of the battery container, but if the cushioning material is flexible, the battery container is relatively opposed to the vehicle body. It is difficult to prevent the vertical movement, and if the cushioning material is hard, the cushioning effect cannot be exhibited, and it is not easy to select the cushioning material. In addition, since the stress relaxation effect on the top surface of the battery case is limited when some cushioning material is inserted, it is essential to improve the strength of the top surface of the battery container in particular, and the cost and labor of inserting the cushioning material is commensurate. Improving the fracture resistance of battery cases is not easy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to prevent the increase in the strength of the battery case and the decrease in the effective volume of the battery container, and at the same time, the fracture resistance of the battery case, particularly the fracture resistance of the top surface thereof. It is a problem to be solved to provide a fixing structure for a battery for an electric vehicle that realizes the improvement of the above.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided:
A resin-made battery case that accommodates a plurality of electrode assemblies and is placed inside the vehicle body, a side wall plate that is closely adhered to surround a side surface of the battery case, and a pair of the battery plates that are opposed to each other with the battery case interposed therebetween. A pair of support plates extending upward from the side wall plates, and a pressing plate that is disposed above the battery case and is in contact with the upper portions of both support plates to press the battery case downwardly of the vehicle body. A battery fixing structure for an electric vehicle, comprising:

In this structure, since the pressing plate presses down the side wall plate that closely adheres to the side surface of the battery case to prevent the battery container from moving up and down relative to the vehicle body, the pressing plate is used as in the conventional case. Compared to pressing the surface directly, it is possible to significantly improve the fracture resistance of the battery case. That is, since the holding plate regulates the relative vertical movement of the side wall plate, and the side wall plate regulates the relative vertical movement of the battery case due to frictional force, even if a strong vertical impact occurs, the battery case holds the pressing plate. It will not be pressed and damaged by.

A second structure of the present invention is further characterized in that, in the first structure, the battery case is formed by stacking a plurality of single battery cells, each of which stores a single single battery, in a row. There is. According to this configuration, it is not necessary to press each single battery tank one by one as in the conventional case, the required amount of the pressing plate can be reduced, and the battery supporting structure can be simplified.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the following examples.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a fixing structure for an electric vehicle battery of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 8, this battery for an electric vehicle has a plurality of battery modules (two battery modules in FIG. 8) each including ten unit cells 1 arranged in a line in the thickness direction. Battery cell of FIG. 1), each unit cell 1 constitutes a unit cell as a whole according to the present invention, and an electrode assembly (not shown) housed in each unit cell 10 individually. No.) and an electrolytic solution. Reference numeral 11 is a + terminal, 12 is a -terminal, 13 is a safety valve, and 14 is a connecting plate for connecting the adjacent + terminal 11 and -terminal 12, which are respectively provided on the top surface 15 of the single battery tank 10 so as to project.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a front side plate which is in close contact with the front end face of the front end unit cell tank 10, and 4 is a rear side plate which is in close contact with the rear end face of the rear end unit cell tank 10. The front side plate 3 and the rear side plate 4 are a pair of upper side plates 5 that extend while being in contact with upper portions of both side surfaces of each unit cell tank 10, and a pair of upper side plates that are extended while being in contact with lower portions of both side surfaces of each unit cell tank 10. The front side plate 3, the rear side plate 4, the upper side plate 5 and the lower side plate 6 are each made of an aluminum alloy plate and are arranged so as to surround each unit cell tank 10. It constitutes the side wall plate. More specifically, each end of the upper side plate 5 and the lower side plate 6 is fixed to the side surface of the front side plate 3 or the rear side plate 4 with a screw 7.

As shown in FIG. 3, the front side plate 3 is a plate having two upper and lower counterbore portions 31 for material saving and weight reduction, and the rear side plate 4 is also formed in the same shape as the front side plate 3. Has been done. The upper side plate 5 is in contact with the side surface of each unit cell tank 10 and extends in the front-rear direction, and is a long plate-shaped main plate portion 51. The main plate portion 51 is in contact with the side surface of each unit cell tank 10 from the center in the front-rear direction. A plate-shaped support plate portion 52 that extends upward and protrudes above the single cell tank 10 by a predetermined distance, and a support plate portion 52 that is bent from the top of the support plate portion 52 and extends in the left-right direction toward the support plate portion 52 on the other side. The connecting plate portion 53 is provided. Support plate portion 52
The connection plate portion 53 constitutes the support plate referred to in the present invention. The lower side plate 6 has the same shape as the main plate portion 51 of the upper side plate 5.

As described above, each unit cell tank 10 is surrounded by the side wall plate composed of the front side plate 3, the rear side plate 4, the upper side plate 5 and the lower side plate 6 so as to be in contact with the side surface thereof. The battery case 10 can be regarded as an integral battery case as a whole. Next, a structure for fixing the battery case surrounded by the side wall plate to the vehicle body will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, a long plate-shaped pressing plate 8 is pressed downward on the upper surfaces of the pair of left and right connecting plate portions 53. The connection plate portion 53 and the pressing plate 8 may be joined by a method such as spot welding. In FIG. 4, the shaded area is the pressing plate 8 and the connecting plate portion 53.
Shows the contact area with. The pressing plate 8 has projecting portions 81 that further project to the left and right from the joining region with the connecting plate portion 53, and through holes 82 for inserting long bolts are formed in both projecting portions 81.

On the other hand, each unit cell tank 10 is placed on the tray 9 fixed to the vehicle body 100 with bolts 101 as shown in FIG. 8, whereby the bottom of each unit cell tank 10 resists external force in the front, rear, left and right directions. Fixed to the tray. Further, the pressing plate 8 is fixed to the tray 9 by a pair of long bolts 90 fitted in the through holes 82, whereby each unit cell tank 10 is fixed in the up-down direction with respect to the vehicle body and subjected to front-back, left-right external forces. It is fixed to the tray 9 against.

The operation and effect of this embodiment will be described below. The assembled battery composed of each of the unit cell tanks 10 is inserted into the lower portion of the vehicle body with the pressing plate 8 being lifted. That is, the pressing plate 8 functions as a battery weight carrying member when the assembled battery is mounted on the vehicle. Further, the pressing plate 8 fixes the upper side plate 5 to the vehicle body, and the upper side plate 5 comes into close contact with the unit cell tank 10 together with the other members constituting the side wall plate. Therefore, the downward external force applied to the pressing plate 8 is the unit cell. The top surface 15 of the single cell tank 10 or other parts are not damaged without hanging on the top surface 15 of the tank 10. Even if a large external force is applied to the pressing plate 8 downward and the main plate portion 51 of the upper side plate 5 is bent downward, the side surface of the single battery cell 10 is not applied with a right angle, and the single battery cell 10 is not affected. Will not be damaged. As a result, the breakage resistance of the battery case against an external force in the vertical direction can be significantly improved as compared with the conventional case.

Further, since the upper side plate 5 forming a part of the side wall plate is fixed to the pressing plate 8, each unit cell tank 10
It is not necessary to press each one by the pressing plate 8, and the battery fixing structure can be simplified. Although the pressing plate 8 is welded to the connecting plate portion 53 of the upper side plate 5 in the above embodiment, it is of course possible to fasten both with bolts or the like, and the connecting plate portion 53 is omitted as shown in FIG. , Support plate portion 52a
Cut the groove 55 in the upper part of the
They may be fitted to each other and abutted or welded to each other. Also,
The front side plate 3, the rear side plate 4, the upper side plate 5, and the lower side plate 6 may be integrally resin-molded.

Further, although the pressing plate 8 is fixed to the tray 9 in the above embodiment, the pressing plate 8 can be directly fixed to the vehicle body instead. Further, a plurality of pressing plates 8 may be provided for the assembled battery including one set of single battery tanks 10.
A modification will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In this embodiment, a single battery pack tank 2 is adopted instead of the battery case structure in which the unit cell tanks 10 shown in FIG. 1 are stacked, and the other structures are the same as in the first embodiment. The inside of the battery pack tank 2 is divided into a plurality of partition walls (not shown), and a plurality of partition walls (for example, 10
Individual) cell chambers are formed, and an electrode assembly is arranged in each cell chamber.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of an electric vehicle battery of the present invention.

2 is a plan view of the electric vehicle battery of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of the electric vehicle battery of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a joint portion of a pressing plate 8 of the electric vehicle battery of FIG.

5 is a partial perspective view showing a modification of the joint portion of the pressing plate 8 of the electric vehicle battery of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a modification of the electric vehicle battery of FIG. 1.

7 is a plan view of the electric vehicle battery of FIG.

8 is a side view showing a state in which the battery for the electric vehicle of FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle body.

[Explanation of reference symbols] 10 is a single battery tank (battery case) 3 is a front side plate (side wall plate) 4 is a rear side plate (side wall plate) 5 is an upper side plate (side wall plate) 6 is a lower side plate (side wall plate) 8 is a holding plate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A resin-made battery case that accommodates a plurality of electrode assemblies and is placed in a vehicle body, a side wall plate that is closely attached to surround a side surface of the battery case, and is placed opposite to the battery case. And a pair of support plates extending upward from the pair of side wall plates, which are disposed above the battery case, and a part of which is in contact with the upper portions of the support plates so that the battery case is placed below the vehicle body. A structure for fixing a battery for an electric vehicle, comprising: a pressing plate that presses against. 2. The battery fixing structure for an electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the battery case is formed by stacking a plurality of battery cells, each of which stores a single battery cell, in a row.