JPH106785A - Battery frame structure of electric vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric automobile battery frame excellent in assembling operability and sealability. SOLUTION: A resin sealed frame 7 made up into tray-form with a peripheral side wall 11 and a bottom plate 12 is set up in the inner part of a metal front rim frame 2 consisting of both longitudinal frames 3, 4 and crosswise frames 5, and 6, thereby constituting a battery frame 1. Plural pieces of batteries B are made so as to be stationarily locked on a grid-form intermediate frame 15 integrally formed on the bottom plate 12 of the sealed frame 7, through which improvements in assembling operability and sealability owing to reductions in both welding and sealing work manhours are thus promoted in this way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a battery frame structure for an electric vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electric vehicle, a vehicle-mounted battery occupies a considerable weight and a mounting space. Therefore, conventionally, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. A battery frame having a dedicated rigid structure is provided, a plurality of batteries are mounted on the battery frame, and the batteries are hermetically stored between the vehicle body floor and the battery frame.

[0003]

In the battery frame, the outer frame composed of the front, rear, left and right frames is increased in rigidity by using a structural material having a closed cross section, for example, an extruded aluminum material, and the inner bottom of the outer frame is closed with a bottom plate. Then, a plurality of batteries are mounted on the bottom plate.

Some of such battery frames have an intermediate frame joined and arranged in a grid on the bottom plate of the outer frame, and the battery is fixedly mounted on the intermediate frame. is there.

However, in any case, since the front and rear frames and the left and right frames of the outer frame are joined by arc welding, and the bottom plate is further joined to the outer frame by arc welding, the welding operation man-hour is increased. In addition to the deterioration in performance, the accuracy of forming the battery frame tends to be unstable due to thermal distortion caused by arc welding. Particularly, in the case where a grid-like intermediate frame is joined and arranged, the intermediate frame is also subjected to arc welding. Therefore, the above-mentioned problem is further promoted.

In addition, it is necessary to seal the joint between the outer frame and the bottom plate with a sealing material, and to take thorough measures for waterproofing the internal battery. This increases the number of working steps and is disadvantageous in cost.

Accordingly, the present invention is to provide a battery frame structure of an electric vehicle which can reduce the number of assembling operation steps and can be advantageously obtained in terms of cost, and is excellent in molding accuracy and sealing performance.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a metal outer frame having front, rear, left and right frames;
The outer frame is formed in a tray shape with peripheral side walls and a bottom plate formed along the front and rear frames of the outer frame and the inner surfaces of the left and right frames, and arranged inside the outer frame, and in a grid on the bottom plate. And a resin-made shield frame having a grid-like intermediate frame formed integrally and fixedly fixing a plurality of batteries.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the outer frame according to the first aspect includes a bottom frame joined over the front and rear frames, while the outer frame includes a lattice-shaped frame formed on a bottom plate of the shield frame. The front-rear direction frame is characterized by being bulged from the lower surface side and fitted and fixed to the bottom frame.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the intermediate frame formed on the bottom plate of the shield frame according to the first aspect comprises:
It is characterized in that a core metal is arranged inside and solidly and integrally molded.

According to a fourth aspect, the vehicle width direction frame of the intermediate frame formed on the bottom plate of the shield frame according to any one of the first to third aspects is provided with an air vent through which battery cooling air flows in the front-rear direction. It is characterized by having.

According to a fifth aspect, the shield frame according to the first to fourth aspects is fitted inside the outer frame,
It is characterized in that it is bonded and fixed to the outer frame.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the shield frame according to the first, third, and fourth aspects is characterized in that the shield frame is integrally molded inside the outer frame.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a shield frame formed into a tray shape made of resin is arranged inside an outer frame frame made of front, rear, left and right metal frames, and a plurality of shield frames are provided in the shield frame. Since the battery is accommodated, the outer frame only needs to be configured by joining the front and rear frames and the left and right frames by, for example, arc welding, so that the number of welding steps can be reduced and the outer frame due to the influence of thermal distortion during welding can be reduced. Of course, the deformation of the frame can be suppressed, and as mentioned above, the battery is housed in the resin-made tray-shaped shield frame, so that the waterproofing of the frame bottom can be made perfect, and the sealing around the frame bottom can be achieved. Since no work is required, the number of assembling steps can be further reduced and the cost can be advantageously obtained.

The shield frame is formed integrally with a lattice-shaped intermediate frame on the bottom thereof, and a plurality of batteries are fixedly fixed on the intermediate frame. The battery can be accommodated without causing any problems.

According to the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the front-rear direction frame of the intermediate frame at the bottom of the shield frame is fitted to the bottom frame extending in the front-rear direction of the outer frame. Therefore, the bottom of the shield frame is reinforced by the bottom frame of the outer frame, and the strength and rigidity of the bottom of the shield frame can be increased.

According to the third aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, since the intermediate frame at the bottom of the shield frame has a core metal disposed inside and is molded integrally and solidly,
The strength and rigidity of the bottom of the shield frame can be increased.

According to the fourth aspect, in addition to the effects of the first to third aspects, since the vehicle width direction frame of the intermediate frame at the bottom of the shield frame is provided with the ventilation hole, it is introduced into the battery frame from the front. The battery cooling air can be smoothly circulated rearward, and the battery cooling effect can be enhanced.

According to the fifth aspect, in addition to the effects of the first to fourth aspects, the shield frame is bonded and fixed to the inside of the outer frame, so that the assembling work of the shield frame is easy, and Sealing around the fitting portion between the shield frame and the outer frame can also be performed, so that thorough waterproofing measures can be taken.

In addition, since the shield frame is fitted to the inside of the outer frame frame and assembled as described above, if the bottom of the shield frame is damaged by road surface interference, only the shield frame is easily replaced. This has the advantage that the correction is also excellent.

According to the sixth aspect, in addition to the effects of the first, third and fourth aspects, the strength and rigidity of the shield frame can be further increased because the shield frame is integrally molded inside the outer frame. Of course, the waterproofness of the battery frame can be made perfect.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a battery frame on which a plurality of batteries B are mounted, and an outer frame 2 comprising front and rear frames 3, 4 and left and right frames 5, 6.
And a shield frame 7 arranged inside the outer frame 2.

Each of the front and rear frames 3, 4 and the left and right frames 5, 6 is formed by extruding a lightweight metal material such as an aluminum alloy into a required closed cross-sectional shape. , 6 are joined to each other by, for example, arc welding.
Are formed in a plane quadrilateral.

At the lower portions of the inner walls of the front and rear frames 3, 4 and the right and left frames 5, 6, shelves 3a, 4a and 5a, 6a having a closed cross section are integrally formed in the longitudinal direction.
Flanges 3b to 6b are provided on the lower edges of these shelves 3a to 6a so as to extend on the same plane as the frame bottom surface.

In this embodiment, a plurality of bottom frames 8 are joined and arranged over the front and rear frames 3 and 4.

These bottom frames 8 are front and rear frames 3,
4 and the left and right frames 5 and 6, a lightweight metal material such as an aluminum alloy is extruded into a rectangular closed cross section, and a reinforcing bead portion 8a having a closed cross section is integrally formed in the lower part on both sides in the length direction. At the same time, a flange 8b is provided on the lower edge of the reinforcing bead portion 8a so as to extend flush with the bottom surface of the frame, and these bottom frames 8 have their ends mounted on the flanges 3b, 4b of the front and rear frames 3, 4. Place the shelf 3a, 4
The bottom frame 8 and the upper surfaces of the shelves 3 and 4 are flush with each other and are joined to each other by arc welding.

Further, an air inlet 9 is formed in the front frame 3, and a duct 10 is connected to the air inlet 9 to introduce battery cooling air into the battery frame 1.

The shield frame 7 is formed of a suitable resin material into a rectangular tray shape by the peripheral side wall 11 and the bottom plate 12, and the front wall of the peripheral side wall 11 is connected to the air inlet 9 of the outer frame 2. While the air inlet 9A is formed,
The peripheral side wall 11 is formed by step-forming a shelf 13 which engages with the shelves 3a to 6a on the lower side according to the shapes of the front and rear frames 3 and 4 and the left and right frames 5 and 6 of the outer frame 2. A flange 14 is formed along the inner peripheral surface of the outer frame 2 and is bent at the upper peripheral edge thereof so as to be engaged with an upper edge of the inner peripheral side of the outer frame 2.

Also, on the bottom plate 12 of the shield frame 7, a plurality of front-back frames 16 corresponding to the bottom frame 8 of the outer frame 2, and a plurality of vehicle width-direction frames orthogonal to the front-back frames 16. 17 are integrally formed, and a plurality of batteries B are fixedly fixed on the intermediate frame 15.

The front-rear direction frame 16 is fitted on the bottom frame 8 of the outer frame 2 so as to be fitted thereon.
While the vehicle width direction frame 17 is solidly and integrally molded with a cored bar 18 arranged inside the frame 17 while being bulged from the lower surface side in accordance with the cross-sectional shape of the vehicle.

On the upper surface of the vehicle width direction frame 17, a battery locking seat 19 for positioning the battery B by engaging locking claws Bc formed on the front and rear edges of the bottom surface of the battery B is formed to project in the length direction. And the vehicle width direction frame 1
7 is provided with a vent 20 through which battery cooling air introduced from the front of the battery frame 1 flows in the front-rear direction.

It is desirable that the shield frame 7 be formed of a fiber reinforced resin material reinforced with glass fiber or carbon fiber from the viewpoint of strength and rigidity, and this shield frame 7 is inserted from above into the outer frame 2. Is done.

When the shield frame 7 is inserted,
The shelf 13 of the peripheral side wall 11 is fitted to the shelves 3a to 6a of the inner periphery of the outer frame 2 and the front-rear direction frame 16 of the intermediate frame 15 is fitted to the bottom frame 8 of the outer frame 2; In addition, the bottom peripheral edge of the shield frame 7 is locked on the flanges 3b to 6b and 8b on the bottom inner periphery of the outer frame 2 and the flange 14 on the upper edge of the peripheral side wall 11 is located on the inner periphery of the outer frame 2. Locking to the upper edge, the shield frame 7 is tightly fitted inside the outer frame 2, so the locking portion between the flange 14 and the upper edge on the inner peripheral side of the outer frame 2 is appropriately adjusted. And, in some cases, the fitting portion between the shelf 13 and 3a to 6b is also adhesively fixed with an adhesive.

A plurality of batteries B are housed and fixed in an orderly and close manner in the front, rear, left and right directions on the intermediate frame 15 of the shield frame 7 of the battery frame 1 constructed as described above. Perimeter side wall 1
1 are bolted to the center bottom frame 8 and the shelves 3a to 6a of the outer frame 2 through mounting holes 21 provided in the front and rear shelves 13 via clamp members (not shown). The peripheral portion of the battery cover 25 is fixed to the flange 22 protruding from the upper surface of the battery cover 25 with appropriate fastening means, and the battery B is stored in a sealed state by the battery cover 25.

The battery frame 1 in which a plurality of batteries B are sealed and housed as described above has the upper surface of the outer frame 2 superimposed on the lower surface of the floor frame member 24 joined to the lower surface of the vehicle body floor 23. It is fastened by bolts and nuts (not shown) and mounted below the vehicle floor 23.

In FIG. 2, J · B denotes a junction box housed and fixed at the front side in the battery frame 1.

According to the structure of the above embodiment, the battery frame 1 is formed into a plane quadrilateral by the front and rear frames 3, 4 and the left and right frames 5, 6 made of extruded aluminum alloy. An outer frame 2 in which a plurality of bottom frames 8 are joined and disposed over the frame, and a rectangular tray-shaped resin-made shield frame 7 disposed inside the outer frame 2 The outer frame 2 includes front and rear frames 3 and 4 and left and right frames 5 and 5.
6, and the bottom frame 8 can be formed by joining the butted portions by, for example, arc welding, so that the number of welding operations can be reduced as much as possible, and the outer frame due to thermal distortion during welding can be reduced. The deformation of the frame 2 can be suppressed, and the battery frame 1 with high molding accuracy can be obtained.

Further, since the plurality of batteries B are housed in the resin-made tray-shaped shield frame 7 as described above, the waterproof property at the bottom of the frame can be made perfect.
The sealing work around the bottom of the frame becomes unnecessary, so that the number of assembling steps can be further reduced and the cost can be advantageously obtained.

Moreover, since the shield frame 7 is formed integrally with the grid-like intermediate frame 15 on the bottom and fixedly fixes a plurality of batteries B on the intermediate frame 15, the strength and rigidity are improved. The battery B can be accommodated and mounted without any problem.

Particularly, in the present embodiment, the front-rear direction frame 1 of the intermediate frame 15 of the shield frame 7 is used.
6 fits on the bottom frame 8 of the outer frame 2, and the vehicle width direction frame 17 of the intermediate frame 15 has a metal core 18 disposed therein and is integrally and solidly molded. Bottom frame 8 and metal core 18 made of metal material
Are arranged in a lattice, so that the strength and rigidity of the bottom of the shield frame 7 can be further increased.

Further, the shield frame 7 is inserted and fitted inside the outer frame 2, and the upper edge flange 14 is locked to the upper edge on the inner peripheral side of the outer frame 2 and bonded and fixed. As a result, the work of assembling the shield frame 7 to the outer frame 2 is easy, and the sealing around the fitting portion between the shield frame 7 and the outer frame 2 can be performed by this adhesive fixing. Can be thoroughly enforced.

Furthermore, since the shield frame 7 is fitted and assembled inside the outer frame 2 in this manner, if the bottom of the shield frame 7 is damaged by road surface interference, only the shield frame 7 is used. There is an advantage that it can be easily replaced and is excellent in correction.

On the other hand, since battery cooling air is introduced into the battery frame 1 through the front air inlets 9 and 9A for cooling the battery B, the battery cooling air flows into the vehicle width direction frame 17 of the intermediate frame 15 of the shield frame 7. Is vent 2
Since 0 is formed, the introduced battery cooling air can be smoothly circulated rearward, and the cooling effect of the battery B can be enhanced.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The shield frame 7 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is integrally molded inside the outer frame 2.
That is, the upper edge of the inner peripheral portion of the outer frame 2, the shelves 3 a to 6
a, the flanges 3b to 6b, and the bottom frame 8 are integrally molded in a state of being enclosed and covered.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, since the shield frame 7 includes and covers the inner peripheral portion and the bottom frame 8 of the outer frame 2 and is integrally molded, the strength of the shield frame 7 and the strength of the shield frame 7 are improved. Not only can the rigidity be further increased, but also the waterproofness of the battery frame 1 can be made perfect.

In each of the above embodiments, an example is shown in which the bottom frame 8 in the front-rear direction is joined to the outer frame 2, but this bottom frame 8 is omitted and the intermediate frame 15 of the shield frame 7 is omitted. Front-back frame 16
The core metal 18 is arranged inside the vehicle body in the same manner as the vehicle width direction frame 17 and solidly and integrally molded, so that the front-rear direction frame 16 of the intermediate frame 15 and the metal cores 18 of the vehicle width direction frame 17 are formed. Since they are arranged in a lattice, the strength and rigidity of the shield
Can be increased to the same degree as those provided with.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Battery frame 2 Outer frame 3,4 Front and rear frame 5,6 Left and right frame 7 Shield frame 8 Bottom frame 11 Peripheral side wall 12 Bottom plate 15 Intermediate frame 16 Front and rear direction frame 17 Vehicle width direction frame 18 Core bar 20 Vent B Battery

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A metal outer frame having front, rear, left and right frames, and peripheral side walls and a bottom plate formed along the front and rear frames of the outer frame and the inner surfaces of the left and right frames to form a tray. And a resin shield frame having a grid-shaped intermediate frame formed and arranged inside the outer frame, integrally formed in a grid on the bottom plate, and fixedly fixing a plurality of batteries. A battery frame structure for an electric vehicle, comprising: 2. An outer frame includes a bottom frame joined over the front and rear frames, while a front and rear frame of a lattice-like frame formed on a bottom plate of the shield frame is formed by bulging from a lower surface side. 2. The battery frame structure for an electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the battery frame structure is fitted and fixed to the bottom frame. 3. The battery frame structure for an electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate frame formed on the bottom plate of the shield frame has a core metal disposed inside and is molded integrally and solidly. 4. The vehicle width direction frame of the intermediate frame formed on the bottom plate of the shield frame is provided with an air vent through which battery cooling air flows in the front-rear direction. A battery frame structure for an electric vehicle according to any one of the above. 5. The battery frame structure for an electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the shield frame is fitted inside the outer frame frame and is adhered and fixed to the outer frame frame. 6. The frame according to claim 1, wherein the shield frame is integrally molded inside the outer frame.
The battery frame structure for an electric vehicle according to any one of claims 3 and 4.