Plastic floor for attachment to fuel tank

Abstract

The invention relates to an underbody structure (2) for a motor vehicle, comprising a hollow body (4) intended to contain fuel, the hollow body (4) being provided with a plurality of reinforcement wells (6) configured to contain at least one fastener (8), the underbody structure (2) comprising a floor (32) comprising a plastic material, provided with an attachment hole (34), the floor (32) is attached to the hollow body (4) and comprises a seating portion (36) intended to accommodate a passenger seat and a planar portion (40) intended to support an element transported by the vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The technical field of the present invention is that of the floor and the underbody structure of motorized vehicles. Background Art

[0002] Motor vehicles generally include a metal chassis, metal side rails, and a floor made of metal sheet welded between the side rails or welded to the chassis.

[0003] The vehicle generally includes a metal box and transverse reinforcing members for increasing the stiffness of the floor, which are also welded to these side rails or the chassis.

[0004] Therefore, the floor is a heavy component, the assembly of which requires many tricky steps (especially welding steps) and its maintenance is complex. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to alleviate all or some of the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a novel architecture for the floor of a motorized vehicle, which is achieved in particular by providing a removable floor, a non-metallic floor, reducing the number of components required for assembling the floor, and reducing the time spent assembling the floor and making the floor maintenance easier.

[0006] One subject of the present invention is an underbody structure for a motorized vehicle, the underbody structure including a hollow body intended to contain fuel, the hollow body being provided with a plurality of reinforcing ducts configured to receive at least one fastener, the underbody structure including a floor made of plastic material and provided with attachment holes, the floor being attached to the hollow body and including a seating portion intended to receive a passenger seat and a flat portion intended to support the elements transported by the vehicle.

[0007] Preferably, the hollow body can be obtained by fiber weaving.

[0008] Preferably, the fuel can be hydrogen fuel.

[0009] The floor can be a one-piece floor.

[0010] The underbody structure can include a surface-finished carpet arranged on the floor such that the floor is located between the hollow body and the surface-finished carpet.

[0011] The underbody structure can include insulating foam arranged on the floor and facing the hollow body.

[0012] The floor panel may include at least one opening configured to receive at least one attachment fastener for attaching an accessory, which may be a seat belt attachment, an element for attaching a seat back hinge, an element for attaching a child seat, or an element for securing luggage.

[0013] The flat portion may be thicker than the seating portion.

[0014] One end of the floor panel, located at the end of the seating portion opposite the flat portion, may be bent so as to extend towards two faces of the hollow body that form a corner of the hollow body.

[0015] The vehicle body bottom structure may include at least one fastener received by a stiffening duct among a plurality of stiffening ducts so as to attach the floor panel to the hollow body, and the fastener may include a deformable plastic element and / or may include a metal insert inserted into the stiffening duct and a screw.

[0016] The hollow body may include a seating recess designed to receive a passenger seat, and the seating portion may be bent so as to conform to the shape of the seating recess, and a clearance may be left between the seating portion and the seating recess.

[0017] The hollow body may include a gauge configured to measure fuel pressure, and the floor panel may include an access opening providing an inlet to the gauge.

[0018] Another subject of the invention is a floor panel comprising a plastic material, provided with attachment holes, configured to be attached to the hollow body of the vehicle body bottom structure as defined above, the floor panel including a seating portion designed to receive a passenger seat and a flat portion designed to support elements transported by the vehicle.

[0019] Another subject of the invention is a motor vehicle comprising a vehicle body bottom structure as defined above. Description of the Drawings

[0020] Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following description given by way of non-limiting example only and with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0021] Figure 1 schematically shows the rear vehicle body bottom structure of a motor vehicle according to a first embodiment of the invention;

[0022] Figure 2 schematically shows the floor panel covered with carpet according to the invention; and

[0023] Figure 3 schematically shows the rear vehicle body bottom structure of a motor vehicle according to a second embodiment of the invention.​​​

[0024] Example

[0025] Figure 1 Depicts the underbody structure 2 of a motor vehicle (not depicted), in particular for a hydrogen-powered motor vehicle.

[0026] The underbody structure 2 is also suitable for motor vehicles such as heavy goods vehicles, buses or agricultural vehicles (such as tractors).

[0027] The underbody structure 2 includes a hollow body 4 obtained, for example, by fiber weaving, which is intended to contain fuel for the vehicle (such as hydrogen fuel).

[0028] The hollow body 4 includes a plurality of reinforcing pipe wells 6, which are produced, for example, in the form of through pipes with a diameter of 12 mm to 20 mm and a mutual spacing of 120 mm. Such reinforcing pipe wells 6 form cavities on the outer surface of the hollow body 4, which can accommodate fasteners 8. The reinforcing pipe wells 6 greatly increase the stiffness of the hollow body 4, making the hollow body 4 a load-bearing structural element of the vehicle. If the vehicle is involved in an accident, the reinforcing pipe wells 6 also prevent the hollow body 4 from bursting open and / or cracking. The reinforcing pipe wells 6 are made of, for example, composite materials and / or poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide).

[0029] Optionally, the hollow body 4 includes through rods to increase the stiffness of the hollow body 4.

[0030] The underbody structure 2 includes fasteners 8 inserted into the cavities, in particular screws and metal and / or composite inserts (not depicted), each metal and / or composite insert including, for example, a thread intended to receive a screw. The fasteners 8 include, for example, a metal insert with a diameter of 12 mm, which includes an internal thread that enables a screw with a diameter of 8 mm to be screwed into the metal insert.

[0031] The hollow body 4 has an external volume of, for example, 300 liters and an internal volume of 150 liters, enabling the hollow body 4 to accommodate 6 kg of hydrogen at a pressure of 700 bar. The hollow body 4 does not require a pump for distributing hydrogen because the hydrogen is under pressure in the hollow body 4.

[0032] The hollow body 4 includes a front face 10 intended to face the front of the vehicle (such as facing the front hood of the vehicle (not depicted)), a back face 12 at the end of the hollow body 4 opposite to the front face 10, a top face 14 intended to face the top of the vehicle (such as facing the vehicle roof (not depicted)), a bottom face 16 on the side of the hollow body 4 opposite to the top face 14, and two mutually opposite side faces 18 intended to face the sides of the vehicle (not depicted).

[0033] The hollow body 4 includes a reinforcing duct 6 that can act as a through-passage for the cables 20, such as vehicle lighting cables that are transmitted from the front face 10 of the hollow body 4 towards the rear face 12 of the hollow body 4 and / or power cables that supply power to the wheels 21 of an electric vehicle (the wheels are depicted later in Figure 2 and are transmitted from the front face 10 of the hollow body 4 towards one of the side faces 18 of the hollow body 4).

[0034] The vehicle floor structure 2 includes two side rails 22, each of which is attached to one of the side faces 18 of the hollow body 4 by means of at least one fastener 8 in the reinforcing duct 6. The side rails 22 extend from the hollow body 4, which is now a load-bearing structural element of the vehicle.

[0035] The vehicle floor structure 2 includes a bumper beam 24, which is attached to the rear face 12 of the hollow body 4 via at least one fastener 8 in the reinforcing duct 6. Because the hollow body 4 is particularly rigid, the bumper beam 24 can meet safety standards, and the bumper beam 24 is in particular deformable and removable.

[0036] The bottom face 16 of the hollow body 4 includes a transmission notch 26 that can accommodate the vehicle's rear transmission (not depicted).

[0037] The top face 14 of the hollow body 4 includes a seating notch 28 that is intended to accommodate the vehicle's passenger seat (not depicted), such as a rear bench seat. The seating notch 28 is close to the front face 10 of the hollow body 4, so that the legs of the passengers sitting on the passenger seat face the seat and extend towards the front face 10 of the hollow body 4.

[0038] The top face 14 of the hollow body 4 includes a flat portion 30 located between the seating notch 28 and the rear face 12 of the hollow body 4.

[0039] The vehicle floor structure 2 includes a floor panel 32. The floor panel 32 contains a plastic material. The floor panel 32 follows the shape of the hollow body 4, and the shape of the floor panel 32 is similar to the shape that conforms to the hollow body 4, especially the shape that conforms to the top face 14 of the hollow body 4 and a part of the top face 14 of the hollow body 4.

[0040] The floor panel 32 includes attachment holes 34, which in particular enable the floor panel 32 to be attached to the hollow body 4 and / or allow the fasteners 8 to pass through the floor panel 32. Here, the floor panel 32 is attached to the top face 14 of the hollow body 4 via the fasteners 8, especially via screws (the screws are screwed into metal inserts, and the metal inserts are inserted into the reinforcing duct 6). The floor panel 32 is intended to depict a part of the vehicle cockpit. As an alternative, the fasteners 8 that attach the floor panel 32 to the hollow body 4 include deformable plastic elements (such as fir tree clips), which are inserted into the attachment holes 34 and into the reinforcing duct 6 of the hollow body 4.

[0041] The width of the floor panel 32 is substantially equal to the width of the hollow body 4, i.e., equal to the dimension of the hollow body 4 measured between the two side faces 18 of the hollow body 4.

[0042] The floor panel 32 includes a seating portion 36 which is intended to receive a passenger seat and is arranged to face the seating recess 28 of the hollow body 4. The floor panel 32 is curved in the region of the seating portion 36. In the illustrated example, the floor panel 32 includes five bends at the seating portion 36 such that it follows the shape of the seating recess 28 of the hollow body 4. Advantageously, the seating portion 36 of the floor panel 32 and the seating recess 28 of the hollow body 4 each have the same number of bends, in particular a number greater than five, in order to allow the passenger seat to be correctly mounted on the vehicle body bottom structure 2.

[0043] Advantageously, the floor panel 32 follows the shape of the seating recess 28 of the hollow body 4 such that a gap 38 is maintained between the seating portion 36 of the floor panel 32 and the seating recess 28 of the hollow body 4. When the passenger seat is attached to the hollow body 4, the gap 38 produces a damping effect, and the floor panel 32 is then located between the hollow body 4 and the passenger seat. For example, a gap 38 is left between the portion of the floor panel 32 between two bends closest to the front face 10 of the hollow body 4 of the seating portion 36 and the hollow body 4, and between the portion of the floor panel 32 between two bends closest to the rear face 12 of the hollow body 4 of the seating portion 36 and the hollow body 4.

[0044] The floor panel 32 includes a flat portion 40 which is intended for supporting elements transported by the vehicle, such as elements transported in the luggage compartment (not illustrated) of the vehicle. The flat portion 40 of the floor panel 32 faces the flat portion 30 of the top face 14 of the hollow body 4.

[0045] The flat portion 40 of the floor panel 32 includes attachment holes 34 which are evenly distributed along the edges of the floor panel 32 closest to the side face 18 of the hollow body 4 and the rear face 12 of the hollow body 4.

[0046] Advantageously, the floor panel 32 does not have a constant thickness. For example, the flat portion 40 of the floor panel 32 is thicker than the seating portion 36 in order to reduce the noise from the vehicle wheels 21 which are close to the flat portion 40 of the floor panel 32. The smaller the thickness of the seating portion 36, the greater the damping potential provided by the seating portion 36.

[0047] The hollow body 4 includes a gauge (not depicted) capable of measuring the pressure of the fuel, in particular the hydrogen pressure, accommodated in the hollow body 4. For example, the gauge is arranged in the wall of the seating recess 28 of the hollow body 4. The floor panel 32 includes an access opening 42 that provides an inlet to the gauge and is arranged facing the gauge. The access opening 42 is made, for example, in the seating part 36.

[0048] The vehicle floor structure 2 includes accessory fasteners 44 which are equipped, for example, with luggage fixing loops, child seat attachment loops, seat belt attachment loops, and seat back hinges.

[0049] The planar part 40 of the floor panel 32 includes two openings 48, each of which is capable of accommodating a luggage fixing element (such as a luggage fixing loop). The luggage fixing element is attached to the hollow body 4 via at least one fastener 8 in the reinforcement duct 6.

[0050] The seating part 36 of the floor panel 32 includes two openings 48 capable of accommodating backrest hinge fasteners. These hinge fasteners are attached to the hollow body 4 via at least one fastener 8 in the reinforcement duct 6. The backrest hinge includes, for example, a sheet metal plate which is bent such that the part of the sheet metal plate equipped with holes is parallel to the part of the hollow body 4 including the reinforcement duct 6, and the holes face the reinforcement duct 6 such that the sheet metal plate can be attached to the hollow body 4 via at least one fastener 8 in the reinforcement duct 6.

[0051] The seating part 36 of the floor panel 32 includes two openings 48 capable of accommodating seat belt fasteners (such as seat belt attachment loops). These seat belt fasteners are attached to the hollow body 4 via at least one fastener 8 in the reinforcement duct 6.

[0052] The seating part 36 of the floor panel 32 includes two openings 48 capable of accommodating child seat fasteners (such as child seat attachment loops). These child seat fasteners are attached to the hollow body 4 via at least one fastener 8 in the reinforcement duct 6.

[0053] The vehicle floor structure 2 includes a surface-finished carpet 50 (to be described later in Figure 2As depicted, the surface-finished carpet is arranged on the floor panel 32 such that the floor panel 32 is arranged between the carpet 50 and the hollow body 4, and the carpet 50 is intended to depict a part of the vehicle cockpit. The carpet 50 provides a pleasant texture for vehicle users. The carpet 50 can also hide the attachment holes 34 and fasteners 8 of the floor panel 32 out of sight of vehicle users. Preferably, the carpet 50 is made of a material that can reduce the noise emissions from the bottom surface 16 of the hollow body 4 and direct them towards the top surface 14 of the hollow body 4 and thus towards the vehicle cockpit. These noise emissions are, for example, from the rear axle assembly of the vehicle and / or from the vehicle wheels 21 and / or are, for example, the air noise between the vehicle disc and the vehicle drum (both not depicted).

[0054] Advantageously, body adhesives are used to fill the gaps in the body bottom structure 2, especially the gap between the vehicle body and the hollow body 4, in order to reduce the risk of moisture and / or grit entering the vehicle cockpit from outside the vehicle.

[0055] The body bottom structure 2 includes insulating foam 52 (depicted later in Figure 2 ), which is arranged on the floor panel 32 such that the insulating foam 52 is arranged between the hollow body 4 and the floor panel 32. The insulating foam 52 has the ability to provide heat insulation to reduce the heat transfer between the outside of the vehicle and the vehicle cockpit. The insulating foam 52 has the ability to provide sound insulation to reduce the noise transfer between the outside of the vehicle and the vehicle cockpit.

[0056] Advantageously, a greater amount of insulating foam 52 is arranged between the seating notch 28 of the hollow body 4 and the seating portion 36 of the floor panel 32 in order to reduce the noise and / or heat discomfort originating from outside the vehicle and perceived by vehicle passengers sitting on the passenger seat. Preferably, for the comfort of the passengers, the insulating foam 52 also has a shock-absorbing effect.

[0057] One end 54 of the floor panel on the same side as the front face 10 of the hollow body 4 is bent to form a protective reinforcement for the legs of vehicle passengers. The bent end 54 of the floor panel extends over a part of the top surface 14 of the hollow body 4 between the seating notch 28 and the front face 10 of the hollow body 4 and over a part of the front face 10 of the hollow body 4.

[0058] Optionally, the bent end 54 of the floor panel is thicker than the seating portion 36 of the floor panel 32, and a greater amount of insulating foam 52 is arranged on the face of the bent end 54 of the floor panel facing the hollow body 4 in order to protect the thighs of vehicle passengers in the event of an accident.

[0059] Figure 3 An alternative form of the body bottom structure 2 for a motor vehicle is depicted, Figure 3 depicted with a length ratio Figure 1The body bottom structure 2 of a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle being a longer motor vehicle and including a battery 56.

[0060] The body bottom structure 2 includes the same hollow body 4 as Figure 1 the hollow body 4. To correspond to the dimensions of the vehicle, the body bottom structure 2 includes a plastic tray 58 attached to the hollow body 4 so as to lengthen the body bottom structure 2. The plastic tray 58 is arranged, for example, between the anti-collision cross member 24 and the hollow body 4. The plastic tray 58 forms, for example, an additional storage space, especially for storing at least a charging cable, and contributes to the rear buffer zone of the vehicle in the event of an accident.

Claims

1. A body bottom structure (2) for a motor vehicle, the body bottom structure (2) comprising a hollow body (4) intended to contain fuel, the hollow body (4) being provided with a plurality of reinforcing pipe wells (6), characterized in that, These reinforcing wells (6) are configured to receive at least one fastener (8), and the vehicle floor structure includes a floor panel (32) which comprises a plastic material and is provided with attachment holes (34), the floor panel (32) being attached to the hollow body (4) and including a seating portion (36) intended to receive a passenger seat and a planar portion (40) intended to support elements transported by the vehicle.

2. The vehicle floor structure (2) according to claim 1, which includes a surface-finished carpet (50), the surface-finished carpet being arranged on the floor panel (32) such that the floor panel (32) is located between the hollow body (4) and the surface-finished carpet (50).

3. The vehicle floor structure (2) according to any one of claims 1 and 2, which includes a sound-insulating foam (52), the sound-insulating foam being arranged on the floor panel (32) and facing the hollow body (4).

4. The vehicle body bottom structure (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The floor panel (32) includes at least one opening (48) which is configured to receive at least one accessory fastener (44) for attaching an accessory, the accessory being able to be a seat belt attachment, an element for attaching a seat back hinge, an element for attaching a child seat or an element for securing luggage.

5. The vehicle body bottom structure (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, The planar portion (40) is thicker than the seating portion (36).

6. The vehicle body bottom structure (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, One end (54) of the floor panel which is located at an end of the seating portion (36) opposite to the planar portion (40) is bent so as to extend towards two faces (10, 14) of the hollow body (4), the two faces (10, 14) forming a corner of the hollow body (4).

7. The vehicle floor structure (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which includes at least one fastener (8) received by a well (6) of the plurality of reinforcing wells (6) so as to attach the floor panel (32) to the hollow body (4), the fastener (8) including a deformable plastic element and / or including a metal insert inserted into the well (6) and a screw.

8. The vehicle body bottom structure (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein The hollow body (4) includes a seating notch (28) intended to receive a passenger seat, the seating portion (36) being bent so as to conform to the shape of the seating notch (28), with a gap (38) being left between the seating portion (36) and the seating notch (28).

9. The vehicle body bottom structure (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein, The hollow body (4) includes a gauge configured to measure fuel pressure, the floor panel (32) including an access opening (42) providing an inlet to the gauge.

10. A bottom plate (32), characterized in that, The floor panel includes a plastic material, is provided with attachment holes (34), the floor panel (32) being configured to be attached to the hollow body (4) of the vehicle floor structure (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the floor panel (32) including a seating portion (36) intended to receive a passenger seat and a planar portion (40) intended to support elements transported by the vehicle.

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