ELECTRIC VEHICLE WITH A BATTERY CHARGER AND A FLUID DEGASING BOX

Abstract

Electric vehicle with a front engine compartment comprising a crossbar (10) connecting two upper shock absorber mountings of the front wheel suspensions (14), located in front of a sheet metal panel closing the rear of the engine compartment, a high-voltage battery charger (30), a coolant venting box (22) for an electric motor (2), and comprising rigid supports (20) securing both the battery charger (30) and the venting box (22) superimposed above this battery charger (30) to the crossbar (10). Figure 1

Description

Title of the invention: ELECTRIC VEHICLE WITH A BATTERY CHARGER AND A FLUID DEGASING BOX

[0001] The present invention relates to an electric vehicle comprising a battery charger and a coolant degassing box for the electric motor, as well as a method of mounting it on such a vehicle.

[0002] A type of degassing box known for motor vehicles, presented in particular by document FR-A1-2964148, includes a tank equipped with a feed chute closed by a plug, including fixings allowing it to be fixed on a canopy collector located at the bottom of the windshield of the vehicle, just below the engine hood.

[0003] The degassing box, located at the top of the cooling circuit, separates gases dissolved in the coolant, particularly air, compensates for losses in the circuit, and absorbs the expansion of the various volumes contained within the entire circuit. Furthermore, its location at the top of the engine compartment, in an easily accessible position, allows for checking the level in the box and for refilling or topping up the circuit.

[0004] However, in the front engine compartment of an electric vehicle, the transversely arranged powertrain, which is shorter along the vehicle's longitudinal axis compared to internal combustion engines, is designed with very short compartments and a reduced overhang in front of the drive wheels. The space available in the compartment for the various components is therefore limited.

[0005] In addition, frontal impact tests on the vehicle require a possibility of recoil of the main rigid components, in order to avoid their impact on the bulkhead separating the passenger compartment from the engine compartment and their intrusion into this passenger compartment.

[0006] On some electric vehicles it is known to have an electric machine control inverter forming a rigid case directly fixed on top of this machine.

[0007] An upper anti-roll bar connects the two shock absorber mounts of the front wheels, just below the engine hood and in front of the bulkhead. A rigid electrical box containing a battery charger and a DC / DC converter between low voltage and high voltage is fixed below the cross bar, occupying available space above the inverter.

[0008] In this case, the remaining space available for installing the degassing box in the upper position of the engine compartment, which has a certain volume required for the fluid and is located above it, may present problems due to insufficient dimensions. Furthermore, clearance must be provided around this degassing box relative to nearby components mounted on different supports, necessary to allow for relative vibrations between these elements without risking wear on the contacting surfaces.

[0009] The present invention aims in particular to avoid these problems of the prior art.

[0010] To this end, it proposes an electric vehicle with a front engine compartment comprising a crossbar connecting two upper shock absorber mountings of the front wheel suspensions, arranged in front of a sheet metal closing the rear of the engine compartment, a high-voltage battery charger, and comprising a degassing box for the cooling fluid of an electric motor, this vehicle being remarkable in that it comprises rigid supports fixing both the battery charger, and the degassing box superimposed above this battery charger, to the crossbar.

[0011] An advantage of this electric vehicle is that the supports connecting both the degassing box and the battery charger rigidly to the crossbar, we obtain with the same fixing system fulfilling these two functions, a rigid positioning of these two pieces of equipment relative to each other which can be very close to each other without risking relative movements generating friction and wear.

[0012] The degassing box can thus occupy the maximum available space above the battery charger and in front of the crossbar, to form the largest possible internal volume.

[0013] The electric vehicle according to the invention may further comprise one or more of the following characteristics, which may be combined with each other.

[0014] Advantageously, the vehicle includes two rigid supports framing the degassing box along the transverse direction of the vehicle.

[0015] In this case, advantageously each support has a flat shape coming onto the side of the degassing box.

[0016] Moreover, advantageously the flat supports have in their thicknesses a constant profile formed by extrusion of a metal.

[0017] Advantageously, the battery charger is fixed below the supports.

[0018] In particular, the upper face of the battery charger may have lugs having holes parallel to this upper face, or have holes perpendicular to this upper face, receiving screws through holes in the supports.

[0019] Advantageously, the supports each have a rearward-facing recess receiving the crossbar.

[0020] In this case, advantageously each support includes a screw passing through both the crossbar and the support.

[0021] In addition, the degassing box may include a rear volume fitted between the battery charger and the rear sheet metal of the engine compartment.

[0022] The invention also relates to a method of mounting a degassing box and a battery charger of an electric vehicle comprising any one of the preceding characteristics, successively comprising a step of removing a support on each side of the degassing box, a step of fixing the battery charger under the supports to form a solid assembly, and then a step of assembling and fixing this assembly on the crossbar of the vehicle.

[0023] The invention will be better understood and other features and advantages will become more apparent upon reading the following description given by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0024] [Fig.1] is a view of the front engine compartment of a vehicle according to the invention;

[0025] [Fig.2] is a longitudinal sectional view along a vertical plane of this engine compartment;

[0026] [Fig.3] is a detail view of the degassing box attached to the battery charger;

[0027] [Fig.4] is a view of the assembly of this degassing box on the loader of battery ;

[0028] [Fig.5] is a view of the assembly according to a variant of this degassing box on the battery charger;

[0029] [Fig.6] is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the front compartment with a degassing box having an enlarged volume; and

[0030] [Fig.7] is a view of this degassing box alone.

[0031] Throughout the document the vertical direction is relative to a vehicle placed on a flat surface, the qualifiers upper, lower, above and below being related to this vertical direction, the right and left sides are presented looking towards the front of the vehicle indicated by the arrow AV.

[0032] Figures 1 and 2 show a motorization 2 arranged in a transverse direction of the vehicle, driving the front drive wheels by means of wheel shafts 4, having a power inverter 6 forming a rigid case fixed flat above the motor, with an inclination which rises towards the front.

[0033] A bar formed by an aluminum alloy profile 10, located in front of the cowl collector 12 formed at the bottom of the windshield, connects the two upper ends of the shock absorber mounts 14 to stiffen the front suspension geometry. A low-voltage battery for the vehicle's electrical system 16 is mounted under the bar 10, on the left side of the engine compartment.

[0034] Two rigid supports 20, fixed to the bar 10, frame along the transverse direction and hold a degassing box 22 formed by a molding of a plastic material, disposed in front of and below this bar. A filler cap 24 for the degassing box 22 is disposed on this box in front of the bar 10, so as to allow easy access from the top of the engine compartment to check the level and perform refills. An outlet spigot 26 is presented substantially horizontally, facing forward [Fig. 1] and facing rearward [Fig. 2].

[0035] A battery charger 30 comprising a DC / DC voltage converter between the low voltage and high voltage supply of the motor 2, forms a flat rigid case fixed directly under the supports 20, coming as close as possible under the degassing box 22. Connectors 18 are fixed on the right side and on the front face of the battery charger 30.

[0036] The front of the battery charger 30 is slightly inclined upwards while remaining parallel to the inverter 6, with a significant vertical gap J between them allowing movement of the motor 2 fixed on elastic supports to filter vibrations, and allowing in the event of a front impact on the vehicle sufficient recoil of this motor without moving the rigid charger in order to avoid its intrusion into the passenger compartment.

[0037] In longitudinal section along a vertical plane, the degassing box 22 comprises a flat bottom fitted onto the battery charger 30, a front volume 32 positioned just forward of the bar 10, having an upper face sloping slightly towards the front of the vehicle to follow an upper boundary contour under the engine hood 38, and a central volume 34 fitted under this bar. The rear face of the central volume 34 abuts a sheet metal 36 closing the rear of the engine compartment, forward of the cowl collector 12.

[0038] Securing both the battery charger 30 and the degassing box 10 near the charger under the bar 10 using the same supports 20 allows the lower face of the box to be positioned very close to the charger without significant gaps between them. This way, all the space in front of and below the bar 10 is used, and the volume of the degassing box 22 is optimized.

[0039] Furthermore, since the degassing box 22 is fixed at the highest point of the engine compartment, the fluid supply to the entire cooling circuit is facilitated. It also facilitates the installation of all the cooling circuit equipment, including heaters and coolers, which can easily be positioned lower than the degassing box 22.

[0040] Figures 3 and 4 show the supports 20, each forming a flat piece perpendicular to the bar 10, having a constant profile depending on the thickness. by extruding an aluminum alloy with a continuous outer contour, and an inner part with perforations reducing the amount of material in order to lighten the supports and reduce costs.

[0041] The profile of each support 20 has a rearward-facing recess 44 that fits snugly onto the front of the bar 10, with a flat upper tab 40 attached to this bar. A vertical hole 42 passes through the upper tab 40 and then through the bar 10, to screw into a lower hole in the support 20 in order to clamp the support onto this bar.

[0042] The base of each support 20 has a flat lower face having a lower groove 48 formed along its length in a median plane. Each end of the base of the supports 20 has a transverse hole 46 formed by the extrusion of the metal.

[0043] The flat top of the charger 30 has on each side along the transverse direction two flat lugs spaced 50 apart, arranged in a vertical plane and each comprising a transverse hole.

[0044] The assembly of the battery charger 30 and the degassing box 22 is as follows. The degassing box 22 has lugs on its sides which fit into internal holes in the supports 20, to form a sub-assembly comprising a wedge for the box between these supports.

[0045] Then as shown [Fig.4], the subassembly is lowered onto the battery charger 30, the two spaced lugs 50 on each side fitting into the lower groove 48 of the support on that side 20. Two screws are engaged on each side in the transverse holes 46 of the support 20 to fix them onto the charger 30, which also holds the degassing box 22 between them.

[0046] The resulting assembly can be prepared on the side of the vehicle assembly line, or at a supplier's facility. It is then easily installed on the vehicle by handling a single compact unit, which simplifies operations. An operator pushes the assembly backward to engage the crossbar 10 in the recesses 44, then inserts a vertical screw through its hole 42 onto each support 20 to permanently fix the assembly to the bar.

[0047] A simple and quick assembly is obtained at the same time of the degassing box 22 and the battery charger 30, having shapes arranged as close as possible to the crossbar 10, without loss of space between them thanks to the rigid connection between these equipment which makes it possible to limit intermediate play.

[0048] The [Fig.5] shows a variant of the connection between the degassing box 22 and the battery charger 30, its upper face having on each side a bar 52 arranged along the longitudinal direction, comprising at each end a threaded hole 54.

[0049] Each support 20 has a vertical hole 56 at the ends of its base, which receives a screw that is screwed into the threaded hole 54, to tighten the flat underside of the support onto the bar 52 in order to create a rigid connection. The assembly comprising the degassing box 22, the battery charger 30, and the supports 20 linked together is prepared in the same way beforehand.

[0050] Figures 6 and 7 show the degassing box 22 having a rear volume 60 directly formed in the rear extension of the central volume 34. A rear orifice 62 oriented in a transverse direction allows a connection of a cooling fluid pipe located near the canopy collector 12.

[0051] The rear volume 60 having a width equal to that of the front volume 32, and a length occupying the entire volume between the battery charger 30 and the sheet metal 36 of the canopy collector 12 closing the rear of the engine compartment, gives the degassing box 22 a large internal volume forming a large reserve of coolant.

Claims

Demands

1. Electric vehicle with a front engine compartment comprising a crossbar (10) connecting two upper shock absorber fixings of the front wheel suspensions (14), arranged in front of a sheet metal closing the rear of the engine compartment (36), a high-voltage battery charger (30), and comprising a coolant venting box (22) of an electric motor (2), characterized in that it comprises two rigid supports (20) fixing both the battery charger (30), and the venting box (22) superimposed above this battery charger (30), to the crossbar (10), the two rigid supports (20) framing the venting box (22) along the transverse direction of the vehicle.

2. Electric vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that each support (20) has a flat shape coming onto the side of the degassing box (22).

3. Electric vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that the flat supports (20) have in their thicknesses a constant profile formed by extrusion of a metal.

4. Electric vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the battery charger (30) is fixed below the supports (20).

5. Electric vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that the upper face of the battery charger (30) has lugs (50) having holes parallel to this upper face, or has holes perpendicular to this upper face (54), receiving screws through holes in the supports (46, 56).

6. Electric vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the supports (20) each have a rearward-facing recess (44) receiving the crossbar (10).

7. Electric vehicle according to claim 6, characterized in that each support has a screw passing through both the crossbar (10) and the support (20).

8. Electric vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the degassing box (22) has a rear volume (60) fitted between the battery charger (30) and the rear sheet metal of the engine compartment (36).

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