Device for offsetting the reception area of ​​a motor vehicle jack support

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for offsetting the receiving area of ​​a motor vehicle jack support (330) intended to be removably mounted on a support pad (14) of a lifting bridge support member, the upper face of which has a receiving groove (14A) for the lower end of a said jack support (330); characterized in that it comprises an upper jaw (110) and a lower jaw (120) provided for vertically sandwiching a said support pad (14), said upper jaw (110) defining a substitute receiving groove (112Ba) intended to receive the lower end of a said jack support (330) and arranged so as to be offset transversely from the receiving groove (14A) of said support pad (14) in the configuration mounted on this support pad (14). Figure to be published with the abstract: Fig. 5

Description

Title of the invention: Device for offsetting the reception area of ​​a motor vehicle jack support Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the problem of lifting an electric or hybrid motor vehicle for the dismantling of its battery pack.

[0002] It relates in particular to a device which can be removably mounted on the receiving pad of a lifting bridge support member and intended to ensure the offsetting of the receiving area of ​​a jack support of such a motor vehicle. Prior art

[0003] Traditionally, the battery packs of electric or hybrid powered motor vehicles are mounted under the front floor of the underbody, between two side members.

[0004] Such a battery pack conventionally comprises a hollow casing comprising at least one substantially horizontal bottom wall and a peripheral strip together defining an internal volume containing several battery modules each comprising several electrochemical cells capable of generating current by chemical reaction.

[0005] In order to ensure that it is held against the front floor of the vehicle, the battery pack generally comprises two substantially horizontal lateral profiles projecting transversely on the external side from the two lateral portions of the peripheral strip of the casing and intended to be fixed by screwing onto the lower portions of the internal parts of the lateral side members.

[0006] The underbody of the vehicles also includes jack supports, each in the form of a sheet metal part generally fixed to a lateral side member and the lower end of which projects below the latter so as to serve as a guide for receiving a jack head or one of the support members of a lifting bridge during vehicle maintenance operations.

[0007] Carried by arms that can be moved in three dimensions, these support members each comprise a support pad provided on its upper face with a central receiving groove intended to receive the lower end of such a jack support so as to stabilize the vehicle suspended above the ground without risk of transverse sliding during the intervention of the maintenance operators.

[0008] Generally appearing in the form of cylindrical pucks, these pads occupy a certain volume under the body of the vehicle, forcing vehicle manufacturers automobiles to leave free the peripheral area of ​​the lower ends of the jack supports so as to allow their installation.

[0009] The presence of these free zones significantly restricts the volume that can be occupied by the battery pack housing, which has a significant impact on the number of electrochemical cells that it can contain and therefore on the autonomy of the vehicle.

[0010] These areas left free can also prevent the installation of certain electrical harnesses and / or hydraulic lines along the lateral battery pack mounting profiles, which means they have to be placed in other areas of the vehicle.

[0011] Furthermore, and in order to prevent these lateral profiles for fixing such a battery pack from interfering with the support pads of the support members of a lifting bridge when such a battery pack is removed after-sales, cutouts must be made therein opposite these areas left free, which weakens them and can lead to local breakages during a lateral impact of the post type.

[0012] US patent 9,550,511 B2 describes a multi-element wedge system ensuring that the vehicle is raised, in particular for the use of a jack. However, this system is neither suitable nor intended to allow access under the body to the battery fixing members while ensuring stable positioning of the vehicle lifting means for carrying out maintenance operations. Statement of the invention

[0013] The present invention therefore aims to improve the situation.

[0014] To this end, it proposes a device for offsetting the receiving area of ​​a motor vehicle jack support intended to be removably mounted on a support pad of a lifting bridge support member, the upper face of which has a receiving groove for the lower end of said jack support; characterized in that it comprises an upper jaw and a lower jaw designed to vertically sandwich a said support pad, said upper jaw defining a substitute receiving groove intended to receive the lower end of a said jack support and arranged so as to be offset transversely from the receiving groove of said support pad in the mounted configuration of said device on this support pad.

[0015] The offset device according to the invention makes it possible to reduce the transverse overhang of the support pad on the internal side of the body underbody in comparison with that which would exist if the free end of the lower portion of the jack support were housed in the receiving groove of this support pad, so as to allow the battery pack to be removed from the vehicle.

[0016] The invention also makes it possible to optimize the volume of the battery pack by limiting the volume of the areas left free on the periphery of the lower ends of the supports. vehicle jack.

[0017] According to preferred characteristics of said device according to the invention: - this comprises means for adjusting and locking the vertical spacing between said upper and lower jaws over a predefined range; - said upper jaw comprises a first part and a second part mounted to slide along a transverse axis relative to said first part and on which said replacement receiving groove is provided; - this device comprises means for adjusting and locking the position of said second part relative to said first part over a predefined range; - this device comprises stop means designed to rest against the edge of a said support pad in two diametrically opposed zones so as to sandwich this support pad transversely; - said stop means comprise at least one stop member provided on said second part of the upper jaw; - the spacing between said at least one stop member and said substitute receiving groove is between 10 and 25 millimeters; - said lower jaw comprises a notch intended to be crossed at least partially by the sleeve of a said support member extending below its support pad; - the bottom of said substitute receiving groove is covered with an elastomer coating; and / or - the part(s) constituting said upper jaw and said lower jaw are each made from a sheet of metal. Brief description of the drawings

[0018] The description of the invention will now be continued by the detailed description of several exemplary embodiments, given below for illustrative but non-limiting purposes, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: - [Fig.l] represents a perspective view of a lifting bridge for a motor vehicle comprising several arms carrying at their free end a support member comprising a support pad; - [Fig.2] is a perspective view of a device according to the invention for offsetting the receiving area of ​​a motor vehicle jack support intended to be mounted on the support pad of a support member of the lifting bridge of [Fig.l]; - [Fig.3] represents a perspective view of the device of [Fig.2] mounted on the support pad of a support member of the lifting bridge of [Fig.l]; - [Fig.4] is a bottom view of the subassembly of [Fig.3]; and - [Fig.5] represents a sectional view along a vertical transverse cutting plane illustrating the cooperation between a jack support of a motor vehicle and the device according to the invention of [Fig.2] mounted on the support pad of a support member of the lifting bridge of [Fig.l]. Description of the embodiments

[0019] [Fig.l] represents a lifting bridge 1 for a motor vehicle comprising two vertical columns 2 arranged opposite each other and on each of which a carrier assembly 10 is mounted to slide vertically.

[0020] Each carrier assembly 10 comprises a carriage 11 carrying two horizontal telescopic arms 12 each mounted pivoting around a respective vertical axis with respect to this carriage 11 and the free ends of which each carry a corresponding support member 13.

[0021] Better visible in [Fig. 3], each support member 13 comprises a support pad 14, of discoidal shape and having an upper layer of elastomer, arranged at the top of a threaded cylindrical sleeve with a vertical axis 15 screwed into a tapped hole provided at the free end of a telescopic arm 12, so as to allow adjustment of the vertical spacing between this support pad 14 and the arm 12.

[0022] The upper face of the support pad 14 of each support member 13 has a central receiving groove 14A (visible in [Fig.5]) intended to receive the lower end of a motor vehicle jack support so as to stabilize this vehicle in suspension above the ground during the intervention of the maintenance operators.

[0023] We will now describe with reference to Figures 2 to 4 the device 100 according to the invention intended to be mounted in a removable manner on the support pad 14 of such a support member 13, so as to offset the receiving area of ​​a motor vehicle jack support.

[0024] An orthogonal reference frame XYZ is defined with respect to this device 100, comprising three axes perpendicular two by two, namely: - an X axis, defining a longitudinal, horizontal direction, - a Y axis, defining a transverse, horizontal direction, which with the X axis defines a horizontal XY plane, and - a Z axis, defining a vertical direction, perpendicular to the horizontal XY plane.

[0025] In the remainder of the description and with reference to the reference defined above, the terms “longitudinal” or “longitudinally” will refer to a direction parallel to the X axis, the terms “transverse” or “transversely” will refer to a direction parallel to the Y axis, and the terms “vertical” or “vertically” will refer to a direction parallel to the Z axis.

[0026] On the other hand and by convention, the terms “lower” and “low” will indicate a greater proximity to the ground in the vertical direction than the terms “ “upper” or “high”.

[0027] The device 100 comprises, with reference to [Fig.2], an upper jaw 110 and a lower jaw 120 provided to vertically sandwich the support pad 14.

[0028] The upper jaw 110 comprises a first part 111 with an L-shaped section, advantageously made from a cut and folded sheet of metal, this first part 111 comprising a horizontal portion 111A intended to be positioned above the support pad 14 and a vertical portion 111B intended to come to rest against the peripheral annular edge of this pad 14.

[0029] This upper jaw 110 also comprises a second part 112 also preferably made from a cut and folded sheet of metal.

[0030] The second part 112 comprises a horizontal connecting portion 112A intended to come to rest against the upper face of the pad 14 and partially covered by the horizontal portion 111A of the first part 111 with respect to which it is mounted to slide along a transverse axis by means of two slides 111Aa formed by curving the sheet metal at the two lateral ends of this portion 111A.

[0031] This second part 112 also comprises a receiving portion 112B with a lying S-shaped section extending in the transverse extension of the horizontal portion 112A and intended to come to rest partially against the upper face of the pad 14, this receiving portion 112B defining a substitute receiving groove 112Ba intended to receive the lower end of a motor vehicle jack support 330 as illustrated in [Fig.5].

[0032] The bottom of this substitute receiving groove 112Ba is advantageously covered with an elastomer coating so as not to damage the lower end of the jack support 330 which is housed there.

[0033] Alternatively, the bottom of this substitute receiving groove 112Ba could have a slot intended to receive a protrusion projecting from the central part of the lower end of a jack support, so that the latter comes into contact with the upper elastomer layer of the support pad 14.

[0034] This second part 112 further comprises at least one stop member 112C (in this case two stop members constituted by tongues extending downwards from the end of the receiving portion 112B opposite the connecting portion 112A) intended to come to rest against the peripheral annular edge of the support pad 14 in a zone diametrically opposite that against which the vertical portion 111B of the first part 111 comes to rest so as to sandwich this support pad 14 transversely.

[0035] The upper jaw 110 further comprises two clamping bolts 113 each passing through the two horizontal portions 111A, 112A near their lateral ends, these bolts 113 being capable of holding them fixedly against each other to lock the transverse spacing between the vertical stop portion 111B and the vertical stop tabs 12C after the device 100 has been placed on the support pad 14, so as to prevent any transverse play between this device 100 and this pad 14.

[0036] As illustrated by Figures 2 to 4, each bolt 113 comprises a screw 113A provided with a head and a threaded rod successively passing through a circular orifice (not visible) of corresponding diameter formed in the horizontal portion 111A of the first part 111, then an oblong orifice 112Aa (visible in [Fig.4]) oriented transversely and of corresponding width formed in the horizontal portion 112A of the second part 112.

[0037] Each bolt 113 also comprises a tightening nut 113B capable of being screwed onto the free end of the rod of this screw 113A so as to enable the tightening of the two horizontal portions 111A, 112A between the head of this screw 113A and this nut 113B.

[0038] It will be noted that the adjustment range of the transverse spacing between the vertical stop portion 111B and the vertical stop tabs 12C is defined by the length of the oblong orifices 112Aa provided in the horizontal portion 112A of the second part 112.

[0039] Consisting of a single piece with an L-shaped section advantageously made from a cut and folded sheet of metal, the lower jaw 120 comprises a horizontal portion 121 intended to rest against the lower face of a support pad 14, so as to vertically sandwich this pad 14 with the horizontal portion 112A of the second piece 112 of the upper jaw 110.

[0040] This lower jaw 120 also comprises a vertical portion 122 at least partially covering the vertical portion 11 IB of the first part 111 of the upper jaw 110 with respect to which it is mounted to slide along a vertical axis by means of two slides 11 IBa formed by bending the sheet metal at the two lateral ends of this portion 11 IB.

[0041] The device 100 further comprises two clamping bolts 130 each passing through the two vertical portions 111B, 122 near their lateral ends, these bolts 130 being capable of holding them fixedly against each other to lock the vertical spacing between the horizontal portions 112A, 121 of the two jaws 110, 120.

[0042] As illustrated by [Fig.2], each bolt 130 comprises a screw 131 provided with a head and a threaded rod successively passing through a circular orifice (not visible) of corresponding diameter provided in the vertical portion 11 IB of the upper jaw 110, then an oblong orifice (not visible) oriented vertically and of corresponding width provided in the vertical portion 122 of the lower jaw 120.

[0043] Each bolt 130 also comprises a tightening nut, advantageously of the butterfly type 132, capable of being screwed onto the free end of the rod of this screw 131 so as to enable the tightening of the two vertical portions 111B, 122 between the head of this screw 131 and this nut 132.

[0044] The vertical spacing between the horizontal portions 112A, 121 of the upper 110 and lower 120 jaws can thus be adjusted over a predefined adjustment range by the length of the oblong orifices provided in the vertical portion 122 of the lower jaw 120.

[0045] The horizontal portion 121 of the lower jaw 120 has a semicircular notch 121A intended to be crossed at least partially by the sleeve 15 of the support member 13, so as to prevent the latter from preventing the device 100 from being put in place by coming into abutment against this lower jaw 120.

[0046] As can be seen in [Fig. 4], the characteristic dimension of this notch 121A (defined by its diameter or its width depending on the shape of the latter) will advantageously be greater than or equal to 25 millimeters so as to adapt to the diameters of sleeve 15 encountered on all the references of support members 13.

[0047] The sectional view of [Fig. 5] represents the lower right-hand part of a set of underbody panels 200 of a hybrid or electric type motor vehicle, carried by the support pad 14 of a support member 13 of a lifting bridge 10 on which a device according to the invention 100 for offsetting the receiving area of ​​a jack support has been mounted.

[0048] This set of rocker panels 200 comprises a body underbody 300 comprising a floor 310 made of sheet metal extending between two side members also made of sheet metal, of which only the right side member 320 is shown in this [Fig.5].

[0049] This spar 320 comprises an internal spar part 321 and an external spar part 322 rigidly connected to each other by their upper and lower connecting grooves so as to delimit an elongated hollow body of substantially square closed cross-section.

[0050] The external spar part 322 is here covered by the lower portion of a passenger compartment side C fixed to the upper and lower connecting grooves of the external spar part 322.

[0051] As can be seen in this [Fig.5], a jack support 330 is rigidly fixed to the side member 320. This jack support 330 is in this case in the form of a folded sheet metal part having at its upper end a tab 331 fixed to the internal part of the side member 321 and the lower portion 332 of which, sandwiched between the lower connecting grooves of the spar 320 to which it is fixed, protrude below this spar 320.

[0052] The underbody assembly 200 also comprises a battery pack 400 installed under the floor 310 and comprising a hollow casing 410 containing several battery modules, not shown, each comprising several electrochemical cells capable of generating current by chemical reaction.

[0053] In order to ensure its retention against the floor 310, the battery pack 400 comprises two substantially horizontal lateral profiles 420 projecting transversely on the external side from the two lateral portions of the peripheral strip of the casing (only the right profile 420 being visible in this [Fig. 5]) and fixed by screwing onto the lower portions of the internal parts 321 of the lateral side members 320.

[0054] As can be seen in [Fig.5], the free end of the lower portion 222 of the jack support 330 is housed in the substitute receiving groove 112Ba of the device according to the invention 100 so as to stabilize the vehicle suspended above the ground without risk of transverse sliding during the intervention of the maintenance operators.

[0055] Still with reference to this [Fig. 5], the presence of the device according to the invention 100 makes it possible to reduce by a value AL the transverse overhang of the support pad 14 on the internal side of the body underbody 200 in comparison with that which would be had if the free end of the lower portion 332 of the jack support 330 were housed in the receiving groove 14A of this support pad 14, so as to allow the removal of the battery pack 400 without risk of interference between the right lateral fixing profile 420 and this pad 14.

[0056] It is understood that this reduction AL of the transverse overhang of the support pad 14 is all the greater as the substitution receiving groove 112Ba of the offset device 100 is located close to the stop member(s) 112C of the second part 112 of the upper jaw 110.

[0057] The spacing between this or these stop members 112C and the substitute receiving groove 112Ba will thus advantageously be between 10 and 25 millimeters, which makes it possible to obtain, for a standard pad of 150 millimeters in diameter, a reduction AL of the overhang of between 50 and 65 millimeters.

[0058] According to embodiment variants not shown, the upper jaw and / or the lower jaw may be shaped differently.

[0059] The lower jaw 110 could, for example, be devoid of stop members such as 112C. Its substitute receiving groove 112Ba could be constituted by a simple groove made in a sheet metal plate of greater thickness than the sheet metal forming the second part 112.

[0060] The means for adjusting and locking the position of said second part 112 with respect to said first part 111 of the upper jaw 110 and / or those for adjusting and locking the vertical spacing between the upper jaw 110 and lower jaw 120 may differ.

[0061] It is also possible to envisage that the transverse position of this substitute receiving groove 112Ba is fixed, so that the upper jaw can be made up of a single piece.

[0062] Many other variant embodiments are of course conceivable and it is recalled in this respect that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but also encompasses all variant embodiments within the reach of those skilled in the art.

Claims

Claims

1. Device (100) for offsetting the receiving area of ​​a jack support (330) of a motor vehicle intended to be removably mounted on a support pad (14) of a support member (13) of a lifting bridge (1) the upper face of which has a receiving groove (14A) for the lower end of a said jack support (330); characterized in that it comprises an upper jaw (110) and a lower jaw (120) provided to vertically sandwich a said support pad (14), said upper jaw (110) defining a substitute receiving groove (112Ba) intended to receive the lower end of a said jack support (330) and arranged so as to be offset transversely from the receiving groove (14A) of said support pad (14) in the mounted configuration of said device (100) on this support pad (14).

2. Device (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means for adjusting and locking (130) the vertical spacing between said upper (110) and lower (120) jaws over a predefined range.

3. Device (100) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said upper jaw (110) comprises a first part (111) and a second part (112) mounted to slide along an axis transverse to said first part (111) and on which said substitute receiving groove (112Ba) is formed.

4. Device (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises means for adjusting and locking (113) the position of said second part (112) with respect to said first part (111) over a predefined range.

5. Device (100) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises stop means (112C) provided to come to rest against the edge of a said support pad (14) in two diametrically opposed zones so as to transversely sandwich this support pad (14).

6. Device (100) according to one of claims 3 or 4 and claim 5, characterized in that said stop means comprise at least one stop member (112C) provided on said second part (112) of the upper jaw (110).

7. Device (100) according to claim 6, characterized in that the spacing between said at least one stop member (112C) and said substitute receiving groove (112Ba) is between 10 and 25 millimeters.

8. Device (100) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said lower jaw (120) comprises a notch (121 A) intended to be crossed at least partially by the sleeve (15) of a said support member (13) extending below its support pad (14).

9. Device (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the bottom of said substitution receiving groove (112Ba) is covered with an elastomer coating.

10. Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the part or parts (111, 112, 120) constituting said upper jaw (110) and said lower jaw (120) are each made from a sheet of metal.

Images