Battery pack structure

Abstract

To obtain a battery pack structure that can reduce the size of seat frame components.SOLUTION: Provided is a battery pack structure 10 including a battery pack 20 fixed to the floor of the vehicle, a seat rail 16 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and arranged in contact with an upper wall 22U of the battery pack 20, and a pair of front and rear seat frames 18 connecting a front wall 22F and a rear wall 22B of the battery pack 20 to the front and rear parts of the seat rail 16, respectively.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery pack structure. [Background technology]

[0002] A battery mounting structure in which a seat support frame is arranged to straddle a main battery installed on a floor panel has been known for some time (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This seat support frame is composed of seat rails, front seat legs, and rear seat legs. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-017095 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, with this configuration, a gap (component gap) is created between the seat rail and the upper wall of the battery (battery pack), which increases the component size of the seat leg (seat frame).

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery pack structure that can reduce the size of seat frame components. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a first aspect of the battery pack structure according to the present invention comprises a battery pack fixed to a vehicle floor, seat rails extending in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle and arranged in contact with an upper wall of the battery pack, and a pair of front and rear seat frames connecting the front and rear walls of the battery pack to the front and rear portions of the seat rails, respectively.

[0007] According to the first aspect of the invention, seat rails extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle are arranged in contact with the upper wall of the battery pack fixed to the vehicle floor, and the front and rear portions of the seat rails are connected to the front and rear walls of the battery pack by a pair of front and rear seat frames, respectively. Therefore, no gap is created between the seat rails and the upper wall of the battery pack, and the component size of the seat frames is reduced.

[0008] Furthermore, a second aspect of the battery pack structure according to the present invention is a battery pack structure according to the first aspect, wherein the lower portions of the pair of front and rear seat frames are attached to the upper side of the vehicle vertical center of the front and rear walls of the battery pack, respectively.

[0009] According to the second aspect of the invention, the lower portions of the pair of front and rear seat frames are attached to the upper sides of the front and rear walls of the battery pack from the center in the vertical direction of the vehicle, respectively, which allows the length of the seat frames in the vertical direction of the vehicle to be shortened, further reducing the size of the seat frame components. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] As described above, according to the present invention, the size of the seat frame components can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a battery pack structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a battery pack structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an enlarged view of a part of the battery pack structure according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view showing an enlarged view of a part of a battery pack structure according to a comparative example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, the arrow UP shown in each drawing indicates the upward direction of the vehicle, the arrow FR indicates the forward direction of the vehicle, and the arrow RH indicates the rightward direction of the vehicle. Therefore, in the following description, unless otherwise specified, when the directions of up / down, front / rear, and left / right are mentioned, they refer to up / down in the vertical direction of the vehicle, front / rear in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and left / right in the lateral direction of the vehicle (vehicle width direction).

[0013] 1 to 3, a battery pack structure 10 according to this embodiment includes a battery pack 20 fixed to a floor 12 (see FIG. 3) of a vehicle (not shown). The battery packs 20 are respectively arranged below the driver's seat and below the passenger seat, which are the front seats, and have the same configuration with symmetrical shapes, so the battery pack 20 arranged below the left front seat will be described here as an example.

[0014] The battery pack 20 has a metal battery case 22 that is substantially rectangular parallelepiped in shape, with the vehicle width direction as its longitudinal direction and a shorter length in the up-down direction (i.e., shorter height) than its length in the front-to-rear direction. That is, the battery case 22 has a substantially rectangular flat bottom wall (not shown) and top wall 22U, and has a front wall 22F, a rear wall 22B, and left and right side walls 22S that are formed by fastening and fixing the upper end of a peripheral wall erected around the bottom wall to the lower end of a peripheral wall suspended around the top wall 22U.

[0015] 1 to 3, the shapes of the front wall 22F, rear wall 22B, and side wall 22S are simplified and depicted as substantially rectangular flat plates, but the battery case 22 is configured to have high rigidity against loads applied at least from above to below. Furthermore, multiple battery cells (not shown) are housed inside the battery case 22 and aligned in the vehicle width direction, for example, in two rows, front and rear.

[0016] The battery case 22 of this battery pack 20 is fixed to the floor 12 from the vertical center of the front wall 22F and the rear wall 22B downwards by metal fixing brackets 14. Each fixing bracket 14 is formed in a roughly "L" shape in a side view seen from the vehicle width direction, and the upper side above the bent part is attached to the front wall 22F and the rear wall 22B by fastening or welding, etc., and the lower side below the bent part is fastened and fixed to the floor 12.

[0017] The battery pack structure 10 also includes a pair of left and right metal seat rails 16 extending in the front-rear direction. The pair of left and right seat rails 16 are rails that support a seat (not shown) so that it can slide in the front-rear direction, and are arranged in contact with an upper wall 22U of a battery case 22 of the battery pack 20 with a predetermined gap between them. In other words, each seat rail 16 is directly supported by the battery case 22.

[0018] The battery pack structure 10 also includes a pair of front and rear metal seat frames 18 that respectively connect the front wall 22F and rear wall 22B of the battery case 22 of the battery pack 20 to the undersides of the front end portion 16F and rear end portion 16B of the pair of left and right seat rails 16. Each seat frame 18 is formed in a roughly inverted "L" shape in a side view seen from the vehicle width direction, and a lower portion 18D extending downward from the bent portion is attached by fastening, welding, or the like to the upper sides of the vertical center portions of the front wall 22F and rear wall 22B of the battery case 22.

[0019] The upper portions 18Uf extending forward of the left and right seat frames 18 are attached to the lower surfaces of the front end portions 16F of the left and right seat rails 16 by fastening, welding, etc., and the upper portions 18Ub extending rearward of the left and right seat frames 18 are attached to the lower surfaces of the rear end portions 16B of the left and right seat rails 16 by fastening, welding, etc. In this way, each seat rail 16 is fixed to the battery case 22.

[0020] Next, the operation of the battery pack structure 10 according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described.

[0021] First, a battery pack structure 100 according to a comparative example will be described, which is shown in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 4, in the battery pack structure 100 according to this comparative example, each seat rail 16 is fixed to the floor 12 by a pair of front and rear metal seat frames 118. Specifically, each seat frame 118 according to this comparative example is formed in a substantially "Z" shape when viewed from the side in the vehicle width direction.

[0022] On the rear wall 22B side of the battery case 22, the lower portion 118Db extending rearward of each seat frame 118 is fastened and fixed to the floor 12, and the upper portion 118Uf extending forward of each seat frame 118 is attached to the underside of each seat rail 16 forward of the rear end portion 16B by fastening, welding, etc.

[0023] The same applies to the front wall 22F (see FIGS. 1 and 2) side of the battery case 22. That is, a lower portion (not shown) extending forward of each seat frame 118 is fastened and fixed to the floor 12, and an upper portion (not shown) extending rearward of each seat frame 118 is attached by fastening, welding, or the like to the underside of each seat rail 16 rearward of the front end portion 16F (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

[0024] Therefore, in the battery pack structure 100 according to this comparative example, a gap equal to at least the thickness of the upper portion 118Uf of each seat frame 118 is generated between each seat rail 16 and the upper wall 22U of the battery case 22. This increases the height position of the seat, and increases the amount by which each seat frame 118 collapses during, for example, a side collision of the vehicle.

[0025] In this case, the length of each seat frame 118 in the up-down direction must be equal to or greater than the height of the battery case 22, which increases the component size (size) of each seat frame 118, leading to greater component variation and increased mass among the seat frames 118. In addition, the battery case 22 may need to be provided with two reinforcing frames extending in the fore-and-aft direction, spaced apart on the left and right, which further increases the mass of the battery pack 20 and therefore the mass of the entire vehicle.

[0026] In contrast, the battery pack structure 10 according to this embodiment employs the above-described configuration. That is, each seat rail 16 is disposed in contact with the upper wall 22U of the battery case 22 (battery pack 20) ​​fixed to the vehicle floor 12, and the lower surfaces of the front end 16F and rear end 16B of each seat rail 16 are connected and fixed to the front wall 22F and rear wall 22B of the battery case 22 by a pair of front and rear seat frames 18, respectively.

[0027] Therefore, no gaps are created between the seat rails 16 and the upper wall 22U of the battery case 22. This lowers the seat height, reducing (smaller) the amount of collapse of each seat frame 18 in the event of a side collision of the vehicle, for example. Furthermore, lowering the seat height can contribute to expanding the interior space of the vehicle.

[0028] Furthermore, since no gaps are created between the seat rails 16 and the upper wall 22U of the battery case 22, it is possible to reduce (downsize) the component size of each seat frame 18. This makes it possible to reduce the component variation of each seat frame 18 and to suppress an increase in mass.

[0029] Moreover, the lower portion 18D of each seat frame 18 is attached to the upper side of the vertical center of the front wall 22F and rear wall 22B of the battery case 22. This allows the vertical length of each seat frame 18 to be shortened, further reducing the component size of each seat frame 18.

[0030] Furthermore, with the battery pack structure 10 according to this embodiment, the seat rails 16 and the seat frames 18 can be used as reinforcing frames for the battery case 22. This eliminates the need to provide a separate reinforcing frame for the battery case 22, which can contribute to reducing the mass of the battery pack 20 and further the mass of the vehicle as a whole.

[0031] Although the battery pack structure 10 according to this embodiment has been described above with reference to the drawings, the battery pack structure 10 according to this embodiment is not limited to the one shown in the drawings, and the design can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, the width of the seat frame 18 is set to be approximately the same as the width of the seat rail 16, but this is not limited thereto, and the seat frame 18 may be formed slightly larger than the width of the seat rail 16. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 10 Battery pack structure 12 floors 16 Seat rail 18 Seat frame 20 Battery pack 22B Back wall 22F front wall 22U top wall

Claims

1. a battery pack fixed to the floor of the vehicle; a seat rail extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and disposed in contact with an upper wall of the battery pack; a pair of front and rear seat frames that connect a front wall and a rear wall of the battery pack to front and rear portions of the seat rails, respectively; A battery pack structure comprising:

2. 2. The battery pack structure according to claim 1, wherein the lower portions of the pair of front and rear seat frames are attached to the front and rear walls of the battery pack above the vehicle vertical center.

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