Battery protection structure

Abstract

This provides a structure that properly protects the auxiliary battery when a metal component mounted on the lower back is facing the auxiliary battery. [Solution] The battery protection structure comprises an auxiliary battery 16 located at the rear of the vehicle and having terminals 18; a lower back 12 defining the lower edge of the back door opening and having a metal part (lower back hook 14) attached to a location behind the auxiliary battery 16; and a gap-filling member 22 positioned between the lower back 12 and the auxiliary battery 16. The gap-filling member 22 comprises a first projection 26 that protrudes toward the rear of the vehicle and faces the metal part, and a second projection 28 that protrudes toward the front of the vehicle and faces the portion of the auxiliary battery 16 that is away from the terminals 18 in the vehicle width direction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This specification discloses a structure for protecting an auxiliary battery disposed at the rear of a vehicle.

Background Art

[0002] The auxiliary battery of a vehicle is often disposed at the rear of the vehicle, for example, in a luggage space or under its floor. In this case, even when a rear-end collision occurs where an obstacle collides from the rear of the vehicle, it is required that the auxiliary battery be protected without short-circuiting.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preventing the terminals of an auxiliary battery from colliding with the flange of a rear pillar. In Patent Document 1, a protective wall is provided between the auxiliary battery and the flange, and an insulating sheet is attached to this protective wall. The insulating sheet is, for example, folded in a bellows shape and attached to the protective wall in a state with an excess length. With such a configuration, when the flange moves forward of the vehicle due to a rear-end collision, the insulating sheet follows the flange without breaking because it has an excess length. As a result, the insulating sheet continues to be interposed between the flange and the terminals, effectively preventing a short circuit of the auxiliary battery.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The technology described in Patent Document 1 is effective when the terminals on the rear pillar face the terminals of the auxiliary battery. However, in some vehicles, the terminals of the auxiliary battery may be positioned facing other metal parts. For example, a lower back hook may be attached to the lower back that forms the lower edge of the back door opening, and the auxiliary battery may be positioned facing this lower back hook. The technology described in Patent Document 1 is not applicable in such cases.

[0006] Therefore, this specification discloses a structure for properly protecting an auxiliary battery when a metal component attached to the lower back is facing the auxiliary battery. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The battery protection structure disclosed herein comprises an auxiliary battery located at the rear of the vehicle and having terminals; a lower back defining the lower edge of the back door opening and having a metal component attached to a location behind the auxiliary battery; and a gap-filling member located between the lower back and the auxiliary battery, wherein the gap-filling member comprises a first projection that protrudes toward the rear of the vehicle and faces the metal component, and a second projection that protrudes toward the front of the vehicle and faces the portion of the auxiliary battery that is located away from the terminals in the vehicle width direction. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] With this configuration, in the event of a rear-end collision, the first protrusion collides with the lower back, making it easier for the lower back to deform into a roughly V-shape. This ensures that there is sufficient space for the battery to survive and that there is enough distance between the terminals and metal parts, effectively preventing a short circuit in the battery. In addition, the presence of the second protrusion effectively prevents the battery from retracting in the event of a rear-end collision. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a schematic plan view of the area around the auxiliary battery. [Figure 2]This diagram shows the auxiliary battery and lower back during a rear-end collision. [Figure 3] This figure shows the auxiliary battery and lower back during a rear-end collision in the comparative example structure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The protective structure of the auxiliary battery 16 will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the area around the auxiliary battery 16. In each figure, Fr, Up, and Out indicate the front, up, and outward directions in the vehicle width direction, respectively.

[0011] The auxiliary battery 16 functions as a power source for the vehicle's auxiliary equipment. This auxiliary battery 16 is composed of, for example, a lead-acid battery, and its output voltage is, for example, 12V. The auxiliary battery 16 is roughly rectangular in shape. A negative power terminal (not shown) is located at the front upper corner on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the auxiliary battery 16, and a positive power terminal 18 is provided at the rear upper corner. A terminal cover 20 is attached near the rear-facing positive power terminal 18 to cover and conceal the power terminal 18. When replacing or charging the auxiliary battery 16, it is necessary to remove the terminal cover 20 to expose the power terminal 18, so the terminal cover 20 is easily detachable from the auxiliary battery 16.

[0012] The auxiliary battery 16 is located in the luggage space 10 at the rear of the vehicle. The luggage space 10 is a space where luggage and other items are stored. The luggage space 10 is provided with a deck panel (not shown) that serves as a surface for placing luggage. The auxiliary battery 16 is located, for example, below this deck panel, near the rear corner of the luggage space 10.

[0013] A back door opening (not shown) is formed on the rear end surface of the vehicle. The portion of the rear end wall of the vehicle below the back door opening, i.e., the lower edge portion of the back door opening, becomes the lower back 12. In addition to this lower back 12, a towing hitch may also be attached to the rear end of the vehicle. A towing hitch is a component attached to the lower rear end of a vehicle for towing other vehicles.

[0014] The luggage space 10 is further provided with multiple lower back hooks 14. The lower back hooks 14 are metal components made of metal and are also called "luggage hooks." These lower back hooks 14 are, for example, annular members fixed to the vehicle body. These lower back hooks 14 are distributed and arranged at multiple locations in the luggage space 10. The user engages a portion of the net or wire with one of the lower back hooks 14 to secure luggage placed in the luggage space 10 with the net or wire. One of these lower back hooks 14 is also attached to the end face of the lower back 12 on the passenger compartment side (front of the vehicle side). In this example, as shown in Figure 1, the lower back 12 is located behind the power terminals 18 of the auxiliary battery 16. That is, the lower back hooks 14 are positioned to overlap with the power terminals 18 in the vehicle width direction and height direction.

[0015] A gap-filling member 22 is positioned between the auxiliary battery 16 and the lower back 12. The gap-filling member 22 is an insulating component made of, for example, resin. The gap-filling member 22 is broadly divided into an intermediate portion 24, a first protruding portion 26 that protrudes rearward from the intermediate portion 24, and a second protruding portion 28 that protrudes forward from the intermediate portion 24. As shown in Figure 1, the first protruding portion 26 extends rearward from the outer end of the intermediate portion 24 in the vehicle width direction. The first protruding portion 26 is located between the power terminal 18 and the lower back hook 14, and the rear end of the first protruding portion 26 faces and is in close proximity to the lower back hook 14.

[0016] The second projection 28 extends forward from the inner end of the intermediate portion 24 in the vehicle width direction. The front end of this second projection 28 faces and is close to the rear end surface of the auxiliary battery 16. As is clear from Figure 1, the portion of the rear end surface of the auxiliary battery 16 that faces the second projection 28 is located sufficiently far from the power terminals 18 in the vehicle width direction.

[0017] The reason for providing these gap-filling members 22 will be explained in comparison with the comparative example. Figures 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams showing the state of the auxiliary battery 16 when a rear-end collision occurs. Figure 2 shows the structure disclosed herein, and Figure 3 shows the structure of the comparative example.

[0018] In the comparative example shown in Figure 3, the lower back hook 14 is located behind the power terminal 18, similar to the structure in Figure 1. On the other hand, in the comparative example in Figure 3, there are no other members such as gap-filling members 22 between the auxiliary battery 16 and the lower back 12. Let's consider what happens when a rear-end collision occurs in this configuration. In this case, the lower back 12 is pressed forward by the obstacle, deforming and being displaced forward of the vehicle.

[0019] Furthermore, the power terminal 18 is normally covered by a terminal cover 20. However, as mentioned above, the terminal cover 20 is attached in such a way that it can be easily removed during charging. Therefore, in the event of a rear-end collision, the impact of the collision often causes the terminal cover 20 to detach from the auxiliary battery 16. Figure 3 shows the terminal cover 20 already detached from the auxiliary battery 16.

[0020] As a result, in the structure shown in Figure 3, there was a risk that the lower back hook 14 would come into contact with or be in close proximity to the power terminal 18 during a rear-end collision. This contact or proximity of the metal lower back hook 14 to the power terminal 18 could cause a short circuit in the auxiliary battery 16. Furthermore, some regulations stipulate that the auxiliary battery 16 should not retract beyond a certain point during a rear-end collision. However, in the structure shown in Figure 3, there is no component to restrict the retraction of the auxiliary battery 16, so there was a risk that the auxiliary battery 16 would move further back than stipulated.

[0021] In this example, in order to prevent a short circuit and backward movement of the auxiliary battery 16, a filling member 22 is disposed between the auxiliary battery 16 and the lower backrest 12. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, when the lower backrest 12 is displaced forward of the vehicle due to a rear-end collision, the first protruding portion 26 of the filling member 22 collides with a portion near the lower backrest hook 14 of the lower backrest 12. As a result, the portion near the lower backrest hook 14 of the lower backrest 12 is greatly crushed. And thereby, the lower backrest 12 is greatly bent in a substantially V shape centering around the periphery of the lower backrest hook 14. Due to this bending, a living space for the auxiliary battery 16 is secured, and a sufficient distance between the power terminal 18 and the lower backrest hook 14 is secured. As a result, a short circuit of the auxiliary battery 16 is effectively prevented.

[0022] Also, in this example, the filling member 22 has a second protruding portion 28 that protrudes forward. During a rear-end collision, this second protruding portion 28 contacts the rear end surface of the auxiliary battery 16. Thereby, backward movement of the auxiliary battery 16 is effectively prevented. As a result, according to the structure of this example, the position requirements of the auxiliary battery 16 defined by regulations can be satisfied. Further, due to the presence of the second protruding portion 28, it is effectively prevented that the power terminal 18 collides with the intermediate portion 24, and thus the power terminal 18 is damaged. Note that in this example, since the filling member 22 has insulation properties, even if the power terminal 18 contacts the filling member 22 for some reason, a short circuit of the auxiliary battery 16 is prevented.

[0023] As is clear from the above description, in this example, a filling member 22 is disposed between the auxiliary battery 16 and the lower backrest 12 (particularly the lower backrest hook 14). Thereby, a short circuit of the auxiliary battery 16 during a rear-end collision is effectively prevented, and the auxiliary battery 16 can be appropriately protected. Also, in this example, the filling member 22 is additionally disposed on an existing vehicle. In other words, in order to protect the auxiliary battery 16, it is not necessary to change the configuration of the existing vehicle, such as the shape of the lower backrest 12, the mounting position of the lower backrest hook 14, the arrangement of the auxiliary battery 16, etc.

[0024] The configuration described above is merely an example, and other configurations may be modified as appropriate, as long as they meet the requirements of claim 1. For example, the shape of the gap-filling member 22 may be modified as appropriate. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0025] 10 Luggage space, 12 Lower back, 14 Lower back hook, 16 Auxiliary battery, 18 Power terminal, 20 Terminal cover, 22 Gap-filling member, 24 Intermediate section, 26 First protrusion, 28 Second protrusion.

Claims

[Claim 1] An auxiliary battery located at the rear of the vehicle, having terminals, A lower back is defined at the lower edge of the back door opening, with a metal component attached to the location behind the auxiliary battery, A gap-filling member is disposed between the lower back and the auxiliary battery, The gap-filling member is provided with, A first projection that protrudes toward the rear of the vehicle and faces the aforementioned metal part, A second protruding portion that extends forward of the vehicle and faces the portion of the auxiliary battery that is located away from the terminals in the vehicle width direction, A battery protection structure characterized by comprising the following features.

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