Wire harness mounting structure

Abstract

Provided is an attachment structure for a wire harness in a vehicle, the attachment structure comprising a drive unit for driving the vehicle and a battery unit for supplying electric power to the drive unit through the wire harness. The battery unit is disposed on a floor surface between a front wheel and a rear wheel of the vehicle. The drive unit is disposed near the rear wheel of the vehicle further to the rear than the battery unit in the vehicle advancement direction, and is configured so as to drive the rear wheel. The drive unit is provided with an inverter device for converting electric power of the battery unit. One end of the wire harness is coupled to the inverter device in the vehicle width direction at a side surface part of the inverter device, and the other end of the wire harness is coupled to the battery unit in the vehicle width direction at a rear end part of the battery unit.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a wire harness. [Background technology]

[0002] An electric vehicle travels by converting electric power supplied from a battery by an inverter device into electric power suitable for driving a drive motor, and driving the drive motor.

[0003] JP5589772B discloses an electric vehicle in which a power unit (drive motor) and an inverter device are arranged in a motor room, and this inverter device is connected to a main battery arranged under the floor of the vehicle via a power cable (wire harness) routed in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In recent years, there has been a trend toward larger batteries to increase the vehicle's driving range, and the battery unit is now configured to be installed in the entire underfloor area between the front and rear wheels of the vehicle. In this configuration, there is little space in the layout, especially near the rear wheels, so it is necessary to devise a layout for the drive motor, inverter device, and harness. Furthermore, it is also necessary to leave some slack in the harness length to prevent the drive motor from shaking.

[0005] In the above-mentioned patent document, the wire harness connecting the main battery and the inverter device is routed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. However, due to factors such as the increase in size of the battery, it is difficult to provide a sufficient space in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Therefore, it is not easy to provide a sufficient harness length in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and there is a problem that it is difficult to take measures against the oscillation of the drive unit.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of such problems, and aims to provide a mounting structure for a wire harness that allows for some extra length for the wire harness, particularly in the rear of the vehicle where there is less space available. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a mounting structure for a wire harness in a vehicle including a drive unit for driving the vehicle and a battery unit for supplying power to the drive unit via a wire harness. The battery unit is disposed on a floor surface between the front and rear wheels of the vehicle. The drive unit is disposed rearward of the battery unit and includes a drive motor for driving the drive wheels and an inverter device for converting power from the battery unit and supplying the power to the drive motor. One end of the wire harness is connected to the inverter device at a side portion of the inverter device in the vehicle width direction, and the other end is connected to the battery unit at a rear end of the battery unit in the vehicle width direction. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, the wire harness is connected to the inverter device and the battery unit in the vehicle width direction. This allows the wire harness to be routed laterally in the gap between the drive unit and the battery unit even if the drive unit and the battery unit are arranged close to each other. Furthermore, the wire harness can be provided with a lateral slack in its harness length, which can reduce stress on the wire harness when the drive unit swings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a drive unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an electric vehicle on which the drive unit is mounted. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the drive unit. [Figure 4]FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the drive unit. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the electric vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a rear drive unit 20 according to this embodiment. Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the entire drive system of an electric vehicle 1 on which a rear drive unit 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 2, the electric vehicle 1 (hereinafter, vehicle 1) is configured by mounting a rear drive unit 20, a battery unit 30, and a front drive unit 40 on a vehicle body 10.

[0013] The rear drive unit 20 is disposed rearward of the vehicle relative to the battery unit 30. A wire harness 35 is connected to the rear drive unit 20 to supply DC power from the battery unit 30.

[0014] 1, the rear drive unit 20 is configured to include an inverter device 21, a drive motor 22, and a reduction gear 23. A cooling water pipe 26 through which cooling water flows is connected to the rear drive unit 20. The rear drive unit 20 drives the drive motor 22 based on electric power from the battery unit 30, thereby rotating the axle 23a and the rear wheels 15 (see FIG. 5), which are drive wheels, to drive the vehicle 1.

[0015] In the rear drive unit 20, a drive motor 22 and a reduction gear 23 are arranged in the vehicle width direction with their respective rotation shafts parallel to each other. The inverter device 21 is arranged above the drive motor 22 and the reduction gear 23 and inclined toward the front side of the vehicle 1.

[0016] The inverter device 21 includes an inverter (not shown) that converts the power supplied from the battery unit 30 into power suitable for driving the drive motor 22 and supplies the power to the drive motor 22. The inverter is accommodated in a housing 24, which is a case made of metal or resin. The inverter device 21 receives power from the battery unit 30 to drive the drive motor 22. The inverter device 21 also receives regenerative power from the drive motor 22 to charge the battery unit 30.

[0017] The drive motor 22 is formed of a rotating electric machine such as a permanent magnet embedded synchronous motor or a field winding synchronous motor.

[0018] The reduction gear 23 is configured with a plurality of gears that reduce the rotation speed of the drive motor 22 and transmit the reduced rotation speed to the axle. The reduction gear 23 may be configured as a transmission that can switch between a plurality of gear stages stepwise or continuously.

[0019] 2, the battery unit 30 is disposed on the floor between the front and rear wheels of the vehicle 1. The battery unit 30 is configured to have a plurality of battery modules therein. A wire harness 35 for supplying electric power is connected between the inverter device 21 and the battery unit 30.

[0020] The wire harness 35 is composed of a pair of positive and negative conductors each made of a conductor such as copper or aluminum with an insulating coating. The wire harness 35 is covered with a protector 60 and a buffer material 61. The wire harness 35 has terminals at both ends for connection to the inverter device 21 and the battery unit 30, respectively, and is routed in the vehicle width direction between these terminals, and is routed in an S-shaped curve when viewed from above.

[0021] 2, a front drive unit 40 that drives the front wheels is provided on the front side (motor room) of the vehicle 1. Similar to the rear drive unit 20, the front drive unit 40 is provided with a front drive motor (not shown) and a front inverter device 41 that supplies power to the front drive motor. A front wire harness 36 for supplying power is connected between the front inverter device 41 of the front drive unit 40 and the battery unit 30.

[0022] It should be noted that the vehicle 1 of this embodiment does not necessarily have to include the front drive unit 40. The vehicle 1 may be configured so that only the rear wheels 15 are driven by the rear drive unit 20.

[0023] Next, the wire harness 35 arranged between the rear drive unit 20 and the battery unit 30 will be described.

[0024] When the vehicle 1 is traveling, the rear drive unit 20 swings relative to the battery unit 30 fixed to the vehicle body 10 due to vibrations input from the road surface via the suspension, etc., and vibrations of the rear drive unit 20 itself. To prevent the wire harness connected between them from being deformed or damaged by stress caused by the swinging of the rear drive unit 20, it is desirable to provide an extra length to allow for swinging.

[0025] On the other hand, the rear drive unit 20, which is located at the rear of the vehicle, has the battery unit 30 located in front of it, and the vehicle body 10 structures such as the luggage compartment are located above it, so the height of the vehicle body 10 from the ground is low. Due to this structure, there is not enough space between the rear drive unit 20 and the battery unit 30. Furthermore, since the wire harness is made of thick wires so that the voltage of the battery unit 30 (e.g., 400V DC) can flow, the degree of bending freedom and elasticity are low. Because of this, there was a problem in the past that it was difficult to provide a slack length for the wire harness.

[0026] In this embodiment, to address this problem, the wire harness 35 is configured to have an extra length, as will be described below.

[0027] 1, one end of the wire harness 35 is connected to an inverter-side connector 211 provided on a side surface of the inverter device 21, and the other end is connected to a battery-side connector 311 provided on a connection portion 31 arranged to protrude from the rear end side of the battery unit 30. One end of the wire harness 35 is configured as a one-end connection terminal P1, and the other end is configured as an other-end connection terminal P2. The housing 24 of the inverter device 21 is provided with an opening 241 to which the one-end connection terminal P1, which will be described in detail in FIG. 3, is fixed, and a cover 242 that closes the opening.

[0028] The inverter-side connector 211 is provided on the left side of the inverter device 21 in the vehicle front-rear direction, and has one end connection terminal P1 of the wire harness 35 connected thereto.

[0029] The battery side connector 311 is provided on the right side in the vehicle front-rear direction of the connection portion 31 that protrudes from the rear end side of the battery unit 30. To the battery side connector 311, the other end side connection terminal P2 of the wire harness 35 is connected.

[0030] The wire harness 35 extends in the vehicle width direction from the inverter side connector 211 on the left side of the inverter device 21, and then bends 180° to the right side in the vehicle width direction. The wire harness 35 is routed from the left side to the right side in the vehicle width direction between the inverter device 21 and the battery unit 30, and bends 180° to the left side in the vehicle width direction near the right side of the inverter device 21. The wire harness 35 extends to the battery side connector 311 arranged on the right side of the connection portion 31 of the battery unit 30.

[0031] In this way, one end of the wire harness 35 is connected from the left side to the right side in the vehicle width direction (first direction) to the inverter side connector 211 provided on the left side surface of the inverter device 21, and the other end is connected from the right side to the left side in the vehicle width direction (second direction) to the battery side connector 311 provided on the right side surface of the connection portion 31 of the battery unit 30. As a result, the wire harness 35 is arranged in the vehicle width direction and is formed in an S-shape (Z-shape) bent at approximately 180° when viewed from above.

[0032] In addition, in the front inverter device 41 of the front drive unit 40, one end of the wire harness 36 is connected to a connector provided on the left side surface of the front inverter device 41 from the left side to the right side (second direction) in the vehicle width direction.

[0033] The wire harness 35 is fitted with a U-shaped hard resin protector 60 so as to cover the outer periphery thereof near the inverter-side connector 211. The protector 60 is supported by an L-shaped bracket 65 on the housing 24 of the inverter device 21 so as to maintain a predetermined distance from the inverter device 21.

[0034] Bracket 65 has a housing fixing portion which is fixed to the front surface of housing 24 by bolts, and a protector fixing portion which extends toward protector 60 and is fixed to the rear surface of protector 60 by bolts. The housing fixing portion and the protector fixing portion are formed in a crank shape in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

[0035] A cushioning material 61 made of soft resin is attached to the exterior of the wire harness 35 near the battery side connector 311.

[0036] The protector 60 and the bracket 65 restrict the swinging of the wire harness 35 near the inverter device 21 while maintaining a predetermined distance from the inverter device 21. This prevents the wire harness 35 from being subjected to stress due to excessive vibration, improving the durability of the wire harness 35. On the other hand, on the battery-side connector 311 side of the wire harness 35, the soft cushioning material 61 allows swinging and prevents the wire harness 35 from being impacted by other members.

[0037] With this configuration, the wire harness 35 can have a sufficient length in the vehicle width direction while arranging the rear drive unit 20 close to the battery unit 30. As a result, the wire harness 35 is configured to be swingable, so that relative swinging between the rear drive unit 20 and the vehicle body 10 to which the battery unit 30 is fixed is permitted, and stress applied to the wire harness 35 can be alleviated.

[0038] Next, the configuration of the connection terminal P1 at one end of the wire harness 35 will be described.

[0039] 3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams of the inverter device 21 of this embodiment and are diagrams for explaining the inverter-side connector 211. Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the inverter device 21, and Fig. 4 shows a front view of the inverter device 21 as viewed from the front side of the vehicle.

[0040] 3 and 4 show a state in which the protector 60 of the wire harness 35 and the cover 242 of the inverter side connector 211 are removed. Also, the reducer 23 is omitted.

[0041] An insertion hole 215 into which the one-end connection terminal P1 is inserted is formed on a side surface of the inverter device 21. An opening 241 for bolting with the one-end connection terminal P1 inserted is formed on the front surface side of the inverter device 21. A terminal (not shown) is provided on the inside of the opening 241, and the one-end connection terminal P1 is fixed to this terminal.

[0042] The end of the one-end connection terminal P1 of the wire harness 35 is provided with a plate-shaped positive terminal BP1 connected to the positive conductor and a plate-shaped negative terminal BN1 fixed to the negative conductor. A bolt hole for fixing a bolt is formed in each terminal. The one-end connection terminal P1 of the wire harness 35 is provided with a boot 214 fixed to the insertion hole 215. In this way, in the inverter-side connector 211, the positive terminal BP1 and the negative terminal BN1 of the one-end connection terminal P1 are connected to terminals in the inverter device 21 through the opening 241.

[0043] The inverter connector 211 and one-end connection terminal P1 thus configured are assembled as follows. First, the positive terminal BP1 and the negative terminal BN1 constituting the one-end connection terminal P1 of the wire harness 35 are inserted through an insertion hole 215 opened in the side surface of the housing 24. The positive terminal BP1 and the negative terminal BN1 are fixed to the terminals on the inverter device 21 side through an opening 241 by bolting. After the positive terminal BP1 and the negative terminal BN1 are fixed, the opening 241 is closed by a cover 242. A boot 214 that is attached to one end of the wire harness 35 is fixed to the insertion hole 215 by bolting.

[0044] In this manner, the one end connection terminal P1 is fixed to the inverter side connector 211.

[0045] 3, the other end of the wire harness 35 is configured with an other end connection terminal P2 which is a one-touch connector that can be inserted into and removed from the connection portion 31 of the battery unit 30. The other end connection terminal P2 is locked by being inserted into the battery side connector 311.

[0046] With this configuration, when removing rear drive unit 20 from vehicle body 10 during maintenance of vehicle 1, a worker first removes the other end connection terminal P2 from battery side connector 311 on the battery unit 30 side. Since the other end connection terminal P2 is a one-touch connector, it can be easily attached and detached in a predetermined procedure. Rear drive unit 20 is removed from vehicle body 10 with wire harness 35 connected.

[0047] Next, the relationship between the vehicle body 10 and the rear drive unit 20 will be described.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the vehicle 1 in the front-rear direction, focusing on the rear drive unit 20 of this embodiment.

[0049] The rear drive unit 20 is disposed in an underfloor portion on the rear side of the vehicle body 10 via a suspension member 102 fixed to the vehicle body 10. A cross member 101 that crosses the vehicle body 10 in the width direction is disposed in the vehicle body 10. The rear drive unit 20 is disposed adjacent to and rear of the cross member 101. The battery unit 30 is fixed to the underfloor portion of the vehicle body 10 forward of the cross member 101.

[0050] The above-mentioned wire harness 35 is routed between the rear drive unit 20 and the battery unit 30. A protector 60 is attached to the exterior of the wire harness 35 near the inverter device 21. The protector 60 is fixed to the outside of the housing 24 of the inverter device 21 by a bracket 65.

[0051] Here, let us consider a case where the vehicle 1 collides. In particular, when the vehicle 1 collides in the traveling direction, the vehicle body 10 and the suspension member 102 deform in the vicinity of the rear drive unit 20, and the rear drive unit 20 moves forward. Due to this deformation, the inverter device 21 arranged in front of the rear drive unit 20 may move to the cross member 101.

[0052] In this case, since rear drive unit 20 and cross member 101 are close to each other, there is a risk that wire harness 35 will be pinched between housing 24 of inverter device 21 and cross member 101.

[0053] Therefore, in this embodiment, the fixing position of the bracket 65 that fixes the protector 60, i.e., the housing fixing portion fixed to the housing 24 and the protector fixing portion fixed to the protector 60, are set to a position lower than the height of the cross member 101 from the ground (the bottom surface of the cross member 101 shown by the dashed line in FIG. 5). By fixing the bracket 65 at a position lower than the cross member 101 in this way, the position of the wire harness 35 is restricted by the protector 60 when the vehicle 1 collides. This prevents the wire harness 35 from moving upward, and thus prevents the wire harness 35 from being pinched between the housing 24 and the cross member 101 when a collision occurs.

[0054] As described above, the vehicle 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a drive unit (rear drive unit 20) and a battery unit 30 that supplies power to the rear drive unit 20 via a wire harness 35. The battery unit 30 is disposed on the floor surface between the front and rear wheels of the vehicle 1, and the rear drive unit 20 is disposed rearward of the battery unit 30 on the vehicle 1. The rear drive unit 20 includes a drive motor 22 that drives the rear wheels 15, which are drive wheels, and an inverter device 21 that converts power from the battery unit 30 and supplies it to the drive motor 22. One end of the wire harness 35 is connected to the inverter device 21 at a side portion of the inverter device 21 in the vehicle width direction, and the other end is connected to the battery unit 30 at a rear end portion of the battery unit 30 in the vehicle width direction.

[0055] With this configuration, the wire harness 35 is connected to the inverter device 21 and the battery unit 30 in the vehicle width direction, respectively. This allows the wire harness 35 to be routed in the lateral direction of the vehicle 1 even if the inverter device 21 and the battery unit 30 are arranged close to each other. Furthermore, since the harness length of the wire harness 35 can be provided with a slack in the lateral direction between the inverter device 21 and the battery unit 30, stress applied to the wire harness 35 can be alleviated when the rear drive unit 20 swings.

[0056] In addition, in this embodiment, one end of the wire harness 35 is connected to the inverter device 21 via the inverter side connector 211 from the left side to the right side in the vehicle width direction (first direction), and the other end is connected to the battery unit 30 via the battery side connector 311 from the right side to the left side in the vehicle width direction opposite to the first direction (second direction).

[0057] With this configuration, the wire harness 35 is bent in an S-shape between the first direction and the second direction and arranged, so that the wire harness 35 can be arranged laterally in the gap between the inverter device 21 and the battery unit 30, allowing for some slack in the harness length of the wire harness 35.

[0058] In this embodiment, the inverter side connector 211 fixes the wire harness 35 to the inverter device 21 by bolting, and the battery side connector 311 is configured as a detachable one-touch connector.

[0059] With this configuration, during maintenance, for example, rear drive unit 20 can be removed from vehicle body 10 together with wire harness 35 by removing battery side connector 311, which is easily attached and detached.

[0060] In this embodiment, the front side of the vehicle 1 is provided with a front drive unit 40 including a front inverter device 41, and a front wire harness 36 that supplies power from the battery unit 30 to the front inverter device 41. One end of the front wire harness 36 is connected to the battery unit 30, and the other end is connected to the front inverter device 41 from the left side toward the right side (first direction) in the vehicle width direction.

[0061] In this way, since the inverter device 21 arranged on the rear wheel side and the front inverter device 41 arranged on the front wheel side are configured to be connected to the wire harnesses 35, 36 from the same first direction, it is possible to make the connectors and internal configurations similar for the inverter device 21 arranged on the rear side and the front inverter device 41. This eliminates the need to use different parts for the inverter device 21 and the front inverter device 41, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

[0062] In this embodiment, the wire harness 35 is fitted with a protector 60 near one end thereof, that is, near the inverter-side connector 211 of the inverter device 21, for restricting swinging.

[0063] This configuration can prevent the wire harness 35 from swinging more than necessary near the inverter-side connector 211 of the inverter device 21, thereby improving the durability of the wire harness 35. On the battery-side connector 311 side of the wire harness 35, the soft cushioning material 61 allows the wire harness 35 to swing, while preventing the wire harness 35 from colliding with other members.

[0064] In addition, in this embodiment, the rear drive unit 20 is provided adjacent to and behind the cross member 101 which crosses the underfloor of the vehicle 1 in the vehicle width direction, and the protector 60 is fixed to the housing 24 of the inverter device 21 by a bracket 65, and the fixing position between the bracket 65 and the housing 24 is between the cross member 101 and the inverter device 21 and located below the cross member 101.

[0065] With this configuration, when the inverter device 21 and the cross member 101 approach each other due to deformation of the vehicle body 10 during a vehicle collision, the fixed positions of the protector 60 and the bracket 65 can prevent the wire harness 35 from being pinched between the inverter device 21 and the cross member 101.

[0066] The above describes the embodiments of the present invention and their modifications. However, the above embodiments and modifications merely illustrate some of the application examples of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention to the specific configurations of the above embodiments.

Claims

1. A mounting structure for a wire harness in a vehicle including a drive unit that drives the vehicle and a battery unit that supplies power to the drive unit through a wire harness, the battery unit is disposed on a floor surface between front and rear wheels of the vehicle, the drive unit is disposed rearward of the battery unit on the vehicle and includes a drive motor that drives drive wheels, and an inverter device that converts electric power from the battery unit and supplies the converted power to the drive motor; The wire harness includes: One end of the inverter is connected to the inverter device via an inverter-side connector at a side portion of the inverter device from a first direction in the vehicle width direction, The other end is connected to the battery unit at a rear end portion of the battery unit through a battery side connector from a second direction opposite to the first direction. Wire harness mounting structure.

2. The mounting structure for a wire harness according to claim 1, The inverter-side connector is fixed to the inverter device by bolting the wire harness, The battery side connector is configured as a detachable one-touch connector. Wire harness mounting structure.

3. The mounting structure for the wire harness according to claim 2, A front drive unit including a front inverter device and a front wire harness that supplies power from the battery unit to the front inverter device are provided at a front side of the vehicle, The front wire harness has one end connected to the battery unit and the other end connected to the front inverter device from the second direction. Wire harness mounting structure.

4. The mounting structure for a wire harness according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The wire harness is provided with a protector near one end thereof for restricting swinging. Wire harness mounting structure.

5. The mounting structure for a wire harness according to claim 4, The drive unit is provided adjacent to a cross member that crosses an underfloor of the vehicle in a vehicle width direction and behind the cross member, The protector is fixed to a housing of the inverter device by a bracket, A fixing position between the bracket and the housing is between the cross member and the inverter device and is located below the cross member. Wire harness mounting structure.

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