Vehicle Drive Unit Housing Mounting for Sealing Rigidity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle drive units that use a bar-shaped support member to fasten a pair of cases to a vehicle body experience deformation under varying loads, leading to loss of sealing performance due to differing load sizes and directions.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle drive unit design where the first and second cases are integrally joined along a coupling plane, with mount members interposed between the housing and the vehicle frame, featuring attachment portions that straddle the coupling plane to ensure uniform force distribution and minimize relative displacement, enhancing rigidity and sealing performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a bar-shaped support member is used to fasten a pair of cases to a vehicle body, then the cases can be supported from the vehicle body, but the cases deform under varying loads and lose sealing performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the support functions for multiple cases into a single integrated mount member. Instead of separately fastening each case to the vehicle body, one mount member simultaneously supports both cases, ensuring they move together as a unified structure. This prevents relative displacement between cases and maintains sealing performance at coupling planes.
Solution Approach 2:
The mount member acts as an intermediary between the vehicle body and the cases. It absorbs and distributes external forces uniformly to both cases, preventing direct transmission of differential loads that would cause deformation. The mount member serves as a buffer that maintains the spatial relationship between cases under varying load conditions.
2Strength
If cases are fastened separately to the vehicle body, then each case can be independently supported, but differential loads cause relative displacement and sealing loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple support functions into a single mount member that simultaneously supports both cases. This unified support structure ensures that both cases experience identical force transmission paths, eliminating differential loads that would otherwise cause relative displacement and compromise sealing precision.
3Strength
If wall thickness is increased to prevent deformation, then case strength improves, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mount member serves as an intermediary that protects the cases from deformation-causing loads. By placing the mount member between the vehicle body and cases, it absorbs external forces and prevents them from directly acting on the case walls. This allows the cases to maintain minimal wall thickness while still achieving sufficient strength, as the mount member bears the mechanical stress.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle drive unit is supported by a vehicle frame of a vehicle. The vehicle drive unit includes a housing including a first case and a second case integrally joined together along a coupling plane to form a sealed space therein, a drive member accommodated in the sealed space to generate a travel driving force of the vehicle, and a mount member interposed between the housing and the vehicle frame to support the housing from the vehicle frame. The first case and the second case respectively include a first attachment portion and a second attachment portion to which the mount member is attached, and the first attachment portion and the second attachment portion are installed in a single region intersecting with the coupling plane.