Hybrid Vehicle Component Layout for Collision Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In hybrid vehicles, the arrangement of components such as the fuel tank, battery, and canister beneath the rear seat poses a risk of damage during collisions, and existing solutions like guide members for the spare tire are not always effective in protecting the fuel tank from rear impacts without additional components.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid vehicle design where a case housing an electrical component, including a battery module, is positioned between rear side frames with a canister placed further inside and forward, and a silencer and air filter are strategically located to absorb impact, along with a reinforcing frame and spare tire configuration to distribute and absorb collision forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If the battery and fuel tank are disposed underneath the floor of the luggage compartment to guarantee luggage capacity, then the luggage compartment capacity is improved, but the components become vulnerable to collision damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a guide member as an intermediary component between the spare tire and the fuel tank. This guide member redirects the movement path of the spare tire during rearward collision, preventing direct contact with the fuel tank while maintaining the compact arrangement of components underneath the luggage compartment floor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent positions the spare tire and battery in a predetermined arrangement where the spare tire is located to the rear of the battery. This pre-arranged configuration serves as a cushioning mechanism, where the spare tire absorbs initial impact force before it can reach the fuel tank, protecting critical components from collision damage.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a guide member is provided to guide the spare tire obliquely upward during rear collision, then the fuel tank is protected from damage, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide member is integrated into the existing structural framework of the vehicle, serving both as a structural support element and as a collision protection mechanism. This multi-functional design allows the fuel tank to be protected without adding separate, dedicated protection structures, thereby minimizing the increase in device complexity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the canister is disposed further inside than the outer end of the rear side frame and further forward than the rear end of the case, then the canister is protected from side and rear collision impact, but the spatial arrangement becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The canister is positioned in a three-dimensional space that utilizes the depth dimension of the vehicle body, disposed further inside than the outer end of the rear side frame and further forward than the rear end of the case. This spatial arrangement in multiple dimensions provides collision protection while efficiently utilizing the available space within the vehicle structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
A hybrid vehicle is provided in which a case (14) for housing an electrical component including at least a battery module is disposed underneath a floor of a luggage compartment interposed between left and right rear side frames (12) immediately to the rear of a fuel tank (42) disposed beneath a floor panel (41) of a hybrid vehicle, and a canister (48) is disposed on one of left and right sides of the case (14). Since the canister (48) is disposed further inside than the outer end of the rear side frame (12) in the left-and-right direction and further forward than the rear end of the case (14), when the vehicle is involved in a collision from the side the case (14) and the canister (48) can be protected by the rear side frame (12), and when the vehicle is involved in a collision from the rear the fuel tank (42) and the canister (48) can be protected by the case (14) while guaranteeing the capacity of a luggage compartment of a rear part of a vehicle body.