Offset Battery Housing Layout for Work Vehicle Turning Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric work vehicles and tractors face limitations in battery storage capacity due to space constraints in their main housing, and they often lack separate battery housings to increase power storage capacity without compromising motive operation, such as wheel turning ability.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a vehicle with a main body, front and rear wheels, and two separate battery housings that overlap and are offset in the front-rear direction, allowing for increased battery storage space without affecting the vehicle's motive operation or wheel turning ability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a single housing includes all battery modules, then the structure is simplified, but the battery storage capacity is limited due to space constraints in the main housing
Solution Approach 1:
The battery housing is divided into a first housing and a second housing, each containing separate battery modules. This segmentation allows the battery system to exceed the storage capacity of a single housing while maintaining manageable structural complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The first housing and second housing are positioned to overlap with each other, with one housing partially nested within the spatial envelope of the other. This nesting arrangement maximizes the use of available space and enables increased battery capacity without proportionally increasing the overall vehicle footprint.
2Quantity of substance
If battery storage space is increased, then the power capacity is improved, but the space for wheel turning and motive operation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing battery capacity solely in the horizontal plane (which would encroach on wheel turning space), the patent utilizes vertical stacking and overlapping arrangements of the first and second housings. This dimensional transition allows capacity expansion without compromising the lateral space required for wheel articulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery system is segmented into multiple housings positioned at different locations, allowing the wheel assembly to access space between and around the housings for turning operations while the housings themselves provide the increased storage capacity.
Data Source
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AI summary
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a work vehicle includes a main body, at least one front wheel (41R,41L) supported by the main body, at least one rear wheel (42L) supported by the main body, a first housing (60) to house one or more first battery modules (61), and a second housing (70) to house one or more second battery modules (71). The first housing at least partially overlaps the second housing, and the first housing is offset from the second housing in a front-rear direction of the work vehicle.