BATTERY MOUNTING STRUCTURE OF ELECTROMOTIVE VEHICLE

• US 20110297469A1
• Filed: 05/26/2011
• Published: 12/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Inventors: USAMI, Ikuo, KITA, Hirokazu, NOMURA, Hiroyuki, SADAHIRA, Seiji
• Granted Patent: US 8,464,817 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 180/68.5
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 1/04 of the electric storage means for propulsion exchanging batteries for electric propulsion of vehicles B60L53/80; for auxiliary purposes only B60R16/04; supplying batteries to, or removing batteries from, vehicles B60S5/06
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2001/0438 Arrangement under the floor

Abstract

Plural battery modules mounted on a first mount portion of a battery unit which is positioned below a front floor portion are arranged in a vehicle longitudinal direction such that the longitudinal direction of each of the battery modules matches a vehicle width direction and the short side of a rectangular section of each of the battery modules extends in a vehicle vertical direction, and plural battery modules mounted on a second mount portion which is positioned below a rear floor portion are arranged in the vehicle width direction such that the longitudinal direction of each of the battery modules matches the vehicle longitudinal direction and the long side of the rectangular section of each of the battery modules extends in the vehicle vertical direction. Accordingly, the plural battery modules can be arranged efficiently.

Claims

1. A battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle floor comprising a front floor portion and a rear floor portion which is located above the front floor portion; and

a battery unit comprising plural battery modules and a battery mount portion on which the plural battery modules are mounted, each of the plural battery modules having substantially the same flat shape having a rectangular section along a longitudinal direction thereof, the battery unit being mounted below the vehicle floor,

wherein said battery mount portion of the battery unit comprises a first mount portion which is positioned below said front floor portion of the vehicle floor and a second mount portion which is continuous from the first mount portion and positioned below said rear floor portion of the vehicle floor, and

the battery modules mounted on the first mount portion are arranged at least in a vehicle longitudinal direction such that the longitudinal direction of each of the battery modules matches a vehicle width direction and the short side of said rectangular section of each of the battery modules extends in the vehicle vertical direction, and

the battery modules mounted on the second mount portion are arranged in the vehicle width direction such that the longitudinal direction of each of the battery modules matches the vehicle longitudinal direction and the long side of said rectangular section of each of the battery modules extends in the vehicle vertical direction.

2. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 1, wherein said first mount portion is supported at a pair of front floor frames fixed to a lower face of said front floor portion, and said second mount portion is supported at a pair of rear side frames fixed to a lower face of said rear floor portion, the distance between the pair of rear side frames being greater than that between the pair of front floor frames.

3. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 1, wherein said first mount portion has an electric-component installment portion to install an electric component, and the maximum height of the electric component installed at the electric-component installment portion of the first mount portion is located below an upper face of the battery modules mounted on the first mount portion.

4. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 3, wherein a rear seat is arranged on said rear floor portion, a rear portion of said front floor portion is located below the level of a front portion of the front floor portion, and said electric-component installment portion of the first mount portion is positioned below the rear portion of the front floor portion.

5. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 1, wherein said second mount portion includes a second support portion to support the plural battery modules, and said second support portion comprises:

a lower frame portion which includes a front portion to support lower portions of front end portions of the plural battery modules, a rear portion to support lower portions of rear end portions of the plural battery modules, and a pair of side portions to support lower portions of outside end portions of the two battery modules located on both side ends in the vehicle width direction;

an upper frame portion which supports upper portions of rear end portions of the plural battery modules;

a connection frame portion which connects said upper frame portion and a rear portion of said lower frame portion; and

a slant frame portion which connects an upper portion of said connection portion or said upper frame portion and a front portion of said lower frame portion.

6. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 5, wherein said first mount portion includes a first support portion to support the plural battery modules, which includes a frame portion with a front portion, a rear portion, and a pair of side portions,

a rear portion of said frame portion of the first support portion is connected to the front portion of said lower frame portion of the second support portion,

the distance between the both side portions of said frame portion of the first support portion is smaller than that between the both side portions of said lower frame portion of the second support portion,

said slant frame portion of the second support portion is comprised of plural portions which are arranged in the vehicle width direction with specified distances from each other, two of which are located at the same positions as the both side ends of said frame portion of the first support portion in the vehicle width direction.

7. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 5, wherein said second support portion further comprises a middle frame portion which connects the front portion and the rear portion of said lower frame portion at the same position as said slant portion in the vehicle width direction, and the slant portion is formed integrally with said middle frame portion which is positioned at the same position as the slant frame portion in the vehicle width direction.

8. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 1, wherein each of said battery modules has a discharge port to discharge gas generating in the battery module to the outside, and part of said first and second mount portions is comprised of a hollow frame member, which has an inlet port to guide the gas discharged from said discharge port of the battery module thereinto and an outlet port to exhaust the gas guided thereinto through the inlet port to the outside of said battery unit.

9. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 8, wherein said battery unit has an electric-component installment portion to install an electric component, said plural battery modules are arranged such that said electric-component installment portion is located between the battery modules in a plan view, said first and second mount portions respectively comprise first and second support portions to support the battery modules which are arranged away from each other, the first and second support portions are connected to each other such that the insides thereof connects to each other, and said outlet port is formed at either the first support portion or the second support portion to be common to the both.

10. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 8, wherein said first mount portion includes a frame portion which has a continuously-connected inside over an entire periphery thereof, and said outlet port is located at another frame portion which constitutes part of said second mount portion.

11. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 8, wherein each of said battery modules comprises a module body, an exhaust port which is provided at the module body to exhaust the gas generating in the module body to the outside of the module body, and a gas guide member which is provided at an outside face of the module body, has said discharge port, and guides the gas exhausted from said exhaust port to the discharge port,

each of said module bodies of the plural battery modules has the same shape in which said gas guide member is provided at the same face,

the plural battery modules are included in either one of first and second battery module groups in which manners of arrangement of the battery modules are different from each other,

each of the gas guide members of the battery modules of the first and second battery module groups has substantially the same shape except said discharge port and the vicinity of the discharge port,

the discharge port of each of the gas guide members of the battery modules of the first and second battery module groups is formed at a specified portion so as to correspond to the manners of arrangement of the battery modules, and

said inlet port is formed at a position facing said discharge port such that the inlet port connects to the discharge port.

12. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 8, wherein part of an outside face of a frame member which constitutes part of said first and second mount portions is exposed to the outside air.

13. The battery mounting structure of an electromotive vehicle of claim 8, wherein said battery unit comprises a cooling structure in which the outside air is taken in inside the battery unit and discharges the taken-in outside air to the outside through a space between the battery modules and a cover member enclosing the battery modules.