Battery support structure
First Claim
1. A structure for supporting a plurality of batteries in rows beneath a vehicle, comprising,a structural frame located beneath the vehicle and having a pair of side rails running longitudinally of the vehicle,a plurality of pairs of aligned I-type beams running generally transversely of the side rails, each beam of each aligned pair being cantilevered from a respective side rail and running approximately to the center of support structure,each cantilevered beam having a lower and an upper flange, the upper flanges of each parallel pair of cantilevered beams being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the width of the row of batteries supported therebetween with the lower flanges thereof being spaced apart a distance less than such width so as to underlie and support the lower edges of a row of batteries supported thereon, the upper flanges of the cantilevered beams being located between adjacent rows of batteries and means releasably mounting the frame to the vehicle.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A structure for supporting a plurality of rows of batteries includes a frame having side rails and cross members releasably supported beneath the vehicle. Aligned pairs of I-type beams are cantilevered from the side rails of the frame. The lower flanges of parallel aligned pairs of beams underlie and support a respective edge of a row of batteries placed therebetween with the top flanges of the beams located below the upper edges of the batteries. The top flanges of the beams are narrower than would be necessary for an equivalent simple beam, thus maximizing the number of batteries containable in the available space.
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Citations
3 Claims
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1. A structure for supporting a plurality of batteries in rows beneath a vehicle, comprising,
a structural frame located beneath the vehicle and having a pair of side rails running longitudinally of the vehicle, a plurality of pairs of aligned I-type beams running generally transversely of the side rails, each beam of each aligned pair being cantilevered from a respective side rail and running approximately to the center of support structure, each cantilevered beam having a lower and an upper flange, the upper flanges of each parallel pair of cantilevered beams being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the width of the row of batteries supported therebetween with the lower flanges thereof being spaced apart a distance less than such width so as to underlie and support the lower edges of a row of batteries supported thereon, the upper flanges of the cantilevered beams being located between adjacent rows of batteries and means releasably mounting the frame to the vehicle.
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2. A structure for supporting a plurality of batteries in rows beneath a vehicle, comprising,
a structural frame located beneath the vehicle and having a pair of longitudinal side rails, a plurality of generally parallel pairs of aligned I-type beams, each pair extending generally transversely of the side rails, means cantilevering each aligned pair of I-type beams from a respective side rail, each cantilevered beam having a lower and an upper flange, the upper flange being located beneath the tops of the rows of batteries and having a width narrow enough to allow for natural expansion and contraction of the batteries, the lower flanges of each parallel pair of cantilevered beams being wide enough to underlie and support the lower edges of a row of batteries, and means releasably mounting the frame to the vehicle.
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3. In combination with a vehicle, a structure for supporting a plurality of batteries in rows beneath the vehicle, comprising,
a structural frame adapted to be attached beneath the vehicle and having a pair of longitudinal side rails, a plurality of generally parallel pairs of aligned I-type beams running generally transversely to the side rails, each beam having a lower and an upper flange, means cantilevering each beam of each aligned pair from a respective side rail, the lower flanges of each parallel pair of beams being wide enough to underlie and support the lower edges of a row of batteries supported between the beams, and the upper flanges of such pair being located below the top edges of a row of supported batteries and spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the width of a row of batteries, means locating the structural frame beneath the vehicle, and means releasably mounting the structural frame to the vehicle.
Specification