JP7616043B2 - vehicle - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle that has a battery inside the vehicle cabin as a power source for the vehicle.

For example, electric vehicles require large-capacity batteries to drive the motor, and so these batteries are typically installed under the vehicle floor. In this case, taking into consideration the vehicle's crash safety, the only place where the batteries can be safely installed is within the area surrounded by the vehicle's underfloor framework. For this reason, it may not be possible to install all of the necessary batteries under the vehicle floor. In this case, some of the batteries may be installed inside the passenger compartment.

A technology for installing a battery inside a vehicle cabin is described in Patent Document 1. In the vehicle 100 described in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 7, a battery 105 is installed in a predetermined position in the trunk 103 behind the rear seat 102.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-252467

However, as mentioned above, in a structure in which the battery 105 is fixed and installed at a predetermined position in the trunk room 103, the battery 105 reduces the utilization efficiency of the luggage storage space in the trunk room 103.

The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and the problem that the present invention aims to solve is to improve the utilization efficiency of luggage storage space in the vehicle cabin when a battery is placed inside the vehicle cabin.

The above problems are solved by each invention. The first invention is a vehicle equipped with a battery, which is a vehicle power source, inside the passenger compartment, and the battery is stored inside a wall-like member inside the passenger compartment, and the wall-like member is configured to be able to rotate vertically between an upright position and a reclined position along the floor surface of the passenger compartment, or to rotate horizontally between the upright position and a stored position along the side wall of the passenger compartment. Here, the passenger compartment includes a luggage compartment such as a trunk room in addition to a luggage compartment that is integrated with the space in which the occupants ride.

According to the present invention, the wall-shaped member that houses the battery is configured to be rotatable up and down between an upright position and a collapsed position along the floor of the vehicle compartment, or to be rotatable horizontally between a predetermined position in the vehicle compartment and a storage position along the side wall. Therefore, when loading luggage into the vehicle compartment, the wall-shaped member can be rotated up and down between the upright position and the collapsed position, or rotated horizontally between a predetermined position and a storage position, depending on the size of the luggage. In other words, when loading long luggage or the like into the vehicle compartment, the wall-shaped member can be rotated to a position where it does not get in the way, thereby securing the length of the space in the vehicle compartment. As a result, the efficiency of utilization of the luggage storage space in the vehicle compartment is improved.

When the wall member of the first invention is in the upright position, it functions as a separator that separates the driver's cab and the trunk, which form the vehicle interior. Therefore, the wall member that houses the battery does not get in the way when luggage is loaded into the trunk.

According to the second invention, a support mechanism is provided that supports the wall-shaped member so that it can rotate up and down between an upright position and a lying-down position, and the support mechanism is provided with a locking mechanism that holds the wall-shaped member in the upright position or the lying-down position, and an unlocking mechanism that releases the locked state of the locking mechanism.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the wall member is in the lowered position, a storage space for luggage is formed between the wall member and the floor of the vehicle compartment, so that even long luggage that could not be loaded when the wall member is in the upright position can be loaded.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the wall member is in the laid-down position, it is possible to place luggage on the wall member.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle equipped with a battery as a vehicle power source within a vehicle compartment, the battery being stored inside a wall-shaped member within the vehicle compartment, the wall-shaped member being configured to be rotatable up and down between an upright position and a laid-down position along a floor surface of the vehicle compartment, or to be rotatable horizontally between the upright position and a stored position along a side wall of the vehicle compartment. Further, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a support mechanism for supporting the wall-shaped member so that it can be rotatable up and down between the upright position and the laid-down position, the support mechanism being provided with a lock mechanism for holding the wall-shaped member in the upright position or the laid-down position, and an unlock mechanism for releasing the locked state of the lock mechanism.

The present invention can improve the efficiency of the luggage storage space inside the vehicle cabin when a battery is placed inside the vehicle cabin.

1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention (with a wall-like member in an upright position). FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the vehicle (with the wall-shaped member in a laid-down position). FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a wall-like member in an upright state (separator state). FIG. 4 is a side view showing the wall-like member in an upright state (separator state). FIG. 4 is a side view showing a fallen state of the wall-shaped member. FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a modified example of the wall-shaped member. FIG. 11 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a conventional vehicle.

[Embodiment 1]
A vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 6. The vehicle according to the present embodiment is, for example, a one-box type electric vehicle. Here, front, rear, left, right, top, bottom, and bottom shown in the drawings correspond to front, rear, left, right, top, and bottom of the vehicle.

<Overview of vehicle 10>
1 and 2, the vehicle 10 includes a driver's cab P in the front where a front row of seats 11 (driver's seat and passenger seat) are provided, and a luggage compartment N behind the driver's cab P. The driver's cab P and the luggage compartment N are separated by a partition board 13. A floor surface 15f of the driver's cab P where the front row of seats 11 are provided is set higher than the horizontal floor surface 15b of the luggage compartment N by a certain dimension, and a step 15d is formed between the floor surface 15f of the driver's cab P and the floor surface 15b of the luggage compartment N.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, an underfloor battery unit 20 is installed under the floor of the vehicle 10 between the front wheels 12f and the rear wheels 12b within an area surrounded by an underfloor framework (not shown). In addition, a wall-like member 30 that can be used as a separator between the driver's cab P and the luggage compartment N together with the partition board 13 is installed in the luggage compartment N. An interior battery unit 24 is stored inside the wall-like member 30.

As shown in FIG. 1 etc., the underfloor battery unit 20 is equipped with a first battery 21, a second battery 22, and a third battery 23, and these batteries 21, 22, and 23 are connected in series to be used as a power source for driving an electric motor (not shown) for driving the vehicle. The indoor battery unit 24 is used as a power source for a control device that controls the electric motor etc., instruments, lighting, air conditioning, a freezer in the luggage compartment N, etc.

<Regarding the wall-shaped member 30 that houses the indoor battery unit 24>
As shown in Fig. 3, the wall member 30 includes a wall member main body 32 and a support mechanism 35 that supports the wall member main body 32 in a state in which the wall member main body 32 can rotate up and down on the floor surface 15b of the luggage compartment N. A lock mechanism 40 that prohibits the wall member main body 32 from rotating up and down at a predetermined position is provided at the connection portion between the wall member main body 32 and the support mechanism 35. That is, the lock mechanism 40 is configured to prohibit rotation between an upright position in which the wall member main body 32 serves as a separator as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and a laid-down position in which the wall member main body 32 is parallel to the floor surface 15b as shown in Fig. 5, and to hold the wall member main body 32 in that position. The lock mechanism 40 is provided with an unlock mechanism (not shown) for releasing the locked state.

<Regarding the Wall-Shaped Member Main Body 32>
The wall-shaped member main body 32 is formed in a shallow rectangular box shape with a size that can separate the driver's cab P and the luggage compartment N, and the inside of the box is a space that can accommodate the indoor battery unit 24. The thickness of the wall-shaped member main body 32 is set to about 200 mm. A handle 32h is provided on the free rotation end side (upper end in FIG. 3) of the wall-shaped member main body 32, which is used when rotating the wall-shaped member main body 32 up and down. In addition, a window 32w is formed near the free rotation end side of the wall-shaped member main body 32 so that the driver can check the rear when the wall-shaped member main body 32 is held in the upright position. The wall-shaped member main body 32 is generally formed from an aluminum plate or a steel plate, but a plastic plate or the like can also be used.

<Regarding the Support Mechanism 35>
3, the support mechanism 35 includes a rotation center shaft 35j that passes parallel to the floor surface 15b on the rotation center side of the wall-shaped member main body 32, and left and right bearing brackets 35x that support the rotation center shaft 35j on both the left and right sides of the wall-shaped member main body 32. The left and right bearing brackets 35x are bolted to the floor surface 15b of the luggage compartment N via fixing flanges 35f.

The height position of the rotation center axis 35j is set so that when the wall member main body 32 is in the collapsed position, the lower surface of the wall member main body 32 is at a height position substantially equal to the floor surface 15f of the cab P, as shown in FIG. 5. Therefore, when the wall member main body 32 is in the collapsed position, the entire space behind the step 15d below the wall member main body 32 can be used as luggage storage space. In addition, the positions of the fixing flanges 35f of the left and right bearing brackets 35x are set so that the edge (the lower edge in FIG. 4) on the rotation center side of the wall member main body 32 does not interfere with the step 15d when the wall member main body 32 rotates from the upright position to the collapsed position.

The lock mechanism 40 described above is provided between the rotation center shaft 35j and the bearing bracket 35x of the support mechanism 35. As the lock mechanism 40, for example, an engagement structure between a hook provided on the bearing bracket 35x side and a ratchet gear provided on the rotation center shaft 35j side is preferably used.

<Regarding the indoor battery unit 24>
As described above, the indoor battery unit 24 is a battery used as a power source for the control device, meters, lighting, air conditioning, and freezer in the luggage compartment N of the vehicle 10. The indoor battery unit 24 is stored in the space formed between the window portion 32w of the wall-shaped member main body 32 and the rotation center shaft 35j, for example, via a cushioning material such as urethane. In addition, a power cable (not shown) of the indoor battery unit 24 is routed along the bearing bracket 35x of the support mechanism 35 to the position of the underfloor battery unit 20.

<Advantages of Providing the Indoor Battery Unit 24>
If the underfloor battery unit 20 were to drive all of the electric motor (not shown) for driving the vehicle, the control device, the instruments, the lighting, the air conditioning, and the freezer in the luggage compartment N, for example, problems such as the vehicle 10's driving distance being shortened depending on the usage of the freezer, etc., may occur. In order to improve this, the underfloor battery unit 20 and the indoor battery unit 24 are provided, and the underfloor battery unit 20 drives the electric motor (not shown) required for vehicle driving, and the indoor battery unit 24 drives the control device, the instruments, the lighting, the freezer, etc. This makes it possible to ensure the required driving distance even if the usage of the freezer, etc., changes. If there is space to store the indoor battery unit 24 under the floor of the vehicle 10, the battery unit 24 may be installed under the floor.

<Handling of the wall member 30 that houses the indoor battery unit 24>
When loading normal box-shaped luggage Rs (see FIG. 2) that is not a long item in the luggage compartment N of the vehicle 10, as shown in FIG. 1 etc., the wall-shaped member main body 32 of the wall-shaped member 30 is rotated to the upright position and locked, and used as a separator between the driver's cab P and the luggage compartment N. In this state, the wall-shaped member main body 32 as a separator does not hinder the loading of luggage Rs into the luggage compartment N.

However, when the wall-shaped member main body 32 of the wall-shaped member 30 is used as a separator, as shown in FIG. 4, when loading a long cargo Ry, such as a pipe or a rolled up carpet, the tip of the cargo Ry may come into contact with the lower end of the wall-shaped member main body 32, making it impossible to load. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 5, the wall-shaped member main body 32 of the wall-shaped member 30 is rotated downward to a lying position and locked, forming a cargo storage space below the wall-shaped member main body 32. This prevents the lower end of the wall-shaped member main body 32 from interfering with the tip of the long cargo Ry, making it possible to insert the long cargo Ry into the cargo storage space below the wall-shaped member main body 32 (see FIG. 2).

<Correspondence between terms in this embodiment and terms in the present invention>
The driver's cab P and the luggage compartment N in this embodiment correspond to the vehicle compartment in the present invention. The interior battery unit 24 in this embodiment corresponds to the battery in the present invention, and the wall-shaped member main body 32 of the wall-shaped member 30 corresponds to the wall-shaped member in the present invention.

Advantages of the vehicle 10 according to this embodiment
According to the vehicle 10 of this embodiment, the wall-shaped member main body 32 (wall-shaped member) that houses the indoor battery unit 24 (battery) is configured to be rotatable up and down between an upright position and a lying position along the floor surface 15b of the luggage compartment N (vehicle interior). Therefore, when luggage Rs, Ry is loaded in the luggage compartment N, the wall-shaped member main body 32 can be rotated up and down between the upright position and the lying position depending on the type of luggage Rs, Ry. That is, when loading a long luggage Ry in the luggage compartment N, it is possible to secure a length space by rotating the wall-shaped member main body 32 (wall-shaped member) to a position where it does not get in the way. As a result, the utilization efficiency of the luggage storage space in the luggage compartment N is improved.

In addition, when the wall-shaped member main body 32 (wall-shaped member) is in the upright position, it functions as a separator that separates the driver's cab P from the luggage compartment N. Therefore, the wall-shaped member main body 32 that houses the indoor battery unit 24 does not get in the way when loading normal box-shaped luggage Rs. Furthermore, when the wall-shaped member main body 32 (wall-shaped member) is in the laid-down position, a storage space for luggage Ry is formed between the wall-shaped member main body 32 and the floor surface 15b of the luggage compartment N (vehicle interior). Therefore, it becomes possible to load long luggage Ry that could not be loaded when the wall-shaped member main body 32 was in the upright position.

<Example of change>
Here, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the wall-shaped member main body 32 of the wall-shaped member 30 that houses the indoor battery unit 24 is configured to be vertically rotatable between an upright position and a lying position. However, as shown in FIG. 6, it is also possible to configure the wall-shaped member main body parts 32x and 32y of the wall-shaped member 30h to be horizontally rotatable like a door. That is, it is also possible to configure the right wall-shaped member main body part 32y and the left wall-shaped member main body part 32x that house the indoor battery unit 24 to be rotated around the right rotation central axis and the left rotation central axis, respectively. This makes it possible to use the left and right wall-shaped member main body parts 32x and 32y as separators, or to store them in a storage position along the side wall of the vehicle.

In addition, in this embodiment, the vehicle 10 having the step 15d between the floor surface 15f of the driver's cab P and the floor surface 15b of the luggage compartment N is exemplified. However, the present invention can also be applied to a vehicle in which the floor surface 15f of the driver's cab P and the floor surface 15b of the luggage compartment N are continuous. In addition, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, an example is shown in which the support mechanism 35 is composed of a rotation center shaft 35j and left and right bearing brackets 35x that support the rotation center shaft 35j. However, it is also possible to configure the support mechanism 35 to be composed of left and right four-joint link mechanisms, and to support the wall-shaped member main body 32 so that it can rotate up and down between the upright position and the collapsed position by the four-joint link mechanism. It is also possible to configure the support mechanism 35 to have a spring material that applies a pushing force when the wall-shaped member main body 32 rotates upward to the upright position.

In addition, in this embodiment, an example is shown in which the wall-shaped member main body 32 is manually rotated between the upright position and the laid-down position, but it is also possible to use the rotational force of an electric motor to rotate the wall-shaped member main body 32 up and down.

P: Driver's cab (car compartment)
N: luggage compartment (car compartment)
15b. Floor surface (floor surface of the vehicle compartment)
20: Underfloor battery unit 24: Indoor battery unit (battery)
30: Wall-shaped member 32: Wall-shaped member main body (wall-shaped member)
35: Support mechanism 40: Lock mechanism Rs: Baggage Ry: Baggage

Claims (5)

A vehicle equipped with a battery as a vehicle power source in a vehicle cabin,
The battery is housed inside a wall member in the vehicle interior,
the wall-like member is configured to be vertically rotatable between an upright position and a laid-down position along a floor surface of the vehicle compartment, or to be horizontally rotatable between the upright position and a stored position along a side wall of the vehicle compartment ,
The wall-like member functions as a separator separating a driver's cab and a luggage compartment that constitute the passenger compartment when in the upright position . 2. A vehicle according to claim 1,
a support mechanism that supports the wall-like member so as to be vertically rotatable between the upright position and the laid-down position,
The support mechanism is provided with a locking mechanism that holds the wall-like member in the upright position or the laid-down position, and an unlocking mechanism that releases the locked state of the locking mechanism . A vehicle according to claim 2 ,
When the wall member is in the laid-down position, a storage space for luggage is formed between the wall member and the floor surface of the vehicle compartment . A vehicle according to claim 2 or 3,
The vehicle is capable of placing luggage on the wall member when the wall member is in the laid-down position . A vehicle equipped with a battery as a vehicle power source in a vehicle cabin,
The battery is housed inside a wall member in the vehicle interior,
the wall-like member is configured to be vertically rotatable between an upright position and a laid-down position along a floor surface of the vehicle compartment, or to be horizontally rotatable between the upright position and a stored position along a side wall of the vehicle compartment,
a support mechanism that supports the wall-like member so as to be vertically rotatable between the upright position and the laid-down position,
The support mechanism is provided with a locking mechanism that holds the wall-like member in the upright position or the laid-down position, and an unlocking mechanism that releases the locked state of the locking mechanism .

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