JP4536384B2 - Fuel cell vehicle mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle mounting structure for a fuel cell.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a fuel cell vehicle in which a fuel cell is mounted as a driving power source and a traveling motor is driven by power generated by the fuel cell.
In such a fuel cell vehicle, a fuel cell vehicle is known in which a fuel cell is housed in a substantially box-shaped case, and the case is fastened and fixed to a vehicle body frame forming a vehicle body skeleton portion with a bolt or the like (for example, a patent) Reference 1).
JP 2003-291857 A

By the way, in the fuel cell vehicle according to the above prior art, it is desired to reduce the space required for mounting the fuel cell and to reduce the size of the fuel cell vehicle while ensuring the desired collision safety.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to reduce the space required for mounting the fuel cell and to reduce the size of the fuel cell vehicle while ensuring the desired collision safety. The purpose is to provide a structure.

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the fuel cell mounting structure of the present invention according to claim 1 includes a fixing member (the fuel cell box 140 of the embodiment) for fixing the fuel cell. the fixing member, the front and rear frames forming a vehicle body frame portion connected (the embodiment of the floor frame rear portion 105a, 106a and the floor frame front 105b, 106b) and substantially forming a part of the vehicle body frame portion A rectangular column-shaped skeleton part (the skeleton part 141 of the embodiment) is provided, and the joint part between the frame part and the skeleton part is formed in a stepped manner up and down and is surface-joined up and down, and inside the skeleton part , A hollow portion (hollow portion 142 in the embodiment) that is airtightly connected to the pipes in the front and rear frames is provided.

According to the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell having the above configuration, for example, a fixing member including a fuel cell box that houses the fuel cell, a support frame on which the fuel cell is mounted, and the like serves also as a vehicle body skeleton portion. The space required for mounting the fuel cell can be reduced while ensuring the safety of collision.
Moreover, by forming a hollow portion that is connected to the outside in an airtight manner inside the skeleton portion of the fixing member, this hollow portion can be used as a flow path for a reaction gas or a cooling medium of a fuel cell, such as a pipe It is possible to reduce the space required for the arrangement.

  The fuel cell mounting structure for a fuel cell of the present invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the hollow portion is connected to the fuel cell and is at least a flow path for a reaction gas or a cooling medium.

  According to the fuel cell mounting structure of the fuel cell configured as described above, the hollow portion of the skeleton of the fixing member can be used as a flow path for the reaction gas and the cooling medium of the fuel cell, thereby reducing the space required for arranging the piping and the like can do.

  Furthermore, in the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell according to the third aspect of the present invention, the hollow portion is connected to the fuel gas discharge portion and the oxidant gas discharge portion of the fuel cell, and is discharged from the fuel gas discharge portion. The fuel gas is diluted with an oxidant gas discharged from the oxidant gas discharge unit.

  According to the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell having the above configuration, the hollow portion of the skeleton portion of the fixing member can be used as a dilution box, and the space required for mounting the fuel cell system can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the fuel cell mounting structure for a fuel cell of the present invention as set forth in claim 4, the skeleton is formed by extrusion molding.

  According to the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell having the above configuration, desired airtightness can be easily ensured with respect to the hollow portion of the frame portion of the fixing member.

  Furthermore, in the vehicle mounting structure for a fuel cell according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the skeleton portion includes a wiring housing portion in which electric wiring is housed (also serving as the hollow portion 142 of the embodiment). .

  According to the fuel cell mounting structure of the fuel cell having the above configuration, the space required for arranging the electrical wiring can be reduced.

According to the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the space required for mounting the fuel cell while ensuring the desired collision safety, and further distribute the reaction gas and cooling medium of the fuel cell. Space required for arranging piping and the like can be reduced.
Furthermore, according to the fuel cell mounting structure of the fuel cell of the present invention described in claim 3, the hollow portion of the frame portion of the fixing member can be used as a dilution box, and the space required for mounting the fuel cell system is reduced. be able to.
Furthermore, according to the fuel cell vehicle mounting structure of the present invention as set forth in claim 4, desired airtightness can be easily ensured for the hollow portion of the skeleton portion of the fixing member.
Furthermore, according to the fuel cell mounting structure for a fuel cell of the present invention described in claim 5, it is possible to reduce the space required for arranging the electrical wiring.

Hereinafter, a vehicle mounting structure of a fuel cell according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the fuel cell system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a fuel cell 11, an air supply device 12, a humidifier 13, a hydrogen tank 14, a fuel supply control valve 15, and an ejector 16. A fuel pump 17, a dilution box 18, a purge valve 19, a current controller 20, and a central control unit (ECU) 21. The fuel cell system 10 includes a traveling motor 31, an output controller (PCU) 32, and a capacitor 33.

The fuel cell 11 sandwiches a solid polymer electrolyte membrane composed of a cation exchange membrane or the like between a fuel electrode (anode) composed of an anode catalyst and a gas diffusion layer and an oxygen electrode (cathode) composed of a cathode catalyst and a gas diffusion layer. The electrolyte electrode structure is formed by stacking a large number of fuel cell units sandwiched by a pair of separators, and the fuel cell stack is sandwiched from both sides in the stacking direction by a pair of end plates. Yes.
Air, which is an oxidant gas (reactive gas) containing oxygen, is supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell 11 from the air supply device (S / C) 12 and is appropriately humidified by the humidifier 13 and then introduced into the anode. The fuel gas (reactive gas) made of hydrogen is supplied from the high-pressure hydrogen tank 14 through the fuel supply control valve 15 and the ejector 16. The hydrogen ionized by the catalytic reaction on the anode catalyst of the anode moves to the cathode through the moderately humidified solid polymer electrolyte membrane, and the electrons generated by this movement are taken out to the external circuit and DC It is used as electrical energy. At this time, at the cathode, hydrogen ions, electrons and oxygen react to produce water.

The number of rotations of a motor (not shown) for driving an air supply device (S / C) 12 including an air compressor is based on a control command input from the ECU 21, for example, a PWM inverter by pulse width modulation (PWM) is provided. Controlled by the S / C controller 12 a, the S / C controller 12 a is connected in parallel to the current controller 20 and the capacitor 33.
The humidifier 13 is configured to include a water permeable membrane such as a hollow fiber membrane, for example, and the exhaust air discharged from the air discharge port 11b of the fuel cell 11 is used as a reaction gas from the air supply device (S / C) 12 to the air. It is used as a humidified gas for the air supplied to the supply port 11a. That is, when air and exhaust air are brought into contact with each other through the water permeable membrane, moisture (particularly, water vapor) contained in the exhaust air is supplied to the air as water vapor after passing through the membrane hole of the water permeable membrane.
Further, the exhaust air discharged from the humidifier 13 is introduced into a dilution box 18 described later.

Hydrogen as fuel for the fuel cell 11 is first supplied from the high-pressure hydrogen tank 14 to the fuel supply control valve 15.
The fuel supply control valve 15 is, for example, a pneumatic proportional pressure control valve, and hydrogen that has passed through the fuel supply control valve 15 is obtained by using the pressure of air supplied from the air supply device (S / C) 12 as a signal pressure. The pressure at the outlet of the fuel supply control valve 15 is set to be within a predetermined range corresponding to the signal pressure.
The hydrogen that has passed through the fuel supply control valve 15 flows through the ejector 16 and is supplied from the hydrogen supply port 11 c to the anode of the fuel cell 11.
Further, a part of the unreacted exhaust gas discharged from the hydrogen discharge port 11d of the fuel cell 11 is introduced into the ejector 16 through the hydrogen pump 17, and the hydrogen supplied from the hydrogen tank 14 and the fuel cell 11 The exhaust gas discharged from the fuel is mixed and supplied to the fuel cell 11 again.
The ejector 16 sucks a part of the exhaust gas from the fuel cell 11 that is made a secondary flow by the negative pressure generated in the vicinity of the high-speed hydrogen gas flow that circulates inside, and this exhaust gas is supplied from the hydrogen tank 14. The exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell 11 is circulated by being mixed with hydrogen and supplying the fuel cell 11 again.
Further, the exhaust gas discharged from the hydrogen discharge port 11d of the fuel cell 11 is introduced into the dilution box 18 through a discharge control valve 17a that is controlled to open and close by the ECU 21.
The dilution box 18 mixes the unreacted exhaust gas discharged simultaneously with the air discharged from the cathode when the water accumulated in the anode of the fuel cell 11 or the nitrogen mixed in the hydrogen is discharged to the outside. As a result, the hydrogen concentration is reduced to a predetermined concentration or less, and then discharged to the outside (in the atmosphere or the like) via the purge valve 19.

The generated current extracted from the fuel cell 11 is input to the current controller 20, and the current controller 20 is connected to a capacitor 33 that is an electric storage device, for example, an electric double layer capacitor or an electrolytic capacitor. .
The current controller 20 is configured to include, for example, a DC-DC chopper and the like, and controls the current value of the generated current extracted from the fuel cell 11 based on the current command value output from the ECU 21, that is, the power generation command for the fuel cell 11. To do.
The fuel cell 11 and the capacitor 33 control, via the current controller 20, an output controller 32 that controls the traveling motor 31 and a motor (not shown) that drives the air supply device (S / C) 12. It is connected in parallel to an electrical load such as the S / C controller 12a.

Hereinafter, a vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell system 10 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a rear floor 102 that is stepped and formed so as to rise rearward is joined to the rear edge of the front floor 101 that forms the vehicle body floor. A cross member 104 that forms a vehicle body skeleton is joined to the back side of the stepped portion 103 of the rear floor 102. To the lower surface of the front floor 101, floor frames 105 and 106 that form vehicle body skeleton portions are connected to the left and right along the vehicle length direction toward the outside.
Inside sills 107 and 108 are connected to the left and right edges of the front floor 101, and inside sill extensions 109 and 110 are provided at the rear ends of the inside sills 107 and 108. The inside sills 107 and 108 are members that are joined to an outside sill (not shown) to form a vehicle body skeleton.

Front brackets 111 and 112 are joined to the inner side surfaces of the respective inside tensions 109 and 110, respectively.
The front brackets 111 and 112 are joined to the lower surface of the rear floor 102 and are joined to the rear frames 113 and 114, which are members forming the vehicle body skeleton, and the lower surface of the cross member 104 and the floor frames 105 and 106. 114 are connected to the inside sills 107 and 108 and the floor frames 105 and 106 via front brackets 111 and 112, respectively.

Rear brackets 117 and 118 are attached to the lower surfaces of the rear end portions of the rear frames 113 and 114, respectively.
Here, two cross members 104A and 104B are joined between the left and right rear frames 113 and 114, and a bumper beam 121 is attached to each rear end, specifically, the rear brackets 117 and 118, respectively.

And the sub-frame 122 is being fixed to each color nut 115,116,119,120 provided in the front bracket 111,112 and the rear bracket 117,118 from the downward | lower direction with the volt | bolt 123,123,123,123.
As shown in FIG. 2, the sub-frame 122 is a member formed in a rectangular frame shape by left and right frame members 124 and 125 and front and rear frame members 126 and 127, and includes a cross beam 128 in the vehicle width direction. Two hydrogen tanks 14A and 14B as the hydrogen tank 14 are fastened and fixed by bands 131 and 132, respectively, in the space allocated by 128. A suspension unit 133 is attached to the subframe 122.
And the insertion part 134,135 of the volt | bolt 123 inserted in the said collar nut 115,116 is provided in the corner | angular part of the front end of the left and right frame members 124,125 and the both ends of the front frame member 126, and left and right Insertion portions 136 and 137 for bolts 123 to be inserted into the collar nuts 119 and 120 are provided at corners between the rear ends of the frame members 124 and 125 and both ends of the rear frame member 127.

  Bolts 123 are inserted into the respective insertion portions 134, 135, 136, and 137 of the subframe 122 configured as described above, and the bolts 123 are inserted into the front brackets 111 and 112 and the rear brackets 117 and 118 of the rear frames 113 and 114. The subframe 122 is fixed to the rear frames 113 and 114 by being inserted into the collar nuts 115, 116, 119, and 120 and fastened and fixed.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, the fuel cell 11 and the auxiliary unit of the fuel cell 11 (for example, the humidifier 13, ejector 16, fuel pump 17, dilution box 18, etc.) are housed and fixed inside. The box 140 is disposed below the front floor 101 so as to form part of the left and right floor frames 105 and 106. That is, floor frames 105 and 106 are divided into floor frame rear portions 105a and 106a and floor frame front portions 105b and 106b by cutting away the region where fuel cell box 140 is disposed.
The fuel cell box 140 includes a skeleton portion 141 that is joined to the floor frame rear portions 105a and 106a and the floor frame front portions 105b and 106b to form a part of the vehicle body skeleton portion.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, for example, the frame portion 141 of the fuel cell box 140 is formed into a substantially rectangular columnar appearance by, for example, extrusion molding. The frame portion 141 includes floor frame rear portions 105 a and 106 a and a floor. A plurality of (for example, four) hollow portions 142,..., 142 connected in an airtight manner are formed inside the frame front portions 105b and 106b.
At the ends of the skeleton 141 joined to the floor frame rear portions 105a and 106a and the floor frame front portions 105b and 106b, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, an upper end portion 141a having two hollow portions 142 and 142 therein, and Of the lower end portion 141b, a part of the upper end portion 141a is notched to form a notch portion 143.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the end portions of the floor frame rear portions 105a and 106a and the floor frame front portions 105b and 106b joined to the end portions of the frame portion 141 are formed at the end portions of the frame portion 141. Projections 145 and 146 projecting toward the notch 143 are formed.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the upper surface 141B of the lower end portion 141b exposed at the notch portion 143 formed at the end portion of the skeleton portion 141 of the fuel cell box 140 is the floor frame rear portions 105a and 106a and the floor. It is in surface contact with the lower surfaces 145A and 146A of the projecting portions 145 and 146 formed at the ends of the frame front portions 105b and 106b. The lower end portion 141b is provided with a through hole opened at the upper surface 141B, and the projecting portions 145 and 146 are provided with fastening holes opened at the lower surfaces 145A and 146A so as to face the through hole of the lower end portion 141b. By attaching a fastening member 147 such as a bolt to the fastening hole, the skeleton part 141 of the fuel cell box 140, the floor frame rear parts 105a and 106a, and the floor frame front parts 105b and 106b are fixed.

  Note that the interior of each of the floor frame rear portions 105a and 106a and the floor frame front portions 105b and 106b is connected to, for example, the hollow portions 142 and 142 of the upper end portion 141a of the skeleton portion 141. A wiring accommodating portion 151 that accommodates the electric wiring to be disposed is formed, and further, for example, is connected to the hollow portions 142 and 142 of the lower end portion 141b of the skeleton portion 141 in an airtight manner. A pipe 152 serving as a flow path for the reaction gas or cooling water of the circulating fuel cell 11 is formed.

As described above, according to the vehicle-mounted structure of the fuel cell according to the present embodiment, the skeleton part 141 of the fuel cell box 140 serves as a part of the floor frames 105 and 106 that form the vehicle body skeleton part. The space required for mounting the fuel cell 11 can be reduced while ensuring collision safety.
In addition, a hollow portion 142 that is connected to the outside in an airtight manner is formed inside the skeleton portion 141, and the hollow portion 142 is used as a flow path for the reaction gas and the cooling medium of the fuel cell 11, so The space required for the arrangement can be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the reaction gas of the fuel cell 11 is circulated through the hollow portions 142 and 142 of the lower end portion 141b of the skeleton portion 141. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the hollow portion 142 is diluted. It may function as the box 18. In this case, the hollow portion 142 is connected to the fuel gas discharge portion and the oxidant gas discharge portion of the fuel cell 11, for example, when discharging water accumulated in the anode of the fuel cell 11, nitrogen mixed in hydrogen, or the like to the outside. The hydrogen concentration of the unreacted exhaust gas discharged at the same time is mixed with the air discharged from the cathode to reduce the hydrogen concentration to a predetermined concentration or less.
In the above-described embodiment, the hollow portions 142,..., 142 are connected to the interiors of the floor frame rear portions 105a and 106a and the floor frame front portions 105b and 106b in an airtight manner. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, for each hollow part 142, 142 of the upper end part 141a of the skeleton part 141 in which the electrical wiring is arranged, an opening is made at the upper surface 141A of the upper end part 141a, and each hollow part You may provide the opening part 161 connected to 142,142. In this case, it is possible to prevent troublesome work when arranging the electric wiring in each of the hollow portions 142 and 142.

  In the above-described embodiment, the skeleton part 141 of the fuel cell box 140 is a part of the floor frames 105 and 106, but is not limited thereto, and is further joined to the floor frames 105 and 106. It may be a part of the cross member forming the vehicle body skeleton.

1 is a configuration diagram of a fuel cell system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part disassembled perspective view of the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell system shown in FIG. It is a principal part perspective view of the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell system shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part of the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell system shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from above in the vehicle vertical direction. It is the side view which looked at the principal part of the vehicle mounting structure of the fuel cell system shown in FIG. 1 along the vehicle width direction. It is a principal part perspective view of the frame | skeleton part of the fuel cell box shown in FIG. It is the sectional view on the AA line shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line B-B shown in FIG. 5. It is a principal part perspective view of the frame | skeleton part of the fuel cell box which concerns on the modification of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Fuel cell system 11 Fuel cell 105a, 106a Floor frame rear part (frame)
105b, 106b Floor frame front (frame)
140 Fuel cell box (fixing member)
141 frame part 142 hollow part (wiring accommodating part)

Claims (5)

A fixing member for fixing the fuel cell;
The fixing member includes a substantially rectangular column-shaped skeleton portion that is connected to the front and rear frames forming the vehicle skeleton portion and forms a part of the vehicle skeleton portion,
The joint portion between the frame portion and the skeleton portion is formed in a stepped manner up and down and is surface-joined up and down,
A fuel cell mounting structure for a fuel cell, characterized in that a hollow portion that is airtightly connected to piping in the front and rear frames is provided inside the skeleton portion. 2. The fuel cell mounting structure for a fuel cell according to claim 1, wherein the hollow portion is connected to the fuel cell and is at least a flow path for a reaction gas or a cooling medium. The hollow portion is connected to a fuel gas discharge portion and an oxidant gas discharge portion of the fuel cell,
The fuel cell vehicle mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the fuel gas discharged from the fuel gas discharge portion is diluted with an oxidant gas discharged from the oxidant gas discharge portion. The fuel cell vehicle mounting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the skeleton portion is formed by extrusion molding. The fuel frame mounting structure for a fuel cell according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the skeleton portion includes a wiring housing portion in which electrical wiring is housed.

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