JP7201558B2 - Fuel cell mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

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

A vehicle that runs using a fuel cell runs by driving a running motor using electric power from a fuel cell stack (hereinafter referred to as an FC stack) in which fuel cells are stacked. For this reason, the vehicle is equipped with an FC stack as an energy generation source.

Here, there is a demand to reduce the load applied to the FC stack at the time of vehicle collision. Patent Document 1 discloses a structure for attaching an FC stack to a front suspension member at the front of a vehicle, in which the FC stack is released from the suspension member at the time of a collision to reduce the load on the FC stack.

In Patent Document 1, the FC stack is supported from the front by a pair of anti-vibration members. The pair of anti-vibration members are attached to the suspension member by front and rear coupling portions arranged in the front-rear direction at their lower portions. A fragile portion is provided in either one of the front joint portion and the rear joint portion, and when the fragile portion breaks at the time of a collision, one of the joint portions is detached from the suspension member, and the other joint portion is used as an axis for the vibration isolation member. rotates to allow movement of the FC stack and reduce the load.

JP 2018-103783 A

Here, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, since the movement of the FC stack is allowed, the collision energy cannot be absorbed so much, and there is room for improvement from the viewpoint of energy absorption.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to increase the amount of transfer energy absorbed by an FC stack at the time of a collision and to effectively reduce the load on the FC stack at the time of a collision.

The present invention provides a fuel cell mounting structure for mounting a fuel cell on a vehicle, comprising a front leg portion having a lower portion fixed to a vehicle-side member and an upper portion connected to the fuel cell via a mount member, the front leg portion. extends upward and rearward from the lower part, and at least the front end thereof is inclined rearward; and the inclined part extends upward from the upper end and is fixed to the front side of the fuel cell. an upper fixing portion, an inclined portion, and a bent portion that is positioned between the upper fixing portion and recessed toward the rear, and the upper end of the upper fixing portion is scooped out on the rear side to form a concave portion; The mounting material is fixed to this concave portion .

The upper fixing portion preferably includes a cylindrical mount member whose axial direction is the left-right direction.

The mounting material may be fixed to the fuel cell.

The mounting material may include a cushioning material made of an elastic material.

According to the present invention, the fixing member has the bent portion, and the upper portion of the fixing member deforms starting from the bent portion when the fuel cell moves forward. As a result, the fuel cell can be moved forward while absorbing the energy of the forward movement of the fuel cell.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing a mounting structure of a fuel cell in a vehicle; FIG. 4 is a view showing the configuration of the front fixing member 40, the center is a front view, the left is a cross-sectional view along AA, the right is a right side view, and the top is a plan view. 4 is a view for explaining the connecting portion between the front leg portion 52 of the front fixing member 40 and the mount attachment portion 24 of the stack frame 22. FIG. It is the figure which looked at the state which mounted FC stack 10 from the vehicle width direction left. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing movement of the front leg portion 52 of the front fixing member 40 at the time of collision;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. It should be noted that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In each figure, the arrow UP indicates the upward direction of the vehicle body, the arrow FR indicates the forward direction of the vehicle body, the arrow RH indicates the right direction of the vehicle body, and the arrow LH indicates the left direction of the vehicle body.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the mounting structure of a fuel cell in a vehicle 100 (the lower part of the front part of the vehicle). Here, the vehicle 100 is equipped with a hydrogen cylinder, supplies hydrogen gas from the cylinder and oxygen in the air to the fuel cell 10, and the fuel cell 10 generates electric power. The power generated by the fuel cell 10 is stored in the battery, and the drive motor is driven by the power from the battery to run.

The fuel cell 10 includes an FC stack in which fuel cells are stacked, a pump for supplying hydrogen gas and air to the FC stack, devices for controlling these, and the like. 10.

In this example, the FC stack 10 is arranged in a power unit room (a room corresponding to the engine room of an engine vehicle) 12 which is a space under the front hood in the front part of the vehicle. A suspension member 14 for supporting the left and right wheels is arranged as a vehicle-side member at the bottom of the power unit chamber 12 .

The suspension member 14 has a pair of side rails 16 extending in the longitudinal direction on both sides of the vehicle, and a pair of cross members 18 extending in the vehicle width direction connecting front ends and rear ends of the pair of side rails 16, respectively. It is a vehicle-side frame member having a rectangular frame shape as a whole. Left and right front wheels are attached to the lower sides of left and right side rails 16 extending in the front-rear direction via suspensions.

The FC stack 10 is mounted above the suspension member 14 via a stack frame 22 (indicated by sand in the figure). In this example, the stack frame 22 has a rectangular plate shape slightly larger than the FC stack 10 in plan view, and the bottom of the FC stack 10 is fixed to the stack frame 22 by bolting or the like. Further, the stack frame 22 is provided with mount attachment portions 24 for attaching the stack frame 22 and the front fixing member 40 to the left and right front ends. The mount attachment 24 extends inside the front fixing member 40 for bolting the front fixing member 40 thereto. Note that the stack frame 22 does not have to be plate-shaped as long as it can support the FC stack 10 from below and fix the FC stack 10 .

The front of the stack frame 22 is fixed to the side rail 16 of the suspension member 14 via the mount attachment portion 24 and the front fixing member 40 . Note that the front fixing member 40 constitutes a fixing member for the FC stack 10 .

Both sides of the middle portion (slightly rearward) of the stack frame 22 in the front-rear direction are fixed to the left and right side rails 16 of the suspension member 14 via a pair of rear fixing members 42 positioned below.

A bumper reinforcement 30 is provided in front of and above the cross member 18 on the front side of the vehicle, and a bumper is attached in front of the bumper reinforcement 30 . A crash box 32 attached to the front end of the stack frame 22 is positioned behind the bumper reinforcement 30, and absorbs forward movement energy of the FC stack 10 by crashing at the time of collision.

The side rails 16 are frame members of the vehicle, and are fixed to front side members extending in the front-rear direction on both sides of the vehicle.

"Front fixing member (fixing member)"
2A and 2B are diagrams showing the configuration of the front fixing member 40. The center is a front view, the left is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA, the right is a right side view, and the top is a plan view.

First, the bottom part of the front fixing member 40 is provided with a plate-like lower metal fitting 50 having a rectangular shape as a whole. The lower metal fitting 50 extends in the front-rear direction and has a raised intermediate portion. The front securing member 40 has front legs 52 and rear legs 54 . Both of the front leg portion 52 and the rear leg portion 54 are made by bending a plate material into a hollow square cylinder as a whole, and the lower ends thereof are welded to the front flat portion and the rear flat portion of the lower metal fitting 50 . etc. is fixed. Also, the lower metal fitting 50 is fixed to the suspension member 14 with a bolt or the like.

The front leg portion 52 extends rearward and upward from the lower end portion. At the intermediate portion, the direction of extension changes upward, and as a whole, when viewed from the front, it has a dogleg shape that is recessed toward the rear, and the front end face also has a dogleg shape. The front leg portion 52 has an inclined portion 52a at its lower portion extending obliquely upward, an upper fixing portion 52b at its upper portion, and a bent portion 52c at the boundary between the two.

The upper fixing portion 52b has an arcuate rear side of the upper end to which the mount member 56 is fixed. The mount member 56 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and the center axis thereof is oriented in the vehicle width direction. A cylindrical inner metal fitting 56b having a metal through-hole 56a formed in the center, a doughnut-shaped bush 56c made of an elastic material such as rubber on the outer side, and a metal outer ring 56d surrounding the outer side. are placed. The bushing 56c is provided with a pair of openings 56e elongated in the front-rear direction and separated above and below the inner metal fitting 56b to ensure the amount of deformation of the bushing 56c. When viewed in the vehicle width direction, the inner metal fitting 56b is larger than the outer ring 56d, so the bush 56c is thicker on the inner side.

The rear leg portion 54 extends upward from the lower end portion, and the upper portion widens forward. The rear leg portion 54 has a straight portion 54a at its lower portion and an upper fixing portion 54b at its upper portion. That is, the lower and rear portions of the cylindrical mount member 56 are fixed to the front fixing member 40 . As a result, the lower front side of the mount member 56 is supported by the upper end of the front leg portion 52 , and a portion (lower side) of the lower rear side is supported by the upper end of the rear leg portion 54 . The upper ends of the front leg portion 52 and the rear leg portion 54 and the outer peripheral ring 56d of the mount member 56 are fixed by welding or the like.

In addition, a connecting member 58 that is horizontally elongated in the front-rear direction is provided at an intermediate portion in the vertical direction on the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the front leg portion 52 and the rear leg portion 54 to connect the two.

3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating the connecting portion between the front leg portion 52 of the front fixing member 40 and the mount attachment portion 24 of the stack frame 22. FIG. In this way, the bolt 60 is inserted through the bolt hole 56a, the tip of the bolt 60 penetrates the mount attachment portion 24, and a nut 62 is screwed thereon to join them together. The shaft of the bolt 60 passes through a bolt hole 56a provided in the inner metal fitting 56b and is supported by the inner metal fitting 56b. Therefore, the bushing 56c functions as a cushioning material for absorbing vibrations of the FC stack 10. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view of the state where the FC stack 10 is mounted on the suspension member 14 as seen from the left in the vehicle width direction. A power control unit 26 for controlling the operation of the FC stack 10 is mounted above the FC stack 10 . Since the side rails 16 of the suspension members 14 are lowered on the rear side and the stack frame 22 is positioned substantially horizontally, the rear fixing member 42 has a large length in the vertical direction. The rear fixing member 42 has a lower end fixed to the suspension member 14 and an upper end fixed to the stack frame 22 . These may be fixed by bolting, welding, or the like. In the rear fixing member 42 as well, vibration absorption may be achieved by interposing an elastic material such as rubber in the portion fixed to the stack frame 22 .

"On Collision"
FIG. 5 shows the movement of the front leg portion 52 of the front fixing member 40 at the time of collision. Due to the frontal collision of the vehicle, the mounted objects including the FC stack 10 move forward, and forward force is applied to the mount member 56 as indicated by the arrow in (a). As a result, the mount member 56 moves forward, and a forward force is applied to the upper fixing portion 52b of the front leg portion 52 to deform it. Here, the front leg portion 52 has a bent portion 52c, and is structured to be easily bent at this portion. Therefore, as shown in (b), the upper fixed portion 52b bends forward with the bent portion 52c as a fulcrum. When the applied load is large, such as at the time of a collision, the upper fixing portion 52b is further deformed as shown in (c), and the FC stack 10 moves forward together with the mounting member 56 or over the mounting member 56. move to A crash box 32 is positioned in front, and the FC stack 10 collides with the crash box 32 when the impact is large. Note that the mount attachment portion 24 is also deformed or broken, and the FC stack 10 moves forward.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the front leg 52 has a dogleg shape that is recessed rearward and has a bent portion 52c. Therefore, the front leg portion 52 is deformed with the bent portion 52c as a fulcrum, and a part of the forward movement energy of the FC stack 10 is absorbed. While partially suppressing the movement of the FC stack 10, its forward movement can be guided.

The rear fixing member 42 absorbs part of the forward movement energy of the FC stack 10 by breaking the main body.

Here, there are various modes of collision, and movements of the FC stack 10 are not always the same. However, in the case of a frontal collision, the vehicle stops with a large acceleration, so that the FC stack 10 undergoes a large forward acceleration relative to the frame of the vehicle. According to this embodiment, the front legs 52 are deformed using the bent portions, thereby increasing the amount of energy absorbed by the movement of the FC stack 10 and effectively reducing the load on the FC stack 10 at the time of collision. can be done.

10 fuel cell (FC stack), 12 power unit chamber, 14 suspension member, 16 side rail, 18 cross member, 22 stack frame, 24 mount attachment part, 26 power control unit, 30 bumper reinforcement, 32 crash box, 40 front fixing Member 42 Rear fixing member 50 Lower metal fitting 52 Front leg 52a Inclined portion 52b Upper fixing portion 52c Bending portion 54 Rear leg 54a Straight portion 54b Upper fixing portion 54c Bush 56 Mounting member 56a Bolt hole, 56b inner fitting, 56c bush, 56d outer ring, 56e opening, 58 connecting member, 60 bolt, 62 nut, 100 vehicle.

Claims (2)

A fuel cell mounting structure for mounting a fuel cell on a vehicle,
including a front leg portion whose lower portion is fixed to a vehicle-side member and whose upper portion is connected to the fuel cell via a mounting material ;
The front legs are
an inclined portion extending upwardly and rearwardly from the lower portion, at least a front end of which is inclined rearwardly;
an upper fixing portion extending upward from the upper end of the inclined portion and fixed to the front side of the fuel cell;
a bent portion positioned between the inclined portion and the upper fixed portion and recessed rearward;
has
The upper end of the upper fixing portion is scooped out on the rear side to form a concave portion, and the mounting material is fixed to the concave portion .
Mounting structure of the fuel cell. The fuel cell mounting structure according to claim 1,
The mount member has a cylindrical shape whose axial direction is the left-right direction, and the concave portion is formed such that the rear side of the upper end of the upper fixing portion is scooped out in an arc shape.
Mounting structure of the fuel cell.

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