Vehicle lower portion structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10150435-B2
Application number	US-201715802574-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 3, 2017
Priority date	Nov 8, 2016
Publication date	Dec 11, 2018
Grant date	Dec 11, 2018

Abstract

A cross member is disposed inside a battery case. The cross member extends in the vehicle width direction at a location that overlaps with rockers as seen in the vehicle width direction. The cross member is more resistant to deformation by a load toward the battery case than a cover portion of the battery case. Therefore, when a load toward the battery case is applied, a transmission path for the load from the rocker at one vehicle width direction side to the rocker at the other vehicle width direction side may be formed by the cross member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle lower portion structure comprising:
a floor panel structuring a portion of a floor portion of a vehicle body;
a pair of vehicle body structural members that extend in a vehicle front-and-rear direction along periphery edge portions at vehicle width direction outer sides of the floor panel and that structure portions of the vehicle body;
a power supply unit capable of supplying electric power to a power unit installed at the vehicle body, the power supply unit including a battery case and a battery module, the battery case being disposed at a vehicle lower side of the floor panel at the vehicle width direction inner side of each of the vehicle body structural members, and the battery module being accommodated in a cover portion that structures a portion of the battery case; and
a reinforcing portion that structures a portion of the battery case or is disposed at an inside of the battery case, the reinforcing portion extending in the vehicle width direction and disposed at a location that overlaps with the vehicle body structural members as seen in the vehicle width direction so that a line extending in the vehicle width direction through the reinforcing portion intersects and passes through the vehicle body structural members, the reinforcing portion being more resistant to deformation by a load applied toward the battery case than the cover portion.

2. The vehicle lower portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein:
the vehicle body structural members are rockers, each of which is formed as a chamber structure whose cross-sectional shape, seen in the vehicle front-and-rear direction, is a chamber; and
the vehicle lower portion structure further includes a pair of side cross portions that extend in the vehicle width direction between the rockers and the cover portion at a location that overlaps with the reinforcing portion and the rockers as seen in the vehicle width direction so that the line that extends in the vehicle width direction also extends through the side cross portions, each of the side cross portions being more resistant to deformation by the load applied toward the battery case than the cover portion and having a lower rigidity with respect to a collision load in the vehicle width direction than a rigidity of the reinforcing portion to the collision load.

3. The vehicle lower portion structure according to claim 2 , wherein:
the floor panel includes
a bulge portion that bulges to form a protrusion toward a vehicle upper side at a vehicle width direction central portion of the floor panel, and
protruding portions in plate shapes that protrude to each vehicle width direction outer side from the bulge portion;
each of the protruding portions structures a region at the vehicle upper side of a corresponding one of the side cross portions, and an end portion at the vehicle width direction outer side of each of the protruding portions is joined to a region at the vehicle upper side of a corresponding one of the rockers;
a region at the vehicle lower side of each of the side cross portions is structured by a lower side panel portion that is disposed at the vehicle lower side of a corresponding one of the protruding portions, an end portion at the vehicle width direction outer side of each of the lower side panel portions being joined to a region at the vehicle lower side of a corresponding one of the rockers; and
each of the side cross portions is formed by the corresponding one of the protruding portions and the corresponding one of the lower side panel portions as a chamber structure portion whose cross-sectional shape, seen in the vehicle width direction, is a chamber.

4. The vehicle lower portion structure according to claim 3 , wherein each of the side cross portions includes a reinforcing panel portion disposed inside a space bounded by the corresponding one of the protruding portions, the corresponding one of the lower side panel portions and the vehicle width direction inner side of the corresponding one of the rockers, each of the reinforcing panel portions being in a plate shape having a longer direction extending in the vehicle width direction.

5. The vehicle lower portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the power supply unit includes a table portion to which the battery module is mounted, the table portion being more resistant to deformation by the load applied toward the battery case than the cover portion, the table portion corresponding to the reinforcing portion.

6. The vehicle lower portion structure according to claim 1 , wherein the battery case and the reinforcing portion are structured as a single body.

7. The vehicle lower portion structure according to claim 2 , wherein a gap-filling member is disposed in a gap formed between the cover portion and each of the side cross portions.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kawase Kyosuke
• Takayanagi Junichi
• Yoshimoto Kenichiro
• Tanabe Daisuke

Classifications

• B60K2001/0472

  from below · CPC title

• B60L50/64

  Constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles · CPC title

• B60K2001/0438

  Arrangement under the floor · CPC title

• B60Y2306/01

  Reducing damages in case of crash, e.g. by improving battery protection · CPC title

• B60L11/1877

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic