High pressure canister unit and fuel cell vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10717356-B2
Application number	US-201816047604-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2018
Priority date	Aug 9, 2017
Publication date	Jul 21, 2020
Grant date	Jul 21, 2020

Abstract

A high pressure canister unit includes: plural arrayed canister bodies, each canister body being formed in a circular cylinder shape, and including an opening at at least one end portion in its axial direction; a coupling member that is connected to the opening of each of the canister bodies and that couples the plural canister bodies together, and the coupling member including a flow path placing interiors of the canister bodies in communication with each other; a box-shaped case that is configured to house the plural canister bodies and the coupling member, the case including a through hole; and a leader tube that is provided to the coupling member, that leads out to an exterior of the case through the through hole of the case, and to which a valve capable of opening and closing the flow path is attached.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A high pressure canister unit comprising:
a plurality of arrayed canister bodies, each canister body of the plurality of canister bodies being formed in a circular cylinder shape, and including an opening at a first end portion in an axial direction of the respective canister body of the plurality of canister bodies;
a coupling member connected to the opening of each canister body of the plurality of canister bodies and coupling the plurality of canister bodies, the coupling member forming a flow path that communicates interiors of the plurality of canister bodies;
a box-shaped case configured to house the plurality of canister bodies and the coupling member, the case including:
a case body having a bottom wall and a frame-shaped peripheral wall projecting upward from the bottom wall, the peripheral wall surrounding the plurality of canister bodies and including a front wall, a rear wall, a right wall, and a left wall, each one of the front wall, the rear wall, the right wall, and the left wall having a hollow cross-section structure,
a cover member, and
a through hole;

a leader tube disposed on the coupling member, the leader tube extending to an exterior of the case through the through hole, the leader tube being disposed at an intermediate portion of the coupling member in an array direction of the plurality of canister bodies; and
a valve configured to open and close the flow path to the exterior of the case, the valve being attached to the leader tube.

2. The high pressure canister unit of claim 1 , further comprising an attachment bracket disposed on the bottom wall,
wherein the canister bodies are disposed via the attachment bracket such that the canister bodies do not contact the bottom wall.

3. The high pressure canister unit of claim 1 , further comprising a load transmission section having a closed cross-section structure, the load transmission section being disposed on at least one of the bottom wall or the cover member, and the load transmission section spanning between two opposing walls of the peripheral wall.

4. The high pressure canister unit of claim 3 , wherein:
the load transmission section is disposed at a canister body side of the cover member,
an air passage is formed between the cover member and the load transmission section, and
the air passage includes a vent that allows a gas to be released to the exterior of the case.

5. A fuel cell vehicle comprising the high pressure canister unit of claim 1 , wherein:
the high pressure canister unit is disposed at a vehicle lower side of a floor panel that configures a floor surface of a vehicle cabin.

6. The fuel cell vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of canister bodies are arrayed in a vehicle width direction and each axis direction of each canister body of the plurality of canister bodies is along a vehicle front-rear direction.

7. The fuel cell vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of canister bodies are arrayed in a vehicle front-rear direction and each axis direction of each canister body of the plurality of canister bodies is along a vehicle width direction.

8. The fuel cell vehicle of claim 7 , wherein a subset of canister bodies of the plurality of canister bodies are arrayed at a vehicle rear side of the high pressure canister unit and are stacked in a vehicle vertical direction.

9. The fuel cell vehicle of claim 5 , wherein in plan view, vehicle width direction sides of a vehicle rear end portion of the case are indented toward a vehicle front.

10. The high pressure canister unit of claim 1 , wherein each one of the front wall, the rear wall, the right wall, and the left wall includes an intermediate wall coupling a plurality of intermediate portions of the hollow cross-section structure in a vehicle front-rear direction, the plurality of intermediate portions extending in a vertical direction.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kataoka Chiaki
• Kinoshita Shinsuke
• Sawai Osamu

Classifications

• B60K2015/03315

  for hydrogen · CPC title

• B60K15/03006 Primary

  Gas tanks (B60K15/07 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60K2015/0634

  the fuel tank is arranged below the vehicle floor · CPC title

• F17C2205/0142

  bundled in parallel · CPC title

• F17C2270/0184

  Fuel cells · CPC title