Fuel cell vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017066479-A1
Application number	US-201615245420-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 24, 2016
Priority date	Sep 4, 2015
Publication date	Mar 9, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A fuel cell vehicle comprises a front room; a vehicle interior; a fuel cell in the front room; a center tunnel; a tank that is at least partly placed in the center tunnel and stores a gas to be supplied to the fuel cell; and a dashboard that separates the front room from the vehicle interior, wherein the fuel cell is placed above the tank such that a profile of the fuel cell does not overlap with a center axis of the tank, the dashboard has an overlapping portion arranged to overlap with a rear portion of the fuel cell and that is located behind a front end of the tank, at least part of a remaining portion of the dashboard other than the overlapping portion is placed flush with the front end of the tank in a vehicle longitudinal direction or is placed in front of the front end of the tank, and in a normal state, a receiving space is provided between a rear end of the fuel cell and the overlapping portion and is configured to allow at least part of the rear portion of the fuel cell to be moved to behind the front end of the tank when the front collision occurs.

First claim

1 . A fuel cell vehicle that is configured to include a front room and a vehicle interior, the fuel cell vehicle comprising:
a fuel cell that is placed in the front room; a center tunnel that is provided under floor of the fuel cell vehicle; a tank that is at least partly placed in the center tunnel and is configured to store a gas that is to be supplied to the fuel cell; and a dashboard that is configured to separate the front room from the vehicle interior, wherein the fuel cell is placed above the tank such that a profile of the fuel cell does not overlap with a center axis of the tank when the fuel cell vehicle is viewed from a vehicle front side, the dashboard has an overlapping portion that is arranged to overlap with a rear portion of the fuel cell when the fuel cell vehicle is viewed from the vehicle front side and that is located behind a front end of the tank, at least part of a remaining portion of the dashboard other than the overlapping portion is placed flush with the front end of the tank in a vehicle longitudinal direction or is placed in front of the front end of the tank, and in a normal state without a collision, a receiving space is provided between a rear end of the fuel cell and the overlapping portion of the dashboard and is configured to allow at least part of the rear portion of the fuel cell to be moved to behind the front end of the tank in the event of a front collision of the fuel cell vehicle.

2 . The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a reinforcement member that is placed on a front room side to be adjacent to the dashboard, wherein the reinforcement member is disposed not to overlap with the rear portion of the fuel cell when the fuel cell vehicle is viewed from the vehicle front side.

3 . A fuel cell vehicle that is configured to include a front room and a vehicle interior, the fuel cell vehicle comprising:
a fuel cell that is placed in the front room; a first auxiliary machine that is placed behind the fuel cell in the front room; a center tunnel that is provided under floor of the fuel cell vehicle; a tank that is at least partly placed in the center tunnel and is configured to store a gas that is to be supplied to the fuel cell; and a dashboard that is configured to separate the front room from the vehicle interior, wherein the first auxiliary machine and the tank are disposed such that a profile of the first auxiliary machine does not overlap with a center axis of the tank when the fuel cell vehicle is viewed from a vehicle front side, the dashboard has an overlapping portion that is arranged to overlap with a rear portion of the first auxiliary machine when the fuel cell vehicle is viewed from the vehicle front side and that is located behind a front end of the tank, at least part of a remaining portion of the dashboard other than the overlapping portion is placed flush with the front end of the tank in a vehicle longitudinal direction or is placed in front of the front end of the tank, and in a normal state without a collision, a receiving space is provided between a rear end of the first auxiliary machine and the overlapping portion of the dashboard and is configured to allow at least part of the rear portion of the first auxiliary machine to be moved to behind the front end of the tank in the event of a front collision of the fuel cell vehicle.

4 . The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a reinforcement member that is placed on a front room side to be adjacent to the dashboard, wherein the reinforcement member is disposed not to overlap with the rear portion of the first auxiliary machine when the fuel cell vehicle is viewed from the vehicle front side.

5 . The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a second auxiliary machine that is placed above the fuel cell to be adjacent to the fuel cell; and a third auxiliary machine that is placed under the fuel cell to be adjacent to the fuel cell.

6 . The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 5 ,
wherein the third auxiliary machine has a total weight greater than a total weight of the second auxiliary machine.

7 . The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a second auxiliary machine that is placed above the fuel cell to be adjacent to the fuel cell; and a third auxiliary machine that is placed under the fuel cell to be adjacent to the fuel cell.

8 . The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 7 ,
wherein the third auxiliary machine has a total weight greater than a total weight of the second auxiliary machine.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Murata Shigeaki

Classifications

• B60Y2200/91

  Electric vehicles · CPC title

• H01M2250/20

  Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title

• B60K1/04 Primary

  of the electric storage means for propulsion · CPC title

• B60Y2306/01

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

• B62D21/15 Primary

  having impact absorbing means, e.g. a frame designed to permanently or temporarily change shape or dimension upon impact with another body (bumpers B60R19/02; shock absorbers in general F16F) · CPC title