Fixing structure of electric apparatus to vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9648764-B2
Application number	US-201514677375-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2015
Priority date	Apr 21, 2014
Publication date	May 9, 2017
Grant date	May 9, 2017

Abstract

Provided is a fixing structure of an electric apparatus in an engine compartment provided in a front portion of a vehicle. The fixing structure includes a tray, a removal mechanism, and a protecting plate. The tray is fixed in the engine compartment and configured such that the electric apparatus is placed thereon. The removal mechanism is configured to remove the electric apparatus from the tray when the electric apparatus receives a predetermined impact force or more from a front side of the vehicle. The protecting plate is attached to the electric apparatus, and is configured to abut with a structural object placed at a rear side of the vehicle relative to the electric apparatus when the electric apparatus is removed from the tray due to the impact force so as to move rearward.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fixing structure of an electric apparatus, the electric apparatus being mounted in an engine compartment provided in a front portion of a vehicle, the fixing structure comprising:
a tray fixed in the engine compartment, the tray placing the electric apparatus;
a removal mechanism configured to remove the electric apparatus from the tray when the electric apparatus receives a predetermined impact force or more from a front side of the vehicle; and
a protecting plate attached to the electric apparatus, the protecting plate being configured to abut with a structural object placed at a rear side of the vehicle relative to the electric apparatus when the electric apparatus is removed from the tray due to the impact force so as to move rearward,
wherein the protecting plate is attached to the electric apparatus at a position opposed to the structural object in a front-rear direction of the vehicle, the protecting plate is fixed to a rear face of the electric apparatus and extends downward, the protecting plate is curved in a U-shape so as to project toward the structural object when viewed from a crosswise direction of the vehicle, and a bottom end of the protecting plate is placed at the same height as a bottom end of the electric apparatus or placed at a position lower than the bottom end of the electric apparatus.

2. The fixing structure according to claim 1 , wherein:
the removal mechanism includes a bracket and a bolt;
the bracket has a slit and is attached to the electric apparatus; and
the bolt is configured to fix the bracket to the tray.

3. The fixing structure according to claim 1 , wherein the electric apparatus includes an inverter, the inverter is configured to convert a direct-current power of a battery into an alternating-current power and the inverter is configured to supply the alternating-current power to a drive motor.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Nakashima Masaru

Classifications

• H05K7/1432

  specially adapted for power drive units or power converters · CPC title

• B60L11/00

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• H05K5/0204 Primary

  Mounting supporting structures on the outside of casings · CPC title

• B60L3/0069

  relating to the isolation, e.g. ground fault or leak current · CPC title

• Y02T10/64

  Electric machine technologies in electromobility · CPC title