Fuel cell vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9895999-B2
Application number	US-201615291119-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2016
Priority date	Oct 13, 2015
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

Abstract

The present invention provides a fuel cell vehicle that is capable of suppressing rotation of a fuel cell when a vehicle collision occurs and minimizing damage to the fuel cell and auxiliary apparatuses.
A fuel cell vehicle 1 comprises: a radiator 11 provided in a front room 10 ; and a fuel cell assembly 12 provided in a vehicle rear direction with respect to the radiator 11 in the front room 10 . The fuel cell assembly 12 comprises: an assembly frame 60 ; and a fuel cell apparatus group 61 that includes a fuel cell 70 and an auxiliary apparatus, the fuel cell apparatus group 61 being integrally mounted to the assembly frame 60 . The assembly frame 60 protrudes more than the fuel cell apparatus group 61 , toward the radiator 11 at the front side. The fuel cell assembly 12 is installed in the front room 10 such that a height of a front edge part A of the assembly frame 60 at a front side approximately matches a height of a center of gravity P of the entire fuel cell assembly 12.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell vehicle, comprising:
a radiator provided in a front room; and
a fuel cell assembly provided in a vehicle rear direction with respect to the radiator in the front room,
wherein the fuel cell assembly comprises:
an assembly frame; and
a fuel cell apparatus group that includes a fuel cell and an auxiliary apparatus, the fuel cell apparatus group being integrally mounted to the assembly frame,
wherein the assembly frame protrudes toward a forward direction of vehicle travel with respect to the fuel cell apparatus group, and
wherein the fuel cell assembly is installed in the front room such that a height of a front edge of the assembly frame at a vehicle front side approximately matches a height of a center of gravity of the entire fuel cell assembly.

2. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the assembly frame is formed into a flat plate shape, and the fuel cell apparatus group is integrally mounted to upper and lower surfaces of the assembly frame.

3. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the assembly frame is provided in a tilted attitude such that the vehicle front side is high and a vehicle rear side is low.

4. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the front edge of the assembly frame at the vehicle front side is at a higher position than that of a motor shaft of a fan of the radiator.

5. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the fuel cell apparatus group mounted to an underside of the assembly frame is disposed at a position that is deviated in a width direction of the vehicle from a vehicle rear position on an extension line of the motor shaft of the fan of the radiator.

6. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein a buffer member is provided between the fuel cell apparatus group and the radiator.

7. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein an air cleaner, an air intake or an ion exchanger is used for the buffer member.

8. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the front edge of the assembly frame at the vehicle front side is a pointed member.

9. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 8 , wherein the pointed member is an electric conductor.

10. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle rear side of the fuel cell assembly is provided with a dash panel that separates the front room from a passenger compartment, and
wherein an end face of the fuel cell at the vehicle rear side is provided with a panel stiffening plate which comes into surface collision with the dash panel when the fuel cell assembly collides with the dash panel.

11. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein a lower part of the vehicle rear side of the fuel cell assembly is provided with a fuel gas tank, and an end part of the fuel cell assembly at the vehicle rear side is provided with a tank stiffening plate which comes into surface collision with the fuel gas tank when the fuel gas tank collides with the fuel cell assembly.

12. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the tank stiffening plate is configured so as to allow the vehicle front side of the collided fuel gas tank to escape below.

13. The fuel cell vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary apparatus includes at least one of a boosting converter provided above the assembly frame, an inverter provided above the assembly frame, a pump provided beneath the assembly frame, or an air compressor provided beneath the assembly frame, and
wherein the fuel cell is provided above the assembly frame.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ohashi Yasuhiko

Classifications

• B60L11/1883

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60K11/04

  Arrangement or mounting of radiators, radiator shutters, or radiator blinds · CPC title

• B60Y2200/91

  Electric vehicles · CPC title

• B60Y2306/01

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

• B60K15/07

  of gas tanks · CPC title