FRAME CROSS MEMBER FOR BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE

Abstract

A u-shaped crossmember is employed in the construction of a chassis frame of a medium or heavy duty battery electric vehicle. In the design, frame rails are joined by at least one of U-shaped cross members, which comprises a main center section and four or more support arms, which extend away from the main center section of the cross member in the transverse direction of the longitudinal frames. The cross members, in one example, include two brackets. Each bracket has two arms connected by a center main portion. These brackets can be fabricated by creating a plurality of angles in several locations that add up to 90-degrees. The angled design allows the transmission of longitudinal and lateral forces to both frame rails. Due to U-shaped nature of the cross member, the body of the chassis frame is opened to allow for installation of components, subassemblies, and especially battery packs, etc.

Claims

1. A chassis frame structure for a battery electric vehicle comprising two or more longitudinal frame rails and at least one U-shaped cross member, made up of two brackets, each bracket comprising a main center section and two upright support arms, each upright support arm linked to the main center section through a plurality of angular bends, the main center section wherein each cross member comprises a main center section facing in the longitudinal direction of the chassis frame, the four outer support arms facing in the transverse direction of the chassis frame.

2. The chassis frame structure according to claim 1, wherein each bracket contains a total of four 45-degree, two on each upright support arm.

3. The chassis frame structure according to claim 1, wherein each support arm has an inner surface facing the longitudinal frame rail so as the crossmember can be fastened to the outside surfaces of the longitudinal frame rails.

4. The chassis frame structure according to claim 1, wherein the angular bends add up to 90 degrees.

5. The chassis frame structure according to claim 1, wherein each support arm has an outer and inner surface facing the transverse direction of the longitudinal frame rails.

6. A method for manufacturing a battery electric vehicle comprising: fabricating a chassis frame structure from two or more longitudinal frame rails and at least one U-shaped cross member; and mounting batteries for the battery electric vehicle in a space between the upright support arms.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the U-shaped cross member comprises two brackets, each bracket comprising a main center section and two upright support arms, each upright support arm linked to the main center section through a plurality of angular bends.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In the accompanying drawings, reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale; emphasis has instead been placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

[0023] Any advantages and industrial significances of the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown on the following drawings, on which:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a chassis frame using three of the U-shaped crossmembers, described per an embodiment of the invention, fastened on the outside edges of the chassis rails.

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a frontal view of a chassis frame using one or more of the shaped crossmembers described per an embodiment of the invention, fastened on the outside edges of the chassis rails. It is clear to see the center of the rails is opened up through the use of said U-shaped crossmembers.

[0026] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of one of the brackets that make up the structure of the U-shaped crossmember.

[0027] FIG. 4A-4D shows a variety of views of the U-shaped crossmember comprised of two identical brackets.

[0028] In the figures, the following reference signs denote the following parts: [0029] 11 denotes a U-shaped cross member; [0030] 12 denotes a longitudinal frame rail; [0031] 13 denotes fasteners enabling an arm of a bracket to join to the outside surface 14 of a longitudinal frame rail 12; [0032] 14 denotes the outside surface of a longitudinal frame rail 12; [0033] 15 denotes the inside surface of a longitudinal frame rail 12; [0034] 31 denotes the inner surface of the support arm 35 of a bracket of the U-shaped cross member 11; [0035] 32 denotes the outer surface of the support arm 35 of a bracket of the U-shaped cross member 11; [0036] 33 denotes the main center section of a bracket of the U-shaped cross member 11; [0037] 34 denotes a 45-degree bend; [0038] 35 denotes an upright support arm of a bracket of the U-shaped cross member 11; [0039] 36 denotes the inner surface of the main center section of a bracket; [0040] 41 denotes touching two inner surfaces of two brackets; [0041] 42 denote fasteners enabling two brackets to join to form the U-shaped cross-member 11; [0042] 43 denotes the outer surface of the main center section of a bracket of the U-shaped cross member 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0043] The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

[0044] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” include any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

[0045] It will be understood that although terms such as “first” and “second” are used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, an element discussed below could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element may be termed a first element without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

[0046] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0047] In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.

[0048] A chassis frame comprising of a plurality of one or more U-shaped cross members and two longitudinal frame rails, is discussed herein. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

[0049] The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or descriptions below.

[0050] The present invention will now be described by referencing the appended figures representing preferred embodiments.

[0051] FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of an example of a chassis frame comprised of one or more U-shaped cross members 11 and two longitudinal frame rails 12. The chassis frame structure may contain a plurality of such U-shaped cross members 11 along the length of the vehicle to add structural strength and add stiffness both in torsion and in bending to the frame. They are added where needed as to distribute any forces acting on the frame, to both longitudinal frame rails 12, while opening the space between the chassis rails to, for example, electric drivetrain and batteries or other components as can be seen on FIG. 2. The specific chassis frame depicted in FIG. 1 comprises three cross members 11.

[0052] Referring now to FIG. 3, in an advantageous embodiment of the invention, each U-shaped cross member 11 comprises two identical brackets. One of these brackets is depicted in FIG. 3. These brackets can easily be created through simple manufacturing processes such as stamping and bending on a press break, allowing the brackets to be manufactured in very cost-effective ways. Each bracket contains a plurality of angular bends adding up to 90-degrees on each side of the upright support arms 35 in order to create lateral and tangential strength. In this particular example, each bracket contains a total of four 45-degree bends 34, two on each upright support arm 35. The bends cause the creation of a main center section 33 that is perpendicular to two upright support arms 35, These support arms 35 extend away from the main center section 33 of the cross member in the transverse direction of the longitudinal frame rails 12. The support arms 35 each have an outer surface 32 and an inner surface 31 that are perpendicular with the center main portion 33 of the cross member, and are parallel with the longitudinal frame rails 12.

[0053] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, FIG, 4A through 4D show a variety of drawings of the U-shaped crossmember, comprised of two identical brackets as shown in FIG. 3. This allows for a part number reduction, and simplifies the manufacturing process. Two of said brackets as shown in FIG. 3 are inversely joined or joined back-to-back through fasteners 42. Each bracket has a main center portion 33 comprising an inner surface 36 and outer surface 43 that face the longitudinal direction of the chassis frame 12, and two support arms 35 extending into the bracket's main center portions outer plane. Said two brackets are joined by inversely turning them in the xy-plane 180-degrees as so the inner surfaces of each bracket are touching 41 and then joined through fasteners 42 such as, but not limited to, bolts and nuts and rivets, and the support arms 35 are facing away from each other along the longitudinal direction of the chassis frame 12.

[0054] According to an embodiment of the invention, the outer surfaces 32 of the support arms face away from the main center section 33 of the cross member, in the transverse direction of the longitudinal frame rails, and the inner surfaces 31 face towards the center main portion 33, as to allow the cross member to be mounted to the outside surface 14 of the longitudinal frame rails. Due to the elimination of mounting cross members on the inside surface 15 of the longitudinal frame rails, the center of the chassis frame is opened as shown on FIG. 2 which is particularly advantageous in the construction of electric vehicles in order to install, components or subassemblies within said chassis frame through the front facing or rear facing side of the chassis frame by means of a variety of mounting techniques

[0055] While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.