JP7099223B2 - Vehicle drive - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle drive device, and more particularly to a vehicle drive device including a housing for accommodating a rotary electric machine.

Electric vehicles such as hybrid cars and electric vehicles are widely used. The electric vehicle comprises a rotating electric machine that operates as a drive source or a generator. The rotary machine includes a rotor and a stator coil and is housed in a metal housing. In a rotary electric machine, torque is generated in the rotor by the electromagnetic interaction between the rotor and the stator coil, or generated power is output from the stator coil by the torque applied to the rotor.

Generally, a rotary electric machine has a conductive portion such as an end portion of a stator coil (hereinafter referred to as a coil end) and a terminal of the stator coil. Here, the conductive portion refers to a portion having a conductive surface and a conductive portion that is covered with an insulator but has a possibility that the insulator may be peeled off due to a collision of foreign matter or the like. In a rotary electric machine, when the housing is damaged due to a collision of an electric vehicle or the like, debris of the housing may come into contact with the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine, and the insulated current path may be short-circuited.

Various techniques have been conventionally proposed for such problems. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle drive device provided with a cover member covering the coil end between the inner surface of the housing and the coil end. In this vehicle drive, when the housing is damaged, the cover member protects the coil end from housing debris and ensures insulation of the coil end.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-236575 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-254855

The insulating property of the conductive portion in the rotary electric machine also has the following problems. A wire harness for transmitting a control signal or the like is provided in the housing for accommodating the rotary electric machine. For example, Patent Document 2 describes a wire harness connected to a resolver that detects the rotation angle position of the rotor. This document describes fixing a wire harness to a harness protector to suppress thermal expansion and contraction of the wire harness.

Generally, one end of a wire harness is connected to a connector fixed to the inner surface of the housing. In such a configuration, when an impact is applied to the housing due to a collision of an electric vehicle or the like, the connector may come off from the housing, the conductor in the connector may come into contact with the conductive part, and the insulated current path may be short-circuited. There is. Further, the wire harness may be disconnected from the connector, the core wire of the wire harness may come into contact with the conductive portion, and the insulated current path may be short-circuited.

An object of the present invention is to prevent a conductive object from coming into contact with a conductive portion in a rotary electric machine.

The present invention is a housing for accommodating a rotary electric machine, the housing having a side cover facing the axial end face of the rotary electric machine, a connector provided inside the side cover, and the inside of the side cover. A protector covering the connector is provided, and the protector is erected toward the inner surface of the side cover between the damage prediction area on the side cover and the conductive portion on the axial end surface of the rotary electric machine. The shatterproof wall comprises a wire harness fixing region for sandwiching the wire harness connected to the connector between the inner surface of the side cover and the shatterproof wall.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the conductive object from coming into contact with the conductive portion in the rotary electric machine.

It is a side view of the drive device for a vehicle with the side cover removed. It is a figure which shows the inner surface side of a side cover. It is a perspective view of the protector provided with the notch in the erection area. It is a figure which shows the state which the protector is attached to the inner surface of a side cover. It is a perspective view of the protector provided with the protrusion part in the erection area. It is a side view of the drive device for a vehicle with the side cover attached. It is a side view of the drive device for a vehicle which omitted the side cover.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the vehicle drive device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle drive device 10 is mounted on an electric vehicle such as a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle. In FIG. 1, the left direction of the drawing surface corresponds to the front direction of the electric vehicle. Further, the upward direction of the drawing surface corresponds to the upward direction of the electric vehicle, and the direction toward the front from the drawing surface corresponds to the left direction of the electric vehicle. The side surface of the vehicle drive 10 is actually covered with a side cover that is a part of the housing 12, but for convenience of explanation, the vehicle drive 10 with the side cover removed is shown. ..

The vehicle drive device 10 includes rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2 that operate as a drive source or a generator of an electric vehicle, and a housing 12 that houses the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2. The housing 12 may be made of a rigid metal such as aluminum. The rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2 are motor generators composed of a rotor 14 and a stator coil 16. The stator coil 16 is formed by winding a conducting wire around a substantially cylindrical stator core. The rotor 14 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and is arranged inside the stator coil 16 with the central axis in common with the stator coil 16. Here, the substantially cylindrical shape and the substantially cylindrical shape refer to a shape obtained by deforming the cylindrical shape and the cylindrical shape so that the stator coil 16 and the rotor 14 function as constituent parts of the motor generator. The rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2 are arranged in the housing 12 in a posture in which the axial directions coincide with the left-right directions of the electric vehicle.

Each coil end 20 appears on the axial end surface (left side surface) of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2. The coil end 20 may be coated with an insulator, or a conductor may be exposed on the surface. Further, power line terminals 18 are arranged on the axial end faces of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2. The power line terminal 18 is a terminal to which a three-phase power line leading to the power control unit is connected. Further, the coil end 20 is a portion of the stator coil 16 that protrudes in the axial direction. As described above, the axial end faces of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2 have coil ends 20 and power line terminals 18 of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2 as conductive portions.

FIG. 2 shows the inner surface side of the side cover 121. In this figure, the region of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2 facing the rotor 14 and the coil end 20, respectively, is shown by a chain double-dashed line. The side cover 121 is provided with a resolver 221 of the rotary electric machine MG1 and a resolver 222 of the rotary electric machine MG2. A resolver is a device that detects the rotation angle position of a rotor of a rotary electric machine. One end of the wire harness 241 is connected to the resolver 221 and the other end of the wire harness 241 is connected to the connector 26 attached to the inner surface of the side cover 121. Similarly, one end of the wire harness 242 is connected to the resolver 222, and the other end of the wire harness 242 is connected to the connector 26.

The connector 26 is covered with a protector 30. The protector 30 is a plate-shaped metal member facing the inner surface of the side cover 121. The protector 30 may not only cover the connector 26 inside the side cover 121, but may also press the connector 26 toward the side cover 121. As will be described later, the protector 30 is provided with an erection area 36 erected toward the inner surface of the side cover 121. The wire harnesses 241 and 242 are sandwiched between the upright area 36 of the protector 30 and the inner surface of the side cover 121.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the protector 30. The protector 30 includes a plate-shaped contact protection region 32. The contact protection area 32 is provided with bolt holes 341 and 342 for fixing the protector 30 to the side cover 121 by bolts and nuts. The protector 30 further includes an upright area 36 erected against the plate surface of the contact protection area 32. In the present embodiment, the metal plate forming the protector 30 is bent at the end of the contact protection region 32 to form the upright region 36. The upright area 36 may be erected on the plate surface of the contact protection area 32 instead of the end portion of the contact protection area 32. A notch 38 is formed at the edge of the upright region 36. Wire harnesses 241 and 242 are arranged through the notch 38, and the upright area 36 sandwiches the wire harness 241 and 242 between the notch 38 and the inner surface of the side cover 121. That is, in the upright area 36, the area including the notch 38 forms the wire harness fixing area 40, and the wire harness fixing area 40 sandwiches the wire harness 241 and 242 with the inner surface of the side cover 121.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the protector 30 is attached to the inner surface of the side cover 121. In this figure, the right direction of the drawing surface corresponds to the front direction of the electric vehicle. Further, the upward direction of the drawing surface corresponds to the upward direction of the electric vehicle, and the direction from the front to the drawing surface corresponds to the left direction of the electric vehicle.

The protector 30 is attached to the inner surface of the side cover 121 in a posture in which the upright area 36 faces the inner surface of the side cover 121 from the contact protection area 32. The contact protection area 32 of the protector 30 covers the connector 26 fixed to the side cover 121. The protector 30 suppresses the movement of the connector 26 when an impact is applied to the housing 12 due to a collision of an electric vehicle or the like. Therefore, the contact protection region 32 and the connector do not necessarily have to be in contact with each other, and there may be a gap between them.

One end of each of the wire harnesses 241 and 242 is connected to the connector 26. The wire harnesses 241 and 242 are pulled out from the connector 26 and reach the outside of the protector 30 through a notch 38 provided in the upright area 36. The upright area 36 sandwiches the wire harnesses 241 and 242 with the side cover 121, and fixes the wire harnesses 241 and 242 to the inner surface of the side cover 121.

The depth of the notch 38 in the upright region 36 may be determined according to the thickness of each of the wire harnesses 241 and 242 and the shape of the side cover 121. When the inner surface of the side cover 121 has a recess such as a groove and each wire harness is arranged in this recess, a protruding portion is provided in the upright area 36, and between this protruding portion and the recess of the side cover 121. Each wire harness may be sandwiched between the two.

FIG. 5 shows a protector 30 in which such a protruding portion 42 is provided in the upright area 36. In the protector 30, the protruding portion 42 of the upright region 36 forms the wire harness fixing region 40. The length of the protruding portion 42 protruding from the edge of the upright region 36 may be determined according to the thickness of the wire harnesses 241 and 242, the shape of the side cover 121, and the shape of the recess of the side cover 121. Depending on the thickness of the wire harness, the shape of the side cover, or the shape of the recess of the side cover, the notch 38 or the protruding portion 42 may not be provided.

According to such a configuration, when an impact is applied to the housing 12 due to a collision of an electric vehicle or the like, the movement of the connector 26 is suppressed by the protector 30, and the connector 26 is damaged or detached from the side cover 121. Less likely. This prevents the conductor in the connector 26 from coming into contact with the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine. Further, the wire harnesses 241 and 242 are sandwiched between the upright area 36 of the protector 30 and the side cover 121. This prevents the wire harness 241 or 242 from coming off the connector 26 and the core wire of the wire harness from coming into contact with the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine. Further, disconnection of the wire harness 241 or 242 is also prevented, and the core wire of the wire harness is prevented from coming into contact with the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine.

In addition to the above-mentioned function of protecting the connector 26 and each wire harness, the protector 30 has a function of preventing debris of the side cover 121 and scattering of conductive foreign matter invading from the outside of the housing 12 when the side cover 121 is damaged. Has. Hereinafter, such a shatterproof function will be described.

FIG. 6 shows a side view of the vehicle drive device 10 in a state where the side cover 121 is attached to the left side surface of the vehicle drive device 10. The side cover 121 has a damage prediction area 50 that is likely to be damaged due to a collision of an electric vehicle or the like. The damage prediction area 50 is specified in advance based on the results of a collision experiment or a collision simulation of an electric vehicle.

In FIGS. 4 and 6, the breakage prediction region 50 is shown by a two-dot chain line. The protector 30 is provided at a position where the contact protection area 32 of the protector 30 overlaps the damage prediction area 50 and the contact protection area 32 covers the connector 26. The upright region 36 is located on the conductive portion side of each rotary electric machine when viewed from the damage prediction region 50.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of the vehicle drive device 10 again. However, in this figure, the side cover is not shown for convenience of explanation. The vertical region 36 of the protector 30 is located between the damage prediction region 50 and the conductive portions of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2, respectively. Specifically, the erection area 36 is located between the damage prediction area 50 and the power line terminal 18 of the rotary electric machine MG1. Further, the upright area 36 is between the damage prediction area 50 and the coil end 20 of the rotary electric machine MG1. Further, the erection area 36 is between the damage prediction area 50 and the power line terminal 18 of the rotary electric machine MG2, and is between the damage prediction area 50 and the coil end 20 of the rotary electric machine MG2.

The upright area 36 of the protector 30 has a function as a shatterproof wall. That is, when the damage prediction area 50 is damaged and the debris of the side cover 121 enters the inside of the housing 12, the debris of the side cover 121 collides with the upright area 36. As a result, the fragments of the side cover 121 are prevented from being scattered on the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine MG1 or MG2, and the insulation of the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine MG1 or MG2 is prevented from being impaired.

Further, on the side surface of the side cover 121, the contact protection area 32 covers the damage prediction area 50. Therefore, when the damage prediction area 50 is damaged and a conductive foreign substance (for example, a front side member or the like) enters the housing 12 from the damaged portion, the conductive foreign substance collides with the contact protection area 32 or scatters. It collides with the standing area 36 as a preventive wall. This prevents the conductive foreign matter from coming into contact with the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine MG1 or MG2 and impairing the insulation of the conductive portion of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2. When the damage prediction region 50 is located at a position facing the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine MG1 or MG2, the path of the debris of the side cover 121 toward the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine MG1 or MG2 is blocked by the contact protection region 32. Be done. This prevents debris from the side cover 121 from scattering on the conductive portion of the rotary electric machine MG1 or MG2.

As described above, the vehicle drive device 10 includes a housing 12 that houses the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2. The housing 12 has a side cover 121 facing the axial end faces of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2. The vehicle drive device 10 further includes a connector 26 provided inside the side cover 121, and a protector 30 covering the connector 26 inside the side cover 121. The protector 30 is an upright area erected toward the inner surface of the side cover 121 between the damage prediction area 50 on the side cover 121 and the conductive portions on the axial end faces of the rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2. It is equipped with 36 (scattering prevention wall). The upright area 36 as a shatterproof wall includes a wire harness fixing area 40 that sandwiches the wire harnesses 241 and 242 connected to the connector 26 between the inner surface of the side cover 121 and the wire harness 241 and 242. The protector 30 has a function of protecting the connector 26 and each wire harness when an electric vehicle collides, and also prevents fragments of the side cover 121 from scattering to the conductive portion when the damage prediction area 50 is damaged. Has a function. The protector 30 further has a function of preventing the scattering of the conductive foreign matter that has entered from the outside of the housing 12 to the conductive portion when the damage prediction region 50 is damaged.

Although the embodiments according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the angle formed by the erection area 36 with respect to the contact protection area 32 does not have to be a right angle, as long as the erection area 36 functions as a shatterproof wall. Further, in the above, as shown in FIG. 4, an embodiment in which the protector 30 is provided at a position where the entire area of the damage prediction region 50 and the contact protection region 32 of the protector 30 overlap each other has been described. The protector 30 may be provided at a position where a part of the damage prediction area 50 and the contact protection area 32 overlap. Even in this case, the effect of preventing the scattering of the conductive foreign matter can be obtained. Further, the number of wire harnesses is arbitrary, and the wire harnesses may be connected to electronic components such as a temperature sensor in addition to the resolver. In the above, the vehicle drive device 10 having two rotary electric machines MG1 and MG2 has been taken up, but the present invention may be used for a vehicle drive device having one rotary electric machine.

10 Vehicle Drive, 12 Housing, 121 Side Cover, 14 Rotor, 16 Stator Coil, 18 Power Line Terminal, 20 Coil End, 221,222 Resolver, 241,242 Wire Harness, 26 Connector, 30 Protector, 32 Contact Protection Area , 341,342 Bolt hole, 36 Standing area (scattering prevention wall), 38 Notch, 40 Wire harness fixing area, 42 Protruding part, 50 Damage prediction area, MG1, MG2 Resolver.

Claims (1)

A housing that houses a rotary electric machine and has a side cover that faces the axial end face of the rotary electric machine.
With the connector provided inside the side cover,
A protector that covers the connector inside the side cover.
The protector is
A shatterproof wall erected toward the inner surface of the side cover is provided between the damage prediction area on the side cover and the conductive portion on the axial end surface of the rotary electric machine.
The shatterproof wall is
A vehicle drive device comprising a wire harness fixing region for sandwiching a wire harness connected to the connector with an inner surface of the side cover.

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