Structure for mounting battery and spare tire

A structure for mounting a battery and a spare tire may include a battery bracket fixing the battery to an accommodating compartment recessed in a rear floor of a vehicle, and a tire mounting bracket fastened to the spare tire, disposed at an upper side of the battery, through a tire bolt, and fixing the spare tire to the rear floor, in which the battery bracket and the tire mounting bracket are separated so that a load applied to the spare tire is not transmitted to the battery.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2016-0009331, filed Jan. 26, 2016, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a structure for mounting a battery and a spare tire for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a structure for mounting a battery and a spare tire, in which the battery and the spare tire are mounted to be completely separated from each other, and as a result, a load applied to the spare tire is not transmitted to the battery, and it is possible to restrict a position in a left and right direction of the battery when the battery is inserted.

Description of Related Art

In general, to prepare for a situation in which a tire is punctured or damaged due to an unexpected accident when a vehicle travels, and thus the vehicle cannot continue to travel any more, an extra spare tire, which may replace the damaged tire, is provided in the vehicle. The spare tire is typically stored in a separate accommodating compartment formed in a trunk room of the vehicle.

As illustrated inFIG. 1, a typical structure for mounting a spare tire and a battery in the related art has a structure in which a spare tire3and a battery2are disposed in a left and right direction on a rear floor1disposed at the rear side of the vehicle. In this case, the spare tire3is coupled to the rear floor1by means of a tire bolt3a, the battery2is coupled to the rear floor1by means of a battery bracket2a, and the spare tire3and the battery2are disposed between a pair of side members4. However, in the case of the structure for mounting a battery and a spare tire in the related art, because the battery2is placed by a machine at an inaccurate position without a separate position restriction during a process of mounting the battery2, the battery2needs to be moved forward or rightward by a worker, and in this process, there are problems in that the number of working processes and assembling time are increased.

A mounting structure in which the battery2and the spare tire3are installed in an up and down direction as illustrated inFIG. 2in order to solve the above problem has an advantage in that the battery2and the spare tire3may be disposed regardless of a span, but has a drawback in that it is still difficult to restrict a position of the battery2, and thus the battery needs to be moved directly by the worker. In the case of the structure in which the battery2and the spare tire3are mounted in the up and down direction, the battery2is fixed by the battery bracket2aand the spare tire3is fixed to the battery bracket2aby means of the tire bolt3aas illustrated inFIG. 2, but there is a problem in that this structure increases a likelihood that the battery will be separated at the time of a rear-end collision of the vehicle.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing a structure for mounting a battery and a spare tire, in which the battery and the spare tire are mounted by a battery bracket and a tire mounting bracket, respectively, which are installed to be spaced apart from each other, and as a result, it is possible to cope with a rear-end collision.

Additionally, various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing a structure for mounting a battery and a spare tire, in which a vehicle body bracket serves to restrict a position in a left and right direction of the battery when the battery is inserted, and as a result, the number of separate working processes and separate assembling time are not needed.

According to various aspects of the present invention, a structure for mounting a battery and a spare tire may include a battery bracket fixing the battery to an accommodating compartment recessed in a rear floor of a vehicle, and a tire mounting bracket fastened to the spare tire, disposed at an upper side of the battery, through a tire bolt, and fixing the spare tire to the rear floor, in which the battery bracket and the tire mounting bracket are separated so that a load applied to the spare tire is not transmitted to the battery.

Ends of the battery bracket may be coupled to a pair of vehicle body brackets which protrudes in left and right directions of the battery, the tire mounting bracket may be spaced apart from an upper portion of the battery bracket, and ends of the tire mounting bracket may be coupled to the vehicle body brackets separately from the battery bracket.

The structure may further include a front bracket protruding forward from the battery and contacting a front portion of the battery, to restrict forward and rearward movements of the battery.

The structure may further include a mounting portion convexly protruding upward at a central portion of the tire mounting bracket, in which the tire bolt may be coupled to the mounting portion.

A distance in the left and right directions between the vehicle body brackets may be equal to a width in the left and right direction of the battery.

Side surfaces of the vehicle body brackets may have a predetermined inclination angle as a width between the side surfaces is gradually decreased.

The battery bracket may include first battery legs extending in the left and right directions from an upper surface of the battery, and coupled to the pair of vehicle body brackets by bolting, and a second battery leg extending rearward from the upper surface of the battery, and mounted in the accommodating compartment of the rear floor.

The tire mounting bracket may include first tire legs extending in the left and right directions from an upper surface of the battery, and coupled to the pair of vehicle body brackets by bolting, and a second tire leg extending forward from the upper surface of the battery, and mounted in the accommodating compartment of the rear floor.

According to the present invention having the aforementioned configurations, the battery and the spare tire may be mounted regardless of a span of the rear floor, and the battery bracket for fixing the battery and the tire mounting bracket for fixing the spare tire are completely separated from each other, and as a result, at the time of a rear-end collision of a vehicle, the tire bolt is fractured, and the spare tire becomes separated at an early stage.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a load, which is applied to the spare tire by a barrier, is not transmitted to the battery, and as a result, the battery bracket is not damaged even at the time of a rear-end collision of a vehicle, such that the battery is not separated.

According to the present invention, the vehicle body brackets, which are disposed in the left and right directions based on the battery, serve to restrict a position in the left and right direction of the battery when the battery is inserted, and as a result, a position at which the battery is placed is constant, and the number of separate working processes performed by a worker and assembling time are not increased, in comparison with the battery in the related art.

According to the present invention, the front bracket, which is disposed at a front side based on the vehicle body brackets and the battery, blocks moments of force in the left and right direction and the front and rear direction of the battery, and as a result, the battery is not separated.

According to the present invention, the bracket, which has been used to mount a spare tire and a battery in the related art, is omitted, or a size of shape of the bracket is reduced, and as a result, production costs of the vehicle and a weight of a vehicle body are reduced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 3is a perspective view illustrating a structure for mounting a battery and a spare tire according to various embodiments of the present invention, andFIG. 4is a side view illustrating the structure for mounting the battery and the spare tire according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated, a battery20according to the present invention is accommodated in an accommodating compartment12formed to be recessed in a rear floor10of a vehicle, and a spare tire30is disposed at an upper side of the battery20so as to overlap the battery20.

In comparison with the structure in the related art in which a battery and a spare tire are disposed in a left and right direction, it is not necessary to consider a span of the rear floor10in the case of the structure in which the battery20and the spare tire30are mounted in the up and down (vertical) direction as described above, thereby improving a degree of freedom of a layout.

As illustrated inFIG. 4, the battery20is fixedly coupled to the rear floor10by a battery bracket22, and the spare tire30is fixedly coupled to the rear floor10by a tire mounting bracket32through a tire bolt36.

In this case, because the battery bracket22and the tire mounting bracket32are completely separated and spaced apart from each other, the battery bracket22is not damaged but only the tire bolt36of the tire mounting bracket32may be fractured at the time of a rear-end collision of a vehicle, such that the spare tire30becomes separated at an early stage, and as a result, a load applied to the spare tire is not transmitted to the battery20.

FIG. 5is a view illustrating a state in which the battery bracket is coupled to the battery according to various embodiments of the present invention, andFIG. 6is a view illustrating a state in which the tire mounting bracket is coupled in a state in which the battery bracket according to various embodiments of the present invention is coupled.

As illustrated inFIG. 5, ends of the battery bracket22are coupled to a pair of vehicle body brackets14which protrudes in a left and right direction based on the battery20, and the battery bracket22serves to fix the battery20.

Specifically, the battery bracket22includes first battery legs22awhich extend in the left and right directions from an upper surface of the battery20and are coupled to the pair of vehicle body brackets14by bolting, and a second battery leg22bwhich extends rearward from the upper surface of the battery20and is mounted in the accommodating compartment12of the rear floor10.

The battery bracket22, which includes the first battery legs22aand the second battery leg22b, is disposed to surround the upper surface, left and right surfaces, and a rear surface of the battery20, thereby preventing the battery20from being separated from the rear floor10.

A front bracket16protrudes at a front side based on the battery20, and the front bracket16is in contact with a front portion of the battery20and serves to restrict forward and rearward movements of the battery.

That is, at the time of a rear-end collision of a vehicle, a moment of force (or load) in the front and rear direction is applied to the battery20because of inertia, and in this case, the front bracket16resists the moment of force in the front and rear direction, thereby preventing the battery20from being lifted up.

As illustrated inFIG. 6, the tire mounting bracket32is spaced apart from an upper portion of the battery bracket22and installed separately from the battery bracket, and ends of the tire mounting bracket32are coupled to the vehicle body brackets14.

That is, the tire mounting bracket32is installed to be separated from the battery bracket22, and a central portion of the tire mounting bracket32is fastened to the spare tire30by means of the tire bolt36, thereby fixing the spare tire.

Specifically, the tire mounting bracket32includes first tire legs32awhich extend in left and right directions from the upper surface of the battery20and are coupled to the pair of vehicle body brackets14by bolting, and a second tire leg32bwhich extends forward from the upper surface of the battery20and is mounted in the accommodating compartment12of the rear floor10.

In this case, a mounting portion34convexly protrudes upward at a central portion of the tire mounting bracket32, and the tire bolt36is coupled to the mounting portion34so as to connect the spare tire30and the tire mounting bracket32.

As described above, an installation height of the spare tire30may be adapted by forming the mounting portion34on the tire mounting bracket32, and since only the tire bolt36is fractured and only the spare tire30becomes separated at an early stage at the time of a rear-end collision of a vehicle, a load applied to the spare tire is not transmitted to the battery bracket22.

FIG. 7A-FIG. 7Care views illustrating a state in which the battery20according to various embodiments of the present invention is placed in the accommodating compartment.

Specifically,FIG. 7Ais a view illustrating a state in which the battery20is being inserted into the accommodating compartment12from an upper side of the accommodating compartment12by a machine (not illustrated),FIG. 7Bis a view illustrating a state in which the battery20is being moved to a lower portion of the accommodating compartment12after being inserted, andFIG. 7Cis a view illustrating a state after the battery20is completely placed.

As illustrated by dotted circles inFIG. 7A, a space of about 10 mm is formed between the battery20and the vehicle body bracket14by considering a likelihood that the battery20is not inserted into an accurate position due to an error of the machine (not illustrated) when the battery20is inserted into the accommodating compartment12from the upper side of the accommodating compartment12by the machine.

Next, as illustrated inFIG. 7B, the inserted battery20is moved downward to the lower portion of the accommodating compartment12along the side surfaces of the vehicle body brackets14, and the side surfaces of the vehicle body brackets14may have a predetermined inclination angle θ as a width between the side surfaces is gradually decreased downward, thereby guiding the battery20so that the battery20is positioned at an accurate position.

The inclination angle θ formed at the side surfaces of the vehicle body brackets14may be set to various angles in consideration of a layout depending on the type of vehicle, a size of the battery, and a size of the accommodating compartment, and in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the inclination angle θ may be, but not limited to, about 5°.

As illustrated by dotted circles inFIG. 7C, the battery20, which has been moved downward along the side surfaces of the vehicle body brackets14, is accurately placed on the lower portion of the accommodating compartment12, and in this case, a distance in the left and right direction between the vehicle body brackets14may be equal to or slightly larger than a width in the left and right direction of the battery20.

In various embodiments of the present invention, a spacing between the battery20and the vehicle body bracket14may be within about 2 mm, but the spacing may be variably set in consideration of a layout depending on the type of vehicle, a size of the battery, and a size of the accommodating compartment.

The structure for mounting the battery and the spare tire according to the present invention, which is configured as described above, may mount the battery20and the spare tire30regardless of a span of the rear floor10, the battery bracket22is not damaged even at the time of a rear-end collision of a vehicle such that the battery20is not separated, and the vehicle body brackets14serve to restrict the position in the left and right direction of the battery20when the battery20is inserted, and as a result, in comparison with the battery in the related art, a position at which the battery20is placed is constant, and the number of separate working processes performed by a worker and assembling time are not increased.