Patent Publication Number: US-2009226792-A1

Title: Vehicle Having Fuel Cell

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a vehicle having a fuel cell. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Vehicles having a fuel cell have been developed. In such vehicles, a fuel cell is attached to a vehicle body. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publications No. JP-A-2004-122972 and No. JP-A-2004-187485 describe that a fuel cell is arranged on the floor at a position under a seat. Thus, the space under the seat is effectively utilized, and, consequently, more space is provided for an occupant. 
     Usually, seats are slid backward and forward to adjust the seating positions of occupants. Therefore, when a fuel cell is attached onto the floor at a position under the seat as described in the Japanese Patent Application Publications No. JP-A-2004-122972 and No. JP-A-2004-187485, if the seat is slid, the fuel cell may be exposed and obstruct the positioning of the occupant&#39;s legs. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a vehicle having a fuel cell, in which more space is provided for an occupant by effectively utilizing the space under a seat, and the fuel cell does not obstruct the positioning of the occupant&#39;s legs even if the seat is slid. 
     An aspect of the invention relates to a vehicle having a fuel cell. The vehicle includes a seat that is moved with respect to a vehicle body to adjust the seating position of an occupant. The fuel cell is arranged under the seat and moveable together with the seat. 
     According to the aspect of the invention, the fuel cell is not fixed to the vehicle body, but attached to the seat. Therefore, when the seat is slid in order to adjust the seating position, the fuel cell is moved together with the seat. Accordingly, even when the seat is slid, the fuel-cell is not exposed. In other words, in the vehicle having a fuel cell according to the aspect of the invention, more space is provided for the occupant by effectively utilizing the space under the seat, and at the same time, the fuel cell does not obstruct the positioning of the occupant&#39;s legs even if the seat is slid. 
     The vehicle according to the aspect of the invention may further include a fuel gas supply portion that supplies predetermined fuel gas to the fuel cell. The fuel gas supply portion may be fixed to the vehicle, and the fuel cell and the fuel gas supply portion may be connected to each other by a flexible pipe that is deformable and extensible. 
     Examples of the fuel gas supply portion include a fuel tank that stores fuel gas, and a fuel gas generating device that generates fuel gas from a predetermined raw material. Examples of the flexible pipe that is deformable and extensible include a bellows pipe. 
     The fuel cell and the fuel gas supply portion are connected to each other by the flexible pipe that is deformable and extensible. Thus, even when the fuel cell is moved while the fuel gas supply portion is fixed to the vehicle, the fuel gas can be supplied from the fuel gas supply portion to the fuel cell due to deformation and extension/contraction of the flexible pipe. Because the fuel gas supply portion is fixed to the vehicle, it is not longer necessary to reserve a space in which the fuel gas supply portion moves in accordance with the movement of the fuel cell. Accordingly, the fuel gas supply portion requires relatively small space. 
     The vehicle according to the aspect of the invention may include a fuel gas supply portion that supplies predetermined fuel gas to the fuel cell. The fuel gas supply portion may be movable with respect to the vehicle body, the fuel cell and the fuel gas supply portion may be connected to each other by a pipe, and the fuel gas supply portion may be moved in accordance with the movement of the seat and the fuel cell. 
     Fatigue tends to be caused in the flexible pipe when it is extended/contracted and deformed. Accordingly, a measure needs to be taken to ensure adequate strength of the flexible pipe. The fuel gas supply portion moves in accordance with the movement of the fuel cell, whereby the fatigue caused by the extension/contraction and the deformation of the pipe is suppressed. This leads to improved reliability in pipe strength. 
     In the vehicle having any one of the structures described above, the seat may be provided with a shelf plate arranged under the seat, and the fuel cell may be attached onto the shelf plate. 
     In the vehicle having any one of the structures described above, the fuel cell may be arranged under a front seat, and the fuel gas supply portion may be arranged under a rear seat. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       The foregoing and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an example embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals are used to represent like elements and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is the explanatory view schematically showing the structure of a vehicle  100  according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2A  is the explanatory view showing the structure of a front seat  10 , and  FIG. 2B  is the explanatory view showing the position at which a fuel cell  30  is arranged; 
         FIG. 3  is the explanatory view schematically showing the structure of a vehicle  100 A according to a first modified example of the embodiment; and 
         FIG. 4A  is the explanatory view showing the structure of a front seat  10 A according to a second modified example of the embodiment, and  FIG. 4B  is the explanatory view showing the position at which the fuel cell  30  is arranged in the second modified example. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENT 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described in the following order.
     A. Vehicle Structure   B. Modified Examples of the Embodiment   

     A. Vehicle Structure: 
       FIG. 1  is the explanatory view schematically showing the structure of a vehicle  100  according to an embodiment of the invention. The vehicle  100  is provided with a fuel cell  30 . A motor (not shown) is driven by electric power generated by electrochemical reaction of hydrogen, used as fuel gas, supplied from a hydrogen tank  40  and oxygen in the air, and wheels are turned by the power output from the motor, whereby the vehicle  100  travels. 
     The vehicle  100  includes a front seat  10  and a rear seat  20 . The front seat  10  is slid backward and forward with respect to a vehicle body to adjust the seating position of an occupant. The rear seat  20  is fixed to a floor  60 . In the vehicle  100  according to the embodiment of the invention, the fuel cell  30  is arranged in the space under the front seat  10  in order to provide more space for the occupant. The front seat  10  and the position at which the fuel cell  30  is arranged will be described later in detail. 
     According to the embodiment of the invention, the hydrogen tank  40  is attached to the floor  60  at a position under the rear seat  20 . Alternatively, the hydrogen tank  40  may be arranged at another position in the vehicle  100 . The fuel cell  30  and the hydrogen tank  40  are connected to each other by a flexible pipe  50  that is deformable and extensible. In the embodiment of the invention, a bellows pipe is used as the flexible pipe  50 . 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  show the structure of the front seat  10  and the position at which the fuel cell  30  is arranged.  FIG. 2A  is the side view of the seat  10 , and  FIG. 2B  is the rear view of the seat  10 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the front seat  10  is provided with a leg portion  12  and a roller portion  14 . Further, a rail  16  is laid onto the floor  60 . Releasing a stopper (not shown) allows the roller portion  14  connected with the leg portion  12  to slide on the rail  16 , whereby the position of the front seat  10  is changed. 
     In the embodiment of the invention, a space for the fuel cell  30  is left under the bottom face of the front seat  10 . The fuel cell  30  is arranged in the space, and fixed to the bottom face of the front seat  10  with bolts (not shown) and nuts (not shown). Note that the dimension of the top face of the fuel cell  30  is set to be smaller than the dimension of the bottom face of the front seat  10  so that the fuel cell  30  arranged in the vehicle  100  is not exposed. 
     In the vehicle  100  described above, the fuel cell  30  is attached to the front seat  10 . Accordingly, when the front seat  10  is slid backward or forward, the fuel cell  30  also slides along with the front seat  10 . Thus, the fuel cell  30  is not exposed even when the front seat  10  is slid, unlike the case where the fuel cell  30  is fixed onto the floor  60  at a position under the front seat  10 . In other words, in the vehicle  100  having the fuel cell  30  according to the embodiment of the invention, more space is provided for the occupant by effectively utilizing the space under the front seat  10 , and at the same time, the fuel cell  30  does not obstruct the positioning of the occupant&#39;s legs even if the front seat  10  is slid. 
     Further, in the vehicle  100  according to the embodiment of the invention, the flexible pipe  50 , which is deformable and extendable, is used as a pipe that connects the fuel cell  30  with the hydrogen tank  40 . Accordingly, the fuel cell  30  can be moved while the hydrogen tank  40  is fixed to the vehicle  100 . As a result, the hydrogen tank  40  requires relatively small space. 
     B. Modified Examples 
     While the embodiment of the invention has been described so far, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The invention may be realized in various other embodiments within the scope of the invention. For example, the embodiment may be modified as follows. 
     B1. First Modified Example 
       FIG. 3  is the explanatory view schematically showing the structure of a vehicle  100 A according to a first modified example of the embodiment. The front seat  10 , the rear seat  20 , and the positions at which the fuel cell  30  and the hydrogen tank  40  are arranged are common to the vehicle  100 A and the vehicle  100 . However, the vehicle  100 A differs from the vehicle  100  in that the hydrogen tank  40  can be moved with respect to a body of the vehicle  100 A by a slide mechanism (not shown), and the fuel cell  30  and the hydrogen tank  40  are connected by a pipe  50 A. With this arrangement, when the front seat  10  is slid, the hydrogen tank  40  is also slid together with the front seat  10  and the fuel cell  30 . 
     In the vehicle  100 A having the fuel cell  30  according to the first modified example of the embodiment, more space is provided for the occupant by effectively utilizing the space under the front seat  10 , and, at the same time, the fuel cell  30  does not obstruct the positioning of the occupant&#39;s legs. 
     In addition, in the vehicle  100 A, the hydrogen tank  40  moves in accordance with the movement of the front seat  10  and the fuel cell  30 . Accordingly, it is possible to suppress fatigue of the pipe  50 A due to its deformation, leading to improved reliability. in pipe strength. 
     B2. Second Modified Example 
     In the embodiment of the invention described above, the fuel cell  30  is fixed to the bottom face of the front seat  10 . However, the position at which the fuel cell  30  is attached is not limited to this.  FIGS. 4A and 4B  are the explanatory views showing the structure of a front seat  10 A according to a second modified example of the embodiment, and the position at which the fuel cell  30  is arranged in the second modified example. As shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the front seat  10 A according to the second modified example is provided with a shelf plate  13 . The shelf plate  13  is arranged under the front seat  10 A. The fuel cell  30  is arranged on the shelf plate  13  and attached onto the shelf plate  13 . 
     In the vehicle having the fuel cell  30  according to the second modified example of the embodiment, more space is provided for the occupant by effectively utilizing the space under the front seat  10 , and at the same time, the fuel cell  30  does not obstruct the positioning of the occupant&#39;s legs even when the front seat  10  is slid. 
     B3. Third Modified Example: 
     In the vehicle  100  according to the embodiment of the invention, and the vehicle  100 A according to the first modified example of the embodiment, the fuel cell  30  is attached to the front seat  10 . However, the position at which the fuel cell  30  is arranged is not limited to this. The hydrogen tank  40  may be arranged at another position in the vehicle. In this case, the rear seat  20  may be slidable backward and forward, and the fuel cell  30  may be attached to the bottom face of the rear seat  20 . 
     B4. Fourth Modified Example: 
     The vehicle  100  according to the embodiment of the invention, and the vehicle  100 A according to the first modified example of the embodiment are provided with the hydrogen tank  40  from which hydrogen is supplied to the fuel cell  30 . However, the hydrogen supply source is not limited to this. Instead of the hydrogen tank  40 , for example, a hydrogen generating device that generates hydrogen from a predetermined raw material may be arranged in the vehicle. 
     B5. Fifth Modified Example 
     In the vehicle  100  according to the embodiment of the invention described above, the flexible pipe  50 , which is deformable and extendable, is used as the pipe that connects the fuel cell  30  with the hydrogen tank  40 . In addition to this pipe, another pipe or a wire connected to the fuel cell, for example, a pipe used to cool a fuel gas discharge portion and the fuel cell and a power cable may be a flexible pipe and a flexible wire that are deformable and extendable. 
     In the vehicle according to the fifth modified example of the embodiment, more space is provided for the occupant by effectively utilizing the space under the seat, and, at the same time, the fuel cell does not obstruct the positioning of the occupant&#39;s legs. 
     In the embodiment of the invention described above, the seat can be slid with respect to the vehicle body by the slide mechanism with the rollers. The seat may be slid with respect to the vehicle body either manually or electrically. 
     B6: Sixth Modified Example: 
     In the embodiment of the invention, the rear seat  20  is fixed to the floor  60 . However, the rear seat  20  does not always have to be fixed to the floor  60 . As in the case of the front seat  10 , the rear seat  20  may be slid backward and forward with respect to the vehicle body to adjust the seating position of the occupant. Also the hydrogen tank  40  arranged under the rear seat  20  may be movable with respect to the vehicle body so that the hydrogen tank  40  is moved together with the rear seat  40 . The fuel cell  30  and the hydrogen tank  40  may be connected to each other by the flexible pipe  50  that is deformable and extensible. Namely, the fuel cell  30  arranged under the front seat  10  and the hydrogen supply source (the hydrogen tank  40 ) arranged under the rear sear  20  may be moved together with the front seat  10  and the rear seat  20  in accordance with the backward and forward movements of the front seat  10  and the rear seat  20 , respectively. Thus, even if the distance between the front seat  10  and the rear seat  20  is changed by sliding the front seat  10  and the rear seat  20 , the fuel cell  30  and the hydrogen tank  40  do not obstruct the positioning of the occupant&#39;s legs, and the occupant can flexibly adjust the seating position.