# US 10,870,341 B2 · Electric vehicle and chassis thereof

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- Number: US 10,870,341 B2
- Document ID: US10870341B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/577,956
- Filed: 2019-09-20
- Published: 2020-07-30
- Granted: 2020-12-22
- Earliest claimed: 2019-01-28
- Assignees: National Taiwan Normal University
- Applicants: National Taiwan Normal University
- Inventors: Yi-Hsuan Hung; Hsueh-Chung Han; Shao-Wei Chang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10870341B2

## CPC

- B60K 1/04: of the electric storage means for propulsion
- B60L 50/66: {Arrangements of batteries}
- B60N 2/01: Arrangement of seats relative to one another
- B60P 1/6418: {the load-transporting element being a container or similar}
- B60S 9/14: for both lifting and manoeuvring
- B62D 21/09: Means for mounting load bearing surfaces
- B62D 21/12: assembled from readily detachable parts
- B62D 21/14: of adjustable length or width
- B62D 63/025: {Modular vehicles (superstructures for busses having modular sections B62D31/025)}
- H01M 50/209: adapted for prismatic or rectangular cells (H01M50/216 takes precedence)
- B60K 6/28: characterised by the electric energy storing means, e.g. batteries or capacitors
- B60K 2001/0422: {Arrangement under the front seats}
- B60K 2001/0433: {Arrangement under the rear seats}
- B60K 2001/0438: {Arrangement under the floor}
- B60K 2001/0455: {Removal or replacement of the energy storages}
- B60K 2001/0461: {from the side}
- B60K 2001/0483: {from the front}
- B60L 53/80: Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
- B60Y 2200/43: Variable track or wheelbase vehicles
- B60Y 2200/91: Electric vehicles
- B60Y 2200/92: Hybrid vehicles
- B60Y 2400/112: Batteries
- H01M 2220/20: Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
- Y02E 60/10: Energy storage using batteries
- Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
- Y02T 10/7072: Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors
- B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
- B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES
- B60N: SEATS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES; VEHICLE PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B60P: VEHICLES ADAPTED FOR LOAD TRANSPORTATION OR TO TRANSPORT, TO CARRY, OR TO COMPRISE SPECIAL LOADS OR OBJECTS (vehicles with special provisions for transporting patients or disabled persons, or their personal conveyances A61G3/00)
- B60S: SERVICING, CLEANING, REPAIRING, SUPPORTING, LIFTING, OR MANOEUVRING OF VEHICLES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B62D: MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS (steering, or guiding on a desired track, of agricultural machines or implements A01B69/00; wheels, castors, axles, increasing wheel adhesion B60B; vehicle tyres, tyre inflation or tyre changing B60C; connections between vehicles of a train or the like B60D; vehicles for use on rail and road, amphibious or convertible vehicles B60F; suspension arrangements B60G; heating, cooling, ventilating or other air treating devices B60H; windows, windscreens, non-fixed roofs, doors or similar devices, protective coverings for vehicles not in use B60J; propulsion plant arrangements, auxiliary drives, transmissions, controls, instrumentation or dashboards B60K; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L; power supply for electrically-propelled vehicles B60M; passenger accommodation not otherwise provided for B60N; adaptations for load transportation or to carry special loads or objects B60P; arrangement of signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general B60Q; vehicles, vehicle fittings or vehicle parts not otherwise provided for B60R; servicing, cleaning, repairing, supporting, lifting, or manoeuvring, not otherwise provided for, B60S; brake arrangements, brake control systems or parts thereof B60T; air-cushion vehicles B60V; motor-cycles, accessories therefor B62J, B62K; testing of vehicles G01M)
- H01M: PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- B60Y: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION

## Abstract

An electric vehicle includes a chassis and a seat assembly that includes a plurality of seats mounted to the chassis. The chassis includes a vehicle frame defining a mounting space, and a battery module disposed in the mounting space and including an outer battery unit that is mounted to the vehicle frame, and an inner battery unit that is coupled to the outer battery unit. The vehicle frame is operable to switch between an expanded state, where the inner battery unit is permitted to be coupled to the outer battery unit and the seats are spaced apart from each other, and a collapsed state, where the inner battery unit is prevented from being coupled to the outer battery unit and the seats are overlapped with each other.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An electric vehicle comprising:
a chassis including
a vehicle frame that defines a mounting space, and
a battery module that is disposed in said mounting space and that includes an outer battery unit mounted to said vehicle frame, and an inner battery unit removably coupled to said outer battery unit; and
a seat assembly including a plurality of seats that is mounted to said chassis;
wherein, said vehicle frame is operable to switch between an expanded state, where said inner battery unit is permitted to be coupled to said outer battery unit and said seats are spaced apart from each other, and a collapsed state, where said inner battery unit is prevented from being coupled to said outer battery unit and said seats are overlapped with each other.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The electric vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle frame is telescopic in a front-rear direction and a lateral direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction, such that said vehicle frame is operable to switch between the expanded state and the collapsed state.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The electric vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein:
said vehicle frame has
four corner plates, and
four first telescopic rods, each of which has two opposite ends that are respectively and fixedly connected to two corresponding ones of said corner plates; and
two of said first telescopic rods are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction (X) and extend in the lateral direction (Y), and the remaining two of said first telescopic rods are spaced apart from each other in the lateral direction (Y) and extend in the front-rear direction (X) for enabling said vehicle frame to switch between the expanded state and the collapsed state by telescopically extending in both the front-rear direction (X) and the lateral direction (Y).

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The electric vehicle as claimed in claim 3, wherein:
said outer battery unit includes four outer batteries that are respectively and removably coupled to said corner plates of said vehicle frame;
said seat assembly includes four of said seats, and further includes
four seat supports that are respectively mounted to top surfaces of said outer batteries and that are for said seats to be respectively mounted thereto, and
four second telescopic rods, each of which has two opposite ends that are respectively and fixedly connected to two corresponding ones of said seat supports;
two of said second telescopic rods are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction (X) and extend in the lateral direction (Y), and the remaining two of said second telescopic rods are spaced apart from each other in the lateral direction (Y) and extend in the front-rear direction (X).

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The electric vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein:
any two of said seats arranged in the lateral direction (Y) are located relative to each other in such a way that one of said seats is located higher in a up-down direction (Z) perpendicular to the front-rear direction (X) and the lateral direction (Y), and closer to a front end of said seat assembly in the front-rear direction (X) than the other one of said seats; and
any two of said seats arranged in the front-rear direction (X) are located relative to each other in such a way that the front one of said seats is located higher in the up-down direction (Z) than the rear one of said seats.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The electric vehicle as claimed in claim 5, wherein:
said seat supports include a first support, a second support, a third support, and a fourth support;
said first and second supports are spaced apart from each other in the lateral direction (Y), said third and fourth supports are spaced apart from each other in the lateral direction (Y), said first and third supports are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction (X), and said second and fourth supports are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction (X);
a top end of said first support is higher than that of said second support, said top end of said second support is higher than that of said third support, and said top end of said third support is higher than that of said fourth support;
each of said seats has a sitting portion, a connecting portion that is connected to a front end of said sitting portion and that is fixedly connected to a corresponding one of said seat supports, and a back portion that is connected to a rear end of said sitting portion; and
when said vehicle frame is in the collapsed state, said sitting portions of said seats are partly overlapped in the up-down direction (Z), and said connecting portions and said back portions of any two of said seats that are arranged in the lateral direction (Y) are partly overlapped in the front-rear direction (X).

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The electric vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein:
said inner battery unit includes a plurality of inner batteries;
when said vehicle frame is in the expanded state, said outer batteries are separated from each other for said inner batteries to be coupled thereamong; and
when said vehicle frame is in the collapsed state, said outer batteries abut against each other so as to prevent said inner batteries from being coupled thereamong.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The electric vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein:
said inner battery unit includes four of said inner batteries, each of which is to be removably coupled between corresponding two of said outer batteries; and
said inner battery unit further includes a central battery that is to be removably coupled to and to be disposed among said inner batteries.

### Claim 9

A chassis of an electric vehicle comprising:
a vehicle frame that defines a mounting space; and
a battery module that is disposed in said mounting space and that includes an outer battery unit mounted to said vehicle frame, and an inner battery unit removably coupled to said outer battery unit;
wherein, said vehicle frame is operable to switch between an expanded state, where said inner battery unit is permitted to be coupled to said outer battery unit, and a collapsed state, where said inner battery unit is prevented from being coupled to said outer battery unit.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The chassis of the electric vehicle as claimed in claim 9, wherein said vehicle frame is telescopic in a front-rear direction (X) and a lateral direction (Y) perpendicular to the front-rear direction (X), such that said vehicle frame is operable to switch between the expanded state and the collapsed state.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The chassis of the electric vehicle as claimed in claim 10, wherein:
said vehicle frame has
four corner plates, and
four first telescopic rods, each of which has two opposite ends that are respectively and fixedly connected to two corresponding ones of said corner plates; and
two of said first telescopic rods are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction (X) and extend in the lateral direction (Y), and the remaining two of said first telescopic rods are spaced apart from each other in the lateral direction (Y) and extend in the front-rear direction (X) for enabling said vehicle frame to switch between the expanded state and the collapsed state by telescopically extending in the front-rear direction (X) and the lateral direction (Y).

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The chassis of the electric vehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein:
said outer battery unit includes four outer batteries that are respectively and removably coupled to said corner plates of said vehicle frame;
said inner battery unit includes a plurality of inner batteries;
when said vehicle frame is in the expanded state, said outer batteries are separated from each other for said inner batteries to be coupled thereamong; and
when said vehicle frame is in the collapsed state, said outer batteries abut against each other so as to prevent said inner batteries from being coupled thereamong.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The chassis of the electric vehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein:
said inner battery unit includes four of said inner batteries, each of which is to be removably coupled between corresponding two of said outer batteries; and
said inner battery unit further includes a central battery that is to be removably coupled to and to be disposed among said inner batteries.