Motor unit
AssigneeToyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsRyuta Hayashi, Akitaka Ichikawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drive device disclosed herein may include: a motor casing housing the electric motor; a gear connected to the electric motor; a gear casing housing the gear; an inverter electrically connected to the electric motor; an inverter casing housing the inverter; and a relay box including at least one relay and having a relay circuit configured to connect a charging inlet of the vehicle to a neutral point of the electric motor and to the inverter. The motor casing, the gear casing, and the inverter casing may be arranged in this order along an axial direction extending parallel to a rotation axis of the electric motor. The relay box may be mounted at least to the gear casing in a first direction intersecting the rotation axis of the electric motor.
Claims18
A drive device, comprising:
- an electric motor configured to drive a wheel of a vehicle;
- a motor casing housing the electric motor;
- a gear connected to the electric motor;
- a gear casing housing the gear;
- an inverter electrically connected to the electric motor;
- an inverter casing housing the inverter;
- and
- a relay box including at least one relay and having a relay circuit configured to connect a charging inlet provided on an outer surface of the vehicle to a neutral point of the electric motor and to the inverter, wherein
- the motor casing, the gear casing, and the inverter casing are arranged in this order along an axial direction extending parallel to a rotation axis of the electric motor, and
- the relay box is mounted at least to the gear casing in a first direction intersecting the rotation axis of the electric motor.
A vehicle, comprising:
- a drive device;
- a battery configured to supply power to the drive device;
- and
- a charging inlet provided on an outer surface of the vehicle, and configured to be detachably attached to a connector of an external charging device to connect the battery to the external charging device,
- wherein the drive device comprises:
- an electric motor configured to, using the power supplied from the battery, drive a wheel of the vehicle;
- a motor casing housing the electric motor;
- a gear connected to the electric motor;
- a gear casing housing the gear;
- an inverter electrically connected to the electric motor;
- an inverter casing housing the inverter;
- and
- a relay box including at least one relay and having a relay circuit configured to connect the charging inlet provided on the outer surface of the vehicle to a neutral point of the electric motor and to the inverter, wherein
- the motor casing, the gear casing, and the inverter casing are arranged in this order along an axial direction extending parallel to a rotation axis of the electric motor, and
- the relay box is mounted at least to the gear casing in a first direction intersecting the rotation axis of the electric motor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.