Vehicle underbody
AssigneeToyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsShuhei BANNO, Yasuyuki KUMAZAWA
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle understructure includes a hydrogen tank that is disposed along a longitudinal axis of a vehicle. At least an upper portion of the hydrogen tank is enclosed in a floor tunnel. The hydrogen tank includes dome portions that are disposed at both ends of a cylindrical center body portion of the tank, and at least one valve portion that protrudes from at least one of the dome portions. The vehicle understructure also includes a brace that extends along a transverse axis of the vehicle and is secured to transversely outer side portions of the floor tunnel. The brace is at least partially overlapped with at least one of the dome portions when viewed from the front or rear of the vehicle.
Claims12
A vehicle understructure comprising:
- right and left rocker panels extending along a longitudinal axis of a vehicle on both of transversely outer sides of the vehicle and forming a vehicle body frame;
- a floor tunnel forming a substantially transverse center portion of a floor panel between the right and left rocker panels, the floor tunnel extending along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and being downwardly opened;
- a tank with at least an upper portion being enclosed in the floor tunnel, the tank disposed along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, the tank comprising two dome portions disposed at both ends of the tank on a first and a second sides of a longitudinally centered cylindrical body portion, and at least one valve portion protruding from the dome portion at least on the first side;
- and
- a reinforcing member extending along a transverse axis of the vehicle and being secured to both of transversely outer side portions of the floor tunnel, the reinforcing member being at least partially overlapped with at least one of the dome portions when viewed from the front or rear of the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.