US-12617263-B2 - Vehicle

Abstract

A vehicle includes: a vehicle body including a mounting portion which opens downward and in which a battery is mountable; and the battery attachable to and detachable from the mounting portion, from below the mounting portion. At least one of the battery and the mounting portion has a tapered portion having a shape that gradually expands downward.

Inventors

• Atsushi Mikuni
• Shintaro Kitakata
• Reiji IWAIHARA
• Takumi KAWATA
• Norihisa Nomura

Assignees

• TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20231213

Priority Date

20221227

Claims (3)

1. 1 . A vehicle comprising: a vehicle body including a mounting portion which opens downward and in which a battery is mountable; and the battery attachable to and detachable from the mounting portion, from below the mounting portion, wherein: at least one of the battery and the mounting portion has a tapered portion having a shape that gradually expands downward; the battery includes a battery body and a battery-side connector that projects upward from the battery body; the mounting portion is provided with a vehicle body-side connector that is configured to be electrically connected to the battery-side connector; the battery-side connector and the vehicle body-side connector each have a terminal and a housing that holds the terminal; the housing of the battery-side connector has a housing tapered portion having a shape that gradually expands downward and is formed in an annular shape; and a length of the housing tapered portion in a width direction of the vehicle body is longer than a length of the housing tapered portion in a front-rear direction of the vehicle body.
2. 2 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising a cushioning portion provided on the housing tapered portion.
3. 3 . The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein a length of the tapered portion in the width direction is longer than a length of the tapered portion in the front-to-rear direction.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This nonprovisional application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-210092 filed on Dec. 27, 2022 with the Japan Patent Office, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND Field The present disclosure relates to a vehicle. Description of the Background Art Conventionally, a vehicle in which a battery can be replaced is known. For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2012-192782 discloses a battery replacement apparatus capable of replacing a battery attached to a lower portion of a vehicle body, from below the vehicle body. SUMMARY In the battery replacement apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2012-192782, when a battery is to be connected to a vehicle body and the position of a battery-side connector deviates from the position of a vehicle body-side connector, the battery cannot be connected to the vehicle body. It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a vehicle in which occurrence of a failure in connecting the battery-side connector to the vehicle body-side connector can be suppressed. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle includes: a vehicle body including a mounting portion which opens downward and in which a battery is mountable; and the battery attachable to and detachable from the mounting portion, from below the mounting portion, wherein the battery has a battery-side connector, the vehicle body has a vehicle body-side connector electrically connectable to the battery-side connector, and at least one of the battery-side connector and the vehicle body-side connector has a tapered portion having a shape that gradually expands downward. The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present disclosure when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 schematically shows a battery replacement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a state before a battery is connected to a vehicle body. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a state after a battery is connected to a vehicle body. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state before connection, in a modification of a mounting portion and the battery. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state after connection, in a modification of the mounting portion and the battery. FIG. 6 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a battery. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state before the battery-side connector and the vehicle body-side connector are connected. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state after connection of the battery-side connector and the vehicle body-side connector. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state before connection, in a modification of the battery-side connector and the vehicle body-side connector. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state after connection, in a modification of the battery-side connector and the vehicle body-side connector. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a battery replacement apparatus 100 and an electrically powered vehicle 200 according to the present embodiment. The battery replacement apparatus 100 is an apparatus for replacing a battery (used battery) 201 attached to the electrically powered vehicle 200 with a charged battery (new battery) 101. The battery 201 and the battery 101 are examples of “first battery” and “second battery” of the present disclosure, respectively. (Configuration of Electrically Powered Vehicle) As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle body 200a of the electrically powered vehicle 200 has a mounting portion 200c on which the batteries 101 and 201 can be mounted. The mounting portion 200c opens downward. The mounting portion 200c has a shape recessed upward from the lower surface 200b of the vehicle body 200a. The batteries 101 and 201 are attachable to and detachable from the mounting portion 200c. Specifically, the batteries 101 and 201 are fastened to the mounting portion 200c by fastening members such as bolts. Next, the configuration of the battery and the mounting portion 200c will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Hereinafter, the charged battery 101 will be described as an example. As shown in FIG. 2, the battery 101 has a tapered portion 102. The tapered portion 102 has a shape that gradually expands downward. The tapered portion 102 is contiguous to the upper surface of the