CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

10001 ] This application claims benefit and priority under 35 U.S.C. §1 19(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/506,943, filed May 16, 2017 and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/636,312, filed February 28, 2018, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

|0002| The present disclosure generally relates to vehicle battery trays and structures and

associated forming methods, and more particularly to structural components and protective enclosures for concealing and protecting vehicle electronic components and batteries, such as battery packs or modules or the like for electric and hybrid electric vehicles.

BACKGROUND

[0003| Electric and hybrid electric vehicles are typically designed to locate and package battery modules on the vehicle in a manner that protects the batteries from damage when driving in various climates and environments, and also that protects the batteries from different types of impacts. It is also fairly common for vehicle frames to locate batteries in a portion of the frame or sub-structure of the vehicle, such as between the axles and near the floor of the vehicle, which can distribute the weight of the batteries across the vehicle frame and establish a low center of gravity for the vehicle.

SUMMARY

[0004| The present disclosure provides a battery tray for a vehicle that includes two tray

components or pieces that attach or mate together, such as with one tray component over or within the other tray component, to form sealed and separate battery containment areas configured to be spaced longitudinally along the vehicle frame. The lower or outer tray component has a panel portion with elongated reinforcement members integrally formed along opposing edges of the panel portion. Similarly, the upper or inner tray component has a panel portion with cross members integrally extending across the panel portion. The tray components may be separately pultruded or extruded to each have a substantially constant cross-section along the length of the respective elongated reinforcement members and cross members. To attach the tray components together, the upper or inner tray component is rotated approximately ninety degrees to be arranged in a contrasting or polarized manner, with its length generally

perpendicular to the length of the lower or outer tray component. In such an arrangement, the panel portion of the lower or outer tray component receives the panel portion of the upper or inner tray component to position the cross members to extend between the elongated

reinforcement members and thereby define the separate battery containment areas that are each generally bound on four sides by the cross members and the elongated reinforcement members.

|0005| According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a battery tray for a vehicle includes a first tray component that has a first panel portion and elongated reinforcement members integrally coupled at opposing edges of the first panel portion and extending in parallel alignment with each other. Also, a second tray component has a second panel portion and a plurality of cross members integrally extending across the second panel portion. The second panel portion is disposed at an upper surface of the first panel portion with the plurality of cross members extending between the elongated reinforcement members so as to provide a battery containment area between the cross members.

10006] Optionally, the elongated reinforcement members may be formed to provide a multitubular shape with at least two elongated hollow cavities extending along lengths of the elongated reinforcement members that are configured to absorb and dissipate side-impact forces at the vehicle. Further, the first and second tray components may each be pultruded as a single integral piece with different materials disposed at different sections of the respective tray component, where the different materials are selected to accommodate the desired performance characteristics of the corresponding section of the tray component.

[0007| According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a battery tray for a vehicle includes a tray component that has a panel portion and a pair of elongated reinforcement members integrally protruding upward from opposing edges of the panel portion. A plurality of cross members are disposed at an upper surface of the panel portion, with the plurality of cross members extending between the elongated reinforcement members and defining a battery containment area between each of the plurality of cross members.

10008] According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a battery tray for a vehicle includes a tray component that has a panel portion and a plurality of cross members integrally extending upward from and across the panel portion. A pair of elongated reinforcement members are attached at opposing edges of the tray component. An inside surface of each of the pair of elongated reinforcement members engage at one of the opposing ends of the plurality of cross members and at the panel portion to define a battery containment area between each of the plurality of cross members.

|0009] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a battery tray for a vehicle includes an outer tray component that has a lower panel portion and elongated reinforcement members integrally protruding upward from opposing edges of the lower panel portion. An inner tray component has an upper panel portion and a plurality of cross members integrally extending upward and across the upper panel portion. The upper panel portion of the inner tray component is disposed over the lower panel portion of the lower tray component, such that opposing ends of the plurality of cross members engage inside surfaces of the elongated reinforcement members to define a battery containment area between each of the plurality of cross members.

[00101 According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of forming a battery tray for a vehicle includes forming outer and inner tray components, such as via a pultrusion or extrusion process. The outer tray component is formed to have a lower panel portion and elongated reinforcement members integrally protruding upward from opposing edges of the lower panel portion along a length of the outer tray component, where the outer tray component has a consistent cross-sectional shape along its length. The inner tray component is formed to have an upper panel portion and a plurality of cross members integrally extending upward from the upper panel portion along a length of the inner tray component, where the inner tray component also has a consistent cross-sectional shape along its length. The upper panel portion of the inner tray component is disposed over the lower panel portion of the lower tray component, such that the plurality of cross members extend between and generally perpendicular to the elongated reinforcement members to define a battery containment area between each of the plurality of cross members. Optionally, such as when pultruding the outer and/or inner tray components, different materials may be disposed at different sections of the respective tray component, such as carbon fiber disposed at the elongated reinforcement members or cross members and aramid or glass disposed at the upper or lower panel portions.

(00111 These and other objects, advantages, purposes, and features of the present disclosure will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012) FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a battery tray at a mounting location on a vehicle in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0013| FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the battery tray and outline of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 , illustrating rocker rails of the vehicle and battery modules held in the battery tray in dashed lines; 10014) FIG. 3 is an exploded, upper perspective view of the battery tray shown in FIG. 1 ,

showing the cover removed and the battery tray separate from a vehicle;

10015] FIG. 4 is an enlarged upper perspective view of a corner portion of the battery tray shown in FIG. 3, taken at section IV;

[00I6| FIG. 4A is an exploded, upper perspective view of the battery tray shown in FIG. 4, showing a healing element exploded away from the tray components;

|0017| FIG. 5 is an exploded, upper perspective view of the battery tray shown in FIG. 3,

showing the tray components exploded away from each other;

|0018[ FIG. 5A is an exploded, upper perspective view of a corner portion of the battery tray shown in FIG. 5;

[00191 FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the battery tray shown in FIG. 4, taken at line VI-VI, showing the consistent cross-sectional shape of the side reinforcement members;

100201 FIG. 7 is a cross section view of the battery tray shown in FIG. 4, taken at line VII-VII, showing a battery module in dashed lines;

100211 FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a vehicle having a battery tray, showing battery modules held in the battery tray in dashed lines;

|0022[ FIG. 9 is an exploded, upper perspective view of the battery tray shown in FIG. 8;

[00231 FIG. 10 is an upper perspective view of the battery tray shown in FIG. 8;

[0024| FIG. 11 an enlarged, upper perspective view of a corner portion of the battery tray shown in FIG. 10, taken at section XI;

10025] FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a process for forming a battery tray;

|0026| FIG. 12A is an upper perspective view of the tray components of the battery tray shown in FIG. 10, illustrating the tray components side-by-side and oriented in their respective directions of formation; 10027] FIG. 12B is an upper perspective view of the upper or inner tray component shown in

FIG. 12A, illustrating an axis and direction of rotation for positioning the tray component prior to assembly with the lower or outer tray component;

100281 FIG. 12C is an upper perspective view of the upper and lower tray components vertically separated and positioned with the directions of formation substantially perpendicular relative to each other prior to attachment;

[0029| FIG. 13 is an enlarged, upper perspective view of a section of the battery tray shown in

FIG. 8, illustrating a module node attached at the battery tray;

10030] FIG. 14 is an upper perspective view of the module node shown in FIG. 13;

|0031 J FIG. 15 is an upper perspective view of a front corner module node of the battery tray shown in FIG. 8;

[0032| FIG. 16 is an upper perspective view of a rear corner module node of the battery tray shown in FIG. 8;

10033] FIG. 17 is an enlarged, upper perspective view of a section of the battery tray shown in

FIG. 8, illustrating the front corner module node attached at the battery tray;

(00341 FIG. 18 is an exploded, upper perspective view of an additional embodiment of a battery tray with a pultruded tray component and a metallic outer frame;

10035] FIG. 18A shows upper perspective views of a formation process of the metallic outer frame of the battery tray shown in FIG. 18;

|0036| FIG. 19 is an elevational schematic view of a pultrusion apparatus; and

|0037| FIG. 20 is an upper perspective view of an exemplary pultruded component formed with the pultrusion apparatus shown in FIG. 19, showing cutaway layers to expose various layers of the different materials used in the pultruded component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

10038] Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depicted therein, a vehicle battery support structure or tray 10, 1 10, 210 is provided for supporting and protecting battery packs or modules or the like, such as for an electric or hybrid-electric vehicle 12, 1 12, such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8. The battery tray 10 may be attached or mounted to the vehicle frame, such as at or near the lower frame or rocker rails 14 of the vehicle 12. This mounting location of the battery tray 10 positions the battery modules 16 contained within the support tray 10 in a generally central location on the vehicle 12, away from probable impact locations, and also in a location that evenly distributes the weight of the battery modules 16 and provides the vehicle with a relatively low center of gravity. It is contemplated that the battery tray 10 may be disengaged or detached from the rocker rails 14 of the vehicle 12, such as for replacing or performing maintenance on the battery modules 16 or related electrical components. To facilitate this optional disengagement or detachment, the battery tray 10 can be a modular design with standardized mounting locations capable of disengagement, such as with bolts or releasable fasteners or the like. Accordingly, the illustrated battery tray 10 may span below the vehicle with a generally thin profile, so as to accommodate various vehicle body types and designs.

|0039| With reference to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-7, the battery tray 10 may include at least two tray components or pieces that attach or mate together, such as with one tray component over or within another tray component, to form sealed and separate battery containment areas 18 configured to be spaced longitudinally along the vehicle frame. A lower or outer tray component 20, such as shown in FIG. 5, may have a panel portion 22 with elongated reinforcement members 24 integrally formed along opposing edges of the panel portion 22. Similarly, an upper or inner tray component 26, as shown in FIG. 3, may have a panel portion 28 with cross members 30 integrally extending across the panel portion 28. The outer and inner tray components 20, 26 may be separately pultruded or extruded to have a substantially constant cross-section along the length of the respective elongated reinforcement members 24 and cross members 30. The inner and outer tray components 26, 20 may each be pultruded as a single integral piece, such as with different materials disposed at different sections of the respective tray component. As further discussed below, these different pultruded materials may be selected to accommodate the desired performance characteristics or cost considerations of the respective section of the tray component.

10040] To attach the outer and inner tray components 20, 26 together, the upper or inner tray component 26 may be rotated approximately ninety degrees about a vertical or upright axis to be arranged in a contrasting or polarized manner relative to the lower or outer tray component 20, such as with the lengths defined by the directions of formation being generally perpendicular to each other. In this arrangement, the panel portion 22 of the lower or outer tray component 20 may receive the panel portion 28 of the upper or inner tray component 26 so that the cross members 30 may extend between the elongated reinforcement members 24 and thereby provide the peripheral walls that surround the separate battery containment areas 18, such as shown in FIG. 3. As such, the battery containment areas 18 may each be generally bound on four sides by the cross members 30 and the elongated reinforcement members 24, and bound at the bottom by the panel portion 28 of the upper or inner tray component 26.

|004l ] It is contemplated that, alternatively, the upper and lower tray components may be

rotated, such as to provide longitudinally extending battery containment areas, or may be reversed, such as to provide the upper component with the longitudinal side members and the lower component with the cross members. Also, optionally, either the upper or lower tray components may be provided without a panel portion, such that the tray may alternatively be formed with an upper component having cross members integrally formed with the panel portion and longitudinally extending reinforcement members attached separately along edges of the panel portion, such as at the ends of the cross members, such as with protrusions that extend laterally from the longitudinal reinforcement members that matably engage in the cross members to form a similarly sized tray component to that illustrated in FIG. 3. Further, the battery tray may alternatively be formed with a lower component having longitudinally extending reinforcement members integrally formed with a panel portion and individual cross members attached separately along the upper surface of the panel portion with ends of the cross members attaching at the inside surfaces of the longitudinally extending reinforcement members, such as to form a similarly sized tray component to that illustrated in FIG. 3.

10042] As shown in FIG. 5, the outer tray component 20 has the elongated reinforcement

members 24 extending upward from opposing longitudinal edges of the panel portion 22. Each reinforcement member 24 is formed to provide a multi-tubular shape with at least one, and more preferably with at least two, elongated hollow cavities 34 extending along a length of each of the elongated reinforcement members 24. The elongated cavities 34 both reduce mass and are configured to absorb and dissipate side-impact forces imparted at the vehicle. The illustrated cavities provide two generally square-shaped tubular shapes arranged with one disposed over the other, where these square-shaped tubes share a common walls that is arranged horizontally to divide the square-shaped cavities. The illustrated reinforcement member 24 also includes a additional cavities 34 provided along an outer tube 38 so as to share a common wall 40 that is vertically oriented to divide these laterally adjacent cavities. The outer tray component 20 also has a panel portion 22 that spans generally horizontally and laterally between the longitudinally extending reinforcement members 24. The panel potion 22, as shown in FIG. 5, may include longitudinal ribs 22a that are formed to stiffen the length of the panel portion 22 and improve lower impact absorption. The ribs may be indented channels formed along the length of the panel portion, such as shown at stiffening ribs 22a in FIG. 5A, and also or alternatively may be different types of stiffening features disposed along the length of the panel portion, such as thickened portions of material or elongated cavities.

[0043| With respect to the upper or inner tray component 26, the illustrated cross members 30 integrally protrude upward from the panel portion 28 and extend across the panel portion 28 in substantially parallel alignment relative to each other, such as shown in FIG. 5. The cross members 30 are spaced apart from each other to divide the corresponding battery containment areas 18 in desirable sizes, such as in generally equal spacing for providing similarly sized battery modules 16 between the cross members 30, such as shown in FIG. 3. It is conceivable that the spacing between the cross members may also be unequal to accommodate differently sized battery modules. The illustrated cross members 30, such as shown in FIG. 5A, also have hollow interior cavities 42 for weight reduction and/or to provide packaging space, such as for wires or cooling lines or the like. Further, the cross members 30 have inward protruding channels 44 at the side surfaces that extend along each cross member, which may function to stiffen the cross members, provide an attachment or packaging space for cooling lines or wire, and/or to provide a slot for securing a battery support or anchoring bracket.

|0044| The inner tray component 26 also has a panel portion 28 that spans generally horizontally and longitudinally between each of the cross members 30. The panel potion 28 of the inner tray component 26 is substantially flat, although it is conceivable that it may include stiffening ribs or channels formed laterally across the panel portion or may include other features, such as thickened portions of material or elongated cavities.

10045] When assembling the battery tray 10, the inner tray component 26 is disposed over and in the outer tray component 20, such that the panel portion 28 of the inner tray component 26 is laid over and generally against the panel portion 22 of the lower tray component 20. In doing so, the cross members 30 extend between and substantially perpendicularly relative to the elongated reinforcement members 24, such that opposing ends 31 of the cross members 30 engage inside surfaces of the elongated reinforcement members 24. The cross members 30 extend between and generally perpendicular to the elongated reinforcement members 24 to define a battery containment area 18 between each of the plurality of cross members. |00461 To generally seal the battery containment areas 18, a seal 41 may be provided between the inner surfaces 25 of the elongated reinforcement members 24 and the cross members of the inner tray component 26, such as at the corners between the substantially flat outer surfaces of the front and rear cross members 30a, 30b and the elongated reinforcement members 24. Thus, the design of the battery tray 10 may have a substantially watertight seal by only sealing these four seams at the corners of the tray. The front and rear cross members 30a, 30b also include a flange 45 (FIG. 3) that protrudes forward and rearward, respectively, so as to provide an upper surface that is substantially coplanar with the upper surfaces 47 of the elongated reinforcement members 24, such as shown in FIG. 4. These upper surfaces may thereby form a continuous upper rim that may engage or attached to a cover panel 17, such as shown in FIG. 3, so as to seal the upper opening of the interior of the battery tray 10. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 4 A, an healing element 49 may be disposed at the comer portion of the battery tray 10 to fill the end cutout formed at the flange 45 and the upper surface 47, thereby making the upper rim surface flush about the perimeter of the battery tray 10. Such a healing element 49 may also be used to at least partially enclose the end openings of the elongated reinforcement members 24 and cover the outer seam between the tray components 20, 26. Optionally, the interfacing surfaces of the panel portions 22, 28 may also be bonded or sealed together, such as with a heat treatment or an adhesive or the like. However, it is understood that such sealed battery containment areas 18 may be vented for accommodating battery swelling or contraction, such as at a vented opening that is difficult for water or liquid or debris to enter, such as by locating the vented opening at an upper portion or interior portion of the battery tray or by providing the vented opening with a membrane or fabric cover that is air permeable and liquid impermeable to provide the desired liquid sealed environment for storing the batteries or electrical equipment or other vehicle-related item in the battery tray.

10047) With reference to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8-17, the battery tray 1 10 includes at least two tray components or pieces that attach or mate together, such as with one tray component over or within another tray component, to form sealed and separate battery containment areas 1 18 configured to be spaced longitudinally along the vehicle frame. A lower or outer tray component 120, such as shown in FIG. 10, may have a panel portion 122 with elongated reinforcement members 124 integrally formed along opposing edges of the panel portion 122. Similarly, an upper or inner tray component 126, as shown in FIG. 10, may have a panel portion 128 with cross members 130 integrally extending across the panel portion 128. The outer and inner tray components 120, 126 may be separately pultruded or extruded to have a substantially constant cross-section along the length of the respective elongated reinforcement members 124 and cross members 130. The inner and outer tray components 126, 120 may each be pultruded as a single integral piece, such as with different materials disposed at different sections of the respective tray component. As further discussed below, these different pultruded materials may be selected to accommodate the desired performance characteristics of the respective section of the tray component.

(00481 As shown in FIGS. 12A-12C, to attach the outer and inner tray components 120, 126 together, the upper or inner tray component 126 may be rotated approximately ninety degrees about a vertical or upright axis 132 to be arranged in a contrasting or polarized manner relative to the other tray component, such as with its length generally perpendicular to the length of the lower or outer tray component 120. In this arrangement, the panel portion 122 of the lower or outer tray component 120 receives the panel portion 128 of the upper or inner tray component 126 to position the cross members 130 to extend between the elongated reinforcement members 124 and thereby define the separate battery containment areas 1 18 (FIG. 10) that are each generally bound on four sides by the cross members 130 and the elongated reinforcement members 124.

|0049] It is contemplated that, alternatively, the upper and lower tray components may be

rotated, such as to provide longitudinally extending battery containment areas, or may be reversed, such as to provide the upper component with the longitudinal side members and the lower component with the cross members. Also, optionally, either the upper or lower tray components may be provided without a panel portion, such that the tray may alternatively be formed with an upper component having cross members integrally formed with the panel portion and longitudinally extending reinforcement members attached separately along edges of the panel portion, such as at the ends of the cross members, such as with protrusions that extend laterally from the longitudinal reinforcement members that matably engage in the cross members to form a similarly sized tray component to that illustrated herein. Further, the battery tray may alternatively be formed with a lower component having longitudinally extending reinforcement members integrally formed with a panel portion and individual cross members attached separately along the upper surface of the panel portion with ends of the cross members attaching at the inside surfaces of the longitudinally extending reinforcement members, such as to form a similarly sized tray component to that illustrated in herein.

|0050] As shown in FIG. 1 1 , the outer tray component 120 has the elongated reinforcement members 124 extending upward from opposing longitudinal edges of the panel portion 122. Each reinforcement member 124 is formed to provide a multi-tubular shape with at least one, and more preferably with at least two, elongated hollow cavities 134 extending along a length of each of the elongated reinforcement members 124. The elongated cavities 34 both reduce mass and are configured to absorb and dissipate side-impact forces imparted at the vehicle. The illustrated cavities provide two generally square-shaped tubular shapes arranged with one disposed over the other, where these square-shaped tubes share a common wall 136 that is arranged horizontally to divide the square-shaped cavities. The illustrated reinforcement member 124 also includes a third cavity 134 provided along an outer tube 138 that has a generally triangular-shaped cross section and that is arranged laterally outside the lower tube, so as to share a common wall 140 that is vertically oriented to divide these laterally adjacent cavities.

100511 With respect to the upper or inner tray component 126, the illustrated cross members 130 integrally protrude upward from the panel portion 128 and extend across the panel portion 128 in substantially parallel alignment relative to each other, such as shown in FIG. 10. The cross members 130 are spaced apart from each other to divide the corresponding battery containment areas 1 18 in desirable sizes, such as in generally equal spacing for providing similarly sized battery modules 1 16 between the cross members 130 (FIG. 8). It is conceivable that the spacing between the cross members may also be unequal to accommodate differently sized battery modules. The illustrated cross members 130, such as shown in FIG. 9, also have hollow interior cavities 142 for weight reduction and/or to provide packaging space, such as for wires or cooling lines or the like. Further, the cross members 130 have inward protruding channels 144 at the side surfaces that extend along each cross member, which may function to stiffen the cross members, provide an attachment or packaging space for cooling lines or wire, and/or to provide a slot for securing a battery support or anchoring bracket.

100521 The inner tray component 126 also has a panel portion 128 that spans generally

horizontally and longitudinally between each of the cross members 130. The panel potion 128 of the inner tray component 126 is substantially flat, although it is conceivable that it may include stiffening ribs or channels formed laterally across the panel portion or may include other features, such as thickened portions of material or elongated cavities. Features of the battery tray 1 10 that are similar to the battery tray 10 are not described in detail again, and similar reference numbers are used, incremented by 100.

|0053| Referring again to FIGS. 8 and 9, the battery tray 1 10 may include additional tray

components, such as to extend the tray longitudinally by adding a front section 146 and/or a rear section 148 to the assembled outer and inner tray components 120, 126. These added front or rear sections 146, 148 can be utilized for additional desired battery containment storage and/or to provide additional reinforcement structure to the battery tray, such as to protect against intrusion from impacts. Specifically, the illustrated outer and inner tray components 120, 126 are assembled to form a generally square or rectangular shaped outer frame, as shown in FIG. 9, which has the front section 146 modularly added or attached to the front end of the assembled outer and inner tray components 120, 126 to provide front impact and intrusion protection. Similarly, the illustrated rear section 148 is added or attached to the rear end of the assembled outer and inner tray components 120, 126 to provide additional battery containment areas between the rear wheels of the vehicle.

100541 These front and rear sections 146, 148 may be attached with modular nodes 150, such as done with the nodes 150a- 150c shown in greater detail in FIGS. 13-17. The rear nodes 150c (FIG. 16) may be attached at the rear ends of the elongated reinforcement members 124 for engaging such a rear modular structure that has an additional battery containment area 152. As shown in FIG. 13, an engagement portion 154 of the node 150 is inserted into the open ends of the hollow cavities. The nodes 150 may be standardized in shape and size and may be located at selected location, such as at corners or wheel well transitions, whereby the nodes may be used to select or alter the size and shape of the front and rear tray sections to provide or modify the overall shape of the battery tray 1 10. The illustrated nodes are shaped to provide front corner nodes 150a, rear corner nodes 150b, and wheel well transition nodes 150c that fit the general undercarriage design of several vehicle types and designs. Such a standardized node design allows generally straight reinforcement members 156 to be cut to the length for accommodating the desired size and shape of the added front or rear section 146, 148 of the battery tray 1 10, without having to otherwise account for different types of bends or sweeps of the elongated reinforcement members 156. (00551 The attached nodes 150a- 150c, such as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, engage additional reinforcement members form a containment wall that generally surrounds the additional battery containment area of the additional tray component. The nodes 150 and reinforcement members 156 of each additional tray component may be sealed together with a base plate 158 (FIG. 13) to provide a bottom surface for each additional section of the battery tray 1 10, such as to support battery modules and related components and to a sealed lower surface to prevent unwanted gases and fluids from entering or exiting the additional battery containment area. Further, such nodal attachment also allows the additional reinforcement members 156 to be formed from various materials, such as a steel that is roll formed into a beam or an aluminum extrusion or a composite material or the like. To engage the end of a node 150, the common center wall 136 (FIG. 1 1) of the elongated reinforcement members 124 may be trimmed away at select distance into the elongated hollow cavities 134 at the ends to provide an open rectangular trimmed away area sized for engaging the node 150. In an additional embodiment, the ends of the nodes 150 may include a horizontal slot to receive the common center wall of the elongated reinforcement members when attaching the node modules. Other cross-sectional shapes may also conceivably be incorporated into one or more of the additional reinforcement members 156 or reinforcement members 124, along with cross-sectional shapes that may be formed by extrusion or pultrusion or other forming methods. Accordingly, the ends of the nodes 150 may have a corresponding attachment interface.

(00561 The intermediate portion 160 of the node 150 may include a formed shape or curvature, such as shown in FIGS. 13-17 by the various shapes provided by the corner nodes 150a, 150b and the wheel well transition nodes 150c. The intermediate portions 160 of the corner nodes 150a, 150b, each include curvature that provides an angular transition between the ends 154 of approximately ninety degrees, although the curvature of the intermediate portion 160 of the corner node 150a is segmented into two forty-five degree angle transitions with a generally linear segment between the angle transitions. The intermediate portion 160 of the wheel well transition node 150c has a curvature that insets the wheel well reinforcement member 156 inside the rear wheels of the vehicle, such as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The module nodes 150 may be formed via extrusion or pultrusion or casting to have a generally consistent cross-sectional shape extending along a vertical direction relative to the associated vehicle frame and generally orthogonal to the hollow interior 134 of the elongated reinforcement members 124 engaged with the respective module node 150. As such, the nodes may be extruded or pultruded from aluminum, polymer, composites, or like materials, or conceivably cast or molded.

10057) The cross-section of the nodes 150 may have an open interior portion 162 extending

through the module node and arranged to extend generally in a vertical direction relative to the vehicle frame. As illustrated, the open interior portions 162 of the nodes 150 are divided by structural ribs 164 that extend vertically and in alignment with the exterior surfaces of the nodes 150. By vertically arranging the extrusion direction of the node 150, the exterior wall surface 166 that forms a portion of the interior surface of the additional battery containment area 152 is substantially unobstructed to provide a seal with the other portions of the containment wall.

[0058| Referring now to the embodiments of the battery tray 210 shown in FIG. 18, which also includes two tray components or pieces that attach or mate together to form sealed and separate battery containment areas 218 spaced longitudinally along the vehicle frame. The lower or outer tray component 220, such as shown in FIG. 18, may have longitudinal and lateral elongated reinforcement members 224a, 224b formed to provide a peripheral structure around an open area without a panel portion. Thus, the upper or inner tray component 226, as also shown in FIG. 18, may have a panel portion 228 with cross members 230 integrally extending laterally across an upper surface of the panel portion 228. The inner tray component 226 may be pultruded to have a substantially constant cross-section laterally along the length of the cross members 230 and may have different materials disposed at different sections of the respective tray component.

[00591 As further shown in FIG. 18, to attach the outer and inner tray components 220, 226

together, the upper or inner tray component 226 may be arranged in a contrasting or polarized manner relative to the longitudinally extending reinforcement members 224a of the outer tray component 220, such as with their length generally perpendicular to the formation direction of the cross members 230. To support the weight of the batteries, the upper edge 223 of the lower or outer tray component 220 may receive a flange 225 that protrudes from the respective forward or reward end of the upper or inner tray component 226 to support the inner tray component 226. To further support the weight of the tray contents, such as shown in FIG. 18, the longitudinally extending reinforcement members 224a may include inward protruding flanges 227 that support the lower edge of the panel portion 128 of the inner tray component 226. In this arrangement, the cross members 230 to extend between the longitudinal elongated reinforcement members 224a and thereby define the separate battery containment areas that are each generally bound on four sides by the cross members 130 and the longitudinal elongated reinforcement members 224a. It is also contemplated that, alternatively, the outer tray component may lack laterally extending reinforcement members and may simply provide longitudinal elongated reinforcement members or side rails that are attached at the lateral portions of the inner component. In such an arrangement, the side rails may be extruded aluminum members and may engage the ends of the cross members to bound the separate battery containment areas in a sealed manner.

|0060] The longitudinal reinforcement members 224a shown in FIG. 18 also includes an outer tube 238 that has a generally triangular-shaped cross section and that is arranged laterally outside the longitudinal reinforcement members 224a, so provide additional structure for impact energy management. Features of the battery tray 210 that are similar to the battery tray 10 and 1 10 are not described in detail again, and similar reference numbers are used, incremented by 200 and 100, respectively.

|00611 One or both of the tray components may be pultruded or extruded or roll formed to have a substantially constant cross-section along the length of the respective elongated reinforcement members and cross members. When being pultruded or extruded or roll formed, the tray component is formed as a single integral piece and cut to size from the generally continuous length of the pultrusion or extrusion or roll formed component. It is also contemplated that the cross members and reinforcement members in additional embodiments may be separately formed, such as when attached separately to a tray component formed with respective reinforcement members or cross members integrally protruding from a panel portion of the tray component. For example, the reinforcement members or cross members may be separately roll formed or pultruded or extruded or stamped, such as with a different material than the tray component and with a shape to accommodate the function at its area of the tray.

[0062| A pultrusion of one of the tray components may have different sections with different materials, such as shown in FIG. 20 with one material 372 disposed at an upper section of the respective tray component and another material 374 disposed at a lower section of the respective tray component 370. As shown in FIG. 19, the pultrusion process 100 incorporates different fiber strands 102 from spools that are fed with a sheet material 104 into a pultrusion die where a resin system 106 is injected over the die profile before being heated and cured into the desired component profile. More specifically, a creel system has a rack of bobbins or spools with several different types of strands or filaments 102, such as fiber glass or carbon fiber or the like, that may be selected to be fed into the component. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 19, fabrics spools 104 may feed additional strips of woven fabric or sheets of material into the component. The receiving end of the pultrusion die has an injection box that injects the resin system 106, which is preferably a resin with a high glass transition temperature, such as polyurethane or other thermosetting resin, although thermoplastic resins may conceivably be used. The resin system 106 coats and infuses the accumulation of fibers and fabrics, such that as the fibers and fabrics serve as the structural support for the resin to adhere and form the profile of the component. The resin coated accumulation of fabrics and fibers is then heated in the die, so as to cure the resin in the desired profile. A system of pullers 108 may be used to continuously draw the cured profile from the heated die. As shown, the pullers 108 may provide a first puller 108a that has a press that engages the cured profile at an upstream location and then pulls the cured profile

downstream to a second location, where a second puller 108b is used to engage and continue to draw the cured profile while the first puller 108a moves back to the first location. These pullers 108 thereby work in sequence to provide the continuous pulling operation. Further, as shown in FIG. 19, a cutoff station 109 is provided after the pullers 108 to cut the cured profile to the desired length of the resulting component, such as the desired tray component length.

10063] In one embodiment of the inner tray component, it may be pultruded to have a glass material or a similar composite material disposed at the panel portion and to have a carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic or similar resin-based composite material disposed at one or more of the cross members. With such a construction, the properties of the carbon fiber in the cross members provides rigidity, stiffness, and strength in the lateral dimension of the battery tray, such as for increased axial loading when receiving lateral impact forces to the vehicle and thereby optimized for crush deformation. However, a glass material may be provided as a low cost material to form the base layer or panel portion that interconnects the cross members. In one embodiment of the outer tray component, it may be pultruded to have an aramid material (such as evlar) or a similar synthetic fiber material disposed at the panel portion and to have a carbon fiber or similar composite material disposed at the side reinforcement members. With such a construction, the properties of the carbon fiber in the reinforcement members provides rigidity and strength in the longitudinal dimension of the battery tray, such as to improve side impact and torsional loading, while the an aramid material (such as Kevlar) provides a light weight panel portion that has high puncture resistance and impact absorption. It is also contemplated that a thin metal plate or sheet, such a metal with a high strength to weight ratio, such as steel or aluminum, may be disposed at one of the panel portions or may be generally sandwiched between the panel portions during assembly to provide ductility and additional structural reinforcement and puncture resistance. It is conceivable that these and other materials may be selected to accommodate the desired performance characteristics of different sections of the respective tray component, such that the battery tray 10 performance characteristics may be tailored over different sections of the tray.

10064] With further reference to the method of forming a battery tray, such as shown in FIG. 12, the method includes forming or otherwise providing the outer and inner tray components, where the tray components has a consistent cross-sectional shape along their lengths. The outer and/or inner tray components may be pultruded or extruded to have a substantially constant cross- section along the length of their respective elongated reinforcement members and cross members. Further, when using pultrusion, the outer and/or inner tray components may be integrally formed to have one material disposed at an upper section of the respective tray component and another material disposed at a lower section of the respective tray component, such as carbon fiber, aramid, or glass or other conceivably desirable materials. The upper panel portion of the inner tray component is then disposed over the lower panel portion of the lower tray component, so as to position the cross members to extend between and generally

perpendicular to the elongated reinforcement members, thereby defining a battery containment area between each of the plurality of cross members. The cross members span laterally between the side reinforcement members, such that lateral impact force is transmitted through load paths along the cross members to limit disruption to the battery containment areas. Several different attachment techniques and configurations may be used to permanently or releasable secure the battery tray to a vehicle frame, such as below a floor of the vehicle and generally between the axles. Further, with respect to the general installation or attachment or formation, the steps discussed herein may be performed in various different sequences from those discussed to result engaging, disengaging, or forming the battery support structure or components thereof.

[00651 For purposes of this disclosure, the terms "upper," "lower," "right," "left," "rear,"

"front," "vertical," "horizontal," and derivatives thereof shall relate to the orientation shown in FIG. 1. However, it is to be understood that various alternative orientations may be provided, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in this specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims.

Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments may be carried out without departing from the principles of the present invention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patent law. The disclosure has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings, and the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.