Power supply equipment and electric vehicles

Abstract

The present invention proposes a power supply device and an electric vehicle, the power supply device comprising: a plurality of battery modules and a plurality of contactors connected in series, the contactors being connected in series in the series circuit of the battery modules; at least one battery module being spaced between two adjacent contactors; the contactors being provided with a drive switch for controlling the closing or closing of the contactors, the drive switches of the contactors being connected in series, and the circuit formed by the series connection of the drive switches being used to transmit a signal capable of driving the contactors to close. By adopting the present invention, the voltage of each battery box can be quickly reduced when the power supply device is turned off, thereby improving the safety performance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of power supplies, and in particular to a power supply device and an electric vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Faced with increasingly stringent exhaust emission standards in China and around the world and future energy crises, major automakers are developing low-emission new energy technologies to adapt to this development trend. Among them, pure electric vehicles are one of the areas that major automakers are vigorously developing.

[0003] The battery pack in an electric vehicle is generally configured as follows: multiple single cells are connected in parallel to form a battery module, multiple battery modules are connected in series to form a battery box, and multiple battery boxes are connected in series to form a battery pack. An MSD (Manual Service Disconnect) switch is set in the circuit of the battery pack that provides power. When the battery pack needs to be repaired, unplugging the MSD switch can disconnect the circuit of the entire battery pack.

[0004] like Figure 1 As shown, when the battery pack is in normal power supply, unplug Figure 1 If the MSD switch is turned off, there is still a large voltage difference between the two ends of the power battery box 1, 2 and the power battery box 3, 4. According to the calculation that a battery pack provides a voltage of 500V (the actual voltage should be between 500 and 800V), the voltage between the two ends of the segmented power battery box 1, 2 and the power battery 3, 4 is still 250V, which is still in a high voltage state. Therefore, there are still dangerous factors for maintenance personnel during the maintenance process.

[0005] In addition, when the MSD switch is unplugged, there is a sparking arc phenomenon. Among them, the arcing phenomenon refers to the voltage exceeding the tolerance of the air, causing the air to ionize and become a conductor, that is, an arc is generated.

[0006] Therefore, it is particularly urgent to solve the problem of how to safely, quickly and conveniently disconnect the voltage of a power battery pack or battery box during actual use. Summary of the invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present invention provide a power supply device and an electric vehicle to solve or alleviate one or more of the above technical problems in the prior art.

[0008] An embodiment of the present invention provides a power supply device, comprising: a plurality of battery modules and a plurality of contactors connected in series, the contactors being connected in series in a series circuit of the battery modules; at least one battery module being spaced between two adjacent contactors; the contactors being provided with a drive switch for controlling the closing or shutting down of the contactors, the drive switches of the contactors being connected in series, and the circuit formed by the series connection of the drive switches being used to transmit a signal capable of driving the contactors to close.

[0009] In one embodiment, the power supply device further includes a plurality of battery boxes connected in series, and the battery box includes a section of the series circuit in the series circuit.

[0010] In one embodiment, one contactor is connected in series between two adjacent battery boxes and / or at least one contactor is connected in series in the series circuit within each battery box.

[0011] In one embodiment, the number of battery modules spaced between two adjacent contactors is the same or different.

[0012] In one embodiment, the drive switch comprises a relay.

[0013] In one embodiment, the contactor comprises an MSD switch.

[0014] In one embodiment, the contactor includes a socket and a plug, and a drive switch of the contactor is nested in the socket. The drive switch of the contactor is closed when the plug is inserted into the socket, and is turned off when the plug is pulled out of the socket.

[0015] In one embodiment, the power supply device further comprises a box for accommodating the power supply device, and at least one of the contactors is disposed on an outer wall of the box.

[0016] In one embodiment, the socket corresponding to the contactor disposed on the outer wall of the box is fixed on the outer wall.

[0017] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an electric vehicle, comprising a vehicle and a power supply device as described in any embodiment of the first aspect, wherein the power supply device supplies power to driving components of the vehicle.

[0018] Any one of the above technical solutions has the following advantages or beneficial effects:

[0019] The embodiment of the present invention can shut down all contactors in the series circuit of the battery module when one of the contactors is turned off, so as to quickly disconnect the high voltage between two adjacent contactors in the series circuit, reduce the voltage at both ends of each disconnected circuit in the power supply equipment, and improve safety performance.

[0020] The above summary is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments and features described above, further aspects, embodiments and features of the present invention will be readily apparent by reference to the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In the accompanying drawings, unless otherwise specified, the same reference numerals throughout the multiple drawings represent the same or similar parts or elements. These drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. It should be understood that these drawings only depict some embodiments disclosed in the present invention and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the series power supply of battery boxes provided by the prior art.

[0023] Figure 2 , Figures 4 to 6 It is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the power supply device provided by the present invention.

[0024] Figure 3 The present invention is a circuit diagram of a contactor of a power supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 7 The figure is an appearance diagram of an embodiment of a contactor of a power supply device provided by the present invention.

[0026] Figure 8 The figure is an appearance diagram of an embodiment of a box body of a power supply device provided by the present invention.

[0027] Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of an embodiment of an electric vehicle provided by the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] In the following, only some exemplary embodiments are briefly described. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the described embodiments may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the drawings and descriptions are considered to be exemplary and non-restrictive in nature.

[0029] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0030] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0031] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or a communication; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0032] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may include that the first and second features are in direct contact, or may include that the first and second features are not in direct contact but are in contact through another feature between them. Moreover, a first feature being "above", "towards" and "above" a second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being "below", "below" and "below" a second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0033] The disclosure below provides many different embodiments or examples to implement different structures of the present invention. In order to simplify the disclosure of the present invention, the parts and settings of specific examples are described below. Of course, they are only examples, and the purpose is not to limit the present invention. In addition, the present invention can repeat reference numbers and / or reference letters in different examples, and this repetition is for the purpose of simplification and clarity, which itself does not indicate the relationship between the various embodiments and / or settings discussed.

[0034] See also Figure 2 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a power supply device, including a plurality of battery modules 110 and a plurality of contactors 120 connected in series. The contactors 120 are connected in series in the series circuit of the battery modules 110, and one or more battery modules 110 may be spaced between two adjacent contactors 120. In the embodiment of the present invention, multiple means two or more. The battery module 110 may include a plurality of battery cells connected in series. Figure 3 As shown, the contactor 120 may include a contactor body GL350 and a drive switch K5 for controlling the contactor 120 to close or close. The contactor body GL350 is equivalent to a switch that can close or close a circuit. The drive switches K5 of each contactor 120 in the series circuit are connected in series with each other, and the series circuit of the drive switch K5 is used to transmit a signal that can drive the contactor 120 to close, and this signal can be called a drive signal DI5.

[0035] When the power supply device is supplying power normally, the drive switches K5 of each contactor 120 in the series circuit of the battery module 110 are all closed, and the drive signal DI5 is transmitted in the series circuit of the drive switch K5, driving each contactor 120 to close, so that the series circuit of the battery module 110 is conductive and can supply power to the external device. When the transmission of the drive signal DI5 in the series circuit of the drive switch K5 is stopped, each contactor 120 is turned off, so that the power supply device is powered off and cannot supply power to the external device. In the case of turning off the drive switch K5 of one of the contactors 120, since the drive switches K5 of each contactor 120 are in series, the series circuit of the drive switch K5 is in an open circuit state, and the drive signal DI5 cannot be transmitted in this series circuit, so each contactor 120 is not driven by the drive signal DI5 and is turned off. In this way, when the power supply is stopped, the series circuit of the power supply device is disconnected by each contactor 120 and divided into multiple circuits, and the voltage at both ends of the disconnected circuit can be quickly reduced, thereby improving the safety performance of power failure.

[0036] In some embodiments, the number of battery modules 110 included in the circuit between any two adjacent contactors 120 may be the same or different. For example, starting from the current direction of the series circuit of the power supply device, the number of battery modules 110 included between the first contactor 120 and the second contactor 120 is 3, the number of battery modules 110 included between the second contactor 120 and the third contactor 120 is 3, and the number of battery modules 110 included between the third contactor 120 and the fourth contactor 120 is 5. The number of battery modules 110 included between any two contactors 120 may be regular or random.

[0037] In some embodiments, the power supply device may further include a plurality of battery boxes 130 connected in series, and the battery box 130 includes a section of a series circuit in the series circuit of the battery module 110. For example, a plurality of battery modules 110 are connected in series in the battery box 130, and the plurality of battery boxes 130 are connected in series to form a power supply device. A battery module 110 may or may not be connected in series between two adjacent battery boxes 130. A contactor 120 may also be connected in series between two adjacent battery boxes 130. The series circuit in the battery box 130 may include one or more contactors 120, and at least one battery module 110 is connected in series between two adjacent contactors 120. The number of battery modules 110 included in each battery box 130 may be the same or different.

[0038] For example, Figure 4 As shown, the power supply device includes a plurality of battery boxes 130 connected in series, and each battery box 130 includes a plurality of battery modules 110 connected in series and a contactor 120 connected in series in the circuit of the battery module 110. In this way, when the contactor 120 of one of the battery boxes 130 is turned off, that is, when the drive switch K5 of this contactor 120 is turned off, since the series circuit of the drive switch K5 of each contactor 120 is broken, the drive signal DI5 cannot be transmitted, and each contactor 120 is also turned off immediately. That is, turning off one contactor 120 in the power supply device can be related to all contactors 120 in the power supply device, so that the power supply circuit of the power supply device is simultaneously divided into multiple segments, and the voltage at both ends of each segment circuit is much smaller than the power supply voltage, thereby improving the safety performance of power failure.

[0039] For example Figure 5 As shown, the power supply device includes a plurality of battery boxes 130 connected in series, each battery box 130 includes a plurality of battery modules 110 connected in series, and a contactor 120 is connected in series between two adjacent battery boxes 130. The working principle of this embodiment is also as shown in FIG. Figure 4 The solution shown can improve the safety performance of power failure. Figure 5Only one section of the series circuit of the power supply device is briefly illustrated.

[0040] For example Figure 6 As shown, the power supply device includes a plurality of battery boxes 130 connected in series, each battery box 130 includes a plurality of battery modules 110 connected in series and a contactor 120 connected in series in the circuit of the battery module 110. The contactor 120 can be located in the middle of the circuit of the battery module 110, for example, the number of battery modules 110 connected at both ends of the contactor 120 is the same. Also, a contactor 120 is connected in series between two adjacent battery boxes 130. The working principle of this embodiment is also as shown in FIG. Figure 4 The solution shown can improve the safety performance of power failure. Figure 6 Only a section of the power supply equipment is briefly illustrated.

[0041] In some embodiments, the contactor 120 may be in the form of an MSD switch to achieve the closing and closing of the contactor 120. However, direct mechanical closing or closing of the MSD switch may cause sparking and arcing. In order to avoid this, the drive switch K5 may be in the form of a relay to control the closing or closing of the MSD switch through the relay.

[0042] For example, Figure 4 The power supply device shown is calculated based on the voltage of 500V provided by this power supply device. When one of the contactors 120 is turned off, the other contactors 120 are turned off at the same time, so that the voltage across the segments after turning off, that is, the voltage across the battery boxes 130 is only 125V, which is at least half lower than that of the prior art.

[0043] In some embodiments, Figure 7 As shown, the contactor 120 can be designed as a plug and socket structure that can be plugged into each other. The main circuit of the contactor 120, namely Figure 3 The structure shown is nested in the socket. When the plug is inserted into the socket, the plug closes the drive switch K5 in the socket. When the plug is pulled out of the socket, the plug turns off the drive switch K5 of the contactor 120. Figure 7 The darker part is the socket, and the lighter part is the plug. In some embodiments, the drive switch K5 can be a spring switch. When the plug is inserted into the socket, the plug presses the spring of the spring switch, so that the switch is in a closed state. When the plug is pulled out of the socket, the plug releases the spring of the spring switch, and the spring restores its shape under the action of elastic force, and the switch is in an off state.

[0044] In some embodiments, since the driving switch K5 can adopt a relay, when the shell of the contactor 120 is pulled out to separate the plug from the socket, the internal relay is turned off, and the relay will also disconnect the contactor 120 accordingly. At this time, the contactor 120 in a high-voltage state will not spark or arc because it is completely pulled out.

[0045] like Figure 7 As shown, in some embodiments, the power supply device may further include a box, the power supply device is arranged in the box, and at least one contactor 120 in the power supply device is arranged on the outer wall of the box. When the power supply device needs to be repaired, the maintenance personnel can turn off one of the contactors 120 on the outer wall of the box, and the other contactors 120 in the box are disconnected simultaneously. For example, if the shell of the contactor 120 is arranged in the form of a plug and a socket, the socket corresponding to the contactor 120 arranged on the outer wall of the box can be fixed on the outer wall of the box, and the maintenance personnel can pull out the plug from the socket to turn off the contactor 120.

[0046] like Figure 8 As shown, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an electric car 140 , comprising the car 140 and a power supply device 141 as described in any of the above embodiments, wherein the power supply device 141 is connected to a driving component 142 of the car 140 to supply power to the car 140 .

[0047] The above are only specific embodiments of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of various changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A power supply device, characterized in that: include: A plurality of battery modules and a plurality of contactors connected in series, wherein the contactors are connected in series in a series circuit of the battery modules; at least one battery module is spaced between two adjacent contactors; the contactors are provided with a drive switch for controlling the closing or closing of the contactors, the drive switches of the contactors are connected in series, and the circuit formed by the series connection of the drive switches is used to transmit a signal capable of driving the contactors to close; The contactor comprises a socket and a plug, wherein a driving switch of the contactor is nested in the socket, and the driving switch of the contactor is closed when the plug is inserted into the socket, and the driving switch of the contactor is turned off when the plug is pulled out of the socket; The drive switch includes a relay; It also includes a plurality of battery boxes connected in series, wherein the battery box includes a section of the series circuit.

2. The power supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: One contactor is connected in series between two adjacent battery boxes and / or at least one contactor is connected in series in the series circuit within each battery box.

3. The power supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of battery modules spaced between two adjacent contactors is the same or different.

4. The power supply device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The contactor comprises an MSD switch.

5. The power supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: It also includes a box body for accommodating the power supply device, and at least one of the contactors is arranged on the outer wall of the box body.

6. The power supply device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The socket corresponding to the contactor arranged on the outer wall of the box body is fixed on the outer wall.

7. An electric vehicle, characterized in that: The invention comprises a car and a power supply device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the power supply device supplies power to driving components of the car.

Images