Battery pack including fixing member, device and battery pack manufacturing method

Abstract

The present invention relates to a battery pack including a fixing member, a device including the battery pack, and a battery pack manufacturing method. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the battery pack including the fixing member includes: a battery module including a plurality of battery cells; a tray positioned at a lower end of the battery module and accommodating the battery module; and a bracket adjacent to one side of the tray and mounted and coupled to one side surface of the lower end of the battery module, wherein at least one of a surface of the bracket in contact with the battery module and a surface of the tray may have a wedge-shaped portion, the surface of the tray in contact with one side surface of the lower end of the battery module and arranged adjacent to the bracket.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery pack, a device including the same, and a battery pack manufacturing method, and more particularly, to a battery pack including a fixing member to increase fixing force when fixing battery modules into a group, a device including the same, and a battery pack manufacturing method. Background Art

[0002] In modern society, technologies related to portable devices have been actively developed based on the daily use of portable devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras, etc. In addition, as secondary batteries capable of charging and discharging are used as power sources for electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (P-HEVs) as a solution to air pollution caused by conventional gasoline vehicles using fossil fuels, the need for developing secondary batteries is increasing.

[0003] In the case of using the secondary battery in a small device, two or three battery cells are arranged, and in the case of using the secondary battery in a medium- and large-sized device such as an automobile, a battery module in which a plurality of battery cells are electrically connected is used.

[0004] In order to improve the efficiency of devices using secondary batteries, it is preferable to use secondary batteries having large capacity but small size and low weight, and therefore, rectangular batteries, pouch-shaped batteries, etc. with high integration and small weight-to-capacity ratio are mainly used.

[0005] In particular, when a battery module is used in a medium-sized device, in order to provide a capacity higher than a specific value required by the device, a plurality of battery cells are electrically connected in series, and in this case, the stability of the secondary battery itself varies depending on the method of connecting and fixing the plurality of battery cells.

[0006] Generally, as a method of fixing a battery module inside a battery pack, a method of directly fixing the battery module by using bolts after stacking a plurality of battery cells is mainly used.

[0007] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a battery module fixing structure using bolts as a conventional method of use.

[0008] like Figure 1 As shown in FIG, there is a conventional method of using bolts as a fixing method for battery modules. In this case, the bolts are fastened to the side surfaces of the lower portion of the battery module to fix the battery module to the tray or lower case of the battery pack. However, since the thickness of the portion to which the bolts are fixed is small and the fixing force is low, there is a problem of difficulty in matching the dimensional safety of the fixing structure, and therefore there is a problem of not being able to maintain the stability of the battery module.

[0009] When it is difficult to fix directly Figure 1 When the battery module is shown, there is a method of fixing the battery module to the battery pack by using a bracket. This method arranges the battery module and the bracket so that they overlap and fixes them by utilizing the generated reaction force.

[0010] However, when using conventional brackets for fixing, there is a problem in that it is difficult to increase the fixing force of the battery module to resist vibration and impact applied to the battery module, and when subjected to a load above a certain value, the stability of the battery module decreases.

[0011] In the present invention, in order to improve the above-mentioned problem, in fixing of the battery module, it is necessary to develop a battery pack including a fixing member to increase stability compared with a conventional battery module fixing method. Summary of the Invention

[0012] Technical issues

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventionally proposed method in the following manner: a battery pack including a fixing member, a device including the battery pack, and a battery pack manufacturing method are provided for stably fixing the battery module to resist vibration, impact, etc. applied to the battery module by processing the surface of the member for fixing the battery module to increase the fixing force.

[0014] However, the problems to be solved by the exemplary embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and various extensions can be made within the technical spirit of the present invention.

[0015] Technical Solution

[0016] A battery pack including a fixing member according to a feature of the present invention includes: a battery module including a plurality of battery cells; a tray arranged at a lower end portion of the battery module and accommodating the battery module; and a bracket adjacent to one side portion of the tray and mounted and connected to a side surface of the lower end portion of the battery module, wherein at least one of a surface of the bracket in contact with the battery module and a surface of the tray has a wedge-shaped portion, and the surface of the tray is in contact with a side surface of the lower end portion of the battery module and is arranged adjacent to the bracket.

[0017] The rigidity of the bracket and the tray may be higher than the rigidity of the battery module.

[0018] The bracket may be formed from a type of steel.

[0019] The tray may be formed from a type of steel.

[0020] The bracket may be a compression bracket.

[0021] An upper case may further be included, and in a state in which the battery module is mounted to the tray, the upper case is arranged at an upper end portion of the battery module and surrounds the battery module.

[0022] A concave portion may be formed along the processed shapes of the bracket and the tray at a surface of the battery module that contacts the surfaces of the bracket and the tray having the wedge-shaped portion.

[0023] A battery pack includes a battery module, a tray and a bracket, the tray is arranged at the lower end of the battery module and accommodates the battery module, the bracket is adjacent to one side of the tray and is installed and connected to one side surface of the lower end of the battery module, and the battery pack manufacturing method may include: a step of processing at least one of the surface of the bracket and the surface of the tray to form a wedge-shaped portion; and arranging the processed surfaces of the bracket and the tray to be adjacent to one side of the lower end of the battery module and pressed toward the battery module.

[0024] The method may further include forming a concave portion in a surface of the battery module that contacts the processed surfaces of the bracket and the tray according to the processed shapes of the bracket and the tray.

[0025] The rigidity of the bracket and the tray may be higher than the rigidity of the battery module.

[0026] The bracket may be formed from a type of steel.

[0027] The tray may be formed from a type of steel.

[0028] Moreover, a device according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned purpose may include a battery pack as a power source, the battery pack including: a battery module including a plurality of battery cells; a tray arranged at the lower end of the battery module and accommodating the battery module; and a bracket adjacent to one side of the tray and mounted and connected to a side surface of the lower end of the battery module, wherein at least one of the surface of the bracket in contact with the battery module and the surface of the tray has a wedge-shaped portion, and the surface of the tray is in contact with a side surface of the lower end of the battery module and is arranged adjacent to the bracket.

[0029] Beneficial effects

[0030] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, by processing the surface of a fixing member used when fixing a battery module to increase surface friction between contact surfaces, the fixing force of the battery module can be increased and the battery module can be stably fixed against vibration and impact. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a battery module fixing structure using bolts as a conventional method of use.

[0032] Figure 2is a view illustrating a battery pack including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 3 is a view illustrating a cross section of a battery pack including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 4 2 is a view illustrating the shape of a processed surface in a battery pack including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 5 is a view explaining pressure applied to a bracket in a battery pack including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. As those skilled in the art will realize, the described embodiments can be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

[0037] In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts that are not directly related to the present invention are omitted, and the same reference numerals are attached to the same or similar constituent elements throughout the specification.

[0038] In addition, for better understanding and ease of description, the size and thickness of each configuration shown in the drawings are arbitrarily shown, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the drawings, the thickness of layers, films, panels, regions, etc. are exaggerated for clarity. In the drawings, the thickness of some layers and regions are exaggerated for better understanding and ease of description.

[0039] It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, film, region, or substrate is referred to as being "on" another element, the element can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on" another element, there are no intervening elements. Furthermore, in this specification, the terms "on" or "above" refer to being above or below an object portion, and do not necessarily refer to being on the upper side of the object portion based on the direction of gravity.

[0040] In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.

[0041] In the present invention, in order to solve the problems in the conventional battery module fixing method, the area of the portion for fixing the battery module is increased to enhance the fixing force, and the surface of the widened area is processed to increase the friction force in order to prevent the battery module from shaking and falling due to vibrations and impacts in all directions toward the battery module. This is achieved by the following Figures 2 to 5 Describe in more detail.

[0042] Figure 2 is a view illustrating a battery pack including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0043] Figure 2 A view showing the tray 200 and the bracket 300 coupled to the battery module 110 as part of the construction of the battery pack 10 is shown, and as shown in FIG. Figure 2 As shown, a battery pack 10 including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include: a battery module 110 including a plurality of battery cells 100; a tray 200 arranged at a lower end portion of the battery module 110 and accommodating the battery module 110; and a bracket 300 adjacent to one side portion of the tray 200 and mounted and connected to one side surface of the lower end portion of the battery module 110.

[0044] When the battery module 110 is installed on the tray 200, the battery module 110 may also include an upper shell 400, which is arranged at the upper end of the battery module 110 and surrounds the battery module 110, the bracket 300 may be a clamping bracket, and the battery cells 100 as plate-shaped battery cells may be connected in series.

[0045] In particular, in the present invention, at least one of the surface of the bracket 300 that contacts the battery module 110 and the surface of the tray 200 is processed, and the surface of the tray 200 contacts a side surface of the lower end portion of the battery module 110 and is arranged adjacent to the bracket 300, and when the bracket 300 and the tray 200 are connected to the battery module 110 to fix the battery module 110, friction is generated in the processed part due to pressure, so this is a feature of the present invention that can enhance the mutual fixing force.

[0046] Figure 3 is a view illustrating a cross section of a battery pack including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] pass Figure 3 The cross section of the battery pack 10 including the fixing member according to the present exemplary embodiment is shown, and it can be confirmed that a portion of the tray 200 contacting the battery module 110 and a surface of the bracket 300 are processed and the processed portions have wedge-shaped portions.

[0048] Specifically, Figure 3 3 is a view showing a state in which the bracket 300 and the tray 200 are pressed and fixed to the battery module 110. When the bracket 300 and the tray 200 are pressed, it can be confirmed that a concave portion is formed according to the processing shape of the bracket 300 and the tray 200, that is, a wedge-shaped portion on the surface of the battery module 110 that contacts the wedge-shaped surface portion of the bracket 300 and the tray 200.

[0049] Figure 4 2 is a view illustrating the shape of a processed surface in a battery pack including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] Right now, Figure 4 The wedge-shaped portion formed on the surface of the bracket 300 or the tray 200 is shown, and as shown in FIG. Figure 4 The illustrated plurality of wedge-shaped portions may be formed on the machined surfaces of the bracket 300 and the tray 200 of the present invention. Specifically, the surfaces of the bracket 300 and the tray 200 may include shapes such as wedge-shaped gripping portions. However, the shapes of the machined surfaces of the bracket 300 and the tray 200 are not limited thereto and may be any shape that can increase friction between the contacting surfaces.

[0051] Figure 5 is a view explaining pressure applied to a bracket in a battery pack including a fixing member according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] According to the present exemplary embodiment, the bracket 300 and the tray 200 are respectively mounted to the side surface and the lower surface of one side of the lower end portion of the battery module 110. Figure 5 As shown, as the surface where the battery module 110 contacts the bracket 300, and the surface where the tray 200 contacts the lower portion of the battery module 110 at a position adjacent to the bracket 300, protrusions are formed on the respective surfaces of the bracket 300 and the tray 200, and pressure can be applied from the outside to each surface. In the present invention, by applying pressure to the battery module 110 in a direction perpendicular to the surfaces of the bracket 300 and the tray 200 processed in this manner, the fixing force on the battery module 110 can be increased.

[0053] Specifically, the bracket 300 and the tray 200 are formed of a steel, and the outer surface of the battery module 110 including the battery cells may be formed of plastic, and in this case, the rigidity of the bracket 300 and the tray 200 becomes higher than the rigidity of the outer surface of the battery module 110. Figure 5 As shown in FIG. 1 , when the processed wedge-shaped portions of the surface of the bracket 300 and the surface of the tray 200 having high rigidity press the outer surface of the battery module 110 having relatively low rigidity, the outer surface of the battery module 110 is engraved with a pattern such as Figure 4 The surface shown.

[0054] Thus, when protrusions and recesses are engraved between the pressurizing and pressurized components, slippage between the components can be prevented, and friction is generated to enhance the fixing force. In particular, a high fixing force can be maintained to resist vibrations and impacts applied in all directions, not just vibrations and impacts applied to the battery module 110 in a specific direction.

[0055] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a battery pack includes a battery module, a tray, and a bracket, wherein the tray is arranged at the lower end of the battery module and accommodates the battery module, and the bracket is adjacent to one side of the tray and is mounted and connected to one side surface of the lower end of the battery module. A manufacturing method of the battery pack may include step S100 and step S200. In step S100, at least one of the surface of the bracket and the surface of the tray is processed to form a wedge-shaped portion. In step S200, the processed portions of the bracket and the tray are arranged to be adjacent to one side of the lower end of the battery module and the processed portions are pressed toward the battery module.

[0056] According to an exemplary embodiment, step S300 may be further included in which a concave portion is formed in a surface of the battery module that partially contacts the processed surfaces of the bracket and the tray according to the processed shapes of the bracket and the tray.

[0057] When the bracket 300 and the tray 200 are fixed to each other by pressing them against the battery module 110 to form a concave portion in the battery module 110, the fixing force is enhanced by the mutual friction force. In this case, the bracket 300 and the tray 200 may include fixing members having a higher rigidity than the rigidity of the battery module 110, and according to an exemplary embodiment, the bracket 300 and the tray 200 may be formed of a steel material, while the surface of the battery module 110 may be formed of a plastic material.

[0058] In addition, an apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a battery pack 10 as a power source, the battery pack 10 including: a battery module 110 including a plurality of battery cells 100; a tray 200 disposed at a lower end portion of the battery module 110 and accommodating the battery module 110; and a bracket 300 adjacent to one side portion of the tray 200 and mounted and coupled to one side surface of the lower end portion of the battery module 110, wherein at least one of a surface of the bracket 300 in contact with the battery module 110 and a surface of the tray 200 has a wedge-shaped portion, and the surface of the tray 200 is in contact with one side surface of the lower end portion of the battery module 110 and is arranged adjacent to the bracket 300.

[0059] The device may be an electric vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle, or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, but is not limited thereto.

[0060] As described above, the present invention is a battery pack including a fixing member so as to solve the following problems: in a conventional battery module fixing method using bolts, the fixing force of the battery module is low and the battery module moves when subjected to a load higher than a certain value, and in addition, in a conventional method using a universal bracket, in order to solve the problem that the stability of the battery module is inevitably reduced due to vibration, impact, etc. applied to the battery module, by processing the member for fixing the battery module, it is meaningful that the battery module can be stably fixed by increasing the fixing force of the battery module to resist vibration and impact in all directions.

[0061] While the present invention has been described in conjunction with what are presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[0062] [Description of Reference Numerals]

[0063] 10: Battery pack

[0064] 100: Battery cell

[0065] 110: Battery module

[0066] 200: Pallet

[0067] 300: Bracket

[0068] 400: Upper shell

Claims

1. A battery pack including a fixing member, comprising: a battery module, the battery module comprising a plurality of battery cells; a tray disposed at a lower end portion of the battery module and accommodating the battery module; as well as a bracket adjacent to one side of the tray and mounted and coupled to one side surface of the lower end portion of the battery module; The surface of the bracket in contact with the battery module has wedge-shaped portions that abut against each other, and the surface of the tray that is arranged adjacent to the bracket and in contact with the lower surface of the lower end portion of the battery module has wedge-shaped portions that abut against each other. The edge of one side of the surface of the tray where the wedge-shaped portion is formed is in contact with the edge of one side of the surface of the bracket where the wedge-shaped portion is formed. The wedge-shaped portion applies pressure to the battery module in different directions and forms a concave portion along the processed shapes of the bracket and the tray at the surface of the battery module that contacts the surface of the bracket and the tray having the wedge-shaped portion, thereby preventing the battery module from shaking and falling due to vibrations and impacts in all directions toward the battery module, and The bracket and the tray are fixed to each other by pressing the bracket and the tray to the concave portion of the battery module.

2. The battery pack including the fixing member according to claim 1, wherein The bracket and the tray have higher rigidity than that of the battery module.

3. The battery pack including the fixing member according to claim 2, wherein The bracket is formed from a steel.

4. The battery pack including the fixing member according to claim 2, wherein The tray is formed from a type of steel.

5. The battery pack including the fixing member according to claim 1, wherein The bracket is a compression bracket. 6 . The battery pack including a fixing member according to claim 1 , further comprising an upper case arranged at an upper end portion of the battery module and surrounding the battery module in a state in which the battery module is mounted to the tray.

7. A method for manufacturing a battery pack, comprising: a battery module, a tray, and a bracket, wherein the tray is arranged at a lower end portion of the battery module and accommodates the battery module; and the bracket is adjacent to one side portion of the tray and is mounted and coupled to one side surface of the lower end portion of the battery module. The method comprises: a step of machining the surface of the bracket to form wedge-shaped portions that abut against each other; a step of machining a surface of the tray to form wedge-shaped portions that abut against each other, wherein an edge of the tray surface on which the wedge-shaped portion is formed and an edge of the bracket surface on which the wedge-shaped portion is formed are in contact with each other; a step of arranging the processed surfaces of the bracket and the tray to be adjacent to the side surface and the lower surface of one side of the lower end portion of the battery module, respectively, and pressing toward the battery module; as well as applying pressure to the battery module in different directions by the wedge-shaped portion and forming a concave portion in a surface of the battery module that contacts the processed surfaces of the bracket and the tray according to the processed shapes of the bracket and the tray, thereby preventing the battery module from shaking and falling due to vibrations and impacts in all directions toward the battery module, and The bracket and the tray are fixed to each other by pressing the bracket and the tray to the concave portion of the battery module.

8. The battery pack manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein: The bracket and the tray have higher rigidity than that of the battery module.

9. The battery pack manufacturing method according to claim 8, wherein: The bracket is formed from a steel.

10. The battery pack manufacturing method according to claim 8, wherein: The tray is formed from a type of steel.

11. A device comprising the battery pack according to claim 1 as a power source.

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