A battery water-cooling plate, a battery pack, and a battery pack installation method

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of battery packs, and discloses a battery water cooling plate, a battery pack and a battery pack installation method, including: a frame, on the side wall of which there are a water inlet and a water outlet; one or more cooling plates installed inside the frame, and a number of cavities are formed in the cooling plates. A part of the cavities are first cavities for allowing a coolant to flow through, and the remaining cavities are second cavities. Adjacent first cavities are connected to form a first flow path, and non-adjacent first flow paths are connected through conversion blocks, and the water inlet and the water outlet are respectively communicated with different first flow paths. The present invention has the following advantages and effects: Since the non-adjacent flow paths are connected by conversion blocks, the coolant can be made not to pass through unnecessary flow paths, reducing the frictional loss of the coolant, reducing the energy consumption of the cooling system, and at the same time improving the cooling effect of the coolant. At the same time, the same cooling plate can be used for multiple battery packs, reducing the design and procurement costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of battery packs, and particularly relates to a battery water cooling plate, a battery pack, and a battery pack installation method. Background Art

[0002] Currently, in recent years, there are more and more brands of new energy pure electric vehicles, and people's acceptance of pure electric vehicles is also getting higher and higher. The country also strongly supports this type of new energy vehicle, and many local bus coaches are gradually being replaced with pure electric vehicles. In this general trend, it is particularly important to focus on and improve one of the core components of pure electric vehicles, the lithium battery pack, because it is the carrier of the power source of new energy pure electric vehicles, and its quality directly affects the performance of electric vehicles.

[0003] The in-vehicle battery pack provides power for the vehicle during driving. During driving, the in-vehicle battery pack will generate heat, and when the temperature of the in-vehicle battery pack is too high, certain safety hazards will occur. Therefore, in the prior art, a cooling plate is generally provided inside the in-vehicle battery pack to cool the in-vehicle battery pack.

[0004] However, in actual use of the water cooling plate, due to factors such as the heat generation of the battery, the structure of the battery pack, and the power consumption situation, the heat distribution of different battery packs is different. During the production process of the water cooling plate, standard profiles are used, and the cavities inside the profiles are used as flow channels for the coolant to flow through. Many of these flow channels are unnecessary for heat exchange. If the coolant passes through these flow channels, on the one hand, a lot of frictional losses are generated, increasing the energy consumption of the water cooling system; on the other hand, the coolant absorbs heat at unnecessary positions and increases the temperature, resulting in a decrease in the heat exchange capacity and cooling effect at the positions where cooling is required. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Aiming at the defects existing in the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide a battery water cooling plate, a battery pack, and a battery pack installation method, which can connect non-adjacent cavities so that the coolant does not need to pass through the cavities that do not need to be cooled.

[0006] To achieve the above object, on the one hand, the technical solution adopted is:

[0007] The present application provides a battery water cooling plate, including:

[0008] A frame, on the side wall of which there are an inlet and an outlet;

[0009] There is one or more cooling plates installed inside the frame. A number of cavities are formed in the cooling plates. A part of the cavities are the first cavities for the coolant to flow through, and the rest are the second cavities. Adjacent first cavities are connected to form a first flow path, and non-adjacent first flow paths are connected through conversion blocks. The water inlet and the water outlet are respectively connected to different first flow paths.

[0010] Preferably, the frame includes two installation side beams parallel to the direction of the cavities and two structural side beams perpendicular to the direction of the cavities. The installation side beams and the structural side beams are fixedly connected.

[0011] Preferably, multiple mounting holes for mounting the battery mask are provided on the top surface of each installation side beam.

[0012] Preferably, reinforcing ribs are provided inside the installation side beams.

[0013] Preferably, the frame further includes:

[0014] One or more strengthening middle beams, with both ends respectively connected to the installation side beams.

[0015] Preferably, the structural side beam is provided with a conversion slot for accommodating the conversion block.

[0016] Preferably, a reinforcing beam is provided on the side wall of the structural side beam close to the cooling plate. The reinforcing beam and the structural side beam together form a stepped shape.

[0017] Preferably, a flow splitting channel is provided inside the conversion block, and a plurality of second flow splitting holes communicating with the flow splitting channel are provided on the bottom surface of the conversion block;

[0018] A first flow splitting hole is provided at the starting end and / or the ending end of the first flow path;

[0019] When the conversion block connects different first flow paths, each second flow splitting hole is connected to a first flow splitting hole.

[0020] On the other hand, the present application also provides a battery pack, which includes the battery water cooling plate as described above.

[0021] On the other hand, the present application also provides an installation method based on the aforementioned battery pack, including the following steps:

[0022] Divide the heat generation area according to the preset battery distribution mode in the battery pack;

[0023] Select the first cavities in the cavities according to the heat generation area, and drill holes between adjacent first cavities to form a connected first flow path;

[0024] Open holes on different first flow channels according to the size of the conversion card block, and install the conversion card block to connect different first flow channels;

[0025] Install batteries on the battery water cooling plate according to the preset battery distribution method to form a battery pack.

[0026] The beneficial effects brought by the technical solution provided in this application include:

[0027] For the battery water cooling plate, battery pack and battery pack installation method of this application, since the non-adjacent flow channels are connected by the conversion card block, the coolant can be made not to pass through unnecessary flow channels, reducing the frictional loss of the coolant, reducing the energy consumption of the cooling system, and at the same time improving the cooling effect of the coolant.

[0028] At the same time, the designer of the battery pack can freely choose which flow channels to circulate the coolant according to the position, working conditions of the battery pack and the characteristics of the battery pack itself. At this time, only a certain number of first shunt holes need to be drilled at the corresponding positions on the cooling plate, without significantly modifying the structure of the cooling plate. The same cooling plate can be used for multiple battery packs, reducing the design and procurement costs. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0029] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of this application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0030] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment in this application.

[0031] Figure 2 For Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the separation of the conversion card block and the frame in the shown embodiment.

[0032] Figure 3 For Figure 2 It is an installation schematic diagram of the cooling plate and the conversion card block in

[0033] Figure 4 For Figure 1 It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the structural side beam provided with the conversion card slot in

[0034] Figure 5 For Figure 4 It is an enlarged schematic diagram of

[0035] Figure 6 For Figure 1 It is an exploded schematic diagram of

[0036] Reference Signs:

[0037] 1. Frame; 11. Installation side beam; 111. Installation hole; 112. Fixing hole; 113. Reinforcing rib; 12. Structural side beam; 121. Conversion slot; 13. Reinforcing middle beam; 14. Reinforcing beam; 141. Reserved slot; 15. End; 2. Cooling plate; 21. First flow channel; 22. First shunt hole; 3. Conversion block; 31. Shunt channel; 32. Second shunt hole. Specific implementation mode

[0038] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present application without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0039] In the present application, an embodiment of a battery water-cooling plate is provided, including a frame 1 and a cooling plate 2, and the number of cooling plates 2 is one or more. In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, water is selected as a representative of the medium for cooling, and those skilled in the art can select other suitable liquids as the cooling medium according to actual needs.

[0040] Specifically, in this embodiment, reference can be made to Figure 1 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 6 , there are three cooling plates 2, two of which at the edges are fixed to the frame 1, and the middle one is connected to the frame 1 through various connection structures, for example, the cooling plate 2 is screwed to the frame 1 by bolts.

[0041] There are multiple cavities in the cooling plate 2. The cavities are hollow cavities opened along the length direction of the cooling plate 2, and the cavities are evenly distributed densely along the width direction. It should be noted that generally, the size and shape of the cavities are the same, so some cavities will be located at the junction of two cooling plates 2. At this time, a part will be opened at the edge where the two cooling plates 2 meet, and a complete cavity will be formed only after the two cooling plates 2 are assembled. In some embodiments, because the cavity formed by splicing two cooling plates 2 in this way has a risk of water leakage, the size of the cavity near the edge is also reduced to ensure that all cavities are inside the cooling plate 2.

[0042] In actual use, users will design the battery pack according to their own needs, that is, the batteries have a certain arrangement direction and order. Some places have more batteries and some places have fewer batteries. Correspondingly, some places are affected by the heat generated by the batteries and have high temperatures, while some places are the opposite. During the cooling process, only the overall battery temperature needs to be below a specific temperature, and cooling water will also absorb heat in low-temperature places, resulting in poor heat exchange capacity of cooling water in high-temperature locations. The battery cannot be effectively cooled, thus affecting the use of the battery.

[0043] Therefore, before use, according to the given battery pack design style, only part of the cavities are selected for cooling in this embodiment, and this part of the cavities is called the first cavity, and the rest is not used for cooling, and this part is called the second cavity. Adjacent first cavities are generally perforated at the head or tail so that two adjacent first cavities are connected, and multiple first cavities are connected head to tail in this way to form a first flow channel 21. However, due to the limitation of the design style of the battery pack, the second cavity may be mixed in the first cavity, and the first cavity and the second cavity are completely isolated. There is no cooling water flowing in the second cavity, so the second cavity divides the entire cooling plate 2 into two or more areas according to whether cooling water will flow. The first cavities that are interconnected in each area constitute a first flow channel 21. The first flow channels 21 are isolated from each other and cannot be directly connected, so a conversion block 3 is also provided to connect non-adjacent first flow channels 21. Specifically, the conversion block 3 can either connect different first flow channels 21 in series, or connect multiple first flow channels 21 in parallel in a one-in-multiple-out manner.

[0044] In actual use, the battery pack is generally very heavy. When there are some bumps in the operating environment, bending moment and torque will be generated on the entire water cooling plate. The cavity forms a structure similar to a beam, which has strong bending resistance but poor torsional resistance.

[0045] Therefore, in some preferred embodiments, the frame 1 includes an installation side beam 11 parallel to the flow channel direction, and a structural side beam 12 perpendicular to the cavity direction. The position between the installation side beam 11 and the structural side beam 12 needs to be relatively fixed, so the two are generally fixed by welding. However, in some embodiments, the installation side beam 11 and the structural side beam 12 can also be relatively fixed by other means such as detachable connection of connecting parts, structural adhesive bonding or one-piece molding.

[0046] Specifically, since the cavity shape is generally a square tube, its load-bearing capacity is similar to that of a box girder and has a certain bending resistance. Therefore, the installation side beams 11 on both sides do not need to have high strength and are suitable for installing and connecting other accessory components. However, the connection relationship between the cavities is not strong, and the torsional resistance of the entire cooling plate 2 is poor. Therefore, the structural side beams 12 at both ends of the cavity are made of materials with high strength and more solid structures, while reducing the holes that are likely to reduce the torsional resistance. Therefore, other components are generally not installed on the structural side beams 12.

[0047] In one preferred embodiment, the battery needs to be dust-proof, ash-proof and collision-proof. Therefore, a battery mask is provided on the battery pack. To adapt to the mask, a plurality of mounting holes 111 for mounting the battery mask are provided on the top of the mounting side beam 11.

[0048] In other preferred embodiments, when the battery is in use, it generally needs to be fixed. The battery generally has a bracket for auxiliary fixation, while the water-cooled plate does not. It is fixed only by the weight of the battery. There is a possibility of deviation after long-term use. Therefore, fixing holes 112 are provided on the mounting side beam 11 for fixing the entire battery water-cooled plate at a specific position.

[0049] In some application scenarios, such as when an electric vehicle makes a sharp turn, the forces at both ends of the water-cooled plate are completely different, which is likely to cause the mounting side beam 11 to twist. Therefore, there are certain requirements for the strength of the mounting side beam 11 itself. Therefore, in some other preferred embodiments, reinforcing ribs 113 are provided inside the mounting side beam 11. Specifically, the reinforcing ribs 113 are arranged along the diagonal of the cross-section of the mounting side beam 11.

[0050] In some preferred embodiments, since the battery is heavy and needs to move as a whole in some usage scenarios, such as when installed on an electric vehicle, the battery will impact the frame 1 during movement. Especially in a longer water-cooled plate, the middle part of the mounting side beam 11 is difficult to be protected by the structural side beam 12 and is prone to protrusion and deformation. Therefore, the frame 1 further includes at least one reinforcing middle beam 13. The two ends of the reinforcing middle beam 13 are connected to the mounting side beam 11, which can pull the mounting side beam 11 towards the middle when the battery impacts the frame 1 and extend the service life of the frame 1.

[0051] In some embodiments, the position of the conversion block 3 is inside the frame 1. However, this not only requires reserving the installation space for the conversion block 3, but also because the entire structure needs to prevent the battery from shaking and impacting the conversion block 3 during movement, which may cause damage, so a certain space needs to be reserved around the conversion block 3, generally limiting the usage space of the battery pack. In some other embodiments, the conversion block 3 is located outside the frame 1. This increases the floor area of the entire battery water-cooled plate. At the same time, the conversion block 3 has no protection measures and is very likely to leak water due to external objects during use.

[0052] Therefore, in some preferred embodiments, such as Figure 2 , Figure 4 shown, on the structural side beam 12, conversion slots 121 with the same number as the conversion blocks 3 are provided, and each conversion slot 121 corresponds to a conversion block 3, so that the conversion block 3 can be inserted therein, protecting the conversion block 3 with the help of the structural side beam 12 and at the same time avoiding occupying the installation space of the internal battery pack.

[0053] In some actual use processes, in order to maximize the bending resistance of the cavity, generally a group of batteries is arranged according to the length of the cavity. At the same time, because the batteries in the battery pack are unevenly distributed, during the driving of the vehicle, the impact and pressure of each group of batteries on the structural side beam 12 are different, so that the structural side beam 12 also needs to bear different magnitudes of shear force and torsion.

[0054] Therefore, in some preferred embodiments, a reinforcing beam 14 is provided on the side wall of the structural side beam 12 close to the cooling plate 2, and the reinforcing beam 14 and the structural side beam 12 together form a stepped shape. Specifically, reference can be made to Figure 2 , the structure of the reinforcing beam 14 is generally designed according to the force, not a regular cuboid, and there are also some holes for assisting in installing the entire side beam and the water-cooled plate.

[0055] In some embodiments, a flow splitting channel 31 is provided in the conversion block 3. Referring to FIG. 4, the function of the flow splitting channel 31 is to allow the coolant to flow. A plurality of second flow splitting holes 32 are provided at the bottom of the conversion block 3, and the second flow splitting holes 32 are for the cooling water to enter and exit the flow splitting channel 31. And a first flow splitting hole 22 is provided at the starting end and / or the ending end of the first flow channel 21. When the conversion block 3 is installed, the second flow splitting holes 32 on the conversion block 3 are aligned with the first flow splitting holes 22 of the corresponding first flow channel 21, so that a plurality of first flow channels are connected to each other. Specifically, in the embodiments shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 , there are only two second flow splitting holes 32 at the bottom of the conversion block 3, which are correspondingly connected to two first flow splitting holes 22. After the conversion block 3 is installed, the two first flow channels 21 communicate with each other across the middle second cavity. There are also some embodiments that can achieve the form of one input and multiple outputs. For example, three second flow splitting holes 32 are provided at the bottom of the conversion block 3, which are respectively connected to three first flow channels 21. One of the first flow channels 21 is connected to the water inlet, forming a structure of one input and two outputs, and the remaining two first flow channels 21 are in parallel. The frictional loss of a single portion of water is reduced, and in the two parallel first flow channels 21, they can also be connected by a conversion block 3 and sent to the first flow channel 21 communicating with the water outlet, so as to achieve the effect of multiple inputs and one output. During the implementation process, it can be designed according to needs to change the flow direction of the coolant.

[0056] During some actual usage processes, the externally connected cooling water pipe is prone to looseness due to jolts during vehicle driving. Therefore, in some preferred embodiments, end heads 15 for enhancing connectivity are provided outside both the water inlet and the water outlet, which can effectively improve the connection force between the water inlet, the water outlet, and the external pipe, and prevent the pipe from detaching.

[0057] The present application also provides an embodiment of a battery pack, which applies any one of the battery water cooling plates provided by the present application.

[0058] The present application also provides an embodiment of a battery pack installation method, including the following steps:

[0059] Divide the heat generation area according to the preset battery distribution mode in the battery pack. Specifically, in the battery pack, the batteries will be arranged in a certain order according to needs, and the arrangement mode of the batteries is determined in advance according to requirements. For example, in the present application, 30 batteries can be set, arranged in two columns with 15 in each column, and a certain distance is left between the two columns to place other structures. And the specific heat generation area is only within the bottom of the two columns of batteries and the area radiating a certain distance outward from the bottom. The middle area between the two columns of batteries does not generate heat and receives very little heat. Therefore, it is not necessary to circulate the coolant, which reduces the flow friction of the coolant and also reduces the energy consumption.

[0060] Select the first cavities in the cavity according to the heat generation area, and drill holes between adjacent first cavities to form a connected first flow channel 21. Generally, the frames 1 at both ends of the cooling plate 2 can be disassembled to expose the cavities therein for secondary processing. At this time, holes can be drilled on the inner walls of adjacent first cavities, and the hole diameter is calculated according to the flow rate. After drilling, the two cavities are connected. Generally speaking, among three sequentially arranged cavities, the holes should be opened at different ends to form a zigzag flow.

[0061] Drill holes on different first flow channels 21 according to the size of the conversion block 3, and install the conversion block 3 to connect different first flow channels 21. Specifically, generally after the conversion block 3 is installed, the drilling positions are calibrated, and the holes are connected through the conversion block 3.

[0062] Install the batteries on the battery water cooling plate according to the preset battery distribution mode to form a battery pack. In some embodiments, other structures such as a battery outer cover also need to be installed to form a battery pack.

[0063] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by terms such as "upper" and "lower" is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, it should not be construed as a limitation to the present application. Unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the terms "mounted", "connected" and "coupled" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it may be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0064] It should be noted that in the present application, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprising", "including" or any other variation thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the element.

[0065] The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, enabling those skilled in the art to understand or implement the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but rather to the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein.

Claims

1. A battery water cooling plate, characterized in that, Comprising: A frame (1) whose side walls are provided with a water inlet and a water outlet; Cooling plates (2) installed inside the frame (1), with one or more in number. A number of cavities are formed in the cooling plates (2). Among them, a part of the cavities are first cavities for the coolant to flow through, and the remaining cavities are second cavities where no coolant flows. Adjacent first cavities are connected to form a first flow channel (21), and non-adjacent first flow channels (21) are connected through a conversion block (3). The water inlet and the water outlet are respectively connected to different first flow channels (21).

2. The battery water cooling plate according to claim 1, wherein, The frame (1) includes two installation side beams (11) parallel to the cavity direction and two structural side beams (12) perpendicular to the cavity direction. The installation side beams (11) and the structural side beams (12) are fixedly connected.

3. The battery water cooling plate according to claim 2, wherein: On the top surface of each installation side beam (11), a plurality of installation holes (111) for installing a battery mask are provided.

4. The battery water cooling plate according to claim 2, characterized in that: Reinforcing ribs (113) are arranged inside the installation side beams (11).

5. A battery water cooling plate according to claim 2, characterized in that, The frame (1) further includes: Reinforcing middle beams (13), with one or more in number, and both ends thereof are respectively connected to the installation side beams (11).

6. The battery water cooling plate according to claim 2, wherein The structural side beam (12) is provided with a conversion card slot (121) for accommodating the conversion block (3).

7. A battery water-cooling plate according to claim 2, characterized in that, On the side wall of the structural side beam (12) close to the cooling plate (2), a reinforcing beam (14) is provided. The reinforcing beam (14) and the structural side beam (12) together form a stepped shape.

8. A battery water cooling plate according to claim 1, characterized in that, A shunt channel (31) is arranged inside the conversion block (3), and a plurality of second shunt holes (32) communicating with the shunt channel (31) are arranged on the bottom surface of the conversion block (3); First shunt holes (22) are arranged at the starting end and / or the ending end of the first flow channel (21); When the conversion block (3) connects different first flow channels (21), each second shunt hole (32) is connected to a first shunt hole (22).

9. A battery pack, characterized in that, The battery pack includes the battery water cooling plate according to any one of claims 1-8.

10. An installation method for the battery pack according to claim 9, characterized in that, Including the following steps: Dividing the heat generation area according to the preset battery distribution mode in the battery pack; Selecting first cavities in the cavities according to the heat generation area, and punching holes between adjacent first cavities to form a connected first flow channel (21); Drilling holes in different first flow channels (21) according to the size of the conversion block (3), and installing the conversion block (3) to connect different first flow channels (21); Installing batteries on the battery water cooling plate according to the preset battery distribution mode to form a battery pack.

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