Liquid cooling plate joint and battery pack

Abstract

The utility model discloses a liquid cooling plate joint and a battery pack, and relates to the technical field of battery pack cooling liquid replacement, the liquid cooling plate joint comprises a fixing assembly, the fixing assembly comprises a socket used for being communicated with a battery pack liquid cooling plate to achieve liquid inlet and liquid outlet of cooling liquid, and the socket is sequentially provided with a circulation part, a connection part, a sealing part and a limiting part from inside to outside; and the connecting assembly comprises a self-sealing joint which is arranged in the socket and is used for being connected with a cooling liquid pipeline. The self-sealing joint comprises a self-sealing male head which is connected with the socket and is matched with the internal shape of the socket, and a self-sealing female head which is connected with the free end of the self-sealing male head. The socket communicated with the liquid cooling plate of the battery pack is arranged, a cooling liquid flowing path can be directly formed on the battery pack, the self-sealing connector is arranged on the socket, when cooling liquid is replaced, pack replacement can be achieved by directly inserting and pulling out a pipeline, the process complexity is reduced, the self-sealing connector can also replace an original water inlet and outlet nozzle on the battery pack, and the battery pack is convenient to use. And the risk of liquid leakage is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of battery pack coolant replacement, and in particular to a liquid cooling plate joint and a battery pack. Background Art

[0002] The batteries in the battery pack will generate heat during the charging and discharging process, which will cause the battery temperature to rise. The excessively high temperature of the battery itself is not conducive to its normal operation and may even cause the risk of thermal runaway. In order to ensure the normal operation of the batteries in the battery pack, a liquid cooling plate is generally installed in the battery pack to remove the heat generated by the battery.

[0003] In scenarios involving battery pack disassembly or coolant replacement, in order to avoid coolant overflow affecting battery pack maintenance, the coolant in the liquid cooling plate must be completely drained before subsequent operations can be performed. This process is time-consuming and results in low overall maintenance efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0004] The present application provides a liquid cooling plate connector and a battery pack, which can solve the technical problem in the prior art that when replacing the coolant in the battery pack, steps such as draining the coolant and removing the battery pack are required, and the overall process is relatively cumbersome and the work efficiency is low.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a liquid cooling plate joint, comprising:

[0006] A fixing assembly, the fixing assembly comprising a socket for connecting to the liquid cold plate of the battery pack to realize the inflow and outflow of the coolant, the socket being provided with a circulation portion, a connecting portion, a sealing portion and a limiting portion in sequence from the inside to the outside;

[0007] A connection assembly, the connection assembly includes a self-sealing joint arranged in the socket for connecting a coolant pipeline. The self-sealing joint includes a self-sealing male head connected to the socket and matching the internal shape of the socket, and a self-sealing female head connected to the free end of the self-sealing male head.

[0008] In combination with the first aspect, in one implementation, the number of the sockets is two and one of the sockets is located at the coolant inlet pipe, and the other socket is located at the coolant outlet pipe.

[0009] In one embodiment, the flow portion includes a first channel and a second flow-limiting channel disposed below the first channel.

[0010] In one embodiment, the connecting portion includes an internal thread arranged on the inner wall of the socket, and the self-sealing male head is provided with an external thread matching the internal thread at a relative position.

[0011] In one embodiment, the self-sealing male head is provided with a first sealing groove and a second sealing groove at intervals.

[0012] In one embodiment, sealing rings are provided in both the first sealing groove and the second sealing groove.

[0013] In one embodiment, the sealing portion includes a sealing surface corresponding to the positions of the first sealing groove and the second sealing groove.

[0014] In one embodiment, the limiting portion includes a limiting groove arranged on the outer surface of the socket, and the self-sealing male head is provided with a matching protrusion matching the limiting groove, and the depth of the limiting groove is greater than the thickness of the matching protrusion.

[0015] In one embodiment, the self-sealing female connector includes a connector body and a pipe connection port disposed on a side of the connector body and communicating with the connector body.

[0016] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a battery pack, on which the above-mentioned liquid cooling plate connector is provided, and the liquid cooling plate connector is located on the front panel of the battery pack.

[0017] The beneficial effects brought by the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application include:

[0018] By providing two sockets on the battery pack that are connected to the liquid cooling plate of the battery pack, a coolant flow path can be directly formed on the battery pack. By providing a self-sealing joint on the socket, when replacing the coolant, the pack can be replaced by directly plugging and unplugging the pipes. There is no need for additional work such as draining the coolant and installing and disassembling the battery pack, which greatly reduces the complexity of the process. The self-sealing joint can also replace the inlet and outlet nozzles on the original battery pack, reducing costs and the risk of leakage during operation, and improving reliability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0020] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a liquid cooling plate joint structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of a socket in a liquid cooling plate connector provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 3A schematic diagram of the detailed structure of a socket and a self-sealing male head in a liquid cooling plate connector provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a sealing portion in a liquid cooling plate joint provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a self-sealing female head in a liquid cooling plate joint provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a bottom-in-top-out flow method for a battery cluster provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a bottom-in and bottom-out flow method of a battery cluster provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] In the figure: 1. socket; 2. self-sealing male head; 201. external thread; 202. first sealing groove; 203. matching protrusion; 204. mounting flange; 205. second sealing groove; 3. self-sealing female head; 301. connector body; 302. pipe connection port; 4. circulation part; 401. first channel; 402. second flow limiting channel; 5. connection part; 501. internal thread; 6. sealing part; 601. sealing surface; 7. limiting part; 701. limiting groove; 8. sealing ring; 9. liquid inlet main pipe; 10. liquid inlet branch pipe; 11. liquid outlet main pipe; 12. liquid outlet branch pipe. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present application, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0029] On the first aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a liquid cooling plate joint, which can solve the technical problem in the prior art that when replacing the coolant in the battery pack, steps such as draining the coolant and removing the battery pack are required, and the overall process is relatively cumbersome and the work efficiency is low.

[0030] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a liquid cooling plate joint structure provided in an embodiment of the present application, Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of a socket in a liquid cooling plate connector provided in an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 1 , Figure 2As shown, the liquid cooling plate joint in the present application includes a fixing component, the fixing component includes a socket 1 for connecting the battery pack liquid cooling plate to realize the inlet and outlet of the coolant, and the socket 1 is provided with a circulation part 4, a connecting part 5, a sealing part 6 and a limiting part 7 from the inside to the outside; a connecting component, the connecting component includes a self-sealing joint arranged in the socket 1 for connecting the coolant pipeline, the self-sealing joint includes a self-sealing male head connected to the socket 1 and matching the internal shape of the socket 1, and a self-sealing female head 3 connected to the free end of the self-sealing male head 2.

[0031] It should be noted that in this article, from inside to outside refers to the direction gradually approaching the self-sealing joint. Two sockets 1 are welded on the front panel of each battery pack. The two sockets 1 are used as the inlet and outlet of the coolant respectively. The socket 1 is hollow inside and directly connected to the liquid cooling plate in the battery pack. The flow rate of the coolant can be controlled by adjusting the aperture of the circulation part 4 on the socket 1. The connecting part 5 is mainly used to achieve a detachable connection with the self-sealing joint, and the sealing part 6 is mainly used to prevent the coolant in the battery pack from being exposed. The self-sealing joint is horizontally arranged in the socket 1. When the coolant is replaced, one of the self-sealing joints is used to connect the coolant inlet pipeline, and the other self-sealing joint is used to connect the coolant outlet pipeline, thereby forming a coolant circulation path.

[0032] During normal use of the battery pack, the self-sealing male connector 2 is separated from the self-sealing female connector 3, and only the self-sealing male connector 2 remains on the socket 1. When replacing the coolant in the battery pack, one end of the self-sealing female connector 3 is connected to the coolant pipeline, and the other end is connected to the self-sealing male connector 2.

[0033] Furthermore, Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the detailed structure of a socket and a self-sealing male head in a liquid cooling plate connector provided in an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 3 As shown, the circulation portion 4 includes a first channel 401 and a second flow limiting channel 402 arranged below the first channel 401. When the coolant flows in, it passes through the first channel 401 and the second flow limiting channel 402 in turn. By adjusting the aperture of the second flow limiting channel 402, the flow rate of the coolant flowing in can be controlled.

[0034] Furthermore, the connecting portion 5 includes an internal thread 501 arranged on the inner wall of the socket 1, and the self-sealing male head 2 is provided with an external thread 201 matching the internal thread 501 at a relative position. Threads of different sizes can be selected according to actual conditions, preferably with a thread specification of M20*1.5.

[0035] Furthermore, Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the sealing structure of a liquid cooling plate joint provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Figure 4As shown, the self-sealing male head 2 is provided with a first sealing groove 202 and a second sealing groove 205 at intervals. The first sealing groove 202 and the second sealing groove 205 are both provided with sealing rings 8, and the sealing portion 6 includes a sealing surface 601 corresponding to the positions of the first sealing groove 202 and the second sealing groove 205.

[0036] The first sealing groove 202 is located on the side of the self-sealing male head 2 close to the socket 1, and the second sealing groove 205 is located on the side of the self-sealing male head 2 away from the socket 1, and the first sealing groove 202 and the second sealing groove 205 are arranged around the self-sealing male head 2. The double-layer sealing arrangement can not only improve the sealing effect, but also the sealing ring 8 located in the second sealing groove 205 can isolate the external air and harmful gases from oxidizing, aging and corroding the sealing ring 8 located in the first sealing groove 202. At the same time, after one of the sealing rings 8 fails, the other sealing ring 8 can still play a sealing role, thereby improving the reliability and service life of the product. Furthermore, the two sealing rings 8 can also play a visual inspection role. When the self-sealing male head 2 is installed in the socket 1, if the sealing ring 8 located in the second sealing groove 205 can be seen with the naked eye, it means that the self-sealing male head 2 is not installed in place.

[0037] As an optional embodiment, in the present application, the sealing ring 8 in the second sealing groove 205 is made of EPDM rubber, and the sealing ring 8 in the first sealing groove 202 is made of fluorosilicone rubber, which can be used under working conditions of -50-300°C and has excellent high and low temperature resistance. The surface of the socket 1 opposite to the first sealing groove 202 and the second sealing groove 205 is the sealing surface 601.

[0038] Furthermore, the limiting portion 7 includes a limiting groove 701 arranged on the outer surface of the socket 1 , and the self-sealing male head 2 is provided with a matching protrusion 203 matching the limiting groove 701 , and the depth of the limiting groove 701 is greater than the thickness of the matching protrusion 203 .

[0039] During the installation process, the internal thread 501 on the self-sealing male head 2 is connected to the external thread 201 on the socket 1, the first sealing groove 202 and the second sealing groove 205 on the self-sealing male head 2 are located at the sealing surface 601 on the socket 1, and the matching protrusion 203 on the self-sealing male head 2 is embedded in the limiting groove 701 on the outer surface of the socket 1. The self-sealing male head 2 also includes a mounting flange 204 located on one side of the matching protrusion 203. Figure 3 When the installation is completed, the mounting flange 204 is located on the outer surface of the socket 1. Due to the difference in thickness between the limiting groove 701 and the matching protrusion 203, there is always a certain distance between the mounting flange 204 and the outer surface of the socket 1, which can prevent the mounting flange 204 from scratching the outer surface of the socket 1 when applying torque during the installation of the self-sealing male head 2, thereby affecting the appearance. At the same time, the limiting groove 701 and the matching protrusion 203 can also prevent dust from entering the interior of the socket 1 and affecting the sealing effect.

[0040] Furthermore, Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a self-sealing female connector 3 in a liquid cooling plate connector provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Figure 5 As shown, the self-sealing female connector 3 includes a connector body 301 and a pipe connection port 302 arranged on the side of the connector body 301 and connected to the connector body 301. The pipe connection port 302 is arranged at 90 degrees to the connector body 301, which can effectively solve the problem of insufficient operating space and plug-in formation. The self-sealing female connector 3 is mainly used to connect the self-sealing male connector 2 with the external cooling pipe, and its specific setting form is not specifically limited in this application.

[0041] The liquid cooling plate joint provided in the present application can directly form a coolant flow path on the battery pack by arranging two sockets 1 serving as a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet on the battery pack, and arranging a self-sealing joint on the socket 1. When replacing the coolant, the coolant inlet pipe and the coolant outlet pipe can be directly connected to the self-sealing joint for quick replacement without the need to drain the liquid, unpack, etc. The self-sealing joint can also replace the original water inlet and outlet nozzles on the battery pack, reducing costs and reducing the risk of leakage during operation, and improving reliability. At the same time, multiple sealing rings 8 are arranged to ensure sealing while helping the self-sealing joint to be quickly installed in place.

[0042] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a battery pack, on which the above-mentioned liquid cooling plate connector is provided, and the liquid cooling plate connector is located on the front panel of the battery pack.

[0043] Furthermore, an embodiment of the present application also provides a battery cluster, which includes a plurality of battery packs stacked vertically, and each battery pack is provided with a liquid cooling plate connector as described above. In the battery cluster, the liquid cooling plate connectors on the same side of the multiple battery packs are all connected to the coolant inlet branch pipe 10, and the multiple inlet branch pipes 10 converge into an inlet main pipe 9. Similarly, the liquid cooling plate connectors on the other side of the multiple battery packs are all connected to the coolant outlet branch pipe 12, and the multiple outlet branch pipes 12 converge into an outlet main pipe 11.

[0044] When replacing the coolant of the battery cluster in the present application, due to the longitudinal stacking of the battery cluster, the coolant flow rate flowing from the liquid inlet main pipe 9 to each battery pack is different, which will cause uneven cooling and heat dissipation of the battery pack. Therefore, in the present application, the aperture of the flow portion 4 in the liquid cooling plate connector on multiple battery packs is inversely proportional to the distance from the liquid inlet main pipe 9, that is, the closer the battery pack is to the liquid inlet main pipe 9, the smaller the aperture of the flow portion 4. Installing the flow portions 4 with different apertures on battery packs at different pipeline positions can achieve the effect of uniform flow distribution.

[0045] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a bottom-in-top-out flow pattern of a battery cluster provided in an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 6As shown, in this method, the coolant inlet main pipe 9 is located at the lowest battery pack in the battery cluster. At this time, the apertures of the flow parts 4 in the liquid cooling plate connectors on the multiple battery packs increase from bottom to top. By adjusting the resistance, the resistance of each battery pack through which the fluid flows is equal and the flow is uniform. Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a bottom-in and bottom-out flow mode of a battery cluster provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Figure 7 As shown, in this manner, the coolant inlet manifold 9 is still located at the lowest battery pack in the battery cluster, and the apertures of the flow portions 4 in the liquid cooling plate connectors on the multiple battery packs still increase sequentially from bottom to top.

[0046] As an optional embodiment, in this embodiment, the apertures of the circulation part 4 are selected into four specifications of 6mm, 8mm, 10mm and 12mm, which are respectively arranged on 8 battery packs in a cluster. The apertures of the circulation part 4 on the same side are 12mm, 12mm, 10mm, 10mm, 8mm, 8mm, 6mm, 6mm from top to bottom, respectively, and the flow uniformity of a single cluster is improved by 15%.

[0047] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the terms "upper", "lower", etc. 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 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, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. Unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" 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 or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be a connection between the 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 the specific circumstances.

[0048] It should be noted that, in this 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 such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise a ..." do not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0049] The above description is only a specific implementation of the present application, so that those skilled in the art can understand or implement the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent 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 will conform to the widest range consistent with the principles and novel features applied for herein.

Claims

1. A liquid cooling plate joint, characterized in that: include: A fixing assembly, the fixing assembly comprising a socket (1) for connecting to a battery pack liquid cold plate to achieve liquid inflow and liquid outflow of cooling liquid, the socket (1) being provided with a circulation portion (4), a connecting portion (5), a sealing portion (6) and a limiting portion (7) in sequence from the inside to the outside; A connection assembly, the connection assembly comprising a self-sealing joint arranged in the socket (1) for connecting a coolant pipeline, the self-sealing joint comprising a self-sealing male head (2) connected to the socket (1) and matching the internal shape of the socket (1), and a self-sealing female head (3) connected to the free end of the self-sealing male head (2).

2. A liquid cooling plate joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the sockets (1) is two, and one of the sockets (1) is located at the coolant inlet pipe, and the other socket (1) is located at the coolant outlet pipe.

3. A liquid cooling plate joint according to claim 2, characterized in that: The circulation portion (4) comprises a first channel (401) and a second flow limiting channel (402) arranged below the first channel (401).

4. A liquid cooling plate joint according to claim 3, characterized in that: The connecting portion (5) comprises an internal thread (501) arranged on the inner wall of the socket (1), and the self-sealing male head (2) is provided with an external thread (201) matching the internal thread (501) at a relative position.

5. A liquid cooling plate joint according to claim 2, characterized in that: The self-sealing male head (2) is provided with a first sealing groove (202) and a second sealing groove (205) at intervals.

6. A liquid cooling plate joint according to claim 5, characterized in that: A sealing ring (8) is provided in each of the first sealing groove (202) and the second sealing groove (205).

7. A liquid cooling plate joint according to claim 6, characterized in that: The sealing portion (6) comprises a sealing surface (601) corresponding to the positions of the first sealing groove (202) and the second sealing groove (205).

8. A liquid cooling plate joint according to claim 3, characterized in that: The limiting portion (7) comprises a limiting groove (701) arranged on the outer surface of the socket (1), and the self-sealing male head (2) is provided with a matching protrusion (203) matching the limiting groove (701), and the depth of the limiting groove (701) is greater than the thickness of the matching protrusion (203).

9. A liquid cooling plate joint according to claim 3, characterized in that: The self-sealing female connector (3) comprises a connector body (301) and a pipe connection port (302) arranged on a side of the connector body (301) and connected to the connector body (301).

10. A battery pack, characterized in that: The battery pack is provided with a liquid cooling plate connector according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and the liquid cooling plate connector is located on the front panel of the battery pack.

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