Secondary battery

Abstract

The utility model relates to a secondary battery, which is provided with a storage tank for storing electrolyte and a plurality of battery units connected with the storage tank, the storage tank and the plurality of battery units are respectively connected through pipes capable of moving the electrolyte, and under the condition that the electrolyte is supplemented into the storage tank, the storage tank is connected with the plurality of battery units through pipes capable of moving the electrolyte. The electrolyte solution can at least move from the storage tank to each of the plurality of battery cells. This makes it possible to suppress the occurrence of electrolyte depletion in the battery cell.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to a secondary battery. Background Art

[0002] As shown in Patent Document 1, in recent years, a secondary battery has been known in which an electrolyte is stored in a storage tank capable of confirming the amount of the electrolyte, and a battery cell is connected to the storage tank through a tube, and the electrolyte is supplied from the storage tank to the battery cell. In this secondary battery, by detecting the reduction in the amount of the electrolyte during charging, the required amount of the electrolyte can be replenished to the battery cell.

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-157280

[0004] A sensor is used to detect the reduction in the amount of the electrolyte in the secondary battery, but such a sensor sometimes cannot correctly detect changes in the physical properties and composition of the electrolyte. In addition, if such a detection error in the reduction of the amount of the electrolyte occurs, the replenishment amount of the electrolyte from the storage tank to the battery is likely to be insufficient, and electrolyte depletion is likely to occur. Summary of the Utility Model

[0005] In view of the above situation, the utility model provides a secondary battery capable of suppressing the occurrence of electrolyte depletion in a battery cell.

[0006] The secondary battery of the utility model has a storage tank for storing an electrolyte and a plurality of battery cells connected to the storage tank. The storage tank and the plurality of battery cells are respectively connected through tubes capable of moving the electrolyte. When the electrolyte is replenished to the storage tank, the electrolyte can at least move from the storage tank to each of the plurality of battery cells.

[0007] Thereby, the electrolyte can be replenished in a state where the liquid levels of the electrolytes in the plurality of battery cells are uniform.

[0008] According to the utility model, a secondary battery capable of suppressing the occurrence of electrolyte depletion in a battery cell can be provided. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009] Figure 1 It is a diagram showing the configuration of a secondary battery according to an embodiment.

[0010] Figure 2 It is a block diagram showing a mechanism provided in a storage tank according to an embodiment. Detailed Description of the Embodiment

[0011] An embodiment of the utility model will be described.

[0012] The secondary battery according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1This is a diagram showing a configuration example of a secondary battery. The secondary battery 1 includes a storage tank 11 and a plurality of battery cells 12 connected to the storage tank 11.

[0013] The storage tank 11 is a tank for storing the electrolyte 2. As Figure 1 shown, the storage tank 11 is respectively connected to the plurality of battery cells 12 through a tube 13 that enables the electrolyte 2 to flow. Additionally, as Figure 2 shown, typically, the storage tank 11 includes a confirmation mechanism 21 capable of confirming the amount of electrolyte in the battery cells 12, a circulation mechanism 22 for circulating the coolant through the tube 13, and a cooling mechanism 23 for cooling the electrolyte 2.

[0014] Each of the plurality of battery cells 12 has a positive electrode material, a negative electrode material, a separator, etc., and is used in a state filled with a specified amount of electrolyte 2. Additionally, the battery cells 12 are arranged and configured at the same height, and are also arranged at substantially the same height as the storage tank 11.

[0015] Furthermore, each of the battery cells 12 is connected to each other through a tube 14 that enables the electrolyte 2 to flow. This tube 14 is not connected to the storage tank 11. Additionally, as described above, each of the battery cells 12 is connected to each other through the tube 13 that is also connected to the storage tank 11. Typically, the tubes 13 and 14 are in a state filled with the electrolyte 2 inside and are used as paths for the electrolyte 2 to move between the connected storage tank 11 and each battery cell 12 or between the battery cells 12. Additionally, the movement of the electrolyte 2 also includes the circulation of the electrolyte 2 in the storage tank 11 or each battery cell 12.

[0016] Thus, in a state where the height of the liquid level of the electrolyte 2 in the storage tank 11 and the height of the liquid level of the electrolyte 2 in each battery cell 12 are different, the electrolyte 2 flows through the tubes 13 and 14 due to gravity, thereby adjusting the liquid level height of the electrolyte 2 to be the same height.

[0017] Here, each mechanism provided in the storage tank 11 will be described. The confirmation mechanism 21 is a mechanism capable of confirming the amount of the electrolyte 2 stored in the storage tank 11, that is, at which height the liquid level is in the container used as the storage tank 11. Here, since the storage tank 11 is arranged at the same height as each battery cell 12, naturally, the liquid level height of the storage tank 11 and each battery cell 12 is adjusted to be the same. Therefore, by confirming the liquid level height of the storage tank 11, the confirmation mechanism 21 can confirm the liquid level height of each battery cell 12.

[0018] The circulation mechanism 22 is a mechanism for sending out the electrolyte 2 stored in the storage tank 11 to each battery cell 12 to make it circulate. For example, the circulation mechanism 22 can use a pump, but is not limited thereto.

[0019] The cooling mechanism 23 is a mechanism for cooling the electrolyte 2 in the storage tank 11. The storage tank 11 can circulate by sending the electrolyte 2 cooled by the cooling mechanism 23 to each battery cell 12 using the circulation mechanism 22, and can supply the fully cooled electrolyte 2 to each battery cell 12.

[0020] By configuring the secondary battery 1 as described above, the following effects can be expected.

[0021] In the secondary battery 1, since the respective battery cells 12 are connected to each other through the pipe 13 and the pipe 14, movement of the electrolyte 2 can occur between the battery cells 12, and the height of the liquid level of the electrolyte 2 can be equalized. That is, in the secondary battery 1, occurrence of deviation in the amount of electrolyte 2 in each battery cell 12 can be suppressed, and a situation where the electrolyte 2 runs out and cannot be used only in a certain battery cell can be prevented.

[0022] In addition, in the secondary battery 1, the height of the liquid level of the electrolyte 2 in the storage tank 11 represents the height of the liquid level of the electrolyte 2 in each battery cell 12, and this liquid level height can be confirmed by the confirmation mechanism 21. That is, the user can confirm the amount of electrolyte in each battery cell 12 together.

[0023] And, in the secondary battery 1, when the height of the liquid level of the electrolyte 2 in each battery cell 12 is lower than a specified amount, by replenishing the electrolyte 2 to the storage tank 11, the electrolyte 2 can be replenished to each battery cell 12 via the pipe 13. In addition, in this case, in the secondary battery 1, the following phenomenon can be utilized: when the state becomes such that the height of the liquid level in the storage tank 11 and the height of the liquid level in each battery cell 12 are different, movement of the electrolyte 2 occurs in such a way that the height of the liquid level in the storage tank 11 and the height of the liquid level in each battery cell 12 become the same height.

[0024] That is, if the user replenishes the electrolyte 2 to the storage tank 11, the electrolyte 2 moves from the storage tank 11 to the plurality of battery cells 12 via the pipe 13 respectively. Therefore, as long as the user replenishes the electrolyte 2 to the storage tank 11, the electrolyte 2 can be replenished to each battery cell 12, and compared with the case of replenishing the electrolyte 2 to each battery cell 12 separately, exhaustion of the electrolyte 2 in each battery cell 12 can be prevented by an easy operation.

[0025] And, in the secondary battery 1, the storage tank 11 is provided with the circulation mechanism 22 and the cooling mechanism 23. Thus, in the secondary battery 1, the electrolyte 2 cooled in the storage tank 11 can be replenished to each battery cell 12. Therefore, in each battery cell 12, overheating of the cell can be prevented, and high rate caused by retention of the electrolyte 2 can be prevented.

[0026] In addition, the present utility model is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be appropriately modified without departing from the gist. That is, for the sake of clarity of explanation, the above description has been appropriately omitted and simplified, and those skilled in the art can easily change, add, or transform each element of the embodiment within the scope of the present utility model.

[0027] For example, in the above description, the height of the position where the storage tank 11 is disposed is set to the same height as the height of the position where each battery unit 12 is disposed, but the storage tank 11 can also be disposed slightly higher, so that each battery unit 12 is slightly lower than the storage tank 11. In this case, it is also preferable that the plurality of battery units 12 are disposed at the same height.

[0028] In addition, for example, in Figure 1 , a pipe 13 is connected to the side surface near the lower part of the storage tank 11, and pipes 13 and 14 are also connected to the side surface near the lower part of each battery unit 12, but it is not limited thereto. That is, the pipe 13 can also be connected to the bottom surface of the storage tank 11, and the pipes 13 and 14 can also be connected to the bottom surface of each battery unit 12.

Claims

1. A secondary battery, characterized in that: A storage tank for storing electrolyte and a plurality of battery cells connected to the storage tank, The storage tank and the plurality of battery cells are respectively connected via pipes capable of moving the electrolyte. When the tank is replenished with the electrolyte, the electrolyte can move at least from the tank to each of the plurality of battery cells.

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