Power supply unit
By setting a temperature sensor in the storage component of the battery unit at the position farthest from the cooling device, and forming a gap on the constraint rod to directly detect the temperature, the problem of delay in the operating time of the temperature adjustment device in the prior art is solved, and efficient temperature detection and precise temperature control of the battery unit are realized.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202421626527.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-07-10
- Publication Date
- 2025-07-29
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-07-10
AI Technical Summary
In the prior art, the temperature sensor configuration of the battery unit is improper, which makes it take a certain amount of time to make the battery unit reach the same temperature as the whole, affecting energy efficiency.
In the storage part of the battery unit, a temperature sensor is provided at a position farthest from the cooling device, and a gap is formed on the restraint rod to directly detect the temperature, and a plurality of temperature sensors are combined to improve detection accuracy, especially in the electrode body and the current collecting foil beam part to perform accurate temperature detection.
Accurate detection of the overall temperature of the battery unit is achieved, temperature detection accuracy and energy use efficiency are improved, and battery units operate efficiently within the safe temperature range.
Smart Images
Figure CN223167522U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The utility model relates to a power supply unit, in particular to a power supply unit having a battery unit and a temperature adjustment device for adjusting the temperature of the battery unit. Background Art
[0002] In recent years, in order to ensure access to a more affordable, reliable, sustainable and advanced energy, research and development related to secondary batteries that contribute to energy efficiency has been underway. Here, in a battery unit as a secondary battery, in order to cope with heat generation during charging and discharging and use in cold weather, etc., it is desired to appropriately detect the temperature of the battery unit while using the battery unit at an appropriate temperature.
[0003] Here, especially in a large battery unit, a technique is known in which a temperature adjustment device such as a water jacket is used to adjust the battery unit to an appropriate temperature. However, there is a problem that it takes a certain amount of time for the entire battery unit to reach the same temperature after the operation of the temperature adjustment device is started.
[0004] In Patent Document 1, a battery unit is disclosed in which a plurality of temperature sensors are arranged in each part of a rectangular parallelepiped battery unit to carefully detect the temperatures of the parts where differences occur.
[0005] [Prior Art Documents]
[0006] (Patent Document)
[0007] Patent Document 1: Chinese Patent Publication No. 108140910 Summary of the Utility Model
[0008] [Problems to be Solved by the Utility Model]
[0009] However, in the battery unit disclosed in Patent Document 1, in a configuration where the number of temperature sensors increases and the temperature adjustment device is in contact with one surface of the battery unit, the configuration of the temperature sensors for appropriately detecting the temperature of the battery unit has not been explored.
[0010] The object of this case is to obtain a configuration of temperature sensors that can appropriately detect the temperature of the battery unit in order to solve the above problems. And furthermore, it helps to improve energy efficiency.
[0011] [Technical Means for Solving the Problems]
[0012] In order to achieve the foregoing object, a first feature of the present utility model lies in a power supply unit, which has: a cuboid-shaped battery unit formed by accommodating a plurality of battery cells stacked in a specified direction in a housing member; a support member for supporting at least one surface of the battery unit; and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the battery unit; and, the housing member at least includes a pair of end plates disposed at both ends in the specified direction and a pair of cover plates disposed at both ends in a direction perpendicular to the specified direction. A cooling device for cooling the battery unit is disposed between the support member and the battery unit, and the temperature sensor is disposed on the surface of the battery unit facing the one surface and at a position near the corner of the battery unit.
[0013] In addition, a second feature lies in that the housing member includes a restraint rod, the restraint rod forms a surface facing the one surface, and is fixed to the end plate and the cover plate, and the temperature sensor is mounted on the restraint rod.
[0014] In addition, a third feature lies in that the temperature sensor is composed of a first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor disposed close to the pair of cover plates respectively. A center plate clamped by two adjacent battery cells is disposed at the center position between the pair of end plates. One side of the first temperature sensor or the second temperature sensor is disposed at a position closer to the center plate than the other sensor.
[0015] In addition, a fourth feature lies in that the temperature sensor is disposed in a notch formed on the restraint rod.
[0016] Furthermore, a fifth feature lies in that the battery cell has an electrode body and current collector foil bundles connected to both ends of the electrode body, and the temperature sensor is disposed at a position close to the electrode body and the current collector foil bundles.
[0017] (Effect of the utility model)
[0018] According to the first feature, in the power supply unit, there is provided: a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped battery unit formed by housing a plurality of battery cells stacked in a specified direction in a housing member; a support member for supporting at least one surface of the battery unit; and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the battery unit. Further, the housing member includes at least a pair of end plates disposed at both ends in the specified direction and a pair of cover plates disposed at both ends in a direction perpendicular to the specified direction. A cooling device for cooling the battery unit is disposed between the support member and the battery unit. The temperature sensor is disposed on the surface of the battery unit facing the one surface and at a position near the corner of the battery unit. Therefore, by disposing the temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the battery unit at a position farthest from the cooling device and at a position where the heat of the battery cell can easily dissipate to the outside through heat transfer to the end plates and the cover plates, the temperature sensor can be disposed at a position where the temperature detection of the entire battery unit is the lowest. Thus, it is possible to accurately determine whether the entire battery unit has exceeded the specified usable temperature, etc., and the battery unit can be used efficiently.
[0019] According to the second feature, the housing member includes a restraining rod that forms a surface facing the one surface and is fixed to the end plates and the cover plates. The temperature sensor is mounted on the restraining rod. Therefore, by disposing the temperature sensor at a position farthest from the cooling device and at a position where the heat of the battery cell can easily dissipate to the outside through heat transfer to the end plates, the cover plates, and the restraining rod, the temperature sensor can be disposed at a position where the temperature detection of the entire battery unit is the lowest.
[0020] According to the third feature, the temperature sensor is composed of a first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor disposed in proximity to the pair of cover plates respectively. A center plate sandwiched between two adjacent battery cells is disposed at the center position between the pair of end plates. One side of the first temperature sensor or the second temperature sensor is disposed closer to the center plate than the other side of the sensor. Therefore, one side of the temperature sensor is disposed at a position where the temperature of the battery unit is more likely to be higher than the position where the other temperature sensor is disposed, and thus the detection accuracy can be improved by using two temperature sensors.
[0021] According to the fourth feature, the temperature sensor is disposed in a notch formed on the restraining rod. Therefore, the temperature of the battery cell can be detected more directly, and the temperature detection accuracy can be improved.
[0022] According to the fifth feature, the aforementioned battery cell has an electrode body and current collector foil bundles connected to both ends of the electrode body. The temperature sensor is disposed at a position close to the electrode body and the current collector foil bundles. Therefore, by detecting the temperature near the current collector foil bundles where the temperature change is more likely to be larger compared to the electrode body, the detection accuracy of the temperature can be further improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a power supply unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a battery unit.
[0025] Figure 3 is a perspective view of the support member 3.
[0026] Figure 4 is a plan view of the support member 3.
[0027] Figure 5 is a plan view of the battery unit with the restraint rod removed.
[0028] Figure 6 is a side view of a battery cell.
[0029] Figure 7 is a partially enlarged plan view of the battery unit with the first temperature sensor removed.
[0030] Figure 8 is along Figure 7 the battery unit obtained by cutting along line VIII-VIII.
[0031] Figure 9 is a sectional view showing the positional relationship between the first temperature sensor and the battery cell. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0032] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a power supply unit 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The power supply unit 1 is configured to support four battery units 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d, which are secondary batteries, on the upper part of a support member 3 mounted on a base plate 2. The power supply unit 1 can be used, for example, as a power supply source for an electric vehicle driven by a motor or a hybrid vehicle driven by a motor and an internal combustion engine. In this figure, the front, rear, up, down, left, and right of the vehicle are assumed and direction arrows are added, but the arrangement direction of the power supply unit 1 relative to the vehicle and the arrangement of the battery units 10 relative to the support member 3 can be variously deformed. The description of the front, rear, up, down, left, and right in the following is the same as Figure 1corresponds to the direction shown. In addition, a control device for charge and discharge control or the like can be arranged at the position between the respective battery units.
[0033] Figure 2 is a perspective view of the battery unit 10c. The four battery units 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d can have the same shape and structure. On the upper surface of the battery unit 10a (hereinafter, the battery unit 10), two temperature sensors (thermistors) S1 and S2 for detecting the temperature of the battery unit 10 are installed. More specifically, the first temperature sensor S1 and the second temperature sensor S2 have the same structure. The first temperature sensor S1 is installed on the top surface of the rear side, and the second temperature sensor S2 is installed on the top surface of the front side. In Figure 1 is shown a state where the temperature sensors S1 and S2 are installed only on the battery units 10a and 10d, but the configuration of the battery units on which the temperature sensors S1 and S2 are installed can be variously deformed. For example, they can also be installed on all four battery units, or only on one battery unit. The respective battery units 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d are supported on the upper part of the support member 3 by their bottom surfaces which are one of their faces.
[0034] The battery unit 10 is configured to house a plurality of battery cells 20 (refer to Figure 5 ) stacked in a prescribed direction A in a housing member made of a plate-like member such as metal. The housing member includes: a pair of end plates 12 disposed at both ends in the prescribed direction A; a pair of cover plates 13 disposed at both ends in a direction perpendicular to the prescribed direction A; and a restraint bar 11 that forms a top surface facing the bottom surface of the battery unit 10 and is fixed to the end plates 12 and the cover plates 13. The first temperature sensor S1 and the second temperature sensor S2 are installed on the restraint bar 11. The rectangular parallelepiped-shaped battery unit 10 has a total of eight corner portions C, and in this figure, four of them near the restraint bar 11 are shown.
[0035] Figure 3 is a perspective view of the support member 3. In addition, Figure 4 is a plan view of the support member 3. In Figure 3,4 shows the state where four battery units 10 are removed from the power supply unit 1. At the bottom of the support member 3, a cooling device 5 is provided which contacts one surface of the battery unit 10 to cool the battery unit 10. The cooling device 5 of the present embodiment employs a water jacket in which cooling water adjusted to a desired temperature by a temperature adjustment device (not shown) circulates. The thickness of the cooling device 5 is relatively small, and the cooling device 5 is substantially plate-shaped and disposed at the bottom of the support member 3. The shape of the water passage of the cooling device 5 is not limited to the shape shown in the present embodiment and can be variously changed. The four battery units 10 are supported by the support member 3 in contact with the top surface of the cooling device 5. At the center in the front-rear direction of the support member 3, a partition member 4 is provided which separates the front battery units 10c, 10d from the rear battery units 10a, 10b. The cooling device 5 can cope with the heat generation during charge and discharge by changing the temperature of the coolant, thereby reducing the temperature of the battery unit 10 or increasing the temperature of the battery unit during cooling.
[0036] The power supply unit 1 of the present embodiment is characterized by the mounting position of the temperature sensor. Specifically, with reference to Figure 2 The first temperature sensor S1 and the second temperature sensor S2 are disposed on the surface (top surface) of the battery unit 10 opposite to one surface (bottom surface) and at positions near the corner C. Thus, the first temperature sensor S1 and the second temperature sensor S2 are disposed at positions farthest from the cooling device 5, and the heat of the battery cells 20 housed in the battery unit 10 can be easily dissipated to the outside by being transferred to the end plate 12, the cover plate 13, and the restraint rod 11. Therefore, they are disposed at positions where the temperature detection in the entire battery unit 10 is the lowest. Thus, it is possible to accurately judge whether the entire battery unit has exceeded the specified usable temperature, etc., and thus the battery unit 10 can be used efficiently.
[0037] Figure 5 is a plan view of the battery unit 10 in a state where the restraint rod 11 is removed. In addition, Figure 6 is a side view of the battery cell 20. The same reference numerals as those above denote the same or equivalent parts as those above. The battery cell 20 in the shape of an elongated plate has a central electrode body 21 and current collector foil bundles 22 connected to both ends of the electrode body 21. The current collector foil bundles 22 for connecting a plurality of wirings, etc. have a characteristic that the temperature change is more likely to be larger than that of the electrode body 21.
[0038] The battery unit 10 is configured to house a plurality of battery cells 20 stacked along a specified direction A in a housing member composed of at least a pair of end plates 12, a pair of cover plates 13, and a restraining rod 11. At the central position between the right end plate 12 and the left end plate 12, a center plate 14 sandwiched by two adjacent battery cells 20 is disposed.
[0039] In the present embodiment, the first temperature sensor S1 on the rear side and the second temperature sensor S2 on the front side are arranged in an asymmetrical configuration in the front-rear direction. Specifically, the first temperature sensor S1 on one side is disposed closer to the center plate 14 than the second temperature sensor S2 on the other side. Thus, the first temperature sensor S1 on one side is disposed at a position where the temperature of the battery unit 10 is more likely to become higher than the position where the second temperature sensor S2 on the other side is disposed, so that the detection accuracy can be improved by using two temperature sensors.
[0040] Figure 7 is a partially enlarged plan view of the battery unit 10 in a state where the first temperature sensor S1 is removed. In addition, Figure 8 is a Figure 7 stereogram of the battery unit 10 obtained by cutting along line VIII-VIII, Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the first temperature sensor S1 and the battery cell 20. The same reference numerals as those described above denote the same or equivalent parts as those described above.
[0041] The first temperature sensor S1 is mounted in a rectangular notch 11a provided in the restraining rod 11. The first temperature sensor S1 has a substrate 33 that supports the sensor element 34, a connecting portion 30 that connects the wiring 31 for outputting a sensor signal to the substrate 33, and a cover body 32 that covers and protects the substrate 33. By mounting the first temperature sensor S1 in the rectangular notch 11a provided in the restraining rod 11 as described above, the sensor element 34 is exposed to the space inside the housing member, and the temperature can be detected at a position close to the battery cell 20. Thus, the temperature of the battery cell can be detected more directly, and the detection accuracy of the temperature can be improved.
[0042] As described above, in the power supply unit according to the present utility model, in the power supply unit 1, there is provided: a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped battery unit 10 formed by housing a plurality of battery cells 20 stacked in a specified direction A in a housing member, the housing member including at least a pair of end plates 12 disposed at both ends in the specified direction A and a pair of cover plates 13 disposed at both ends in a direction perpendicular to the specified direction A; a support member 3 for supporting at least one surface of the battery unit 10; and a first temperature sensor S1 and a second temperature sensor S2 for detecting the temperature of the battery unit 10. A cooling device 5 for cooling the battery unit 10 is disposed between the housing member 3 and the battery unit 10. The first temperature sensor S1 and the second temperature sensor S2 are disposed on a surface of the battery unit 10 facing one surface and at positions near the corner portion C of the battery unit 10. Therefore, by disposing the first temperature sensor S1 and the second temperature sensor S2 at positions farthest from the cooling device 5 and at positions where heat of the battery cells 20 can easily be dissipated to the outside through the end plates 12 and the cover plates 13, the temperature sensors can be disposed at positions where the temperature detection of the entire battery unit 10 is the lowest. Thus, it is possible to accurately judge whether the entire battery unit 10 has exceeded the specified usable temperature, etc., and the battery unit 10 can be used efficiently.
[0043] The form of the power supply unit, the form of the housing member, the shapes or structures of the cover plate, the end plate, the restraint bar, the shape or structure of the battery cell, the number of battery cells, the shape or structure of the temperature sensor, the arrangement position of the temperature sensor, etc. are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes can be made. The installation direction of the power supply unit with respect to a vehicle or the like is not limited to the above description and the illustration in the drawings, and various deformations can be made. For example, it can also be configured such that the battery is supported below the support member. The power supply unit of the present utility model can be applied to various devices using batteries, such as electric vehicles, airplanes, and power generation systems for houses, in addition to vehicles such as four-wheel vehicles, three-wheel vehicles, and two-wheel vehicles.
[0044] Reference numerals
[0045] 1: Power supply unit
[0046] 3: Support member
[0047] 5: Cooling device
[0048] 10: Battery unit
[0049] 11: Restraint bar (housing member)
[0050] 11a: Notch
[0051] 12: End plate (housing member)
[0052] 13: Cover plate (housing member)
[0053] 14: Central plate
[0054] 20: Battery cell
[0055] 21: Electrode body
[0056] 22: Current collector foil bundle part
[0057] A: Specified direction
[0058] C: Corner
[0059] S1: First temperature sensor (temperature sensor)
[0060] S2: Second temperature sensor (temperature sensor)
Claims
1. A power supply unit, characterized in that, It has: a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped battery unit formed by housing a plurality of battery cells stacked in a specified direction in a housing member; a support member for supporting at least one surface of the battery unit; and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the battery unit; and, the housing member includes at least a pair of end plates disposed at both ends in the specified direction and a pair of cover plates disposed at both ends in a direction perpendicular to the specified direction, a cooling device for cooling the battery unit is disposed between the support member and the battery unit, the temperature sensor is disposed on the surface of the battery unit facing the one surface and at a position near the corner of the battery unit.
2. The power supply unit according to claim 1, wherein the housing member includes a restraining rod that forms a surface facing the one surface and is fixed to the end plate and the cover plate, the temperature sensor is mounted on the restraining rod.
3. The power supply unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the temperature sensor is composed of a first temperature sensor and a second temperature sensor disposed close to the pair of cover plates respectively, a center plate sandwiched between two adjacent battery cells is disposed at the center between the pair of end plates, one side of the first temperature sensor or the second temperature sensor is disposed closer to the center plate than the other side of the sensor.
4. The power supply unit according to claim 2, wherein, the temperature sensor is disposed in a notch formed in the restraining rod.
5. The power supply unit according to claim 4, wherein, the battery cell has an electrode body and current collector foil bundles connected to both ends of the electrode body, the temperature sensor is disposed at a position close to the electrode body and the current collector foil bundles.