Battery pack

Abstract

The utility model provides a battery pack. A battery pack includes: a cell stack; a cell case that accommodates the cell stack; a suction chamber; an exhaust chamber; and a plurality of rectifying plates, wherein the plurality of rectifying plates are arranged in the air suction chamber. The cell stack is configured by stacking a plurality of cells, and has a cooling air passage. The air suction chamber is located below the cell stack in the cell case, communicates with the cooling air passage, and receives a supply of cooling air flowing from an air suction port formed at one end of the plurality of battery cells in the stacking direction toward the other end of the plurality of battery cells in the stacking direction. And the exhaust chamber is positioned above the battery stack in the battery shell and is communicated with the cooling air passage. The plurality of rectifying plates are located on the downstream side of the cooling air, each of the rectifying plates is formed so as to extend in the stacking direction, and the rectifying plates are arranged at intervals in a direction orthogonal to the stacking direction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a configuration for cooling a battery pack. Background Art

[0002] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-097964 discloses a battery cooling system. The battery cooling system includes: a battery stack having a cooling air passage provided between battery modules; and a suction chamber and an exhaust chamber configured to sandwich the battery stack therebetween. The exhaust chamber has a ventilation portion for allowing the cooling air to flow out to the outside.

[0003] The suction chamber described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-097964 is configured to receive the supply of cooling air flowing from a suction port formed at one end in the stacking direction of a plurality of battery cells toward the other end in the stacking direction. Therefore, the cooling air may hit the wall surface on the downstream side of the suction chamber and generate a vortex. Due to the generation of this vortex, the cooling air may stay and cause the temperature of the cooling air to rise. Summary of the Utility Model

[0004] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a battery pack capable of suppressing the generation of a vortex on the downstream side of a suction chamber and suppressing the temperature rise of cooling air.

[0005] The battery pack of the present disclosure includes a battery stack, a battery case, a suction chamber, an exhaust chamber, and a plurality of rectifying plates. The battery stack is formed by stacking a plurality of battery cells and has a cooling air passage between adjacent battery cells. The battery case houses the battery stack. The suction chamber is located below the battery stack in the battery case and communicates with the cooling air passage, and receives the supply of cooling air flowing from a suction port formed at one end in the stacking direction of a plurality of battery cells toward the other end in the stacking direction. The exhaust chamber is located above the battery stack in the battery case and communicates with the cooling air passage. The plurality of rectifying plates are provided in the suction chamber. The plurality of rectifying plates are located on the downstream side of the flow of the cooling air, are each formed to extend along the stacking direction, and are arranged at intervals in a direction orthogonal to the stacking direction when the battery stack is viewed from above.

[0006] According to the present disclosure, by providing the above-described plurality of rectifying plates in the suction chamber, it is possible to suppress the generation of a vortex on the downstream side of the suction chamber and to suppress the temperature rise of the cooling air. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007] Hereinafter, the features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present utility model will be described with reference to the drawings, in which like reference numerals denote like components, and in the drawings:

[0008] Figure 1This is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a battery pack according to an embodiment.

[0009] Figure 2 This is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a battery pack according to a comparative example.

[0010] Figure 3 This is Figure 1 a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of the battery pack shown. Detailed Embodiment

[0011] 1. Structure of Battery Pack

[0012] Figure 1 This is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a battery pack 1 according to an embodiment. The battery pack 1 is mounted on an electric vehicle such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) or a battery electric vehicle (BEV).

[0013] The battery pack 1 includes a battery stack 10 and a battery housing 20. The battery housing 20 houses the battery stack 10. The battery stack 10 is formed by stacking a plurality of battery cells 12. The stacking direction D1 of the plurality of battery cells 12 is the same as the long side direction of the battery stack 10. For example, each battery cell 12 is a square cell, and the battery stack 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Further, the battery housing 20 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape along the shape of the battery stack 10.

[0014] The battery stack 10 includes spacers (not shown) disposed between adjacent battery cells 12. The battery stack 10 has a cooling air passage 14 formed by the spacers. In addition, the battery stack 10 includes, for example, a pair of end plates 16 located at both ends in the stacking direction D1, and is supported by the battery housing 20 via the pair of end plates 16.

[0015] An intake chamber 22 and an exhaust chamber 24 are formed inside the battery housing 20. As Figure 1 shown, the space located below the battery stack 10 is formed as the intake chamber 22. The intake chamber 22 communicates with the cooling air passage 14. The space located above the battery stack 10 is formed as the exhaust chamber 24. The exhaust chamber 24 communicates with the cooling air passage 14. More specifically, the intake chamber 22 is disposed adjacent to the lower surface of the battery stack 10 and is surrounded by the battery housing 20 together with the lower surface. The exhaust chamber 24 is disposed adjacent to the upper surface of the battery stack 10 and is surrounded by the battery housing 20 together with the upper surface.

[0016] The intake chamber 22 has an intake port 26. The intake port 26 is formed by the battery housing 20 at one end in the stacking direction D1. The exhaust chamber 24 has an exhaust port 28. As an example, the exhaust port 28 is formed by the battery housing 20 at the other end in the stacking direction D1.

[0017] In the battery pack 1, a blower 30 that generates cooling air inside the battery case 20 is installed. The blower 30 is, for example, an exhaust-type blower or fan connected to the intake port 26. As Figure 1 shown, the blower 30 supplies cooling air to the intake chamber 22 in such a manner that the cooling air flows along the stacking direction D1 inside the intake chamber 22. In other words, the intake chamber 22 receives the supply of cooling air that flows from the intake port 26 formed at one end in the stacking direction D1 toward the other end in the stacking direction D1.

[0018] When the blower 30 operates to cool the plurality of battery cells 12, as Figure 1 shown, the cooling air introduced from the intake port 26 flows along the stacking direction D1 inside the intake chamber 22 and then flows into each cooling air passage 14. Moreover, the cooling air after passing through each cooling air passage 14 flows out into the exhaust chamber 24 and flows along the stacking direction D1 inside the exhaust chamber 24 and is discharged to the outside from the exhaust port 28.

[0019] In addition, the number of battery stacks 10 included in the battery pack 1 is not particularly limited. As an example, two battery stacks 10 are arranged and disposed in the depth direction of the paper surface of Figure 1 . Moreover, the intake chamber 22 and the intake port 26 are formed for each battery stack 10 via a partition plate 32 (refer to Figure 3 described later) provided in the battery case 20.

[0020] The battery pack 1 further includes a plurality of rectifying plates 40. The detailed structure of the plurality of rectifying plates 40 will be described later with reference to Figure 1 and Figure 3 .

[0021] 2. Comparative Example

[0022] Figure 2 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a comparative example battery pack 100. The battery pack 100 is configured in the same manner as the battery pack 1 shown in Figure 1 , except that it does not include a plurality of rectifying plates 40. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the battery case 102 of the battery pack 100 cut at the same position as the A-A line shown in Figure 1 . This comparative example is referred to for explaining the problems of the battery pack 100 that does not have a plurality of rectifying plates 40.

[0023] A part of the cooling air supplied to the intake chamber 22 by the blower 30 flows along the stacking direction D1 and bounces off the downstream wall surface 102a. As a result, as Figure 2As shown, a vortex of the cooling air is generated on the downstream side of the intake chamber 22 (more specifically, near the wall surface 102a). Due to the generation of this vortex, a part of the cooling air stays in the intake chamber 22 for a longer time. As a result, the temperature of the cooling air rises. The rise in the temperature of the cooling air causes deterioration of the cooling of the plurality of battery cells 12.

[0024] 3. Rectifying plate

[0025] Figure 3 is Figure 1 a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of the battery pack 1 shown. As Figure 1 and Figure 3 shown, a plurality of rectifying plates 40 are provided inside the intake chamber 22. In Figure 3 the example shown, as an example, three rectifying plates 40 are provided inside each intake chamber 22.

[0026] Hereinafter, focusing on each intake chamber 22, the structure of the rectifying plate 40 will be described.

[0027] The three rectifying plates 40 are located on the downstream side of the cooling air inside the intake chamber 22. More specifically, the three rectifying plates 40 are arranged at the end on the downstream side, in other words, near the wall surface 20a of the battery case 20 on the opposite side of the blower 30 in the stacking direction D1. That is, when focusing on the stacking direction D1, the three rectifying plates 40 are provided at positions where vortices would be generated if these three rectifying plates 40 were not present (see Figure 2 ). If further elaborated, when focusing on the stacking direction D1 (i.e., the flow direction of the cooling air), the three rectifying plates 40 are not provided at positions upstream of the end on the downstream side of the cooling air, in other words, the three rectifying plates 40 are only provided at the end on the downstream side.

[0028] In addition, the three rectifying plates 40 are each formed to extend along the stacking direction D1. For example, the three rectifying plates 40 are formed to have the same shape and size. And, in Figure 3 the plan view of the battery stack 10 shown, the three rectifying plates 40 are arranged at intervals in the orthogonal direction D2 orthogonal to the stacking direction D1.

[0029] More specifically, in Figure 3 the example shown, the three rectifying plates 40 are arranged at intervals of "a constant interval" in the orthogonal direction D2. If elaborated, the constant interval mentioned here includes not only examples where the interval is completely constant but also examples where it is substantially constant.

[0030] In addition, the three rectifying plates 40 are formed to extend from the wall surface 20b of the battery case 20 (see Figure 1Three ribs protruding upward. The wall surface 20b is the wall surface of the battery case 20 forming the bottom surface of the intake chamber 22 and faces the battery stack 10. As a supplementary explanation, the three flow rectifying plates 40 as the three ribs are integrally formed with the battery case 20, but may also be formed of members separated from the battery case 20. In addition, the height of the three flow rectifying plates 40 is not particularly limited, but the three flow rectifying plates 40 are formed, for example, as Figure 1 shown to extend throughout the vertical direction of the intake chamber 22.

[0031] In addition, in Figure 3 the example shown, when looking down on the battery stack 10, the three flow rectifying plates 40 are each formed in a rhombus shape that is long in the stacking direction D1. However, the shape of each flow rectifying plate 40 when looking down on the battery stack 10 only needs to be a plate shape extending along the stacking direction D1, and is not necessarily limited to the above rhombus.

[0032] (Effect)

[0033] According to the battery pack 1 of the present embodiment described above, as shown by the arrow in Figure 3 , the cooling air reaching the positions of the plurality of flow rectifying plates 40 is rectified by passing through the gaps between the adjacent flow rectifying plates 40. Thereby, the generation of a large eddy current as shown in Figure 2 can be suppressed. As a result, since it is possible to suppress a part of the cooling air from staying in the downstream side in the intake chamber 22 for a long time, the temperature rise of the cooling air can be suppressed. This is related to the improvement of the cooling of the plurality of battery cells 12.

[0034] In addition, generally speaking, the intervals between the plurality of flow rectifying plates 40 in the orthogonal direction D2 do not necessarily have to be constant. In contrast, in Figure 3 the example shown, the plurality of flow rectifying plates 40 are arranged at constant intervals in the orthogonal direction D2. Thereby, compared with the case where the intervals are not constant and irregular, the rectifying effect can be further improved, and thus the generation of a large eddy current as shown in Figure 2 can be more effectively suppressed.

[0035] In addition, generally speaking, the plurality of flow rectifying plates 40 do not necessarily have to be formed as ribs extending from the wall surface 20b of the battery case 20. That is, for example, the plurality of flow rectifying plates 40 may also be supported by columns extending from the side surface of the battery case 20 such as the wall surface 20a. In contrast, in Figure 3 the example shown, the plurality of flow rectifying plates 40 are formed as ribs extending from the wall surface 20b of the battery case 20. Thereby, it is possible to facilitate the manufacture of the plurality of flow rectifying plates 40 and suppress the temperature rise of the cooling air.

Claims

1. A battery pack, characterized in that, The battery pack includes: a battery stack formed by stacking a plurality of battery cells, with a cooling air passage between adjacent battery cells; a battery case for housing the battery stack; a suction chamber located below the battery stack within the battery case and communicating with the cooling air passage, receiving the supply of cooling air flowing from a suction port formed at one end in the stacking direction of the plurality of battery cells toward the other end in the stacking direction; an exhaust chamber located above the battery stack within the battery case and communicating with the cooling air passage; and a plurality of rectifying plates disposed within the suction chamber, the plurality of rectifying plates being located on the downstream side of the cooling air flow and each formed to extend along the stacking direction, when looking down on the battery stack, the plurality of rectifying plates are arranged at intervals in a direction orthogonal to the stacking direction.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the intervals are constant.

3. The battery pack according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of rectifying plates are a plurality of ribs protruding upward from the wall surface of the battery case forming the bottom surface of the suction chamber.

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