Battery pack and manufacturing method therefor

Abstract

To improve a rigidity of a battery case while maintaining a battery capacity and a cooling function of a battery cell.SOLUTION: A battery pack (1) contains: a battery case (10); a plurality of battery cells (20); and a plurality of coolant jackets (30). A cell bonding body (20A) in which a plurality of battery cells (2) is bond in a line and a coolant jacket (30) are alternately arranged to a first direction (A-A) so as to be contacted in a surface each other. Each coolant jacket (30) is connected to a coolant channel pipe (40) provided to both sides of a second direction (B-B). At least one coolant jacket (30) is a reinforcement plate type coolant jacket (30R) constructed so that an upper part of both end parts of the second direction (B-B) is extended, is bonded to an upper part of end plates (13 and 14) of the battery case (10) while avoiding the coolant channel pipe (40), and enhances a rigidity of the battery case (10).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a battery pack for a BEV (battery electric vehicle) and a manufacturing method thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, battery packs for BEVs (battery electric vehicles) adopt a module-to-pack (MTP) system in which a battery module is formed by bundling and binding a number of cells, and a number of such modules are mounted in a battery case. Frames are installed in the width direction and the front-rear direction of the vehicle in the battery case, which fix the modules and contribute to ensuring the rigidity of the battery case itself (for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, in order to deal with heat generation during charging and discharging, many battery cells have a water jacket for cooling (and heating as necessary) laid out under the module mounting part, and temperature management is performed from the bottom of the battery cell.

[0003] There is a demand for an increase in the number of batteries that can be mounted by increasing the battery capacity and voltage, but the area available for mounting batteries on the vehicle body is limited, and the MTP method has a problem that the number of batteries that can be mounted is limited by the space used by the structure of each module. Therefore, the Cell To Pack (CTP) method, in which cells are directly mounted in a battery case, is being considered (for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3). As one of the CTP methods, there is a method in which only battery cells are densely mounted in a battery case without a frame. In that case, the amount of batteries that can be mounted can be increased, but the rigidity of the battery case cannot be ensured, and the deflection near the center of the bottom of the case becomes large. Therefore, it is possible to install a partition frame or a rib on the bottom surface, but if the number of frames is increased, the amount of batteries that can be mounted decreases, so a method of ensuring rigidity with as few frames as possible and as thin as possible is required. However, because cooling parts may be installed on the inner bottom surface of the battery case, or because bus bars may be present to electrically connect the cells when the terminals are installed facing downward, the bottom surface of the frame may not be fully bonded to the bottom surface. Furthermore, the end surface of the frame may not be fully bonded to the wall surface because it is used as a path for wiring and piping between the battery case and the side wall. On the other hand, as another CTP method, there is a method in which the battery cells and the cooling parts that contact their side surfaces are densely arranged alternately. In that case, a method of making the cooling parts function as a frame is considered, but similarly, it is assumed that the bottom and side surfaces cannot be fully bonded due to the presence of bus bars and the need to secure paths for wiring and piping. Therefore, it is required to optimize the frame structure so that it can achieve the maximum effect of improving rigidity with the minimum connection to the battery case. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-16467 A [Patent Document 2] Special table 2023-502274 publication [Patent Document 3] Special Publication No. 2023-509695 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and has an object to improve the rigidity of a battery case while maintaining the battery capacity and the cooling function of the battery cells. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The required number was calculated based on the trade-off between the effect of increasing the rigidity of the frame (thin plate) to be installed inside the battery case and the space loss. As the standard condition for calculating the optimal number, the frame is 8 mm thick, and is not joined to the side frame (outer frame) of the battery case, but is installed so that it forms a rib that is fully joined to the bottom plate. Using the state without a frame as the standard, the amount of displacement when the distributed load of the weight of the mounted battery is applied to the bottom of the case was obtained by simulation, and the point at which the reduction in the amount of displacement of the bottom surface saturates as the number of frames is increased was identified. As a result, it can be said that it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of displacement by making nine frames function. This tendency was also observed in a simulation in which only part of the bottom surface was joined, which is closer to reality; however, in that case, the amount of displacement would increase, so in this invention, the frame is shaped with protrusions on the top of both ends, and these are brought into contact with the top of the battery case side frame (outer frame) and glued there, which makes it possible to significantly reduce the amount of displacement.

[0007] The battery pack (1) of the present invention includes a substantially box-shaped battery case (10) extending in a first direction (AA) and a second direction (BB) that are perpendicular to each other and form a horizontal plane, a plurality of battery cells (20) arranged in the battery case (10), and a plurality of refrigerant jackets (30) having refrigerant passages (34) therein and cooling the plurality of battery cells (20), wherein the plurality of battery cells (2) form a cell assembly (20A) in which a plurality of battery cells (2) are arranged in a row in the second direction (BB) and joined together, and the cell assembly (20) and the refrigerant jacket (30) are arranged in a row in the second direction (BB) and joined together. the refrigerant jackets (30) are alternately arranged in a first direction (AA) so as to be in face-to-face contact with each other, and each of the refrigerant jackets (30) is connected to refrigerant flow piping (40) provided on both sides in the second direction (BB), and at least a portion of the refrigerant jackets (30) have upper portions of both ends in the second direction (BB) extended in the second direction (BB) and are joined to upper portions of end plates (13, 14) constituting both ends of the battery case (10) in the second direction (BB) while avoiding the refrigerant flow piping (40), thereby forming a reinforced-plate-type refrigerant jacket (30R) configured to increase the rigidity of the battery case (10).

[0008] With this configuration, it is possible to improve the rigidity of the battery case and reduce deflection of the battery pack while maintaining the number of mounted battery cells, the battery capacity, and the cooling function of the battery cells.

[0009] The arrangement of the reinforced plate-type refrigerant jackets (30R) is determined by the relationship between the case and the number of the refrigerant jackets. Depending on the cell size to be installed, one reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket (30R) may be provided for every three refrigerant jackets (30) arranged in the first direction (AA), one reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket (30R) may be provided for every four refrigerant jackets (30) arranged in the first direction (AA), or one reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket (30R) may be provided for every five refrigerant jackets (30) arranged in the first direction (AA).

[0010] These configurations make it possible to improve the rigidity of the battery case while maintaining the battery capacity and the cooling function of the battery cells.

[0011] The reinforcing plate-type refrigerant jacket (30R) may be provided at intervals of 200 mm±20 mm in the first direction (AA) of the battery case.

[0012] With this configuration, in the case of actual battery case dimensions of approximately 1500 mm to 2000 mm, it is possible to improve the rigidity of the battery case while maintaining the battery capacity and the cooling function of the battery cells.

[0013] It is also preferable that the upper portions (30c) of both ends of the reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket (30R) in the second direction (BB) are fitted into notches (13a, 14a) provided in end plates (13, 14) that constitute both ends of the battery case (10) in the second direction (BB).

[0014] With this configuration, the position of the reinforcing plate type coolant jacket is fixed, so in addition to the above effects, the position of each battery cell can be regulated.

[0015] The refrigerant flow pipe (40) has an inlet side socket (41) connected to one end (30a) of the refrigerant jacket (30) in the second direction (BB) and an outlet side socket (42) connected to the other end (30b) of the refrigerant jacket (30) in the second direction (BB). The inlet side socket (41) has a one-face side inlet pipe (41a) protruding in the first direction (AA) from one face side and a other-face side inlet pipe (41b) protruding in the first direction (AA) from the other face side. The outlet side socket (42) has a one-face side outlet pipe (42a) protruding in the first direction (AA) from one face side and a other-face side outlet pipe (42b) protruding in the first direction (AA) from the other face side. and an other-side outlet piping (42b) protruding from the first side in the first direction (AA), and when two of the refrigerant jackets (30) are adjacent to each other with the cell assembly (20A) in between, the one-side inlet piping (41a) of the inlet side socket (41) connected to one of the refrigerant jackets (30) and the one-side outlet piping (42a) of the outlet side socket (42) are connected to the other-side inlet piping (41b) of the inlet side socket (41) and the other-side outlet piping (42b) of the outlet side socket (42) connected to the other refrigerant jacket (30), respectively.

[0016] With this configuration, with the inlet side socket and the outlet side socket already joined to each refrigerant jacket, by bringing the cell assemblies close to each other, the sockets automatically connect to each other to form the refrigerant flow path, improving assembly workability.

[0017] The manufacturing method of the battery pack of the present invention includes the steps of: forming a substantially box-shaped battery case (10) that extends in a first direction (AA) and a second direction (bB) that are perpendicular to each other and that form a horizontal plane; A method for manufacturing a battery pack (1) including a plurality of battery cells (20) arranged in the battery case (10) and a plurality of refrigerant jackets (30) having refrigerant passages (34) therein and cooling the plurality of battery cells (20), the method including the steps of: arranging and joining the plurality of battery cells (20) in a row in the second direction (BB) in groups of a plurality of cells (20) to form a plurality of cell assemblies (20A); arranging the cell assemblies (20A) and the refrigerant jackets (30) alternately in the first direction (AA) within the battery case (10) so as to be in surface contact with each other; and joining upper portions of both end portions in the second direction (BB) of at least some of the refrigerant jackets (30) to upper portions of end plates (13, 14) constituting both end portions of the battery case (10) in the second direction (BB) to increase rigidity of the battery case (10).

[0018] According to this configuration, the rigidity of the battery case can be improved while maintaining the battery capacity and the cooling function of the battery cells. The reference numerals in parentheses above are shown as an example of the present invention, and are the reference numerals of corresponding components in the embodiment described below. Effect of the Invention

[0019] The frame structure of the present invention makes it possible to increase the amount of battery that can be mounted while suppressing a decrease in the rigidity of the battery case, thereby making it possible to accommodate improved range and higher voltage electric vehicles. In addition, in this invention, by integrating the coolant jacket that cools the side of the battery with the frame, it is possible to significantly reduce heat generation during charging without reducing the amount of battery mounted, making it possible to realize rapid charging. If slits are formed in the side frames (outer frames) of the case and a structure is adopted in which protrusions are fitted, it is possible to make the frame function not only to further improve rigidity but also to regulate the position of the battery. Furthermore, this method of using a small number of frames and joining only the upper parts means that there are fewer attachment points, making it relatively easy to dismantle and suitable for resource recycling. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a battery pack according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion A of the battery pack in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 2 from the direction of arrow B with the battery case and some sockets removed. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic diagram of a cell assembly. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic diagram of a refrigerant jacket, where (a) is a normal refrigerant jacket and (b) is a reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket. [Figure 6] 1A and 1B are schematic cross-sectional views taken along the line CC showing the relationship between the deflection of the battery pack and the twisting of the left and right end plates, in which (a) shows the case where only a normal refrigerant jacket is provided, and (b) shows the case where a reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket is provided. [Figure 7] 13 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of reinforcing plate-type refrigerant jackets and the amount of deflection of the battery pack. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a manufacturing method of the battery pack in FIG. 1, in which (a) shows a cell assembly, (b) shows the state in which a socket is connected to the refrigerant jacket, and (c) shows the cell assembly and the adhesive body of the refrigerant jacket before expansion. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a manufacturing method of the battery pack in FIG. 1, showing a state in which a cell stack formed by arranging cell assemblies and adhesive bodies of refrigerant jackets is inserted into a battery case, and a bus bar module is welded to the cell stack to form a cell body. [Figure 10] 2 is a perspective view showing a method for manufacturing the battery pack of FIG. 1, illustrating a formed cell body in a battery case. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a partially enlarged perspective view of a battery case of a battery pack according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] 12 is a partially enlarged perspective view of a battery pack in which a battery cell and a refrigerant jacket are mounted in the battery case of FIG. 11. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [First embodiment] In this embodiment, the upper portions of both ends of the reinforced plate type refrigerant jacket are joined to the upper portions of the side end plates of the battery case. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, which is an enlarged view of part C of the reinforced plate type refrigerant jacket, the battery pack 1 of this embodiment includes a battery case 10, a plurality of battery cells 20, a plurality of refrigerant jackets 30, and a refrigerant flow pipe 40.

[0022] The battery case 10 is a thin box-shaped case that extends in a first direction (front-rear direction AA) and a second direction (left-right direction BB) that are mutually perpendicular to each other and form a horizontal plane, and is composed of a front end plate 11 and a rear end plate 12 provided at both ends in the first direction, a left end plate 13 and a right end plate 14 made of an extruded material provided at both ends in the second direction, a bottom plate 15, and a top plate (not shown). A partition plate 16 is provided inside near the front end plate 11, and a battery cell storage section 17 is formed behind it. In addition, a cushioning member 18 that is approximately trapezoidal in plan view is provided in front of the front end plate 11, so that it can absorb external impacts when the battery pack 1 is installed at the bottom of the vehicle body.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the battery cell 20 is a rectangular lithium ion battery with two terminals 21 protruding from the upper side. Six battery cells 20 are arranged in a row in the second direction (left-right direction) and joined to form a cell assembly 20A. However, in the present invention, the shape of the battery cell 20 is not limited to a rectangular shape and may be, for example, a cylindrical shape. However, a rectangular shape has the advantage that resin is not required to fill the gaps between the battery cells 20, and the environmental load during recycling is small. Furthermore, the type of battery is not limited to a lithium ion battery and may be an all-solid-state lithium ion battery, a sodium ion battery, or the like.

[0024] The refrigerant jacket 30 is a component that is arranged in surface contact with the cell assembly 20A alternately in a first direction (front-rear direction) inside the battery case 10 and cools each battery cell 20. As shown in Fig. 3, each refrigerant jacket 30 is made of a rectangular aluminum extrusion member of a predetermined thickness having approximately the same length and height as the cell assembly 20A, and has a refrigerant inlet 33 provided on the left end surface 30a, a refrigerant passage 34 provided inside, and a refrigerant outlet 35 provided on the right end surface 30b. However, the refrigerant jacket 30 is not limited to an extrusion member, and may be, for example, a plate having a groove on its surface to which another plate is surface-bonded, with the groove serving as the refrigerant flow path.

[0025] 3 and 8, the refrigerant flow pipe 40 has an inlet side socket 41 connected to one end (left end) of the refrigerant jacket 30 in the second direction (left-right direction), and an outlet side socket 42 connected to the other end (left end) of the refrigerant jacket 30. The inlet side socket 41 has a one-side inlet pipe 41a protruding in a first direction from one side (front side), and an other-side inlet pipe 41b protruding in the first direction from the other side (rear side). On the other hand, the outlet side socket 42 has a one-side outlet pipe 42a protruding in the first direction from the one side (front side), and an other-side outlet pipe 42b protruding in the first direction from the other side (rear side).

[0026] When two refrigerant jackets 30 are adjacent to each other with the cell assembly 20A interposed therebetween, the one-side inlet pipe 41a of the inlet socket 41 and the one-side outlet pipe 42a of the outlet socket 42 connected to one of the refrigerant jackets 30 are connected, for example, by fitting to the other-side inlet pipe 41b of the inlet socket 41 and the other-side outlet pipe 42b of the outlet socket 42 connected to the other refrigerant jacket 30, respectively. FIG. 3 shows such a connection structure on the outlet side. In this manner, the inlet sockets 41 of all the refrigerant jackets 30 arranged in the battery case 10 are connected to each other, and the outlet sockets 42 are connected to each other. Note that the one-side inlet pipe 41a of the frontmost stage and the one-side outlet pipe 42a of the frontmost stage are not provided, and the one-side side is sealed. On the other hand, a refrigerant supply pipe (not shown) is connected to the other-side inlet pipe 41b of the last stage, and a refrigerant return pipe (not shown) is connected to the one-side outlet pipe 42a of the last stage. When a refrigerant (water) is supplied to a group of refrigerant jackets 30 connected in this manner through a refrigerant supply pipe (not shown), the water branches and flows in parallel through the refrigerant passages 34 of each refrigerant jacket 30 to cool the battery cells 20, and then merges and flows into the refrigerant return pipe (not shown).

[0027] Here, at least a part of the refrigerant jacket 30 has upper parts 30c at both ends in the second direction (left-right direction) extended in the second direction, and is joined to the upper parts of the left end plate 13 and the right end plate 14 constituting both ends in the second direction (left-right direction) of the battery case 10 while avoiding the sockets (41, 42) of the refrigerant flow pipe 40, forming a reinforced plate type refrigerant jacket 30R configured to increase the rigidity of the battery case 10. Since the battery pack 1 of this embodiment is thin and has many battery cells 20 mounted thereon, when it is placed horizontally with both left and right ends supported by the bottom of the automobile or the like, it is likely to bend so that the center part lowers due to its own weight. In that case, as shown in FIG. 6(a), it is considered that the left end plate 13 and the right end plate 14 of the battery case 10, each made of an extruded material, are twisted so that their upper parts approach each other (two-dot chain line in FIG. 6(a)). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6(b), by joining the upper portions 30c of both ends of the reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket 30R to the upper portions of the left end plate 13 and the right end plate 14, respectively, the rigidity of the reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket 30R prevents the upper portions of the left end plate 13 and the right end plate 14 from approaching each other, thereby reducing the deflection amount δ of the battery pack 1 (dotted line in FIG. 6(b)).

[0028] However, if all the refrigerant jackets 30 are reinforced plate type refrigerant jackets 30R, the number of joining steps between the upper parts of both ends of the reinforced plate type refrigerant jacket 30R and the upper parts of the left end plate 13 and the right end plate 14 during the manufacturing of the battery pack 1 will increase, and the number of disassembly steps during recycling will also increase. For this reason, in this embodiment, the number of reinforced plate type refrigerant jackets 30R is sufficient to reduce the deflection amount δ of the battery pack 1 to a predetermined value. Figure 7 shows the simulation result of the relationship between the number of side FRMs (8 mm aluminum plates) approximating the reinforced plate type refrigerant jacket 30R and the deflection amount δ of the battery pack in a cell-to-pack battery pack with a first direction of 1800 mm x a second direction of 1200 m and a load of 5500 N (561 kgf). According to this, if nine reinforced plate type refrigerant jackets 30R corresponding to the side FRMs connected at the top are provided in the first direction, the deflection amount δ will be the target 1 mm or less. In other words, if the reinforcing plate type refrigerant jacket 30R is provided at intervals of 200 mm in the first direction, the amount of deflection δ can be reduced to 1 mm or less.

[0029] 9, the two terminals 21 provided on the upper surface of each battery cell 20 are connected by welding to a bus bar module 60, which is a copper plate with a wiring circuit punched out, and are connected in parallel and series within the wiring circuit, and are finally integrated into a positive terminal 61 and a negative terminal 62. By applying a voltage between the positive terminal 61 and the negative terminal 62 from the outside, it is possible to charge each battery cell 20, and the power charged in each battery cell 20 can be supplied from the positive terminal 61 and the negative terminal 62 to an automobile drive motor, etc.

[0030] Next, a method for manufacturing the battery pack 1 of this embodiment configured as described above will be described. 8, a plurality of battery cells 20 (six in this embodiment) are arranged in a row in the second direction (left-right direction) and joined to form a cell assembly 20A. Meanwhile, sockets 41, 42 are connected to both ends 30a, 30b of the refrigerant jackets 30 and 30R.

[0031] Next, the cell assemblies 20A and the refrigerant jackets 30 are alternately arranged in a first direction (front-rear direction AA) so as to be in surface contact with each other, and are bonded to each other. At this time, one of several (four in this embodiment) refrigerant jackets 30 is made into a reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket 30R in which the upper portions 30c at both ends are extended in the second direction.

[0032] At this time, of the two refrigerant jackets 30 that sandwich the cell assembly 20A, one side inlet piping 41a of the inlet side socket 41 and one side outlet piping 42a of the outlet side socket 42 connected to one of the refrigerant jackets 30 are fitted and connected to the other side inlet piping 41b of the inlet side socket 41 and the other side outlet piping 42b of the outlet side socket 42 that are connected to the other refrigerant jacket 30, respectively.

[0033] Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the cell stack 50 thus formed is inserted into the battery case 10, and then a bus bar module 60 incorporating a wiring circuit is placed on the surface on which the terminals 21 of each battery cell 20 are arranged (the upper surface in FIG. 9) and welded to each terminal 21 to form a cell body 70.

[0034] The cell body 70 with the battery case 10 thus formed is shown in Figure 10. Furthermore, a refrigerant supply pipe (not shown) and a refrigerant return pipe (not shown) are connected, and urethane foam is filled into the gap around the cell body 70 as necessary, and an upper plate (not shown) is adhered, thereby completing the battery pack 1.

[0035] According to this embodiment, the upper portions 40c of both ends of the reinforced refrigerant jacket 30R are joined to the upper portions of the left end plate 13 and the right end plate 14 of the battery case 10 while avoiding the sockets (41, 42) of the refrigerant flow pipe 40, thereby increasing the rigidity of the battery case 10 and utilizing the above-mentioned socket connection mechanism of the refrigerant flow pipe 40.

[0036] [Second embodiment] In this embodiment, the upper portions 30c of both ends in the second direction of the reinforced plate type refrigerant jacket 30R are fitted into the notches 13a, 14a provided in the end plates (13, 14) constituting both ends in the second direction (left-right direction BB) of the battery case 10. The same or substantially the same components as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference symbols, and duplicated explanations are omitted. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the left end plate 13 of the battery case 10 in the battery pack 101 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, three notches 13a are provided at the inner corners of the left end plate 13. Although not all are shown, a total of nine notches 13a are provided in the left end plate 13, and a total of nine notches 14a are also provided in the right end plate 14. Fig. 12 is a partially enlarged perspective view of a battery pack 101 in which the battery cells 20 and the refrigerant jackets 30, 30R are mounted in the battery case 10, and is a perspective view showing a state in which the upper portion 30c of the left end portion of the reinforced-plate-type refrigerant jacket 30R is fitted into each notch 13a (see Fig. 11). Although not all are shown, the upper portion 30c of the left or right end portion of the reinforced-plate-type refrigerant jacket 30R is also fitted into the other notch 13a of the left end plate 13 and the notch 14a of the right end plate 14. The rest of the configuration is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0037] This configuration increases the joint surface area between each of the notches 13a, 14a and the upper portions 30c at both ends of the reinforced-plate type refrigerant jacket 30R, thereby increasing the joint strength and further improving the rigidity of the battery case 10. Furthermore, the position of the reinforced-plate type refrigerant jacket 30R in the first direction (front-rear direction AA) is partially determined by the positions of the notches 13a, 14a, improving the positional accuracy of each battery cell 20 and improving the positional accuracy of the terminals 21 of the battery cell 20. This makes it possible to relax the required positioning accuracy of the busbar module 60 relative to the cell stack 50 including each battery cell 20 in the subsequent busbar module joining process, thereby enabling miniaturization of components and reduction in processing costs.

[0038] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims and the technical ideas described in the specification and drawings. For example, in each of the above embodiments, the refrigerant flow pipe 40 is a pipe in which the inlet side socket 41 and the outlet side socket 42 of a predetermined structure are connected, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any pipe that can be connected to the left and right ends 30a, 30b of the refrigerant jacket 30, 30R may be used.

[0039] In addition, in each of the above embodiments, one reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket 30R is provided for every four of the refrigerant jackets 30 arranged in the first direction, but it may be one for every three, one for every five, or any other number. You may do so. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1,101 Battery packs 10 Battery case 11 Front end plate 12 Rear end plate 13 Left end plate 13a, notch 14 Right end plate 14a Notch 15 Bottom plate 16 Partition 17 Battery cell housing 18 Cushioning materials 20 Battery Cells 20A Cell Joint 21 Terminal 30 Refrigerant jacket 30a Left end surface 30b Right end surface 30c Top of end 30R Reinforced plate type refrigerant jacket 33 Refrigerant inlet 34 Refrigerant passage 35 Refrigerant outlet 40 Refrigerant distribution piping 41 Inlet socket 41a One side inlet piping 41b Other side inlet piping 42 Outlet socket 42a One side outlet piping 42b Other side outlet piping 50 Cell Stack 60 Busbar Module 61 Positive terminal 62 Negative terminal 70 Cell Body δ Deflection amount

Claims

1. a substantially box-shaped battery case extending in a first direction and a second direction that are perpendicular to each other and form a horizontal plane; A plurality of battery cells arranged in the battery case; a plurality of refrigerant jackets having refrigerant passages therein and cooling the plurality of battery cells, The plurality of battery cells are arranged in a row in the second direction and joined together to form a cell assembly, The cell assemblies and the refrigerant jackets are alternately arranged in the first direction so as to be in surface contact with each other, Each of the refrigerant jackets is connected to a refrigerant flow pipe provided on both sides in the second direction, at least a portion of the refrigerant jacket is a reinforced plate type refrigerant jacket, the upper portions of both ends in the second direction being extended in the second direction and joined to the upper portions of end plates that constitute both ends of the battery case in the second direction while avoiding the refrigerant distribution piping, thereby increasing the rigidity of the battery case.

2. 2 . The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforced plate type coolant jacket is provided for every three of the coolant jackets arranged in the first direction.

3. 2 . The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforced plate type coolant jacket is provided for every four of the coolant jackets arranged in the first direction.

4. 2 . The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforced plate type coolant jacket is provided for every five of the coolant jackets arranged in the first direction.

5. 2 . The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforcing plate-type refrigerant jacket is provided at intervals of 200 mm±20 mm in the first direction of the battery case.

6. 2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein upper portions of both ends of the reinforced plate-type refrigerant jacket in the second direction are fitted into notches provided in end plates that constitute both ends of the battery case in the second direction.

7. The refrigerant flow pipe is an inlet side socket connected to one end of the refrigerant jacket in the second direction; an outlet side socket connected to the other end of the refrigerant jacket in the second direction, the inlet socket has a one-surface inlet pipe protruding in the first direction from one surface side, and an other-surface inlet pipe protruding in the first direction from the other surface side, the outlet socket has a one-surface outlet pipe protruding in the first direction from one surface side, and an other-surface outlet pipe protruding in the first direction from the other surface side, 2. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein when the two refrigerant jackets are adjacent to each other with the cell assembly sandwiched therebetween, the one-side inlet piping of the inlet side socket connected to one of the refrigerant jackets and the one-side outlet piping of the outlet side socket are connected to the other-side inlet piping of the inlet side socket connected to the other of the refrigerant jackets and the other-side outlet piping of the outlet side socket are connected to each other, respectively.

8. a substantially box-shaped battery case extending in a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to each other and constituting a horizontal plane; A plurality of battery cells arranged in the battery case; a plurality of refrigerant jackets having refrigerant passages therein and cooling the plurality of battery cells, the method comprising: A step of arranging and joining the plurality of battery cells in a line in the second direction to form a plurality of cell assemblies; arranging the cell assemblies and the refrigerant jackets alternately in the first direction within the battery case so as to be in surface contact with each other; and a step of joining upper portions of both end portions in the second direction of at least a portion of the refrigerant jacket to upper portions of end plates that constitute both end portions of the battery case in the second direction to increase the rigidity of the battery case.

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