Dryer, compensation container, and battery cooling system

Abstract

To provide a dryer of a compensation container of a battery cooling system for an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, which is inexpensive and enables optimization of a structure space.SOLUTION: The invention relates to a dryer 8 of a compensation container 1 for a battery cooling system. The dryer 8 has a bag-like housing 15 having air permeability. A dry medium is disposed in the housing 15. Alternatively, the dryer 8 has a dry body formed by a dry medium which is sintered, extrusion-molded, or injection-molded and having shape stability.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a drying device for a compensation container for a battery cooling system. The present invention further relates to a compensation container provided with such a drying device and a battery cooling system provided with such a compensation container.

[0002] Electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles are attracting more and more attention from consumers based on environmental considerations and are becoming increasingly popular on the road. In this case, in order to improve both the driving range and performance of such electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles, it is targeted to keep the traction battery of such electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles within an optimal temperature window with respect to this traction battery. For this purpose, in a well-known form, a temperature control device, particularly a cooling device, is used.

[0003] In this case, such a battery cooling system, especially for cooling a traction battery, also includes a compensation container in which air is held internally as a compensation cushion for the volume change of the cooling medium due to temperature. If the cooling medium expands due to a temperature increase, this would result in a high pressure load in the compensation container if the resulting overpressure cannot be released, and in some cases, the compensation container may be damaged, so this must be avoided. For this reason, such a compensation container usually has a connection to the surroundings, so that the pressure difference due to temperature can optionally be reduced via the blowing out of air to the surroundings. In this case, in order to prevent or at least reduce the undesirable emission of hydrocarbon compounds to the surroundings, conventionally, an activated carbon filter arranged separately from the compensation container through which the air to be blown out to the surroundings flows was provided. When the cooling medium is cooled and contracts, this results in a negative pressure in the compensation container, which leads to the suction of fresh air from the surroundings. Conventionally, in order to prevent or at least reduce the introduction of undesirable moisture into the cooling medium at this time, a so-called desiccant cartridge was provided, and in this desiccant cartridge, a drying medium that absorbs moisture and dries the sucked fresh air while the fresh air sucked from the surroundings during the suction process flows through it was arranged.

[0004] However, a disadvantage of such a drying device lies in its relatively expensive manufacture.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention addresses the problem of providing an improved or at least one alternative embodiment of a drying device that can overcome the drawbacks known from the prior art.

[0006] This problem is solved by the subject matter of independent claim 1 according to the present invention. Advantageous embodiments are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

[0007] The present invention is based on the general idea of configuring, for the first time, the entire drying device for the compensation container of a battery cooling system differently, thereby enabling it to be manufactured and installed extremely inexpensively. In this case, the drying device according to the present invention has a breathable bag-shaped housing with a drying medium, for example, loose bulk, arranged inside, or has a shape-stable drying body made of sintered, extruded, or injection-molded drying medium. In this case, both the drying device provided with the bag-shaped housing and having a drying medium arranged inside and the shape-stable drying body are extremely inexpensive embodiments, and this embodiment can further be inserted and thus attached in a form-fitting manner into a receiving portion attached to the container housing of the compensation container. Of course, such a shape-stable drying body may be arranged inside the bag-shaped housing. This enables the replacement of the drying device to be relatively easily possible by removing it from the container housing and inserting a new drying device into the attached receiving portion.

[0008] In one advantageous improvement corresponding to the first option of the drying device according to the present invention, the bag-shaped housing is formed from a polyester woven fabric. Since polyester is lightweight and does not absorb moisture, the hygroscopicity is caused solely by the drying medium. By forming the bag-shaped housing from a polyester woven fabric, the advantages of high strength, good processability and weldability, and high breathability are brought about.

[0009] Preferably, the drying medium is arranged inside the bag-shaped housing as a fluid loose bulk. Thereby, the drying device optimally conforms to the inner contour of the first receiving portion in the container housing of the compensation container and can be received in a form-fitting manner and position-fixed in the first receiving portion. Also, such an embodiment can avoid manufacturing errors that may cause an undesirable bypass flow in the case of a rigid housing.

[0010] In another advantageous embodiment, the drying medium contains silica gel or zeolite. Silica gel is a colorless silicon dioxide in the form of a gel, rubbery to solid hardness, with a large internal surface area (about 600 m 2 / g) and has strong hygroscopicity. Zeolite can absorb moisture up to half of its own weight, generating heat in the process, which can also promote drying. The use of zeolite results in a strong dehumidifying effect and a low moisture content, while silica gel has high water absorption and is more inexpensive.

[0011] Preferably, the sintered, extruded, or injection-molded shape-stable drying body has a particularly rod-shaped shape that is complementary to the inner contour of the first receiving part in the compensation container. Thereby, a form-fitting insertion of the drying device into the attached first receiving part of the container housing can be achieved, and the shape-stable extruded, sintered, or compressed drying medium does not require an additional housing, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

[0012] The present invention further forms a compensation container that compensates for the air volume based on the volume change caused by the temperature of a cooling medium, especially oil, with a two-shell type container housing having a first accommodation part. Based on the general idea that the drying device according to the present invention can be arranged in a form-fitting manner within the first accommodation part. In this case, the compensation container according to the present invention for a battery cooling system, especially for air, has a container housing made of plastic, which includes the above-mentioned first shell and a second shell tightly coupled to the first shell. In this case, within the first shell and / or the second shell, a first accommodation part is formed in which the drying device according to the present invention described in the preceding paragraph, equipped with a drying medium such as zeolite or silica gel, is accommodated in a form-fitting manner. On the other hand, an activated carbon cartridge may be arranged in a second accommodation part that may also be arranged within the first shell and / or the second shell. In this case, such an activated carbon cartridge can adsorb harmful substances such as hydrocarbons, for example. Furthermore, a first valve is provided that can blow air from the compensation container to the surroundings when the inside of the compensation container is under overpressure, and a second valve is provided that can suck fresh air from the surroundings into the compensation container when the inside of the compensation container is under negative pressure. In this case, the concept of "fresh air" can / means ambient air. By forming the container housing of the compensation container with a two-shell type, in which a drying device and an activated carbon cartridge are arranged inside, an overall extremely inexpensive container housing of the compensation container can be achieved. In this case, at the same time, advantages in terms of assembly can be obtained. This is because it is only necessary to insert the drying device formed as an insertion member into the first accommodation part of the first and / or second shell in a form-fitting manner, and optionally, insert the activated carbon cartridge formed as an insertion member into the second accommodation part of the first and / or second shell in a form-fitting manner, and then simply tightly couple both shells of the container housing to each other. Thereby, an arrangement protected over the service life of the drying device or the activated carbon cartridge within the container housing can also be achieved. As a result, the manufacture of the container housing required conventionally, as well as the subsequent installation of the desiccant cartridge or the activated carbon cartridge, can be completely omitted.In this case, the production of the compensation container according to the invention can even be carried out particularly in an automated manner. This is because, based on the inner contour of the first receiving part, which is formed substantially complementary to the outer contour of the drying device, and the inner contour of the second receiving part, which is formed substantially complementary to the outer contour of the activated carbon cartridge, the form-fitting insertion of the drying device into the first receiving part and the form-fitting insertion of the activated carbon cartridge into the second receiving part can be carried out for this purpose without the need for an operator. By arranging both the first valve and the second valve in the container housing, both of these valves can also be replaced together, if necessary, during the replacement of the drying device / activated carbon cartridge and / or during the replacement of the container housing, if necessary, thereby reliably avoiding, for example, the blockage of the valves resulting from extremely long use.

[0013] In one advantageous refinement of the compensation container according to the invention, the first valve is arranged in an intermediate wall separating the second receiving part from the inner chamber of the container housing. In this case, air is usually arranged in the inner chamber of the container housing, and pressure or negative pressure is applied to the air depending on the temperature of the cooling medium, due to the expansion or contraction of the cooling medium. By arranging the first valve in the intermediate wall separating the second receiving part from the inner chamber of the container housing, a direct corresponding arrangement of the first valve with respect to the second receiving part can be achieved. Naturally, on the downstream side of the second receiving part, an opening to the outside is provided in the wall of the container housing for exchange with the surroundings.

[0014] In this case, a second valve is arranged on the outer wall of the container housing, and in this case, the outer wall where the second valve is arranged separates the first accommodating part from the surroundings. Therefore, when a negative pressure dominates inside the container housing or the compensation container, the suction of fresh air from the surroundings is performed through the second valve and the first accommodating part where the drying device is arranged. That is, the fresh air sucked in from the surroundings is sucked in and dried by the drying medium of the drying device, and thereby, in particular, it is possible to prevent moisture and / or water from being introduced into the compensation container. Extremely high moisture content may make the cooling medium conductive, which, in an undesirable situation, especially in the case of immersion cooling, may lead to a short circuit.

[0015] In this case, the above-mentioned second valve may be formed as a double valve that also enables air to be blown out from the container housing to the surroundings.

[0016] In one particularly preferred embodiment, a spring is arranged on the activated carbon cartridge, and this spring applies a preload to the activated carbon cartridge with respect to the container housing. Through such a spring, a securely positioned arrangement of the activated carbon cartridge in the second accommodating part can be achieved. In this case, the spring preload simultaneously prevents the activated carbon cartridge from generating rattling noise that may be felt uncomfortably during operation, for example. Such a spring may be formed, for example, as an inexpensive coil spring. As long as the lid is movable in a piston-like manner within the pot of the activated carbon cartridge, a preload can also be applied through the spring to the activated carbon formed, for example, as a bulk load within the activated carbon cartridge, but also to the activated carbon arranged, for example, especially in a bag made of polyester, whereby the activated carbon wears less during operation.

[0017] In one particularly preferred embodiment of the compensation container according to the invention, the first shell and / or the second shell is / are formed as a plastic injection molded part. In this case, forming the first and / or the second shell as a plastic injection molded part brings the great advantage that not only can the container housing and thus the compensation container be manufactured with high quality, but at the same time it can be manufactured inexpensively.

[0018] Preferably, the first shell and the second shell are welded to each other. If both shells are formed as plastic injection molded parts, welding these shells to each other can be considered in order to tightly bond both shells. Alternatively, of course, it is also conceivable to bond both shells to each other. Also alternatively, purely theoretically, it is also conceivable that both shells are joined to each other via a clip connection or a screw connection, which brings the great advantage that the container housing can be opened to replace the drying device or the activated carbon cartridge and can continue to be used after replacing the drying device or the activated carbon cartridge. In this case, a seal must be inserted between both shells.

[0019] In another advantageous embodiment of the compensation container according to the invention, the first shell and / or the second shell is formed from polyoxymethylene (POM). POM is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic resin with high mechanical strength and rigidity, as well as high wear resistance and low hygroscopicity, which is extremely advantageous especially when used for the compensation container according to the invention. This is because in this case, water storage or hygroscopicity increases the conductivity of the dielectric cooling medium. Alternatively, polyketone may be used as the plastic for the first and / or second shell. Polyketone (PK) is a thermoplastic high-performance polymer with high impact resistance, low wear, good solvent resistance and low water absorption. Polyketone has high environmental compatibility. In this case, in order to further enhance the mechanical strength and wear resistance, the plastic may contain glass fibers, especially 25% glass fibers, and may be formed especially as POM GF-25.

[0020] The invention further relates to the general idea of equipping a battery cooling system with the compensation container described in the preceding paragraphs, thereby transferring the advantages described for this compensation container to the battery cooling system. Specifically, the advantage of the battery cooling system equipped with the compensation container according to the invention lies in inexpensive production, in which case, for the required replacement of the drying device and / or the activated carbon cartridge, only the compensation container needs to be replaced, or if the container housing of the compensation container is openable, only the drying device and / or the activated carbon cartridge needs to be replaced.

[0021] Other important features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the dependent claims, the drawings, and the description of the drawings based on the accompanying drawings.

[0022] It is self-evident that the above-described features and the features described hereinafter can be used not only in the described combinations but also in other combinations or alone without departing from the framework of the present invention. For example, the above-described constituent members and the constituent members described hereinafter, which are separately described for a higher-level aggregation such as a device, equipment, or unit, may form separate constituent members or components of this aggregation even if they are shown differently in the drawings, or may be an integrated area or section of this aggregation.

[0023] Preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated and will be described in more detail in the following description. In this case, the same reference signs are related to the same, or similar, or functionally identical components.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

[0025] Corresponding to FIGS. 1 and 2, a compensation container 1 according to the present invention for air 2 of a battery cooling system 3 according to the present invention has a container housing 4 made of plastic including a first shell 5 and a second shell 6 coupled to the first shell 5. In this case, a first accommodating portion 7 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) is provided or formed in the first shell 5 and / or the second shell 6, and a drying device 8 is disposed in the first accommodating portion 7 in a form-fit manner.

[0026] In this case, the drying device corresponding to FIG. 3 has a breathable bag-shaped housing 15, and a drying medium is arranged inside the housing 15. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, the drying device 8 may have a shape-stable drying body 17 made of a sintered, extruded, or injection-molded drying medium.

[0027] Looking at FIG. 3, in the case of the drying device 8 recognized therein, the bag-shaped housing 15 is formed of a polyester woven fabric. Of course, in this case, other materials resistant to the cooling medium in the battery cooling system 3 are also conceivable. The drying medium may be arranged in the bag-shaped housing 15 as a bulk load, for example, in the form of granular silica gel or zeolite. Thereby, the outer contour of the drying device 8 can be optimally adapted to the inner contour of the first receiving part 7, which enables a reliable form-fitting accommodation. The form-fitting accommodation can also avoid an undesired bypass flow of the sucked-in fresh air 2a in particular.

[0028] The drying medium used for the shape-stable drying device 8 corresponding to FIG. 4 may also contain silica gel or zeolite. Corresponding to FIG. 4, the shape-stable drying body 17 made of a compressed, sintered, extruded, or injection-molded drying medium has a rod-shaped shape.

[0029] In this case, the drying device 8 or the drying body 17 may also have a shape that is complementary to the inner contour of the first receiving part 7 in the container housing 4 of the compensation container 1, whereby a form-fitting insertion of the drying device 8 into the associated first receiving part 7 of the container housing 4 can be achieved, and the extruded, sintered, or injection-molded drying medium does not require an additional housing, whereby the manufacturing costs can be reduced.

[0030] Furthermore, the compensation container 1 according to the present invention has a first valve 9, and when the inside of the compensation container 1 is under excessive pressure, air 2 can be blown out from the compensation container 1 to the surroundings through the first valve 9. When the inside of the compensation container 1 is under negative pressure, fresh air 2a flows into the compensation container 1 from the surroundings through the second valve 10.

[0031] A second accommodation part 11 is further formed in the first shell 5 and / or the second shell 6, and an activated carbon cartridge 12 (see also FIGS. 3 and 4) is accommodated in a form-fitting manner in the second accommodation part 11. That is, the illustrated compensation container 1 has a container housing 4 in which two accommodation parts 7, 11 are arranged inside, and a drying device 8 or an activated carbon cartridge 12 is arranged in these accommodation parts 7, 11. When the inside of the compensation container 1 is under excessive pressure, air 2 thereby flows through the first valve 9 and the activated carbon cartridge 12 arranged in the second accommodation part 11 and flows outward to the surroundings. By blowing out air 2 through the activated carbon cartridge 12, harmful substances such as hydrocarbons can be reliably suppressed, for example. In this case, the suction of fresh air 2a from the surroundings into the compensation container 1 is performed through the second valve 10 and the drying device 8, and the sucked fresh air 2a is dried in the drying device 8.

[0032] In this case, the first valve 9 is arranged on an intermediate wall 13 that separates the second accommodation part 11 from the inner chamber 16 of the container housing 4. In this case, the second valve 10, which may be formed as a double valve, that is, a valve that is permeable in both directions, is arranged on the outer wall of the container housing 4 that separates the first accommodation part 7 from the surroundings. Of course, on the outer wall of the container housing 4, the above-mentioned second valve 10 and another pressure relief valve may be arranged, and air 2 is blown out from the compensation container 1 to the surroundings through the other pressure relief valve.

[0033] Continuing to refer to FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that a spring 14 is disposed in the activated carbon cartridge 12, and it is recognized that the spring 14 applies a preload to the activated carbon cartridge 12 with respect to the container housing 4, specifically with respect to the intermediate wall 13 here. By the spring 14, the activated carbon cartridge 12 in the second accommodation portion 11 can be fixed in position without vibration and thus rattling. Thereby, an improvement in user comfort can be achieved, especially based on the relatively low noise generation.

[0034] In this case, the first shell 5 and / or the second shell 6 may be formed as injection-molded plastic parts, which not only enables high-quality but also inexpensive manufacturing. In this case, the two shells 5, 6 may be welded or adhered to each other. In this case, purely theoretically, it is also conceivable that the two shells 5, 6 are joined to each other via a clip connection or a screw fastening, which brings the great advantage that the container housing 4 can be opened to replace the drying device 8 or the activated carbon cartridge 12, and after replacing the drying device 8 or the activated carbon cartridge 12, the container housing 4 can still be used continuously.

[0035] In this case, the first shell 5 and / or the second shell 6 may be formed from polyoxymethylene (POM) or polyketone, that is, from a plastic having high strength and low hygroscopicity, which is extremely advantageous especially for the compensation container 1 for the air 2 of the battery cooling system 3. In this case, in order to further improve the strength and wear resistance of the container housing 4, the plastics of both shells 5, 6 may be reinforced with fibers, especially glass fibers.

[0036] In short, the drying device 8 according to the present invention, the compensation container 1 according to the present invention, and the battery cooling system 3 according to the present invention can provide a configuration that is extremely inexpensive and has an optimized configuration space.

Claims

1. A drying device (8) for a compensation container (1) for a battery cooling system (3), comprising: The drying device (8) has a breathable bag-like housing (15) in which a drying medium is disposed; or The drying device (8) has a form-stable drying body (17) made of sintered, extruded or injection-molded drying media. Drying device (8).

2. 2. Drying device according to the first option of claim 1, wherein the bag-like housing (15) is made from woven polyester fabric.

3. 2. The drying device according to the first option of claim 1, wherein the drying medium is arranged in the bag-like housing (15) as a bulk material.

4. 2. The drying device according to claim 1, wherein the drying body (17) has a rod-like shape.

5. 5. The activated carbon cartridge of claim 1, wherein the drying medium comprises silica gel or zeolite.

6. A compensation container (1) for a battery cooling system (3), comprising: A container housing (4) made of plastic with a first shell (5) and a second shell (6) connected to the first shell (5), a first receiving portion (7) being formed in the first shell (5) and / or the second shell (6); A drying device (8) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is form-fittingly accommodated in the first accommodation section (7), and a first valve (9) through which air (2) leaves the compensation vessel (1) to the surroundings in the event of overpressure prevailing in the compensation vessel (1); a second valve (10) through which fresh air (2a) flows from the surroundings into the compensation vessel (1) when a negative pressure prevails in the compensation vessel (1); The compensation vessel (1).

7. A second container (11) is formed in the first shell (5) and / or the second shell (6), The second container (11) contains an activated carbon cartridge (12) in a form-fitting manner. The compensation container according to claim 6.

8. 8. The compensation vessel according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the first valve (9) is arranged in an intermediate wall (13) separating the second receiving part (11) from the inner space (16) of the vessel housing (4).

9. 9. Compensation container according to claim 6, wherein the first shell (5) and / or the second shell (6) are formed as plastic injection molded parts.

10. 10. The compensation vessel according to claim 6, wherein the first shell (5) and / or the second shell (6) are welded, clipped, screwed or glued to one another.

11. 11. Compensation container according to any one of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that the first shell (5) and / or the second shell (6) are made from polyoxymethylene (POM) or polyketone.

12. 12. Compensation container according to claim 6, characterized in that the first shell (5) and / or the second shell (6) have a glass fibre content in plastic, in particular a glass fibre content of 25%.

13. 13. The compensation vessel according to any one of claims 6 to 12, wherein the second valve (10) is arranged on an outer wall of the vessel housing (4) separating the first receiving portion (7) from the surroundings.

14. A battery cooling system (3) comprising a compensation container (1) according to any one of claims 6 to 13.

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