Electrical conduction module

Abstract

To reduce the size of a scale of a battery pack.SOLUTION: An electrical conduction module includes: a bus bar 10 that is physically and electrically connected to an electrode terminal BCb of one or a pair of battery cells BC of a battery module BM in which a plurality of battery cells BC are arranged; a first circuit conductor 21 that transmits battery state information of each battery cell BC to a battery monitoring device SBM that monitors the battery state of each battery cell BC; a second circuit conductor 22 responsible for transmitting and receiving signals between the battery monitoring device SBM and a battery management device BMS that performs battery management control on the battery module BM; a first connector 31 that transmits battery state information from the first circuit conductor 21 to the battery monitoring device SBM and transmits and receives signals between the second circuit conductor 22 and the battery monitoring device SBM by connecting the connector to the battery monitoring device SBM; and a second connector 32 that transmits and receives the signals between the second circuit conductor 22 and the battery management device BMS by connecting the connector to the battery management device BMS.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a conductive module.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a battery pack includes a battery module in which a plurality of battery cells are arranged, a battery management device that performs battery management control to ensure the safety of the battery module, a battery monitoring device that is assembled to the battery module and monitors the battery state of each battery cell, a conductive module assembled to the battery module, and a second circuit conductor such as an electric wire that is responsible for transmitting and receiving signals between the battery management device and the battery monitoring device. For example, the conductive module includes a bus bar that is physically and electrically connected to the electrode terminals of one or a pair of battery cells of the battery module, and a first circuit conductor that sends the battery state information of each battery cell to the battery monitoring device. The battery monitoring device calculates and determines the battery state based on the signal of the battery state information received from the first circuit conductor of the conductive module, and transmits the monitoring result of the battery state to the battery management device via the second circuit conductor. The battery management device performs charge and discharge control on each battery cell or calculates the SOC (state of charge) of each battery cell based on the monitoring result of the battery state received from the battery monitoring device. This type of battery pack is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 below.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Incidentally, in a conventional battery pack, the first circuit conductor and the second circuit conductor are each prepared as separate components. For this reason, the first circuit conductor is routed on the battery module by assembling a conductive module to the battery module. On the other hand, the second circuit conductor is routed and assembled to the battery management device through an individual routing path without being associated with the routing path of the first circuit conductor, according to the installation location of the battery management device. Thus, in a conventional battery pack, a wiring space for routing the second circuit conductor to the battery management device is required together with a fixing structure for fixing the second circuit conductor to the battery module or the like, separately from the installation space for installing and fixing the conductive module on the battery module. Therefore, there is room for improvement in reducing the size of the conventional battery pack.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a conductive module capable of reducing the size of a battery pack.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The present invention includes a bus bar that physically and electrically connects to the electrode terminals of one or a pair of the battery cells of a battery module in which a plurality of battery cells are arranged, a first circuit conductor that sends battery state information of each battery cell to a battery monitoring device that monitors the battery state of each battery cell, a second circuit conductor that is responsible for sending and receiving signals between the battery monitoring device and a battery management device that performs battery management control on the battery module, a first connector that is connected to the battery monitoring device by a connector to send the battery state information from the first circuit conductor to the battery monitoring device and to send and receive signals between the second circuit conductor and the battery monitoring device, and a second connector that is connected to the battery management device by a connector to send and receive signals between the second circuit conductor and the battery management device.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] As described above, the conductive module according to the present invention includes a first circuit conductor that sends battery state information of each battery cell of the battery module to the battery monitoring device, and a second circuit conductor that is responsible for sending and receiving signals between the battery monitoring device and the battery management device. And this conductive module includes a first connector that sends battery state information from the first circuit conductor to the battery monitoring device and sends and receives signals between the second circuit conductor and the battery monitoring device, and a second connector that sends and receives signals between the second circuit conductor and the battery management device. Therefore, a battery pack including this conductive module can reduce the installation space of the first circuit conductor and the second circuit conductor on the battery module as compared with the conventional one. Therefore, the conductive module according to the present invention enables miniaturization of the physical size of the battery module, and thus enables miniaturization of the physical size of the battery pack.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the conductive module according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited by this embodiment.

[0010] [Embodiment] One embodiment of the conductive module according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

[0011] Reference numeral 1 in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicates the conductive module of the present embodiment. This conductive module 1 is assembled to a battery module BM (FIG. 3) in which a plurality of battery cells BC are arranged (for example, arranged in a row).

[0012] The battery cell BC includes a cell body BCa and electrode terminals BCb for positive and negative electrodes respectively (Fig. 3). The battery cell BC shown here has a cell body BCa formed in a cubic shape with six outer wall surfaces. In a plurality of battery cells BC that form a battery module BM, adjacent cell bodies BCa in the arrangement direction are arranged with one outer wall surface facing the other. This battery module BM includes one electrode terminal group BCc in which one electrode terminal BCb in each battery cell BC is arranged along the arrangement direction, and the other electrode terminal group BCc in which the other electrode terminal BCb in each battery cell BC is arranged along the arrangement direction.

[0013] In this example, each battery cell BC includes electrode terminals BCb for positive and negative electrodes respectively on one of the six outer wall surfaces of the cell body BCa (Fig. 3). Therefore, in the battery module BM, two electrode terminal groups BCc are provided on one plane (hereinafter referred to as the "electrode installation surface") BMa (Fig. 3). Incidentally, in this battery module BM, four wall surfaces that intersect and are continuous with the electrode installation surface BMa are referred to as an outer peripheral wall surface BMb. And in this battery module BM, two of the four outer peripheral wall surfaces BMb that are arranged parallel to each other are referred to as side wall surfaces BMb1. Also, in this battery module BM, for the remaining two of the four outer peripheral wall surfaces BMb that are arranged parallel to each other, one is referred to as a front wall surface BMb2 and the other is referred to as a rear wall surface BMb3.

[0014] Here, although not shown, as the battery cell BC, there is also known one in which a positive electrode terminal BCb is provided on one of the six outer wall surfaces of the cell body BCa, and a negative electrode terminal BCb is provided on another one of them. And in a battery module BM including such a battery cell BC, each electrode terminal group BCc is provided on a different plane. That plane is the part referred to as the side wall surface BMb1 in the battery module BM of the previous example. The conductive module 1 of the present embodiment is also applicable to such a battery module BM.

[0015] Also, the electrode terminal BCb shown here is formed in a flat plate shape, and the bus bar 10 described later in the conductive module 1 is physically and electrically connected by welding or the like. However, the electrode terminal BCb may be formed in a post shape having a male screw portion.

[0016] This battery module BM constitutes a battery pack BP by assembling the conductive module 1 and physically and electrically connecting the bus bar 10 to the electrode terminal BCb (Fig. 1). The battery pack BP is mounted, for example, on a vehicle (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle, HEV: Hybrid Electric Vehicle, etc.) equipped with a rotating machine as a drive source, and is used for power supply to the rotating machine. For example, the battery pack BP includes a plurality of battery modules BM.

[0017] In this battery pack BP, the conductive module 1 detects battery state information for monitoring the battery state of each battery cell BC, and based on the monitoring results of the battery state of each battery cell BC, the battery management device BMS (Figs. 1 and 2) executes battery management control for the battery module BM.

[0018] For example, in a small-capacity battery pack BP with a small number of battery modules BM, since the battery management device BMS is installed near the battery module BM, the conductive module is physically and electrically connected to this battery management device BMS. Therefore, the conventional battery management device BMS monitors the battery state of each battery cell BC based on the signal of the battery state information received from the conductive module, and performs battery management control for the battery module BM based on the monitoring results.

[0019] However, in recent years, a large-capacity battery pack BP with a larger capacity than this has been mounted on a vehicle. In this large-capacity battery pack BP, a battery monitoring device SBM (Figs. 1 and 2) for monitoring the battery state of each battery cell BC is interposed between the conductive module 1 and the battery management device BMS. Also, in this large-capacity battery pack BP, there are battery modules BM near the battery management device BMS, and there are also battery modules BM installed at a position far from the battery management device BMS. The conductive module 1 of the present embodiment is applicable to such a large-capacity battery pack BP (for example, the battery pack BP of a vehicle typified by a BEV or the like).

[0020] The battery management device BMS shown here is the main ECU (Electronic Control Unit) of the battery management system that performs battery management control to ensure the safety of the battery module BM. The battery monitoring device SBM is a sub-ECU as a satellite battery module in the battery management system. The battery monitoring device SBM performs calculations and determinations of the battery state of each battery cell BC based on the signal of the battery state information received from the conductive module 1, and sends the monitoring result of the battery state to the battery management device BMS. The battery management device BMS performs charge and discharge control for each battery cell BC (for example, charge and discharge control to prevent overcharging and over-discharging of the battery cell BC), temperature management of each battery cell BC, calculation of the SOC (state of charge) of each battery cell BC, etc. based on the monitoring result of the battery state received from the battery monitoring device SBM.

[0021] The conductive module 1 constitutes the battery pack BP together with the battery module BM, the battery management device BMS, and the battery monitoring device SBM (Fig. 1). In this battery pack BP, each battery module BP is provided with a conductive module 1 and a battery monitoring device SBM, and the battery monitoring device SBM for each battery module BP is connected to one battery management device BMS. The battery monitoring device SBM is assembled, for example, to the outer peripheral wall surface BMb (here, the rear wall surface BMb3) of the battery module BM.

[0022] The conductive module 1 includes a bus bar 10 that physically and electrically connects to the electrode terminals BCb of one or a pair of battery cells BC of the battery module BM (FIG. 1). The bus bar 10 is a plate-shaped conductive component made of metal, and is, for example, press-molded using a metal plate as the base material. The bus bar 10 shown here is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape.

[0023] This conductive module 1 includes a first circuit conductor 21 that sends battery state information of each battery cell BC to the battery monitoring device SBM, and a second circuit conductor 22 that is responsible for signal transmission and reception between the battery monitoring device SBM and the battery management device BMS (FIGS. 1 and 2). Then, this conductive module 1 is connector-connected to the battery monitoring device SBM to send battery state information from the first circuit conductor 21 to the battery monitoring device SBM, and to transmit and receive signals between the second circuit conductor 22 and the battery monitoring device SBM. It includes a first connector 31, and a second connector 32 that is connector-connected to the battery management device BMS to transmit and receive signals between the second circuit conductor 22 and the battery management device BMS (FIGS. 1 and 2).

[0024] In this conductive module 1, for example, a circuit conductor for voltage detection that electrically connects the bus bar 10 to the battery monitoring device SBM, a circuit conductor for temperature detection that is electrically connected to a thermistor that detects the temperature of the battery cell BC, etc. are provided as the first circuit conductor 21. These first circuit conductors 21 are provided for each bus bar 10. Regarding the former first circuit conductor 21 for voltage detection, for example, it is physically and electrically connected to the corresponding bus bar 10 via an electrical connection component (not shown, for example, a conductive component such as a terminal fitting or an electric wire).

[0025] The conductive module 1 is assembled on the electrode installation surface BMa of the battery module BM (Fig. 1). In this conductive module 1, the bus bar 10 is physically and electrically connected to the electrode terminal BCb by laser welding or the like on the electrode installation surface BMa, and the first circuit conductor 21 and the second circuit conductor 22 are arranged on the electrode installation surface BMa (Fig. 1). In this conductive module 1, the first circuit conductor 21 and the second circuit conductor 22 are routed to the outer peripheral wall surface BMb (here, the rear wall surface BMb3) of the battery module BM, and the first connector 31 is connector-connected to the battery monitoring device SBM on this outer peripheral wall surface BMb (rear wall surface BMb3) (Fig. 1). Further, in this conductive module 1, the second circuit conductor 22 is drawn out of the battery module BM beyond the electrode installation surface BMa and routed to the location of the battery management device BMS, and the second connector 32 is connector-connected to the battery management device BMS (Fig. 1).

[0026] Specifically, this conductive module 1 includes a circuit conductor component 20 provided with a first circuit conductor 21 and a second circuit conductor 22 (Figs. 1 and 2). The first connector 31 and the second connector 32 are physically and electrically connected to the circuit conductor component 20. The conductive module 1 includes, for example, a synthetic resin holding member (not shown) that holds the bus bar 10 and the circuit conductor component 20 and is assembled to the battery module BM.

[0027] As the circuit conductor component 20, for example, a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) provided with a first conductor pattern as the first circuit conductor 21 and a second conductor pattern as the second circuit conductor 22 can be used. Here, this flexible printed circuit board is cited as an example of the circuit conductor component 20 (Figs. 1 and 2).

[0028] Also, as the circuit conductor component 20, for example, a flexible flat cable (FFC) provided with a first core wire as the first circuit conductor 21 and a second core wire as the second circuit conductor 22 can be used.

[0029] Also, in the circuit conductor component 20, electric wires can be used as the first circuit conductor 21 and the second circuit conductor 22 respectively. In this case, in the circuit conductor component 20, a first connector 31 is physically and electrically connected to one end of each of the first circuit conductor 21 and the second circuit conductor 22, and a second connector 32 is physically and electrically connected to the other end of each of the first circuit conductor 21 and the second circuit conductor 22.

[0030] In addition, when this conductive module 1 is assembled to the battery module BM at a position far from the battery management device BMS, a conductor component (not shown) may be interposed between the second circuit conductor 22 and the second connector 32. In this case, the second circuit conductor 22 stops its wiring path on the battery module BM and does not pull out outside the battery module BM beyond the electrode installation surface BMa. The conductor component bears a part of the second circuit conductor 22 that was pulled out outside the battery module BM and routed to the location of the battery management device BMS in the previous example, and has a length corresponding to the distance from the battery module BM to the battery management device BMS.

[0031] For example, the conductor component includes a third connector physically and electrically connected to the second circuit conductor 22, a fourth connector connector-connected to this third connector, and a third circuit conductor physically and electrically connected to this fourth connector and the second connector 32. The third circuit conductor transmits and receives signals to and from the second circuit conductor 22 via the third connector and the fourth connector, and transmits and receives signals to and from the battery management device BMS via the second connector 32. This third circuit conductor may be an electric wire or may be provided on another circuit conductor component such as a flexible printed circuit board or a flexible flat cable.

[0032] As described above, the conductive module 1 of the present embodiment includes a first circuit conductor 21 that sends battery state information of each battery cell BC of the battery module BM to the battery monitoring device SBM, and a second circuit conductor 22 that is responsible for signal transmission and reception between the battery monitoring device SBM and the battery management device BMS. And this conductive module 1 includes a first connector 31 that sends battery state information from the first circuit conductor 21 to the battery monitoring device SBM and transmits and receives signals between the second circuit conductor 22 and the battery monitoring device SBM, and a second connector 32 that transmits and receives signals between the second circuit conductor 22 and the battery management device BMS. Therefore, the battery pack BP including this conductive module 1 can reduce the installation space of the first circuit conductor 21 and the second circuit conductor 22 on the battery module BM as compared with the conventional one in which the first circuit conductor and the second circuit conductor prepared as separate parts are arranged in separate locations. Therefore, the conductive module 1 of the present embodiment enables miniaturization of the physical size of the battery module BM, and thus the physical size of the battery pack BP can be reduced.

Explanation of Signs

[0033] 1 Conductive module 10 Bus bar 20 Circuit conductor component 21 First circuit conductor 22 Second circuit conductor 31 First connector 32 Second connector BC Battery cell BCb Electrode terminal BM Battery module BMS Battery management device SBM Battery monitoring device

Claims

1. A bus bar that is physically and electrically connected to the electrode terminals of one or a pair of the battery cells of a battery module in which a plurality of battery cells are arranged, A first circuit conductor that sends battery state information of each battery cell to a battery monitoring device that monitors the battery state of each battery cell, A second circuit conductor that is responsible for transmitting and receiving signals between the battery monitoring device and a battery management device that performs battery management control on the battery module, A first connector that is connected to the battery monitoring device by a connector, sends the battery state information from the first circuit conductor to the battery monitoring device, and transmits and receives signals between the second circuit conductor and the battery monitoring device, A second connector that is connected to the battery management device by a connector and transmits and receives signals between the second circuit conductor and the battery management device, A conductive module, characterized by comprising the above.

2. Comprising a circuit conductor component provided with the first circuit conductor and the second circuit conductor, The conductive module according to claim 1, wherein the first connector and the second connector are physically and electrically connected to the circuit conductor component.

3. Comprising a circuit conductor component provided with a first conductor pattern as the first circuit conductor and a second conductor pattern as the second circuit conductor, The conductive module according to claim 1, wherein the first connector and the second connector are physically and electrically connected to the circuit conductor component.

4. The conductive module according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the first circuit conductor is provided for each bus bar and electrically connects the bus bar to the battery monitoring device.

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