Battery pack

Abstract

To provide a battery pack capable of increasing a heat absorption amount from gas and suppressing possibility of giving thermal influence to each configuration of the battery pack.SOLUTION: A battery pack 100 according to the present disclosure is mounted on a vehicle VE, and includes: a plurality of battery cells 1 and stacked in a front-rear direction of the vehicle VE in a state where the battery pack 100 is mounted on a lower side of a cabin room VR of the vehicle VE; a case 2 accommodating the plurality of battery cells 1; a cooling device 5 including a pipe 5a through which a cooling medium can flow; and a share panel 3 disposed below the case 2. The battery cell 1 includes a cell opening 1b and a cell valve 1a. The cell opening 1b is provided on a bottom surface 1aa of the battery cell 1. The cell valve 1a is provided on the cell opening portion 1b. The case 2 includes a case opening 2a communicating with the cell opening 1b. The case opening 2a is provided on a bottom 22a of the case 2. The cooling device 5 is provided around the case opening 2a. A smoke exhaust route RR is formed between the case 2 and the share panel 3.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a battery pack. [Background technology]

[0002] In the battery module disclosed in Patent Document 1, multiple battery cells are stacked. A casing houses the multiple battery cells arranged horizontally. A smoke exhaust cover is positioned between the multiple battery cells and the top plate of the casing. A pressure release valve is provided on the top surface of each of the multiple battery cells. For example, a short circuit may occur inside a battery cell, generating high-pressure gas and debris that may be released through the pressure release valve. Hereinafter, the phenomenon of gas being released from the pressure release valve of a battery cell may be simply referred to as "smoke generation." The smoke exhaust cover can effectively guide the gas that is emitted from the battery cell when smoke is generated. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-065217 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The inventors of the present application have discovered the following problems. The inventors of the present application conceived a battery pack in which a cell valve is provided on the bottom surface of each of a plurality of battery cells. The case has a case opening facing the cell valve. A shear panel is disposed on the underside of the case. A smoke exhaust path is formed between the shear panel and the case. In such a battery pack, when smoke is generated, gas is ejected from the cell valve of the battery cell, passes through the case opening, and is guided by the shear panel and the case. In other words, the gas is exhausted through the smoke exhaust path. However, the gas has a high calorific value and may have a thermal effect on each component of the battery pack.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and provides a battery pack that can increase the amount of heat absorbed from gas and reduce the risk of thermal impact on each component of the battery pack. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The battery pack according to the present disclosure comprises: A battery pack to be mounted on a vehicle, With the battery pack mounted under the passenger compartment of the vehicle, a plurality of battery cells stacked in the front-rear direction of the vehicle; a case that houses the plurality of battery cells; a cooler having a pipe through which a cooling medium can flow; a shear panel disposed below the case; Equipped with the battery cell includes a cell opening and a cell valve; the cell opening is provided on a bottom surface of the battery cell, the cell valve is provided at the cell opening, the case has a case opening communicating with the cell opening, the case opening is provided on the bottom surface of the case, the cooler is provided around the case opening, A smoke exhaust path is formed between the case and the shear panel, an outer circumferential surface of the pipe includes a case contact surface that contacts the bottom surface of the case and a smoke exhaust path surface that faces the smoke exhaust path; the case contact surface is substantially flat; The smoke exhaust path surface protrudes toward the share panel.

[0007] In the battery pack described above, the cross-sectional shape of the pipe may be substantially trapezoidal.

[0008] In the battery pack described above, the cross section of the tube may be a substantially parallelogram shape. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present disclosure, the amount of heat absorbed from the gas can be increased, and the risk of thermal impact on each component of the battery pack can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a configuration example of a battery pack according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the battery module according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a top view of the battery module and case according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the case according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the battery module according to the first embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, the following description and drawings have been simplified as appropriate for clarity of explanation.

[0012] <First Embodiment> A first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a configuration example of a battery pack according to the first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a battery module according to the first embodiment. Fig. 3 is a top view of a battery module and a case according to the first embodiment. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the case according to the first embodiment. Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the battery module shown in Fig. 2.

[0013] It should be noted that the right-handed XYZ coordinate system shown in Figure 1 and other drawings is a matter of convenience for explaining the positional relationships of the components. Normally, the positive direction of the UPR axis is vertically upward in the vehicle VE, the positive direction of the FR axis is forward in the vehicle VE, and the positive direction of the RH axis is to the right in the vehicle VE. The plane containing the FR axis and the RH axis is a horizontal plane, which is common to all drawings.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 1, the battery pack 100 includes a battery module 10, a case 2, a share panel 3, and a cooler 5 shown in Fig. 2. The battery pack 100 is mounted on a vehicle VE. The battery pack 100 is disposed below the passenger compartment VR of the vehicle VE.

[0015] The case 2 houses the battery module 10. The battery module 10 extends in the FR axis direction. The case 2 includes a lower case 22 and an upper case 21. The shear panel 3 is disposed below the case 2. The shear panel 3 can receive input from the road surface while the vehicle VE is traveling. The shear panel 3 is disposed at a predetermined distance from the case 2. The shear panel 3 is preferably sized to cover the case 2. The case 2 and the shear panel 3 are preferably made of a metal material. Such a metal material is, for example, steel or an aluminum alloy.

[0016] A smoke exhaust route RR is formed between the shared panel 3 and the case 2. When smoke is generated, the gas is expelled from the battery module 10 and preferably passes through the smoke exhaust route RR and is discharged to the outside of the vehicle VE.

[0017] A cell space SP2 is formed between the lower case 22 and the upper case 21. The battery module 10 is housed in the cell space SP2.

[0018] An equipment space SP3 may be formed inside the upper case 21. Equipment constituting the vehicle VE may be arranged in the equipment space SP3.

[0019] The battery module 10 includes a plurality of battery cells 1 and two end plates 4. The plurality of battery cells 1 may be stacked in the FR axis direction with a heat insulating material or the like interposed therebetween. The two end plates 4 may sandwich the plurality of battery cells 1 with a heat insulating material or the like interposed therebetween. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the battery modules 10 are arranged in parallel in the RH axis direction in the case 2. In the example shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, four battery modules 10 are arranged in parallel in the RH axis direction in the case 2. Note that the central portion of the upper case 21 is not shown in FIG. 2. The upper case 21 is not shown in FIG. 3.

[0020] The cooler 5 is preferably made of a material with good thermal conductivity. Such a material is, for example, aluminum, copper, or an alloy thereof. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, the cooler 5 is provided on the bottom surface 22a of the lower case 22. The cooler 5 may be in contact with the bottom surface 22a of the lower case 22 via a thermally conductive adhesive.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 5, the battery cell 1 has a cell opening 1b and a cell valve 1a. The cell opening 1b is provided on the bottom surface 1aa of the battery cell 1. The cell valve 1a is provided on the cell opening 1b. An example of the cell valve 1a shown in FIG. 5 is provided near the center of the bottom surface 1aa of the battery cell 1. A positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal may be provided on both side surfaces of the battery cell 1. The case 2 has a case opening 2a that communicates with the cell opening 1b. The case opening 2a is provided on the bottom surface 22a of the lower case 22. A cooler 5 is provided around the case opening 2a.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 5 , the cooler 5 includes a pipe 5a and a pipe 5b. A cooling medium can flow through the pipes 5a and 5b. The cross-sectional shape of the pipe 5a is approximately trapezoidal. The cross-sectional shape of the pipe 5b is approximately parallelogram. The pipes 5a and 5b may be connected to each other. The pipes 5a and 5b may be supplied with a cooling medium from a supply source (not shown) as needed. The cooling medium may circulate through the pipes 5a and 5b. The pipes 5a and 5b may also discharge the supplied cooling medium as needed. The pipes 5a and 5b are arranged on the bottom surface 22a of the lower case 22. The pipes 5a and 5b may be arranged along various routes on the bottom surface 22a of the lower case 22. One example of such a route is one in which the pipes 5a and 5b extend to cover the bottom surface 22a by repeatedly moving back and forth between one end and the other end of the bottom surface 22a. The tubes 5a and 5b may be formed by pressing together a plate-like body having a flat surface and a plate-like body having alternating convex and concave portions.

[0023] The outer peripheral surface of the tube 5a includes a case contact surface 5aa and a smoke exhaust path surface 5ab. The case contact surface 5aa is in contact with the bottom surface 22a of the lower case 22 and is substantially flat. The smoke exhaust path surface 5ab faces the smoke exhaust path RR and protrudes toward the shear panel 3 (here, in the negative direction of the UPR axis). The substantially trapezoidal cross section of the tube 5a has a base on the case contact surface 5aa side and a base on the smoke exhaust path surface 5ab side. The base on the smoke exhaust path surface 5ab side is preferably shorter than the base on the case contact surface 5aa side.

[0024] Similarly, the outer peripheral surface of the pipe 5b has a case contact surface 5ba and a smoke exhaust path surface 5bb. The case contact surface 5ba is substantially flat and contacts the bottom surface 22a of the lower case 22. The smoke exhaust path surface 5bb faces the smoke exhaust path RR and protrudes toward the share panel 3.

[0025] Here, the battery cell 1 emits smoke, generating gas inside the battery cell 1, and the gas reaches the smoke exhaust route RR. The gas then comes into contact with the smoke exhaust route surface 5ab of the tube 5a and the smoke exhaust route surface 5bb of the tube 5b, and is cooled. As described above, the case contact surface 5aa of the tube 5a and the case contact surface 5ba of the tube 5b are substantially flat, and the smoke exhaust route surface 5ab of the tube 5a and the smoke exhaust route surface 5bb of the tube 5b protrude toward the share panel 3. Therefore, by increasing the ratio of the area of ​​the smoke exhaust route surface 5ab to the area of ​​the case contact surface 5aa of the tube 5a of the cooler 5, and the ratio of the area of ​​the smoke exhaust route surface 5bb to the area of ​​the case contact surface 5ba of the tube 5b of the cooler 5, the amount of heat absorbed by the cooler 5 from the flue gas is increased.

[0026] The cross-sectional shape of the tube 5a according to this embodiment is a substantially trapezoidal shape. The cross-sectional shape of the tube 5b according to this embodiment is a substantially parallelogram shape. These configurations increase the area of ​​the smoke exhaust path surface 5ab relative to the area of ​​the case contact surface 5aa, and the area of ​​the smoke exhaust path surface 5bb relative to the area of ​​the case contact surface 5ba, thereby increasing the amount of heat absorption of the cooler 5.

[0027] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the present invention may be implemented by appropriately combining the above-described embodiment and examples thereof. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 100 battery packs 10 Battery Module 1 battery cell 1a Cell valve 1aa bottom 1b Cell opening 2 cases 2a Case opening 21 Upper case 22 Lower case 22a Bottom 3 Share Panel 4 End Plates 5 Cooler 5a, 5b tube 5aa, 5ba case contact surface 5ab, 5bb Smoke exhaust route surface RR Smoke exhaust route SP2 Cell Space SP3 equipment space VE vehicle VR cabin

Claims

1. A battery pack to be mounted on a vehicle, With the battery pack mounted under the passenger compartment of the vehicle, a plurality of battery cells stacked in the front-rear direction of the vehicle; a case that houses the plurality of battery cells; a cooler having a pipe through which a cooling medium can flow; a shear panel disposed below the case; Equipped with the battery cell includes a cell opening and a cell valve; the cell opening is provided on a bottom surface of the battery cell, the cell valve is provided at the cell opening, the case has a case opening communicating with the cell opening, the case opening is provided on the bottom surface of the case, the cooler is provided around the case opening, A smoke exhaust path is formed between the case and the shear panel, an outer circumferential surface of the pipe includes a case contact surface that contacts the bottom surface of the case and a smoke exhaust path surface that faces the smoke exhaust path; the case contact surface is substantially flat; The smoke exhaust path surface protrudes toward the share panel. Battery pack.

2. The cross-sectional shape of the tube is approximately trapezoidal. The battery pack according to claim 1 .

3. The cross-sectional shape of the tube is approximately parallelogram-shaped. The battery pack according to claim 1 .

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