Fire detection type charger / discharger smoke removal device and smoke removal method using the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device, comprising a battery pack storage space for charging and discharging a battery pack; a fire detector provided on one side of the battery pack storage space; and a plurality of fans for drawing in or exhausting air into the battery pack storage space, wherein when the fire detector detects a fire, some or all of the plurality of fans are converted to exhaust air.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0001056 filed on January 3, 2024 and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0188562 filed on December 17, 2024, and all the contents disclosed in the documents of the Korean patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0002] The present invention relates to a fire detection type charger and smoke removal device and a smoke removal method using the same.

Background Art

[0003] In recent years, the demand for portable electronic products such as notebook computers, video cameras, mobile phones, etc. has increased rapidly, and with the full-scale development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites, etc., research on high-performance batteries capable of repeated charging and discharging has been actively conducted.

[0004] Currently commercialized batteries include nickel cadmium batteries, nickel metal hydride batteries, nickel zinc batteries, lithium secondary batteries, etc. Among these, lithium secondary batteries are attracting attention for their advantages of free charging and discharging, very low self-discharge rate, and high energy density.

[0005] In the case of such lithium secondary batteries, the battery is completed and shipped as a finished product after sequentially going through an assembly process and an activation process. In the assembly process, a laminate of a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator is housed and sealed in an exterior material together with an electrolyte. In the activation process, an initial charge / discharge event for the battery that has gone through the assembly process is executed. Through the activation process, the electrode materials of the battery are activated.

[0006] Normal chargers are manufactured to be able to charge and discharge a large number of cells simultaneously. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to sensing the temperature change during the charging and discharging of the battery and operating within a safe temperature range.

[0007] Despite these precautions, if a fire occurs in a charger / discharger, the smoke is removed using the exhaust system for the entire factory where the charger / discharger is located, and smoke removal equipment for the entire room is used.

[0008] However, using smoke removal equipment for the entire factory presents several problems: it is difficult to immediately deploy the equipment in the initial stages of a fire; localized smoke removal is not possible in the event of a localized fire; and there is a possibility that the entire factory may be contaminated during the smoke removal process due to a partial fire.

[0009] Therefore, in order to solve the aforementioned problems, research is currently needed on fire-sensing charge / discharge smoke removal devices that can perform localized smoke removal in the event of a localized fire. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0010] [Patent Document 1] Korean Published Patent No. 2016-0082102 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0011] The present invention aims to provide a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device and a smoke removal method using the same, which can immediately remove smoke and quickly approach the scene when a fire occurs in a charger / discharger that charges and discharges secondary batteries, thereby suppressing the initial fire, and which can remove smoke by localized smoke removal in the case of a localized fire. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, The present invention provides a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device comprising: a battery pack storage space for charging and discharging a battery pack; a fire detector provided on one side of the battery pack storage space; and a plurality of fans for drawing air into the battery pack storage space, wherein when the fire detector detects a fire, some or all of the plurality of fans are converted to exhaust air.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present invention, the fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device may have some of the multiple fans that normally draw in air for cooling and exhaust air when a fire detector detects a fire.

[0014] In one embodiment of the present invention, the fan may have its rotation direction changed by electrical polarity conversion, thereby regulating the intake and exhaust of air.

[0015] In one embodiment of the present invention, the change in the rotation direction of the fan may be in accordance with instructions from a control device that has received information from the fire detector indicating the occurrence of a fire.

[0016] In one embodiment of the present invention, the smoke removal device may further include an exhaust duct (Duct).

[0017] In one embodiment of the present invention, after the fire detector detects a fire, the exhaust duct may open, and part or all of the fan may exhaust air to remove smoke.

[0018] In one embodiment of the present invention, a damper is installed in the exhaust duct to control the airflow.

[0019] Furthermore, the present invention provides a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal method, which includes the steps of: detecting a fire from a fire detector provided on one side of the battery pack storage space; and, after the fire is detected, converting some or all of the multiple fans that draw air into the battery pack storage space to exhaust air. [Effects of the Invention]

[0020] When a fire occurs, the fire detection type charger and smoke removal device of the present invention can immediately remove smoke and quickly approach the site, suppress the initial fire, and minimize the fire loss to the entire charging and discharging room.

[0021] In addition, when a local fire occurs, it can be smoked by local smoke removal, and the operation of the entire room can be stopped. Therefore, when restoring the overall damage as in the prior art, the equipment downtime that used to take about five months can be shortened to two months by performing local restoration.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0022] [Figure 1] It is a schematic diagram showing a charger and smoke removal device according to the conventional invention. [Figure 2] It is a schematic diagram showing a fire detection type charger and smoke removal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0023] Hereinafter, based on the attached drawings, the present invention will be described in detail so that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs can easily implement it. However, the present invention can be realized in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described here.

[0024] To clearly explain the present invention, parts not related to the explanation are omitted, and the same or similar components throughout the specification are given the same reference numerals.

[0025] In addition, the terms and words used in this specification and the claims should not be construed as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings. Based on the principle that the inventor can appropriately define the concept of the terms in order to explain his own invention in the best way, they must be construed in a meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention.

[0026] The embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. However, the present invention can be realized in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0027] In the event of a fire in a charger / discharger, the exhaust system for the entire factory where the charger / discharger is located is used to remove smoke from the entire room. However, using a factory-wide smoke removal system in this way presents problems: it is difficult to immediately use the smoke removal system in the initial stages of a fire, localized smoke removal is not possible in the event of a localized fire, and the entire factory may be contaminated during the smoke removal process due to a small fire.

[0028] In the event of a localized fire, there is a need for research into fire-sensing charge / discharge smoke removal devices that can provide localized smoke removal, quickly eliminate smoke to allow for rapid approach to the scene, and suppress the initial fire.

[0029] Therefore, the inventors of the present invention have found that the above-mentioned problems can be solved through a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device in which some or all of the multiple fans exhaust air when the fire detector detects a fire, and have completed the present invention.

[0030] The present invention relates to a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device. Specifically, the present invention provides a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device that includes a battery pack storage space for charging and discharging a battery pack; a fire detector provided on one side of the battery pack storage space; and a plurality of fans for drawing in or exhausting air into the battery pack storage space, wherein when the fire detector detects a fire, some or all of the plurality of fans exhaust air.

[0031] Figure 1 shows a conventional smoke removal device for chargers and dischargers. Conventional smoke removal devices for chargers and dischargers are equipped with a fire detector (not shown). When a fire is detected by the fire detector, a cooling fan (Fan, 200) installed inside the smoke removal device is used to unilaterally supply outside air to the inside of the equipment where the fire has occurred, and it is used only for cooling purposes. As a result, there was a problem in that the suppression of the fire and removal of smoke that occurred inside the charger and discharger were insufficient.

[0032] The fire-sensing type smoke removal device for chargers and dischargers of the present invention utilizes a fan that is normally used for cooling, and when a fire occurs, it reverses the direction of the fan's airflow to use it for exhaust, thereby efficiently removing smoke even if a fire occurs in the charger or discharger.

[0033] Therefore, the fire-sensing type charge / discharge smoke removal device of the present invention has multiple fans (200) that normally draw in air for cooling, and when a fire detector (not shown) detects a fire, some or all of them can exhaust the air.

[0034] Specifically, the plurality of fans (200) are rotated by motors (not shown) connected to the fans, and the air generated by the rotation of the fans (200) can be transported in the axial direction.

[0035] The outside of the plurality of fans (200) may be provided with air guides (not shown) to guide the airflow, and such air guides can be formed into a curved shape when necessary to minimize resistance to the airflow and guide a smooth airflow.

[0036] The air guides provided on the outside of the multiple fans (200) are designed to accommodate airflow on both sides, allowing airflow to be controlled similarly in both directions. This ensures that when the fan motors are rotated forward, intake-type cooling is performed, and when the fan motors are rotated backward, an airflow in the opposite direction is induced and exhausted with the same efficiency as the intake-type airflow.

[0037] In the fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device of the present invention, the fan's rotation direction can be changed by electrical polarity conversion, thereby adjusting the intake and exhaust of air. That is, the direction of the fan is changed in accordance with the change in electrical polarity of the motor connected to the fan, allowing the fan motor to rotate forward or backward, thereby enabling the fan to take in or exhaust air.

[0038] Furthermore, the change in the rotation direction of the fan may be in accordance with instructions from a control device (not shown) that receives information about the occurrence of a fire from the fire detector.

[0039] In the fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device of the present invention, the control device can instruct a change in the electrical polarity of the intake fan motor when it receives a signal from the fire detector indicating the occurrence of a fire. For example, if intake-type cooling is performed when the fan motor is rotated forward, then when the fan motor is rotated in reverse, an opposite airflow can be induced and exhausted with the same efficiency as the intake airflow.

[0040] The fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device of the present invention includes a battery pack storage space (100) for charging and discharging a battery pack. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the battery pack storage space (100) included in the fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device of the present invention.

[0041] The battery pack storage space (100) is for storing and charging / discharging battery packs. The side walls of the storage space may be equipped with charging / discharging terminals, allowing current to be applied by contacting battery packs loaded on trays or the like. Two or more sides of the battery pack storage space may be open. Some of these open sections may serve as passages for inserting and removing battery packs via trays, while other open sections may serve as work passages for operators when necessary.

[0042] The fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device of the present invention includes a fire detector (not shown) provided on one side of the battery pack storage space. The fire detector may include a sensor that detects fire and is provided on one side of the storage space. The fire detector can detect a fire early using the heat or smoke generated during a fire, sound an alarm, or notify a control device of the fact of a fire. The fire detector can be of various types, such as a heat detector, smoke detector, or combined detector, and is not limited to any one of them.

[0043] The fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device of the present invention includes a plurality of fans (200) for drawing in or exhausting air into the battery pack storage space. The plurality of fans (200) are installed in the battery pack storage space to cool the heat generated.

[0044] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device according to the present invention. Figure 1 shows a conventional fire-sensing type charger / discharger, where the thick arrows indicate the airflow when the fan (200) is used for cooling when no fire has occurred. In this way, the fan (200), which was used for cooling by supplying outside air to the inside, has its electrical polarity changed and its rotation direction reversed when the fire detector detects the occurrence of a fire, thereby allowing it to be used for exhaust, as shown by the thick arrows in Figure 2. In other words, the thick arrows in Figure 2 indicate the airflow when all of the fans (200) that were used for cooling are converted to exhaust use when a fire occurs.

[0045] Therefore, the multiple fans (200) can normally draw in air for cooling and exhaust air when a fire detector detects a fire. Furthermore, the rotation direction of the fans (200) can be reversed by electrical polarity conversion to regulate air intake and exhaust. The reversal of the fan rotation direction may also be in accordance with instructions from a control device that receives information about the occurrence of a fire from the fire detector.

[0046] The fire-sensing type charge / discharge smoke removal device of the present invention may further include a control device (not shown) that can receive information of a fire outbreak from a fire detector (not shown) and instruct the fan to change its rotation direction. The control device may be capable of adjusting the polarity of a DC fan or AC fan, operating in the forward direction under normal circumstances, and, when a fire is detected, changing the DC polarity or changing the AC phase via a PLC or digital In / Out control device to cause the fan to rotate in the reverse direction.

[0047] The fire-sensing type charge / discharge smoke removal device of the present invention may further include an exhaust duct (Duct, 300). After the fire detector detects a fire, the exhaust duct (300) opens, and the fan exhausts air to remove smoke. As shown in Figure 2, when the fire detector detects a fire, the damper-type exhaust duct (300) is opened, and by changing the polarity of the fan as described above, it is converted to exhaust mode, thereby enabling efficient smoke removal. The exhaust duct (300) can be a damper type, but is not necessarily limited to this.

[0048] In the fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device of the present invention, a damper (not shown) is installed in the exhaust duct, which can control the airflow between the plurality of fans and the exhaust duct (300). The main functions of the damper are to prevent backflow of outside air when the fan stops, to adjust the exhaust volume as needed, and to prevent the inflow of other airflows.

[0049] Through such dampers, selective opening and closing operations for intake and exhaust can be performed, thereby controlling the direction of airflow.

[0050] Multiple exhaust ducts (300) can be installed in the fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device of the present invention. The exhaust ducts (300) can serve as passages for discharging smoke generated by a fire to the outside, but by positioning multiple exhaust ducts (300) in various parts of the charger / discharger smoke removal device, it is possible to selectively discharge smoke generated locally by a fire as needed. For example, exhaust ducts (300) can be provided at the top, bottom, left, right, and corners of the charger / discharger smoke removal device, and the exhaust ducts (300) can be opened or closed as needed to efficiently discharge the generated smoke. At this time, the fans near the area where the fire occurred can be switched to exhaust mode, and the exhaust ducts (300) near the area where the fire occurred can be opened to efficiently discharge the smoke.

[0051] Furthermore, the present invention provides a fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal method, which includes the steps of: detecting a fire from a fire detector provided on one side of the battery pack storage space; and, after the fire is detected, converting some or all of the multiple fans that draw air into the battery pack storage space to exhaust air.

[0052] In the aforementioned fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal method, the battery pack storage space, fire detector, and multiple fans are the same as those described in the fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device.

[0053] Those with ordinary skill in the art related to this embodiment will understand that it can be realized in modified forms without departing from the essential characteristics of the above description. Accordingly, the disclosed method should be considered in an explanatory rather than restrictive view. The scope of the invention is shown in the claims and not in the foregoing description, and all differences within an equivalent scope should be construed as being included in the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] Battery pack storage space: 100 Fans: 200 Exhaust duct: 300

Claims

1. Battery pack storage space for charging and discharging the battery pack; A fire detector provided on one side of the battery pack storage space; and The battery pack storage space includes multiple fans for drawing in air, A fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device that, when the fire detector detects a fire, converts some or all of the multiple fans to exhaust air.

2. The fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device according to claim 1, characterized in that the plurality of fans normally draw in air for cooling and exhaust air when the fire detector detects a fire.

3. The fire-sensing type charge / discharge smoke removal device according to claim 2, characterized in that the fan's direction of rotation is changed by electrical polarity conversion, thereby converting the intake and exhaust of the air.

4. The fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device according to claim 3, characterized in that the rotation direction of the fan is changed in accordance with instructions from a control device that has received notification of the occurrence of a fire from the fire detector.

5. The fire detection type charge / discharge smoke removal device according to claim 1, characterized in that the smoke removal device further includes an exhaust duct (Duct).

6. The fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal device according to claim 5, characterized in that after the fire detector detects a fire, the exhaust duct opens and some or all of the plurality of fans exhaust air to remove smoke.

7. The fire-sensing type charge / discharge smoke removal device according to claim 5, characterized in that a damper is installed in the exhaust duct to control the airflow.

8. The stage of detecting a fire from a fire detector located on one side of the battery pack storage space; and A fire-sensing type charger / discharger smoke removal method, comprising the step of, after the fire is detected, converting some or all of the multiple fans that draw air into the battery pack storage space to exhaust air.

Images