Battery pack equipped with a pack case with cooling fins attached

Abstract

The battery pack according to the present invention includes a battery module, and a pack case configured to accommodate the battery module therein, the pack case including a bottom cover accommodating the battery module, and a top plate having cooling fins protruding from one surface facing an interior of the pack case and vertically coupled to the bottom cover to cover an upper portion of the battery module, and vent gas generated in the battery module may be discharged to the outside of the pack case through empty spaces formed between the cooling fins.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application claims priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0089364 filed on July 7, 2021, and all of the contents disclosed in the specification and drawings of the said application are incorporated into this application.

[0002] The present invention relates to a battery pack, and more particularly, to a battery pack for reducing the temperature and pressure of vent gas when high-temperature vent gas is generated in some battery modules.

Background Art

[0003] Secondary batteries have not only the primary advantage of significantly reducing the use of fossil fuels, but also the advantage of generating no by-products associated with energy use, and thus are attracting attention as a new energy source for environmental friendliness and improvement of energy efficiency.

[0004] Therefore, the application of secondary batteries to a wide variety of devices is increasing. For example, they are widely used as an energy source for wireless mobile devices or wearable devices, which are multifunctional small products, and are also used as an energy source or an energy storage system (ESS) for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, which are presented as alternatives to existing gasoline vehicles and diesel vehicles.

[0005] Generally, the operating voltage of a secondary battery is about 2.5V to 4.5V per cell. Therefore, in the case of electric vehicles and energy storage systems that require high capacity and high output, a battery module in which a plurality of secondary batteries are connected in series and / or in parallel, and a battery pack in which the battery modules are connected in series and / or in parallel are configured and used as an energy source.

[0006] Depending on the output and capacity of the battery pack required for an electric vehicle, the number of lithium secondary batteries in one battery module may increase, or the number of battery modules in one battery pack may increase.

[0007] However, as the number of battery modules constituting the battery pack increases, the possibility of fire and explosion and the resulting damage must inevitably become even greater.

[0008] For example, when an event such as a short circuit between lithium secondary batteries or an abnormal temperature rise occurs in some battery modules, there is a risk that a large amount of vent gas will be generated in the lithium secondary batteries. If the degradation becomes more severe, there is a possibility that high-temperature sparks containing electrode active materials and aluminum particles, etc., will be ejected together with the vent gas. At this time, the vent gas and the high-temperature sparks may cause thermal damage to the adjacent battery module, and for this reason, the concern that further events will occur in other battery modules becomes very high. In addition, even after the high-temperature sparks and vent gas are discharged outside the battery pack, they may cause thermal damage to surrounding structures and other battery packs.

[0009] Therefore, when an event occurs in a certain battery module, a solution that can reduce the risk caused by vent gas and high-temperature sparks is eagerly desired.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0010] The present invention was devised to solve the above technical problems. Even if high-temperature vent gas is generated in a certain battery module, the temperature and pressure are reduced so that it can be discharged outside the battery pack, with the aim of reducing the risk factors caused by the discharge of the vent gas.

[0011] Further, another object of the present invention is to prevent thermal runaway of the battery pack by minimizing thermal damage to other battery modules even if vent gas and sparks occur in one battery module.

[0012] The technical problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-described technical problems at all, and other technical problems not mentioned should be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the invention described below.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0013] According to the present invention, there is provided a battery pack including a battery module and a pack case provided to accommodate the battery module therein, the pack case including a bottom cover for accommodating the battery module and cooling fins protruding from one surface facing the inner direction of the pack case, and a top plate vertically coupled to the bottom cover so as to cover the upper part of the battery module, wherein vent gas generated in the battery module is configured to be discharged to the outside of the pack case through a free space formed between the cooling fins.

[0014] A plurality of the cooling fins may be arranged along a first direction which is the longitudinal direction of the top plate or a second direction which is the width direction from one edge to the other edge of the top plate.

[0015] The cooling fins arranged at the edge of the top plate may have their ends vertically connected to the upper edge of the bottom cover.

[0016] The bottom cover may include a base plate forming a bottom surface, a wall frame forming a wall along the periphery of the base plate, and a first cross beam defining an internal space surrounded by the base plate and the wall frame.

[0017] The battery modules are plural, and each of the battery modules is arranged in a plurality of module accommodation parts in which the internal space is defined by the first cross beam. The top plate may include a second cross beam provided so as to be in vertical contact with the first cross beam.

[0018] The second cross beam may be formed to be equal to the height of the cooling fins or higher than that.

[0019] The battery module includes a plurality of battery cells and a module case for housing the plurality of battery cells. A gas vent may be formed in an upper plate portion that covers the upper portions of the plurality of battery cells.

[0020] The gas vent may be provided with a mesh structure.

[0021] The module case includes an upper plate portion disposed above the plurality of battery cells and having cooling water therein, and a lower plate portion disposed below the plurality of battery cells and having a flow path through which the cooling water flows. The upper plate portion includes a first melt spot that is heat-meltable on a first upper plate in contact with the plurality of battery cells, a gas vent through which gas can be discharged to the outside on a second upper plate facing the first upper plate, and a vent cap formed of a heat-meltable material that seals the gas vent.

[0022] The lower plate portion includes a first lower plate in contact with the plurality of battery cells and a second lower plate facing the first lower plate, and the first lower plate may be provided with a second melt spot that is heat-meltable.

[0023] The first melt spot and the second melt spot may be provided so as to be vertically symmetric with at least one of the battery cells interposed therebetween.

[0024] According to another aspect of the present invention, an electric vehicle including the battery pack described above may be provided.

Effects of the Invention

[0025] According to one aspect of the present invention, even if high-temperature vent gas is generated in a certain battery module, the temperature and pressure can be reduced and discharged to the outside of the battery pack, so that the risk factors due to the discharge of the vent gas can be reduced.

[0026] According to another aspect of the present invention, even if vent gas and sparks are generated in a certain battery module, thermal damage to other battery modules can be minimized to prevent thermal runaway of the battery pack.

[0027] The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above effects, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains from this specification and the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0028]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0029] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, the terms and words used in this specification and the claims should not be construed as being limited to the ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventor himself must interpret them in accordance with the meaning and concept corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention in accordance with the principle that he can appropriately define the concept of the terms in order to explain the invention in the best way. Therefore, it must be understood that the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical ideas of the present invention, so there can be various equivalents and modifications that can replace them at the time of this application.

[0030] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially disassembled perspective view of the battery pack of FIG. 1.

[0031] A battery pack 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a pack case 100 and a battery module 200 housed inside the pack case 100.

[0032] The pack case 100 is a component for protecting the battery module 200 from external impacts and the like, and may be provided with a material having excellent mechanical rigidity. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 2, it may include a bottom cover 110 provided so as to be able to accommodate the battery module 200, and a top plate 120 that covers the upper part of the battery module 200 and is provided so as to be vertically connectable to the bottom cover 110. Although not shown, when combining the bottom cover 110 and the top plate 120, for example, coupling methods such as bolting, welding, adhesion, and hooking (engaging) are applicable.

[0033] As will be described in detail later, the pack case 100 of the present invention includes a cooling fin 121 disposed between the bottom cover 110 and the top plate 120. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the top plate is configured to be supported so as to be separated from the upper end of the bottom cover by an amount corresponding to a predetermined height by the cooling fin, so that a sufficiently wide discharge area for discharging vent gas can be ensured along the circumferential direction of the side surface of the pack case 100. Thereby, even if vent gas is generated in the battery module 200, the vent gas can be discharged smoothly and deformation of the pack case 100 can be prevented. When the vent gas is discharged to the outside of the pack case 100, it can be cooled by the cooling fin 121, so that the risk of ignition of other structures around the battery pack 10 can be minimized.

[0034] Hereinafter, the configuration of such a pack case 100 will be described in detail.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 2, in the battery module 200 according to this embodiment, the gas vent port 235 is disposed at the upper part. When vent gas is generated inside the battery module 200, the vent gas is discharged upward (in the Z-axis direction) of the battery module 200 through the gas vent port 235, and then is blocked by the top plate 120 covering the upper part of the battery module 200 and moves horizontally. At this time, by exchanging heat with the cooling fins 121 until the vent gas reaches the edge region of the top plate 120, the temperature of the vent gas can be reduced. In particular, a vortex phenomenon appears significantly more violently inside the pack case 100 until it is discharged to the outside of the pack case 100. As a result, the amount of heat exchange between the vent gas and the top plate 120 including the cooling fins 121 increases, and the temperature of the vent gas can be significantly reduced compared to the case where the cooling fins 121 are not used. The cooling fins and the top plate may be made of a metal having excellent thermal conductivity, such as aluminum, for cooling the vent gas.

[0036] Specifically, each cooling fin 121 according to this embodiment may be provided in the shape of a thin plate-like body protruding perpendicularly to one surface of the top plate 120 facing the inside direction (battery module side) of the pack case 100, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Different from this embodiment, the shape of the cooling fin 121 can be replaced with various shapes, such as a pin shape, a rod shape, an elliptical shape, etc.

[0037] Also, a plurality of the cooling fins 121 may be configured to be arranged at predetermined intervals along the first direction (Y-axis direction) which is the longitudinal direction of the top plate 120 or the second direction (X-axis direction) which is the width direction of the top plate 120 from one edge to the other edge of the top plate 120. That is, the cooling fins 121 are distributed over the entire region of the top plate 120 except for the region of the second cross beam 123 described later, and may be composed of N rows and M columns.

[0038] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 4, all rows and columns of the cooling fins 121 may be configured to match in the front-back, left-right directions. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 6, one row and other rows, or one column and other columns may be configured not to match in the front-back, left-right directions.

[0039] The array structure of the cooling fins 121 as shown in FIG. 6 may be effective in generating more vortices because the exhaust path of the vent gas is more complex compared to the array structure of the cooling fins 121 as shown in FIG. 4. From such a perspective, the array structure of the cooling fins 121 as shown in FIG. 6 may be advantageous in increasing the heat dissipation amount of the vent gas.

[0040] Among the cooling fins 121, the cooling fins 121 disposed at the edge of the top plate 120 may be configured such that when the top plate 120 is combined with the bottom cover 110, their ends are vertically connected to the edge of the upper end of the bottom cover 110. For example, a pin insertion groove (not shown) may be provided at the edge of the upper end of the bottom cover 110, and the ends of the cooling fins 121 may be inserted into the pin insertion groove so that a part of the cooling fins 121 is vertically connected to the edge of the upper end of the bottom cover 110.

[0041] As described above, the battery pack 10 according to this embodiment has a structure in which the bottom cover 110 in which the battery module 200 is housed is covered by the top plate 120 with which the cooling fins 121 are aligned. For this reason, the vent gas generated in the battery module and rising vertically is blocked by the top plate 120, the discharge pressure decreases, and it moves in the direction of the side surface of the pack case. During the process of moving in the direction of the side surface, heat exchange with the cooling fins 121 and the top plate 120 is actively performed, and thus cooling is possible. The vent gas will escape to the outside of the pack case 100 through the empty space O between the outermost cooling fins 121 along the circumferential direction of the side surface of the pack case 100.

[0042] On the one hand, the pack case 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention further includes first cross beams 116a and 116b provided on the bottom cover 110 and a second cross beam 123 provided on the top plate 120.

[0043] Returning to FIG. 2, the bottom cover 110 includes a base plate forming a bottom surface and wall frames 112, 113, 114, and 115 forming a wall along the periphery of the base plate. The internal space surrounded by the base plate and the wall frames 112, 113, 114, and 115 may be configured to be defined by the first cross beams 116a and 116b. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the first cross beams 116a and 116b include a first horizontal beam 116a and a first vertical beam 116b. One end of the first horizontal beam 116a is connected to the front frame 112, and the other end is connected to the rear frame 113. One end of the first vertical beam 116b is connected to the left side frame 114, and the other end may be configured to be connected to the right side frame 115.

[0044] According to the first cross beams 116a and 116b of this embodiment, four module accommodating portions S can be formed in the bottom cover 110, and each battery module 200 can be arranged in each module accommodating portion S.

[0045] Next, referring to FIG. 3 or FIG. 5, the second cross beam 123 includes a second horizontal beam 123a and a second vertical beam 123b formed equal to or higher than the height of the cooling fins 121. The second horizontal beam 123a is arranged on the top plate 120 to extend in a first direction (Y-axis direction), and the second vertical beam 123b is arranged on the top plate 120 to extend in a second direction (X-axis direction). When the top plate 120 and the bottom cover 110 are combined vertically, the second horizontal beam 123a and the second vertical beam 123b may be provided to be in vertical face contact with the first horizontal beam 116a and the first vertical beam 116b, respectively.

[0046] Therefore, when the top plate 120 and the bottom cover 110 are combined vertically, the battery module 200 can be spatially blocked by the first cross beams 116a, 116b and the second cross beam 123. For reference, regarding the electrical connection between the battery modules 200, wiring means such as a cable may be partially embedded inside the second cross beam 123 so that the battery module 200 is electrically connected by the wiring means.

[0047] According to the configuration of the battery pack 10 of the present invention, even if vent gas or a spark occurs in one battery module 200, it is possible to prevent the vent gas or the spark from propagating to other battery modules 200. Therefore, when ignition occurs in one battery module 200, it is possible to prevent secondary ignition due to a thermal runaway phenomenon caused by heat propagation to other adjacent battery modules 200.

[0048] FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the upper plate portion of the module case of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the cooling and fire extinguishing system of the battery module of FIG. 7.

[0049] Hereinafter, based on these drawings, a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0050] A battery module 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cell stack body composed of a plurality of battery cells 210 and a module case 220 that houses the cell stack body.

[0051] As the battery cell 210, a pouch-type battery cell 210 can be adopted. The pouch-type battery cell 210 is a generally plate-shaped battery cell 210 in which an electrode assembly and an electrolytic solution are sealed with a pouch-type exterior material, and since it is well-known at the time of filing of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0052] The pouch-type battery cells 210 are each stood upright in the vertical direction (±Z), and are laminated in the left-right direction (±Y) so that wide surfaces face each other to form a cell laminate. Between the pouch-type battery cells 210, a buffer pad, a thin-plate-shaped cooling fin, or the like may be further interposed for the purpose of absorbing swelling or heat transfer.

[0053] The battery cell 210 may expand due to the expansion and contraction of the electrode assembly and the gas generated as a by-product of charge and discharge in the repeatedly performed charge and discharge process. In order to absorb the expansion force of the battery cell 210 at this time and suppress deformation of the module case 220 as much as possible, a partition wall 250 having a hollow structure may be added between the battery cells 210.

[0054] In particular, the battery module 200 of this embodiment may be configured such that the upper edge and the lower edge of the battery cell 210 are fixed to the module case with a thermally conductive adhesive so that the cooling water W1 indirectly contacts to cool the battery cell 210.

[0055] The module case 220 houses the cell laminate and is provided with a material having high mechanical rigidity to protect it from external impacts and vibrations, and may be provided in a generally hexahedral box shape. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the module case 220 of this embodiment includes an upper plate portion 230 disposed above the cell laminate, a lower plate portion 240 disposed below the cell laminate, and four side wall portions 260 surrounding the cell laminate, and may be configured in a generally hexahedral box shape. Although schematically shown, the side wall portion 260 may be a combination of four plates including front / back cover plates that cover the front and back surfaces of the cell laminate and a pair of side plates that cover the side surfaces of the cell laminate.

[0056] The module case 220 is configured such that, during normal times, it effectively cools the battery cell 210, and when a fire occurs, the upper plate portion 230 serves as a cooling water storage tank and the lower plate portion 240 serves as a heat sink to quickly suppress the ignition of the battery cell 210. Here, a heat sink means a cooling component that is provided with a flow path through which cooling water W1 flows inside and is used to absorb heat.

[0057] That is, the battery module 200 according to this embodiment is configured such that the upper part is a cooling water storage tank and the lower part is a heat sink, so that during normal times, the battery module 200 is cooled, and in an emergency, the water in the cooling water storage tank can be injected into the battery module 200.

[0058] Hereinafter, the cooling and fire extinguishing structure of such a battery module 200 will be described in detail.

[0059] Referring to FIGS. 8 to 10, the upper plate portion 230 of the module case 220 includes a first upper plate 231 in contact with a plurality of battery cells 210 and a second upper plate 232 facing the first upper plate 231. Further, the first upper plate 231 may be provided with a plurality of heat-fusible first melt spots 233, and the second upper plate 232 may be configured to include the gas vent port 235 through which gas can be discharged to the outside and a vent port cap 236 formed of a heat-fusible material for sealing the gas vent port 235.

[0060] The first upper plate 231 may be provided with aluminum (Al) having excellent thermal conductivity, and the second upper plate 232 may be provided with steel having excellent rigidity. The first upper plate 231 and the second upper plate 232 made of different materials can be joined together by dissimilar joining, for example, by welding such as brazing.

[0061] In this way, the upper plate portion 230 having a structure in which the aluminum first upper plate 231 and the steel second upper plate 232 are joined together by dissimilar joining has the advantages of high heat absorption rate with respect to the battery cell 210 and excellent durability against high-temperature vent gas and sparks. However, the scope of the rights of the present invention is not limited to the heat sink in which aluminum and steel are joined together by dissimilar joining. That is, when manufacturing the upper plate portion 230, for ease of manufacturing process and weight reduction, both the first upper plate 231 and the second upper plate 232 may be made of aluminum material, and in addition to aluminum, other materials having low weight and excellent rigidity may be used.

[0062] The lower plate portion 240 of the module case 220 includes a first lower plate 241 in contact with a plurality of battery cells 210 and a second lower plate 242 facing the first lower plate 241, and the first lower plate 241 may be configured to include a second melt spot 243 that is heat-fusible.

[0063] The lower plate portion 240 is provided with a flow path through which cooling water flows, and an inlet port P1 and an outlet port P2 may be connected to one side and the other side of the flow path for the circulation of the cooling water. For this reason, the cooling water W1 can be supplied to the flow path through the inlet port P1 and discharged to the outside through the outlet port P2.

[0064] In this way, by virtue of the configuration of the upper plate portion 230 and the lower plate portion 240 which contain cooling water inside and are in contact with the edges at both ends of the battery cell 210, the battery cell 210 can have its edge portions on both sides cooled.

[0065] That is, the battery cell 210 can be cooled through a heat dissipation path that connects "the edge at the upper end of the battery cell 210 ⇒ the first upper plate 231 made of aluminum material of the upper plate portion 230 ⇒ the cooling water W1" and a heat dissipation path that connects "the edge at the lower end of the battery cell 210 ⇒ the first lower plate 241 made of aluminum material of the lower plate portion 240 ⇒ the cooling water W1".

[0066] Next, the configuration of the fire extinguishing system of the battery module 200 will be described.

[0067] When the temperature of a certain battery cell 210 becomes abnormally high or catches fire, the first melt spot 233 of the upper plate portion 230 and the second melt spot 243 of the lower plate portion 240 are melted, and the cooling water stored in the upper plate portion 230 flows into the inside of the module case 220 and can be used to extinguish the battery cell 210.

[0068] The first melt spot 233 and the second melt spot 243 may be arranged at positions that are vertically symmetric with at least one of the battery cells 210 sandwiched therebetween and may be substantially similarly configured.

[0069] In the case of this embodiment, the first melt spot 233 may be composed of a through-hole 237 formed in the thickness direction of the first upper plate 231 and a seal cap formed of a heat-meltable material. The second melt spot 243 may be composed of a through-hole and a seal cap, similarly to the first melt spot 233.

[0070] As the material of the seal cap, a plastic resin such as polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) can be used. For example, the seal cap made of a plastic material and the above-described aluminum material first upper plate 231 or first lower plate 241 can be integrally formed by an insert injection method. The seal cap can be replaced with other materials such as rubber having heat-melting properties and sealing properties.

[0071] According to the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 11, when one battery cell 210 catches fire, the seal caps located above and below the battery cell 210 are heat-melted and disappeared by the heat and high-temperature vent gas generated in the battery cell 210. As a result, the cooling water W1 is immediately introduced from the upper plate portion 230 into the battery cell 210 through the through-hole. In this case, the first ignited battery cell 210 can be quickly extinguished, which is effective in preventing the diffusion of heat to the surrounding battery cells 210.

[0072] Then, as shown in FIG. 12, vent gas and high-temperature sparks may flow into the internal space of the upper plate portion 230 from which the cooling water has escaped. At this time, the vent cap 236 that has blocked the gas vent port 235 is heat-melted and disappeared, and the gas vent port 235 can be opened. Such a gas vent port 235 is provided with a mesh structure so that the high-temperature sparks are sieved and only the vent gas can be discharged outside the upper plate portion 230. Here, the high-temperature sparks mean active materials detached from the electrodes inside the battery cell 210, molten aluminum particles, and the like.

[0073] That is, when the battery cell 210 catches fire, after the cooling water W1 is introduced into the battery cell 210 from the inside of the upper plate portion 230 through the through-hole, the inside of the upper plate portion 230 becomes an empty space. At this time, the empty space generated in the upper plate portion 230 is utilized as a gas discharge passage. If the high-temperature vent gas and spark enter the inside of the upper plate portion 230 through the through-hole 237 and the vent port cap 236 is thermally melted and disappears, the vent gas can be discharged to the outside at high speed through the gas vent port 235 due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the module case 220. At this time, the flame and spark can be extinguished due to the temperature drop, or can be filtered at the gas vent port 235 having a mesh structure.

[0074] In this way, the vent gas that has come out of the battery module 200 through the gas vent port 235 can be discharged to the outside of the pack case 100 as shown in FIG. 13.

[0075] As described above, in this embodiment, four battery modules 200 are configured to be accommodated in the pack case 100 in a state where they are spatially blocked by the first cross beams 116a and 116b of the bottom cover 110 and the second cross beam 123 of the top plate 120. Therefore, if vent gas is generated in the battery module 200 located in the area of circle 1 as shown in FIG. 13, the generated vent gas can be discharged to the outside of the pack case 100 in a state where the temperature has decreased without diffusing into the areas of circles 2, 3, and 4 inside the pack case 100.

[0076] As described above, according to the configuration of the battery pack 10 of the present invention, even if high-temperature vent gas is generated in a certain battery module 200, the temperature and pressure can be lowered and discharged to the outside of the battery pack 10, thereby reducing the risk factors due to the discharge of vent gas. In addition, thermal damage to other battery modules 200 can be suppressed as much as possible to prevent thermal runaway of the battery pack 10.

[0077] On the one hand, although not shown in the drawings, the battery pack 10 according to the present invention may further include various devices for controlling the charging and discharging of the battery module 200, such as a battery management system (BMS), a current sensor, a fuse, and the like.

[0078] The battery pack according to the present invention is applicable to automobiles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. That is, an automobile according to the present invention may include the battery pack according to the present invention. The battery pack can be installed in the vehicle body frame or the trunk space under the seat of the vehicle. When installed in the vehicle, if necessary, it may be arranged in a state where the top plate of the pack case is turned over so that it comes down and the up and down are reversed.

[0079] In this specification, directional terms such as up, down, left, and right are used, but these terms are merely used for ease of explanation and may vary depending on the position of the object to be described and the position of the observer. This is self-evident to those skilled in the art of the present invention.

[0080] As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It goes without saying that various modifications and variations are possible within the equivalent scope of the technical idea and claims of the present invention by those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0081] 10 Battery pack 100 Pack case 110 Bottom cover 112 Wall frame, front frame 113 Wall frame, rear frame 114 Wall frame, left side frame 115 Wall frame, right side frame 116a First cross beam, first horizontal beam 116b First cross beam, first longitudinal beam 120 Top plate 121 Cooling fin 123 Second cross beam 123a Second horizontal beam 123b Second longitudinal beam 200 Battery module 210 Battery cell 220 Module case 230 Upper plate part 231 First upper plate 232 Second upper plate 233 First melt spot 235 Gas vent port 236 Vent port cap 237 Through hole 240 Lower plate part 241 First lower plate 242 Second lower plate 243 Second melt spot 250 Partition wall 260 Side wall part P1 Inlet port P2 Outlet port W1 Cooling water

Claims

1. A plurality of battery modules, A pack case provided to accommodate the plurality of battery modules therein, A battery pack including: The pack case includes: A bottom cover for accommodating the plurality of battery modules, A top plate vertically coupled to the bottom cover so as to cover the upper part of the battery module, the top plate including cooling fins (heat dissipation fins) protruding from one surface facing the inner direction of the pack case, Including, The bottom cover includes: A base plate forming a bottom surface, A wall frame forming a wall along the periphery of the base plate, A first cross beam defining an internal space surrounded by the base plate and the wall frame, Including, Each of the battery modules is disposed in a plurality of module accommodation portions formed by the internal space defined by the first cross beam, The top plate includes a second cross beam provided to be vertically in face contact with the first cross beam, A battery pack in which vent gas generated in the battery module is discharged to the outside of the pack case through a free space formed between the cooling fins provided in a space separated by the second cross beam.

2. The cooling fins, Are provided in plurality along a first direction which is the longitudinal direction of the top plate or a second direction which is the width direction of the top plate from one edge to the other edge of the top plate, the battery pack according to claim 1.

3. The cooling fins disposed at the edge of the top plate have their ends vertically connected to the edge of the upper end of the bottom cover, the battery pack according to claim 1.

4. The second cross beam is formed to be equal to or higher than the height of the cooling fins, the battery pack according to claim 1.

5. The battery module includes: A plurality of battery cells, A module case for accommodating the plurality of battery cells, Including, The module case has a gas vent port formed in an upper plate portion covering the upper part of the plurality of battery cells, the battery pack according to claim 1.

6. The gas vent port is provided in a mesh structure, the battery pack according to claim 5.

7. A battery module, A pack case provided to accommodate the battery module therein; A battery pack including: The pack case includes: A bottom cover for accommodating the battery module; A top plate vertically coupled with the bottom cover so as to cover an upper portion of the battery module, the top plate including cooling fins (radiator fins) protruding from one surface facing an inner direction of the pack case; Including: The battery module includes: A plurality of battery cells; A module case for accommodating the plurality of battery cells; Including: The module case has a gas vent formed in an upper plate portion covering an upper portion of the plurality of battery cells; An upper plate portion disposed above the plurality of battery cells and having cooling water therein; A lower plate portion disposed below the plurality of battery cells and having a flow path through which cooling water flows; Including: The upper plate portion includes a first melt spot that is heat-meltable on a first upper plate in contact with the plurality of battery cells, the gas vent through which gas can be discharged to the outside on a second upper plate facing the first upper plate, and a vent cap formed of a heat-meltable material for sealing the gas vent; A battery pack in which vent gas generated in the battery module is discharged to the outside of the pack case through a free space formed between the cooling fins.

8. The battery pack according to claim 7, wherein the lower plate portion includes a first lower plate in contact with the plurality of battery cells and a second lower plate facing the first lower plate, and the first lower plate has a second melt spot that is heat-meltable.

9. The battery pack according to claim 8, wherein the first melt spot and the second melt spot are provided to be vertically symmetric with at least one of the battery cells interposed therebetween.

10. An automobile including the battery pack according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Images