Battery pack

Abstract

To provide a battery pack in which a large current can be cut off through a fuse even if a short circuit occurs during a vehicle collision and an increase in battery pack size can be suppressed.SOLUTION: A battery pack includes: a battery stack; a high voltage equipment component including a fuse; a first cable to connect between a first connection of the battery stack and the high voltage equipment component; a second cable to connect between a second connection of the battery stack and the high voltage equipment component; an equipment cover to cover the high voltage equipment component; and a low voltage equipment component. The first cable and the second cable are arranged to extend toward different directions, between the battery stack and the equipment cover. The low voltage equipment component is disposed to face a surface where the first connection of the battery stack is provided and disposed offset to the first connection.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a lithium ion secondary battery system that includes a battery pack having a plurality of lithium ion secondary batteries, and a plurality of fuses provided in each of the plurality of lithium ion secondary batteries. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-212166 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the conventional technology, for example, if a high-voltage equipment component including a fuse is located in the battery stack at the front of the vehicle, two cables (a positive cable and a negative cable) connecting the high-voltage equipment component and the battery stack run parallel to each other. As a result, in the conventional technology, in the event of a vehicle collision, the two cables may become pinched by the cover of the high-voltage equipment component, causing a direct short circuit between the two cables, which causes a short circuit through a circuit that does not go through the fuse, making it impossible to cut off the current. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a battery pack according to one embodiment comprises a battery stack, a high-voltage equipment component including a fuse, a first cable connecting a first connection part of the battery stack to the high-voltage equipment component, a second cable connecting a second connection part of the battery stack to the high-voltage equipment component, an equipment cover that covers the high-voltage equipment component, and a low-voltage equipment component, wherein the first cable and the second cable are arranged between the battery stack and the equipment cover so as to face in different directions from each other, and the low-voltage equipment component is arranged opposite the surface on which the first connection part of the battery stack is provided and is offset from the first connection part. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to one embodiment of the battery pack, even if a short circuit occurs during a vehicle collision, a large current can be cut off via a fuse, and an increase in the size of the battery pack can be suppressed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a battery stack included in a battery pack according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a battery pack according to an embodiment; [Figure 3] 1 is a side view of a battery pack according to an embodiment; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of a battery stack 110 included in a battery pack 100 according to one embodiment. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the battery pack 100 according to one embodiment. Fig. 3 is a side view of the battery pack 100 according to one embodiment.

[0010] The battery pack 100 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is mounted on a vehicle equipped with a drive motor, such as a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle, and is used as a power supply source that supplies power to the drive motor.

[0011] (Configuration of battery pack 100) As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the battery pack 100 includes a battery stack 110, a high-voltage equipment component 120, a low-voltage equipment component 130, a first cable 142, a second cable 144, a fuse 126, a first equipment cover 152, and a second equipment cover 154.

[0012] The battery stack 110 is a rechargeable secondary battery. The battery stack 110 can supply high-voltage power. The battery stack 110 is configured with a plurality of unit cells (not shown) electrically connected in series. Examples of unit cells include nickel-metal hydride batteries and lithium-ion batteries. The battery stack 110 has a configuration in which a plurality of unit cells are arranged in one direction, and thus has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape with the arrangement direction of the unit cells as the longitudinal direction. In particular, in this embodiment, the battery stack 110 is mounted on a vehicle such that, in a plan view from above, the short side of the battery stack 110 corresponds to the front-rear direction of the vehicle and the long side of the battery stack 110 corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 2 . The battery stack 110 includes a positive terminal 112 and a negative terminal 114. The positive terminal 112 is an example of a “first connection portion” and is provided so as to protrude from the lower end of the right side of the battery stack 110. The negative terminal 114 is an example of a "second connection portion" and is provided to protrude from the upper end of the left side surface of the battery stack 110. That is, in the battery stack 110 of this embodiment, the positive terminal 112 and the negative terminal 114 are provided on a pair of side surfaces (left side surface and right side surface) that are opposite to each other.

[0013] The high-voltage equipment component 120 is an equipment component that operates using high-voltage power supplied from the battery stack 110. In this embodiment, the high-voltage equipment component 120 is provided on the front side surface of the battery stack 110. The high-voltage equipment component 120 has a positive terminal 122 and a negative terminal 124. The positive terminal 122 is provided on the right side of the high-voltage equipment component 120. The negative terminal 124 is provided on the left side of the high-voltage equipment component 120.

[0014] The first cable 142 is a high-voltage cable that is connected to the positive terminal 122 of the high-voltage equipment component 120 and the positive terminal 112 of the battery stack 110. As a result, the positive terminal 122 of the high-voltage equipment component 120 is connected to the positive terminal 112 of the battery stack 110 via the first cable 142.

[0015] The second cable 144 is a high-voltage cable that is connected to the negative terminal 124 of the high-voltage equipment component 120 and the negative terminal 114 of the battery stack 110. As a result, the negative terminal 124 of the high-voltage equipment component 120 is connected to the negative terminal 114 of the battery stack 110 via the second cable 144.

[0016] The low-voltage equipment component 130 is an equipment component that operates using low-voltage power supplied from a battery (not shown) other than the battery stack 110 mounted on the vehicle. In this embodiment, the low-voltage equipment component 130 is provided on the right side surface of the battery stack 110.

[0017] The fuse 126 is provided in the high-voltage equipment component 120. The fuse 126 is turned off when a large current is supplied to the high-voltage equipment component 120, thereby preventing the large current from flowing through the high-voltage equipment component 120 and protecting the high-voltage equipment component 120. The fuse 126 may be provided in the first cable 142 or the second cable 144.

[0018] The first device cover 152 is a box-shaped (hollow rectangular parallelepiped) member made of metal and has an opening. The first device cover 152 is attached to the front side of the battery stack 110 and covers the high-voltage device components 120.

[0019] The second device cover 154 is a box-shaped (hollow rectangular parallelepiped) member made of metal with an opening. The second device cover 154 is attached to the right side surface of the battery stack 110 and covers the low-voltage system device components 130.

[0020] (Arrangement of the first cable 142 and the second cable 144) Here, in the battery pack 100 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the first cable 142 and the second cable 144 are arranged between the battery stack 110 and the first device cover 152 so as to extend in different directions from each other.

[0021] Specifically, the first cable 142 is drawn from the positive terminal 122 of the high-voltage equipment component 120 to the right outside of the first equipment cover 152 through a gap between the right side surface of the first equipment cover 152 and the front side surface of the battery stack 110. The first cable 142 is then arranged along the front side surface and right side surface of the battery stack 110, and is connected to the positive terminal 112 provided on the right side surface of the battery stack 110.

[0022] On the other hand, the second cable 144 is drawn from the negative terminal 124 of the high-voltage equipment component 120 to the left outside of the first equipment cover 152 through a gap between the left side surface of the first equipment cover 152 and the front side surface of the battery stack 110. The second cable 144 is then arranged along the front side surface and left side surface of the battery stack 110, and is connected to the negative terminal 114 provided on the left side surface of the battery stack 110.

[0023] As a result, in the battery pack 100 of this embodiment, the first cable 142 and the second cable 144 are arranged so that they do not run parallel to each other. Therefore, in the battery pack 100 of this embodiment, even if an external force is applied to the first device cover 152 toward the battery stack 110 (i.e., rearward) during a vehicle collision and the first cable 142 and the second cable 144 are pinched between the first device cover 152 and the battery pack 100, causing a short circuit, the first cable 142 and the second cable 144 will not be directly short-circuited to each other and the fuse 126 will be present on the short-circuited circuit, so that the fuse 126 will be turned off, thereby preventing a large current from flowing through the high-voltage equipment component 120 and protecting the high-voltage equipment component 120.

[0024] (Arrangement of low-voltage equipment components 130) 3, in the battery pack 100 of this embodiment, the low-voltage system equipment component 130 is disposed offset with respect to the positive terminal 112 of the battery stack 110. Specifically, the low-voltage system equipment component 130 is disposed facing the right side surface of the battery stack 110, and is covered by a second equipment cover 154. As shown in FIG. 3, the low-voltage system equipment component 130 is disposed offset in a region (the center of the right side surface of the battery stack 110) that does not overlap with the positive terminal 112 provided at the bottom of the right side surface of the battery stack 110 when the battery stack 110 is viewed in plan from the right side.

[0025] As a result, the battery pack 100 of this embodiment can arrange the low-voltage equipment components 130 within the limited space on the right side of the battery stack 110 so as not to interfere with the positive terminal 112, thereby suppressing an increase in the size of the battery pack 100.

[0026] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 100 battery packs 110 Battery Stack 112 Positive terminal (first connection) 114 Negative terminal (second connection) 120 High-voltage equipment parts 122 positive terminal 124 negative terminal 126 Fuse 130 Low-voltage equipment parts 142 First Cable 144 Second Cable 152 First equipment cover 154 Second equipment cover

Claims

1. A battery stack; High voltage equipment parts including fuses, a first cable connecting a first connection portion provided on a first surface side of the battery stack and the high-voltage equipment component; a second cable connecting a second connection portion provided on a second surface of the battery stack opposite to the first surface to the high-voltage equipment component; and an equipment cover for covering the high-voltage equipment component; Low-voltage equipment parts Equipped with The high-voltage equipment part is the battery stack is provided opposite a third surface that is perpendicular to the first surface and the second surface, The first cable and the second cable are the battery stack and the device cover are disposed so as to face in different directions from each other through a gap between the third surface of the battery stack and the device cover, The low-voltage equipment part is The battery stack is disposed so as to face the first surface on which the first connection portion of the battery stack is provided, and is disposed offset from the first connection portion. A battery pack characterized by:

2. The third surface is a side surface that is the front side of the vehicle.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the battery pack is a battery pack having a plurality of electrodes.

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