Battery pack

Abstract

To effectively prevent a short circuit when a battery cell emits smoke, when a configuration is adopted in which an equipment base is disposed above a battery module.SOLUTION: A battery pack includes a battery module, a peripheral device, and an equipment base. The battery module includes a plurality of battery cells having a smoke exhaust valve on an upper surface. The equipment base is disposed above the battery module and supports the peripheral device. The equipment base is made of a fire-resistant resin material and has a hole that forms a part of the smoke exhaust path of the battery pack.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a battery pack. The battery pack includes a battery stack, an electronic device, and an equipment base. The equipment base is provided above the battery stack and supports the electronic device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-137537 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the battery pack described in Patent Document 1, if the equipment base is made of a metal material such as a steel plate, the following problem may occur: When a battery cell emits smoke, debris ejected from the battery cell may clog the space between the equipment base and the battery cell. Because this debris is a conductive foreign body, if this clogging occurs, a short circuit may occur between the battery cell and the equipment base via the debris.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a battery pack that can effectively suppress short circuits when a battery cell emits smoke when a configuration is adopted in which an equipment base is placed above a battery module. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The battery pack according to the present disclosure includes a battery module, a peripheral device, and an equipment base. The battery module includes a plurality of battery cells each having a smoke exhaust valve on its upper surface. The equipment base is disposed above the battery module and supports the peripheral device. The equipment base is made of a fire-resistant resin material and has a hole that forms part of the smoke exhaust path of the battery pack. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, the equipment base is made of a fire-resistant resin material. This allows the equipment base to have both excellent insulation and heat resistance. The equipment base is also formed with holes for debris removal. This ensures a good path for debris to diffuse when smoke is generated. These configurations effectively prevent short circuits when the battery cell generates smoke. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a main part of a battery pack according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0010] 1. Battery pack configuration 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a main part of a battery pack 10 according to an embodiment. The battery pack 10 is mounted on an electric vehicle such as a battery electric vehicle (BEV) and supplies power to an electric motor that drives the electric vehicle.

[0011] The battery pack 10 includes a battery module 12 and a battery case 14. The battery case 14 houses the battery module 12. The battery case 14 includes, for example, a lower case 14a and an upper cover 14b. The lower case 14a corresponds to a case main body, and the upper cover 14b covers the lower case 14a.

[0012] The battery module 12 includes a plurality of battery cells 16. For example, the battery module 12 is configured by alternately stacking the battery cells 16 and spacers (not shown). The battery cells 16 are, for example, rectangular cells, and have smoke exhaust valves 18 on their upper surfaces 16a. FIG. 1 corresponds to a cross-sectional view of the battery pack 10 as viewed from the stacking direction of the battery cells 16. The battery pack 10 includes, for example, a plurality of battery modules 12 arranged in parallel with each other. Note that bus bars 20 that connect the electrode terminals of adjacent battery cells 16 are arranged on the upper surfaces 16a of the battery cells 16.

[0013] The battery pack 10 also includes peripheral devices 22 and a device base 24. The peripheral devices 22 include various devices such as a junction box and an electronic control unit (ECU). The device base 24 is disposed above the battery modules 12 (more specifically, for example, vertically above) and supports the peripheral devices 22. That is, the peripheral devices 22 are mounted on the device base 24. More specifically, in a configuration including multiple battery modules 12 like the battery pack 10 shown in FIG. 1 , the device base 24 is disposed so as to cover, for example, any one of the battery modules 12 from above. The "any one of the battery modules 12" referred to here corresponds to, for example, the battery module 12 located at the front end or the rear end of the electric vehicle.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1 , the device base 24 is formed inside the upper cover 14b so as to cover each battery module 12 (plurality of battery cells 16). The device base 24 is supported, for example, by support portions 26 and reinforcing members 28 of the lower case 14a. The reinforcing members 28 extend parallel to adjacent battery modules 12. The upper cover 14b has an opening in a location where the peripheral device 22 is disposed. This opening is covered by the device cover 30. In other words, the device cover 30 functions as part of the battery case 14. The device cover 30 is fixed to the device base 24 together with the upper cover 14b using fasteners 32, for example.

[0015] The device base 24 according to this embodiment is made of a fire-resistant resin material. An example of the fire-resistant resin material here is a sheet molding compound (SMC) that has excellent fire resistance, such as a phenolic resin molding material.

[0016] The equipment base 24 according to this embodiment also has a hole 34. The hole 34 constitutes part of the smoke exhaust path R of the battery pack 10. The smoke exhaust path R is a path for guiding smoke emitted from the battery cells 16 to the outside of the electric vehicle, and is formed inside the battery pack 10. More specifically, as an example, the hole 34 is formed in the equipment base 24 at a position that is offset in a predetermined direction from a position directly above the smoke exhaust valve 18. This predetermined direction is a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the battery cells 16 when the smoke exhaust valve 18 is viewed from above (in FIG. 1 , the left-right direction on the paper).

[0017] 2.Effects As described above, in the battery pack 10 according to this embodiment, the equipment base 24, which is disposed above the battery module 12 and supports the peripheral device 22, is made of a fire-resistant resin material. This allows the equipment base 24 to have both excellent insulation and heat resistance. This prevents a closed circuit from being formed via the conductive foreign matter (debris) ejected from the battery cell 16 and the equipment base 24, leading to a short circuit, when the battery cell 16 emits smoke. The closed circuit can be formed, for example, as follows: When smoke is emitted from two battery cells 16 included in the battery module 12, a closed circuit can be formed in the following order: one battery cell 16, debris from that one battery cell 16, the equipment base 24, debris from the other battery cell 16, and then the other battery cell 16.

[0018] Furthermore, the equipment base 24 according to this embodiment is formed with a hole 34 as a debris escape hole (i.e., a path for the debris to escape). This ensures a good path for the debris to diffuse when smoke is emitted, thereby preventing localized accumulation of debris. This also helps prevent the above-mentioned short circuit.

[0019] As described above, the battery pack 10 according to this embodiment can effectively prevent short circuits when the battery cells 16 emit smoke, when a configuration is adopted in which the equipment base 24 is disposed above the battery module 12.

[0020] In addition, by using an equipment base 24 made of a resin material instead of a metal material such as a steel plate, the flexibility of the shape of the resin can be utilized to obtain the following effect: Namely, it is possible to freely increase the thickness of the parts requiring strength and rigidity, such as the part 24a that is directly hit by debris and the sealing plane 24b of the rubber gasket 36, compared to the thickness of the other parts. Therefore, it is possible to realize a shape with better mass efficiency for the equipment base 24 compared to when a metal plate member such as a steel plate with a fixed thickness is used. [Explanation of symbols]

[0021] 10 battery pack, 12 battery module, 14 battery case, 14a lower case, 14b upper cover, 16 battery cell, 16a upper surface of battery cell, 18 smoke exhaust valve, 22 peripheral device, 24 device base, 30 device cover, 34 hole of device base

Claims

[Claim 1] a battery module formed by stacking a plurality of battery cells each having a smoke exhaust valve on its upper surface; Peripheral devices and an equipment base disposed above the battery module and supporting the peripheral equipment; A battery pack comprising: the device base is made of a fire-resistant resin material and has a hole that forms a part of a smoke exhaust path for the battery pack; When viewed from the stacking direction of the battery modules, the equipment base is formed so that the plate thickness of a portion located above the smoke exhaust valve is greater than the plate thickness of other portions. A battery pack characterized by:

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