Battery pack and battery module

Abstract

To provide a battery pack in which an operation for assembling a battery module is simplified and assembly efficiency is high.SOLUTION: A battery pack is provided, including a cover plate 1, a liquid cooling plate 2, and a battery cell 3, where the battery cell is disposed on the liquid cooling plate, the cover plate covers the liquid cooling plate and the battery cell, the liquid cooling plate is connected to the cover plate, an accommodating cavity 4 is formed between the cover plate and the battery cell, the liquid cooling plate is provided with a liquid outlet pipe 20 and a liquid inlet pipe 21 in communication with each other, the liquid outlet pipe and the liquid inlet pipe are located in the accommodating cavity, and connection assemblies are disposed on a top surface and a bottom surface of the cover plate. The electrical connection member and the liquid cooling connection member may be enclosed by a surrounding plate so as not to be exposed to the outside, meanwhile, a top surface and a bottom surface of the surrounding plate are provided with connection assemblies that can be matched with each other, and the liquid cooling plate is fixedly connected to the surrounding plate, so that the surrounding plates of the two battery packs can be matched with each other through the connection assemblies, thereby achieving the effect of vertically stacking and splicing the two battery packs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the technical field of battery packs, specifically to battery packs and battery modules.

Background Art

[0002] As an energy source for new energy vehicles, the battery is the most important component of new energy vehicles. The battery in a new energy vehicle is usually a battery module assembled by electrically connecting a plurality of battery packs. The requirements for electrical energy in different types of new energy vehicles are different. For example, medium-sized and large-sized vehicles usually require a large amount of electrical energy storage, while small-sized vehicles only require a small amount of electrical energy storage. Therefore, the number of battery packs included in the battery module for medium-sized and large-sized vehicles is more than that for the battery module for small-sized vehicles.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] Conventional battery packs have a low degree of modularization. When connecting a plurality of battery packs, it is necessary to fix the plurality of battery packs to each other with a separate fixing frame and combine them together, resulting in low assembly efficiency.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a battery pack including an enclosure plate, a liquid cooling plate, and battery cells. The battery cells are provided on the liquid cooling plate. The enclosure plate encloses the liquid cooling plate and the battery cells, and the liquid cooling plate is connected to the enclosure plate. There is an accommodation chamber between the enclosure plate and the liquid cooling plate. The liquid cooling plate is provided with an outlet pipe and an inlet pipe communicating with each other. Both the outlet pipe and the inlet pipe are located in the accommodation chamber. The battery cells are provided with output electrodes, and the output electrodes are located in the accommodation chamber. Connection assemblies that can be fitted to each other are provided on both the top surface and the bottom surface of the enclosure plate.

[0005] In a second embodiment, the embodiment of the present application provides a battery module comprising a plurality of such battery packs, all of which are stacked and assembled, with two adjacent packs connected by the connecting assembly. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] The enclosure plate encloses the liquid cooling plate and battery cells, and the inlet pipe, outlet pipe, and output electrode are all located within the housing between the enclosure plate and the liquid cooling plate. This allows the electrical connection members and liquid cooling connection members to be enclosed by the enclosure plate so that they are not exposed to the outside. At the same time, the top and bottom surfaces of the enclosure plate are both provided with interlocking connection assemblies, and the liquid cooling plate is fixedly connected to the enclosure plate. By interlocking the enclosure plates of two battery packs using the connection assemblies, the effect of stacking and joining the two battery packs vertically can be achieved, simplifying the operation of assembling the battery packs into a battery module. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of the battery pack of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of an embodiment of the battery pack of the present invention. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure in a stacked state in an embodiment of the battery pack of the present invention. [Figure 4] This is an enlarged view of section A in Figure 3. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a connection assembly in another embodiment of the battery pack of the present invention. [Figure 6] This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of the battery module of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Referring to Figure 1, this is an embodiment of the battery pack of the present invention comprising an enclosure plate 1, a liquid cooling plate 2, and a battery cell 3, wherein the battery cell 3 is provided on the liquid cooling plate 2, the enclosure plate 1 encloses the liquid cooling plate 2 and the battery cell 3, and the liquid cooling plate 2 is connected to the enclosure plate 1, there is a housing chamber 4 between the enclosure plate 1 and the liquid cooling plate 2, the liquid cooling plate 2 is provided with an outlet pipe 20 and an inlet pipe 21 communicating with each other, both the outlet pipe 20 and the inlet pipe 21 are located in the housing chamber 4, the battery cell 3 is provided with an output electrode 19, the output electrode 19 is located inside the housing chamber 4, and the top and bottom surfaces of the enclosure plate 1 are both provided with connecting assemblies that can be fitted together with each other.

[0009] The liquid cooling plate 2 is a rectangular, hollow plate, and both the inlet pipe 21 and outlet pipe 20 are provided at one end in the longitudinal direction of the liquid cooling plate 2. Multiple battery cells 3 are arranged on the liquid cooling plate 2 along its longitudinal direction. The enclosure plate 1 is rectangular in shape as a whole, and the enclosure plate 1 surrounds the outside of the liquid cooling plate 2. Fixing is achieved by welding the two long sides of the liquid cooling plate 2 to the enclosure plate 1, and since there is a certain distance between the two width sides of the battery cells 3 and the enclosure plate 1, two housing chambers 4 are formed. The enclosure plate 1 consists of four plates, namely two width-direction plates and two length-direction plates, and the two adjacent plates are connected by bolts or welding. In this embodiment, welding is used, and both width-direction plates of each plate are sloped, which increases the contact area between two adjacent plates and allows the two adjacent plates to be welded more firmly. The enclosure plate 1 encloses the liquid cooling plate 2 and the battery cells 3, and the inlet pipe 21, outlet pipe 20, and output electrode 19 are all located within the housing chamber 4 between the enclosure plate 1 and the liquid cooling plate 2. This allows the electrical connection members and liquid cooling connection members to be enclosed by the enclosure plate 1 so that they are not exposed to the outside world. At the same time, the top and bottom surfaces of the enclosure plate 1 are both provided with interlocking connection assemblies, and the liquid cooling plate is fixedly connected to the enclosure plate 1. By interlocking the enclosure plates 1 of two battery packs using the connection assemblies, the effect of stacking and joining the two battery packs vertically can be achieved, simplifying the operation of assembling the battery packs into a battery module.

[0010] In this embodiment, the connecting assembly comprises a first insertion member 7, a first groove 8, a second insertion member 9, and a second groove 10. The first insertion member 7 and the first groove 8 are provided on the top surface of the enclosure plate 1, and the second insertion member 9 and the second groove 10 are provided on the bottom surface of the enclosure plate 1. The first insertion member 7 and the second groove 10 are compatible with each other, and the second insertion member 9 and the first groove 8 are compatible with each other.

[0011] Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the first insertion member 7 is plate-shaped and is provided along the extending direction of the top surface of the enclosure plate 1. The first insertion member 7 is integrally molded with the enclosure plate 1, and since the first insertion member 7 is located on the side of the top surface of the enclosure plate 1 closer to the liquid cooling plate 2, a first groove 8 is formed on the side of the top surface of the enclosure plate 1 away from the liquid cooling plate 2. Since the second insertion member 9 is located on the side of the bottom surface of the enclosure plate 1 away from the liquid cooling plate 2, a second groove 10 is formed on the side of the bottom surface of the enclosure plate 1 closer to the liquid cooling plate 2. The shapes of the first insertion member 7 and the second insertion member 9 are the same. In this way, when two adjacent enclosure plates 1 are stacked together, the second insertion member 9 of the upper enclosure plate 1 is inserted into the first groove 8 of the lower enclosure plate 1, and the first insertion member 7 of the lower enclosure plate 1 is inserted into the second groove 10 of the upper enclosure plate 1. The first insertion member 7 and the second insertion member 9 form a mortise and tenon structure. To increase the strength of the connection between the two adjacent enclosure plates 1, after joining the two enclosure plates 1, fasteners such as bolts may be inserted from the overlapping portion of the first insertion member 7 and the second insertion member 9, that is, the first insertion member 7 and the second insertion member 9 may be held in relative fixation with bolts. This makes it possible to fix the two adjacent enclosure plates 1 together.

[0012] In another embodiment, referring to Figure 5, the connecting assembly may include an insert member 5 and a groove 6, the insert member 5 being provided on the bottom surface of the enclosure plate 1 and the groove 6 being provided on the top surface of the enclosure plate 1.

[0013] When joining and assembling two battery packs, the two battery pack enclosures 1 are joined by inserting the insertion member 5 located in the upper enclosure plate 1 into the groove 6 located in the lower enclosure plate 1. The insertion member 5 is plate-shaped and provided along the bottom surface of the enclosure plate 1. The insertion member 5 is positioned along the extending direction of the bottom surface of the enclosure plate 1. The insertion member 5 may be connected to the enclosure plate 1 by welding or integral molding. In this embodiment, the insertion member 5 is integrally molded with the enclosure plate 1, and the groove 6 is provided corresponding to the insertion member 5. To increase the strength of the connection between two adjacent enclosure plates 1, after joining the two enclosure plates 1 with the insertion member 5 and groove 6, fasteners such as bolts may be inserted into the enclosure plates 1 from the point where the insertion member 5 and groove 6 are connected, that is, the bolts may be passed through the insertion member 5 and groove 6, thereby holding the insertion member 5 and groove 6 relatively fixed.

[0014] In this embodiment, the liquid cooling plate 2 is provided with a plurality of position regulating plates 11, which abut against both sides in the extension direction where the plurality of battery cells 3 are arranged, and the extension direction of the battery cells 3 is the same as the stacking arrangement direction of the battery cells 3, and the position regulating plates 11 are fixedly connected to the enclosure plate 1.

[0015] The position regulating plate 11 is rectangular in shape, and its length corresponds to the width direction of the battery cell 3. The two width sides of the position regulating plate 11 are welded to the enclosure plate 1, and the bottom surface of the position regulating plate 11 is welded to the liquid cooling plate 2. The position regulating plate 11, liquid cooling plate 2, and enclosure plate 1 closely enclose the battery cell 3, preventing the battery cell 3 from expanding. The housing chamber 4 is located on the side of the position regulating plate 11 away from the battery cell 3.

[0016] In this embodiment, since the inside of the position regulating plate 11 is hollow, the weight of the position regulating plate 11 is reduced, the weight borne by the liquid cooling plate 2 is reduced, and deformation of the liquid cooling plate 2 can be avoided.

[0017] In this embodiment, a support plate 12 is provided inside the position regulating plate 11, which is configured to increase the structural strength of the position regulating plate 11 along the extension direction of the battery cell 3.

[0018] Since the position regulating plate 11 is configured to counter the expansion of the battery cell 3, sufficient structural strength is required to avoid deformation. The support plate 12 is rectangular, and the length direction of the support plate 12 is the same as that of the position regulating plate 11. The support plate 12 is parallel to the top and bottom surfaces of the position regulating plate 11. The two sides distributed along the width direction of the support plate 12 are welded to the inner walls of the position regulating plate 11, that is, the structural strength of the position regulating plate 11 is reinforced from the width direction of the support plate 12. The number of support plates 12 in the position regulating plate 11 may be arbitrary. In this embodiment, three support plates 12 are provided in the position regulating plate 11. The three support plates 12 are arranged at intervals along the width direction of the position regulating plate 11, and on the premise of reducing the weight of the position regulating plate 11, the structural strength of the position regulating plate 11 can be increased.

[0019] In another embodiment, the two sides along the length direction of the support plate 12 are respectively in contact with the top and bottom surfaces of the position regulating plate 11, and the two sides along the width direction of the support plate 12 are respectively welded to the two side walls of the position regulating plate 11. Similarly, the structural strength of the position regulating plate 11 is reinforced from the width direction of the support plate 12. In such an installation method of the support plate 12 in this embodiment, a plurality of support plates 12 need to be arranged in parallel along the length direction of the position regulating plate 11 within the position regulating plate 11.

[0020] In this embodiment, since the inside of the enclosure plate 1 is hollow, the weight of the entire battery pack can be reduced. When a plurality of battery packs are assembled into a battery module, the weight borne by the bottommost battery pack can be reduced.

[0021] In this embodiment, a reinforcing plate 13 configured to increase the structural strength of the enclosure plate 1 is provided inside the enclosure plate 1.

[0022] When the battery pack is assembled into the battery module, the enclosure plate 1 of each battery pack must directly bear the weight from the upper battery pack (except for the enclosure plate 1 of the uppermost battery pack). Therefore, it is necessary to reinforce the hollow enclosure plate 1 in terms of structural strength. The reinforcing plate 13 is rectangular, and the extending direction of the reinforcing plate 13 is the same as that of the enclosure plate 1. The reinforcing plate 13 is provided obliquely within the enclosure plate 1. There is an included angle between the width direction of the reinforcing plate 13 and the top or bottom surface of the enclosure plate 1. By doing so, structural reinforcement can be provided in the thickness direction and width direction of the enclosure plate 1. The number of reinforcing plates 13 within the enclosure plate 1 may be arbitrary. In this embodiment, there are two reinforcing plates 13 within the enclosure plate 1. The two reinforcing plates 13 are symmetrically provided with the center line of the width of the enclosure plate 1 as the axis. Thereby, on the premise of reducing the weight of the enclosure plate 1, the structural strength of the enclosure plate 1 can be enhanced.

[0023] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, this is an embodiment of the battery module of the present application assembled by stacking four such battery packs as described above. Two adjacent battery packs are fitted and connected by a connection assembly.

[0024] A top plate 14 is covered on the top of the uppermost battery pack, and the liquid cooling plate 2 of the upper battery pack is covered on the tops of the other three battery packs. The enclosure plates 1 of two adjacent battery packs are fitted to each other by inserting the first insertion member 7 into the second concave groove 10 and inserting the second insertion member 9 into the first concave groove 8. At the same time, the bolts are inserted into the first insertion member 7 and the second insertion member 9 to fix the two adjacent enclosure plates 1 to each other.

[0025] In this embodiment, an inlet liquid main pipe 16 and an outlet liquid main pipe 15 are provided on the enclosure plate 1 facing the accommodation chamber 4 of the battery pack. The outlet liquid pipes 20 of different battery packs are connected in parallel and communicate with the outlet liquid main pipe 15. The inlet liquid pipes 21 of different battery packs are connected in parallel and communicate with the inlet liquid main pipe 16.

[0026] The inlet main pipe 16 and the outlet main pipe 15 may be inserted into different enclosure plates 1, or they may be jointly installed in the same enclosure plate 1. In this embodiment, both the inlet main pipe 16 and the outlet main pipe 15 are inserted into enclosure plates 1 facing the housing chamber 4 where the inlet pipe 21 and outlet pipe 20 of the bottommost battery pack are installed. The inlet pipes 21 of the four battery packs are each connected to one main pipe via one branch pipe, and this main pipe is further connected to the inlet main pipe 16. The outlet pipes 20 of the four battery packs are each connected to one main pipe via one branch pipe, and this main pipe is further connected to the outlet main pipe 15. In this way, by introducing coolant into the inlet main pipe 16, coolant can be introduced into the four liquid cooling plates 2, and at the same time, by guiding out the coolant flowing out from the outlet main pipe 15, the coolant can be guided out of the four liquid cooling plates 2. The output poles 19 of two adjacent battery packs are electrically connected by copper bars 17, and a high-voltage connector 18 is connected to the copper bar 17 of the uppermost battery pack. The high-voltage connector 18 passes through the enclosure plate 1 and is configured to connect to external electrical equipment. In the battery module assembled from the aforementioned battery packs, the electrical connection members (i.e., copper bars 17, output poles 19, etc.) and liquid cooling connection members (i.e., inlet pipes 21, outlet pipes 20, etc.) are all enclosed within the housing chamber 4 by the enclosure plate 1, preventing exposure to the outside world, thus preventing damage to the electrical connection members and liquid cooling connection members. Furthermore, different numbers of battery packs can be installed for different vehicle models, and assembly is easy, quick, and convenient. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 1...Enclosure plate, 2...Liquid cooling plate, 3...Battery cell, 4...Housing chamber, 5...Insertion member, 6...Recessed groove, 7...First insertion member, 8...First recessed groove, 9...Second insertion member, 10...Second recessed groove, 11...Position regulating plate, 12...Support plate, 13...Reinforcement plate, 14...Top plate, 15...Outlet main pipe, 16...Inlet main pipe, 17...Copper bar, 18...High-voltage connector, 19...Output electrode, 20...Outlet pipe, 21...Inlet pipe.

Claims

1. The device comprises an enclosure plate, a liquid cooling plate, and a battery cell, wherein the battery cell is mounted on the liquid cooling plate, the enclosure plate encloses the liquid cooling plate and the battery cell, the liquid cooling plate is connected to the enclosure plate, there is a housing chamber between the enclosure plate and the battery cell, the liquid cooling plate is provided with a liquid outlet pipe and a liquid inlet pipe in communication, both the liquid outlet pipe and the liquid inlet pipe are located in the housing chamber, and connection assemblies are provided on both the top and bottom surfaces of the enclosure plate. The connecting assembly comprises a first insertion member and a first groove provided on the top surface of the enclosure plate, and a second insertion member and a second groove provided on the bottom surface of the enclosure plate, wherein the first insertion member and the second groove are compatible with each other, and the second insertion member and the first groove are compatible with each other. The first insertion member is located on the side of the top surface of the enclosure plate closest to the liquid cooling plate, the first groove is located on the side of the top surface of the enclosure plate away from the liquid cooling plate, the second insertion member is located on the side of the bottom surface of the enclosure plate away from the liquid cooling plate, and the second groove is located on the side of the bottom surface of the enclosure plate closest to the liquid cooling plate. Battery pack.

2. The liquid cooling plate is provided with a plurality of position regulating plates that abut against both sides in the direction in which the battery cells are arranged and stacked, and are fixedly connected to the enclosure plate. The battery pack according to claim 1.

3. The inside of the aforementioned position regulating plate is hollow. The battery pack according to claim 2.

4. Within the position regulating plate, a support plate is provided, configured to increase the structural strength of the position regulating plate in the direction in which the battery cells are arranged and stacked. The battery pack according to claim 3.

5. The inside of the aforementioned enclosure plate is hollow. The battery pack according to claim 1.

6. Reinforcement plates are provided within the enclosure plate, configured to increase the structural strength of the enclosure plate. The battery pack according to claim 5.

7. The battery pack comprises all components stacked and assembled, with two adjacent components connected by the connecting assembly, according to any one of the multiple claims 1 to 6. Battery module.

8. The enclosure plate, which is provided along the direction in which the battery cells are arranged and stacked, is provided with an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe, and the outlet pipes of different battery packs are connected in parallel and communicate with the outlet pipe, and the pre-filled liquid pipes of different battery packs are connected in parallel and communicate with the inlet pipe. The battery module according to claim 7.

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