Sleeve for battery pack and battery pack having same, and electric device

Abstract

A sleeve for a battery pack and the battery pack having same, which aim to solve the problem of thermal runway in the collision of a battery pack due to a sleeve resulting in an increase in the local strength of a case and the sleeve itself not easily undergoing collapse, but intruding into the battery pack with overall collapse to squeeze a battery cell and cause the structure of the battery cell to break. Thus, the sleeve comprises: a sleeve body (11), a sleeve cover (12) connected to one end of the sleeve body (11), and a flange (13) connected to the other end of the sleeve body (11) and extending outward from the sleeve body (11), wherein the sleeve cover (12) is provided with a through hole (121), the through hole (121) being located in the center of the sleeve cover (12) and running through the sleeve cover (12) in the axial direction of the sleeve; and an outer surface of the sleeve body (11) is provided with at least a pair of symmetrical collapse grooves (111), the collapse grooves (111) extending to a preset distance from the sleeve cover (12) in the axial direction of the sleeve body (11). In this way, when one side of a battery pack undergoes an impact, the sleeve is squeezed and deformed from the position of the collapse grooves (111), and thus avoids overall intrusion into the cavity of the battery pack that accommodates a battery cell; in addition, the strength of the sleeve in a vertical direction is also ensured to support the mounting of the battery pack.

Description

Sleeve for battery pack, battery pack and electrical equipment having the same

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application CN202323368403.5, filed on December 7, 2023, with the invention name “Sleeve, battery pack and electrical equipment having the same”. The entire contents of the above Chinese patent application are incorporated into this application by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present invention relates to the technical field of batteries, and in particular to a sleeve for a battery pack, a battery pack having the same, and an electrical device. Background Art

[0004] With the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, battery packs, as core components of electric vehicles, are facing increasingly stringent collision safety requirements. The battery pack's outer shell has a mounting point connected to the vehicle body, which features a sleeve that can accommodate bolt connections. The sleeve is a cylindrical structure with a circumferential cylindrical surface and a bottom surface. This sleeve forms a relatively rigid structure within the battery pack's outer shell. Therefore, in a battery pack collision, the strength of this structure increases in a portion of the outer shell, making it less likely to collapse. However, as the entire battery pack collapses, it can invade the interior of the battery pack. Due to the sleeve's high rigidity, it can indirectly squeeze the battery cells, causing structural collapse and thermal runaway.

[0005] To solve this problem, some simple methods have been proposed, such as adjusting the material of the sleeve or thinning the sleeve to reduce the rigidity of the sleeve or processing the sleeve by stamping and winding metal sheets; this may result in insufficient strength to provide support in the vertical direction of this part of the mounting point.

[0006] Therefore, a new technical solution should be proposed in this field to solve the problem of battery cell extrusion caused by the sleeve.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] In order to solve the problem in the prior art that the battery cells in the battery pack are squeezed by the sleeve when the battery pack encounters an impact, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a sleeve for a battery pack, comprising: the sleeve comprises: a cylinder, a cylinder cover connected to one end of the cylinder, and a flange connected to the other end of the cylinder and extending outward from the cylinder; the cylinder cover is provided with a through hole, the through hole is located at the center of the cylinder cover and passes through the cylinder cover along the axial direction of the sleeve; the outer surface of the cylinder is provided with a collapse groove.

[0009] In an optional technology of the present invention, a rotation-stop groove is provided on the outer surface of the cylinder cover.

[0010] In an optional technology of the present invention, the anti-rotation groove radially passes through the cylinder cover.

[0011] In an optional technology of the present invention, the collapse grooves include at least two, and the two collapse grooves extend downward from the ends of both sides of the anti-rotation groove respectively.

[0012] In an optional technology of the present invention, a plurality of pairs of collapse grooves are provided on the outer surface of the cylinder, and the collapse grooves are evenly distributed in the circumference of the cylinder.

[0013] In an optional technology of the present invention, the flange is provided with a plurality of mounting holes.

[0014] In an optional technology of the present invention, the wall thickness of the cylinder is 2mm-6mm; the depth of the collapse groove accounts for 1 / 4 to 2 / 3 of the wall thickness.

[0015] In an optional technology of the present invention, the bottom cross-section of the collapse groove is a circular arc.

[0016] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a battery pack comprising: side beams, a bottom plate, and the sleeve as described in the first aspect, wherein the plane formed by the pair of collapse grooves is parallel to the side beams.

[0017] By adopting any one of the above-mentioned sleeves or battery packs, the battery pack of the present invention can have good safety performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0019] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a sleeve of the prior art of the present invention;

[0020] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a sleeve according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a sleeve according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a sleeve according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the sleeve of the present invention being installed on the beam body. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0025] It should be noted that in the description of the present invention, terms such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "inner," and "outer" indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. These terms are used solely for ease of description and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or component described must have, be constructed, or operate in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the present invention. Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0026] Furthermore, it should be noted that, in the description of the present invention, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the terms "installed," "disposed," and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, they may refer to fixed connections, detachable connections, or integral connections; they may refer to direct connections, indirect connections through an intermediate medium, or internal communication between two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0027] In order to solve the technical problem in the prior art that smoke in a battery pack cannot be safely discharged, as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the present invention provides a sleeve for a battery pack, comprising a barrel 11, a barrel cover 12 connected to one end of the barrel 11, and a flange 13 connected to the other end of the barrel 11 and extending outward.

[0028] The barrel cover 12 is provided with a through-hole 121, which passes through the barrel cover 12 along the axial direction of the sleeve. At the same time, the through-hole 121 is located at the center of the barrel cover 12 and is used to install the battery pack to the electrical equipment through a fastener: Generally, the fastener is a bolt, and the screw part of the bolt passes through the through-hole 121 and is fixed to the battery pack, and the nut part is blocked by the barrel cover 12 and accommodated in the sleeve.

[0029] A collapse groove 111 is formed on the outer surface of the cylinder 11 . The collapse groove 111 extends from the cylinder cover 12 along the axial direction of the cylinder 11 by a predetermined distance.

[0030] Compared with the sleeve of the prior art shown in Figure 1, due to the presence of the above-mentioned symmetrically arranged collapse grooves 111, when one side of the battery pack is impacted, the impact direction is perpendicular to the plane formed by the two symmetrical collapse grooves 111, and the sleeve will be squeezed and deformed from the position of the collapse grooves 111, and the deformation form tends to be flattened with respect to the plane as a reference, so that the sleeve will not invade as a whole into the cavity of the battery pack accommodating the battery cells, causing damage to the battery cells and posing a safety hazard; at the same time, the design of the symmetrical collapse grooves 111 does not reduce the overall thickness of the sleeve, and can still provide a fastener installation structure and provide sufficient strength support when the fastener is connected to the electrical equipment.

[0031] As an embodiment of the present invention, the preset distance of the extension can be 10%, 20%, 30%, 50% or even 100% of the axial length of the entire cylinder 11, that is, the length is set to be a very short section extending from the cylinder cover 12 along the axial direction of the cylinder 11 as shown in Figure 2; half of the length of the cylinder 11 extending from the cylinder cover 12 along the axial direction of the cylinder 11 as shown in Figure 3; or the entire length extending from the cylinder cover 12 along the axial direction of the cylinder 11 as shown in Figure 4. The length is determined by those skilled in the art based on the strength

[0032] As an embodiment of the present invention, a stop groove 122 is provided on the outer surface of the barrel cover 12, and the stop groove 122 is used to match the stop protrusion on the battery pack. When the sleeve is installed in the battery pack, the stop protrusion is embedded in the stop groove 122 to prevent the circumferential movement of the sleeve. In this way, when the battery pack is installed by rotating the fastener, the sleeve will not be subjected to force and rotate accordingly.

[0033] As an embodiment of the present invention, the anti-rotation groove 122 radially penetrates the barrel cover 12, that is, the anti-rotation groove 122 passes through the center of the outer surface of the barrel cover and forms an opening on the outer periphery of the barrel cover 12. In this case, the anti-rotation groove 122 is also a complete crack in the barrel cover 12, thereby forming a weak area on the barrel cover 12 when it is impacted.

[0034] Furthermore, the collapse grooves (111) include at least two, wherein the two collapse grooves 111 extend downward from the ends of both sides of the anti-rotation groove 122, and at this time, the two collapse grooves 111 and the anti-rotation grooves 122 are in the same plane. When the anti-rotation groove 122 is set to be parallel to the beam body of the mounting sleeve, the plane can also be parallel to the beam body to cope with the impact from the direction perpendicular to the battery pack beam body.

[0035] As an embodiment of the present invention, the outer surface of the cylinder 11 may have multiple pairs of collapse grooves 111, which are evenly distributed circumferentially on the outer circumferential wall of the cylinder 11. The design of multiple pairs of collapse grooves 111 makes it easier for the sleeve of the present invention to deform and collapse when subjected to external impact.

[0036] As shown in Figure 5, flange 13 is used to stably mount the sleeve to the beam of the battery pack. Flange 13 is provided with multiple mounting holes 131. The horizontal outer profile of flange 13 can be square, circular, or regular polygonal, and multiple mounting holes 131 are evenly distributed along these shapes to balance the forces. The beam is provided with mounting holes that match the dimensions of the sleeve's barrel 11. During installation, the sleeve is inserted into the mounting holes from the barrel cover 12. The flange 13 is blocked by the beam, and the sleeve is then secured in place in the mounting holes 131 of flange 13 using rivets, bolts, or other components.

[0037] As an embodiment of the present invention, the wall thickness of the cylinder 11 is 2-6 mm. Furthermore, the collapse groove 111 occupies 1 / 4 to 2 / 3 of the wall thickness.

[0038] As an embodiment of the present invention, the sleeve body is integrally cast, and the crush groove 111 and the anti-rotation groove 122 are formed by secondary machining using a milling cutter machine. Specifically, the anti-rotation groove 122 is perpendicular to the extension direction of the milling cutter, and the crush groove 111 is parallel to the machined milling cutter. Therefore, the bottom shape of the anti-rotation groove 122 is the same as the cross-section of the tip of the milling cutter head, and the bottom shape of the anti-rotation groove 122 is related to the travel trajectory of the milling cutter.

[0039] Optionally, the crush groove 111 is formed by a one-time milling process. If the crush groove 111 is deep, the width of the crush groove 111 is the same as the diameter of the milling cutter head, so that the bottom of the crush groove 111 is formed into a full-segment semicircular structure; when the crush groove 111 is shallow, the bottom of the crush groove 111 is formed into an arc surface structure of a minor arc, and the width of the crush groove 111 is only the chord length of the minor arc.

[0040] Of course, the collapse groove 111 can be processed multiple times by a smaller-sized milling cutter to make the bottom of the collapse groove 111 into a "V" shape or other shapes, but the bottom cross-section of the collapse groove 111 is an arc, which is a relatively easy-to-process solution in the embodiment provided by the present invention; at the same time, the bottom cross-section of the collapse groove 111 is an arc shape, which is also beneficial to play a guiding role in the collapse deformation of the sleeve.

[0041] In addition, the present invention also provides a battery pack having the sleeve in any of the above embodiments.

[0042] Thus far, the technical solutions of the present invention have been described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of protection of the present invention is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the principles of the present invention, those skilled in the art may make equivalent changes or substitutions to the relevant technical features, and the technical solutions after such changes or substitutions will fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A sleeve for a battery pack, characterized in that: The sleeve comprises: A cylinder (11), a cylinder cover (12) connected to one end of the cylinder (11), and a flange (13) connected to the other end of the cylinder (11) and extending outward from the cylinder (11); The cylinder cover (12) is provided with a through hole (121), the through hole (121) is located at the center of the cylinder cover (12) and penetrates the cylinder cover (12) along the axial direction of the sleeve; and the outer surface of the cylinder body (11) is provided with a collapse groove (111).

2. The sleeve according to claim 1, characterized in that The outer surface of the cylinder cover (12) is provided with a rotation-stop groove (122).

3. The sleeve according to claim 2, characterized in that The anti-rotation groove (122) radially penetrates the cylinder cover (12).

4. The sleeve according to claim 3, characterized in that The collapse grooves (111) include at least two, wherein the two collapse grooves (111) extend downward from ends of both sides of the anti-rotation groove (122) respectively.

5. The sleeve according to claim 1, characterized in that The outer surface of the cylinder (11) is provided with a plurality of collapse grooves (111), and the collapse grooves (111) are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction of the cylinder (11).

6. The sleeve according to claim 1, characterized in that The flange (13) is provided with a plurality of mounting holes (131).

7. The sleeve according to claim 1, characterized in that The wall thickness of the cylinder (11) is 2 mm to 6 mm; the depth of the collapse groove (111) accounts for 1 / 4 to 2 / 3 of the wall thickness.

8. The sleeve according to claim 1, characterized in that The bottom cross-section of the collapse groove (111) is a circular arc.

9. A battery pack, characterized in that: The battery pack includes a side beam, and the side beam is provided with a sleeve as described in any one of claims 1-8.

10. An electrical device, characterized in that: include: A battery pack as claimed in claim 9.

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