Watertight electrical discharge container

Abstract

Provided is a watertight electrical discharge container capable of maintaining safety when the temperature of a built-in battery rises abnormally. A watertight electrical discharge container 10 has a battery 12 built in and comprises a pipe 14, a solenoid valve 16, a detection device 18, and an emergency energy discharge system 20. The pipe 14 supplies water to the interior of a container housing 22. The solenoid valve 16 opens and closes a water supply passage 16a. The detection device 18 detects and measures the voltage, the current, and the temperature of the battery 12 inside the container housing 22, and detects and measures smoke inside the container housing 22. When the detection device 18 detects an abnormal voltage, an abnormal current, or an abnormal temperature, or detects smoke inside the container housing 22, the emergency energy discharge system 20 closes an electric switch 12b to electrically discharge battery energy to an electrical discharge resistor 12a, and opens the solenoid valve 16 for opening and closing the water supply passage 16a to issue a command to introduce water into the container housing 22.

Description

Watertight discharge container

[0001] The present invention relates to a container with a built-in battery, and more particularly to a watertight discharge container that can maintain safety in the event of a high-risk abnormality such as an abnormal rise in the temperature of the battery.

[0002] Conventional lithium-ion batteries are prone to bursting, catching fire, and exploding due to overcharging, so they typically require protective switches and circuits.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses that a protection circuit mounted in a circuit section monitors the voltage, current, temperature, etc. of an auxiliary battery such as a lithium-ion battery, and cuts off the circuit in the event of an abnormality.

[0004] Patent Publication No. 2014-175128

[0005] Although the safety measures in Patent Document 1 are considered to be general for currently manufactured lithium-ion batteries, it has been pointed out that there is a risk of rupture, fire, or explosion for lithium-ion batteries manufactured in the early days. In other words, since the submersion and rapid discharge of lithium-ion batteries are not taken into consideration, there is a problem in that it is difficult to refute the criticism that the safety measures are insufficient.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional technology, and an object of the present invention is to provide a watertight discharge container that can maintain safety in the event of a high-risk abnormality, such as an abnormal rise in the temperature of the built-in battery.

[0007] That is, the present invention provides a watertight discharge container that has a built-in battery and is capable of submerging the battery in water and rapidly discharging the battery if the battery temperature rises abnormally, the watertight discharge container comprising: a pipe that supplies water to the inside of the container housing or the inside of a cabinet that stores the battery; and a solenoid valve that opens and closes the water supply path; the battery is connected to a discharge resistor via an electric switch; and the watertight discharge container further comprising: a detection device that detects, measures, and issues an alarm about the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery inside the container housing and smoke inside the container housing; and an emergency energy release system that, if the detection device detects abnormal voltage, abnormal current, abnormal temperature, or smoke inside the container housing, closes the electric switch to discharge battery energy to the discharge resistor and opens the solenoid valve that opens and closes the water supply path to introduce water into the container housing.

[0008] The watertight discharge container of the present invention can maintain safety in the event of a high-risk abnormality, such as an abnormal rise in the temperature of the built-in battery.

[0009] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a watertight discharge container according to the present invention; 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the watertight discharge container according to the present invention;

[0010] The watertight discharge container of the present invention will be described in detail below based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the watertight discharge container of the present invention. In this specification, unless otherwise specified, the battery refers to a lithium ion battery.

[0011] The watertight discharge container 10 houses a battery 12 and is equipped with a pipe 14, a solenoid valve 16, a detection device 18, and an emergency energy release system 20. The watertight discharge container 10 is capable of submerging the battery 12 in water and rapidly discharging the battery 12 in the event of a high-risk abnormality, such as an abnormal rise in the temperature of the battery 12. The pipe 14 supplies water to the inside of the container housing 22. The solenoid valve 16 opens and closes a water supply path 16a. The battery 12 is connected to a discharge resistor 12a via an electric switch 12b.

[0012] The detection device 18 detects abnormalities in the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery 12 inside the container housing 22, as well as smoke inside the container housing 22. When the detection device 18 detects at least one of abnormal voltage, abnormal current, abnormal temperature, and smoke inside the container housing 22, the emergency energy release system 20 issues a command to close the electric switch 12b to discharge battery energy to the discharge resistor 12a and to open the solenoid valve 16 that opens and closes the water supply path 16a to introduce water into the container housing 22. The drain port 22a drains the water introduced into the container housing 22. The detection device 18 does not have to measure the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery 12 inside the container housing 22, but it is preferable that it do so. Furthermore, the detection device 18 does not have to issue an alarm when it detects an abnormality or smoke, but it is preferable that it does so.

[0013] Next, a modified example of the watertight discharge container of the present invention will be described. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the watertight discharge container of the present invention. The watertight discharge container 30 includes a cabinet 32 ​​that stores the batteries 12, and differs from the watertight discharge container 10 in that water is introduced into the cabinet 32 ​​instead of into the container housing 22. The drain port 32a drains the water introduced into the cabinet 32. With this configuration, the watertight discharge container of the present invention can maintain safety in the event of a high-risk abnormality, such as an abnormal rise in the temperature of the built-in batteries. The watertight discharge container of the present invention is basically configured as described above.

[0014] The watertight discharge container of the present invention has been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to the above description, and various improvements and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0015] The watertight discharge container of the present invention is industrially useful because it has the effect of maintaining safety in the event of a high-risk abnormality such as an abnormal rise in the temperature of the built-in battery.

[0016] 10, 30 Watertight discharge container 12 Battery 12a Discharge resistor 12b Electric switch 14 Pipe 16 Solenoid valve 16a Water supply line 18 Detection device 20 Emergency energy release system 22 Container housing 22a, 32a Drain port 32 Cabinet

Claims

1. A watertight discharge container that houses a battery and is capable of submerging the battery in water and rapidly discharging the battery if the battery temperature rises abnormally, the watertight discharge container comprising: a pipe that supplies water to the inside of the container housing or the inside of a cabinet that houses the battery; and a solenoid valve that opens and closes the water supply path; the battery is connected to a discharge resistor via an electric switch; the watertight discharge container further comprising: a detection device that detects, measures, and issues an alarm about the voltage, current, and temperature of the battery inside the container housing and smoke inside the container housing; and an emergency energy release system that, if the detection device detects abnormal voltage, abnormal current, abnormal temperature, or smoke inside the container housing, closes the electric switch to discharge battery energy to the discharge resistor and opens the solenoid valve that opens and closes the water supply path to introduce water into the container housing.

Images