Battery pack

Abstract

A battery pack according to the present disclosure comprises: a battery pack body that, with respect to a vehicle body provided with a pair of structures that are members extending forward and backward, and that are disposed with intervals open at left and right, is disposed between the structures; a pair of brackets that protrude from each of the side surfaces of the battery pack body, and that are attached to the structure; and a tubular member that is a member extending forward and backward, and that is disposed along the side surface of the battery pack body. The bracket is provided with a first bracket and a second bracket. The tubular member is disposed in a space sandwiched between the first bracket and the second bracket in the vertical direction.

Description

Battery pack

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a battery pack mounted on a vehicle body.

[0002] Battery packs installed in electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles (including plug-in hybrid vehicles that allow external charging and external power supply) are mounted between a pair of side sills or other structures on the underside of the vehicle body. Heat source devices such as motors and inverters are typically mounted around the battery pack, and in some cases, a refrigerant must be circulated between the battery pack and these devices. To address this issue, it has been proposed to arrange a tubular member along the top surface of the battery pack to allow the refrigerant to circulate (see Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-112969

[0004] However, in recent vehicle bodies, many devices and parts (hereinafter referred to as "devices, etc.") are mounted around the battery pack, and it is not easy to secure space for arranging tubular members around the battery pack due to requirements such as securing space for arranging these devices, etc. and preventing interference with the devices, etc. Because the battery pack is placed on the back side of the vehicle body, it is conceivable to arrange the tubular members along this back side, but such an arrangement is not necessarily appropriate due to problems such as the tubular members being easily damaged when exposed on the back side or impairing the aesthetic appearance.

[0005] For these reasons, there is a demand for the placement of tubular members in the vehicle body that mounts the battery pack so that malfunctions can be prevented around the battery pack, but there is a problem in that such placement has not yet been realized.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made to solve such problems, and its purpose is to realize an arrangement of tubular members that can suppress malfunctions around a battery pack.

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the battery pack of the present disclosure is a battery pack having a pair of structures arranged laterally at a distance, the battery pack being a vehicle body having the pair of structures, the battery pack being a member extending in the front-to-rear direction, the battery pack being arranged between the structures, a pair of brackets protruding from each side of the battery pack body and attached to the structures, and a tubular member extending in the front-to-rear direction and arranged along the side of the battery pack body, the brackets being a first bracket extending from the side of the battery pack body toward the structure, with its tip end attached to the structure, and a second bracket extending from an area of ​​the side of the battery pack body that is spaced a predetermined distance below the first bracket toward the structure, with its tip end attached to the structure, the tubular member being arranged in a space sandwiched between the first bracket and the second bracket from above and below.

[0008] In the battery pack of the present disclosure, the tubular member is arranged on the side of the battery pack body while being sandwiched between the first and second brackets from above and below, which effectively prevents the tubular member from being damaged or spoiling the appearance. In this way, the battery pack of the present disclosure can realize an arrangement of the tubular member that can prevent problems around the battery pack.

[0009] A front view of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A front cross-sectional view of a main part of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A plan cross-sectional view of a main part of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure (cross-sectional view taken along A-A in FIG. 1). A front cross-sectional view of a tubular member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A plan view of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1 , the battery pack 1 comprises a battery pack body 10, a pair of brackets 20 for attaching the battery pack body 10 to the vehicle body, and a tubular member 30 arranged along the side of the battery pack body 10.

[0012] The battery pack body 10 is disposed between a pair of structures 100 provided on the vehicle body. The structures 100 are members that extend along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and are disposed with a gap between them on the left and right. In this embodiment, a pair of side sills that are disposed with a wider gap between them on the left and right than the battery pack body 10 are used as the structures 100.

[0013] In addition, cables 110 and pipes 120 that connect other devices arranged around the battery pack 1 are arranged around the structure 100.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 2, the bracket 20 is made up of a first bracket 21 and a second bracket 23 that protrude from each side of the battery pack body 10, and is attached to the structure 100 at its tip end.

[0015] Of these, first bracket 21 is a plate-like member that extends laterally a predetermined distance from the side surface of battery pack body 10 to a position along the underside of structure 100, and its tip side is attached to structure 100. This first bracket 21 is fixed to structure 100 by a screw member 40 that penetrates its tip side from below to above.

[0016] The second bracket 23 is a plate-like member that extends obliquely upward by a predetermined distance from an area on the side surface of the battery pack body 10 that is spaced a predetermined distance t below the first bracket 21 to a position along the underside of the structure 100. The tip side of the second bracket 23 is connected to the first bracket 21, and the second bracket 23 is fixed to the structure 100 via the first bracket 21.

[0017] In this way, the bracket 20 forms an inverted triangular space between the first bracket 21 and the second bracket 23 below the bottom surface of the structure 100 when viewed from the front.

[0018] The tubular member 30 is a cylindrical member that extends along the front and rear of the vehicle body, and is disposed along the side of the battery pack main body 10 .

[0019] The tubular member 30 is arranged to fit in the space sandwiched between the first bracket 21 and the second bracket 23 from above and below.

[0020] 3, the tubular member 30 is provided at each end with a connector 31 for connecting to another tubular member. The connector 31 has a built-in valve that mechanically opens and closes the end of the tubular member 30, and the end can be manually closed or opened.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 4(a), the tubular member 30 is surrounded from one end to the other end around an axis extending in the front-to-rear direction by an elastic member 33. In this embodiment, a cylindrical elastic member 33 capable of surrounding the tubular member 30 is used, but as shown in Fig. 4(b), an elastic member 33 may also be used that further includes a plurality of elastic protrusions 35 that protrude radially in a cross section intersecting the axis.

[0022] (2) Modifications Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention. In particular, the multiple modifications described in this specification can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

[0023] For example, in the above embodiment, the bracket 20 is configured to be attached along the underside of the structure 100. However, the bracket 20 may be configured to be attached to the side of the structure 100.

[0024] In addition, the above embodiment exemplifies a configuration in which the first bracket 21 extends laterally from the battery pack main body 10 and the second bracket 23 extends diagonally upward from the battery pack main body 10, thereby forming an inverted triangular space sandwiched between the first bracket 21 and the second bracket 23 when viewed from the front.

[0025] However, the space between the first bracket 21 and the second bracket 23 may be configured to have a shape other than an inverted triangle. For example, it is conceivable that the first bracket 21 extends diagonally downward from the battery pack body 10 and the second bracket 23 extends laterally from the battery pack body 10, thereby forming a triangular space between the first bracket 21 and the second bracket 23 in a front view.

[0026] In the above embodiment, the connector 31 is provided at each end of the tubular member 30. However, the connector 31 may be provided at only one end of the tubular member 30.

[0027] In the above embodiment, the valve is built into the connector 31. However, the valve may be provided as a separate member in a separate region spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the tubular member 30.

[0028] (3) Effects and Benefits In the battery pack 1 of the above embodiment, the tubular member 30 is arranged on the side of the battery pack body 10 while being sandwiched between the first bracket 21 and the second bracket 23 from above and below, which effectively prevents problems such as damage to or deterioration of the aesthetic appearance of the tubular member 30. In this way, the battery pack 1 can realize an arrangement of the tubular member 30 around the battery pack 1 that can prevent problems.

[0029] Furthermore, the battery pack 1 of the above embodiment is provided with connectors 31 at each end of the tubular member 30 for connecting to another tubular member. As a result, in the above embodiment, when removing the battery pack 1 from the vehicle body, as shown in Fig. 5 , it is not necessary to individually remove the tubular members 30 from the battery pack 1, but rather it is sufficient to simply disconnect the tubular members 30 from the other tubular members 200 using the connectors 31, which improves workability when replacing the battery pack 1, etc.

[0030] Furthermore, the battery pack 1 of the above embodiment is provided with valves that open and close each end of the tubular member 30. As a result, in the above embodiment, by closing the valves when removing the battery pack 1 from the vehicle body, for example, it is possible to prevent unintended leakage of the refrigerant from the tubular member 30.

[0031] Furthermore, in the battery pack 1 of the above embodiment, the tubular member 30 is surrounded by the elastic member 33 or the elastic protrusion 35. This makes it possible to suppress vibration of the tubular member 30 relative to the bracket 20 in the above embodiment.

[0032] 1...battery pack, 10...battery pack main body, 20...bracket, 21...first bracket, 23...second bracket, 30...tubular member, 31...connector, 33...elastic member, 35...elastic protrusion, 40...screw member, 100...structure, 110...cable, 120...piping, 200...tubular member, t...predetermined distance.

Claims

1. A battery pack comprising: a battery pack body, the battery pack body being a vehicle body having a pair of structures arranged laterally at a distance, the battery pack body being a member extending in the front-to-rear direction, and arranged between the structures; a pair of brackets protruding from each side of the battery pack body and attached to the structures; and a tubular member extending in the front-to-rear direction and arranged along the side of the battery pack body, the brackets comprising: a first bracket extending from the side of the battery pack body toward the structures, the tip of which is attached to the structure; and a second bracket extending from an area on the side of the battery pack body that is spaced a predetermined distance below the first bracket, toward the structure, the tip of which is attached to the structure, the tubular member being arranged in a space sandwiched between the first bracket and the second bracket.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the tubular member has connectors at each end for connecting to another tubular member.

3. The battery pack according to claim 2, wherein the tubular member is provided with a valve that opens and closes at least one end side.

4. A battery pack according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tubular member is surrounded by an elastic member from one end to the other around an axis extending in the front-to-rear direction.

5. A battery pack as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tubular member is surrounded by an elastic member from one end to the other around an axis extending in the front-to-rear direction, and the elastic member is provided with a plurality of elastic protrusions that protrude radially in a cross section intersecting the axis extending in the front-to-rear direction.

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