JP7444637B2 - busbar module - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a busbar module.

Power supplies installed in various vehicles, such as electric vehicles that run using an electric motor and hybrid vehicles that run using both an engine and an electric motor, are equipped with a bus bar module on top of a battery assembly consisting of multiple single cells. is assembled. This busbar module has a plurality of busbars electrically connected to electrodes of a plurality of unit cells. These bus bars are housed and held in a resin case attached to the top of the battery assembly (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

This bus bar module is wired with a voltage detection line for detecting the voltage of the unit cell. A plate-shaped voltage detection terminal is connected to the end of the voltage detection line, and the voltage detection terminal is assembled to overlap the busbar accommodated in the busbar accommodating portion of the case. This electrically connects the voltage detection line to the bus bar.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-164591

By the way, in the busbar module, by supporting the busbar with a beam-shaped support part, it is possible to omit the bottom part of the busbar accommodating part and save space. However, if the bottom part of the busbar accommodating part is omitted, when the voltage detection terminals are stacked on the busbars accommodated in the busbar accommodating part during assembly work, the tips of the voltage detection terminals inserted diagonally will end up on the side wall of the busbar accommodating part. There is a possibility that it may get stuck in the gap between the bus bar and the bus bar. If an attempt is made to forcibly overlap the voltage detection terminal, which has partially entered this gap, on the bus bar, there is a risk that the voltage detection terminal may be deformed or the case may be damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a busbar module in which terminals can be smoothly stacked and assembled on a busbar while saving space.

(1) A case that is assembled into a battery assembly made up of a plurality of cells, and a case that is housed in a busbar accommodating portion provided in the case and that is electrically connected to the electrodes of the cells of the battery assembly. a plate-shaped terminal that is superimposed on the bus bar and assembled in the bus bar accommodating portion and is connected to the electrode together with the bus bar; and an electric wire that is connected to the terminal and routed to the case; A busbar module comprising:
The busbar accommodating portion is formed in a bottomless frame shape surrounded by a peripheral wall,
The bus bar module is characterized in that the terminal has an upright portion bent toward a side opposite to a side where it overlaps with the bus bar, on at least a part of a tip side opposite to a connection side with the electric wire.

According to the busbar module having the configuration (1) above, when the terminals are assembled into the busbar housing part in which the busbars are housed, the rising portions of the terminals come into contact with the peripheral wall of the busbar housing part. Therefore, the tip side of the terminal can be prevented from entering the gap between the peripheral wall of the busbar accommodating portion and the busbar, and the terminal can be assembled smoothly. Thereby, it is possible to save space by eliminating the bottom of the bus bar, and to improve assembly workability. Further, it is possible to prevent deformation and damage to the terminal and the case caused by forcibly overlapping the terminal whose tip end has entered the gap between the peripheral wall of the busbar accommodating portion and the busbar on the busbar.

(2) The busbar accommodating portion has locking claws on the inner surface of the peripheral wall that lock diagonal positions of the terminals stacked on the busbar, respectively, as described in (1) above. busbar module.

According to the busbar module having the configuration (2) above, the diagonal positions of the terminals are locked by the locking claws by assembling the terminals in the busbar accommodating portion and overlapping them on the busbar. Thereby, the terminal can be easily and stably held in the busbar accommodating portion.

(3) The terminal has a wire crimping part that is crimped to the electric wire,
The bus bar according to (1) or (2) above, wherein the height of the rising portion is equal to or less than the height of the crimping piece in the wire crimping portion before being crimped to the wire. module.

According to the busbar module having the configuration (3) above, the height of the rising portion is less than or equal to the height of the crimping piece at the crimping portion before being crimped to the electric wire. The bulkiness of the height of the terminal can be suppressed, and the space occupied during storage and packaging can be suppressed.

(4) As described in (3) above, the terminal has a slit having a width larger than an outer diameter of the electric wire on a side of the wire crimping part and a side of the rising part. busbar module.

According to the bus bar module having the above configuration (4), since the terminal has a slit on the side of the wire crimping portion, it is possible to suppress stress concentration on both sides of the wire crimping portion that is crimped to the wire. Further, since the terminal has a slit on the side of the raised portion, the raised portion can be formed easily by bending. Moreover, since these slits have a width dimension larger than the outer diameter of the electric wire, it is possible to prevent the electric wire from getting caught in the slit during, for example, packaging or transporting a terminal connected to the electric wire.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a busbar module that allows terminals to be stacked and assembled onto busbars smoothly while saving space.

The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading the mode for carrying out the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

1 is a perspective view of a busbar module and a battery assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the busbar module according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the busbar module according to the present embodiment. 4 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the bus bar module, in which (a) is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3 with connection terminals assembled, and (b) is a diagram showing FIG. 3 in a state where connection terminals are being assembled. It is a BB sectional view in FIG. It is a figure which shows a connection terminal, Comprising: (a) is a perspective view from the rear end side, (b) is a perspective view from the front end side. (a) is a plan view of the connection terminal, and (b) is a side view of the connection terminal. FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to the BB cross-sectional view in FIG. 3 in a state in which a connection terminal without a rising portion is being assembled into a busbar accommodating portion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a busbar module 10 and a battery assembly 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a busbar module 10 according to the present embodiment is assembled on top of a battery assembly 1 to constitute a power supply device 2. The power supply device 2 is installed and used in various vehicles such as an electric vehicle that runs using an electric motor, a hybrid vehicle that runs using a combination of an engine and an electric motor, and supplies power to the electric motor.

The battery assembly 1 is composed of a plurality of single cells 3 arranged in a line along one direction. Each unit cell 3 is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped shape and includes a pair of electrodes 5 protruding from one end and the other end of the upper surface, respectively. One of the pair of electrodes 5 is a positive electrode, and the other is a negative electrode.

The battery assembly 1 includes a set of a plurality of (four in this example) single cells 3 that are adjacent to each other, and the poles of the electrodes 5 are aligned. Connect each set of 3 in series.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the busbar module 10 according to this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the busbar module 10 includes a case 20, a busbar 50, and a wire harness 60 made up of a plurality of electric wires 61.

The case 20 is made of, for example, electrically insulating synthetic resin, and includes a plurality of busbar housing sections 21 .
The busbar housing portions 21 are arranged in two rows along the direction in which the plurality of unit cells 3 are arranged. The busbar accommodating portion 21 is formed into a frame shape, and the busbar 50 is accommodated within this busbar accommodating portion 21 .

A first wire routing groove portion 31A and a second wire routing groove portion 31B are provided between the two rows of bus bar accommodating portions 21. The first wire routing groove portion 31A and the second wire routing groove portion 31B are formed along the rows of the busbar housing portions 21 in the longitudinal direction of the case 20, respectively. Further, a first wire routing portion 33A, a second wire routing portion 33B, and a third wire routing portion 33C are provided between the first wire routing groove portion 31A and the second wire routing groove portion 31B.

The first wire transfer portion 33A is provided near one end 20A of the case 20, the second wire transfer portion 33B is provided in the middle of the case 20, and the third wire transfer portion 33C is provided near the other end 20B of the case 20. It is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, a cover 25 is attached to the case 20 from above. By attaching this cover 25 to the case 20, the first wire routing groove portion 31A, the second wire routing groove portion 31B, the first wire routing portion 33A, the second wire routing portion 33B, and the third wire routing portion 33C are installed. is covered by a cover 25.

Further, the case 20 has an electric wire takeout portion 35. The wire take-out portion 35 is provided between the first wire transfer portion 33A and the second wire transfer portion 33B in the first wire routing groove portion 31A. A wire holding cover 36 can be attached to the wire take-out portion 35 from above.

The plurality of electric wires 61 constituting the wire harness 60 are electric wires for voltage detection, each having a connecting terminal (terminal) 62 connected to its end, and electric wire for measuring temperature, having a thermistor 64 connected to its end. The connection terminal 62 is fastened together with each bus bar 50 to the electrode 5 of the unit cell 3 and is electrically connected to the bus bar 50. Further, the thermistor 64 is brought into contact with a specific cell 3 of the battery assembly 1 and measures the temperature of the cell 3 . In this wire harness 60, each electric wire 61 is connected to a control circuit board (not shown) provided with a voltage monitoring circuit and a temperature monitoring circuit.

The electric wires 61 of the wire harness 60 are accommodated and routed in the first electric wire wiring groove part 31A, the second electric wire wiring groove part 31B, the first electric wire transfer part 33A, the second electric wire transfer part 33B, and the third electric wire transfer part 33C. be done. Then, each electric wire 61 is pulled out to the outside from the electric wire take-out part 35 provided in the first electric wire wiring groove part 31A.

The case 20 constituting the busbar module 10 is divided approximately in the middle in the longitudinal direction. Thereby, the case 20 is composed of two divided cases 22 and 23 that are divided in the longitudinal direction. These divided cases 22 and 23 are connected to each other to form a case 20.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the busbar module 10 according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram explaining the structure of the busbar module 10, in which (a) is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3 with the connection terminal 62 assembled, and (b) is 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3 in a state in which the connection terminal 62 is being assembled. FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4(a), and 4(b), the bus bar 50 accommodated in the bus bar accommodating portion 21 of the case 20 is formed in an elongated shape. The bus bar 50 is formed by punching and bending a conductive metal plate. The bus bar 50 has a plurality of fastening holes 51. These fastening holes 51 are formed at the same pitch as the pitch of the electrodes 5 along the arrangement direction of the single cells 3 of the battery assembly 1, and the electrodes 5 are inserted through these fastening holes 51. A nut (not shown) is screwed onto the electrode 5 passed through the fastening hole 51 of the bus bar 50 and tightened. Thereby, the bus bar 50 is fastened to the electrode 5, and the bus bar 50 and the electrode 5 are electrically connected. Further, the bus bar 50 has a convex portion 52 between adjacent fastening holes 51 .

The busbar accommodating portion 21 that accommodates the busbar 50 is formed into a frame shape without a bottom. This bus bar accommodating portion 21 is composed of a peripheral wall 40 consisting of a pair of long sides 41 and a pair of short sides 42, and the short sides 42 are connected to both ends of the long sides 41. . This bus bar accommodating portion 21 has a plurality of support portions 43. These support parts 43 are integrally formed in a beam shape spanning the long side part 41, and are arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the bus bar accommodating part 21.

This support portion 43 is arranged inside the convex portion 52 of the bus bar 50 with the bus bar 50 accommodated in the bus bar accommodating portion 21 from above. The support portion 43 supports the bus bar 50 by coming into contact with the back surface of the convex portion 52 .

Furthermore, the busbar accommodating portion 21 has a plurality of locking claws 46 on the long side portion 41, so that when the busbar 50 is accommodated in the busbar accommodating portion 21 from above, the periphery of the busbar 50 is locked. It is locked with a claw 46. As a result, the busbar 50 is prevented from coming off from the busbar accommodating portion 21 with its convex portion 52 being supported by the support portion 43 .

Each bus bar housing section 21 has a terminal assembly section 70, and the connection terminal 62 is assembled into this terminal assembly section 70. A connecting path 71 is formed in the terminal assembly portion 70 and is connected to the first wire routing groove portion 31A or the second wire routing groove portion 31B. Further, the terminal assembly portion 70 is provided with locking claws 46 formed on the long side portions 41 at diagonal positions.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the connection terminal 62, in which FIG. 5(a) is a perspective view from the rear end side, and FIG. 5(b) is a perspective view from the front end side. (a) and (b) of FIG. 6 are a plan view and a side view of the connection terminal 62.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B and FIGS. 6A and 6B, the connection terminal 62 is made of a conductive metal material such as copper or copper alloy, and is approximately at the center. It is formed into a rectangular plate shape having an insertion hole 63 at the top. This connection terminal 62 has a wire crimping portion 65 on one of the four sides 62a, and this wire crimping portion 65 is crimped to the electric wire 61. Thereby, the electric wire 61 is electrically connected to the connection terminal 62.

The wire crimping section 65 has a pair of conductor crimping pieces 65a on the front side and a pair of covering crimping pieces 65b on the back side. The pair of conductor crimping pieces 65a are crimped from both sides to the conductor exposed at the end of the electric wire 61, and the pair of covering crimping pieces 65b are crimped from both sides to the covered part (coated part) at the end of the electric wire 61. It is caulked. Thereby, the connection terminal 62 is crimped to the electric wire 61 and electrically connected.
The wire crimping portion 65 is formed approximately at the center of the connection terminal 62 in the width direction, and slits 66 are formed on both sides thereof. By forming these slits 66, stress concentration on both sides of the wire crimping portion 65 can be suppressed.

The connection terminal 62 has a raised portion 67 formed by bending upward on a side 62b on the tip side that is opposite to the side 62a on which the wire crimping portion 65 is formed. This raised portion 67 is formed in a portion excluding a portion of the side 62b. As shown in FIG. 6(b), the height H1 of the rising portion 67 is equal to or less than the height H2 of the covering crimp piece (crimping piece) 65b in the wire crimping part 65 before being crimped onto the wire 61. has been done. A slit 68 is formed on the side of the raised portion 67 to provide an escape when the raised portion 67 is formed by bending the connection terminal 62 . As shown in FIG. 6A, the width dimensions W1 and W2 of the slits 66 and 68 of the connection terminal 62 are each larger than the diameter of the electric wire 61.

Next, a case will be described in which the connection terminal 62 is assembled into the terminal assembly section 70 of the busbar accommodating section 21 in which the busbar 50 is accommodated.
As shown in FIG. 4B, when the connecting terminal 62 is assembled into the terminal assembly section 70 of the bus bar accommodating section 21 in which the bus bar 50 is accommodated, the connecting terminal 62 is in a state with its tip facing downward. It is inserted diagonally. Then, the upright portion 67 of the connection terminal 62 comes into contact with the long side portion 41 of the peripheral wall 40 of the busbar accommodating portion 21, and the edge 62b on the tip side of the connection terminal 62 comes into contact with the upper surface of the busbar 50. Thereafter, when the wire crimping part 65 on the rear end side of the connecting terminal 62 is lowered, the rising part 67 comes into sliding contact with the inner surface of the long side part 41 of the peripheral wall 40. As a result, the connection terminal 62 is guided along the upper surface of the busbar 50, overlapped with the busbar 50, and is fitted into the terminal assembly portion 70 of the busbar accommodating portion 21 in which the busbar 50 is accommodated ((a in FIG. 4). )reference).

When the connecting terminal 62 is fitted into the terminal assembly portion 70, the connecting terminal 62 is locked at a diagonal position by the locking claws 46 formed on the long side portion 41 of the bus bar housing portion 21, and is prevented from coming off. Further, in the connection terminal 62, the wire crimping portion 65 to which the wire 61 is connected is passed through the connecting path 71, and the wire 61 is routed to the first wire routing groove portion 31A or the second wire routing groove portion 31B.

The insertion holes 63 of the connection terminals 62 assembled in the busbar accommodating portion 21 are communicated with the fastening holes 51 of the busbars 50, and by assembling the busbar module 10 to the battery assembly 1, the electrodes 5 of the unit cells 3 are connected. Passed. Then, by screwing and tightening a nut onto this electrode 5, the bus bar 50 and the connecting terminal 62 are tightened together with the electrode 5, and are electrically connected to the electrode 5.

FIG. 7 is a diagram corresponding to the BB cross-sectional view in FIG. 3 in a state in which the connection terminal 62A without a raised portion is being assembled into the bus bar housing portion 21.
As shown in FIG. 7, when the connecting terminal 62A without the rising part 67 is inserted obliquely into the busbar housing part 21 with the tip of the connecting terminal 62 facing downward, the tip ends up against the peripheral wall of the busbar housing part 21. There is a possibility that it may get into the gap between the long side portion 41 of the bus bar 50 and the bus bar 50 . In this case, the connection terminal 62A whose tip has entered the gap between the long side portion 41 and the bus bar 50 must be removed and the assembly work must be performed again, resulting in a decrease in work efficiency. In addition, if the rear end side of the connecting terminal 62A is forcibly lowered to overlap with the bus bar 50 with the tip inserted into the gap between the long side portion 41 and the bus bar 50, the connecting terminal 62 and the case 20 may be deformed or damaged. may occur.

As described above, according to the busbar module 10 according to the present embodiment, when the connection terminal 62 is assembled to the busbar housing part 21 in which the busbar 50 is housed, the rising part 67 of the connection terminal 62 is inserted into the busbar housing part 21. It abuts against the peripheral wall 40 of the portion 21. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the tip side of the connecting terminal 62 from entering the gap between the peripheral wall 40 of the bus bar accommodating portion 21 and the bus bar 50, and the connecting terminal 62 can be assembled smoothly. This makes it possible to save space by eliminating the bottom portion of the bus bar 50, and to improve assembly workability. Further, it is possible to prevent deformation and damage to the connecting terminal 62 and the case 20 due to forcibly overlapping the connecting terminal 62 whose tip end has entered the gap between the peripheral wall 40 of the bus bar accommodating portion 21 and the bus bar 50 on the bus bar 50.

Furthermore, in the busbar module 10 of this embodiment, the inner surface of the peripheral wall 40 of the busbar accommodating portion 21 has locking claws 46 that lock the diagonal positions of the connection terminals 62 superimposed on the busbar 50, respectively. Therefore, by assembling the connecting terminal 62 into the bus bar accommodating portion 21 and superimposing it on the bus bar 50, the diagonal positions of the connecting terminal 62 are locked by the locking claws 46. Thereby, the connection terminal 62 can be easily and stably held in the busbar accommodating portion 21.

Moreover, the height H1 of the rising portion 67 of the connection terminal 62 according to the present embodiment is less than or equal to the height H2 of the covering crimp piece 65b in the wire crimping portion 65 before the wire 61 is crimped. By providing the raised portion 67, the height of the connection terminal 62 can be suppressed, and the space occupied during storage and packaging can be suppressed.

Furthermore, since the connecting terminal 62 has slits 66 and 68 on the sides of the wire crimping portion 65, stress concentration on both sides of the wire crimping portion 65 that is crimped onto the wire 61 can be suppressed. Furthermore, since the connecting terminal 62 has slits 66 and 68 on the sides of the rising portion 67, the rising portion 67 can be easily formed by bending. Moreover, since these slits 66 and 68 have width dimensions W1 and W2 larger than the outer diameter of the electric wire 61, for example, the slits 66 and 68 have width dimensions W1 and W2 larger than the outer diameter of the electric wire 61. It is possible to prevent the electric wire 61 from getting caught in the wires 66 and 68.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified, improved, etc. as appropriate. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiments are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

Here, the features of the embodiments of the busbar module according to the present invention described above will be briefly summarized and listed below in [1] to [4].
[1] A case (20) that is assembled into a battery assembly (1) composed of a plurality of single cells (3), and a case (20) that is housed in a busbar accommodating portion (21) provided in the case (20); A bus bar (50) that is electrically connected to the electrode (5) of the unit cell (3) of the battery assembly (1), and a bus bar (50) that is superimposed on the bus bar (50) and assembled in the bus bar accommodating portion (21). a plate-shaped terminal (connection terminal 62) connected to the electrode (5) together with the bus bar (50); and an electric wire connected to the terminal (connection terminal 62) and routed to the case (20). (61) A busbar module (10) comprising:
The busbar accommodating portion (21) is formed in a frame shape without a bottom surrounded by a peripheral wall (40),
The terminal (connection terminal 62) has an upright portion bent toward the side opposite to the overlapping side with the bus bar (50), at least in part of the tip side opposite to the connection side with the electric wire (61). (67) A busbar module characterized by comprising: (67).
[2] The busbar accommodating portion (21) has locking claws (on the inner surface of the peripheral wall (40) that lock the diagonal positions of the terminals (connection terminals 62) superimposed on the busbar (50), respectively. 46). The busbar module according to item [1] above.
[3] The terminal (connection terminal 62) has a wire crimping part (65) that is crimped to the electric wire (61),
The height (H1) of the rising portion (67) is equal to or less than the height (H2) of the crimping piece (covered crimping piece 65b) in the wire crimping portion (65) before crimping the electric wire (61). The busbar module according to [1] or [2] above, characterized in that:
[4] The terminal (connection terminal 62) has a width dimension (W1) larger than the outer diameter of the electric wire (61) on the side of the electric wire crimping part (65) and the side of the rising part (67). , W2), the busbar module according to item [3] above.

1...Battery assembly 3...Single cell 5...Electrode 10...Busbar module 20...Case 21...Busbar housing section 40...Surrounding wall 46...Latching claw 50...Busbar 61...Wire 62...Connection terminal (terminal)
65...Wire crimping part 66, 68...Slit 67...Rising part W1, W2...Width dimension

Claims (4)

A case to be assembled into a battery assembly made up of a plurality of single cells, and a busbar housed in a busbar housing part provided in the case and electrically connected to the electrodes of the single cells of the battery assembly. , comprising a plate-shaped terminal that is superimposed on the bus bar and assembled in the bus bar accommodating part and connected to the electrode together with the bus bar, and an electric wire that is connected to the terminal and routed to the case. A busbar module,
The busbar accommodating portion is formed in a bottomless frame shape surrounded by a peripheral wall,
The terminal has an upright portion bent toward a side opposite to a side where it overlaps with the bus bar, at least in a part of a tip side opposite to a side connected to the electric wire.
A busbar module characterized by: The busbar accommodating portion has locking claws on the inner surface of the peripheral wall that lock diagonal positions of the terminals superimposed on the busbar, respectively.
The busbar module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The terminal has a wire crimping part that is crimped to the electric wire,
The height dimension of the rising part is equal to or less than the height dimension of the crimping piece in the wire crimping part before being crimped to the electric wire.
The busbar module according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The terminal has a slit on a side of the wire crimping part and a side of the rising part, the width being larger than the outer diameter of the wire.
The busbar module according to claim 3, characterized in that:

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