KR100696694B1 - Secondary battery module - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a battery module consisting of a plurality of unit cells, so as to maximize the cooling efficiency, the plurality of unit cells and the mounting groove in which the unit cells are installed on the outer surface are arranged at intervals to support the unit cells And a secondary battery module including a plurality of heat carriers for transferring heat generated from the unit cell and spaced along the inside of the heat carrier to distribute the cooling medium.

Unit cell, heat carrier, flow path, cooling water

Description

Secondary Battery Module {SECONDARY BATTERY MODULE}

1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a configuration of a secondary battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a rechargeable battery module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view of a rechargeable battery module according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a secondary battery. More specifically, the present invention relates to a secondary battery module that improves the cooling efficiency of the unit battery when the unit battery is connected to form a battery module.

In general, a secondary battery is a battery that can be charged and discharged unlike a primary battery that is not rechargeable. Low-capacity secondary batteries are used in portable electronic devices such as phones, notebook computers, and camcorders, and large-capacity secondary batteries are widely used as power sources for driving motors in hybrid vehicles.

The secondary battery is manufactured in various shapes. Cylindrical and square shape are mentioned as a typical shape of the said secondary battery. A plurality of high-output secondary batteries described above are connected in series so as to be used for driving a motor such as an electric vehicle, which requires a large power, thereby forming a large capacity secondary battery.

As described above, one large capacity secondary battery (hereinafter, referred to as a battery module for convenience of description throughout) is composed of a plurality of secondary batteries (hereinafter, referred to as unit cells for convenience of explanation throughout) in series.

Each unit cell includes an electrode assembly having a positive electrode and a negative electrode interposed between the separator, a case having a space in which the electrode assembly is embedded, a cap assembly coupled to the case and sealing the protruding portion. And positive and negative terminals electrically connected to the positive and negative current collectors provided in the electrode assembly.

In the case of the rectangular battery, each of the unit cells cross-aligns each of the unit cells such that the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal protruding from the top of the cap assembly alternate with the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal of the neighboring unit cell, and the threaded negative electrode terminal The battery module is constructed by connecting and installing a conductor between the anode terminals via a nut.

Here, the battery module must be able to easily dissipate heat generated in each unit battery by forming one battery module by connecting several to many dozen unit cells. The heat dissipation characteristics of the secondary battery module are very important to influence the performance of the battery.

If heat is not released properly, temperature deviation occurs between each unit cell, which decreases charging / discharging efficiency. As the temperature inside the cell increases due to heat generated from the unit cell, the performance of the battery is deteriorated. It creates the risk of explosion.

In particular, when the battery module is applied as a large-capacity secondary battery for driving an electric vacuum cleaner, an electric scooter, or a motor vehicle (electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle), the battery module is charged and discharged with a large current. Heat is generated and rises to a significant temperature, which affects battery characteristics and degrades the inherent performance of the battery. Therefore, heat dissipation is most important.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a secondary battery module capable of maximizing cooling efficiency in a battery module composed of a plurality of unit cells.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a secondary battery module capable of minimizing temperature variation between unit cells by allowing each unit cell constituting the battery module to be evenly cooled.

In order to achieve the above object, the battery module of the present invention has a plurality of unit cells and mounting grooves in which the unit cells are installed on the outer surface thereof are arranged at intervals to support the unit cells and generate heat from the unit cells. Heat transfer to transfer the, is installed at intervals along the inside of the heat transfer includes a plurality of flow paths for circulating the cooling medium.

Here, the mounting groove is preferably made in the form corresponding to the outer shape of the unit battery.

The unit battery is preferably installed at a predetermined interval.

In addition, the heat transfer body is made of a wide plate shape of the front surface is preferably installed unit cells at intervals on the front and rear.

In addition, the distribution hole formed in the heat transfer body may be formed of a circular cross-sectional structure or a rectangular cross-sectional structure is not particularly limited.

On the other hand, the unit cell may be made of a cylindrical or square.

In addition, the mounting groove formed in the heat transfer body may be made of an arcuate cross-sectional structure so that the cylindrical unit cells can be fitted, or may be made of a rectangular cross-sectional structure so that the rectangular unit cells can be fitted.

Here, the mounting groove has a size corresponding to that of the unit battery so as to be in close contact with the unit battery.

In addition, the heat carrier is preferably made of a material having high thermal conductivity such as aluminum or copper.

In addition, any gas or fluid, such as cooling air or cooling water, may be applied to the cooling medium that is distributed through the distribution hole formed in the heat transfer body, and is not particularly limited.

The battery module may be used as an energy source for driving a motor of the device in a device operated using a motor such as a HEV (hybrid electric vehicle), an electric vehicle (EV), a wireless cleaner, an electric bicycle, an electric scooter, and the like. Can be.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration of a secondary battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the following description, a case in which a fluid such as cooling water is used as a cooling method of the battery module will be described. Of course, the present invention is not limited to the cooling method by the cooling water, and a gas such as air may be used as the cooling medium.

Referring to the drawings, the battery module 10 according to the present embodiment is a large-capacity battery module, and includes a plurality of unit cells 11 continuously arranged at a predetermined interval.

In this embodiment, a case where a cylindrical unit cell is used as the unit cell 11 will be described.

Each of the unit cells 11 is a secondary battery having a conventional structure that charges and discharges a predetermined amount of electric power by providing an electrode assembly in a rectangular case having a positive electrode and a negative electrode disposed on both sides thereof with a separator interposed therebetween. It is configured, and is arranged laminated at intervals on the outer surface of the heat transfer body 20 according to the present embodiment.

The heat transfer body 20 supports heat dissipation generated from the unit cell 11 as well as supporting the unit cell 11. Looking at the structure, the heat transfer member 20 is made of a flat plate shape having a wide front surface. An arc-shaped mounting groove 21 is arranged at intervals so that the cylindrical unit cell 11 can be installed, and a plurality of distribution holes 22 in which cooling water, which is a cooling medium, is circulated are formed therein. .

Here, the heat carrier 20 is made of aluminum or copper having high thermal conductivity, and an insulating member (not shown) is disposed between the heat carrier 20 and the unit cell to cut off current.

In addition, the heat transfer body 20 is formed to be longer than the length of the unit cell 11 and the mounting groove 21 is formed continuously along the heat transfer body 20 in a plurality of mounting grooves 21 It has a structure in which a unit cell can be inserted. FIG. 1 shows a state in which three unit cells 11 are installed in one mounting groove 21 as an example.

In addition, the size of the heat transfer body 20 is not particularly limited, and the number of unit cells 11 arranged on the outer circumferential surface thereof may be increased or decreased according to the size of the heat transfer body 20.

The mounting groove 21 is symmetrically formed on the wide surface of the heat transfer body 20, that is, the top and bottom surfaces of FIG. 2, and has a shape and size corresponding to that of the cylindrical unit cell 11.

Preferably, the size of the mounting groove 21 is slightly smaller than the size of the unit cell 11 so that the unit battery is coupled to the mounting groove 21 by force fitting, or the cylindrical unit battery is more than half. The mounting groove 21 is formed deeper than a semicircle so as to fit, for example, formed in a size of 2/3 circle so that the unit battery is inserted into the mounting groove 21 so as not to be pulled out.

The distribution hole 22 is formed through the inside of the heat transfer body 20 and is disposed in the center between the mounting grooves 21 formed in the heat transfer body 20 as shown in FIG. 2.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the distribution hole 22 is formed in a circular cross-sectional structure, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be formed in various shapes such as a rectangular shape.

Meanwhile, FIG. 3 illustrates a case in which the rectangular unit cell 11 is installed in the heat transfer body 20 as another embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the heat transfer body 20 is formed in a flat plate shape with a wide front surface so that the unit cell 11 made of a square shape can be mounted, and a square cross-sectional shape so that the unit cells of the respective shapes can be installed on the outer surface. The mounting grooves 21 are arranged at intervals and have a structure in which a plurality of distribution holes 22 through which cooling water, which is a cooling medium, flows.

Here, the heat carrier 20 is made of aluminum or copper having high thermal conductivity, and an insulating member (not shown) is disposed between the heat carrier 20 and the rectangular unit cell 11 to cut off current. do.

The size of the heat transfer body 20 is not particularly limited, and the number of unit cells 11 arranged on the outer circumferential surface thereof may be increased or decreased according to the size of the heat transfer body 20.

In addition, the mounting groove 21 is formed symmetrically on the wide surface of the heat transfer body 20, that is, the top and bottom surfaces of FIG. 3, and has a shape and size corresponding to that of the rectangular unit cell 11.

Here, the size of the mounting groove 21 is preferably smaller than the size of the unit battery 11 so that the unit battery is coupled to the mounting groove 21 by interference fit.

The distribution hole 22 is formed through the inside of the heat transfer body 20 and is disposed in the center between the mounting grooves 21 formed in the heat transfer body 20 as shown in FIG. 3.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the distribution hole 22 is formed in a circular cross-sectional structure, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be formed in various shapes such as a rectangular shape.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention, the battery module is a heat carrier 20 serves as a support unit of the unit cell to fix a plurality of unit cells 11 in addition to the cooling medium as a cooling medium to the inside Through the circulation, heat of the unit cell 11 is released.

As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the unit cell 11 is disposed along the outer circumferential surface of the heat carrier 20 with respect to the heat carrier 20.

The unit cells 11 are seated in the mounting grooves 21 formed in the heat transfer body 20 so that the unit cells 11 can be positioned at regular intervals therebetween.

In this state, when the cooling water, which is a cooling medium, is distributed through the distribution hole 22, the cooling water is distributed through the heat carrier 20 and heat generated from the unit cell 11 is transferred to the cooling water through the heat carrier 20. The unit cells can be evenly radiated.

This is because the unit cells 11 are in contact with the heat carrier 20 evenly, and the distribution holes 22 are formed at uniform intervals in the heat carrier 20. The heat exchange can be achieved under the same conditions from the cooling water passing through the distribution hole 22.

That is, each unit cell 11 has the same area in contact with the heat transfer body 20. In addition, the coolant circulated to the distribution hole 22 flows uniformly inside the heat transfer body 20 so that cool air can be evenly applied to the unit cell through the heat transfer body 20.

Therefore, the heat dissipation conditions of the unit cells 11 are the same, so that uniform cooling can be achieved.

The above-described battery module of the present invention can be effectively used as a battery for HEV requiring high output / large capacity, but its use is not necessarily limited to HEV.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. Naturally, it belongs to

As described above, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the cooling structure of the cooling medium flow path and the unit cells of the battery module may be improved to obtain a more efficient unit cell cooling effect.

In addition, since the cooling medium is evenly distributed between the unit cells, it is possible to eliminate local thermal imbalance in the entire battery module.

Claims (11)

With a plurality of unit cells, A heat transfer member configured to be arranged at intervals on an outer side thereof, in which the mounting grooves are installed to support the unit cells, and to transfer heat generated from the unit cells; A plurality of distribution paths are installed at intervals along the inside of the heat carrier for circulating the cooling medium Secondary battery module comprising a. According to claim 1, The mounting groove is a secondary battery module made of a form corresponding to the appearance of the unit battery. According to claim 1, The heat carrier is formed in a plate shape, the secondary battery module formed with the mounting groove on the front and rear. According to claim 1, Distribution holes formed in the heat transfer body is a secondary battery module having a circular cross-sectional structure. According to claim 1, The distribution hole is a secondary battery module having a polygonal cross-sectional structure. According to claim 1, The unit cell has a cylindrical or rectangular secondary battery module. According to claim 1, The heat carrier is a secondary battery module is selected from aluminum or copper, a material having high thermal conductivity. According to claim 1, A secondary battery module having a structure in which cooling fluid flows through the distribution hole. According to claim 1, A secondary battery module having a structure in which a cooling gas flows through the distribution hole. According to claim 1, A secondary battery module insulated between the heat carrier and the unit cell is installed in the mounting hole of the heat carrier. According to claim 1, The battery module is a secondary battery module for driving a motor.

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