KR102085339B1 - Battery Module improved heat conductive structure - Google Patents

Abstract

Battery module according to an aspect of the present invention, the thermal conductive material, the base plate is provided in the form of a plate; A plurality of pouch-type battery cells having wings winged at least on one side thereof and standing up so that the wing portions face the upper surface of the base plate; Each of the pouch-type battery cells includes a wall standing up with respect to the base plate to contact the cell body of the pouch-type battery cell, and a bottom flange integrally formed with the wall and disposed in contact with the upper surface of the base plate. A plurality of cell cover plates for transferring heat to the base plate; And a heat transfer block having a groove provided to enable the wing to be fitted, and mounted to a side portion of the pouch-type battery cell and disposed in contact with at least one surface of the wall and the bottom flange.

Description

Battery module improved heat conductive structure

The present invention relates to a battery module, and more particularly to a battery module having an effective and stable heat conduction structure.

The secondary batteries having high application characteristics and high electrical density, such as electric products, are not only portable devices, but also electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid vehicles (HEVs), and electric power driven by electric driving sources. It is commonly applied to a storage device. These secondary batteries are attracting attention as a new energy source for improving eco-friendliness and energy efficiency in that not only the primary advantage of dramatically reducing the use of fossil fuels, but also no by-products of energy use, is generated.

The battery pack applied to the electric vehicle has a structure in which a plurality of cell assemblies including a plurality of unit cells are connected in series in order to obtain a high output. In addition, the unit cell may be repeatedly charged and discharged by an electrochemical reaction between components, including a positive electrode and a negative electrode current collector, a separator, an active material, an electrolyte, and the like.

Meanwhile, as the need for a large-capacity structure increases, such as utilization as an energy storage source, demand for a battery pack of a multi-module structure in which a plurality of secondary batteries are assembled in series and / or in parallel is increasing. .

Since the battery pack of the multi-module structure is manufactured in a form in which a plurality of secondary batteries are concentrated in a narrow space, it is important to easily discharge heat generated from each secondary battery. As described above, the process of charging or discharging the secondary battery battery is performed by an electrochemical reaction, and thus the battery is affected by the environment of the ambient temperature, for example, a temperature bad condition such as cryogenic or extreme high temperature where the optimum temperature is not maintained. When the charging and discharging process is performed in the exposed state, the charging and discharging efficiency of the battery may be lowered, thereby making it difficult to guarantee performance for normal driving.

Accordingly, as one of various methods of releasing heat generated from secondary batteries, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2013-0013947 discloses a cooling method using cooling water.

In general, since the power that can be produced by one battery cell is not large, a commercially available battery module includes a stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked as many as necessary. And a cooling fin is inserted in the middle of the battery cell in order to maintain the temperature of the battery module to cool the heat generated during the production of electricity in the unit battery cell. Cooling fins that absorb heat from each unit battery cell transfer the heat to the cooling plate, which is cooled by a heat sink.

However, the conventional battery module has a limitation that does not smoothly discharge the heat generated from the battery cell to the outside due to the low thermal conductivity. For example, referring to FIG. 1A, the conventional battery module has a structure in which heat is transferred to the cooling fins 2 only through the cell body 1 portion. The wing 3 portion of the battery cell is folded away from the lower end 2a of the cooling fin. As a result, an air layer S is formed between the wing 3 portion of the battery cell and the lower end 2a of the cooling fin so that heat transfer is not effectively performed through the wing 3 portion or the cell side portion of the battery cell. .

In addition, referring to Figure 1 (b), during the swelling (swelling) of the battery cell swelling due to the temperature rise, the lower end portion (2a) of the cooling fins due to the expansion pressure of the battery cell and the upper surface of the cooling plate (4) You will be excited without getting in touch. In this case, the thermal contact resistance between the cooling fins 2 and the cooling plate 4 increases, which may lower the cooling performance of the module.

Therefore, the present invention was devised to solve the above problems, and heat transfer can be effectively performed even through the wing portion of the battery cell, and the contact between the cooling members can be stably maintained even when the battery cell is swelled. It is to provide a battery module that can be.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention can be understood by the following description, and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. Also, it will be readily appreciated that the objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized by the means and combinations thereof indicated in the claims.

Battery module according to an aspect of the present invention, the thermal conductive material, the base plate is provided in the form of a plate; A plurality of pouch-type battery cells having wings winged at least on one side thereof and standing up so that the wing portions face the upper surface of the base plate; Each of the pouch-type battery cells includes a wall standing up with respect to the base plate to contact the cell body of the pouch-type battery cell, and a bottom flange integrally formed with the wall and disposed in contact with the upper surface of the base plate. A plurality of cell cover plates for transferring heat to the base plate; And it may include a heat transfer block having a groove that is provided to be coupled to the wing, mounted on the side portion of the pouch-type battery cell in contact with at least one of the wall and the bottom flange.

The pouch-type battery cell may be provided in a flat shape.

The cell cover plate may be connected to each other so as to face each other to form a cell cover for accommodating at least one of the pouch-type battery cells.

The heat transfer block may be mounted on a side portion of the pouch-type battery cell to fill all the inner space of the cell cover together with the pouch-type battery cell.

The at least one pouch-type battery cell is two pouch-type battery cells, and the heat transfer block has two grooves each formed to be engageable with the wings of the two pouch-type battery cells, and the two pouches It may be integrally mounted to the side portions of the type battery cell.

The heat transfer block may be made of a thermally conductive metal material.

The heat sink may further include a heat sink disposed on a bottom surface of the base plate and having a flow path through which a refrigerant flows.

The base plate may include a plurality of convex portions protruding from the surface at predetermined intervals in one direction, and the cell cover may be disposed one by one between the convex portions.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a battery pack including the battery module described above may be provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an automobile including the battery module described above may be provided.

According to an aspect of the present invention, by mounting a heat transfer block on the wing portion of the battery cell to further secure the heat transfer area can increase the cooling efficiency of the battery module.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the deformation of the cell cover plate is suppressed by the heat transfer block during swelling of the battery cell, so that the contact between the cooling members can be stably maintained.

1 is a structural diagram schematically showing a heat transfer structure of a battery module according to the prior art.
2 is a structural diagram schematically showing a configuration of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a structural diagram schematically illustrating a state in which a battery cell and a cell cover are assembled according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view illustrating the heat transfer block of FIG. 3.
5 is an exploded perspective view of a battery cell and a heat transfer block according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a combined perspective view of FIG. 5.
7 is a structural diagram schematically showing a configuration of a battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, terms or words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to the ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventors should properly explain the concept of terms in order to best explain their own inventions. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined.

In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related well-known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Since the embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully explain the present invention to those skilled in the art, the shapes and sizes of the components in the drawings may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated for clarity. Thus, the size or ratio of each component does not necessarily reflect the actual size or ratio.

2 is a structural diagram schematically showing a configuration of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a structural diagram schematically showing a state in which the battery cell and the cell cover according to an embodiment of the present invention assembled. .

2 to 3, a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a base plate 10, a plurality of pouch-type battery cells 20 disposed on the base plate 10, and the plurality of battery modules 20. A plurality of cell cover plates 30a and 30b and a heat transfer block 40 which hold the pouch-type battery cell 20 and guide the stacking are included.

First, the base plate 10 provides a place where the battery cells 20 and the cell cover plates 30a and 30b can stand. The base plate 10 is a thermally conductive material and may be provided in the form of a plate. In other words, the base plate 10 may be provided to have a predetermined width and thickness to absorb and release a large amount of heat.

The upper surface of the base plate 10 may contact the lower ends of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b, and the lower surface of the base plate 10 may be configured to contact the heat sink T. By this configuration, the heat of the battery cells 20 is transferred to the cell cover plates 30a and 30b, and the heat of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b is transferred to the base plate 10. And the base plate 10 may be cooled by the outside air and the heat sink (T).

Here, the heat sink T refers to an object that absorbs and dissipates heat from another object by thermal contact. The heat sink T of the present embodiment may have a flow path therein. The coolant flowing in the flow path inside the heat sink T is not particularly limited as long as it flows easily in the flow path and is excellent in cooling property, and may be a gas or a liquid. For example, the latent heat may be water that can maximize cooling efficiency. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and flow may occur, and may be an antifreeze, a gas refrigerant, air, or the like.

As the battery cell 20 of the present embodiment, a pouch-type battery cell 20 is applied. The pouch-type battery cells 20 are plate-shaped so as to provide a high lamination rate in a limited space, and are stacked so that one or both surfaces thereof face the adjacent battery cells 20.

The pouch-type battery cell 20 may be composed of an electrode assembly, an electrolyte, and a pouch sheath. The electrode assembly may be configured such that at least one positive electrode plate and at least one negative electrode plate are disposed with a separator therebetween. More specifically, the electrode assembly may be divided into a winding type in which one positive electrode plate and one negative electrode plate are wound together with a separator, and a stack type in which the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate are alternately stacked with the separator interposed therebetween.

The pouch packaging material is a laminate sheet including a resin layer and a metal layer, and may be configured to be sealed by heat-sealing the outer circumferential surface in a state in which the electrode assembly and the electrolyte are embedded. Specifically, the pouch facer may be composed of two laminate sheets, and at least one of the pouch facer may be formed with a concave inner space. The electrode assembly may be accommodated in the inner space of the pouch. The pouch sheathing material may be sealed by heat-sealing the edge portions of the two laminate sheets in a state where the electrode assembly is accommodated.

Each electrode plate of the electrode assembly is provided with an electrode tab, and one or more electrode tabs may be connected to the electrode lead. The electrode lead L may be interposed between the heat-sealed portions of the two pouches and exposed to the outside of the pouch packaging material, and may function as an electrode terminal of the battery cell 20.

In the following description, for convenience of description, in the pouch-type battery cell 20, the electrode assembly is accommodated to define the portion as the cell body 21 (see FIG. 5), and the long side of the battery cell 20, that is, the electrode lead is The part heat-sealed to the side part which does not protrude is defined as the wing 22.

In addition, the pouch-type battery cell 20 applied to the battery module according to the present embodiment has a flat shape of the wing 22. That is, the conventional pouch-type battery cell is folded side portion except for the heat-sealed portion in which the electrode lead is extended, the pouch-type battery cell 20 of the present invention is provided in a flat state without the side portion folded do. This will be described later for convenience of description.

Since the pouch-type battery cell 20 has a weak mechanical rigidity, the pouch-type battery cell 20 may be stacked in one direction while being supported by the cell cover plates 30a and 30b to facilitate lamination.

The cell cover plates 30a and 30b include predetermined self-mechanical stiffness characteristics, thereby reinforcing the mechanical rigidity of the poor pouch sheathing material. According to such cell cover plates 30a and 30b, since no additional member is required to reinforce the mechanical rigidity of the battery cell 20 itself, a compact battery module may be manufactured.

In addition, the cell cover plates 30a and 30b may serve to absorb heat of the battery cell 20 generated during charging and discharging.

The cell cover plates 30a and 30b are not particularly limited in thickness or structure as long as they are thin members having thermal conductivity. For example, a sheet-like sheet of metal material may be preferably used. The metal material may be aluminum or an aluminum alloy having high thermal conductivity and light weight among metals. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and for example, a ceramic material such as copper, gold, silver, aluminum, aluminum nitride, and silicon carbide may be used.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cell cover plates 30a and 30b according to the present exemplary embodiment may be connected to face each other to form the cell cover 30. At least one pouch type battery cell 20 may be accommodated in the inner space of the cell cover 30.

A plurality of cell covers 30 may be configured and may be standing up on the upper surface of the base plate 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, according to the present embodiment, two battery cells 20 are accommodated per cell cover 30, and four cell covers 30 are arranged on the upper surface of the base plate 10. Can be erected.

The cell cover plates 30a and 30b according to the present embodiment may include a wall 31 and a flange 32. The wall 31 is part which is standing up with respect to the base plate 10, and is in surface contact with the cell body 21 of the battery cell 20. Therefore, the heat of the battery cell 20 can be absorbed mostly through the walls 31 of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b.

Flange 32a, 32b is the part which forms the upper end and lower end of cell cover plate 30a, 30b. The flanges 32a and 32b may be integrally formed by bending both ends of the wall 31. Here, the flanges 32a and 32b corresponding to the upper ends of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b may be the upper flange 32a, and the flanges 32a and 32b corresponding to the lower ends of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b may be the lower flanges ( 32b). For reference, the upper flange 32a and the lower flange 32b are conceptually divided and may vary depending on the arrangement direction of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b.

The heat of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b may be released through heat exchange between the bottom flange 32b and the base plate 10.

The heat transfer block 40 may be a thermally conductive metal as a component mounted on the side portion of the battery cell 20. For example, the heat transfer block 40 may be made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy having high thermal conductivity and light weight, such as the cell cover plates 30a and 30b.

4 is a perspective view illustrating the heat transfer block 40 of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the battery cell 20 and the heat transfer block 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a combined perspective view.

Referring to these drawings, the heat transfer block 40 includes a mounting surface 42 and a groove 41 corresponding to the shape of the side portion of the battery cell 20. A portion of the wing 22 of the battery cell 20 may be inserted into the groove 41. In addition, since the wing 22 part is completely inserted into the groove part 41, the mounting surface 42 and the side part of the battery cell 20 may be closely contacted with each other in shape. Here, an inclination may be formed on the mounting surface 42.

As described above, the wing 22 of the battery cell 20 is formed flat, so that the groove 41 can be easily processed, and the mounting surface 42 and the battery cell 20 of the heat transfer block 40 are formed. Shape fit or contactability of the side portion of the c) may be improved. For reference, the bonding surface 42 of the heat transfer block 40 and the side portions of the battery cells 20 may be bonded to each other to further increase the contact between the heat transfer block 40 and the side portions of the battery cells 20. There will be.

The heat transfer block 40 may be mounted on at least one side portion of the battery cell 20. That is, the heat transfer block 40 may be mounted on both side portions of the battery cell 20 as in this embodiment, or may be mounted only on one side portion of the battery cell 20. In addition, the heat transfer block 40 may be provided with a size capable of filling all the internal space of the cell cover 30 together with the battery cell 20.

Therefore, the heat transfer block 40 may be in contact with the side portion of the battery cell 20 and may be in contact with at least one of the wall 31 and the flange 32 of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b. .

According to the configuration of the present invention, the heat transfer block 40 becomes a heat transfer medium between the side portions of the battery cells 20 and the cell cover plates 30a and 30b, as shown in FIG. Heat dissipation through the side portion of 20) can be made more smoothly. For example, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 3, heat is transferred from the wing 22 or side portion of the battery cell 20 to the bottom flange 32b of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b through the heat transfer block 40. Since the cooling efficiency can be further increased than before.

In addition, since the deformation of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b is suppressed by the heat transfer block 40 during the swelling of the battery cell 20, the contact between the cooling members may be stably maintained.

In particular, even when the wall 31 of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b is deformed due to the expansion pressure of the battery cell 20 during swelling of the battery cell 20 due to the temperature rise, the cell cover plate ( The lower flanges 32b of 30a and 30b can be maintained in close contact with the upper surface of the base plate 10 by suppressing deformation by the heat transfer block 40.

In this case, the contact between the bottom flange 32b of the cell cover plates 30a and 30b and the base plate 10 may be maintained even during swelling of the battery cell 20, so that the cooling performance of the battery module is not deteriorated. Therefore, it is possible to prevent further swelling of the battery cell 20.

Meanwhile, the heat transfer block 40 may be configured to be integrally mounted to the side portions of the two battery cells 20 that are mounted on or overlapped with the side portions of one battery cell 20.

For example, as in the present embodiment, the heat transfer block 40 may include two grooves 41 on the mounting surface 42 and may be integrally mounted to the side portions of the two battery cells 20 overlapping each other. The combined two battery cells 20 and the heat transfer block 40 may be integrally accommodated in the cell cover 30. Of course, the heat transfer block 40 may be configured to include only one groove 41 on the mounting surface 42 and to be mounted only on the side portion of one battery cell 20.

7 is a structural diagram schematically showing a configuration of a battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Next, a battery module according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 7. The same reference numerals as the drawings of the above-described embodiment represent the same member, and duplicate descriptions of the same member will be omitted, and the differences from the above-described embodiment will be mainly described.

Referring to FIG. 7, the base plate 10 ′ according to another exemplary embodiment includes a plurality of protrusions 11 protruding from the surface at predetermined intervals in one direction. The cell cover 30 may be disposed one by one between the convex portions 11. For example, the distance between the convex portions 11 may correspond to the width of the lower end of the cell cover 30, and the lower end of the cell cover 30 may be supported by both convex portions 11.

As such, the base plate 10 having the uneven structure may be advantageous in increasing the fixing force of the cell cover 30 when the cell cover 30 is assembled.

In addition, the convex portion 11 may provide a space for the cable (not shown) to be routed under the base plate 10. In other words, since various cables can be routed through the space under the convex portion 11, cable wiring becomes easy, and cable damage can be prevented by not exposing the cable to the outside.

In addition, the base plate 10 'may have a larger heat capacity due to a wider cross-sectional area capable of absorbing heat than when the surface is flat. Therefore, the base plate 10 ′ of the present embodiment may absorb and dissipate a greater amount of heat from the battery cells 20.

The battery pack according to the present invention may include one or more battery modules according to the present invention described above. In addition to the battery module, the battery pack may further include a case for covering the battery module, various devices for controlling charging and discharging of the battery module, such as a BMS, a current sensor, a fuse, and the like.

The battery pack according to the present invention can be applied to an automobile such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. That is, the vehicle according to the present invention may include a battery module according to the present invention.

As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was shown and described, this invention is not limited to the specific preferable embodiment mentioned above, In the technical field to which this invention pertains without deviating from the summary of this invention claimed in a claim. Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and such changes are within the scope of the claims.

On the other hand, in the present specification. Although terms indicating directions, such as up, down, left, and right, have been used, these terms are merely for convenience of description and may be expressed differently according to the viewing position of the observer or the position of the object. Self-explanatory

10: base plate 20: battery cell
21: cell body 22: wing
30a, 30b: cell cover plate 31: wall
32a, 32b: flange 40: heat transfer block
41: groove T: heat sink

Claims (10)

A base plate which is a thermally conductive material and is provided in the form of a plate;
A plurality of pouch-type battery cells having wings winged at least on one side portion and standing up so that the wing portions face the upper surface of the base plate;
The pouch-type battery having a wall standing up with respect to the base plate so as to contact a side surface of the cell body of the pouch-type battery cell, and a lower flange integrally formed with the wall and disposed in contact with an upper surface of the base plate. A plurality of cell cover plates for transferring heat of cells to the base plate; And
And a heat transfer block provided with a groove provided to enable the wing to be fitted, and mounted to a side portion of the pouch-type battery cell to be in contact with at least one of the wall and the bottom flange.
The cell cover plate,
Two are opposed to each other to form a cell cover for receiving at least one of the pouch-shaped battery cells,
The heat transfer block is made of a thermally conductive metal, is mounted to the side portion of the pouch-type battery cell is provided to fill all the inner space of the cell cover with the pouch-type battery cell,
The heat transfer block,
A groove portion into which the wing portion of the battery cell is inserted; And
It includes a mounting surface that is shaped to the side portion of the battery cell,
The mounting surface is inclined,
The battery module, characterized in that the inclined mounting surface and the side portion of the battery cell is in close contact and bonded by bonding. The method of claim 1,
The pouch-type battery cell is a battery module, characterized in that the wing is provided in a flat shape. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The at least one pouch type battery cell is two pouch type battery cells,
The heat transfer block has a battery, characterized in that it is provided with two grooves formed to be fitted into the wings of the two pouch-type battery cells, respectively, integrally mounted to the side portions of the two pouch-type battery cells module. The method of claim 1,
The heat transfer block is a battery module, characterized in that provided by a thermally conductive metal material. The method of claim 1,
The battery module, characterized in that it further comprises a heat sink of the hollow structure is disposed on the lower surface of the base plate, the flow path for the refrigerant flow therein. The method of claim 1,
The base plate has a plurality of protrusions protruding from the surface at predetermined intervals in one direction,
And the cell cover is disposed one by one between the convex portions. A battery pack comprising the battery module according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5-8. A motor vehicle comprising a battery module according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5-8.

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