JP2000243461A - Battery - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To uniformly cool a battery by uniformly flowing a cooling medium both into a cooling medium flow path located on an upstream side and a cooling medium flow path located on a downstream side. SOLUTION: A cooling air supply passage 26 provided on one side surface of a battery module 22 arranged with a predetermined gap 24 is provided.
In addition, the opening 32, whose opening area is larger toward the upstream side of the cooling air,
A distribution plate 30 having fins 33, 35, etc., which are larger toward the upstream side, is attached to the opening 34 and some openings on the upstream side. The ease with which the cooling air is taken in is determined by the width of the opening and the extension width of the fin, and is determined by the opening area of the opening without a fin. The extension width and opening area of the fins and fins are determined by experiments and the like, and are formed on the distribution plate 30. As a result, the cooling air flows evenly in each gap 24, and the battery 20 can be cooled uniformly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery pack, and more particularly, to a battery pack in which a plurality of battery modules each composed of one or more batteries are arranged together with a cooling medium passage through which a cooling medium flows.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a battery of this type, a cooling air passage for supplying cooling air to a cooling air passage is provided on one side of a battery in which a plurality of batteries are arranged with a gap as a cooling air passage. There has been proposed an arrangement in which a distribution plate having a plurality of holes formed in the cooling air passage near the entrance of the cooling air flow passage is formed with a plurality of holes which are larger toward the upstream (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-54689).
Issue publication). In this battery pack, since the cooling air flows more easily in the flow path located downstream than the flow path located on the upstream side of the cooling air passage, a larger hole is formed nearer to the inlet of the cooling air flow path in the upstream. A distribution plate is provided so that substantially the same amount of cooling air flows regardless of whether the flow path of the cooling air is upstream or downstream.

[0003]

However, in such a battery, although the distribution plate has holes formed therein but closes the passage of the cooling air, the cooling air has a high resistance to the passage of the cooling air. There is a problem that the power consumption of the cooling fan increases to obtain the effect. In order to reduce the passage resistance of the cooling air, the hole may be enlarged.However, the cooling air flowing to the cooling air flow path located on the upstream side and the cooling air flowing to the cooling air flow path located on the downstream side may be used. Cannot be made substantially the same, and the battery cannot be uniformly cooled.

[0004] The battery of the present invention allows the cooling medium to flow substantially evenly into the cooling medium flow path located on the upstream side and the cooling medium flow path located on the downstream side without increasing the passage resistance of the cooling medium. The purpose is to cool the battery evenly.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems and Their Functions and Effects The battery of the present invention employs the following means in order to achieve at least a part of the above objects.

The present invention relates to a battery pack comprising a plurality of battery modules each composed of one or more batteries and a cooling medium flow path through which a cooling medium flows. A cooling medium supply passage formed along one side surface and supplying the cooling medium to each of the arranged cooling medium passages; and a cooling medium supply passage in the cooling medium supply passage at least upstream of a flow of the cooling medium. And a plurality of fins provided in the portion for taking the cooling medium into the cooling medium flow path.

In the battery pack of the present invention, the plurality of fins provided at least at a part of the flow of the cooling medium in the cooling medium supply flow path take the cooling medium into the cooling medium flow path. A large amount of the cooling medium can be flown into the cooling medium flow path located on the upstream side without increasing the passage resistance. As a result, the cooling medium can be more uniformly supplied to the cooling medium flow path located on the upstream side and the cooling medium flow path located on the downstream side, and the collection battery can be more uniformly cooled.

[0008] In such a battery collector of the present invention, the fin may be formed to be larger toward the upstream side of the flow of the cooling medium in the cooling medium supply flow path. In this case, the cooling medium can be more uniformly supplied to each cooling medium flow path, and the battery can be cooled more uniformly.

In the battery collector of the present invention, there is provided a distribution plate in which a plurality of holes for distributing the cooling medium are formed in the cooling medium supply paths arranged in the cooling medium supply flow path, and the fins are provided. May be provided on the downstream side of the flow of the cooling medium from the holes formed in the distribution plate. In this case, the distribution plate and the fin can be integrally formed. In this aspect of the invention, the holes formed in the distribution plate may be formed to be larger toward the upstream side of the flow of the cooling medium. In this case, since the size of the hole acts together with the fin, the cooling medium can be more uniformly supplied to the cooling medium flow path, and the battery can be cooled more uniformly.

In the battery pack of the present invention, the fins may be formed on the battery module. In this case, the fin can be formed integrally with the battery module.

[0011]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to examples. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of a battery collector 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, the battery collector 20 is configured by arranging a plurality of battery modules 22 each having a plurality of batteries connected in series with a predetermined gap 24. A cooling air supply passage 26 is provided on one side surface (lower side in the figure) of the plurality of battery modules 22 arranged as a supply passage for cooling air as a cooling medium to the gap 24. 26 gaps 24
A distribution plate 30 is attached near the supply port of the hopper. On a side surface (upper side in the figure) of the plurality of battery modules 22 facing the cooling air supply passage 26, a cooling air discharge passage 28 for discharging the cooling air passing through the gap 24 from the battery 20 is provided. The gap 24 is formed between the adjacent battery modules 22.
Are formed by ribs (not shown) formed on the side surfaces of.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram showing an example of the structure of the distribution plate 30. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the distribution plate 30 has rectangular openings 32, 34, which are aligned with the supply ports of the gap 24 when attached to the cooling air supply passage 26 and whose opening area increases toward the upstream side of the cooling air. 36,38,40,4
2, 44, 46 are formed. Of these openings, the openings 32, 34, 36, and 38 on the upstream side of the cooling air have rectangular fins 33, 35, and 3 that are larger on the upstream side.
The cooling air flowing through the cooling air supply passage 26 is supplied to the gap 2, 39.
4. Therefore, the distribution plate 30 has a structure in which the cooling air is more easily taken in toward the opening on the upstream side of the cooling air. As shown in an example of the opening and the fin illustrated in FIG. 3, the ease of taking in the cooling air is determined by the width a of the opening and the width b of the fin extending from the distribution plate 30.
In the opening where no fin is formed, the width is determined by the opening area. Therefore, the width a of the opening and the extension width b of the fin are set such that the cooling air flows evenly through each gap 24.
And the opening area of the opening can be obtained by experiment, simulation, or the like. The distribution plate 30 of the embodiment was formed by determining the width a of the opening, the extension width b of the fin, and the opening area of the opening so that the cooling air could flow evenly through the gaps 24 by experiments.

According to the battery pack 20 of the embodiment described above, the fins are formed larger in the opening of the distribution plate 30 on the upstream side of the cooling air, so that the fins are located on the upstream side of the cooling air supply passage 26. A sufficient amount of cooling air can flow through the gap 24. In addition, since the distribution plate 30 is formed with an opening having an opening area increasing toward the upstream side of the cooling air, the cooling air can be uniformly supplied to the gaps 24 to cool the battery 20 more uniformly. In addition, the distribution plate 30 of the embodiment forms the openings and the fins by determining the width a of the openings, the extension width b of the fins, and the opening area of the openings so that the cooling air flows evenly through the gaps 24 by experiments. Therefore, the cooling air can be evenly cooled through the gaps 24 by uniformly flowing the cooling air.

Although the fins are formed at the openings of the distribution plate 30 located on the upstream side of the cooling air supply passage 26 in the embodiment, the fins may be formed at all the openings.

In the collecting battery 20 of the embodiment, two openings are formed in the distribution plate 30 with respect to each gap 24.
Only one opening may be formed for four, or three or more openings may be formed for each gap 24. Further, in the collector battery 20 of the embodiment, the opening of the distribution plate 30 is formed in a rectangular shape, but may be formed in a triangular shape, a polygonal shape, a circular shape, an elliptical shape, or the like. Further, in the collector battery 20 of the embodiment, the fins of the distribution plate 30 are formed in a rectangular shape, but may be formed in a triangular shape, a polygonal shape, a circular shape, an elliptical shape, or the like.

Next, a description will be given of a collector battery 120 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the battery collector 120 of the second embodiment. As shown in the drawing, the battery pack 120 of the second embodiment includes a plurality of battery modules 122a to 122e formed by connecting a plurality of batteries in series.
Are arranged with a predetermined gap 124,
Similarly to the battery pack 20 of the first embodiment, the battery module 12
A cooling air supply passage 126 for supplying cooling air to the gap 124 is provided on one side (lower side in the figure) of the cooling air supply passages 2a to 122e, and cooling air passing through the gap 124 on the other side (upper side in the figure). A cooling air discharge passage 128 for discharging the air from the battery 120 is provided.

At the upstream corners of the surfaces of the battery modules 122a to 122d facing the cooling air supply passage 126, the fins 123a which are larger as the battery modules are located closer to the upstream.
To 123 d are formed so that the cooling air flowing through the cooling air supply passage 126 is taken into the gap 124. In this case, the ease with which the cooling air is taken in is determined by the extension length of the fins. Therefore, the extension length of the fins can be adjusted by experiments, simulations, or the like so that the cooling air flows evenly through the gaps 124. . In the collector battery 120 of the second embodiment, the extension length of the fin was determined by experiment so that the cooling air flowed evenly through each gap 124.

According to the battery collector 120 of the second embodiment described above, the larger the fins are formed in the battery module, the closer the battery module is located on the upstream side of the cooling air, so that the battery module is located on the upstream side of the cooling air supply passage 126. A sufficient amount of cooling air can flow through the gap 124. As a result, the battery 120 can be cooled more evenly.

In the battery collector 120 of the second embodiment, the fins are formed on the battery modules located on the upstream side of the cooling air supply passage 126, but the fins may be formed on all the battery modules.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Of course, it can be carried out.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of a battery pack 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram showing an example of the structure of a distribution plate 30.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an example of an opening and a fin formed in a distribution plate 30;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a battery collector 120 according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

20, 120 collector battery, 22, 122a to 122e battery module, 24, 124 gap, 26, 126 cooling air supply passage, 28, 128 cooling air discharge passage, 30
Distribution plate, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 46
Openings, 33, 35, 37, 39 fins, 123a-
123d fin.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A battery pack comprising a plurality of battery modules each composed of one or more batteries and a cooling medium flow path through which a cooling medium flows, wherein the battery modules are arranged along one side of the arranged battery modules. A cooling medium supply flow path formed and supplying the cooling medium to each of the arranged cooling medium flow paths; and a cooling medium supply path provided in at least a part of the flow of the cooling medium in the cooling medium supply flow path, A plurality of fins for taking the cooling medium into the cooling medium flow path. 2. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the fins are formed to be larger toward the upstream side of the flow of the cooling medium in the cooling medium supply flow path. 3. The cooling battery according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of holes are provided in the cooling medium supply passage, and the cooling medium is distributed in each of the arranged cooling medium passages. And a fin is provided on a downstream side of a flow of the cooling medium in a hole formed in the distribution plate. 4. The hole formed in the distribution plate is formed to be larger toward the upstream side of the flow of the cooling medium.
The battery pack as described. 5. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the fin is formed on the battery module.