This disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201920582840.1 filed Apr. 26, 2019, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference.
The present disclosure relates to the field of batteries, and in particular relates to a battery module and a battery pack.
A battery module includes an upper baseplate, a lower baseplate, and a plurality of battery cells fit to each other in parallel. The battery cells are fixed between the upper baseplate and the lower baseplate.
The inventor finds at least the following problems in the device known to the inventors: the battery module deforms due to expansion during its operation; and the existing battery module is unreasonable in structure, causing deformation accumulation of the battery cells, so that the performance of the battery module is damaged.
The present disclosure provides a battery module and a battery pack, for optimizing the structure of the battery module.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a battery module, including:
a plurality of battery cells, each of which comprising a first surface provided with an electrode terminal, a second surface opposite to the first surface, and side faces located between the first surface and the second surface; wherein the side faces comprise abutting faces and connecting faces connected with the abutting faces; and the plurality of battery cells are arranged in a length direction, and the abutting faces of all the battery cells face to each other; and
a first spacer, at least part of which being arranged between the abutting faces of two adjacent battery cells, and fixed to the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells, wherein the first spacer is configured to fix to a case.
In some embodiments, there is a gap between the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells.
In some embodiments, a thermal insulation layer is mounted within the gap.
In some embodiments, the first spacer comprises:
a first spacing part, arranged between the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells and fixed to the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells; and
a first connecting part, connected with the first spacing part, the first connecting part being located beyond the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells, and fixed to the connecting faces or the second surfaces of the two adjacent battery cells.
In some embodiments, one first spacing part is fixed between the abutting faces of every two adjacent battery cells.
In some embodiments, the first spacing part is connected with the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells through binder.
In some embodiments, the first connecting part is connected with the connecting faces or the second surfaces of the two adjacent battery cells through binder.
In some embodiments, the first connecting part is detachably connected or integrated with the first spacing part.
In some embodiments, the length of the first connecting part is greater than that of each of the abutting faces, and a portion of the first connecting part located at an outer side of the abutting faces is provided with a connecting structure for fixation to the case.
In some embodiments, the connecting structure comprises screw holes, the hole center line of which is substantially parallel to the central line in a thickness direction of the first spacing part.
In some embodiments, the battery module further comprises a second spacer, at least part of which is arranged between the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells, and fixed to the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells.
In some embodiments, the second spacer comprises:
a second spacing part, arranged between abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells and fixed to the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells; and
a second connecting part, fixedly connected or integrated with the second spacing part and located beyond the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells.
In some embodiments, one second connecting part is connected with a plurality of the second spacing parts, and one second spacing part is provided between the abutting faces of every two adjacent battery cells.
In some embodiments, the battery module further comprises:
an end plate, wherein the end plate is located at least one side of the plurality of battery cells; and the end plate is fixedly connected with the second connecting part, or the end plate is configured to be fixedly connected with the case; wherein the case is configured to mount the battery module.
In some embodiments, the second connecting part and the end plate are fixed to the case through a screw.
Some other embodiments of the present disclosure provide a battery pack, comprising a case and the battery module provided in any technical solution of the present disclosure, the battery module being mounted within the case.
In some embodiments, a first fixing part is mounted at the bottom of the case, and a connecting structure on a first connecting part of the battery module is detachably connected with the first fixing part.
In some embodiments, a second fixing part is mounted at the bottom of the case, and an end plate of the battery module and/or a second connecting part are detachably connected with the second fixing part though a screw.
In the battery module provided by the technical solution described above, the first spacer is arranged in a direction of accumulation caused by expansion of the battery module; that is, the first spacer is arranged between abutting faces of the battery cells arranged in a row, the size of the first spacer being smaller than that of the abutting faces; thus, due to the presence of the first spacer, there is the gap between the abutting faces of the two adjacent battery cells, and the gap provides a buffering space for expansion of the battery cells, so that the expansion of the battery cells is limited within the space, and expansion accumulation of the adjacent battery cells due to contact is reduced or even avoided. Moreover, due to proving the first spacer, the battery cells do not contact each other, so that heat transfer between the battery cells is effectively reduced, and the heat dissipation effect is better.
The drawings described here are used for providing further understanding of the present disclosure, and are part of the present application, and the schematic embodiments of the present disclosure and description thereof are intended for explaining the present disclosure, rather than improperly limiting the present disclosure. In the drawings:
Technical solutions provided by the present disclosure are described in more detail below in conjunction with
Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a battery pack, comprising a case 5 and a battery module provided in any technical solution of the present disclosure, the battery module being mounted within the case 5.
Using a battery cell 1 with a cuboid structure as an example, each battery cell 1 comprises four side faces 13. There are four manners of arrangement of the battery cells 1 in a row, respectively as shown in
Relevant introduction of the battery module is provided below.
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The battery cell 1 comprises a housing 17, an electrode assembly 18 arranged within the housing 17, connectors 19 arranged at an end of the electrode assembly 18, and a cover plate 100 that covers the connectors 19 and the end of the electrode assembly 18. The cover plate 100 is provided with the electrode terminals 10.
The housing 17 has a closed end and an open end. The cover plate 100 is arranged at the opening of the housing 17. The electrode assembly 18 is mounted within the housing 17 via the opening.
An outer surface of the cover plate 100 serves as the first surface 11 of the cell described below, and a surface of the housing 17 opposite to the open end serves as the second surface 12 of the cell described below. The four side faces of the housing 17 serve as the four side faces of the battery cell 1.
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The size of the first spacer 2 is smaller than that of the abutting face 14, so that due to the presence of the first spacer 2 between the abutting faces 14 of the two adjacent battery cells 1, there is the gap between the abutting faces 14 of the two adjacent battery cells 1, the width of the gap being 1 mm-10 mm for example. The presence of the gap limits the expansion of the two abutting faces 14 within the gap. For the battery cells arranged in a row, the battery cells 1 do not directly abut against the adjacent battery cells 1 after expansion, so that the battery cells arranged in a row as a whole do not deform excessively due to expansion.
In some other embodiments, a thermal insulation layer (not shown in the figures) is mounted within the gap, to reduce temperature influence of the two adjacent battery cells 1.
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The first connecting part 22 and the first spacing part 21 are connected through binder for example. The first connecting part 22 and the connecting faces 15 or the second surfaces 12 of the two adjacent battery cells 1 are connected through binder for example.
Depending on the placing direction of the battery cells 1, the first connecting part 22 is connected with the connecting faces 15 or the second surface 12.
Specifically, as the battery cells 1 have a cuboid structure, the first connecting part 22 being fit to the connecting faces 15 is conducive to the structural stability of the entire battery module, and therefore optionally, both the first connecting part 22 and the first spacing part 21 are flat plates, and the first connecting part 22 is perpendicular to the first spacing part 21.
The first connecting part 22 and the connecting faces 15 of the two adjacent battery cells 1 are fixedly connected through an adhesive for example.
The first connecting part 22 is fixed to the connecting faces 15 of the two adjacent battery cells 1, so that the entire battery module has more fixing points, and the fixing points are distributed more uniformly. When the battery module is used to in the battery pack later, the batter pack bears forces more excellently, and is better in structural strength and structural reliability.
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The gap between the second spacer 3 and the first spacer 2 is an expansion space for expansion of the battery cells 1. Providing the second spacer 3 makes the gaps between every two connected battery cells 1 more uniform, and reduces the phenomenon that some part of the gaps are greater and other part of the gaps are smaller.
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In some embodiments, there is a gap between the second spacing part 31 and the first spacer 2, and gap is conducive to heat dissipation of the battery cells 1.
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The first spacer 2 is located at one end of the gap of the two adjacent battery cells 1, and the two second spacers 3 are located at the other end of the gap of the two adjacent battery cells 1. The thickness of the first spacer 2 is equal to that of the two second spacers 3. By means of the first spacer 2 and the two second spacers 3, the sizes of the gap at the two ends are substantially same. Such configuration makes the battery module more stable in structure and tidy.
To provide more fixing points for the battery module and make the battery module more stable in structure, in some embodiments, the second connecting part 32 is fixedly connected to the connecting faces 15 of both the two adjacent battery cells 1.
Specifically, the second connecting part 32 and the connecting faces 15 of the two adjacent battery cells 1 are connected through binder.
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The end plate 4 and the second connecting part 32 are fixedly connected to form a relatively stable and firm frame, and the battery cells 1 arranged in a row are located within the frame. The structure makes the structure of the battery module more stable and firmer.
In some embodiments, screws 6 connect both the second connecting part 32 and the end plate 4 to the case 5.
This structure ensures that the battery module is mounted inside the case 5 more stably, firmly and reliably.
The mounting relation of the battery module inside the case 5 is introduced below.
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A first fixing part 51 and a second fixing part 52 described below are mounted on the inner wall of the second case 54. Both the first fixing part 51 and the second fixing part 52 are fixed to the battery module, to achieve multi-point fixation of the battery module inside the accommodating cavity, so that the battery module has more fixing points which are more dispersed, and the battery module bears forces more uniformly.
Specifically, in some embodiments, the first fixing part 51 is mounted at the bottom of the case 5, and the connecting structure 23 on the first connecting part 22 of the battery module is detachably connected with the first fixing part 51.
The first fixing part 51 is a metal rod provided with screw holes for example, and is welded to the inner wall surface of the second case 54.
The connecting structure 23 is screw holes for example. Bolts pass through the screw holes to achieve detachable connection between the first connecting part 22 and the first fixing part 51.
In some embodiments, the second fixing part 52 is mounted at the bottom of the case 5, and the end plate 4 of the battery module and the second connecting part 32 are detachably connected with the second fixing part 52 through screws.
The second fixing part 52 is a metal rod provided with screw holes for example, and is welded to the inner wall surface of the second case 54.
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In some embodiments, one or more battery modules are mounted within the case 5.
In description of the present disclosure, it needs to be understood that orientation or position relations denoted by the terms “center”, “longitudinal”, “transverse”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner”, “outer” and the like are orientation or position relations based on illustration in the drawings, and are only intended to facilitate describing the present disclosure and simplifying description, instead of indicating or implying the denoted devices or elements necessarily have specific orientations or are constructed and operated in specific orientations, and thus they should not be understood as limiting the protection scope of the present disclosure.
Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used for illustrating rather than limiting the technical solutions of the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure is described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they still can make modifications to the technical solutions disclosed in the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent substitutions to part of technical features thereof, but such modifications or substitutions should not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201920582840.1 | Apr 2019 | CN | national |