Patent Application
20190109312
The technique disclosed in the present specification relates to a connection structure for a power storage module and a control device.
For example, a battery module for a vehicle such as an electric automobile or a hybrid automobile includes multiple single batteries, and has many wires that connect to an ECU unit for detecting and controlling the charging/discharging states of these single batteries. For example, these wires are pulled out from the battery module and bundled, and a battery-side connector provided on the leading end side is fit into a device-side connector provided on the ECU unit side, whereby the wires are connected to the ECU unit.
Patent Document 1: JP 2011-91003A
Incidentally, the task of fitting together the connectors is performed by holding the battery-side connector in hand, putting the connector on the opening of the device-side connector, and pressing the battery-side connector into the opening, and therefore extra length in the wires that are lead out from the battery module needs to be provided in order to have a length that is sufficient for a routing task. However, after the connectors are fit together, space for routing the extra length portion of the wires that are lead out from the battery module is needed, and there is a problem in that space is taken up.
The technique disclosed in the present specification has been completed based on the foregoing circumstances, and aims to provide a connection structure for a power storage module and a connection device that does not require routing space.
The technique disclosed in the present specification is a connection structure for a power storage module obtained by attaching a wiring module to a power storage group including a plurality of power storage elements, and for a control device for detecting states of the power storage elements. The power storage module includes detection wires configured to detect the states of the power storage elements, the detection wires being connected to the control device, and a module-side connector that is connected to the detection wires and is provided integrally on the power storage module, and a device-side connector that is provided integrally on the control device, are fit together.
According to the above-described configuration, the module-side connector connected to the detection wires is integrally provided in the power storage module, and therefore it is possible to connect the detection wires to the control device (device-side connector) without pulling the detection wires out of the power storage module. That is, no routing space for the detection wires is needed outside of the power storage module.
The connection structure for the power storage module and the control device may include the following configurations.
It is possible to use a configuration in which the module-side connector includes a module-side housing that contains terminals connected to terminal ends of the detection wires, and a lever having a cam groove is provided on the module-side housing so as to be able to rotate about a support shaft, the device-side connector includes a device-side housing that can fit into the module-side housing, and a cam pin that engages with the cam groove is formed on the device-side housing at a position opposing the lever, and the module-side connector and the device-side connector are fit together and separated through a cam action accompanying engagement of the cam groove and the cam pin through rotation of the lever.
According to the above-described configuration, even if there are many detection wires, the module-side connector and the device-side connector are fit together and separated through a cam action, and therefore the force that is needed during the task can be reduced.
It is possible to use a configuration in which the wiring module includes a resin protector that holds the detection wires, and a fixing portion provided on the module-side connector is fixed to a fixed portion provided on the resin protector.
According to the above-described configuration, the resin protector and module-side connector need only be integrated after being separately manufactured, and therefore the manufacturing cost can be suppressed more compared to the case of manufacturing everything integrally.
It is also possible to use a configuration in which the module-side connector includes a holder, the module-side housing is held such that a tolerance can be absorbed in the holder, and the fixing portion is provided in the holder
According to the above-described configuration, even if a manufacturing allowance and an attachment allowance are generated, it is possible to absorb these allowances.
The fitting-together direction of the battery-side connector and the device-side connector may be set as follows.
If the control device is arranged opposing to the wiring module, the direction in which the module-side connector and the device-side connector are fit together may be set to the alignment direction in which the power storage elements are aligned.
Also, if the control device is arranged opposing the wiring module, the direction in which the module-side connector and the device-side connector are fit together may be set to a direction intersecting the attachment surface of the power storage elements on which the wiring module is attached.
Furthermore, if the control device is arranged aligned in the alignment direction in which the power storage elements are aligned, the direction in which the module-side connector and the device-side connector are fit together may be set to the alignment direction.
With this kind of configuration, the power storage module and the control device can be put together compactly.
According to the technique disclosed in the present specification, it is possible to provide a connection structure for a power storage module and a control device that does not require routing space for detection wires outside of a power storage module.
Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to
The battery modules 10 include single battery groups 11 (examples of power storage element groups) in which multiple single batteries (examples of power storage elements) are arranged in alignment. The upper surface of each single battery includes a pair of electrode terminals (not shown), and the electrode terminals of adjacent single batteries are electrically connected by a wiring module 20. The single battery groups 11 are connected to an ECU 60 (an example of a control device) via these wiring modules 20.
The wiring modules 20 include electrically conductive connection members that span between adjacent electrode terminals, detection wires that are connected to the electrode terminals and detect states of the single batteries, and resin protectors 21 that contain the connection members and detection wires. Note that the details of these constituent elements are omitted in the drawings, and the entireties of the wiring modules 20 are displayed as rectangular housing-shaped bodies.
In the wiring modules 20, circular rod-shaped external connection terminals 22 for connecting to an external device are provided protruding on one end side in the alignment direction X (up-down direction in
Also, in the wiring modules 20, battery-side connectors 30 are similarly integrally provided adjacent to the external connection terminals 22 on one end side in the alignment direction X of the single batteries.
The battery-side connectors 30 are connectors for connecting the detection wires of the battery module 10 to the ECU 60 and are fixed to fixing platforms 23 that are integrally formed protruding laterally from the resin protectors 21 (see
As shown in
Multiple cavities 33 that penetrate in the front-rear direction are formed in the terminal containing portion 32, and female terminals that are connected to the end portions of the detection wires are contained and held by being inserted into the cavities 33 from the rear.
Also, a pair of guiding ribs 34 that extend in the front-rear direction are provided near both end portions in the left-right direction on both the upper and lower outer surfaces of the terminal containing portion 32. These guiding ribs 34 are formed at different positions on the upper and lower surfaces, and when they are fit together with a later-described device-side connector 61, they perform restriction such that the device-side connector 61 is fit in a proper orientation.
Also, guiding protrusions 39 that stand upright while tilting from the forward side to the rearward side are provided at the central portion in the height direction of both left and right outer surfaces of the terminal containing portion 32.
Furthermore, each of the upper and lower outer surfaces of the terminal containing portion 32 is provided with a lever 35 that is located between a pair of guiding ribs 34. These levers 35 are each provided with a cam groove 36 having a predetermined curved shape which opens toward one end, and the levers 35 are supported so as to be able to rotate centered about rotation shafts 37 provided on the terminal containing portion 32 in a vertically point-symmetrical orientation (see
On the other hand, as described above, the hood portion 40 has a rectangular prism shape that surrounds the terminal containing portion 32, and near the rear end thereof, a total of 6 locking portions 41 (see
Also, a pair of lock arms 42 that extend frontward in the form of cantilevers are provided inside of the left and right side walls of the hood portion 40 (see
Furthermore, multiple restricting ribs 43 that extend in the front-rear direction are provided on the outer surface of the hood portion 40. These restricting ribs 43 are provided rearward from a position slightly rearward of the front end edge of the hood portion 40, and the entireties thereof are arranged in the later-described holder 50. These restricting ribs 43 are set to a height dimension at which a gap is included between the hood portion 40 and the inner wall of the holder 50. A total of 12 restricting ribs 43 are provided so as to be arranged on both sides of each locking portion 41, two pairs being provided on each of the top and bottom surfaces, and one pair being provided on each of the left and right side surfaces.
As shown in
The battery-side housing 31 with the above-described configuration is held in the holder 50 and is integrally attached to the resin protector 21.
The holder 50 has a rectangular prism shape that extends in the front-rear direction and surrounds the hood portion 40 of the battery-side housing 31, and elastically-deformable locking pieces 51 that are cut in and raised rearward and inward are provided, a pair thereof being provided on each of the upper and lower wall portions and a pair thereof being provided on each of the left and right wall portions. These locking pieces 51 lock onto the locking portions 41 of the hood portion 40, whereby the battery-side housing 31 is held inside. Note that the rear end of the battery-side housing 31 (hood portion 40) is retained to the rear by a retaining portion 55 that is provided near the rear end of the holder 50 (see
The front side of the hood portion 40 is set to slightly protrude from the front end of the holder 50 when the battery-side housing 31 is held at the proper position in the holder 50.
Also, the holder 50 includes a pair of fixing legs 52 (examples of fixing portions) that extend downward from the lower surface of the holder 50, near both end portions in the left-right direction. The fixing legs 52 have a shape obtained by dividing a circular tube into three equal portions in the axial direction, can elastically deform inward in the radial direction, and flange portions 53 that project outward are provided on the lower edge thereof. The circumferential edge portions on the lower ends of the flange portions 53 are cut off obliquely toward the leading end side, and are made into guiding surfaces for when being inserted into fitting recesses (examples of fixed portions) of the later-described resin protector 21.
On the other hand, the device-side connector 61 includes a rectangular prism-shaped device-side housing 62 that can be inserted between the terminal containing portion 32 and the hood portion 40 of the battery-side housing 31. Both the upper and lower wall portions of the device-side housing 62 are provided with guiding grooves 63 that extend in the front-rear direction near both ends in the left-right direction, and in which the guiding ribs 34 of the above-described battery-side housing 31 can be received.
Also, support ribs 64 that extend in the front-rear direction are provided on the outer sides in the left-right direction of the guiding grooves 63. The support ribs 64 are fit along the inner sides of the corner portions of the hood portion 40 of the battery-side housing 31 and support the device-side housing 62 on the inner side of the hood portion 40.
Also, both the left and right wall portions of the device-side housing 62 are bulging portions 65 that bulge outward, and the frontward sides of the bulging portions 65 are cut-out portions 68 that are cut out into U shapes rearward from the edge portions of the bulging portions 65. A pair of locking protrusions 66 that protrude toward the surfaces that oppose each other are provided on the upper and lower end surfaces of the cut out portions 68.
When the device-side housing 62 is fit into the battery-side housing 31, the lock arms 42 advance into the cut-out portions 68 and the locking hooks 42A on the leading ends of the lock arms 42 go past and lock the locking protrusions 66, whereby the fit-together state of both housings 31 and 62 is held.
Note that the distance between the pair of locking protrusions 66 is set to a dimension that is slightly larger than the width dimension of the guiding protrusions 39 of the terminal containing portion 32, and the guiding protrusions 39 advance between the pair of locking protrusions 66, whereby the orientation in which the device-side housing 62 is inserted into the battery-side housing 31 is guided to the proper orientation.
Furthermore, cam pins 67 that can engage with the cam grooves 36 of the above-described levers 35 are provided in a standing manner on both the upper and lower outer surfaces of the device-side housing 62.
A pair of these device-side connectors 61 are provided on one side surface of an ECU having a flat box shape. That is, as shown in
On the other hand, as described above, the attachment platforms 23 that protrude toward the side (alignment direction X in which the single batteries are aligned, the left side in
The battery-side connector 30 is attached such that the direction of fitting together with the device-side connector 61 is a direction along the alignment direction X (left-right direction in
The battery modules 10 and the ECU 60 of the present embodiment are connected as follows. First, as shown in
On the other hand, the ECU 60 is arranged opposing the wiring modules 20, and a pair of device-side connectors 61 that are provided on one side surface thereof (the surface on the left side in
The ECU 60 and the battery-side connectors 30 are set to be fit together along the alignment direction X (left-right direction in
Specifically, when the ECU 60 is brought toward the battery-side connectors 30 and the device-side housings 62 are fit into the battery-side housings 31, first, as shown in
Note that at this time, the guiding ribs 34 provided on the terminal containing portions 32 are guided into the guiding grooves 63 of the device-side housings 62, and thus, the terminal containing portions 32 and the device-side housings 62 are fit together in the proper orientation. Also, the support ribs 64 that are provided on the device-side housings 62 fit into the corner portions of the hood portions 40 of the battery-side housings 31, and the device-side housings 62 are supported by the hood portions 40.
Furthermore, the lock arms 42 provided on the hood portions 40 lock onto the engaging protrusions 66 of the device-side housings 62, whereby the fit-together state of the battery-side housings 31 and the device-side housings 62 is held. Note that at this time, the guiding protrusions 39 of the terminal containing portions 32 advance between the pairs of locking protrusions 66 while the lock arms 42 are elastically deformed, and therefore, in this manner as well, the fit-together orientation of the battery-side housings 31 and the device-side housings 62 can be guided to the proper orientation.
According to this kind of connection structure for the battery modules 10 and the ECU 60 of the present embodiment, the battery modules 10 and the ECU 60 are connected by fitting together the battery-side connectors 30 and the device-side connectors 61, which are each provided integrally, and therefore the detection wires are not pulled out of the battery modules 10 and exposed to the outside, thus eliminating the need for routing space for the detection wires outside of the battery modules 10.
Also, even if there are a large number of detection wires and a large number of terminals in the connectors, the battery-side connectors 30 and the device-side connectors 61 are configured to fit together using a cam mechanism, and therefore the fitting-together task can be performed easily.
Also, the battery-side connectors 30 are configured such that the fixing legs 52 provided on the holders 50 are fixed to the fitting recesses of the attachment platforms 23 provided on the resin protectors 21, and therefore it is sufficient to integrate the battery-side connectors 30 and the resin protectors 21 after they are manufactured separately. That is, the manufacturing cost can be suppressed lower compared to the case of manufacturing everything integrally.
Also, the battery-side housings 31 are configured to be held in the holders 50 such that the tolerances can be absorbed, and therefore even if a manufacturing tolerance and an attachment tolerance are generated, these tolerances can be absorbed.
Furthermore, the ECU 60 is arranged opposing the wiring modules 20, and the fitting-together direction of the battery-side connectors 30 and the device-side connectors 61 is set along the alignment direction X in which the single batteries are aligned, and therefore the entirety can be put together compactly.
Next, Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to
The connection structure of the battery modules 70 and the ECU 120 of the present embodiment differs from that of the above-described embodiment in the fitting-together direction of the battery-side connectors 90 and the device-side connectors 121.
The battery-side connectors 90 and the device-side connectors 121 of the present embodiment are fit together in a direction Y that intersects the attachment surfaces of the single battery group 11 to which the wiring modules 80 are attached, or more specifically, in the up-down direction of
On the other hand, the device-side connectors 121 provided in the ECU 120 are provided on the lower surface side of the ECU 120 such that the fitting surfaces thereof face toward the wiring modules 80.
With these battery modules 70 and ECU 120 of the present embodiment, the ECU 120 is arranged opposing the wiring modules 80, and the direction of fitting together the battery-side connectors 90 and the device-side connectors 121 is set to a direction Y that intersects the attachment surfaces of the single battery group 11 on which the wiring modules 80 are attached, and therefore with this kind of configuration as well, the entirety can be put together compactly.
Next, Embodiment 3 will be described with reference to
In the present embodiment, the ECU 180 differs from the above-described embodiments in that it is arranged aligned in the alignment direction X in which the single batteries are aligned. Also, the device-side connectors 181 of the ECU 180 are provided with their fitting surfaces facing the side surfaces of the battery modules 130.
On the other hand, the battery-side connectors 150 are provided integrally with the wiring modules 140 such that the fitting surfaces of the battery-side connectors 150 face the side opposite to that in Embodiment 1, that is, the lateral side.
With these battery modules 130 and ECU 180 of the present embodiment, the ECU 180 is arranged aligned in the alignment direction X in which the single batteries are aligned, and the fitting direction of the battery-side connectors 150 and the device-side connectors 181 is set along the alignment direction X, and therefore, with this kind of configuration as well, the entirety can be put together compactly.
The technique disclosed in the present specification is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and the drawings, and for example, the following embodiments are also encompassed in the technical scope.
(1) In the above-described embodiments, the battery-side connectors and the device-side connectors are fit together and separated through a cam action between levers and cam pins, but the levers and cam pins can also be omitted.
(2) In the above-described embodiments, the battery-side connector is integrally attached to the resin protector, but for example, another member such as a fixing frame for fixing the battery-side connector, for example, may also be provided.
(3) In the above-described embodiments, the battery-side connector is attached to the battery-side module (resin protector) using a holder, but it is also possible to use a configuration in which the holder is not provided and a fixing portion is provided directly on the battery-side housing.
(4) Alternatively, it is also possible to use a configuration in which the battery-side connector is formed integrally with the resin protector in advance, for example.
(5) A member that is different from a single battery (power storage element) may be included in the single battery group (.power storage element).
(6) The configuration of the battery-side connector and the device-side connector is not limited to the above-described embodiments.
(7) In the above-described embodiments, the two battery modules are attached to the one ECU, but the number of connections of the ECU and the battery module is not limited to the above-described embodiments.
10, 70, 130 Battery module (power storage module)
11 Single battery group (power storage element)
20, 80, 140 Wiring module
21 Resin protector
23, 83 Attachment platform (fixed portion)
30, 90, 150 Battery-side connector (module-side connector)
31 Battery-side housing (module-side housing)
35 Lever
36 Cam groove
37 Rotation shaft
50 Holder
52 Fixing leg (fixing portion)
60, 120, 180 ECU (control device)
61, 121, 181 Connector-side housing
67 Cam pin
X Alignment direction
Y Intersecting direction
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-046659 | Mar 2016 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2017/006282 | 2/21/2017 | WO | 00 |
