Battery pack and electric work vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10020470-B2
Application number	US-201514956650-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2015
Priority date	Apr 2, 2015
Publication date	Jul 10, 2018
Grant date	Jul 10, 2018

Abstract

A battery pack ( 6 ) for an electric work vehicle includes a battery unit ( 6 A), a casing ( 60 ) for tightly housing the battery unit ( 6 A), a circulation fan ( 6 B) mounted in an inner space of the casing ( 60 ), and an air guide ( 50 ) provided in the casing ( 60 ) to direct cooling air produced by the circulation fan ( 6 B) to the battery unit ( 6 A).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery pack for an electric work vehicle, the battery pack comprising:
a battery unit;
a casing for tightly housing the battery unit such that an amount of ambient air introduced into the casing is sufficiently reduced to prevent an ambient temperature from being easily equilibrated with an inner space temperature;
a circulation fan mounted in an inner space of the casing; and
an air guide provided in the casing to direct cooling air produced by the circulation fan to the battery unit,
wherein the casing includes a first casing having a first inner space for housing the battery unit, and a second casing having a second inner space for housing the circulation fan and a battery control unit connected to the battery unit, the first inner space physically separated from the second inner space.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
the casing includes a battery retainer framework for holding the battery unit, and a panel covering the battery retainer framework.

3. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
the battery unit includes a plurality of battery modules vertically arranged in the inner space of the casing, and
wherein the air guide is a partition extending from a fan opening of the circulation fan to a gap defined between the vertically-arranged battery modules to introduce the cooling air into the gap and dividing the fan opening from an intake of the circulation fan.

4. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
the battery unit includes a plurality of battery modules vertically arranged in the inner space of the casing, and
wherein the air guide is formed as a partition dividing a battery space including a plurality of battery modules from a cooling air space including a fan opening of the circulation fan, the partition having a slit to allow the battery space to communicate with the cooling air space.

5. The battery pack according to claim 4 , wherein
the slit has a shape determined to allow the plurality of battery modules to be cooled uniformly.

6. The battery pack according to claim 1 , further comprising a heat sink provided in an external surface of the casing.

7. An electric work vehicle comprising:
rear wheels;
an work implement; and
a battery pack arranged forward of a central axis of the rear wheels and supplying electric power for driving the rear wheels and the work implement, the battery pack including:
a battery unit;
a casing for tightly housing the battery unit such that an amount of ambient air introduced into the casing is sufficiently reduced to prevent an ambient temperature from being easily equilibrated with an inner space temperature;
a circulation fan mounted in an inner space of the casing; and
an air guide provided in the casing to direct cooling air produced by the circulation fan to the battery unit,
wherein the casing includes a first casing having a first inner space for housing the battery unit, and a second casing having a second inner space for housing the circulation fan and a battery control unit connected to the battery unit, the first inner space physically separated from the second inner space.

8. The electric work vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein
the casing includes a battery retainer framework for holding the battery unit, and a panel covering the battery retainer framework.

9. The electric work vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein
the battery unit includes a plurality of battery modules vertically arranged in the inner space of the casing, and
wherein the air guide is a partition extending from a fan opening of the circulation fan to a gap defined between the vertically-arranged battery modules to introduce the cooling air into the gap and dividing the fan opening from an intake of the circulation fan.

10. The electric work vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein
the battery unit includes a plurality of battery modules vertically arranged in the inner space of the casing, and
wherein the air guide is formed as a partition dividing a battery space including a plurality of battery modules from a cooling air space including a fan opening of the circulation fan, the partition having a slit to allow the battery space to communicate with the cooling air space.

11. The electric work vehicle according to claim 10 , wherein the slit has a shape determined to allow the plurality of battery modules to be cooled uniformly.

12. The electric work vehicle according to claim 7 , further comprising a heat sink provided in an external surface of the casing.

Assignees

• Kubota Kk

Inventors

• Ito Hirokazu
• Koike Kazuo

Classifications

• B60L2200/40

  Working vehicles · CPC title

• H01M2220/20

  Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title

• B60L50/66

  Arrangements of batteries · CPC title

• H01M10/6557

  arranged between the cells · CPC title

• H01M10/625

  Vehicles · CPC title