Battery pack and vehicle including such battery pack

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10497994-B2
Application number	US-201615574227-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2016
Priority date	Nov 2, 2015
Publication date	Dec 3, 2019
Grant date	Dec 3, 2019

Abstract

A battery pack, which includes a pack case forming an appearance of the battery pack, at least one battery module provided in the pack case and having at least one battery cell therein, and a coolant circulator connected to the at least one battery module to circulate a coolant into the at least one battery module, at least a portion of the coolant circulator pressing the at least one battery module in the pack case, is provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery pack, comprising:
a pack case forming an appearance of the battery pack;
at least one battery module provided in the pack case, the at least one battery module comprising a module case having a plurality of walls forming an enclosure;
a plurality of coolant pipes formed in the walls of the module case configured to introduce coolant into the enclosure of the module case and discharge the coolant in the module case to the outside of the module case;
at least one battery cell in the enclosure of the module case; and
a coolant circulator connected to the at least one battery module configured to circulate the coolant into the enclosure of the at least one battery module, at least a portion of the coolant circulator pressing the at least one battery module in the pack case;
wherein the plurality of coolant pipes are in fluid communication with the interior of the enclosure of the module case and the at least one battery cell.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein the pack case includes:
a case body configured to accommodate the at least one battery module and the at least a portion of the coolant circulator; and
a module pressing plate mounted to the case body and disposed opposite to the at least a portion of the coolant circulator with the at least one battery module being interposed therebetween to press the at least one battery module.

3. The battery pack according to claim 2 , wherein the coolant circulator includes:
a circulator body configured to store the coolant and having a circulation pump for circulating the coolant; and
a circulation pipe configured to connect the circulator body and the at least one battery module to circulate the coolant into the at least one battery module, the circulation pipe being disposed in the case body to press the at least one battery module.

4. The battery pack according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one battery module is a plurality of battery modules including a first battery module and a last battery module, and
wherein the plurality of battery modules are disposed sequentially between the circulation pipe and the module pressing plate and connected to each other so that the coolant circulates therein.

5. The battery pack according to claim 4 , wherein the circulation pipe is connected to the first battery module and presses the plurality of battery modules toward the module pressing plate, and
wherein the module pressing plate is connected to the last battery module and presses the plurality of battery modules toward the circulation pipe.

6. The battery pack according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of coolant pipes of each module case include:
one pair of first coolant pipes provided in a first wall of the module case and disposed to be spaced from each other by a first distance; and
one pair of second coolant pipes provided in a second wall of the module case and disposed to be spaced from each other by a second distance.

7. The battery pack according to claim 6 , wherein the circulation pipe is connected to one pair of first coolant pipes of a facing battery module.

8. The battery pack according to claim 7 , wherein the circulation pipe includes:
a connection tube connected to the circulator body and disposed in the case body;
a coolant supply tube configured to protrude from the connection tube and connected to any one of the pair of first coolant pipes; and
a coolant discharge tube configured to protrude from the connection tube and connected to the other one of the pair of first coolant pipes.

9. The battery pack according to claim 8 , wherein the connection tube is disposed parallel to the module pressing plate.

10. The battery pack according to claim 8 , wherein the coolant supply tube and the coolant discharge tube are inserted into the pair of first coolant pipes, or the pair of first coolant pipes are inserted into the coolant supply tube and the coolant discharge tube.

11. The battery pack according to claim 10 , wherein a sealing member is inserted between the coolant supply tube and the pair of first coolant pipes and between the coolant discharge tube and the pair of first coolant pipes, respectively.

12. The battery pack according to claim 6 , wherein the module pressing plate is connected to the pair of second coolant pipes of the last battery module.

13. The battery pack according to claim 6 , wherein the pair of first coolant pipes of a facing battery module are connected to the pair of second coolant pipes of an adjacent battery module.

14. The battery pack according to claim 6 , wherein a width of the at least one battery cell is greater than the first distance between the pair of first coolant pipes.

15. A vehicle, comprising a battery pack defined in claim 1 .

Assignees

• Lg Chemical Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Jong-Young
• Shin Eun-Gyu
• Lee Jung-Hoon
• Choi Mi-Geum
• Mun Jeong-O
• Lee Yoon-Koo
• Choi Hang-June

Classifications

• H01M10/6567

  Liquids · CPC title

• H01M10/6556 Primary

  Solid parts with flow channel passages or pipes for heat exchange (closed pipes H01M10/6552) · CPC title

• H01M10/613 Primary

  Cooling or keeping cold · CPC title

• H01M2/1016

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M50/204

  Racks, modules or packs for multiple batteries or multiple cells · CPC title