Battery pack of vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9490460-B2
Application number	US-201313940368-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 12, 2013
Priority date	Jul 13, 2012
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

A battery pack includes: a battery; a battery case including: a battery tray which contains the battery; and a battery cover which is mounted on the battery tray; a cooling unit provided in an end part of the battery case in a first direction that is a longitudinal direction of the battery case, and supplying a cooling air into the battery case; an air flow passage provided above the battery and extending along the first direction, in a center part in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction inside the battery case, one end of the air flow passage connected to the cooling unit; and an electric cable arranged between the air flow passage and the battery cover, along the first direction, and supplying an electric power of the battery to a motor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery pack of a vehicle, the battery pack comprising:
a battery;
a battery case including: a battery tray which contains the battery; and a battery cover which is mounted on the battery tray and which covers the battery;
a cooling unit provided in an end part of the battery case in a first direction that is a longitudinal direction of the battery case, and configured to supply a cooling air into the battery case;
an air flow passage connected to the cooling unit and placed between the battery and the battery cover, the air flow passage being a member having an upper wall and a lower wall defining a passage, having a closed cross-section and extending in the first direction, that passes the cooling air therethrough without the cooling air making contact with the battery, the upper wall being provided with a concave part in a shape of a groove that extends in the first direction; and
an electric cable placed inside a space defined by the groove and an inner surface of the batter cover.

2. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
the concave part of the air flow passage has a width capable of absorbing a superfluous length of the electric cable when both ends of the electric cable are respectively connected to objects to be connected.

3. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
the electric cable includes a positive side cable and a negative side cable,
the concave part of the air flow passage includes two recesses which are different from each other in depth, and
the positive side cable and the negative side cable are respectively arranged in the two recesses.

4. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
a floor panel of the vehicle is provided with a floor tunnel which is protruded upward and which extends along a vehicle anteroposterior direction, in a center part of the floor panel in a vehicle width direction,
the battery cover has a convex part which is protruded upward and which extends along the first direction, in the center part in the second direction, and
the air flow passage and the electric cable are arranged in the convex part, and the convex part is provided inside the floor tunnel.

5. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
an elastic material is provided between the electric cable and the battery cover, and
the electric cable is pressed with the elastic material against the air flow passage.

6. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
the battery includes a plurality of batteries, and
bus bars for connecting the batteries include a bus bar which is disposed in the center part in the second direction and which is arranged between a lower face of the air flow passage and upper faces of the batteries.

7. The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein
the concave part is a deformed part provided in the upper face of the upper wall of the air flow passage.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Motors Corp

Inventors

• Yanagi Kenji

Classifications

• H01M10/6563 Primary

  with forced flow, e.g. by blowers · CPC title

• H01M50/51

  Connection only in series · CPC title

• H01M50/249

  specially adapted for aircraft or vehicles, e.g. cars or trains (constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles B60L50/64) · CPC title

• H01M50/209

  adapted for prismatic or rectangular cells (H01M50/216 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M50/503

  characterised by the shape of the interconnectors · CPC title