JP2011108537A - Cassette battery device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cassette battery device that can prevent excessive discharge even if the device is stored for a long term. <P>SOLUTION: This cassette battery device 1A comprises a secondary battery 2 having a positive electrode and a negative electrode, a monitoring section 3 that is connected to the other end terminal of a pair of power supply lines composed of a positive side power supply line 12A having one end connected with the positive electrode and a negative side power supply line 13A having one end connected with the negative electrode and operates to monitor the secondary battery 2 when the power supply is applied via the pair of power supply lines, and a switch means 6A that is provided on the way to one (12A) of the pair of power supply lines and operated to switch the electrical connection of the positive electrode with the monitoring section 3 between a connecting state and a shut-off state. A case 8 has an opening through which the switch means 6A can be operated from the outside of the case 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cassette type battery device that is detachably attached to a vehicle and supplies electric power to the vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electric vehicles that drive a traction motor with battery power have been widely used as vehicles that may have a short cruising distance, such as a transport vehicle that performs work on a factory site. Some electric vehicles include a detachable cassette type battery device. If the battery device is made detachable, it can be replaced with another battery device that is fully charged when the remaining power of the battery device is reduced, so that the electric vehicle can be operated continuously and efficiency Is.

  FIG. 8 shows a cassette type battery device conventionally used. As shown in the figure, the battery device 1 </ b> C includes a secondary battery unit 2 and a monitoring unit 3 (also referred to as a battery management system (BMS) or a battery management device). Further, the battery device 1 </ b> C includes a positive output terminal 4 connected to the positive electrode of the secondary battery unit 2, a negative output terminal 5 connected to the negative electrode of the secondary battery unit 2 via the fuse 14, and the monitoring unit 3. And an abnormality detection terminal 7 connected thereto. When the battery device 1C is attached to a connection unit provided in an electric vehicle, the terminals 4, 5, and 7 are electrically connected to corresponding terminals of the connection unit.

  The secondary battery unit 2 is formed by connecting a plurality of Li ion unit batteries in series. Usually, about 3 to 4 V is output from each Li ion unit battery, so if you want to output 24 V from the positive electrode output terminal 4 on the basis of the voltage of the negative electrode output terminal 5, there are 6 to 8 Li ion unit batteries. Connected in series.

  The monitoring unit 3 monitors the voltage and temperature of each Li ion unit battery, and when an abnormality such as overdischarge, overcharge, or heat generation occurs, notifies the electric vehicle side via the abnormality detection terminal 7. . And the electric vehicle which received the said notification stops the electric power supply from 1 C of battery apparatuses by operating a relay etc., and prevents that the secondary battery part 2 becomes unusable by ignition or overdischarge. .

  Moreover, the monitoring part 3 operate | moves by being supplied with electric power from the secondary battery part 2 via a pair of power supply line (for example, refer nonpatent literature 1). Specifically, a negative voltage (reference voltage: for example, 0 V) is applied to the monitoring unit 3 via the battery-monitoring unit connection line 13, and a positive voltage (output) is output via the monitoring unit power line 12. Voltage: 24V, for example) is applied.

"Industrial large lithium polymer battery SLPB series general catalog" (especially, the lower part of page 5), Internet, <URL: http://edisonpower.co.jp/product/pdf/ep_slpb.pdf>, November 19, 2009 Current

  However, in the conventional battery device 1 </ b> C shown in FIG. 8, the power of the secondary battery unit 2 is always supplied to the monitoring unit 3. The remaining power continues to decrease gradually. For this reason, when the storage period is about 1 to 2 months, the Li ion unit battery of the secondary battery unit 2 may be in an overdischarged state and may not be reusable.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cassette-type battery device that can prevent an overdischarge state even if stored for a long period of time. There is.

  In order to solve the above problems, a cassette type battery device according to the present invention is detachably attached to a vehicle and supplies electric power to the vehicle. (1) A secondary battery having a positive electrode and a negative electrode A battery unit; and (2) a pair of power lines connected to the other end of a pair of power lines consisting of a positive power line having one end connected to the positive electrode and a negative power line having one end connected to the negative electrode. When the power of the secondary battery unit is supplied through the monitoring unit, the monitoring unit operates to monitor the secondary battery unit, and (3) is provided and operated in the middle of one of the pair of power supply lines. The switch means for switching the electrical connection between the positive electrode or the negative electrode and the monitoring unit between the connected state and the cut-off state, and (4) a case that houses the secondary battery unit, the monitoring unit, and the switch unit. Has an opening, Through part, characterized in that the can operate the external from the switch means of the case.

  According to this configuration, by operating the switch means from the outside of the case, the electrical connection between the positive electrode or the negative electrode and the monitoring unit is cut off, and the power supply from the secondary battery unit to the monitoring unit is cut off Can do. For this reason, the power supply from the secondary battery unit to the monitoring unit when not in use (during storage) is cut off, and the secondary battery unit power is consumed during storage for a long period of time, resulting in an overdischarged state. Can be prevented.

  In the battery device, for example, the switch unit is a push-in switch, and when the switch unit is mounted on the vehicle, the switch unit is pushed in by a protrusion provided on the vehicle, and the positive or negative electrode and the monitoring unit are electrically connected. Can be configured to switch from the disconnected state to the connected state.

  The battery device further includes an abnormality detection terminal connected to the monitoring unit, from which the electrical connection between the positive and negative electrodes and the monitoring unit is in a connected state, and the secondary battery unit When there is no abnormality, a high level signal indicating normality is output, and when either one of the above connections is in a disconnected state, and when both the above connections are in a connected state, the secondary battery unit is abnormal. If there is, it is preferable to output a low level signal indicating that it is abnormal.

  According to the present invention, when not in use, the electrical connection between the monitoring unit and the secondary battery unit can be cut off, so that the secondary battery unit consumes power during storage for a long period of time and is in an overdischarged state. Thus, it is possible to provide a cassette-type battery device that can prevent the above.

It is a perspective view of an electric vehicle. It is the perspective view of the battery apparatus which concerns on Example 1, Comprising: (A) is the figure seen from the mounting direction back side, (B) is the figure seen from the mounting direction near side. 1 is a block diagram of a battery device according to a first embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the discharge capacity and voltage of a Li ion unit battery. 6 is a block diagram of a battery device according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is the perspective view of the battery apparatus which concerns on a modification, Comprising: (A) is the figure seen from the mounting direction back side, (B) is the figure seen from the mounting direction near side. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a battery device and a connection unit according to a modification, where (A) is a state where the battery device is not attached to the connection unit, and (B) is a state where the battery device is attached to the connection unit. is there. It is a block diagram of the conventional battery apparatus.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a cassette type battery device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Example 1]
The battery device according to the present invention is used in, for example, an electric vehicle as shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the driver's seat of the electric transport vehicle 20 is provided with a handle 23, and a traveling wheel 24 is provided below the handle 23. When the driver operates the handle 23, the traveling wheel 24 turns accordingly and the traveling direction of the electric transport vehicle 20 changes. An accelerator pedal (not shown) is provided at the foot of the driver's seat, and when the driver steps on the accelerator pedal, a driving motor (not shown) operates to drive the running wheels 24.

  A connection unit 30 for housing (mounting) the battery device is provided at the rear of the driver's seat. The connection unit 30 in this embodiment is a rack with a lid, and two battery devices can be mounted side by side on the upper and lower stages. As will be described in detail later, the battery device has a plurality of terminals. When the battery device is attached to the connection unit 30, each terminal of the battery device and each corresponding terminal provided on the connection unit 30 side are electrically connected to each other. Connected to. Of course, the attached battery device can be detached from the connection unit 30.

  FIG. 2 illustrates a battery device according to the first embodiment. The battery device 1 </ b> A includes a box-shaped metal case, and various terminals 4, 5, 7 for connecting to the connection unit 30 are provided on the end surface (see FIG. 2A) on the back side in the mounting direction. Further, a handle used for carrying and a switch means 6A described later are provided on the end surface (see FIG. 2B) on the front side in the mounting direction.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the battery device 1A according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the battery device 1 A includes a secondary battery unit 2, a monitoring unit 3 (BMS), a positive output terminal 4 connected to the positive electrode of the secondary battery unit 2, and a fuse 14. A negative output terminal 5 connected to the negative electrode of the secondary battery unit 2 and an abnormality detection terminal 7 connected to the monitoring unit 3 are provided.

  The positive electrode output terminal 4 and the positive electrode of the secondary battery part 2 are connected by a positive electrode line 10, and the negative electrode output terminal 5 and the negative electrode of the secondary battery part 2 are connected by a negative electrode line 11. The monitoring unit 3 and the positive output terminal 4 are connected by a monitoring unit power line 12A. Furthermore, the secondary battery unit 2 and the monitoring unit 3 are connected by a battery-monitoring unit connection line 13A including a plurality of wires. A switch means 6A is provided in the middle of the monitoring unit power line 12A.

  The secondary battery unit 2, the monitoring unit 3, the switch means 6 </ b> A, the fuse 14, and the above-described lines are housed in a metal case 8. As shown in FIG. 2, the end surface of the case 8 is partially open. The positive electrode output terminal 4, the negative electrode output terminal 5, the abnormality detection terminal 7 and the switch means 6A can be seen from the opening. In the present embodiment, the switch means 6A is a push-in switch, and can be operated to switch ON / OFF from the outside of the case 8 through the opening.

  The electric power stored in the secondary battery unit 2 is supplied from the positive electrode output terminal 4 and the negative electrode output terminal 5 to the connection unit 30 and then supplied to an inverter circuit or the like for driving the traveling motor. The secondary battery unit 2 is charged by applying a predetermined DC voltage between the positive electrode output terminal 4 and the negative electrode output terminal 5 through the connection unit 30 provided in the charging device.

  The secondary battery unit 2 is formed by connecting a plurality of Li ion unit batteries in series. As shown in FIG. 4, about 3 to 4 V is normally output from each Li ion unit battery. In this embodiment, eight Li ion unit batteries are connected in series, and about 24 V is output from the positive electrode output terminal 4 toward the connection unit 30 with the voltage at the negative electrode output terminal 5 as a reference.

  The monitoring unit 3 monitors whether or not an abnormality such as overdischarge, overcharge, or heat generation has occurred in the secondary battery unit 2 based on the voltage or temperature of each Li ion unit battery. Specifically, the monitoring unit 3 determines whether or not the voltage of each Li ion unit battery is 3.0 V or less or 4.2 V or more (see FIG. 4), and the temperature of each Li ion unit battery is normal. Monitor for temperature rise above temperature range. When it is determined that an abnormality has occurred, the fact is notified to the electric transport vehicle 20 side via the abnormality detection terminal 7. The electric transport vehicle 20 that has received the notification stops the power supply from the battery device 1A by operating a relay or the like, and prevents the secondary battery unit 2 from becoming unusable due to ignition or overdischarge. .

  Further, the monitoring unit 3 performs the above-described monitoring operation by being supplied with power from the secondary battery unit 2 through a pair of power supply lines including a positive power supply line and a negative power supply line. In the present embodiment, the negative power supply line is included in the battery-monitoring unit connection line 13 </ b> A and is connected to the negative electrode in the secondary battery unit 2. For this reason, a negative voltage (reference voltage: 0 V, for example) is applied to the monitoring unit 3 via the battery-monitoring unit connection line 13A which is a negative power line.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, the monitoring unit power supply line 12A is the positive power supply line. As described above, the switch means 6A is provided in the middle of this line. When the switch 6A is operated and turned ON, the connection between the monitoring unit 3 and the positive output terminal 4 (positive electrode) is in a connected state, and the positive voltage (output voltage: main voltage) is applied to the monitoring unit 3 via the monitoring unit power line 12A. In the embodiment, about 24V) is applied. Further, when the switch 6A is operated and turned off, the connection between the monitoring unit 3 and the positive output terminal 4 (positive electrode) is cut off. In this state, the positive voltage is not applied to the monitoring unit 3. That is, the power from the secondary battery unit 2 is not supplied to the monitoring unit 3, and the monitoring unit 3 cannot perform the above-described monitoring operation.

  When the connection between the monitoring unit 3 and the positive electrode is in the connected state and there is no abnormality in the secondary battery unit 2, a high level signal indicating normality is output from the abnormality detection terminal 7. On the other hand, when the secondary battery unit 2 has an abnormality, a Low level signal indicating the abnormality is output. Here, “Low level” means, for example, a negative voltage (0 V). “High level” means, for example, a positive voltage (24 V) or a voltage (5 V or the like) obtained by stepping down the voltage.

  Further, when the connection between the monitoring unit 3 and the positive electrode is cut off by the switch means 6A, and power is not supplied from the secondary battery unit 2 to the monitoring unit 3, it is natural that the abnormality detection terminal 7 is set to Low. A level signal is output. This is because a high level signal cannot be output in a state where power is not supplied.

  If the polarity of the signal output from the abnormality detection terminal 7 is as described above, it is notified to the electric transport vehicle 20 side via the abnormality detection terminal 7 that the monitoring unit 3 cannot operate. The driver can know that. That is, the driver can know that the battery device 1A has been mounted with the switch means 6A turned off.

  As described above, according to the battery device 1A according to the present embodiment, the electrical connection between the monitoring unit 3 and the secondary battery unit 2 (positive electrode) is cut off by turning off the switch unit 6A. Therefore, it is possible to prevent power from being continuously supplied from the secondary battery unit 2 to the monitoring unit 3 during storage. For this reason, according to 1 A of battery apparatuses, it can prevent that the secondary battery part 2 will be in an overdischarged state during the storage over a long period of time, and becomes unusable.

[Example 2]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the battery device 1B according to the second embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the battery device 1B, the negative output terminal 5 and the monitoring unit 3 are connected by a monitoring unit power line 12B which is a negative power line. Further, the positive power line is included in the battery-monitoring unit connection line 13 </ b> B and is connected to the positive electrode in the secondary battery unit 2. In the middle of the monitoring unit power line 12B, switch means 6B which is a push-in switch is provided.

  The positive voltage (output voltage: about 24V) is applied to the monitoring unit 3 via the battery-monitoring unit connection line 13B. On the other hand, the negative voltage (reference voltage: 0 V) is applied to the monitoring unit 3 only when the switch unit 6B is ON and the connection between the monitoring unit 3 and the negative electrode is in the connected state.

  That is, according to the battery device 1B according to the present embodiment, the electrical connection between the monitoring unit 3 and the secondary battery unit 2 (negative electrode) can be cut off by turning off the switch unit 6B. Therefore, it is possible to prevent power from being continuously supplied from the secondary battery unit 2 to the monitoring unit 3 during storage.

[Modification]
As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of the battery apparatus which concerns on this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said structure.

  For example, in the battery device 1A according to the first embodiment, the switch unit 6A is provided on the end surface on the near side in the mounting direction. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the switch unit 6A can be provided on the end surface on the far side in the mounting direction. In this case, a protrusion 34 is provided on the inner wall of the connection unit 30 (see FIG. 7A). In addition to this, terminals 31 and 32 connected to an inverter circuit 21 for driving a traveling motor and terminals connected to a vehicle body control unit 22 for controlling each part of the electric transport vehicle 20 are provided on the inner wall of the connection unit 30. 33 is also provided.

  If comprised in this way, the battery apparatus 1A will be mounted | worn with the connection unit 30, and the terminal 31 and the positive electrode output terminal 4, the terminal 32 and the negative electrode output terminal 5, and the terminal 33 and the abnormal output terminal 7 will be electrically connected, respectively. In this case, the switch means 6A, which is a push-in switch, is pushed in by the protrusion 34 (see FIG. 7B). As a result, the switch unit 6A is turned on, the connection between the positive electrode of the secondary battery unit 2 and the monitoring unit 3 is connected, and the monitoring unit 3 can perform a predetermined monitoring operation. When the battery device 1A is removed from the connection unit 30, the switch means 6A automatically returns to OFF.

  That is, by configuring as described above, it is convenient to save the trouble of operating the switch means 6A every time the battery device 1A is attached to or detached from the connection unit 30. Also, it is not forgotten to turn on / off the switch means 6A.

  Of course, in Example 2, the same effect can be obtained even if the switch means 6B is provided on the end face on the back side in the mounting direction.

  Further, the switch means 6A, 6B in each embodiment is not limited to the push-in type, and other types of switches that can be operated from the outside of the case 8 can be used. In addition, the secondary battery unit 2 is not limited to a Li-ion battery, and can be another secondary battery such as a nickel metal hydride rechargeable battery.

1A, 1B Battery device 2 Secondary battery unit 3 Monitoring unit 4 Positive output terminal 5 Negative output terminal 6A, 6B Monitoring unit power input terminal 7 Abnormality detection terminal 8 Case 10 Positive line 11 Negative line 12A, 12B Monitoring unit power line 13A, 13B Battery-monitoring unit connection line 14 Fuse 30 Connection unit 34 Projection

Claims (3)

A cassette-type battery device that is detachably attached to a vehicle and supplies electric power to the vehicle,
A secondary battery unit having a positive electrode and a negative electrode;
Connected to the other end of a pair of power supply lines consisting of a positive power supply line connected at one end to the positive electrode and a negative power supply line connected at one end to the negative electrode. When the power of the secondary battery unit is supplied, a monitoring unit that operates to monitor the secondary battery unit;
Switch means that is provided in the middle of any one of the pair of power supply lines and operated to switch the electrical connection between the positive electrode or the negative electrode and the monitoring unit between a connected state and a disconnected state;
A case for housing the secondary battery unit, the monitoring unit and the switch means;
With
The case has an opening, and the switch means can be operated from the outside of the case through the opening. The switch means is a push-in switch,
When the vehicle is mounted on the vehicle, the switch means is pushed in by a protrusion provided on the vehicle, and the electrical connection between the positive electrode or the negative electrode and the monitoring unit is switched from a disconnected state to a connected state. The battery device according to claim 1. Further comprising an abnormality detection terminal connected to the monitoring unit,
From the abnormality detection terminal,
When the electrical connection between the positive electrode and the negative electrode and the monitoring unit is in a connected state and there is no abnormality in the secondary battery unit, a high level signal indicating normality is output,
When any one of the connections is in a disconnected state, and when all the connections are in a connected state but there is an abnormality in the secondary battery unit, a low level signal indicating an abnormality is output. ,
The battery device according to claim 1, wherein:

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