CN115882168A - Sensor pin, battery system, electric vehicle, and method of mounting temperature sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a sensor pin, a battery system including the sensor pin, an electric vehicle including the battery system, and a method for mounting at least one temperature sensor in a battery pack, wherein the battery system includes: a battery pack including a plurality of cylindrical battery cells arranged in an array with a gap between adjacent battery cells; a conductive element extending along a surface of the battery pack; and at least one sensor pin comprising a pin head, a pin insertion portion extending from the pin head into the gap, and at least one temperature sensor arranged at the pin insertion portion for sensing a temperature of at least one of the battery cells and electrically connected to the conductive element via the pin head, wherein the pin insertion portion is deformed by an adjacent battery cell when inserted into the gap such that it presses the temperature sensor against the at least one of the battery cells within the gap.

Description

Sensor pin, battery system, electric vehicle, and method of mounting temperature sensor

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a battery system including a battery pack including a plurality of cylindrical battery cells and a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of at least one of the battery cells. The present disclosure also relates to a method for mounting a temperature sensor in such a battery pack.

Background

In recent years, vehicles for transporting goods and people using electric power as a power source have been developed. Such an electric vehicle is an automobile driven by an electric motor using energy stored in a rechargeable battery. The electric vehicle may be powered by a battery alone, or may be in the form of a hybrid vehicle powered by, for example, a gasoline generator or a hydrogen fuel cell. Further, the vehicle may include a combination of an electric motor and a conventional internal combustion engine. Generally, an Electric Vehicle Battery (EVB) or traction battery is a battery used to power a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). Electric vehicle batteries are different from starting batteries, lighting batteries, and ignition batteries because they are designed to supply power for sustained periods of time. A rechargeable or secondary battery differs from a primary battery in that it can be repeatedly charged and discharged, while a primary battery provides only irreversible conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy. A low-capacity rechargeable battery is used as a power source for small electronic devices such as mobile phones, notebook computers, and video cameras, and a high-capacity rechargeable battery is used as a power source for electric hybrid vehicles and the like.

In general, a rechargeable battery includes an electrode assembly including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, a case accommodating the electrode assembly, and an electrode terminal electrically connected to the electrode assembly. An electrolyte solution is injected into the case so that charge and discharge of the battery can be performed by electrochemical reactions of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the electrolyte solution. The shape of the housing (e.g., cylindrical or rectangular) depends on the intended use of the battery. Lithium ion (and similar lithium polymer) batteries, which are well known for use in laptop computers and consumer electronics, dominate the group of newly developed electric vehicles.

The rechargeable battery may be used as a battery module formed of a plurality of unit battery cells coupled in series and/or parallel to provide high energy content, particularly for motor driving of a hybrid vehicle. That is, a battery module is formed by interconnecting electrode terminals of a plurality of unit battery cells according to the amount of electricity required and in order to realize a high-power rechargeable battery.

The battery module may be constructed in a block design or a modular design. In the block design, each cell is coupled to a common current collector structure and a common cell management system, and its units are arranged in a housing. In a modular design, a plurality of battery cells are connected to form a sub-module, and several sub-modules are connected to form a battery module. In automotive applications, a battery system is generally composed of a plurality of battery modules connected in series for providing a desired voltage. Wherein the battery module may include a sub-module having a plurality of stacked battery cells, each stack including connecting the battery cells (XpYs) connected in series in parallel or connecting the plurality of battery cells (XsYp) connected in parallel in series.

A battery pack is a set of any number of (preferably, the same) battery modules. They may be configured in series, parallel, or a mixture of both to provide a desired voltage, capacity, or power density. The components of the battery pack include separate battery modules and interconnections providing electrical conductivity therebetween.

The battery system further includes a Battery Management System (BMS), which is any electronic system that manages rechargeable batteries, battery modules, and battery packs, such as by protecting the batteries from operation outside their safe operating area, monitoring their status, calculating secondary data, reporting this data, controlling their environment, authenticating and/or balancing them. For example, the BMS may monitor the state of the battery represented by voltage (such as the total voltage of the battery pack or the battery module, the voltage of each cell), temperature (such as the average temperature of the battery pack or the battery module, the coolant inlet temperature, the coolant outlet temperature, or the temperature of each cell), coolant flow rate (such as flow rate, cooling liquid pressure), and current. Further, the BMS may calculate values such as minimum and maximum cell voltages, a state of charge (SOC) or depth of discharge (DOD) indicating a charge level of the battery, a state of health (SOH; a measurement result of various definitions of a remaining capacity of the battery as a percentage of an original capacity), a power state (SOP; an amount of power available in a prescribed time interval in view of a current power usage, temperature, and other conditions), a safety state (SOS), a maximum charge current as a Charge Current Limit (CCL), a maximum discharge current as a Discharge Current Limit (DCL), and an internal impedance of a cell, which is used to determine an open circuit voltage, based on the above items.

The BMS may be centralized such that a single controller is connected to the battery cells through a plurality of wires. The BMS may also be distributed, in which a BMS board is installed at each unit with only one communication cable between the battery and the controller. Or the BMS may be a modular construction comprising several controllers, each handling a specific number of units, communicating between the controllers. Centralized BMS are the most economical, the least scalable, and plagued by large numbers of wires. Distributed BMS are the most expensive, the simplest to install, and provide the most orderly components. The modular BMS provides a compromise between the features and problems of the other two layout techniques.

The BMS may protect the battery pack from operating outside its safe operating area. In the case of over-current, over-voltage (during charging), over-temperature, under-temperature, over-pressure, and ground fault or leakage current detection, operation outside of a safe operating region may be indicated. The BMS may prevent operation outside the safe operating area of the battery by including an internal switch (such as a relay or a solid state device) that is opened if the battery is operated outside its safe operating area, the BMS requesting that the device connected to the battery reduce or even terminate use of the battery, and actively controlling the environment, such as by a heater, a fan, air conditioning, or liquid cooling.

In order to provide thermal control of the battery pack, a thermal management system is required to safely use the at least one battery module by effectively dissipating, releasing and/or dissipating heat generated from the rechargeable battery thereof. If the heat dissipation/release/dissipation is not sufficiently performed, a temperature deviation occurs between the respective battery cells such that the at least one battery module cannot generate a desired amount of power. In addition, an increase in internal temperature may cause an abnormal reaction to occur therein, so that the charging and discharging performance of the rechargeable battery is deteriorated, and the life of the rechargeable battery is shortened.

Therefore, it is important to monitor the internal temperature of the battery pack so that it can be determined whether the battery cells are operating within an expected temperature range or whether they are overheated so that they can react accordingly. Temperature sensors for measuring the temperature of cylindrical batteries are known from, for example, US2019/296407A1 and US9373832B 2.

US2019/296407A1 relates to a battery pack having a cylindrical battery cell, the battery pack including a multi-region temperature monitoring system including temperature probes electrically connected to a BMS via a circuit substrate extending along a top side of the battery pack. Temperature probes extend from these circuit substrates down into the gaps between adjacent cells and are held in place by structural materials or adhesives inserted into the gaps and cured. The mounting of such a construction (in particular the fixing of the temperature probe) is complicated.

US9373832B2 discloses a pair of battery cells including a temperature detecting member pressed against an outer surface of one of two cylindrical battery cells by pressing ribs of a temperature detecting member mounting part. Although such a mounting of the temperature sensor is less complicated, it is not suitable for a larger battery pack comprising an array of many cylindrical battery cells.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery system which is less complex in structure, in particular a battery system comprising a structurally simple temperature sensor arrangement and a less complex method of mounting a temperature sensor in a battery system.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention is defined by the claims. The following description is subject to this limitation. Any disclosure outside the scope of the claims is intended for illustrative and comparative purposes only.

The invention relates to a battery system, comprising: a battery pack including a plurality of cylindrical battery cells arranged in an array with a gap between adjacent battery cells; a conductive member extending along a surface of the battery pack; and at least one sensor pin comprising a pin head, a pin insertion portion extending from the pin head into the gap, and at least one temperature sensor arranged at the pin insertion portion for sensing the temperature of at least one of the battery cells and electrically connected to the conductive element via the pin head, wherein the pin insertion portion is deformed by an adjacent battery cell when inserted into the gap such that it presses the temperature sensor against the at least one of the battery cells within the gap.

The invention further relates to a method for mounting at least one temperature sensor in a battery pack comprising a plurality of cylindrical battery cells, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

a) Providing a battery pack comprising a plurality of cylindrical battery cells arranged in an array with a gap between adjacent battery cells;

b) Inserting at least one sensor pin into one of the gaps such that a pin head of the at least one sensor pin is located at a surface of the battery pack and a pin insertion portion extending from the pin head is located within the gap together with at least one temperature sensor arranged at the pin insertion portion for sensing a temperature of at least one of the battery cells, wherein when the pin insertion portion is inserted into the gap, it is deformed by an adjacent battery cell such that it presses the temperature sensor against the at least one of the battery cells within the gap,

c) The conductive member is disposed along the surface of the battery pack,

d) The temperature sensor is electrically connected to the conductive element by a pin head.

With the method according to the present invention, a temperature sensor may be mounted in a battery pack to realize the battery system according to the present invention. Therefore, the battery system according to the present invention may be manufactured by the method. Hereinafter, the battery system and method and embodiments thereof will be explained. The description given for the battery system also applies to the method and vice versa.

The cylindrical battery cells are arranged in an array, i.e. in a regular manner in rows and columns of cells, preferably in a space-saving manner. However, due to the cylindrical form of the battery cells, there are still gaps between adjacent battery cells (particularly between adjacent rows of cells). For example, a battery pack may include a plurality of rows of cylindrical battery cells, with each second row offset from the first row by approximately half the diameter of one of the cells. Thus, the gap is defined by three cells. The array may comprise more than two cells, in particular at least three cells. According to the invention, at least one temperature sensor is inserted into at least one of such gaps. A plurality of temperature sensors may be arranged within one of the gaps, for example at different depths. Furthermore, by inserting a sensor pin in each of these gaps, a plurality of gaps may be provided with one or more temperature sensors.

According to the present invention, there is provided a sensor pin including at least one temperature sensor at a pin insertion portion thereof, the sensor pin being inserted into a gap with the pin insertion portion thereof such that the temperature sensor is disposed within the gap to measure a temperature of at least one of adjacent battery cells. The at least one temperature sensor is connected to a conductive element providing an electrical connection between the temperature sensor and, for example, the BMS such that the BMS can be provided with a temperature value determined by the temperature sensor. This allows the internal temperature of the battery pack to be determined and monitored. The conductive member extends along the surface of the battery pack, or, in other words, along the end side of the battery cell. In the installation position of the battery system inside the electric vehicle, the surface may be in particular the upper surface of the battery pack, i.e. the top side of the unit. The conductive elements may further serve as electrical connections for one or more of the battery cells to the BMS. The temperature sensor is connected to the conductive element by a pin head of the sensor pin. As will be explained later, the sensor connection lines may extend from the temperature sensor along the pin insertion portion to the pin head where they may be connected to the conductive element.

In order to mount the temperature sensor in the battery pack, the pin insertion portion including the temperature sensor is inserted into one of the gaps between the adjacent/neighboring battery cells. Specifically, the sensor pin is inserted into the gap with its pin insertion portion until the pin head rests on the surface of the battery pack. Preferably, the length of the pin insertion portion is selected such that the temperature sensor extends far enough into the gap to allow meaningful temperature measurements. In particular, the temperature sensor may be disposed at the pin insertion portion such that the temperature sensor in the insertion position is disposed at or near the hottest point of the corresponding battery cell. The temperature sensor may be arranged at the free end of the pin insertion portion. The free end may be a first end of the sensor pin, wherein the pin head is arranged at a second end opposite to the first end.

According to the invention, the sensor pin (its pin insertion portion) is adapted to be deformed such that, in the insertion position, it presses the temperature sensor against at least one of the battery cells defining the gap. Thus, in the inserted position, the pin insertion portion is deformed by the adjacent battery cells such that it presses the temperature sensor against at least one of the battery cells defining the gap. In particular, as will be described later, the pin insertion portion may be adapted to be elastically deformed. The pin insertion part may comprise (elastically) deformable ribs. The sensor pin allows a simple and reliable mounting and fixing of the temperature sensor in the gap. When the sensor pin presses the sensor against the outer cylindrical surface of the unit, sufficient heat transfer is achieved from the unit to the sensor. Therefore, reliable temperature measurement can be performed.

The sensor pin is preferably a separate element, i.e. distinct from the conductive element. As explained above, during installation, an electrical connection is established between the conductive element and the sensor pin by the pin head. The pin head and/or the pin insertion section are preferably composed of a non-conductive material, in particular plastic. The pin head and the pin insertion part may be one structural unit manufactured as an integral unit, for example via injection molding. The sensor pin may form a pre-assembled unit including a pin head, a pin insertion portion, a temperature sensor, and a sensor connection wire. The provision of such a pre-assembled unit simplifies installation.

The sensor pin, whose temperature sensor is fixed in the gap, is particularly simple, since no additional elements (for example an adhesive which needs to be cured) are necessary. However, a reliable or even improved temperature measurement may be achieved since the pin insertion part presses the temperature sensor against at least one of the units whose temperature is to be measured, which results in a better heat transfer from the battery to the temperature sensor.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the pin insertion portion includes an elastic rib that is deformed by the adjacent battery cells when the pin insertion portion is inserted into the gap such that the temperature sensor is pressed against at least one of the battery cells within the gap. As mentioned above, the pin insertion portion may include an elastically deformable rib. These ribs may be deformed by one or more of the adjacent battery cells, in particular by all of the adjacent battery cells, in the inserted position of the sensor pin. The pin insertion portion and thus the sensor pin can be firmly supported or held by the adjacent unit within the gap. According to a corresponding aspect of the present disclosure, the elastic rib is a longitudinal rib arranged along a longitudinal axis of the pin insertion portion. Between the longitudinal ribs, a channel may be provided in the pin insertion portion, wherein a sensor connection line may be arranged in the channel. According to a corresponding aspect of the present disclosure, the elastic rib is a transverse rib arranged perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the pin insertion portion. The orthogonal ribs are arranged continuously along a longitudinal axis of the pin insertion portion. When the pin insertion portion is inserted, the elastic rib may be deformed, in particular, by all the adjacent cells defining the gap into which the pin insertion portion is inserted, the pin insertion portion thus contacting all the adjacent cells. Such pin elements may be so-called pine pins (pin tree pins). Such a pin element can hold the branch portion and the temperature sensor firmly in the gap.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, the sensor pin includes a clamping mechanism as a fixing mechanism spatially fixing the sensor pin within the gap. In particular, the pin insertion portion may comprise such a clamping mechanism. A corresponding clamping mechanism may be provided within the gap such that the clamping mechanism of the sensor pin and the clamping mechanism provided within the gap interact to spatially secure the sensor pin within the gap. With such a fastening mechanism, the sensor pin can be held particularly securely in the gap.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the conductive element is a flexible conductive element, in particular a flexible flat cable, comprising a plurality of isolated conductive wires. A plurality of sensor pins may be connected to the conductive element, i.e. a plurality of temperature sensors may be provided in respective gaps, the temperature sensors being connected to the conductive element via their respective pin heads. Thus, the conductive element may be in particular a flexible flat cable, which is arranged at the surface of the battery pack and connected to one or more sensor pins, connecting the temperature sensors of the sensor pins to the BMS. Such a flexible conductive element, in particular a flexible flat cable, is particularly simple to install.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the temperature sensor of the sensor pin is connected to the conductive element via two sensor connection lines extending from the temperature sensor along the pin insertion portion to the pin head. The two sensor connection lines may extend inside the pin insertion portion or inside a groove in the pin insertion portion, for example between longitudinal ribs of the pin insertion portion. In this way, the sensor connection wire is protected from the deformed pin insertion portion. According to a corresponding aspect of the present disclosure, the sensor connection line is composed of a Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) or a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC), or the sensor connection line is overmolded. The FFC or FPC may extend within the pin insertion portion or within a groove in the pin insertion portion, for example between longitudinal ribs of the pin insertion portion, so as to be protected from the deformed pin insertion portion. Having such an FFC or FPC extend along the pin insertion portion from the temperature sensor to the pin head allows for particularly simple mounting.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the pin head is made of plastic and/or the pin insertion portion is made of plastic. This allows for simple manufacturing (e.g. via injection moulding) while providing a non-conductive element.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the pin insertion portion extends into the gap so far that the temperature sensor is located at about half the longitudinal extension/axis of the battery cell against which it is pressed. The temperature sensor is therefore arranged about in the middle of the battery cell with respect to its longitudinal extension/axis, which is usually the hottest point of the cell. Here a meaningful temperature measurement can be performed.

The invention also relates to an electric vehicle comprising a battery system as described above.

The invention also relates to a sensor pin as described above in relation to the battery system. The sensor pin comprises a pin head, a pin insertion portion extending from the pin head into the gap, and at least one temperature sensor arranged at the pin insertion portion for sensing a temperature of at least one battery cell of the battery pack, wherein the pin insertion portion is adapted to be deformed by the adjacent battery cells when inserted into the gap between the adjacent battery cells such that it presses the temperature sensor against at least one of the battery cells within the gap. The pin head may be adapted to be connected to (in particular molded to) the conductive element, thereby connecting the temperature sensor to the conductive element, which connects the temperature sensor to the BMS.

Further aspects of the disclosure can be gathered from the dependent claims or the following description.

Drawings

Features will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a battery system according to an embodiment, without showing the conductive elements.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the sensor pin of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic of a battery system including a conductive element.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Effects and features of exemplary embodiments and methods of implementing the same will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals denote like elements, and redundant description is omitted. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided as examples so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey aspects and features of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Thus, processes, elements, and techniques not considered necessary for a complete understanding of the aspects and features of the disclosure may not be described by those of ordinary skill in the art. In the drawings, the relative sizes of elements, layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

In describing embodiments of the present disclosure, the use of "may" refers to "one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In the following and in the above description of embodiments of the present disclosure, terms in the singular may include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. When following a column of elements, expressions such as at least one of "\8230; \8230", modify the entire column of elements rather than modifying individual elements in the column. As used herein, the terms "substantially," "about," and the like are used as approximate terms, rather than as terms of degree, and are intended to account for inherent deviations in measured or calculated values that would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, if the term "substantially" is used in connection with a feature that may be represented using a numerical value, the term "substantially" indicates a range of +/-5% of the value centered on the value.

It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including 8230;" comprises, "" 8230 ";" or "comprising, \8230;" specify the presence of stated properties, regions, fixed numbers, steps, processes, elements, components, and combinations thereof, but do not exclude the presence of other properties, regions, fixed numbers, steps, processes, elements, components, and combinations thereof. It will also be understood that when a film, region or element is referred to as being "on" or "over" another film, region or element, it can be directly on the other film, region or element or intervening films, regions or elements may also be present.

Herein, the terms "upper" and "lower" are defined according to the z-axis. For example, the upper cover is located at the upper portion of the z-axis, and the lower cover is located at the lower portion of the z-axis. In the drawings, the size of elements may be exaggerated for clarity. For example, in the drawings, the size or thickness of each element may be arbitrarily shown for illustrative purposes, and thus the embodiments of the present disclosure should not be construed as being limited thereto.

In the following description of embodiments of the present disclosure, terms in the singular may include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and/or the present specification and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Fig. 1 is a perspective top view illustrating a battery pack 10, the battery pack 10 including a plurality of cylindrical battery cells 12 arranged in an array with gaps 14 between adjacent/adjacent battery cells 12. The sensor pin 16, which includes a pin head 17 and a pin insertion portion 18 extending vertically downward from the pin head 17, is inserted into one of the gaps 14 such that the pin insertion portion 18 extends into the gap 14 and the pin head 17 rests on a surface of the battery pack 10 (i.e., an upper end of one or more of the battery cells 12).

As can be seen in fig. 2, the sensor pin 16 comprises a temperature sensor 22, which temperature sensor 22 is arranged at the free end of the pin insertion portion 18. The free end of the pin insertion portion 18 forms a first end, wherein a pin head 17 is arranged at a second end of the pin insertion portion 18 opposite to the first end. Two sensor connection wires 21 extend from the temperature sensor 22 along the pin insertion portion 18 to the pin head 17 where the sensor connection wires 21 terminate at contact surfaces 21a for connecting the temperature sensor 22 to the conductive element 20 shown in fig. 3. The conductive element 20 may be a flexible conductive element.

The pin insertion part 18 further comprises two elastically deformable longitudinal ribs 24, see fig. 2, which extend along the longitudinal axis L of the sensor pin 16. Between these ribs 24 a groove is formed which accommodates the sensor connection line 21. In another example, the ribs 24 may be transverse ribs arranged orthogonal to the longitudinal axis L.

When the sensor pin 16 is mounted in the battery pack 10, the pin insertion portion 18 is inserted into one of the gaps 14, thereby deforming the longitudinal rib 24 such that the sensor pin 16 is securely held within the gap and the temperature sensor 22 is pressed against at least one of the adjacent battery cells 12. Thus, when inserted into the gap 14, the pin insertion portion 18 is deformed by the adjacent battery cell 12 such that it presses the temperature sensor 22 against at least one of the battery cells 12 within the gap 14. In another example, the sensor pin 16 may include a clamping mechanism as the securing mechanism that spatially secures the sensor pin 16 within the gap 14.

After insertion of the sensor pin 16, see fig. 3, a conductive element 20, which in this embodiment is a Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) and includes a plurality of isolated conductive wires (not shown) jointly disposed in an isolating material, is disposed at a surface of the battery pack 10 and electrically connected to the sensor pin 16. The electrical connection between the temperature sensor 22 and the conductive element 20 is established by (laser) welding the two contact surfaces 21a of the sensor connection line 21 to the respective conductive lines of the conductive element 20. The temperature sensor 22 may be connected to the BMS via the conductive member 20.

The sensor pin 16 allows a simple and reliable fixing of the temperature sensor 22 in the gap 14. In particular, no additional elements, such as adhesives, are required. Since the pin insertion portion 18 presses the temperature sensor 22 against the outer cylindrical surface of one of the battery cells 12, sufficient heat transfer from the battery cell 12 to the temperature sensor 22 is achieved. Therefore, reliable temperature measurement can be performed. The length of the pin insertion portion 18 and the arrangement of the temperature sensor 22 on the pin insertion portion 18 may be selected such that the temperature sensor 22 extends down into the gap 14 far enough to be close to the hottest point of the cell against which it is pressed. In particular, the pin insertion portion 18 may extend so far in the gap 14 that the temperature sensor 22 is located approximately half of the height of the battery cell relative to the longitudinal axis L of the battery cell. In such a location, a meaningful temperature can be measured.

Due to the arrangement in the grooves between the longitudinal ribs 24, the sensor connection line 21 is not damaged by deformation of said ribs 24. The sensor connection lines 21 may be included in the FFC or FPC, or they may be overmolded.

Reference numerals

10 Battery pack

12 cylindrical battery cell

14 gap

16 sensor pin

17 pin head

18 pin insertion part

20 conductive element

21 sensor connecting wire

21a contact surface

22 temperature sensor

24 Ribs

L longitudinal axis

Claims (16)

1. A battery system, comprising: a battery pack (10) comprising a plurality of cylindrical battery cells (12) arranged in an array with gaps (14) between adjacent battery cells (12); a conductive element (20) extending along a surface of the battery pack (10); and at least one sensor pin (16), the at least one sensor pin (16) comprising a pin head (17), a pin insertion portion (18) extending from the pin head (17) into the gap (14), and at least one temperature sensor (22), the at least one temperature sensor (22) being arranged at the pin insertion portion (18) for sensing the temperature of at least one of the battery cells (12) and being electrically connected to the conductive element (20) via the pin head (17), wherein the pin insertion portion (18) is deformed by an adjacent battery cell (12) when inserted into the gap (14) such that it presses the temperature sensor (22) against at least one of the battery cells (12) within the gap (14).

2. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein the pin insertion portion (18) includes an elastic rib (24) that is deformed by the adjacent battery cell (12) when the pin insertion portion (18) is inserted into the gap (14).

3. The battery system according to claim 2, wherein the elastic rib is a longitudinal rib (24) arranged along a longitudinal axis (L) of the pin insertion portion (18).

4. The battery system according to claim 2, wherein the elastic rib is a transverse rib arranged orthogonally to a longitudinal axis (L) of the pin insertion portion (18).

5. The battery system of claim 1, wherein the sensor pin (16) comprises a clamping mechanism as a securing mechanism that spatially secures the sensor pin (16) within the gap (14).

6. The battery system of claim 1, wherein the conductive element (20) is a flexible conductive element.

7. The battery system of claim 6, wherein the conductive element (20) is a flexible flat cable comprising a plurality of isolated electrically conductive wires.

8. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein two sensor connection lines (21) extend from the temperature sensor (22) along the pin insertion portion (18) to the pin head (17) and electrically connect the temperature sensor (22) to the conductive element (20).

9. The battery system according to claim 8, wherein the sensor connection line (21) is constituted by a flexible flat cable or a flexible printed circuit.

10. The battery system of claim 8, wherein the sensor connection wires (21) are overmolded.

11. The battery system according to claim 1, wherein the pin head (17) is made of plastic and/or the pin insertion part (18) is made of plastic.

12. The battery system of claim 1, wherein the pin insertion portion (18) extends into the gap (14) such that a longitudinal axis of the battery cell (12) against which the temperature sensor (22) is pressed is located at about half the height of the battery cell.

13. An electric vehicle comprising a battery system according to any of the preceding claims.

14. A sensor pin (16) comprising a pin head (17); a pin insertion portion extending from the pin head (17) into the gap (14) (18); and at least one temperature sensor (22) arranged at the pin insertion portion (18) for sensing a temperature of at least one battery cell (12) of the battery pack (10), wherein the pin insertion portion (18) is adapted to be deformed by adjacent battery cells (12) when inserted into a gap (14) between the adjacent battery cells (12) such that it presses the temperature sensor (22) against at least one of the battery cells (12) within the gap (14).

15. A method for mounting at least one temperature sensor (22) in a battery pack (10), the battery pack (10) comprising a plurality of cylindrical battery cells (12), wherein the method comprises the steps of:

a) Providing a battery pack (10), the battery pack (10) comprising a plurality of cylindrical battery cells (12) arranged in an array with gaps (14) between adjacent battery cells (12);

b) Inserting at least one sensor pin (16) into one of the gaps (14) such that a pin head (17) of the at least one sensor pin (16) is located at a surface of the battery pack (10) and a pin insertion portion (18) extending from the pin head (17) is located within the gap (14) together with at least one temperature sensor (22), the at least one temperature sensor (22) being arranged at the pin insertion portion (18) for sensing a temperature of at least one of the battery cells (12), wherein the pin insertion portion (18) is deformed by an adjacent battery cell (12) when inserted into the gap (14) such that it presses the temperature sensor (22) against at least one of the battery cells (12) within the gap,

c) -arranging an electrically conductive element (20) along the surface of the battery pack (10),

d) -electrically connecting the temperature sensor (22) to the conductive element (20) via the pin head (17).

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of electrically connecting the temperature sensor (22) to the conductive element (20) via the pin head (17) comprises soldering two sensor connection lines (21) to the conductive element (20), the sensor connection lines (21) extending from the temperature sensor (22) to the pin head (17) along the pin insertion portion (18).

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