CN118020199A

CN118020199A - Cooling member, and battery module and battery pack including same

Info

Publication number: CN118020199A
Application number: CN202280064265.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 柳尚贤; 曹永范; 尹汉基; 郑知元; 南宫赫; 具原会
Original assignee: LG Energy Solution Ltd
Current assignee: LG Energy Solution Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-26
Filing date: 2022-10-25
Publication date: 2024-05-10
Also published as: KR20230082969A

Abstract

A cooling member according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: an upper plate; a lower plate; and cooling water contained in an inner space between the upper and lower plates, wherein a sealing portion is formed at edges of the upper and lower plates, a coupling groove is formed at an inner side of the sealing portion, and a fastening portion coupled by a fastening member is formed at an outer side of the sealing portion.

Description

Cooling member, and battery module and battery pack including same

Technical Field

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims the benefits of korean patent application No. 10-2021-0165251, filed on the korean intellectual property office on day 11, month 26, and korean patent application No. 10-2021-0170979, filed on the korean intellectual property office on day 12, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to a cooling member, and a battery module and a battery pack including the same.

Background

In modern society, portable devices such as mobile phones, notebook computers, camcorders and digital cameras have been used daily, and technological developments in the fields related to the above-mentioned mobile devices have been advanced. In addition, chargeable/dischargeable secondary batteries are used as power sources for Electric Vehicles (EVs), hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (P-HEVs), etc., in an attempt to solve the problems of air pollution, etc., caused by existing gasoline vehicles using fossil fuel. Accordingly, there is an increasing demand for developing secondary batteries.

The secondary batteries commercialized at present include nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, and lithium secondary batteries. Among them, lithium secondary batteries have been attracting attention because of their advantages of free charge and discharge, extremely low self-discharge rate, high energy density, and the like.

Meanwhile, in a secondary battery for a small-sized device, two to three battery cells are used, but in a secondary battery for a middle-or large-sized device (e.g., an automobile), a battery module or a battery pack in which a plurality of battery cells are electrically connected is used. Since the middle-or large-sized battery module is preferably manufactured in as small a size and weight as possible, a prismatic battery, a pouch-shaped battery, or the like is mainly used as the battery cells of the middle-or large-sized battery module, and such batteries may be stacked with high integration and have a small weight with respect to capacity.

Meanwhile, the battery cells mounted to the battery module may generate a large amount of heat during the charge and discharge processes. If the temperature becomes higher than the proper temperature due to overcharge or the like, the performance may be degraded. If the temperature rises too high, there is a risk of explosion or fire. If a fire phenomenon occurs inside the battery modules, high-temperature heat, gas, or flame may be released to the outside of the battery modules, wherein heat, gas, spark, flame, etc., emitted from one battery module may be transferred to other adjacent battery modules arranged at a narrow interval in the battery pack, which may cause a cascading thermal runaway phenomenon in the battery pack.

In order to prevent such a thermal runaway phenomenon, the conventional battery module is provided with a cooling member, a flame retardant member, and the like. In recent years, there have been attempts to apply a water-cooled cooling member or a water-cooled flame-retardant member into which cooling water is injected. In the conventional air-cooled cooling member, in which the cooling water is not supplied, there is a problem in that the battery cell stack cannot be uniformly cooled because a temperature gradient is formed in the cooling member according to the position of the fan. However, the water-cooled cooling member has the advantage that: since the temperature of the cooling member can be maintained relatively constant by the cooling water, so that the temperature deviation in the cooling member is minimized.

The water-cooled cooling member may be formed by combining an upper plate and a lower plate, and storing cooling water in a space between the upper plate and the lower plate. Conventionally, the upper and lower plates are mainly coupled using a method such as welding to ensure water tightness. However, if the physical properties of the upper plate and the lower plate are different from each other, or at least one of the upper plate and the lower plate partially contains a material or the like having different physical properties, there is a problem in that the upper plate and the lower plate cannot be well coupled by welding, or the upper plate and the lower plate may be damaged during the bonding process, which limits materials usable for the water-cooled cooling member. Accordingly, a technology capable of solving the conventional technical problems is required.

In addition, in order to prevent such a thermal runaway phenomenon, the conventional battery module is provided with a water injection system that extinguishes a fire by spraying cooling water through a nozzle or the like when the inside of the battery module fires. However, injection of cooling water from a case provided outside the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 requires a plurality of processes, such as checking whether a fire occurs, determining whether to inject cooling water, and delivering cooling water, which may make it difficult to find a proper timing for fire extinguishing.

Therefore, a new technology is required that can rapidly suppress the thermal runaway phenomenon by injecting cooling water at a proper position at a proper time when the inside of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 fires.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a cooling member capable of applying various materials and designs, and a battery module and a battery pack including the same.

It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a cooling member capable of supplying cooling water to a proper location at a proper time when the inside of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 fires, and a battery module and a battery pack including the same.

However, the problems to be solved by the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described problems, and various extensions can be made within the scope of the technical ideas included in the present disclosure.

Technical proposal

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a cooling member including: an upper plate, a lower plate, and cooling water contained into an inner space between the upper plate and the lower plate, wherein a sealing portion is formed at edges of the upper plate and the lower plate, wherein a coupling groove is formed at an inner side of the sealing portion, and wherein a fastening portion coupled by a fastening member is formed at an outer side of the sealing portion.

The sealing member may be located between the upper plate and the lower plate on which the sealing portion is formed.

The first recess may be formed in the coupling groove by introducing the upper plate into the lower plate or the lower plate into the upper plate.

A flow path forming groove may be formed in the cooling member, the flow path forming groove guiding the flow of the cooling water.

The second recess may be formed in the flow path forming groove by introducing the upper plate into the lower plate or the lower plate into the upper plate.

A deformation preventing groove may be formed in the cooling member, the deformation preventing groove preventing shape deformation due to inflow of cooling water.

A third recess may be formed in the deformation preventing groove, the third recess being formed by introducing the upper plate into the lower plate or the lower plate into the upper plate.

A recess portion is formed in the cooling member by introducing the upper plate into the lower plate or the lower plate into the upper plate, wherein the recess portion may have a depth extending in a direction perpendicular to a flow direction of the cooling water inside the cooling member.

The recess includes an upper recess in which the upper plate is deformed and a lower recess in which the lower plate is deformed, and a lowest point of an upper surface of the upper recess may be located below an upper surface of the lower plate on which the recess is not formed.

The lowest point of the upper surface of the upper recess may be located below the lower surface of the lower plate in which the recess is not formed.

The recess includes an upper recess in which the upper plate is deformed and a lower recess in which the lower plate is deformed, and a maximum value of an outer diameter of the upper recess may be greater than a minimum value of an inner diameter of the lower recess.

The lower plate may comprise at least two materials having different physical properties.

The cooling member further includes an inlet port and an outlet port for injecting cooling water into the inner space between the upper plate and the lower plate, the inlet port and the outlet port being connected to the exterior heat exchanger, and the cooling water of the cooling member may circulate through the inlet port and the outlet port.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a cooling member on an upper part of a battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked, the cooling member including: an upper plate, a lower plate, and cooling water contained in an inner space between the upper plate and the lower plate, wherein the lower plate includes an opening, an upper surface of the lower plate is covered with a cover film of the lower plate, an outer contour shape of the cover film is substantially the same as an outer contour shape of the lower plate, the cover film is made of a material having a melting point lower than a melting point of the lower plate, and the cover film is melted at a predetermined temperature or more, thereby opening the opening of the lower plate.

The cover film may be attached to the lower plate.

The thickness of the coverlay may be 0.5 to 1.0 millimeters.

The coverlay may be made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyphenylene oxide (PPO).

The sealing parts are formed at edges of the upper and lower plates, and the external fastening parts may be formed at outer sides of the sealing parts.

The band-shaped sealing member may be located between the upper plate and the lower plate on which the sealing portion is formed.

A coupling groove may be formed at an inner side of the sealing part, and the coupling groove supplements the coupling between the upper plate and the lower plate.

The coupling fastening part may be formed in at least a portion of the coupling groove.

The annular sealing member may be located between the upper plate and the cover film on which the coupling fastening portion is formed.

The flow passage forming fastening portion is formed in a part of the flow passage forming groove, and the annular sealing member may be located between the upper plate on which the flow passage forming fastening portion is formed and the cover film.

The deformation-preventing fastening portion is formed in a portion of the deformation-preventing groove, and the annular sealing member may be located between the upper plate on which the deformation-preventing fastening portion is formed and the cover film.

A groove is formed in the cooling member, the groove including a coupling groove that complements coupling of the upper plate and the lower plate, a flow path forming groove that guides a flow of cooling water, or a deformation preventing groove that prevents shape deformation due to inflow of the cooling water, wherein a rivetless connection may be formed in at least a portion of the groove.

The cooling member further includes an inlet and outlet port for injecting cooling water into the inner space between the upper plate and the lower plate, the inlet and outlet port being connected to the exterior heat exchanger, and through which the cooling water of the cooling member can circulate.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a battery module including the cooling member described above.

According to still another embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a battery pack including the cooling member described above.

The battery pack may include battery modules having a non-module structure.

Advantageous effects

According to some embodiments, the cooling member may be designed to comprise various materials by applying a mechanical fastening method.

Further, according to some embodiments, when the inside of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 fires, the cooling member may open a portion thereof and timely inject cooling water into an appropriate place, thereby enabling rapid suppression of the inside of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 from firing and preventing occurrence of a cascading thermal runaway phenomenon.

The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described effects, and additional other effects not mentioned above may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a cooling member according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a lower plate included in a cooling member according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the cooling member of FIG. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view showing a cross section of fig. 3;

FIG. 5 is a photograph showing a rivetless connection applied to cross section B-B of FIG. 3;

fig. 6 is a view showing a process of forming the cross-sectional structure of fig. 5;

FIG. 7 is a top view illustrating the location of a recess formed in a cooling member according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a cooling member according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the position of a fastening portion in the cooling member of fig. 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a portion of the cooling member of FIG. 8;

Fig. 11 is a view showing a lower plate included in the cooling member of fig. 8;

Fig. 12 is a view showing coupling of a lower plate and a cover film included in the cooling member of fig. 8;

FIG. 13 is a view showing a cross section C-C of the cooling member of FIG. 8;

Fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a battery pack according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a battery module included in the battery pack according to 14.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement them. The present disclosure may be modified in various different ways and is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

Portions irrelevant to the description will be omitted to clearly describe the present disclosure, and like reference numerals denote like elements throughout the description.

Further, in the drawings, the size and thickness of each element are arbitrarily shown for convenience of description, but the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to the size and thickness shown in the drawings. In the drawings, the thickness of layers, regions, etc. are exaggerated for clarity. In the drawings, the thickness of some layers and regions are exaggerated for convenience of description.

Furthermore, it will be understood that when an element (e.g., a layer, film, region, or plate) is referred to as being "on" or "over" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on" another element, it means that there are no other intervening elements present. Further, the term "above" or "over" means disposed on or above the reference portion, and does not necessarily mean disposed on an upper end of the reference portion facing in the opposite direction of gravity. Meanwhile, similarly to the case described as being located "above" or "over" another portion, the case described as being located "below" or "under" another portion may also be understood with reference to the above.

Further, since the upper/lower surface of a particular member may be differently determined depending on the direction used as a reference direction, "upper surface" or "lower surface" as used herein is defined to mean two surfaces facing each other in the Z-axis of the member.

Furthermore, throughout the specification, when a portion is referred to as "comprising" or "including" a certain component, unless otherwise specified, it is intended that the portion may further comprise other components without excluding other components.

Further, in the entire specification, when referring to "plane", it means that the target portion is viewed from the upper side, and when referring to "cross section", it means that the target portion is viewed from one side of the vertically cut cross section.

A cooling member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a cooling member according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a lower plate included in a cooling member according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the cooling member of fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view showing a cross section of fig. 3.

Referring to fig. 1, the cooling member 500 described in the present embodiment may be provided to reduce the internal temperature of the battery module (see fig. 15) or the battery pack 1000 (see fig. 14) including the battery cells 100. The cooling member 500 may be a water-cooled cooling member 500 in which a refrigerant or cooling water is injected. The cooling member 500 is provided in a water-cooling manner, so that the cooling efficiency of the cooling member 500 can be maintained uniformly, and the battery cells in the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 can be uniformly cooled. At this time, the cooling water used in the cooling member 500 may be one of known cooling water or may be a mixture thereof. Any known cooling water may be used as long as it can radiate heat of the battery cells by moving along a flow path inside the cooling member 500.

The cooling member 500 may be disposed on one surface of the battery cell stack to radiate heat of the battery cells. The cooling member 500 may be disposed parallel to the stacking direction of the battery cell stack to be positioned close to the plurality of battery cells of the battery cell stack. Specifically, the cooling member 500 may be located at the upper part of the battery cell stack. However, this is not necessarily the case, and the cooling member 500 may be located at the lower part of the battery cell stack, or may be located at the side part thereof, depending on the design.

The cooling member 500 may have a size that matches the size of the battery cell stack to which the cooling member 500 is applied. In one example, the cooling member 500 may be disposed to correspond to one cell stack, wherein the length of the cooling member 500 may be matched to the length of the cell stack, or may be formed to be slightly larger or smaller, and the width of the cooling member 500 may be matched to the width of the cell stack, or may be formed to be slightly larger or smaller. In another example, the cooling member 500 may be disposed to correspond to a plurality of battery cell stacks, wherein the length and width of the cooling member 500 may be matched to the length and width of the plurality of battery cell stacks, or may be formed to be slightly larger or smaller. Here, the cooling member 500 may be located in the interior of the battery module 100, but may also be located in the interior of the battery pack 1000 but outside the battery module 100.

The cooling member 500 may include: an upper plate 510 and a lower plate 520 forming an outer shape of the cooling member 500; and an inlet/outlet port 530 for injecting cooling water into the cooling member 500.

The cooling member 500 may be formed by coupling edges of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. A sealing part 540 may be located at an edge of the cooling member 500, the sealing part being formed by coupling edges of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 of the cooling member 500. The cooling water may be contained between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 coupled in the cooling member 500 or circulated between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. A sealing member 590 described below may be located between the lower plate 520 and the upper plate 510 on which the sealing part 540 is formed.

Cooling water may be supplied through inlet port 532 and discharged through outlet port 534. In design, the cooling water in the cooling member 500 is continuously circulated by being connected to an external heat exchanger connected to the inlet/outlet port 530 to maintain its temperature balance.

The inlet port 532 and the outlet port 534 may be arranged in parallel on one end side of the cooling member 500 and located on a straight line. This may be used to simplify the design of inflow and outflow of cooling water supplied from the outside of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000. Furthermore, this may minimize the temperature difference between the inlet port 532 and the outlet port 534. Specifically, the cooling water flowing into the inlet port 532 may have the lowest temperature, and the cooling water discharged through the outlet port 534 may have the highest temperature. Therefore, when the inlet/outlet ports 530 are disposed adjacent to each other, mutual heat exchange can occur, thereby minimizing temperature deviation of the entire cooling water flowing in the inner space of the cooling member. By arranging the inlet/outlet ports 530 side by side, the cooling member 500 as a whole may have uniform heat dissipation performance.

The upper plate 510 is provided in a plate shape, but the upper plate may be formed such that a central portion thereof is recessed or recessed to form a step with an edge portion. Specifically, the upper plate 510 may have a concave shape based on a cross section in the width direction. This may form an inner space through the step so that the upper plate 510 stores cooling water. Here, the width direction of the upper plate 510 may be a direction parallel to the short side of the upper plate 510.

The lower plate 520 may have a shape completely similar to the upper plate 510. The lower plate 520 is also provided as a plate shape, but the lower plate may be formed such that a central portion thereof is recessed or recessed to form a step with an edge portion. The lower plate 520 may have a concave shape based on a cross section in a width direction, thereby forming an inner space storing cooling water. Here, the width direction of the lower plate 520 may be a direction parallel to the short side of the lower plate 520.

Referring to fig. 2, the lower plate 520 may include at least one opening 521. The opening 521 may be a passage for filling the battery cell with cooling water when the inside of the battery cell fires. A plurality of the openings 521 may be provided along the short or long sides of the lower plate 520 such that the cooling member 500 has a plurality of the openings 521 to enable the cooling water to be filled in response to a fire occurring at an indefinite position within the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000.

When the cooling member 500 is disposed at the upper portion of the battery cell, the lower plate 520 may be the portion of the cooling member 500 closest to the battery cell. Accordingly, the lower plate 520 may preferably be provided with a material having high thermal conductivity to promote heat dissipation of the battery cells. In addition, in order to improve the overall heat dissipation performance of the cooling member 500, the upper plate 510 of the cooling member 500 may also be provided with a material having high thermal conductivity. The upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 forming the outer shape of the cooling member 500 may be made of a metal having high hardness, and specific examples thereof include aluminum, gold, silver, copper, platinum, or an alloy including these materials.

The lower plate 520 may be made of one material, but may also be made of two or more materials. Since the opening 521 of the lower plate 520 must be closed before the inside fires, a member that melts at a predetermined temperature or higher or breaks at a predetermined pressure or higher may be filled or inserted into the opening 521 of the lower plate 520. Alternatively, a film-type member manufactured to have similar physical properties is attached to the upper surface of the lower plate 520 so that the opening 521 can be closed.

The means for closing the opening 521 may be made of a material that is more easily melted by heat or broken by pressure than the lower plate 520. For example, the member for closing the opening 521 may be made of a material having a melting point of 300 ℃ or less. The member for closing the opening 521 may be made of a thermoplastic polymer resin having a melting point of 200 c or less. Examples of the thermoplastic polymer resin include materials having a melting point of about 100 ℃ or more and 200 ℃ or less, such as High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), and the like.

Meanwhile, the upper plate 510 or the lower plate 520 is made of two or more materials as described above, so that the cooling member 500 may include two or more materials having different physical properties. Alternatively, the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 may be made of materials having different physical characteristics, or other members having different physical characteristics may be added between the upper and lower plates 510 and 520. Conventionally, the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 of the cooling member 500 are mainly bonded by brazing, laser welding, or the like, whereby when the cooling member 500 is designed to include two or more materials, one material may be deformed during the welding process, which may cause a problem that the welding process is difficult or impossible. In addition, when laser welding or the like is used, a local temperature gradient may be formed on the upper plate 510 or the lower plate 520, which may cause a problem that at least a portion of the upper plate 510 or the lower plate 520 is warped.

However, since the cooling member 500 according to the present embodiment is manufactured by a mechanical fastening method instead of a welding method, the cooling member may be manufactured to include two or more materials, unlike the conventional method. Specifically, the mechanical fastening method of the present embodiment may minimize damage to the material forming the cooling member 500 by applying no heat or heat at a temperature lower than the melting point of the material provided to the cooling member 500. Accordingly, since various materials can be used for the cooling member 500 of the present embodiment without being affected by the welding temperature, the design of the cooling member 500 can be more simple and diversified.

One example of a mechanical fastening method for the cooling member 500 may include rivets or the like, which is coupling via a fastening member. In this embodiment, the cooling member 500 may include a fastening part 560. The fastening part 560 may refer to a portion fastened with a fastening member such as a rivet in the cooling member 500. A fastener into which a fastening member can be inserted may be formed in the fastening part 560.

Other examples of mechanical fastening methods for the cooling member 500 are rivetless connections. The rivetless connection is a deformation bonding method which presses one surface of two laminated plate-shaped members using a punch or the like and deforms the shape of the surface, thereby mechanically coupling the two members. The rivetless connection may also be referred to as a through-penetration bond, taking into account its shape. The portion forming the rivetless connection may be referred to as a recess 570 (see fig. 5).

If a mechanical fastening method is applied instead of a welding coupling method at the time of manufacturing the cooling member 500, excessive heat is not generated during the manufacturing process, so that accidental deformation of the cooling member 500 can be minimized, and a difference between a pre-designed size and a final product size can be reduced, thereby ensuring dimensional stability. In particular, in the case where an aluminum material is mainly used for the cooling member 500, the aluminum material may start to deform when a temperature of 660 ℃ or more (the temperature is a melting point) is applied, but heat higher than the melting point is not applied to the cooling member 500 when the above-described mechanical fastening method is applied, so that the dimensional stability of the cooling member 500 can be further improved.

Referring to fig. 1 and 3, a plurality of grooves 550 may be formed in the cooling member 500. The groove 550 may include a coupling groove 554 located at an inner side of the sealing part 540 to thereby complement coupling of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520, a flow path forming groove 556 guiding a flow of cooling water, or a deformation preventing groove 558 preventing the cooling member 500 from being deformed due to inflow of cooling water.

Here, the groove 550 may be formed at the upper plate 510 in advance. Alternatively, the groove may be formed through a process such as a rivetless connection after the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 are coupled. Therefore, the groove 550 does not have to be formed in advance on the upper plate 510 provided when the cooling member 500 is manufactured. Further, here, even if the groove 550 is formed at the upper plate 510 in advance, the rivetless connection may be formed by pressing the groove 550, and thus, the groove formed at the upper plate 510 in advance does not exclude that the rivetless connection of the portion can be formed.

The coupling groove 554 is located inside the sealing part 540, and can prevent an opening from being generated between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 due to excessive pressure applied to the sealing part 540 by the cooling water. The coupling recess 554 serves to supplement the rigidity of the sealing part 540, and may be formed at positions corresponding to the vertexes of the sealing part 540, where excessive pressure may be applied. Further, the coupling grooves 554 may be disposed at intervals along the edge of the sealing part 540. In consideration of the shape of the sealing part 540, the shape of the coupling recess 554 may be formed in a fan shape or a semicircular shape having a center angle of 90 degrees, but this is not necessarily the case.

The flow path forming groove 556 may be formed in the cooling member 500. The flow path forming groove 556 may be provided in the cooling member 500, thereby determining a flow rate of the cooling water supplied to the cooling member 500. The flow path forming grooves 556 may be formed in plurality, and the plurality of flow path forming grooves 556 may be positioned along a straight line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500. The flow path forming grooves 556 may be formed in a circular shape, but this is not necessarily the case, and may be formed in a square shape, a triangular shape, or other patterns. At the position where the flow path forming grooves 556 are formed in the cooling member 500, straight grooves connecting these flow path forming grooves may be further provided.

The flow path forming groove 556 may be continuously formed at the center of the cooling member 500 except for a predetermined section along the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500 so that the cooling water flow may be formed in a U shape. The flow of cooling water injected through the inlet port 532 of the cooling member 500 may be limited by the flow path forming groove 556. As the cooling water flows along the U-shape, the cooling water injected through the inlet port 532 may be discharged to the outlet port 534 positioned in parallel with the inlet port 532. Specifically, the U-shaped flow path through which the cooling water flows may include a first flow path extending from the inlet port 532 along a straight line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500, a second flow path extending at an end of the first flow path along a curve rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, and a third flow path extending from an end of the second flow path toward the outlet port 534 along a straight line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500.

The deformation preventing groove 558 may be formed in the cooling member 500. The deformation preventing grooves 558 are provided in the cooling member 500, whereby the cooling member 500 can be prevented from being deformed in shape by cooling water. For example, when cooling water is injected into the cooling member 500, the injected cooling water may be concentrated in 1/2 space of the cooling member 500 through the flow path forming groove 556 crossing the center. A large pressure may be applied to the remaining 1/2 space before the cooling water moves to the space through the U-shaped flow path, so that at least a portion of the cooling member 500 may be expanded or the cooling member 500 may be damaged. When the deformation preventing grooves 558 are formed in the flow path of the cooling member 500, the cooling water is temporarily concentrated, thereby minimizing deformation caused thereby even if a high pressure acts on a specific section. The deformation preventing grooves 558 may be partially spaced in a U-shaped flow path through which cooling water flows in the cooling member 500. The deformation preventing groove 558 may be located between the flow path forming groove 556 and the sealing part 540 in the width direction of the cooling member 500. The specific position of the deformation preventing grooves 558 may be appropriately set so as to correspond to the flow rate and flow amount of the cooling water without excessively obstructing the inflow of the cooling water through the inlet port 532. The deformation preventing grooves 558 may be formed mainly in a circular shape, but this is not necessarily the case, and may be formed in a square shape, a triangular shape, or other patterns. Here, the width direction of the cooling member 500 may be a direction parallel to the short side of the cooling member 500. Further, here, the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500 may be a direction parallel to the long side of the cooling member 500.

Further, a protrusion extending from one side of the cooling member 500 and continuously positioned along the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500 may be formed in the peripheral edge of the cooling member 500. These protrusions may be in contact with or disposed adjacent to electrode leads of each cell stack or bus bars connected to the electrode leads. The electrode leads or the bus bars, which provide electrical connection in the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000, have a structure that easily generates heat, and therefore, when the protrusions promote heat dissipation of the electrode leads or the bus bars, the temperature rise of the battery cells can be more effectively prevented.

The fastening part 560 is located outside the sealing part 540 and is continuously formed along the edge of the sealing part 540, thereby allowing the coupling of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 to be firmly formed. The fastening part 560 is located outside the sealing part 540 such that the fastening part 560 can supplement the strength of the sealing part 540 without directly damaging the sealing member 590. The number of the fastening parts 560 may be differently formed according to the size of the cooling member 500 and the size of the fastening member.

Meanwhile, unlike the above, a rivetless connection method may be applied to the location where the fastening part 560 is formed, instead of the coupling method achieved by the fastening member. In this case, the recess 570 may be formed on both inner and outer sides of the sealing part 540 by a rivetless connection method, and durability of the sealing part 540 may be supplemented by two recess 570. However, since the recess 570 is generally formed to be larger than the fastening part 560, applying the recess 570 to the outside of the sealing part 540 may reduce a space for storing cooling water. Therefore, it may be preferable to apply the fastening part 560 to the outside of the sealing part 540 than to apply the recess 570.

Referring to fig. 4, in order to further improve the water tightness between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520, a sealing member 590 may be located between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. When the conventional welding method is applied, it is difficult to provide the sealing member 590 when coupling the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 because the sealing member 590 is less heat-resistant. Therefore, in order to supplement the water tightness of the welding surface when the welding process is applied, the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 are mainly coupled, and then a sealant or the like is applied through an additional process. However, since the cooling member 500 according to the present embodiment is formed by a mechanical coupling method, the heat-labile sealing member 590 may be bonded together during the coupling process of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520, thereby achieving the purposes of simplifying the manufacturing process, reducing the manufacturing cost, and the like.

The sealing member 590 may be provided to the sealing part 540. The sealing member 590 is provided on the inner surfaces of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520, and may be in contact with the upper and lower plates 510 and 520. The sealing member 590 may improve water tightness of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520. The sealing member 590 is compressed by an external force in the coupling of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520, thereby being able to fill the gap between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. The sealing member 590 may prevent the cooling water inside the cooling member 500 from flowing out through the gap. Here, the sealing member 590 may also be referred to as a water pad.

The sealing member 590 may be made of a flexible material having elasticity. As examples of the manufacturing material, the sealing member 590 may include a silicone-based foam pad, an acrylic-based foam pad, a polyurethane-based foam pad, and the like.

As shown in fig. 4, the sealing member 590 is located in the sealing part 540, the fastening part 560 is formed on the outer side of the sealing part 540, and the coupling recess 554 is formed on the inner side, whereby the sealing force between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 can be improved. In addition, as will be described later, when the recess 570 is formed in the coupling recess 554 by a rivetless connection, the sealing force may be further increased. In this way, the water tightness of the cooling member 500 is improved and the leakage of the cooling water can be prevented by the sealing member 590, the coupling groove 554, the fastening portion 560, or the recess portion 570.

Next, the rivetless connection applied to the mechanical coupling method of the cooling member 500 will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 5 is a photograph showing a rivetless connection applied to the cross section B-B of fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a view showing a process of forming the cross-sectional structure of fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a top view illustrating the location of a recess formed in a cooling member according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 5 and 6, a punch and die formed in pairs may be used to form a rivetless connection. A recess shaped to correspond to the punch profile may be formed in the die. When a workpiece is placed between the punch and the die, the punch is moved toward the die to enable a portion of the workpiece to be deformed to match the shape of the punch and the recess of the die. If the workpiece is composed of two or more layers, the two or more layers may be mechanically coupled by the above-described modifications.

By a rivetless connection, a portion of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may include a recess 570 recessed in one direction. The recess 570 may be a portion integrally recessed in the pressing direction by the pressing of a portion of the upper plate 510 or the lower plate 520. The formation of the recess 570 allows the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 to be physically coupled. Here, the pressing direction may be a direction from the upper plate 510 toward the lower plate 520, or may be a direction from the lower plate 520 toward the upper plate 510.

In one specific example, two surfaces of the upper plate 510 may be referred to as a first surface and a second surface, and two surfaces of the lower plate 520 may be referred to as a third surface and a fourth surface. The first to fourth surfaces may be positioned in the order of the first, second, third, and fourth surfaces based on a first direction from the upper plate 510 toward the lower plate 520. The first surface of the upper plate 510 and the fourth surface of the lower plate 520 may form an outer surface of the cooling member 500, and the second surface of the upper plate 510 and the third surface of the lower plate 520 may face each other.

Here, when the first surface of the upper plate 510 is partially pressed, the first surface may be recessed in a first direction to have a predetermined depth, and may be formed in a concave shape. Here, the upper plate 510 is pressed so that the lower plate 520 positioned under the upper plate 510 may be deformed together, and the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be physically deformed by pressing, thereby being integrally coupled. Here, based on the lower plate 520, the recess 570 may be described as protruding and formed in a convex shape.

Referring to the photograph of fig. 5, the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 may be respectively recessed by pressing, wherein the recess formed in the upper plate may be referred to as an upper recess 571 and the recess formed in the lower plate 520 may be referred to as a lower recess 572. When the upper plate 510 is pressed, the upper recess 571 may be formed, and the upper recess 571 may be introduced into the lower plate 520 to thereby form the lower recess 572.

The recess 570 is recessed to thereby have a certain depth, and a depth direction of the recess 570 may be perpendicular to a flow direction of the cooling water inside the cooling member 500. Here, the depth direction may be the pressing direction described above. The recess 570 may be formed to have a depth such that the coupling between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be firmly formed, and the distance between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be prevented from being slightly widened according to the pressure within the cooling member 500. Further, even if the distance between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 is slightly widened, the recess 570 blocks the flow of the cooling water, thereby preventing the cooling water from flowing out to the outside of the cooling member 500 beyond the sealing part 540.

Here, the lowest point of the first surface where the recess 570 is formed may be located below a region where the recess 570 is not formed, i.e., the highest point of the third surface or the highest point of the fourth surface. In this way, when a portion of the upper surface (first surface) of the upper plate 510 is positioned lower than the upper surface (third surface) or the lower surface (fourth surface) of the lower plate 520 by deformation of the rivetless connection process, the upper plate 510 is completely introduced into the lower plate 520, so that the coupling between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 can be formed more stably.

The depth of the recess 570 may be greater than the thickness of the upper plate 510, the thickness of the lower plate 520, or a combination thereof. If the depth of the recess 570 is too small, it may be difficult to ensure water tightness between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. If the depth of the recess 570 is excessively large, the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 may be excessively deformed or partially cut off. For example, when the sum of the thickness of the upper plate 510 and the thickness of the lower plate 520 is 100 in a portion where the recess 570 is not formed, the depth of the recess 570 may have a value of 50 or more, or 50 to 200. However, the above values are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the depth of the recess 570 of the present disclosure. Here, the depth of the recess 570 may be based on the upper recess 570, and precisely, the depth may be a depth that the first surface of the upper recess 570 has based on the upper plate 510 where the recess 570 is not formed.

The depth of the upper recess 571 may be greater than the depth of the lower recess 572. This may be because the upper concave part 571 is closer to the inner side of the concave part 570 than the lower concave part 572 when pressed in the first direction, so that the upper concave part 571 forming the inner diameter must be deformed to a greater extent than the lower concave part 572 forming the outer diameter. During the process of forming the upper and lower concave parts 571 and 572 by pressing, the thickness values of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 may decrease as the area increases. However, the upper concave 571 must be deformed to accommodate the thickness variation of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 at the same time, and thus may be formed to have a greater depth. Meanwhile, the first direction is used to describe a pressing direction, and thus, when the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 are pressed in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the lower recess 572 is located at the inner side such that the depth value of the lower recess 572 may be greater than the depth value of the upper recess 571.

The recess 570 may have such a shape: wherein the end portion widens slightly in the depth direction. The lowermost end (lowest end) of the upper concave portion 571 may have a slightly larger diameter than other portions of the upper concave portion 571. The lowermost end (lowest end) of the lower recess 572 may have a slightly larger diameter than the other portions of the lower recess 572. Here, the maximum value of the outer diameter of the upper concave part 571 may be greater than the minimum value of the inner diameter of the lower concave part 572, whereby a hooking coupling may be formed between the upper concave part 571 and the lower concave part 572. Therefore, even if pressure acts between the upper concave 571 and the lower concave 572 according to the internal pressure of the cooling member 500, the space between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 is not widened due to the above-described hooking coupling. In this way, according to the shapes of the upper recess 571 and the lower recess 572, the coupling strength of the recess 570 can be further improved.

At this time, the punch may further press the recess 570 again to arrange the shape of the recess 570. Re-pressing may cause the recess 570 to be pressed or deformed, thereby reducing the depth of the recess 570. Here, the mold may have a recess having a larger diameter than the previously used mold. However, re-pressing the recess 570 may cause damage to the recess 570, and thus the re-pressing process described above should be applied in consideration of physical characteristics, dimensions, etc. of the recess 570.

The outer diameter of the recess 570, i.e., the outer diameter of the undercut 572, may have a value of 5 to 11 millimeters, 7 to 9 millimeters, or 7.5 to 8.5 millimeters. If the diameter of the recess 570 is too small, the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be difficult to be firmly coupled to each other due to the recess 570. If the diameter of the recess 570 is excessively large, the deformation of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 due to the recess 570 may be excessively large, and thus the dimensional stability of the cooling member 500 may be reduced. In addition, the diameter of the recess 570 may be differently designed according to the distance between the recesses 570.

At this time, since the diameter of the recess 570 may vary according to the diameter of the mold, the outer diameter of the lower recess 572 may correspond to the inner diameter of the recess of the mold. In addition to the diameter of the recess 570, the shape of the recess 570 may also be determined according to the shape of the punch or die used in the rivetless connection process. For example, when the cross section of the punch is circular, the recess 570 may be integrally formed in a pipe shape, and when the cross section of the punch is square, the recess 570 may be integrally formed in a square pipe shape.

Hereinabove, the case where the first surface is pressed in the first direction to form the recess 570 has been described. However, this is an example of forming the recess 570, and the fourth surface may be pressed in the second direction to form the recess 570. Even though the recess 570 is pressed in the second direction, it can be fully understood from the above description, and thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Meanwhile, through the above-described pressing process, the sealing member 590 provided as an elastic body may be pressed, thereby reducing the thickness. By the pressing process, not only the thickness of the sealing member 590 may be reduced, but also the thicknesses of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 may be partially deformed. The lowest point of the recess 570 may be a portion pressed by a punch and receiving the maximum pressure, and thus, the thickness value of the lowest point, i.e., the deepest recess, of the recess 570 may be smaller than that of the other portions. The portion corresponding to the punch is pressed by the pressure of the punch before the recess 570 is formed, so that the side portion from the highest point to the lowest point of the recess 570 must be formed. Thus, as the area is increased by the pressure of the punch, the overall thickness can be reduced.

Referring to fig. 7, a rivetless connection fastening method may be applied to the groove 550 of the cooling member 500 according to the present embodiment. This may be a method of applying a rivetless connection to the recess 550 which has been formed, or may be a method of forming the recess 550 of the cooling member 500 by a rivetless connection. Here, the rivetless connection formed in the coupling recess 554 is referred to as a first recess 574, the rivetless connection formed in the flow path forming recess 556 is referred to as a second recess 576, and the rivetless connection formed in the deformation preventing recess 558 may be referred to as a third recess 578. In fig. 7, the first recess 574 is circular, the second recess 576 is diamond-shaped or square-shaped, and the third recess 578 is triangular.

When the flow path forming groove 556 and the deformation preventing groove 558 are formed by the above-described rivetless connection fastening method, this can have advantages of simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the manufacturing cost, as compared with the case of using the conventional coupling method. In the method of manufacturing the cooling member 500 using the conventional welding method, a separate manufacturing process must be added to form the flow path or the deformation preventing structure, and in forming the flow path or the deformation preventing structure, precise design must be performed in advance to avoid the occurrence of dimensional tolerances. However, since the cooling member 500 of the present embodiment forms the flow path forming groove 556 or the deformation preventing groove 558 using the rivetless connection process used in the manufacturing process, a separate manufacturing process may be omitted. Further, since the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 are partially deformed and coupled, a greater degree of freedom in terms of dimensional tolerance is possible.

Meanwhile, although not specifically mentioned above, the cooling member 500 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may be mounted in the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000.

Next, a cooling member according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a cooling member according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the position of a fastening portion in the cooling member of fig. 8; fig. 10 is a partially enlarged view of the cooling member of fig. 8. Fig. 11 is a view showing a lower plate included in the cooling member of fig. 8. Fig. 12 is a view showing the coupling of the lower plate and the cover film included in the cooling member of fig. 8. Fig. 13 is a view showing a cross section C-C of the cooling member of fig. 8.

The cooling member 500 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure shown in fig. 8 does not show the outer surface of the cooling member 500 in fig. 8, but the cooling member further includes a cover film 580 as shown in fig. 12. Referring to fig. 8, the cooling member 500 described in the present embodiment may be provided to reduce the internal temperature of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 including the battery cells. The cooling member 500 may be a water-cooled cooling member 500 into which a refrigerant or cooling water is injected. Since the cooling member 500 is provided in a water-cooling manner, the cooling efficiency of the cooling member 500 can be maintained uniform, and the battery cells in the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 can be uniformly cooled. At this time, the cooling water used in the cooling member 500 may be one of known cooling water or may be a mixture thereof. Any known cooling water may be used as long as it can radiate heat of the battery cells by moving along a flow path inside the cooling member 500.

The cooling member 500 may be disposed on one surface of the battery cell stack to radiate heat of the battery cells. The cooling member 500 may be disposed parallel to the stacking direction of the battery cell stack to be positioned close to the plurality of battery cells of the battery cell stack. Specifically, the cooling member 500 may be located at the upper part of the battery cell stack (in the +z-axis direction in fig. 14). However, this is not necessarily the case, and the cooling member 500 may be located at the lower part (-z-axis direction) of the battery cell stack, or may be located at the side part thereof (+/-y-axis direction), depending on the design.

The size of the cooling member 500 may be matched to the size of the battery stack to which the cooling member 500 is applied. In one example, the cooling member 500 may be disposed to correspond to one cell stack, wherein the length of the cooling member 500 is matched to the length of the cell stack, or is formed to be slightly larger or smaller, and the width of the cooling member 500 may be matched to the width of the cell stack, or may be formed to be slightly larger or smaller. In another example, the cooling member 500 may be disposed to correspond to a plurality of battery cell stacks, wherein the length and width of the cooling member 500 may be matched to the length and width of the plurality of battery cell stacks, or may be formed to be slightly larger or smaller. Here, the cooling member 500 may be located in the interior of the battery module 100, but may also be located in the interior of the battery pack 1000, but outside the battery module 100 (see fig. 14).

The cooling member 500 may include: an upper plate 510 and a lower plate 520 forming the outer shape of the cooling member 500; and an inlet/outlet port 530 for injecting cooling water into the cooling member 500.

The cooling member 500 may be formed by coupling edges of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. The cooling water may be contained between or circulated between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 coupled in the cooling member 500. A sealing part 540 may be located at an edge of the cooling member 500, the sealing part being formed by coupling edges of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 of the cooling member 500. The band-shaped sealing member 592 described below may be positioned between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 on which the sealing part 540 is formed.

The upper plate 510 is provided in a plate shape, but the upper plate may be formed such that a recess or recess occurs in a central portion thereof so as to form a step with an edge portion. Specifically, the upper plate 510 may have a concave shape with respect to a cross section in the width direction. This may form an inner space by the step difference so that the upper plate 510 stores cooling water. Here, the width direction of the upper plate 510 may be a direction parallel to the short side of the upper plate 510.

The lower plate 520 may have a shape similar to the upper plate 510 as a whole. The lower plate 520 is also provided in a plate shape, but may be formed such that a recess or recess occurs in a central portion thereof so as to form a step with an edge portion. The lower plate 520 may have a concave shape based on a cross section in a width direction, thereby forming an inner space for storing cooling water. Here, the width direction of the lower plate 520 may be a direction parallel to the short side of the lower plate 520.

When the cooling member 500 is disposed on the upper portion of the battery cell, the lower plate 520 may be the portion of the cooling member 500 closest to the battery cell. Accordingly, the lower plate 520 may be preferably made of a material having high thermal conductivity to promote heat dissipation of the battery cells. In addition, in order to improve the overall heat dissipation performance of the cooling member 500, the upper plate 510 of the cooling member 500 may also be made of a material having high thermal conductivity. The upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 for forming the outer shape of the cooling member 500 may be made of metal having high hardness, and specific examples thereof may include aluminum, gold, silver, copper, platinum, or an alloy including these materials, and the like.

Cooling water may be supplied through the inlet port 532 and then discharged to the outlet port 534. The inlet port 532 and the outlet port 534 may be disposed side by side in parallel on one end side of the cooling member 500. This may be used to simplify the design regarding inflow and discharge of cooling water supplied from the outside of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000. Furthermore, this may minimize the temperature difference between the perimeter of the inlet port 532 and the perimeter of the outlet port 534. Specifically, the cooling water flowing into the inlet port 532 may have the lowest temperature, and the cooling water discharged to the outlet port 534 may have the highest temperature. Therefore, when the inlet/outlet ports 530 are disposed adjacent to each other, mutual heat exchange may occur so that temperature deviation of the entire cooling water flowing through the inner space of the cooling member may be minimized. Accordingly, by arranging the inlet/outlet ports 530 side by side, the cooling member 500 as a whole can have uniform heat radiation performance.

Meanwhile, the cooling member 500 may further include a separate cover film 580 made of different materials between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. The cover film 580 may be made of a material having a lower melting point than the materials of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520. Conventionally, the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 of the cooling member 500 are mainly joined by brazing, laser welding, or the like, and thus, when the cooling member 500 is designed to include two or more materials in this way, one material may be deformed during the welding process, which may cause a problem that the welding process is difficult or impossible. In addition, when laser welding or the like is used, a local temperature gradient may be formed on the upper plate 510 or the lower plate 520, which may cause a problem in that at least a portion of the upper plate 510 or the lower plate 520 is warped.

However, the cooling member 500 described in the present embodiment may be manufactured by a mechanical fastening method instead of a welding method. Specifically, the mechanical fastening method of the present embodiment may minimize damage to the material forming the cooling member 500 by applying no heat or heat at a temperature lower than the melting point of the material provided to the cooling member 500.

One example of a mechanical fastening method for the cooling member 500 may include rivets or the like. In the present embodiment, the cooling member 500 includes a plurality of fastening portions 560, wherein the fastening portions 560 may refer to portions fastened with a fastening member such as a rivet in the cooling member 500. A fastener into which a fastening member can be inserted may be formed in the fastening part 560.

Other examples of mechanical fastening methods for the cooling member 500 may include a rivetless connection. The rivetless connection is a deformation bonding method which presses one surface of two laminated plate-shaped members using a punch or the like and deforms the shape of the surface, thereby mechanically coupling the two members. The rivetless connection may also be referred to as a through-penetration bond, taking into account its shape.

If the mechanical fastening method is applied in this way instead of the welding coupling method when manufacturing the cooling member 500, excessive heat is not generated during the manufacturing process, so that accidental deformation of the cooling member 500 can be minimized, and a difference between a pre-designed size and a final product size can be reduced, thereby ensuring dimensional stability. In particular, in the case where an aluminum material is mainly used for the cooling member 500, the aluminum material may start to deform when a temperature of 660 ℃ or more (the temperature is a melting point) is applied, but heat higher than the melting point is not applied to the cooling member 500 when the above-described mechanical fastening method is applied, so that the dimensional stability of the cooling member 500 can be further improved.

Furthermore, if a mechanical fastening method is applied during the manufacturing process of the cooling member 500, a specific material susceptible to temperature may not be deformed during the manufacturing process. Accordingly, various materials and shapes of structures can be applied to the cooling member 500, and the design of the cooling member 500 can be simpler and more diversified.

A plurality of grooves 550 may be formed in the cooling member 500. The groove 550 may include a coupling groove 554 located at an inner side of the sealing part 540 to thereby complement coupling of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520, a flow path forming groove 556 guiding a flow of cooling water, or a deformation preventing groove 558 preventing the cooling member 500 from being deformed due to inflow of cooling water.

Here, the groove 550 may be formed at the upper plate 510 in advance. Alternatively, the groove may be formed through a process such as a rivetless connection after the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 are coupled. Therefore, the groove 550 is not necessarily formed in advance on the upper plate 510 provided when the cooling member 500 is manufactured. Further, here, even if the groove 550 is formed at the upper plate 510 in advance, the rivetless connection may be formed by pressing the groove 550, and thus, the groove formed at the upper plate 510 in advance does not exclude that the rivetless connection of the portion may be formed.

A plurality of fastening parts 560 may be formed in the cooling member 500. The fastening part 560 may include an external fastening part 562 located outside the sealing part 540. The fastening portion 560 may include a coupling fastening portion 564, a flow path formation fastening portion 566, and a deformation preventing fastening portion 568 located inside the sealing portion 540. The number of the coupling grooves 554 may be plural, and the coupling fastening parts 564 may be formed in at least a portion of the coupling grooves 554. The number of the flow path forming grooves 556 may be plural, and the flow path forming fastening parts 566 may be formed in at least a portion of the flow path forming grooves 556. The number of the deformation preventing grooves 558 may be plural, and the deformation preventing fastening parts 568 may be formed in at least a portion of the deformation preventing grooves 558.

Referring to fig. 9, a position where the fastening portion 560 is provided in the groove 550 of the cooling member 500 of the present embodiment is shown. Here, the positions of the external fastening portion 562 and the coupling fastening portion 564 are shown in a circular frame, the position of the flow path formation fastening portion 566 is shown in a circular shape, and the position of the shape deformation preventing fastening portion 568 is shown in a square frame.

Fig. 9 shows a state in which the fastening portion 560 is formed substantially in one of the two grooves 550. That is, fig. 9 generally illustrates one example of a cooling member 500 designed to: the grooves 550 in which the fastening portions 560 are formed and the grooves 550 in which the fastening portions 560 are not formed are alternately arranged. This may be an example in which the fastening part 560 is uniformly formed in the groove 550, but the arrangement of the groove 550 and the fastening part 560 according to the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and may be designed in various forms.

Referring to fig. 10, the external fastening part 562 may be formed on the outer side of the sealing part 540 of the cooling member 500, and the coupling recess 554 and the fastening part 564 may be formed on the inner side.

The external fastening part 562 is located at the outer side of the sealing part 540 and is continuously formed along the edge of the sealing part 540, thereby allowing the coupling of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 to be firmly formed. The external fastening portion 562 is located outside the sealing portion 540, and thus, even if the band-shaped sealing member 592 is located in the sealing portion 540, the external fastening portion 562 supplements the strength of the sealing portion 540 without directly damaging the band-shaped sealing member 592. The number of the external fastening parts 562 may be differently formed according to the size of the cooling member 500 and the size of the fastening member.

The coupling groove 554 is located inside the sealing part 540, and can prevent an opening from being generated between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 due to excessive pressure applied to the sealing part 540 by the cooling water. The coupling recess 554 serves to supplement the strength of the sealing part 540, and may be formed at positions corresponding to the peaks of the sealing part 540, where excessive pressure may be applied. Further, the coupling grooves 554 may be disposed at intervals along the edge of the sealing part 540. In consideration of the shape of the sealing part 540, the shape of the coupling recess 554 may be formed in a fan shape or a semicircular shape having a center angle of 90 degrees, but this is not necessarily the case.

The coupling fastening part 564 may supplement the strength of the coupling recess 554. The coupling fastening part 564 may be formed in the coupling recess 554 located inside the sealing part 540. The coupling fastening part 564 may be formed in all of the coupling grooves 554, or may be partially formed in a portion of the coupling grooves 554. For example, the coupling fastening portions 564 may be formed in the two coupling recesses 554 one to one, i.e., alternately. When the coupling fastening part 564 is partially disposed in the coupling recess 554, the coupling fastening part 564 may be preferably formed in the coupling recess 554 corresponding to each vertex of the sealing part 540.

In this way, the external fastening part 562 is formed on the outer side of the sealing part 540 and the coupling fastening part 564 is formed on the inner side, thereby enabling to improve the sealing force between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. By the external fastening parts 562 and 564, the water tightness of the cooling member 500 can be improved, and the leakage of the cooling water can be prevented.

The flow path forming groove 556 may be formed in the cooling member 500. The flow path forming groove 556 may be provided in the cooling member 500, thereby determining the flow rate of the cooling water supplied to the cooling member 500. The flow path forming grooves 556 may be formed in plurality, and the plurality of flow path forming grooves 556 may be positioned along a straight line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500. The flow path forming grooves 556 may be formed mainly in a circular shape, but this is not necessarily the case, and may be formed in a square shape, a triangular shape, or other patterns. Straight grooves connecting the flow path forming grooves 556 may be further provided at the positions where the flow path forming grooves are formed in the cooling member 500.

The flow path forming groove 556 may be continuously formed at the center of the cooling member 500 except for a predetermined section along the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500 so that the flow of the cooling water may be formed in a U shape. The flow of cooling water injected through the inlet port 532 of the cooling member 500 may be limited by the flow path forming groove 556. As the cooling water flows along the U-shape, the cooling water injected through the inlet port 532 may be discharged to the outlet port 534 positioned in parallel with the inlet port 532. Specifically, the U-shaped flow path through which the cooling water flows may include a first flow path extending from the inlet port 532 along a straight line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500, a second flow path extending at an end of the first flow path along a curve rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, and a third flow path extending from an end of the second flow path toward the outlet port 534 along a straight line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500.

The flow passage forming fastening portion 566 may be formed in the flow passage forming groove 556. The flow passage forming fastening portion 566 may be used to supplement the strength of the flow passage forming groove 556. The flow passage forming fastening parts 566 may be formed in all of the flow passage forming grooves 556, or may be partially formed in a portion of the coupling groove 554. For example, the coupling fastening portions 564 may be formed in the two coupling recesses 554 one to one, i.e., alternately.

A deformation preventing groove 558 may be formed in the cooling member 500. The deformation preventing grooves 558 are provided in the cooling member 500, whereby the cooling member 500 can be prevented from being deformed in shape by cooling water. For example, when cooling water is injected into the cooling member 500, the injected cooling water may be concentrated in 1/2 space of the cooling member 500 through the flow path forming groove 556 crossing the center. A large pressure may be applied to the remaining 1/2 space before the cooling water moves to the space through the U-shaped flow path, so that at least a portion of the cooling member 500 may be expanded or the cooling member 500 may be damaged. When the deformation preventing grooves 558 are formed in the flow path of the cooling member 500, the cooling water is temporarily concentrated, thereby minimizing deformation caused thereby even if a high pressure acts on a specific section. The deformation preventing grooves 558 may be partially spaced in a U-shaped flow path through which cooling water flows in the cooling member 500. The deformation preventing groove 558 may be located between the flow path forming groove 556 and the sealing part 540 in the width direction of the cooling member 500. The specific position of the deformation preventing grooves 558 may be appropriately set so as to correspond to the flow rate and flow amount of the cooling water without excessively obstructing the inflow of the cooling water through the inlet port 532. The deformation preventing grooves 558 may be formed mainly in a circular shape, but this is not necessarily the case, and may be formed in a square shape, a triangular shape, or other patterns. Here, the width direction of the cooling member 500 may be a direction parallel to the short side of the cooling member 500. Further, here, the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500 may be a direction parallel to the long side of the cooling member 500.

The deformation-preventing fastening portions 568 may be formed in the deformation-preventing grooves 558. The deformation-preventing fastening portions 568 may be used to supplement the strength of the deformation-preventing grooves 558. The deformation-preventing fastening portions 568 may be formed in all of the deformation-preventing grooves 558, but may also be partially formed in a portion of the deformation-preventing grooves 558. For example, the deformation-preventing fastening portions 568 may be formed in one-to-one, i.e., alternately, in the two deformation-preventing grooves 558.

Further, a protrusion extending from one side of the cooling member 500 and continuously positioned along the longitudinal direction of the cooling member 500 may be formed in the circumference of the cooling member 500. As shown in fig. 14, the protrusions may be in contact with or disposed adjacent to electrode leads of each cell stack or bus bars connected to the electrode leads. The electrode leads or the bus bars, which provide electrical connection in the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000, have a structure that easily generates heat, and therefore, when the protrusions promote heat dissipation of the electrode leads or the bus bars, the temperature rise of the battery cells can be more effectively prevented.

Meanwhile, in order to further improve the water tightness between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520, a sealing member 590 may be located between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. When the conventional welding method is applied, it is difficult to provide the sealing member 590 when coupling the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 because the sealing member 590 is less heat-resistant. Therefore, in order to supplement the water tightness of the welding surface when the welding process is applied, the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 are mainly coupled, and then a sealant or the like is applied through an additional process. However, since the cooling member 500 according to the present embodiment is formed by a mechanical coupling method, the heat-labile sealing member 590 may be bonded together during the coupling process of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520, thereby achieving the purposes of simplifying the manufacturing process, reducing the manufacturing cost, and the like.

The sealing member 590 may include a band-shaped sealing member 592 disposed to the sealing portion 540. The band-shaped sealing member 592 may be disposed on a surface where the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 are in contact with each other, and improve water tightness of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. The band-shaped sealing member 592 is compressed by an external force at the time of coupling the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520, thereby being able to fill a gap existing between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520. The band-shaped sealing member 592 can prevent the cooling water inside the cooling member 500 from flowing out to the outside through the gap. The band seal member 592 may also be referred to herein as a water pad.

The sealing member 590 may comprise an annular sealing member 594. Since the hole is formed in the above-described fastening part 560 and the fastening member is inserted into the hole, coupling is formed between the members. Therefore, the fastening part 560 has a problem in that the water tightness of the cooling member 500 may be lowered. However, the cooling member 500 described in the present embodiment may further include an annular sealing member 594 provided to the fastening portion 560, thereby supplementing water tightness. The annular sealing member 594 is positioned on the cover film 580 and seals the gap around the fastening portion 560, thereby enabling to improve the water tightness of the cooling member 500. Since the cooling water is mainly located inside the sealing part 540, the annular sealing member 594 may not be provided in the external fastening part 562 formed outside the sealing part 540. However, the annular sealing member 594 may be preferably provided to the coupling fastening portion 564, the flow passage forming fastening portion 566, and the deformation preventing fastening portion 568 located inside the sealing portion 540.

The annular sealing member 594 may also be referred to herein as a "water pad".

Meanwhile, in order to effectively extinguish a fire when a fire is generated in a battery cell, it may be effective to inject a liquid such as cooling water into the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000. Providing a liquid tank inside the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 may have a problem of increasing the volume of the battery module and the battery pack. Therefore, generally, separate water tanks are provided outside the battery module and the battery pack, and only when the ignition of the battery cells is confirmed via the sensor, cooling water or the like is charged into the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 through a nozzle or the like protruding from the water tank.

However, the water tanks provided outside the battery module and the battery pack are not only bulky, but also have a problem in that users must manage them separately. Furthermore, the conventional water injection system should have a separate control unit or communication unit to determine whether to supply the cooling water, should not be subject to errors in its operation, and requires a lot of time because it must go through a plurality of determination processes even if it is operated normally. Even after deciding to supply the cooling water, if the path from the water tank to the battery module 100 or the battery cells inside the battery pack 1000 is considerably long, it is difficult to rapidly supply the cooling water from the water tank to the battery cells, thereby suppressing the cascading thermal runaway phenomenon in which the conventional water injection system rapidly progresses. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, an opening may be formed in the lower plate 520 such that cooling water is supplied to a fire place immediately upon ignition of the inside of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000.

Referring to fig. 11, the lower plate 520 may include at least one opening 521. The openings 521 may be used to inject internal cooling water into the battery cell by heat or pressure generated by the ignition when the inside of the battery cell is ignited. A plurality of openings 521 may be provided along the short or long sides of the lower plate 520, and the cooling member 500 has a plurality of openings 521 to enable the supply of cooling water in response to the occurrence of a fire at an indefinite position within the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000.

Since the opening 521 of the lower plate 520 must be closed before the internal fire, conventionally, the opening 521 of the lower plate 520 is filled with a member that opens at a predetermined temperature or pressure or higher, or is inserted to seal the opening 521 of the lower plate 520. However, manufacturing the lower plate 520 such that the lower plate 520 includes two materials having different physical properties requires a complicated manufacturing process. Therefore, there is a problem in that the manufacturing time and the manufacturing cost increase. Further, in the heterogeneous bonding process, it is difficult to ensure reliability of durability of the bonding surface. However, the cooling member 500 of the present embodiment can reduce the manufacturing time and cost of the cooling member 500 and improve durability by the cover film 580 provided on the lower plate 520.

Referring to fig. 12 and 13, the cover 580 may be configured to close the opening 521 of the lower plate 520 before the battery cell fires and to open the opening 521 during the battery cell fires. When the cover film 580 is ruptured due to different temperatures and pressures during the ignition of the battery cells, the cooling water inside the cooling member 500 is sprayed toward the battery cells, thereby extinguishing a fire.

The cover film 580 may be provided to cover one surface of the lower plate 520. The cover membrane 580 may be attached to the lower plate 520. The outer contour shape of the cover film 580 may be similar to or identical to the outer contour shape of the whole lower plate 520. The specific shape of the cover film 580 may be similar to or identical to the shape of the lower plate 520 except for the opening 521.

The cover membrane 580 may be provided with a material that readily melts at a given pressure or heat. For example, the cover film 580 may be made of a thermoplastic polymer resin having a melting point of 200 ℃ or less. Examples of the thermoplastic polymer resin include materials having a melting point of about 100 ℃ or more and 200 ℃ or less, such as High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), and the like.

The cover film 580 preferably has a predetermined thickness or more to withstand the gravity due to the weight of the cooling water and the frictional force generated by the flow of the cooling water. However, if the cover film 580 is too thick, the heat dissipation performance of the cooling member 500 may be lowered, and thus it is necessary to adjust the cover film to an appropriate thickness. The cover film 580 may be manufactured to have a thickness of 2 mm or less, or 1.5mm or less, but in consideration of durability of the cover film 580 and heat dissipation performance degradation due to the cover film 580, it is preferable that the cover film be manufactured to have a thickness of 0.5 to 1.0 mm. If the thickness of the cover film 580 is less than 0.5 mm, durability problems may occur, and if the thickness of the cover film 580 is greater than 1.0 mm, heat dissipation performance of the cooling member 500 may be degraded.

Since the cover film 580 is disposed to be coupled with the lower plate 520, cooling water may flow between the upper surface of the cover film 580 and the lower surface of the upper plate 510. Further, even if the cover film 580 is added to the cooling member 500, the inflow and outflow of cooling water through the inlet/outlet port 530 is not restricted by the cover film 580. Accordingly, in design, the cooling water in the cooling member 500 is continuously circulated by being connected to the external heat exchanger connected to the inlet/outlet port 530 to maintain its temperature balance.

Referring again to fig. 12 and 13, the lower plate 520 may include a plurality of fastening parts corresponding to the fastening parts 560 described above. Specifically, the lower plate 520 may include: a lower plate external fastening portion 522 corresponding to the external fastening portion 562; a lower plate coupling fastening part 524 corresponding to the coupling fastening part 564; a lower plate flow passage forming fastening portion 526 corresponding to the flow passage forming fastening portion 566; and a lower plate deformation preventing fastening portion 528 corresponding to the deformation preventing fastening portion 568.

The cover film 580 may include a plurality of fastening parts corresponding to the fastening parts 560 described above. The cover film 580 may include: a film external fastening portion 582 corresponding to the external fastening portion 562 and the lower plate external fastening portion 522; a film coupling fastening portion 584 corresponding to the coupling fastening portion 564 and the lower plate coupling fastening portion 524; film flow passage forming fastening portions 586 corresponding to the flow passage forming fastening portions 566 and the lower plate flow passage forming fastening portions 526; and a film deformation preventing fastening portion 588 corresponding to the deformation preventing fastening portion 568 and the lower plate deformation preventing fastening portion 528. Such fastening parts may also be formed on the upper plate 510, and fastening members may pass through holes formed in fastening parts (not shown) of the upper plate 510, fastening parts 522, 524, 526, and 528 of the lower plate 520, and fastening parts 582, 584, 586, and 588 of the cover film 580 to couple the upper plate 510, the lower plate 520, and the cover film 580.

Here, the fastening portions formed on the lower plate 520 and the cover film 580 may be formed in advance before the cooling member 500 is assembled, but may be formed after the lower plate 520 and the cover film 580 are assembled.

The film outer fastening portion 582, the film coupling fastening portion 584, the film flow path formation fastening portion 586, and the film deformation prevention fastening portion 588 may be formed in the cover film 580. A band-shaped sealing member 592 may be disposed between the film outer fastening portion 582 and the film fastening portion 584 to correspond to the sealing portion 540. The annular sealing member 594 may be provided to correspond to the membrane coupling fastening portion 584, the membrane flow path formation fastening portion 586, and the membrane deformation preventing fastening portion 588. The cover film 580 may overlap the lower plate 520 such that the fastening parts 582, 584, 586, and 588 of the cover film 580 and the fastening parts 522, 524, 526, and 528 of the lower plate 520 correspond to each other. After the cover film 580 and the lower plate 520 are coupled, the upper plate 510 may be coupled to an upper side of the cover film 580, and the corresponding members may be connected by fastening members to manufacture the cooling member 500 of the present embodiment.

In the above, in the mechanical fastening method applied to the cooling member 500 described in the embodiment of fig. 8, the coupling achieved by the fastening member is mainly described, and the rivetless connection which can be applied to the present embodiment will be described below.

Reference is made to fig. 5 for the drawing associated with the rivetless connection of the cooling member 500 of this embodiment of fig. 8.

In other embodiments, punch and die pairs may be used to form a rivetless connection. A recess having a shape corresponding to the stamping profile may be formed in the die. When a workpiece is placed between the punch and the die, the punch is moved toward the die to enable a portion of the workpiece to be deformed to match the shape of the punch and the recess of the die. If the workpiece is composed of two or more layers, the two or more layers may be mechanically coupled by the above-described modifications.

By a rivetless connection, a portion of the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may include a recess 570 recessed in one direction. The recess 570 may be a portion integrally recessed in the pressing direction by pressing a portion of the upper plate 510 or the lower plate 520. The formation of the recess 570 may allow the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 to be physically coupled. Here, the pressing direction may be a direction from the upper plate 510 toward the lower plate 520, or may be a direction from the lower plate 520 toward the upper plate 510.

As a specific example, the upper and lower surfaces of the upper plate 510 may be referred to as first and second surfaces, and the upper and lower surfaces of the lower plate 520 may be referred to as third and fourth surfaces. The first surface to the fourth surface may be positioned in the order of the first surface, the second surface, the third surface, and the fourth surface based on the first direction from the upper plate 510 to the lower plate 520. The first surface of the upper plate 510 and the fourth surface of the lower plate 520 may form an outer surface of the cooling member 500, and the second surface of the upper plate 510 and the third surface of the lower plate 520 may face each other.

Here, when the first surface of the upper plate 510 is partially pressed, the first surface may be recessed in a first direction to have a predetermined depth, and may be formed in a concave shape. Here, by pressing the upper plate 510, the lower plate 520 located under the upper plate 510 may be deformed together, and the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be physically deformed by pressing, thereby being integrally coupled. Here, based on the lower plate 520, the recess 570 may be described as protruding and formed in a convex shape.

Referring to fig. 7, the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be respectively recessed by pressing, wherein the recess formed in the upper plate may be referred to as an upper recess 571 and the recess formed in the lower plate 520 may be referred to as a lower recess 572.

The recess 570 is recessed to thereby have a certain depth, and a depth direction of the recess 570 may be perpendicular to a flow direction of the cooling water inside the cooling member 500. Here, the depth direction may be the pressing direction described above. The recess 570 may be formed to have a depth such that the coupling between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be firmly formed, and the distance between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be prevented from being slightly widened according to the pressure within the cooling member 500.

The recess 570 may have such a shape: wherein the end portion widens slightly in the depth direction. The lowermost end (lowest end) of the upper concave part 571 may have a slightly larger diameter than the other portions of the upper concave part 572. The lowermost end (lowest end) of the lower recess 572 may have a slightly larger diameter than the other portions of the lower recess 572. Here, the maximum value of the outer diameter of the upper concave part 571 may be greater than the minimum value of the inner diameter of the lower concave part 572, whereby a hooking coupling may be formed between the upper concave part 571 and the lower concave part 572. Therefore, even if pressure acts between the upper concave 571 and the lower concave 572 according to the internal pressure of the cooling member 500, the space between the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 is not widened due to the above-described hooking coupling. In this way, according to the shapes of the upper recess 571 and the lower recess 572, the coupling strength of the recess 570 can be further improved. At this time, the punch may press the recess 570 again to arrange the shape of the recess 570.

The outer diameter of the recess 570, i.e., the outer diameter of the lower recess 572, may have a value of 5 to 11 millimeters, 7 to 9 millimeters, or 7.5 to 8.5 millimeters. If the diameter of the recess 570 is too small, the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 may be difficult to be firmly coupled to each other due to the recess 570. If the diameter of the recess 570 is excessively large, the deformation of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 due to the recess 570 may be excessively large, and thus the dimensional stability of the cooling member 500 may be reduced. In addition, the diameter of the recess 570 may be differently designed according to the distance between the recesses 570.

At this time, since the diameter of the recess 570 may vary according to the diameter of the mold, the outer diameter of the lower recess 572 may correspond to the inner diameter of the groove of the mold. In addition, the shape of the recess 570 may be determined according to the shape of a punch or die used in the rivetless connection process, in addition to the diameter of the recess 570. For example, when the cross section of the punch is circular, the recess 570 may be integrally formed in a pipe shape, and when the cross section of the punch is square, the recess 570 may be integrally formed in a square pipe shape.

In the above, the case where the first surface is pressed in the first direction to form the recess 570 has been described. However, this is an example of forming the recess 570, and the fourth surface is pressed in the second direction to form the recess 570. Even though the recess 570 is pressed in the second direction, it can be fully understood from the above description, and thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Through the above-described pressing process, the sealing member 590 provided as an elastic body may be compressed, thereby reducing the thickness. By the pressing process, not only the thickness of the sealing member 590 may be reduced, but also the thicknesses of the upper and lower plates 510 and 520 may be partially deformed. The lowest point of the recess 570 may be a portion pressed by a punch and receiving the maximum pressure, and thus, the thickness value of the lowest point, i.e., the deepest recess, of the recess 570 may be smaller than that of the other portions. Before the recess 570 is formed, a portion corresponding to the punch is pressed by the pressure of the punch, so that a side portion from the highest point to the lowest point of the recess 570 must be formed. Thus, as the area is increased by the pressure of the punch, the overall thickness may decrease.

The above-described rivetless connection fastening may be applied to the cooling member 500.

For example, a rivetless connection may be integrally applied to the recess 550 of the cooling member 500. This may be a method of applying a rivetless connection to the recess 550 which has been formed, or a method of forming the recess 550 of the cooling member 500 by a rivetless connection.

When the grooves 550 are formed in the cooling member 500 by a rivetless connection, each groove 550 may also be referred to as a recess 570. Here, the rivetless connection formed in the coupling recess 554 is referred to as a first recess 574, the rivetless connection formed in the flow path forming recess 556 is referred to as a second recess 576, and the rivetless connection formed in the deformation preventing recess 558 may be referred to as a third recess 578.

When the flow path forming groove 556 and the deformation preventing groove 558 are formed by the above-described rivetless connection fastening method, this can have advantages of simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the manufacturing cost, as compared with the case of using the conventional coupling method. In the method of manufacturing the cooling member 500 using the conventional welding method, a separate manufacturing process must be added to form the flow path or the deformation preventing structure, and in forming the flow path or the deformation preventing structure, precise design must be performed in advance to avoid occurrence of dimensional tolerances. However, since the cooling member 500 of the present embodiment forms the flow path formation groove 556 or the deformation prevention groove 558 using the rivetless connection process used in the manufacturing process, a separate manufacturing process may be omitted. Further, since the upper plate 510 and the lower plate 520 are partially deformed and coupled, a greater degree of freedom in terms of dimensional tolerance is possible.

Meanwhile, as described above, the fastening part 560 may be further formed in the groove 550, thereby improving the overall durability of the cooling member 500. Fig. 9 shows a case where the fastening portion 560 is formed in one of the two grooves 550, but as described above, when the rivetless connection is integrally applied, the fastening portion 560 may be formed in one of the three or four grooves 550.

In another example, a rivetless connection may be partially applied to the recess 550 of the cooling member 500. In one example, a rivetless connection may be applied to only one or two of the coupling 554, the flow path forming groove 556, and the deformation preventing groove 558. This may be a method of applying a rivetless connection to the recess 550 which has been formed, or a method of forming the recess 550 of the cooling member 500 by a rivetless connection. In another example, a rivetless connection may be applied to a portion of the coupling recess 554, a portion of the flow path forming recess 556, or a portion of the deformation preventing recess 558. For example, in the cooling member 500 in fig. 9, a rivetless connection may be applied in the groove 550 where the fastening portion 560 is not formed, thereby improving the overall durability of the cooling member 500. When the rivetless connection is applied to the cooling member 500 in this way, the durability of the cooling member 500 can be supplemented, and when the rivetless connection coupler replaces the fastening portion 560, the use of the annular sealing member 594 provided to the fastening portion 560 can be reduced, and the formation process of the fastening portion can be simplified, which can further ensure advantages such as simplifying the manufacturing process, reducing the manufacturing cost, or improving the water tightness of the cooling member 500.

Next, the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 including the above-described cooling member will be described.

It should be noted in advance that the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 described below is only one example of the battery module 100 or the battery pack 1000 provided with the cooling member described above, and therefore, the following description does not limit the structure and shape of all the battery modules 100 or the battery packs 1000 capable of providing a cooling member.

Fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a battery pack according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a battery module included in the battery pack according to fig. 14.

Referring to fig. 14, a battery pack 1000 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure may include: at least one battery module 100; a battery pack frame 200 for accommodating the battery module 100; a resin layer 300 formed on the inner surface of the battery frame 200; end plates 400 closing the opening surfaces of the battery pack frame 200; and a cooling member 500 disposed between the battery frame 200 and the battery cell stack 120. However, the components included in the battery pack 1000 are not limited thereto, and the battery pack 1000 may be provided in a state in which some of the above-described components are omitted, or may be provided in a state in which other components not mentioned are added, depending on the design.

Referring to fig. 14 and 15, the battery module 100 provided in the present embodiment may have a non-module structure in which a module frame is omitted.

In general, a conventional battery pack has a double assembly structure in which a battery cell stack and a partial assembly connected thereto are assembled to form a battery module, and a plurality of battery modules are again received in the battery pack. At this time, since the battery module includes a module frame forming the outer surface thereof, the conventional battery cells are doubly protected by the module frame of the battery module and the battery pack frame of the battery pack. However, this double assembly structure has the following drawbacks: that is, not only the manufacturing cost and the manufacturing process of the battery pack are increased, but also the reassembly characteristics are deteriorated when defects occur in some battery cells. In addition, when a cooling member or the like is present outside the battery module, there is also a problem in that a heat transfer path between the battery cells and the cooling member is slightly complicated.

Accordingly, the battery module 100 according to the present embodiment may be provided in the form of a "cell block" in which a module frame is omitted, and the battery cell stack 120 included in the cell block may be directly coupled to the battery pack frame 200 of the battery pack 1000. Thus, the structure of the battery pack 1000 can be simplified, advantages in terms of manufacturing costs and manufacturing processes can be obtained, and the effect of reducing the weight of the battery pack can be achieved.

Hereinafter, the battery module 100 without a module frame may be referred to as a "cell block", "open structure", or "no-module structure", to be distinguished from a battery module having a module frame. However, the battery module 100 is a general term in which the battery cell stack 120 is divided into predetermined units in a modularized form, regardless of the presence or absence of a module frame, and the battery module 100 should be understood to include both a typical battery module having a module frame and a cell block.

Referring to fig. 15, the battery module 100 according to the present embodiment may include: a cell stack 120 in which a plurality of cells 110 are stacked in one direction; side surface plates 130 located at both ends of the cell stack 120 in the stacking direction; a holding band 140 wound around the side surface plates 130 and the battery cell stack 120 to fix the shape thereof; and a bus bar frame 150 for covering front and rear surfaces of the battery cell stack 120.

Meanwhile, fig. 15 shows the battery module 100 provided in the form of a single block, but the contents of these figures do not exclude the case where the battery module 100 having the sealing structure of the module frame is applied to the battery pack 1000 of the present embodiment.

The battery cells 110 may include electrode assemblies, battery cell cartridges, and electrode leads protruding from the electrode assemblies, respectively. The battery cells 110 may be provided in a pouch shape or a prismatic shape, which may maximize the number of stacked battery cells per unit area. For example, the battery cell 110 provided in a pouch type may be manufactured by accommodating an electrode assembly including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator in a battery cell case made of a laminate sheet, and then heat-sealing the sealing parts of the battery cell case. Meanwhile, fig. 14 and 15 show the case where the positive and negative electrode leads of the battery cell 110 protrude in opposite directions to each other, but this is not necessarily the case, and the electrode leads of the battery cell 110 may also protrude in the same direction.

The cell stack 120 may be a cell stack in which a plurality of the electrically connected cells 110 are stacked in one direction. As shown in fig. 14 and 15, the direction in which the plurality of battery cells 110 are stacked (hereinafter referred to as a "stacking direction") may be a y-axis direction (or-y-axis direction), and hereinafter, the term "axis direction" may be interpreted to include all +/-two directions.

Meanwhile, when the battery cells 110 are disposed in one direction, the electrode leads of the battery cells 110 may be located on one surface or one surface and the other surface facing the one surface of the battery cell stack 120. As such, the surface of the battery cell stack 120 on which the electrode leads are located may be referred to as a front surface or a rear surface of the battery cell stack 120, and in fig. 14 and 15, the front surface and the rear surface of the battery cell stack 120 are shown as two surfaces facing each other in the x-axis.

Further, in the cell stack 120, the surface on which the outermost cell 110 is located may be referred to as a side surface of the cell stack 120, and in fig. 14 and 15, the side surfaces of the cell stack 120 are shown as two surfaces facing each other on the y-axis.

The side surface plates 130 may be provided to maintain the overall shape of the battery cell stack 120. The side surface plates 130 are plate-shaped members, and may supplement the strength of the battery cell block instead of the module frame. The side surface plates 130 may be disposed at both ends of the cell stack 120 in the stacking direction, and may be in contact with the outermost cells 110 on both sides of the cell stack 120.

The side surface plate 130 may be made of various materials and may be provided by various manufacturing methods. In one example, the side surface plate 130 may be made of a plastic material manufactured by injection molding. In another example, the side surface plate 130 may be made of a leaf spring material. In another example, the side surface plate 130 may be made of a material having elasticity so that its shape can be partially deformed in response to a volume change of the battery cell stack 120 due to expansion.

The holding straps 140 may be used to fix the position and shape of the side surface plates 130 at both ends of the cell stack 120. The retaining strap 140 may be a member having a length and a width. Specifically, the cell stack 120 may be located between the two side surface plates 130 in contact with the outermost cells 110, and the holding strap 140 may traverse the cell stack 120 to connect the two side surface plates 130. Thereby, the holding strap 140 may prevent the distance between the two side surface plates 130 from exceeding a certain range, thereby being able to maintain the overall shape of the battery cell block within a certain range.

The holding strap 140 may have hooks at both ends in the longitudinal direction for stably coupling with the side plate 130. The hook portion may be formed by bending the terminal end of the holding band 140 in the longitudinal direction. Meanwhile, the side surface plate 130 may be formed with a hook groove at a position corresponding to the hook portion, and the holding strap 140 and the side surface plate 130 may be stably coupled by coupling of the hook portion and the hook groove.

The retainer belt 140 may be provided using various materials or by various manufacturing methods. In one example, the holding strap 140 may be made of a material having elasticity, by which the volume change of the battery cell stack 120 due to expansion may be allowed to occur within a certain range.

Meanwhile, the holding strap 140 serves to fix the relative position between the side surface plate 130 and the cell stack 120, and may be provided in other shapes than the illustrated shape if the purpose of the "fixing member" is to be achieved. For example, the fixing member may be provided in the form of a long bolt that may traverse between the two side surface plates 130. The side surface plates 130 may be provided with grooves into which long bolts can be inserted, and the long bolts may be coupled with both side surface plates 130 through the grooves at the same time, thereby fixing the relative positions of the two side surface plates 130. The long bolts may be provided at the edges of the side plates 130, preferably at positions near the vertices of the side surface plates 130. The long bolts described above may be used instead of the holding strap 140 according to the design, but the holding strap 140 and the long bolts may be provided in the battery cell block at the same time.

The bus bar frame 150 may be used to cover one surface of the battery cell stack 120 while guiding connection between the battery cell stack 120 and external devices by being located on one surface of the battery cell stack 120. The bus bar frame 150 may be located on the front surface or the rear surface of the battery cell stack 120. Two bus bar frames 150 may be provided to be located on the front and rear surfaces of the battery cell stack 120. The bus bars may be mounted on the bus bar frame 150, thereby connecting electrode leads of the battery cell stack 120 to the bus bars so that the battery cell stack 120 may be electrically connected to external devices.

The bus bar frame 150 may include an electrically insulating material. The bus bar frame 150 may restrict the contact of the bus bar with other parts of the battery cell 110 except for the parts combined with the electrode leads, and may prevent the occurrence of an electrical short. The battery pack frame 200 may serve to protect the battery module 100 and the electrical devices connected thereto from external physical impact. The battery pack frame 200 may accommodate the battery module 100 and the electrical devices connected thereto in the inner space of the battery pack frame 200. Here, the battery pack frame 200 includes an inner surface and an outer surface, and the inner space of the battery pack frame 200 may be defined by the inner surface.

The battery modules 100 received in the battery pack frame 200 may be formed in plurality. The plurality of battery modules 100 may be referred to as "module assemblies". The module assemblies may be arranged in rows and columns in the battery pack frame 200. Here, "row" may mean a group of battery modules 100 arranged in one direction, and "column" may mean a group of battery modules 100 arranged in a direction perpendicular to the one direction. For example, as shown in fig. 8, the battery modules 100 may be arranged along the stacking direction of the battery cell stacks to form one row or column, thereby forming a module assembly.

The battery pack frame 200 may be provided in an open hollow shape in one direction. For example, as shown in fig. 8, a plurality of battery modules 100 are continuously positioned along the stacking direction of the battery cells 110, and the battery pack frame 200 may have an open hollow shape along the above-described stacking direction.

The battery pack frame 200 may have various structures. In one example, as shown in fig. 8, the battery pack frame 200 may include a lower frame 210 and an upper frame 220. Here, the lower frame 210 may be provided in a plate shape, and the upper frame 220 may be provided in a U shape. At least one battery module 100 may be disposed in the plate-shaped lower frame 210, and the U-shaped upper frame 220 may be disposed to wrap both surfaces of the upper surface and the X-axis of the module assembly.

The battery pack frame 200 may include a portion having high thermal conductivity so as to rapidly emit heat generated from the inner space to the outside. For example, at least a portion of the battery frame 200 may be made of a metal having high thermal conductivity, and examples of the metal may be aluminum, gold, silver, copper, platinum, an alloy containing these metals, or the like. Further, the battery pack frame 200 may have a partial electrical insulation characteristic, and an insulation film may be provided at a location where insulation is required, or an insulation coating may be applied. The portion of the battery frame 200 to which the insulating film or the insulating coating is applied may be referred to as an insulating portion.

The resin layer 300 may be disposed between the battery module 100 and the inner surface of the battery frame 200. The resin layer 300 may be disposed between the bottom surface of the battery module 100 and the lower frame 210. The resin layer 300 may be disposed between the upper surface of the battery module 100 and the upper frame 220. Here, precisely, the resin layer 300 may be disposed between the cooling member 500 and the upper frame 220, which will be described later.

The resin layer 300 may be formed by injecting a resin between one of the inner surfaces of the battery cell stack 120 and the battery frame 200. However, this is not necessarily the case, and the resin layer 300 may be a member provided in a plate shape.

The resin layer 300 may be made of various materials, and the function of the resin layer 300 may be changed depending on the material. For example, the resin layer 300 may be formed of an insulating material, and electron transfer between the battery module 100 and the battery pack frame 200 may be prevented by the insulating resin layer 300. In another example, the resin layer 300 may be formed of a thermally conductive material. The resin layer 300 made of a heat conductive material may transfer heat generated in the battery cells 110 to the battery pack frame 200, thereby being able to release/transfer heat to the outside. In another example, the resin layer 300 may include an adhesive material, by which the battery module 100 and the battery pack frame 200 may be fixed together. In one specific example, the resin layer 300 may be provided to include at least one of a silicone-based material, a polyurethane-based material, and an acrylic-based material.

The end plate 400 may protect the battery module 100 and the electrical components connected thereto from external physical impact by sealing the open surface of the battery pack frame 200. Each edge of the end plate 400 may be coupled to a corresponding edge of the battery frame 200 by a method such as welding. The end plates 400 may be provided in two to seal the two opening surfaces of the battery frame 200, and may be made of a metal material having a predetermined strength.

An opening 410 may be formed in the end plate 400 to expose an inlet/outlet port 530 (to be described later) of the cooling member 500, and a connector 420 for Low Voltage (LV) connection or High Voltage (HV) connection with external equipment may be installed.

The cooling member 500 may be used to cool the inside of the battery pack 1000 by radiating heat generated from the battery cells 110. For the description of the cooling member 500, refer to the above.

Meanwhile, although the battery pack 1000 of the present embodiment is described above as including the battery modules 100 in the form of battery cell blocks, this is not necessarily the case, and the battery pack 1000 may also include battery modules that are disposed in a closed structure by a module frame.

When the battery pack 1000 includes the battery modules having the closed structure in this manner, the cooling member 500 may be located within the module frame of the battery modules, and, more precisely, may be located between the battery cell stack 120 and the module frame. Alternatively, the cooling member 500 may be located outside the module frame of the battery module, and, in particular, may be located between the battery module having a closed structure and the battery pack frame 200.

Meanwhile, although not specifically mentioned above, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the battery pack may include a Battery Management System (BMS) and/or a cooling device for managing the temperature or voltage of the battery.

The battery pack according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to various devices. The device to which the battery pack is applied may be a vehicle such as an electric bicycle, an electric vehicle, or a hybrid vehicle. The above-described devices are not limited thereto, and the battery pack according to the present embodiment may be used for various devices other than the above-described devices, which also falls within the scope of the present disclosure.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail hereinabove, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto and various modifications and improvements may be made by those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims, which also fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Description of the reference numerals

100 Battery Module

110 Battery cell

120 Cell stack

130 Side surface plate

140 Holding strap

150 Bus bar frame

200 Battery pack frame

300 Resin layer

400 End plate

500 Cooling Member

510 Upper plate

520 Lower plate

530 Inlet/outlet ports

540 Sealing part

550 Groove

560 Fastening part

570, Concave portion

580 Cover film

590 Sealing member

Claims

1. A cooling member, comprising:

an upper plate, a lower plate, and cooling water contained in an inner space between the upper plate and the lower plate,

Wherein sealing portions are formed at edges of the upper plate and the lower plate,

Wherein a coupling groove is formed inside the sealing portion, and

Wherein a fastening portion coupled by a fastening member is formed outside the sealing portion.

2. The cooling member of claim 1, wherein,

A sealing member is located between the upper plate and the lower plate on which the sealing portion is formed.

3. The cooling member of claim 1, wherein,

The coupling groove has a first recess formed therein by introducing the upper plate into the lower plate or the lower plate into the upper plate.

4. The cooling member of claim 1, wherein,

The cooling member has a flow path forming groove formed therein, the flow path forming groove guiding a flow of cooling water.

5. The cooling member of claim 4, wherein,

The flow path forming groove has a second recess formed therein, the second recess being formed by introducing the upper plate into the lower plate or the lower plate into the upper plate.

6. The cooling member of claim 1, wherein,

The cooling member has formed therein a deformation preventing groove that prevents deformation of a shape due to inflow of cooling water.

7. The cooling member of claim 6, wherein,

The deformation preventing groove has a third recess formed therein by introducing the upper plate into the lower plate or the lower plate into the upper plate.

8. The cooling member of claim 1, wherein,

The cooling member has a recess formed therein, the recess being formed by introducing the upper plate into the lower plate or the lower plate into the upper plate, and

The recess has a depth, wherein the direction in which the depth extends is perpendicular to the flow direction of the cooling water inside the cooling member.

9. The cooling member of claim 8, wherein,

The recess includes an upper recess in which the upper plate is deformed, and a lower recess in which the lower plate is deformed, and

The lowest point of the upper surface of the upper recess is located below the upper surface of the lower plate on which the recess is not formed.

10. The cooling member of claim 9, wherein,

The lowest point of the upper surface of the upper concave portion is located below the lower surface of the lower plate where the concave portion is not formed.

11. The cooling member of claim 8, wherein,

The maximum value of the outer diameter of the upper concave portion is greater than the minimum value of the inner diameter of the lower concave portion.

12. The cooling member of claim 1, wherein,

The lower plate comprises at least two materials having different physical properties.

13. The cooling member of claim 1, wherein,

The cooling member further includes an inlet port and an outlet port for injecting cooling water into an inner space between the upper plate and the lower plate,

The inlet port and the outlet port are connected to an external heat exchanger, and

The cooling water of the cooling member circulates through the inlet port and the outlet port.

14. A cooling member located on an upper portion of a battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked, the cooling member comprising:

Wherein the lower plate comprises an opening,

The upper surface of the lower plate is covered by a cover film of the lower plate,

The outer contour shape of the cover film is basically the same as that of the lower plate,

The cover film is made of a material having a melting point lower than that of the lower plate, and

The cover film melts at a predetermined temperature or higher, thereby opening the opening of the lower plate.

15. The cooling member of claim 14, wherein,

The cover film is attached to the lower plate.

16. The cooling member of claim 14, wherein,

The thickness of the coverlay is 0.5 to 1.0 millimeters.

17. The cooling member of claim 14, wherein,

The cover film is made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyphenylene oxide (PPO).

18. The cooling member of claim 14, wherein,

The sealing part is formed at the edges of the upper plate and the lower plate, and

An external fastening portion is formed on the outside of the sealing portion.

19. The cooling member of claim 18, wherein,

A band-shaped sealing member is located between the lower plate and the upper plate on which the sealing portion is formed.

20. The cooling member of claim 18, wherein,

A coupling groove is formed at an inner side of the sealing part, and supplements the coupling between the upper plate and the lower plate.

21. The cooling member of claim 20, wherein,

A coupling fastening part is formed in at least a portion of the coupling groove.

22. The cooling member of claim 21, wherein,

An annular sealing member is located between the cover film on which the coupling fastening portion is formed and the upper plate.

23. The cooling member of claim 14, wherein,

24. The cooling member of claim 23, wherein,

A flow passage forming fastening portion formed in a part of the flow passage forming groove, and

An annular sealing member is located between the cover film on which the flow passage formation fastening portion is formed and the upper plate.

25. The cooling member of claim 14, wherein,

26. The cooling member of claim 25, wherein,

An anti-deformation fastening portion is formed in a part of the anti-deformation groove, and

An annular sealing member is located between the cover film on which the deformation-preventing fastening portion is formed and the upper plate.

27. The cooling member of claim 14, wherein,

The cooling member has a groove formed therein,

The groove includes a coupling groove that complements coupling of the upper plate and the lower plate, a flow path forming groove that guides a flow of cooling water, or a deformation preventing groove that prevents shape deformation due to inflow of the cooling water, wherein a rivetless connection is formed in at least a portion of the groove.

28. The cooling member of claim 14, wherein,

The cooling member further includes an inlet and outlet port for injecting cooling water into an inner space between the upper plate and the lower plate,

The inlet and outlet ports are connected to an external heat exchanger, and

The cooling water of the cooling member circulates through the inlet and outlet ports.

29. A battery module comprising the cooling member according to claim 1 or 14.

30. A battery pack comprising the cooling member according to claim 1 or 14.

31. The battery of claim 30, wherein,

The battery pack includes battery modules having a non-module structure.