CN220505915U - Vehicle battery package discharge valve and vehicle battery package - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a vehicle battery pack exhaust valve and a vehicle battery pack, wherein the vehicle battery pack exhaust valve comprises: a valve body having a valve chamber therein, the valve chamber communicating a first opening and a second opening on the valve body; a closing cap located in the valve chamber, comprising a cap body covering the first opening, a connecting rod connecting the cap body and the valve body, the connecting rod being connected to a side of the cap body facing the first opening, wherein the valve body comprises a first material, and the connecting rod comprises a second material having a melting point lower than that of the first material. The exhaust valve of the vehicle battery pack and the vehicle battery pack can ensure more reliable battery pack heat management effect under special conditions, and meanwhile, the overall structure is simple and reliable and is easy to implement, so that the satisfaction degree of users is improved.

Description

Vehicle battery package discharge valve and vehicle battery package

Technical Field

The present utility model relates generally to the field of vehicle battery technology, and more particularly, to a vehicle battery pack exhaust valve and a vehicle battery pack.

Background

In modern motor vehicles, drive battery packs for powering the vehicle have been widely used to power, for example, vehicle motors, various comfort devices in the vehicle, entertainment devices, lighting devices. However, in the operating state, a large number of battery cells in a vehicle battery pack may release gas, and in order to achieve pressure balance between the inside and outside of the battery pack, a plurality of exhaust valves are generally installed on the battery pack case.

For example, patent document CN109904367B discloses a ventilation relief valve applied to a power battery pack, including ventilation valve protection casing, ventilated membrane, ventilation valve base, the ventilated membrane suit is in between ventilation valve protection casing and the ventilation valve base, ventilation valve protection casing main part is equipped with open-ended cavity structure for the lower part, ventilation valve protection casing intracavity edge is provided with the joint structure that is used for the joint ventilation valve base, ventilation valve base outward flange with ventilation valve protection casing inner wall laminating mutually, ventilation valve protection casing and ventilation valve between the base be provided with a plurality of bleeder vents that run through of ventilation valve protection casing lateral wall upper point interval.

Based on this type of solution in the prior art, the inventors of the present application have realized that there is still room for further improvement in this type of venting valve solution in the prior art in terms of achieving better thermal management properties in special cases with a simple structure.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure summarizes aspects of embodiments of the utility model and should not be used to limit the claims. Other embodiments may be devised in light of the techniques described herein, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description, and the present application is intended to encompass such embodiments within the scope of protection.

The inventors of the present application have recognized a need for a vehicle battery pack vent valve and a vehicle battery pack that should be simple and reliable in construction and have better thermal management performance in special situations to further improve user satisfaction.

According to one aspect of the present utility model, there is provided a vehicle battery pack vent valve comprising:

a valve body having a valve chamber therein, the valve chamber communicating a first opening and a second opening on the valve body;

a closing cap located in the valve chamber, comprising a cap body covering the first opening, a connecting rod connecting the cap body and the valve body, the connecting rod being connected to the side of the cap body facing the first opening,

wherein the valve body comprises a first material and the connecting rod comprises a second material having a lower melting point than the first material.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the closure cap further comprises a spring member that applies a separating biasing force to both the cap body and the valve body.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the valve body comprises a connecting hole, the connecting rod extending through the connecting hole and comprising a foot at the end having a diameter larger than the connecting hole, the foot being directed towards the first opening.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the valve body comprises a lower valve body, an upper valve body connected to the lower valve body, and a snap seat fixed in a first opening on the lower valve body, the connecting hole being located on the snap seat.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the upper valve body extends downwards to partly shield the lower valve body so that the second opening is directed towards the exhaust valve mounting surface.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the cap body comprises a first cap comprising an elastic material and having a first cap hole, and a second cap covering the first cap hole and connected to the connecting rod.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the cover body further comprises a waterproof and breathable membrane, the second cover has a second cover hole, and the waterproof and breathable membrane covers the second cover hole.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, the first cover is dome-shaped covering the first opening and abutting the valve body at the peripheral edge.

According to one embodiment of the utility model, wherein the cover body further comprises a weld ring of the same material as the second cover, the waterproof and breathable membrane is welded to the second cover by the weld ring.

According to another aspect of the present utility model, there is also provided a vehicle battery pack comprising a housing, and a vehicle battery pack vent valve as described in any of the above embodiments, the vent valve being mounted to the housing.

Drawings

For a better understanding of the utility model, reference may be made to the embodiments illustrated in the following drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale and related elements may be omitted or the proportions may have been exaggerated in some cases in order to emphasize and clearly illustrate the novel features described herein. In addition, the system components may be arranged differently, as is known in the art. Furthermore, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a vehicle in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a vehicle battery pack in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded view of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of an upper valve body of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a lower valve body of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of a first cover of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of a second cover and connecting rod of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

FIG. 9 illustrates a top view of a second cover of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

FIG. 10 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in a first state with a connecting rod connected to a valve body and a first cover closed, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model;

fig. 11 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a second state of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model, with a connecting rod connected to a valve body and a first cover partially open;

fig. 12 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a third state of a vehicle battery pack vent valve in accordance with one or more embodiments of the utility model, with the connecting rod separated from the valve body and the first cover fully opened.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described below. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and that other embodiments may take various alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; certain features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present utility model. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combination of features shown provides representative embodiments for typical applications. However, various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of the present disclosure may be desired for certain specific applications or implementations.

In this document, when an element or portion is referred to as being "on," "engaged to," "connected to," or "coupled to" another element or portion, it can be directly on, engaged, connected, or coupled to the other element or portion, or intervening elements or portions may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly engaged to," "directly connected to," or "directly coupled to" another element or portion, there may be no intervening elements or portions present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a similar fashion.

As mentioned in the background section above, the inventors have realized that there is still room for further improvement in terms of how to achieve better thermal management performance in special cases with a simple structure in the prior art solutions. Accordingly, the inventors of the present application have provided, in one or more embodiments, a vehicle battery pack vent valve and a vehicle battery pack that are believed to solve one or more of the problems of the prior art.

First, fig. 1 generally presents a schematic view of a vehicle 10 including a vehicle battery pack exhaust valve 100 and a vehicle battery pack 200 according to one or more embodiments of the utility model. It should be appreciated that in the context of the present utility model, a vehicle 10 embodying the present utility model may refer to any vehicle that contains a vehicle battery pack, and may include, for example, but is not limited to, a fossil fuel vehicle, an electric vehicle (such as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a Full Hybrid Electric Vehicle (FHEV), a Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle (MHEV), or a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), etc.), and so forth. The vehicle 10 may include mobility-related components such as an engine, electric motor, transmission, suspension, drive shaft, wheels, and/or the like. The vehicle 10 may be non-autonomous, semi-autonomous (e.g., some conventional locomotion functions are autonomously controlled by the vehicle) or autonomous (e.g., locomotion functions are autonomously controlled by the vehicle, without direct input from a user).

In view of the technical problems set forth in the foregoing, one aspect of the present utility model is directed to a vehicle battery pack vent valve 100, generally referring to fig. 3-12, the vehicle battery pack vent valve 100 comprising a valve body 102 and a closure cap 104. The valve body 102 has a first opening 108 and a second opening 110 therein, and the valve body 102 has a valve chamber 106 therein, the valve chamber 106 communicating the first opening 108 with the second opening 110. The closure cap 104 is located within the valve chamber and includes a cap body 112 and a connecting rod 114. The cap body 112 covers the first opening 108, the connecting rod 114 connects the cap body 112 with the valve body 102, and the connecting rod 114 is connected to the side of the cap body 112 facing the first opening 108. Wherein the valve body 102 comprises a first material and the connecting rod 114 comprises a second material having a melting point lower than the melting point of the first material. For example, the melting point of the first material may be 220 ℃ to 240 ℃, such as but not limited to PBT (polybutylene terephthalate), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), and the like, and of course, the first material may also be a material with a higher melting point, such as various metals, ceramics, composite materials, and the like; the melting point of the second material may be 120-140 ℃, such as, but not limited to, PE (polyethylene), PS (polystyrene), etc., by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Furthermore, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that both the first material and the second material may be reinforced by a fibrous material, such as glass fiber reinforced plastic or the like. In a use scenario, the vehicle battery pack vent valve 100 can be mounted to a mounting surface, such as to the vehicle battery pack 200 housing 202.

It should be understood that in the above and following disclosure, the descriptions of the dependencies of the respective components are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present utility model, and those skilled in the art can divide the dependencies in different ways according to their own understanding without departing from the protection scope of the present utility model. In the embodiment of the present utility model, the provision of the cap body 112 covering the first opening 108 and the connection rod 114 connecting the cap body 112 and the valve body 102, and the provision of the valve body 102 including the first material, the connection rod 114 including the second material, and the melting point of the second material being lower than that of the first material ensures that in a special case, for example, in a case where the internal temperature of the battery pack reaches 150 ℃ or more, the connection rod 114 can be melted first due to the lower melting point of the material, separating the cap body 112 from the valve body 102, and the exhaust gas can flush the cap body 112 to close the first opening 108. At this time, the exhaust temperature does not reach the melting point of the first material of the valve body 102, the structure of the valve body 102 and the entire exhaust passage therein remain open, so that the high-temperature gas is rapidly discharged through the first opening 108, the valve chamber 106, and the second opening 110, which may be referred to as a sectional view of fig. 12, in which a gas flow passage in the case of the separation of the connecting rod 114 is shown with a broken arrow. These features ensure more reliable thermal management of the battery pack under special conditions, while the overall structure is simple, reliable and easy to implement.

Referring now to the perspective view of fig. 3, the exploded view of fig. 4, and the perspective views of fig. 5 and 6, the valve body 102 may include an upper valve body 124, a lower valve body 122, and a snap seat 126. Wherein the lower valve body 122 comprises the first opening 108 and is mounted to a mounting surface, such as to the vehicle battery pack 200 housing 202, a sealing ring 140 acting as a seal may be disposed between the lower valve body 122 and the vehicle battery pack 200 housing 202 to prevent gas from escaping from the mounting location and to prevent foreign matter such as sewage and dust from entering the interior of the vehicle battery pack 200, see in particular fig. 10. The upper valve body 124 is connected to the lower valve body 122 to enclose the valve chamber 106, for example, by a number of lower valve body detents 142 that snap into the lower valve body 122, see FIG. 6. The snap seat 126 may be secured (e.g., snapped into) the first opening 108 on the lower valve body 122, see the cross-sectional view of fig. 10. The fastening seat 126 may include a connection hole 118, and the connection rod 114 may penetrate through the connection hole 118 and include a leg 120 at an end portion, wherein the diameter of the leg 120 is larger than that of the connection hole 118, as shown in fig. 8 and 10, so that the connection rod 114 is fastened in the connection hole 118 to prevent separation. The legs 120 are directed into the first opening 108, i.e., into the interior of the housing 202 of the battery pack 200. This structural feature may ensure that the legs 120 are more fully exposed to the temperature environment inside the battery pack and that the legs 120, once melted, may separate the cap body 112 from the valve body 102, thereby opening the gas passage to release gas. In addition, the latch 126 may further include a plurality of latch openings 148 to ensure smooth passage of gas. In addition, according to several other embodiments of the present utility model, the valve body 102 may take other forms, such as having more or fewer structural portions, or may even be one piece, and may include the attachment holes 118 directly in the valve body 102 for attaching the legs 120.

Referring now to the perspective views of fig. 7 and 8, the cover body 112 may include a first cover 128 having a first cover hole 132 and a second cover 130 covering the first cover hole 132 and coupled with the connection rod 114. The first cover 128 comprises an elastic material such as, but not limited to, rubber (e.g., methyl vinyl silicone rubber (VMQ), etc.), an elastomeric material (e.g., polyolefin thermoplastic elastomer), etc., and the second cover 130 may be the same or a different material than the connecting rod 114. In this aspect, the inclusion of the resilient material in the first cover 128 may first ensure adequate closure of the cover body 112 to the first opening 108; next, in the case where the temperature of the inside has not been higher than the melting point of the second material, the first cover 128 may be slightly deformed, for example, warped, by the pressure, thereby partially opening the first opening 108 to release the gas and reduce the internal pressure, referring to the sectional view of fig. 11, in which the path of the gas flow is shown with a dotted arrow. In addition, the second cover 130 and the connection rod 114 may be two members separately manufactured and then connected together, or may be integrally manufactured members. The second cap 130 may also include an annular rib 144 thereon to ensure a secure engagement and seal between the first cap 128 and the second cap 130.

Referring now to the cross-sectional view of fig. 10, and concurrently to the perspective view of fig. 7, the first cover 128 may cover the first opening 108 in a dome shape, with the first cover 128 abutting the valve body 102 at the peripheral edge. This structural feature can both ensure sufficient closure of the first cover 128 to the first opening 108 to isolate the internal and external environment, and allow the first cover 128 to deform slightly, e.g., buckle, under a sufficiently large pressure to release the internal gas and equalize the internal and external pressures.

Referring back to fig. 4 and 9, the cover body 112 may also include a waterproof, breathable membrane 134, such as, but not limited to, an Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) membrane. The second cover 130 may have a plurality of second cover holes 136 therethrough, and the waterproof and breathable film 134 covers the second cover holes 136. This structure can ensure that the gas released in the normal operation state can be released into the external environment through the waterproof and breathable membrane 134 to balance the internal and external pressures and simultaneously block foreign substances such as dust and sewage from entering the inside of the battery pack 200. In several other embodiments of the present utility model, the cover body 112 may further include a weld ring 138 of the same material as the second cover 130 (e.g., PE (polyethylene)), and the waterproof and breathable membrane 134 is welded to the second cover 130 by the weld ring 138, which enables more convenient and stable connection of the waterproof and breathable membrane 134 to the second cover 130.

Referring now to fig. 10-12, the closure cap 104 may further include a spring member 116, the spring member 116 may surround the connecting rod 114 and apply a separating biasing force to both the cap body 112 (in this embodiment, the second cap 130) and the valve body 102 (in this embodiment, the snap seat 126). This feature ensures that the cap body 112 is quickly pushed away from the valve body 102 to open the first opening 108 to release the gas balance internal and external pressures in the event that the connecting rod 114 has melted apart. Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the spring member 116 may take other configurations and numbers, such as a number of leaf springs, and that the spring member 116 may not surround the connecting rod 114, so long as it is ensured that it is capable of exerting sufficient separation biasing forces to both the cap body 112 and the valve body 102.

With continued reference to fig. 10-12, the upper valve body 124 may extend downwardly to partially conceal the lower valve body 122 such that the second opening 110 is directed toward the exhaust valve mounting surface, such as toward the outer shell 202 of the vehicle battery pack 200. The structural feature can shield the cover main body 112 from being exposed to the impact of sewage, scraps and the like; secondly, the gas released in special cases is guided only to the comparatively temperature-resistant housing 202 of the vehicle battery pack 200, without affecting surrounding vehicle components.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the manufacturing of the vehicle battery pack exhaust valve 100 and the various components of the vehicle battery pack 200 described above may be accomplished by means of, but not limited to, extrusion, stamping, casting, molding, 3D printing, and the like. Furthermore, the joining or connecting described above or below may be accomplished by various alternative means, such as welding, bonding, clamping, riveting, threading, integral molding, etc., which may include, for example, but not limited to, inert gas welding, laser welding, etc.

According to another aspect of the present utility model, there is also provided a vehicle battery pack 200, referring to fig. 2, the vehicle battery pack 200 includes a housing 202, and a vehicle battery pack vent valve 100 as described in any of the above embodiments, the vent valve 100 being mounted to the housing 202. It should be appreciated that all of the embodiments, features and advantages set forth above for the vehicle battery pack vent valve 100 according to the first aspect of the utility model are equally applicable to the vehicle battery pack 200 according to this other aspect of the utility model without conflicting with each other. That is, all of the embodiments and variations thereof described above may be applied directly and incorporated herein. For the sake of brevity of this disclosure, the description is not repeated here.

In summary, compared with the prior art, the utility model provides the vehicle battery pack exhaust valve and the vehicle battery pack, which can ensure a more reliable battery pack thermal management effect under special conditions, and have simple and reliable overall structure and easy implementation, thereby improving the satisfaction degree of users.

It should be understood that the technical features listed above for the different embodiments may be combined with each other to form further embodiments within the scope of the utility model, where technically feasible.

In this application, the use of the anti-connotation term is intended to include the connotation term. The use of definite or indefinite articles is not intended to indicate cardinality. In particular, references to "the" object or "a" and "an" object are intended to mean a possible one of a plurality of such objects. Furthermore, rather than a mutually exclusive approach, the conjunction "or" may be used to convey a simultaneous feature. In other words, the conjunctive word "or" is to be understood as comprising "and/or". The term "comprising" is inclusive and has the same scope as "comprising".

The above examples are possible examples of embodiments of the present utility model and are given only for the purpose of clearly understanding the principle of the present utility model to those skilled in the art. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that: the above discussion of any embodiment is merely exemplary and is not intended to imply that the scope of the disclosure of embodiments of the utility model, including the claims, is limited to such examples. The technical features of the above embodiments or in different embodiments can also be combined with each other under the general inventive concept and many other variations of the different aspects of the embodiments of the utility model as described above are produced, which are not provided in the detailed description for the sake of brevity. Therefore, any omissions, modifications, equivalents, improvements and others that are within the spirit and principles of the embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the utility model as claimed.

Claims (10)

1. A vehicle battery pack vent valve, comprising:

a valve body having a valve chamber therein, the valve chamber communicating a first opening and a second opening on the valve body;

a closing cap located in the valve chamber, comprising a cap body covering the first opening, a connecting rod connecting the cap body and the valve body, the connecting rod being connected to a side of the cap body facing the first opening,

wherein the connecting rod is composed of a material having a lower melting point than the valve body.

2. The vehicle battery pack vent valve of claim 1, wherein the closure cap further comprises a spring member that applies a separation biasing force to both the cap body and the valve body.

3. The vehicle battery pack vent valve of claim 1, wherein the valve body includes a connecting hole through which the connecting rod extends and includes a leg at an end having a diameter greater than the connecting hole, the leg being oriented toward the first opening.

4. The vehicle battery pack vent valve of claim 3, wherein the valve body comprises a lower valve body, an upper valve body connected to the lower valve body, and a snap seat secured within the first opening on the lower valve body, the connection aperture being located on the snap seat.

5. The vehicle battery pack vent valve of claim 4, wherein the upper valve body extends downwardly to partially conceal the lower valve body such that the second opening is directed toward a vent valve mounting surface.

6. The vehicle battery pack vent valve of claim 1, wherein the cover body comprises a first cover comprising an elastomeric material and having a first cover aperture and a second cover covering the first cover aperture and coupled to the connecting rod.

7. The vehicle battery pack vent valve of claim 6, wherein the cover body further comprises a waterproof, breathable membrane, the second cover having a second cover aperture, the waterproof, breathable membrane covering the second cover aperture.

8. The vehicle battery pack vent valve of claim 6, wherein the first cover is domed to cover the first opening and abuts the valve body at a peripheral edge.

9. The vehicle battery pack vent valve of claim 7, wherein the cover body further comprises a weld ring of the same material as the second cover, the waterproof, breathable membrane being welded to the second cover by the weld ring.

10. A vehicle battery pack comprising a housing, a vehicle battery pack vent valve according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the vent valve being mounted to the housing.