CN220569742U - Battery pack and electric equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a battery pack and electric equipment. The battery pack includes: the first cold plate and the second cold plate are arranged side by side along a first direction, and each of the first cold plate and the second cold plate comprises two side walls which are opposite to each other along the thickness direction, and the thickness direction is consistent with the first direction; the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the first cold plate is larger than that of the flow channel of the second cold plate; the two sides of the first cold plate are respectively provided with a first battery unit and a second battery unit, and the two sides of the second cold plate are respectively provided with the second battery unit and a third battery unit; the first battery unit, the second battery unit and the third battery unit all comprise at least one battery cell array, wherein the number of the battery cell arrays in the first battery unit is not less than the number of the battery cell arrays in the third battery unit, and the number of the battery cell arrays in the second battery unit is not less than the number of the battery cell arrays in the third battery unit. The utility model improves the temperature uniformity of the battery pack.

Description

Battery pack and electric equipment

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of batteries, in particular to a battery pack and electric equipment.

Background

The battery pack is used as a main power source and plays an important role in the new energy automobile. When the battery core in the battery pack works, heat is inevitably generated; or in cold weather, the battery cells need to be heated to improve the performance, and a thermal management system is usually matched with the battery pack. The existing method is that a cold plate is arranged between the electric cores of the battery pack, a flow channel is arranged in the cold plate, and temperature control is achieved through heat exchange between cooling liquid in the cold plate and the electric cores. However, the battery cells in the battery pack are challenged to be uniform in temperature due to different arrangement positions and arrangement conditions of the battery cells in the battery pack.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on this, the application provides a battery pack and electric equipment to at least improve the samming nature of battery pack.

In one aspect, the present application provides a battery pack comprising: the cooling device comprises a first cooling plate and a second cooling plate, wherein the first cooling plate and the second cooling plate are arranged side by side along a first direction, the first cooling plate and the second cooling plate respectively comprise two side walls which are opposite to each other along the thickness direction, and the thickness direction is consistent with the first direction; flow channels are arranged in the first cold plate and the second cold plate; wherein the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the first cold plate is larger than the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the second cold plate; the two sides of the first cold plate are respectively provided with a first battery unit and a second battery unit, and the two sides of the second cold plate are respectively provided with the second battery unit and a third battery unit; the first battery unit, the second battery unit and the third battery unit all comprise at least one battery cell array, wherein the number of battery cell arrays in the first battery unit is not less than the number of battery cell arrays in the third battery unit, and the number of battery cell arrays in the second battery unit is not less than the number of battery cell arrays in the third battery unit.

According to the scheme, the cold plates are arranged into the flow channels with different cross sectional areas, in one case, the arrangement positions of the battery units in the battery pack are different, one part of the battery units can be positioned between two adjacent cold plates, and the other part of the battery units are positioned between the edge beam of the battery pack and the outermost cold plate, so that the cross sectional area of the flow channel of the first cold plate is set to be larger than that of the flow channel of the second cold plate, the cooling liquid in the first cold plate has larger flow rate, and therefore, the battery pack has stronger heat transfer capability, and the requirement of the temperature uniformity of the battery units in different positions in the battery pack can be met; in another case, the number of the cell rows in the battery cells between two adjacent cold plates may be different, and for the battery cells with more cell rows, the cold plates with larger coolant flow are required to perform thermal management on the battery cells so as to meet the requirement of the temperature uniformity of the whole battery cells. In summary, based on the above two cases, the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the first cold plate is set to be larger than the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the second cold plate, and the corresponding battery units meet the requirement that the number of the battery cell columns in the first battery unit is not less than the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery unit, and the number of the battery cell columns in the second battery unit is not less than the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery unit, so that the temperature uniformity of the whole battery cell is improved.

Further, the battery pack includes an edge beam, the first cold plate is the cold plate closest to the edge beam, and the second cold plate is arranged on one side of the first cold plate far away from the edge beam.

Further, the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the first cold plate is 1.1-2 times that of the flow passage of the second cold plate.

Further, the battery pack further comprises a plurality of third cold plates arranged side by side along the first direction, a flow channel is arranged in the third cold plates, the third cold plates comprise two side walls opposite to each other along the thickness direction, and the thickness direction is consistent with the first direction; the plurality of third cold plates are arranged on one side, far away from the second cold plates, of the third battery units, and a fourth battery unit is arranged between every two adjacent third cold plates and comprises at least one cell line.

Further, the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the third cold plate is equal to the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the second cold plate; and/or the number of the battery cell columns in the fourth battery cell is equal to the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery cell.

Further, the first battery unit comprises at least two battery cell columns arranged along the first direction, and heat-conducting glue is arranged between two adjacent battery cells in the first battery unit in the first direction.

Further, the second battery unit and the third battery unit each comprise at least two battery cell columns arranged along the first direction; in the first direction, a buffer piece is arranged between two adjacent battery cells in the second battery unit; and a buffer piece is arranged between two adjacent battery cells in the third battery unit.

Further, the number of the battery cell columns in the first battery cell, the number of the battery cell columns in the second battery cell, the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery cell and the number of the battery cell columns in the fourth battery cell are all 2.

Further, the battery cell array comprises a plurality of battery cells arranged along a second direction, the battery cells comprise two first side surfaces which are oppositely arranged, and the first side surfaces are surfaces with the largest surface area in each surface of the battery cells; wherein the side wall of the first cold plate is in contact with the first side surface, and/or the side wall of the second cold plate is in contact with the first side surface, and/or the side wall of the third cold plate is in contact with the first side surface.

On the other hand, the application also provides electric equipment, which comprises the battery pack according to any one of the technical schemes.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application, illustrate and explain the application and are not to be construed as limiting the application.

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an arrangement of battery cells and a cold plate in a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a partial schematic structure of a battery pack according to a first embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a cold plate assembly according to a first embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of a battery cell according to a first embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing a partial structure of a battery pack according to a second embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the above objects, features and advantages of the present application more comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present application. This application is, however, susceptible of embodiment in many other forms than those described herein and similar modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the application, and therefore the application is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that, if there are terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., these terms refer to the orientation or positional relationship based on the drawings, which are merely for convenience of description and simplification of description, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present application.

Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like, if any, are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present application, the terms "plurality" and "a plurality" if any, mean at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless specifically defined otherwise.

In this application, unless explicitly stated and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly. For example, the two parts can be fixedly connected, detachably connected or integrated; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly, through intermediaries, or both, may be in communication with each other or in interaction with each other, unless expressly defined otherwise. The specific meaning of the terms in this application will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as the case may be.

In this application, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the meaning of a first feature being "on" or "off" a second feature, and the like, is that the first and second features are either in direct contact or in indirect contact through an intervening medium. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "over" and "on" a second feature may be a first feature being directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is level higher than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature may be the first feature being directly under or obliquely below the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is less level than the second feature.

It will be understood that if an element is referred to as being "fixed" or "disposed" on another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. If an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and the like as used herein, if any, are for descriptive purposes only and do not represent a unique embodiment.

Referring to fig. 1, a schematic diagram of the arrangement of the cells and cold plates within a battery pack is shown. The battery pack includes: the first and second cold plates 100, 200, the first and second cold plates 100, 200 being disposed side by side along the first direction X, the first and second cold plates 100, 200 each comprising two side walls opposite to each other along a thickness direction thereof, the thickness direction being coincident with the first direction X; the first and second cold plates 100 and 200 are provided therein with flow channels. That is, the cold plate is arranged in the battery pack, and the height direction of the cold plate is perpendicular to the bottom plate of the battery pack. Wherein the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the first cold plate 100 is larger than that of the flow passage of the second cold plate 200; the first battery unit 10 and the second battery unit 20 are respectively arranged at two sides of the first cold plate 100, and the second battery unit 20 and the third battery unit 30 are respectively arranged at two sides of the second cold plate 200; the first battery unit 10, the second battery unit 20 and the third battery unit 30 each include at least one battery cell array, wherein the number of battery cell arrays in the first battery unit 10 is not less than the number of battery cell arrays in the third battery unit 30, and the number of battery cell arrays in the second battery unit 20 is not less than the number of battery cell arrays in the third battery unit 30.

In the above design, the first cold plate 100 thermally manages the cells in the first battery cell 10 and the second battery cell 20, and the second cold plate 200 thermally manages the cells in the second battery cell 20 and the third battery cell 30. For the factors affecting the temperature of the battery core in the battery pack, one situation is that the arrangement positions of the battery units in the battery pack are different, one part of the battery units can be positioned between two adjacent cold plates, so that the two cold plates are used for carrying out heat management on the battery units, and the other part of the battery units are arranged between the edge beam of the battery pack and the outermost cold plate, so that only one cold plate is used for carrying out heat management on the battery units, and therefore, the cross section area of the flow channel of the first cold plate 100 is set to be larger than the cross section area of the flow channel of the second cold plate 200, so that the cooling liquid in the first cold plate has larger flow rate, and therefore, the battery units in different positions in the battery pack have stronger heat transfer capability and can meet the requirement of the uniformity of the battery units in different positions; in another case, the number of the cell rows in the battery cells between two adjacent cold plates may be different, and for the battery cells with more cell rows, the cold plates with larger coolant flow are required to perform thermal management on the battery cells so as to meet the requirement of the temperature uniformity of the whole battery cells. In summary, based on the above two cases, the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the first cold plate 100 is set to be larger than the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the second cold plate 200, and the corresponding battery units meet the requirement that the number of the battery cell columns in the first battery unit 10 is not less than the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery unit 30, and the number of the battery cell columns in the second battery unit 20 is not less than the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery unit 30, so that the temperature uniformity of the whole package of battery cells is improved.

Referring to fig. 2, a schematic partial structure of a battery pack according to a first embodiment of the present application is shown, with reference to fig. 3. The battery pack includes the side sill 600, the first cold plate 100 is the cold plate closest to the side sill 600, and the second cold plate 200 is disposed at a side of the first cold plate 100 away from the side sill 600. The first cold plate 100 thus thermally manages the first battery cell 10 and the second battery cell 20, and the second cold plate 200 thermally manages the second battery cell 20 and the third battery cell 30, wherein the first battery cell 10 is thermally managed by the first cold plate alone. Since the number of the cell rows in the first battery cell 10 is not less than the number of the cell rows in the third battery cell 30 and the number of the cell rows in the second battery cell 20 is not less than the number of the cell rows in the third battery cell 30, the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the first cold plate 100 is set to be greater than the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the second cold plate 200 in order to improve the uniformity of temperature. In this way, the first cold plate 100 has a stronger heat transfer capability to transfer heat to the cells in the first battery unit 10, so that the temperature difference between the cells in the first battery unit 10 and the cells in the second battery unit 20 and the third battery unit 30 is within the design range, that is, the temperature equalization requirement is met. For example, in the present embodiment, the number of cell rows in the first battery cell 10, the number of cell rows in the second battery cell 20, and the number of cell rows in the third battery cell 30 are all 2. In other embodiments, the number of the battery cell columns in the first battery cell 10, the number of the battery cell columns in the second battery cell 20, and the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery cell 30 are all 1, or all 3; alternatively, the number of the battery cell columns in the first battery cell 10 is 2, the number of the battery cell columns in the second battery cell 20 is 1, and the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery cell 30 is 1; alternatively, the number of cell rows in the first battery cell 10 is 3, the number of cell rows in the second battery cell 20 is 2, the number of cell rows in the third battery cell 30 is 2, and so on. In this way, arranging the first battery cell 10 outside the outermost cold plate, especially when the first battery cell 10 has more than two cell lines, can further improve the energy density and capacity of the battery pack.

Alternatively, the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the first cold plate 100 is 1.1-2 times the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the second cold plate 200. For example, 1.1 times, 1.2 times, 1.3 times, 1.4 times, 1.5 times, 1.6 times, 1.7 times, 1.8 times, 1.9 times, 2 times, etc., according to different cell array arrangement numbers and temperature difference design requirements, and optimal parameters are obtained through simulation. Referring to fig. 2, in the present embodiment, the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the first cold plate 100 is 1.3 to 1.5 times that of the second cold plate 200.

With continued reference to fig. 2 and 3, the battery pack further includes a plurality of third cold plates 300 disposed side by side along the first direction X, and a flow channel is disposed in the third cold plates 300, and the third cold plates 300 include two sidewalls opposite to each other along a thickness direction thereof, the thickness direction being consistent with the first direction X; the plurality of third cold plates 300 are disposed at a side of the third battery cells 30 remote from the second cold plate 200, and a fourth battery cell 40 is disposed between two adjacent third cold plates 300, the fourth battery cell 40 including at least one cell line.

Further, the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the third cold plate 300 is equal to the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the second cold plate 200; the number of cell rows in the fourth battery cell 40 is equal to the number of cell rows in the third battery cell 30. Thus, the second cold plate 200 and the third cold plate 300 with the same flow passage sectional area, and the third battery cells 30 and the fourth battery cells 40 with the same number of cell lines form a plurality of repeating units, and the battery cells have the same thermal management condition and better temperature uniformity.

Further, the first battery unit 10 includes at least two battery cell rows arranged along the first direction X, and a heat conductive adhesive is disposed between two adjacent battery cells in the first battery unit 10 in the first direction X. In this way, for at least two cell rows of the first battery unit 10, since one cell row contacts the first cold plate 100 and exchanges heat, it is necessary to transfer the heat of the cold plate to the other cell rows of the first battery unit 10, so the heat-conducting glue plays a role in heat conduction. It should be noted that, the heat-conducting glue refers to a glue with heat-conducting property, and its initial state may be fixed or liquid, and the glue is disposed between two adjacent cell columns to perform the functions of adhesion and heat transfer, for example, including double-sided glue, structural glue, and the like.

Further, the second battery unit 20 and the third battery unit 30 each include at least two cell lines arranged along the first direction X; in the first direction X, a buffer member is provided between two adjacent cells in the second battery unit 20; a buffer is provided between two adjacent cells in the third battery cell 30. Thus, the buffer member is used for absorbing the expansion of the battery cell, especially when the battery cell is a soft-pack battery cell. Optionally, the buffer member is foam, and the foam not only plays a role in absorbing the expansion of the battery cell, but also has heat insulation performance, so that the diffusion of thermal runaway is further inhibited.

In a specific embodiment of the present application, referring to fig. 2, the number of battery cell columns in the first battery cell 10, the number of battery cell columns in the second battery cell 20, the number of battery cell columns in the third battery cell 30, and the number of battery cell columns in the fourth battery cell 40 are all 2. When the second, third and fourth battery cells 20, 30, 40 having only two cell lines are disposed between the adjacent two cold plates, one side of each cell in one cell line is in contact with the side wall of the cold plate, thereby securing heat exchange performance and providing the second, third and fourth battery cells 20, 30, 40 with excellent temperature uniformity. For the first battery unit 10, the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the first cold plate 100 is larger, so that the flow rate of the cooling liquid is increased by increasing the cross-sectional area of the first cold plate 100, and the heat exchange capability with the battery cell in the first battery unit 10 is further improved, so that the requirement of the temperature uniformity of the whole battery cell is met.

Referring to fig. 2 and 4, a battery cell consisting of two cell rows is shown in fig. 4. The battery cell array comprises a plurality of battery cells arranged along a second direction Y, the battery cells comprise two first side surfaces 50 which are oppositely arranged, and the first side surfaces 50 are surfaces with the largest surface area in each surface of the battery cells; wherein the sidewall of the first cold plate 100 contacts the first side 50, and the sidewall of the second cold plate 200 contacts the first side 50; the sidewall of the third cold plate 300 contacts the first side 50. Therefore, the heat exchange efficiency is further improved through the contact of the cold plate and the side surface with the largest surface area of the battery cell. The cold plate may be in direct contact with the first side of the battery cell, or may be in indirect contact, for example, by a glue having heat conducting properties, or the like. Wherein the second direction Y is the length direction of the cold plate. Alternatively, for example, one cell column has four cells connected in series.

Referring to fig. 5, in the second embodiment of the present application, the first battery cell 10, the second battery cell 20, and the third battery cell 30 are all battery cells between two adjacent cold plates. Specifically, the first battery cell 10 is disposed between the fourth cold plate 400 and the first cold plate 100, the second battery cell 20 is disposed between the first cold plate 100 and the second cold plate 200, and the third battery cell 30 is disposed between the second cold plate 200 and the third cold plate 300. Illustratively, the first battery cell 10 and the second battery cell 20 each have three cell rows, while the third battery cell 30 has two cell rows. Therefore, to meet the requirement of uniform temperature, the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the first cold plate 100 is set to be larger than that of the flow channel of the second cold plate 200, so that the first cold plate 100 has stronger heat exchange capability to exchange heat with the electric cells in the first battery unit 10 and the second battery unit 20, thereby achieving the requirement of uniform temperature with the electric cells in the third battery unit 30. It will of course be appreciated that in other embodiments, the first battery cell 10 may be provided with three battery cell columns, the second battery cell 20 may be provided with two battery cell columns, and the third battery cell 30 with two battery cell columns; alternatively, the first battery cell 10 is provided with two cell rows, the second battery cell 20 is provided with two cell rows, and the third battery cell 30 has one cell row; etc. For the case that the battery cells are all disposed between two adjacent cold plates, the above arrangement manner still satisfies that the number of battery cell rows in the first battery cell 10 is not less than the number of battery cell rows in the third battery cell 30, and the number of battery cell rows in the second battery cell 20 is not less than the number of battery cell rows in the third battery cell 30.

Finally, the application also provides electric equipment, which comprises the battery pack. For example, the electric equipment is an electric automobile or an energy storage facility.

The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined, and all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are not described for brevity of description, however, as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features, they should be considered as the scope of the description.

The above examples only represent a few embodiments of the present application, which are described in more detail and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the claims. It should be noted that it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements could be made without departing from the spirit of the present application, which would be within the scope of the present application. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present application is to be determined by the claims appended hereto.

Claims (10)

1. A battery pack, comprising:

the cooling device comprises a first cooling plate and a second cooling plate, wherein the first cooling plate and the second cooling plate are arranged side by side along a first direction, the first cooling plate and the second cooling plate respectively comprise two side walls which are opposite to each other along the thickness direction, and the thickness direction is consistent with the first direction; flow channels are arranged in the first cold plate and the second cold plate; wherein the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the first cold plate is larger than the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the second cold plate;

the two sides of the first cold plate are respectively provided with a first battery unit and a second battery unit, and the two sides of the second cold plate are respectively provided with the second battery unit and a third battery unit;

the first battery unit, the second battery unit and the third battery unit all comprise at least one battery cell array, wherein the number of battery cell arrays in the first battery unit is not less than the number of battery cell arrays in the third battery unit, and the number of battery cell arrays in the second battery unit is not less than the number of battery cell arrays in the third battery unit.

2. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the battery pack includes a side rail, the first cold plate is the cold plate closest to the side rail, and the second cold plate is disposed on a side of the first cold plate that is remote from the side rail.

3. The battery pack according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the first cold plate is 1.1 to 2 times the cross-sectional area of the flow passage of the second cold plate.

4. The battery pack according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of third cold plates disposed side by side in the first direction, the third cold plates having flow passages disposed therein, the third cold plates including two side walls opposing each other in a thickness direction thereof, the thickness direction being coincident with the first direction; the plurality of third cold plates are arranged on one side, far away from the second cold plates, of the third battery units, and a fourth battery unit is arranged between every two adjacent third cold plates and comprises at least one cell line.

5. The battery pack of claim 4, wherein the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the third cold plate is equal to the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the second cold plate; and/or the number of the battery cell columns in the fourth battery cell is equal to the number of the battery cell columns in the third battery cell.

6. The battery pack according to claim 2 or 5, wherein the first battery cell includes at least two cell lines arranged along the first direction, and a heat conductive adhesive is disposed between two adjacent cells in the first battery cell in the first direction.

7. The battery pack of claim 6, wherein the second cell and the third cell each comprise at least two cell rows aligned along the first direction; in the first direction, a buffer piece is arranged between two adjacent battery cells in the second battery unit; and a buffer piece is arranged between two adjacent battery cells in the third battery unit.

8. The battery pack of claim 5, wherein the number of cell rows in the first cell, the number of cell rows in the second cell, the number of cell rows in the third cell, and the number of cell rows in the fourth cell are all 2.

9. The battery pack according to claim 4, wherein the cell array comprises a plurality of cells arranged in the second direction, the cells comprising two first sides disposed opposite each other, the first sides being surfaces with a largest surface area in each surface of the cells; wherein the side wall of the first cold plate is in contact with the first side surface, and/or the side wall of the second cold plate is in contact with the first side surface, and/or the side wall of the third cold plate is in contact with the first side surface.

10. A powered device comprising a battery pack as claimed in any one of claims 1-9.