JP2003323871A - Battery pack - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a battery pack with a spacer which is capable of regulating two kinds of gaps with one kind of the spacer. <P>SOLUTION: In the battery pack provided with a plurality of unit cells 7 that are electrically connected with each other, and the spacer 5 which is arranged between and paired with the adjacently arranged electric cell 7 the spacer pair has the same shape, and when one spacer 5 of the pair is rotated, for example by 180° from the prescribed position taking the center line of the gap direction as the axis, and then returned to its original position, after the rotation it has a gap different from the gap before the rotation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an assembled battery,
In particular, it belongs to an assembled battery in which the interval between adjacent unit cells is restricted by a spacer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An assembled battery achieves a high capacity or a high voltage as a whole by connecting a plurality of cells in series or in parallel, and drives an electric vehicle, an automated guided vehicle, an uninterruptible power supply device, or the like. Used as a source. In the assembled battery, in order to prevent the heat generated by each unit cell from becoming stagnant around the unit cell and becoming high temperature, a cooling medium is flown between the unit cells, a pipe for passing the cooling medium is provided, or between the unit cells. A space may be provided to maintain the insulation of the. In order to make the quality of the assembled battery uniform while providing these spaces and pipes, a spacer is usually arranged between the adjacent unit cells.

As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 7, a conventional battery pack with spacers has a frame having a plurality of cells a, a ... A and an inner surface complementary to the outer shape of the side surface of each cell a. Spacers b, b ... B. The space between adjacent unit cells is determined by the spacer b fitted on the side surface of one unit cell a and the spacer b fitted on the opposite side surface of the adjacent unit cell a. This interval varies depending on the usage conditions and specifications of the battery.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional battery pack with spacers, when the spacing between the unit cells a is changed, the spacer b is replaced with another one having a completely different wall thickness or as shown in FIG. Opposing spacers b as shown
A supplementary spacer c had to be placed in between.
In any case, the number of types of molds for manufacturing the spacer increases each time the interval between the unit cells changes, and in the latter case, the number of parts of the product increases, and there is a risk of forgetting in the manufacturing process. Therefore, the cost increases. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an assembled battery having spacers capable of regulating two types of intervals with one type of spacer.

[0005]

In order to solve the problem, the assembled battery of the present invention is arranged as a pair between a plurality of unit cells electrically connected to each other and adjacent unit cells. In the battery pack that includes a spacer that regulates the interval between these unit cells, the spacer pairs have the same shape, and one spacer is provided with respect to the other spacer with the center line in the interval direction as an axis. When they are rotated from a certain alignment position by a predetermined angle and are aligned again, they have different intervals before and after the rotation.

According to the battery pack of the present invention, the two spacers forming a pair are of the same shape, and one spacer is rotated by rotating the other spacer with respect to the other spacer. Since it changes, it is possible to change the interval between the unit cells without changing or refilling the spacer.

In a preferred configuration of the present invention, the unit cells have a symmetrical shape, and the spacer is a substantially rectangular frame that can be fitted into one of the adjacent unit cells, and a first frame formed in one corner of the frame. The fitting part, a third fitting part having a shape in which the first fitting part is translated in parallel with a diagonal line of the fitting part, and a second part formed in one corner next to the first fitting part. And a fourth fitting portion having a shape in which a second fitting portion is diagonally moved in parallel along the diagonal line. Then, the first and third fitting portions have a high protruding ridge and a low protruding hill, and the second and fourth fitting portions are provided when the other spacer forming a pair is in a predetermined alignment position. A deep recessed valley to receive the peak and a shallow recessed shelf to receive the hill.

According to this structure, when the other spacer is in the predetermined alignment position with respect to the one spacer,
Since the mountains and valleys and the hills and shelves fit together, the unit cells are closely spaced. Then, when the other spacer is rotated 180 degrees and aligned again, the single cell has a symmetrical shape, and thus the rotated spacer is fitted again with the same single cell. At the same time, the mountains and the shelves abut against the spacers facing each other, so that the unit cells are widened. 180 for one spacer
It is easy to understand because the interval changes widely just by rotating it. Furthermore, since the spacer and the unit cell are fitted together, and the spacers facing each other at the same time are fitted together, the up, down, left, and right movement of each unit cell in the assembled battery is restricted, and the arrangement of the unit cells is properly maintained. Be drunk

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An assembled battery of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a spacer used in the assembled battery of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same, and FIG.
2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

The spacer 5 fixes the intervals between a plurality of rectangular parallelepiped cells, and includes a frame 6 having a rectangular outer peripheral shape, and the back surface of the frame 6 is substantially the same as the side surface of the cell to which the spacer 5 is attached. Has a rectangular opening 6a. Therefore, the spacer 5 is fixed to the unit cell by fitting the opening and the side surface of the unit cell. The material of the spacer 5 is appropriately determined according to the specifications and usage conditions of the assembled battery. For example, a metal is used to improve the thermal conductivity, a resin is used to emphasize the insulating property, and a rubber is used to improve the vibration resistance. To be

For convenience of description below, it is assumed that the short side of the frame 6 is located vertically in the drawing and the long side of the frame 6 is located horizontally. The first fitting portion 1 is integrally formed at one corner on the upper left side of the frame 6, and the second fitting portion 2 is formed at the adjacent corner in the clockwise direction.
Further, a third fitting portion 3 is formed at the adjacent corner, and a fourth fitting portion 4 adjacent to the first fitting portion 1 is formed at the adjacent corner. All of these fitting portions 1, 2, 3, 4 are rectangles having the same area, and the outer long sides thereof overlap the long sides of the frame 6. On the front surface of the frame 6, a rectangular opening 6b extending from one short side to the other short side is punched out at an intermediate position in the vertical direction, and the weight of the spacer 5 is reduced.

The first fitting portion 1 is composed of a ridge 1a whose upper half portion protrudes high and a hill 1b whose lower half portion protrudes low, and the second fitting portion 2 has a valley 2a whose upper half portion is deeply recessed. The lower half of the shelf 2b is shallowly recessed. And the 3rd fitting part 3 and the 4th fitting part 4 have the shape which parallel-translated the 1st fitting part 1 and the 2nd fitting part 2 along a diagonal line, respectively, and each mountain 3a and hill 3b.
And a valley 4a and a shelf 4b. The amount of protrusion of the ridge 1a from the reference surface and the amount of depression of the valley 2a are designed to be equal to 4.50 mm, and the amount of protrusion of the hill 1b from the reference surface and the amount of depression of the shelf 2b are designed to be equal to 1 mm.

The adjacent cells in the assembled battery are (1)
The fitting portions 1, 2 of the spacer 5 fixed to one unit cell
3, 4 are fitted to the fitting portions 2, 1, 4, 3 of the spacer 5 fixed to the other unit cell, or (2) the other spacer 5 is rotated 180 degrees from the arrangement of (1). They are connected by fitting together. In either case, the convex parts such as mountains and hills fit into the concave parts such as valleys and shelves, so that the vertical and horizontal movements of the unit cells are blocked, and the spacers prevent individual cells from separating from the assembled battery. The points are common.

The interval between the adjacent unit cells is different depending on whether (1) or (2) is selected as the fitting mode. For convenience of explanation, the upper long side of the frame 6 in FIG. 1 is referred to as the long side A, and the lower long side thereof is referred to as the long side A. Both of the methods for attaching to the unit cell are as described above, but when it is desired to reduce the interval between the adjacent unit cells, the method shown in FIG.
The spacers 5 are combined as shown in the sectional view. That is, the opening 6 of the frame 6 of one unit cell 7 and one spacer 5
The long side a is fitted in the upper side a, and the adjacent unit cell 8 and the other spacer 5 are also fitted in the long side a with the upper side a.
Then, these two spacers 5 are fitted with the ridges 1a and 3a of the right spacer 5 with the valleys 2a and 4a of the left spacer 5, and the hills 1b and hills 3b of the right spacer 5 are left. The spacers 5 are fitted to fit the shelves 2b and 4b of the spacer 5. Since the two spacers 5, 5 have the same shape, the ridges and hills of the left spacer 5 necessarily mate with the opposing valleys and ledges of the right spacer. In addition, the spacer 5 first
The cells may be aligned and then the single cells may be fitted together.

Next, when it is desired to widen the intervals between the unit cells, one of the spacers 5 (the right spacer in the drawing) is replaced by the long side a and the long side as shown in the sectional view of FIG. 6 according to the above (2). Rotate so that i and upside down. Then, when the spacers 5 facing each other are put together, the ridges 1a and 3a of the one spacer 5 come into contact with the shelves 4a and 2a of the other spacer 5. The hills 1b and 3b of one spacer and the valleys 4b and 2b of the other spacer 5 only face each other. Therefore, the spacing between the spacers 5 is widened by a difference of 3.50 mm between the protrusion amount of the peaks of 4.50 mm and the recess amount of the shelf of 1 mm, and the spacing of the unit cells is expanded by the same amount. In this embodiment, the shape of the unit cell is a rectangular parallelepiped, but it can be applied to a cylindrical unit cell by forming the back surface of the frame 5 into a semi-cylindrical shape in the AA section and the BB section of FIG. .

[0016]

As described above, the assembled battery of the present invention is
Since a plurality of types of spacers can be used to select a plurality of intervals between the unit cells, it is possible to reduce the number of parts, simplify the assembly work, and reduce the manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a spacer applied to an assembled battery according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the spacer.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the spacers and the spacers are combined in the battery pack of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing another coupling state of the spacer and the spacer in the battery pack of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional assembled battery.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing another conventional assembled battery.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3, 4 fitting part 1a and 3a mountains 1b, 3b hill 2a, 4a shelves 2b, 4b valley 5, b, c spacer 6 frames 7, a single battery

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5H040 AA00 AS01 AS07 AT01 AT02                       CC32 CC38

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An assembled battery comprising a plurality of unit cells electrically connected to each other and spacers arranged in pairs between adjacent unit cells to regulate a gap between the unit cells, The pair of spacers have the same shape, and when the other spacer is rotated with respect to the other spacer by a predetermined angle from a certain alignment position about the center line in the spacing direction as an axis, the two spacers are rotated. An assembled battery characterized by having different intervals in the front and rear. 2. The cells have a symmetrical shape, and the spacer has a substantially rectangular frame that can be fitted to one of the adjacent cells, and a first fitting portion formed at one corner of the frame. ,
A third fitting portion having a shape in which a first fitting portion is diagonally translated in parallel with the diagonal, and a second fitting portion formed at a corner adjacent to the first fitting portion. , A fourth fitting portion having a shape in which a second fitting portion is translated in parallel with a diagonal line of the second fitting portion, and the first and third fitting portions have high protruding peaks and low protruding portions. The second and fourth fittings are deeply recessed to receive the crests and shallowly to receive the hills when the other spacer of the pair is in a predetermined alignment position. The assembled battery according to claim 1, further comprising a shelf.