JP2009250768A - Temperature sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a temperature sensor capable of improving the accuracy of temperature measurements and of improving the measurement responsiveness. <P>SOLUTION: The temperature sensor 1 comprises: a sensor body 1a that has a housing part 5 made of resin and is disposed in contact with a battery cell 9 being a subject body to be inspected; a thermistor 3 (temperature measuring element), that is disposed inside the housing part 5 and outputs a detection signal corresponding to the temperature of heat transferred to the inside of the housing part 5 from the battery cell 9; and a heat transfer improving member 41, made of metal, that is disposed between the battery cell 9 and the thermistor 3 in the housing part 5 and improves the efficiency of heat transfer to the thermistor 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a temperature sensor that is placed in contact with or close to a subject such as a battery cell and is suitable for use in temperature measurement of the subject.

Conventionally, various batteries such as a nickel-hydrogen battery, a nickel-metal hydride battery, and a lithium ion secondary battery have been developed as batteries (secondary batteries) mounted on vehicles such as hybrid cars and electric cars. .
This type of battery usually has a configuration in which a plurality of battery cells are connected in series by a bus bar in order to increase the output voltage. In addition, in this type of battery, a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the battery cell is attached in order to prevent overcharge and overdischarge of each battery cell.

  FIG. 4A shows a conventional example of a temperature sensor used for measuring the temperature of the battery cell described above, and FIG. 4B shows the temperature sensor shown in FIG. 4A attached to the battery cell. Indicates the state.

  The temperature sensor 101 shown here is disclosed in Patent Document 1, and includes a sensor main body 101 a having a resin housing portion 113 disposed so as to be close to the battery cell 121, and the interior of the housing portion 113. And a thermistor 111 that outputs a detection signal corresponding to the temperature of the heat transmitted from the battery cell 121 to the housing portion 113.

  The thermistor 111 outputs a detection signal to an external detection device (not shown) via a lead wire 114 connected to a predetermined electrode and a lead wire 115 drawn from the lead wire 114.

  The housing 113 made of resin includes an inner synthetic resin layer 141 for covering the thermistor 111 and the lead wire 114 and a part of the coating 115a of the lead wire 115 in a liquid-tight state, and the inner synthetic resin. And an outer synthetic resin layer 143 having a substantially bottomed cylindrical structure covering the periphery of the layer 141. Further, a flat convex surface portion 131 is formed at the tip of the outer synthetic resin layer 143, and the flat convex surface portion 131 is disposed so as to be close to the battery cell 121 as the subject.

  Of the two resin layers 141 and 143 constituting the housing part 113, the inner synthetic resin layer 141 is provided around the thermistor 111 and the lead wire 114 for the purpose of ensuring waterproofness, while the outer synthetic resin is provided. The layer 143 is equipped for the purpose of giving a certain shape and shape that is easy to attach to the battery cell 121.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the above temperature sensor 101 is mounted on a sensor mounting cylinder 155 mounted on the upper lid 153 of the battery case 151 that houses the battery cell 121. The sensor mounting cylinder 155 is a bottomed cylindrical resin cylinder whose bottom wall is in contact with the battery cell 121.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the temperature sensor 101 is accommodated in the sensor mounting cylinder 155 so that the convex surface portion 131 contacts the bottom wall of the sensor mounting cylinder 155. When the temperature sensor 101 is accommodated in the sensor mounting cylinder 155, a pair of clamps 143a, which are elastic engagement protrusions integrally formed on the base end portion of the outer synthetic resin layer 143, are engaged with the stopper 153a of the upper lid 153. By combining, the battery case 151 is fixed.
By being fixed in this way, the temperature sensor 101 fixed to the battery case 151 detects the temperature of the battery cell 121 transmitted to the measurement heat receiving surface 131 via the bottom wall of the sensor mounting cylinder 155. Become.

JP 2005-189080 A

  However, in the case of the above-described conventional temperature sensor 101, the inner synthetic resin layer 141 and the outer synthetic resin layer 143 constituting the housing portion 113 are located between the battery cell 121 and the thermistor 111. A part of the heat transmitted from the battery cell 121 to the convex surface portion 131 is diffused into the above-described synthetic resin layers 141 and 143, whereby the heat transfer efficiency to the thermistor 111 is reduced and the temperature measurement accuracy is lowered. There was a fear and there was room for improvement.

  Further, each of the above-mentioned synthetic resin layers 141 and 143 has a low heat transfer efficiency as compared with a metal or the like, and as a result, the heat conduction to the thermistor 111 is delayed, and there is a problem that a response delay is likely to occur in the measurement. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to increase the thermal conductivity from the measurement heat receiving surface portion to a temperature measuring element such as a thermistor and to be positioned between the subject and the temperature measuring element. An object of the present invention is to provide a temperature sensor that suppresses the diffusion of heat to the resin layer, thereby improving the temperature measurement accuracy and improving the response of the measurement.

The above-described object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) a sensor main body having a resin housing portion disposed so as to be in contact with or close to the subject;
A temperature measuring element disposed inside the housing portion and outputting a detection signal corresponding to a temperature of heat transmitted from the subject to the inside of the housing portion;
A metal heat transfer improving member provided in the housing portion so as to be positioned between the subject and the temperature measuring element, for increasing the efficiency of transferring the heat to the temperature measuring element;
A temperature sensor comprising:
(2) The temperature sensor according to (1), wherein at least a part of the heat transfer improving member is embedded in the housing portion by insert molding.
(3) The heat transfer improving member is
A subject contact portion provided on the housing portion so as to be positioned between the subject and the temperature measuring element and exposed from the surface of the housing portion so as to contact the subject;
An embedded heat transfer section that is embedded in the housing section and transmits heat transferred to the subject contact section to the thermistor;
The temperature sensor according to the above (1) or (2), characterized by comprising:
(4) The temperature sensor according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the heat transfer improving member is formed of the same metal material as the subject.

According to the configuration of (1) above, the housing portion of the sensor body is arranged such that the metal heat transfer improving member for increasing the heat transfer efficiency to the temperature measuring element is located between the subject and the temperature measuring element. Is provided. As a result, the thermal conductivity from the subject to the temperature measuring element is enhanced, and the diffusion of heat to the resin layer of the housing portion located between the subject and the temperature measuring element is suppressed. Therefore, the temperature measurement accuracy in the temperature sensor can be improved, and the measurement responsiveness can be improved.
According to the configuration of (2) above, since at least a part of the heat transfer improving member is embedded in the housing portion of the sensor body by insert molding, the housing portion positioned between the subject and the temperature measuring element. In addition to improving the positioning accuracy of the heat transfer improving member within the resin layer, it is possible to increase the fixing strength of the heat transfer improving member, and mass-produce high-quality temperature sensors with no variation in measurement accuracy.
According to the configuration of (3) above, since the heat transfer improving member has the subject contact portion and the embedded heat transfer portion, the subject in which the heat of the subject is in direct contact with the subject. Since it is directly transmitted to the heat transfer improving member through the contact portion and is efficiently transmitted from the heat transfer improving member to the temperature measuring element, the heat transfer rate from the subject to the temperature measuring element can be increased. It is possible to improve the temperature measurement accuracy and further improve the response of the measurement.
According to the configuration of (4) above, since the heat transfer improving member is formed of the same metal material as the subject, the contact between the subject and the heat transfer improving member becomes the contact between the same metals, so Occurrence of electrolytic corrosion due to metal contact can be avoided, and corrosion of the subject and the heat transfer improving member due to electrolytic corrosion can be prevented.

  According to the present invention, while increasing the thermal conductivity from the measurement heat receiving surface portion to the temperature measuring element such as the thermistor, suppressing the diffusion of heat to the resin layer located between the subject and the temperature measuring element, As a result, it is possible to provide a temperature sensor that can improve the temperature measurement accuracy and improve the response of the measurement.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a temperature sensor according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a temperature sensor according to the present invention. FIG. 2A is a front view showing a state in which the temperature sensor shown in FIG. 1 is attached to the battery case. FIG.2 (b) is AA sectional drawing of (a). FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which the measurement heat receiving surface portion of the temperature sensor shown in FIG. 1 is in contact with the battery cell in the battery case.

  The temperature sensor 1 according to the present embodiment includes a sensor main body 1a having a resin housing portion 5 disposed so as to abut on a battery cell 9 (see FIG. 3) as a subject, and the housing portion 5 inside. A thermistor (temperature measuring element) 3 that is disposed and outputs a detection signal corresponding to the temperature of heat transmitted from the battery cell 9 to the inside of the housing portion 5, and is located between the battery cell 9 and the thermistor 3. The heat transfer improving member 41 made of metal for increasing the heat transfer efficiency to the thermistor 3 and the electrode of the thermistor 3 provided on the housing part 5 and extending from the proximal end side of the housing part 5 Lead wires (electric wires) 7a and 7b are mainly provided.

In the present embodiment, the plurality of battery cells 9 are housed in the respective cell housing portions 13 a in the battery case 13 as shown in FIG. 3, and the module component 15 is attached to the upper part of the battery case 13. It will be.
The module component 15 has a plate-shaped module main body 21 that covers the upper side of each battery cell 9, and the module main body 21 has an attachment hole 23 for attaching the temperature sensor 1 facing the battery cell 9. It is formed through.

  On both sides of the base end side of the housing portion 5 of the temperature sensor 1, a pair of elastic locking pieces 31 that can be engaged with the peripheral edge portion of the mounting hole 23, and a branch from the base end portion of the elastic locking pieces 31. A pair of operation receiving pieces 33 extending rearward (backward with respect to the insertion direction of the temperature sensor 1 into the mounting hole 23, that is, upward in the drawing) are integrally formed with the temperature sensor 1.

  The pair of elastic locking pieces 31 are inclined so as to be separated from each other toward the front end portions thereof, and are formed such that the distance between the front end portions is larger than the hole diameter of the mounting hole 23. The pair of elastic locking pieces 31 can be elastically deformed in the direction of narrowing or widening the distance between the tips.

  Further, the pair of operation receiving pieces 33 is formed between the pair of elastic locking pieces 31. Further, the pair of operation receiving pieces 33 are inclined so as to be separated from each other toward the front end portions thereof, and are formed so that the distance between the front end portions is larger than the hole diameter of the mounting hole 23. . In addition, ribs 33a are formed so that the pair of operation receiving pieces 33 themselves are not easily elastically deformed.

  And when attaching the temperature sensor 1 to the attachment hole 23 of the module main body 21, a pair of operation receiving piece 33 is pinched | interposed in the direction which mutually approaches, and the base end part (root part) is on the center axis side of the housing part 5. Bend around. At this time, due to the action of the ribs 33 a provided on the pair of operation receiving pieces 33, along with this bending, the pair of elastic locking pieces 31 also move toward the central axis side of the housing portion 5 together with the pair of operation receiving pieces 33. When the temperature sensor 1 is inserted into the mounting hole 23 of the module main body 21 in this state, the pair of elastic locking pieces 31 are arranged at the peripheral portions of the mounting hole 23. Is further elastically deformed so that the distance between the two end portions is narrowed by the sliding contact, and passes through the mounting hole 23.

  Then, the pair of elastic locking pieces 31 that have passed through the mounting hole 23 are released from the elastic deformation and restored to the original shape, and are engaged with the back side of the peripheral edge of the mounting hole 23. On the other hand, the pair of operation receiving pieces 33 are engaged with the surface side of the mounting hole 23 without passing through the mounting hole 23.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 2A, the temperature sensor 1 inserted into the mounting hole 23 has a peripheral portion of the mounting hole 23 between the pair of elastic locking pieces 31 and the pair of operation receiving pieces 33. And is locked to the peripheral edge of the mounting hole 23 of the module component 15. In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, when the module component 15 is mounted across the plurality of battery cells 9, the temperature sensor 1 is covered by the heat transfer improving member 41 provided in the housing portion 5. The specimen contact portion 43 (described later) is brought into contact with a predetermined battery cell 9.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the elastic locking piece 31 engages with the peripheral portion on the back surface side of the mounting hole 23, so that the subject contact portion 43 of the heat transfer improving member 41 is attached to the mounting hole. It also functions as an urging member for contacting the battery cell 9 facing the battery 23 with a predetermined pressing force.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the heat transfer improving member 41 is provided in the housing portion 5 so as to be positioned between the battery cell 9 and the thermistor 3, and is attached to the battery cell 9. A plate-shaped subject contact portion 43 exposed from the surface of the housing portion 5 so as to come into contact, and a heat embedded in the housing portion 5 and transmitted to the subject contact portion 43 to the thermistor 3. A pair of embedded heat transfer sections 45.

  That is, the heat transfer improving member 41 is, for example, a press-formed product in which a single flat plate is formed in a U shape in a side view by press-molding a metal plate. As shown in FIG. The contact portion 43 is formed of a substantially rectangular bottom flat plate portion of the press-molded product, and the battery cell 9 is brought into contact over the entire bottom flat plate portion. The embedded heat transfer section 45 is composed of a pair of side plates extending in the orthogonal direction (vertical direction in the figure) from both edges of the subject contact portion 43, and the thermistor 3 is composed of the pair of side plates. It will be located between. In such a heat transfer improving member 41 having the subject contact portion 43 and the embedded heat transfer portion 45, only the subject contact portion 43 is exposed from the surface of the housing portion 5 of the sensor body 1a by insert molding. In this state, it is embedded in the housing part 5.

  Furthermore, the heat transfer improving member 41 is formed of the same metal material as the portion in contact with the battery cell 9 that is the subject. For example, when the contact portion of the battery cell 9 is made of aluminum, the heat transfer improving member 41 is also made of aluminum.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the housing portion 5 of the sensor main body 1 a is arranged such that the metal heat transfer improving member 41 for increasing the heat transfer efficiency to the thermistor 3 is positioned between the thermistor 3. Is provided. Thereby, the thermal conductivity from the battery cell 9 as the subject to the thermistor 3 is enhanced, and the diffusion of heat to the resin layer of the housing portion 5 located between the battery cell 9 and the thermistor 3 is suppressed. . Therefore, the temperature measurement accuracy in the temperature sensor 1 can be improved, and the response of measurement can be improved.

  Moreover, according to this embodiment, since the heat transfer improving member 41 is embedded in the housing part 5 of the sensor main body 1a by insert molding, the housing part 5 positioned between the battery cell 9 and the thermistor 3 is provided. The positioning accuracy of the heat transfer improving portion 41 in the resin layer can be improved, the fixing strength of the heat transfer improving portion 41 can be increased, and the high-quality temperature sensor 1 with no variation in measurement accuracy can be mass-produced. .

  Furthermore, according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2B, the heat transfer improving unit 41 includes the subject contact unit 43 and the embedded heat transfer unit 45, so that the battery cell 9 Is directly transferred to the heat transfer improving part 41 through the subject contact part that is in direct contact with the battery cell 9, and is efficiently transferred to the thermistor 3 from the heat transfer improving part 41. The heat transfer rate from the cell 9 to the thermistor 3 can be increased, the temperature measurement accuracy in the temperature sensor 1 can be improved, and the measurement responsiveness can be further improved.

  Moreover, according to this embodiment, since the heat transfer improvement part 41 is formed with the same metal material as the part which the battery cell 9 contacts, the battery cell 9 which is a test object, and the heat transfer improvement part 41 The contact between them becomes the contact between the same metals, so that the occurrence of electrolytic corrosion due to the contact of different metals can be avoided, and corrosion of the battery cell 9 and the heat transfer improving member 41 due to electrolytic corrosion can be prevented.

  Note that the use of the temperature sensor according to the present invention is not limited to the temperature detection of the battery cell shown in the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that it can be used for various temperature measurements.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, and the like can be appropriately made. In addition, the shape, size, numerical value, form, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which a part of the heat transfer improving portion 41 is exposed from the surface of the housing portion 5 is described. However, the entire portion is embedded in the housing portion 5 so as not to be exposed from the surface. It may be configured. In the above-described embodiment, the housing portion 5 has been described as being in contact with a subject such as a battery cell. However, the housing portion 5 may be disposed close to the object, and in this case, the above-described object of the present invention is achieved. Can do.

1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a temperature sensor according to the present invention. (A) is a front view of the state in which the temperature sensor shown in FIG. 1 is attached to the battery case, and (b) is an AA cross-sectional view of (a). It is a front view which shows the state which the heat-receiving surface part for a measurement of the temperature sensor shown in FIG. 1 is contact | abutting to the battery cell in a battery case. (A) is a front view which shows schematic structure of the conventional temperature sensor, (b) is explanatory drawing of the state which attached the temperature sensor of (a) to the battery cell.

Explanation of symbols

1 Temperature Sensor 1a Sensor Body 3 Thermistor (Temperature Sensor)
5 Housing portion 7a, 7b Lead wire 9 Battery cell (subject)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Battery case 13a Cell accommodating part 15 Module component 21 Module main body 23 Mounting hole 31 Elastic locking piece 33 Operation receiving piece 41 Heat transfer improvement member 43 Subject contact part 45 Buried heat transfer part

Claims (4)

A sensor body having a resin-made housing portion arranged so as to be in contact with or close to the subject;
A temperature measuring element disposed inside the housing portion and outputting a detection signal corresponding to a temperature of heat transmitted from the subject to the inside of the housing portion;
A metal heat transfer improving member provided in the housing portion so as to be positioned between the subject and the temperature measuring element, for increasing the efficiency of transferring the heat to the temperature measuring element;
A temperature sensor comprising: The temperature sensor according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the heat transfer improving member is embedded in the housing portion by insert molding. The heat transfer improving member is
A subject contact portion provided in the housing portion so as to be positioned between the subject and the temperature measuring element and exposed from the surface of the housing portion so as to contact the subject;
An embedded heat transfer section that is embedded in the housing section and transmits heat transferred to the subject contact section to the thermistor;
The temperature sensor according to claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is provided. The temperature sensor according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer improving member is formed of the same metal material as the subject.

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