JP2013136266A - Extinction structure of electric vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an extinction structure of an electric vehicle configured to supply an extinguishing agent from the outside to immerse the whole of a battery even in various situations where the electric vehicle is left on the road, for example.SOLUTION: In the extinction structure of an electric vehicle, an extinguishing agent inlet 38 to be connected to an extinguishing agent outlet 42 of an extinguisher is provided in cooling liquid circulation path sections 31, 32 arranged outside a battery case 13 of a liquid-cooling type battery cooling device 22, and a fragile section 43 which is broken by pressure of the extinguishing agent supplied from the inlet into the cooling liquid circulation paths is provided in a part of the cooling liquid circulation path sections arranged in the battery case. When the extinguishing agent is supplied from the extinguisher to the cooling liquid circulation paths through the extinguishing agent inlet, the fragile section is broken by the pressure of the extinguishing agent, the extinguishing agent is supplied into the battery case through the broken part, to fill the battery case with a large amount of extinguishing agent, thereby immersing the whole of a battery 15 in the battery case.

Description

  The present invention relates to a fire extinguishing structure for an electric vehicle that can extinguish a fire from a battery of the electric vehicle.

Many electric vehicles are equipped with a battery, for example, a large number of secondary batteries such as lithium-ion batteries, and an electric motor for driving that drives the drive wheels with the energy of the secondary battery. Run.
In such an electric vehicle, the secondary battery is housed in a sealed metal battery case having high rigidity and strength in order to ensure safety such as impact protection to the secondary battery and electric shock protection to the human body. In the sealed battery case, a battery cooling device or the like is used to suppress heat generated from the secondary battery. In particular, in a battery cooling device, in order to ensure high cooling performance, a liquid-cooled type, for example, a water-cooled type structure in which a coolant is circulated between a heat-absorbing part arranged in the battery case and a heat-radiating part arranged outside the battery is used. It tends to be.

For fire from a secondary battery, it is effective to discharge water or other fire extinguishing liquid (extinguishing agent) directly to the secondary battery, but the secondary battery is housed in a battery case that protects against electric shock. Therefore, it is difficult to discharge water directly from the fire engine to the secondary battery.
Therefore, as a technique for extinguishing the fire of the secondary battery, a part of the coolant circulation path in the water cooling type battery cooling device for the secondary battery as in Patent Document 1 is formed by a member having a low melting point, When ignition occurs as a factor, the coolant circulation part melts and breaks, and a fire extinguishing structure is proposed in which cooling water (coolant) for cooling the secondary battery is poured into the battery pack from the damaged part. Has been.

  In addition, a quick-charge device such as Patent Literature 2 is provided with a fire extinguisher supply device, and when the electric vehicle and the quick-charge device are connected to each other, the fire-extinguishing agent supply device is connected to a passage for cooling the secondary battery of the electric vehicle. When the secondary battery is ignited during charging of the secondary battery, the secondary battery is supplied with extinguishing agent (coolant) from the extinguishing agent supply device installed in the quick charger through the connected passage. A fire extinguishing structure is also proposed.

JP 2009-54297 A JP 2011-65805 A

  By the way, in order to extinguish a secondary battery fire in an electric vehicle assuming a collision accident or to suppress the ignition, considering various points, a fire extinguishing agent should be used even when the electric vehicle is left on the road. In order to be able to supply to the secondary battery and to stabilize the battery, it is required that the entire secondary battery is immersed in the extinguishing agent, that is, the entire battery pack can be filled with the extinguishing agent.

However, in the case of the former fire extinguishing structure, in order to extinguish the secondary battery (including suppressing the ignition), the coolant stored in a predetermined amount in the tank in order to cool the secondary battery in advance is used. The amount is limited. For this reason, it is difficult to immerse the whole secondary battery in the battery case, and there is a possibility that sufficient fire extinguishing may not be achieved.
If the fire extinguisher supply device attached to the latter quick charging stand is connected to an electric vehicle, the fire extinguishing function works only when the electric vehicle is stopped or parked at the quick charging stand. For this reason, it cannot cope with various situations, in particular, situations where an electric vehicle is left on the road due to an accident or the like.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a fire extinguishing structure for an electric vehicle in which the entire battery can be immersed by supplying an extinguishing agent from the outside even in various situations where the electric vehicle remains on the road or the like. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a fire extinguishing agent for a fire extinguishing apparatus that performs a fire extinguishing work in a coolant circulation path portion disposed outside the battery case of the liquid cooling type battery cooling apparatus. An extinguishing agent inlet that can be connected to the discharge part is provided, and the extinguishing agent that is supplied from the extinguishing agent inlet to the coolant circulation path is provided in a part of the coolant circulation path disposed in the battery case. It was decided to provide a fragile part that was damaged by the pressure.

  According to the same configuration, for example, in an electric vehicle left on the road, when it is necessary to suppress the fire of a battery, a fire extinguishing device is arranged at a point where the electric vehicle is located, and the extinguishing agent discharge of the fire extinguishing device The part may be connected to a fire extinguishing agent injection part in the coolant circulation path of the electric vehicle, and the fire extinguisher may be supplied from the fire extinguishing device to the coolant circulation path through the fire extinguishing agent injection part. That is, the weak part formed in a part of the coolant lubrication path is damaged by the pressure of the extinguishing agent, and the extinguishing agent is supplied into the battery case from the damaged part. By supplying a large amount of the extinguishing agent, the battery case is filled with the extinguishing agent, and the entire battery in the battery case is immersed in the extinguishing agent. As a result, the battery is not only prevented from igniting, but is also stabilized by cooling and further discharged stably in the battery case, and the fire of the battery is suppressed (extinguishing). Moreover, as long as the electric vehicle is not only on the road but in a stopped state, the fire extinguishing work can be performed at any location, and the battery can be extinguished at any situation.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the fragile portion is provided in the bent portion of the coolant circulation path portion disposed in the battery case so that the extinguishing agent is supplied to the battery more quickly.
The invention according to claim 3 is such that the extinguishing agent discharge part of the fire extinguishing device is an end of a water discharge hose that discharges the fire extinguishing liquid of the fire fighting vehicle or the fire fighting equipment so that the fire extinguishing work can be performed from a fire fighting vehicle or a nearby fire fighting equipment. It was supposed to be.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when extinguishing of the battery is required (including suppression of ignition), the extinguishing agent discharge unit of the extinguishing device is connected to the extinguishing agent injecting unit, and the extinguishing agent injecting unit is used to extinguish the fire. By simply supplying the extinguishing agent from the apparatus to the coolant circulation path, the ignition of the battery is suppressed and extinguished. That is, the weak part is damaged by the pressure of the extinguishing agent, the extinguishing agent is supplied into the battery case from the damaged part, the entire battery is immersed in the extinguishing agent filled in the battery case, and the ignition of the battery is suppressed. (Fire extinguishing).

Therefore, even when an electric vehicle is left on the road, the fire can be suppressed and extinguished by extinguishing agent supply from the outside, and the battery can be used in any vehicle condition as long as the vehicle is stopped. Can extinguish (including fire suppression).
According to invention of Claim 2, since a weak part damages rapidly with the pressure of the supplied extinguisher, it can supply a fire extinguisher to a battery rapidly.

  According to the invention of claim 3, fire extinguishing work (including fire suppression) can be effectively advanced using a fire engine or a nearby fire fighting facility.

The perspective view which shows the electric vehicle which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention with the fire extinguishing structure which extinguishes a battery. The perspective view which expands and shows the part with the weak part of the A section in FIG. The disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of the weak part. The perspective view which expands and shows the injection-portion part for extinguishing agents of the B section in FIG. The perspective view which shows the structure of the injection-portion part for the said extinguishing agents with the extinguishing agent discharge part of a fire extinguishing apparatus. Sectional drawing which shows the weak part provided in the curved part of a cooling water circuit.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows the schematic configuration of an electric vehicle to which the present invention is applied, and FIGS. 2 to 5 show the configuration of each part as the main part of the electric vehicle.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the electric vehicle is provided with a floor 4 (partially shown) across a cabin 2 formed in the center of the vehicle body 1 in the front-rear direction and a cargo compartment 3 formed on the rear side. ing. The power unit chamber 5 formed under the floor 4 of the cargo compartment 3 is provided with an electric motor 8 for driving a rear wheel 7 (corresponding to a driving wheel for driving), an inverter 9, an in-vehicle charger 10, and the like. It has been. Incidentally, an opening / closing lid 4 a for maintenance is provided on the floor portion of the power unit chamber 5.

A flat battery pack 11 is installed under the floor 4 of the passenger cabin 2 so as to occupy the space under the floor 4. Further, an air conditioner 14 is housed in an auxiliary machine chamber 13 formed on the front side of the vehicle body 1.
Among these, the battery pack 11 includes a plurality of secondary batteries, for example, a large number of lithium ion battery cells, which are stacked in front and rear portions of a flat box-shaped battery case 13 that can be divided vertically. The battery module 15 is housed. Here, the plurality of battery modules 15 are housed in a state of being stacked in the vehicle width direction. The battery case 13 is formed of a hermetically sealed metal case member having high rigidity and strength, and can protect the battery module 15 from accidental electric shock and further from external impact. The battery pack 11 is connected to the electric motor 8 via the inverter 9 so that the electric motor 8 can be driven by the energy (electric power) stored in the battery module 15 so as to be able to run.

  The air conditioner 14 has a refrigeration cycle device connected to a temperature adjustment unit 16 that houses an evaporator 17, a heater core (not shown), a blowout opening that constitutes various modes of blowout, a blower, and dampers (all not shown). It consists of a structure. Here, an electric compressor 20 and an expansion valve (not shown) are connected to the evaporator 17 via a refrigerant circulation path 19 to constitute a refrigeration cycle, and a combination of the refrigeration cycle operation and the heater operation of the heater core. Further, cold air adjusted to a predetermined temperature by the movement of the blower and dampers, and similarly warm air is supplied into the cabin 2.

The battery pack 11 is assembled with a battery cooling device, for example, a water cooling (liquid cooling) battery cooling device 22 using a refrigeration cycle as a cooling source.
The battery cooling device 22 interposes a heat exchange device, such as a heat sink 24, which forms a heat absorbing portion, inside the battery case 13, for example, between the battery modules 15. A heat exchange device, such as a heat sink 26, that forms a heat radiating unit is disposed outside the battery bag 11, for example, around the temperature adjustment unit 16. A condensation tank 27 for storing cooling water (corresponding to the cooling liquid of the present application) is provided in the power unit chamber 5. These devices are connected in order by a cooling water circulation path 29 (corresponding to the cooling liquid circulation path of the present application) having an electric water pump 28 interposed therebetween.

  Here, the cooling water circulation path 29 in the battery pack 11 in the cooling water circulation path 29 is, for example, shown in an enlarged view in FIG. A header piping member 31 on the forward side and a header piping member 32 on the return side are respectively piped along the width direction), and a cooling water inlet portion 24a and a cooling water outlet extending from the heat sinks 24 are respectively connected to the header piping members 31 and 32. The part 24b is connected. The end portions of the header piping members 31 and 32 penetrate the wall of the battery case 13 in a watertight manner and are connected to the piping member 30 that constitutes the cooling water circulation path 29 portion outside the battery case 13. Thus, each heat sink 24 is connected to the heat sink 26 via the condensation tank 27 and the water pump 28.

  The heat sink 26 is incorporated in, for example, a cooler 33 connected in parallel with the evaporator 17 and is cooled by a cooler 33 that is cooled in a refrigeration cycle. That is, the cooling water cooled by the heat sink 26 is circulated to each heat sink 24 by the operation of the water pump 28 to cool the battery module 15 (water cooling). Incidentally, reference numeral 35 denotes a switching valve for changing the flow of the refrigerant to a flow toward the cooler 33.

  This electric vehicle is provided with a fire extinguishing structure that extinguishes fire of the battery module 15 or suppresses fire. In this fire extinguishing structure, the battery module 15 (battery) that cools the battery module 15 (battery) is diverted from an external fire extinguishing device, for example, a firefighting vehicle or firefighting equipment that performs a fire extinguishing work. The structure which can supply a fire extinguisher, here a fire extinguishing liquid, directly to 15 is used.

  In this structure, a part of the cooling water circulation path 29 outside the battery pack 11, for example, the extinguishing agent injection port 38 is provided in the condensation tank 27, and a fragile part is formed in the bent part of the cooling water circulation path 19 in the battery pack 11. A structure provided with 43 is used. Here, the cooling water circulation path 19 in the battery pack 11 has a path having a road wall facing the flow of the extinguishing agent supplied from the extinguishing agent inlet 38, and the cooling water circulation path in the battery pack 11 referred to here. The bent portion of the 19 portions corresponds to this road wall. Here, a structure is used in which a fragile portion 43 is provided at the end of the header piping member 31 where the bent portion is formed by branching of an inlet / outlet piping described later, for example, at a part of the outgoing header piping member 31 and the returning header piping member 32. It has been. 2 and 3 show the detailed structure of the fragile portion 43, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show the detailed structure of the extinguishing agent injection port 38.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fire extinguisher injection port 38 is provided on the tank wall of the condensation tank 27, in this case, a part of the upper wall, in addition to the normal cooling water injection port 27a. And an end part of a water discharge hose 42 (corresponding to the extinguishing agent discharge part of the present application) extending from a fire fighting facility, for example, a dedicated inlet body 39 having a diameter into which a water discharge nozzle part 42a can be inserted. The inlet body 39 is normally closed with a lid 40. With the same structure, when the opening / closing lid 4a on the cargo floor is opened, the lid 40 of the exposed condensation tank 27 is opened, and the tip of the water discharge hose 42 is inserted and connected to the opened inlet body 39 for water discharge. A large amount of fire-extinguishing liquid from the fire-fighting vehicle or fire-fighting equipment can be pumped, that is, supplied from the inlet 39 to the cooling water circulation path 29.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fragile portion 43 is, for example, a header in the path α in the battery pack 11 from the header piping members 31, 32 to the heat sink 24 through the bent portions of the piping members 31, 32. It is provided on the road wall that closes the opening at the tip of the piping members 31 and 32. The portion is usually a portion that is firmly closed by plug member 44 being attached. Here, plug member 44 has a structure in which the fixing force is suppressed more than other portions, such as a shallow press-fitting structure. When the pressure of the extinguishing liquid (extinguishing agent) that is fixed to the end and supplied (pressure-fed) from the inlet 39 to the cooling water circulation passage 19 is received (only a certain pressure), only the road wall portion at the end of the piping member is damaged. That is, the plug member 44 is structured to be pulled out from the end of the piping member. That is, the road wall portion at the end of the piping member is a portion facing the flow of the extinguishing agent supplied from the inlet 39, so that the pressure of the extinguishing liquid received is higher than the portions of the other piping members. Therefore, by providing the fragile portion 43 in the road wall portion at the end of the piping member, that is, fixing the plug member 44 to the end of the piping member with a structure that has a smaller fixing force than the other portions, fire extinguishing to the cooling water circulation path 19 When supplying the liquid, the plug member 44 can be more smoothly removed from the end of the piping member.

  Incidentally, the structure for suppressing the fixing force may be another structure. For example, the road wall portion at the end of the piping member is formed of a material having a lower strength than the material used for the other piping member portion, or the plate thickness is formed thinner than the other piping member portion, When receiving the pressure of the fire extinguishing liquid, only the road wall portion may be damaged. Thereby, a large amount of fire extinguishing liquid from the fire fighting vehicle or fire fighting equipment can be directly supplied to the battery module 15 in the battery case 11 through the damaged part.

  Further, the cooling water circulation path 19 in the battery pack 11 does not have to have a structure in which the plug member 44 is fixed to the end of the piping member, and the road wall facing the flow of the extinguishing agent supplied from the extinguishing agent injection port 38. It does not have to be a structure having a path having For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the curved part 18 is provided in the cooling water circulation path 19 part in the battery pack 11, the outer part 18b is referred to in the present invention among the inner part 18a and the outer part 18b of the curved part 18. It is good also as a bending part in the cooling water circulation path 19 parts in the battery pack 11. FIG. That is, the fragile portion 43 that is damaged when the fire extinguishing liquid is supplied from the injection port body 39 may be provided in the outer portion 18 b of the bending portion 18. The weakened portion 43 (black portion in FIG. 6) provided in the outer portion 18b of the curved portion 18 is formed of a material having a lower strength than the material used for the other piping member portion, When the thickness of the plate is made thinner than that of the portion, when receiving the pressure of the fire extinguishing liquid, only the outer portion 18b is damaged. Since the outer portion 18b is more susceptible to pressure from the fire extinguishing liquid supplied than other piping member portions, by providing the fragile portion 43 in the outer portion 18b, when the fire extinguishing liquid is supplied to the cooling water circulation path 19 It becomes possible to break the fragile portion 43 smoothly. Thereby, a large amount of fire-extinguishing liquid from the fire-fighting vehicle or fire-fighting equipment can be directly supplied to the battery module 15 in the battery case 11 through the damaged part.

With such a fire extinguishing structure using the fragile portion 43, it is assumed that fire extinguishing work (including fire suppression) is performed on the battery module 15 (secondary battery) of the electric vehicle that has been left on the road due to, for example, a collision accident or the like. .
At this time, the rear tailgate (not shown) of the vehicle body 1 is opened, and the opening / closing lid 4a on the cargo floor is opened to expose the condensation tank 27 having the extinguishing agent injection port 38 to the outside. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the lid 40 of the condensation tank 27 is opened, and the tip of the water discharge hose 42 extending from, for example, a fire-fighting vehicle or a nearby fire-fighting facility rushed in an accident is inserted into the opened inlet 39. And connect. Subsequently, water is discharged from the water discharge hose 42. As a result, a large amount of fire extinguishing liquid from the fire fighting vehicle or fire fighting equipment is injected (pumped) into the injection port body 39 at a high pressure (a pressure above a certain level) and pumped to each part of the cooling water circulation path 29.

Here, a part of the header piping members 31 and 32 piped in the battery case 13, here, the plug member 44 at the end of each header piping member is structured to be easily pulled out, and the road wall portion with the plug member 44 is damaged. The vulnerable part 43 is easy to do.
For this reason, when the plug member 44 receives the pressure of the supplied extinguishing agent (a pressure above a certain level), the plug member 44 comes out of the end of the header piping members 31 and 32, and the road wall portion with the plug member 44 is damaged. A large amount of fire extinguishing liquid is supplied into the battery case 13 from the damaged portion. Then, the inside of the battery case 13 is gradually filled with the fire extinguishing liquid, and the entire battery module 15 (secondary battery) in the battery case 13 is immersed in the fire extinguishing liquid.

As a result, the battery module 15 is not only suppressed from being ignited by the fire extinguishing liquid, but is also stably discharged by cooling and further stably discharged in the battery case 13. That is, the fire of the battery module 15 (secondary battery) is suppressed (extinguishing).
The fire extinguishing structure in which the water-cooled battery cooling device 22 is diverted and the battery module 15 is immersed by the supply of the extinguishing liquid from the outside makes the entire battery module 15 (secondary battery) the extinguishing liquid under any circumstances. In addition to being immersed, the fire extinguishing operation can be performed not only on the road but also in any place as long as the electric vehicle is stopped.

  Therefore, the battery module 15 can sufficiently cope with fire extinguishing even in various electric vehicle situations. Moreover, the structure is simple. In addition, the fragile portion 43 can be quickly damaged by being provided at the bent portion of the cooling water circulation path 29. In particular, when the fragile portion 43 is provided on the road wall facing the flow of the extinguishing liquid, such as the ends of the header piping members 31 and 32, in the path α of the cooling water circulation path 29, the same portion is significantly pumped (supplied). It becomes easy to break with the pressure of the fire extinguishing liquid, and the fire extinguishing liquid can be quickly supplied to the battery module 15.

In addition, the extinguishing agent injection port 38 can be connected to a fire hose 42 (extinguishing agent discharge end) of a fire fighting vehicle or fire fighting equipment specializing in fire extinguishing, so a fire fighting vehicle rushed in an accident or a nearby fire fighting equipment A large amount of fire-extinguishing liquid can be supplied from, and fire extinguishing work can be performed effectively.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in one embodiment, the fragile portion is configured from a structure in which the plug member is easily pulled out. However, the fragile portion is not limited to this, and the fragile portion may be configured in another structure. Moreover, although the weak part was provided in the end of the header piping member, you may provide not only in this but in another point.

7 Rear wheels (drive wheels)
8 Electric motor 11 Battery pack 13 Battery case 15 Battery module (battery)
22 Liquid-cooled battery cooling device 24 Heat sink (heat absorption part)
26 Heatsink (heat dissipation part)
29 Cooling water circuit (coolant circuit)
31, 32 Header piping member 38 Fire extinguishing agent inlet 42 Water discharge hose (fire extinguishing device, fire extinguishing agent discharge part) of fire fighting vehicle and fire fighting equipment
43 weak part 44 plug member

Claims (3)

An electric motor for driving the drive wheels of the electric vehicle;
A battery pack configured to store a battery in a battery case and supply driving power to the electric motor;
A battery cooling device configured to connect a heat absorbing portion disposed in the battery case and a heat radiating portion disposed outside the battery case by a coolant circulation path, and cool the battery by circulating the coolant. In the vehicle,
A fire extinguishing agent inlet that is connectable to a fire extinguishing agent discharge unit of a fire extinguishing device that is provided in a coolant circulation path portion disposed outside the battery case and performs a fire extinguishing operation;
A fragile portion that is provided in a part of a coolant circulation path portion disposed in the battery case and is damaged by receiving a pressure of the fire extinguisher supplied from the injection port for the fire extinguishing agent into the coolant circulation path; A fire extinguishing structure for an electric vehicle characterized by comprising:   2. The fire extinguishing structure for an electric vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the fragile portion is provided in a bent portion of a coolant circulation path portion arranged in the battery case.   The fire extinguishing agent discharge part of the said fire extinguishing apparatus is an end part of the water discharge hose which discharges the fire-extinguishing liquid of a fire fighting vehicle or a fire fighting equipment, The fire extinguishing structure of the electric vehicle of Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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