JP2013178966A - Battery module - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a battery module which enables downsizing by reducing the size of or eliminating the need for a cooling fan.SOLUTION: A battery module 10 comprises: a plurality of batteries 12 which are aligned in rows; a battery housing case which restrains and houses the plurality of batteries 12 thus aligned; heat absorbing bodies 14, sandwiched between the batteries 12 so as to be in close contact with the batteries 12 or heat conductive members 13 abutting against the batteries 12, each of which has a phase change material 25 whose phase can be changed by the heat from the batteries 12 and a bag body 26 for sealing the phase change material 25, and each of which is provided, in the inside, with a gap 27 whose volume can be varied according to the changes of the bag body 26.

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery module preferably equipped with a plurality of lithium secondary batteries and mounted on a vehicle or the like.

An example of a battery module is described in Patent Document 1.
The battery module of Patent Document 1 has a cooling fan that is an intake chamber for introducing air in order to control the temperature to an appropriate temperature, and a spacer member disposed between battery cells of adjacent lithium secondary batteries, and a spacer member And a coolant that is accommodated in an accommodating portion formed inside.
In the battery module of Patent Document 1, when the internal pressure of the battery case rises due to overcharge, overdischarge, etc., and the battery case expands, the amount of deformation of the spacer member increases, and a part of the housing portion is damaged, cooling By blowing out the agent and cooling the battery cell with the jetted coolant, it is possible to suppress the heat of the battery cell that has generated heat due to abnormal storage of electricity from being transferred to other battery cells.

JP 2009-301969 A

A battery module in which a plurality of battery cells are arranged is used in various electric systems such as an electric vehicle, a stationary power supply device, and a power generation device. When the temperature of the battery module is increased due to heat generated by charging / discharging, the battery module has inconveniences such as deterioration of the battery performance of the battery cell and acceleration of deterioration of the battery cell.
The battery module of Patent Document 1 has been proposed in order to suppress the occurrence of such inconveniences, and the phenomenon that the battery case expands in the event of an abnormality in power storage is used to eject a coolant. Yes.
Therefore, it is possible to easily match the timing at which the power storage abnormality occurs and the coolant ejection timing.
However, due to the recent demand for battery modules that can generate large amounts of power, the amount of heat generated by the battery modules tends to increase as the size of the battery modules increases.
However, Patent Document 1 requires a large-capacity cooling fan for supplying a large amount of cooling medium into the battery module when the amount of generated heat is increased, thereby increasing auxiliary power.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a battery module that can be made compact by reducing the size of the cooling fan or eliminating it.

  A battery module according to the present invention includes a plurality of batteries, a battery housing case that restrains and houses a plurality of the batteries arranged, a phase change material capable of phase change by heat from the batteries, and the phase change material A gap that can change in volume according to deformation of the bag body is formed inside, and the battery or the heat conductive member that contacts the battery is in close contact between the batteries. And an endothermic body sandwiched between them.

  According to such a configuration, when being used by being stacked in a plurality of stages, the heat change in the battery can be suppressed by the phase change material of the endothermic body changing due to the heat transmitted to the heat conducting member. Therefore, the cooling fan can be downsized or made unnecessary and compact.

  In the battery module according to the present invention, the gap also serves as a cooling medium flow path of the heat conducting member.

  According to such a configuration, the heat transferred to the heat conducting member is radiated by the cooling medium flowing through the gap that also serves as the cooling medium flow path, and the heat transferred to the phase change material of the heat absorber can be cooled.

  In the battery module according to the present invention, the endothermic body has a gap for absorbing the volume change of the phase change material.

  According to such a structure, the volume fluctuation | variation part at the time of the phase change material of an endothermic body changing can be absorbed by the clearance gap between endothermic bodies.

  In the battery module according to the present invention, the endothermic body has a gap for absorbing the expansion amount of the battery.

  According to such a structure, the expansion | swelling part when a battery expand | swells by repeating charging / discharging several times can be absorbed by the clearance gap between heat absorption bodies.

  A battery module according to the present invention includes a plurality of batteries, a battery housing case that restrains and houses a plurality of the batteries arranged, a phase change material capable of phase change by heat from the batteries, and the phase change material A heat absorption body having a bag body enclosing a plurality of battery modules, wherein the heat absorption body is located near the battery in the battery housing case between the lower battery module and the upper battery module. It was attached to the top plate which mixes the cooling medium which is arrange | positioned and is sent to the said battery module of the upper part from the said battery module of the lower part.

  According to such a configuration, in the battery module stacked in a plurality of stages, the top plate in the vicinity of the battery is mixed while the cooling medium flowing from the bottom of the battery housing case toward the top plate is mixed through the top plate. The heat generated by the terminals of the battery can be efficiently radiated by the heat absorber attached to the battery. Therefore, terminals that generate a large amount of heat can be radiated in a concentrated manner, so that the cooling fan can be made smaller or unnecessary, and thus can be made compact.

  According to the battery module according to the present invention, there is an effect that the cooling fan can be downsized or made unnecessary and can be downsized.

It is the external appearance perspective view seen from diagonally upward of a part of battery module of a 1st embodiment concerning the present invention. It is a partially broken external appearance perspective view of the battery module of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a principal part top view of the battery module of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view seen from diagonally upper part of the battery module of 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a partially broken external appearance perspective view of the battery module of 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a principal part top view of the battery module of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view seen from diagonally upper part of the battery module of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a partially broken external appearance perspective view of the battery module of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a side surface of the battery module of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view seen from diagonally upward of a part of battery module of 4th Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a partially broken side view of the battery module of 4th Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a principal part top view. It is a partially broken side view of the modification of the battery module of 4th Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is the external appearance perspective view seen from diagonally upper part of the battery module of 5th Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a partially broken front view of the battery module of 5th Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a principal part top view. It is a partially broken front view of the modification of the battery module of 5th Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a partially broken external perspective view.

Hereinafter, battery modules of a plurality of embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the battery module 10 of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention is the battery accommodation case 11, the 2nd direction (X direction) and 3rd direction (Y) which cross | intersect a 1st direction (Z direction). A plurality of lithium secondary batteries 12 that are two-dimensionally constrained in the direction), a heat conduction member 13 that is a heat sink disposed between the second directions of each lithium secondary battery 12, and a heat conduction member 13. And a heat absorber 14 accommodated in the vehicle, and stacked in a plurality of stages in the first direction and mounted on a vehicle or the like.
In the following description, only one battery module 10 located at a specific stage will be described, and description of the battery modules 10 at other stages will be omitted.

The battery housing case 11 is attached to a pair of side plates 15, a bottom plate 16 connected to the bottom of the pair of side plates 15, a plurality of connecting members 17 that connect the pair of side plates 15, and an upper portion of the pair of side plates 15. And a pair of top plates 18 for mixing the cooling medium.
The battery housing case 11 has a length in the third direction of the lithium secondary battery 12 on the bottom plate 16 and is formed in the second direction of the lithium secondary battery 12 so as to correspond to each lithium secondary battery 12 and is cooled. A plurality of cooling medium flow grooves 19 for flowing the medium are provided.
A cooling medium from a cooling fan (not shown) is supplied to the cooling medium circulation groove 19.
Here, since the top plate 18 is disposed between the upper and lower sides of the battery modules 10 stacked in a plurality of stages, the cooling medium fed from the cooling fan from the cooling medium circulation groove 19 through the heat conducting member 13 is used. Mixing and feeding to the battery module 10 above it.

The lithium secondary battery 12 includes a battery container 20 and includes a positive electrode terminal 21 and a negative electrode terminal 22. The battery container 20 is formed using, for example, a steel material such as stainless steel, an aluminum-based material, or the like.
The inner surface of the battery container 20 may be in direct contact with the non-aqueous electrolyte, but it is also possible to use one that is coated with an insulator such as a modified polyolefin. The battery container 20 contains a non-aqueous electrolyte containing lithium ions, a positive electrode current collector, and a negative electrode current collector.

The positive electrode terminal 21 is made of, for example, an aluminum material, and nickel plating may be applied to the surface of the outer end portion of the positive electrode terminal 21 in order to reduce the contact resistance.
The negative terminal 22 is made of, for example, a copper material.
The plurality of lithium secondary batteries 12 form a series circuit by connecting the positive electrode terminal 21 and the negative electrode terminal 22 through a conductive member such as a bus bar (not shown).

The lithium secondary battery 12 is arranged such that the direction in which the positive electrode terminal 21 and the negative electrode terminal 22 protrude is parallel to the Z direction, and the stacking direction of the electrode plates is parallel to the second direction.
In the lithium secondary battery 12, the area of the first side surface 24A orthogonal to the stacking direction (second direction) of the electrode plates among the side surfaces around the first direction is larger than the second side surface 24B parallel to the stacking direction. .

Next, details of the heat conducting member 13 and the heat absorber 14 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the heat conducting member 13 is formed using a material having a higher thermal conductivity than a resin or the like, for example, a metal material such as aluminum or copper, and has a plurality of substantially square-shaped holes. It has the part 23 connected.
In addition, the heat conductive member 13 may be provided with an insulating coating film and a metal oxide film on both front and back surfaces.
Since the heat conducting member 13 is attached in close contact between the first side surfaces 24A in the second direction of each lithium secondary battery 12, the heat conducting member 13 is in contact with each battery container 20 of each lithium secondary battery 12. Thermally connected.
The heat conducting members 13 are arranged in two rows between the plurality of lithium secondary batteries 12 arranged in the center, and are arranged in one row outside the lithium secondary batteries 12.

The heat conductive member 13 is between the pair of lithium secondary batteries 12 adjacent to each other in the second direction, between the ends of the lithium secondary batteries 12 arranged in the second direction in the second direction, and the side plates 15. Is arranged.
The heat conducting member 13 is a plate-like member having a surface with an area similar to that of the first side surface 24A. The heat conducting member 13 is provided on each of the first side surfaces 24A in the second direction of the lithium secondary battery 12 so as to sandwich the lithium secondary battery 12 in the second direction. That is, the two heat conducting members 13 are disposed in contact with each other between a pair of lithium secondary batteries 12 adjacent to each other in the second direction.

  The heat conducting member 13 is fixed to the lithium secondary battery 12 that is in contact therewith. Each heat conducting member 13 is sandwiched between a pair of adjacent lithium secondary batteries 12, or is sandwiched between the lithium secondary battery 12 and each side plate 15, and is fixed to the contacting lithium secondary battery 12. . The heat conducting member 13 is fixed to the lithium secondary battery 12 so as to have a gap with the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11.

The heat conducting member 13 is arranged such that a plurality of hole portions 23 are arranged in the third direction, and each of the plurality of hole portions 23 extends in the first direction. The hole 23 is open at both end surfaces in the first direction.
The heat conducting member 13 is arranged so that the openings of the plurality of holes 23 viewed from the first direction are accommodated inside the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11. That is, the openings of the plurality of holes 23 of the heat conducting member 13 are provided so as not to hinder the flow of the cooling medium flowing through the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11.

The heat conducting member 13 may be fixed to the lithium secondary battery 12 with a jig or the like, or may be fixed to the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11 and not fixed to the lithium secondary battery 12. May be.
Further, a heat insulating material or the like may be disposed between two heat conducting members 13 disposed between a pair of lithium secondary batteries 12 adjacent to each other in the second direction, and adjacent to each other in the second direction. A single heat conducting member 13 may be disposed between a pair of matching lithium secondary batteries 12, and the heat conducting member 13 may be in direct contact with any of the pair of lithium secondary batteries 12.

Further, the heat conducting member 13 may be formed such that the hole 23 has a circular cross section or a polygonal cross section instead of a substantially square shape, and a plurality of holes 23 may be arranged in the second direction. .
Further, the heat conducting member 13 is a corrugated plate-like member having, for example, a groove portion (concave portion) extending in the first direction, and the hole portion 23 including the groove portion is formed between the heat conducting member 13 and the lithium secondary battery 12 in contact therewith. May be. In that case, the hole 23 may extend in the first direction while meandering inside the heat conducting member 13, or may be inclined in a direction non-perpendicular to the first direction inside the heat conducting member 13. It may extend in the first direction.

On the other hand, the endothermic body 14 is formed into a pack shape by filling a flexible bag body 26 with a phase change material 25 which is PCM (Phase Change Material).
The phase change material 25 is solid when the ambient temperature is room temperature, and changes to a liquid when the ambient temperature reaches 30 ° C. to 40 ° C.
Examples of the phase change material 25 include polyethylene glycol, paraffin hydrocarbons, olefin hydrocarbons, and the like.
Although it does not specifically limit as a paraffin type hydrocarbon, For example, n-tetradecane, n-pentadecane, n-hexadecane, n-heptadecane, n-octadecane, n-nonadecane, n-eicosane etc. are mentioned.
Paraffinic hydrocarbons have different melting points depending on the number of carbon atoms, and may be used alone or in combination depending on the intended application.

  Here, the bag body 26 has an outer shape that can be inserted into the hole 23 of the heat conducting member 13, and flows from the cooling medium flow groove 19 provided on the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11 to the top plate 18 at the center thereof. A gap 27 is formed.

Next, the operation of the heat conducting member 13 and the heat absorbing body 14 will be described.
Each lithium secondary battery 12 generates heat when the battery module 10 shown in FIG. 3 is mounted on a vehicle and charging and discharging are repeated. Since the generated heat is transferred to the battery case 20, the temperature of the battery case 20 rises.
Here, in the lithium secondary battery 12, since the first side surface 24A having a larger area than the second side surface 24B in the battery container 20 is thermally connected to the heat conducting member 13, the heat of the battery container 20 is heated. It is transmitted to the conductive member 13.

At this time, the cooling fan is driven at the same time, and from the cooling medium flow groove 19 on the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11 in the battery module 10 at the lowest stage among the battery modules 10 stacked in the first direction, A cooling medium flows toward the top plate 18 through the gap 27 of the heat absorber 14.
The cooling medium circulates in the gap 27 of the heat absorber 14 in the first direction, and circulates in the first direction along the second side surface 24B of the lithium secondary battery 12.
Therefore, the lithium secondary battery 12 in the lowermost battery module 10 is efficiently cooled.

  At this time, the cooling medium that has flowed in the first direction along the second side surface 24B of the lithium secondary battery 12 in the lowermost battery module 10 has an endotherm because the area of the second side surface 24B is smaller than that of the first side surface 24A. Compared with the cooling medium that circulates in the gap 27 of the body 14, less heat is taken away from the lithium secondary battery 12. Therefore, the temperature of the cooling medium flowing through the gap 27 of the endothermic body 14 is higher than the temperature of the cooling medium flowing in the first direction along the second side surface 24B of the lithium secondary battery 12.

However, the cooling medium flowing through the gap 27 of the heat absorber 14 changes in the flow direction by the top plate 18 attached to the upper end portion of the side plate 16 in the lowermost battery module 10 and moves in the third direction. The lithium secondary battery 12 is distributed toward the outside of the second side surface 24B.
And the cooling medium which distribute | circulated in the clearance gap 27 of the heat sink 14 merges with the cooling medium which flowed upwards without contacting the heat conductive member 13 along the 2nd side surface 24B of the battery module 10, and a pair of top plate 18 and through the outside of the pair of top plates 18, it circulates toward the battery module 10 located above the lowermost stage.
Therefore, the temperature of the cooling medium flowing through the gap 27 of the heat absorber 14 is lowered by mixing the cooling medium flowing between the pair of top plates 18 and the outside of the pair of top plates 18.
And the cooling medium which distribute | circulated between the pair of top plates 18 and the outer side of a pair of top plates 18 is the lithium secondary battery of the battery module 10 located above the lowest level in the same manner as the battery module 10 at the lowest level. 12 can be cooled.

At this time, when the heat transmitted to the heat conducting member 13 exceeds, for example, 30 ° C., the phase change material 25 undergoes a phase change due to the heat being transferred to the phase change material 25 through the bag body 26 in the heat absorber 14. Is absorbed, thereby suppressing an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12.
Therefore, sufficient heat dissipation of the lithium secondary battery 12 can be performed by the heat absorber 14 without performing heat dissipation by the heat conducting member 13.
At the same time, since the cooling medium is being fed by the cooling fan to the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11, the cooling medium passes through the gap 27 provided in the bag body 26 of the heat absorber 14. It is distributed to the board 18 and mixed.
Therefore, the heat transmitted to the heat conducting member 13 is dissipated by the cooling medium, and the heat transmitted to the phase change material 25 of the heat absorber 14 is cooled.

Here, when the phase change material 25 of the endothermic body 14 is changed to a liquid, the phase changes so as to increase its volume.
However, the volume variation of the phase change material 25 of the endothermic body 14 is absorbed by the gap 27 being deformed to reduce its volume.

At this time, by repeating charging and discharging a plurality of times, each lithium secondary battery 12 may have the first side surface 24 </ b> A having a larger area than the second side surface 24 </ b> B expanded in the second direction in the battery container 20. .
However, even if the first side surface 24 </ b> A of the battery container 20 is about to expand in the second direction, the expansion can be suppressed by the metal heat conduction member 13 and the solid heat absorber 14.

  The endothermic body 14 may be fixed to the lower surface of the top plate 18 attached to the upper part of the pair of side plates 15 of the battery housing case 11 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Then, the heat absorber 14 attached to the back surface of the top plate 18 can efficiently dissipate heat including the terminals 21 and 22 of the lithium secondary battery 12 while the cooling medium is mixed.

As described above, according to the battery module 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention, the phase change material of the endothermic body 14 due to the heat transferred to the heat conducting member 13 when used by being stacked in a plurality of stages. As the phase of 25 changes, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 can be suppressed.
Therefore, according to the battery module 10, a cooling fan can be reduced in size or needlessness and can be reduced in size.

  In addition, according to the battery module 10, the volume variation when the phase change material 25 of the heat absorber 14 undergoes a phase change can be absorbed by the gap 27 having the heat absorber 14.

  According to the battery module 10, even if the first side surface 24A of the battery container 20 of each lithium secondary battery 12 is expanded in the second direction by being repeatedly charged and discharged a plurality of times, it is made of metal. The thermal conduction member 13 and the solid-state heat absorber 14 can suppress the expansion.

  Furthermore, according to the battery module 10, the plurality of lithium secondary batteries 12 stacked in the first direction can be efficiently cooled, and the first side surface 24 </ b> A of the lithium secondary battery 12 in contact with the heat conducting member 13 is provided. Since the area is larger than that of the second side surface 24B not in contact with the heat conduction member 13, the heat conduction member from the lithium secondary battery 12 is compared with the case where the heat conduction member 13 is provided in contact with the second side surface 24B. The amount of heat transmitted to 13 increases, and the lithium secondary battery 12 can be efficiently cooled.

Furthermore, according to the battery module 10, the temperature of the cooling medium flowing through the gap 27 of the heat absorber 14 is higher than the temperature of the cooling medium flowing along the second side surface 24 </ b> B of the lithium secondary battery 12. It is thought that the rising speed will be higher.
However, the top plate 18 can mix the cooling medium in order to change the flow direction of the cooling medium toward the cooling medium flowing along the second side surface 24 </ b> B of the nitricium secondary battery 12.
Therefore, according to the battery module 10, the temperature of the cooling medium circulated to the battery module 10 positioned above the lowermost stage can be efficiently lowered, and the lithium secondary battery 12 of the battery module 10 positioned above can be efficiently Can be cooled to.

In addition, according to the battery module 10, the heat conduction member 13 disposed between the plurality of lithium secondary batteries 12 is more in the second direction than the heat conduction member 13 disposed outside the lithium secondary battery 12. It is attached.
Here, among the plurality of lithium secondary batteries 12 arranged in the second direction, the temperature of the lithium secondary battery 12 at the center is higher than that of the lithium secondary battery 12 disposed at the end in the second direction. It is thought that.
However, the number of the heat conductive members 13 arranged between the plurality of lithium secondary batteries 12 in the center is more attached in the second direction than the number arranged outside the lithium secondary batteries 12. Therefore, the lithium secondary battery 12 arranged on the center side of the row can be actively cooled.
Therefore, according to the battery module 10, the temperature variation of the lithium secondary battery 12 can be reduced between the center side and the end side of the row.

  In addition, according to the battery module 10, the heat absorbing body 14 is fixed to the lower surface of the top plate 18 attached to the upper part of the pair of side plates 15 of the battery housing case 11. The heat including the terminals 21 and 22 of the secondary battery 12 can be efficiently radiated and cooled.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the battery module of 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention is demonstrated.
In the following embodiments, components that are the same as those in the first embodiment described above or components that are functionally similar are denoted by the same or corresponding reference numerals in the drawings, and the description thereof is simplified or omitted. To do.

As shown in FIG. 4, the battery module 30 according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a heat conducting member 31 and a heat absorber 32 and is stacked in a plurality of stages and mounted on a vehicle or the like.
The heat conducting member 31 is formed in a shape in which a plurality of hole portions (see FIG. 5) 33 formed in a square shape are connected using an aluminum material having good heat conductivity.
Since the heat conducting member 31 is attached in close contact between the first side surfaces 24 </ b> A in the second direction of the pair of lithium secondary batteries 12, the heat conducting member 31 abuts on each battery container 20 of each lithium secondary battery 12. Connected thermally.

As shown in FIG. 5, the endothermic body 32 is filled with a phase change material 34 in a flexible bag 35. The phase change material 34 is solid when the ambient temperature is room temperature, and changes to a liquid when the ambient temperature reaches 30 ° C. to 40 ° C.
The bag body 35 has an outer shape that can be inserted into the hole 33 of the heat conducting member 31.

Next, the operation of the heat conducting member 31 and the heat absorber 32 will be described.
Each lithium secondary battery 12 generates heat when the battery module 30 shown in FIG. 6 is mounted on a vehicle and charging and discharging are repeated. Since the generated heat is transferred to the battery case 20, the temperature of the battery case 20 rises.
Here, in the lithium secondary battery 12, since the battery container 20 is thermally connected to the heat conducting member 31, the heat of the battery container 20 is transmitted to the heat conducting member 31.

When the heat transmitted to the heat conducting member 31 exceeds, for example, 30 ° C., the phase change material 34 undergoes a phase change by transferring the heat to the phase change material 34 through the bag body 35 in the heat absorber 32, and the heat is transferred to the phase change material 34. By absorbing, the rise in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 is suppressed.
At the same time, since the cooling medium is supplied from the cooling fan to the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11, the cooling medium is sprayed onto the bag body 35 of the heat absorbing body 32.
Therefore, the heat transferred to the heat conducting member 31 is radiated by the cooling medium, and the heat transferred to the phase change material 34 of the heat absorber 32 is cooled.

At this time, the battery container 20 may expand in the second direction in each lithium secondary battery 12 by repeating charging and discharging a plurality of times.
However, even if the battery container 20 tries to expand in the second direction, the expansion can be suppressed by the metal heat conducting member 31 and the solid heat absorber 32.

According to the battery module 30 of the second embodiment, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 can be suppressed by the phase change material 34 of the heat absorber 32 changing in phase due to the heat transmitted to the heat conducting member 31.
Therefore, according to the battery module 30, a cooling fan can be reduced in size or needlessness and can be reduced in size.

(Third embodiment)
Next, the battery module of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention is demonstrated.
As shown in FIG. 7, the battery module 40 according to the third embodiment of the present invention is in close contact between the first side surfaces 24 </ b> A in the second direction of each lithium secondary battery 12 and is thermally applied to each battery container 20. The heat-absorbing body 41 is connected to and stacked in a plurality of stages and mounted on a vehicle or the like.

As shown in FIG. 8, the endothermic body 41 is formed in a pack shape by filling a phase change material 42 in a flexible bag 43. The phase change material 42 is solid when the ambient temperature is room temperature, and changes to a liquid when the ambient temperature reaches 30 ° C. to 40 ° C.
A plurality of the heat absorbers 41 are combined in a lattice shape, and are integrally assembled with a gap 44 therebetween.

Next, the operation of the heat absorber 41 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 9, each lithium secondary battery 12 generates heat when the battery module 40 is mounted on a vehicle and charging and discharging are repeated. Since the generated heat is transferred to the battery case 20, the temperature of the battery case 20 rises.
Here, in the lithium secondary battery 12, since the battery container 20 is thermally connected to the heat absorber 41, the heat of the battery container 20 is transmitted to the heat absorber 41.

When the heat transferred to the heat absorber 41 exceeds, for example, 30 ° C., the phase change material 42 undergoes a phase change due to the heat transferred to the phase change material 42 through the bag 43 in the heat absorber 41 and absorbs the heat. By doing so, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 is suppressed.
At the same time, since the cooling medium is fed from the cooling fan to the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11, the heat transferred to the phase change material 42 of the heat absorber 41 by the cooling medium. To be cooled.

Here, when the phase change material 42 of the endothermic body 41 changes to a liquid, the phase changes so as to increase its volume.
However, the volume variation of the phase change material 42 of the endothermic body 41 is absorbed by the gap 44 being deformed to reduce its volume.

At this time, the battery container 20 may expand in the second direction in each lithium secondary battery 12 by repeating charging and discharging a plurality of times.
However, when the battery container 20 expands in the second direction, the expansion of the battery container 20 can be absorbed in the gap 44.

According to the battery module 40 of the third embodiment, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 can be suppressed by the phase change of the phase change material 42 of the heat absorber 41.
Therefore, according to the battery module 40, a cooling fan can be reduced in size or need not be reduced in size.

  Moreover, according to the battery module 40, the volume fluctuation | variation at the time of the phase change material 42 of the heat absorber 41 changing can be absorbed by the clearance gap 44 of each heat absorber 41 arrange | positioned at a grid | lattice form.

  According to the battery module 40, when the battery container 20 expands in the second direction, each lithium secondary battery 12 is charged with a gap between the battery containers 20 by repeating charging and discharging a plurality of times. 44 can absorb.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a battery module according to a fourth embodiment of the invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 10, the battery module 50 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is in close contact between the first side surfaces 24 </ b> A in the second direction of each lithium secondary battery 12 and is thermally applied to each battery container 20. The heat-absorbing body 51 is connected to and stacked in a plurality of stages and mounted on a vehicle or the like.

As shown in FIG. 11, the endothermic body 51 is formed in a pack shape by filling a phase change material 52 into a flexible bag 53. The phase change material 52 is solid when the ambient temperature is room temperature, and changes to a liquid when the ambient temperature reaches 30 ° C. to 40 ° C.
The endothermic body 51 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape similar to the battery container 20 of the lithium secondary battery 12.

Next, the operation of the heat absorber 51 will be described.
When the battery module 50 is mounted on the vehicle and charging / discharging is repeated, each lithium secondary battery 12 generates heat. Since the generated heat is transferred to the battery case 20, the temperature of the battery case 20 rises.
Here, in the lithium secondary battery 12, since the battery container 20 is thermally connected to the heat absorber 51, the heat of the battery container 20 is transmitted to the heat absorber 51.

Then, when the heat transmitted to the endothermic body 51 exceeds, for example, 30 ° C., the phase change material 52 undergoes a phase change due to the heat transmitted to the phase change material 52 through the bag 53 in the endothermic body 51 and absorbs the heat. By doing so, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 is suppressed.
At the same time, since the cooling medium is supplied from the cooling fan to the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11, the heat transmitted to the phase change material 52 of the heat absorber 51 by the cooling medium. To be cooled.

Here, the battery container 20 may expand in the second direction in each lithium secondary battery 12 by repeating charging and discharging a plurality of times.
However, even if the battery container 20 is about to expand in the second direction, the expansion can be suppressed by the solid-state heat absorber 51.

According to the battery module 50 of the fourth embodiment, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 can be suppressed by the phase change of the phase change material 52 of the heat absorber 51.
Therefore, according to the battery module 50, the cooling fan can be reduced in size or need not be reduced in size.

  Moreover, according to the battery module 50, even if the battery container 20 of each lithium secondary battery 12 is about to expand in the second direction by being repeatedly charged and discharged a plurality of times, the solid heat absorbing body 51 The expansion can be suppressed.

Next, a modification of the battery module 50 of the fourth embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 12, the present modification is an endothermic body that is in close contact between the side surfaces 24 in the second direction of each lithium secondary battery 12 and is thermally connected to the bottom surface 54 of each lithium secondary battery 12. 55.

When the battery module 50 is mounted on the vehicle and charging / discharging is repeated, each lithium secondary battery 12 generates heat. Since the generated heat is transferred to the battery case 20, the temperature of the battery case 20 rises.
Here, in the lithium secondary battery 12, since the first side surface 24 </ b> A and the bottom surface 54 of the battery container 20 are thermally connected to the heat absorber 55, the heat of the battery container 20 is transmitted to the heat absorber 55.

When the heat transmitted to the endothermic body 55 exceeds, for example, 30 ° C., the phase change material 52 undergoes a phase change due to the heat transmitted to the phase change material 52 through the bag 53 in the endothermic body 55 and absorbs the heat. By doing so, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 is suppressed.
At the same time, since the cooling medium is supplied from the cooling fan to the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11, the cooling medium absorbs heat at the bottom surface 54 of the battery container 20 of the lithium secondary battery 12. It acts on the body 55 intensively.
Therefore, the phase change material 52 of the endothermic body 55 is actively cooled.

  According to the present modification, an increase in heat including the bottom surface 54 of the battery container 20 of the lithium secondary battery 12 can be suppressed by the phase change of the phase change material 52 of the heat absorber 55.

(Fifth embodiment)
Next, a battery module according to a fifth embodiment of the invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 13, the battery module 60 of the fifth embodiment according to the present invention is in close contact with the first side surface 24 </ b> A in the second direction of each lithium secondary battery 12 and is thermally connected to each battery container 20. And a heat absorbing member 63 that is in close contact with the second side surface 24B in the third direction of each lithium secondary battery 12 and is thermally connected to each battery container 20 in a plurality of stages. It is stacked and mounted on a vehicle or the like.
The heat conducting member 61 forms a cooling medium circulation hole 64 that circulates from the cooling medium circulation groove 19 provided in the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11 to the top plate 18.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the endothermic body 63 is formed in a pack shape by filling a phase change material 65 in a flexible bag body 66. The phase change material 65 is solid when the ambient temperature is room temperature, and changes to a liquid when the ambient temperature reaches 30 ° C. to 40 ° C.

Next, the operation of the heat conducting member 61 and the heat absorber 63 will be described.
When the battery module 60 is mounted on the vehicle and charging / discharging is repeated, each lithium secondary battery 12 generates heat. Since the generated heat is transferred to the battery case 20, the temperature of the battery case 20 rises.
Here, in the lithium secondary battery 12, since the battery container 20 is thermally connected to the heat conducting member 61 and the heat absorber 63, the heat of the battery container 20 is transmitted to the heat conducting member 61.

At the same time, since the cooling medium is fed from the cooling fan to the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11, the cooling medium flows through the cooling medium flow hole 64 of the heat conducting member 61. Thus, the heat transmitted to the heat conducting member 61 is radiated.
When the heat transmitted to the endothermic body 63 exceeds, for example, 30 ° C., the phase change material 65 undergoes a phase change due to the heat transmitted to the phase change material 65 through the bag body 66 in the endothermic body 63 and absorbs the heat. By doing so, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 is suppressed.

According to the battery module 60 of the fifth embodiment, in addition to the phase change of the phase change material 65 of the endothermic body 63, the circulation of the cooling medium to the cooling medium circulation hole 64 of the heat conducting member 61 causes the lithium secondary battery 12 to Heat rise can be suppressed.
Therefore, according to the battery module 60, the cooling fan can be reduced in size or unnecessary, and thus can be downsized.

  Further, according to the battery module 60, even if the second side surface 24B of the battery container 20 of each lithium secondary battery 12 is expanded in the third direction by being repeatedly charged and discharged several times, the solid state The endothermic body 63 can suppress the expansion.

Next, a modification of the battery module 60 of the fifth embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 15, in this modification, a heat absorbing body 67 that is in close contact with the second side surface 24 </ b> B in the third direction of each lithium secondary battery 12 and is thermally connected to the bottom surface 54 of each lithium secondary battery 12. It has.

When the battery module 60 is mounted on the vehicle and charging / discharging is repeated, each lithium secondary battery 12 generates heat. Since the generated heat is transferred to the battery case 20, the temperature of the battery case 20 rises.
Here, in the lithium secondary battery 12, since the second side surface 24 </ b> B and the bottom surface 54 of the battery container 20 are thermally connected to the heat absorber 67, the heat of the battery container 20 is transmitted to the heat absorber 67.

When the heat transmitted to the endothermic body 67 exceeds, for example, 30 ° C., the phase change material 65 undergoes a phase change due to the heat transmitted to the phase change material 65 through the bag body 66 in the endothermic body 67 and absorbs the heat. By doing so, an increase in heat in the lithium secondary battery 12 is suppressed.
At the same time, since the cooling medium is supplied from the cooling fan to the cooling medium flow groove 19 of the bottom plate 16 of the battery housing case 11, the cooling medium absorbs heat at the bottom surface 54 of the battery container 20 of the lithium secondary battery 12. It acts on the body 67 intensively.
Therefore, the phase change material 65 of the endothermic body 67 is actively cooled.

  According to the present modification, an increase in heat including the bottom surface 54 of the battery container 20 of the lithium secondary battery 12 can be suppressed by the phase change of the phase change material 65 of the heat absorber 67.

The battery module of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and appropriate modifications and improvements can be made.
For example, the number of lithium secondary batteries provided in the battery module is not limited to the eight illustrated, and a plurality of lithium secondary batteries can be applied.

10, 30, 40, 50, 60 Battery module 11 Battery housing case 12 Lithium secondary battery 13, 31, 61 Heat conducting member 14, 32, 41, 51, 55, 63, 67 Endothermic body 25, 34, 42, 52 , 65 Phase change material 26, 35, 43, 53, 66 Bag 27, 44 Clearance

Claims (5)

A plurality of batteries,
A battery housing case for restraining and housing the plurality of batteries arranged;
A phase change material capable of phase change by heat from the battery and a bag enclosing the phase change material, wherein a gap capable of changing a volume according to deformation of the bag body is formed inside, A battery module comprising a heat absorbing body sandwiched between the batteries or a heat conducting member in contact with the batteries. The battery module according to claim 1,
The battery module in which the gap also serves as a cooling medium flow path of the heat conducting member. The battery module according to claim 2,
The battery module in which the endothermic body has a gap that absorbs the volume change of the phase change material. The battery module according to claim 2 or claim 3,
The battery module which has the clearance gap where the said heat absorption body absorbs the expansion | swelling amount of the said battery. A plurality of batteries,
A battery housing case for restraining and housing the plurality of batteries arranged;
A battery module comprising a phase change material capable of phase change by heat from the battery and a heat absorption body having a bag body that encloses the phase change material, and stacking a plurality of battery modules,
Cooling in which the heat absorber is disposed between the lower battery module and the upper battery module in the vicinity of the battery in the battery housing case and is supplied from the lower battery module to the upper battery module. A battery module attached to the top plate that mixes media.

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