JP7272159B2 - A heat exchanger using a laminate material, a vehicle-mounted battery module, and a method for manufacturing a heat exchanger using a laminate material. - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a heat exchanger having a casing made of a laminated material in which a resin coating layer is laminated on a metal layer, and a mounting structure for piping members.

2. Description of the Related Art Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), electric vehicles (EV), etc. are equipped with a battery device that supplies electric power for driving an electric motor. As such a battery device, a plurality of small single cells made up of various secondary batteries such as lithium secondary batteries are generally connected in series or in parallel to form an assembled battery. Especially in recent years, in order to extend the cruising distance of electric vehicles, a plurality of assembled batteries are combined in series or parallel to further increase the capacity of battery devices.

On the other hand, the performance and life of lithium secondary batteries, which are often used as battery devices, vary greatly depending on the operating temperature. Therefore, it is preferable to control the temperature at an appropriate temperature for efficient use over a long period of time. However, when used in the form of a plurality of assembled batteries as described above, since the plurality of assembled batteries are closely arranged, it is difficult to effectively dissipate the heat generated from each assembled battery or each unit cell. is difficult, and the temperature of each assembled battery rises, and there is a risk that the performance and life of the assembled battery will decrease.

Therefore, a technique has been developed in which a thin heat exchanger as shown in Patent Document 1 below is used to cool a plurality of assembled batteries. In this heat exchanger, two metal dish-shaped plates are opposed to each other to form a heat exchanger (flat tube). The heat generated from each unit cell is released to the outside through a coolant (cooling water) flowing through the flat tube.

Under such a technical background, heat exchangers for cooling a plurality of assembled batteries as an automobile battery device are required to be as thin, small and light as possible, and to be reduced in cost, as is the case with other automobile parts. As part of this, the adoption of heat exchangers using highly flexible laminated materials is being considered.

A heat exchanger using a laminated material has a casing composed of two laminate materials, in which resin coating layers are laminated on both sides of an aluminum layer, so that the refrigerant can be circulated inside the casing. It is A casing is arranged between each of the plurality of assembled batteries, and the heat generated from each unit cell of the assembled battery is released to the outside via a coolant flowing inside each casing.

JP 2012-199149 A

However, conventional metal joining methods such as welding and brazing cannot be applied to the connection between heat exchangers and piping members using the above-mentioned laminated material. There was a problem that a high joining method could not be established.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and enables a piping member to be attached in a stable state for a long period of time, to obtain sufficient durability, and to improve product value. An object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger using a laminate material and a method for manufacturing the heat exchanger.

In order to achieve the above object, the gist of the present invention is the following configuration.
[1] A casing composed of a laminated material having a resin coating layer provided on at least the outer surface side of a metal layer is provided, and a heat medium flows out to the inside of the casing through a port penetrating the laminated material. In a heat exchanger using a laminate material that is made to enter,
A piping member having a hole corresponding to the entrance and exit of the casing is provided outside the entrance and exit of the casing, the piping member is made of a resin that transmits laser light, the piping member and the laminate material are in contact with each other, and the outer layer of the laminate material is formed. A heat exchanger using a laminate material, characterized in that the coating layer and the piping member constituting the coating layer have joints joined to each other by welding.
[2] A heat exchanger using the laminated material according to the above item 1, wherein the joint portion extends over the entire circumference of the inlet/outlet.
[3] The heat exchanger using the laminate material according to the above item 1 or 2, wherein the piping member is made of a resin having a transmittance of 10% or more for the laser beam.
[4] A heat exchanger using the laminated material according to any one of the preceding items 1 to 3, wherein the coating layer constituting the outer layer of the laminated material and the piping member are made of the same material.
[5] The laminated material according to any one of the preceding items 1 to 4, wherein a flange member for improving the strength of the joint is provided along the inner peripheral surface of the laminated material in the vicinity of the entrance. Heat exchanger.
[6] A heat exchanger using the laminated material as described in [5] above, which has a fitting structure that determines the position of combination of the piping member and the flange member.
[7] An in-vehicle battery module in which a heat exchanger using the laminate material according to any one of the above items 1 to 6 is combined with a battery unit.
[8] A casing composed of a laminated material having a resin coating layer provided on at least the outer surface side of a metal layer is provided, and the heat medium flows out to the inside of the casing through an entrance penetrating the laminated material. In a method for manufacturing a heat exchanger using a laminate material that is made to enter,
A piping member having a hole corresponding to the entrance of the casing is provided outside the entrance of the casing, the piping member is made of a resin that transmits laser light, and the piping member and the laminate material are brought into contact with each other, and the piping member is attached. The laminate material is characterized in that the coating layer constituting the outer layer of the laminate material and the piping member are joined to each other by laser welding due to heat generated in the metal layer by the transmitted laser light. A method for manufacturing a heat exchanger.
[9] The method of manufacturing a heat exchanger using the laminated material according to the above item 8, wherein the laser beam is transmitted through the outer wall and the lower wall of the piping member.

According to the heat exchanger using the laminate material of the invention [1], the piping member is made of a resin that transmits laser light, and the resin coating layer that constitutes the outer layer of the laminate material is in contact with the piping member. , and are joined to each other by welding, so that the piping members can be attached in a stable state for a long period of time. Therefore, sufficient durability can be obtained, and the product value can be improved.

According to the heat exchanger using the laminate material of the invention [2], since the joint extends over the entire periphery of the entrance, the piping member can be attached more reliably and stably for a long period of time.

According to the heat exchanger using the laminate material of the invention [3], the piping member is configured using a resin having a laser light transmittance of 10% or more, so that the energy of the laser light is efficiently used for joining. can do.

According to the heat exchanger using the laminate material of the invention [4], since the material of the coating layer and the piping member constituting the outer layer of the laminate material are the same, both can be reliably joined.

According to the heat exchanger using the laminate material of the invention [5], since the flange member is provided along the inner peripheral surface of the laminate material in the vicinity of the entrance, the strength when the piping member is attached is improved. be able to.

According to the heat exchanger using the laminate material of the invention [6], since the combined position of the piping member and the flange member is determined, the positioning of the piping member can be reliably performed.

According to the in-vehicle battery module of the invention [7], since the heat exchanger made of the laminated material is used, it is possible to provide a lightweight and inexpensive in-vehicle battery module.

According to the method for manufacturing a heat exchanger using the laminate material of the invention [8], the same effect as the invention of the heat exchanger using the laminate material of the above [1] can be obtained.

According to the method of manufacturing a heat exchanger using the laminated material of the invention [9], the laser beam is transmitted through the outer and lower walls of the piping member and is absorbed by the metal layer. Absorption can be used to selectively heat and weld. Furthermore, it is possible to join even inside a complicated closed structure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a heat exchanger using a laminated material, which is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a heat exchanger using a laminated material, which is an embodiment of the present invention. 3A and 3B are enlarged views showing a flange member of a heat exchanger using a laminated material according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cross-section taken along line -B; FIG. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views taken along the line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing the entire heat exchanger, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the heat exchanger. . FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged part of the cross section taken along line AA of FIG. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional views showing a process of forming a heat exchanger casing using a laminate material according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. is a cross-sectional view during formation, and FIG. (c) is a cross-sectional view after formation.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a heat exchanger 1 of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an exploded heat exchanger 1 of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a heat exchanger of this embodiment. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a casing 2 of the heat exchanger 1 in another embodiment.

The heat exchanger of the present invention cools a battery device that supplies electric power for driving an electric motor of an electric vehicle or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the heat exchanger 1 using the laminate material of this embodiment includes three casings 2 and two piping members 3 abutting on both ends of each casing 2 from above. It has a configuration in which the casing 2 and each of the pipe members 3 are arranged such that their longitudinal directions are perpendicular to each other.

Although three casings 2 are used in this embodiment, the number of casings 2 is not limited to this, and the number of casings 2 can be changed according to the application of the heat exchanger 1 .

The casing 2 is used for exchanging heat between a heat medium flowing inside the casing 2 and the member to be cooled by placing the member to be cooled in contact with the surface of the casing 2, and is composed of a laminate material L which will be described later. be done.

A coolant such as water or antifreeze is used as the heat medium in this embodiment.

Here, although illustration is omitted, for example, a battery unit is used as the member to be cooled. This battery unit is an assembled battery in which a large number of secondary batteries such as lithium ion batteries are connected, or a plurality of assembled batteries are combined in series or in parallel. A combination of the heat exchanger 1 of the present embodiment and this battery unit constitutes a vehicle battery module.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 4(a) and 4(b), the casing 2 of this embodiment is made up of two laminated materials L. As shown in FIG. That is, one laminate material L is formed with an oblong concave portion 23 and an outer peripheral edge portion 21 , and the other laminate material L is overlapped so as to close the concave portion 23 . The outer peripheral edge portion 21 and the other laminate material L are integrally joined by thermocompression (thermal fusion), so that the casing 2 is configured in an oval shape.

Although the shape of the casing 2 is oval in this embodiment, the shape may be rectangular, elliptical, or square. Further, the shape of the casing 2 is not limited to these shapes, and the shape of the casing 2 may be any shape that allows the heat medium to flow through the inside thereof.

Further, the concave portion 23 is formed by press working such as deep drawing. Deep drawing is a processing method in which a single metal plate is squeezed (compressed) by applying pressure using a pair of male and female dies such as a punch and a die, and processed into a concave shape.

Moreover, although the casing 2 is formed by stacking two laminated materials L in this embodiment, it may be formed using only one laminated material L. That is, as shown in FIG. 6(a), the other end side of the laminate material L having the concave portion 23 formed on one end side is bent in the direction D shown in FIG. 6(b), and then folded as shown in FIG. , the casing 2 may be formed by overlapping the laminate material L so that both ends are aligned, and integrally joining the outer peripheral edge portion 21 on the one end side and the other end by thermocompression bonding (thermal fusion bonding). good.

The laminate material L is formed by arranging a resin coating layer on at least the outer surface side of a metal layer and integrating them in a laminated manner.

As shown in FIG. 5, the laminate material L of the present embodiment is composed of a three-layer laminate material in which coating layers 52 and 53 are arranged on both sides of a metal layer 51 and integrated in a laminated form. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 4(a), 4(b) and 5, an entrance 22 is formed to penetrate the laminate material L, and a flange member 7 is provided in the vicinity of the entrance 22. .

The metal forming the metal layer 51 of this embodiment is aluminum. The term "aluminum" is used to include not only pure aluminum but also aluminum alloys.

The thickness of the aluminum layer forming the metal layer 51 of this embodiment is preferably set to 8 μm to 500 μm, more preferably 20 μm to 200 μm.

The coating layers 52 and 53 are made of resin, and thermoplastic resin or thermosetting resin can be used. For example, polyamide resin, ionomer resin, high density polyethylene resin (hereinafter referred to as HDPE), low density polyethylene resin (LDPE), acrylic butadiene copolymer resin (ABS), polyvinyl chloride resin (PVC), polystyrene resin (PS), Polymethyl methacrylate resin (PMMA), polyphenylene sulfide resin (PPS), polyimide resin (PI) or polycarbonate resin (PC) can be used.

HDPE is used as the coating layers 52 and 53 of this embodiment. The coating layers 52 and 53 may be made of the same kind of resin, or may be made of different kinds of resin.

The inlet/outlet 22 is for allowing the heat medium to flow into and out of the casing 2 .

As shown in FIGS. 2, 4(a) and 4(b), the entrances 22 of this embodiment are provided at both ends of the upper surface of the casing 2. As shown in FIG.

The flange member 7 is for improving the attachment strength when the piping member 3 described later is attached to the laminate material L. As shown in FIG.

3A and 3B are enlarged views of the flange member 7 of the present embodiment, FIG. 3A being a perspective view, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view shown in FIG. As shown in these figures, the flange member 7 of this embodiment comprises a cylindrical upper flange member 72 and a substantially semicircular lower flange member 73, both flange members 72 and 73 having the same inner diameter 75. and are integrally molded so that their central axes C are aligned. Further, the lower flange member 73 is provided with three protrusions 74 protruding in the vertical direction.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the flange member 7 is arranged along the inner peripheral surfaces 61 and 62 of the laminate material L in the vicinity of the entrance 22, and the upper flange member 72 has a protruding portion 71 protruding outside the casing 2. are doing. The lower flange member 73 and the protrusion 74 are in contact with the inner surface of the bottom wall of the casing 2 .

The piping member 3 is for supplying and discharging a heat medium to and from the inside of the casing 2, and is made of a resin that transmits laser light. As the pipe member 3, the resins exemplified for the coating layers 52 and 53 can be used, and the melting point thereof is 100° C. to 200° C., and the laser beam transmittance is 10% or more.

Further, the piping member 3 may use a resin different from the resin used for the coating layer 52 constituting the outer layer of the laminate material L, but it is preferable to use the same resin as the resin used for the coating layer 52 . This is because the piping member 3 and the coating layer 52 are easier to weld together when the same resin is used.

Moreover, as the piping member 3, a header or a manifold that connects a plurality of casings 2 can be used. Furthermore, it is not limited to these, and may be connected to other external devices as long as the heat medium can be supplied to and discharged from the inside of the casing 2 .

The piping member 3 of this embodiment uses an HDPE header, which has a melting point of about 120° C. and a laser beam transmittance of 14%.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the piping member 3 of this embodiment has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and has an inlet 33 or an outlet 34 at its longitudinal end, and a hole corresponding to the inlet/outlet 22 of the casing 2. 32. The projecting portions 71 of the flange member 7 provided in each casing 2 are fitted into the holes 32. By fitting the projecting portions 71 into the holes 32, the piping member 3 and the laminate are assembled. A material L is abutted.

The inflow port 33 and the outflow port 34 are for supplying and discharging the heat medium to the piping member 3, respectively.

In this embodiment, the heat medium is supplied to the piping member 3 from the inlet 33 and discharged from the outlet 34 , but it may be supplied from the outlet 34 and discharged from the inlet 33 .

The holes 32 are for injecting the heat medium supplied to one of the piping members 3 into the casing 2 and discharging the heat medium inside the casing 2 to the other piping member 3 .

In this embodiment, the same number of three holes 32 as the casings 2 are formed in each piping member 3 .

The joint portion W is a portion where the piping member 3 and the laminate material L are brought into contact with each other, and the covering layer 52 constituting the outer layer of the laminate material L and the piping member 3 are joined to each other by welding.

The joint W of the present embodiment extends over the entire circumference of the entrance/exit 22 .

Next, a method for manufacturing the heat exchanger 1 of this embodiment will be described.

First, the covering layers 52 and 53 made of HDPE are laminated and integrated on both sides of a metal layer 51 made of aluminum to form a rectangular laminate material L. As shown in FIG. Two laminate materials L are prepared, and one of the laminate materials L is subjected to the above-described deep drawing process to form an oblong recess 23, and both ends of the bottom surface of the recess 23 are penetrated to form two entrances. 22 is formed.

A flange member 7 is provided along the inner peripheral surfaces 61 and 62 of the laminate material L in the vicinity of each entrance/exit 22 . At this time, the vicinity of the tip of the upper flange member 72 , that is, the protruding portion 71 protrudes outside the casing 2 . Next, the other laminate material L is arranged so as to close the recess 23, and the outer peripheral edge portion 21 of the one laminate material L and the other laminate material L are integrally joined by thermocompression bonding (thermal fusion bonding). , forming an oval-shaped casing 2 . Similarly, three identical casings 2 are prepared.

Next, as the piping member 3 , two HDPE rectangular parallelepiped headers having inlets 33 or outlets 34 at longitudinal ends and holes 32 corresponding to the inlets and outlets 22 of the casing 2 are prepared.

After these are prepared, the casings 2 are arranged so that the longitudinal directions thereof are parallel, and the inlets/outlets 22 of the casings 2 and the holes 32 of the piping members 3 are arranged to face each other. Then, the projecting portion 71 of the flange member 7 arranged in the laminate material L is fitted into the hole 32, the piping member 3 and the casing 2 are brought into contact with each other, and the piping member 3 and the casing 2 are pressure-bonded so that there is no gap. . At this time, the structure is such that the joint surface W is not bent.

Next, the contact surfaces of the piping member 3 and the casing 2 are irradiated with a laser beam P to join the piping member 3 and the casing 2 by laser welding. At this time, since the contact surface is hidden by the piping member 3 , the laser light P is irradiated through the piping member 3 .

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the laser light P is vertically irradiated from above the outer wall 35 of the piping member 3 toward the lower wall 36 . Since the piping member 3 is made of a resin that allows the laser light P to pass therethrough, the laser light P passes through the outer wall 35 and the lower wall 36 . At this time, the laser light P is not so much absorbed by the piping member 3, and the heat generation in the piping member 3 is suppressed to below the melting point. Since the coating layer 52 in contact with the lower wall 36 is also made of a resin that transmits the laser light P, the laser light P passes through the coating layer 52 and reaches the metal layer 51 .

Since the metal layer 51 is made of opaque aluminum, the laser light P cannot pass through the metal layer 51 and is absorbed by the metal layer 51, so that the peripheral portion of the metal layer 51 generates heat. This heat-generating portion is the heat-generating area S. As shown in FIG. Then, the resin in the vicinity of the interface constituting the lower wall 36 and the coating layer 52 in the heat generating region S is softened and flows by heating, and is welded and joined at the joining portion W. As shown in FIG.

Thus, the heat exchanger 1 of the present embodiment is manufactured by joining the coating layer 52 constituting the outer layer of the laminate material L and the piping member 3 to each other by laser welding.

Then, when the heat medium flows in from the inlet 33 of the piping member 3 , the heat medium flows inside the casing 2 and flows out from the outlet 34 of the piping member 3 . In this way, heat is exchanged between the heat medium circulated inside the casing 2 and the members to be cooled such as the above-mentioned battery unit arranged in contact with the surface of the casing 2, and the heat generated from the members to be cooled passes through the heat medium. emitted through As a result, a heat-generating body such as a vehicle battery device is cooled.

According to the heat exchanger 1 using the laminate material of this embodiment having the above configuration, the piping member 3 is made of a resin that transmits the laser light P, and the resin coating layer that constitutes the outer layer of the laminate material L Since 52 and the piping member 3 are in contact with each other and welded to each other, the piping member 3 can be attached in a stable state for a long period of time. Therefore, sufficient durability can be obtained, and the product value can be improved.

In addition, since the piping member 3 is made of a resin having a transmittance of the laser beam P of 10% or more, the energy of the laser beam P can be efficiently used for joining. Furthermore, since the coating layer 52 forming the outer layer of the laminate material L and the piping member 3 are made of the same material, they can be reliably joined.

Further, according to the method for manufacturing the heat exchanger 1 of the present embodiment, the laser light P is transmitted through the outer wall 35 and the lower wall 36 of the piping member 3 and the metal layer 51 absorbs the laser light P. Heat generation can be suppressed in a portion other than the heat generation region S in the heat generation region S, and in the heat generation region S, only the resin near the interface to be welded can be softened and flowed to generate heat up to a joining temperature. In this way, it is possible to selectively heat and weld the metal layer 51 by utilizing the absorption of the laser light P. FIG. Furthermore, it is possible to join even inside a complicated closed structure.

A heat exchanger using the laminate material of the present invention can be suitably used as a heat exchanger for cooling a battery unit.

1: heat exchanger 2: casing 22: inlet/outlet 3: piping member 32: hole 35: outer wall 36: lower wall 51: metal layers 52, 53: coating layers 61, 62: inner peripheral surface 7: flange member L: laminate material P: laser light W: junction

Claims (9)

A casing composed of a laminated material having a resin coating layer provided on at least the outer surface side of a metal layer is provided, and a heat medium flows into and out of the casing through an inlet and outlet passing through the laminated material. In a heat exchanger using a laminated material with
A piping member having a hole corresponding to the entrance and exit of the casing is provided outside the entrance and exit of the casing, the piping member is made of a resin that transmits laser light, the piping member and the laminate material are in contact with each other, and the outer layer of the laminate material is formed. A heat exchanger using a laminate material, characterized in that the coating layer and the piping member constituting the coating layer have joints joined to each other by welding. 2. A heat exchanger using a laminated material according to claim 1, wherein said joint extends around the entire periphery of said inlet and outlet. 3. A heat exchanger using a laminate material according to claim 1, wherein said piping member is made of resin having a transmittance of said laser beam of 10% or more. A heat exchanger using a laminated material according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said coating layer and said piping member constituting an outer layer of said laminated material are made of the same material. 5. A heat exchanger using a laminated material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a flange member for improving the strength of the joint is provided along the inner peripheral surface of the laminated material in the vicinity of the entrance. vessel. 6. A heat exchanger using a laminate material according to claim 5, having a fitting structure for determining a combination position of said piping member and said flange member. A vehicle-mounted battery module comprising a combination of a heat exchanger using the laminate material according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and a battery unit. A casing composed of a laminated material having a resin coating layer provided on at least the outer surface side of a metal layer is provided, and a heat medium flows into and out of the casing through an inlet and outlet passing through the laminated material. In a method for manufacturing a heat exchanger using a laminated material made into
A piping member having a hole corresponding to the entrance of the casing is provided outside the entrance of the casing, the piping member is made of a resin that transmits laser light, and the piping member and the laminate material are brought into contact with each other, and the piping member is attached. The laminate material is characterized in that the coating layer constituting the outer layer of the laminate material and the piping member are joined to each other by laser welding due to heat generated in the metal layer by the transmitted laser light. A method for manufacturing a heat exchanger. 9. The method of manufacturing a heat exchanger using a laminate material according to claim 8, wherein the laser beam passes through the outer wall and the lower wall of the piping member.

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