JPH0373106B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a water replenishing device that automatically replenishes a shortage of electrolyte in a battery.

Electric vehicles, electric vehicles, or hybrid vehicles are usually equipped with multiple batteries, which are connected in a closed circuit and used as a drive source, but the batteries must be charged after the vehicle has been running for a certain period of time. It has become something that cannot be done. However, during charging, hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are generated due to water electrolysis, especially at the end of charging, and this causes the electrolyte to decrease, so the battery must be refilled frequently. This is causing some inconvenience. On the other hand, the battery is generally equipped with a bulk water replenishment system for quantitative water replenishment, as well as an explosion-proof device to prevent explosions caused by generated hydrogen gas, but these devices are each equipped with independent systems. Because of this, the area around the battery has become complicated.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention realizes a so-called maintenance-free battery that does not require external water replenishment each time the battery is charged, and a battery water replenishing device that can simplify the configuration around the battery. The purpose is to provide

For this reason, we have created a battery refilling system that captures the hydrogen and oxygen gases generated by water decomposition and reduces them to water using a catalyst, stores this water, and circulates the required amount to the refilling line when needed. did. Its specific configuration is characterized by a gas outlet at the top, a water outlet connected to one end of the battery batch water replenishment device at the bottom, and a water outlet connected to the other end of the batch water replenishment device between the two outlets. a reservoir tank having respective inlets for gas and water; a catalyst tank for combining hydrogen and oxygen disposed on the upper part of the reservoir tank facing the outlet of the gas; and a catalyst tank disposed outside the catalyst tank. an explosion-proof device for discharging the gas that has passed through the catalyst tank into the atmosphere; a pressure feeding means for forcibly feeding the water stored in the reservoir tank to one end of the bulk water replenishment device through the water outlet; A member forming a groove provided on the inner surface of the side wall of the reservoir tank to receive water flowing in from the inlet, a battery side sensor for detecting the liquid level height in the battery, and a tank side sensor for detecting the water level in the groove. The present invention includes a sensor, and a control means for operating the pressure feeding means in response to a signal from the battery side sensor and stopping operation of the pressure feeding means in response to a signal from the sensor.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention. In the figure, 1 is a reservoir tank, 2
3 is the inner lid provided on the top of the reservoir tank 1;
An upper lid is provided with an appropriate interval between it and an inner lid 2, and water 4 for refilling, which will be described later, is stored in the reservoir tank 1. There is an opening 5 in the center of the inner lid 2, and a saucer 7 having a first ventilation hole 6 in the center is provided on the lower side of the inner lid 2 so as to cover the opening 5.
is provided. 8 is a pump for pressure feeding water replenishment installed on the bottom of the reservoir tank 1;
A motor 1 is installed on the upper surface of the upper lid 3 via a shaft 9 that passes through the first ventilation hole 6 and extends upward.
Connected to 0. Here, the shaft 9 is the sealing material 11
The pump 8 and shaft 9 are inserted into the upper lid 3 through the holder to prevent gas from leaking to the outside, and the pump 8 and shaft 9 are made of a material with excellent corrosion resistance such as synthetic resin.

In addition, a groove 1 is provided between the inner side of the middle part of the reservoir tank 1 in the height direction and the side wall of the reservoir tank 1.
A ring-shaped chevron-shaped member 12 forming a ring 3 is fixedly installed. An inlet 14 looking into the groove 13 is provided on the side wall of the reservoir tank 1, and an outlet 15 is provided near the bottom thereof. A first pipe 16 and a second pipe 17 are attached to each of the inlet 14 and the outlet 15, which are connected to a battery water replenishment line, which will be described later, and one end of the second pipe 17 is also connected to the pump 8. It's communicating.

On the other hand, a ring-shaped catalyst holder 18 filled with a catalyst 19 such as platinum is installed between the inner lid 2 and the upper lid 3, and a ring-shaped explosion-proof device 20 is further installed outside of the ring-shaped catalyst holder 18. has been done.

Note that 21 is a first sensor that detects the water level in the reservoir tank 1, 22 is a second sensor that detects the water level in the groove 13, and 23 is a water hole provided in the inner lid 2 below the catalyst holder 18. , 24 is a second ventilation hole provided in the upper lid 3, and 25 is a cover for the motor 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the water replenishing device having the above structure is incorporated into a series of battery water replenishing lines. In FIG. 2, 30 is a water replenishing device according to the present invention, 31, 31... are a plurality of batteries installed in, for example, an electric vehicle, and 32, 32... are fixed quantity units installed in each of the batteries 31, 31... A conventionally known batch water replenishment device for water replenishment, 33
is a control device that controls the water replenishment line and 16,1
Reference numeral 7 designates the first and second pipes that interconnect the water refilling device 30 and the batteries 32, 32, . . . .

With the configuration and installation mode of the water refilling device 30 described above, when hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are generated by electrolysis of water when charging the batteries 31, 31, etc., these mixed gases are As shown, the gas is introduced into the reservoir tank 1 through the first pipe 16, and further into the catalyst 19 through the first vent hole 6 provided in the saucer 7. Then, due to the action of the catalyst 19, hydrogen gas and oxygen gas recombine to form water, and the generated water is
As shown by solid arrows in FIG. 1, water drips from the water hole 23 provided in the inner lid 2 onto the saucer 7 at any time, and further drops to the bottom of the reservoir tank 1 through the first ventilation hole 6. Note that the gas that is generated in large quantities and cannot be completely processed by the catalyst 19 is released into the atmosphere from the second vent hole 24 after passing through the explosion-proof device 20 .

Distilled water is stored in advance in the reservoir tank 1, and water generated by recombining the hydrogen gas and oxygen gas is added to this distilled water. On the other hand, the battery liquid decreases due to the generation of the gas, and this decrease in battery liquid is detected by a liquid level sensor (not shown) separately provided in each battery 31, 31... Based on the above, a motor drive signal is output from the control device 33, and the motor 10 is thereby driven to operate the pump 8. Due to the operation of pump 8,
The water 4 in the reservoir tank 1 is fed under pressure to the second pipe 17 as shown by the solid arrow in FIG. . And each batch 3
1, 31... are sufficiently replenished, the excess water 4 is returned from the first pipe 16 into the reservoir tank 1, but is temporarily stored in the groove 13 in the reservoir tank 1, and the stored water is The second sensor (tank side sensor) 22 detects the water level, and this signal is sent to the control device 33, which immediately stops the motor 10 and therefore the pump 8. The upper limit water level in the groove 13 is maintained at a constant level by a siphon (not shown) or a small hole provided in the side wall of the chevron-shaped member 12. Also, the first sensor 21
This is used to detect, for example, that a crack has occurred in the reservoir tank 1 and that the water 4 has decreased abnormally. In this way, hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are recombined and reduced to water, which is then circulated and recycled, so there is no need to replenish water from outside, or only a small amount of water can be refilled. This can be done at long intervals, and so-called maintenance-free or nearly maintenance-free maintenance can be achieved.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the invention. In this figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the reservoir tank 1
A linear motor 40 is installed below the reservoir tank 1, and a reciprocating pump 41 driven by the linear motor 40 is installed at the bottom of the reservoir tank 1. The reservoir tank 1 is covered with a lid 42 having an opening 42' in the center, and a catalyst holder 18 filled with the catalyst 19 is mounted on the lid 42 so as to cover the opening 42'. There is. A cover 43 is also installed on the lid 42 so as to surround the catalyst holder 18, and an explosion-proof device 20 is installed on the top of this cover.
are placed. In this way, in the second embodiment, the linear motor 40 and the reciprocating pump 41 are used as the pump/motor for pumping the water 4 in the reservoir tank 1 to the battery. It is no longer necessary to provide the hollow shaft 9 in the reservoir tank 1, and there is also no need to use annular objects as the catalyst holder 18 and the explosion-proof device 20, and the entire device can be designed to be more compact. It's summery. Here, 44 is a heater, which is used, for example, to prevent the water 4 from freezing when used in a cold region. Although the heater was not shown in the first embodiment, it is a matter of course that it may be installed as needed.

Therefore, the operation of the second embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

As explained above in detail, the battery water replenishment device according to the present invention consolidates the catalyst tank and the explosion-proof device on one tank, creates a closed loop with the battery, and captures the gas generated by the battery. This water is reduced to water by a catalyst, and this water is stored in a reservoir tank and forcedly returned to the battery in the required amount when needed. The surrounding structure is simple, which greatly contributes to the operation of vehicles such as electric vehicles that use batteries as a drive source.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing a battery replenishment line using the device of the first embodiment, and FIG.
It is a sectional view showing an example. 1...Reservoir tank, 12...Inflow port, 13
...Outlet, 18...Catalyst holder, 19...Catalyst, 19...Explosion prevention device, 21, 22...Sensor,
8...Pump, 10...Motor, 40...Linear motor, 41...Reciprocating pump.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A gas and water flow outlet with a gas outlet at the top, a water outlet connected to one end of the battery batch water replenishment device at the bottom, and a gas and water flow a reservoir tank each having an inlet; a catalyst tank for combining hydrogen and oxygen disposed at the upper part of the reservoir tank facing the gas outlet; and a catalyst tank disposed outside the catalyst tank and passing through the catalyst tank. an explosion-proof device for releasing the gas into the atmosphere; a pressure feeding means for forcibly feeding the water stored in the reservoir tank to one end of the bulk water replenishment device through the water outlet; and a pressure feeding means provided on the inner surface of the side wall of the reservoir tank. a member forming a groove for receiving water flowing in from the inlet, a battery side sensor for detecting the liquid level height in the battery, a tank side sensor for detecting the water level in the groove, and the battery side sensor. A battery water replenishing device characterized by comprising: control means for activating the pressure feeding means in response to a signal from the sensor and stopping operation of the pressure feeding means in response to a signal from the sensor.