JPH10310005A - Cover structure of battery carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To uniformly and efficiently cool a plurality of batteries by setting a ventilation duct, which takes in cooling air from the outside and blows it off toward the batteries, in a proper manner of depending only on the shape of a cover. SOLUTION: A plurality of batteries Bt are stored in a carrier main body 2 of a battery carrier 1 in such a manner that the batteries Bt are arranged side by side at an prescribed interval. The inside of a cover 3 covering the upper part of the carrier main body 2 is formed into an hollow shape so that the inside becomes a ventilation duct 4. A fan 5, which sends the air into the ventilation duct 4, is provided on one end side of the cover 3, while an inner lid part 35 of the cover 3 is provided with air blow off holes 37a to 37d, which blow off the air toward each battery Bt.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a cover structure for a battery carrier used in an electric vehicle or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a battery carrier used in an electric vehicle or the like is stored with a plurality of batteries arranged side by side at predetermined intervals in a carrier body formed in a box shape with an open top, and The upper part of the carrier body is covered with a cover to prevent electric leakage and electric shock. Then, in order to prevent overheating during charging and discharging of the battery, the battery is generally cooled by blowing air into the battery carrier using a fan or a duct.

In order to cool the above-mentioned battery efficiently with a relatively simple configuration, the present inventor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
No. 101297 proposed a battery carrier cover in which a predetermined ventilation path is formed between the inner surface of the battery carrier cover and the upper surface of the battery. That is, a rectifying section is provided in the ventilation path, and a series of rectifying, contracting, and diffusing actions are given to cooling air (cooling air) sent to the upper part of the battery.

[0004]

However, the upper surface of the battery is not flat, but has irregularities due to the presence of terminals. There are also sensors for monitoring the temperature in the electrical wiring (harness) connected to the terminals and in the battery carrier.
Therefore, when designing the shape of the ventilation path, we want to ensure that the required amount of cooling air is distributed evenly to all the batteries in the battery carrier. Therefore, the influence of these obstacles cannot be eliminated only by devising the uneven shape inside the cover, which hinders further improvement in cooling efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and a plurality of ventilation paths for cooling air taken in from outside to be blown out toward a battery can be set in an appropriate shape. An object is to allow a battery to be cooled uniformly and efficiently.

[0006]

In order to solve this problem, the following cover structure for a battery carrier was created. That is, a first aspect of the present invention is a battery carrier having a carrier body for storing a plurality of batteries arranged side by side at predetermined intervals and a cover for covering an upper portion of the carrier body, wherein the cover is The inside is formed in a hollow shape that becomes a ventilation path, and there are provided blowing means for sending outside air to the ventilation path in the cover, and blowing means for blowing the air sent to the ventilation path at a predetermined position. It is characterized by having been done.

In the above cover structure, the air blown into the cover by the blowing means flows through the ventilation path in the cover, and then blows out from a predetermined position by the blowing means. That is,
Since the inside of the cover formed into a hollow shape is a ventilation path, the shape of the ventilation path and the setting position of the blowing means are determined only by the shape of the cover alone, and the air flow flowing through the ventilation path is the terminal of the battery, It is not obstructed by harnesses, sensors, etc. That is, since the ventilation path until the air flows near the battery can be determined only by the shape of the cover, the ventilation path can be substantially freely designed so that the air flows appropriately.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the battery carrier cover structure according to the first aspect, the blowing means is a plurality of air outlets formed inside the cover, and the air outlets are provided. Is characterized in that a port located downstream of the ventilation path is larger than a port located upstream of the ventilation path.

In the above cover structure, the air blown into the cover by the blowing means blows out from the air outlet toward the corresponding battery. In addition, since the air outlets are set so that the opening gradually increases from the upstream to the downstream of the ventilation path, a required amount of air is supplied to each battery, and especially, the downstream battery is However, sufficient cooling air is directly supplied.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cover structure for a battery carrier according to the second aspect, the ventilation path is provided with a guide wall for guiding air sent into the ventilation path to the air outlet. It is characterized by the following.

In the above cover structure, the air flows quickly and efficiently toward the air outlet by the guide wall provided in the cover. The guide wall also functions as a reinforcing rib of the cover.

[0012]

Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of a battery carrier showing a state in which a battery is stored, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. As shown in the figures, a battery carrier 1 mounted on an electric vehicle includes a carrier body 2 for storing a plurality of batteries Bt, and a cover 3 for covering an upper portion of the carrier body 2.

The carrier main body 2 is made of, for example, a reinforced resin in which glass fiber is mixed with a resin. It is formed in the shape of a box with a bottom and a substantially square shape and an open top. A grid-like ridge 22 is provided on the bottom 21 of the carrier body 2 so that the battery Bt can be fitted therein.
4 are formed. The plurality of batteries Bt fitted in the grid formed by the ridges 22 project from the flange portion 24 by a predetermined height, and are fixed to the carrier body 2 by pressing members (not shown). I have.

The cover 3 is formed, for example, by blow molding a resin into a hollow shape, has a substantially square planar shape similar to the carrier body 2, and is formed as a double, shallow-bottom lid as a whole. I have. An outer wall 33 and a flange 2 of the carrier body 2 are provided around the outer periphery of the outer lid 31 of the cover 3.
4 and a flange portion 34 that overlaps with each other. Further, an inner lid portion 35 is provided inside the outer lid portion 31 and an inner wall 36 is provided inside the outer wall portion 33 to form a hollow portion. Is the ventilation path 4.

The left side wall 33a of the outer side wall 33 has four through holes 33b formed therein.
Fans 5 as air blowing means are respectively attached thereto, and external air is blown into the air passage 4. On the other hand, the air outlets 37 (37a, 37b, 37c,
37d) are formed in three rows, and the air outlets in each row are arranged in the order of 37a to 37d as the distance from the fan 5 increases.
That is, the opening area is set to increase from the upstream to the downstream of the ventilation path 4. In this example, the amount of air (air volume) when the air blown by the fan 5 is blown out from each air outlet 37 is set to be substantially the same at any outlet. The blowing means in the present invention is constituted by the above air outlet.

Although the illustration of the exhaust port is omitted in this example, it is assumed that the exhaust port is provided near the flange portion 24 at a side wall portion of the outer wall 23 of the carrier body 2 far from the fan 5. . In addition, the exhaust port may be provided on the cover 3 side, and the position and the shape may be appropriately set.

Since the cover structure of the battery carrier 1 of the present embodiment is constructed as described above, the air introduced from the fan 5 while the vehicle is running or the battery is being charged is indicated by an arrow shown in FIG. Is blown from the air outlet 37 toward each battery Bt through the ventilation path 4 as described above. Since the ventilation path 4 is provided in the cover 3 and there are no obstacles such as terminals, harnesses, and sensors of the battery Bt in the ventilation path 4, it is necessary to reliably supply a required amount of air to each battery Bt. And cooling air can be supplied directly to the battery Bt on the downstream side. Moreover, since the openings of the air outlets 37 are gradually increased from the upstream to the downstream of the ventilation passage 4, the amount of air (the amount of air) flowing toward each battery Bt can be made substantially the same. In particular, the cooling efficiency of the downstream battery Bt is improved. The air (cooling air) flowing along each battery Bt is then
It is discharged from an exhaust port (not shown).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the battery carrier, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. As shown in both figures, a battery carrier 100 includes a carrier body 2 similar to that of the above-described first embodiment, and the carrier body 2.
And a cover 103 for covering the upper part of the camera.

The outer shape of the cover 103 is the same as that of the cover 3 described above.
And a flange portion 134 that overlaps with the flange portion 24 of the carrier main body 2 and is formed as a double, shallow-bottom lid as a whole. And the outer lid part 131
The inner lid part 135 is inside the outer wall 133 and the inner wall 1 is inside the outer wall 133.
36 is provided, and the hollow portion of the cover 103 serves as a ventilation path 104.

In the left side wall 133a of the outer wall 133, four through-holes 133b are formed, and a fan 5 as a blower is attached to the through-hole 133b. To be sent to. On the other hand, the battery B adjacent to the
air outlet 137 just above the intersection where the gap between
(137a, 137b) are formed. Further, in the ventilation path 104, as shown in FIG.
A rib 138 is provided to connect with the rib 35. This rib 1
Reference numeral 38 denotes a guide wall according to the present invention, which has a curved shape so as to have a rectifying effect of smoothly flowing the air sent into the ventilation passage 104 to the air outlet 137, and is disposed diagonally before the air outlet 137. Have been. The rib 138
The reinforcing ribs increase the rigidity of the cover 103.

Since the cover structure of the battery carrier 100 of the present embodiment is constructed as described above, the fan 5
The air introduced into the ventilation passage 104 of the cover 103 is
As shown by arrows in FIGS. 3 and 4, air is blown from the air outlets 137a and 137b through the ventilation passage 104 toward the gap between the batteries Bt. At this time, since there is no obstacle such as a terminal of the battery Bt, a harness, a sensor, and the like in the ventilation path 104 as in the first embodiment, the ventilation is not obstructed, and the required amount of air is reliably distributed. Can be. Moreover, the air sent into the ventilation passage 104 is guided to the air outlet 137 by the rib 138 and flows smoothly. In addition, since each air outlet 137 blows air (cooling air) toward a gap between the adjacent batteries Bt, the cooling air easily flows near the lower part of each battery Bt, and the cooling efficiency is good.

In the cover structure of the above embodiment,
The flow of air can be appropriately changed depending on the area or shape of the openings of the air outlets 37 and 137, the shape of the rib 138, or the presence or absence of the rib. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be carried out in various modified forms based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, in addition to the above-described embodiments.

[0023]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ventilation passage until the cooling air taken in from the outside is blown out toward the battery is properly secured only by the shape of the cover alone. Can be uniformly and efficiently cooled. According to the second aspect, the air outlet is arranged so that the opening gradually increases from the upstream to the downstream of the ventilation path, so that a required amount of air can be supplied to each battery. Since sufficient cooling air can be directly supplied to the battery on the downstream side, the cooling efficiency is improved. Further, according to the third aspect, the air in the ventilation passage is guided to the air outlet by the guide wall and flows smoothly, which can further contribute to improvement in cooling efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken plan view of a battery carrier according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of a battery carrier according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a guide wall according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Battery carrier 2 Carrier body 3 Cover 4 Ventilation path 5 Fan 37 (37a-37d) Air outlet 138 Rib (guide wall) Bt Battery

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A battery carrier comprising: a carrier body for storing a plurality of batteries arranged side by side at predetermined intervals; and a cover for covering an upper portion of the carrier body, wherein the cover has a ventilation hole. It is formed in a hollow shape to be a path, and is provided with blowing means for sending external air to a ventilation path in the cover, and blowing means for blowing air supplied to the ventilation path at a predetermined position. A cover structure for a battery carrier. 2. The cover structure for a battery carrier according to claim 1, wherein said blowing means is a plurality of air outlets formed inside said cover, and said air outlets are connected to said air passage. A cover structure for a battery carrier, wherein an opening located downstream is larger than an opening located upstream. 3. The battery carrier cover structure according to claim 2, wherein the ventilation path is provided with a guide wall for guiding air sent into the ventilation path to the air outlet. Carrier cover structure.