KR20060102667A - Secondary battery module - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide at least one battery assembly formed by stacking a plurality of unit cells, a BMS for managing each unit battery of the electrical assembly, and an output line of the battery assembly so as to increase safety. It provides a secondary battery module including a main relay operated in accordance with the signal, the sub relay is installed on the electrical connection line between the battery assembly and the battery assembly is operated in accordance with the signal of the BMS.

Battery assembly, main relay, sub relay, BMS

Description

Secondary Battery Module {SECONDARY BATTERY MODULE}

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a secondary battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a secondary battery, and more particularly, to a secondary battery module capable of increasing the safety of the battery module when the battery module is configured by connecting unit cells.

Recently, a high output secondary battery using a high energy density nonaqueous electrolyte has been developed, and a plurality of high output secondary batteries can be connected in series to be used for driving a motor such as an electric vehicle, which requires a large power. The secondary battery of a large capacity is constituted.

As described above, one large capacity secondary battery (hereinafter, referred to as a battery module for convenience of description throughout) is made of a plurality of secondary batteries (hereinafter, referred to as unit cells for convenience of explanation throughout the specification), which are each connected in series. The unit cell of the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate disposed between the separator, the case having a space portion in which the electrode assembly is built, the cap assembly coupled to the case and sealed, the cap assembly protrudes And a positive electrode and a negative electrode terminal electrically connected to the current collector of the positive electrode and the negative electrode plate provided in the electrode assembly.

In the case of the rectangular battery, each of the unit cells cross-aligns each of the unit cells such that the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal protruding from the top of the cap assembly alternate with the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal of the neighboring unit cell, and the threaded negative electrode terminal The battery module is constructed by connecting and installing a conductor between the anode terminals via a nut.

In this case, the battery module needs to manage the state of each unit battery as it constitutes one battery module by connecting several to many dozen unit cells.

For example, in the case of charging a battery module, each unit cell constituting the battery module is charged and discharged at different energy levels during repeated charging and use. Once a plurality of unit cells are connected in series, that is, after being discharged to different energy levels, and then charged again, the energy levels of the charged unit cells are also different. When charging and discharging are repeated several times in this state, some of the unit cells forming a group become overdischarged, and the potential of use is less than 0V. In this state, if the user discharges the unit cell continuously or continues to use it, these unit cells exhibit a so-called 'battery reversal' in which the potential changes.

When unit cells having different energy levels are charged in series, the other unit cells of a relatively high energy level send a charge completion signal before the low energy unit cells reach the state of charge, and the charger completes the charge. Done. In addition, in the case of including the over-discharged unit cell, the other unit cell reaches the overcharged state before the over-discharged unit cell becomes a fully charged state. That is, some unit cells of the plurality of unit cells repeat the incomplete charge-over-discharge or battery reversal, the remaining unit cells are repeated full charge or over-charge-incomplete discharge and eventually the unit cells are damaged.

Accordingly, the secondary battery module is generally provided with a battery management system (BMS) for managing the state of each unit battery in order to reduce damage to the unit battery, and a relay is installed to cut off current when the battery module is abnormal. .

Here, the conventional secondary battery module has a structure in which a relay is installed at the output side, so that the relay operates according to a signal of the controller in case of a battery module failure to cut off the current.

However, the conventional structure described above has a disadvantage in that the entire battery module is controlled by the main relay so that the safety of the module can not be secured in the case of a main relay failure.

In addition, when the battery module is abnormal, the current is cut off through the main relay, but this only causes the power supply to the unit cell in the battery module to be maintained.

In particular, in the case of the HEV battery module applied to the vehicle is a situation that requires a higher safety because there is a high possibility of abnormality in each unit battery as a number of unit cells are connected in series.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned necessity, and an object of the present invention is to provide a secondary battery module capable of increasing safety.

In order to achieve the above object, the battery module of the present invention includes at least one battery assembly formed by stacking a plurality of unit cells and a battery management system (BMS) for managing each unit battery of the electrical assembly. A main relay installed at an output line of the battery assembly to cut off current according to the signal of the BMS, and a sub relay installed on a connection line between the battery assembly and the battery assembly to cut off current according to the signal of the BMS; It includes a relay.

In the secondary battery module according to the present invention, the battery assembly may be arranged in pairs to face each other. In this case, the battery assembly may be disposed on the same plane inside the housing.

In the secondary battery module according to the present invention, the battery assembly is provided with a battery partition wall between the unit cell and the unit cell. In this case, it is preferable that each said unit battery consists of squares.

In this case, the sub relay is preferably disposed in a space formed between the battery assembly.

In addition, the sub relay has a structure that is operated separately from the main relay can be operated simultaneously with the main relay or separately according to the signal of the BMS.

Preferably, the sub relay is a relay for DC.

Here, the secondary battery module is a device for operating by using a motor such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), an electric vehicle (EV), a wireless cleaner, an electric bicycle, an electric scooter, and the like to drive energy for driving the motor of the device. Can be used as a circle.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a secondary battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to the drawings, the secondary battery module 10 according to the present embodiment is a battery module of a large capacity, the battery assembly 11 in which a plurality of unit cells 12 are continuously arranged at regular intervals, and the electrical assembly A BMS 20 for managing each unit cell of the main assembly 21 installed at an output line of the battery assembly 11 to block current according to a signal of the BMS 20, and the battery assembly 11. And a sub relay 30 installed on an electrical connection line between the battery assembly and blocking current according to the signal of the BMS 20.

The main relay 21 is installed at the outlet of the battery module 10 to operate when the power is cut according to the signal of the BMS 20 to block the output line.

In addition, the battery assembly 11 constituting the battery module 10 is disposed in a predetermined shape in a housing (not shown) for distributing air for temperature control to each of the unit cells 12.

In addition, each of the unit cells 12 includes an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate are disposed on both sides thereof with a separator interposed therebetween, and is configured as a secondary battery having a conventional structure for charging and discharging a predetermined amount of power. As mentioned above, the battery assembly 11 is defined as meaning a structure in which the unit cells 12 are arranged at regular intervals to form one row.

According to the present embodiment, the battery assembly 11 has the appearance of each unit cell 12 having a substantially rectangular shape (a wide width rectangle having a pair of long sides and a pair of short sides in this embodiment). It is preferable to be arranged to stand upright.

Specifically, the battery assembly 11 is provided with at least one, in this embodiment, as shown in the figure two are arranged in a pair and spaced apart from each other on the same plane. The reason for disposing the battery assembly 11 on the same plane inside the housing 20 is to minimize the overall height of the battery module 10.

The battery assembly 11 is provided with a battery partition 13 between each unit cell 12 and the outermost unit cell 12, the battery partition 13 is the interval between the unit cells 12 While maintaining the constant, the temperature control air is circulated, and the function of supporting the side surface of each unit cell 12 is performed.

As mentioned above, since the battery assemblies 11 are arranged side by side at intervals, a space 40 through which a cooling medium flows is formed between the two battery assemblies 11, and the auxiliary relay is the two battery assemblies ( 11) is installed in the space 40 made between.

Accordingly, it is not necessary to separately prepare a space occupied by the sub relay 30 in the module 10 and can be applied to the existing battery module without changing the structure.

Here, the sub relay 30 is provided as a DC relay on a connection line for electrically connecting the terminals of the unit cells 12 of the two battery assemblies 11. That is, a terminal (anode terminal or negative electrode terminal) provided in the unit battery 12 of one battery assembly 11 and a terminal (cathode terminal or positive electrode terminal) provided in the unit battery of the other battery assembly mediate the sub relay 30. Is electrically connected to the

In addition, the sub relay 30 is electrically connected to the BMS 20 and controlled according to the signal of the BMS 20 to electrically disconnect the connection line between the terminals of the two battery assemblies 11.

In this case, the sub relay 30 is configured to operate separately from the main relay 21 so that the sub relay 30 may operate simultaneously with the main relay 21 or individually according to the signal of the BMS 20.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention will be described.

As the sub relay 30 is installed between the battery assembly 11 and the battery assembly 11 constituting the battery module 10, the BMS 20 operates the sub relay 30 when necessary, such as at startup. The holding voltage in (10) can be dropped to half or less.

When the sub relay 30 is operated according to the signal of the BMS 20 at the start-up, the electrical connection between the battery assembly 11 and the battery assembly is cut off so that no current flows to one battery assembly. Accordingly, since the voltage is maintained only in one battery assembly, the voltage is maintained in both battery assemblies in the related art, thereby bringing the effect of dropping the voltage in half.

In addition, when an abnormal signal is generated in the battery module 10, the BMS 20 detects this and operates the main relay 21 or the sub relay 30 together with the main relay 21.

Therefore, the main relay 21 is cut off to block the flow of current. When the main relay 21 is broken and does not operate properly, the sub relay 30 is operated according to the battery assembly 11 and the battery. The connection line for electrically connecting the assembly is cut off so that the battery module 10 can be turned off in the same manner as when the main relay 21 is cut off.

Of course, unlike the above, the main relay 21 may be operated by the BMS 20 first, and if the main relay 21 does not operate due to a failure, the sub relay 30 may be operated to perform a desired task.

The battery module of the present invention described above can be effectively used as a battery for HEV requiring high output / large capacity, but its use is not necessarily limited to HEV.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the claims and the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings. Naturally, it belongs to the range of.

As described above, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the temperature of the battery module can be actively controlled through the temperature adjusting method of the thermoelectric element, and there is an advantage in that the temperature can be easily adjusted.

In addition, the simple structure can be easily applied to both air cooling and vehicle air conditioning systems.

Claims (9)

At least one battery assembly formed by stacking a plurality of unit cells; BMS for managing each unit cell of the electrical assembly, A main relay installed at an output line of the battery assembly and operated according to a signal of the BMS; A sub relay installed on an electrical connection line between the battery assembly and the battery assembly and operated according to a signal of the BMS; Secondary battery module comprising a. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the battery assembly is disposed in pair to face each other. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the battery assembly is disposed on the same plane inside a housing forming a module. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the battery assembly is provided with a battery partition wall between the unit cell and the unit cell. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the sub relay is disposed in a space formed between the battery assemblies. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the sub relay is for DC. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the unit battery has a rectangular shape. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the unit cell has a cylindrical shape. The secondary battery module of claim 1, wherein the battery module is for driving a motor.

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