KR20230104440A - Battery case for electric vehicle with improved protection function of battery - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a battery case for electric vehicles, comprising: a main body having an outer wall protruding upward along a side surface and forming an arbitrary accommodation space inside the outer wall; Partition walls protruding upward from the bottom surface of the main body to partition the accommodation space at preset intervals; a first reinforcing member made of at least one reinforcing member coupled along an outer wall of the main body; a second reinforcing member made of at least one reinforcing member coupled along the partition wall; a battery pack accommodated in a plurality of partition spaces formed by the first reinforcing member and the second reinforcing member, and being covered by the first and second reinforcing members, to which a pressure buffered against an external shock is primarily applied; and a restoring force by elasticity, interposed between the battery pack and at least one of the first reinforcing member and the second reinforcing member facing the battery pack so that a pressure secondarily buffered against an external shock is applied to the battery pack. Characterized in that it comprises a buffer member to,
There is an effect of achieving more enhanced durability by protecting the battery pack while minimizing damage to the battery pack.

Description

Battery case for electric vehicles with improved battery protection {BATTERY CASE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE WITH IMPROVED PROTECTION FUNCTION OF BATTERY}

The present invention provides improved durability by protecting the battery pack while minimizing damage to the battery pack through a configuration that alleviates the impact applied to the battery pack by using the restoring force of the elastic body even when the side member is damaged due to a side collision accident. It relates to a battery case for an electric vehicle with improved battery protection that can be achieved.

In general, automobiles mainly use fossil fuels such as petroleum such as gasoline and diesel or natural gas such as LPG and LNG.

However, fossil fuels are a resource with limited reserves and are depleted over time, and various exhaust gases that pollute the atmospheric environment are emitted during the use process, as well as large amounts of carbon dioxide, which is a major cause of global warming. there was

As an alternative to solving these problems, an electric vehicle that moves electricity as an energy source has been proposed, and the electric vehicle includes a battery powered EV, a fuel cell EV using a fuel cell as an electric motor, and an electric motor. A hybrid electric vehicle (hybrid EV), which uses both an engine and an engine, is being developed.

Here, the battery pack applied to the electric vehicle is configured in a form in which a plurality of modules, which are aggregates of secondary battery cells, are installed inside. It can lead to an explosion and cause serious accidents to the driver and passengers.

Therefore, it is important for the battery case to have anti-collision properties in order to protect the battery pack therein, and to reinforce stiffness against various vibrations induced from the road surface during driving of the vehicle.

To this end, referring to FIG. 1, the battery case prepares for a collision accident with a vehicle body collision reinforcing material and a battery pack self-reinforcing material.

For example, the upper cover member and the lower base member responsible for the outer surface of the battery case according to the prior art are mainly manufactured by press molding, and a plurality of reinforcing materials are added to the inside and outside of the battery case to reinforce the battery case. is configured to satisfy

At this time, the reinforcing materials must satisfy both functions of protecting the battery pack from explosion by maintaining its shape while absorbing external impact.

In particular, when a front-to-back collision occurs in an electric vehicle, the impact is mitigated by the vehicle's bumper and body frame, while in the case of a lateral collision, the impact is directly transmitted to the battery pack, which can damage the battery and cause an explosion accident. .

In addition, referring to FIG. 2, even if the side member 11 made of a reinforcing material is configured as in (a), in the case of primary damage to the side member 11 due to a side collision in the direction of the arrow in (b) For example, as an impact is indirectly transmitted to the battery pack 12 by the damaged side member 11, there is a risk of secondary damage to the battery.

Therefore, there is a need to develop a technology capable of maintaining the shape of the battery pack by reinforcing the rigidity of the battery case, in particular, the lateral rigidity, and assisting a battery case reinforcing material that prevents explosion to achieve an improved protection function for the battery pack. .

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 10-1816912 (Title of Invention: Battery Case for Electric Vehicle and Manufacturing Method Thereof)

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, even if the first reinforcing member is damaged due to a side collision accident, the configuration of a buffer member that alleviates the impact applied to the battery pack by using the restoring force of the elastic body An object of the present invention is to provide a battery case for an electric vehicle with improved battery protection function capable of achieving improved durability by protecting the battery pack while minimizing damage to the battery pack through the use of the present invention.

However, the technical problem to be achieved in the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other technical problems not mentioned will become clear to those skilled in the art from the description below. You will be able to understand.

In the battery case exclusively for electric vehicles according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is a technical means for achieving the above object, an outer wall protruding upward along a side surface is formed, and an arbitrary accommodation space is formed inside the outer wall. body to do; Partition walls protruding upward from the lower surface of the main body to partition the accommodation space at preset intervals; a first reinforcing member made of at least one reinforcing member coupled along an outer wall of the main body; a second reinforcing member made of at least one reinforcing member coupled along the partition wall; a battery pack accommodated in a plurality of partition spaces formed by the first reinforcing member and the second reinforcing member, and being covered by the first and second reinforcing members, to which a pressure buffered against an external shock is primarily applied; and a restoring force by elasticity, so that pressure secondarily buffered against an external impact is applied to the battery pack while being interposed between the battery pack and at least one of the first reinforcing member and the second reinforcing member facing the battery pack. It may include a buffer member that does.

In addition, the buffer member extends to have an arbitrary length in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction while a hollow is formed therein, and one side of the longitudinal direction is open, and the other side is the battery pack, the first and second reinforcement members. A housing installed to face each other on any one of the members; a spring made of an elastic material and accommodated in the housing so as to act as a restoring force in the longitudinal direction of the housing; And a part is inserted into one open side of the housing, and an end of the inserted part is coupled to the spring, and when an external impact occurs, the spring is pressed while flowing along the longitudinal direction of the housing by the restoring force of the spring. It may include a pressure rod that does.

In addition, the compartment space formed by the first and second reinforcing members may be formed in a quadrangular shape, and a total of four buffer members, one each near each corner of the quadrangular compartment space, is provided in any of the battery packs. Two of each are disposed side by side on both sides, and one of the housing and the pressure rod is closely supported by the battery pack, and the other is closely supported by at least one of the first and second reinforcing members to prevent external shock. When this occurs, the shock can be dispersed while allowing the battery pack to have fluidity in the longitudinal direction of the housing.

In addition, it is provided on the main body and the shock absorbing member to further include a separation preventing member for preventing the housing from being separated from the main body while ensuring that the housing flows along with the pressing rod in the longitudinal direction by an external impact. can

In addition, the departure prevention member, a guide groove formed along the longitudinal direction of the housing on the bottom surface of the main body; and a guider protruding from the lower surface of the housing facing the guide groove, detachably coupled to the guide groove, and moving along the guide groove when an external impact occurs.

A battery case for an electric vehicle with improved battery protection function according to the present invention, even if the first reinforcing member is damaged due to a side collision accident, through the configuration of a buffer member that alleviates the impact applied to the battery pack by using the restoring force of the elastic body. There is an effect of achieving more enhanced durability by protecting the battery pack while minimizing damage to the battery pack.

In addition, according to the present invention, a relatively low unit price and mass production process can be expected through the configuration of the buffer member made of an easier structural design, and when the protective function of the buffer member is used, while preventing separation from the main body, the buffer member It is possible to achieve higher use reliability and ease of replacement through the configuration of the separation preventing member that is detachable from the main body when the durability of the is exhausted.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the durability of the buffer member itself while dispersing external shock to the battery pack more efficiently through the arrangement structure of the buffer member, and a notification member that detects damage to the buffer member and informs visually. Through this, there is an advantage in that it is possible to more easily recognize the need for replacement of the corresponding buffer member and to infer damage to the battery pack located in the corresponding buffer member.

However, the effects obtainable in the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. You will be able to.

1 is an image showing an actual use example of a battery case for an electric vehicle according to the prior art.
Figure 2 is a 3D image showing an example of damage due to side collision with the battery case according to Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a battery case for an electric vehicle with improved battery protection function according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a partially enlarged view showing the action of the shock absorbing member of the battery case according to FIG. 3;
Figure 5 is a view showing the configuration of the buffer member, separation prevention member and notification member of the battery case according to Figure 3;

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. However, since the description of the present invention is only an embodiment for structural or functional description, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described in the text. That is, since the embodiment can be changed in various ways and can have various forms, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention includes equivalents capable of realizing the technical idea. In addition, since the object or effect presented in the present invention does not mean that a specific embodiment should include all of them or only such effects, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto.

The meaning of terms described in the present invention should be understood as follows.

Terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish one component from another, and the scope of rights should not be limited by these terms. For example, a first element may be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element may be termed a first element. It should be understood that when an element is referred to as “connected” to another element, it may be directly connected to the other element, but other elements may exist in the middle. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” to another element, it should be understood that no intervening elements exist. Meanwhile, other expressions describing the relationship between components, such as “between” and “immediately between” or “adjacent to” and “directly adjacent to” should be interpreted similarly.

Singular expressions should be understood to include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, and terms such as “comprise” or “having” refer to a described feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or It should be understood that it is intended to indicate that a combination exists, and does not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

All terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs, unless defined otherwise. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as consistent with meanings in the context of related art, and cannot be interpreted as having ideal or excessively formal meanings unless explicitly defined in the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a battery case for an electric vehicle with improved battery protection function according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a partially enlarged view showing the action of the buffer member of the battery case according to Figure 3 And, Figure 5 is a view showing the configuration of the buffer member, separation prevention member and notification member of the battery case according to Figure 3.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the battery case 100 for an electric vehicle with improved battery protection function according to the present invention is a battery case exclusively for an electric vehicle, including a main body 110, a partition wall 120, a first It may be configured to include a reinforcing member 130, a second reinforcing member 140, a battery pack 150, a buffer member 160, a departure prevention member 170, and a notification member 180.

The main body 110 is a body supporting an overall configuration to be described later, and may be made of a rigid aluminum alloy, but is not limited thereto.

According to the present invention, the main body 110 is preferably configured to have an outer wall protruding upward along the side surface, and to form an arbitrary accommodation space inside the outer wall.

In addition, a groove may be provided on the bottom surface of the main body 110 for the configuration of the separation preventing member 170 to be described later, which will be described in more detail in the description of the separation preventing member 170.

The partition wall 120 is a wall that distributes the accommodating space for installation of the battery pack 150 to be described later, and functions to divide the accommodating space at preset intervals by protruding upward from the bottom surface of the main body 110. Do it.

The first reinforcing member 130 is a side frame for primarily protecting the side surface of the main body 110 and the battery pack 150 against external impact, and is made of at least one reinforcing material, and the outer wall of the main body 110 It is preferable to combine along.

Here, the reinforcing material may be a metal material, but may also be a plastic composite material, and is not limited thereto, and various known reinforcing materials are handled and can be combined.

The second reinforcing member 140 supports the battery pack 150 together with the first reinforcing member 130 inside the main body 110 so that it does not escape to the outside of the main body 110 against an external shock. As an inner frame that primarily protects the battery pack 150 while doing so, according to the present invention, it is preferably made of at least one reinforcing material and coupled along the partition wall 120 .

The reinforcing material applied to the above-described first reinforcing member 130 may be applied to the second reinforcing member 140 in the same way, but is not limited thereto, and various known reinforcing materials different from the reinforcing material applied to the first reinforcing member 130 may be applied. It goes without saying that stiffeners can be handled and combined.

The battery pack 150 is composed of a module type, which is an aggregate of secondary battery cells, and is configured to provide power to an electric vehicle, and the first reinforcing member 130 and the second reinforcing member 140 While being accommodated in a plurality of partition spaces (S) formed and concealed by the first and second reinforcing members 130 and 140, a pressure buffered primarily against external impact is applied.

At this time, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the partition space S formed by the first and second reinforcing members 130 and 140 is preferably configured to have a rectangular shape.

The buffer member 160 is formed to have a restoring force by elasticity, and is interposed between the battery pack 150 and at least one of the first reinforcing member 130 and the second reinforcing member 140 facing the battery pack 150, and externally As a configuration for applying a pressure secondarily buffered against an impact to the battery pack, more specifically, it may include a housing 161, a spring 162, and a pressure rod 163.

The housing 161 may extend to have an arbitrary length in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction while a hollow is formed therein, and any one side of the longitudinal direction may be open, and more preferably, the other side of the housing 161 may be open. It may be installed to face each other on any one of the battery pack 150 and the first and second reinforcing members 130 and 140 .

In addition, the housing 161 may be made of an aluminum alloy, but is not limited thereto, and various known rigid materials may be applied.

Preferably, the spring 162 is made of an elastic material and accommodated in the housing 161 so that a restoring force acts in the longitudinal direction of the housing 161 .

The spring 162 may be made of various known elastic materials or a deformation process for elasticity, but is not limited thereto, and within the technical scope of the present invention to allow the restoring force to act in the longitudinal direction of the housing 161 Various elastomers may alternatively be used.

A portion of the pressure rod 163 is inserted into one open side of the housing 161, and an end of the inserted portion can be coupled to the spring 162, and when an external shock occurs, the spring 162 It flows along the longitudinal direction of the housing 161 by the restoring force of the spring 162 while being pressed.

Here, the pressing rod 163 may be made of polyurethane or rubber material, but is not limited thereto.

That is, the entire length of the shock absorbing member 160 formed by the housing 161 and the pressure rod 163 can be expanded and contracted by the spring 162 .

In addition, a total of four buffer members 160 configured as described above, one each near each corner of the rectangular compartment space S, are placed side by side on either side of the battery pack 150, respectively. Preferably, one of the housing 161 and the pressing rod 163 is closely supported on the battery pack 150 while the other one of the first and second reinforcing members 130, 140) may be configured to be closely supported on at least one of them.

Accordingly, when an external shock occurs, the buffer member 160 can disperse the shock while allowing the battery pack 150 to have fluidity in the longitudinal direction of the housing 161, and in particular, the battery pack 150 Through a stable arrangement structure centered on , it is possible to improve durability as well as more efficient buffering function.

The departure prevention member 170 is provided on the main body 110 and the buffer member 160, while guaranteeing that the housing 161 flows in the longitudinal direction together with the pressure rod 163 by an external impact, and the housing 161 serves to prevent separation from the main body 110, and more specifically, may include a guide groove 171 and a guider 172.

The guide groove 171 is preferably formed along the longitudinal direction of the housing 161 on the bottom surface of the main body 110 .

The guider 172 is protruded from the lower surface of the housing 161 facing the guide groove 171 described above and can be detachably coupled to the guide groove 171, and when an external impact occurs, the guide It is configured to move along the groove 171.

The positions of the guide groove 171 and the guider 172 may be interchanged, and any one of the guide groove 171 and the guider 172 may be formed on a side surface of the housing 161 rather than a bottom surface. In this case, another one may be formed on at least one of the first and second reinforcing members 130 and 140 .

For example, in order to prevent the shock absorbing member 160 from being separated from the body 110, a groove and protrusion structure in which a detachably press-coupled method may be applied, but the shock absorber 160 corresponding to the flow of the battery pack 150 The degree of shock dispersion may vary depending on whether the housing 161 is in motion, and the shock absorber 160 according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured to prevent the separation of the battery pack 150 by the configuration of the above-described separation prevention member 170 Since the housing 161 as well as the pressure rod 163 move together in response to the flow of the housing 161, the shock can be dispersed more effectively than the housing 161 is fixed.

The notification member 180 is installed in the buffer member 160 and has a configuration that performs a function of visually notifying while detecting damage to the buffer member 160 in real time, and includes a piezoelectric element 181 and a light emitting lamp 182. can be configured to include

Preferably, the piezoelectric element 181 is installed in the housing 161 to detect pressure in real time and to generate an electrical signal when the detected pressure value exceeds a preset reference value.

Here, the piezoelectric element 181 is more preferably configured to entirely cover the inner surface of the housing 161 .

The light emitting lamp 182 may be installed on an outer surface of the housing 161, electrically connected to the piezoelectric element 181, and emit light according to an electrical signal generated by the piezoelectric element 181. .

Various known piezoelectric elements and light emitting elements may be applied to the piezoelectric element 181 and the light emitting lamp 182, and since this is a commonly known configuration, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

For example, even when an external shock is generated by the notification member 180 configured as described above, the light emitting lamp 182 may momentarily blink due to the pressure of the pressure rod 163, but the above of the present invention When checking by opening the battery case 100, if the light emitting lamp 182 continuously emits light despite no external shock, the pressure rod 163 is bent and the housing 161 is bent. Structural deformation of the buffer member 160, that is, damage, including the state in which the inner surface is continuously pressed, can be suspected, as well as damage to the battery pack 150 located on the corresponding buffer member 160. can do.

At this time, since the structurally deformed shock absorbing member 160 is difficult to perform a normal function, the user may replace the battery pack 150 after confirming the degree of damage thereof.

Therefore, the battery case 100 for an electric vehicle with improved battery protection function of the present invention uses the restoring force of the elastic body even when the first reinforcing member 130 is damaged due to a side collision accident, and the shock applied to the battery pack 150 Through the configuration of the shock absorbing member 160 that alleviates the damage to the battery pack 150 while minimizing the damage to protect the battery pack 150, it is possible to achieve more improved durability.

In addition, according to the present invention, relatively inexpensive unit cost and mass production process can be expected through the configuration of the buffer member 160 made of easier structural design, and when the protective function of the buffer member 160 is used, the main body 110 Advantages of achieving higher reliability in use and ease of replacement through the configuration of the separation preventing member 170, which prevents separation from the buffer member 160 and makes it separable from the main body 110 when the durability of the buffer member 160 is exhausted. there is.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the durability of the buffer member 160 itself can be improved while the external shock to the battery pack 150 is more efficiently dispersed through the arrangement structure of the buffer member 160. ) It is possible to more easily recognize the need for replacement of the corresponding buffer member 160 through the notification member 180 that visually informs by detecting damage to the battery pack 150 located in the corresponding buffer member 160. It has the effect of inferring damage.

Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments of the present invention disclosed as described above are provided to enable those skilled in the art to implement and practice the present invention. Although the above has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be variously modified and changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, those skilled in the art can use each configuration described in the above-described embodiments in a way of combining each other. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

The present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the present invention. Accordingly, the above detailed description should not be construed as limiting in all respects and should be considered as illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by reasonable interpretation of the appended claims, and all changes within the equivalent scope of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention. The invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. In addition, claims that do not have an explicit citation relationship in the claims may be combined to form an embodiment or may be included as new claims by amendment after filing.

100: battery case 110: body
120: bulkhead 130: first reinforcing member
140: second reinforcing member 150: battery pack
160: buffer member 161: housing
162: spring 163: pressure rod
170: departure prevention member 171: guide groove
172: guider 180: notification member
181: piezoelectric element 182: light emitting lamp
S: Compartment space

Claims (5)

In the battery case exclusively for electric vehicles,
A main body having an outer wall protruding upward along a side surface and forming an arbitrary accommodation space inside the outer wall;
Partition walls protruding upward from the bottom surface of the main body to partition the accommodation space at preset intervals;
a first reinforcing member made of at least one reinforcing member coupled along an outer wall of the main body;
a second reinforcing member made of at least one reinforcing member coupled along the partition wall;
a battery pack accommodated in a plurality of partition spaces formed by the first reinforcing member and the second reinforcing member, and being covered by the first and second reinforcing members, to which a pressure buffered against an external shock is primarily applied; and
It is made to have a restoring force by elasticity and is interposed between the battery pack and at least one of the first reinforcing member and the second reinforcing member facing the battery pack so that a pressure secondarily buffered against an external shock is applied to the battery pack Battery case for electric vehicle with improved battery protection function including buffer member.
According to claim 1,
The buffer member,
As a hollow is formed inside, it extends to have an arbitrary length in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction, and one side of the longitudinal direction is open, and the other side faces each other to any one of the battery pack and the first and second reinforcing members. a housing installed to;
a spring made of an elastic material and accommodated in the housing so as to act as a restoring force in the longitudinal direction of the housing; and
A part is inserted into one open side of the housing, an end of the inserted part is coupled to the spring, and when an external shock occurs, the spring is pressed while flowing along the longitudinal direction of the housing by the restoring force of the spring. A battery case for an electric vehicle with improved battery protection, characterized in that it includes a pressurized rod.
According to claim 2,
The partition space formed by the first and second reinforcing members,
Characterized in that it consists of a quadrangular shape,
The buffer member,
A total of four, one each near each corner of the quadrangular compartment space, are arranged so that two of each are located side by side on either side of the battery pack, and one of the housing and the pressure rod is closely supported by the battery pack. and the other one is closely supported by at least one of the first and second reinforcing members, so that when an external shock occurs, the battery pack distributes the shock while having fluidity in the longitudinal direction of the housing. Battery case for electric vehicles with improved functions.
According to claim 2,
It is provided in the main body and the buffer member, further comprising a separation preventing member for preventing the housing from being separated from the main body while ensuring that the housing flows along with the pressing rod in the longitudinal direction by an external impact. Battery case for electric vehicle with improved battery protection function.
According to claim 4,
The departure prevention member,
a guide groove formed on a bottom surface of the main body along the longitudinal direction of the housing; and
A guider protruding from the bottom surface of the housing facing the guide groove, detachably coupled to the guide groove, and moving along the guide groove when an external shock occurs Improves the battery protection function, characterized in that Battery case for electric vehicle.

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