TWI778625B - Battery box and battery assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A battery box is configured to accommodate a plurality of batteries. The battery box includes a wall body and a plurality of support structures. The wall body has an accommodation space. The support structures are located in the accommodation space and connected to two opposite sides of the wall body so as to divide the accommodation space into a plurality of chambers. The wall body and the support structures are made of a single piece and are made from a thermal conductive material. The chambers are respectively configured to accommodate the batteries.

Description

Battery boxes and battery packs

The present invention relates to a battery box and a battery assembly, in particular to a battery box with a plurality of supporting structures inside and a battery assembly with a battery casing inside.

Electric vehicles, such as electric scooters or electric bicycles, are driven by converting electrical energy into kinetic energy, and the source of electrical energy for electric vehicles is provided by batteries. Generally speaking, an electric vehicle has a plurality of batteries, and these batteries are accommodated in a battery box.

In order to dissipate the heat generated by these batteries during use or rapid charging, the battery box is currently designed as a thermally conductive material in order to conduct away the heat generated by the batteries. However, such a battery box can only absorb the heat generated by the batteries close to its inner wall surface, and the heat generated by the batteries located in the center of the battery box is not easily conducted to the battery box, resulting in a certain amount of heat still accumulated in the battery box, so that Battery life is reduced and even raises safety concerns. In addition, the current practice of increasing the structural strength of the battery box in the industry is to thicken the thickness of the side wall of the battery box. However, such a method will increase the weight of the battery box, which makes it difficult for users to take the battery box. Therefore, manufacturers are currently working on solving the aforementioned problems.

The present invention is to provide a battery box and a battery assembly, so as to solve the problems of the prior art that the battery box has a poor heat dissipation effect and it is difficult to meet the requirements of weight and structural strength.

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a battery box for accommodating a plurality of batteries, including an outer wall and a plurality of supporting structures. The outer wall has an accommodating space. These support structures are located in the accommodating space and connected to two opposite sides of the outer wall, and divide the accommodating space into a plurality of accommodating slots. The outer walls are integrally formed with these support structures and are of thermally conductive material. The accommodating grooves are respectively used to accommodate the batteries.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a battery assembly comprising a battery box, a plurality of batteries and a plurality of battery casings. The battery box has an accommodating space, and the battery box is made of heat-conducting material. These battery casings are installed in the accommodating space and are in thermal contact with the battery case. Each of the battery casings includes four wall portions, and the four wall portions of each battery casing are integrally connected to form an accommodating groove. The accommodating groove of each battery casing accommodates at least one battery.

According to the battery box and the battery assembly disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiments, the accommodating space of the outer wall is divided into a plurality of accommodating grooves, or the accommodating space is formed by the supporting structures integrally formed with the outer wall and made of thermally conductive material and the supporting structures. The configuration of the thermal contact between the battery casing of the groove and the battery box allows the heat generated by each battery contained in the receiving groove to be conducted to the outer wall through the support structure or to the battery casing through the battery casing, so that the battery casing can effectively Conduct heat away from all batteries.

In addition, by means of these supporting structures or these battery casings, the structural strength of the overall battery case can be maintained, or the battery case can be helped to resist unexpected external forces, thereby reducing the risk of damage.

The above description of the content of the present invention and the description of the following embodiments are used to demonstrate and explain the principle of the present invention, and provide further explanation of the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2. FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic view of a battery case disclosed in a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 .

In this embodiment, the battery case 10 is used to accommodate a plurality of batteries 1 . The battery box 10 includes an outer wall 11 and a plurality of supporting structures 12 . The outer wall 11 has an accommodating space 111 , and the outer wall 11 includes two opposite first side walls 113 and two opposite second side walls 114 . The two first side walls 113 and the two second side walls 114 are connected to form the accommodating space 111 together. The supporting structures 12 are located in the accommodating space 111 of the outer wall 11 . Two opposite sides of each support structure 12 are respectively connected to the two first sidewalls 113 . In this embodiment, the supporting structures 12 and the outer wall 11 are integrally formed and made of thermally conductive material. The supporting structures 12 divide the accommodating space 111 into a plurality of accommodating grooves 1111 , and the accommodating grooves 1111 are respectively used for accommodating the batteries 1 . Each accommodating slot 1111 has two opposite openings 11111 . In this embodiment, the battery box 10 is used to connect a base 2 and a cover 3 . In detail, the base 2 and the cover 3 are, for example, thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum alloys. The base 2 and the cover 3 are respectively installed on two opposite sides of the outer wall 11 to shield the accommodating grooves 1111 .

In this embodiment, the supporting structures 12 are integrally formed with the outer wall 11 and are made of thermally conductive material, and the supporting structures 12 divide the accommodating space 111 of the outer wall 11 into a plurality of accommodating grooves 1111, so that each accommodating space 111 can be divided into a plurality of accommodating grooves 1111. The heat generated by the battery 1 in the accommodating slot 1111 can be conducted to the outer wall 11 , the base 2 and the cover 3 through the support structure 12 , so that the battery box 10 can effectively conduct the heat generated by all the batteries 1 away. In other embodiments of the present invention, the outer wall 11 , the base 2 and the cover 3 are all heat dissipation structures, and the outer surfaces of the outer wall 11 , the base 2 and the cover 3 can be designed to be wavy to increase the heat dissipation area ( As shown in Figure 3). That is to say, the outer surfaces of the base and the cover of FIGS. 1 , 6 and 8 can be designed in a wave shape to increase the heat dissipation area.

In addition, compared to the conventional battery box without a support structure, the thickness of its side walls needs to be increased to meet the structural strength requirements. In this embodiment, the support structures 12 and the outer wall 11 are integrally formed, so that the outer wall 11 can be formed in one piece. The material of the wall 11 is distributed to these supporting structures 12 , so that the requirements of structural strength can be met through these supporting structures 12 without increasing the weight of the battery box 10 .

Furthermore, in order to meet the requirements of the weight and structural strength of the battery box 10 at the same time, the method of apportioning the material of the outer wall 11 to these support structures 12 is adopted, so the support structure is increased without increasing the weight of the battery box 10 . The number of structures 12 will make the thickness of the outer wall 11 thinner; reducing the number of supporting structures 12 will make the thickness of the outer wall 11 thicker. It can be seen from this that the thickness of the outer wall 11 is inversely proportional to the number of these supporting structures 12 under the condition that the weight of the battery box 10 remains unchanged.

In this embodiment, the material of the outer wall 11 and the supporting structures 12 is pitch-based carbon fiber, and the fibers F1 of the outer wall 11 and the fibers F2 of the supporting structures 12 are opened along one of the openings 11111 of the accommodating groove 1111 toward the other opening The direction D1 of 11111 extends. In this way, the heat transfer efficiency of the outer wall 11 to the base 2 and the cover 3 can be improved, the overall structural strength can be enhanced, and the weight of the battery box 10 can be reduced.

It should be noted that the materials of the outer wall 11 and the supporting structures 12 are not limited to pitch-based carbon fibers. In other embodiments, the material of the outer wall 11 and the supporting structures 12 may be other suitable thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum alloy.

Next, please refer to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a battery case disclosed according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The battery case 10a of this embodiment is similar to the battery case 10 of the embodiment of FIG. 2 , so only the main differences between the two will be described below, and the same parts will not be repeated.

In this embodiment, the outer surface 1131a of the outer wall 11a of the battery box 10a, the outer surface 1131a of the two first side walls 113a facing away from the accommodating space 111a, and the outer surface 1141a of the two second side walls 114a facing away from the accommodating space 111a are wavy shape. Thereby, the area of the outer surface of the outer wall 11a can be increased, and the efficiency of heat exchange between the battery box 10a and the air can be enhanced.

Next, please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 . FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a battery case disclosed according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a battery case disclosed according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The battery case 10b of FIG. 4 and the battery case 10c of FIG. 5 are similar to the battery case 10 of FIG. 2 , so only the main differences between them will be described below, and the same parts will not be repeated.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the thickness of each first sidewall 113b decreases from the central portion 1132b toward the opposite sides thereof, and the thickness of each second sidewall 114b decreases from the central portion 1142b toward the opposite sides thereof. Thereby, the structural strength of the battery case 10b can be enhanced. In this embodiment, the outer surface 1131b of each first sidewall 113b facing away from the accommodating space 111b and the outer surface 1141b of each second sidewall 114b facing away from the accommodating space 111b are arc-shaped.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5 , the thickness of each first sidewall 113c gradually decreases from its central portion 1132c toward its opposite sides, and the thickness of each second sidewall 114c decreases from its central portion 1142c toward its opposite sides. . Thereby, the structural strength of the battery case 10c can be enhanced. In this embodiment, the outer surface 1131c of each first sidewall 113c facing away from the accommodating space 111c and the outer surface 1141c of each second sidewall 114c facing away from the accommodating space 111c each have sharp corners.

The thickness of each of the first sidewalls and the thickness of each of the second sidewalls is gradually reduced from the central portion toward the opposite sides thereof, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, only the thicknesses of the two first sidewalls or the thicknesses of the two second sidewalls may decrease from the central portion thereof toward the opposite sides thereof.

Next, please refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 . FIG. 6 is an exploded schematic view of the battery assembly disclosed in the fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the battery assembly of FIG. 6 .

In this embodiment, the battery assembly 100d includes a battery case 10d, a plurality of battery casings 20d, and a plurality of batteries 30d. In addition, in this embodiment or other embodiments, the battery assembly 100d may further include a base 40d and a cover 50d.

The battery case 10d is made of thermally conductive material, such as pitch-based carbon fiber. The battery box 10d has an accommodating space 11d and two openings 12d, and the battery box 10d includes two opposite first side walls 13d and two opposite second side walls 14d. The two first side walls 13d and the two second side walls 14d are integrally connected to form the accommodating space 11d, and the two openings 12d are respectively located on opposite sides of the accommodating space 11d and communicate with the accommodating space 11d.

The structures of these battery casings 20d are the same, so only one of the battery casings 20d will be described in detail below. The battery case 20d is made of a thermally conductive material, such as pitch-based carbon fiber. The battery case 20d has an accommodating slot 21d and two openings 22d, and the battery case 20d includes four wall portions 23d. The four wall portions 23d are integrally connected to form the accommodating groove 21d, and the two openings 22d are respectively located on opposite sides of the accommodating groove 21d and communicate with the accommodating groove 21d.

The accommodating groove 21d of each battery case 20d accommodates one battery 30d. The battery casings 20d are installed in the accommodating space 11d of the battery box 10d, and two opposite wall portions 23d of each battery casing 20d respectively abut and thermally contact the two first side walls 13d of the battery box 10d. The two openings 22d of the battery case 20d are, for example, coplanar with the two openings 12d of the battery case 10d, respectively. That is, the two openings 22d of the battery case 20d are flush with the two openings 12d of the battery case 10d, respectively.

Of course, the two openings 22d of the battery case 20d are not limited to be flush with the two openings 12d of the battery case 10d, respectively. In other embodiments, the two openings of the battery casing can be kept at a distance from the two openings of the battery box.

In this embodiment, the base 40d and the cover 50d are, for example, thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum alloys. The base 40d and the cover 50d are respectively installed at the two openings 12d of the battery box 10d to cover the accommodating space 11d.

In this embodiment, the heat generated by each battery 30d accommodated in the accommodating slot 21d can be conducted to the battery through the battery casing 20d by the configuration that the battery casing 20d having the accommodating groove 21d is in thermal contact with the battery case 10d The case 10d is then conducted to the base 40d and the cover 50d, so that the battery case 10d can effectively conduct away the heat generated by all the batteries 30d. Of course, the base 40d and the cover 50d of the battery case 10d are optional components. In other embodiments, the battery case may have no base and cover.

In addition, the design of the integrally formed battery casings 20d against the first side walls 13d of the battery box 10d can help the battery box 10d to resist unexpected external forces and reduce the risk of damage.

In this embodiment, the fibers F3 of the battery case 10d and the fibers F4 of the battery case 20d extend from one of the openings 12d of the battery case 10d toward the direction D2 of the other opening 12d. In this way, the heat conduction efficiency of the battery case 10d and the battery case 20d to the base 40d and the cover body 50d can be improved, the structural strength of the battery case 10d and the battery case 20d can be further strengthened, and the battery case 10d and the battery case 20d can be made lighter quantify.

It should be noted that the materials of the battery case 10d and the battery case 20d are not limited to pitch-based carbon fibers. In other embodiments, the material of the battery case may be other suitable thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum alloy.

In this embodiment, the battery assembly 100d further includes a plurality of separators 60d. These separators 60d are, for example, thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum alloys, carbon fibers, or thermal interface materials. Each partition 60d is located in the accommodating space 11d of the battery box 10d, and two opposite sides thereof are respectively installed on the two first side walls 13d. Each of the separators 60d is located between adjacent two battery casings 20d. Thereby, the separators 60d can also conduct the heat generated by the battery 30d to the battery case 10d, and can further help the battery case 10d to resist unexpected external forces.

In this embodiment, each separator 60d is wavy, so that when each battery case 20d is deformed due to the expansion of the battery 30d in it, there is space to absorb the deformation of the battery case 20d as a buffer.

It should be noted that the separator 60d is not limited to a wave shape. In other embodiments, the separator can be a flat plate. In addition, the spacer is an optional element. In other embodiments, the battery assembly may be free of separators.

In this embodiment, the outer surfaces 131d of the two first side walls 13d of the battery box 10d facing away from the accommodating space 11d and the outer surfaces 141d of the two second side walls 14d facing away from the accommodating space 11d are both flat, but not Not limited to this. In other embodiments, the outer surfaces of the two first side walls and the two second side walls of the battery box facing away from the accommodating space may be wavy (similar to FIG. 3 ).

In addition, the thicknesses of the two first side walls 13d and the two second side walls 14d of the battery box 10d are uniform, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the thickness of each first sidewall may gradually decrease from its central portion toward its opposite sides, and the thickness of each second sidewall may decrease from its central portion toward its opposite sides (similar to FIG. 4 ). , 5).

Next, FIG. 8 is an exploded schematic view of the battery assembly disclosed in the sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the battery assembly of FIG. 8 .

The battery assembly 100e of this embodiment is similar to the battery assembly 100d of the embodiment of FIG. 6 , so only the main differences between the two will be described below, and the same parts will not be repeated.

In this embodiment, the accommodating groove 21e of each battery case 20e accommodates more than two batteries 30e. Taking one of the battery casings 20e as an example, the battery casing 20e includes four wall portions 23e and a plurality of partition portions 24e. The four wall portions 23e together form an accommodating groove 21e, and these partition portions 24e are connected to two opposite wall portions 23e, and the accommodating groove 21e is divided into a plurality of sub-accommodating grooves 211e. Each sub-accommodating groove 211e accommodates one battery 30e, and the accommodating groove 21e of each battery case 20e accommodates a plurality of batteries 30e.

In this embodiment, the battery casings 20e are arranged in a 1×3 matrix, but not limited to this. In other embodiments, different rows and different columns may be arranged in a matrix manner according to actual requirements. For example, please refer to FIG. 10 . FIG. 10 is an exploded schematic view of the battery assembly disclosed in the seventh embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the battery casings 20f are arranged in a 2×3 matrix. That is to say, the present invention can be extended to a matrix arrangement of mxn, where m and n are positive integers greater than or equal to 1, depending on the specification requirements of the battery components.

According to the battery box and the battery assembly disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiments, the accommodating space of the outer wall is divided into a plurality of accommodating grooves, or the accommodating space is formed by the supporting structures integrally formed with the outer wall and made of thermally conductive material and the supporting structures. The configuration of the thermal contact between the battery casing of the groove and the battery box allows the heat generated by each battery contained in the receiving groove to be conducted to the outer wall through the support structure or to the battery casing through the battery casing, so that the battery casing can effectively Conduct heat away from all batteries.

In addition, in some embodiments, the supporting structures are formed integrally with the outer wall, so that the material of the outer wall can be distributed to these supporting structures, so that the battery box can pass through without increasing the weight of the battery box. These support structures meet structural strength requirements.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, these battery housings can help the battery case resist unintended external forces, thereby reducing the risk of damage.

Although the present invention is disclosed by the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone who is familiar with the similar arts can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, this The scope of patent protection of the invention shall be determined by the scope of the patent application attached to this specification.

1: battery 2: Base 3: cover 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e: battery case 11, 11a: Exterior walls 111, 111a, 111b, 111c, 11d: accommodating space 1111: accommodating slot 11111, 12d: Opening 113, 113a, 113b, 113c, 13d: first side wall 1131a, 1131b, 1131c, 131d: outer surface 1132b, 1132c: Central part 114, 114a, 114b, 114c, 14d: Second side wall 1141a, 1141b, 1141c, 141d: outer surface 1142b, 1142c: Central part 12: Support structure 20d, 20e, 20f: Battery case 21d, 21e: accommodating slot 211e: Sub-accommodating slot 22d: Opening 23d, 23e: Walls 24e: Divider 30d, 30e: battery 40d: Pedestal 50d: cover 60d: Separator 100d, 100e: battery pack F1, F2, F3, F4: Fiber D1, D2: direction

FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic view of a battery case disclosed in a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 . 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a battery case disclosed according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a battery case disclosed in a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a battery case disclosed according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an exploded schematic view of the battery assembly disclosed in the fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the battery assembly of FIG. 6 . FIG. 8 is an exploded schematic view of the battery assembly disclosed in the sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the battery assembly of FIG. 8 . FIG. 10 is an exploded schematic view of the battery assembly disclosed in the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

2: Base

3: cover

10: Battery box

11: Exterior Walls

111: accommodating space

1111: accommodating slot

11111: Opening

113: First side wall

114: Second side wall

12: Support structure

F1, F2: Fiber

D1: Direction

Claims (8)

A battery box for accommodating a plurality of batteries, comprising: an outer wall with an accommodating space; and a plurality of supporting structures located in the accommodating space and connected to two opposite sides of the outer wall for accommodating the accommodating space The space is divided into a plurality of accommodating grooves, the outer wall and the supporting structures are integrally formed and made of thermally conductive material, and the accommodating grooves are respectively used for accommodating the batteries; wherein, the material of the outer wall and the supporting structures For pitch-based carbon fiber, each of the accommodating grooves has two opposite openings, and the pitch-based carbon fibers of the outer wall and the supporting structures extend along the direction of one of the accommodating grooves toward the other opening. The battery box according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the outer wall back facing the accommodating space is wavy. The battery box of claim 1, wherein the outer wall comprises two opposite first side walls and two opposite second side walls, the two first side walls and the second side walls are connected to form the container together The supporting structures are connected to the two first sidewalls, the thickness of each of the first sidewalls gradually decreases from its central portion toward its two opposite sides, and the thickness of each of the second sidewalls from its central portion taper toward its opposite sides. The battery box of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the outer wall is inversely proportional to the number of the supporting structures. A battery assembly, comprising: a battery box with an accommodating space, and the battery box is made of a thermally conductive material; a plurality of batteries; and A plurality of battery casings are installed in the accommodating space and are in thermal contact with the battery box. Each of the battery casings includes four wall portions, and the four wall portions of each battery casing are integrally connected to form a container. a slot, and the accommodating slot of each of the battery casings accommodates at least one of the batteries; wherein, the battery box and the battery casings are made of pitch-based carbon fiber, the battery box has two openings, and the two openings are located in the container. On two opposite sides of the storage space, the fibers of the battery box and the pitch-based carbon fibers of the battery casings extend along the direction of one of the openings toward the other of the openings. The battery assembly according to claim 5, wherein a surface of the battery box facing away from the accommodating space is wavy. The battery assembly of claim 5, wherein the battery box comprises two opposite first side walls and two opposite second side walls, the two first side walls and the second side walls are connected to form the container together The battery casings are in thermal contact with the two first sidewalls, the thickness of each of the first sidewalls gradually decreases from its central portion toward its opposite sides, and the thickness of each of the second sidewalls is The central portion tapers toward its opposite sides. The battery assembly of claim 5, further comprising a plurality of separators, each of the separators is installed in the accommodating space of the battery box and located between the two adjacent battery casings, and the separators are in the form of wavy.

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