WO2020034650A1

WO2020034650A1 - Battery pack and liquid cooling device thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2020034650A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/082100
Authority: WO
Inventors: 姜胜利
Original assignee: 爱驰汽车有限公司
Priority date: 2018-08-13
Filing date: 2019-04-10
Publication date: 2020-02-20

Abstract

Provided by the present invention are a battery pack and a liquid cooling device thereof, the liquid cooling device comprising: a liquid cooling assembly, comprising a first surface and second surface opposite to each other; a flow collection assembly, comprising two flow collectors respectively connected at a water intake side and a water discharge side of the liquid cooling assembly, causing a liquid to enter and exit the liquid cooling assembly by means of the flow collectors; a support assembly, which is located on the second surface of the liquid cooling assembly so as to provide support to the liquid cooling assembly and comprising a third surface and a fourth surface, a gap being provided between the support assembly and the adjacent flow collectors, the liquid cooling assembly having a bent portion at the gap so that the height difference between the height of the first surface of the liquid cooling assembly and a top surface of the flow collectors is smaller than a pre-determined threshold, and the height difference between the height of the fourth surface of the support assembly and a bottom surface of the flow collectors is smaller than a pre-determined threshold. The battery pack and the liquid cooling device thereof provided by the present invention have characteristics of a simple and compact structure, excellent thermal conduction performance, and relatively low flow resistance.

Description

Battery pack and its liquid cooling device

Technical field

The present invention relates to an electric vehicle, and in particular, to a battery pack and a liquid cooling device thereof.

Background technique

At present, the number of battery modules in liquid-cooled battery packs is small, and there is no implementation of large battery packs. On the one hand, the existing liquid cooling device of the battery pack has a loose structure, and it is difficult to reduce the entire structural space of the battery pack in the realization of a large battery pack. On the other hand, the current collecting structure of the existing liquid-cooling device of the battery pack has a high flow resistance, and it is difficult to achieve liquid-cooling uniform flow, thereby reducing heat conduction efficiency.

Summary of the Invention

In view of the problems in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery pack and a liquid cooling device thereof, which have the characteristics of simple and compact structure, excellent heat transfer performance, and low flow resistance.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a liquid cooling device is provided, including:

A liquid-cooled component includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other. The first surface is used for heat exchange. The first surface and the second surface extend in a first direction. The water inlet side of the liquid cooling component connected to the water inlet is facing the water outlet side of the liquid cooling component connected to the water outlet;

The current collecting component includes two current collectors extending along the second direction, which are respectively connected to the water inlet side and the water outlet side of the liquid cooling component, so that liquid enters and exits the liquid cooling component through the current collector. Two directions are parallel to the first surface and perpendicular to the first direction;

A support component, which is located on a second surface of the liquid cooling component to provide support to the liquid cooling component, the support component includes an opposite third surface and a fourth surface, and the third surface is in contact with the second surface There is a gap between the support assembly and an adjacent current collector, wherein,

The liquid cooling component has a bent portion at the gap, so that the height of the first surface of the liquid cooling component connected to the current collector is lower than that of the first surface of the liquid cooling component connected to the supporting component portion. Height so that the difference between the height of the first surface of the liquid cooling component and the top surface of the current collector is less than or equal to a first predetermined threshold, and the height of the fourth surface of the support component and the bottom surface of the current collector The height difference is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold.

Optionally, the liquid cooling assembly includes 8 to 30 liquid cooling units.

Optionally, the liquid cooling unit is a harmonica tube.

Optionally, the first predetermined threshold is 0 to 5 millimeters.

Optionally, the supporting component is an elastic component, and a difference between a height of a fourth surface of the supporting component in a free state and a height of a bottom surface of the current collector is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold.

Optionally, the second predetermined threshold is 0 to 10 millimeters.

Optionally, the support component is an elastic component, and the fourth surface of the support component is flush with the bottom surface of the current collector in a compressed state. Optionally, the current collector includes:

Collecting shell to form a collecting space;

Multiple first through holes for inserting the water inlet side or the water outlet side of the liquid cooling component

The current collecting component further includes a current dividing component extending along the second direction, and is located in the current collecting housing, dividing the current collecting space into a first space close to the first through hole and away from the first A second space of a through-hole, the shunt assembly is provided with a plurality of shunt holes communicating with the first space and the second space, wherein the shunt assembly is along a first radial direction of the current collector. The local flow area increases positively, and the first radial direction is opposite to the direction toward the water inlet / outlet.

Optionally, the shunt component is an I-type shunt component, and the current collecting housing has a second through hole extending along the second direction, and the I-type shunt component is inserted into the second through hole through the second through hole. Said current collecting shell.

Optionally, the I-type shunt assembly has a plurality of slits so that the I-type shunt assembly is divided into a plurality of sub-segments, and the slits make the connecting portion between the plurality of sub-segments flexible, so that the plurality of sub-segments are in sequence Inserted into the second through hole.

Optionally, the shunt assembly is an L-shaped shunt assembly, the current collecting housing has a third through hole extending along the second direction, and the L-shaped shunt assembly is inserted into the third through hole through the third through hole. Said current collecting shell.

Optionally, the shunt component is a U-shaped shunt component, and the U-shaped shunt component is contained in the shunt casing.

Optionally, the shortest distance between the shunt component and the liquid cooling component ranges from 1.5 mm to 5 mm.

Optionally, the height of the current collector is 12 mm or more, and the width of the current collector ranges from 10 mm to 40 mm.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a battery pack is further provided, including:

Battery case

A battery module located in the battery pack housing; and

As described above, the liquid cooling device is located in the battery pack case, and the first surface of the liquid cooling component is used for heat exchange with the battery module.

Optionally, the liquid cooling device is integrated by brazing.

The battery pack provided by the present invention and the liquid cooling device thereof have the following advantages: On the one hand, the liquid cooling device is provided with a compact structure of the liquid cooling component, which is suitable for a large battery pack. Control can achieve the effect of equalizing flow; on the other hand, through a variety of shunt components, reduce flow resistance, achieve liquid-cooled equalizing, thereby increasing heat transfer efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by reading the detailed description of the non-limiting embodiments with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a liquid cooling device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid cooling device shown in FIG. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a liquid cooling device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a shunt assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of H, H2, and H3 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of G in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of I in FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a shunt assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a liquid cooling device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a liquid cooling device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

11 and 12 are schematic diagrams of a shunt assembly according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this invention will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar structures, and their repeated description will be omitted.

First, a battery pack provided by the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a liquid cooling device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid cooling device shown in FIG. 1.

The liquid cooling device includes a liquid cooling component, a current collecting component, and a supporting component 130.

The liquid-cooled component includes a first surface A and a second surface E opposite to each other. The first surface A is used for heat exchange with a battery module. The first surface A and the second surface E extend in a first direction (shown as X direction in the figure), and the first direction is from the water inlet side 112 of the liquid cooling component toward the liquid cooling The direction of the water outlet side 113 of the module. In various embodiments of the present invention, preferably, the liquid cooling assembly includes 10 to 30 liquid cooling units 111 to implement a large battery pack. Each liquid-cooled unit 111 is a harmonica tube.

The current collecting component includes two current collectors 120 extending in a second direction (shown as Y direction in the figure), which are respectively connected to the water inlet side 112 and the water outlet side 113 of the liquid cooling component so that the liquid passes through the current The fluid 120 enters and exits the liquid-cooled component, and the second direction is parallel to the first table A and perpendicular to the first direction. Specifically, in this embodiment, the water inlet 191 and the water outlet 192 are also shown. The water inlet side 112 of the liquid cooling component is connected to the water inlet 191 through the current collector 120 to realize water inlet, and the water outlet side 113 of the liquid cooling component passes through. Another current collector 120 is connected to the water outlet 192 to realize water outlet.

A support component 130 is located on the second surface E of the liquid cooling component to provide support to the liquid cooling component. The support component 130 includes a third surface F and a fourth surface C opposite to each other. The third surface F is in contact with the second surface E. There is a gap between the support assembly 130 and an adjacent current collector.

Specifically, the liquid-cooled component has a bent portion 114 at the gap so that the height of the first surface A of the liquid-cooled component connected to the current collector 120 is lower than that of the liquid-cooled component connected to the support. The height of the first surface A of the component 130 portion. Further, the height difference between the height of the first surface A of the liquid cooling component and the top surface B of the current collector 120 is less than or equal to a first predetermined threshold, and the height of the fourth surface C of the supporting component 130 is different from the height of the fourth surface C of the supporting component 130. The height difference of the bottom surface D of the current collector 120 is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold, thereby achieving a compact structure of the liquid cooling device. Wherein, the first predetermined threshold is 0 to 5 millimeters. The second predetermined threshold is 0 to 10 millimeters. In a preferred embodiment, the first surface A of the liquid cooling component is flush with the top surface B of the current collector 120, and the fourth surface C of the supporting component 130 is at the bottom surface of the current collector 120. D is flush, thereby making the liquid cooling device more compact. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the supporting component is an elastic component, and the difference between the height of the fourth surface of the supporting component in the free state and the height of the bottom surface of the current collector is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold, The fourth surface of the component is flush with the bottom surface of the current collector in a compressed state.

Since the liquid-cooled component is formed by using more harmonica tubes 111 in parallel, how to ensure uniform flow between the harmonica tubes 111 is a design problem. If the flow difference between the harmonica tubes 111 is large, the wall temperature of the outlet of the harmonica tube 111 with a small flow is relatively high, resulting in that the temperature of the battery module at this position can easily exceed the design target. Therefore, a shunt design is needed. The present invention improves the size of the current collector 120 by adding a shunt design and adds some shunt components to make the flow between the harmonica tubes 111 consistent. One principle of the shunt design is to minimize the pressure drop on the basis of consistent flow.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 3 to 7. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a liquid cooling device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a shunt assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of H, H2, and H3 in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of G in FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of I in FIG. 4.

In this embodiment, the current collector 120 includes a current collecting housing 121 forming a current collecting space 122 and a plurality of first through holes 125 disposed on a side of the current collecting housing 121 facing the liquid cooling component. The plurality of first through holes 125 are used for inserting the water inlet side or the water outlet side of the liquid cooling unit 111 of the liquid cooling component. The current collecting component further includes a current dividing component 140A extending in the second direction (the Y direction shown in FIG. 1). The shunt assembly 140A is located in the current collecting casing 121. The shunt assembly 140A divides the current collecting space 122 into a first space 123 near the first through hole 125 and a second space 124 far from the first through hole 125. The shunt assembly 140A is provided with a plurality of shunt holes 141 communicating with the first space 123 and the second space 124. Specifically, referring to FIG. 8, along the first radial direction of the current collector, the local flow area of the diverter assembly is increasing, and the first radial direction is opposite to the direction toward the water inlet / outlet (in other words, The first radial direction is a direction away from the water inlet / outlet, or in other words, the first radial direction is a flow direction of the liquid in the current collector). Through the different arrangement of the spacing and depth of the shunt holes in different parts of the shunt assembly, the difference in local flow area is achieved. Specifically, specifically, in some embodiments, the shunt assembly may be divided into a plurality of regions 149 according to the number and position of the liquid cooling units 111, and each region 149 may correspond to one liquid cooling unit 111. The flow area of each region 149 increases in a positive direction along the first radial direction of the current collector.

Through the arrangement of the shunt assembly 140A and the shunt hole 141, for the liquid-cooled component water inlet side 112, the shunt assembly 140A concentrates the liquid in the second space 124, and through the shunt hole 141, the liquid in the second space 124 can evenly enter the first space 124 Space 123. In a specific embodiment, the closer to the water inlet shown in FIG. 1, the more sparsely disposed the shunt hole 141 is and / or the smaller the area of the shunt hole 141 is, the farther it is from the water inlet shown in FIG. 1, the shunt hole 141 is. The denser the arrangement is, and / or the larger the area of the shunt hole 141 is.

Through the arrangement of the shunt assembly 140A and the shunt hole 141, for the liquid cooling component outlet side 113, the shunt assembly 140A concentrates the liquid in the first space 123 and allows the liquid in the first space 123 to enter the second space uniformly through the shunt hole 141 124 in. In a specific embodiment, the closer to the water outlet shown in FIG. 1, the more sparsely disposed the shunt hole 141 is and / or the smaller the area of the shunt hole 141 is, the farther it is from the water inlet shown in FIG. 1, the shunt hole 141 is. The denser the arrangement is, and / or the larger the area of the shunt hole 141 is.

As a result, a uniform flow design of the inlet and outlet water of the liquid cooling module is realized.

In each embodiment in which the shunt assembly is provided, as shown in FIG. 3, x1 is the shortest distance from the shunt assembly to the harmonica tube 111, x2 represents the height of the current collector 120, and x3 represents the width of the current collector 120. Preferably, in general, x2 ≧ 12mm to meet the requirements of the (first through hole 125) punching and expanding process. x1 should be as small as possible (for example, x1 can be between 1.5 mm and 5 mm), and x2 and x3 should be as large as possible if it meets space requirements (for example, x3 can be between 10 mm and 40 mm). Time) to increase the flow cross-sectional area and reduce the fluid pressure differential.

In this embodiment, the shunt component is an I-type shunt component 140A. The current collecting housing 121 has a second through hole 126A extending along the second direction, and the I-type shunt assembly 140A is inserted into the current collecting housing 121 from the second through hole 126A. The I-type splitter 140A may be, for example, an I-type splitter, and the pressure difference caused by the I-type splitter is small.

In this embodiment, the I-type shunt assembly 140A has multiple cutouts 143A so that the I-type shunt assembly 140A is divided into a plurality of sub-segments, and the cut-outs 142A make the connecting portion between the plurality of sub-segments flexible So that multiple sub-segments can be inserted into the second through hole 126A in sequence. Therefore, the rigid I-type shunt assembly 140A is prevented from being broken when inserted into the second through hole 126A because the length is too long. Further, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the I-type shunt assembly 140A is provided with two kinds of shunt holes, the area of the shunt hole 141A is large, and the area of the shunt hole 142A is small. Optionally, the diverter hole 141A is far from the water inlet / outlet, and the diverter hole 142A is close to the water inlet / outlet. In this embodiment, the depth of the cut groove 143A is greater than the depth of any of the shunt holes 142A, so that part of the I-shaped shunt assembly 140A has flexibility.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 8, which is a cross-sectional view of a liquid cooling device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the shunt assembly is an L-shaped shunt assembly 140B, and the current collecting housing 121 has a third through hole 126B extending in the second direction (as shown in the Y direction in FIG. 1). The L-shaped shunt assembly 140B is inserted into the current collecting casing 121 from the third through hole 126B. The L-shaped shunt assembly 140B can ensure that the shunt assembly 140B does not deflect in the current collecting housing 121 during the assembly process, thereby affecting the current sharing effect.

A fourth embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a liquid cooling device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 10 and 11 are schematic diagrams of a shunt assembly according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the shunt component is a U-shaped shunt component 140C, and the U-shaped shunt component 140C is provided with a shunt hole 141C. The U-shaped shunt assembly 140C is contained in the shunt case 121. In this embodiment, in order to ensure the collecting space of the second space 124, the U-shaped shunt assembly 140C is opened toward the first space 123. In other embodiments, the U-shaped shunt assembly 140C may also be opened in a direction opposite to this embodiment, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Since the U-shaped shunt assembly 140C is contained in the shunt housing 121, the installation position of the U-shaped shunt assembly 140C relative to the current collector 120 is easier to control. The U-shaped shunt assembly 140C may also be provided with a bend 144C, and the bend 144C is attached to the inner wall of the current collector to realize the positioning of the U-shaped shunt assembly 140C in the current collector.

The foregoing merely describes the embodiments of the present invention schematically, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a battery pack is further provided, which includes a battery pack case, a battery module, and the liquid cooling device. A battery module is located in the battery pack case. A liquid cooling device is also located in the battery pack casing, and the first surface of the liquid cooling component is used for heat exchange with the battery module. In a preferred example of this embodiment, the liquid cooling device is integrated by brazing.

The present invention is based on a pure electric vehicle battery pack that uses liquid-cooled components for cooling / heating. In a limited space, a large-scale integrated frame-structured liquid-cooled component is proposed. The harmonica tube is brazed and assembled in the lower part of the battery pack. Its structure is simple, light and compact, easy to assemble, excellent heat transfer performance, low flow resistance, and low cost. The total fluid inlet and outlet of the integrated brazing liquid cooling plate are both on the front side of the battery pack, and a reasonable current sharing design is adopted to achieve consistent flow.

The above is a further detailed description of the present invention in combination with specific preferred embodiments, and it cannot be considered that the specific implementation of the present invention is limited to these descriptions. For those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains, without deviating from the concept of the present invention, several simple deductions or replacements can be made, which should all be regarded as belonging to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

A liquid cooling device, comprising:

A liquid-cooled component includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other. The first surface is used for heat exchange. The first surface and the second surface extend in a first direction. The water inlet side of the liquid cooling component connected to the water inlet is facing the water outlet side of the liquid cooling component connected to the water outlet;

The current collecting component includes two current collectors extending along the second direction, which are respectively connected to the water inlet side and the water outlet side of the liquid cooling component, so that liquid enters and exits the liquid cooling component through the current collector. Two directions are parallel to the first surface and perpendicular to the first direction;

A support component, which is located on a second surface of the liquid cooling component to provide support to the liquid cooling component, the support component includes an opposite third surface and a fourth surface, and the third surface is in contact with the second surface There is a gap between the support assembly and an adjacent current collector, wherein,

The liquid cooling component has a bent portion at the gap, so that the height of the first surface of the liquid cooling component connected to the current collector is lower than that of the first surface of the liquid cooling component connected to the supporting component portion. Height so that the difference between the height of the first surface of the liquid cooling component and the top surface of the current collector is less than or equal to a first predetermined threshold, and the height of the fourth surface of the support component and the bottom surface of the current collector The height difference is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid cooling module comprises 8 to 30 liquid cooling units.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 2, wherein the liquid cooling unit is a harmonica tube.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the first predetermined threshold value is 0 to 5 mm.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the supporting component is an elastic component, and a difference between a height of a fourth surface of the supporting component in a free state and a height of a bottom surface of the current collector is less than or equal to a second predetermined value. Threshold.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 5, wherein the second predetermined threshold value is 0 to 10 mm.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 5, wherein the supporting component is an elastic component, and a fourth surface of the supporting component is flush with a bottom surface of the current collector in a compressed state.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 2, wherein the current collector comprises:

Collecting shell to form a collecting space;

Multiple first through holes for inserting the water inlet side or the water outlet side of the liquid cooling component

The current collecting component further includes a current dividing component extending along the second direction, and is located in the current collecting housing, dividing the current collecting space into a first space close to the first through hole and away from the first A second space of a through-hole, the shunt assembly is provided with a plurality of shunt holes communicating with the first space and the second space, wherein the shunt assembly is along a first radial direction of the current collector. The local flow area increases positively, and the first radial direction is opposite to the direction toward the water inlet / outlet.
The liquid-cooling device according to claim 8, wherein the diverter component is an I-type diverter component, the current collecting housing has a second through hole extending in the second direction, and the I-type A shunt assembly is inserted into the current collecting housing from the second through hole.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 9, wherein the I-type splitter assembly has a plurality of cutouts so that the I-type splitter assembly is divided into a plurality of subsections, and the cutouts allow the The connecting portion is flexible so that a plurality of sub-segments are sequentially inserted into the second through hole.
The liquid-cooling device according to claim 8, wherein the diverter component is an L-shaped diverter component, the current collecting housing has a third through hole extending in the second direction, and the L-shaped A shunt assembly is inserted into the current collecting housing from the third through hole.
The liquid cooling device according to claim 8, wherein the shunt assembly is a U-shaped shunt assembly, and the U-shaped shunt assembly is housed in the shunt housing.
The liquid cooling device according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that the shortest distance between the shunt component and the liquid cooling component ranges from 1.5 mm to 5 mm.
The liquid cooling device according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein a height of the current collector is 12 mm or more, and a width of the current collector ranges from 10 mm to 40 mm.
A battery pack, comprising:

Battery case

A battery module located in the battery pack housing; and

The liquid cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, which is located in the battery pack casing, and a first surface of the liquid cooling component is used for heat exchange with the battery module.
The battery pack according to claim 15, wherein the liquid cooling device is integrated by brazing.