JP2020176784A - Thermosiphon type cooler for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a thermosiphon type cooler for a vehicle capable of securing cooling performance as much as possible during charging.SOLUTION: A thermosiphon type cooler for a vehicle comprises: an evaporation unit 13 that absorbs heat from a secondary battery 11 and evaporates a refrigerant; a condenser 14 that condenses the refrigerant evaporated by an evaporator; a storage unit 40 that stores the refrigerant circulating between the evaporation unit 13 and the condenser 14 in a liquid phase state; and storage amount adjustment units 30, 41, 44, 46, 52, 55 that make a storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit 40 equal to or higher than a predetermined amount Vp when the secondary battery 11 is charged, or when it is estimated that the secondary battery 11 will be charged.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a thermosiphon type cooling device for cooling an in-vehicle device.

Conventionally, Patent Document 1 describes a thermosiphon type cooling device that naturally circulates a refrigerant.

This conventional technique includes a heat exchange unit that condenses a gas refrigerant into a liquid refrigerant, and an evaporator that evaporates the liquid refrigerant into a gas refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant in the heat exchange section flows down to the evaporator, and the gas refrigerant in the evaporator rises to the heat exchange section. The liquid refrigerant absorbs heat in the evaporator to exert a cooling effect.

Patent No. 4945712

When a thermosiphon type cooling device such as the above-mentioned conventional technique is mounted on a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle and applied to cool a traveling battery, it may occur that the cooling performance cannot be sufficiently exhibited due to the inclination of the vehicle.

That is, when the vehicle is tilted, the liquid refrigerant is biased in the evaporator and a portion where the liquid refrigerant does not exist is generated, so that a portion where the liquid refrigerant cannot absorb heat is generated. Therefore, there are some parts where the traveling battery cannot be cooled.

As a countermeasure, if a large amount of liquid refrigerant is sealed, it is possible to prevent a portion where the liquid refrigerant does not exist in the evaporator even if the vehicle is tilted. However, if a large amount of liquid refrigerant is filled, when the amount of heat generated by the traveling battery is large, such as during charging, the liquid refrigerant evaporates violently in the evaporator and the liquid refrigerant is blown up together with the gas refrigerant to prevent the gas refrigerant from rising. This will reduce the cooling performance. In particular, during rapid charging, the amount of heat generated by the traveling battery becomes extremely large, and the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator evaporates extremely violently, so that the cooling performance is significantly deteriorated.

In view of the above points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a thermosiphon type cooling device for vehicles that can secure cooling performance as much as possible during charging.

In view of the above points, another object of the present invention is to suppress deterioration of cooling performance due to blowing up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator.

In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device according to claim 1 is used.
An evaporation unit (13) that absorbs heat from the secondary battery (11) and evaporates the refrigerant, and
A condenser (14) that condenses the refrigerant evaporated by the evaporator, and
A storage unit (40) that stores the refrigerant circulating between the evaporation unit (13) and the condenser (14) in a liquid phase state, and
When the secondary battery (11) is charged, or when it is estimated that the secondary battery (11) is charged, the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit (40) is set to a predetermined amount (Vp) or more. It is provided with an amount adjusting unit (30, 41, 44, 46, 52, 55).

According to this, when the secondary battery (11) is charged and the amount of heat generated increases, the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporation unit (13) can be reduced, so that the liquid refrigerant in the evaporation unit (13) can be reduced. Can suppress the blow-up. Therefore, the cooling performance can be ensured as much as possible during charging.

In order to achieve the above other object, the thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to claim 12 is used.
An evaporation unit (13) that absorbs heat from the secondary battery (11) and evaporates the refrigerant, and
A condenser (14) that condenses the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporation section, and
A storage unit (40) that stores the refrigerant circulating between the evaporation unit and the condenser in a liquid phase state, and
It is provided with a storage amount adjusting unit (30, 41, 44, 46, 52, 55) that adjusts the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit according to the heat generation amount of the secondary battery.

According to this, when the calorific value of the secondary battery (11) increases, the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporation unit (13) can be reduced to suppress the blow-up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporation unit (13). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cooling performance from being lowered due to the blowing up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator.

In addition, the reference numerals in parentheses of each means described in this column and the scope of claims indicate the correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiment described later.

It is an overall block diagram of the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles in 1st Embodiment. It is a graph which shows the correlation between a battery temperature and a battery input / output. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which the thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle in 1st Embodiment has a large amount of liquid storage | storage part. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit is small in the thermosiphon type cooling device for vehicles according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control process which the control device of the thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle executes in 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the operating state in the tilted state of the thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control process which the control device of the thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle executes in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control process which the control device of the thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle executes in 3rd Embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit is large in the thermosiphon type cooling device for vehicles according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a state in which the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit is small in the thermosiphon type cooling device for vehicles according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to a fifth embodiment has a large amount of liquid stored in a liquid storage unit. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit is small in the thermosiphon type cooling device for vehicles according to the fifth embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the operating state in the horizontal state of the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles in 6th Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the liquid storage part and the condenser of the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles in 6th Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the operating state in the inclined state of the thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle in 6th Embodiment. It is an overall block diagram of the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles in 7th Embodiment. It is an overall block diagram of the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles in 8th Embodiment. FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to a ninth embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control process executed by the control device of the thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to the tenth embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the operating state of the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles in tenth embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles in 1st Example of 11th Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicle in 2nd Example of 11th Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles in 3rd Example of 11th Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicle in 4th Example of 11th Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In each of the following embodiments, parts that are the same or equal to each other are designated by the same reference numerals in the drawings.

(First Embodiment)
The vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device 10 of the present embodiment is a vehicle battery cooling device that cools a battery mounted on a vehicle. In FIG. 1, the arrows of up, down, front, back, left and right indicate the up, down, front, back, left and right directions of the vehicle.

The assembled battery 11 is a secondary battery that stores electric energy. The assembled battery 11 supplies electricity to the traveling motor via an inverter or the like. The assembled battery 11 is a storage battery that stores regenerative power. The assembled battery 11 self-heats when it is charged or discharged, such as during running. The assembled battery 11 is a cooling object of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle.

The charging method of the assembled battery 11 is a plug-in type. The plug-in type is a method in which the charging connector of the charger is inserted into the charging connector insertion port provided in the vehicle to charge the vehicle. In a general vehicle, two ports, a normal charging port and a quick charging port, are provided as charging connector outlets. The normal charging port is a charging port into which a charging connector for normal charging is inserted. The quick charging port is a charging port into which a charging connector for quick charging is inserted. Fast charging is charging that takes place faster with more power than normal charging.

The charging method of the assembled battery 11 may be a non-contact charging type or an electric wire contact type. The non-contact charging type includes, for example, an electromagnetic induction method and a magnetic field resonance method.

The assembled battery 11 has a plurality of battery cells 111. As shown in FIG. 2, when the battery cell 111 becomes hot, it deteriorates or is damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to suppress the output and input allowed for the battery to suppress the amount of heat generated. Therefore, it is necessary to cool the battery cell 111 to maintain the temperature below a certain level.

In particular, when accelerating or climbing a slope (in other words, when the traveling load is high), the amount of discharge of the battery cell 111 increases and the amount of heat generated increases, so that it is necessary to cool the battery cell 111 with a high cooling capacity.

Since the amount of discharge of the battery cell 111 increases and the amount of heat generated increases even while the battery cell 111 is being charged, it is necessary to cool the battery cell 111 with a high cooling capacity. In particular, the amount of heat generated by the battery cell 111 during rapid charging is significantly larger than in other cases.

The temperature of the battery cell 111 rises not only during traveling and charging, but also during parking in the summer. If the battery cell 111 is left in a high temperature state, its life is significantly shortened. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the battery temperature at a low temperature by cooling the battery cell 111 even while it is left in the parking lot.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device 10 includes a refrigerant circuit 12. The refrigerant circuit 12 has a plurality of evaporators 13, a condenser 14, a gas pipe 15, and a liquid pipe 16.

The refrigerant circuit 12 is filled with a refrigerant. The refrigerant circuit 12 is a heat medium circuit in which a refrigerant as a working fluid circulates. The refrigerant is a chlorofluorocarbon-based refrigerant such as HFO-1234yf or HFC-134a.

The refrigerant is sealed in the refrigerant circuit 12 at a predetermined pressure. At room temperature, the refrigerant is mostly in a liquid state and partly in a gas state in the refrigerant circuit 12.

The refrigerant circuit 12 is a heat pipe that transfers heat by evaporating and condensing the refrigerant. The refrigerant circuit 12 is a loop-type thermosiphon in which a flow path through which a gaseous refrigerant flows and a flow path through which a liquid refrigerant flows are separated.

The plurality of evaporators 13 are evaporation units that absorb heat from the assembled battery 11 to evaporate the refrigerant. The evaporator 13 is a heat exchanger that exchanges heat with the refrigerant. The evaporator 13 cools a plurality of battery cells 111 by evaporating the refrigerant. The evaporator 13 is heat conductive with the battery cell 111. The evaporator 13 cools the battery cell 111 and evaporates the refrigerant by causing the refrigerant to absorb the heat of the battery cell 111.

The evaporator 13 has a thin rectangular outer shape extending in the vertical direction of the vehicle. The evaporator 13 has a heat exchange section 131, a liquid passage section 132, and a gas passage section 133. The heat exchange unit 131, the liquid passage unit 132, and the gas passage unit 133 are arranged in the order of the gas passage unit 133, the heat exchange unit 131, and the liquid passage unit 132 from the upper side to the lower side.

The outer surface of the heat exchange unit 131 is flat. The battery cell 111 has a rectangular parallelepiped outer shape. One surface of the battery cell 111 is in contact with the outer surface of the heat exchange unit 131 so as to be heat conductive via the electrically insulated heat conductive sheet 17. Each battery cell 111 is arranged so that its terminal 112 faces the side opposite to the heat exchange unit 131.

The electrically insulated heat conductive sheet 17 is a thin film-like member having electrical insulation and thermal conductivity. A plate-shaped heat conductive member may be interposed between the heat exchange unit 131 and the battery cell 111.

The heat exchange unit 131 causes the liquid refrigerant flowing through the internal refrigerant flow path to absorb the heat of the battery cell 111 to boil and evaporate the liquid refrigerant.

A large number of refrigerant flow paths (not shown) are formed inside the heat exchange unit 131. A large number of refrigerant flow paths of the heat exchange unit 131 extend in parallel with each other in the vertical direction.

A liquid pipe 16 is connected to the liquid passage portion 132. The liquid passage portion 132 distributes the liquid refrigerant flowing through the liquid pipe 16 to a large number of refrigerant passages of the heat exchange portion 131.

A gas pipe 15 is connected to the gas passage portion 133. The gas passage portion 133 collects the gas refrigerant that has boiled and evaporated in a large number of refrigerant passages of the heat exchange portion 131 and causes the gas refrigerant to flow out to the gas pipe 15.

The condenser 14 is a heat exchanger that cools and condenses the refrigerant vaporized by the evaporator 13 by exchanging heat with the cooling water of the cooling water circuit 20. The condenser 14 is arranged in the engine room of the vehicle. The condenser 14 is arranged above the vehicle above the evaporator 13.

The cooling water is a fluid as a heat medium. The cooling water is, for example, a liquid containing at least ethylene glycol or dimethylpolysiloxane, an antifreeze liquid, a coolant, or the like.

The gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 are refrigerant pipes that connect the evaporator 13 and the condenser 14. The gas pipe 15 is a refrigerant pipe through which the gas refrigerant vaporized by the evaporator 13 flows. The gas pipe 15 forms a gas refrigerant flow path that guides the gas refrigerant to the condenser 14.

The liquid pipe 16 is a refrigerant pipe through which the liquid refrigerant condensed by the condenser 14 flows. The liquid pipe 16 forms a liquid refrigerant flow path that guides the liquid refrigerant to the evaporator 13.

The vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device 10 is mounted on the vehicle so that the condenser 14 is located on the front side of the vehicle and the evaporator 13 is located on the rear side of the vehicle. The gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 extend in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

The plurality of evaporators 13 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The plurality of evaporators 13 are arranged at the same height as each other with respect to the vehicle. The plurality of evaporators 13 are arranged so as to branch off from a set of gas pipes 15 and liquid pipes 16 extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

In the example of FIG. 1, three evaporators 13 are arranged. The three evaporators 13 are arranged on the left side of the vehicle with respect to the gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16. The positions of the plurality of evaporators 13 are fixed relative to each other.

The number of evaporators 13 is not limited to three, and may be one or two, or may be more than three.

The thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle includes a liquid storage unit 40, a heater 41, a liquid communication pipe 42, a gas communication pipe 43, a liquid storage valve 44, and a check valve 45.

The liquid storage unit 40 is a storage unit that stores the refrigerant of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for vehicles in a liquid phase state. The liquid storage unit 40 is arranged at substantially the same height as the evaporator 13 with respect to the vehicle. The liquid storage unit 40 has a refrigerant inlet 401 and a refrigerant outlet 402. The refrigerant inlet 401 and the refrigerant outlet 402 are refrigerant distribution ports through which the refrigerant flows.

The heater 41 heats and evaporates the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40. The heater 41 is an electric heater that generates heat when electric power is supplied.

The liquid communication pipe 42 connects the refrigerant inlet 401 of the liquid storage unit 40 and the liquid pipe 16. The liquid communication pipe 42 forms a refrigerant flow path that allows the liquid refrigerant of the refrigerant circuit 12 to flow into the liquid storage unit 40.

The gas communication pipe 43 connects the gas refrigerant inlet 401 of the liquid storage unit 40 and the gas pipe 15. The gas communication pipe 43 forms a refrigerant flow path for allowing the gas refrigerant of the liquid storage unit 40 to flow into the refrigerant circuit 12.

The liquid storage valve 44 is a solenoid valve that opens and closes the liquid communication pipe 42. The check valve 45 allows the flow of the refrigerant from the liquid storage unit 40 side to the gas pipe 15 side in the gas communication pipe 43, and prohibits the flow of the refrigerant from the gas pipe 15 side to the liquid storage unit 40 side.

The liquid storage unit 40 is arranged in the vicinity of the evaporator 13 farthest from the condenser 14 among the plurality of evaporators 13.

The cooling water circuit 20 has a cooling water pump 21 and a radiator 22. The cooling water pump 21 is a pump that sucks in and discharges the cooling water of the cooling water circuit 20. The radiator 22 is a heat exchanger that cools the cooling water by exchanging heat between the cooling water circulating in the cooling water circuit 20 and the outside air. The outside air blower 23 is a blower that blows outside air to the radiator 22.

The operation of the heater 41, the liquid storage valve 44, the cooling water pump 21, and the outside air blower 23 is controlled by the control device 30. The control device 30 is composed of a well-known microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and peripheral circuits thereof.

The control device 30 is a control unit that performs various calculations and processes based on the control program stored in the ROM and controls the operation of the cooling water pump 21 and the outside air blower 23 connected to the output side thereof.

The control device 30, the heater 41, and the liquid storage valve 44 are storage amount adjusting units that adjust the storage amount of the refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40.

A sensor group such as a battery cell temperature sensor 31, a liquid level sensor 32, and a gyro sensor 33 is connected to the input side of the control device 30. A detection signal of the sensor group is input to the control device 30.

The battery cell temperature sensor 31 is a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of at least two or more battery cells 111 among the plurality of battery cells 111. The liquid level sensor 32 detects the height of the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40.

The gyro sensor 33 detects the tilt angle of the vehicle (in other words, the tilt angle of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for the vehicle), and the gyro sensor 33 is a tilt amount detection unit that detects the tilt amount of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the vehicle is in a horizontal state, in other words, the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle is in a horizontal state, and the liquid storage valve 44 is open. In FIG. 3, a portion of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle in which a liquid refrigerant exists is illustrated by point hatching.

The amount of the liquid refrigerant filled in the vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device 10 is set so that the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant is located at a height substantially intermediate between the evaporator 13 and the liquid storage unit 40 in the state of FIG. There is.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the vehicle is in a horizontal state, in other words, the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle is in a horizontal state, and the liquid storage valve 44 is closed and the heater 41 is operated. In FIG. 4, a portion of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle in which a liquid refrigerant exists is illustrated by point hatching.

In the state of FIG. 4, the heater 41 operates to heat and evaporate the refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40, so that the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 is lowered as compared with the state of FIG. , The liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 rises.

Next, the operation in the above configuration will be described. If the temperature of the assembled battery 11 is higher than the boiling point of the refrigerant in the state where the cooling water pump 21 is operating and the cooling water is supplied to the condenser 14, the refrigerant circuit 12 of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for vehicles may be used. The refrigerant circulates due to the thermosiphon phenomenon (in other words, the phase change of the refrigerant).

Specifically, in the evaporator 13, the liquid refrigerant absorbs heat from the assembled battery 11 and evaporates to become a gas refrigerant. The gas refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 13 flows into the gas pipe 15, rises in the gas pipe 15, and flows into the condenser 14.

In the condenser 14, the gas refrigerant flowing from the gas pipe 15 dissipates heat to the cooling water of the cooling water circuit 20 and condenses, and becomes a liquid refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant condensed in the condenser 14 flows down the liquid pipe 16 due to gravity and flows into the evaporator 13.

By circulating the refrigerant through the refrigerant circuit 12 in this way, the assembled battery 11 can be cooled by the evaporator 13. Since the refrigerant can be circulated in the refrigerant circuit 12 without using the power as much as possible, the power can be saved and the assembled battery 11 can be cooled even when the battery is left parked.

At this time, the control device 30 executes the control process shown in the flowchart of FIG. In step S100, it is highly likely that the quick charging of the assembled battery 11 is started (in other words, it is presumed that the assembled battery 11 is quickly charged), or whether the assembled battery 11 is being fast charged. To judge.

When at least one of the following conditions (1) to (4) is satisfied, the control device 30 determines that there is a high possibility that the quick charging of the assembled battery 11 will be started.

(1) When the cable on the quick charger side is inserted into the quick charging connector insertion port of the vehicle, or when the cover of the quick charging connector insertion port of the vehicle is opened.

(2) When it can be determined that the vehicle has stopped within the reach of the charging cable of the quick charger based on the vehicle position information of the car navigation device.

(3) When it is determined that the car navigation device has arrived at the installation location of the quick charger (that is, a facility that can be quickly charged).

(4) When the car navigation device sets the destination to the installation location of the quick charger and it is determined that the destination has arrived.

When at least one of the following conditions (5) to (7) is satisfied, the control device 30 determines that the assembled battery 11 is being rapidly charged.

(5) When the cable on the quick charger side is inserted into the quick charging connector insertion port of the vehicle.

(6) When the charging power or charging current required by the vehicle is equal to or greater than the threshold value.

(7) When the calorific value of the battery being charged is larger than the threshold value.

If it is highly likely that the quick charging of the assembled battery 11 is started in step S100, or if it is determined that the assembled battery 11 is being rapidly charged, the process proceeds to step S110, and the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is set to a predetermined amount. Increase above Vp. The predetermined amount Vp is stored in advance in the control device 30.

Specifically, in step S110, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is less than a predetermined amount Vp, the liquid storage valve 44 is opened. Then, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 exceeds the upper limit amount Vmax, the liquid storage valve 44 is closed.

Whether or not the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is less than the predetermined amount Vp and whether or not the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is equal to or more than the upper limit amount Vmax are determined based on the detection signal of the liquid level sensor 32. To do.

By opening the liquid storage valve 44, a part of the liquid refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 flows into the liquid storage unit 40 through the liquid communication pipe 42. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 The liquid level rises. Therefore, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 is reduced.

Since the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 is reduced by reducing the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12, the calorific value of the assembled battery 11 is remarkably increased by the rapid charging, and the evaporation of the liquid refrigerant becomes remarkably intense. However, it is possible to suppress the blow-up of the liquid refrigerant.

If it is determined in step S100 that the rapid charging is not likely to be started and the rapid charging is not in progress, it is determined that the rapid charging is completed, the process proceeds to step S120, and the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is determined. Reduce to less than the quantitative Vp. Specifically, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is a predetermined amount Vp or more, the heater 41 is operated. Then, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 becomes less than the lower limit amount Vmin, the heater 41 is stopped.

Whether or not the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is equal to or more than a predetermined amount Vp and whether or not the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is less than the lower limit amount Vmin are determined based on the detection signal of the liquid level sensor 32. To do.

By operating the heater 41, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 is heated and evaporated to become a gas refrigerant. The gas refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 flows into the gas pipe 15 through the gas communication pipe 43 and circulates in the refrigerant circuit 12, so that the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 drops as shown in FIG. To do. As the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 decreases, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases.

Since the amount of liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 increases as the amount of refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases, the liquid refrigerant does not exist in the evaporator 13 even if the vehicle tilts as shown in FIG. It is possible to prevent the site from forming. The inclination angle θ shown in FIG. 6 is an inclination angle in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

In the present embodiment, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 determine the amount of refrigerant stored in the storage unit 40 when the assembled battery 11 is rapidly charged or when it is estimated that the assembled battery 11 is rapidly charged. Set the amount to Vp or more.

According to this, when the assembled battery 11 is rapidly charged and the calorific value becomes remarkably large, the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 can be reduced, so that the blow-up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 can be suppressed. .. Therefore, the cooling performance can be ensured as much as possible during charging.

In the present embodiment, when the charging of the assembled battery 11 is completed, the control device 30 and the heater 41 reduce the amount of the refrigerant stored in the storage unit 40 from the predetermined amount Vp.

As a result, it is possible to prevent the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 from becoming insufficient when there is little risk of the liquid refrigerant being blown up in the evaporator 13.

In the present embodiment, the control device 30 and the heater 41 reduce the amount of refrigerant stored in the liquid storage unit 40 by performing heat transfer accompanied by a phase change of the refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 from the liquid phase to the gas phase. Let me. As a result, the amount of the liquid refrigerant stored in the liquid storage unit 40 can be reliably reduced when the charging of the assembled battery 11 is completed.

In the present embodiment, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 increase the amount of refrigerant stored in the liquid storage unit 40 by adjusting the opening area of the refrigerant inlet 401 of the liquid storage unit 40. As a result, when the assembled battery 11 is charged and the amount of heat generated increases, the amount of refrigerant stored in the liquid storage unit 40 can be reliably increased.

In the present embodiment, since the relative positions of the plurality of evaporators 13 are fixed to each other, the amount of the liquid refrigerant can be appropriately adjusted for all the evaporators 13.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, when it is determined that there is a high possibility that rapid charging will be started or that rapid charging is in progress, the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is increased to a predetermined amount Vp or more. Then, even when it is determined that normal charging is likely to be started or normal charging is in progress, if the absolute value | θ | of the inclination angle θ shown in FIG. 6 is equal to or greater than the threshold value α, the storage is performed. The amount of liquid stored in the liquid part 40 is not increased to a predetermined amount Vp or more.

The control device 30 executes the control process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7. In step S200, it is highly likely that normal charging of the assembled battery 11 is started (in other words, it is estimated that the assembled battery 11 is normally charged), or whether or not the assembled battery 11 is normally charged. To judge.

In this case, if at least one of the following conditions (1) to (6) is satisfied, the control device 30 determines that there is a high possibility that normal charging will be started.

(1) When the cable on the normal charger side is inserted into the normal charging connector insertion port of the vehicle, or when the cover of the normal charging connector insertion port of the vehicle is opened.

(2) When it can be determined that the vehicle has stopped within the reach of the charging cable of the normal charger based on the vehicle position information of the car navigation device.

(3) When it is determined from the information of the car navigation device that the vehicle has arrived at the installation location of the ordinary charger (that is, a facility that can normally charge).

(4) When the car navigation device sets the destination to the installation location of the normal charger and it is determined that the destination has arrived.

(5) When the start time of normal charging is approached while the start time of normal charging is set by the timer.

(6) When the vehicle is stopped with the remaining battery capacity SOC of the assembled battery 11 being low.

When the following condition (7) is satisfied, the control device 30 determines that the assembled battery 11 is normally being charged.

(7) When the cable on the normal charger side is inserted into the normal charging connector outlet of the vehicle.

If it is highly likely that the assembled battery 11 will start normal charging in step S200, or if it is determined that the assembled battery 11 is in normal charging, the process proceeds to step S210, and the absolute value of the tilt angle θ of the vehicle | θ | Is less than the threshold value α, it is determined based on the inclination angle of the vehicle detected by the gyro sensor 33.

If it is determined in step S210 that the absolute value | θ | of the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is less than the threshold value α, the process proceeds to step S220, and the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is increased to a predetermined amount Vp or more. Specifically, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is less than a predetermined amount Vp, the liquid storage valve 44 is opened. Then, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 exceeds the upper limit amount Vmax, the liquid storage valve 44 is closed.

As a result, a part of the liquid refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 flows into the liquid storage unit 40 through the liquid communication pipe 42, so that the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 rises as shown in FIG. .. Therefore, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 is reduced.

Since the amount of liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 decreases as the amount of refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 decreases, even if the calorific value of the assembled battery 11 increases due to normal charging and the liquid refrigerant evaporates violently. , It is possible to suppress the blow-up of the liquid refrigerant.

If it is determined in step S200 that the normal charging of the assembled battery 11 is not likely to start and the assembled battery 11 is not in the normal charging, it is determined that the normal charging is completed and the process proceeds to step S230 to store the liquid. The amount of liquid stored in the part 40 is reduced to less than a predetermined amount Vp. Specifically, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is a predetermined amount Vp or more, the heater 41 is operated. Then, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 becomes less than the lower limit amount Vmin, the heater 41 is stopped.

As a result, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 is heated and evaporated to become a gas refrigerant. The gas refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 flows into the gas pipe 15 through the gas communication pipe 43 and circulates in the refrigerant circuit 12, so that the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 drops as shown in FIG. To do. As the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 decreases, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases.

Since the amount of liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 increases as the amount of refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases, the liquid refrigerant does not exist in the evaporator 13 even if the vehicle tilts as shown in FIG. It is possible to prevent the site from forming.

Even when it is determined in step S210 that the absolute value | θ | of the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the threshold value α, the process proceeds to step S230, and the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is reduced to less than the predetermined amount Vp.

As a result, even when the calorific value of the assembled battery 11 becomes large due to normal charging and the evaporation of the liquid refrigerant becomes intense, the vehicle tilts and a portion where the liquid refrigerant does not exist is generated in the evaporator 13. Can be suppressed.

In the present embodiment, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 are charged when the assembled battery 11 is charged, or when the assembled battery 11 is estimated to be charged and the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is smaller than a predetermined angle. , The amount of refrigerant stored in the storage unit 40 is set to a predetermined amount Vp or more.

As a result, when the assembled battery 11 is charged and the amount of heat generated increases when the inclination of the vehicle is small and the bias of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 is small, the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 is increased. Since the amount is reduced, it is possible to suppress the blow-up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 when the assembled battery 11 is charged and the amount of heat generated increases, and it is also possible to suppress the occurrence of a portion in the evaporator 13 in which the liquid refrigerant does not exist. ..

(Third Embodiment)
In the second embodiment, when it is determined that there is a high possibility that rapid charging will be started, or that rapid charging is in progress, and the absolute value | θ | of the inclination angle θ is less than the threshold value α, the liquid storage unit 40 However, in the present embodiment, when it is determined that the vehicle is stopped and the absolute value | θ | of the inclination angle θ is less than the threshold value α, the liquid storage unit is increased. The amount of liquid stored in 40 is increased to a predetermined amount Vp or more.

The control device 30 executes the control process shown in the flowchart of FIG. In step S300, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is stopped. Whether or not the vehicle is stopped can be determined based on, for example, at least one of the speed of the vehicle, the operating state of the parking brake, the position information of the car navigation system, and the amount of power generated by the battery.

If it is determined in step S300 that the vehicle is stopped, the process proceeds to step S310, and the inclination of the vehicle detected by the gyro sensor 33 as to whether or not the absolute value | θ | of the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is less than the threshold value α. Judgment is based on the angle.

If it is determined in step S310 that the absolute value | θ | of the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is less than the threshold value α, the process proceeds to step S220, and the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is increased to a predetermined amount Vp or more. Specifically, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is less than a predetermined amount Vp, the liquid storage valve 44 is opened. Then, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 exceeds the upper limit amount Vmax, the liquid storage valve 44 is closed.

As a result, a part of the liquid refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 flows into the liquid storage unit 40 through the liquid communication pipe 42, so that the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 rises as shown in FIG. .. Therefore, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 is reduced.

Since the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 decreases as the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 decreases, charging is started while the vehicle is stopped, the calorific value of the assembled battery 11 increases, and the liquid refrigerant evaporates. Even if it becomes severe, it is possible to suppress the blow-up of the liquid refrigerant.

If it is determined in step S300 that the vehicle is not stopped, the process proceeds to step S330, and the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is reduced to less than the predetermined amount Vp. Specifically, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is a predetermined amount Vp or more, the heater 41 is operated. Then, when the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 becomes less than the lower limit amount Vmin, the heater 41 is stopped.

As a result, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 is heated and evaporated to become a gas refrigerant. The gas refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 flows into the gas pipe 15 through the gas communication pipe 43 and circulates in the refrigerant circuit 12, so that the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 drops as shown in FIG. To do. As the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 decreases, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases.

Since the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 increases as the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases, the portion where the liquid refrigerant does not exist in the evaporator 13 does not occur even if the vehicle tilts. can do.

Even when it is determined in step S310 that the absolute value | θ | of the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the threshold value α, the process proceeds to step S330, and the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is reduced to less than the predetermined amount Vp.

As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a portion in the evaporator 13 in which the liquid refrigerant does not exist due to the inclination of the vehicle.

In the present embodiment, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 set the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit 40 to a predetermined amount Vp or more when the vehicle is stopped and the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is smaller than the predetermined angle α.

As a result, the assembled battery 11 may be charged and the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 can be reduced when the inclination of the vehicle is small, so that the assembled battery 11 is charged and a large amount of heat is generated. When this happens, the blow-up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 can be suppressed.

In the present embodiment, the control device 30 and the heater 41 reduce the amount of refrigerant stored in the storage unit 40 from the predetermined amount Vp when the vehicle has finished stopping.

As a result, the amount of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 can be increased when there is no possibility of charging the assembled battery 11, so that the evaporator is used when there is little risk of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 being blown up. It is possible to prevent the amount of the liquid refrigerant in 13 from becoming insufficient.

(Fourth Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the check valve 45 is arranged in the gas communication pipe 43, but in the present embodiment, the on-off valve 46 is arranged in the gas communication pipe 43 as shown in FIG.

The on-off valve 46 is a solenoid valve that opens and closes the gas communication pipe 43. The operation of the on-off valve 46 is controlled by the control device 30. The on-off valve 46 is a storage amount adjusting unit.

When the control device 30 operates the heater 41 with the liquid storage valve 44 closed, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 is heated and evaporated to become a gas refrigerant. At this time, by opening the on-off valve 46, the gas refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 flows into the gas pipe 15 through the gas communication pipe 43 and circulates in the refrigerant circuit 12. Therefore, as shown in FIG. The liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the part 40 is lowered. In FIGS. 9 and 10, a portion of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle in which a liquid refrigerant is present is illustrated by point hatching. As the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 decreases, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases.

When the control device 30 opens the liquid storage valve 44, a part of the liquid refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 flows into the liquid storage unit 40 through the liquid communication pipe 42. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the liquid storage unit 40 The liquid level of the liquid refrigerant inside rises. Therefore, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 is reduced.

Also in this embodiment, the same effects as those in the first embodiment can be obtained.

When there is a possibility that the refrigerant flows back from the gas pipe 15 to the gas communication pipe 43, the on-off valve 46 is closed. When there is no possibility that the refrigerant flows back from the gas pipe 15 to the gas communication pipe 43, the on-off valve 46 is opened.

Even when the on-off valve 46 is closed, the on-off valve 46 is opened when the internal pressure of the liquid storage unit 40 rises above the upper limit value. As a result, even if the internal pressure of the liquid storage unit 40 rises due to the temperature rise of the refrigerant, damage to the liquid storage unit 40 can be suppressed.

The on-off valve 46 may be provided with a relief valve. The relief valve is a valve that is opened by a mechanical mechanism when the internal pressure of the liquid storage unit 40 rises above a predetermined pressure. According to this, when the internal pressure of the liquid storage unit 40 rises above a predetermined pressure, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 can be released to reduce the internal pressure of the storage unit 40. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the internal pressure of the storage unit 40 from being excessively increased and the storage unit 40 from being damaged when the temperature of the refrigerant rises excessively.

(Fifth Embodiment)
In the above embodiment, the liquid storage unit 40 has a refrigerant inlet 401 and a refrigerant outlet 402, but in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the liquid storage unit 40 has a refrigerant inlet / outlet 403. ..

The liquid storage unit 40 is arranged in the vicinity of the evaporator 13 closest to the condenser 14 among the plurality of evaporators 13. The refrigerant inlet / outlet 403 of the liquid storage unit 40 is provided above the liquid storage unit 40. The refrigerant inlet / outlet 403 of the liquid storage unit 40 is connected to the gas pipe 15 by a communication pipe 51.

An on-off valve 52 is arranged in the communication pipe 51. The on-off valve 52 is an electromagnetic valve that opens and closes the communication pipe 51. The on-off valve 52 is a storage amount adjusting unit. The operation of the on-off valve 52 is controlled by the control device 30.

When the control device 30 operates the heater 41 to open the on-off valve 52, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 is heated and evaporated, flows into the gas pipe 15 through the communication pipe 51, and circulates in the refrigerant circuit 12. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 drops. In FIGS. 11 and 12, a portion of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle in which a liquid refrigerant is present is illustrated by point hatching.

As the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 decreases, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases.

When the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 is high, the control device 30 opens the on-off valve 52 without operating the heater 41, so that the liquid refrigerant blown up from the evaporator 13 to the gas pipe 15 passes through the communication pipe 51. It flows into the liquid storage unit 40. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 rises. Therefore, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 is reduced.

Also in this embodiment, the same effects as those in the above embodiment can be obtained.

If a gas-liquid separator is arranged at the connection portion between the communication pipe 51 and the gas pipe 15, the liquid refrigerant can be efficiently stored in the liquid storage unit 40. This is because the liquid refrigerant separated by the gas-liquid separator can flow into the liquid storage unit 40, and the gas refrigerant separated by the gas-liquid separator can flow into the condenser 14.

(Sixth Embodiment)
In the above embodiment, the liquid storage unit 40 is a device independent of the refrigerant circuit 12, but in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 13 to 14, the liquid storage unit 40 is integrated with the condenser 14. ing.

The liquid storage unit 40 has a refrigerant inlet 401, a gas refrigerant outlet 405, and a liquid refrigerant outlet 406. The refrigerant inlet 401 and the gas refrigerant outlet 405 are provided above the liquid storage unit 40. The liquid refrigerant outlet 406 is provided in the lower part of the liquid storage unit 40.

The refrigerant inlet 401 is connected to the gas pipe 15. The gas refrigerant outlet 405 is connected to the gas refrigerant inlet 141 of the condenser 14. The gas refrigerant inlet 141 of the condenser 14 is provided above the condenser 14. The liquid refrigerant outlet 406 is connected to the liquid refrigerant inlet 142 of the condenser 14. The liquid refrigerant outlet 143 of the condenser 14 is provided at the lower part of the condenser 14.

An outflow valve 55 is arranged at the liquid refrigerant outlet 406 of the liquid storage unit 40. The outflow valve 55 is a solenoid valve that opens and closes the liquid refrigerant outlet 406 of the liquid storage unit 40. The outflow valve 55 is a storage amount adjusting unit. The operation of the outflow valve 55 is controlled by the control device 30.

When the control device 30 opens the outflow valve 55, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 flows into the condenser 14 from the liquid refrigerant inlet 142 through the liquid refrigerant outlet 406. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, the liquid storage unit 40 The liquid level of the liquid refrigerant inside is lowered. In FIGS. 13 and 15, a portion of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for a vehicle in which a liquid refrigerant is present is illustrated by point hatching.

As the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 decreases, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 increases.

When the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 is high, the liquid refrigerant blown up from the evaporator 13 to the gas pipe 15 flows into the liquid storage unit 40 through the refrigerant inlet 401 and is stored, which is shown in FIG. As described above, the liquid level of the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 rises. Therefore, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerant circuit 12 is reduced.

The gas refrigerant that has flowed into the liquid storage unit 40 from the gas pipe 15 through the refrigerant inlet 401 flows into the condenser 14 from the gas refrigerant outlet 405 through the gas refrigerant inlet 141.

In the present embodiment, the liquid storage unit 40 has a refrigerant inlet 401 into which the refrigerant flowing out of the evaporator 13 flows in, a gas refrigerant outlet 405 in which the gas phase refrigerant flows out to the condenser 14 side, and a liquid to the condenser 14 side. It has a liquid refrigerant outlet 406 that allows the phase refrigerant to flow out. The outflow valve 55 opens and closes the liquid refrigerant outlet 406 of the liquid storage unit 40.

As a result, the same effects as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

(7th Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the plurality of evaporators 13 are arranged on the left side of the vehicle with respect to the gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16, but in the present embodiment, a plurality of evaporators 13 are arranged as shown in FIG. Evaporators 13 are arranged on both sides of the gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 in the left-right direction of the vehicle. In the example of FIG. 16, three evaporators 13 are arranged in the left-right direction of the vehicle.

Also in this embodiment, the same effects as those in the above embodiment can be obtained.

(8th Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, a set of gas pipes 15 and a liquid pipe 16 extend in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, but in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, a set of gases connected to the condenser 14 The pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 are branched into two sets on the evaporator 13 side and extend in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

A plurality of evaporators 13 are arranged in the middle of the gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 of each set. In the example of FIG. 17, two evaporators 13 are arranged in the middle of the gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 of each set. In each set of the gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16, the two evaporators 13 are arranged in series with each other.

The gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle are not limited to two sets, and may be three or more sets.

The number of evaporators 13 arranged in the middle of the gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 of each set is not limited to two, and may be one or three or more. ..

Also in this embodiment, the same effects as those in the above embodiment can be obtained.

(9th Embodiment)
In the above embodiment, the condenser 14 is arranged above the evaporator 13 of the vehicle, but in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, the condenser 14 is at substantially the same height as the evaporator 13. Have been placed. Therefore, the assembled battery 11 can be heated by flowing high-temperature cooling water through the condenser 14.

By flowing high-temperature cooling water through the condenser 14, the liquid refrigerant evaporates in the condenser 14, and the gas refrigerant is condensed by the assembled battery 11 absorbing heat from the gas refrigerant in the evaporator 13.

According to this embodiment, the assembled battery 11 can be cooled by flowing low-temperature cooling water through the condenser 14, and the assembled battery 11 can be heated by flowing high-temperature cooling water through the condenser 14.

(10th Embodiment)
In the above embodiment, the assembled battery 11 is cooled by the vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device 10, but in the present embodiment, the assembled battery 11 is heated by using the heater 41 of the vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device 10.

The control device 30 executes the control process shown in the flowchart of FIG. In step S400, it is determined whether or not the assembled battery 11 needs to be heated based on the temperature of the battery cell 111 detected by the battery cell temperature sensor 31 and the like.

If it is determined in step S400 that the assembled battery 11 needs to be heated, the process proceeds to step S410 to operate the heater 41 and open the liquid storage valve 44.

As a result, the liquid refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 is heated by the heater 41 and evaporated to become a gas refrigerant. As shown by the arrow in FIG. 20, the gas refrigerant in the liquid storage unit 40 flows into the evaporator 13 through the gas communication pipe 43 and the gas pipe 15, and is radiated to the battery cell 111 by the evaporator 13 to be condensed and liquid. It becomes a refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 flows into the liquid storage unit 40 through the liquid pipe 16 and the liquid communication pipe 42.

Therefore, the assembled battery 11 can be heated by using the heater 41 of the thermosiphon type cooling device 10 for vehicles.

(11th Embodiment)
In the above embodiment, the condenser 14 is a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the refrigerant and the cooling water of the cooling water circuit 20, but the condenser 14 is a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the refrigerant and various cooling media. There may be.

As in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 21, the condenser 14 may be a heat exchanger that exchanges heat with the outside air of the refrigerant. The outside air is blown to the condenser 14 by the outdoor blower 59. The condenser 14 and the outdoor blower 59 are arranged in the engine room of the vehicle 1.

As in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 22, the condenser 14 is a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the refrigerant and the cooling water of the cooling water circuit 20, and the cooling water of the cooling water circuit 20 is the refrigerant of the refrigerating cycle 60. It may be cooled by.

The refrigerating cycle 60 includes a compressor 61, a radiator 62, a battery cooling expansion valve 63, and a cooling water cooler 64.

The compressor 61 sucks in the refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle 60, compresses it, and discharges it. The radiator 62 is a heat exchanger that dissipates heat and condenses the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 61. The battery cooling expansion valve 63 is a decompression unit that decompresses and expands the refrigerant condensed by the radiator 62. The cooling water cooler 64 exchanges heat between the refrigerant of the refrigerating cycle 60 expanded under reduced pressure by the expansion valve 63 for cooling the battery and the cooling water of the cooling water circuit 20 to evaporate the refrigerant of the refrigerating cycle 60 and cool the cooling water. The cooling water of the circuit 20 is cooled.

As in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 23, the condenser 14 may be a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the refrigerant of the refrigerant circuit 12 and the refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle 60. The condenser 14 heat-exchanges the refrigerant of the refrigerating cycle 60 expanded under reduced pressure by the battery cooling expansion valve 63 with the refrigerant of the refrigerant circuit 12 evaporated by the evaporator 13 to evaporate the refrigerant of the refrigerating cycle 60. The refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit 12 is condensed.

As in the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 24, the refrigeration cycle 60 may include an air conditioning expansion valve 65 and an air conditioning evaporator 66.

The air conditioning expansion valve 65 is a decompression unit that decompresses and expands the refrigerant condensed by the radiator 62. The air-conditioning evaporator 66 is a cooling heat exchanger that cools the air blown into the vehicle interior by exchanging heat between the refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle 60 and the air blown into the vehicle interior.

The air conditioning expansion valve 65 and the air conditioning evaporator 66 are arranged in parallel with the radiator 62 in the refrigerant flow of the refrigeration cycle 60.

A battery cooling side on-off valve 67 is arranged at the refrigerant inlet of the battery cooling expansion valve 63. The battery cooling side on-off valve 67 is a solenoid valve that opens and closes the refrigerant flow path on the battery cooling expansion valve 63 side. The operation of the battery cooling side on-off valve 67 is controlled by the control device 30.

An air-conditioning side on-off valve 68 is arranged at the refrigerant inlet of the air-conditioning expansion valve 65. The air-conditioning side on-off valve 68 is a solenoid valve that opens and closes the refrigerant flow path on the battery cooling expansion valve 63 side. The operation of the air-conditioning side on-off valve 68 is controlled by the control device 30.

In the first to fourth embodiments of the present embodiment, the same effects as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

(Other embodiments)
The above embodiments can be combined as appropriate. The above embodiment can be variously modified as follows, for example.

(1) The gas pipe 15 and the liquid pipe 16 may be arranged so as to bypass other parts and members of the vehicle for the convenience of mounting on the vehicle.

(2) In the above embodiment, the assembled battery 11 is arranged under the floor of the vehicle, but the assembled battery 11 may be arranged behind the vehicle, for example, under the trunk room or the rear seat. The assembled battery 11 may be arranged in front of the vehicle, for example, in the engine room.

(3) In the above embodiment, a fluorocarbon-based refrigerant is used as the refrigerant of the refrigerant circuit 12, but various refrigerants having a characteristic of not becoming a supercritical state during operation may be used.

(4) In the above embodiment, the device cooled by the vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device 10 is the assembled battery 11, but the device cooled by the vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device 10 is a motor. It may be various in-vehicle devices such as an inverter and a charger.

(5) In the first embodiment, the cooling water circulates in the cooling water circuit 20, but a liquid cooling medium (for example, an insulating fluid such as insulating oil) circulates instead of the cooling water. May be good.

(6) The structure for cooling the battery cell 111 with the evaporator 13 is not limited to the structure shown in the above embodiment.

The outer shape of each battery cell 111 is not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and may be, for example, a cylindrical shape or a laminated shape.

(7) In the above embodiment, the condenser 14 and the evaporator 13 are arranged in the vehicle front-rear direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the condenser 14 and the evaporator 13 are arranged in the vehicle left-right direction. It may be lined up.

(8) In the above embodiment, the positive / negative of the inclination angle θ is positive on the side where the front of the vehicle faces upward, and negative on the side where the front of the vehicle faces downward, but the positive / negative of the inclination angle θ is opposite to this. You may. That is, the positive / negative of the inclination angle θ may be positive on the side where the front of the vehicle faces downward and negative on the side where the front of the vehicle faces upward.

(9) In the above embodiment, the amount of refrigerant stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is adjusted according to the inclination of the vehicle in the front-rear direction, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the amount of refrigerant stored is adjusted according to the inclination of the vehicle in the left-right direction. The amount of the refrigerant stored in the liquid portion 40 may be adjusted.

(10) In the first embodiment, when there is a high possibility that quick charging is started or when quick charging is in progress, the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is increased to a predetermined amount Vp or more, but normal charging is performed. The amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 may be increased to a predetermined amount Vp or more when there is a high possibility that it will be started or the battery is being charged normally.

(11) In the first embodiment, in step S110, the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is determined based on the detection signal of the liquid level sensor 32, but the liquid storage unit 40 is stored by various other methods. The amount may be determined.

For example, the position of the liquid level in the state where the liquid storage valve 44 is opened is estimated based on the amount of the refrigerant sealed in the refrigerant circuit 12, and the amount of liquid stored is estimated based on the estimated position of the liquid level. Good. At that time, the angle detected by the gyro sensor 33 may be used. By using the angle detected by the gyro sensor 33, the amount of liquid stored can be estimated more accurately.

(12) In the first embodiment, in step S120, the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 is determined based on the detection signal of the liquid level sensor 32, but the liquid storage unit 40 is stored by various other methods. The amount may be determined. For example, the amount of liquid stored may be estimated based on the operating power and operating time of the heater 41.

(13) In the first embodiment or the like, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 have a predetermined amount of liquid storage amount Vp in the liquid storage unit 40 when there is a high possibility that charging is started or charging is in progress. Although increased as described above, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 may adjust the liquid storage amount of the liquid storage unit 40 according to the heat generation amount of the assembled battery 11.

Specifically, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 may increase the amount of liquid stored in the liquid storage unit 40 as the amount of heat generated by the assembled battery 11 increases.

According to this, it is possible to suppress the blow-up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 not only when the calorific value of the assembled battery 11 increases due to charging but also when the discharged amount of the assembled battery 11 increases and the calorific value increases. Therefore, the cooling performance can be ensured as much as possible during charging.

For example, even when the vehicle is stopped, even when an electric device such as an air conditioner consumes the electric power of the assembled battery 11 and the amount of heat generated by the assembled battery 11 increases, it is possible to suppress the blowing up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13. Therefore, the cooling performance can be secured as much as possible.

(14) In the second embodiment, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 are estimated to be charged when the assembled battery 11 is charged, or the assembled battery 11 is presumed to be charged, and the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is predetermined. If it is smaller than the angle, the amount of refrigerant stored in the storage unit 40 is set to a predetermined amount Vp or more.

On the other hand, when the calorific value of the assembled battery 11 is larger than the predetermined amount and the inclination angle θ of the vehicle is smaller than the predetermined angle, the control device 30 and the liquid storage valve 44 store the stored amount of the liquid storage unit 40. It may be more than a predetermined amount.

According to this, when the inclination of the vehicle is small and the bias of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 is small, not only the heat generation amount of the assembled battery 11 increases due to charging, but also the discharge amount of the assembled battery 11 increases. Even when the amount of heat generated increases and the amount of heat generated increases, it is possible to suppress the blowing up of the liquid refrigerant in the evaporator 13 and also to suppress the occurrence of a portion in the evaporator 13 in which the liquid refrigerant does not exist. Therefore, the cooling performance can be ensured as much as possible.

11 Secondary battery 13 Evaporator (evaporator)
14 Condenser 30 Control device (storage amount adjustment unit)
33 Gyro sensor (tilt amount detector)
40 Storage section 41 Heater (storage volume adjustment section)
44 Liquid storage valve (storage amount adjustment unit)
401 Refrigerant inlet (refrigerant flow port)
402 Refrigerant outlet (refrigerant distribution port)

Claims (14)

An evaporation unit (13) that absorbs heat from the secondary battery (11) and evaporates the refrigerant, and
A condenser (14) that condenses the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporation section, and
A storage unit (40) that stores the refrigerant circulating between the evaporation unit and the condenser in a liquid phase state, and
When the secondary battery is charged, or when it is estimated that the secondary battery is charged, the storage amount adjusting unit (30) that sets the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit to a predetermined amount (Vp) or more. , 41, 44, 46, 52, 55) and a thermosiphon type cooling device for vehicles. The storage amount adjusting unit is the storage unit when the secondary battery is charged, or when it is estimated that the secondary battery is charged and the inclination angle (θ) of the vehicle is smaller than a predetermined angle. The thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the stored amount of the refrigerant is made equal to or more than the predetermined amount. The thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the storage amount adjusting unit reduces the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit from the predetermined amount when the charging of the secondary battery is completed. .. The vehicle thermosiphon according to claim 1, wherein the storage amount adjusting unit sets the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit to the predetermined amount or more when the vehicle is stopped and the inclination angle (θ) of the vehicle is smaller than the predetermined angle. Siphon type cooling device. The thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the storage amount adjusting unit reduces the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit from the predetermined amount when the vehicle is stopped. The one according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the storage amount adjusting unit adjusts the stored amount of the refrigerant in the storage part by performing heat transfer accompanied by a phase change of the refrigerant in the storage part. Thermosiphon type cooling system for vehicles. The storage amount adjusting unit is one of claims 1 to 6 for adjusting the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit by adjusting the opening area of the refrigerant flow port (401, 402) of the storage unit. The described vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device. The storage unit includes a refrigerant inlet (401) into which the refrigerant flowing out of the evaporation unit flows in, a gas refrigerant outlet (405) in which the gas phase refrigerant flows out to the condenser side, and a liquid to the condenser side. It has a liquid refrigerant outlet (406) that allows the phase of the refrigerant to flow out.
The vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising an outflow valve (55) that opens and closes the liquid refrigerant outlet. The evaporating unit has a plurality of evaporators that absorb heat from the secondary battery to evaporate the refrigerant.
The vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the plurality of evaporators are fixed in relative positions to each other. The thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising a relief valve (46) that lowers the internal pressure of the storage unit when the internal pressure of the storage unit becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined pressure. The storage amount adjusting unit is based on the vehicle position information of the car navigation device when the charging connector on the charger side is connected to the charging connector insertion port and when the cover of the charging connector insertion port is opened. When it can be determined that the vehicle has stopped within the reach of the charging cable of the charger, when it is determined that the vehicle has arrived at the installation location of the charger based on the information of the car navigation device, and when the destination of the car navigation device is the charger. In any one of claims 1 to 10, it is presumed that the secondary battery will be charged if at least one of the cases where it is determined that the vehicle has arrived at the destination is set in the installation location of the above. The vehicle thermo-siphon type cooling device described. An evaporation unit (13) that absorbs heat from the secondary battery (11) and evaporates the refrigerant, and
A condenser (14) that condenses the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporation section, and
A storage unit (40) that stores the refrigerant circulating between the evaporation unit and the condenser in a liquid phase state, and
A thermosiphon type cooling device for vehicles including a storage amount adjusting unit (30, 41, 44, 46, 52, 55) that adjusts the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit according to the heat generation amount of the secondary battery. The vehicle thermosiphon type cooling device according to claim 12, wherein the storage amount adjusting unit increases the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit as the amount of heat generated by the secondary battery increases. When the calorific value of the secondary battery is larger than the predetermined amount and the inclination angle (θ) of the vehicle is smaller than the predetermined angle, the storage amount adjusting unit sets the storage amount of the refrigerant in the storage unit to the predetermined amount. The thermosiphon type cooling device for a vehicle according to claim 12 or 13 as described above.

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