JP2024123476A - Battery pack - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a battery pack which can suppress vibrations or distortions input from a vehicle to an apparatus component.SOLUTION: The battery pack according to the present disclosure includes: a case having a battery cell in the inside; an apparatus component provided in the case and electrically connected to the battery cell; and a supporting component for supporting the apparatus component. The supporting member has a cross-shape extending in both the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and in the lateral direction of the vehicle and is connected to the apparatus component.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

This disclosure relates to the internal structure of a battery pack.

Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle battery pack. This vehicle battery pack has vertical and horizontal frames arranged in a cross shape inside the case, which can suppress battery vibration without increasing the weight of the battery.

JP 2022-077357 A Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-226632

Battery packs installed in vehicles contain internal components such as a junction box and an electronic control unit (ECU). Such components are vulnerable to vibrations and twisting input from the vehicle when it is traveling on rough roads.

One objective of the present disclosure is to provide technology that protects equipment components by suppressing vibrations and torsions input from a vehicle to the equipment components.

The first aspect is a battery pack mounted on a vehicle.
The battery pack includes a case having battery cells therein, a device component that is provided inside the case and electrically connected to the battery cells, and a support component that supports the device component.
The support member has a cross shape extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and in the left-right direction of the vehicle, and is connected to the equipment component.

According to the present disclosure, the battery pack has a cross-shaped support member that supports the device components, and the support member suppresses vibration and twisting input to the device components. Therefore, it is possible to protect the device components.

1 is a plan view illustrating an example of a vehicle in which a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is mounted. 1 is a plan view showing an internal configuration of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a support member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

1. Configuration of the battery pack Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a vehicle equipped with a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Note that the direction of "Fr" shown in Fig. 1 corresponds to the front of the vehicle, and the direction of "LH" corresponds to the left of the vehicle.

The vehicle 1 shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a battery electric vehicle (BEV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), a fuel cell vehicle, etc.

The vehicle 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a battery pack 2, front tires 31 and 32, rear tires 33 and 34, front suspensions 41 and 42, and rear suspensions 43 and 44. The left-right center line 51 shown in FIG. 1 is a straight line connecting the midpoint of the line connecting the front suspension 41 and the front suspension 42 and the midpoint of the line connecting the rear suspension 43 and the rear suspension 44. The front-rear center line 52 shown in FIG. 1 is a straight line connecting the midpoint of the line connecting the front suspension 41 and the rear suspension 43 and the midpoint of the line connecting the front suspension 42 and the rear suspension 44.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the battery pack 2 overlaps with the left-right center line 51 and the front-rear center line 52 in a plan view. Furthermore, the battery pack 2 overlaps with the intersection of the left-right center line 51 and the front-rear center line 52 in a plan view. In the vehicle 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, it is assumed that the battery pack 2 is mounted under the floor, but the mounting location of the battery pack 2 is not limited to under the floor of the vehicle 1.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the internal configuration of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Note that the "Fr" direction in Figure 2 corresponds to the front of the vehicle, and the "LH" direction corresponds to the left of the vehicle.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the battery pack 2 includes a battery cell 21, a support member 22, an equipment component 23, and a case 24.

The battery cell 21 is, for example, a lithium ion secondary battery. A plurality of battery cells 21 may be provided in the battery pack 2 and may be electrically connected in series. Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the battery cell 21 is connected to the support member 22 and electrically connected to the device component 23.

2, the support member 22 has a cross shape. Specifically, the support member 22 has a left-right extension portion 221 that extends to the left and right of the vehicle 1, and a front-rear extension portion 222 that extends to the front and rear of the vehicle 1. The left-right extension portion 221 and the front-rear extension portion 222 are perpendicular to each other in the horizontal direction, so that the support member 22 has a cross shape. Both ends of the left-right extension portion 221 and both ends of the front-rear extension portion 222 are connected to the inner walls of the case 24.

The support member 22 is also arranged to overlap the left-right center line 51 and the front-rear center line 52 in a plan view. Specifically, the left-right extension portion 221 and the front-rear center line 52 overlap in a plan view. The front-rear extension portion 222 and the left-right center line 51 overlap in a plan view. Furthermore, the left-right center line 51 and the front-rear center line 52 are perpendicular to each other within the area where the left-right extension portion 221 and the front-rear extension portion 222 overlap in a plan view.

Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the support member 22 is provided above the battery cell 21 in the height direction of the vehicle 1 and is connected to the battery cell 21.

2, the equipment components 23 include, for example, a junction box, an electronic control unit (ECU), a monitoring module (SBM), and a wire harness. In other words, the equipment components 23 are a collective term for components that are electrically connected to the battery cell 21. The equipment components 23 are also provided on the support member 22 in the height direction of the vehicle 1 and are connected to the support member 22.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the case 24 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape. The case 24 houses the battery cells 21, the support members 22, and the equipment components 23 inside. The case 24 is also connected to the underfloor of the vehicle 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a support member according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Note that the "Fr" direction in Figure 3 corresponds to the front of the vehicle, the "RH" direction corresponds to the right side of the vehicle, and "UPR" corresponds to the top of the vehicle.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the support member 22 has a bottom surface 223 having a cross shape, and side surfaces 224 extending vertically from the periphery of the bottom surface 223. More specifically, the bottom surface 223 has a cross shape that extends in both the front-rear direction and the left-right direction of the vehicle 1. The side surfaces 224 are provided on all sides that constitute the bottom surface 223 except for the four end sides 225. However, the side surfaces 224 may also be provided on the end sides 225.

Furthermore, the left-right extension portion 221 and the front-rear extension portion 222 shown in FIG. 2 are configured as follows in the perspective view of FIG. 3. The left-right extension portion 221 is configured with a portion extending in the left-right direction of the bottom surface 223 and four side surfaces 224 extending vertically and in the left-right direction of the vehicle 1. Further, the front-rear extension portion 222 is configured with a portion extending in the front-rear direction of the bottom surface 223 and four side surfaces 224 extending vertically and in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1. The equipment component 23 is housed in the space surrounded by the bottom surface 223 and the pair of opposing side surfaces 224.

Figure 4 shows a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, Figure 4(A) shows a plan view of the battery pack, and Figure 4(B) shows a cross-sectional view of the battery pack 2 shown in Figure 4(A) cut at A-A'. Note that the "Fr" direction shown in Figure 4(A) corresponds to the front of the vehicle, and the "LH" direction corresponds to the left side of the vehicle. Also, the "LH" direction shown in Figure 4(B) corresponds to the left side of the vehicle, and the "UPR" direction corresponds to the top of the vehicle.

The plan view of the battery pack 2 shown in FIG. 4(A) is similar to the example shown in FIG. 2, and so a detailed description is omitted here.

Figure 4 (B) shows in more detail the arrangement of each part and member in the battery pack 2. In the battery pack 2, the parts and members are arranged vertically from the bottom in the case 24 in the following order: battery cell 21, support member 22, and device part 23.

The support member 22 is fixed to the battery cell 21 and the case 24. The back surface of the bottom surface 223 is fixed to the battery cell 21. Furthermore, the edge of the side surface 224 is fixed to the case 24.

The equipment component 23 is mounted inside the support member 22. Specifically, the equipment component 23 is disposed in a space surrounded by the bottom surface 223 constituting the support member 22 and two side surfaces 224 that face each other in the left-right direction of the vehicle 1. As shown in FIG. 4(A), the equipment component 23 may be disposed across the portion where the left-right extension portion 221 and the front-rear extension portion 222 intersect. The equipment component 23 is fixed to the bottom surface 223 of the support member 22.

2. Function of the support member when the vehicle is traveling on rough roads Generally, vibrations that the vehicle receives from unevenness in the road when traveling are input from the tires to a suspension connected to the tires, and after the input vibrations are absorbed by the suspension, they are input from the suspension to the body, frame, etc. of the vehicle. Therefore, parts or locations within the vehicle that are far from the position where the suspension is mounted are less affected by vibrations input to the vehicle due to unevenness in the road than other parts within the vehicle.

In the vehicle 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the set of points farthest from the two front wheel suspensions or the two rear wheel suspensions is the left-right center line 51. Similarly, in the vehicle 1, the set of points farthest from the left front suspension wheel and rear wheel suspension or the right front wheel suspension and rear wheel suspension is the front-rear center line 52. Therefore, the magnitude of vibration and torsion input to the vehicle 1 is small near the left-right center line 51 and the front-rear center line 52.

The support member 22 is disposed in a portion where the vibration and twisting input to the vehicle 1 described above are small. Furthermore, the support member 22 is fixed to the battery cell 21 and the case 24 to improve the rigidity of the entire battery pack 2. By mounting the equipment component 23 inside the support member 22 thus arranged, the vibration and twisting input to the equipment component 23 are suppressed.

3. Effects According to the battery pack 2 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the rigidity of the battery pack 2 is improved by the support member 22 provided inside the battery pack 2. Furthermore, the support member 22 suppresses vibrations and twists input to the equipment components 23. Therefore, it is possible to protect the equipment components 23 from vibrations and twists input from the vehicle 1.

1 vehicle, 2 battery pack, 31, 32 front tire, 33, 34 rear tire, 41, 42 front suspension, 43, 44 rear suspension

Claims (4)

It is mounted on the vehicle,
a case having a battery cell therein;
An electrical component provided inside the case and electrically connected to the battery cell;
A support member for supporting the equipment component;
having
The support member is
A cross shape extending in a front-rear direction of the vehicle and a left-right direction of the vehicle,
A battery pack connected to the device component. The support member is
A front-rear extension portion extending in a front-rear direction of the vehicle,
The battery pack of claim 1, characterized in that, in a plan view, the front-to-rear extension portion overlaps with a left-right center line connecting the center point of a line connecting the mounting positions of two tire suspensions provided on each of the front wheels of the vehicle and the center point of a line connecting the mounting positions of two tire suspensions provided on each of the rear wheels of the vehicle. The support member is
A left-right extension portion extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle,
The battery pack of claim 1, characterized in that, in a plan view, the left and right extension portions overlap with a front-to-rear center line connecting the center point of a line connecting the mounting positions of two tire suspensions provided on the front and rear wheels, respectively, on the left side of the vehicle, and the center point of a line connecting the mounting positions of two tire suspensions provided on the front and rear wheels, respectively, on the right side of the vehicle. The support member is
A bottom surface extending horizontally and having a cross shape;
A side surface extending vertically from the periphery of the bottom surface;
having
The equipment part includes:
The battery pack according to claim 1 , wherein the support member is connected to the bottom surface.

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