JP4547747B2 - In-vehicle battery pack cooling system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle battery pack used for cooling an in-vehicle battery pack mounted as a drive source of an electric motor in a hybrid vehicle that uses an electric motor (motor) and an internal combustion engine (engine) as a drive source. The present invention relates to a cooling device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a hybrid vehicle using both an electric motor (motor) and an internal combustion engine (engine) as drive sources, an assembled battery combining a plurality of single cells is used as the drive source for the electric motor. Since such an assembled battery needs to be mounted in a limited space in an automobile, it needs to be compact and lightweight. For this reason, a rectangular battery module having a thin flat plate shape has been developed as a single battery. This battery module has a flat hollow rectangular parallelepiped battery case made of plastic, and the inside of the battery case is divided into a plurality of cells. In each cell, an electrolytic solution and an electrode body are accommodated.
[0003]
Such a battery module is formed into an assembled battery by stacking and integrating a plurality of battery modules in the thickness direction. The assembled battery is housed in a battery housing case to form an in-vehicle battery pack, and is attached to an appropriate position on the vehicle body of the automobile.
[0004]
Each battery module generates heat due to an internal electrochemical reaction, and its temperature rises. Since the power generation efficiency decreases when the temperature of each battery module increases, for example, cooling air is supplied into the battery housing case to cool each battery module of the assembled battery provided in the battery housing case. Has been done.
[0005]
For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-289701, a space is provided below the assembled battery inside the battery housing case, and a space is also provided above the assembled battery, and air in the space above the assembled battery is exhausted by an exhaust fan. The structure which attracts | sucks cooling air in the space below in a battery storage case by attracting | sucking is disclosed. The cooling air flowing into the battery housing case by the exhaust fan cools each battery module while passing between the battery modules in the assembled battery. And it is attracted | sucked by the exhaust fan from the upper part of a battery storage case, and is discharged | emitted outside a vehicle through an exhaust duct.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
An exhaust port of an exhaust duct that discharges cooling air to the outside of the vehicle opens toward the outside of the vehicle at an appropriate position in the vehicle body. For this reason, if the exhaust duct is extended upward with respect to the exhaust fan, rainwater or the like may enter from the exhaust opening opened outside the vehicle and flow into the exhaust fan. In order to prevent this, an opening / closing valve or the like for preventing rainwater from entering may be disposed at the end opening on the exhaust side of the exhaust duct. However, if an on-off valve is provided for an exhaust port having a relatively large cross-sectional area, a large amount of cooling air is required to open the on-off valve, and the flow rate of the cooling air flowing through the exhaust duct is reduced. There is a possibility that the assembled battery in the housing case cannot be efficiently cooled.
[0007]
Further, by extending the exhaust duct downward with respect to the exhaust fan, it is possible to prevent rainwater or the like from flowing into the exhaust fan through the exhaust port of the exhaust duct. However, in this case, since the exhaust duct extends downward from the exhaust fan, when the drive of the exhaust fan is stopped, the heat released from the assembled battery in the battery housing case is efficiently obtained. There is a possibility that heat cannot be dissipated.
[0008]
The present invention solves such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust duct without reducing a flow rate of cooling air for cooling each battery module of the assembled battery housed in the battery housing case. An object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device for an in-vehicle battery pack that can prevent rainwater and the like from entering, and can efficiently dissipate natural heat from an assembled battery.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The cooling device for an in-vehicle battery pack according to the present invention is an apparatus for cooling an in-vehicle battery pack mounted on an automobile in a state where an assembled battery in which a plurality of battery modules are integrated is housed in a battery housing case. An impeller is disposed in the cylindrical casing, and an air fan flows in along the inner peripheral surface of the casing, thereby sucking cooling air in the battery housing case, and a lower portion from the exhaust fan One end of the exhaust fan is connected to the casing of the exhaust fan, the exhaust port of the other end is open to the outside of the vehicle, and the peripheral surface of the casing of the exhaust fan is with one end is connected to a portion of the air flowing along the casing flows, becomes an exhaust port which opens to the outside of the vehicle while the other end extends upward from the exhaust fan Cage, its outlet on-off valve is provided which is opened by the air flowing from the casing, characterized by comprising, a small air vent tube cross-sectional area than the exhaust duct.
[0010]
The air vent tube to the exhaust fan casing is mounted in a state Tsu along the tangential direction of the circumferential surface of the casing.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a cooling device for an in-vehicle battery pack according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the in-vehicle battery pack provided in the cooling device. FIG.
The in-vehicle battery pack cooling device cools the assembled battery 11 provided in the in-vehicle battery pack 10 mounted on the automobile with cooling air generated by the exhaust fan 15 . As shown in FIG. 3, the assembled battery 11 is housed in a battery housing case 12 in which a plurality of rectangular battery modules 11 a having a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape are integrally stacked in the thickness direction.
[0012]
The battery module 11a has a plastic battery case, and the inside of the battery case is divided into, for example, six equal parts in the longitudinal direction to form six square cells. An electrolytic solution and an electrode body are accommodated in each square cell.
[0013]
In the battery housing case 12, an exhaust chamber 12a and an intake chamber 12b are formed at the upper and lower portions, which are above and below the assembled battery 11, respectively. One end of the first exhaust duct 14 is connected to the upper exhaust chamber 12 a, and the other end of the first exhaust duct 14 is connected to the exhaust fan 15. One end of the intake duct 13 is connected to the intake chamber 12 b below the battery housing case 12. The intake duct 13 extends upward, and an intake port 13a that opens into the interior of the automobile is provided at the other end.
[0014]
The first exhaust duct 14 extends slightly upward from the battery housing case 12, and thus the exhaust fan 15 is located above the battery housing case 12. The exhaust fan 15 is configured by providing an impeller (not shown) in a casing 15a. The casing 15a includes a cylindrical casing main body portion 15b and an exhaust portion 15c extending in a tangential direction of the casing main body portion 15b.
The other end of the first exhaust duct 14 with one end connected to the in-vehicle battery pack 10 is connected to the axial center of the cylindrical casing body 15b in the casing 15a in a state along the axial direction. Has been.
[0015]
The exhaust portion 15c of the casing 15a extends obliquely downward, and one end of the second exhaust duct 16 is connected to the exhaust portion 15c. The other end of the second exhaust duct 16 is an exhaust opening that opens to the outside of the automobile. The exhaust fan 15 is thus located at the top of the first exhaust duct 14 and the second exhaust duct 16.
[0016]
When the internal impeller rotates, the exhaust fan 15 sucks the air (cooling air) in the first exhaust duct 14 and causes the cooling air to flow into the casing body 15b of the casing 15a. The cooling air flowing into the casing body 15b flows along the peripheral surface of the casing body 15b, passes through the exhaust 15c communicating with the casing body 15b, and is discharged to the second exhaust duct 16.
[0017]
FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing the exhaust fan 15. A connection pipe portion 15 d is provided on the uppermost peripheral surface of the casing main body portion 15 b in the exhaust fan 15. The connecting pipe portion 15d is provided at a substantially center-symmetrical position with respect to the exhaust portion 15c extending obliquely downward, and is substantially tangential to the peripheral surface of the casing main body portion 15b. It extends along the flow direction of the air in 15b. The cross-sectional area of the connecting pipe part 15d is sufficiently smaller than the cross-sectional area of the exhaust part 15c.
[0018]
One end of an air vent tube 17 is connected to the connecting pipe portion 15d. The air vent tube 17 extends upward, and the exhaust port at the other end is attached to an air release portion 21 provided at the rear portion of the vehicle body, as shown in FIG. The air vent tube 17 attached to the connecting pipe portion 15d of the exhaust fan 15 is sufficiently smaller than the cross-sectional area of the second exhaust duct 16 attached to the exhaust portion 15c of the exhaust fan 15, and the first exhaust It is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the duct 14.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 4, the atmosphere opening portion 21 is in a concave shape with respect to the vehicle body, and the atmosphere opening portion 21 is covered with a cover 22 provided with a large number of through holes. The exhaust port of the air vent tube 17 is located in the atmosphere opening portion 21, and an open / close valve 18 is provided at the exhaust port. The on-off valve 18 normally closes the exhaust port of the air vent tube 17, and when the cooling air flows into the air vent tube 17 and is discharged from the exhaust port in the atmosphere opening portion 21, Released by.
[0020]
In the cooling device for an in-vehicle battery pack having such a configuration, when the exhaust fan 15 is driven, the air in the first exhaust duct 14 is sucked into the casing 15a and flows along the peripheral surface of the casing body 15b. Then, the gas is discharged from the exhaust portion 15 c to the second exhaust duct 16. As a result, the air in the exhaust chamber 12a is sucked into the first exhaust duct 14, the inside of the battery housing case 12 is decompressed, and the air in the interior of the automobile is supplied to the battery through the intake duct 13 in the intake chamber 12b. It is sucked into the storage case 12.
[0021]
Air (cooling air) sucked into the intake chamber 12b in the battery housing case 12 is diffused over the entire interior of the intake chamber 12b, passes between the battery modules 11a in the assembled battery 11, and enters the exhaust chamber 12a. Flow into.
Thereby, each battery module 11a is each cooled. Cooling air in the exhaust chamber 12 a is sucked into the casing 15 a of the exhaust fan 15 through the exhaust duct 14.
[0022]
The cooling air flowing into the casing 15a of the exhaust fan 15 flows along the peripheral surface of the casing main body 15b, flows into the second exhaust duct 16 through the exhaust 15c, and then is exhausted from the second exhaust duct 16. Released from the mouth to the outside of the car.
[0023]
At this time, a part of the cooling air flowing in the casing main body portion 15b flows into the air vent tube 17 through the connecting pipe portion 15d provided in the upper portion of the casing 15a. The cooling air flowing in the air vent tube 17 opens the on-off valve 18 provided at the exhaust port of the air vent tube 17, is discharged into the air release portion 21, and is discharged outside the vehicle through the air release portion 21. .
[0024]
The exhaust fan 15 is located at the uppermost position with respect to the first exhaust duct 14 and the second exhaust duct 16. Therefore, there is no possibility that rainwater or the like flows into the second exhaust duct 16 and the exhaust fan 15 through the exhaust port of the second exhaust duct 16. The air vent tube 17 extends upward from the exhaust fan 15 and its exhaust port is open to the outside of the vehicle. Since the exhaust port is provided with an opening / closing valve 18, the air vent tube 17 is provided inside the air vent tube 17. There is no risk of rainwater flowing into the water.
[0025]
In addition, the cross-sectional area of the air vent tube 17 is sufficiently small in the cross-sectional area of the first exhaust duct 14 and the second exhaust duct 16, and therefore the on-off valve 18 provided at the exhaust port of the air vent tube 17 is provided with the air vent tube 17. 17 can be opened by a small amount of cooling air flowing in the interior. Therefore, there is no possibility that the flow rate of the cooling air in the battery housing case 12 is reduced, and the assembled battery 11 in the battery housing case 12 can be efficiently cooled.
[0026]
In a state where the driving of the exhaust fan 15 is stopped, the air in the battery housing case 12 flows into the exhaust fan 15 through the first exhaust duct 14 and is discharged out of the vehicle through the air vent tube 17. Therefore, the assembled battery 11 can be efficiently cooled by natural heat dissipation.
[0027]
The air vent tube 17 is attached to the casing main body portion 15b of the casing 15a of the exhaust fan 15 in a state substantially along the tangential direction of the peripheral surface of the casing main body portion 15b, and from the first exhaust duct 14 to the inside of the casing 15a. Since the air flowing into the casing main body portion 15b flows into the air vent tube 17 when the exhaust fan 15 is driven, the air outside the vehicle is exhausted through the air vent tube 17 when the exhaust fan 15 is driven. Therefore, there is no possibility that the on-off valve 18 provided at the exhaust port of the air vent tube 17 will vibrate or that the on-off valve 18 may be crimped to the exhaust port.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
Thus, the cooling device for the in-vehicle battery pack according to the present invention can reliably prevent rainwater or the like from entering the exhaust fan without impairing the flow rate of the cooling air.
Moreover, there is no possibility that the natural heat dissipation of the assembled battery in the battery housing case is impaired.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a cooling device for an in-vehicle battery pack according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an in-vehicle battery pack provided in the cooling device.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing an exhaust fan provided in the cooling device.
FIG. 5 is a side view of an automobile showing a position of an atmosphere opening portion provided with an exhaust port of an air vent tube provided in the cooling device.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Car battery pack 11 Battery assembly 11a Battery module 12 Battery storage case 12a Exhaust chamber 12b Intake chamber 13 Intake duct 14 First exhaust duct 15 Exhaust fan 15a Casing 15b Casing body part 15c Exhaust part 15d Connection pipe part 16 Second exhaust duct 17 Air vent tube 18 On-off valve 21 Air release part 22 Cover

Claims (2)

An assembled battery in which a plurality of battery modules are integrated is a device for cooling an in-vehicle battery pack mounted on an automobile in a state of being housed in a battery housing case,
An impeller is arranged in a cylindrical casing, and an exhaust fan that sucks cooling air in the battery housing case by flowing air along the inner peripheral surface of the casing;
An exhaust duct having one end connected to the casing of the exhaust fan and an exhaust port at the other end opened outside the vehicle so as to extend downward from the exhaust fan;
One end is connected to the peripheral surface of the casing of the exhaust fan so that a part of the air flowing along the casing flows in, and the other end extends upward from the exhaust fan. An exhaust port that is open to the outside of the vehicle, and an air release tube having a smaller cross-sectional area than the exhaust duct, provided with an open / close valve that is opened by air flowing in from the inside of the casing,
An on-vehicle battery pack cooling device comprising: The air vent tube, the exhaust to the fan casing, vehicle battery pack cooling system according to claim 1 which is mounted in a state Tsu along the tangential direction of the circumferential surface of the casing.

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