Cooling device for battery pack and rechargeable battery

• US 20030211384A1
• Filed: 05/12/2003
• Published: 11/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Eto, Toyohiko, Hamada, Shinji
• Granted Patent: US 7,150,935 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 429/120
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4207 for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/613 Cooling or keeping cold
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/617 for achieving uniformity or desired distribution of temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/625 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/63 Control systems charging or discharging in response to temperature H01M10/44 , H01M10/443; measurement of temperature H01M10/48 , H01M10/486
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/647 Prismatic or flat cells, e.g. pouch cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/652 characterised by gradients for achieving a desired temperature gradient H01M10/617
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6557 arranged between the cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6563 with forced flow, e.g. by blowers
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6566 Means within the gas flow to guide the flow around one or more cells, e.g. manifolds, baffles or other barriers H01M10/6565 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/209 adapted for prismatic or rectangular cells H01M50/216 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/291 characterised by their shape
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

In a battery pack including rechargeable batteries arranged in parallel, a cooling medium path for allowing a cooling medium to horizontally flow be formed between the rechargeable batteries. A cooling medium delivery device for delivering the cooling medium to the cooling medium path is provided so as to reduce a height of the battery pack including a cooling device. The cooling medium delivery device is constituted by a pair of cooling medium introduction ducts provided on both right and left sides of the battery pack, each having delivery ports for delivering the cooling medium alternately in horizontally opposed directions to each of the cooling medium paths, and a cooling medium compression transport device for supplying the cooling medium to both of the cooling medium introduction ducts.

Claims

1. A cooling device for a battery pack including a plurality of prismatic rechargeable batteries arranged in parallel so that their longer side faces are opposed to each other, each of the rechargeable batteries having a height larger than a thickness and the longer side faces with a width in a horizontal direction larger than the height, the cooling device comprising:

a cooling medium path for allowing a cooling medium to flow in right and left directions between the longer side faces of the rechargeable batteries; and

a cooling medium delivery device for delivering the cooling medium to the cooling medium path.

2. The cooling device for the battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the rechargeable battery includes a plurality of cells arranged in parallel in its width direction and connected in series.

3. A cooling device for a battery pack including a plurality of rechargeable batteries arranged in parallel, the cooling device comprising:

a plurality of cooling medium paths between the rechargeable batteries formed in a horizontal direction; and

a cooling medium delivery device for delivering a cooling medium to the cooling medium paths,

wherein the cooling medium delivery device includes;

a pair of cooling medium introduction ducts having delivery ports in such a manner that the cooling medium is delivered alternately in horizontally opposed directions to each of the cooling medium paths; and

a cooling medium compression transport device for supplying the cooling medium to both the cooling medium introduction ducts.

4. The cooling device for the battery pack according to claim 3, wherein exhaust paths for exhausting the cooling medium discharged from the cooling medium paths through openings on an opposed side to the delivery ports are provided between the delivery ports of the cooling medium introduction ducts, and exhaust ducts to be connected to the openings of the respective exhaust paths are provided.

5. A cooling device for a battery pack including a plurality of prismatic rechargeable batteries arranged in parallel, the cooling device comprising:

a cooling medium path for allowing a cooling medium to flow in right and left directions, formed between the rechargeable batteries; and

a cooling medium delivery device for delivering the cooling medium to the cooling medium path,

wherein the cooling medium delivery device includes;

a pair of cooling medium delivery hoods, provided on both right and left sides of the battery pack, for delivering the cooling medium from any of right and left directions to each of the cooling medium paths;

a cooling medium compression transport device capable of reversal switching a compression transport direction of the cooling medium, connected to at least one of the cooling medium delivery hoods;

temperature detection members for detecting temperatures of vicinities of both horizontal ends of an arbitrary rechargeable battery; and

a control device for controlling the cooling medium compression transport device for switching a compression transport direction of the cooling medium in accordance with the detected temperatures.

6. A cooling device for a battery pack including a plurality of rechargeable batteries arranged in parallel, each of the rechargeable batteries being constituted by arranging and combining a plurality of prismatic cells in a row, the cooling device comprising:

a spacer for forming a cooling medium path for allowing a cooling medium to flow in an arrangement direction of the cells, interposed between the rechargeable batteries so that an area of surfaces of the cells facing the cooling medium path is sequentially increased from an upstream side of flow of the cooling medium toward a downstream side.

7. The cooling device for the battery pack according to claim 6, wherein a distance between the surface of the cell facing the cooling medium path and a longitudinal wall of the spacer being parallel to the surface of the cell is varied between the upstream side and the downstream side of the cooling medium path.

8. The cooling device for the battery pack according to claim 6, wherein each of the cells includes a metal case, and the spacer is made of an electrically insulating material.

9. A rechargeable battery comprising an electricity generating element housed in a sealed prismatic battery case,

wherein an upper rib and a lower rib are provided in a protruding manner at two or four upper and lower positions among four positions at upper ends and lower ends on both side walls of the battery case so that the upper rib and the lower rib form a path having closed upper and lower ends and open left and right ends between the side walls when the rechargeable batteries are arranged in parallel with their side walls being opposed to each other.

10. The rechargeable battery according to claim 9, wherein protruding portions for preventing the side wall from being outwardly expanded to narrow the path are provided at appropriate intervals between the upper rib and the lower rib.