Cooling device for battery pack and rechargeable battery

• US 7,150,935 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2003
• Issued: 12/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Eto, Toyohiko, Hamada, Shinji
• Primary Examiner(s): Ryan, Patrick Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Parsons, Thomas H.
• Application Number:
  US10/435,194
• Publication Number:
  US 20030211384A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,317 Days
• Field of Search: 419/120, 419/149, 419/62, 419/71, 320/150, 429/178, 429/179, 429/120, 429/149, 429/62, 429/71
• US Class Current: 429/71
• 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: 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 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 that delivers 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 that supplies the cooling medium to both the cooling medium introduction ducts.

2. The cooling device for the battery pack according to claim 1, wherein exhaust paths that exhaust 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.

3. 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 that allows a cooling medium to flow in right and left directions, and is formed between the rechargeable batteries; and

a cooling medium delivery device that delivers 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, 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 that detects temperatures of vicinities of both horizontal ends of an arbitrary rechargeable battery; and

a control device that controls the cooling medium compression transport device to switch a compression transport direction of the cooling medium in accordance with the detected temperatures.

4. 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 that forms a cooling medium path allowing a cooling medium to flow in an arrangement direction of the cells, and is 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.

5. The cooling device for the battery pack according to claim 4, 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.

6. The cooling device for the battery pack according to claim 4, wherein each of the cells includes a metal case, and the spacer is made of an electrically insulating material.