Search

EP-3828985-B1 - BATTERY PACK

EP3828985B1EP 3828985 B1EP3828985 B1EP 3828985B1EP-3828985-B1

Inventors

  • KWAG, NOHYUN

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20201127

Claims (20)

  1. A battery pack, comprising: a plurality of battery cells (10); cooling channels (115) penetrating between adjacent ones of the plurality of battery cells; a circuit board (130) on the plurality of battery cells to gather voltage information of the plurality of battery cells, the circuit board including at least one connection hole (CH) exposing an edge part of each of a pair of adjacent battery cells of the plurality of battery cells and at least a pair of the cooling channels adjacent to each other; and a plurality of connectors (125) between the plurality of battery cells and the circuit board, the plurality of connectors being voltage measurement lines.
  2. The battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the edge part of each of the pair of adjacent battery cells of the plurality of battery cells is connected to a connector of the plurality of connectors.
  3. The battery pack as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2, wherein the edge parts of the pair of adjacent battery cells of the plurality of battery cells have a same first polarity.
  4. The battery pack as claimed in claim 3, wherein: an entirety of any one end portion of an upper end portion and a lower end portion has the first polarity, wherein the upper end portion and lower end portion are separated in a length direction by a can of each of the plurality of battery cells extending between the upper end portion (10a) and the lower end portion (10b), and another end portion of the upper end portion and the lower end portion has a second polarity at a center portion and the first polarity at an edge part surrounding the center portion.
  5. The battery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a plurality of the connection holes is arranged in an alternate pattern in a row direction of the plurality of battery cells, each of the plurality of connection holes exposing one pair of adjacent ones of the plurality of battery cells in the row direction of the plurality of battery cells.
  6. The battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of the cooling channels opposite each other with at least one connector of the plurality of connectors therebetween.
  7. The battery pack as claimed in claim 6, wherein the pair of the adjacent battery cells are adjacent to each other along a first direction, and the pair of the cooling channels are adjacent to each other along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
  8. The battery pack as claimed in either of claims 6 or 7, wherein the at least one connection hole exposes a further cooling channel.
  9. The battery pack as claimed in claim 8, wherein the pair of cooling channels and the further cooling channel exposed through the at least one connection hole are continuously arranged along an outer circumferential direction of a center position of each of the plurality of battery cells.
  10. The battery pack as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: a busbar electrically connecting between pairs of adjacent ones of the plurality of battery cells; and a filling hole (FH) in the circuit board, the filling hole exposing a coupling portion between the plurality of battery cells and the busbar, wherein the pair of the cooling channels and the another cooling channels are continuously arranged along an outer circumferential direction of the filling hole.
  11. The battery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the circuit board further includes open areas (135) overlapping with the cooling channels, the open areas including: at least one first opening (131) having a hole shape, each of the at least one first opening overlapping a single one of the cooling channels; and at least one second opening (132, CH) having a hole shape, each of the at least one second opening overlapping adjacent ones of the cooling channels, the at least one second opening being the at least one connection hole.
  12. The battery pack as claimed in claim 11, wherein the at least one first opening and the at least one second opening are arranged in an alternating pattern in a row direction of the plurality of battery cells.
  13. The battery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each of the plurality of connectors includes a conductive wire or a conductive ribbon.
  14. The battery pack as claimed in claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of connectors comprises a pair of conductive wires electrically connecting one of the plurality of battery cells and the circuit board.
  15. The battery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the at least one connection hole has a closed shape in an inner area of the circuit board, the closed shape being separated from an outside edge of the circuit board, and a connection recess (CR) in a shape open to the outside edge of the circuit board.
  16. The battery pack as claimed in claim 15, wherein the connection recess has a concave shape with respect to the outside edge of the circuit board.
  17. The battery pack as claimed in claim 15 or 16, wherein the connection recess exposes cooling channels that penetrate between the plurality of battery cells, with upper end portions of each of the plurality of battery cells.
  18. The battery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein: the plurality of battery cells includes high and low potential battery cells respectively connected to a pair of output terminals different from each other, and intermediate potential battery cells, and the circuit board is connected to each of a first electrode (121) at an edge part of an upper end portion of the low potential battery cell, a second electrode (122) at a center portion of an upper end portion of the high potential battery cell, and the first electrode at an edge part of an upper end portion of the intermediate potential battery cell.
  19. The battery pack as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a busbar (120) electrically connecting the plurality of battery cells to each other; and a filling hole (FH) in the circuit board that exposes a coupling portion between the busbar and a corresponding one of the plurality of battery cells for the filling hole to be filled with a potting resin covering the coupling portion.
  20. The battery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the circuit board further includes a thermistor (128) to measure a temperature of the plurality of battery cells.

Description

BACKGROUND 1. Field One or more embodiments relate to battery packs. 2. Description of Related Art Typically, secondary batteries, unlike primary batteries that are not chargeable, are chargeable and dischargeable batteries. The secondary batteries are used as energy sources of mobile devices, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, electric bicycles, uninterruptible power supplies, and the like, in the form of a single battery cell according to a type of an external device to apply, or in the form of a battery pack in which a plurality of battery cells are assembled in one unit. While compact mobile devices, e.g., mobile phones, may be operated for a certain time with an output of a single battery, when long time driving or high power driving is necessary, e.g., in electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles consuming much power, battery packs may be used due to output and capacity, and the battery packs may increase an output voltage or an output current according to the number of built-in battery cells. CN206976514 U and CN203481285 U disclosed a battery pack comprising a circuit board. SUMMARY The present invention provides a battery pack according to claims 1, preferred embodiments are defined in dependent claims 2-21. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Features will become apparent to those of skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a battery pack according to one or more embodiments;FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of the battery cells of FIG. 1;FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a structure of a cell holder in which a battery cell is assembled;FIG. 5 illustrates the battery cells of FIG. 2 to describe a cooling channel;FIG. 6 illustrates the circuit board of FIG. 1;FIGS. 7 and 8 are exploded perspective views of a separation member of FIG. 1;FIG. 9 illustrates a spatial separation of a coolant of a cooling channel from a discharge path by a separation member; andFIG. 10 is a perspective view of an upper duct and a lower duct. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Example embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings; however, they may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey exemplary implementations to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below, by referring to the figures, to explain aspects of the present description. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expressions such as "at least one of," when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list. A battery pack according to one or more embodiments is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a battery pack according to one or more embodiments. FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of a battery cell of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a structure of a cell holder in which a battery cell is assembled. FIG. 5 illustrates the battery cell of FIG. 2 to describe a cooling channel. FIG. 6 illustrates the circuit board of FIG. 1. FIGS. 7 and 8 are exploded perspective views of a separation member of FIG. 1. FIG. 9 illustrates a spatial separation of a coolant of a cooling channel from a discharge path by a separation member. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an upper duct and a lower duct. Referring to FIG. 1, a battery pack according to one or more embodiments may include a plurality of battery cells 10, a circuit board 130 disposed on the battery cells 10 to gather voltage information about the battery cells 10 and having a connection hole CH formed therein to expose at least part of each pair of the battery cells 10 neighboring to each other, and a connection member 125 (i.e., a connector) to form a voltage measurement line between the battery cells 10 and the circuit board 130 by penetrating the connection hole CH. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, each of the battery cells 10 may be provided as a cylindrical battery cell 10 which may include an upper end portion 10a and a lower end portion 10b separated in a length direction, and an outer circumferential surface 10c having a cylindrical shape extending between the upper end portion 10a and the lower end portion 10b. First and second electrodes 11 and 12 having polarities different from each other may be respectively formed at the upper end portion 10a and the lower end portion 10b of each of the battery cells 10. For example, the first and second electrodes 11 and 12 of each of the battery cells 10 may correspond to a first polarity, e.g., a negative polarity, and a second