EP-4318007-B1 - FIRE PREVENTION APPARTUS AND OPERATING METHOD THEREFOR

Inventors

• PARK, Han Gon
• PARK, WON SEOK

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20221018

Claims (6)

1. A fire prevention apparatus (100) configured to prevent a fire from spreading from a battery (20) to a device (30) powered by the battery (20), characterized in that the fire prevention apparatus comprises: a switch (110) and a first line (40), said switch being connectable to the battery through the first line; a variable resistor unit (120) connected to the switch through the first line; a fuse (130) and a second line (50), said second line being connectable to the battery and to the device powered from the battery, said fuse being connected to the variable resistor and connectable between the battery and the device powered from the battery through the second line; a sensor (140) configured to sense information about the presence of fire flame in the battery; and a controller (150) configured to determine whether the fire occurs in the battery based on the information about the presence of the fire flame in the battery, to short the switch and reduce the resistance of the variable resistor when determining that the fire occurs in the battery so as to allow a current equal to or greater than a rated current to flow in the fuse (130) through the first line (40), resulting in disconnecting of the second line (50) connecting the battery (20) to the device (30).
2. The fire prevention apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first line is a high-voltage line of the battery, and the second line is a power line connecting the battery (20) to the device (30) powered by the battery.
3. The fire prevention apparatus of claim 1, wherein the switch is connected between the variable resistor and the battery or between the variable resistor and the fuse.
4. The fire prevention apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises at least any one of an illumination sensor and a flame detection sensor.
5. An operating method of a fire prevention apparatus configured to prevent a fire from spreading from a battery (20) to a device (30) powered by the battery of any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the operating method comprises: Sensing (S110) information about the presence of the fire flame in the battery; determining (S120) whether the fire occurs in the battery, based on the information about the presence of the fire flame in the battery; controlling (S130) the switch (110) and the variable resistor based on a determination of whether the fire occurs in the battery; wherein the controlling of the switch and the variable resistor based on the determination of whether the fire occurs in the battery comprises: when determining that the fire occurs in the battery, reducing a resistance of the variable resistor and shorting the switch so as to allow a current equal to or greater than a rated current to flow in the fuse (130) through the first line (40).
6. The operating method of claim 5, further comprising disconnecting, by the fuse, the second line when the resistance of the variable resistor is reduced and the switch is shorted.

Description

[TECHNICAL FIELD] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0140130 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on October 20, 2021. TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a fire prevention apparatus and an operating method thereof. [BACKGROUND ART] Recently, research and development of secondary batteries have been actively performed. Herein, the secondary batteries, which are chargeable/dischargeable batteries, may include all of conventional nickel (Ni)/cadmium (Cd) batteries, Ni/metal hydride (MH) batteries, etc., and recent lithium-ion batteries. Among the secondary batteries, a lithium-ion battery has a much higher energy density than those of the conventional Ni/Cd batteries, Ni/MH batteries, etc. Moreover, the lithium-ion battery may be manufactured to be small and lightweight, such that the lithium-ion battery has been used as a power source of mobile devices, and recently, a use range thereof has been extended to power sources for electric vehicles, attracting attention as next-generation energy storage media. When fire occurs in a battery, generated heat may spread along the wire harness of a device having the battery mounted thereon, leading to larger fire. Devices powered from batteries may be vulnerable to fire, and thus when fire occurs in the battery, a method is required to prevent the fire from spreading to the battery-powered devices. Examples and embodiments from the prior art are presented in the documents EP 3 525 309 A1, EP 1 181 760 B1 and WO2015/107629 A1. [DISCLOSURE] [TECHNICAL PROBLEM] Embodiments disclosed herein aim to provide a fire prevention apparatus and an operating method thereof, in which it is determined whether fire occurs in a battery and it is possible to prevent the fire from spreading to a device powered from the battery, based on a determination result. Technical problems of the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to the above-described technical problems, and other unmentioned technical problems would be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from the following description. [TECHNICAL SOLUTION] A fire prevention apparatus according to the invention is defined in claim 1 and includes a switch connected to a battery through a first line, a variable resistor unit connected to the switch, a fuse connected to a second line connecting the battery with a device powered from the battery and to the variable resistor, a sensor configured to sense information about fire of the battery, and a controller configured to control the switch and the variable resistor based on the information about the fire of the battery. In an embodiment, the sensor may include at least any one of an illumination sensor and a flame detection sensor. According to the invention, the controller is further configured to reduce a resistance of the variable resistor when determining that the fire occurs in the battery, and short the switch. According to the invention, the controller is further configured to reduce the resistance of the variable resistor to allow a current equal to or greater than a rated current to flow in the fuse. In an embodiment, the first line may be a high-voltage line of the battery, and the second line may be a communication line. According to the invention, the fuse is physically disconnected due to a current flowing in the high-voltage line when the resistance of the variable resistor is reduced and the switch is shorted. In an embodiment, the switch may be connected between the variable resistor and the battery or between the variable resistor and the fuse. In an embodiment, the sensor may include at least any one of an illumination sensor and a flame detection sensor. An operating method of a fire prevention apparatus according to the invention is defined in claim 5 and includes sensing information about fire of a battery, determining whether the fire occurs in the battery, based on the information about the fire of the battery, and controlling a switch and a variable resistor based on a determination of whether the fire occurs in the battery. According to the invention, the controlling of the switch and the variable resistor based on the determination of whether the fire occurs in the battery includes reducing a resistance of the variable resistor when determining that the fire occurs in the battery, and shorting the switch. According to the invention, the reducing of the resistance of the variable resistor and short the switch when determining that the fire occurs in the battery includes reducing the resistance of the variable resistor to allow a current equal to or greater than a rated current to flow in the fuse. In an embodiment, the operating method may further include disconnecting, by the fuse, the second line when the resistance of the variable resistor is reduced and the switch is shorted. [ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS] A fire prevention