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EP-4372887-B1 - BATTERY PACK AND VEHICLE INCLUDING THE SAME

EP4372887B1EP 4372887 B1EP4372887 B1EP 4372887B1EP-4372887-B1

Inventors

  • SEO, SUNG-WON
  • LEE, IN-JE

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230707

Claims (7)

  1. A battery pack (10; 12; 14; 16; 18), comprising: a plurality of battery cell assemblies (100); a pack housing (300) configured to accommodate the plurality of battery cell assemblies (100) therein; a plurality of support plates (200) configured to support both sides of each battery cell assembly (100) accommodated in the pack housing (300); a fixing member (400; 400') configured to fix mutually adjacent support plates (200) among the plurality of support plates (200) to the pack housing (300) so that a gap (S) is formed between the mutually adjacent support plates (200); wherein the fixing member (400; 400') includes a gap forming portion (420) configured to be inserted between the mutually adjacent support plates (200) to form the gap (S) wherein at least one of the mutually adjacent support plates (200) includes an indented portion (210) into which a portion of the fixing member (400; 400') is inserted and coupled; wherein the fixing member further includes a side portion (430) configured to extend from one side of the gap forming portion (420) toward the at least one support plate (200) and inserted into the indented portion (210) of the at least one support plate (200); and wherein the size of the gap (S) is configured to correspond to the thickness of the gap forming portion (420).
  2. The battery pack (10; 12; 14; 16; 18) according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member (400; 400') is provided at one end of the mutually adjacent support plates (200) and the other end of the mutually adjacent support plates (200) located at the opposite side of the one end, respectively.
  3. The battery pack (10; 12; 14; 16; 18) according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the fixing members (400; 400') provided at the one end and the other end of the mutually adjacent support plates (200) is configured integrally with the pack housing (300).
  4. The battery pack (10; 12; 16; 18) according to claim 1, wherein the side portion (430) is configured to be in close contact with an inner surface of the indented portion (210).
  5. The battery pack (10; 12; 16) according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member (400) further includes a pair of side portions (430) configured to extend from both sides of the gap forming portion (420) toward an adjacent support plate (200) with the gap forming portion (420) interposed therebetween, and to be inserted into the indented portion (210) of the adjacent support plate (200).
  6. The battery pack (10; 12; 14; 16; 18) according to claim 1, further comprising a compression pad (P) disposed between each of the battery cell assemblies (100) and the support plate (200) that support the corresponding battery cell assembly (100) among the plurality of support plates (200).
  7. A vehicle (2), comprising the battery pack (10; 12; 14; 16; 18) according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0099863 filed on August 10, 2022 in the Republic of Korea. The present disclosure relates to a battery pack and a vehicle including the same, and more particularly, to a battery pack with a simplified structure and a vehicle including the same. BACKGROUND ART As the demand for portable electronic products such as laptops, video cameras, and mobile phones has rapidly increased in recent years and the development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, and satellites has begun in earnest, research on high-performance secondary batteries capable of repeated charge/discharge has been actively conducted. Currently commercialized secondary batteries include nickel cadmium batteries, nickel hydride batteries, nickel zinc batteries, and lithium secondary batteries. Among them, lithium secondary batteries are in the spotlight because they have almost no memory effect compared to nickel-based secondary batteries, and thus have advantages of free charge/discharge, very low self-discharge rate, and high energy density. A lithium secondary battery mainly uses a lithium-based oxide and a carbon material as a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode active material, respectively. In addition, the lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate coated with the positive electrode active material and the negative electrode active material, respectively are disposed with a separator interposed therebetween, and a casing for sealing and accommodating the electrode assembly along with an electrolyte. Meanwhile, depending on the shape of the battery case, lithium secondary batteries may be classified into a can-type secondary battery in which an electrode assembly is embedded in a metal can, and a pouch-type secondary battery in which an electrode assembly is embedded in a pouch of an aluminum laminate sheet. In addition, the can-type secondary battery can be further classified into a cylindrical battery and a prismatic battery according to the shape of the metal can. Here, the pouch of the pouch-type secondary battery can be largely classified into a lower sheet and an upper sheet covering it. At this time, an electrode assembly formed by stacking and winding a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator is stored in the pouch. In addition, after receiving the electrode assembly, the edges of the upper sheet and the lower sheet are sealed by thermal fusion or the like. In addition, an electrode tab drawn out from each electrode may be coupled to an electrode lead, and an insulating film may be added to a portion of the electrode lead in contact with the sealing portion. In this way, the pouch-type secondary battery can have the flexibility to be configured in various forms. In addition, the pouch-type secondary battery has the advantage of being able to implement a secondary battery of the same capacity with a smaller volume and mass. The lithium secondary batteries are used to construct a battery module or a battery pack by stacking a plurality of battery cells themselves or in a cartridge to form a densely packed structure and electrically connecting them to provide high voltage and high current. However, such a conventional battery pack may be disadvantageous in terms of energy density. Typically, in the process of modularizing multiple battery cells by storing them inside a module case, the volume of the battery pack may increase unnecessarily or the space occupied by the battery cells may decrease due to various components such as the module case or stacking frame. Furthermore, the space occupied by the components themselves, such as the module case or stacking frame, as well as the storage space of the battery cells may be reduced to ensure assembly tolerances for these components. Therefore, in the case of conventional battery packs, there may be limitations in increasing energy density. Additionally, in the case of a conventional battery pack, it may be disadvantageous in terms of assembly. In particular, in order to manufacture a battery pack, a number of battery cells are first modularized to form a battery module, and then the battery module is stored in a pack case. Therefore, the manufacturing process of the battery pack becomes complicated. Moreover, the process and structure of forming a cell stack using the above-described stacking frame, bolts, plates, etc. may be very complicated. Additionally, in the case of a conventional battery pack, since the module case is stored inside the pack case and the battery cells are stored inside the module case, there is a problem that it is difficult to secure excellent cooling properties. In particular, when heat from the battery cells stored inside the module case is discharged to the outside of the pack case through the module case, cooling efficiency may