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EP-4376198-B1 - BATTERY PACK AND DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME

EP4376198B1EP 4376198 B1EP4376198 B1EP 4376198B1EP-4376198-B1

Inventors

  • PARK, JEONGHOON
  • KIM, SOO YOUL
  • Jung, Hyemi

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230712

Claims (14)

  1. A battery pack comprising: a plurality of cell units (100) arranged side by side in one direction, and a pack case (300) which houses the plurality of the cell units (100), wherein each of the cell units (100) includes at least one battery cell (110) and a cell cover (200) covering a part of the battery cell (110), and wherein the cell cover (200) has a shape in which the upper part is inclined, the cell cover (200) including a central part (202) and two edge parts (204) on both sides of the central part, characterized in that the cell cover (200) has a shape which is inclined upward from the central part (202) toward both edge parts (204) which are end parts in the longitudinal direction (X).
  2. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein: the cell cover (200) is formed so that a widthwise length value of the end parts is greater than the widthwise length value of the central part (202, 212, 222).
  3. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein: the battery cell (110) is vertically disposed so that one edge corresponds to the bottom surface (312, 412) of the pack case (300), and the cell cover (200) covers an upper edge of the vertically disposed battery cell (110), and its lower surface is opened so that it does not cover the lower edge of the battery cell (110).
  4. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein: the cell cover (200) includes a second surface (220) and a third surface (230) disposed in parallel to one surface of the battery cell (110), and a first surface (210) extending between the second surface (220) and the third surface (230), and a cross section of the cell cover (200) has an n-shape.
  5. The battery pack of claim 4, wherein: the second surface (220) includes a second central part (222) and a second edge part (224), and a widthwise length value of the second central part (222) is smaller than a widthwise length value of the second edge part (224).
  6. The battery pack of claim 4, wherein: an upper side edge of the second surface (220) has a shape which is inclined upward toward an end part of the second surface (220) in the longitudinal direction (X).
  7. The battery pack of claim 4, wherein: a cross section of the first surface (210) in the widthwise direction has a shape which is inclined upward toward the end part in the longitudinal direction (X).
  8. The battery pack of claim 4, wherein: the cell cover (200) includes a fourth surface (240) extending between the first surface (210), the second surface (220), and the third surface (230).
  9. The battery pack of claim 8, wherein: the fourth surface (240) partially covers an open end part of the longitudinal direction (X) of the cell cover (200).
  10. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein: the bottom surface (312, 412) of the pack case (300) is formed with a venting hole (330, 430) communicating with the outside.
  11. The battery pack of claim 10, wherein: the venting hole (330, 430) is located at a position corresponding to an end part of the cell unit (100) in the longitudinal direction (X).
  12. The battery pack of claim 10, wherein: the vent holes (330, 430) are provided in plural numbers, and the plurality of venting holes (330, 430) are located side by side along a straight line.
  13. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of cell units (100) are housed in the pack case (300) while being housed in a separate case.
  14. A device comprising the battery pack of claim 1.

Description

[TECHNICAL FIELD] Cross Citation with Related Application(s) This application claims priority benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0089758 filed on July 20, 2022 and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0090048 filed on July 11, 2023 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office. The present invention relates to a battery pack and a device including the same, and more particularly, a battery pack having high energy density and improved safety against thermal runaway, and a device including the same. [BACKGROUND] As the demands for portable electronic products such as notebooks, video cameras and cellular phones are rapidly increased in these days, and development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites, etc. is under active progress, numerous studies are being made on high-performance secondary batteries capable of being repeatedly charged and discharged. Currently, nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, lithium secondary batteries or the like are commercially available as secondary batteries. Among them, lithium secondary batteries are the center of interest because they hardly have memory effects and can be freely charged or discharged when compared with nickel-based secondary batteries. Advantageously, lithium secondary batteries also exhibit very low self-discharge and high energy density. The lithium secondary battery generally uses lithium oxide and carbonaceous material as a cathode active material and an anode active material, respectively. The lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly in which a cathode plate and an anode plate respectively coated with the cathode active material and the anode active material are disposed with a separator interposed between them, and an exterior material which seals and receives the electrode assembly together with an electrolyte. Meanwhile, depending on the shape of the battery case, a lithium secondary battery may be classified into a can type secondary battery where the electrode assembly is included in a metal can, and a pouch type battery where the electrode assembly is included in a pouch of an aluminum laminate. In addition, depending on the shape of the metal can, the can type secondary battery may be further classified into a cylindrical battery and a prismatic battery. Here, the pouch type secondary battery is formed by stacking and winding a cathode, an anode and a separator to form an electrode assembly, housing the electrode assembly in a case sheet, and sealing the edge of the sheet by heat sealing or the like. In addition, the electrode tab drawn out from each electrode may be coupled to an electrode lead, and a part of the electrode lead may protrude outside the edge of the sheet. In this manner, the pouch type secondary battery can have the flexibility to be configured in various forms. Further, the pouch type secondary battery has the advantage that a secondary battery having the same capacity can be realized with a smaller volume and mass. Such lithium secondary batteries can be used in the shape of battery modules or battery packs including a plurality of battery cells so as to provide high voltage and high current. The battery module is provided in a shape including a plurality of battery cells inside the module case, and the battery pack may be provided in a shape including at least one or more of such battery modules. In such a battery pack structure, one of the typically important issues is safety. In particular, when a thermal event occurs in one battery cell among a plurality of battery cells included in the battery pack, such an event need to be suppressed from propagating to other battery cells. If thermal propagation between battery cells is not properly suppressed, this may lead to a thermal event in several battery cells included in the battery pack, which may cause ignition or explosion of the battery pack. Moreover, the ignition or explosion occurred in the battery pack may cause great damage to human life or loss of property in the periphery. Therefore, in the case of such a battery pack, a structure capable of appropriately controlling the above-mentioned thermal event is required. Battery packs are described in EP 2515359 and in US 2014/0322566. [DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION] [Technical Problem] Therefore, the present invention was designed to solve the problems as above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a battery pack, a device and the like having improved safety by minimizing cascading ignition phenomena even when a thermal runaway phenomenon occurs. [Technical Solution] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a battery pack according to claim 1. Embodiments are the object of dependent claims [Advantageous Effects] According to one aspect of the present invention, a large number of pouch type battery cells can be stably housed inside a case without using a configuration such as a