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EP-4618270-B1 - SECTIONAL VENTING GAS GUIDANCE IN A BATTERY MODULE

EP4618270B1EP 4618270 B1EP4618270 B1EP 4618270B1EP-4618270-B1

Inventors

  • REINPRECHT, WOLFGANG
  • Proßnigg, Florian
  • HARING, FRITZ

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240315

Claims (15)

  1. A battery module (1000), comprising: a battery cell stack (100), the battery cell stack comprising a plurality of battery cells (1) stacked along a first direction (x); each of the plurality of battery cells (1) having a terminal side (10) facing into a second direction (y), the second direction (y) oriented non-parallel to the first direction (x), each of the terminal sides (10) comprising a first terminal (T 1 ), a second terminal (T 2 ), and a venting outlet (12), the first terminal (T 1 ) and the second terminal (T 2 ) positioned on a virtual straight line extending parallel to a third direction (z) oriented non-parallel to the first direction (x) and non-parallel to the second direction (y); a venting space (40) extending along the battery cell stack (100) adjacent to the terminal sides (10), each of the venting outlets (12) opening into the venting space (40); and a guiding means (9); wherein the first terminals (T 1 ) are arranged in a first row of terminals (R 1 ), the second terminals (T 2 ) are arranged in a second row of terminals (R 2 ), and the venting outlets (12) are arranged in a row of venting outlets (R V ) arranged in between the first row of terminals (R 1 ) and the second row of terminals (R 2 ); wherein the guiding means (9) comprises a plurality of separator means (92), each of the separator means (92) protruding from the battery cell stack (100) into the venting space (40) and extending transversely to the first direction (x); wherein the guiding means (9) comprises a back separator (94) protruding from the battery cell stack (100) into the venting space (40) and extending transversely to the third direction (z); wherein the back separator (94) is connected to each of the separator means (92), wherein each of the separator means (92) extends from the back separator (94) into the third direction (z); and wherein at least some of the venting outlets (12) are positioned, with respect to the first direction (x), between two neighbored separator means (92); and wherein the venting space (40) formed between two neighbored separator means (92) has an opening (O j-1 , O j , O j+1 ) into the third direction (z).
  2. The battery module (1000) according to claim 1, wherein the back separator (94) continuously extends between the first row of terminals (R 1 ) and the row of venting outlets (R V ).
  3. The battery module (1000) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the guiding means (9) further comprises a cover (96) connected to each of the separator means (92) and the back separator (94) on edges of the separator means (92) and the back separator (94) opposite to the battery cell stack (100).
  4. The battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising at least one terminal shield (20), wherein the at least one terminal shield (20) spatially separates the second row of terminals (R 2 ) from the venting space (40).
  5. The battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein for at least one pair of neighbored separator means (92), at least two venting outlets (12) are arranged between the respective neighbored separator means (92) with regard to the first direction (x).
  6. The battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a housing (110).
  7. The battery module (1000) according to claim 6, as long as depending on claim 3, wherein the cover (96) adjoins the housing (110) or is formed as a portion of the housing (110).
  8. The battery module (1000) according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the housing (110) comprises at least one battery module outlet (112) configured to let pass venting products; and wherein the at least one battery module outlet (112) is arranged on a side of the housing (110) facing into the third direction (z).
  9. The battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein at least one venting outlet (12) is arranged, with respect to the third direction (z), in the area of the opening (O j-1 , O j , O j+1 ) of the venting space (40) into the third direction.
  10. The battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein at least one venting outlet (12) opens into the interior of the venting space (40).
  11. The battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the guiding means (9) is made of an electrically insulating and/or heat resistant material.
  12. The battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the at least some of the separator means (92) extend, with regard to the third direction (z), from the back separator (94) to a position between the first row of terminals (R 1 ) and the second row of terminals (R 2 ).
  13. The battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein at least one of the separator means (92) is arranged, with regard to the first direction (x), between a pair of adjacent battery cells (1).
  14. A battery system comprising one or more battery modules (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 13.
  15. A vehicle comprising at least one battery module (1000) according to any one of claims 1 to 13 and/or at least one battery system according to claim 14.

Description

Field of the Disclosure The present disclosure relates to a battery module that reduces a propagation of venting products along a battery cell stack included in the battery module (see as an example US 2016/036033 A1). Further, the present disclosure relates to a to a battery system including one or more of said battery modules. Also, the present disclosure relates to a vehicle including at least one of said battery modules and/or at least one of said battery systems. Technological Background Recently, vehicles for transportation of goods and peoples have been developed that use electric power as a source for motion. Such an electric vehicle is an automobile that is propelled permanently or temporarily by an electric motor, using energy stored in rechargeable batteries. An electric vehicle may be solely powered by batteries (Battery Electric Vehicle BEV) or may include a combination of an electric motor and, for example, a conventional combustion engine (Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle PHEV). BEVs and PHEVs use high-capacity rechargeable batteries, which are designed to give power for propulsion over sustained periods of time. Generally, a rechargeable (or secondary) battery cell includes an electrode assembly including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator interposed between the electrodes. A solid or liquid electrolyte allows movement of ions during charging and discharging of the battery cell. The electrode assembly is located in a casing and electrode terminals, which are positioned on the outside of the casing, establish an electrically conductive connection to the electrodes. The shape of the casing may be, for example, cylindrical or rectangular. A battery module is formed of a plurality of battery cells connected in series or in parallel. That is, the battery module is formed by interconnecting the electrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells depending on a required amount of power and in order to realize a high-power rechargeable battery. Battery modules can be constructed in either a block design or in a modular design. In the block design each battery cell is coupled to a common current collector structure and a common battery management system and the unit thereof is arranged in a housing. In the modular design, pluralities of battery cells are connected together to form submodules and several submodules are connected together to form the battery module. In automotive applications, battery systems generally include a plurality of battery modules connected in series for providing a desired voltage. A battery pack is a set of any number of (for example identical) battery modules or single battery cells. The battery modules, respectively battery cells, may be configured in a series, parallel or a mixture of both to deliver the desired voltage, capacity, and/or power density. Components of a battery pack include the individual battery modules, and the interconnects, which provide electrical conductivity between the battery modules. A battery system may also include a battery management system (BMS), which is any suitable electronic system that is configured to manage the rechargeable battery cell, battery module, and battery pack, such as by protecting the batteries from operating outside their safe operating area, monitoring their states, calculating secondary data, reporting that data, controlling its environment, authenticating it and/or balancing it. For example, the BMS may monitor the state of the battery cell as represented by voltage (e.g., a total voltage of the battery pack or battery modules, and/or voltages of individual battery cells), temperature (e.g., an average temperature of the battery pack or battery modules, coolant intake temperature, coolant output temperature, or temperatures of individual battery cells), coolant flow (e.g., flow rate and/or cooling liquid pressure), and current. Additionally, the BMS may calculate values based on the above parameters, such as minimum and maximum cell voltage, state of charge (SOC) or depth of discharge (DOD) to indicate the charge level of the battery cell, state of health (SOH; a variously-defined measurement of the remaining capacity of the battery cell as % of the original capacity), state of power (SOP; the amount of power available for a defined time interval given the current power usage, temperature and other conditions), state of safety (SOS), maximum charge current as a charge current limit (CCL), maximum discharge current as a discharge current limit (DCL), and internal impedance of a cell (to determine open circuit voltage). The BMS may be centralized such that a single controller is connected to the battery cells through a multitude of wires. In other examples, the BMS may be also distributed, with a BMS board is installed at each cell, with just a single communication cable between the battery cell and a controller. In yet other examples, the BMS may have a modular construction including a few contr