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EP-4738543-A1 - COLLECTING PIPE FITTING, THERMAL MANAGEMENT ASSEMBLY, BATTERY, AND ELECTRIC DEVICE

EP4738543A1EP 4738543 A1EP4738543 A1EP 4738543A1EP-4738543-A1

Abstract

A fluid collecting pipe fitting (10), a thermal management assembly (100), a battery (1000), and an electric device are provided, where the fluid collecting pipe fitting (10) includes: a pipe body (11); a first flow channel port (12) and a plurality of second flow channel ports (13), where along an extension direction of the pipe body (11), at least two of the second flow channel ports (13) are respectively located on both sides of the first flow channel port (12); and a partition structure (14), where the partition structure (14) is disposed inside the pipe body (11), the partition structure (14) separates the first flow channel port (12) from the second flow channel ports (13) inside the pipe body (11), and the plurality of second flow channel ports (13) are in communication with each other inside the pipe body (11).

Inventors

  • SONG, Feiting

Assignees

  • Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240926

Claims (20)

  1. A fluid collecting pipe fitting, comprising: a pipe body; a first flow channel port and a plurality of second flow channel ports, wherein along an extension direction of the pipe body, at least two of the second flow channel ports are respectively located on both sides of the first flow channel port; and a partition structure, wherein the partition structure is disposed inside the pipe body, the partition structure separates the first flow channel port from the second flow channel ports inside the pipe body, and the plurality of second flow channel ports are in communication with each other inside the pipe body.
  2. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 1, wherein the fluid collecting pipe fitting further comprises a first joint and a second joint; the first joint is in communication with the first flow channel port through a space inside the pipe body; and the second joint is in communication with the second flow channel port through a space inside the pipe body.
  3. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 2, wherein one of the first joint and the second joint is an input joint, and the other is an output joint.
  4. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pipe body is divided by the partition structure into a first space and a second space that are independent of each other; the first space is in communication with the first flow channel port; the second space is in communication with the second flow channel port; along the extension direction of the pipe body, the second space comprises a first section, a second section, and a third section that are sequentially in communication with each other; the first section and the third section are respectively located on both sides of the first space; and the second section is arranged side by side with the first space.
  5. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 4, wherein the partition structure comprises a first partition plate and second partition plates; the first partition plate is configured to separate the second section from the first space; at least two second partition plates are provided and are respectively located at both ends of the first partition plate in the extension direction of the pipe body; and the second partition plates are configured to separate the first section from the first space and separate the third section from the first space.
  6. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 5, wherein a length dimension of the first partition plate in the extension direction of the pipe body is greater than or equal to a length dimension of the second section.
  7. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 6, wherein along the extension direction of the pipe body, the first partition plate extends from the second section to at least one end of the pipe body; the first partition plate is further provided with at least one water passage hole; the water passage hole runs through the first partition plate along a thickness direction; the water passage hole is located at a position of the first partition plate corresponding to the first section; and/or the water passage hole is located at a position of the first partition plate corresponding to the third section.
  8. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein an inner wall surface of the pipe body is provided with ribs; the ribs extend along the extension direction of the pipe body; and one side of the first partition plate in the thickness direction abuts against the ribs.
  9. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 8, wherein the ribs are provided in plurality; the plurality of ribs are spaced along a circumferential direction of the pipe body; and both sides of the first partition plate in the thickness direction respectively abut against different ribs.
  10. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the first partition plate and the second partition plate are connected to each other in a brazing manner.
  11. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein both the first partition plate and the second partition plate are sealingly connected to the inner wall surface of the pipe body.
  12. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein the first partition plate and the pipe body are integrally formed; and the second partition plate is connected to the first partition plate and the pipe body in a brazing manner.
  13. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to any one of claims 5 to 12, wherein the pipe body is provided with an insertion hole running through the pipe body; at least a portion of the second partition plate extends into the pipe body through the insertion hole; and the first partition plate is sealingly connected to a peripheral wall and/or a peripheral edge of the insertion hole.
  14. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 13, wherein the first partition plate is provided with a slot; in a projection plane perpendicular to an insertion direction of the second partition plate, a projection of the slot at least partially overlaps with a projection of the insertion hole; and an end of the second partition plate extending into the pipe body is fitted into the slot to connect with the first partition plate.
  15. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 14, wherein at least one end of the first partition plate in a width direction has a connecting plate segment; the connecting plate segment extends along an inner wall of the pipe body and is attached onto the inner wall of the pipe body; and the slot is formed in the connecting plate segment and runs through the connecting plate segment along a thickness direction of the connecting plate segment.
  16. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to any one of claims 5 to 15, wherein the second partition plate is perpendicular to the first partition plate.
  17. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the fluid collecting pipe fitting further comprises an end cap; at least one end of the pipe body is open; and the end cap covers an open portion of the pipe body and is sealingly connected to the pipe body.
  18. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 17, wherein the end cap has a protruding portion that protrudes toward the interior of the pipe body; and the protruding portion is connected to an inner wall of the pipe body.
  19. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 2, wherein the pipe body is a rectangular pipe; the first flow channel port and the second flow channel port are formed on one side surface of the pipe body; and the first joint and the second joint are formed on another side surface of the pipe body.
  20. The fluid collecting pipe fitting according to claim 19, wherein the partition structure comprises a first partition plate extending along a length direction of the pipe body; the first partition plate is inclined relative to a width direction and a thickness direction of the pipe body; and the first flow channel port, the second flow channel port, the first joint, and the second joint are all located on a same side of the first partition plate in a thickness direction.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202311379236.6, filed on October 23, 2023, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates to the field of battery technology, and in particular, to a fluid collecting pipe fitting, a thermal management assembly, a battery, and an electric device. BACKGROUND To allow a battery pack to achieve effective heat dissipation at high temperatures or efficient heating at low temperatures, a common heat management method is to arrange liquid cooling plates at bottoms of battery cells and fill a heat exchange fluid with a specified flow rate into the liquid cooling plates to cool the battery pack, ensuring that the battery pack operates within an appropriate temperature range. The liquid cooling plates arranged at the bottoms of the battery cells mainly include stamped water-cooling plates and harmonica tube-type water-cooling plates. The harmonica tube-type water-cooling plates used currently are typically arranged in series, where a liquid flows into one end of a harmonica tube and flows out of the other end of the harmonica tube. This results in a significant temperature difference across the battery cells, leading to uneven temperature distribution, thereby affecting the safe and reliable operation of the battery pack and shortening the service life of the battery pack. SUMMARY This application aims to address at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, this application proposes a fluid collecting pipe fitting, where the fluid collecting pipe fitting can reduce the production costs and space occupation of a thermal management assembly, reduce the assembly steps and installation space of the thermal management assembly, and improve the temperature uniformity of a battery, thereby improving the temperature uniformity effect of the battery and extending the service life of the battery. This application further proposes a thermal management assembly including the above fluid collecting pipe fitting. This application further proposes a battery including the above thermal management assembly. This application further proposes an electric device including the above thermal management assembly. According to a first aspect of this application, a fluid collecting pipe fitting includes: a pipe body; a first flow channel port and a plurality of second flow channel ports, where along an extension direction of the pipe body, at least two of the second flow channel ports are respectively located on both sides of the first flow channel port; and a partition structure, where the partition structure is disposed inside the pipe body, the partition structure separates the first flow channel port from the second flow channel ports inside the pipe body, and the plurality of second flow channel ports are in communication with each other inside the pipe body. According to the fluid collecting pipe fitting of this application, the partition structure is disposed inside the pipe body to separate the first flow channel port from the plurality of second flow channel ports, and the plurality of second flow channel ports are in communication with each other inside the pipe body. The first flow channel port and the second flow channel port may be respectively formed as an input end and an output end of a heat exchange flow channel. This allows one pipe body to implement inflow and outflow of liquid, reducing the number of fluid collecting pipe fittings used, and reducing external connection pipelines, thereby reducing the production costs and space occupation of the thermal management assembly, and reducing the assembly steps and installation space of the thermal management assembly. Additionally, the plurality of second flow channel ports are provided, and at least two second flow channel ports are located on both sides of the first flow channel port, allowing a heat exchange fluid to flow from a periphery to a central region of a battery for heat exchange, or allowing the heat exchange fluid to flow from the central region to the periphery of the battery for heat exchange, thereby improving the temperature uniformity of the battery and extending the service life of the battery. According to an example embodiment of this application, the fluid collecting pipe fitting further includes a first joint and a second joint, where the first joint is in communication with the first flow channel port through a space inside the pipe body; and the second joint is in communication with the second flow channel port through a space inside the pipe body. In this embodiment, the first joint and the second joint are provided, so that a liquid required for heat exchange can be supplied to the pipe body, and the liquid after heat exchange can be discharged, thereby achieving heat exchange for the battery and improving the reliability of the battery.