EP-4742367-A1 - COOLING MODULE AND BATTERY DISCONNECT DEVICE COMPRISING SAME

EP4742367A1EP 4742367 A1EP4742367 A1EP 4742367A1EP-4742367-A1

Abstract

A cooling module is provided. According to an aspect of the present invention, the cooling module comprises: a heat transfer body capable of being coupled to an external busbar so as to receive heat generated in the busbar; a cooling pipe coupled to the heat transfer body and configured such that a cooling fluid can flow therein so as to receive the heat and discharge same to the outside; and a heat dissipation body having a heat absorption surface provided on one side thereof and configured to be able to contact the busbar such that the heat can be transferred from the busbar thereto, and having a heat dissipation surface provided on the other side thereof so as to contact the heat transfer body such that the transferred heat can be transferred to the heat transfer body. The heat dissipation body may be made of a material having a predetermined degree of elasticity or having a predetermined degree of fluidity such that, at least during installation, same can be deformed according to the shape of the space in which same is contained, and may be disposed between the heat transfer body and the busbar.

Inventors

KIM, Jaeseop

Assignees

LS E-MOBILITY SOLUTIONS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240703

Claims (20)

A cooling module comprising: a heat transfer body that can be coupled to an external busbar so as to receive heat generated from the busbar; a cooling pipe coupled to the heat transfer body to allow a cooling fluid to flow therein so as to receive the heat and dissipate it to the outside; and a heat dissipation body having a heat absorption surface that can be in contact with the busbar to receive the heat from the busbar on one side thereof, and having a heat dissipation surface that is in contact with the heat transfer body to transfer the received heat to the heat transfer body on the other side thereof, wherein the heat dissipation body is made of a material having a predetermined elasticity or a predetermined fluidity that can be deformed to fit a shape of a space accommodated at least during installation, and is interposed between the heat transfer body and the busbar.
The cooling module of claim 1, wherein the heat dissipation body is configured to seal at least one region between the heat transfer body and the busbar.
The cooling module of claim 1, wherein the heat transfer body comprises: a heat transfer body part that can be coupled to the busbar; and a pipe coupling part provided in the heat transfer body part to which the cooling pipe is joined.
The cooling module of claim 3, wherein the heat transfer body part comprises an outer surface exposed to the outside, and wherein the pipe coupling part is provided on the outer surface of the heat transfer body part so as to allow at least a portion of the cooling pipe to be exposed to the outside.
The cooling module of claim 4, wherein the pipe coupling part comprises a pipe coupling groove arranged to be recessed on the outer surface to accommodate at least a portion of the cooling pipe and provided along an extension direction of the cooling pipe.
The cooling module of claim 5, wherein the cooling pipe is configured such that a depth of the pipe coupling groove is deeper than a radius of the cooling pipe.
The cooling module of claim 3, wherein the heat transfer body part extends along an extension direction of the cooling pipe.
The cooling module of claim 7, wherein the heat transfer body part comprises an upper surface, a lower surface, and a side surface provided along the extension direction of the cooling pipe, and wherein the heat dissipation body is configured to entirely surround the lower surface and the side surface of the heat transfer body part.
The cooling module of claim 7, further comprising: a heat dissipation body frame that supports the heat dissipation body to fix the heat dissipation body in position between the heat transfer body and the busbar or to maintain a form of the heat dissipation body.
The cooling module of claim 9, wherein the heat dissipation body frame is made of a material having a predetermined insulating property.
The cooling module of claim 9, wherein the heat dissipation body frame comprises: a bottom part covering a lower surface of the heat transfer body part; and a side wall part covering a side surface of the heat transfer body part, and wherein at least a portion of the heat dissipation body is interposed between a lower surface of the heat transfer body part and the bottom part and between a side surface of the heat transfer body part and the side wall part.
The cooling module of claim 11, wherein a contact hole to allow the heat absorption surface of the heat dissipation body to be exposed is provided on the bottom part.
The cooling module of claim 12, wherein the contact hole has a shape corresponding to a shape of the busbar.
The cooling module of claim 12, wherein the contact hole is provided in plurality to correspond to a number of the plurality of busbars.
The cooling module of claim 3, wherein the heat dissipation body is configured to surround an outer periphery of the cooling pipe, and the heat dissipation surface is in contact with the pipe coupling part.
The cooling module of claim 15, wherein the cooling pipe has a rectangular cross-section perpendicular to an extension direction.
The cooling module of claim 15, wherein the heat transfer body part has a block shape extending along an extension direction of the cooling pipe, and wherein the pipe coupling part comprises a pipe coupling groove arranged to be recessed on one surface of the heat transfer body part so as to allow the cooling pipe surrounded by the heat dissipation body to be accommodated.
The cooling module of claim 17, wherein the heat transfer body comprises a heat dissipation fin provided on the other surface of the heat transfer body part so as to allow heat transferred to the heat transfer body part to be dissipated to the outside.
The cooling module of claim 1, wherein the heat dissipation body is made of a thermal conductive pad, a thermal conductive gel or a thermal conductive rubber.
A battery disconnect device comprising: a disconnect module comprising a housing, a plurality of contactors arranged inside the housing to be electrically connected to an external power source and external loads, respectively, and at least one busbar electrically connected to at least one of the plurality of contactors; and a cooling module comprising a heat transfer body coupled to the busbar to receive heat, a cooling pipe coupled to the heat transfer body to allow a cooling fluid to flow therein so as to receive the heat and dissipate it to the outside, and a heat dissipation body having a heat absorption surface that can be in contact with the busbar on one side thereof and having a heat dissipation surface that is in contact with the heat transfer body on the other side thereof, wherein the heat dissipation body is interposed between the heat transfer body and the busbar and is made of a material having a predetermined elasticity or a predetermined fluidity that can be deformed to fit a shape therebetween at least during installation so as to seal therebetween.

Description

Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a cooling module and a battery disconnect device including the same, and more particularly, to a cooling module using a cooling fluid and a battery disconnect device including the same. Background Art The trend of restricting the use of fossil fuels to prevent climate change continues. This trend is affecting daily life as well as the field of power generation to produce electricity. As a result, research is actively being conducted to drive a vehicle using electricity or hydrogen, such as an electric vehicle (EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), and a hydrogen vehicle (HV), away from conventional vehicles that generate power using fossil fuels such as gasoline or diesel. The above-described EV, HEV, HV, and the like, essentially include a battery for supplying power to drive the vehicle. As an operation of a vehicle and a battery driving the vehicle continues, high heat is generated from the battery and a battery disconnect unit (BDU), which is densely packed with devices for switching the battery and loads, such as switches. In this case, when the generated high heat is left as it is, there is a possibility that the battery, the BDU, or various elements provided in the vehicle can be damaged. Therefore, compared to vehicles with traditional structures, that is, vehicles driven by fossil fuels, the need for effective heat dissipation of batteries in the EV, HEV, HV, and the like increases. A method widely used for cooling a battery can be divided into air cooling and water cooling. For conventional vehicles that use fossil fuels, sufficient cooling efficiency can be expected even with air cooling, as the amount of heat generated from the battery is not excessive. On the contrary, the EV, HEV, HV, and the like, including a battery that dissipates high heat generally are provided with water cooling as it is difficult to cool them with air cooling alone. However, when cooling a battery with water cooling, a passage in which a heat transfer medium, that is, water, flows to receive heat of the battery must be physically completely separated from the battery. That is, the passage must allow water to flow thereinside, but communication with the outside must be blocked. Therefore, in order to cool the battery using water cooling, additional members such as a rubber ring are required to prevent any leakage of water. This causes an increase in unit price of the product and a decrease in assemblability. Furthermore, an airtight empty space can occur between each component, resulting in a problem that cooling efficiency decreases as the heat transfer rate decreases. Accordingly, there has been an urgent need for the development of a cooling module having high cooling efficiency and a battery disconnect device including the same by improving a heat transfer rate between a heat-generating component and a heat-absorbing component. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem The present disclosure is contrived in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a cooling module having high cooling efficiency and a battery disconnect device including the same. Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a cooling module having a structure capable of stably securing electrical insulation from an electrical device coupled thereto, and a battery disconnect device including the same. Still another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a cooling module having a structure capable of preventing loss of a medium for cooling and being insulated from a battery voltage, and a battery disconnect device including the same. Yet still another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a cooling module having a structure applicable to various sizes of electrical devices and a battery disconnect device including the same. The problems of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems that are not mentioned herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. Solution to Problem According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a cooling module including a heat transfer body that can be coupled to an external busbar so as to receive heat generated from the busbar; a cooling pipe coupled to the heat transfer body to allow a cooling fluid to flow therein so as to receive the heat and dissipate it to the outside; and a heat dissipation body having a heat absorption surface that can be in contact with the busbar to receive the heat from the busbar on one side thereof, and having a heat dissipation surface that is in contact with the heat transfer body to transfer the received heat to the heat transfer body on the other side thereof, wherein the heat dissipation body is made of a material having a predetermined elasticity or a predetermined fluidity that can be deformed to fit a shape of a space accommodated at least du