US-12620672-B2 - Battery module and electric vehicle

US12620672B2US 12620672 B2US12620672 B2US 12620672B2US-12620672-B2

Abstract

The present application provides a battery module and an electric vehicle. The battery module includes a case, a longitudinal beam, and a tray. The case is provided with at least one exhaust port. The longitudinal beam is disposed in the case and is abutted against a bottom surface of the case to partition accommodating areas in the case on both sides of the longitudinal beam along a width direction. The tray is disposed in one of the accommodating areas and is configured to install a battery cell. A through hole opposite to an end of the battery cell is defined on the tray, the tray is spaced from the bottom surface of the case to define a pressure relief cavity, the through hole and the exhaust port are respectively communicated with the pressure relief cavity.

Inventors

Fan Li
Ying Huang
CHAOHAI CHEN
Zhiwei Chen
Wencong Qiu
Honghu Wang
Yan Rao

Assignees

Eve Power Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20221012
Priority Date: 20220211

Claims (18)

1 . A battery module, comprising: a case provided with exhaust ports; a longitudinal beam disposed in the case and abutting against a bottom surface of the case to partition accommodating areas in the case on both sides of the longitudinal beam along a width direction; a tray disposed in one of the accommodating areas and configured to install a battery cell, wherein a through hole opposite to an end of the battery cell is defined on the tray, the tray is spaced from the bottom surface of the case to define a pressure relief cavity, the through hole and the exhaust ports are respectively communicated with the pressure relief cavity; the case comprises a bottom guard plate, each side of the bottom guard plate is connected to a side plate, cross beams are disposed in the accommodating areas; a front side plate is parallel to the cross beams, the front side plate is provided with the exhaust ports, and one of the cross beams is adjacent to the front side plate, a sealing plate is disposed between the front side plate and the one of the cross beams, the sealing plate is spaced from the bottom guard plate to define an exhaust channel, the exhaust channel is respectively communicated with the exhaust ports and the pressure relief cavity, and the sealing plate is configured to install electrical components; wherein the front side plate and the one of the cross beams are respectively provided with supporting bosses, and the sealing plate is lapped on the supporting bosses.
2 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein each of the cross beams is disposed at an included angle with the longitudinal beam, positioning grooves are defined with the cross beam, the longitudinal beam, and inner walls of the case, and the tray is disposed in one of the positioning grooves.
3 . The battery module according to claim 2 , wherein the cross beam is spaced from the bottom of the case to communicate two adjacent positioning grooves.
4 . The battery module according to claim 2 , wherein the case comprises a bottom guard plate, the bottom guard plate is provided with ridges and grooves arranged at intervals, the ridges and the grooves extend along a length direction of the longitudinal beam respectively, and the longitudinal beam is fixed on one of the ridges.
5 . The battery module according to claim 4 , wherein the cross beam abuts against the ridges.
6 . The battery module according to claim 4 , wherein at least one of the ridges comprises a mounting surface, the mounting surface is fitted with a bottom surface of the longitudinal beam, and the longitudinal beam is fixed on the mounting surface; a first seal is disposed between the longitudinal beam and the mounting surface.
7 . The battery module according to claim 4 , wherein the tray is fixed to the bottom guard plate by a tray fixed bolt; the tray fixed bolt connects one of the ridges and the tray.
8 . The battery module according to claim 7 , wherein a fixed boss is provided on a back of the tray, a threaded hole is defined on the fixed boss, and the tray fixed bolt passes through the bottom guard plate and is threaded with the threaded hole.
9 . The battery module according to claim 8 , wherein a second seal is disposed between the fixed boss and the bottom guard plate; the second seal is sleeved outside the fixed boss and elastically abuts against the bottom guard plate.
10 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the front side plate is provided with a first cavity, the first cavity is provided with a plurality of baffles, the baffles divide the first cavity into a plurality of sub-cavities, and the exhaust ports on the front side plate are communicated with the exhaust channel through one of the sub-cavities.
11 . The battery module according to claim 4 , wherein the case is provided with the exhaust ports corresponding to one of the accommodating areas, and the exhaust ports are communicated with the pressure relief cavity of a corresponding one of the accommodating areas; the exhaust ports are disposed at an end or both ends of the case along the length direction of the longitudinal beam.
12 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein each of the exhaust ports is provided with a pressure relief valve.
13 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein an end of the battery cell is provided with an explosion-proof valve, the explosion-proof valve is directly opposite to the through hole, and the explosion-proof valve is projected in the through hole along a height direction of the battery cell.
14 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein each of the cross beams is disposed at an included angle with the longitudinal beam, positioning grooves are defined with the cross beam, the longitudinal beam, and inner walls of the case, and the tray is disposed in one of the positioning grooves; the battery module further comprises a reinforcing block, wherein the reinforcing block is arranged in one of the positioning grooves and at a corner, and the reinforcing block respectively abuts against or connected to two adjacent of the cross beam, the longitudinal beam and a corresponding one of the inner walls of the case.
15 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein each of the cross beams is disposed at an included angle with the longitudinal beam, positioning grooves are defined with the cross beam, the longitudinal beam, and inner walls of the case, and the tray is disposed in one of the positioning grooves; the cross beam and the longitudinal beam are respectively provided with a second cavity therein along their own length directions, and ridge plates are cross-arranged and disposed in the second cavity.
16 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein each of the cross beams is disposed at an included angle with the longitudinal beam, positioning grooves are defined with the cross beam, the longitudinal beam, and inner walls of the case, and the tray is disposed in one of the positioning grooves; each of the positioning grooves is a stepped groove and comprises an upper groove body and a lower groove body communicated with each other, and a connection of the upper groove body and the lower groove body defines a step supporting surface; the tray comprises a tray body and a fixing flange arranged circumferentially around the tray body, the tray body is located in the lower groove body, and the fixing flange is overlapped with the step supporting surface.
17 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein each of the cross beams is disposed at an included angle with the longitudinal beam, positioning grooves are defined with the cross beam, the longitudinal beam, and inner walls of the case, and the tray is disposed in one of the positioning grooves; each of the positioning grooves is provided with a first mounting surface surrounding a circumference of the tray, the tray comprises a second mounting surface, the second mounting surface abuts against the first mounting surface, and a flatness of the second mounting surface and a flatness of the first mounting surface are less than or equal to 0.5 mm, respectively.
18 . An electric vehicle, comprising a battery module; the battery module comprising: a case provided with exhaust ports; a longitudinal beam disposed in the case and abutting against a bottom surface of the case to partition accommodating areas in the case on both sides of the longitudinal beam along a width direction; a tray disposed in one of the accommodating areas and configured to install a battery cell, wherein a through hole opposite to an end of the battery cell is defined on the tray, the tray is spaced from the bottom surface of the case to define a pressure relief cavity, the through hole and the exhaust ports are respectively communicated with the pressure relief cavity; the case comprises a bottom guard plate, each side of the bottom guard plate is connected to a side plate, cross beams are disposed in the accommodating areas; a front side plate is parallel to the cross beams, the front side plate is provided with the exhaust ports, and one of the cross beams is adjacent to the front side plate, a sealing plate is disposed between the front side plate and the one of the cross beams, the sealing plate is spaced from the bottom guard plate to define an exhaust channel, the exhaust channel is respectively communicated with the exhaust ports and the pressure relief cavity, and the sealing plate is configured to install electrical components; wherein the front side plate and the one of the cross beams are respectively provided with supporting bosses, and the sealing plate is lapped on the supporting bosses.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a National Stage Appl. filed under 35 USC 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2022/124958 with an international filing date of Oct. 20, 2022, designating the United States, now pending, and further claims priority to Chinese Patent Application Serial No. 202210129709.6 filed to China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on Feb. 11, 2022, and Chinese Patent Application Serial No. 202220281402.3 filed to CNIPA on Feb. 11, 2022, which are incorporated by reference in the present application in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates to the field of power battery technologies, and, more particularly, to a battery module and an electric vehicle. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE In recent years, new energy vehicles have developed by leaps and bounds, especially those powered by lithium batteries. Cylindrical battery cells in the lithium batteries are widely used in power systems. Due to small capacity of a single cylindrical battery cell, quantity of batteries in a single string is large. In cylindrical battery modules of related technology, a plurality of battery cells arranged in an array are disposed in the same sealed cavity. However, when thermal runaway occurs in a certain battery cell, an explosion-proof valve of the battery cell is opened, and gas and ejections generated inside the battery cell are discharged, which will affect the rest of the battery cells and easily lead to thermal runaway of the battery cells one after another, resulting in safety accidents. Some battery modules are equipped with pressure relief cavities, but the plurality of battery cells still share a same pressure relief cavity. After thermal runaway occurs in a certain battery cell, it will still affect other battery cells through the pressure relief cavity, which has potential safety hazards. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE The present application provides a battery module, which can reduce an influence of thermal runaway of one or more battery cells on other battery cells. In a first aspect, the present application provides a battery module, including: a case provided with exhaust ports;a longitudinal beam disposed in the case and abutting against a bottom surface of the case to partition accommodating areas in the case on both sides of the longitudinal beam along a width direction;a tray disposed in one of the accommodating areas and configured to install a battery cell, wherein a through hole opposite to an end of the battery cell is defined on the tray, the tray is spaced from the bottom surface of the case to define a pressure relief cavity, and the through hole and the exhaust ports are respectively communicated with the pressure relief cavity. The present application provides an electric vehicle which can avoid safety accidents caused by a battery module and improve a safety performance of the vehicle. In a second aspect, the present application provides an electric vehicle, including the battery module as defined above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view of a battery module provided by the present application; FIG. 2 is a partial schematic structural diagram of the battery module provided by the present application; FIG. 3 is a partial schematic structural diagram of a bottom guard plate provided by the present application; FIG. 4 is a top view of a partial structure of the battery module provided by the present application; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the structure in FIG. 4 along A-A; FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view at B in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a partial structure of the battery module provided by the present application. In the above figures: 1. case; 11. bottom guard plate; 111. ridge; 112. groove; 12. front side plate; 121. side plate supporting boss; 13. left and right side plates; 14. rear side plate; 2. longitudinal beam; 3. cross beam; 31. first cross beam; 32. second cross beam; 321. cross beam supporting boss; 4. tray; 41. through hole; 42. fixed boss; 5. battery cell; 6. sealing plate; 7. pressure relief valve; 8. reinforcing block; 91. tray fixed bolt; 92. second seal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS In the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified and defined, terms “connect”, “contact” and “fix” should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or made as a whole; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be a directly connection or an indirectly connection through an intermediate media; and it may be an internal connection of two components or an interaction relationship between two components. For those skilled in the art, meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood according to situations. In the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified and defined, a first feature is disposed “on” or “under” a second feature may include a