This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0052265 filed on April 29, 2020 with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a battery module and a battery pack including the same,
10 and more specifically, to a battery module having an improved assembling property and a battery
pack including the same.
【BACKGROUNDART】
In modern society, as portable devices such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer, a
15 camcorder and a digital camera has been daily used, the development of technologies in the fields
related to mobile devices as described above has been activated. In addition, rechargeable secondary batteries are used as a power source for an electric vehicle (EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (P-HEV) and the like, in an attempt to solve air pollution and the like caused by existing gasoline vehicles using fossil fuel. Therefore, there is an increasing
20 need for development of the secondary battery.
Currently commercialized secondary batteries include a nickel cadmium battery, a nickel hydrogen battery, a nickel zinc battery, and a lithium secondary battery. Among them, the lithium secondary battery has come into the spotlight because they have advantages, for example, hardly exhibiting memory effects compared to nickel-based secondary batteries and thus being freely
25 charged and discharged, and having very low self-discharge rate and high energy density.
Such lithium secondary battery mainly uses a lithium-based oxide and a carbonaceous material as a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode active material, respectively. The lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly in which a positive
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electrode plate and a negative electrode plate respectively coated with the positive electrode active
material and the negative electrode active material are disposed with a separator being interposed
between them, and an exterior material, i.e., battery case, which seals and houses the electrode
assembly together with an electrolyte.
5 Generally, the lithium secondary battery may be classified based on the shape of the
exterior material into a can-type secondary battery in which the electrode assembly is built in a metal can, and a pouch-type secondary battery in which the electrode assembly is built in a pouch of an aluminum laminate sheet.
In the case of a secondary battery used for a small-sized device, two to three battery cells
10 are arranged, but in the case of a secondary battery used for a medium to large-sized device such
as an automobile, a battery module in which a large number of battery cells are electrically connected is used. In such a battery module, a plurality of battery cells are connected to each other in series or parallel to form a cell stack, thereby improving capacity and output. In addition, one or more battery modules may be mounted together with various control and protection systems
15 such as a battery management system (BMS) and a cooling system to form a battery pack.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional battery module.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional battery module is configured such that a plurality of battery cells 10 are stacked to form a battery cell stack, and the battery cell stack is housed in a lower frame 21 and an upper plate 22 for covering the open upper portions of the lower frame 21.
20 At this time, an insulating film 30 for insulation is attached to the lower surface portion of the
upper plate 22, and a compression pad 40 is attached between the plurality of battery cells 10 of the battery cell stack.
However, if the number of stacked battery cells 10 increases, precise assembly of the battery cells may be difficult, and even after assembly of the battery cells is completed, there is a
25 concern that as the number of battery cells increases, the length of the battery module becomes
longer, which may cause a sagging phenomenon of the battery module.
【DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION】
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【Technical Problem】
Embodiments of the present disclosure has been designed to solve the above-mentioned
problems, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a battery module that prevents its
sagging and improves the assembling properties, and a battery pack including the same.
5 However, the problem to be solved by embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited
to the above-described problems, and can be variously expanded within the scope of the technical idea included in the present disclosure.
【Technical Solution】
10 A battery module according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a battery
cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked; a lower frame for housing the battery
cell stack; and an upper plate for covering the upper side of the lower frame, wherein at least one
partition wall is formed between the plurality of battery cells of the battery cell stack, and an
insulating member is attached to at least one surface of the partition wall.
15 The partition wall may be integrally formed with the lower surface portion of the upper plate.
The partition wall may be formed between the plurality of battery cells and on both side surfaces of the battery cell stack.
The partition wall may be integrally formed with the bottom surface of the lower frame.
The insulating member may be attached to the lower surface portion of the upper plate.
20 The insulating member may be formed of an insulating film.
The partition wall is formed of a plurality of walls, and the plurality of partition walls are arranged at regular intervals.
The battery module may further include a thermally conductive resin layer formed between
the battery cell stack and the bottom portion of the lower frame, and the thermally conductive resin
25 layer may be formed between the partition walls.
The battery module may further include end plates covering the front and rear surfaces of the battery cell stack.
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A battery pack according to another embodiment of the present disclosure includes the above-mentioned battery module.
【ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS】
5 According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, through the partition wall structure,
sagging of the battery module can be prevented and assembling properties can be improved.
The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above and additional other effects not described above will be clearly understood from the description of the appended claims by those skilled in the art.
10
【BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS】
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional battery module.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a battery module according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure.
15 FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the battery module of FIG. 2 according to one
embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the main configuration of a cross section taken along the cutting line A-A' of FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the battery module of FIG. 3 according to a
20 modified embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the battery module of FIG. 3 according to a modified embodiment of the present disclosure.
【DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS】
25 Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with
reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement them. The present disclosure may be modified in various different ways, and is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
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Portions that are irrelevant to the description will be omitted to clearly describe the present disclosure, and like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.
Further, in the figures, the size and thickness of each element are arbitrarily illustrated for
5 convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to those
illustrated in the figures. In the figures, the thickness of layers, regions, etc. are exaggerated for clarity. In the figures, for convenience of description, the thicknesses of some layers and regions are shown to be exaggerated.
In addition, it will be understood that when an element such as a layer, film, region, or
10 plate is referred to as being "on" or "above" another element, it can be directly on the other element
or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being
"directly on" another element, it means that other intervening elements are not present. Further,
the word "on" or "above" means disposed on or below a reference portion, and does not necessarily
mean being disposed on the upper end of the reference portion toward the opposite direction of
15 gravity.
Further, throughout the specification, when a portion is referred to as "including" a certain component, it means that the portion can further include other components, without excluding the other components, unless otherwise stated.
Further, throughout the specification, when referred to as "planar", it means when a target
20 portion is viewed from the upper side, and when referred to as "cross-sectional", it means when a
target portion is viewed from the side of a cross section cut vertically.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a battery module according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the battery module of FIG. 2
according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing
25 the main configuration of a cross section taken along the cutting line A-A' of FIG. 2.
Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the battery module 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a battery cell stack 120 in which a plurality of battery cells 110 are stacked,
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and a module frame 200 for housing the battery cell stack 120. A heat sink may be located under the bottom portion 210a of the module frame 200.
First, the battery cell 110 may be a pouch-type battery cell. Such a pouch-type battery cell
may be formed by mounting an electrode assembly in a pouch case of a laminate sheet containing
5 a resin layer and a metal layer, and then heat-sealing the sealing portion of the pouch case. At this
time, the battery cell 110 may be formed in a rectangular sheet-like structure.
These battery cells 110 may be composed of a plurality of cells, and the plurality of battery
cells 110 are stacked to be electrically connected to each other, thereby forming a battery cell stack
120. In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of battery cells 110 may be stacked along a
10 direction parallel to the x-axis.
The module frame 200 for housing the battery cell stack 120 includes an upper plate 220 and
a lower frame 210. The lower frame 210 may include a bottom portion 210a and two side portions
210b extending upward from both ends of the bottom portion 210a. The bottom part 210a may
cover the lower surface of the battery cell stack 120, and the side surface portions 210b may cover
15 both side surfaces of the battery cell stack 120.
The upper plate 220 may be formed in a single plate-shaped structure that surrounds the
remaining upper surface (z-axis direction) excluding the lower surface and the both side surfaces
covered by the lower frame 210. The upper plate 220 and the lower frame 210 are coupled by
welding or the like in a state in which the corresponding edger portions are in contact with each
20 other, thereby forming a structure that covers the battery cell stack 120 vertically and horizontally.
The battery cell stack 120 may be physically protected through the upper plate 220 and the lower frame 210. For this purpose, the upper plate 220 and the lower frame 210 may include a metal material having a predetermined strength.
Meanwhile, although not specifically shown, the module frame 200 according to the modified
25 embodiment may be a mono frame in the form of a metal plate in which the upper surface, the
lower surface, and both sides are integrated. That is, the mono frame may not have a structure in
which the lower frame 210 and the upper plate 220 are coupled to each other, but may have a
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structure in which the upper surface, the lower surface, and both sides are integrated by being
formed by extrusion molding.
The end plate 300 may be formed so as to cover the battery cell stack 120 by being located
on both open sides (y-axis direction) corresponding to each other of the module frame 200. The
5 end plate 300 may physically protect the battery cell stack 120 and other electronic products from
external impact.
Meanwhile, although not specifically shown, between the battery cell stack 120 and the end
plate 300, a bus bar frame on which a bus bar is mounted and an insulating cover for electrical
insulation may be located.
10 According to this embodiment, at least one partition wall 400 is formed between the plurality
of battery cells of the battery cell stack 120, and an insulating member 500 is attached to at least
one surface of the partition wall 400.
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, compression pads 40 are formed between the battery
cells to absorb the swelling of the battery cell stack. The conventional battery module includes 12
15 to 24 battery cells in one battery module and thus, the width of the battery module is narrow,
whereas the battery module 100 according to the present embodiments is a large-area module
including about 32 to 48 battery cells per one module, and the width of the battery module is
formed to be relatively wider. When the number of battery cells stacked as in the battery module
100 according to the present embodiment is large, precise stacking of the battery cells may be
20 difficult, and when the width of the battery module is widened, a sagging phenomenon of the
battery module may occur.
Thus, according to this embodiment, at least one partition wall 400 can be formed between
the stacked battery cells 110 as shown in FIG. 4. Thereby, through the partition wall 400, the
swelling phenomenon of the battery cells 110 is prevented and at the same time, the assembling
25 property according to the number of stacked battery cells divided into the partition wall 400 can
be improved, and partial sagging phenomenon of the battery module 100 can be prevented through
the rigidity of the partition wall 400. Further, by attaching the insulating member 500 to at least
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one surface of the partition wall 400, the insulating performance of the battery module 100 may be secured.
Referring to FIG. 4, the insulating member 500 may be attached to the lower surface of the
upper plate 220. Thereby, it is possible to secure an insulating function between the battery cell
5 stack and the upper plate 220. According to this embodiment, the insulating member 500 may be
formed of an insulating film, but is not limited thereto, and insulating performance of the battery
module may be secured by using various insulating members.
According to this embodiment, the partition wall 400 may be formed of a plurality of walls,
and the plurality of partition walls 400 can be arranged at regular intervals. A certain number of
10 stacked battery cells 110 can be inserted between the partition walls 400 and the partition walls
400.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a thermally conductive resin layer 600 including a thermal resin
is formed between the battery cell stack 120 and the bottom portion 210a of the lower frame 210.
The thermally conductive resin layer 600 may be formed by applying a thermal resin to the bottom
15 portion 210a, and curing the applied thermally conductive resin.
The thermally conductive resin may include a thermally conductive adhesive material,
Specifically, it may include at least one of a silicone material, a urethan material, and an acrylic
material. The thermally conductive resin is liquid when applied, but is cured after application,
thereby performing the role of fixing one or more battery cells 110 constituting the battery cell
20 stack 120. Further, the thermally conductive resin has excellent thermal conductivity properties
and can quickly transfer heat generated from the battery cell 110 to the lower side of the battery module.
As shown in FIG. 4, the thermally conductive resin layer 600 may be formed between the
partition walls 400. The thermally conductive resin layer 600 may be formed by applying a
25 thermally conductive resin to the bottom portions 210a appearing between the partition walls 400.
Hereinafter, the battery module according to a modified embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. In the battery module according to the modified
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embodiment of the present disclosure, the contents other than the description of the modified embodiment described later are the same as described above.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the battery module of FIG. 3 according to a
modified embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the
5 battery module of FIG. 3 according to a modified embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to FIG. 5, in the battery module according to the modified embodiment of the
present disclosure, the partition wall 400 may be integrally formed with the lower surface of the
upper plate 220. In this case, the partition wall 400 may be formed between the plurality of battery
cells 110 and on both side surfaces of the battery cell stack 120. The insulating film 500 may be
10 formed on both side surfaces of the partition wall 400 and on the lower surface of the upper plate
220. The partition wall 400 is integrally formed with the upper plate 220, so that the assembly process can be simplified and the assembling properties can be improved.
Referring to FIG. 6, in the battery module according to the modified embodiment of the
present disclosure, the partition wall 400 may be integrally formed with the bottom surface 210a
15 of the lower frame 210. In this case, the insulating film 500 may be formed on both side surfaces
of the partition wall 400. The partition wall 400 is integrally formed with the lower frame 210, so
that the assembly process can be simplified and the assembling property can be improved.
The battery pack according to embodiments of the present disclosure may have a structure
in the form of a packed by adding a battery management system (BMS) and a cooling device that
20 control and manage battery’s temperature, voltage, etc.
The above-mentioned battery module or the battery pack including the same can be
applied to various devices. These devices may be applied to transportation means such as an
electric bicycle, an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, but the present disclosure is not limited
thereto and can be applied to various devices that can use the battery module or the battery pack
25 including the same.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and various modifications
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and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present disclosure defined in the following claims also belong to the scope of rights.
【Description of Reference Numerals】
5 210: lower frame
210a: lower frame bottom portion
210b: lower frame side surface portion
220: upper plate
400: partition wall
10 500: insulating member
600: thermally conductive resin layer

WE CLAIMS

A battery module comprising:
a battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked;
5 a lower frame for housing the battery cell stack;
and an upper plate for covering the upper side of the lower frame,
wherein at least one partition wall is formed between the plurality of battery cells of the battery cell stack, and
an insulating member is attached to at least one surface of the partition wall.
10 【Claim 2】
The battery module according to claim 1,
wherein the partition wall is integrally formed with the lower surface portion of the upper plate.
【Claim 3】
15 The battery module according to claim 2,
wherein the partition wall is formed between the plurality of battery cells and on both side surfaces of the battery cell stack. 【Claim 4】
The battery module according to claim 1,
20 wherein the partition wall is integrally formed with the bottom surface of the lower frame.
【Claim 5】
The battery module according to claim 1,
wherein the insulating member is attached to the lower surface portion of the upper plate.
【Claim 6】
25 The battery module according to claim 1,
wherein the insulating member is formed of an insulating film. 【Claim 7】
The battery module according to claim 1,
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wherein the partition wall is formed of a plurality of walls, and the plurality of partition walls are arranged at regular intervals. [Claim 8]
The battery module according to claim 7,
5 which further comprises a thermally conductive resin layer formed between the battery cell
stack and the bottom portion of the lower frame,
wherein the thermally conductive resin layer is formed between the partition walls. [Claim 9]
The battery module according to claim 1,
10 which further comprises end plates for covering the front and rear surfaces of the battery cell
stack. [Claim 10]
A battery pack comprising the battery module according to claim 1.