TITLE OF INVENTION
BATTERY MODULE, BATTERY PACK, AND VEHICLE INCLUDING SAME
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TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to a battery module, a battery pack and a vehicle
including the same, and more particularly, to a battery module with improved stability
against fire or explosion, a battery pack and a vehicle including the same.
10 The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-
0121769 filed on September 21, 2020 in the Republic of Korea, the disclosures of which
are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND ART
15 In recent years, the demand for portable electronic products such as notebooks,
video cameras, mobile phones, or the like is rapidly increasing, and the development of
electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites, or the like is in earnest. For
this reason, high-performance secondary batteries enabling repeated charging and
discharging are being actively researched.
20 Secondary batteries commercialized at the present include nickel cadmium
batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries, nickel zinc batteries, and lithium secondary batteries.
Among them, lithium secondary batteries are in the spotlight due to advantages such as
free charging and discharging by little memory effect compared to nickel-based secondary
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batteries, and very low self-discharge rate and high energy density.
The lithium secondary battery mainly uses a lithium-based oxide and a carbon
material as a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode active material,
respectively. Also, the lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly in which
5 a positive 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 therebetween, and an exterior, namely a battery case, for
hermetically storing the electrode assembly together with an electrolyte.

Technical Solution
10 In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a battery module,
comprising:
a plurality of battery cells, each having electrode terminals respectively provided
at an upper portion and a lower portion thereof;
a connection plate having electric conductivity to electrically connect the plurality
15 of battery cells, the connection plate including a body portion extending in a horizontal
direction and a connection portion extending from the body portion to contact the electrode
terminal; and
a module case configured such that the connection plate is mounted to an outer
side thereof, the module case being configured to accommodate the plurality of battery
20 cells therein, the module case including a plurality of exposure holes configured to expose
the electrode terminals of each of the plurality of battery cells to the outside and a cover
portion configured to protrude toward the connection plate from an outer circumference of
the exposure hole.
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Also, the cover portion may have a hollow and be shaped to be opened in at least a
top end thereof.
In addition, the cover portion may include a bending part bent at the protruding
end of the cover portion to extend in a horizontal direction to hide a part of the exposure
5 hole of the module case.
Also, the connection plate may include a plurality of connection holes formed by
opening a part of the body portion so that the connection portion is located in the opening
thereof, and
the cover portion may be configured such that the open end thereof is inserted into
10 the connection hole.
Moreover, the connection plate may include an extension portion configured to
extend from the connection hole toward the battery cell to screen an internal material
ejected from the battery cell.
In addition, the battery module may further comprise a heat conduction pad having
15 thermal conductivity and mounted to an outer side of the connection plate, the heat
conduction pad having a plurality of communication holes configured to communicate
with the connection hole.
Further, the communication hole may be formed relatively smaller than the
opening size of the connection hole.
20 Also, the heat conduction pad may include two or more screen portions
respectively configured to extend toward a center of the communication hole from an outer
circumference of the communication hole to screen an internal material ejected from the
battery cell, the two or more screen portions being located to be spaced apart from each
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other.
In addition, in another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a
battery pack, comprising at least one battery module as above.
Moreover, in another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a
5 vehicle, comprising at least one battery module as above.
Advantageous Effects
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the module case included
in the battery module according to the present disclosure includes the cover portion
10 protruding from the outer circumference of the exposure hole toward the connection plate.
This structure may physically block the movement of a high-temperature active material
discharged from the exploded battery cell to adjacent battery cells while maintaining the
function of ejecting, namely venting, the gas and flame generated when the battery cell is
ignited. By doing so, when the battery cell behaves abnormally to explode so that the
15 internal material is ejected, gas and flame are ejected through the exposure hole, but the
movement of the high-temperature active material is suppressed by the cover portion.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the internal material from moving to other adjacent
battery cells through other exposure holes. Therefore, it is possible to prevent chain
ignition, such as propagating of thermal runaway, fire or explosion to other battery cells.
20 Accordingly, the present disclosure may greatly improve the safety.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present
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disclosure and together with the foregoing disclosure, serve to provide further
understanding of the technical features of the present disclosure, and thus, the present
disclosure is not construed as being limited to the drawing.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a battery module according to
5 an embodiment of the present disclosure.