The present invention relates to a battery module having a structure capable of rapid preheating, a battery pack including the same, and a vehicle, and more specifically, to a battery module containing a material that causes a phase change according to the principle of crystal nucleation according to physical impact. It relates to a battery module having a phase change preheating body, a battery pack including the same, and a vehicle.
[2]
This application is a priority claim application for Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0057047 filed on May 15, 2019, and all contents disclosed in the specification and drawings of the application are incorporated herein by reference.
background
[3]
Currently, the performance of the secondary battery is rapidly reduced under a condition below a certain temperature. This causes a problem in the case of using a vehicle using a secondary battery such as HEV, PHEV, BEV, etc. in a country where winter exists or a country relatively close to the poles.
[4]
That is, in the case of low temperature, if the temperature of the vehicle parked overnight is lowered, the temperature of the secondary battery inside the vehicle is also lowered, which causes a decrease in startability when starting the next morning. It also greatly affects the lifespan and performance of the battery during driving.
[5]
Although it is possible to consider a method of heating the secondary battery before using the vehicle using a heater, etc., since the power supplied to the heater is also supplied through the secondary battery, in a low-temperature environment where the performance of the secondary battery is reduced The problem of performance degradation of the secondary battery still remains.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
technical challenge
[6]
The present invention has been devised in consideration of the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to rapidly preheat a battery pack before use of a vehicle through very low power consumption to lead to normal performance of the battery pack.
[7]
However, the technical problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above problems, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the invention described below.
means of solving the problem
[8]
A battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above-described problems, a cell stack including a plurality of battery cells; and a phase change preheater disposed on the cell stack and containing therein a phase change material that causes a phase change according to the formation of crystal nuclei and thus an exothermic reaction; includes
[9]
The phase change material may include at least one of a sodium hydroxide supersaturated solution, a sodium acetate supersaturated solution, and a sodium thiosulfate supersaturated solution.
[10]
The phase change preheater may include: a pouch placed on the cell stack; the phase change material contained in the pouch; a first driving unit located in the pouch; a first friction plate attached to the first driving unit; and a second friction plate for forming metal crystal nuclei by causing friction with the first friction plate according to the driving of the first driving unit. may include
[11]
The phase change preheating body may further include a connector positioned outside the pouch and electrically connected to the first driving unit.
[12]
The phase change preheater may further include a support frame passing through the pouch and fixing the first driving unit and the second friction plate.
[13]
The phase change preheater may include: a pouch; the phase change material contained in the pouch; a first driving unit located in the pouch; a first friction plate attached to the first driving unit; a second driving unit located in the pouch; a second friction plate attached to the second driving unit and causing friction with the first friction plate according to the driving of the first driving unit and the second driving unit to form metal crystal nuclei; may include.
[14]
The phase change preheating body may further include a connector positioned outside the pouch and electrically connected to the first driving unit and the second driving unit.
[15]
The phase change preheating body may further include a support frame passing through the pouch and fixing the first driving unit and the second driving unit.
[16]
The battery module is disposed above the phase change preheater, and is connected to an external power source to heat the phase change preheater to further include a film heater for changing the phase change material to a solid phase into a liquid phase again. may include
[17]
As long as the battery module includes a pair of bus bar frames covering one side and the other side in the longitudinal direction of the cell stack, and a plurality of bus bars fixed on the bus bar frame and electrically connected to the battery cells It may further include a pair of busbar frame assemblies.
[18]
The battery module may further include a module case covering the periphery of the cell stack and the phase change preheating body in a state in which the bus bar frame assembly is exposed to the outside.
[19]
The battery module may further include a pair of end plates that cover the bus bar frame assembly.
[20]
[21]
In addition, the battery pack according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above-described problem includes the battery module according to the embodiment of the present invention as described above.
[22]
[23]
In addition, a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above-described problems includes the battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention as described above.
Effects of the Invention
[24]
According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to quickly preheat the battery module before use of the vehicle even with very low power consumption, thereby leading to normal performance of the battery module mounted in the vehicle.
Brief description of the drawing
[25]
The following drawings attached to this specification illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention, and serve to further understand the technical spirit of the present invention together with the detailed description of the present invention to be described later, so that the present invention is described in such drawings should not be construed as being limited only to
[26]
1 is a complete perspective view of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[27]
2 is a perspective view illustrating a cell stack applied to a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[28]
3 is a perspective view illustrating a cell stack and a bus bar frame assembly applied to a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[29]
4 is a side view illustrating a combined form of a cell stack, a bus bar frame assembly, and a phase change preheating body applied to a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[30]
5 is a detailed view illustrating an embodiment of a phase change preheater applied to a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[31]
6 is a detailed view illustrating another embodiment of a phase change preheater applied to a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[32]
7 is a perspective view illustrating some components of a battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Modes for carrying out the invention
[33]
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, the terms or words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to conventional or dictionary meanings, and the inventor should properly understand the concept of the term in order to best describe his invention. Based on the principle that it can be defined, it should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of ​​the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only some of the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical spirit of the present invention. It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.
[34]
[35]
1 to 4 , a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cell stack 100 , a bus bar frame assembly 200 , an external terminal 300 , a phase change preheating body 400 , It includes a module case 500 and an end plate 600 .
[36]
As shown in FIG. 4 , the cell stack 100 includes a plurality of battery cells 110 stacked with wide surfaces facing each other. The cell stack 100 may include at least one or more buffer pads P interposed between the outermost and/or adjacent battery cells 110 .
[37]
That is, the cell stack 100 may be inserted into the module case 500 while being coupled to the bus bar frame assembly 200 , the external terminal 300 , and the phase change preheating body 400 , at this time. In order to facilitate insertion while maximizing the volume of the cell stack 100 , a buffer pad P made of a material having elasticity, such as a sponge, may be additionally applied.
[38]
A pouch-type battery cell may be applied as the battery cell 110 . The pouch-type battery cell 110 includes a pair of electrode leads 111 respectively drawn out to both sides in the longitudinal direction.
[39]
[40]
Referring to FIG. 3 , the bus bar frame assembly 200 is fixed on the bus bar frame 210 and the bus bar frame 210 covering one side and the other side in the longitudinal direction of the cell stack 100 . It may be implemented in a form including a plurality of bus bars 220 electrically connected to the battery cell 110 .
[41]
The bus bar frame 210 may be made of, for example, an insulating material such as resin. The bus bar frame 210 and the bus bar 220 have slits formed at positions corresponding to each other so that the electrode leads 111 can be drawn out. The electrode lead 111 drawn out through the slit is bent so as to be in close contact with the bus bar 220 and fixed to the bus bar 220 by welding or the like.
[42]
The external terminal 300 is fixed on the bus bar frame 210, and the electrode leads 111 located at the outermost sides of the cell stack 100 along the width direction (X-axis direction in FIG. 3) and connected
[43]
[44]
4 and 5 , the phase change preheater 400 is disposed on the upper portion of the cell stack 100 (in the Z-axis direction when viewed as a reference), and crystal nuclei are formed. It contains a phase change material inside which causes a phase change and thus an exothermic reaction.
[45]
The phase change preheater 400 preheats the cell stack 100 disposed below by the exothermic reaction according to the phase change, thereby preventing the battery module from deteriorating performance due to low temperature.
[46]
More specifically, the phase change preheater 400 includes a pouch 410 , a phase change material M, a support frame 420 , a first driving unit 430 , a first friction plate 440 , and a second friction. It includes a plate 460 , a connection line 470 and a connector 480 .
[47]
The pouch 410 accommodates the phase change material M therein, is placed on the cell stack 100 , and is in direct contact with the cell stack 100 . More specifically, the pouch 410 is in direct contact with the side of each battery cell 110 constituting the cell stack 100 .
[48]
The phase change material (M) is a material that causes a phase change to a solid phase by the progress of crystallization when the crystal nuclei are provided by a physical impact while being in a supersaturated solution state. An exothermic reaction occurs through this phase change process, and the heat generated according to the exothermic reaction is conducted through the pouch 410 and used to preheat the cell stack 100 disposed under the phase change preheater 400 . .
[49]
As the phase change material (M), for example, a supersaturated solution including at least one of a sodium hydroxide supersaturated solution, a sodium acetate supersaturated solution, and a sodium thiosulfate supersaturated solution may be used. As will be described later, when fine metal particles are provided in the supersaturated solution by physical impact, crystallization proceeds in the supersaturated solution using these metal particles as crystal nuclei. will cause a phase change.
[50]
In addition, when the supersaturated solution causing the phase change to the solid phase is heated to a temperature of about 59° C. or higher, the phase is changed back to the supersaturated solution by an endothermic reaction to return to a state in which the cell stack 100 can be preheated. The battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used in a vehicle such as HEV, PHEV, BEV, etc. The energy required to phase change the phase change preheater 400 after the exothermic reaction has been completed back to its original state is It can be obtained through the heat generated by the use of the battery module in the process of driving the vehicle. In addition, an additional heat source is required when the heat required to change the phase change preheater 400 to the original state after completing the exothermic reaction and causing the phase change to the solid state cannot be sufficiently obtained due to the relatively short driving distance of the vehicle. This will be described later in detail through the description of the battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[51]
[52]
The support frame 420 passes through a portion of the pouch 410 , and accordingly, a portion is located inside the pouch 410 , and the other portion is located outside the pouch 410 . The support frame 420 includes a first support frame 421 and a second support frame 422 formed by branching one end of the support frame 420 . The first support frame 421 and the second support frame 422 are located inside the pouch 410 .
[53]
The first driving unit 430 is fixed to an end of the first support frame 421 . The first driving unit 430 may be a rotation motor. The first friction plate 440 may be attached to the first driving unit 430 and rotate according to the driving of the first driving unit 430 .
[54]
The second friction plate 460 is fixed to an end of the second support frame 422 to face-to-face contact with the first friction plate 440 . Accordingly, the contact surfaces of the first friction plate 440 and the second friction plate 460 cause mutual friction according to the driving of the first driving unit 430 to form fine metal particles. That is, both the first friction plate 440 and the second friction plate 460 are made of a metal material, and the fine metal particles formed in this way act as metal crystal nuclei for causing a phase change.
[55]
Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 6 , unlike that shown in FIG. 5 , the second friction plate 460 is not fixed to the second support frame 422 , but a second driving unit fixed to the second support frame 422 . It is shown for the case attached to (450). The second driving unit 450 may also be a rotation motor like the first driving unit 430 . As such, when both the first friction plate 440 and the second friction plate 460 cause friction in a rotating manner, metal crystal nuclei can be formed more smoothly, and thus phase change more quickly may lead to an exothermic reaction.
[56]
[57]
4 to 6 , the connection line 470 connects the first driving unit 430 and the second driving unit 450 located inside the pouch 410 to the outside of the pouch 410 . It is electrically connected to the connector 480 . The connection line 470 may extend through the support frame 420 .
[58]
The connector 480 is a component for connection with a power source for supplying power to the first driving unit 430 and the second driving unit 450 , for example, a key-on of a vehicle. It may be connected on a circuit line through which current flows. In this case, when the user of the vehicle performs key-on to start the vehicle, the first driving unit 430 and the second driving unit ( 450) is driven to generate metal crystal nuclei, thereby enabling preheating of the battery module. This exothermic reaction using crystallization is not made by an external physical impact, but only reacts when the metal inside generates crystal nuclei. It is efficient because it does not consume much power.
[59]
[60]
Referring back to FIGS. 1 to 4 together, the module case 500 surrounds the cell stack 100 and the phase change preheating body 400 with the bus bar frame assembly 200 exposed to the outside. cover
[61]
A pair of the end plates 600 is provided, and each end plate 600 covers the bus bar frame assembly 200 .
[62]
[63]
Next, a battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 7 . The battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention is different from the battery module according to the embodiment of the present invention described above in that it further includes a film heater 700, and other components are substantially with no difference
[64]
Therefore, in describing the battery module according to another embodiment of the present invention, the description overlapping with the previous embodiment will be omitted, and the film heater 700 will be mainly described.
[65]
Referring to FIG. 7 , the film heater 700 is disposed on the phase change preheating body 400 and covers the phase change preheating body 400 with a film 710 and a heating wire embedded in the film 710 ( 720). The film heater 700 is connected to an external power source to heat the phase change preheater 400 . That is, the film heater 700 causes a phase change from a liquid phase to a solid phase and heats the phase change preheater 400 after the exothermic reaction is completed to a predetermined temperature or more (about 59° C. or more) to change the phase back to the liquid phase.
[66]
Because the battery module is in use while the vehicle is driving, sufficient heat is usually generated, so the phase change preheating body 400 that has undergone a phase change from liquid to solid before starting the vehicle turns back into liquid during the driving process of the vehicle. will change However, when the driving distance of the vehicle is not sufficient or when driving and starting-off are repeated at short intervals, the temperature of the battery module does not rise sufficiently and the phase change preheating body 400 maintains a solid state as it is. can
[67]
Accordingly, the film heater 700 is connected to a charger to receive power during charging of a vehicle, that is, a battery module, and thereby applies heat to the phase change preheater 400 to apply heat to the inside of the phase change preheater 400 . It is possible to increase the temperature of the phase change material (M) of about 59 ℃ or more. When the temperature rises in this way, the phase change preheating body 400 again causes a phase change into a liquid phase, and preparation for preheating the battery module is completed.
[68]
[69]
Meanwhile, the battery pack according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in a form including at least one battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention as described above. In addition, the vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in a form including the battery pack according to the embodiment of the present invention as described above.
[70]
[71]
In the above, although the present invention has been described with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto and will be described below with the technical idea of ​​the present invention by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. Of course, various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of equivalents of the claims.

WE CLAIM

[Claim 1]a cell stack including a plurality of battery cells; and a phase change preheater disposed on the cell stack and containing therein a phase change material that causes a phase change according to the formation of crystal nuclei and thus an exothermic reaction; A battery module comprising a.
[Claim 2]
The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the phase change material comprises at least one of a sodium hydroxide supersaturated solution, a sodium acetate supersaturated solution, and a sodium thiosulfate supersaturated solution.
[Claim 3]
According to claim 1, wherein the phase change preheating body, a pouch placed on the top of the cell stack; the phase change material contained in the pouch; a first driving unit located in the pouch; a first friction plate attached to the first driving unit; and a second friction plate for forming metal crystal nuclei by causing friction with the first friction plate according to the driving of the first driving unit. A battery module comprising a.
[Claim 4]
The battery module according to claim 3, wherein the phase change preheating body further comprises a connector positioned outside the pouch and electrically connected to the first driving unit.
[Claim 5]
The battery module according to claim 3, wherein the phase change preheating body further comprises a support frame passing through the pouch and fixing the first driving unit and the second friction plate.
[Claim 6]
According to claim 1, wherein the phase change preheating body, a pouch; the phase change material contained in the pouch; a first driving unit located in the pouch; a first friction plate attached to the first driving unit; a second driving unit located in the pouch; a second friction plate attached to the second driving unit and causing friction with the first friction plate according to the driving of the first driving unit and the second driving unit to form metal crystal nuclei; A battery module comprising a.
[Claim 7]
The battery module according to claim 6, wherein the phase change preheating body further comprises a connector positioned outside the pouch and electrically connected to the first driving unit and the second driving unit.
[Claim 8]
The battery module according to claim 6, wherein the phase change preheating body further comprises a support frame passing through the pouch and fixing the first and second drivers.
[Claim 9]
According to claim 1, wherein the battery module is disposed on the upper portion of the phase change preheating body, connected to an external power source to heat the phase change preheating body, the phase change material causing a phase change to a solid phase back to a liquid phase Battery module, characterized in that it further comprises a film heater to change.
[Claim 10]
The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the battery module includes a pair of bus bar frames covering one side and the other side in the longitudinal direction of the cell stack, and a plurality of bus bar frames fixed on the bus bar frame and electrically connected to the battery cells. The battery module, characterized in that it further comprises a pair of busbar frame assembly including the busbar.
[Claim 11]
The battery module according to claim 10, wherein the battery module further comprises a module case covering the periphery of the cell stack and the phase change preheating body in a state in which the bus bar frame assembly is exposed to the outside.
[Claim 12]
The battery module according to claim 10, wherein the battery module further comprises a pair of end plates that cover the bus bar frame assembly.
[Claim 13]
A battery pack comprising a battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 12.
[Claim 14]
A vehicle comprising the battery module according to any one of claims 1 to 12.