Patent Publication Number: US-2022238941-A1

Title: Cell and battery

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to a cell and a battery. 
     BACKGROUND 
     At present, an ordinary battery may exchange heat only by a housing that wraps a battery cell assembly, resulting in a poor heat exchange effect. When internal temperature of a battery is too high, the battery may accumulate heat inside, resulting in drop of its charge-discharge efficiency and reliability. When the battery is exposed to an extremely cold environment, the internal temperature of the battery will be too low. In such two cases, electric energy utilization efficiency and reliability may be affected. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosure is intended to solve at least one of technical problems in existing technologies. For this purpose, the disclosure provides a cell with good heat exchange. 
     The disclosure further provides a battery. Each cell of the battery can realize a good heat exchange effect, thereby improving an energy utilization rate of the battery. 
     A cell according to embodiments in a first aspect of the disclosure is provided including: a barrel, a first end cover and a second end cover being arranged at two ends of the barrel respectively, the barrel, the first end cover and the second end cover defining an accommodating space in which a battery cell assembly is arranged; and a heat exchange pipe passing through the first end cover, the second end cover, and the accommodating space, and an outer wall of the heat exchange pipe being in contact with the battery cell assembly. 
     The cell according to embodiments of the disclosure at least has the beneficial effects as below. 
     The cell includes the heat exchange pipe that penetrates through the cell, and the outer wall of the heat exchange pipe makes contact with the battery cell assembly, so that when the heat exchange pipe communicates with external low-temperature fluid to exchange heat with the battery cell assembly, part of heat generated by the battery cell assembly can be brought away, thereby avoiding the drop of charge-discharge efficiency and reliability due to the rise of internal temperature of the battery; when the heat exchange pipe communicates with external warm fluid to exchange heat with the battery cell assembly, temperature of the battery cell assembly can be rapidly increased when it is exposed to an extremely cold condition, thereby improving electric energy utilization efficiency of the cell. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, the heat exchange pipe includes a central pipe, a first joint and a second joint, the first end cover is provided with a first mounting hole and the second end cover is provided with a second mounting hole, the first mounting hole and the second mounting hole are both mated with the central pipe, the first joint is detachably connected to one end of the central pipe and tightly pressed on the first end cover, the second joint is detachably connected to the other end of the central pipe and tightly pressed on the second end cover, the first joint has a first via hole and the second joint has a second via hole, the first via hole and the second via hole both communicate with an interior of the central pipe. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, two ends of the central pipe are in threaded connection with the first joint and the second joint respectively. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, the cell further includes a first sealing element arranged between the first joint and the first end cover in a sealing manner, and a second sealing element arranged between the second joint and the second end cover in a sealing manner. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, a connecting sleeve for connecting to a second end cover of another cell is arranged on the first end cover. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, the first end cover is provided with a first internal thread, the second end cover is provided with a second internal thread, the connecting sleeve is provided with a first external thread that is connected to the first internal thread and a second external thread that is mated with the second internal thread. 
     The disclosure further provides a battery, including at least two cells of any of the above technical themes, where the cells are sequentially connected in series through a connecting sleeve, and the heat exchange pipes on the adjacent cells communicate with each other. 
     The battery according to embodiments of the disclosure at least has the beneficial effects as below. 
     The battery includes at least two cells that are sequentially connected in series through a connecting sleeve, the heat exchange pipes of the adjacent cells communicate with each other, so that external fluid can enter the heat exchange pipe at one end of the battery and then leave the heat exchange pipe at the other end of the battery, to exchange heat with all the cells of the battery. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, the adjacent cells and the corresponding connecting sleeve define an enclosed chamber, and the heat exchange pipes both communicate with the enclosed chamber. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, a side wall of the connecting sleeve is provided with a through hole that communicates the enclosed chamber with outside, and the through hole is detachably mounted with a sealing plug. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, the adjacent heat exchange pipes are connected with each other through a third joint, the third joint has an inner hole channel that communicates with interiors of the adjacent heat exchange pipes. 
     Additional aspects and advantages of the disclosure will be partly given in the description below. This part will become clear in the following description or will be understood by practice of the disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The aforesaid and/or additional aspects and advantages of the disclosure will become clear and easy to understand from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the following accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an internal structure of a cell according to an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an internal structure of a battery according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of an internal structure of a battery according to another embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail as below. Examples of the embodiments are illustrated in the drawings. Identical or like reference numerals represent identical or like elements or elements that have identical or like functions from beginning to end. The embodiments as described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are merely for interpreting the disclosure and should not be understood as limiting the disclosure. 
     In the description of the disclosure, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationships referred to, e.g., the terms “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner”, “outer”, etc. are the orientation or positional relationships as shown in the accompanying drawings and are merely for convenience in describing the disclosure and simplifying this description, but not to indicate or imply that a device or element referred to must have a particular orientation and be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus they should not be construed as limiting the disclosure. 
     In the description of the disclosure, the term “several” means one or more, the term “a plurality of” means two or more, the terms “greater than”, “less than”, “exceed”, etc. are interpreting as excluding this number, and the terms “above”, “below”, “within”, etc. are interpreting as including this number. The terms “first” and “second”, if stated, are only used for the purpose of distinguishing technical features, and they cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated or implicitly indicating the precedence relationship of technical features indicated. 
     In the description of the disclosure, unless otherwise specified and defined, it should be noted that the terms “mount”, “interconnect” and “connect” are to be understood broadly. For example, it may be fixed connection, detachable connection or integral connection; may be mechanical connection or electrical connection; may be direct connection, or indirect connection by an intermediate medium, or may be interconnection within two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the disclosure may be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a cell according to an embodiment in a first aspect of the disclosure includes: a barrel  100 , where a first end cover  200  and a second end cover  300  are arranged at two ends of the barrel  100  respectively, and the barrel  100 , the first end cover  200  and the second end cover  300  define an accommodating space in which a battery cell assembly  400  is arranged; and a heat exchange pipe  500  arranged on the first end cover  200  and the second end cover  300  in a penetrating manner, where the heat exchange pipe  500  penetrates through the accommodating space, and an outer wall of the heat exchange pipe  500  is in contact with the battery cell assembly  400 . The cell includes the heat exchange pipe  500  that penetrates through the cell, and the outer wall of the heat exchange pipe  500  makes contact with the battery cell assembly  400 , so that when the heat exchange pipe  500  communicates with external low-temperature fluid to exchange heat with the battery cell assembly  400 , part of heat generated by the battery cell assembly  400  can be brought away, thereby avoiding the drop of charge-discharge efficiency and reliability due to the rise of internal temperature of the battery; when the heat exchange pipe  500  communicates with external warm fluid to exchange heat with the battery cell assembly  400 , temperature of the battery cell assembly  400  can be rapidly increased when it is exposed to an extremely cold condition, thereby improving electric energy utilization efficiency. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , in some embodiments of the disclosure, the heat exchange pipe  500  includes a central pipe  510 , a first joint  520  and a second joint  530 , a first via hole  521  and a second via hole  531  that communicate with the interior of the central pipe  510  are formed in the first joint  520  and the second joint  530  respectively, the first via hole  521  and the second via hole  531  right face two ports of the central pipe  510  respectively, a first mounting hole and a second mounting hole that are mated with the central pipe  510  are formed in the first end cover  200  and the second end cover  300  respectively, the first mounting hole and the second mounting hole allow two ends of the central pipe  510  to penetrate through respectively, the first joint  520  is detachably connected to one end of the central pipe  510  and tightly pressed on the first end cover  200 , the second joint  530  is detachably connected to the other end of the central pipe  510  and tightly pressed on the second end cover  300 , and the first joint  520  and the second joint  530  can fix the central pipe  510  in the cell and also can reinforce the connection between the first end cover  200  and the barrel  100  and the connection between the second end cover  300  and the barrel  100 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , in some embodiments of the disclosure, the two ends of the central pipe  510  are in threaded connection with the first joint  520  and the second joint  530  respectively, to simplify the mounting way. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , in some embodiments of the disclosure, for the cell with electrolyte contained in the barrel  100 , in order to avoid electrolyte leakage, the cell further includes a first sealing element  540  and a second sealing element  550 , the first sealing element  540  is arranged between the first joint  520  and the first end cover  200  in a sealing manner, and the second sealing element  550  is arranged between the second joint  530  and the second end cover  300  in a sealing manner. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in some embodiments of the disclosure, a connecting sleeve  600  for connecting a second end cover  300  of the other cell is arranged on the first end cover  200 , to realize the interconnection of a plurality of cells. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, the first end cover  200  is provided with a first internal thread  220 , the second end cover  300  is provided with a second internal thread  320 , the connecting sleeve  600  is provided with a first external thread  610  that is connected to the first internal thread  220  and a second external thread  620  that is mated with the second internal thread  320 . That is, two adjacent cells are connected with each other through the threads, the number of cells in series connection may be freely adjusted. Moreover, when only one cell is used, the connecting sleeve  600  may be demounted from the cell without affecting the use. 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, the battery cell assembly  400  includes a winding core assembly and an electrolyte that are arranged in the accommodating space, at least one of the first end cover  200  and the second end cover  300  is provided with an injection port, and a safety valve  700  is detachably mounted on the injection port. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  or  FIG. 3 , the disclosure further introduces a battery. The battery includes at least two cells of any of the above technical themes that are sequentially connected in series through the connecting sleeve  600 , and the heat exchange pipes  500  of adjacent cells communicate with each other. External fluid may enter the heat exchange pipe  500  at one end of the battery and then leave the heat exchange pipe  500  at the other end of the battery, to exchange heat with all the cells of the battery. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in some embodiments of the disclosure, an enclosed chamber  800  is defined by the adjacent cells and the corresponding connecting sleeve  600 , and the heat exchange pipes  500  of the adjacent cells both communicate with the enclosed chamber  800 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , in some embodiments of the disclosure, the adjacent heat exchange pipes  500  are connected with each other through a third joint  900 , the third joint  900  has an inner hole channel that communicates with the interiors of the adjacent heat exchange pipes  500 . The heat exchange pipes  500  are connected with each other to form an enclosed pipeline, and communication can be realized without using the enclosed chamber  800  of the above embodiments. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , in some embodiments of the disclosure, a side wall of the connecting sleeve  600  is provided with a through hole  630  that communicates the enclosed chamber  800  with outside, and a sealing plug for sealing the through hole  630  is detachably arranged in the through hole  630 . When there is no external fluid entering the heat exchange pipes  500 , the sealing plug is detached from the through hole  630 , heat that is transferred to the first end cover  200  and the second end cover  300  may be discharged out of the through hole  630  in the form of hot airflow, or external airflow may enter the enclosed chamber  800  from the through hole  630  to exchange heat with the first end cover  200  and the second end cover  300 . 
     In some embodiments of the disclosure, the side wall of the connecting sleeve  600  is provided with a plurality of through holes  630  that are distributed circumferentially around the axis of the heat exchange pipe  500 . 
     The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity of the description, not all possible combinations of the technical features of the embodiments described above are described. However, as long as the combination of these technical features is not contradictory, it should be considered as falling within the scope of this specification. 
     Although the embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated and described, it should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art that various changes, modifications, replacements and variations of these embodiments can be made without departing from the principle and purpose of the disclosure and the scope of the disclosure is defined by claims and its equivalents.