Patent Description:
Meanwhile, when a plurality of battery cells are connected in series or in parallel to configure a battery pack, it is common to configure a battery module having at least one battery cell first, and then configure a battery pack by using at least one battery module and adding other components.

When the battery module or the battery pack is configured, it is an important factor in product productivity and price competitiveness to increase the efficiency of the assembling process. Recently, as the demand for high-capacity battery cells increases, the demand for battery modules and battery packs is rapidly increasing. Thus, in order to secure market competitiveness of products, it is required to find a way to enhance the efficiency of the assembling process for the battery modules or the battery packs.

<CIT> refers to a battery module, a battery pack comprising the battery module, and a vehicle comprising the battery pack. The battery module comprises: a plurality of battery cells stacked on each other and each having an electrode lead protruding in front and rear directions of the battery module; and a bus bar unit integrally connecting the electrode leads of the plurality of battery cells.

<CIT> discloses a battery module, which includes a plurality of battery cells stacked on one another and respectively having electrode leads protruding on at least one side thereof, and a bus bar assembly configured to electrically connect the electrode leads of the plurality of battery cells and having at least one lead slot through which electrode leads of two battery cells adjacent to each other pass in common.

The present disclosure is directed to providing a battery module, which may improve the efficiency of an assembling process, a battery pack including the battery module, and a vehicle including the battery pack.

The scope of the present invention is defined by appended claims.

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery module as defined in claim <NUM>, comprising: a plurality of battery cells; a base frame configured to support the plurality of battery cells; a cover frame coupled to the base frame to cover the plurality of battery cells, wherein the cover frame has a rotation guide groove, the rotation guide groove being provided at both side ends of the cover frame; and a bus bar unit coupled to the cover frame in a tiltable form to be pivoted at a predetermined angle between a first location fixed to the cover frame and a second location fixed to the base frame.

The bus bar unit includes a bus bar housing pivotally coupled to the cover frame and fixed to the base frame; a connection bus bar provided to the bus bar housing and connected to electrode leads of the plurality of battery cells; and a rotation shaft projection provided at both sides of the top portion of the bus bar housing and pivotally inserted into the rotation guide groove of the cover frame.

The bus bar housing has a tension stopper that is caught at the first location by a bottom portion of the cover frame to make the bus bar housing be spaced apart from the base frame at a predetermined angle.

The tension stopper may include a protrusion configured to protrude from the bus bar housing by a predetermined length; a first bent portion bent from the protrusion to contact a bottom surface of the cover frame at the first location and be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the cover frame at the second location; and a second bent portion bent from the first bent portion to be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the cover frame at the first location and to be disposed in contact with or adjacent to the bottom surface of the cover frame at the second location.

The bus bar housing may have a guide projection formed to guide disposition positioning of the bus bar housing at the second location.

The cover frame may have a guide groove into which the guide projection is inserted when the bus bar unit is pivoted from the first location toward the second location.

The bus bar housing may have a fixing hook formed to fix the bus bar housing to the base frame at the second location.

The base frame may have a hook insert groove into which the fixing hook is inserted at the second location.

In addition, the present invention provides a battery pack as defined in claim <NUM>, comprising: at least one battery module according to the above embodiments; and a pack case configured to package the at least one battery module.

Moreover, the present invention provides a vehicle as defined in claim <NUM>, comprising at least one battery pack according to the above embodiments.

According to various embodiments as above, it is possible to provide a battery module, which may improve the efficiency of an assembling process, a battery pack including the battery module, and a vehicle including the battery pack.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention and together with the foregoing disclosure, serve to provide further understanding of the technical features of the present invention.

The present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative only for better understanding of the present invention. In addition, for ease understanding of the present invention, the accompanying drawings are not drawn to real scale, but the dimensions of some components may be exaggerated.

<FIG> is a diagram for illustrating a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention, <FIG> is an exploded perspective view showing the battery module of <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams for illustrating a process of coupling a cover frame and a bus bar unit of the battery module of <FIG>, <FIG> is a diagram for illustrating a disposed form of the bus bar unit of <FIG> at a first location, <FIG> are diagrams for illustrating a tension stopper of the bus bar unit of <FIG>, and <FIG> are diagrams for illustrating a disposed form of the bus bar unit of <FIG> at a second location.

Referring to <FIG>, the battery module <NUM> may include a battery cell <NUM>, a base frame <NUM>, a cover frame <NUM>, a front cover <NUM>, a rear cover <NUM> and a bus bar unit <NUM>.

The battery cell <NUM> is a secondary battery and may be any one of a pouch-type secondary battery, a rectangular secondary battery and a cylindrical secondary battery. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, the battery cell <NUM> is described as a pouch-type secondary battery.

The battery cell <NUM> is provided in plural. The plurality of battery cells <NUM> may be stacked on each other to be electrically connected to each other. The plurality of battery cells <NUM> are electrically connected by means of the connection of electrode leads <NUM> of the plurality of battery cells <NUM> and a bus bar unit <NUM>, explained later.

The base frame <NUM> is to support the plurality of battery cells <NUM> and may support a bottom portion of the plurality of battery cells <NUM>. A top surface of the base frame <NUM> may have a shape corresponding to a bottom surface of the plurality of battery cells <NUM>. Accordingly, the plurality of battery cells <NUM> may be stably supported on the top surface of the base frame <NUM>.

The base frame <NUM> may have a hook insert groove <NUM>.

The hook insert groove <NUM> is to stably fix the bus bar housing <NUM> of the bus bar unit <NUM>, explained later, at a second location, explained later, and may be provided at front and rear ends of the base frame <NUM>.

The hook insert groove <NUM> may be provided solely or in plural. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, the hook insert groove <NUM> may be provided in plural, and the plurality of hook insert grooves <NUM> may be disposed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance.

The cover frame <NUM> is coupled to the base frame <NUM> to cover the plurality of battery cells <NUM>. The cover frame <NUM> may cover an upper side and both sides of the plurality of battery cells <NUM>.

The cover frame <NUM> has a rotation guide groove <NUM>.

The rotation guide groove <NUM> is provided at both side ends of the cover frame <NUM> and may guide the pivoting of the bus bar unit <NUM>, explained later. A rotation shaft projection <NUM> of the bus bar unit <NUM>, explained later, is mounted into the rotation guide groove <NUM>.

The cover frame <NUM> may have a connector <NUM>.

The connector <NUM> is to connect the battery module <NUM> to an external power source or electric component and may be provided on a front inner wall of the cover frame <NUM>.

The cover frame <NUM> may have a guide groove <NUM>.

The guide groove <NUM> may be provided at both side ends of the cover frame <NUM>. A guide projection <NUM>, explained later, may be inserted into the guide groove <NUM>, when the bus bar unit <NUM>, explained later, is pivoted from a first location, explained later, to a second location, explained later.

The front cover <NUM> covers a front portion of the bus bar unit <NUM> and may form a front surface of the battery module <NUM>. The rear cover <NUM> covers a rear portion of the bus bar unit <NUM> and may form a rear surface of the battery module <NUM>.

The bus bar unit <NUM> electrically connects the plurality of battery cells <NUM> and is coupled to the cover frame <NUM> in a tiltable form to be pivoted at a predetermined angle between a first location fixed to the cover frame <NUM> at a predetermined angle and a second location fixed to the base frame <NUM>.

In this embodiment, the first location may mean a location at which the bus bar housing <NUM> of the bus bar unit <NUM>, explained later, is fixed at a predetermined angle from the cover frame <NUM>, and the second location may mean a location at which the bus bar housing <NUM>, explained later, is fixed to the base frame <NUM>.

Hereinafter, the bus bar unit <NUM> according to this embodiment will be described in more detail.

The bus bar unit <NUM> includes a bus bar housing <NUM>, a connection bus bar <NUM>, and a rotation shaft projection <NUM>.

The bus bar housing <NUM> is pivotally coupled to the cover frame <NUM> and is fixed to the base frame <NUM>. The bus bar housing <NUM> may cover the front and rear sides of the plurality of battery cells <NUM>.

The connection bus bar <NUM> is provided to the bus bar housing <NUM> and is connected to the electrode leads <NUM> of the plurality of battery cells <NUM>. The connection bus bar <NUM> may be provided in plural, and the plurality of connection bus bars <NUM> may be mounted to the bus bar housing <NUM> to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance.

The rotation shaft projection <NUM> is provided at both sides of the top portion of the bus bar housing <NUM> and is pivotally inserted into the rotation guide groove <NUM> of the cover frame <NUM>.

The bus bar unit <NUM> may have a guide projection <NUM>.

The guide projection <NUM> is provided to a side surface of the bus bar housing <NUM> and may guide the disposition positioning of the bus bar housing <NUM> at the second location. The guide projection <NUM> may be inserted into the guide groove <NUM> to guide the bus bar housing <NUM> to be assembled at an accurate location.

The bus bar unit <NUM> may have a fixing hook <NUM>.

The fixing hook <NUM> is to fix the bus bar housing <NUM> to the base frame <NUM> at the second location and may be provided to a bottom portion of the bus bar housing <NUM>.

The fixing hook <NUM> may be provided solely or in plural.

The bus bar unit <NUM> has a tension stopper <NUM>.

The tension stopper <NUM> is provided to the bus bar housing <NUM> and is caught by the bottom portion of the cover frame <NUM> at the first location to make the bus bar housing <NUM> be spaced apart from the base frame <NUM> at a predetermined angle.

The tension stopper <NUM> may include a protrusion <NUM>, a first bent portion <NUM>, and a second bent portion <NUM>.

The protrusion <NUM> is provided to the top surface of the bus bar housing <NUM> and may protrude from the top surface of the bus bar housing <NUM> by a predetermined length.

The first bent portion <NUM> may be bent from the protrusion <NUM> to contact the bottom surface of the cover frame <NUM> at the first location and may be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the cover frame <NUM> at the second location.

The second bent portion <NUM> may be bent from the first bent portion <NUM> to be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the cover frame <NUM> at the first location and to contact or be disposed adjacent to the bottom surface of the cover frame <NUM> at the second location.

Hereinafter, the rotating operation of the bus bar unit <NUM> between the first location and the second location will be described in detail.

First, at the first location (see <FIG>), the bus bar housing <NUM> may be fixed to be spaced apart from the cover frame <NUM> at a predetermined angle to keep the front and rear portions of the cover frame <NUM> open at a predetermined size.

The bus bar housing <NUM> may be fixed disposed at a predetermined angle by means of the tension stopper <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, at the first location, the first bent portion <NUM> of the tension stopper <NUM> is in close contact with the inner wall of the cover frame <NUM>, thereby preventing the bus bar housing <NUM> from moving.

In this embodiment, since the bus bar housing <NUM> is fixedly disposed at a predetermined angle without movement at the first location, when the cover frame <NUM> and the base frame <NUM> are assembled, it is possible to prevent the electrode lead <NUM> of the battery cells <NUM> and other components from being damaged or broken.

Thus, in this embodiment, the cover frame <NUM> and the base frame <NUM> may be assembled with each other more accurately. For this reason, the plurality of battery cells <NUM> disposed inside the cover frame <NUM> and the base frame <NUM> may be assembled at more accurate locations, and it is possible to effectively prevent electrical components or the electrode leads <NUM> near the bus bar housing <NUM> from being broken during the assembling process.

After the battery cells <NUM> are accurately disposed inside the cover frame <NUM> and the base frame <NUM>, a manufacturer or the like may pivot the bus bar housing <NUM> so that the bus bar housing <NUM> of the bus bar housing <NUM> may be disposed at the second location (see <FIG>).

After that, the manufacturer or the like may electrically connect the connection bus bars <NUM> of the bus bar unit <NUM> and the electrode leads <NUM> of the battery cells <NUM>.

When the bus bar housing <NUM> is pivoted from the first location to the second location, the guide projection <NUM> may be inserted into the guide groove <NUM> of the cover frame <NUM> to guide the bus bar housing <NUM> to be arranged at an accurate location.

When the bus bar housing <NUM> is pivoted from the first location to the second location, the tension stopper <NUM> is also pivoted together. Thus, the first bent portion <NUM> of the tension stopper <NUM> may be spaced apart from the inner wall of the cover frame <NUM>, and the second bent portion <NUM> may be disposed in contact with or adjacent to the inner wall of the cover frame <NUM>.

In addition, the fixing hook <NUM> of the bus bar housing <NUM> may be inserted into the hook insert groove <NUM> of the base frame <NUM> according to the pivoting to fix the bus bar housing <NUM> at the second location.

Meanwhile, the bus bar housing <NUM> is disposed to form a separated space S of a predetermined size with the connector <NUM> provided to the cover frame <NUM> (see <FIG>), thereby causing no interference problem with the connector <NUM> during the pivoting.

<FIG> are diagrams for illustrating an assembling process of the battery module of <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, first, the manufacturer or the like may stack the plurality of battery cells <NUM> side by side in a predetermined direction. Referring to <FIG>, the manufacturer or the like may place the plurality of battery cells on the base frame <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the manufacturer or the like may mount the cover frame <NUM> to the base frame <NUM> to cover the upper side and both sides of the plurality of battery cells <NUM>.

At this time, since the bus bar unit <NUM> coupled to the cover frame <NUM> is disposed to be fixed at a predetermined angle without movement, the manufacturer or the like may easily assemble the cover frame <NUM> to the base frame <NUM> without any interference problem caused by the movement or the like of the bus bar unit <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, if the cover frame <NUM> and the base frame <NUM> are completely assembled, the manufacturer or the like may pivot the bus bar unit <NUM> to electrically connect the electrode leads <NUM> from the battery cells <NUM> (see <FIG>) to the bus bar unit <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, after that, the manufacturer or the like may mount the front cover <NUM> and the rear cover <NUM> to cover the front and rear sides of the bus bar unit <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, if the front cover <NUM> and the rear cover <NUM> are completely mounted, the manufacturer or the like may finally couple the base frame <NUM>, the cover frame <NUM>, the front cover <NUM> and the rear cover <NUM> by means of welding S or the like, so that the battery cells <NUM> (see <FIG>) and the bus bar unit <NUM> (see <FIG>) are hermetically packaged.

As described above, in this embodiment, the assembling process of the battery module <NUM> may be performed without interference between components coupled to each other during the assembling process of the battery module <NUM>, thereby significantly improving the efficiency of the assembling process.

<FIG> is a diagram for illustrating a battery pack according to an embodiment of the present invention, and <FIG> is a diagram for illustrating a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to <FIG>, a battery pack <NUM> includes at least one battery module <NUM> according to the former embodiment and a pack case <NUM> for packaging the at least one battery module <NUM>.

The battery pack <NUM> may be provided to a vehicle V as a fuel source of the vehicle V. As an example, the battery pack <NUM> may be provided to a vehicle V such as an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, and various other-type vehicles capable of using the battery pack <NUM> as a fuel source.

In addition, the battery pack <NUM> may be provided in other devices, instruments or facilities such as an energy storage system using a secondary battery, in addition to the vehicle V.

As described above, the battery pack <NUM> of this embodiment and devices, instruments or facilities such as a vehicle V, which have the battery pack <NUM>, include the battery module <NUM>, <NUM> as described above, and thus it is possible to implement a battery pack <NUM> having all the advantages of the battery module <NUM>, <NUM> described above, or devices, instruments, facilities or the like such as a vehicle V, which have the battery pack <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A battery module (<NUM>), comprising:
a plurality of battery cells (<NUM>);
a base frame (<NUM>) configured to support the plurality of battery cells (<NUM>);
a cover frame (<NUM>) coupled to the base frame (<NUM>) to cover the plurality of battery cells (<NUM>), wherein the cover frame (<NUM>) has a rotation guide groove (<NUM>), the rotation guide groove (<NUM>) being provided at both side ends of the cover frame (<NUM>); and
a bus bar unit (<NUM>) coupled to the cover frame (<NUM>) in a tiltable form to be pivoted at a predetermined angle between a first location fixed to the cover frame (<NUM>) and a second location fixed to the base frame (<NUM>);
wherein the bus bar unit (<NUM>) includes:
a bus bar housing (<NUM>) pivotally coupled to the cover frame (<NUM>) and fixed to the base frame (<NUM>);
a connection bus bar (<NUM>) provided to the bus bar housing (<NUM>) and connected to electrode leads (<NUM>) of the plurality of battery cells (<NUM>); and
a rotation shaft projection (<NUM>) provided at both sides of the top portion of the bus bar housing (<NUM>) and pivotally inserted into the rotation guide groove (<NUM>) of the cover frame (<NUM>); and
wherein the bus bar housing (<NUM>) has a tension stopper (<NUM>) that is caught at the first location by a bottom portion of the cover frame (<NUM>) to make the bus bar housing (<NUM>) be spaced apart from the base frame (<NUM>) at a predetermined angle.