Patent Description:
Secondary batteries are attracting attention as new energy sources for enhancing environmental-friendliness and energy efficiency, not only due to a primary advantage of significantly reducing the use of fossil fuel, but also in that no by-products are generated by the use of energy.

Such secondary batteries are generally applied not only to portable devices, but also to electric vehicles (EVs), power storage apparatuses (energy storage systems (ESSs), and the like.

In particular, the power storage apparatus the power storage apparatus is a system that usually stores power and supplies the power when required, such as during power failure or power shortage, and has a structure in which a plurality of secondary batteries are stacked such that suitable operation voltage and charging capacity are secured.

In general, the power storage apparatus is provided in a form in which a plurality of batteries are stacked in predetermined rows on a power type battery rack placed on a floor provided in a power room or the like. Examples of conventional battery racks are disclosed in <CIT> and <CIT>.

Meanwhile, with the recent widespread of the power storage apparatus, it is required for the power storage apparatus to essentially have ignition prevention performance and seismic performance of a certain level or above.

In this regard, as a result of active studies and development in the related art regarding ignition prevention performance of a conventional power storage apparatus, various ignition prevention methods and solutions have been disclosed, but solutions and methods regarding securing of seismic performance are relatively insufficient.

For example, regarding an existing method of enhancing seismic performance of a power storage apparatus, in many cases, a frame forming a battery rack is manufactured with a metal alloy material having high strength or is increased in thickness. However, in this case, the weight of the battery rack is increased and production costs are not economical. As an alternative, a strength reinforcing material may be added to the battery rack, but the strength reinforcing material serves as a negative factor in terms of space efficiency and is still uneconomical in terms of costs.

Accordingly, a new method for enhancing seismic performance of a power storage apparatus while reducing or maintaining the use and weights of individual materials is requested.

Further prior art is described in <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT>.

The present disclosure is designed to solve the problems of the related art, and therefore the present disclosure is directed to providing a battery rack capable of enhancing seismic performance while reducing or maintaining a weight compared to an existing battery rack, and a power storage apparatus including the battery rack.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a battery rack including: a base plate forming a bottom surface; a main frame combined to the base plate and extending in a height direction to form a wall structure for supporting both side portions of the plurality of battery modules; and a top plate combined to an uppermost portion of the main frame to form a ceiling. The main frame includes a pair of a first main frame and a second main frame, which are spaced apart from each other by a width of the plurality of battery modules, and each of the first main frame and the second main frame includes: a pair of vertical beams spaced apart from each other in a length direction on the base plate and each extending in a height direction; and a plurality of guide beams combined to the pair of vertical beams at regular intervals along the height direction and provided to support a bottom corner region of the plurality of battery modules, wherein at least one of the top plate and the base plate is provided in a plate body shape including a bead.

The top plate and the base plate may be rectangular plate bodies and the bead may be formed in an X shape crossing the rectangular plate bodies.

The base plate and the top plate may each have a quadrangular plate shape and include a side protruding portion further protruding at a corner region in a width direction than another portion, and the pair of vertical beams may each have a cross-section in an "S" shape such that both end portions thereof are combined to the base plate and the top plate while surrounding the side protruding portion.

A wall mount member may be further combined to one of the pair of vertical beams in the first and second main frames.

The wall mount member may be integrally combined to one of the pair of vertical beams and the side protruding portion in a "C" shape.

The wall mount member may include an elastic body to elastically support the main frame with respect to a wall surface.

The wall mount member may include: a spring corresponding to the elastic body; a rack fixing portion combined to one end portion of the spring and having a screw thread formed therein; and a wall surface fixing portion combined to another end portion of the spring and including a fastening unit screw-combinable to the wall surface, wherein one of the pair of vertical beams may further include a wall mount fastening portion screw-combined to the rack fixing portion at one side.

The rack fixing portion and the wall surface fixing portion of the wall mount member may be provided to be relatively rotatable with respect to the spring.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a power storage apparatus including: the battery rack described above; and a plurality of battery modules stacked in the battery rack in multiple stages.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a battery rack, in which seismic performance is enhanced while a weight is not increased compared to an existing battery rack, and a power storage apparatus including the battery rack may be provided.

Therefore, the description proposed herein is just a preferable example for the purpose of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

A power storage apparatus described below may be an apparatus that stores power excessively generated by the sunlight or a power plant, or transmits the power at a power peak. The power storage apparatus may use physical energy or chemical energy as an energy source. Hereinafter, an embodiment using a secondary battery as the chemical energy source will be described.

<FIG> is an exploded perspective view of a power storage apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, <FIG> is a combined perspective view of <FIG>, and <FIG> is a view showing a top plate of <FIG>.

Referring to the drawings, the power storage apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes battery modules <NUM> and a battery rack <NUM> provided such that the battery modules <NUM> are stacked in a layered manner.

The battery modules <NUM> are not shown in detail for convenience of the drawings, but each include a battery cell and a module case.

A battery cell is a secondary battery and at least one or a plurality of battery cells may be provided. Any one of a pouch type secondary battery, a square secondary battery, and a cylindrical secondary battery may be employed. The current embodiment relates to a battery module in which pouch type secondary batteries that are easily stacked and have easily increased energy density are accommodated in a module case.

The module case may be provided in a metal material having good mechanical rigidity to protect the battery cells from an external impact, and may include an air inlet and an air outlet. For example, the air inlet may be provided at one front side of the module case and external air may be guided into the module case via the air inlet to cool the battery cells. The air outlet may be provided at one rear side of the module case and hot air and heat may be discharged to the outside from the inside of the module case via the air outlet.

The air inlet and the air outlet may be implemented by forming a plurality of perforation holes on the module case and a fan may be installed in at least one of the air inlet or the air outlet to forcibly introduce or discharge the external air into or out of the module case.

As shown in <FIG>, the battery modules <NUM> may be stacked in multiple stages in the battery rack <NUM> provided in a tower form. The battery rack <NUM> may be a structure for safely accommodating and storing the battery module <NUM>.

Meanwhile, the battery rack <NUM> of the present disclosure is configured to secure sufficient seismic performance without increasing a thickness of the battery rack <NUM> by applying a geometric structure advantageous in securing the seismic performance, such as a bead <NUM>. Accordingly, the battery rack <NUM> of the present disclosure has a total weight less than that of other existing battery rack having a same level of seismic performance, and thus is easily transported and installed and has reduced material costs.

Hereinafter, a configuration of the battery rack <NUM> will be described. The battery rack <NUM> includes a base plate <NUM>, a main frame <NUM>, a top plate <NUM>, and a wall mount member <NUM>.

The base plate <NUM> is a portion forming a bottom surface of the battery rack <NUM> and may be a rough plate body having a larger area than the battery module <NUM>. Since the base plate <NUM> supports weights of the battery modules <NUM> and battery rack <NUM>, the base plate <NUM> may have a metal plate shape to secure rigidity and the bead <NUM> is applied on a plate surface thereof. The bead <NUM> may have an X shape. Additional description about the X-shaped bead <NUM> will be described below.

The main frame <NUM> is combined to the base plate <NUM> and extends in a height direction to form a wall structure for supporting both side portions of the battery modules <NUM>. An internal space of the battery rack <NUM> may be limited by the main frame <NUM>.

The main frame <NUM> includes a first main frame 220a and a second main frame 220b, which are spaced apart from each other and arranged on two sides of the base plate <NUM>, i.e., on two long sides of the base plate <NUM>. A distance between the first main frame 220a and the second main frame 220b corresponds to a width of the battery module <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the battery modules <NUM> may be stacked to be inserted between the first main frame 220a and the second main frame 220b while the both side portions are supported.

More specifically, the first main frame 220a and the second main frame 220b each include a pair of vertical beams <NUM> spaced apart from each other in a length direction and extending in a height direction of the base plate <NUM>, and a plurality of guide beams <NUM> combined to the pair of vertical beams <NUM> at regular intervals in the height direction and provided to support a bottom corner region of the battery module <NUM>.

The guide beams <NUM> have an approximate cross-section in an "L" shape, one surface is combined to the pair of vertical beams <NUM>, and the other surface supports the bottom corner region of the battery module <NUM>. The intervals of the plurality of guide beams <NUM> correspond to the thickness of the battery module <NUM>. The battery modules <NUM> may be inserted between the guide beams <NUM> one by one to be arranged in a layered manner.

The top plate <NUM> is a component forming a ceiling of the battery rack <NUM>, the ceiling covering an upper space of the battery modules <NUM> by being combined to an uppermost portion of the main frame <NUM>. In particular, like the base plate <NUM>, the top plate <NUM> of the current embodiment includes the bead <NUM> on a plate surface to enhance seismic performance.

The bead <NUM> on the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> described above has an X shape. In other words, the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> have a rectangular plate surface and the bead <NUM> may be formed in an X shape crossing an entire area of the rectangular plate surface. Obviously a shape of the bead <NUM> may be in various patterns, such as a circle, an oval, and a honeycomb. However, as in the current embodiment, the bead <NUM> on the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> may be the X shape.

In detail, the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> may be a structure supporting the first main frame 220a and the second main frame 220b to have a uniform interval. When the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> are deformed due to vibration or an impact, the first main frame 220a and the second main frame 220b connected therebetween are also twisted. In this regard, structural rigidity of the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> largely affects the seismic performance of the battery rack <NUM>.

The battery rack <NUM> is often fixed and installed on a wall surface W and when a vibration test is performed after fixing the battery rack <NUM> on the wall surface W, it is observed that a stress is highly distributed in an X shape in the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM>. Thus, the current embodiment applies the X-shaped bead <NUM> to the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM>, based on an X-shaped stress distribution in which a stress is concentrated in the base plate <NUM> and/or the top plate <NUM>. Accordingly, the X-shaped bead <NUM> may be further advantageous in securing the rigidity and reducing a deformation rate of the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> compared to the bead <NUM> of another shape.

The base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> of the current embodiment each include a side protruding portion <NUM>. For example, as shown in <FIG>, the side protruding portion <NUM> denotes a portion further protruding at four corner regions of the top plate <NUM> in a width direction than other portions. The vertical beam <NUM> may have a cross-section in an "S" shape to be adhered on side surfaces (thickness surfaces) of the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> while surrounding the side protruding portion <NUM>, and may be fastened to the adhered surface via a bolt B. Here, the bolt B may not be exposed to the vertical beam <NUM> but may be hidden by fastening the bolt B inside a space ⓐ neighboring a portion of the vertical beam <NUM>, which surrounds the side protruding portion <NUM> (see <FIG>).

As such, since the vertical beams <NUM> are respectively configured to be assembled to the base plate <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> in a shape-customized manner, the vertical beams <NUM> are easily assembled and, after being assembled, are not spaced apart from a counterpart even when external force is applied. Also, since the cross-sections of the vertical beams <NUM> are provided in an "S" shape, the entire weight of the battery rack <NUM> may be reduced while maintaining at least a certain level of rigidity.

The battery rack <NUM> according to the current embodiment may further include the wall mount member <NUM>.

As described above, the battery rack <NUM> may be fixedly installed to the bottom and wall surface W. As another example, although not illustrated, the entire battery rack <NUM> may be accommodated inside an external cabinet (not shown) and the external cabinet may be fixed and installed on the wall surface W. In both cases of fixing and installing the battery rack <NUM> directly on the wall surface W, and of accommodating the battery rack <NUM> in the external cabinet and fixing and installing the external cabinet on the wall surface W, the wall mount member <NUM> may be used to fix the battery rack <NUM> itself to the counterpart.

As shown in <FIG>, the wall mount member <NUM> may be combined to the vertical beams <NUM> at a rear side of the battery rack <NUM> from the first main frame 220a and the second main frame 220b. The wall mount member <NUM> of the current embodiment has an approximately "C" shape, wherein one side may be integrally combined to the vertical beam <NUM> and the side protruding portion <NUM>, and the other side may be combined to the wall surface W. At least one wall mount member <NUM> may be applied along the height direction of the battery rack <NUM>. The battery rack <NUM> may be fixed while being spaced apart from the wall surface W at a predetermined interval by using the wall mount member <NUM> as a medium. By securing a slight space between the battery rack <NUM> and the wall surface W, heat generated in the battery module <NUM> may be radiated and materials such as wires and the like may bypass to the rear of the battery rack <NUM>.

<FIG> is a view corresponding to <FIG> and is a view of the battery rack <NUM> employing a wall mount member <NUM>' according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, and <FIG> and <FIG> are cross-sectional views for describing an installation example of the wall mount member <NUM>' of <FIG>.

Next, another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to <FIG>. The same reference numerals as the embodiment described above denote the same elements, and overlapping descriptions about the same elements will be omitted and differences with the embodiment described above will be mainly described.

The wall mount member <NUM> of the embodiment described above is configured as a bracket having "C" shape, whereas a wall mount member <NUM>' of the current embodiment is provided to elastically support the main frame <NUM> with respect to the wall surface W by including an elastic body.

In detail, referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the wall mount member <NUM>' according to the current embodiment includes a spring <NUM> corresponding to the elastic body, a rack fixing portion <NUM> combined to one end portion of the spring <NUM> and having a screw thread formed therein, and a wall surface fixing portion <NUM> combined to another end portion of the spring <NUM> and including a fastening unit screw-combinable to the wall surface W.

The vertical beams <NUM> arranged at the rear sides of the first main frame 220a and the second main frame 220b may further include a wall mount fastening portion 221a to be combined with the rack fixing portion <NUM> of the wall mount member <NUM>'. The wall mount fastening portion 221a may be embodied in a protruding shape including a screw thread on an external circumference screw-combinable with the rack fixing portion <NUM>.

The wall mount member <NUM>' may further include a rotating plate <NUM> to rotate each of the rack fixing portion <NUM> and the wall surface fixing portion <NUM> with respect to the spring <NUM>. For example, both ends of the spring <NUM> may be fixed to the rotating plate <NUM> and the rack fixing portion <NUM> may be assembled to the rotating plate <NUM> to be relatively rotatable. Like the rack fixing portion <NUM>, the wall surface fixing portion <NUM> may be assembled to the rotating plate <NUM> to be relatively rotatable.

A method of installing the wall surface W of the battery rack <NUM> using the wall mount member <NUM>' will be briefly described.

As shown in <FIG>, first, the wall mount member <NUM>' is fixed to the wall surface W. Here, the wall mount member <NUM>' may be installed to the wall surface W by rotating the wall surface fixing portion <NUM> clockwise in the similar manner as a screw fastening method. Next, the battery rack <NUM> is conveyed to be located close to the wall surface W, and as shown in <FIG>, the rack fixing portion <NUM> is inserted into the wall mount fastening portion 221a and rotated clockwise to combine the rack fixing portion <NUM> and the wall mount fastening portion 221a.

On the contrary to the above method, the rack fixing portion <NUM> and the wall mount fastening portion <NUM> may be first combined to convey the battery rack <NUM> close to the wall surface W while the wall mount member <NUM>' is mounted on the battery rack <NUM>, and then the wall surface fixing portion <NUM> may be combined to the wall surface W.

When the battery rack <NUM> is fixed to the wall surface W by using the wall mount member <NUM>' of the current embodiment, the spring <NUM> of the wall mount member <NUM>' absorbs the load during vibration caused by the earthquake or another external impact, and thus a stress may be prevented from being concentrated on the base plate <NUM>, the main frame <NUM>, and the top plate <NUM> configuring a structure of the battery rack <NUM>.

According to the configuration of the present disclosure described above, the battery rack <NUM> having enhanced seismic performance without increasing the weight compared to an existing battery rack may be provided, and by mounting, in the battery rack <NUM>, the battery modules <NUM> and a battery protection system <NUM> for monitoring a charging and discharging state, a heat generation state, and the like of each battery module <NUM> and controlling an operation to configure the power storage apparatus, a seismic design strength requirement of a current power storage apparatus may be sufficiently satisfied.

Claim 1:
A battery rack (<NUM>) capable of stacking a plurality of battery modules (<NUM>) in multiple stages, the battery rack (<NUM>) comprising:
a base plate (<NUM>) forming a bottom surface;
a main frame (<NUM>) combined to the base plate (<NUM>) and extending in a height direction to form a wall structure for supporting both side portions of the plurality of battery modules (<NUM>); and
a top plate (<NUM>) combined to an uppermost portion of the main frame (<NUM>) to form a ceiling,
wherein the main frame (<NUM>) comprises a pair of a first main frame (220a) and a second main frame (220b), which are spaced apart from each other by a width of the plurality of battery modules (<NUM>), and
each of the first main frame (220a) and the second main frame (220b) comprises:
a pair of vertical beams (<NUM>) spaced apart from each other in a length direction on the base plate (<NUM>) and each extending in a height direction; and
a plurality of guide beams (<NUM>) combined to the pair of vertical beams (<NUM>) at regular intervals along the height direction and provided to support a bottom corner region of the plurality of battery modules (<NUM>),
characterized in that at least one of the top plate (<NUM>) and the base plate (<NUM>) is provided in a plate body shape including a bead (<NUM>).