Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates to a battery module and a battery pack including the same, and more particularly, to a battery module having an expandable structure and a battery pack including the same.

A secondary battery attracts significant attention as an energy source in various products such as a mobile device and an electric vehicle. The secondary battery is a potent energy resource that can replace the use of existing products using fossil fuels, and is in the spotlight as an environment-friendly energy source because it does not generate by-products due to energy use.

Recently, along with a continuous rise of the necessity for a large-capacity secondary battery structure, including the utilization of the secondary battery as an energy storage source, there is a growing demand for a battery pack of a multi-module structure which is an assembly of battery modules in which a plurality of secondary batteries are connected in series/parallel.

Meanwhile, when a plurality of battery cells are connected in series/parallel to configure a battery pack, a method of configuring a battery module composed of at least one battery cell and then adding other components to at least one battery module to configure a battery pack is common.

The battery module may include a battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked, a module frame that houses the battery cell stack, and an insulating cover and an end plate that cover both side surfaces of the battery cell stack.

Conventionally, a busbar frame was mounted onto the front and rear surfaces of the battery cell stack that is disposed in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the battery cell stack constituting the battery module. Further, an insulating cover was attached to the outside surface of the busbar frame to cut off electric connection between the battery cell stack and the busbar frame and the outside. Further, an end plate was mounted onto the outside surface of the insulating cover to physically protect the battery cell stack and the electrical components connected thereto. However, when the battery module is produced by separately providing the insulating cover and the end plate in this way, the structure of the battery module may become complicated.

Meanwhile, recently, in the case of battery modules mounted on electric vehicles, various types of battery module structures have been put on the market in order to efficiently utilize the space inside the vehicle. As the number of cell blocks increases, a demand for an expandable battery module structure capable of utilizing the space inside the vehicle is growing.

At this time, in the case of an expandable battery module structure including at least two or more cell blocks, an insulating cover and an end plate must be separately provided for each battery cell stack when the conventional structure of an end plate and an insulating cover is applied, whereby the weight of the battery module may increase, the production process may be lengthened, and the battery module structure itself may become complicated. In addition, the arrangement of the cooling system for the expandable battery module structure may also be complicated.

Document <CIT> discloses a battery module of known type.

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a battery module capable of simplifying the structure of an expandable battery module.

However, the technical problem to be solved by embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described problems and can be variously expanded within the scope of the technical idea included in the present disclosure.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a battery module as defined in the appended claims.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there is also provided a battery pack.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, by eliminating the end plate and insulating cover structure that were conventionally used in an expandable battery module structure, the battery module can be made lightweight, the assembling property can be improved, the unit production cost of the battery module can be reduced, and parts management cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts.

In addition, by straightening the cooling pipe and eliminating the connection part, it is possible to simplify the structure and reduce in weight.

It should be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments, which will be described below, are illustratively described to assist in the understand the present disclosure, and the present disclosure can be variously modified to be carried out differently from the exemplary embodiments described herein. However, in the description of the present disclosure, the specific descriptions and illustrations of publicly known functions or constituent elements will be omitted when it is determined that the specific descriptions and illustrations may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure. In addition, in order to help understand the present disclosure, the accompanying drawings are not illustrated based on actual scales, but parts of the constituent elements may be exaggerated in size.

As used herein, terms such as first, second, and the like may be used to describe various components, and the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only to discriminate one component from another component.

Further, the terms used herein are used only to describe specific exemplary embodiments, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. A singular expression includes a plural expression unless they have definitely opposite meanings in the context. It should be understood that the terms "comprise", "include", and "have" as used herein are intended to designate the presence of stated features, numbers, steps, movements, constitutional elements, parts or combinations thereof, but it should be understood that they do not preclude a possibility of existence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, movements, constitutional elements, parts or combinations thereof.

Now, a structure of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> is an exploded perspective view showing a battery module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the battery module of <FIG> is assembled. <FIG> is a top view of <FIG> as viewed from above. <FIG> is a perspective view showing an upper plate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> shows a section A-A of <FIG>, which is a cross-sectional view of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> is an enlarged view of region P of <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, a battery module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> including a battery cell stack <NUM> and a busbar frame <NUM> mounted on the front and rear surfaces of the battery cell stack <NUM>, a module frame <NUM> that houses the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> and is opened in a front and rear direction, and an upper plate <NUM> that covers the upper surface and front and rear surfaces of the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the upper surface and front and rear surfaces of the second cell block assembly <NUM>. The first cell block assembly <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM> included in the cell block assembly may be arranged side by side along the longitudinal direction of the battery cell. The longitudinal direction of the battery cells may be a direction that defines a battery cell spacing between the front and rear surfaces of the first cell block assembly <NUM> in which the busbar frame <NUM> is disposed.

The module frame <NUM> may include a bottom part and at least two side surface parts connected to the bottom part. In particular, at least two side surface parts may be bent at both ends of the bottom part. The module frame <NUM> may be U-shaped.

At this time, the busbar frame <NUM> may be mounted on the front and rear surfaces of the first cell block assembly <NUM>, respectively, and a busbar frame <NUM> may be mounted on the front and rear surfaces of the second cell block assembly <NUM>, respectively. In a state where the busbar frame <NUM> mounted on one side of the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the busbar frame mounted on one side of the second cell block assembly <NUM> are adjacent to each other and face each other, the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM> may be arranged separately from each other. The upper plate <NUM> may be coupled to the bottom part of the module frame <NUM> between the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM> and on the entire front and rear surfaces of the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM>.

The battery cell according to the present embodiment is a secondary battery and can be configured into a pouch type secondary battery. The battery cells can be configured by a plurality of numbers, and the plurality of battery cells can be stacked so as to be electrically connected to each other, thereby forming a battery cell stack <NUM>. The plurality of battery cells may include an electrode assembly, a battery case, and an electrode lead protruding from the electrode assembly, respectively.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, it may be formed as a large-area cell block in which the number of stacked battery cells is greatly increased as compared with the conventional case. The large-area cell block may include a case where about <NUM> to <NUM> battery cells are stacked in one cell block to constitute the battery cell stack <NUM>, as compared with the conventional case where about <NUM> to <NUM> battery cells are stacked in one cell block.

The module frame <NUM> can house the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM>. The module frame <NUM> is formed of a bottom part <NUM> and both side surface parts <NUM>, and can cover the lower surface and both side surfaces of the entire first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM>. More specifically, the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> are arranged apart from each other in a direction in which the busbar frames face each other, and the module frame <NUM> is formed in a size that houses up to the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> and a separation space between the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM>, thereby being able to house the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM>. At this time, the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> can be disposed along a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the battery cell stack <NUM>.

According to the present embodiment, the upper plate <NUM> may have a shape in which a plurality of concavo-convex parts are formed so as to integrally cover the upper surface and front and rear surfaces of the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the upper side surface and front and rear surfaces of the second cell block assembly <NUM>. The upper plate <NUM> may be formed so as to cover all portions where the busbar frames <NUM> are located, and at the same time, may be formed so as to cover the upper surfaces of the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM>. The busbar frame <NUM> may be formed on the front and rear surfaces of the first cell block assembly <NUM>, and may be formed on the front and rear surfaces of the second cell block assembly <NUM>, respectively.

<FIG> is a comparative example, which is a view showing a structure including an end plate in a conventional battery module.

The conventional battery module includes a battery cell stack <NUM> formed in a large area, a module frame <NUM> for housing the battery cell stack <NUM>, an upper plate <NUM> for covering the upper surface of the battery cell stack <NUM>, an end plate <NUM> for covering the front and rear surfaces of the battery cell stack <NUM>, and a heat sink <NUM> formed below the bottom surface of the module frame <NUM>.

At this time, in addition to the module frame <NUM> for housing the battery cell stack <NUM>, an upper plate <NUM> covering the upper surface and an end plate <NUM> covering the front and rear surfaces are separately provided to form a frame structure of the battery cell stack <NUM>. However, in the case of the structure of the end plate <NUM>, it contains an accessory structure that requires a certain level of strength, for example, it is formed in a size that covers all one side surface of the battery cell stack <NUM> formed in a large area, and a module mounting part <NUM> for mounting onto a battery pack is formed on one side, as shown in <FIG>. Therefore, the weight of the end plate <NUM> can occupy a significant portion of the total weight of the battery module. In addition, since the upper plate <NUM> and the end plate <NUM> must be separately installed in addition to the module frame <NUM>, there is a problem that the assembly process is complicated.

Further, in the case of an expandable battery module structure in which two cell blocks are arranged as in embodiments of the present disclosure, the weight of the battery module becomes considerable and the structure of the battery module may become relatively complicated, as compared with the battery module including the single cell block assembly shown in <FIG>. Therefore, a compact structure for reducing the weight of the battery module and simplifying the structure is essentially required.

Thus, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the portions provided with the busbar frame <NUM> at the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> can be covered by using the integrally formed upper plate <NUM>. Thereby, the end plate provided in the conventional battery module can be eliminated, and both the upper surface and front and rear surfaces of the two cell block assemblies can be covered with one upper plate <NUM>, thereby reducing the weight occupied by the conventional end plate and simplifying the structure of the expandable large area battery module.

According to the present embodiment, an insulating film <NUM> can be formed on the inside surface of the upper plate <NUM> as shown in <FIG>. Conventionally, it was necessary to form a structure in which an insulating cover was additionally disposed between the end plate and the busbar frame, so that a separate process for assembling the insulating cover between the busbar frame and the end plate was required. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the insulating film <NUM> is attached to the inside surface of the upper plate <NUM> and thus, at the time of assembling the upper plate <NUM>, the insulating film <NUM> can also be mounted onto the battery module at the same time, so that insulation of the battery module can be ensured only through a simple assembly process.

According to the present embodiment, a thermal conductive resin layer <NUM> may be formed between the cell block assembly including the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> and the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM>. The thermal conductive resin layer <NUM> may be formed on the lower ends of the front and rear sides of the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the lower ends of the front and rear sides of the second cell block assembly <NUM>, respectively. The thermal conductive resin layer <NUM> can perform the function of transferring the heat generated from the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> to the outside. The thermal conductive resin layer may include a thermal resin.

According to the present embodiment, the cooling plate <NUM> may be disposed below the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM>. The battery module can be cooled by flowing the coolant in the inside of the cooling plate <NUM>. The coolant flow path may be formed between the cooling plate <NUM> and the bottom part <NUM>. Thereby, unlike the conventional cooling structure in which a separate heat sink is provided, a structure is adopted in which the coolant flows so that the bottom part <NUM> becomes a part of the coolant flow path, so that the cooling performance of the battery module can be improved and the battery module can be made lightweight.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the battery module according to the present embodiment further includes a cross beam that is disposed adjacent to the side surface part of the upper plate <NUM> covering the front and rear surfaces of the cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM>, and is formed in a straight line shape <NUM>. The upper plate <NUM> further includes a protruding bottom part 400P protruding from the side surface part. At this time, the cross beam <NUM> may be disposed on the protruding bottom part 400P.

A coolant flow path 800P is formed inside the cross beam <NUM> according to the present embodiment, and the coolant may flow through the coolant flow path. A sealing member <NUM> may be formed between the protruding bottom part 400P and the cross beam <NUM>. The sealing member <NUM> may have a gasket structure. The sealing member <NUM> can prevent the coolant from leaking between the cross beam <NUM> and the protruding bottom part 400P of the upper plate <NUM> when the cross beam <NUM> functions as a cooling pipe through which the coolant flows.

The battery module according to the present embodiment may further include a mounting member <NUM> located between the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM>. The mounting member <NUM> can couple the upper plate <NUM> and the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM>. More specifically, the upper plate <NUM> includes a connection part <NUM> that connects the separated portion of the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM>, and the mounting member <NUM> can couple the connection part <NUM> and the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM>.

A mounting member <NUM> is located between the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM>, the first and second coupling members <NUM> and <NUM> are located in front and rear sides of the entire first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM>, and the coupling members <NUM> and <NUM> can couple the upper plate <NUM> and the module frame <NUM>.

Looking closely at the coupling structure of the upper plate <NUM> and the module frame <NUM>, the upper plate <NUM> includes an intermediate connection part <NUM> formed between the first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM> and front and rear bottom parts formed in front and rear parts <NUM> and <NUM> of the entire first and second cell block assemblies <NUM> and <NUM>. At this time, referring to <FIG>, the intermediate connection part <NUM> is spaced apart from the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM>, and the mounting member <NUM> can connect and couple the bottom part <NUM> between the connection part <NUM> and the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM>.

The insulating film <NUM> may be separated from the connection part <NUM> between the first cell block assembly <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM>, and may be formed to contact the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM>. The front and rear end bottom parts <NUM> and <NUM> are in contact with the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM>, and can be coupled to each other by the first and second coupling members <NUM> and <NUM>.

The connection part and bottom parts that can be coupled with the module frame <NUM> are formed at both ends and the middle portion of the upper plate <NUM>, and the portion where the connection part, the bottom parts and the bottom part of the module frame <NUM> meet is coupled through the coupling members, so that the upper plate <NUM> and the module frame <NUM> can be firmly coupled. At the same time, it is possible to physically protect the two cell block assemblies located between the upper plate <NUM> and the module frame <NUM>.

<FIG> is a perspective view showing a battery pack according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the battery pack according to the present embodiment includes the above-mentioned battery module and the lower pack housing <NUM> to which the battery module is mounted. As described above, the upper plate <NUM> further includes a protruding bottom part 400P that is protruded from the side surface part, wherein the protruding bottom part 400P may be adjacent to the side wall part <NUM> of the lower pack housing <NUM>. The cross beam <NUM> disposed adjacent to the side surface part of the upper plate <NUM> and formed in a straight line shape is disposed between the side surface part of the upper plate <NUM> and the side wall part <NUM> of the lower pack housing <NUM>, whereby the rigidity is complemented, the module space utilization is increased, and the cross beam <NUM> functions as a cooling flow path, which realizes structural simplification and weight reduction by straightening the flow path.

The first coupling member <NUM> described in <FIG> and <FIG> is located between one side wall part <NUM> of the lower pack housing <NUM> and the first cell block assembly <NUM>, and the second coupling member <NUM> may be located between the other side wall part <NUM> of the lower pack housing <NUM> and the second cell block assembly <NUM>. At this time, the first coupling member <NUM> and the second coupling member <NUM> can couple the upper plate <NUM> to the bottom part <NUM> of the module frame <NUM> and/or the lower pack housing <NUM>.

Such a battery pack may have a structure in which one or more of the battery modules according to the embodiment of the present disclosure are gathered, and packed together with a battery management system (BMS) and a cooling device that control and manage battery's temperature, voltage, etc..

Claim 1:
A battery module comprising:
a cell block assembly (<NUM>, <NUM>) comprising a battery cell stack (<NUM>) in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked and a busbar frame (<NUM>) mounted on at least one of the front and rear surfaces of the battery cell stack (<NUM>),
a module frame (<NUM>) that houses the cell block assembly (<NUM>, <NUM>) and is opened in the front and rear surfaces,
an upper plate (<NUM>) that covers the upper surface and front and rear surfaces of the cell block assembly (<NUM>, <NUM>); and
a cross beam (<NUM>) that is disposed adjacent to a side surface part of the upper plate (<NUM>) covering the front and rear surfaces of the cell block assembly (<NUM>, <NUM>), and is formed in a straight line shape (<NUM>),
wherein the cell block assembly (<NUM>, <NUM>) comprises a first cell block assembly (<NUM>) and a second cell block assembly (<NUM>) arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction of the battery cell, and
wherein the first cell block assembly (<NUM>) and the second cell block assembly (<NUM>) are arranged separately from each other so that the busbar frames (<NUM>) mounted on the first (<NUM>) and second (<NUM>) cell block assemblies face each other, characterized in that
a coolant flow path is formed inside the cross beam (<NUM>), and the coolant flows through the coolant flow path.