Patent Description:
The present invention relates to a secondary battery charging and discharging system including a Peltier element and a temperature control method of a secondary battery charging and discharging system using the same.

Recently, as technology development and demand for mobile devices increase, the demand for secondary batteries as an energy source is rapidly increasing.

Secondary batteries may be used in the form of a single battery cell or in the form of a battery module in which a plurality of unit cells are electrically connected, depending on the type of external device. For example, small devices such as mobile phones can operate for a predetermined time with the output and capacity of one battery cell whereas medium or large devices such as notebook computers, portable DVDs, small PCs, electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles require the use of a battery module including multiple battery cells due to issues related to output and capacity.

Meanwhile, secondary batteries are manufactured through a process of assembling a battery cell and a process of activating a battery. In this case, typically, the battery activation process is performed by applying a required current to a battery cell to be charged or discharged by a charging and discharging device having positive and negative contact pins.

<FIG> is a diagram showing a conventional secondary battery charging and discharging system. As shown in <FIG>, a conventional secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> is configured to include a tray <NUM> for accommodating multiple battery cells <NUM>, a charging and discharging unit <NUM> having a structure that can be brought into electrical contact with a positive electrode and a negative electrode protruding from the battery cells <NUM> accommodated in the tray <NUM>, and a cooling unit <NUM> provided to dissipate heat that is generated by the battery cells <NUM> while the battery cells <NUM> are repeatedly charged, discharged, and activated.

<FIG> is a diagram schematically showing a cooling unit in a conventional secondary battery charging and discharging system. As shown in <FIG>, the cooling unit <NUM> of the conventional secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> is configured to include multiple blower fans <NUM>' facing the tray <NUM> in which the multiple battery cells <NUM> are accommodated. However, the conventional cooling unit <NUM> is used for dissipating heat from the battery cells <NUM> accommodated in the tray <NUM> and therefore has limitations in effectively lowering the temperature inside the charging and discharging system.

Accordingly, there is a need to develop a technology for a secondary battery charging and discharging system that is capable of charging and discharging battery cells and also includes a cooling unit capable of efficiently dissipating heat generated in battery cells.

<CIT> discloses a temperature controlled battery pack assembly includes a housing defining a battery chamber and including thermal insulation surrounding at least a portion of the battery chamber with at least one battery cell. The thermal insulation inhibits thermal transfer between the at least one battery cell and the surrounding environment. A thermal bridge conductor is disposed in the battery chamber and engages the at least one battery cell. The battery pack assembly further includes a thermoelectric cooler device having an inner surface and an outer surface, and operable to actively transfer heat using the Peltier effect. A heat sink device is in contact with or connected to the outer surface to enable thermal conduction between the outer surface and the heat sink device. The battery pack assembly includes a fan operable to force a flow of a heat transfer fluid across a heat sink device and into the environment to enable convective heat transfer between the heat sink device and the environment. The thermal bridge conductor is in contact with or connected to the inner surface to enable thermal conduction between the inner surface and the thermal bridge conductor.

<CIT> discloses a battery pack that includes at least one battery module comprising a plurality of unit cells stacked together; and at least one thermoelectric module on the at least one battery module, wherein the thermoelectric module may include a Peltier device having an input terminal configured to receive a polarity-convertible current.

<CIT> discloses a battery system comprising at least one battery, wherein said battery system comprises at least one Peltier element, which is used for cooling and/or for heating at least one battery.

The present invention is for solving the above problems and is directed to providing a secondary battery charging and discharging system capable of increasing the cooling efficiency of a battery cell accommodated in an accommodation unit in a charging and discharging process for the battery cell, and a temperature control method of a secondary battery charging and discharging system using the same.

The present invention provides a secondary battery charging and discharging system including a Peltier element. In one example, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes an accommodation unit configured to accommodate a battery cell, a charging and discharging unit configured to be electrically connected to first and second electrode leads of the battery cell accommodated in the accommodation unit, and a cooler configured to supply cooled air to the battery cell accommodated in the accommodation unit. In this case, the cooler includes a blower fan, a heat sink, and a Peltier element positioned between the blower fan and the heat sink.

In a specific example, the Peltier element may have a structure including a heat-absorbing surface and a heat-dissipating surface, the blower fan may be disposed on the heat-absorbing surface, and the heat sink may be disposed on the heat-dissipating surface.

In another example, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes a sensor configured to measure an internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system. In addition, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention may further include a controller configured to receive the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system measured by the sensor and to control the driving of the cooler.

In a specific example, the controller is configured to drive the cooler when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system measured by the sensor is higher than a reference temperature.

In still another example, the controller is configured to stop driving of the cooler when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system measured by the sensor unit is lower than the reference temperature.

Furthermore, the cooler may be provided as a plurality of coolers, which may be equidistantly arranged at an upper portion of the accommodation unit. In a specific example, the coolers may be located at an upper portion of the accommodation unit to blow the cooled air downward.

In still another example, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention may further include n perforated plates (here, n is an integer greater than or equal to two) that are located in a blowing line of the cooler. The perforated plates may define a stacked structure.

In a specific example, each of the perforated plates has multiple holes, and the holes are located in a central region of the perforated plate.

In still another specific example, each of the perforated plates has multiple holes, and a size of the hole located in a central region of the perforated plate is greater than a size of the hole located in an edge region of the perforated plate.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a temperature control method of a secondary battery charging and discharging system using the secondary battery charging and discharging system described above.

In one example, the temperature control method of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes charging and discharging a battery cell accommodated in the accommodation unit. In this case, the charging and discharging the battery cell includes measuring an internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system; and controlling, by a controller, the cooler according to the measured internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system.

In a specific example, controlling the cooler includes driving the cooler when the measured internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system is higher than a reference temperature.

In another example, the controlling the cooler includes stopping driving the cooler when the measured internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system is lower than the reference temperature.

According to the secondary battery charging and discharging system including the Peltier element and the temperature control method of the secondary battery charging and discharging system using the same of the present invention, it is possible to increase the cooling efficiency of the secondary battery by applying the Peltier element to the blower fan of the cooling unit.

The present invention may be variously modified and have several forms, and specific embodiments will be shown in the accompanying drawings and described in detail below. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and it should be understood that the present invention encompasses any modifications, equivalents and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including" used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or combinations thereof. Also, when an element such as a layer, film, region, or substrate is referred to as being "above" another element, it can be directly above the other element or intervening elements may also be present. Conversely, when an element such as a layer, film, region, or substrate is referred to as being "below" another element, it can be directly below the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In addition, the phrase "disposed on," used herein may include "disposed under" as well as "disposed above.

A cooling unit of a conventional secondary battery charging and discharging system is used for dissipating heat from battery cells accommodated in a tray and therefore has limitations in effectively lowering the temperature inside the charging and discharging system.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a secondary battery charging and discharging system including a Peltier element and a temperature control method of a secondary battery charging and discharging system using the same. In particular, a cooling unit of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention can increase the cooling efficiency of secondary batteries by including a Peltier element.

The secondary battery charging and discharging system including the Peltier element and the temperature control method of the secondary battery charging and discharging system using the same of the present invention will be described in detail below.

The cooling unit of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes the Peltier element. The term "Peltier element" used herein refers to an element that uses heat absorption or heat generation due to the Peltier effect and has one side for absorbing heat and the other side for generating heat according to the direction of an electric current.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram showing the principle of heat absorption or heat generation of a Peltier element. The Peltier element included in the cooling unit will be described with reference to <FIG>. The Peltier element, which is a thermoelectric element, consists of two or more semiconductors that are connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel and arranged such that heat only travels in one direction through a thermoelectric element while electricity continuously alternates above and below a substrate through N-type and P-type semiconductors. Heat is transferred from a heat-absorbing surface to a heat-dissipating surface through the thermoelectric element, and the transferred heat is proportional to a supplied voltage. At this time, by changing the polarity, it is possible to change the polarity of the current with the same thermoelectric element, and thus a change in function can be made between heating and cooling.

The cooling unit of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes the Peltier element, and based on the Peltier element, a blower fan is disposed on one side, and the heat sink is disposed on the other side. In a specific example, when an electric current is applied to the Peltier element of the cooling unit, one side, where battery cells are placed, absorbs heat, and the other side generates heat. Meanwhile, a blower fan may be disposed on one side of the Peltier element to supply cooled air to the battery cells accommodated in an accommodation unit. The secondary battery charging and discharging system and the temperature control method of the secondary battery charging and discharging system using the same according to the present invention will be described in detail below.

In one example, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes an accommodation unit configured to accommodate a battery cell, a charging and discharging unit electrically connected to first and second electrode leads of the battery cell accommodated in the accommodation unit, and a cooling unit configured to supply cooled air to the battery cell accommodated in the accommodation unit. In this case, the cooling unit includes a blower fan, a heat sink, and a Peltier element positioned between the blower fan and the heat sink.

The accommodation unit, which is for accommodating battery cells, may be in the form of a tray that accommodates multiple battery cells. The accommodation unit is described as a tray-shaped accommodation unit for accommodating multiple battery cells, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The accommodation unit is a substantially rectangular box-shaped member with an open upper portion, and the multiple battery cells are arranged therein and mounted in a matrix shape. In this case, the height of the accommodation unit may be formed to approximately correspond to the height of the battery cell.

In addition, the tray-shaped accommodation unit may have a structure in which both sides are perforated so that the first and second electrode leads of the accommodated battery cell can protrude. In a specific example, since both sides of the accommodation unit are perforated, the first and second electrode leads of the battery cells accommodated in the accommodation unit may have a structure that can be connected to the outside. For example, the first and second electrode leads of the battery cells accommodated in the accommodation unit may connected to the charging and discharging unit which will be described below.

In one example, the charging and discharging unit is located on both sides of the accommodation unit and is electrically connected to the first and second electrode leads of the multiple battery cells accommodated in the tray. The charging and discharging unit may activate the battery cell through charging and discharging caused through electrical connection to an electrode assembly of the battery cell. In this case, the charging and discharging unit is electrically connected to electrode leads of the battery cells through a charging and discharging line. The charging and discharging unit may supply charging power to the electric cell or receive discharging power from the electric cell. Here, the meaning of supplying the charging power to the secondary battery is not necessarily limited to the meaning of supplying sufficient power to fully charge the secondary battery. The meaning of supplying the charging power to the secondary battery may be used to mean supplying power that allows measuring the voltages of the first electrode lead, the second electrode lead, etc. for performance evaluation of the secondary battery. Since the meaning of receiving the discharging power from the secondary battery can be used in the same way, a repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

Meanwhile, the charging and discharging unit may be coupled to the multiple battery cells accommodated in the tray to supply power and charge and discharge the battery cells according to a charging time, a discharging time, a charging voltage, a discharging voltage, the number of charges, the number of discharges, etc..

In one example, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes a cooling unit for cooling the battery cells accommodated in the accommodation unit. In a specific example, in the battery charging and discharging system, the efficiency or performance of the battery cell may be reduced, the durability of the battery cell may be reduced, and the thermal risk (e.g., partial burnout, explosion, etc.) of the battery cell may be increased when the temperature of the battery cell is, for example, <NUM> or higher while the battery cell is being charged and discharged. Accordingly, it is preferable to reduce the temperature of the battery using the cooling unit according to the present invention by dissipating heat generated during the charging and discharging process for the battery cell.

In a specific example, the cooling unit of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes a blower fan, a heat sink, and a Peltier element positioned between the blower fan and the heat sink. The term "Peltier element" refers to an element that uses heat absorption or heat generation due to the Peltier effect and has one side for absorbing heat and the other side for generating heat according to the direction of an electric current. The Peltier element may have a structure including a heat-absorbing surface and a heat-dissipating surface, the blower fan is disposed on the heat-absorbing surface, and the heat sink is disposed on the heat-dissipating surface.

Specifically, when an electric current is applied to the Peltier element of the cooling unit, the heat-absorbing surface, where battery cells are placed, absorbs heat, and the heat-dissipating surface generates heat. In this case, a blower fan may be placed on one side of the Peltier element to supply or circulate the cooled air into the secondary battery charging and discharging system. In particular, by applying the Peltier element to the cooling unit, it is possible to increase the cooling efficiency of the secondary battery without an additional refrigerant.

Meanwhile, the secondary battery charging and discharging system may have a structure in which a hole is formed so that air heated inside can be discharged to the outside, and an additional blower fan may be further installed in the hole.

Furthermore, the heat sink may be disposed outside the space where the battery cells are accommodated. By forming a plurality of heat dissipating fins on the heat sink, it is possible to increase the dissipation efficiency of high temperature heat generated from the heat-dissipating surface of the Peltier element. In addition, a high thermal conductivity heat transfer member may be installed between the heat sink and the heat-dissipating surface of the Peltier element. In this case, since a thermal compound is used as the high thermal conductivity heat transfer member, it is possible to increase the thermal conductivity from the heat-dissipating surface to the heat sink.

In one example, the cooling unit generally includes a propeller-type blower fan which is widely used, and is located at an upper portion of the accommodation unit. Also, the cooling unit may be located at an upper portion of the accommodation unit to blow the cooled air downward. Furthermore, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention may include multiple cooling units, which may be equidistantly arranged at an upper portion of the tray.

As another example, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention may further include n perforated plates (here, n is an integer greater than or equal to two) that are located in the blowing line of the cooling unit and configured to form a stacked structure. In a specific example, n perforated plates, which will be described later, are installed in the blowing line of the cooling unit to blow air. As described above, the air blown downward may be introduced into the tray through an air flow path perforated in the perforated plates. The cooling unit may include a structure in which two to five perforated plates are stacked or a structure in which three to five perforated plates are stacked. For example, three perforated plates may be stacked.

In one example, n perforated plates serve to introduce the air blown by the cooling unit into the tray. For example, since the cooling unit includes three perforated plates, the air blown by the blower fan may pass through holes formed in the three perforated plates so that the flow rate can gradually become uniform.

In one example, the perforated plate has a structure in which multiple holes are formed as described above, and the holes are formed in a central region of the perforated plate. In particular, with this structure, by supplying a smaller amount of air to where a battery cell is accommodated in the outermost part of the tray compared to the conventional case, it is possible to balance the temperature deviation of the battery cells accommodated in the tray. Accordingly, it is possible to uniformly distribute the flow rate, thereby minimizing the temperature deviation between the multiple battery cells.

The shapes and sizes of the holes formed in the perforated plate are not limited, but the diameter of the hole formed in the central region of the perforated plate may be larger than the diameter of the hole formed in the edge region of the perforated plate. This is to reduce the amount of air supplied to the edge region when the multiple battery cells are accommodated in the accommodation unit.

In addition, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention may include a sub air supply unit. As a specific example, the sub air supply unit blows cooled air from sides of the accommodation unit to the battery cell. The sub air supply unit may be oppositely installed on both sides of the tray such that air can be introduced in a direction parallel to the multiple battery cells.

As another example, the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention further includes a sensor unit configured to measure the internal temperature of the system and a control unit configured to receive the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system measured by the sensor unit and control the driving of the cooling unit.

In a specific example, the sensor unit is provided as a temperature sensor for sensing the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system. In the present invention, the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system may be the temperature of the internal space of the secondary battery charging and discharging system or may refer to the temperature of the battery cell. For example, the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system may refer to the temperature of the battery cell in the charging and discharging process. As described above, when the temperature of the battery cell becomes too high while the battery cell is being charged and discharged, the efficiency or performance of the battery cell may be reduced, and the durability of the battery cell may be reduced. To prevent this, the temperature sensor may monitor the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system in real time and deliver the internal temperature to the control unit, and the control unit may control whether to drive the cooling unit.

Meanwhile, when multiple battery cells are accommodated in the accommodation unit, the temperature sensor may include multiple temperature sensors. Furthermore, the sensor unit may be a non-contact temperature sensor capable of sensing the surface temperature of the battery cell.

The control unit performs control so that the cooling unit may be driven when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system is higher than a reference temperature. In addition, the control unit performs control so that the driving of the cooling unit may be stopped when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system is lower than a reference temperature. As described above, the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system may refer to the temperature of the battery cell accommodated in the accommodation unit.

For example, the control unit may set the reference temperature to <NUM>. The control unit drives the cooling unit when the temperature of the battery cell is higher than <NUM> and stops the driving of the cooling unit when the temperature of the battery cell is lower than <NUM>. Thus, by driving the cooling unit according to the temperature of the battery cell of the secondary battery charging and discharging system, it is possible to more efficiently maintain the temperature.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a temperature control method of a secondary battery charging and discharging system using the secondary battery charging and discharging system.

In one example, the temperature control method of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes an operation of charging and discharging a battery cell accommodated in an accommodation unit. In this case, the operation of charging and discharging the battery cell includes operations of measuring the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system and controlling whether to drive a cooling unit according to the measured internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system.

As described above, a sensor unit measures the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system. Also, a control unit controls the driving of the cooling unit on the basis of the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system measured by the sensor unit. That is, the control unit drives the cooling unit when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system is higher than a reference temperature and stops the driving of the cooling unit when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system is lower than a reference temperature.

Meanwhile, the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system may be the temperature of the internal space of the secondary battery charging and discharging system or may refer to the temperature of the battery cell. For example, the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system may refer to the temperature of the battery cell in the charging and discharging process.

With the temperature control method of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention, by applying the Peltier element to the cooling unit, it is possible to increase the cooling efficiency of the secondary battery in the charging and discharging process.

However, the configurations shown in the drawings of the present specification are just embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, it should be understood that there may be various equivalents and modifications which can replace the configurations.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram showing a secondary battery charging and discharging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to <FIG>, a secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> according to the present invention is configured to include an accommodation unit <NUM> configured to accommodate a battery cell <NUM>, a charging and discharging unit <NUM> electrically connected to first and second electrode leads of the battery cell <NUM> accommodated in the accommodation unit <NUM>, and a cooling unit <NUM> configured to supply cooled air to the battery cell <NUM> accommodated in the accommodation unit <NUM>.

The accommodation unit <NUM> is for accommodating the battery cell <NUM> and is in the form of a tray for accommodating multiple battery cells <NUM>. In detail, the accommodation unit <NUM>, which is a substantially rectangular box-shaped member with an open upper portion, has the multiple battery cells <NUM> arranged in a matrix form. In this case, the height of the accommodation unit <NUM> is formed to approximately correspond to the height of the battery cell <NUM>. In addition, the accommodation unit <NUM> is a structure in which both sides are perforated so that the first and second electrode leads of the accommodated battery cell <NUM> can protrude. Specifically, since both sides of the accommodation unit <NUM> are perforated, the first and second electrode leads of the battery cell <NUM> accommodated in the accommodation unit <NUM> can be connected to the outside. For example, the first and second electrode leads of the battery cell <NUM> accommodated in the accommodation unit <NUM> are electrically connected to the charging and discharging unit <NUM>, which will be described below.

In addition, the charging and discharging unit <NUM> is located on both sides of the accommodation unit <NUM> and is electrically connected to the first and second electrode leads of the multiple battery cells <NUM> accommodated in the accommodation unit <NUM>. Specifically, the charging and discharging unit <NUM> may be coupled to the multiple battery cells <NUM> accommodated in the accommodation unit <NUM> to supply power and charge and discharge the battery cells <NUM> according to a charging time, a discharging time, a charging voltage, a discharging voltage, the number of charges, the number of discharges, etc..

The cooling unit <NUM>, which is for cooling the battery cell <NUM> accommodated in the accommodation unit <NUM>, supplies cooled air to the battery cell <NUM>. Meanwhile, in the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> according to the present invention, the cooling unit <NUM> includes a blower fan <NUM>, a heat sink <NUM>, and a Peltier element <NUM> positioned between the blower fan <NUM> and the heat sink <NUM>. Specifically, the Peltier element <NUM> refers to an element that uses heat absorption or heat generation due to the Peltier effect and that has one side for absorbing heat and the other side for generating heat according to the direction of an electric current.

In the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> according to the present invention, the Peltier element <NUM> has a structure including a heat-absorbing surface and a heat-dissipating surface. In this structure, the blower fan <NUM> is disposed on the heat-absorbing surface, and the heat sink <NUM> is disposed on the heat-dissipating surface. Specifically, when an electric current is applied to the Peltier element <NUM> of the cooling unit <NUM>, the heat-absorbing surface, where the battery cells <NUM> are placed, absorbs heat, and the heat-dissipating surface generates heat. In this case, the blower fan <NUM> may be disposed on one side of the Peltier element <NUM> to supply cooled air to the battery cells accommodated in the accommodation unit <NUM>.

Meanwhile, the heat sink <NUM> is disposed outside the space where the battery cells <NUM> are accommodated. By forming a plurality of heat dissipating fins <NUM> on the heat sink <NUM>, it is possible to increase the dissipation efficiency of high temperature heat generated from the heat-dissipating surface of the Peltier element <NUM>.

With such a configuration, the cooling unit of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention can increase the cooling efficiency of secondary batteries in the charging and discharging process by including a Peltier element.

<FIG> and <FIG> are cross-sectional views schematically showing the cooling unit in the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to <FIG>, three perforated plates <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are stacked along a flow path of the cooling unit <NUM>. Each of the perforated plates <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> is a structure in which through-holes <NUM> are formed in the thickness direction. The holes <NUM> are formed in central regions of the perforated plates <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>.

In another example, referring to <FIG>, three perforated plates <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are stacked along the flow path of the cooling unit <NUM>. Each of the perforated plates <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> is a structure in which through-holes <NUM> and <NUM> are formed in the thickness direction. The diameter of the hole <NUM> formed in the central region of each of the perforated plates <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> is larger than the diameter of the hole <NUM> formed in the edge region of each of the perforated plates <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>.

<FIG> is a block diagram showing a secondary battery charging and discharging system according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to <FIG>, a secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> according to the present invention further includes a sensor unit <NUM> configured to measure the internal temperature of the system <NUM> and a control unit <NUM> configured to receive the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> measured by the sensor unit <NUM> and control the driving of a cooling unit <NUM>.

The sensor unit <NUM> is provided as a temperature sensor for sensing the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM>. The temperature sensor monitors the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> in real time and delivers the internal temperature to the control unit <NUM>.

The sensor unit <NUM> is provided as a temperature sensor, and the control unit <NUM> receives the internal temperature information of the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> from the sensor unit <NUM>. The control unit <NUM> performs control so that the cooling unit <NUM> is driven when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> is higher than a reference temperature. In addition, the control unit <NUM> performs control so that the driving of the cooling unit <NUM> is stopped when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> is lower than a reference temperature. Here, the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system <NUM> refers to the temperature of the battery cell accommodated in an accommodation unit <NUM>.

For example, the control unit <NUM> may set the reference temperature to <NUM>. In the charging and discharging process, the control unit <NUM> drives the cooling unit <NUM> when the temperature of the battery cell is higher than <NUM> and stops the driving of the cooling unit <NUM> when the temperature of the battery cell is lower than <NUM>. Accordingly, since the cooling unit <NUM> is driven according to the temperature of the battery cell in the charging and discharging process, it is possible to more efficiently maintain the temperature.

The present invention provides a temperature control method of a secondary battery charging and discharging system using the secondary battery charging and discharging system.

<FIG> is a flowchart showing a temperature control method of a secondary battery charging and discharging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to <FIG>, the temperature control method of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention includes an operation of charging and discharging a battery cell accommodated in an accommodation unit. The operation of charging and discharging the battery cell includes operations of measuring the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system and controlling whether to drive the cooling unit according to the measured internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system.

As described above, a sensor unit measures the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system. Also, the driving of the cooling unit is controlled based on the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system measured by the sensor unit. That is, the cooling unit is driven when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system is higher than the reference temperature, and the driving of the cooling unit is stopped when the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system is lower than the reference temperature.

Here, the internal temperature of the secondary battery charging and discharging system refers to the temperature of the battery cell accommodated in the accommodation unit.

For example, the reference temperature may be set to <NUM>. In the charging and discharging process, the cooling unit is driven when the temperature of the battery cell is higher than <NUM>, and the driving of the cooling unit is stopped when the temperature of the battery cell is lower than <NUM>. Accordingly, since the cooling unit is driven according to the temperature of the battery cell in the charging and discharging process, it is possible to more efficiently maintain the temperature.

With the temperature control method of the secondary battery charging and discharging system according to the present invention, by applying the Peltier element to the cooling unit, it is possible to increase the cooling efficiency of secondary batteries in the charging and discharging process.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations and modifications of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claim 1:
A secondary battery charging and discharging system comprising:
an accommodation unit (<NUM>, <NUM>) configured to accommodate a battery cell (<NUM>);
a charging and discharging unit (<NUM>) configured to be electrically connected to first and second electrode leads of the battery cell (<NUM>) accommodated in the accommodation unit (<NUM>, <NUM>);
and
a cooler (<NUM>, <NUM>), the cooler (<NUM>, <NUM>) including:
a blower fan (<NUM>);
a heat sink (<NUM>); and
a Peltier element (<NUM>);
the secondary battery charging and discharging system being characterized in that:
the cooler (<NUM>, <NUM>) is configured to supply cooled air to the battery cell (<NUM>) accommodated in the accommodation unit (<NUM>, <NUM>), and in that
the Peltier element (<NUM>) is positioned between the blower fan (<NUM>) and the heat sink (<NUM>).