JP4696352B2 - Vehicle power supply - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicular power supply apparatus including a battery cell array in which a plurality of battery cells are arranged, and more particularly, to a heat retaining structure that retains the battery cell array.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A relatively large capacity power supply device is used for electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and the like. For example, the battery described in JP2000-233648A. The battery, that is, the power supply device includes a plurality of battery cells, and generates a high voltage by connecting the battery cells in series.
[0003]
Since the power supply device includes a plurality of battery cells, the battery cell row is often configured by aligning the plurality of battery cells in the longitudinal direction. In addition, a plurality of electric control circuit components such as a computer for monitoring the voltage and current of the battery cell and a relay for circuit protection, and cooling air for cooling the battery cell are normally circulated in the power supply device. A duct is provided for the purpose.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When a battery cell array in which battery cells are aligned in the longitudinal direction is mounted on a vehicle and the battery cell array is cooled by the outside air temperature in winter, the battery cells located near the center in the longitudinal direction are a plurality of batteries existing on both sides. Since the cell functions as a heat insulating material, when the temperature distribution of the battery cells in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row is examined, as shown in FIG. Of these, a temperature difference of ΔT2 occurs between the temperature of the battery cell on the lower temperature side and the temperature of the central battery cell.
[0005]
Further, the battery described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-233648 is a left-right contrast in the width direction of the vehicle. However, as described above, since the power supply device includes a plurality of electric control circuit components and ducts, the battery cell In many cases, the structure at one end in the longitudinal direction cannot be the same as the structure at the other end. For example, the electric control circuit component may be concentrated on one end in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row. When the battery cell row is cooled by the outside air temperature in winter, the electric control circuit component functions as a heat insulating material when the electric control circuit component is concentrated on one end in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row. Therefore, when comparing the temperatures of the battery cells at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row, as shown in FIG. 1, the temperature of the battery cell on the side where the electric control circuit component is arranged is It is higher by ΔT1 than the cell temperature. In FIG. 1, the end on the side where the electric control circuit component is disposed is the left end and the other end is the right end.
[0006]
By the way, in order to improve battery output at low temperatures, it is necessary to reduce the temperature difference between battery cells. That is, it is necessary to reduce the ΔT1 and ΔT2. For this reason, conventionally, a solid heat insulating material such as glass wool is attached to the end on the side where heat is easily released. However, the conventional heat insulating material has to be relatively thin due to restrictions on mounting on a vehicle, and the heat insulating effect is not sufficient.
[0007]
The present invention has been made against the background of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle power supply device in which a temperature difference between a plurality of battery cells constituting a battery cell row is small.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the gist of the present invention is to provide a battery cell array in which a plurality of battery cells are aligned in the longitudinal direction so that the longitudinal direction of the battery cell array is in the width direction of the vehicle. the power supply device provided in, (a) the the entire width direction of the longitudinal end of the battery cell array, and the shielded space that shields the cold air from outside is formed, (b) the shielded space Is in the space inside the heater duct .
[0009]
【The invention's effect】
In this way, cold air from the outside of the vehicle is shielded by the shielding space, and the temperature drop of the battery cell at the end where the shielding space is formed is suppressed, so that the plurality of batteries constituting the battery cell array The temperature difference between cells is reduced. Further, since the shielded space is a space in the heater duct, and the heater duct is provided in advance in the vehicle, there is an advantage that a new part for configuring the shielded space becomes unnecessary. In winter, the heater is normally operated and the vehicle is operated, so that the battery cell on the side where the heater duct is provided is heated by the heat from the heater duct. The temperature difference between the temperature of the provided battery cell and the temperature of the battery cell in the center of the battery cell row is further reduced.
[0010]
Other aspects of the invention
Here, preferably, the power supply device for a vehicle controls the battery cell row at the end in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row, which is opposite to the side where the shielding space is formed. Electrical control circuit components are arranged for this purpose. According to this configuration, since the electric control circuit component has a large heat capacity, the electric control circuit component also suppresses the temperature drop of the battery cell at the end opposite to the side where the shielding space is formed. Therefore, the temperature difference between the plurality of battery cells constituting the battery cell row is further reduced.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of the vehicle 12 including the battery pack 10 (that is, the vehicle power supply device) of the present invention. The vehicle 12 is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 2, at the rear of the vehicle 12, an under-seat cover panel 14 that supports a bench-type rear seat 32 (FIG. 4) is on the floor panel 30 (FIG. 4) and the longitudinal direction thereof is the width direction of the vehicle 12. A longitudinal battery housing space 16 extending in the width direction of the vehicle 12 is formed between the under-seat cover panel 14 and the floor panel 30.
[0014]
The under-seat cover panel 14 is a longitudinal member having an inverted U-shaped cross section that is pressed from a single metal plate, and a substantially horizontal floor wall 14a on which the bench-type rear seat 32 is placed; A front side wall 14b extending downward from the front edge of the floor wall 14a in a substantially vertical direction; a first rear side wall 14c extending downward from the rear edge of the floor wall 14a in a substantially vertical direction; and a first rear side wall 14c The connecting wall 14d extends from the lower edge to the rear side in the horizontal direction, and is connected to the first rear wall 14c by the connecting wall 14d, and the second rear wall 14e extends downward from the rear edge of the connecting wall 14d in the vertical direction. ing.
[0015]
The partition plate 18 is a long plate-like member, and the front edge thereof is placed on the connecting wall 14 d of the under-seat cover panel 14, whereby the storage chamber 20 is provided between the partition plate 18 and the floor panel 30. Is formed.
[0016]
A synthetic resin cover 22 is attached to the floor wall 14 a of the under-seat cover panel 14 at the left end in the longitudinal direction and at the front end of the vehicle 12, and the battery housing space 16 is attached to the synthetic resin cover 22. A plurality of slits 24 for introducing the air in the passenger compartment are provided therein.
[0017]
The battery pack 10 has a longitudinal shape, and is disposed on the floor panel 30 in a state in which the longitudinal direction thereof is parallel to the width direction of the vehicle 12 in the battery accommodating space 16 formed under the under-seat cover panel 14. The battery pack 10 is entirely covered with an upper case 26, and a battery cell row 28 is formed below the upper case 26.
[0018]
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rear portion of the vehicle 12 with the under-seat cover panel 16 and the upper case 26 of the battery pack 10 removed, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the battery accommodation space 16 is formed by fixing the under-seat cover panel 14 on a substantially flat floor panel 30, and a bench-type rear seat 32 on the under-seat cover panel 14. Is placed. The bench-type rear seat 32 can be inverted on the front side of the front side wall 14 a of the under-seat cover panel 14.
[0019]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the battery pack 10, the heater unit 34, the heater duct 36, the blower fan 38, the exhaust duct 40, and the inverter device 42 are housed in the battery housing space 16. In FIG. 4, the exhaust duct 40 is omitted.
[0020]
The battery pack 10 is disposed between the pair of rear wheel housings 45 in the battery accommodating space 16, and includes a battery cell row 28 configured by stacking flat battery cells 46 in the thickness direction, and the battery. A longitudinal lower case 48 to which the cell row 28 is fixed is provided. The battery cell array 28 has a pair of end plates 50, 50 stacked at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and a distance between the pair of end plates 50, 50 is fixed by a restraining rod 52. An electric control circuit module 54 is disposed at one end in the longitudinal direction of the lower case 48. This electric control circuit module 54 concentrates a battery computer 58 for monitoring the charging state of the battery cell 46 and a relay 60 for connecting / disconnecting a high voltage circuit including the battery cell array 28 in the component housing case 56. It is arranged.
[0021]
The heater unit 34 includes a heat exchanger 34a, a fan 34b, and the like in order to blow warm air to the heater duct 36 using engine cooling water (not shown) as a heat source. The heater duct 36 is connected to a blowout port of the fan 34b, and a first duct portion 36a heading from the fan 36b toward the longitudinal front side of the vehicle 12 and a second duct portion 36b substantially perpendicular to the first duct portion 36a. Consists of. The first duct portion 36a is adjacent to the battery cell row 28 at the end of the battery cell row 28 on the side opposite to the side on which the electric control circuit module 54 is disposed, and in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row 28. It is arrange | positioned so that it may become substantially perpendicular to. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the cross-sectional shape of the first duct portion 36 a is a pentagon having a pair of parallel vertical walls and a pair of horizontal walls parallel to each other, and is parallel to the width direction of the vehicle 12. The length in the short direction is about 1.2 times the length in the thickness direction of the battery cell 46 at the shortest portion (uppermost portion), and about four times the length in the thickness direction of the battery cell 46 at the longest portion (lowermost portion) It is said that the length. Since the first duct portion 36a forms a substantially closed space that does not directly communicate with the outside of the vehicle at the end in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row 28, the space in the first duct portion 36a functions as a shielding space.
[0022]
The second duct portion 36 b is disposed along the battery cell row 28 in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row 28. The cross-sectional shape of the second duct portion 36b is such that the width in the width direction is shorter than that of the first duct portion 36a, but the length in the vertical direction is longer than that of the first duct portion 36a. Thus, the cross-sectional area of the second duct portion 36b and the cross-sectional area of the first duct portion 36a are made equal. Further, a plurality of heater outlets (not shown) are provided on the front side (not shown) of the second duct portion 36b, and further, heater heaters (not shown) are also provided on the front side wall 14a of the under-seat cover panel 14. The warm air is blown out from the heater outlet of the under-seat cover panel 14 to the passenger compartment.
[0023]
The blower fan 38 is disposed at a position adjacent to the end in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row 28 via the electric control circuit module 54, and the battery housing space 16 is provided in the suction port 38 a of the blower fan 38 together with the cooling air. A cover 62 is provided for preventing dust introduced into the blower fan 38 from being introduced into the blower fan 38. The exhaust duct 40 is arranged so that one end thereof opens toward the battery cell row 28 in the upper part of the electric control circuit module 54. The inverter device 42 is a device that converts a DC high voltage generated by the battery cell array 28 into AC 100V.
[0024]
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 3 and is a view for explaining the flow of air introduced by the blower fan 38. The cooling air introduced into the battery housing space 16 through the slit 24 provided in the synthetic resin cover 22 is formed between the lower surface of the component housing case 56 and the lower case 48 by the blower fan 38 as shown in FIG. The air is introduced into the lower part of the battery cell row 28 through the air introduction path 64, and further introduced into the exhaust duct 40 through the gap between the battery cells 46 and the upper part of the battery cell row 28.
[0025]
If the vehicle 12 configured as described above is left outdoors in a cold district overnight, the battery cell 46 is cooled by the inflow of outside air. As such, when the battery cell 46 is naturally cooled, the temperature of each battery cell 46 is not uniform, and the temperature becomes higher toward the center of the array of the battery cell rows 28. This is because the battery cell row 28 has a long overall length and its longitudinal direction is arranged in parallel to the width direction of the vehicle 12, so that both end sides of the battery cell row 28 are closer to the side of the body, and the battery cell row 28. This is because the battery cells 46 stacked on both sides function as a heat insulating material (or heat insulating material) in the vicinity of the center.
[0026]
However, in the present embodiment, the first duct portion 36 a of the heater duct 36 is disposed at one end in the longitudinal direction of the battery cell row 28. Accordingly, cold air from outside the vehicle is shielded by the first duct portion 36a of the heater duct 36, and the temperature drop of the battery cell 46 at the end where the first duct portion 36a is formed is suppressed. The temperature difference between the plurality of battery cells 46 constituting the row 28 is reduced. In addition, since the inside of the 1st duct part 36a is satisfy | filled with air and the thermal conductivity of air is lower than the thermal conductivity of solid heat insulating materials, such as glass wool, the temperature difference between the battery cells 46 is the conventional heat insulating material. This is less than when using.
[0027]
In the present embodiment, the electric control circuit module 54 is disposed at the end of the battery cell row 28 on the opposite side of the heater duct 36 from the first duct portion 36a. Since the electric control circuit module 54 has a large heat capacity, the electric control circuit module 54 also reduces the temperature of the battery cell 46 at the end opposite to the side where the first duct portion 36a of the heater duct 36 is formed. It is suppressed. Accordingly, the temperature difference between the plurality of battery cells 46 constituting the battery cell array 28 is further reduced.
[0028]
In addition, in this embodiment, since the space in the first duct portion 36a of the heater duct 36 functions as a shielded space, there is an advantage that a new part for configuring the shielded space becomes unnecessary. In winter, the heater 12 is normally operated and the vehicle 12 is operated. Therefore, the battery cell 46 on the side where the first duct portion 36a of the heater duct 36 is provided is connected to the first duct portion 36a of the heater duct 36. Therefore, the temperature difference between the temperature of the battery cell 46 on the side where the first duct portion 36a of the heater duct 36 is provided and the temperature of the battery cell 46 in the center of the battery cell row 28 is further increased. Less.
[0029]
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the cool air shielding effect by the first duct portion 36 a of the heater duct 36. In FIG. 6, the end on the side where the electric control circuit module 54 is disposed is the left end, and the other end is the right end. When a member for forming a shielding space such as the first duct portion 36a of the heater duct 36 is not provided at the right end, the right end battery cell 46 radiates heat more easily than the left end battery cell 46. The temperature distribution of each battery cell 46 becomes a curve a, and the temperature of the rightmost battery cell 46 is lower than the temperature of the leftmost battery cell 46 by ΔT1. On the other hand, when the first duct portion 36a is provided so as to be adjacent to the rightmost battery cell 46 as in the present embodiment, even if the heater is not operated, The temperature difference between the battery cells 46 becomes small, and the temperature difference between the battery cells 46 at both ends becomes ΔT1 ′ (<ΔT1). When the heater is operated, the temperature of the rightmost battery cell 46 further increases, and as shown by the curve c, the temperature of the battery cell 46 on the right side of the center of the array of battery cell rows 28 further increases, and the array The temperature difference between the central battery cell 46 and the rightmost battery cell 46 is further reduced.
[0030]
As mentioned above, although one Example of this invention was described based on drawing, this invention is applied also in another aspect.
[0031]
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the space in the first duct portion 36a of the heater duct 36 functions as a conduit for passing warm air, which is the original function, and as a shielding space for shielding cold air from outside the vehicle. However, instead of the first duct portion 36a, a member for constituting a space that functions only as the shielding space may be disposed at the end of the battery cell row 28.
[0032]
Moreover, although the battery cell 46 of the above-mentioned Example is flat form, another shape, such as a round shape, may be sufficient as a battery cell.
[0033]
As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described in detail based on drawing, this is an embodiment to the last, and this invention is implemented in the aspect which added various change and improvement based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Can do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a temperature distribution of each battery cell when a conventional power supply device is cooled by outside air.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of a vehicle including a battery pack (vehicle power supply device) according to the present invention.
3 is a plan view of a rear portion of the vehicle in a state where an under-seat cover panel and a battery pack upper case of FIG. 2 are removed. FIG.
4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 3 for explaining the flow of air introduced by the blower fan.
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a cold air shielding effect by a first duct portion of a heater duct.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Power supply device for vehicle 28: Battery cell row 36: Heater duct 36a: First duct portion 46: Battery cell 58: Battery computer (electric control circuit component)
60: Relay (electric control circuit component)

Claims (2)

A power supply device for a vehicle provided with a battery cell array in which a plurality of battery cells are aligned in a longitudinal direction in a vehicle compartment so that a longitudinal direction of the battery cell array is a width direction of the vehicle,
A shielding space that shields cold air from the outside of the vehicle is formed over the entire width direction of the longitudinal end of the battery cell row ,
The vehicular power supply device, wherein the shielding space is a space in a heater duct .   An electrical control circuit component for controlling the battery cell row is disposed at an end of the battery cell row in the longitudinal direction opposite to the side where the shielding space is formed. The vehicle power supply device according to claim 1.

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