JP6989543B2 - Production method - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a battery case that houses a battery that supplies electric power to a traveling motor of a vehicle.

Patent Document 1 discloses a battery case that houses a battery that supplies electric power to a traveling motor of an electric vehicle.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-67255

The size of the battery mounted on the vehicle differs depending on the vehicle such as EV (electric vehicle), HEV (hybrid vehicle), PHEV (plug-in hybrid vehicle). Therefore, it is necessary to manufacture a plurality of battery cases having different volumes.

In manufacturing battery cases of various volumes, a battery case is manufactured by changing the molding die for each volume of the battery case.
However, such a method requires a molding die for each volume of the battery case, so that there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the battery case is high.

One aspect of the present disclosure is to reduce the number of molding dies required for manufacturing a plurality of battery cases having different volumes.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a battery case that houses a battery that supplies electric power to a traveling motor of a vehicle, and includes a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion. The first portion is a cylindrical portion extending along one direction, and the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to one direction is constant or periodic along one direction. The second part and the third part are the second part and the third part covering the openings at both ends in one direction in the first part, and at least the second part and the third part. One is configured as a separate part from the first part.

Here, "constant" of "the cross-sectional shape is constant along one direction" is not limited to constant in a strict sense, and may not be strictly constant as long as it produces the desired effect. good.
According to the above configuration, since the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to one direction of the first portion is constantly or periodically formed along one direction, the length of the first portion in one direction is adjusted. This allows you to adjust the volume of the battery case. In other words, it is possible to manufacture a plurality of battery cases having different volumes without changing the molding die. Therefore, the number of required molding dies can be reduced as compared with the case where the battery case is manufactured using different molding dies for each volume of the battery case to be manufactured.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, even if the second part and the third part are both separate parts from the first part, and the size and shape of the second part and the third part are the same as each other. good.
According to such a configuration, the second portion and the third portion can be produced by using a common molding die. Therefore, when the size or shape of the second part and the third part are different, it is necessary as compared with the case where different molding dies are required for the second part and the third part. The number of molding dies can be reduced.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the first portion may include an upper member and a lower member which is a separate part from the upper member and is disposed below the upper member.
According to such a configuration, the battery can be assembled to the battery case by assembling the battery to one of the upper member and the lower member and then assembling the other member. Therefore, as compared with the case where the first part does not have the upper member and the lower member which are separate parts from each other (that is, when the first part is configured as one tubular member), the battery case of the battery Can be improved in assembling property.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the upper member may be a plate-shaped member having a U-shaped or hat-shaped cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the one direction, and the lower member may be a flat plate-shaped member.
According to such a configuration, for example, the cross-sectional shapes of the upper member and the lower member orthogonal to the one direction are both formed into a U-shape or a hat shape, and the upper member and the lower member have a U-shape or a hat opening. Compared with the configuration in which the upper member and the lower member are arranged so as to be in contact with each other, a gap is less likely to be formed between the upper member and the lower member and the second portion or the third portion. Therefore, the waterproof performance of the battery case can be improved as compared with the above configuration.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the battery case. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a battery case having a volume smaller than that of the battery case shown in FIG. 1, which is manufactured by using the same molding die as the battery case shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the battery case shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line IV in FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an assembly configured by combining an upper member, a second portion, and a third portion. FIG. 7A is a diagram for explaining the number of molding dies required for manufacturing the battery case of the embodiment, and FIG. 7B is a diagram for explaining the number of molding dies required for manufacturing the battery case of the comparative example. ..

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. composition]
The battery case 1 shown in FIG. 1 and the battery case 2 shown in FIG. 2 are battery cases that accommodate batteries that supply electric power to the traveling motor of the vehicle. The battery cases 1 and 2 are mounted under the floor of the vehicle. The battery cases 1 and 2 accommodate different amounts of batteries. As will be described later, the battery cases 1 and 2 are manufactured using a common molding die (molding die having one specification). Since the basic configurations of the battery cases 1 and 2 are common, the battery case 1 will be described below as an example. Examples of the material constituting the battery cases 1 and 2 include metal, non-metal, and resin.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the battery case 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance. The battery case 1 includes a first portion 11, a second portion 12, and a third portion 13.
The first portion 11 is a tubular (square tubular in the present embodiment) portion and extends along one direction X (hereinafter, simply referred to as “direction X”) with respect to the battery case 1. do. The cross-sectional shape of the first portion 11 orthogonal to the direction X is constant along the direction X. The term "constant" as used herein is not limited to being constant in a strict sense, and may not be strictly constant as long as it produces the desired effect.

Specifically, the cross-sectional shape of the first portion 11 is rectangular as shown in FIG.
The first portion 11 includes two separate members (upper member 111 and lower member 112). The upper member 111 is arranged on the upper part of the lower member 112.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper member 111 is a plate-shaped member having a hat-shaped cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the direction X. Specifically, the upper member 111 has a pair of flange-shaped outer peripheral edge portions 111a and a U-shaped portion 111b having a U-shaped cross section. The outer peripheral edge portion 111a extends outward from both edges at substantially right angles along both edges of the U-shaped opening of the U-shaped portion 111b. In other words, the cross-sectional shape of the upper member 111 is a substantially rectangular shape lacking one side. The upper member 111 is press-molded only by simple bending. Therefore, the upper member 111 can be easily processed. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper member 111 is formed with a plurality of groove portions 111c parallel to each other in order to improve the strength.

The lower member 112 is a flat plate-shaped member configured as a separate part from the upper member 111. The lower member 112 has a size sufficient to close the U-shaped opening of the U-shaped portion 111b of the upper member 111. Specifically, the lower member 112 has substantially the same size as the outer shape of the upper member 111 in a plan view.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the direction Y intersecting the direction X of the battery case 1 (the width direction Y of the battery case 1 in the present embodiment) is also along the direction Y. It is constant.

On the other hand, the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 5, and the like are configured to cover the openings at both ends of the direction X in the first portion 11. Both the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 are configured as separate parts from the first portion 11. The second portion 12 and the third portion 13 are both flat plate-shaped parts, and have the same size and shape. Therefore, the second part 12 and the third part 13 are manufactured by using a common molding die.

The second portion 12 and the third portion 13 are both rectangular in shape, and have outer peripheral edges 12a and 13a extending to one side in the peripheral edge of the rectangle, respectively. The second portion 12 and the third portion 13 have a size that exactly fits the inner shape of the cross section of the U-shaped portion 111b of the upper member 111. When assembling the battery case 1, the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 are inserted into the openings at both ends of the upper member 111 in the direction X as vertical walls, respectively. Then, the outer peripheral edge portion 12a of the second portion 12 and the outer peripheral edge portion 13a of the third portion 13 are fixed to the inner wall surface of the upper member 111 by welding, bolts, nuts, or the like. In this way, the upper member 111, the second portion 12, and the third portion 13 are combined to form one assembly 14 shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the battery 3 is housed inside the assembly 14, and the assembly 14 and the lower member 112 are fixed by bolts and nuts 41. With the battery 3 housed in this way, the lower opening of the assembly 14 is covered with the lower member 112. In addition, in FIG. 1 and the like, the illustration of the bolt and the nut 41 is omitted. Further, the battery 3 has an aggregate structure in which a plurality of thin rectangular parallelepiped battery cells 3a are arranged. Specifically, a plurality of battery cells 3a are arranged side by side in the thickness direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 4). As a result, a row of battery cells 3a is formed in the thickness direction. Then, the battery (or battery module) 3 is configured by arranging a plurality of rows (two rows in this embodiment) of the same battery cells 3a in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 4).

From the viewpoint of battery protection, it is necessary to suppress the ingress of water into the battery case 1. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, in a state where the assembly 14 is configured, the lower surface 111d of the outer peripheral edge portion 111a of the upper member 111, the lower surface 12b of the outer peripheral edge portion 12a of the second portion 12, and the first The lower surface 13b of the outer peripheral edge portion 13a of the portion 13 of 3 is located on the same plane. Therefore, the lower surface of the assembly 14 and the flat plate-shaped lower member 112 can be easily face-to-face with each other, and the waterproof performance inside the battery case 1 can be improved. In FIG. 6, for convenience of explanation, the upper member 111, the second portion 12, and the third portion 13 are shown upside down, and the lower surfaces 111b, 12b, 13b of the respective members 111, 12, 13 are upward. It is suitable.

On the other hand, the battery case 2 shown in FIG. 2 has the same basic configuration as the battery case 1. The battery case 2 corresponds to a case in which the length of the direction X of the battery case 1 is shortened, and the volume is smaller than that of the battery case 1. The battery case 2 accommodates a smaller amount of batteries than the battery case 1.

The battery case 2 includes a first portion 21, a second portion 22, and a third portion 23. The first portion 21 includes an upper member 211 and a lower member 212. The second portion 22 and the third portion 23 of the battery case 2 are the same parts (parts having the same shape and size) as the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 of the battery case 1, respectively.

On the other hand, the upper member 211 and the lower member 212 have a shorter length in the direction X than the upper member 111 and the lower member 112 of the battery case 1. Specifically, the upper member 211 of the battery case 2 is the same as the upper member 111 of the battery case 1 cut by the broken line shown in FIG. Similarly, the lower member 212 of the battery case 2 is the same as the lower member 112 of the battery case 1 cut by the broken line shown in FIG.

The battery case 2 is manufactured by using a molding die common to the battery case 1. Specifically, the battery cases 1 and 2 include a common molding die for manufacturing the upper members 111, 211, a common molding die for manufacturing the lower members 112, 212, and the second portions 12, 22 and the second portions 12. It is manufactured by using a common molding die for manufacturing the third portions 13 and 23 and three molding dies. When manufacturing the battery cases 1 and 2 having different volumes, materials corresponding to the size of the battery case are charged.

[2. effect]
According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the present embodiment, the battery cases 1 and 2 include first, second, and third portions 11 to 13, 21 to 23. In the first portions 11 and 21, the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the direction X is constant along the direction X. The second and third parts 12, 13, 22, and 23 are parts that cover the openings at both ends of the direction X in the first parts 11, 21 and both are separate parts from the first parts 11, 22. It is composed.

Therefore, since the cross-sectional shape of the first portion orthogonal to the direction X is configured to be constant along the direction X, the volume of the battery case can be adjusted by adjusting the length of the direction X of the first portion. In other words, a plurality of battery cases 1 and 2 having different volumes can be manufactured without changing the molding die. Therefore, the number of required molding dies can be reduced as compared with the case where the battery case is manufactured using different molding dies for each volume of the battery case to be manufactured.

Specifically, for example, consider manufacturing a battery case having three volumes, small, medium, and large.
According to the method for manufacturing the battery cases 1 and 2 of the present embodiment, one molding die for molding the upper members 111, 211, and one molding mold for the second portions 12, 22 and the third portions 13, 23 are formed. It is sufficient to have one molding die for molding the molding die and the lower members 112 and 212 (see FIG. 7A). Therefore, if there are a total of three molding dies, it is possible to manufacture a battery case having three volumes, small, medium and large.

On the other hand, as a comparative example, consider the case where different molding dies are used for each volume of the battery case. It is assumed that one battery case is manufactured by assembling two parts, an upper case and a lower case. For example, the upper case is a component corresponding to the assembly 14 shown in FIG. 6 in which the upper member 111, the second portion 12, and the third portion 13 of the battery case 1 are assembled. Further, for example, the lower case is a component corresponding to the lower member 112.

According to the manufacturing method of the comparative example, one molding mold for molding the upper case and one mold for manufacturing the lower case are required for each of the three small, medium and large battery cases, for a total of six molds. Is required (see FIG. 7B).

Therefore, according to the method for manufacturing the battery cases 1 and 2 of the present embodiment, the number of required molding dies can be reduced by 3 as compared with the method for manufacturing the battery case of the comparative example. That is, according to the manufacturing method of the battery cases 1 and 2 of the present embodiment, a plurality of battery cases having different volumes can be manufactured with three molding dies.

(2) In the present embodiment, the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 of the battery case 1 are both separate parts from the first portion 11. Further, the sizes and shapes of the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 are the same as each other.

Therefore, both the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 can be manufactured using a common molding die. Therefore, compared with the case where the size or shape of the second part 12 and the third part 13 are different, and by extension, different molding dies are required between the second part 12 and the third part 13. Therefore, the number of molding dies required can be reduced.

(3) In the present embodiment, the first portion 11 of the battery case 1 includes an upper member 111 and a lower member 112.
Therefore, by assembling the battery to the lower member 112 and then assembling the upper member 111, the battery can be assembled to the battery case 1. Therefore, the battery is compared with the case where the first portion 11 does not include the upper member 111 and the lower member 112 which are separate parts from each other (that is, when the first portion 11 is configured as one tubular member). Can be easily assembled to the battery case 1.

(4) In the present embodiment, in the battery case 1, the upper member 111 is a plate-shaped member having a hat-shaped cross section orthogonal to the direction X, and the lower member 112 is a flat plate-shaped member.
Therefore, for example, as compared with a configuration in which the cross-sectional shapes orthogonal to the direction X of the upper member and the lower member are both formed into a hat shape, and the flange-shaped outer peripheral edges of the upper member and the lower member are arranged so as to be in contact with each other. , It is difficult to form a gap between the upper member and the lower member and the second portion 12 or the third portion 13. Therefore, the waterproof performance of the battery case can be improved as compared with the above configuration.

[3. Other embodiments]
Although the embodiment for carrying out the present disclosure has been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified and carried out.

(1) In the above embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the first portion 11 orthogonal to the direction X is constant along the direction X, but the cross-sectional shape of the first portion is not limited to this. For example, the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the direction X of the first portion may be periodic along the direction X. According to such a configuration, the length of the direction X of the battery case can be adjusted in units of one cycle by changing the amount of the material to be charged. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a plurality of battery cases having different volumes without changing the molding die.

(2) In the above embodiment, the first portion 11 of the battery case 1 includes two parts, an upper member 111 and a lower member 112, but the configuration of the first portion is not limited to this. The first portion may be configured as one tubular component. In this case, the battery may be inserted into the first portion by sliding through the opening at one end of the direction X in the first portion. According to such a configuration, when the battery case containing the battery is assembled to the vehicle body and then the battery is replaced, the battery can be replaced without removing the battery case from the vehicle body. Therefore, the battery can be easily replaced as compared with the non-removable configuration in which the battery case must be removed from the vehicle body every time the battery is replaced.

(3) In the above embodiment, the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 of the battery case 1 are both separate parts from the first portion 11, but the configuration of the first, second, and third portions. Is not limited to this. For example, only one of the second part and the third part is a separate part from the first part, and one of the second part and the third part is integrally molded with the first part. May be.

(4) In the above embodiment, the second portion 12 and the third portion 13 of the battery case 1 have the same size and shape as each other, but the second portion and the third portion have the same size and shape. At least one of the shapes may be different from each other.

(5) In the above embodiment, the upper member 111 of the battery case 1 is a plate-shaped member having a hat-shaped cross section orthogonal to the direction X, and the lower member 112 is a plate-shaped member, but the upper member and the lower member. The shape of the member is not limited to this. For example, the upper member may be a plate-shaped member having a U-shaped cross section. Further, for example, the upper member and the lower member may both be plate-shaped members having a hat-shaped or U-shaped cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the direction X. Further, for example, the upper member may be a plate-shaped member, and the lower member may be a plate-shaped member having a hat-shaped or U-shaped cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the direction X.

(6) In the above embodiment, the first portion 11 is a square cylindrical portion, but the shape of the first portion is not limited to this. For example, the first portion may be a cylindrical portion. In this case, the first portion may have a perfect circular shape, an elliptical shape, or the like in a cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the direction X.

(7) A plurality of functions possessed by one component in the above embodiment may be realized by a plurality of components, or one function possessed by one component may be realized by a plurality of components. .. Further, a plurality of functions possessed by the plurality of components may be realized by one component, or one function realized by the plurality of components may be realized by one component. Further, a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be omitted. Further, at least a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be added or replaced with the configuration of the other above embodiment. It should be noted that all aspects included in the technical idea specified by the wording described in the claims are embodiments of the present disclosure.

1,2 ... Battery case, 11,21 ... First part, 12,22 ... Second part,
13, 23 ... Third part, 111, 211 ... Upper member, 112, 212 ... Lower member.

Claims (4)

A method for manufacturing a first battery case and a second battery case for accommodating a battery that supplies electric power to a vehicle traveling motor.
In the step of manufacturing the first portion of the first battery case and the second battery case, the first portion is a tubular portion extending along one direction. The cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the one direction is constant along the one direction, and further, the upper member, the lower member which is a separate part from the upper member and is arranged under the upper member, and the lower member. The first portion of the first battery case and the first portion of the second battery case have different lengths in one direction, and the first battery case and the first battery case The upper member of the second battery case is manufactured by press molding, and further, the upper member of the first battery case and the upper member of the second battery case have a common molding mold. And / or a step in which the lower member of the first battery case and the lower member of the second battery case are manufactured using a common molding die .
In the step of producing the first battery case and the second portion and the third portion of the second battery case, the second portion and the third portion are in the first portion. The second portion and the third portion are both configured as separate parts from the first portion, covering the openings at both ends in the one direction, and the second portion and the second portion of the first battery case. The third portion has the same shape and size as the second portion and the third portion of the second battery case, respectively, and the second portion and the second portion of the first battery case, respectively. The third part is a step of being manufactured by using a molding mold common to the second part and the third part of the second battery case.
A manufacturing method that comprises. The manufacturing method according to claim 1.
In the step of manufacturing the first battery case and the first portion of the second battery case, the upper member of the first battery case and the upper member of the second battery case are commonly molded. A manufacturing method in which the lower member of the first battery case and the lower member of the second battery case are manufactured using a common mold. The manufacturing method according to claim 1 or 2.
For each of the first battery case and the second battery case ,
Those above the battery casing second portion and said a third mutually the size and shape same site, manufacturing process. The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The upper member of the first battery case and the second battery case is a plate-shaped member having a U-shaped or hat-shaped cross section orthogonal to the one direction.
The manufacturing method, wherein the lower member of the first battery case and the second battery case is a flat plate-shaped member.

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