HEATABLE BATTERY

Abstract

A battery includes a housing and at least one battery cell, which has at least one anode and one cathode as electrodes and a separator layer, which separates the anode and the cathode from one another. The battery also has at least one heating element, which is arranged in a manner connected to the battery cell in the housing in a thermally conductive manner. The heating element includes at least one electrically conductive polymer material and an electrical first conductor and an electrical second conductor. The electrical conductors are arranged in electrical conductive contact with the polymer material and are arranged at a distance from one another, with the result that electrical power can be applied to the electrically conductive polymer material via the at least two conductors.

Claims

1. A battery at least comprising a housing and at least one battery cell which is arranged therein and has at least one anode and one cathode as electrodes and a separator layer which separates the anode and the cathode from one another, wherein the battery additionally has at least one heating element which is arranged in a manner connected to the battery cell in the housing in a thermally conductive manner, wherein the heating element comprises at least one electrically conductive polymer material and an electrical first conductor and an electrical second conductor, wherein the electrical conductors are arranged in electrical conductive contact with the polymer material and are arranged at a distance from one another, with the result that electrical power can be applied to the electrically conductive polymer material via the at least two conductors.

2. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heating element is arranged inside a wall of the housing or on the wall of the housing.

3. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heating element is arranged on or in the battery cell.

4. The battery according to claim 3, wherein the heating element is arranged as an additional heating layer in the battery cell.

5. The battery according to claim 4, wherein the heating layer is in the form of a separator layer or is arranged directly adjacent to the separator layer.

6. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the battery cell has a cell housing which delimits the electrodes and the separator layer with respect to an environment, wherein the at least one anode is connected to an electrical first contact, the at least one cathode is connected to an electrical second contact, the first conductor is connected to an electrical third contact and the second conductor is connected to an electrical fourth contact in an electrically conductive manner, wherein the contacts extend through the cell housing into the environment.

7. The battery according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of battery cells are arranged in the housing, wherein the at least one heating element is arranged at least between two battery cells.

8. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heating element is flat and has a low material thickness, wherein the material thickness is between 100 m and 2000 m.

9. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the polymer material has a PTC property and a switching temperature in a range between 20 and 150 degrees Celsius.

10. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the at least one heating element in the battery has a 3-D shape.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0078] The invention and the technical environment are explained in more detail below on the basis of the accompanying figures. It should be pointed out that the invention is not intended to be restricted by the exemplary embodiments cited. In particular, unless explicitly described otherwise, it is also possible to extract partial aspects of the substantive matter explained in the figures and to combine them with other parts and knowledge from the present description. In particular, it should be pointed out that the figures and, in particular, the proportions illustrated are only schematic. In the figures:

[0079] FIG. 1: shows a perspective view of an exploded illustration of a battery of a motor vehicle;

[0080] FIG. 2: shows a battery of a motor vehicle in a view from above;

[0081] FIG. 3: shows a perspective view of a battery, partially in section;

[0082] FIG. 4: shows a side view of a battery cell of the battery according to FIG. 3 in section;

[0083] FIG. 5: shows a perspective view of a further battery cell, partially in section;

[0084] FIG. 6: shows a perspective view of the further battery cell according to FIG. 5 in section;

[0085] FIG. 7: shows a side view of a battery; and

[0086] FIG. 8: shows a heating element in a view from above.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0087] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exploded illustration of a battery 1 of a motor vehicle. In addition to electronic components, for example power electronics, converters, etc., the battery 1 which comprises a plurality of battery cells 3 is illustrated here. The battery comprises a housing 2 in which a multiplicity of battery cells 3 are combined.

[0088] FIG. 2 shows a battery 1 of a motor vehicle 19 in a view from above.

[0089] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a battery 1, partially in section. FIG. 4 shows a side view of a battery cell 3 of the battery 1 according to FIG. 3 in section. FIGS. 3 and 4 are described together below.

[0090] The battery 1 comprises a housing 2 and a plurality of battery cells 3 which are arranged therein and each have a plurality of anodes 4 and cathodes 5 as electrodes and a separator layer 6 which separates the anode 4 and the cathode 5 from one another. The battery 1 additionally has a heating element 7 which is arranged in a manner connected to the battery cell 3 in the housing 2 in a thermally conductive manner.

[0091] The battery 1 illustrated here is a so-called bipolar battery in which an arrester 20 of the negative electrode of a battery cell 3 makes contact with the positive electrode of a next battery cell 3. Two battery cells 3 connected in series therefore share the arresters 20. One side of the bipolar electrode is used as an anode 4 in a battery cell 3 and the other side is used as a cathode 5 in the next battery cell 3.

[0092] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a further battery cell 3, partially in section. FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the further battery cell 3 according to FIG. 5 in section. FIGS. 5 and 6 are described together below.

[0093] The battery cell 3 has a cell housing 12 which delimits the electrodes and the separator layer 6 with respect to an environment 13. The anode 4 is connected to an electrical first contact 14 and the cathode 5 is connected to an electrical second contact 15 in an electrically conductive manner. The contacts 14, 15 extend into the cell housing 12 as so-called current collectors and make contact with the cathode 5 and the anode 4 there. The current collector of the cathode 5 is in the form of a copper body here. The current collector of the anode 4 is in the form of an aluminium body. The contacts 14, 15 extend through the cell housing 12 into the environment 13. The heating element 7 is in the form of a separator layer 6 in FIG. 6. The heating element is in the form of a cell housing 12 in FIG. 5.

[0094] FIG. 7 shows a side view of a battery 1. The battery 1 comprises a housing 2 and a plurality of battery cells 3. A heating element 7 is arranged between two battery cells 3 in each case. The heating element 7 is flat and has a material thickness 18.

[0095] FIG. 8 shows a heating element 7 in a view from above. The heating element 7 comprises an electrically conductive polymer material 8 and an electrical first conductor 9 and an electrical second conductor 10, wherein the electrical conductors 9, 10 are arranged in electrical conductive contact with the polymer material 8 and at a distance 20 from one another, with the result that electrical power can be applied to the electrically conductive polymer material 8 via the at least two conductors 9, 10.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0096] 1 Battery [0097] 2 Housing [0098] 3 Battery cell [0099] 4 Anode [0100] 5 Cathode [0101] 6 Separator layer [0102] 7 Heating element [0103] 8 Polymer material [0104] 9 First conductor [0105] 10 Second conductor [0106] 11 Wall [0107] 12 Cell housing [0108] 13 Environment [0109] 14 First contact [0110] 15 Second contact [0111] 16 Third contact [0112] 17 Fourth contact [0113] 18 Material thickness [0114] 19 Motor vehicle [0115] 20 Arrester [0116] 21 Distance