Battery Housing With a Protective Cap, Battery and Motor Vehicle

Abstract

A battery housing includes at least one membrane-like degassing element which is designed to yield when a hot gas of the at least one battery cell is released into an interior of the battery housing, and in so doing to open up a degassing opening in the housing wall for discharging the hot gas from the interior to an area surrounding the battery housing, and at least one protective cap which, for protecting the at least one degassing element against environmental influences, is arranged on an outer side of the housing wall in a manner overlapping the at least one degassing element and which is fastened to the housing wall by way of a holding device, wherein the holding device is designed to yield, and to completely release the protective cap from the degassing opening, when the hot gas is discharged via the at least one degassing element.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A battery housing for a battery of a motor vehicle, the battery housing being configured to accommodate at least one battery cell of the battery, the battery housing comprising: at least one membrane-like degassing element which is arranged on a housing wall of the battery housing and is configured to yield when a hot gas of the at least one battery cell is released into an interior of the battery housing, and in so doing to open up a degassing opening in the housing wall for discharging the hot gas from the interior of the battery housing to a surrounding environment of the battery housing, and at least one protective cap which, for protecting the at least one degassing element against environmental influences, is arranged on an outer side of the housing wall in a manner overlapping the at least one degassing element and which is fastened to the housing wall by a holding device, wherein the holding device is configured to yield, and to completely release the protective cap from the degassing opening, when the hot gas is discharged via the at least one degassing element.

12. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein: the degassing element is breathable for pressure equalization between the interior of the battery housing and the surrounding environment of the battery housing, and the protective cap is fastened to the housing wall air-permeably by the holding device.

13. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein the holding device is further configured to hold the at least one degassing element on the housing wall.

14. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein the holding device is further configured to fasten the protective cap to the outer side of the housing wall by a form-fitting connection.

15. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein: the holding device is further configured to fasten the protective cap to the outer side of the housing wall by a snap-fit connection, and the protective cap and the outer side of the housing wall have connection elements that correspond to one another.

16. The battery housing according to claim 15, wherein: at least one first connection element of the connection elements is formed as an elastic snap-fit hook element, and at least one second connection element of the connection elements is formed as a rigid locking element with an undercut.

17. The battery housing according to claim 16, wherein: the protective cap has a top face and a collar that runs peripherally around the top face at least in some regions, the at least one second connection element is arranged inwardly of the peripheral collar, on an inner side of the top face facing the degassing element, and the at least one first connection element is arranged on the outer side of the housing wall.

18. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein the protective cap is additionally fastened to the housing wall by a catch device, which is configured to hold the protective cap on the battery housing away from the degassing opening when the protective cap releases as the hot gas exits the degassing opening.

19. A battery for a motor vehicle, the battery comprising: at least one battery cell, and the battery housing according to claim 11, wherein the battery housing is configured to accommodate the at least one battery cell.

20. A motor vehicle comprising the battery according to claim 19.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a battery housing for a battery of a motor vehicle in the normal scenario.

[0021] FIG. 2 shows the battery housing according to FIG. 1 in a fault scenario.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In the figures, like and functionally like elements are provided with the same reference signs.

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a battery housing 1 for a battery of a motor vehicle. The battery housing 1 has housing walls 2, which enclose an interior 3 for receiving battery cells (not shown here) of the battery. A degassing opening 4 is arranged in at least one housing wall 2, and hot gas that collects in the interior 3 in a fault scenario of at least one battery cell can escape through the degassing opening into a surrounding environment 5 of the battery. The degassing opening 4 is covered by a membrane-like degassing element 6. In the normal scenario, the degassing element 6 closes the battery housing 1 in the absence of a fault. The degassing element 6 is formed in particular as a breathable, air-permeable membrane, which allows an exchange of air between the interior 3 and surrounding environment 5 for pressure equalization. In a fault scenario, this membrane can tear and thus open up the degassing opening 4.

[0024] In order to prevent the degassing element 6 from being destroyed by ambient influences, the battery housing 1 has a protective cap 7, which covers the degassing element 6. The protective cap 7 is to this end fastened to an outer side of the housing wall 2 via a holding device 8 and is arranged overlapping the degassing element 6. The holding device 8 provides a connection between the housing wall 2 and the protective cap 7, the connection being releasable as a result of the discharge of the hot gas. To this end, the holding device 8 has at least one first connection element 9 on the housing wall 2 and at least one second connection element 10 on the protective cap 7. The connection elements 9, 10 form in particular a form-fitting connection, which is formed here as a snap-fit connection 11.

[0025] To this end, the at least one first connection element 9 is formed here as an elastic snap-fit hook element 12, which is arranged on the housing wall 2. The snap-fit hook elements 12 have an angled snap-fit hook head 13. The at least one second connection element 10 is formed here as a rigid locking element 14 with an undercut 15. The locking elements 14 are formed here in one part with the protective cap 7, which has a top face 16 and a collar 17. The locking elements 14 are arranged inwardly of the collar 17, on the top face 16 protruding in the direction of the housing wall 2. However, it could also be that the first connection elements 9 are formed as the rigid locking elements 14 and the second connection elements 10 are formed as the elastic snap-fit hook elements 12. The snap-fit hook head 13 is arranged in this undercut 15. Here, the collar 17 surrounds the interconnected connection elements 9, 10. The snap-fit hook elements 12 are arranged here on a carrier 18 of the holding device 8, the carrier being arranged on the outer side of the housing wall 2 and carrying here the degassing element 6 at the same time.

[0026] If the hot gas, as shown in FIG. 2, now escapes via the degassing opening 4 opened up by the burst degassing element 6 and exerts a pressure 19 on the protective cap 7, the connection between the protective cap 7 and the housing wall 2 thus releases, and the protective cap 7 is fully removed from the degassing opening 4. The hot has can thus escape reliably from the interior 3 into the surrounding environment 5. The connection provided by the holding device 8 is thus releasable by the hot gas, but not by ambient influences, and therefore the protective cap 7 on the one hand reliably allows the discharge of hot gas and on the other hand reliably protects the degassing element 6 against ambient influences.