Battery Cell Assembly, Battery, and Motor Vehicle

Abstract

A battery cell assembly includes a frame and multiple battery cells which are held in cell-individual recesses of the frame so as to be aligned parallel to one another. A respective gap filler is arranged between lateral surfaces of the battery cells and the recess inner faces facing the lateral surfaces, said gap filler connecting the battery cells and the frame together. The frame is made of a solid, dimensionally stable, and thermally conductive material, and the gap filler is made of a permanently deformable thermally conductive material. Furthermore, the inner faces of the recesses extend in the vertical direction of the battery cells over the entire length thereof.

Claims

1. -10. (canceled)

11. A battery cell assembly, comprising: a frame; and a plurality of battery cells, each of which has two end sides which are situated opposite one another in a vertical direction and are connected by at least one lateral surface which extends in the vertical direction, wherein: the battery cells are held in cell-specific recesses of the frame with vertical directions which are oriented at least substantially parallel to one another, a respective gap filler, which connects the battery cells and the frame to one another, is arranged between the lateral surfaces and the inner sides of the recesses, the inner sides of the recesses face the lateral surfaces, the frame is formed from a solid, dimensionally stable and thermally conductive material for controlling the temperature of the battery cells, the inner sides of the recesses extend at least substantially over an entire length of the lateral surfaces of the battery cells in the vertical direction, and the gap filler is formed from a permanently deformable thermally conductive material.

12. The battery cell assembly according to claim 11, wherein: the gap filler is formed from a material whose thermal conductivity decreases as a temperature increases.

13. The battery cell assembly according to claim 11, wherein: the recesses are closed by cover elements on both sides in the vertical direction, and the gap filler is formed from a material with an evaporation temperature of between 80° C. and 120° C.

14. The battery cell assembly according to claim 11, wherein: a first electrical pole of each battery cell is arranged at one of the end sides, the gap filler and the frame are formed from an electrically conductive material, and a respective second electrical pole of each battery cell is electrically contacted by the gap filler.

15. The battery cell assembly according to claim 14, wherein: the battery cell assembly has a first cell block and a second cell block which are each composed of a plurality of the battery cells, the first electrical poles of the battery cells are electrically connected to one another by a cell connector of the respective cell block and accommodated in a respective frame of the cell block, the frames of the cell blocks are spaced apart from one another by an electrical insulator, and the cell connector of the first cell block is electrically connected to the frame of the second cell block via a connecting line, so that the cell blocks are electrically interconnected in series.

16. The battery cell assembly according to claim 11, wherein: the gap filler is formed from an electrically insulating material, a respective first electrical pole of the battery cells is arranged at one of the end sides, and a respective second electrical pole of the battery cells is arranged at a respectively opposite end side and/or is electrically connected to the respectively opposite end side by a contacting device which is guided through the respective gap filler.

17. The battery cell assembly according to claim 11, wherein: a plurality of dimensionally stable spacers are arranged between each of the battery cells and the inner wall of the respective recess, which inner wall surrounds the battery cells, and the spacers are arranged in a manner distributed in a circumferential direction of the respective battery cell and are spaced apart from one another by regions which are filled with the gap filler.

18. The battery cell assembly according to claim 17, wherein the spacers are thermally conductive.

19. The battery cell assembly according to claim 17, wherein: the spacers are formed from an electrically conductive material and contact an electrical pole of the respective battery cell.

20. A battery comprising: a housing; and at least one battery cell assembly according to claim 11, wherein the at least one battery cell assembly is arranged in the housing.

21. The battery cell assembly according to claim 20, wherein the battery is a traction batter for a motor vehicle.

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

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a detail of a battery cell assembly.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a schematic, partially sectioned perspective view of the battery cell assembly.

[0028] FIG. 3 shows a schematic plan view of a detail of a battery cell assembly with a plurality of cell blocks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Identical and functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference signs in the figures.

[0030] It is known that batteries or rechargeable battery cells generate heat when subjected to loading and therefore cooling is often required in order to achieve stable and safe operation. With conventional designs of batteries or rechargeable batteries with a plurality of individual cells, a cell intermediate space is often largely thermally insulating and either air-filled or filled with a thermally insulating material. Therefore, typically only a small portion of the total surface of the individual cells is disadvantageously available for dissipating heat. In alternative designs, the cell intermediate space is flooded with a thermally conductive and electrically insulating liquid, this potentially resulting in a high level of expenditure for sealing. In addition, provision of suitable corresponding immersion coolant is greatly limited since such a coolant should not be combustible, has to have a high thermal conductivity, has to be electrically insulating and must not cause corrosion of the individual cells.

[0031] Against this background, FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a detail of a battery cell assembly 10 with improved heat management. Here, the battery cell assembly 10 has a frame 12 which functions as a cell holder and has a plurality of recesses 14. A battery cell 16 of the battery cell assembly 10 is accommodated in each of the recesses 14. Here, the battery cells 16 are cylindrical cells with a cylindrical lateral surface which connects an end side 18, shown here, to an opposite second end side. In the present case, a first pole 20 for electrically contacting the battery cells 16 is arranged at each end side 18 of the battery cells 16.

[0032] In the present case, the recesses 14, in the radial direction of the battery cells 16, are larger than the battery cells, that is to say have a larger diameter than the battery cells 16. As a result, there is in each case a spacing between one of the battery cells 16 and an inner side or inner wall of the respective recess 14, which inner side or inner wall faces the battery cells. Here, a plurality of spacers 22 are arranged in this spacing, the battery cells 16 being centered and fixed in the respective recess 14 by the spacers. A remainder of the spacing remaining between the spacers 22, that is to say a portion of the recesses 14 which is not filled either by the spacers 22 or by the battery cells 16, is here filled by a gap filler 24 composed of a permanently deformable, that is to say non-curing, thermally conductive material, for example a cooling gel or a thermally conductive paste.

[0033] Heat can be conducted from the battery cells 16 into the frame 12 by the gap filler 24. Here, the frame 12 is likewise manufactured from a thermally conductive but solid or dimensionally stable material.

[0034] For better illustration, FIG. 2 shows a schematic, partially sectioned perspective view of a detail of the battery cell assembly 10. It can be seen here that the recesses 14 at least substantially completely pass through the frame 12 in a direction of vertical or longitudinal extent of the battery cells 16. Similarly, the spacers 22 extend at least substantially over the entire height of the recesses 14 or the battery cells 16.

[0035] A basic principle of the battery cell assembly 10 therefore lies in the use of a thermally conductive and solid or mechanically stable material for the frame 12 and a honeycomb-like structure of the frame 12 into which the battery cells 16 are inserted. Here, the frame 12 can be of electrically conductive configuration, for example composed of aluminum or copper or the like, or electrically insulating configuration, for example composed of aluminum oxide, aluminum nitrite or aluminum with an insulation coating or the like. Here, the gap filler 24 renders possible particularly effective heat exchange between the battery cells 16 and the frame 12 over a large surface area. The gap filler 24 can likewise be electrically conductive or electrically insulating, depending on the configuration.

[0036] FIG. 3 shows a further schematic plan view of a detail of a battery cell assembly 10 which comprises a plurality of cell blocks here. Specifically, a first cell block 26 with a first frame 28 and battery cells 16 accommodated in the frame, which battery cells form a first cell combination 30, is illustrated here by way of example. Here, the battery cells 16 are connected to one another by a first cell connector 32, which electrically connects the first poles 20 of the battery cells 16 of the first cell block 26 to one another, to form the first cell combination 30. Here, a second cell block 34, which is constructed analogously to the first cell block 26, is illustrated spaced apart from the first cell block 26. The second cell block 34 accordingly has a dedicated second frame 36 and a plurality of battery cells 16, the first poles 20 of the battery cells being electrically connected to one another by a second cell connector 38 to form a second cell combination 40.

[0037] For reasons of clarity, only some of the battery cells 16 and the first poles 20 are identified here.

[0038] The first cell block 26 and the second cell block 34 are spaced apart from one another by an electrical insulator 42 here.

[0039] Here, the first cell connector 32 is electrically connected to the second frame 36 via a connecting line 44. Here, the frames 28, 36 are of electrically conductive design and, by way of the respective gap fillers 24, not shown here, establish electrical contact with the respective other second poles, that is to say second poles which are different from the first poles, of the battery cells 16 of the respective cell combination 30, 40. Here, the first cell block 26 and the second cell block 34 and therefore the cell combinations 30, 40 of the cell blocks are electrically connected to one another in series via the connecting line 44. An assembly of this kind of cell blocks which are electrically connected to one another can be extended in series and/or in parallel substantially as desired. This is indicated here by a further connecting line 46 starting from the second cell connector 38.

[0040] Each cell block 26, 34 can form, for example, a module of a broader battery. Similarly, a plurality of cell blocks 26, 34 can be combined to form a module of the larger battery or to form the battery itself.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0041] 10 Battery cell assembly [0042] 12 Frame [0043] 14 Recesses [0044] 16 Battery cells [0045] 18 End side [0046] 20 First pole [0047] 22 Spacer [0048] 24 Gap filler [0049] 26 First cell block [0050] 28 First frame [0051] 30 First cell combination [0052] 32 First cell connector [0053] 34 Second cell block [0054] 36 Second frame [0055] 38 Second cell connector [0056] 40 Second cell combination [0057] 42 Insulator [0058] 44 Connecting line [0059] 46 Further connecting line