Battery Housing With Valve Device, Battery and Motor Vehicle

Abstract

A battery housing includes a valve device for pressure equalization and for letting out a hot gas of a battery cell. The valve device has a valve seat in the form of a gas release opening in a housing wall of the battery housing and a valve body. The valve body closes the gas release opening when in a closed position, can be moved by a pressure-difference-induced internal pressure increase into a first open position in which the valve body reversibly opens the gas release opening to provide pressure equalization, and can be moved by a hot-gas-induced internal pressure increase into a second open position in which the valve body irreversibly opens the gas release opening to let out the hot gas.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A battery housing for a battery of a motor vehicle, which is configured to receive at least one battery cell of the battery, the battery housing comprising: a valve apparatus for equalizing pressure in an event of a pressure difference between an interior space of the battery housing and a surrounding area of the battery housing and for discharging a hot gas, which is released into the interior space, of the at least one battery cell into the surrounding area of the battery housing, wherein: the valve apparatus has a valve seat, in a form of a degassing opening in a housing wall of the battery housing, and a valve body, and the valve body closes the degassing opening in a closed position, is movable into a first open position, in which the valve body reversibly opens up the degassing opening in order to provide the pressure equalization, by way of an internal pressure increase resulting from a pressure difference, and is movable into a second open position, in which the valve body irreversibly opens up the degassing opening in order to discharge the hot gas, by way of an internal pressure increase resulting from the hot gas.

12. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein: the valve body is movable into the first open position if the internal pressure exceeds a first threshold value and falls below a second threshold value, and is movable back into the closed position if the internal pressure falls below the first threshold value again, and the valve body is movable into the second open position and fixed at the second open position if the internal pressure exceeds the second threshold value.

13. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein the valve apparatus is in a form of a disk valve apparatus and has a valve body in a form of a cap-like sealing disk, which is arranged on an outer side of the housing wall overlapping the degassing opening.

14. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein the valve apparatus has a resetting device, which is configured to permit the valve body to be raised with respect to the housing wall, as a result of the internal pressure increase resulting from a pressure difference, from the closed position into the first open position, with a result that the valve body opens up the degassing opening, and, after the internal pressure increase resulting from the pressure difference has been reduced, to provide a lowering of the valve body from the first open position back into the closed position with respect to the housing wall, with a result that the valve body seals the degassing opening again.

15. The battery housing according to claim 14, wherein the resetting device comprises a spring, by way of which the valve body is fastened to the housing wall.

16. The battery housing according to claim 11, wherein the valve apparatus comprises a fixing device configured to fix the valve body, which has been raised into the second open position by way of the internal pressure increase resulting from the hot gas, in the second open position in order to discharge the hot gas.

17. The battery housing according to claim 16, wherein: the fixing device is a snap connection device, and the valve body and the housing wall have mutually corresponding connecting elements, which snap into one another as soon as the valve body has moved into the second open position.

18. The battery housing according to claim 17, wherein: at least one first connecting element of the connecting elements is in a form of an elastic snap hook element, and at least one second connecting element of the connecting elements is in a form of a rigid locking element with an undercut.

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 receive the at least one battery cell.

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

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a battery housing for a battery of a motor vehicle with a valve apparatus in a closed position.

[0020] FIG. 2 shows the battery housing according to FIG. 1 with the valve apparatus in a first open position.

[0021] FIG. 3 shows the battery housing according to FIG. 1 with the valve apparatus in a second open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In the figures, elements that are the same or have the same function 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 space 3 for receiving battery cells, not shown here, of the battery. A valve apparatus 4, which is designed to provide an internal pressure reduction of an internal pressure in the internal space 3 of the battery housing 1, is arranged in at least one housing wall 2. In addition, the valve apparatus 4 has a valve seat in the form of a degassing opening 5, which is arranged in one of the housing walls 2. Moreover, the valve apparatus 4 has a valve body 6, which in FIG. 1 is shown in a closed position and seals the degassing opening 5. The valve body 6 is in this instance in the form of a cap-like sealing disk 7 which is arranged on an outer side 8 of the housing wall 2 and in the closed position covers or seals the degassing opening 5, in particular in a gas-tight manner.

[0024] The valve apparatus 4 moreover has a resetting device 9 in the form of a spring 10 and a fixing device 11. The valve body 6 can be moved between the closed position and a first open position, as is shown in FIG. 2, by way of the resetting device 9. In the process, the valve body 6 is moved out of the closed position into the first open position as a result of an internal pressure increase, which results from a pressure difference between the interior space 3 and a surrounding area 12 of the battery housing 1. In this respect, the internal pressure for providing the first open position is between a first threshold value and a second threshold value. To provide the first open position, the valve body 6 is raised with respect to the housing wall 2, and therefore moved away from the degassing opening 5, as a result of the increasing internal pressure counter to a resetting force of the resetting device 9. As a result, it opens up the degassing opening 5 temporarily or reversibly, with the result that it is possible to equalize the pressure between the interior space 3 and the surrounding area 12. As soon as the elevated internal pressure has been reduced and the internal pressure falls below the first threshold value again, the resetting device 9 draws the valve body 6 back to the housing wall 2 and presses it onto the degassing opening 5 again. The valve body 6 is then in the closed position again.

[0025] If the internal pressure increase is an internal pressure increase resulting from a hot gas, which was caused by hot gas of at least one battery cell in the interior space 3 and as a result of which the internal pressure exceeds the second threshold value, the valve body 6 is moved beyond the first open position into a second open position and fixed there by way of the fixing device 11. The second open position is shown in FIG. 3. In this instance, the fixing device 11 is a snap connection device, which comprises two connecting elements 13, 14. Here, one first connecting element 13 is an elastic snap hook 15, which in this instance is arranged on the housing wall 2. One second connecting element 14 is a locking element in the form of an undercut 16, which is arranged on the valve body 6, in this instance on a collar-like region of the cap-like sealing disk 7. So long as the internal pressure is between the first and the second threshold value, a snap hook head 17 of the snap hook 15 glides along the valve body 6, without becoming arranged in the undercut 16 in the process. However, as soon as the internal pressure exceeds the second threshold value, the valve body 6 is raised far enough with respect to the housing wall 2 that the snap hook head 17 becomes arranged in the undercut 16. As a result, the connecting elements 13, 14 snap or latch into one another and fix the valve body 6 in the second open position. In this second open position, the hot gas can escape from the interior space 3 into the surrounding area 12.