ADJUSTABLE STRUCTURE AND STATION FOR BATTERY CHARGING AND COOLING

Abstract

An adjustable structure for battery cooling having a holding frame (15) for holding at least one battery module, with the holding frame (15) defining a frame plane with a plane normal vector (N1). A cooling plate (16) for battery cooling is provided having at least one cooling surface (16a) with a surface normal vector (N2), and is arranged adjacent said holding frame (15). The surface normal vector (N2) extends parallel to said plane normal vector (N1). A moving mechanism (17, 18) for moving the cooling plate (16) and the holding frame (15) relative to one another in a direction parallel or anti-parallel to the plane normal vector (N1) and to the surface normal vector (N2) is provided and holds cooling plate (16) against the holding frame (15) and/or against a battery module that is held by the holding frame (15).

Claims

1. An adjustable structure for battery cooling, comprising: a holding frame (15, 15′) configured to hold at least one battery module (14), said holding frame (15, 15′) defining a frame plane (E1) with a plane normal vector (N1); a cooling plate (16) for battery cooling, said cooling plate (16) having at least one cooling surface (16a) with a surface normal vector (N2), said cooling plate (16) being arranged adjacent said holding frame (15,15′), and said surface normal (N2) vector extending parallel to said plane normal vector (N1); and a moving mechanism (17, 18) configured to move said cooling plate (16) and said holding frame (15, 15′) relative to one another in a direction parallel or anti-parallel to said plane normal vector (N1) and to said surface normal vector (N2) and for holding said cooling plate (16) against at least one of said holding frame (15, 15′) or one said battery module (14) that is held by said holding frame (15, 15′).

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein said holding frame (15, 15′) and said cooling plate (16) are movably arranged within an external frame assembly (10).

3. The structure of claim 1, further comprising: the holding frame comprising a plurality of holding frames (15, 15′) extending parallel to each other, each said holding frame (15, 15′) being configured to hold at least one of the battery modules (14); the cooling plate comprises a plurality of cooling plates (16) extending parallel to each other, each of said cooling plates (16) being arranged on a respective one of the holding frames (15, 15′); said moving mechanism (17, 18) being configured to move at least one of said cooling plates (16) or said holding frames (15, 15′) relative to each other in a direction parallel to said surface normal vector (N2) to change a distance between neighbouring ones of at least one of said cooling plates (16) or neighbouring ones of said holding frames (15, 15′).

4. The structure of any of claim 1, wherein said holding frame (15, 15′) is configured for slidably inserting therein a battery module (14) in a direction transverse to said plane normal vector (N1), said holding frame (15, 15′) having a C-shape or a U-shape, so that the battery module (14) is insertable between parallel free legs of said C-shape or U-shape of the holding frame (15, 15′).

5. The structure of claim 1, wherein said cooling plate (16) has an internal flow conduit for a fluid cooling medium or is equipped with a flow conduit for a fluid cooling medium on the at least one cooling surface (16a) facing said holding frame (15, 15′).

6. The structure of claim 3, wherein said moving mechanism (17, 18) is configured to move a first number of said holding frames (15) to one side away from a fixed central holding frame (15′) among said plurality of holding frames (15, 15′) and to move a second number of said holding frames (15) to another side away from said fixed central holding frame (15′) among said plurality of holding frames (15, 15′), while not moving said central holding frame (15′).

7. The structure of claim 3, wherein said moving mechanism (17, 18) comprises a screw drive or spindle drive (17) having a driving motor and a lead screw or spindle (18), said holding frames (15) being drive-coupled to said lead screw or spindle (18), and said lead screw or spindle (18) has a first portion with a right-hand thread and a second portion with a left-hand thread; and a central one of said holding frames (15′) is located on said lead screw or spindle (18) in a region between said first portion and said second portion.

8. The structure of claim 1, wherein said cooling plate (16) is attached to said holding frame (15, 15′) by a spring mechanism (22) that is configured for separating said cooling plate (16) from said holding frame (15, 15′) in a disengaged state of said moving mechanism (17, 18), and in said disengaged state said cooling plate (16) is not held against said holding frame (15, 15′) and/or against a battery module (14) that is held by said holding frame (15, 15′).

9. The structure of claim 3, wherein respective neighbouring ones of the holding frames (15, 15′) are interconnected by interconnecting means (21) that have a hysteresis effect concerning a mechanical coupling between said neighbouring holding frames (15, 15′), such that when one of said neighbouring holding frames (15) is moved by the moving mechanism (17, 18), the other one of said neighbouring holding frames (15) will follow a corresponding movement with a time delay; and said neighbouring holding frames (15, 15′) are interconnected by at least one flexible element having some slack in a direction parallel to said surface normal vectors (N1, N2) or by at least one lug (21) having an elongated hole (23), which hole (23) is elongated in a direction parallel to said surface normal vectors (N1, N2).

10. The structure of claim 9, wherein at least one said holding frame (15) of two outermost ones of the holding frames (15) is connected to a respective outer plate (19, 20) by at least one of said interconnecting means (21); and the moving mechanism (17, 18) directly acts on said outer plate (19, 20).

11. The structure of claim 1, further comprising at least one electrical connector (26) for charging of batteries (14), said electrical connector (26) being configured as a flexible cable connector (26, 27).

12. The structure of claim 1, wherein said holding frame (15, 15′) is arranged on at least one guiding rail (13), said at least one guiding rail (13) being attached to an external frame assembly.

13. A battery charging station, comprising: at least one said structure as claimed in claim 1; and at least one battery module (14); wherein said plane normal vector (N1) of the holding frame (15, 15′) extends parallel to opposite faces of said battery module (14) when the battery module is held by said holding frame (15, 15′); wherein said cooling plate (16) is held against said battery module (14) when the battery module is held by said holding frame (15, 15′) and when the moving mechanism (17, 18) is in an engaged state; and wherein said battery module (14) is free for withdrawal from said structure when the moving mechanism (17, 18) is in a disengaged state, in which disengaged state said cooling plate (16) is not held against said holding frame (15, 15′) and/or against a battery module (14) that is held by said holding frame (15, 15′).

14. The battery charging station of claim 13, further comprising: said cooling plate (16) including an internal flow conduit for a fluid cooling medium or being equipped with a flow conduit for a fluid cooling medium on the at least one cooling surface (16a) facing said holding frame (15, 15′); and a reservoir (29) of cooling fluid in fluid connection with the internal flow conduit or the flow conduit.

15. The battery charging station of claim 13, wherein the at least one battery module (14) has a complementary engaging structure, said complementary engaging structure being complementary to an engaging structure of said holding frame (15, 15′).

16. The battery charging station of claim 13, wherein said holding frames (15, 15′), are C-shaped holding frames and have parallel free legs, and said complementary engaging structure engages between said parallel free legs.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0058] Further features and their advantages can be gathered from the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0059] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a frame assembly used in connection with the present invention;

[0060] FIG. 2 shows the frame assembly of FIG. 1 with further elements of the structure according to the invention;

[0061] FIG. 3 shows a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 2;

[0062] FIG. 4 shows a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 2;

[0063] FIG. 5 shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 2;

[0064] FIG. 6 shows a section along the line B4-B4 in FIG. 3; and

[0065] FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the battery charging station according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] FIG. 1 shows a frame assembly 10 as can be used in one embodiment of the structure according to the invention. The frame assembly 10 has two stories or levels 11, 12 which can be used for arranging battery modules. On each of the levels 11, 12, four guiding rails 13 are arranged, each extending parallel to each other, whereby two guiding rails 13 are always arranged vertically opposite and facing each other.

[0067] The invention is by no means limited to the frame arrangement 10 shown, but may deviate therefrom, in particular with regard to the number of levels 11, 12 and/or the number of guiding rails 13.

[0068] FIG. 2 shows the frame assembly 10 of FIG. 1, in which a plurality of battery modules 14 are arranged on each level 11, 12, which will be discussed in more detail below. The battery modules 14 are each arranged in a holding frame 15, to which a cooling plate is attached at reference 16. For reasons of clarity, this is only explicitly designated for one battery module 14 in FIG. 2. The holding frames 15 are movably mounted on the guiding rails 13, i.e., displaceable in the direction of the guiding rails 13. Reference sign 17 shows a spindle drive which cooperates with a spindle 18 to move the battery modules 14 or the holding frames 15 with the cooling plates 16 along the guiding rails 13. In other words: spindle drive 17 and spindle 18 form a moving mechanism for moving said cooling plates 16 and said holding frames 15 relative to one another. For this purpose, the spindle drive 17 acts via the spindle 18 on a respective outer moving plate 19, 20, which are each arranged endwise with respect to the arrangement of the battery modules 14. The spindle 18 is preferably a spindle with two opposing threaded portions, so that the moving plate 19 is movable in the opposite direction to the moving plate 20.

[0069] The holding frames 15 are connected to each other between adjacent holding frames 15 and to the movement plates 19, 20 via lugs 21, which will also be discussed in more detail below. In this way, the movement can be transferred from the movement plates 19, 20 first to the immediately adjacent holding frames 15 and then from there successively to all other holding frames 15. In this way, the holding frames 15 and with them the cooling plates 16 can be moved away from each other or towards each other along the guiding rails 13—depending on the direction of rotation of the spindle drive 17—in order to bring the cooling plates 16 into contact with the battery modules 14 for cooling purposes or to separate them from the battery modules 14 for removal thereof.

[0070] FIG. 3 shows a front view of one plane of the arrangement in FIG. 2, looking transversely to the guiding rails 13. It is clearly visible that the individual holding frames 15 can—in principle—be designed as open frames which have only an upper holding profile 15.1 and a lower holding profile 15.2. Alternatively, the holding frames 15 can also be designed as C-frames or U-frames and be closed at one end, which is not shown in the drawing. Please note that in a design with open holding frames 15 as mentioned above, a second spindle on the top rails would be necessary for moving the upper holding profiles 15.1, which is not shown in the figures. The profiling of the retaining profiles 15.1, 15.2 will be discussed in more detail below.

[0071] The upper retaining profile 15.1 and the lower retaining profile 15.2 are each movably connected to two of the guiding rails 13. The holding profiles 15.1, 15.2 span a first plane (frame plane) E1 with a (frame) normal vector N1. A cooling plate 16 is arranged parallel to this first plane E1 and defines—with its cooling surface 16a—a second (surface) plane E2 with a (surface) normal vector N2. Here, the normal vectors N1 and N2 extend parallel to each other. The movement mediated by the spindle drive 17 is such that the holding frames 15 and the cooling plates 16 move in the direction of the normal vectors N1 and N2 or in the opposite direction towards or away from each other, depending on the direction of rotation of the spindle drive 17 and on the spindle thread. In order for the cooling plates 16 to also move away from the holding frames 15 in this context, each of the cooling plates 16 is connected to the associated holding frames 15 via a spring mechanism 22, so that when the holding frames 15 move away from each other, the respective cooling plate 16 is also spaced apart from the associated holding frame 15, as shown in FIG. 3.

[0072] No battery modules are shown in FIG. 3.

[0073] In the top view according to FIG. 4 (cf. line A4-A4 in FIG. 3), it can be seen in particular that the central holding frame with reference sign 15′ is designed to be fixed and does not move along the guiding rails 13 when the spindle drive 17 is actuated. First, as already described, the moving plates 19, 20 move outwards on the guiding rails 13 and in doing so successively take the holding frame 15 with them from the outside inwards via the lugs 21. Each lug 21 is firmly connected at one end to a holding frame 15 and has an elongated hole 23 at its other end, which acts to collect with a bolt 24 on an adjacent holding frame 15. Due to the elongated hole 23, there is a certain delay or hysteresis effect.

[0074] When the spindle drive 17 is actuated in reverse, the holding frames 15 move inwards again from both sides towards the fixed holding frame 15′, pressing the cooling plates 16 against the respective holding frame 15 or 15′ against the spring action (at 22). If a (cuboid) battery module (not shown here) is now arranged in each of the holding frames 15, 15′, its side walls will come into contact with the cooling plate 16 and in this way experience a cooling effect, in particular during a charging process. For this purpose, the cooling plates 16 can either have an internal channel system for passing a cooling fluid therethrough, or they can have an external cooling channel system on their cooling surface 16a facing the holding frame 15, 15′, in particular a flexible cooling channel system.

[0075] FIG. 5 shows side view looking along the guiding rails 13. The field of view here is first on the spindle drive 17 and the moving plate 19. It can be seen that the guiding rails 13 form a load path for the arrangement of holding frames 15, 15′, cooling plates 16 and battery modules 14.

[0076] FIG. 6 shows a sectional view along the line B4-B4 in FIG. 3. Here, on the one hand, the drive spindle 18 is clearly visible. It is also clear that for each holding frame, in particular the fixed holding frame 15′ shown in FIG. 6, there can be several cooling plates 16—in this case three, which are arranged next to each other in a direction transverse to the guiding rails 13. The invention is not limited to a particular number of cooling plates 16 per holding frame. In deviation from the illustration, it is also possible to provide associated cooling plates 16 on both sides of a holding frame 15, which can come into contact with a battery module 14 from both sides.

[0077] The use of three (or any other number of) cooling plates 16 can be advantageous, because a preferred internal design may group the battery cells within the individual battery modules 14 in three (or any other number of) main portions, too. It can then make a difference in cooling performance whether one supplies each of the cooling plates 16 separately with a coolant fluid (parallel connection), or in series. For instance, in the case of three cooling plates 16, each cooling plate 16 may receive 10 l/min of volume flow, which flow from the cooling plate 16 back to a corresponding tank, or a volume flow of 30 l/min may flow through the first cooling plate 16, then the second, and so forth. In summary, one can use this feature for to optimize the cooling performance. Furthermore, manufacturing of such cooling plates 16 can be a factor, since it can be more difficult to find a supplier for bigger cooling plates 16.

[0078] Finally, FIG. 7 shows further components according to embodiments of the present invention, starting from a representation as in FIG. 3.

[0079] In particular, reference sign 14 now explicitly shows an example of a battery module that is designed approximately in the manner of a flat parallelepiped (or cuboid). At those end faces which face the retaining profile 15.1 or 15.2, the battery module 14 has an approximately M-shaped cross-section which interacts positively with an approximately V-shaped cross-section of the retaining profiles 15.1, 15.2, so that the battery module 14 can be pushed into the retaining frame 15 transversely to the guiding rails 13, but is held securely in the retaining frame 15 transversely thereto.

[0080] An electric charger for charging the battery module 14 is shown schematically at reference sign 25. An electrical connector (plug) 26 is connected to the charger 25 via a flexible cable 27, which is designed to cooperate with an electrical connection device (power socket) 28 on each holding frame 15, which is only explicitly shown for one holding frame 15 in FIG. 7. In an alternative embodiment, the power socket 28 can constitute a part of battery module 14 and can thus be completely independent from holding frame 15. When the electrical connector 26 is plugged into the electrical connection device 28 according to the double arrow P1, the battery module 14 accommodated in the holding frame 15 can be charged. There can be more than one connector (cf. drawing). If the cooling plates 16 make contact with lateral faces of said battery modules 14, which is not shown in FIG. 7 (which shows a disengaged state), the battery modules 14 can be cooled during the charging process.

[0081] Reference sign 29 also shows a reservoir for a cooling fluid together with corresponding conveying means (pump) 30, so that a cooling fluid can be supplied to the cooling plate 16 and also discharged from there. Advantageously, the corresponding circuit (compare the dashed arrows in FIG. 7) also includes a heat exchanger to recycle the cooling fluid, i.e., the heat exchanger cools down the cooling or coolant fluid to an intended inlet temperature (T_in) at the cooling plate 16 by dissipating waste heat (through a fan or the like), which is not explicitly shown in FIG. 7.

[0082] Advantageously, said circuit serves all cooling plates 16 with cooling fluid, while charger 25 can be used to charge all batteries 14 simultaneously.