Battery Module Including Heat-Shrinkable Tube

{
  "publication_number": "US2020388805A1",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "A1",
  "title": "Battery Module Including Heat-Shrinkable Tube",
  "abstract": "A battery module having excellent cooling efficiency and allowing easy recycling of inner components at disposal applies a heat-shrinkable tube serving as a module housing and a heatsink to the battery module. The battery module includes a cell assembly including a plurality of pouch-type secondary batteries having electrode leads formed to protrude in a front and rear direction and stacked on each other in a left and right direction; a heatsink located to contact an outer surface of the cell assembly and having a coolant flow path for allowing a coolant to move therein; and a heat-shrinkable tube having a tubular shape with a hollow structure in which the cell assembly and the heatsink are located, the heat-shrinkable tube being thermally shrunken so that the cell assembly and the heatsink are in contact with each other.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A battery module, comprising: a cell assembly including a plurality of pouch-type secondary batteries having electrode leads formed to protrude in a front and rear direction and stacked on each other in a left and right direction; a heatsink located to contact an outer surface of the cell assembly and having a coolant flow path for allowing a coolant to move therein; and a heat-shrinkable tube having a tubular shape with a hollow structure in which the cell assembly and the heatsink are located, the heat-shrinkable tube being thermally shrunken so that the cell assembly and the heatsink are in contact with each other. 2. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the heatsink has an accommodation groove formed to be dented inward to accommodate a lower portion of each of the plurality of pouch-type secondary batteries of the cell assembly. 3. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein an uneven structure is formed at an outer surface of the heatsink, which faces the heat-shrinkable tube. 4. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the heatsink has an inlet tube for injecting a coolant and an outlet tube for discharging a coolant, and wherein the battery module further comprises a bus bar assembly that includes: a bus bar frame located at a front side or a rear side of the cell assembly at which an electrode lead is formed, the bus bar frame having a perforation hole through which at least one electrode lead passes and protrudes, the bus bar frame having a fixing structure opened so that the inlet tube and the outlet tube of the heatsink are respectively inserted and fixed therein; and a bus bar mounted to an outer surface of the bus bar frame and having a conductive metal to electrically connect the plurality of pouch-type secondary batteries. 5. The battery module according to claim 4, wherein the heat-shrinkable tube is configured to surround a portion of the outer surface of the bus bar assembly, and wherein a concave portion dented inward is formed at a portion of the heat-shrinkable tube surrounding the outer surface of the bus bar assembly so that the inlet tube and the outlet tube of the heatsink are exposed outward. 6. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of embossing structures partially ridged outward are formed at an outer surface of the heat-shrinkable tube. 7. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein a thermally conductive adhesive is added in the heat-shrinkable tube. 8. The battery module according to claim 7, wherein the thermally conductive adhesive is interposed between the cell assembly and the heatsink. 9. The battery module according to claim 7, wherein the thermally conductive adhesive is interposed between the cell assembly and the heat-shrinkable tube. 10. A battery pack, comprising at least one battery module according to claim 1. 11. A vehicle, comprising the battery pack according to claim 10. 12. The battery module according to claim 4, further comprising: a module cover configured to cover an outer surface of the bus bar assembly. 13. The battery module according to claim 12, wherein the module cover is configured to cover at least a part of an outer portion of the bus bar assembly except for an external input/output terminal portion of the bus bar. 14. The battery module according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the plurality of embossing structures contains air therein. 15. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the cell assembly includes a buffering pad interposed between two of the plurality of pouch-type secondary batteries."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present disclosure relates to a battery module including a heat-shrinkable tube, and more particularly, to a battery module having excellent cooling efficiency and allowing easy recycling of inner components at disposal by applying a heat-shrinkable tube serving as a module housing and a heatsink to the battery module.\n\nIn recent years, the demand for portable electronic products such as notebooks, video cameras, mobile phones, or the like is rapidly increasing, and the development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, satellites, or the like is in earnest. For this reason, high-performance secondary batteries enabling repeated charging and discharging are being actively researched.\n\nSecondary batteries currently commercialized include nickel cadmium batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries, nickel zinc batteries, lithium secondary batteries and so on. Among them, the lithium secondary batteries are more highlighted in comparison to nickel-based secondary batteries due to advantages such as free charging and discharging, caused by substantially no memory effect, very low self-discharge rate, and high energy density.\n\nThe lithium secondary battery mainly uses lithium-based oxides and carbonaceous materials as a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode active material, respectively.",
  "cpc": [
    "H01M 50/24",
    "H01M 10/613",
    "H01M 10/625",
    "H01M 10/647",
    "H01M 10/653",
    "H01M 10/6551",
    "H01M 10/6554",
    "H01M 10/6556",
    "H01M 10/6567",
    "H01M 2/1094",
    "H01M 2/206",
    "H01M 2220/20",
    "H01M 50/105",
    "H01M 50/211",
    "H01M 50/289",
    "H01M 50/50",
    "H01M 50/502",
    "H01M 50/503",
    "Y02E 60/10"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "H01M 50/211",
    "H01M 50/289",
    "H01M 50/50",
    "H01M 50/503",
    "H01M 10/613",
    "H01M 10/625",
    "H01M 10/647",
    "H01M 10/653",
    "H01M 10/6556",
    "H01M 10/6567",
    "H01M 10/00",
    "H01M 50/105",
    "H01M 50/24",
    "H01M 50/502"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "LG Chem Ltd"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Jae-Min YOO",
    "Eun-Gyu SHIN",
    "Jeong-O MUN",
    "Yoon-Koo LEE"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2019-08-26",
  "publication_date": "2020-12-10",
  "priority_date": "2018-09-13",
  "application_number": "US-201916769479-A",
  "family_id": "69776715",
  "cited_by_count": 36,
  "citations": [
    "US3977906A",
    "US20150155528A1"
  ]
}