KR20150038990A - Energy Storage Device Employed with Double Safety System - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an energy storage device including unit modules or battery cells which are charged or discharged as a unit cell. Provided is the energy storage device which includes: two or more battery packs which include one or more unit cells, are adjacently arranged, and are electrically connected; an external case which contains the battery packs inside; external input and output terminals which supply power to the battery packs or outputs the power from the battery packs; a safety plug which drops a voltage or is disconnected by the manual operation of the user; and a fuse which is automatically disconnected in an overcurrent or overheat state.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an energy storage device,

The present invention relates to an energy storage device having a dual safety system, and more particularly, to an energy storage device including battery cells or unit modules capable of being charged and discharged as a unit cell, An external case for accommodating the battery packs therein, external input / output terminals for supplying electric power to the battery packs or outputting power from the battery packs, A safety plug capable of achieving a disconnection or a voltage drop by a manual operation of the user, and a fuse that is automatically cut off when an over current or an overheating occurs.

In recent years, energy storage devices have attracted attention in response to the expansion of new and renewable energy, especially in developed countries. Unlike existing thermal power and nuclear power generation, renewable energy such as wind power and solar power generation is unstable in energy that can be generated depending on environment such as wind intensity and sunshine. Therefore, the energy storage device is emerging as an indispensable device as a device which stores the generated energy and supplies it to the power system in a stable manner at a necessary time.

In addition, the energy storage device can store energy when power demand is low, and can supply power during overload or emergency to enhance power quality and energy use efficiency.

Such energy storage devices include domestic energy storage devices, industrial or commercial medium and large energy storage devices, and large capacity energy storage devices installed in power plants and substations.

The energy storage device may be a rechargeable secondary battery for storage and supply of electric power. Unlike secondary batteries used in mobile devices, energy storage devices charge and discharge a large amount of power, resulting in a greater amount of heat being generated. As a result, excessive heat accumulation occurs, which increases the possibility of explosion or ignition of the battery, posing a serious risk to the safety of the battery.

Therefore, in order to secure the safety of the device from the above-described risks, the conventional energy storage device is equipped with a fuse in the circuit, and when the overcurrent or overheating occurs, the fuse is cut off to prevent the possibility of explosion or ignition.

However, since the structure using the fuse is a single safety device, if the energy storage device malfunctions and the fuse is blown, the corresponding fuse must be replaced every time, resulting in a problem that it takes a lot of cost and time.

In addition, since the conventional energy storage device does not have a safety plug, when the user perceives an abnormal operation of the energy storage device, the energy storage device is manually operated to cut off the energy storage device before the fuse is blown The voltage can not be lowered.

Therefore, there is a high need for a technique capable of fundamentally solving such problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-described problems of the prior art and the technical problems required from the past.

Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safety plug for an energy storage device.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an energy storage device having improved safety by double-application of a fuse and a safety plug.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an energy storage device,

1. An energy storage device comprising battery cells or unit modules capable of being charged and discharged as unit cells, the energy storage device comprising: at least two battery packs each having at least one unit cell and arranged adjacent to each other and electrically connected; An outer case for containing the battery pack therein; External input / output terminals for supplying power to the battery packs or outputting power from the battery packs; A safety plug capable of achieving a power failure or a voltage drop by a manual operation of a user; And a fuse that is automatically disconnected during overcurrent or overheating; As shown in Fig.

According to the present invention, the energy storage device includes a safety plug capable of being detached and capable of manually operating the energization and de-energization of the device, and a dual application of a fuse that automatically cuts off the device due to over current or overheating , And the safety can be improved.

The safety plug and the fuse may constitute a series circuit between the unit cells or between the battery packs. Therefore, the unit cell or the battery pack in which abnormal operation is sensed can be selectively cut off or voltage dropped without disconnecting the entire energy storage device.

Specifically, the structure of the safety plug may be a structure including a connecting portion, a receiving portion into which the connecting portion is inserted, and a lever formed at an upper end of the connecting portion.

When the operator recognizes abnormal operation of the energy storage device using the lever formed at the upper end of the connection portion as described above, the operator manually operates the energy storage device before the fuse is blown, .

More specifically, the connecting portion may have a protruding terminal, and the receiving portion may have a groove-like terminal. The protruding terminal and the groove-like terminal are coupled with each other while the connection portion is inserted into the accommodating portion, so that the energy storage device can be electrically connected.

The shape of the connecting portion is not particularly limited, and in one specific embodiment of the present invention, the connecting portion may have a cylindrical structure.

The electrical connection in the safety plug can be made by a bus bar. Specifically, a bus bar may be formed in the connection portion and may be connected to the protruding terminal.

The current capacity of the bus bar may be between 22A and 300A. When the current capacity is less than 22A, the high current flowing in the energy storage device can not be accommodated. When the current capacity exceeds 300A, the thickness of the bus bar becomes thick, which may unnecessarily increase the volume of the safety plug.

The fuse is a fusible alloy which is heated and melted when a current equal to or exceeding the specified value is blown to thereby automatically turn off the electric circuit. Examples of the fuse include a line fuse, a plate fuse, a plug fuse , And a bus fuse.

The cutoff current and voltage of the fuse may be 1.3 times to 2 times the actual value of the energy storage device, i.e., the current and voltage used. If the cut-off current and voltage of the fuse is less than 1.3 times the actual value of the fuse, the fuse may be blown even at high currents flowing through the normally operating energy storage device, while the cut-off current and voltage of the fuse may be 2 If the power is exceeded, the fuse may not be disconnected until the device malfunctions and explodes or ignites. Specifically, the cutoff current of the fuse may be 30A to 600A, and the cutoff voltage of the fuse may be 50V to 700V.

The battery cell is a secondary battery, typically a nickel hydrogen secondary battery, a lithium secondary battery, and the like. Among them, a lithium secondary battery having a high energy density and a large discharge voltage may be used.

Since the lithium secondary battery is well known in the art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein. However, the content of the lithium secondary battery known and disclosed before the filing date of the present application is incorporated into the content of the present invention.

The shape of the battery cell is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a plate-shaped battery cell having a thin thickness and a relatively wide width and length as compared with the thickness.

Preferred examples of the plate-shaped battery cell include a secondary battery having a structure in which an electrode assembly is embedded in a battery case of a laminate sheet including a resin layer and a metal layer and electrode terminals are protruded. Specifically, the aluminum laminate sheet And the electrode assembly may be embedded in the pouch-type case. The secondary battery having such a structure may also be referred to as a 'pouch-shaped battery cell'.

The unit module has a structure in which a high-strength cell cover surrounds the outer surfaces of two or more electrically connected battery cells.

The electrical connection of the two or more battery cells may be a combination of the electrode terminals. At this time, the portion where the electrode terminals are coupled may or may not surround the high-strength cell cover.

In one specific embodiment of the present invention, the unit module may have a structure in which two or more plate-shaped battery cells are mounted on a cell cover in a state in which electrode terminals are exposed, And a pair of outer members that are coupled to each other so as to surround the outer surfaces of the outer members.

The battery pack may be used to mean a structure of a battery system in which at least one unit cell is mechanically coupled and electrically connected.

The energy storage device can variably configure the desired output and capacity depending on the application. Accordingly, the unit cells constituting the battery pack may be connected in series and / or parallel, and likewise, the battery packs may be connected in series and / or parallel.

The outer case may have a rack structure. Specifically, the rack structure may have a layer structure in which shelves are formed in the upper and lower parts of the outer case, and the battery packs are housed in the respective shelves. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

Considering the required amount of electric power, the energy storage device may include a public utility power supply, a large shop power supply, an emergency power supply, a computer room power supply, a portable power supply, a medical power supply, a fire extinguishing power supply, An electric vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle, or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, but the scope of application is not limited thereto.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a device including the energy storage device as a power source, and specifically, the device includes a public utility power supply, a large-sized shop power supply, an emergency power supply, a computer room power supply, a portable power supply, A power supply unit, a fire extinguishing unit power supply unit, an alarm facility power supply unit, an electric vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle, or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

The structure and manufacturing method of such a device are well known in the art, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted herein.

As described above, the energy storage device according to the present invention provides a safety plug capable of achieving a power cut or a voltage drop by a manual operation of a user, and the safety plug and the fuse can be double applied to improve safety There is an effect.

1 is a schematic diagram of an energy storage device according to one embodiment of the present invention;
2 is an enlarged view of a portion where the safety plug and the fuse of Fig. 1 are mounted;
Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 2;
4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a safety plug according to one embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a schematic diagram of a unit module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited by the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an energy storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion where the safety plug and the fuse of FIG. 1 are mounted, A top view is shown.

Referring to FIG. 1 together with FIGS. 2 and 3, the energy storage device 600 includes battery packs 100, an external case 200, a safety plug 300, a fuse 400, and external input / output terminals 500 ).

The battery packs 100 are housed in the case 200 in an upper and lower layer structure, and are electrically connected in a serial connection manner.

The safety plug 300 and the fuse 400 are mounted on the lower end of the case 200 to constitute a series circuit between the battery packs 100 and the external input / output terminals 500. The safety plug 300 is exposed to the outside of the case 200 and the fuse 400 is mounted inside the case 200. It goes without saying that the safety plug 300 and the fuse 400 may be mounted between unit cells (not shown) or between the battery packs 100. [ In this case, there is an effect that only the unit cell (not shown) or the battery pack 100 can be selectively shut off without disconnection of the entire energy storage device 600 during abnormal operation of the battery.

3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a safety plug 300 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 together with FIGS. 1 and 2, the safety plug 300 includes a connecting portion 310, a receiving portion 320, and a lever 330.

The protruding terminal 311 is formed in the connection part 310 and the protruding terminal 311 is electrically connected to the bus bar 312. The housing part 320 is formed with a groove type terminal 321 and the groove type terminal 321 is electrically connected to the fuse 400 and the external input / output terminal 500. The protruding terminal 311 and the groove terminal 321 are engaged while the connecting portion 310 is inserted into the accommodating portion 320 in the direction of the arrow. Therefore, the user can manually operate the energization and disconnection of the energy storage device 600.

The current capacity of the bus bar 312 may be between 30 and 100 A. When the current capacity is less than 30 A, the high current flowing in the energy storage device 500 can not be accommodated. When the current capacity exceeds 100 A, the thickness of the bus bar 312 becomes thick, which may unnecessarily increase the volume of the safety plug 300 have.

Further, the breaking capacity of the fuse 400 may be 30 to 100 A. When the breaking capacity is less than 30 A, the fuse 400 may be blown even at high currents flowing in the normally operating energy storage device 500. When the breaking capacity exceeds 100 A, the energy storage device 500 may be abnormally operated to explode or ignite The fuse 400 may not be disconnected.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a unit module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4, the unit module 700 is interposed between the first cover 710 and the second cover 720 in a structure in which two plate-shaped battery cells (not shown) are connected in series and then closely contacted with each other, 1 cover 710 and the second cover 720 are coupled to each other.

A step 730 is formed on an outer surface adjacent to left and right ends of the cell covers 710 and 720 to facilitate fixing to the battery pack case (not shown), and a step 730 740 are formed.

It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (15)

1. An energy storage device comprising battery cells or unit modules capable of being charged and discharged as unit cells,
Two or more battery packs including at least one unit cell and arranged adjacent to each other and electrically connected to each other;
An outer case for containing the battery pack therein;
External input / output terminals for supplying power to the battery packs or outputting power from the battery packs;
A safety plug capable of achieving a power failure or a voltage drop by a manual operation of a user; And
A fuse that is automatically disconnected when overcurrent or overheating;
And the energy storage device. [2] The energy storage device of claim 1, wherein the unit module has a structure in which two or more battery cells are mounted on a cell cover in a state in which electrode terminals are exposed. The energy storage device according to claim 2, wherein the battery cell is a plate-shaped battery cell. The energy storage device according to claim 2, wherein the battery cell is a lithium secondary battery. [3] The energy storage device of claim 2, wherein the cell cover comprises a pair of sheath members coupled to each other so as to surround the outer surfaces of the battery cells except the electrode terminal portion. The energy storage device according to claim 1, wherein the unit cells of the battery pack include a series connection. The energy storage device of claim 1, wherein a series connection is included between the battery packs. The energy storage device according to claim 1, wherein the outer case is formed in a rack structure. The energy storage device according to claim 1, wherein the safety plug and the fuse constitute a series circuit between the unit cells or between the battery packs. The energy storage device according to claim 1, wherein the safety plug has a structure including a connecting portion formed in a cylindrical structure, a receiving portion into which the connecting portion is inserted, and a lever formed on the top of the connecting portion. 11. The energy storage device according to claim 10, wherein the electrical connection in the safety plug is made by a bus bar. 12. The energy storage device of claim 11, wherein the current capacity of the bus bar is between 22A and 300A. 2. The energy storage device of claim 1, wherein the cut-off current and voltage of the fuse is 1.3 to 2 times the current and voltage used. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising an energy storage device as a power source. 15. The device of claim 14, wherein the device is a home power supply, a public utility power supply, a large shop power supply, an emergency power supply, a computer room power supply, a portable power supply, a medical power supply, Or evacuation facility power supply.

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