JP2013140019A - Structure for fixing temperature detector - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided a temperature detector mounting structure capable of securing a space above a battery and ensuring that a detector is in close contact with a portion to be measured.
A temperature sensor for battery temperature measurement 11 has a sensor holder 19 in which a thermistor element 43 is assembled along an elastic piece 31 and the thermistor element 43 facing the side of the battery, and the elastic restoring force of the elastic piece 31 The sensor holder 19 is held in a state where the chip portion 45 of the thermistor element 43 is in close contact with the portion to be measured on the battery side surface, and the mounting cover 21 is attached to the battery side portion.
[Selection] Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a temperature detector mounting structure, and more particularly to a temperature detector mounting structure suitable for use in detecting the temperature of a battery cell of an in-vehicle battery module.

  Usually, a battery mounted on a hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle, or the like is configured to obtain a predetermined output voltage by connecting a plurality of stacked battery cells in series. In order to prevent overcharge and overdischarge of these battery cells, a temperature sensor such as a temperature sensor or a PCT (Positive Temperature Coefficient) thermistor may be attached to the battery cell to monitor the temperature of the battery cell. Proposed.

FIG. 6 shows one form of a conventional temperature detector mounting structure (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The temperature detector is attached to an electrode 507 of a battery 503 in a bus bar module 505 in which a plurality of batteries (battery cells) 503 constituting a high voltage battery pack (battery) 501 of an electric vehicle including a hybrid car are connected in series. A lead terminal 513 of a PTC thermistor 511 as a temperature detector is connected to an intermediate portion of a voltage measurement terminal 509 to be connected by soldering. The bus bar module 505 is obtained by fixing a plurality of conductive metal plate bus bars 517 to an insulating resin plate 515. The PTC thermistor 511 of this example is an overcurrent prevention resistance element whose resistance increases as the temperature rises.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show another form of the conventional temperature detector mounting structure (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
In this temperature detection body mounting structure, a pair of inverted V-shaped flexible arms 523 made of synthetic resin are provided outside the thermistor 519 so that the thermistor 519 as a temperature detection body is in direct contact with the battery upper surface 521. The arm claw 525 at the tip of the arm 523 is engaged with the claw 529 of the resin plate 527 on both sides of the battery 503. As shown in FIG. 7B, the lead wire 531 of the thermistor 519 is connected to the connector terminal 533, and is connected to the PCB connector 539 of the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 537 via the connector 535 accommodating the connector terminal 533. .

  The ECU 537 detects the surface temperature of the battery 503 based on the signal from the thermistor 519. When the temperature of the battery 503 becomes higher than the set value, the charge / discharge current of the battery 503 is limited or cut off to increase the battery temperature. prevent.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-95381 (FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-298662 (FIG. 8)

However, the conventional PTC thermistor 511 and thermistor 519 described above are attached to the upper part of the battery. For this reason, it is necessary to secure an installation space for the PTC thermistor 511 and thermistor 519 in the upper part of the battery. Further, the upper end portion of the electrode 507 protrudes from the battery upper surface 521. For this reason, the installation space of the battery upper surface 521 is limited.
Further, in the structure in which the thermistor 519 is locked to the resin plate 527 separate from the battery 503 by the pair of arms 523, if a positional deviation occurs between the battery 503 and the resin plate 527, a claw portion with respect to the battery upper surface 521 is formed. The position of 529 varies in the height direction. For this reason, the detection surface 541 of the thermistor 519 may float from the battery upper surface 521 or may come into contact with the battery, and the temperature detection may not be performed well or the temperature detection accuracy may be reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a temperature detector mounting structure that can secure a space above the battery and can ensure that the detector is in close contact with the portion to be measured. is there.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) A sensor holder in which a temperature detection body is assembled along an elastic piece, the temperature detection body is opposed to the battery side surface, and the detection part of the temperature detection body is attached to the battery side surface by the elastic restoring force of the elastic piece. An attachment structure for a temperature detection body, comprising: an attachment cover that holds the sensor holder in a state of being in close contact with a portion to be measured and is attached to a battery side portion.

  According to the mounting structure of the temperature detection body having the configuration (1), the temperature detection body is attached to the battery side portion, so that a space above the battery can be secured. Regardless of the dimensional tolerance or assembly error of the sensor holder or the mounting cover, the elastic restoring force of the elastic piece can surely bring the detection part of the temperature detector into close contact with the part to be measured on the side of the battery. Since the sensor holder and the mounting cover are separated, the same sensor holder can be used for various batteries (for example, batteries having different battery widths) simply by changing the mounting structure of the mounting cover.

(2) The temperature detection body mounting structure configured as described in (1) above, wherein the mounting cover is provided on a battery front surface and a battery rear surface orthogonal to a front end edge and a rear end edge of the battery side surface, respectively. A temperature detecting body mounting structure comprising a pair of mounting pieces each having an engaging portion engaged with each of the portions.

  According to the mounting structure of the temperature detection body having the configuration of (2) above, the temperature detection body is securely attached to the battery side portion in a state where the detection portion is securely adhered to the battery side surface by the pair of mounting pieces of the mounting cover. Can be installed.

  According to the mounting structure of the temperature detection body according to the present invention, a space above the battery can be secured, and the detection unit can be securely brought into close contact with the part to be measured.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through a mode for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

It is the perspective view which represented the temperature sensor for battery temperature measurement provided with the attachment structure of the temperature detection body which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention with the battery. (A) is a perspective view of the sensor holder shown in FIG. 1, (b) is a perspective view of the attachment cover shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the thermistor element by which the lead was fixed to the connecting terminal. It is a perspective view of the sensor holder equipped with the connection terminal and the thermistor element. It is the perspective view which looked at the temperature sensor for battery temperature measurement with which the attachment cover was attached to the sensor holder shown in FIG. 4 from the temperature measurement side. It is sectional drawing which shows one form of the attachment structure of the conventional temperature detection body. (A), (b) is sectional drawing which shows the other form of the attachment structure of the conventional temperature detection body.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 of this embodiment is attached to a battery side portion 13 of a battery cell (hereinafter simply referred to as “battery”) 15 formed in a rectangular plate shape. The plurality of batteries 15 are accommodated in a state of being stacked in the front-rear direction in a box-like case (not shown) in a state parallel to each other. The battery 15 is housed in a case with a positive electrode and a negative electrode (not shown) provided on the battery upper surface 17 adjacent to each other. The batteries 15 are connected in series by electrically connecting adjacent positive and negative electrodes except for a pair of positive and negative electrodes.

The battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 includes a sensor holder 19 made of a synthetic resin material and the like, and a mounting cover 21.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the sensor holder 19 is formed with a pair of parallel terminal accommodating portions 27 having a groove shape on one surface (cover facing surface 25) of the plate-like base portion 23. Is done. The sensor holder 19 has a posture in which the base portion 23 is arranged in parallel with the vertical surface, and the terminal accommodating portion 27 extends in the vertical direction. On the cover facing surface 25 of the base portion 23, a support wall 29 extending in the horizontal direction (a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction) stands vertically below the base portion 23 below the terminal accommodating portion 27.

  The upper end side in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped elastic piece 31 is connected to the substantially central portion of the support wall 29 on the standing tip side. The elastic piece 31 swings and displaces due to elastic deformation of the pressing end portion 33 on the lower end side which extends in the vertical direction and becomes a free end toward the cover facing surface side and the other surface (battery facing surface 35) side of the base portion 23. It is possible.

  In addition, a lead insertion hole 37 that opens in a rectangular shape is formed in a substantially central portion of the support wall 29. A lead 41 fixed to a connection terminal 39 (see FIG. 3), which will be described later, received in the terminal accommodating portion 27 is inserted into the lead insertion hole 37. The thermistor element (temperature detector) 43 in which the lead 41 is fixed to the connection terminal 39 accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 27 is assembled to the sensor holder 19 so that the tip portion (detecting portion) 45 follows the elastic piece 31. (See FIG. 5).

  Locking projections 49 project from both side surfaces 47 of the base portion between the terminal accommodating portion 27 and the support wall 29. In the locking projection 49, the rising direction of the support wall 29 is the inclined surface side, and the opposite side is the locking surface side perpendicular to the both side surfaces 47 of the base portion. A locking piece 51 (described later) provided on the mounting cover 21 is locked to the locking protrusion 49.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the attachment cover 21 has a main body plate portion 53 parallel to the base portion 23 of the sensor holder 19. A pair of parallel locking pieces 51 projecting toward one surface (holder facing surface 55) is formed on both upper sides of the main body plate portion 53. A locking hole 57 is formed in the locking piece 51, and the locking hole 57 is locked to the locking protrusion 49 of the sensor holder 19 described above. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the mounting cover 21 is fixed to the sensor holder 19 with the holder facing surface 55 facing the cover facing surface 25 of the base portion 23.

An opening 59 is formed in the main body plate portion 53 of the mounting cover 21 at a position corresponding to the elastic piece 31. The opening 59 prevents the main body plate portion 53 from interfering with the elastic piece 31 that swings and displaces by allowing the elastic piece 31 to enter inward.
Further, on both sides of the main body plate portion 53, a pair of parallel attachment pieces 61 project toward the holder facing surface side below the locking piece 51. As shown in FIG. 1, the attachment piece 61 is formed with a holding extra length further protruding from the battery facing surface 35 of the sensor holder 19 in a state where the sensor holder 19 is assembled to the attachment cover 21. .

  The attachment piece 61 has an engaging portion 65 that engages with the engaged portion 63 of the battery 15. The engaged portion 63 is provided on the battery front surface 73 and the battery rear surface 75 orthogonal to the front end edge 69 and the rear end edge 71 of the battery side surface 67, respectively (see FIG. 1). The engaging portion 65 and the engaged portion 63 have a concave-convex fitting structure in which one of them is a concave shape such as a locking hole and the other is a convex shape such as a locking projection. As a result, the mounting cover 21 integrated with the sensor holder 19 holds the battery 15 in the front and rear battery width direction (in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 1) by the pair of mounting pieces 61 and is fixed to the battery side portion 13. Is done.

  In addition, the attachment cover 21 can form and arrange several types which changed the shape of the attachment piece 61 so that the separation | spacing dimension of a pair of attachment piece 61 may differ. The shape of the attachment piece 61 for changing the separation dimension can be realized by, for example, a crank shape formed in a plan view. The difference in shape of the mounting piece 61 is formed corresponding to the battery width W before and after various batteries 15. The plurality of types of attachment covers 21 formed with the attachment pieces 61 having different shapes are formed in the same manner except for the attachment pieces 61. That is, the sensor holder 19 can be assembled in common to any of a plurality of types of attachment covers 21. Thereby, the sensor holder 19 can be fixed to the battery 15 having an arbitrary battery width W by forming a pair with the attachment cover 21 adapted to the battery width W before and after the battery 15.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the thermistor element 43, a pair of leads 41 are led out in the same direction from a chip portion 45 formed in a substantially columnar shape. In the thermistor element 43, the tip portion 45 is in contact with a measured portion 77 (see FIG. 1) on the battery side surface 67. The pair of leads 41 are gradually separated from each other in the lead-out direction, and each is electrically connected to the connection terminal 39 and fixed. Conductive fixation between the lead 41 and the connection terminal 39 is performed by brazing with solder or the like or welding. The connection terminal 39 is formed by sheet metal processing of conductive metal, and is formed by connecting a pair of parallel piece portions 81 having a U-shaped cross section to a lead fixing piece portion 79. The parallel piece portion 81 of the connection terminal 39 is fixed to the terminal accommodating portion 27 by a locking claw structure or a press-fit structure. The connection terminal 39 holds the thermistor element 43 fixed to the lead fixing piece 79 in the sensor holder 19 by fixing the parallel piece 81 to the terminal accommodating portion 27.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 in which the mounting cover 21 is attached to the sensor holder 19 shown in FIG. 4 as viewed from the temperature measuring side.
The thermistor element 43 assembled to the sensor holder 19 is provided with a tip 45 on the lower end side of the lead that hangs down through the lead insertion hole 37 (see FIG. 2) along the elastic piece 31. In this state, a mounting cover 21 is assembled to the sensor holder 19 to constitute the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11.

  The battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 is an engagement between an engaging portion (locking hole in this embodiment) 65 of the mounting piece 61 and an engaged portion (locking protrusion in this embodiment) 63 of the battery 15. The alignment position is set so as to be in a state (a state in which the tip portion 45 is caused to interfere with the measured portion 77) (see FIG. 1). That is, when the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 engages the attachment piece 61 with the engaged portion 63 and is fixed to the battery side portion 13 of the battery 15, the tip portion 45 reacts with the reaction force from the measured portion 77. Is pressed. The chip portion 45 that is pressed and biased elastically deforms the elastic piece 31 of the sensor holder 19. The elastic piece 31 is in a state where the tip portion 45 is brought into close contact with the measured portion 77 by this elastic restoring force. Therefore, the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 fixed to the battery side portion 13 of the battery 15 is attached in a state where the chip portion 45 is always in close contact with the measured portion 77.

Next, the operation of the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 having the above configuration will be described.
In the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 of the present embodiment, the lead 41 of the thermistor element 43 is conductively fixed to the connection terminal 39. The connection terminal 39 to which the thermistor element 43 is fixed is fixed to the terminal accommodating portion 27 of the sensor holder 19. Thereby, the thermistor element 43 is held by the sensor holder 19 via the connection terminal 39.

The thermistor element 43 held by the sensor holder 19 is held in a state where the chip portion 45 is attached to the elastic piece 31 of the sensor holder 19. A mounting cover 21 corresponding to the battery width W before and after the battery 15 is assembled to the sensor holder 19 to constitute the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11.
In the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11, the mounting cover 21 is fixed to the battery side portion 13 so that the chip portion 45 faces the battery side surface 67. Then, the chip portion 45 is brought into close contact with the measured portion 77 on the battery side surface 67 by the elastic restoring force of the elastic piece 31.

  The connection terminal 39 is connected to the ECU via a lead wire (not shown). The signal of the thermistor element 43 is sent to the ECU, and the ECU detects the temperature of the battery 15 from this signal. For example, when the temperature of the battery 15 becomes higher than a set value, the charging / discharging current of the battery 15 is limited or cut off to prevent the battery temperature from rising.

Thus, according to the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 having the temperature detector mounting structure according to the present embodiment, the thermistor element 43 is attached to the battery side portion 13, so that a space on the battery upper surface 17 can be secured. .
Further, regardless of the dimensional tolerance or assembly error of the sensor holder 19 or the mounting cover 21, or the positioning error between the engaging portion 65 of the mounting piece 61 and the engaged portion 63 of the battery 15, the elastic restoration of the elastic piece 31 is possible. The chip portion 45 of the thermistor element 43 can be reliably brought into close contact with the measured portion 77 on the battery side surface 67 by the force. Accordingly, the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 can be reliably attached to the battery side portion 13 in a state where the thermistor element 43 is securely adhered to the measured portion 77, and the temperature detection of the battery temperature measuring temperature sensor 11 is possible. The accuracy is not reduced.

Furthermore, since the sensor holder 19 and the mounting cover 21 are separated, the same sensor holder 19 can handle various batteries 15 (for example, batteries having different battery widths) simply by changing the mounting structure of the mounting cover 21. .
Therefore, according to the temperature sensor 11 for battery temperature measurement according to the present embodiment, a space above the battery can be secured, and the tip portion 45 of the thermistor element 43 can be reliably brought into close contact with the portion to be measured 77.

The mounting structure of the temperature detecting body of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified and improved. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.
For example, although the thermistor element 43 in the temperature sensor 11 for battery temperature measurement of the above embodiment uses an NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) thermistor as a temperature detector, it is possible to use other temperature detectors such as a PTC thermistor. Of course.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Temperature sensor 13 for battery temperature measurement ... Battery side part 19 ... Sensor holder 21 ... Mounting cover 31 ... Elastic piece 43 ... Thermistor element (temperature detection body)
45 ... Chip part (detection part)
61 ... mounting piece 63 ... engaged portion 65 ... engaging portion 67 ... battery side surface 69 ... front end edge 71 ... rear end edge 73 ... battery front surface 75 ... battery rear surface 77 ... measured portion

Claims (2)

A sensor holder in which a temperature detector is assembled along the elastic piece;
The temperature detection body is opposed to the battery side surface, and the sensor holder is held in a state where the detection portion of the temperature detection body is in close contact with the measured portion on the battery side surface by the elastic restoring force of the elastic piece, With mounting cover mounted,
A temperature detecting body mounting structure comprising:   The mounting cover includes a pair of mounting pieces each having an engaging portion that engages with an engaged portion provided on a battery front surface and a battery rear surface that are orthogonal to a front end edge and a rear end edge of the battery side surface, respectively. The temperature detection body mounting structure according to claim 1.

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