CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/KR2019/001701 filed Feb. 12, 2019, published in Korean, which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0018596 filed Feb. 14, 2018, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a pack connector, and more particularly, to a battery pack connector provided in a pack case of a battery pack and configured to be connected to an external device, and a battery pack, a vehicle, and the like including the battery pack connector.

BACKGROUND ART

Currently commercialized secondary batteries include nickel cadmium batteries, nickel hydrogen batteries, nickel zinc batteries, lithium secondary batteries, etc. and the lithium secondary batteries thereamong are receiving attention according advantages of free charging/discharging, a very low self-discharge rate, and high energy density since a memory effect is barely generated compared to nickel-based secondary batteries.

Such a lithium secondary battery mainly uses a lithium-based oxide and a carbon material respectively as a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode active material. The lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly, in which a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate on which the positive electrode active material and the negative electrode active material are respectively coated are arranged with a separator therebetween, and an exterior material, i.e., a battery case, sealing and accommodating the electrode assembly with an electrolyte solution.

Generally, the lithium secondary battery may be classified into a can type secondary battery, in which the electrode assembly is embedded in a metal can, and a pouch type secondary battery, in which the electrode assembly is embedded in a pouch of an aluminum laminate sheet, based on a shape of the exterior material.

Recently, the secondary battery is widely used not only in a small-sized apparatus, such as a portable electronic device, but also in medium- and large-sized apparatuses, such as a vehicle or an energy storage system (ESS), for driving or energy storage. The secondary battery is mounted on the medium- and large-sized apparatuses by being included in a battery pack, and at this time, a large number of secondary batteries are included in the battery pack and are electrically connected to each other to increase the capacity and output of the battery pack. Here, the plurality of secondary batteries are accommodated inside one module case to configure one battery module, and at least one battery module is accommodated inside one pack case to configure one battery pack.

The battery pack may be electrically connected to another external device to exchange power, data, and the like. However, when noise flows into the battery pack during this process, not only the battery pack, but also other electronic equipment connected to the battery pack may be adversely affected. For example, in case of the battery pack mounted on a vehicle, noise may flow into the battery pack by another device in the vehicle, such as an inverter or the like.

In this case, the flowed noise may cause malfunction or interfere with an accurate operation in various electronic devices inside the battery pack, such as a battery management system (BMS), a current sensor, a temperature sensor, a relay, and the like. Also, the noise flowed to the battery pack may cause malfunction again by affecting another external electronic device connected to the battery pack, such as a radio or navigation device of the vehicle.

In particular, the noise generated in the inverter or the like of the vehicle may flow into the battery pack through a connector provided in the battery pack. Here, the connector may be electrically connected to an electronic component, such as the BMS, through a wire, and the noise flowed from the inverter or the like may be flowed into the battery pack through the connector and the wire, thereby causing several problems.

In order to solve such problems of the related art, a technology in which a filter element such as a ferrite core filter is wound around the wire connected to the connector, or the like, and used has been proposed. However, in this case, energy density of the battery pack is deteriorated and arrangement between internal components of the battery pack is not easy. In other words, since the filter element itself has certain volume, volume of the battery pack is increased or an occupied space of another component, such as the secondary battery or the like, is decreased as much as a space occupied by the filter element. Also, when the filter element is positioned inside the battery pack, the filter element needs to be fixed. In this case, an internal space of the battery pack is decreased and a structure thereof is complicated in terms of preparing a fixing structure of the filter element. Moreover, the wire is often wound at least once around the ferrite core filter, and in this case, manufacturing processes become complicated and an internal design becomes difficult.

SUMMARY

Technical Problem

The present disclosure is designed to solve the problems of the related art, and therefore the present disclosure is directed to providing a battery pack connector having a simple structure and capable of effectively preventing noise from flowing into or out of a battery pack, and a battery pack and vehicle including the battery pack connector.

These and other objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be understood from the following detailed description and will become more fully apparent from the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, it will be easily understood that the objects and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by the means shown in the appended claims and combinations thereof.

Technical Solution

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a battery pack connector located in a pack case of a battery pack including a battery management system, the battery pack connector including: a communication connector configured to be connectable to a communication wire for exchanging information with the battery management system; and a power supply connector configured to be connectable to a power supply wire for supplying driving power to the battery management system and having at least a portion including a noise blocking material.

Here, the power supply connector may include a power supply housing including the noise blocking material, and at least a first power supply conductor including a metal material, embedded inside the power supply housing, and having a first end and a second end exposed to an outside of the power supply housing.

Also, the at least one power supply conductor may be bent at least once inside the power supply housing.

Also, the at least one power supply conductor may be bent at least 90° inside the power supply housing.

In addition, the power supply connector may include at least a second power supply conductor, and the first and second power supply conductors may be are arranged at different locations in an up-and-down direction, wherein each of the first and second power supply conductors may be bent in the up-and-down direction and located at different locations in a horizontal direction.

Also, the power supply connector may include at least a second power supply conductor inside the power supply housing, wherein of the first and second power supply conductors may have bent shapes to form uneven portions.

Also, the first power supply conductor may be bent three-dimensionally inside the power supply housing.

In addition, the communication connector may include a communication housing including a polymer material, and at least one communication conductor including a metal material, embedded inside the communication housing, and having a first end and a second end exposed to an outside of the power supply housing.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a battery pack including the battery pack connector of any of the embodiments described herein.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a vehicle including the battery pack of any of the embodiments described herein.

Advantageous Effects

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, noise can be effectively prevented from flowing into or out of a battery pack through a connector.

Also, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, volume of a battery pack can be prevented from being increased or energy density can be prevented from being decreased when preparing a noise blocking configuration.

Also, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, an internal structure of a battery pack can be prevented from becoming complicated or manufacturing processes can be facilitated.

In addition, according to another aspect of the present disclosure, a configuration that enables a communication line, such as a controller area network (CAN) communication line, to avoid a noise blocking configuration can be easily achieved.

