The invention relates to a heat-exchanger device for cooling battery cells in a vehicle with the aid of a coolant.

Various types of heat-exchanger devices for cooling a drive battery of an electric or hybrid vehicle are known.

KR 10-201 1 -0133794 A presents a heat exchanger for cooling a drive battery of a vehicle that has an inlet tank, an outlet tank, an inlet tube, an outlet tube, an inlet header, an outlet header, flow-path-forming units, and battery units integrated into the heat exchanger. The inlet and outlet tubes are formed in the inlet and outlet tanks. The inlet header is installed between the inlet and outlet tanks. The outlet header is separate from the inlet header. The units which form the flow path have multiple tubes. The ends of the tubes are fastened to the inlet and outlet headers in order to form heat-exchange paths.

CN 210628381 U has disclosed a thermal-management system for a vehicle drive battery that has a battery-box body and a liquid-cooling tube arrangement. The liquid-cooling tube arrangement comprises a liquid-inlet collecting tube, a circulation tube and a liquid-outlet collecting tube, wherein a separating plate is arranged transversely in the middle of the battery box.

The battery-thermal-management distributor segment presented in WO 2019/071132 A1 is used amid the circulation of a thermal-management liquid in order to assist with the regulation of the temperatures in a battery of an electric vehicle. The battery-thermal- management distributor segment comprises a supply tube and a return tube, which in each case have an inlet, an outlet and a passage extending therebetween and from which branches extend.

WO 2018/206895 A1 presents a heat exchanger for a motor vehicle for thermal regulation of a drive battery that has at least one tube for circulation of a heat-carrier fluid, the ends of which open out into a collecting box. Each of the collecting boxes comprises a collector with a first opening for passing-through of the at least one tube, and a cover with a second opening for passing-through of the at least one tube, wherein the cover defines at least one chamber for circulation of the heat-carrier fluid, into which the at least one tube opens out. The at least one tube and the cover are mechanically assembled with the collector. The collecting box comprises at least one seal which is arranged between the cover and the at least one tube and also between the collector and the cover.

It is an object of the invention to provide a heat-exchanger device for cooling battery cells in a vehicle that can be flexibly adapted to the heat distribution of the battery, in particular to the predefined positions of the battery cells.

Said object is achieved by a heat-exchanger device having the features of claim 1. Advantageous and expedient configurations of the heat-exchanger device according to the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

The heat-exchanger device according to the invention for cooling battery cells in a vehicle with the aid of a coolant comprises a distributor with a coolant inlet, which opens out into at least one inflow channel, and with at least one outflow channel, which opens out into a coolant outlet. The coolant inlet and the coolant outlet are provided for connection of the heat-exchanger device to a vehicle coolant circuit. The heat-exchanger device furthermore comprises multiple separate cooling units which each have at least one cooling channel. Each cooling channel is connected to the inflow channel via an inlet opening and to the outflow channel via an outlet opening. The cooling units are arranged one next to the other.

The invention is based on the realization that the separate formation of the cooling units makes possible a flexible arrangement of the cooling units at locations where the heat of the respective battery cell can be absorbed most effectively. A further advantage of the heatexchanger device according to the invention is that, altogether, a space-saving, in particular flat, design of the distributor and the cooling units is possible.

The battery cells of the vehicle are typically accommodated in a housing (battery box). The cooling units of the heat-exchanger device according to the invention are preferably arranged on a cover of said housing, wherein the arrangement of the individual cooling units and the shape and dimensions thereof are matched to the battery cells accommodated in the housing. The separate formation of the cooling units makes it possible for these to be designed, and to be arranged on the housing cover, in such a way that an optimum transfer of heat from the battery cells to the coolant flowing through the cooling channels of the cooling units can take place. According to a particular configuration, the cooling units are accommodated in depressions of the cover, which depressions in turn are matched to the shapes and dimensions of the cooling units. This results in a particularly space-saving arrangement of the cooling units on the cover.

The cooling units preferably each have an elongate shape and are arranged parallel to one other with respect to their longitudinal direction. The lateral spacings between the individual cooling units can be adapted to the respective requirements.

Preferably, the distributor has an elongate shape too and extends with respect to its longitudinal direction along face-side ends of the cooling units. This allows simple connection of the cooling units to the inflow channel and the outflow channel.

According to a preferred design of the heat-exchanger device according to the invention, both the inflow channel and the outflow channel of the distributor are arranged on first faceside ends of the cooling units.

This means that the distributor may be of integral form or may be arranged as an assembled structural unit on only one side of the cooling units. In this case, the distributor may have a very compact design.

According to an alternative design, the distributor is of two-part form, wherein the inflow channel of the distributor is arranged on first face-side ends of the cooling units, and the outflow channel of the distributor is arranged on opposite second face-side ends of the cooling units. Such a two-part formation of the distributor may be advantageous depending on the course of the cooling channels in the cooling units and on the space conditions.

The coolant inlet as well as the coolant outlet are preferably arranged on a first face-side end of the distributor.

However, for space reasons or due to other circumstances, it may be advantageous for the coolant inlet to be arranged on a first face-side end of the distributor, and for the coolant outlet to be arranged on an opposite second face-side end of the distributor.

A particularly flat design of the heat-exchanger device according to the invention may be achieved in that the cooling units are designed substantially as flat elongate plates in which the cooling channels are then formed as longitudinal cutouts.

In this case, it is advantageous for the inlet openings and the outlet openings to be oriented both perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the cooling units and perpendicularly to the long itudinal direction of the distributor, so that no additional structural space is required for the entry of coolant into the cooling channels of the cooling units and for the exit of coolant into the outflow channel of the distributor. 00 Further features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description and from the appended drawings, to which reference is made. In the drawings: figure 1 shows a perspective plan view of an embodiment of a heat-exchanger device according to the invention; figure 2 shows an enlarged detail view of the illustration in figure 1 ; 05 figure 3 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the heat-exchanger device from figure 1 ; figure 4 shows an enlarged detail view of the illustration in figure 3; figure 5 shows an enlarged, partially transparent detail view of the illustration in figure 3; and 10 figure 6 shows an enlarged, partially transparent detail view of the illustration in figure 3 in a cross section.

Figures 1 to 6 illustrate an embodiment of a heat-exchanger device 10 which is provided for cooling battery cells in an electric or hybrid vehicle.

The heat-exchanger device 10 comprises multiple, in this case eight, separate cooling units15 12 with an elongate shape. The cooling units 12 are arranged on a cover 14 of a housing in which the battery cells are accommodated. The cooling units 12 are arranged parallel one next to the other with respect to their longitudinal direction and are accommodated in depressions 16 of the otherwise substantially planar cover 14. The shapes of the cooling units 12 and of the depressions 16 are matched to one another, that is to say the cooling units 12 fit exactly20 (without a large amount of play) into the depressions 16. The shape and the dimensions of the cooling units 12 and the arrangement thereof on the cover 14, including the respective spacings between adjacent cooling units 12, are matched to the battery cells accommodated in the housing.

In particular, the cooling units 12 are in each case arranged exactly above a battery cell or a25 region of the battery cell that generates a large amount of heat.

In the embodiment illustrated in the figures, the heat-exchanger device 10 comprises an integral distributor 18 or one that has been assembled to form a unit. The distributor 18 has an elongate shape and is arranged on first face-side ends 12a of the cooling units 12 transversely to the longitudinal direction of the cooling units 12 with respect to its longitudinal direction. All the cooling units 12 are connected in terms of flow at said first face-side ends 12a to two distributor channels 20, 22 of the distributor 18, as will be explained in more detail further below.

As emerges in particular from figures 4 to 6, the distributor 18 has at a first face-side end 18a both a coolant inlet 24 and a coolant outlet 26 for connection to a vehicle coolant circuit. The coolant inlet 24 opens out into an inflow channel 20, which extends in the longitudinal direction of the distributor 18. The inflow channel 20 is connected at a second face-side end 18b, opposite to the coolant inlet 24 and coolant outlet 26, of the distributor 18 to an outflow channel 22, which is adjacent to the inflow channel 20 and extends parallel to the latter. The outflow channel 22 opens out into the coolant outlet 26. Consequently, a U-shaped flow course is obtained altogether between the coolant inlet 24 and the coolant outlet 26.

The cooling units 12 in turn each have a cooling channel 28. Each cooling channel 28 is connected at the first face-side end 12a of the respective cooling unit 12 to the inflow channel 20 of the distributor 18 via an inlet opening 30. The cooling channel 28 extends from the inlet opening 30 to a second face-side end 12b of the cooling unit 12 and, from there, back to the first face-side end 12a, where said cooling channel is connected to the outflow channel 22 of the distributor 18 via an outlet opening 32.

The cooling units 12 are designed substantially as flat elongate plates in which the cooling channels 28 are formed as longitudinal cutouts. Accordingly, the inlet openings 30 and outlet openings 32 are oriented both perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the cooling units 12 and perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the distributor 18 in order to produce the flow connection between the cooling channels 28 and the inflow channel 20 or the outflow channel 22.

In this design of the heat-exchanger device 10, coolant flows from the vehicle coolant circuit and via the coolant inlet 24 into the inflow channel 20 of the distributor 18, which distributes the coolant to the separate cooling units 12. While the coolant flows through the cooling channels 28 of the cooling units 12, it absorbs heat from the battery cells situated therebelow. The coolant flowing from the cooling units 12 into the outflow channel 22 of the distributor 18 is fed back into the vehicle coolant circuit via the coolant outlet 26. The following modifications of the heat-exchanger device 10 are possible, wherein these modifications can also be combined with one another in a suitable manner:

The inflow channel 20 and the outflow channel 22 of the distributor 18 are formed in separate sub-units. In this case, a first sub-unit, with the inflow channel 20, is arranged at a first face-side end 12a of the cooling units 12 and a second sub-unit, with the outflow channel 22, is arranged at an opposite second face-side end 12b. Accordingly, the inlet openings 30 of the cooling channels 28 are in each case provided at the first face-side end 12a of the cooling units 12 and the outlet openings 32 are in each case provided at the opposite second face-side end 12b.

The cooling channels 28 may, according to the arrangement of the inflow channel 20 and the outflow channel 22 of the distributor 18, either have a substantially U-shaped or W- shaped flow course (that is to say two or four longitudinal portions) or have a substantially I- shaped or N-shaped flow course (one or three longitudinal portions). In principle, even more longitudinal portions of the cooling channels 28 are also possible in each case.

The coolant inlet 24 and the coolant outlet 26 may, unlike as described above, also be provided on opposite face-side ends 18a, 18b of the distributor 18. This applies both to the embodiment shown in the figures and to a modification in which the inflow channel 20 and the outflow channel 22 of the distributor 18 are formed separately and are arranged on opposite face-side ends 12a, 12b of the cooling units 12. The coolant inlet 24 and the coolant outlet 26 may, according to the installation conditions, also be arranged at other structurally suitable locations of the distributor 18, in principle.

If the distributor 18 formed completely at only one face side of the cooling units 12 has only one or only few distributor channels, said channels may be produced in a solid body, for example by removal of material. The same applies in each case to the sub-units of the distributor 18, if this is of two-part form.

The distributor channels may also be fastened to one another by way of cohesive joining, such as soldering or welding, or by means of other, mechanical force-fitting and/or form-fitting connecting techniques, such as for example screwing. Adhesion is also possible, in principle.

The connections between the cooling units 12 and the distributor 18 may also be produced in the same way. List of reference signs

10 Heat-exchanger device

12 Cooling unit 12a First face-side end of the cooling unit

12b Second face-side end of the cooling unit

14 Cover

16 Depression

18 Distributor 18a First face-side end of the distributor

18b Second face-side end of the distributor

20 Inflow channel

22 Outflow channel

24 Coolant inlet 26 Coolant outlet

28 Cooling channel

30 Inlet opening

32 Outlet opening