Battery structure for electric vehicle

Abstract

A battery structure for an electric vehicle includes a plurality of columnar component cells and a substantially square battery casing for accommodating the component cell. The battery casing includes a casing body consisting of an upper casing, a lower casing and an intermediate casing interposed between the upper casing and the lower casing, and a pair of side covers fitted to both ends of the casing body. In the battery casing, a plurality of rib walls are formed to support the component cells and to divide an interior of the battery casing into a plurality of compartments in the longitudinal direction of the battery casing. Further, the battery casing has air holes formed in top and bottom walls of the battery casing for circulating cooling air in the compartments vertically. In operation, since the cooling air flows vertically through the upper and lower air holes in the respective compartments defined by the rib walls, it is possible to extend the cooling air over the whole lengths of the component cells, so that the cooling for the component cells can be effected to enhance the cooling capability of the whole batteries.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.