Battery module, and battery pack and vehicle comprising same

1 . A battery module comprising:

a plurality of battery cell stacks, each battery cell stack including a plurality of battery cells that are stacked therein;

a case to accommodate the plurality of battery cell stacks;

an air circulation duct between the plurality of battery cell stacks and having a plurality of holes formed therein; and

an exhaust fan coupled to a side of the air circulation duct,

wherein the plurality of holes of the air circulation duct have different sizes,

wherein lengths of the plurality of holes extend in a longitudinal direction of the air circulation duct,

wherein the plurality of holes are arranged in rows and columns,

wherein for each row, the plurality of holes sequentially have increasing lengths in a direction away from the exhaust fan,

wherein for each column, the plurality of holes in the column have a same length, and

wherein a hole closest to the exhaust fan among the plurality of holes has a shortest length in the longitudinal direction of the air circulation duct and a hole farthest from the exhaust fan among the plurality of holes has a longest length in the longitudinal direction of the air circulation duct.

2 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of battery cell stacks are arranged in at least two rows and at least two columns, and

wherein the air circulation duct is between the plurality of battery cell stacks at a location between the at least two rows or between the at least two columns.

3 . The battery module according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of holes of the air circulation duct are provided so that a hole closest to the exhaust fan is has a smallest size from among the plurality of holes, and a size of the plurality of holes increases away from the exhaust fan.

4 . The battery module according to claim 3 , wherein the plurality of battery cells are surrounded by an end plate that comprises an upper end plate, a lower end plate, and a side end plate,

wherein an air inlet is formed in the side end plate,

wherein an air cooling plate having a hollow portion in which air flows is located between the plurality of battery cells, and

wherein the air inlet of the side end plate and the hollow portion of the air cooling plate are provided at a same height of the battery module.

5 . The battery module according to claim 4 , wherein at least one partition wall is formed in the hollow portion of the air cooling plate.

6 . The battery module according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one partition wall is provided in plural, and the plurality of partition walls are arranged at equal intervals.

7 . The battery module according to claim 4 , wherein the case comprises an upper cover, a side cover, and a lower cover, and

wherein the side cover is not located where the air inlet is located so that the air inlet is exposed to an outside.

8 . The battery module according to claim 7 , wherein an air passage is formed in the upper cover, and

wherein air moving through the air passage toward the plurality of battery cell stacks passes through the air inlet and moves to the air circulation duct.

9 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of holes are spaced apart from each other in a height direction and the longitudinal direction of the air circulation duct, and

wherein spacings between the plurality of holes in in the height direction are constant.

10 . The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of holes are arranged in a first group and a second group which are separated from each other by a region of the air circulation duct lacking the plurality of holes, the first group being closer to the exhaust fan that the second group.

11 . The battery module according to claim 10 , wherein the region of the air circulation duct lacking the plurality of holes has a length in the longitudinal direction of the air circulation duct that is greater than the lengths of the plurality of holes in the first group and less than the lengths of the plurality of holes in the second group.

12 . A battery pack comprising the battery module according to claim 1 .

13 . A vehicle comprising the battery module according to claim 1 .