Battery Array Retention via Anchor Plates and Rails
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retention methods for battery arrays in traction battery packs often disrupt thermal interfaces, leading to inconsistent thermal energy transfer and potential mechanical instability, especially in electrified vehicles where precise thermal management is crucial.
Innovation Solution
A retention method involving laterally outer regions of the battery array resting on rails within an enclosure, secured using mechanical fasteners that extend through an endplate to an anchor plate, allowing for consistent thermal contact and mechanical fastening without penetrating the entire floor, thus maintaining a consistent thermal interface material thickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If mechanical fasteners are used to secure the battery array to the enclosure structure, then mechanical stability is improved, but the thermal interface between the battery array and the enclosure structure is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fastening function from the thermal interface by introducing separate anchor plates that are mechanically coupled to the enclosure structure. The fasteners engage the anchor plates rather than penetrating the thermal interface directly, separating the mechanical retention function from the thermal conduction path.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor plates serve as intermediary elements between the battery array and the enclosure structure. These plates provide mechanical attachment points that do not interfere with the thermal exchange plates' contact with the battery array, acting as mediators that fulfill the fastening requirement without disrupting thermal pathways.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the battery array is directly secured to the enclosure structure, then mechanical stability is improved, but thermal energy transfer consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the attachment system into distinct components: the battery array, thermal exchange plates, anchor plates, and fasteners. This segmentation allows the thermal exchange plates to maintain consistent contact with the battery array while the anchor plates provide separate mechanical attachment points, preventing interference between thermal and mechanical functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a vertical dimension to the attachment system by using anchor plates positioned beneath the battery array. This vertical arrangement allows fasteners to secure the array from below without interfering with the horizontal thermal interface between the exchange plates and battery cells, effectively separating the two functions in different spatial dimensions.
3Strength
If fasteners penetrate the entire floor of the enclosure, then mechanical securing is improved, but additional sealing requirements are created
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fastening function from the enclosure floor by introducing separate anchor plates. The fasteners engage these plates rather than penetrating the floor, thereby eliminating the need for additional sealing at the floor penetration points and simplifying the overall sealing requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution ensures consistent thermal energy transfer and mechanical stability by maintaining the integrity of the thermal interface between the battery array and the thermal exchange plate, preventing disruption of the interface between the battery array and the rails, and allowing for efficient cooling without additional sealing requirements.
Implementation Method 1
a mechanical fastener that applies a clamp load to secure the battery array relative to the enclosure structure, wherein a path of the clamp load extends through areas of the laterally outer regions that interface with the rails
Implementation Method 2
the anchor plate and the enclosure include portions that are flexed toward the battery array when the mechanical fastener engages the anchor plate
Data Source
AI summary
An example retention method includes, among other things, resting opposing laterally outer regions of a battery array on a respective first and second rails that are disposed on an enclosure structure such that the battery array is spaced a distance from the enclosure structure. The method then includes securing, from at least one position between the laterally outer regions, the battery array relative to the enclosure structure. An example retention assembly includes, among other things, an enclosure, a first and a second rail, and a battery array having a first laterally outer region resting on the first rail and an opposing, second laterally outer region resting on the second rail. The battery array is secured relative to the enclosure at a position spaced from the first and second laterally outer regions to clamp the first and second laterally outer regions against the first and second rails.