Battery Module Center Guard Venting for Thermal Runaway Gas Discharge

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional battery modules lack efficient gas venting mechanisms, leading to potential fires and reduced space utilization due to stacked battery cells, limiting design flexibility.

Innovation Solution

A battery module design that connects battery cells in both longitudinal and thickness directions, incorporating a hollow center guard with venting holes and a module case with additional venting structures, along with thermal insulation and electrical connections, to facilitate efficient gas discharge and prevent flame propagation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If a battery module is designed to accommodate multiple battery cells, then the battery module can achieve higher energy density and better thermal management, but the structural complexity and difficulty of ensuring uniform compression force increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebattery cell capacityVSAvoidmodule structure
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The battery module is divided into multiple compression units, with each unit independently compressing a subset of battery cells. This segmentation allows the complex task of compressing multiple cells to be broken down into simpler, manageable units, reducing overall structural complexity while maintaining effective compression across all cells.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The compression plate is designed with curved surfaces that match the cross-sectional shapes of the battery cells, ensuring uniform contact and compression force distribution across all cells. This equipotential design ensures that each battery cell experiences equal compression, simplifying the structural design by eliminating the need for complex adjustment mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #12Equipotentiality

2Reliability

If compression plates are used to compress battery cells, then thermal management and electrical contact are improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase due to the need for precise curved surface matching

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveelectrical contactVSAvoidcurved surface matching
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The compression plate is designed with a curved surface that matches the homogeneous cross-sectional shape of the battery cells. This homogeneous design allows for standardized manufacturing processes and reduces precision requirements by ensuring that the compression plate geometry directly corresponds to the battery cell geometry, simplifying the matching process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #33Homogeneity

3Quantity of substance

If multiple battery cells are arranged in parallel, then the battery module achieves higher capacity, but the uniformity of compression force across all cells becomes difficult to maintain

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebattery module capacityVSAvoidcompression force uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The battery module is divided into multiple compression units, with each unit independently compressing a subset of battery cells. This segmentation ensures that compression force uniformity can be maintained within each unit while the overall module achieves high capacity through the parallel arrangement of multiple units.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The compression plate is designed with curved surfaces that match the cross-sectional shapes of the battery cells, ensuring uniform contact and compression force distribution across all cells. This equipotential design ensures that each battery cell experiences equal compression, maintaining composition stability even as capacity increases through parallel cell arrangement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #12Equipotentiality

Data Source

PatentEP4277001B1Battery module and battery pack comprising same
Publication Date: 2026.04.22 LG ENERGY SOLUTION LTD
  • EP4277001B1 patent drawingFigure 1(a)~1(b)
  • EP4277001B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4277001B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A battery module of the present technology includes a battery cell assembly formed by stacking two or more columns of longitudinal unit cells, each of which is composed of two or more battery cells arranged in a line in a longitudinal direction and connected, in a thickness direction of the battery cell, a hollow center guard disposed at a connection position of end portions of the battery cells, which face each other in the longitudinal direction, in the longitudinal unit cell, and a module case in which the battery cell assembly and the hollow center guard are accommodated, wherein a first venting hole communicating with a hollow of the hollow center guard is provided in a sidewall of the hollow center guard, and a second venting hole communicating with the hollow of the hollow center guard is provided in the module case configured to cover an upper portion of the hollow center guard. The present technology also relates to a battery pack including the battery module.