Integrated Battery Conditioning Element for Easier Channel Joining
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production of conditioning elements for electrical energy stores, such as high-voltage batteries in motor vehicles, is complex due to the need for electrical insulation and challenging connections, particularly with metal tubes like aluminum, which are not optimally suited for joining methods like welding.
Innovation Solution
A method involving integral forming of structures directly onto channel elements using primary forming techniques like injection molding, extrusion, or transfer molding, allowing for robust and flexible conditioning elements that can dissipate heat or provide temperature control without requiring subsequent mounting or complex masking, enabling the use of various materials and geometries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If metal tubes like aluminum are used for cooling channels, then thermal conductivity is improved, but ease of manufacture deteriorates due to difficulty in joining and welding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the cooling channel function with the structural housing into a single integrated component. The housing is designed to directly contact and surround the energy storage cells, eliminating the need for separate metal tube connections and welding operations. This integration resolves the manufacturing difficulty while maintaining thermal management effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material construction where the housing may be made from different materials than the cooling channels. This allows optimization of each component's material properties - using materials suitable for injection molding for the housing structure while using materials optimized for thermal conductivity in the cooling channels, avoiding the welding problems associated with aluminum tubes.
2Reliability
If cooling elements require electrical insulation, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional insulation layers and mounting steps
Solution Approach 1:
The housing simultaneously serves multiple functions: structural support, mechanical protection, and electrical insulation. By integrating these functions into a single component rather than assembling separate parts, the patent reduces device complexity while maintaining the necessary electrical insulation properties for safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing is designed as a multi-functional component that performs structural, protective, and insulating roles concurrently. This universal design approach eliminates the need for separate insulation layers and mounting steps, reducing overall complexity while ensuring electrical safety.
3Adaptability or versatility
If connections and branching points are added to cooling elements, then functionality is improved, but ease of manufacture deteriorates due to difficulty in producing these features
Solution Approach 1:
Connections and branching points are integrated directly into the housing structure through injection molding, rather than being added as separate components. This allows complex cooling configurations with multiple connections and branches to be produced as a single piece, maintaining manufacturing simplicity while achieving functional versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the flexibility of injection molding parameters to create complex geometries including connections and branching points directly in the housing. By changing molding parameters and tooling design rather than adding post-processing steps, the patent achieves versatile cooling configurations that remain easy to manufacture.
4Adaptability or versatility
If subsequent mounting or force-fitting techniques are used to attach structures, then adaptability is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to alignment and bonding challenges
Solution Approach 1:
The structure and cooling channels are formed as a single integrated component through injection molding, eliminating the need for subsequent mounting operations. This integration ensures precise alignment and consistent bonding quality that cannot be achieved through assembly processes, while the modular design still provides assembly flexibility at higher levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing structure is pre-formed with integrated cooling channels and mounting features during the injection molding process itself. This preliminary formation of all structural elements in a single step ensures precise geometric relationships and eliminates alignment challenges that would arise from subsequent assembly operations.
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 approach results in conditioning elements that meet high quality and performance requirements while reducing costs, offering increased robustness and flexibility, and allowing for complex geometries and various material combinations, including non-metallic materials like PVC and composite materials, which can be easily connected using multiple joining methods.
Implementation Method 1
the integral forming is effected by way of primary forming, in particular injection molding, transfer molding or extrusion
Implementation Method 2
the integral forming is effected by way of primary forming, in particular injection molding, transfer molding or extrusion
Implementation Method 3
the at least one channel element forming a cooling channel which is designed to transport a fluid, for example a gaseous medium, but in particular a liquid medium
Implementation Method 4
the conditioning element comprises the at least one channel element, the at least one channel element forming a cooling channel which is designed to transport a fluid
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing a conditioning element, in particular for electrical energy storage devices, includes providing at least one channel element; and molding a structure onto the at least one channel element, at least in areas or sections.