Battery Pack Contact Profile with Integrated Cooling Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face challenges in effective cooling due to high currents causing significant heating, which can impair performance and lead to damage, especially in compact designs used in electric mobility and energy sectors like wind turbines.
Innovation Solution
A cooling arrangement where contact profiles with integrated cooling channels are used to connect battery cells, forming a series of closed channels within a carrier, allowing for efficient heat dissipation through a cooling medium, and additional cooling profiles between contact poles enhance heat dissipation from both the cells and the housing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If high currents are used to achieve high power yield in small space, then power density is improved, but heat generation increases causing performance impairment and damage
Solution Approach 1:
The contact profiles serve dual functions: electrical connection and thermal management. The harmful heat generated by high currents is converted into a manageable parameter by using the same conductive material (contact profiles) to conduct heat away from the battery cells, transforming a harmful effect into a beneficial cooling mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The contact profiles perform multiple functions simultaneously: they provide electrical conductivity to connect battery cells in series/parallel configurations and thermal conductivity to dissipate heat from the cells. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by addressing both power transmission and heat management through a single integrated component
2Temperature
If separate cooling plates and cooling coils are added to each battery cell, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling function is merged with the electrical connection function. Instead of adding separate cooling plates and coils to each cell, the patent integrates thermal management into the contact profiles that already exist for electrical connection. The contact profiles are designed with cooling channels, combining two previously separate systems into one unified structure
Solution Approach 2:
The contact profiles serve as both electrical conductors and cooling elements. By making the contact profiles multi-functional, the patent eliminates the need for separate cooling components, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining effective cooling
3Temperature
If multiple separate components (cooling plates, cooling coils, contact bridges) are used for cooling and connection, then cooling coverage is improved, but ease of manufacture deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate components (contact bridges, cooling plates, cooling coils) into a single integrated contact profile structure. This merging simplifies the manufacturing process by reducing the number of parts that need to be produced, assembled, and sealed, while still providing comprehensive cooling coverage through the integrated cooling channels in the contact profiles
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system is segmented into modular cooling channel sections within each contact profile, where each section can be independently formed and then assembled into a complete cooling network. This segmentation allows for easier manufacturing of individual components that can be readily assembled into a complete cooling system
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 provides effective temperature control and heat dissipation, ensuring the battery pack's performance and longevity while maintaining a compact size, making it easier to manufacture and maintain.
Implementation Method 1
the contact profile itself being held in a carrier in which at least one cooling channel is formed... the contact profile can be cooled effectively by the cooling medium and thus the cell itself can be cooled indirectly
Implementation Method 2
All cooling channel sections of the contact profiles are connected in series in the direction of flow of a liquid cooling medium
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The invention relates to a rechargeable battery pack comprising a large number of individual prismatic rechargeable battery cells (1 to 16), which are arranged next to one another and have contact terminals (17, 18) on one side face (19), wherein contact terminals (17, 18) to be connected electrically to one another are connected mechanically and electrically to one another via a contact profile (30). The contact profile (30) is held in a mount (40), in which at least one cooling channel (41) is formed, wherein the contact profile (30) delimits the cooling channel (41), as a result of which effective cooling of the rechargeable battery cells (1 to 16) is possible.