Battery Module Cooler Spacing for Uniform Thermal Interface Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery module units face challenges in maintaining uniform thickness of the heat conductive material between the battery module and the cooler, leading to improper positioning and inefficient heat exchange.
Innovation Solution
A battery module unit design that includes spacers disposed between the battery modules and the cooler, along with heat conductive materials, held in place by holding members, ensuring uniform thickness and improved heat conduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a heat conductive material is applied between the battery module and the cooler, then heat exchange efficiency is improved, but the thickness of the heat conductive material becomes difficult to control uniformly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces spacers as intermediary elements positioned between the battery module and cooler. These spacers serve as mediators that maintain a uniform gap, allowing the heat conductive material to be applied with consistent thickness. The spacers prevent direct contact while ensuring uniform spacing, thus resolving the contradiction between achieving good heat exchange (requiring contact) and maintaining uniform material thickness (requiring controlled spacing).
Solution Approach 2:
The spacers are pre-positioned on either the battery module or cooler surface before the heat conductive material is applied. This preliminary action establishes the correct gap distance in advance, ensuring that when the heat conductive material is subsequently applied, it maintains uniform thickness throughout. This prevents the need for post-adjustment and ensures manufacturing precision.
2Reliability
If the thickness of the heat conductive material is not uniform, then positioning of the battery module and cooler is improper, but applying the material directly compromises heat exchange efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The spacers act as intermediary positioning elements that ensure proper alignment and uniform spacing between the battery module and cooler. By placing spacers at multiple locations, the system achieves reliable positioning while maintaining the necessary contact pressure for effective heat exchange through the heat conductive material.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacers are installed beforehand to establish the correct positioning and gap uniformity before the heat conductive material is applied. This preliminary positioning action ensures that when the material is applied, it fills the uniform gaps created by the spacers, thereby achieving both proper positioning and maintained heat exchange efficiency.
3Ease of manufacture
If the cooler is not properly positioned relative to the battery module, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but cooling performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The spacers serve as simple intermediary components that automatically ensure proper cooler positioning relative to the battery module. Their inclusion adds minimal complexity to the manufacturing process while dramatically improving cooling performance by guaranteeing uniform contact and optimal thermal coupling between the battery module and cooler.
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
The solution ensures uniform thickness of the heat conductive material, enhancing cooling performance and preventing deformation of the cooler, thereby improving thermal management in battery modules.
Implementation Method 1
a heat conductive material disposed between each of the battery modules and the cooler, each of the heat conductive materials being configured to conduct heat of the corresponding battery module to the cooler
Data Source
AI summary
The thickness of a heat conductive material can be made uniform. A battery module unit includes: a pair of battery modules disposed in parallel to each other in a state in which the battery modules are opposed to each other; a cooler disposed between the pair of the battery modules in parallel to the battery modules, the cooler being configured to cool the battery modules; a heat conductive material disposed between each of the battery modules and the cooler, each of the heat conductive materials being configured to conduct heat of the corresponding battery module to the cooler; a pair of holding members configured to hold corresponding ends of each of the pair of the battery modules; and spacers disposed between one of the battery modules and the cooler together with the heat conductive material.