Vehicle Battery Assembly With Dual Cold Plates for Tight Spaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical energy storage systems in vehicles face challenges in adapting to restricted spaces, particularly when converting combustion-engine vehicles to electric or hybrid powertrains, as conventional battery pack designs are too bulky for these vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A novel electrical energy storage assembly design featuring a belt casing without a bottom wall, utilizing two cold plates to suspend tiers of electrical structure elements with axial clearance, allowing for flexible arrangement and compact integration in limited spaces, with a cooling system that includes channels for heat transfer fluid circulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If conventional battery pack design with pan and bottom wall is used, then structural stability and ease of manufacture are improved, but volume and bulkiness increase making it unsuitable for restricted spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the bottom wall from the conventional pan structure, extracting this element to create an open-bottom belt casing. This extraction reduces the overall volume and bulkiness of the battery pack while maintaining the essential containment function through alternative support structures (cold plates and vehicle floor integration), directly resolving the contradiction between reducing volume and maintaining manufacturability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a three-dimensional enclosed pan structure to a more planar, belt-like configuration by removing the bottom wall. This dimensional simplification allows the battery pack to adapt to restricted spaces and complex vehicle underbody geometries, reducing volume while maintaining structural integrity through the belt casing and cap assembly.
2Volume of moving object
If battery modules are arranged in restricted spaces, then space utilization is improved, but heat exchange efficiency deteriorates due to reduced clearance
Solution Approach 1:
The cold plates serve as intermediary thermal management components that directly contact the battery modules. By positioning cold plates between the battery modules and the belt casing structure, the invention enables effective heat exchange even in compact arrangements with limited clearance, mediating the thermal interaction between tightly packed modules and the cooling system.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention divides the thermal management function into multiple cold plates positioned at different locations within the belt casing. This segmentation allows heat to be extracted from multiple points simultaneously, maintaining heat exchange efficiency even when battery modules are densely arranged with reduced overall clearance, as each cold plate locally manages thermal loads.
3Volume of moving object
If axial clearance between battery tiers is reduced, then bulkiness is reduced, but risk of contact and thermal interference increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cold plates act as thermal intermediaries positioned between tiers of battery modules. Even when axial clearance is reduced to minimize bulkiness, the cold plates maintain thermal isolation between tiers by providing controlled thermal pathways, preventing unwanted thermal interference while allowing tight packing.
4Adaptability or versatility
If belt casing without bottom wall is used, then flexibility in arrangement and space optimization are improved, but structural support requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The belt casing without a bottom wall serves multiple functions: it provides lateral containment, supports the cap assembly, and integrates with the vehicle floor for structural support. This multi-functionality compensates for the removed bottom wall, maintaining structural adequacy while maximizing arrangement flexibility and space optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the structural support function from the bottom wall into the combined system of the belt casing lateral walls, caps, and vehicle floor integration. This merging distributes the support load across multiple elements, maintaining structural strength while enabling the flexible open-bottom configuration that optimizes space utilization.
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
Enables efficient heat exchange and compact integration of battery modules and control components, optimizing space utilization and reducing bulkiness while maintaining effective operation.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling circuit configured to supply the cold plate with a heat transfer fluid
Implementation Method 2
enabling a better convective exchange of heat between the cold plate and the electrical structure elements
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical energy storage assembly includes at least two electrical structure elements and at least one cold plate intended to exchange heat energy with at least one electrical structure element. Further, a belt casing and two caps define a cavity to house the electrical structure elements and, at least partially, a cooling structure including two cold plates fixed to respective peripheral edges of the belt casing axially opposite one another. A tier of electrical structure elements is fixed to an internal face of each cold plate and housed in the volume defined by the belt casing. The two tiers of electrical structure elements housed in the belt casing being arranged facing one another with an axial clearance formed between them.