Battery Module End Frame Segmentation for Welding Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing battery module configurations face challenges in weldability between the module housing and end plates due to irregular pores and complex shapes, leading to welding failures and difficulties in mounting various components.
Innovation Solution
A battery module design featuring a coupling plate with a body portion and stepped portion that combines with the body frame, including fixing protrusions and grooves for secure alignment and welding, and a casting method for manufacturing the body frame without additional coupling members, enhancing the binding force and reducing manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the front end plate and rear end plate are manufactured via die-casting method to achieve complicated shapes for mounting various components, then the shape complexity and component mounting capability are improved, but irregular pores are generated inside the plates causing welding failures and low internal uniformity
Solution Approach 1:
The end plate is divided into two separate components: the body frame (manufactured by die-casting with complicated shape) and the coupling plate (manufactured by press method with high uniformity). This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific manufacturing method, resolving the contradiction between shape complexity and welding reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling plate acts as an intermediary component that connects the body frame to the module housing. It transfers the welding function from the complex-shaped body frame to a simpler, more uniform component, enabling reliable welding while maintaining the complicated shape requirements of the body frame for component mounting.
2Reliability
If the front end plate and rear end plate are manufactured via press method to achieve high internal uniformity, then the welding uniformity and reliability are improved, but the capability to realize complicated shapes for mounting various components is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The end plate functionality is segmented between two components: the body frame handles the complicated shape requirements for component mounting, while the coupling plate handles the welding function with high uniformity. This segmentation allows each component to excel at its specific function without compromise.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling plate provides the necessary welding surface area and uniformity, while the body frame provides the complicated shape. By distributing functions between partial components rather than requiring a single component to excel at both, the system achieves both shape complexity and welding reliability.
3Strength
If additional coupling members are used to connect the end plate to the module housing to improve connection strength, then the binding force is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling plate integrates multiple functions into a single component: it connects the body frame to the module housing, provides welding surfaces, and ensures proper positioning. This merging eliminates the need for separate coupling members, reducing device complexity while maintaining connection strength through direct welding.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling plate serves multiple functions simultaneously: structural connection, welding interface, and positioning element. This multi-functionality replaces what would otherwise require multiple separate components, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining or enhancing connection strength.
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 design improves weldability by facilitating proper positioning and strong binding between the coupling plate and module housing, reducing defects and manufacturing time, while ensuring stable connections and increased reliability.
Implementation Method 1
when the front end plate and the rear end plate are welded to an end portion of the module housing via laser so as to seal the module housing
Data Source
AI summary
A battery module which includes a cell assembly having a plurality of secondary batteries; a module housing having at least one side wall and configured to accommodate the cell assembly in an internal space defined by the at least one side wall; and an end frame including: a body frame that includes a main wall and at least one side wall extending from an outer circumference of the main wall in a direction where the module housing is positioned; and a coupling plate that is configured such that one side portion of the coupling plate is combined and fixed to the at least one side wall of the body frame and the other side portion of the coupling plate is combined to a front end portion or a rear end portion of the module housing.