Battery Cell Frame Assembly With Gap Filler for Uniform Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery designs face challenges in effectively managing heat dissipation and temperature uniformity, particularly in large battery cell assemblies, leading to potential overheating and inefficiencies in thermal management.
Innovation Solution
A battery cell assembly design featuring a frame made of a thermally conductive, dimensionally stable material with recesses for battery cells, filled with a permanently deformable thermally conductive gap filler that ensures uniform heat transfer and mechanical stability, while allowing for flexible electrical connections and reduced manufacturing complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a thermally conductive plate with cutouts is used to hold battery cells, then mechanical support is provided, but heat dissipation surface area is limited and temperature gradients occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional plate-based support structure to a three-dimensional recess structure that completely surrounds the battery cells. The recesses extend around the lateral surfaces of the cells, creating thermal contact in multiple directions and dimensions, thereby dramatically increasing the effective heat dissipation surface area while maintaining structural support.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery cells are nested within the recesses of the frame structure, with the thermally conductive material filling the space between the cells and recess walls. This nested arrangement maximizes the contact surface area between the thermal management system and the battery cells, allowing heat to be dissipated from all surfaces of the cells rather than just one face.
2Device complexity
If battery cells are arranged in parallel on a thermally conductive plate, then structural simplicity is achieved, but adequate heat dissipation is not ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different functional qualities to different parts of the structure. The recesses provide mechanical containment while the thermally conductive material provides thermal management. This localized functional differentiation allows the same structural element to simultaneously achieve both mechanical support and efficient heat dissipation without requiring separate complex systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame structure with recesses serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical support for the battery cells, enables thermal management through the thermally conductive material, and maintains cell spacing. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while improving heat dissipation efficiency compared to separate support and cooling systems.
3Strength
If intermediate spaces are filled with curing materials, then mechanical connection is achieved, but thermal conductivity and deformability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical and chemical parameters of the gap filler material to achieve optimal performance. The material is formulated with specific thermal conductivity properties to ensure efficient heat transfer, while its permanently deformable characteristic allows it to maintain mechanical connection under varying thermal and mechanical conditions without curing.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of a specially formulated thermally conductive gap filler material represents a composite or specialized material solution that combines multiple desirable properties: thermal conductivity for heat dissipation, permanent deformability for mechanical accommodation, and electrical insulation. This composite material approach resolves the contradiction between mechanical strength and thermal conductivity.
4Reliability
If electrically insulating balls are used to fill intermediate spaces, then electrical insulation is provided, but optimal heat dissipation is not ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from electrically insulating balls with poor thermal contact to a thermally conductive gap filler material that provides both electrical insulation and optimal thermal conductivity. The gap filler's ability to conform to surfaces and maintain intimate contact ensures efficient heat transfer while preserving electrical insulation properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The thermally conductive gap filler acts as an intermediary material between the battery cells and the frame recesses, mediating both thermal and electrical interactions. It provides the necessary thermal pathway for heat dissipation while maintaining electrical insulation, unlike the ball filler which creates discontinuous thermal paths.
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 design achieves efficient heat dissipation and temperature uniformity across battery cells, reducing the risk of thermal runaway and simplifying manufacturing by minimizing the need for additional sealing and cooling mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
The frame is formed from a solid, dimensionally stable and thermally conductive material for controlling the temperature of the battery cells, that is to say for supplying heat to the battery cells or dissipating heat from the battery cells depending on the situation
Implementation Method 2
the gap filler to be formed from a permanently deformable thermally conductive material
Data Source
AI summary
A battery cell assembly includes a frame and multiple battery cells which are held in cell-individual recesses of the frame so as to be aligned parallel to one another. A respective gap filler is arranged between lateral surfaces of the battery cells and the recess inner faces facing the lateral surfaces, said gap filler connecting the battery cells and the frame together. The frame is made of a solid, dimensionally stable, and thermally conductive material, and the gap filler is made of a permanently deformable thermally conductive material. Furthermore, the inner faces of the recesses extend in the vertical direction of the battery cells over the entire length thereof.