External Battery Housing Frame for Lightweight Venting Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery housings face challenges in achieving enhanced structural support, reduced weight, and improved thermal management without compromising safety or performance.
Innovation Solution
A battery housing design incorporating an exo-skeleton frame structure with protruding regions and vent channels, allowing for thinner materials, increased internal volume, and effective thermal management, while providing structural support and safety features such as venting mechanisms and load distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional robust battery housings are used to ensure structural integrity and protection, then safety and mechanical strength are improved, but weight increases and material thickness cannot be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The battery housing is segmented into two distinct functional components: an exo-skeleton frame structure that provides mechanical strength and load-bearing capacity, and a thinner battery housing that provides encapsulation and environmental protection. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, enabling weight reduction while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs a composite structure combining the exo-skeleton frame (made from high-strength materials designed for load-bearing) with the battery housing (made from materials optimized for encapsulation and thermal management). This composite approach allows the system to achieve both high strength and low weight by selecting materials specifically suited for each functional requirement.
2Strength
If thicker materials are used in battery housing to ensure mechanical strength and protection, then structural integrity is improved, but internal volume decreases and thermal management efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the load-bearing function (handled by the exo-skeleton frame) from the encapsulation function (handled by the battery housing), the design enables the housing walls to be made thinner without compromising mechanical strength. This releases internal volume that can be used for battery modules and thermal management systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The exo-skeleton frame structure moves the primary structural support from the two-dimensional wall thickness dimension to a three-dimensional external framework dimension. This dimensional shift allows the battery housing walls to be thinner while maintaining overall structural integrity, thereby increasing internal volume.
3Stability of the object's composition
If robust battery housing is used to provide structural support, then mechanical stability is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The design segments the structural support function into a separate exo-skeleton frame that can be manufactured independently using optimized processes (such as extrusion or modular assembly), while the battery housing can be manufactured using standard injection molding or forming processes. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured using the most appropriate and cost-effective process for its specific requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The exo-skeleton frame structure serves multiple functions: providing mechanical strength, enabling thermal management pathways, and facilitating modular assembly. By designing the frame to perform multiple functions, the overall device complexity is reduced compared to integrating all these functions into a single robust housing structure.
4Volume of stationary object
If protruding regions are added to battery housing for functional integration, then internal volume is increased, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The protruding regions are integrated into the battery housing as separate functional features that can be molded or formed during the housing manufacturing process itself, rather than requiring post-assembly operations. This segmentation of features into the base manufacturing process reduces the need for high-precision assembly operations and lowers overall manufacturing precision requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
A battery arrangement (100) comprising: a battery housing (102) configured to hold at least one battery module, wherein the battery housing is configured to form an encapsulation layer for the at least one battery module; a first frame (104) arranged on a first side of the battery housing; a second frame (106) arranged on a second side of the battery housing, the second side being opposite the first side; and at least one transversal connection element (108) arranged to connect the first frame to the second frame; wherein the battery housing comprises at least one protruding region (1 10a-b) on an outer sidewall and wherein the first frame is configured to have an opening (112) at the location of the at least one protruding region so that the protruding region is at least partially arranged in the opening of the first frame.