Flexible Battery Cell Interconnect for Swelling and Vibration Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery module designs face challenges in achieving a compact, reliable, and cost-effective flexible interconnect for connecting battery cells to a battery management unit, particularly in accommodating cell swelling and vibrations while minimizing material waste.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a flexible interconnect with a planar stress relief section featuring non-linear cutouts, allowing for relative longitudinal extension and maintaining a normal width, thus enabling automatic assembly and reducing material waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If traditional rigid interconnect designs are used to connect battery cells, then structural stability is improved, but adaptability to cell swelling and vibrations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible interconnect comprising a flexible printed circuit board that can elastically deform to accommodate cell swelling and vibrations. The interconnect includes stress relief sections with non-linear cutouts that enable the rigid portions to flex without breaking, thus maintaining both structural stability and adaptability to dynamic cell conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The interconnect design transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure that can adapt its shape. The stress relief sections allow the interconnect to dynamically adjust to cell expansion and vibration forces while maintaining electrical connectivity and mechanical attachment.
2Adaptability or versatility
If stress relief sections with large protruding portions are used to accommodate cell swelling, then adaptability to cell expansion is improved, but device width increases and automatic assembly becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the width conflict by moving the stress relief mechanism from the lateral dimension to the longitudinal dimension. The non-linear cutouts create flexibility along the length of the interconnect rather than requiring increased width, allowing the interconnect to expand longitudinally to accommodate cell swelling while maintaining a compact width suitable for automatic assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The stress relief sections incorporate non-linear curved cutouts instead of straight lines, creating a flexible pathway that allows the interconnect to bend and expand in response to cell swelling. The curved geometry provides the necessary flexibility while maintaining a compact form factor that does not interfere with automatic assembly processes.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional interconnect designs are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but material waste increases due to inability to use cut-off pieces
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible printed circuit board is designed with integrated non-linear cutouts that segment the board into flexible regions while maintaining overall connectivity. These cutouts are positioned and shaped such that the resulting interconnect can be manufactured from standard-sized materials with minimal waste, as the cut-out portions are strategically placed to maximize material utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent design allows for the recovery and reuse of material that would otherwise be wasted. The non-linear cutout pattern is optimized to minimize discarded material, and the flexible nature of the interconnect allows small variations in manufacturing without requiring precise trimming, thereby reducing material loss.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the flexible interconnect width is increased to accommodate stress relief, then adaptability to vibrations is improved, but the compactness of the battery module deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The interconnect uses dynamic stress relief sections with non-linear cutouts that provide vibration accommodation through elastic deformation rather than through increased width. The flexible portions can dynamically absorb vibration energy while maintaining a compact overall dimensions that preserve battery module space efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a thin flexible printed circuit board with strategically placed non-linear cutouts that provide vibration resistance without requiring increased thickness or width. The flexible film structure absorbs vibration through controlled deformation while maintaining a compact profile that fits within the battery module's spatial constraints.
Data Source
AI summary
A battery module includes a plurality of battery cells stacked along a longitudinal direction and a flexible interconnect configured to provide electrical information of battery cells to a battery management unit. The flexible interconnect extends in the longitudinal direction and is affixed to the plurality of battery cells and includes a plurality of interconnect traces and a stress relief section extending in the longitudinal direction. The stress relief section has a cutout extending along the longitudinal direction that separates adjacent interconnect traces from each other. The interconnect traces include a first peripheral interconnect trace forming a recessed portion and a second peripheral interconnect trace opposite to the first peripheric interconnect trace and forming a protruding portion. A height of the protruding portion in the stress relief section is the same size as or smaller than a width of the flexible interconnect neighboring the stress relief section.