Traction Battery Assembly Alignment via Mid-Tray Keying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing traction battery systems for automotive vehicles face challenges in ensuring proper alignment and orientation of cell arrays during assembly, which can lead to misconnection of terminals and hinder efficient energy transfer.
Innovation Solution
The use of endplates with aligned locating pin receiving bores and a mid-tray with strategically positioned pin pass-throughs ensures correct orientation of the cell arrays, preventing reverse assembly and ensuring proper terminal alignment through a keyed attachment mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cell arrays are stacked without alignment features, then assembly is simpler and faster, but misalignment and reverse assembly occur leading to terminal misconnection
Solution Approach 1:
A mid-tray is introduced as an intermediary component between the lower and upper cell arrays. The mid-tray contains pin pass-throughs that work with locating pins on the arrays to ensure proper alignment and prevent reverse assembly. This mediator component simplifies the alignment process while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The locating pins and pin pass-throughs are strategically positioned in asymmetric patterns on the endplates and mid-tray. This asymmetric arrangement creates a keyed attachment mechanism that allows correct assembly in only one orientation, preventing reverse assembly and ensuring terminal alignment.
2Adaptability or versatility
If locating pins are positioned to align with all bores, then assembly flexibility is higher, but orientation control is lost allowing reverse assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The pin pass-throughs in the mid-tray are selectively positioned to align with specific locating pins in specific orientations. This asymmetric arrangement restricts assembly to the correct orientation while maintaining the flexibility of the locating pin system for proper alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The mid-tray acts as a mediator that controls the interaction between locating pins and bore pairs. By selectively providing pin pass-throughs, it guides the assembly process to achieve correct orientation while maintaining assembly flexibility through the locating pin mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A battery assembly includes a lower array including opposing endplates having upwardly protruding pins, and an upper array including opposing endplates having pin bores. The upper array includes a mid-tray defining holes positioned such that the pins are receivable in the holes and the bores when the arrays are properly oriented and such that the mid-tray blocks the pins from being received within the bores when the arrays are positioned in a reverse orientation.