Battery Module Cooling via Airflow Passages and Spacers

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing battery modules face challenges in maintaining uniform environmental temperature conditions, especially in extreme environments, leading to safety and performance issues due to internal heat distribution limitations and surface contact-based cooling methods.

Innovation Solution

A battery module design featuring a box with ventilation holes, airflow passages between batteries, and a fan for effective heat dissipation, along with spacers to maintain airflow and prevent direct battery contact, ensuring efficient cooling and stability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If batteries are stacked in one single direction with large surfaces sequentially bonded to each other, then the structure is compact and easy to manufacture, but the heat exchange medium can only contact a part of the batteries through surface contact, resulting in poor temperature uniformity and limited cooling effectiveness

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of manufactureVSAvoidtemperature uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSTemperature

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the battery module into multiple layers with batteries arranged in different directions (first layer in first direction, second layer in second direction perpendicular to first direction). This segmentation allows heat exchange media to access different surfaces of batteries through corresponding heat exchange channels, improving temperature uniformity while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Temperature

If an air conditioner or cooling device is used at system level, then environmental temperature conditions can be improved to some extent, but the cooling is uneven due to internal arrangement and installation location, causing big temperature differences between batteries

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveenvironmental temperature conditionVSAvoidtemperature difference
Core Design Contradiction:
TemperatureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent provides different heat exchange channels for different layers of batteries (first heat exchange channel for first layer, second heat exchange channel for second layer). This local quality approach ensures that each battery layer has dedicated cooling pathways, achieving uniform temperature control across all batteries and improving reliability by eliminating temperature differences.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Device complexity

If batteries are arranged in a single direction with sequential bonding, then the structural simplicity is maintained, but the heat dissipation effectiveness is limited due to restricted airflow paths

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestructural simplicityVSAvoidheat dissipation effectiveness
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent transitions from single-direction battery arrangement to multi-directional arrangement by stacking batteries in different directions across multiple layers. This dimensional change creates diverse airflow paths and heat exchange channels, significantly improving heat dissipation effectiveness while maintaining reasonable structural simplicity through systematic layering.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

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 enhances temperature uniformity across batteries, ensuring long-term stability, safety, and expanding the application range of the battery module by effectively managing heat dissipation through airflow passages.

Implementation Method 1

a fan on the side plate communicating with the cavity for discharging an airflow entering the cavity through the ventilation holes away from the cavity through the airflow passages

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectForced Convection: Forced Convection

Implementation Method 2

airflow passages are formed among the plurality of batteries... discharging an airflow entering the cavity through the ventilation holes away from the cavity through the airflow passages

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectConvection: Convection

Data Source

PatentEP3460868B1Battery module
Publication Date: 2020.04.22 CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO LTD
  • EP3460868B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3460868B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3460868B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

The present invention relates to a battery module. The battery module includes: a box (10) having a cavity (14) and having a bottom plate (11), a top plate (13) and a side plate (14) connecting the bottom plate and the top plate, wherein the side plate, the top plate and the bottom plate together form the cavity, and the side plate has ventilation holes (16) communicating with the cavity; first spacers (40) distributed on a surface of the bottom plate facing the cavity in order to form a plurality of first grids (41); a plurality of batteries (30) corresponding to the plurality of first grids, wherein airflow passages (60) are formed among the plurality of batteries; and a fan (20) on the side plate communicating with the cavity for discharging an airflow entering the cavity through the ventilation holes away from the cavity through the airflow passages.