Battery Pack Bypass Flow Path for Uniform Heat Dissipation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face inefficiencies in heat dissipation, particularly for cells located farthest from the cooling source, leading to temperature deviations and potential overheating issues.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design incorporating a bypass flow path that bypasses cells in the first and second columns to direct cooled air to cells in the third column, along with compensation members ensuring uniform cell heights and gap protrusions for enhanced airflow, thereby equalizing heat dissipation across all columns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a conventional cooling design is used where air flows sequentially through all battery cell columns, then the cooling structure is simple, but cells farthest from the cooling source experience insufficient cooling and temperature deviations
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is divided into multiple columns with different cooling strategies. The first and second columns are cooled through direct airflow, while the third column receives bypassed cooled air through a separate flow path, segmenting the cooling approach to address temperature uniformity across different locations
Solution Approach 2:
A bypass member is introduced as an intermediary component that creates a dedicated flow path for cooling air to reach the third column of battery cells. This mediator structure enables the delivery of cooled air to distant cells without significantly increasing overall system complexity
2Quantity of substance
If battery cells are tightly arranged to maximize space utilization, then the energy density is improved, but airflow paths are blocked and heat dissipation efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling approach transitions from relying solely on horizontal airflow between cells to incorporating a bypass flow path that operates in a different spatial dimension, allowing cooling air to reach the third column without requiring increased inter-cell spacing
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the battery pack are provided with different cooling characteristics. The first and second columns receive direct cooling airflow, while the third column receives bypassed cooled air, creating localized cooling zones optimized for each region's thermal requirements
3Volume of moving object
If the third column of battery cells is positioned farthest from the cooling fan to maximize packing efficiency, then the space utilization is improved, but these cells experience insufficient cooling and potential overheating
Solution Approach 1:
The bypass flow path is pre-configured to deliver cooled air to the third column before these cells can overheat. The compensation members are positioned in advance to guide the bypass airflow to the distant cells, ensuring cooling reliability without compromising volume utilization
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 reduces temperature deviations and prevents overheating, stabilizing the battery pack operation by ensuring consistent heat dissipation efficiency across all battery cells, minimizing the risk of abnormal situations like explosion.
Implementation Method 1
a bypass member, the bypass member including supporting surfaces that support the plurality of battery cells in the first and second columns, and forming a bypass flow path that bypasses the battery cells in the first and second columns
Implementation Method 2
a cooling fan to generate air flow toward the plurality of battery cells
Implementation Method 3
The bypass member and the compensation members may each include gap protrusions, the gap protrusions may protrude upwardly from the supporting surfaces of the respective bypass member and compensation members, the gap protrusions may space the battery cells apart such that gap flow paths are provided among the plurality of battery cells
Implementation Method 4
A sloped surface may be between the bypass member and the compensation members, the sloped surface guiding a flow of air from the bypass flow path to upper portions of the compensation members
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack including a plurality of battery cells aligned in a first column, a second column, and a third column; a bypass member, the bypass member including supporting surfaces that support the plurality of battery cells in the first and second columns, and forming a bypass flow path that bypasses the battery cells in the first and second columns; and compensation members, the compensation members including supporting surfaces that support the plurality of battery cells in the third column, wherein the supporting surfaces of the compensation members are substantially coplanar with the supporting surfaces of the bypass member.