Battery Pack Clearance Adjusting Units and Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Battery packs tend to accumulate heat along the stacking direction, leading to temperature variations among stacked battery cells, which can affect performance and longevity.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design incorporating a refrigerant supply pipe, refrigerant recovery pipe, cooling members with heat transfer plates and flexible tubes, clearance adjusting units with elastic bodies, and a restraining unit to manage temperature variations and minimize cell movement and deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cooling members with flexible tubes are installed between adjacent battery cells, then temperature variations between cells are reduced, but the risk of tube deformation increases due to cell movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state of the flexible tube from a soft, deformable state to a fixed, rigid state by injecting expanding foam through injection holes. This parameter change eliminates tube deformation while maintaining thermal contact with battery cells, resolving the contradiction between cooling effectiveness and tube reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The expanding foam acts as an intermediary substance that fills the space between the flexible tube and battery cells. It provides both mechanical support to prevent tube deformation and thermal conduction to maintain effective cooling, simultaneously addressing both concerns
2Stability of the object's composition
If clearance adjusting units are installed between all adjacent pairs of cells, then cell movement is minimized, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of installing clearance adjusting units between all adjacent pairs of cells, the patent applies them only to specific positions where cells are likely to move excessively. This partial application reduces device complexity and manufacturing difficulty while still achieving adequate cell movement control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the battery pack into multiple groups along the stacking direction, with clearance adjusting units installed only between certain groups rather than between every adjacent pair of cells. This segmentation approach reduces the total number of components while maintaining structural stability
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
The design effectively reduces temperature variations between cells, minimizes movement and deformation of cooling components, and enhances the stability and performance of the battery pack by maintaining optimal thermal conditions.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic body disposed between the pair of plates
Implementation Method 2
a refrigerant flow passage attached to the heat transfer plate
Implementation Method 3
a first flexible tube connected to the refrigerant supply pipe and the refrigerant flow passage
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack includes one or more clearance adjusting units. Along a direction in which a plurality of cells are arranged, the one or more clearance adjusting unit are disposed intermittently between adjacent pairs of the cells or between sets of adjacent pairs of the cells. Each of the clearance adjusting units includes a pair of plates respectively placed against respective planar portions of the cells adjacent thereto, and an elastic body disposed between the pair of plates.