Battery Pack Cross Member Layout for Underbody Impact Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs for electric vehicles face challenges in protecting the battery module while minimizing the number of parts and weight, as traditional protective structures increase both.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring battery modules stacked in a horizontal direction with a cross member system, including upper and lower cross members and protruding portions on the case's bottom surface, which supports loads from below and reduces weight by integrating protection and structural elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a protective plate is disposed below the battery case, then the battery stack is protected from collision loads, but the number of parts and vehicle weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the protective function directly into the battery case structure by providing protruding portions on the bottom surface of the case main body. This merging of the protective plate function into the case structure eliminates the need for a separate protective plate, thereby reducing the number of parts and vehicle weight while maintaining collision protection capability for the battery stack
Solution Approach 2:
The case main body is designed to serve multiple functions: it provides structural containment for the battery modules and simultaneously offers collision protection through its protruding portions. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated protective components, reducing overall part count and weight while ensuring battery stack protection
2Reliability
If a protective plate is disposed below the battery case, then the battery stack is protected from collision loads, but the number of parts increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective function is merged into the case main body structure through protruding portions formed directly on its bottom surface. This integration eliminates the need for a separate protective plate component, reducing the total number of parts while maintaining effective protection of the battery stack from collision loads
Solution Approach 2:
The case main body is designed as a multi-functional component that simultaneously provides structural containment and collision protection. By making the case itself protective through its protruding portions, the design eliminates dedicated protective parts, simplifying the overall structure and reducing part count
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack includes: battery modules being arranged side by side in a horizontal direction; and a case including a cross member provided between the battery modules arranged side by side, in which the cross member includes: an upper cross member; a lower cross member; and a fixing portion abutting against a bottom surface of a case main body and fixing the upper cross member and the lower cross member to each other by a fastening member, in which the bottom surface of the case main body is integrally provided with at least one first protruding portion that protrudes downward and extends continuously in the horizontal direction, and the first protruding portion intersects the cross member at a position overlapping the fixing portion of the cross member when viewed in the upper-lower direction.