Battery Pack Cell Layout With Depopulated Areas for Structural Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing traction battery packs for electrified vehicles often require a uniform distribution of battery cells to maintain structural integrity and energy delivery efficiency, but this can lead to inefficiencies in energy storage and delivery due to the need for a fixed number of cells.
Innovation Solution
The battery pack assembly incorporates depopulated areas within the battery arrays by omitting battery cells in specific regions, allowing for a flexible configuration that can meet varying energy storage and delivery requirements while maintaining structural integrity through cross-member assemblies and busbars.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If battery cells are uniformly distributed throughout the battery pack, then structural integrity is maintained, but energy storage efficiency is reduced due to unnecessary cells occupying space that could be used for other components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts (removes) battery cells from specific regions of the battery pack to create depopulated areas. This allows the battery pack to have fewer cells than a fully uniform distribution would require, while the removed spaces are used to accommodate structural components that maintain integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating regions with different cell densities - fully populated areas for energy storage and depopulated areas for structural components. This non-uniform distribution optimizes both energy capacity and structural integrity by placing components where they are most needed.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed number of battery cells is used to maintain structural integrity, then structural stability is ensured, but adaptability to varying energy storage requirements is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the battery pack into multiple independent regions (fully populated areas and depopulated areas) that can be configured differently. This segmentation allows the battery pack to be adapted to various energy storage requirements by adjusting which regions are populated and which are used for structural components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic configurability by allowing different numbers and arrangements of battery cells in different regions. The depopulated areas provide flexibility to reconfigure the battery pack for different energy storage needs while maintaining structural stability through the strategically placed structural components.
3Quantity of substance
If battery cells are densely packed to maximize energy storage, then energy capacity is increased, but structural integrity is compromised due to insufficient space for structural components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating regions with different cell densities - fully populated areas for energy storage and depopulated areas for structural components. This non-uniform distribution optimizes both energy capacity and structural integrity by placing components where they are most needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent resolves the spatial conflict between energy storage and structural components by utilizing the three-dimensional space efficiently. Depopulated areas are positioned to optimize both energy density in populated regions and structural support functionality, effectively using spatial dimensionality to reconcile the contradiction.
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack assembly includes a cross-member assembly extending along a cross-member axis, and a battery array alongside the cross-member assembly. The battery array has at least one group of battery cells and an depopulated area disposed along a battery array axis. A first group of battery cells can be spaced a distance along the battery array axis from a second group of battery cells to provide the depopulated area. A first group of battery cells can be spaced from an endplate of an array to provide the depopulated area.