Battery Pack End Cover Sealing for Compact Serviceable Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face challenges in achieving cost-effective, reliable, and space-efficient configurations while ensuring effective sealing and facilitating servicing and assembly.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring a U-shaped top cover, releasable end covers with sealing gaskets, and fasteners, allowing for compact packaging and easy access for servicing, with integrated cooling components and robust attachment mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If battery cells are directly packaged inside the battery pack without using battery modules, then space efficiency is improved, but assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is divided into modular components: bottom support member, top cover, end covers, and individual battery cells. This segmentation allows for simplified assembly where each component can be independently manufactured and then easily assembled together, reducing overall assembly complexity while maintaining space efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottom support member and top cover serve multiple functions: they provide structural support, define the receiving space for battery cells, and include attachment interfaces for end covers. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying assembly while maximizing space utilization.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the top cover is permanently attached to the bottom support member before assembling battery cells, then structural stability is improved, but servicing capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The end covers are designed with releasable attachment interfaces that allow them to be dynamically attached and detached. This dynamic design enables the battery pack to transition between a stable enclosed state during operation and an accessible state during servicing, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and servicing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery pack enclosure is segmented into a permanently attached top cover and detachable end covers. This segmentation allows the main structural components to remain stably connected while providing easy access points for servicing through the removable end covers.
3Reliability
If sealing gaskets are added to the end cover attachment interfaces, then sealing reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Sealing gaskets are introduced as intermediary elements at the attachment interfaces between end covers and the top cover. These gaskets provide the sealing function without requiring complex integrated sealing mechanisms, maintaining reliability while keeping the overall design relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is merged into the attachment interface design by incorporating gaskets into the existing mechanical attachment structure. This combination eliminates the need for separate sealing systems, improving reliability without significantly increasing device complexity.
4Ease of repair
If the first end cover is releasably attached to allow servicing, then ease of repair is improved, but sealing reliability may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Sealing gaskets serve as intermediary elements that maintain reliable sealing even at the releasable attachment interface. The gaskets compensate for any minor variations in alignment or wear that occur during repeated attachment and detachment cycles, ensuring sealing reliability is maintained despite the ease of repair feature.
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosure relates to a battery pack (1) comprising a plurality of electrochemical battery cells (2), the battery pack further comprising a bottom support member (3), a top cover (4), and a first end cover (5), wherein the first end cover (5) is releasably attached to the top cover (4) via a first outer end attachment interface (A1), wherein the first outer end attachment interface (A1) is formed by a first end cover attachment surface (51) of the first end cover (5) and a first top cover attachment surface (41) of the top cover (4) which face each other along a longitudinal direction (L). The disclosure also relates to a vehicle (100) and a method for manufacturing a battery pack (1).