Battery Pack Structural Component for Cell Expansion Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face issues with safety and service life due to battery cell expansion, which can lead to rupture and damage from excessive expansion, and require excessive foam and complex assembly processes.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design with a collapsible and deformable structural component between the cell module and housing, featuring side walls with varying flexural moduli, allowing controlled expansion and pressure distribution to mitigate cell expansion, reducing foam usage and assembly complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If battery cells are allowed to expand freely, then the service life is extended, but the safety deteriorates due to rupture and damage from excessive expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The structural component's material parameters are specifically designed with varying flexural moduli - the connecting portion has a smaller flexural modulus than the side walls, enabling controlled deformation. This parameter differentiation allows the structure to adapt to cell expansion while maintaining safety constraints, resolving the contradiction between extending service life through expansion and preventing rupture damage.
2Reliability
If foam is used to constrain battery cell expansion, then the safety is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the expansion constraint function from the traditional foam material and transfers it to the structural component's geometric design. The connecting portion with smaller flexural modulus inherently provides the constraining force needed, eliminating the need for separate foam materials and simplifying both the device structure and assembly process while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The structural component acts as an intermediary between the battery cells and the housing, providing controlled expansion space while constraining excessive expansion. The connecting portion with reduced flexural modulus serves as a deformable mediator that absorbs expansion forces, replacing the need for foam intermediaries and reducing overall device complexity.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If foam is used to provide expansion space, then the service life is extended, but the productivity decreases due to increased material usage and assembly difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the expansion space provision function and the expansion constraint function into a single integrated structural component. The side walls provide expansion space while the connecting portions with smaller flexural modulus provide constraint, eliminating the need for separate foam materials and simplifying assembly operations, thereby improving productivity without sacrificing service life extension.
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
Enhances safety and service life by providing expansion space and pressure control, reducing production costs and assembly difficulty while increasing energy density.
Implementation Method 1
the flexural modulus of each connecting portion is smaller than flexural moduli of two side walls connected to the connecting portion... the connecting portion of the structural component deforms and collapses, and pressure along the first direction is provided for the cell module
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack includes a housing, a cell module and a structural component. The cell module is accommodated within the housing, and the cell module includes a plurality of battery cells disposed in a stacked manner along a first direction. The structural component is arranged along the first direction with the cell module. The structural component includes a plurality of side walls, the plurality of side walls are sequentially disposed along the first direction with the cell module, a connecting portion is connected between every two adjacent side walls, a flexural modulus of each connecting portion is smaller than flexural moduli of two side walls connected to the connecting portion, the plurality of side walls include a first side wall and a second side wall, the first side wall is fixedly connected to the housing, and the second side wall is connected to the cell module.