Battery Pack Housing Form-Locked Thermal Contact
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Battery packs for electrical devices face overheating issues due to inadequate heat dissipation from the thermal insulation created by air gaps between the battery cells and the housing, which limits power conversion and poses a safety risk.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design with a plastic housing featuring a form-locked contact between the battery cells and the housing wall along a significant portion of the circumference, reducing thermal resistance and enhancing heat transfer through larger contact areas and elastic material properties to accommodate geometric tolerances, and optionally using a core to press cells outward for improved contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If air gaps are maintained between battery cells and housing for ease of insertion and manufacturing simplicity, then manufacturing precision is improved, but thermal insulation increases causing overheating
Solution Approach 1:
The housing wall is designed with differentiated regions: smooth sections for ease of insertion and form-locked sections with complementary shapes to battery cell circumferences for enhanced thermal contact. This local differentiation allows the housing to provide both easy insertion and effective heat dissipation at different locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing wall sections are designed with elastic properties to change their contact pressure with battery cells. By adjusting the elastic deformation parameters, the housing can transition from a loose fit during insertion to a tight form-locked contact during operation, optimizing both ease of manufacture and thermal performance.
2Temperature
If form-locked contact is implemented between housing and battery cells for improved heat dissipation, then thermal resistance is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is designed with elastic wall sections that can deform to accommodate geometric tolerances of battery cells. This flexibility allows the form-locked contact to be achieved without requiring extremely tight manufacturing tolerances, as the elastic material compensates for dimensional variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing wall sections have asymmetric designs with different degrees of elasticity and contact pressure in different regions. This allows optimization of thermal contact in critical areas while maintaining easier manufacturing in less critical regions, balancing thermal performance with manufacturing feasibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If housing wall is made elastic to compensate for geometric tolerances, then adaptability to cell variations is improved, but structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The housing wall is segmented into different functional sections: elastic form-locked sections for thermal contact and tolerance compensation, and stronger rigid sections for structural support and ease of insertion. This segmentation allows each section to be optimized for its specific function without compromising overall housing strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing employs composite construction combining materials with different properties: elastic materials in contact regions for tolerance compensation and thermal contact, and stronger materials in structural regions for overall housing strength and rigidity. This composite approach balances adaptability with structural integrity.
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
This design increases power conversion efficiency while preventing overheating by effectively dissipating heat from the battery cells, ensuring safer operation and higher performance.
Implementation Method 1
the large-area contact of the circumference surfaces of the battery cell or of each of the battery cells against the housing wall is able to improve the transmission of heat from the cell or from each of the cells into the housing wall and is therefore also able to reduce the thermal resistance between the battery cells and the surroundings
Implementation Method 2
the housing can be advantageously manufactured of a material that is sufficiently elastic to rest uniformly against the circumference surfaces of the battery cells and thus to compensate for tolerances in their geometry
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack for supplying power to an electrical device has a plastic housing having a housing wall with at least one wall section, at least one battery cell which has an outer circumference and is inserted into the housing so that the at least one wall section of the housing wall faces said outer circumference surface of the battery cell, the wall section of the housing and the circumference surface of the at least one battery cell being complementarily shaped along at least one quarter of a circumference of the at least one battery cell and resting against each other in a form-locked manner.