Vehicle Battery Pack With Peripheral Air Cooling And Junction Box
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs for vehicles face design restrictions due to their vertical size, which limits their compatibility with smaller vehicles, and often require complex cooling systems that increase pressure loss and size, making them unsuitable for compact vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring flat, box-shaped modules piled vertically within a rectangular pack case, with a cooling unit at one end circulating air along the pack case's periphery and a junction box positioned to receive the cooled air, allowing for flexible design in the vertical direction and reduced width, thus enabling easier mounting on smaller vehicles with efficient cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If battery modules are arranged in vertical placement to increase capacity, then the battery pack height increases, but this limits compatibility with smaller vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from vertical stacking (height direction) to horizontal arrangement (width/length directions) of battery modules. By changing the spatial dimension of module arrangement, the design achieves high capacity without increasing height, enabling compatibility with compact vehicles having limited vertical space.
2Temperature
If a complex cooling system is added to cool the battery modules, then cooling effectiveness improves, but device complexity and pressure loss increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is integrated with the battery module structure itself. Cooling channels are formed within the battery module housing, allowing cooling air to flow directly through the modules. This merging of cooling function into the module structure eliminates the need for separate complex cooling apparatus, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining effective cooling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs air-based cooling through strategically positioned blowers that circulate air through channels in the battery module housing. This pneumatic cooling approach is simpler than liquid cooling systems, reducing complexity while effectively removing heat from the battery modules.
3Temperature
If the cooling unit is positioned to cool battery modules directly, then cooling efficiency improves, but the junction box cannot be properly positioned for electrical connections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different functional qualities to different regions of the battery pack. The front portion houses cooling components (blowers, air channels) for thermal management, while the rear portion accommodates the junction box for electrical connections. This spatial separation of functional zones allows each component to perform its function optimally without interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery pack is segmented into distinct functional regions: a cooling section at the front and an electrical connection section at the rear. This segmentation allows independent optimization of cooling efficiency and electrical accessibility, resolving the conflict between cooling performance and junction box positioning.
4Quantity of substance
If battery modules are arranged to maximize capacity, then the pack case width increases, but this restricts mounting options in smaller vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing pack case width to accommodate more battery modules, the patent arranges modules in the longitudinal direction and uses vertical stacking within that constraint. This dimensional reorganization allows high capacity within a compact width, suitable for small vehicle installations.
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 allows for greater freedom in vehicle body floor design, reduces width restrictions, and enables effective cooling with a smaller cooling unit, making the battery pack suitable for compact vehicles while minimizing noise and power consumption.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling unit configured to send and circulate cooling air in the pack case along an outer periphery of the pack case
Implementation Method 2
The cooling unit is disposed at one end of the pack case in the longitudinal direction and configured to send and circulate cooling air in the pack case along an outer periphery of the pack case
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a battery pack for a vehicle including an approximately rectangular pack case, a plurality of flat box-shaped battery modules, a cooling unit, and a junction box for storing a relay, in which: the plurality of battery modules is piled up flat in the pack case so that a terminal provided on a short side of each battery module is directed in a longitudinal direction of the pack case; the cooling unit is disposed at one end of the pack case in the longitudinal direction and configured to send and circulate cooling air in the pack case along an outer periphery of the pack case; and the junction box is disposed in a most downstream side of the circulating cooling air beside the cooling unit in a width direction of the pack case.