Battery Pack Stack Restraint Against Lateral Module Slipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face exposure of active portions due to lateral slipping of power storage modules caused by vibrations, leading to potential electrical issues.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring stacks of metal plates with a resin portion bonded to their periphery, a case, and a regulating portion that faces the resin portion to prevent exposure, ensuring the resin portion's width is equal to or greater than the distance between it and the regulating portion, and including conductive plates with overlapping portions to maintain electrical connection and prevent active portion exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If power storage modules are stacked to form compact battery packs, then space utilization is improved, but lateral slipping due to vibration may expose active portions
Solution Approach 1:
The resin portion is pre-formed with a width that is equal to or larger than the distance between the resin portion and the regulating portion in the second direction. This preliminary dimensional design ensures that even when lateral slipping occurs during vehicle operation, the resin portion maintains sufficient overlap with adjacent stacks to prevent exposure of active portions (metal plates), thereby proactively preventing the reliability issue before it occurs.
2Reliability
If resin portion width is increased to prevent exposure, then active portion protection is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention specifies a particular parameter relationship: the width of the resin portion in the second direction must be equal to or larger than the distance between the resin portion and the regulating portion. This quantitative parameter constraint provides a clear design criterion that simplifies the manufacturing process and quality control, avoiding the need for complex adaptive mechanisms while ensuring reliable prevention of active portion exposure.
3Reliability
If regulating portion is added to constrain stack movement, then lateral slipping prevention is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The resin portion serves as an intermediary element that performs multiple functions: it bonds the metal plates together to form stacks, provides lateral support to prevent slipping, and maintains the required width dimension to ensure overlap with adjacent stacks. By making the resin portion itself the active protective element rather than adding a separate complex regulating mechanism, the manufacturing process is simplified while still achieving reliable prevention of active portion exposure.
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack comprises: a plurality of battery modules (or stacks) stacked in a Z direction, and each including a plurality of metal foils (or metal plates) stacked in the Z direction. The battery pack also comprises a resin portion bonded to a peripheral portion of the plurality of battery modules, and a case that houses the plurality of battery modules. The battery pack also comprises a stopper (or a regulating portion) that is disposed in the case so as to face the resin portion. In a direction in which the resin portion and the stopper face each other, the resin portion has a width equal to or larger than a distance between the resin portion and the stopper.