Battery Pack Stacking Alignment via Protective Groove
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Solution Overview
Problem
The assembly of battery packs is complex and unreliable due to misplacement and misalignment, leading to inefficiencies in the stacking process and potential damage to connectors.
Innovation Solution
The use of a concave-convex structure with protective parts and connectors on adjacent battery packs for accurate alignment, along with fastening and positioning mechanisms, ensures reliable and efficient stacking by allowing for easy plug-in connections without exposed terminals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If battery packs are stacked directly without alignment structures, then assembly is simpler, but misplacement occurs and alignment accuracy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack design incorporates protruding protective parts and grooves that automatically guide alignment during stacking. The operator simply places one battery pack on another, and the self-aligning structures ensure accurate positioning without requiring manual adjustment or complex alignment procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective part with groove structure acts as an intermediary alignment mechanism between adjacent battery packs. The groove receives the protruding protective part from the adjacent pack, creating a precise mechanical interface that ensures proper alignment while protecting the connector.
2Productivity
If connectors are exposed during stacking, then connection is more direct, but connector damage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is pre-protected by the protruding protective part and receiving groove structure before the stacking operation occurs. The protective part extends beyond the battery pack surface to guide alignment and shield the connector from damage during the assembly process, eliminating the need for exposed connectors.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector is nested within the protective part structure, where the protective part surrounds and protects the connector terminals. The groove in the adjacent battery pack receives this protective part, creating a nested arrangement that protects the connector while enabling connection.
3Reliability
If multiple connection steps are required, then connection reliability improves, but assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective part and connector are merged into a single integrated structure on each battery pack. The protective part with groove and the connector work together as one assembly, allowing alignment and electrical connection to occur simultaneously in a single stacking motion, rather than requiring separate alignment and connection steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The protruding protective part serves multiple functions: it provides alignment guidance, protects the connector from damage, and enables the electrical connection through the groove interface. This multi-functional design simplifies the overall assembly procedure while maintaining high connection reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
This application provides a battery pack, an energy storage apparatus, and an energy storage system. The energy storage apparatus includes a plurality of stacked battery packs. In two contact surfaces of two adjacent battery packs, a protective part and a first connector are disposed on one of the contact surfaces in a protruding manner, and a groove and a second connector are disposed on the other of the contact surfaces. The second connector is located in the groove, the protective part is pluggably connected to the groove, and the first connector is pluggably connected to the second connector. The energy storage apparatus can implement accurate alignment between the battery packs, thereby greatly reducing an assembly procedure and an assembly time for mounting the energy storage apparatus by a user, and improving assembly efficiency of the energy storage apparatus.