Battery Pack Upper Frame Access Openings for Transportability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face challenges in transportability due to lack of handling provisions, leading to poor mobility and increased size when trying to incorporate handles, which compromises mounting space in vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring a battery case with side frames and an upper frame, where the upper frame includes trailing portions with access openings for suspending and holding, preventing foreign substance entry while maintaining a compact size by avoiding outward projections, and side frames contacting the upper frame to enhance stability and prevent separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a handle projecting outward is provided on the side surface of the battery case, then transportability is improved, but the battery pack increases in size
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from providing handles on the side surface (horizontal dimension) to providing access openings in the trailing portion of the upper frame (vertical dimension). This allows suspension hooks to engage with the upper frame from above, improving transportability without increasing the horizontal footprint of the battery pack.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the handling function from dedicated side-mounted handles and relocates it to access openings in the upper frame. This separation allows the main body to remain compact while providing suspended handling capability through the upper frame structure.
2Ease of operation
If access openings are formed in the upper frame, then transportability is improved, but foreign substances or water may enter the battery pack
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a nested structure where the intermediate portion of the side frame is inserted into the space between the upper surface portion and the trailing portion of the upper frame. The contact portion then seals against the upper surface portion, forming a nested protective barrier that prevents foreign substance entry while maintaining access openings.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact portion acts as an intermediary sealing element between the access openings and the battery pack interior. It provides a barrier that prevents foreign substances and water from entering through the access openings while allowing the openings to remain accessible for suspension.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the upper frame and side frames are bonded together, then structural stability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the upper frame and side frames into an integrated structure through bonding. The intermediate portion of the side frame is inserted into the upper frame structure, and the contact portion is bonded to the upper surface portion, creating a unified rigid structure that enhances stability while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack has a battery unit and a battery case. The battery case includes side frames and an upper frame. The upper frame includes an upper surface portion and a trailing portion that extends downward from an end portion of the upper surface portion. Each of the side frames includes a side surface portion, an intermediate portion that extends from an upper end of the side surface portion inward in the width direction so as to pass below the upper surface portion and faces the upper surface portion in an up-down direction, and a contact portion that extends upward from an end portion of the intermediate portion and is brought into contact with the upper surface portion. The trailing portion includes one or more access openings that are accessible to a space between the upper surface portion and the intermediate portion facing each other in the up-down direction.