Battery Pack Nano Coating for Water Intrusion Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Battery packs face issues with water intrusion through various entry points, leading to potential short circuits, especially when conductive fluids like seawater enter, causing electrical malfunctions and damage.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a vapor-deposited coating, specifically a poly(p-xylylene) polymer (parylene), is applied to key components of the battery pack, including the module housing, battery cells, controller, conductive straps, and weld straps, to prevent fluid intrusion and short circuits by creating an electrical spacing distance and providing corrosion resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional battery pack designs are used without additional protective coatings, then the device complexity remains low, but the reliability deteriorates due to water intrusion and short circuits
Solution Approach 1:
A vapor-deposited coating layer is applied as an intermediary protective barrier between the conductive components (battery cells, straps, terminals) and the conductive fluid (seawater). This coating acts as a mediator that prevents direct contact between the fluid and electrical components, thereby inhibiting short circuits while maintaining a relatively simple overall device structure
Solution Approach 2:
A thin vapor-deposited coating film is applied to the conductive components within the battery pack. This thin film provides electrical insulation and corrosion protection against conductive fluids without significantly increasing device complexity or bulk, effectively protecting battery cells, straps, and terminals from water intrusion
2Reliability
If spacing between conductive components is increased to prevent short circuits, then the reliability improves, but the volume of the battery pack increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing the physical spacing between conductive components, a vapor-deposited coating is applied as an intermediary insulating layer on the surface of each component. This allows components to maintain their original close spacing while the coating prevents conductive fluid from creating electrical pathways between them, thus maintaining both reliability and compact volume
3Reliability
If vapor-deposited coating is applied to all components, then the protection against corrosion and short circuits improves, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vapor-deposition process is designed to universally coat all conductive components (battery cells, conductive straps, weld straps, terminals) within the battery pack using a single manufacturing step. This multi-functional approach applies protective coating to multiple components simultaneously, reducing the number of separate manufacturing operations needed while ensuring comprehensive protection
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical process of manually applying protective coatings or wraps to each component is replaced with a vapor-deposition process. This substitutes a complex mechanical application system with a more efficient vapor-phase deposition method that automatically coats components uniformly, simplifying the manufacturing process while achieving reliable corrosion and short circuit protection
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
The vapor-deposited coating effectively inhibits short circuits and corrosion, ensuring the battery pack's reliability and performance even when exposed to conductive fluids, with a dielectric breakdown strength between 200 V/μm and 300 V/μm, and maintaining functionality across a wide temperature range of 50°C to 110°C.
Implementation Method 1
a vapor-deposited coating applied to at least a portion of the cell module
Implementation Method 2
The vapor-deposited coating may have a dielectric breakdown strength between 200 V/μm and 300 V/μm
Implementation Method 3
a vapor-deposited coating applied to at least a portion of the cell module
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack and a method of assembling a battery pack. The battery pack may include an outer housing; a cell module supportable by the outer housing, the cell module including a module housing, a plurality of battery cells supported by the module housing, the battery cells having an energy of at least about 60 Watt-hours, a controller operable to control an operation of the battery pack, a conductive strap electrically connected to at least one of the battery cells, a weld strap connected between the controller and the conductive strap, and a terminal electrically connected to the battery cells and operable to connect the battery cells to an electrical device for power transfer; and a vapor-deposited, hydrophobic nano coating applied to at least a portion of the cell module.