Vehicle Battery Pack Structure Without End Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing battery packs in electric vehicles face a challenge in maximizing energy density due to the occupation of internal space by end plates, which reduces the number of battery cells that can be accommodated.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design that includes overlapping battery cells with unit busbars, support bodies, a lower tray, pressing plate, and a top cover to securely hold and connect the cells, eliminating the need for end plates, and incorporates a sensing assembly for electrical and temperature monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If end plates are included in the battery module to provide mechanical rigidity, then structural strength is improved, but the internal space of the battery pack is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the end plates from the battery module structure. Instead of including end plates in each battery module, the design extracts this function and replaces it with a tray structure that holds multiple battery modules without requiring individual module end plates, thereby increasing internal space while maintaining structural rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges multiple battery modules into a unified battery pack structure supported by a single tray. By combining the structural support function across multiple modules rather than providing separate end plates for each module, the design reduces overall space occupation while maintaining mechanical rigidity.
2Strength
If end plates are included in the battery module, then mechanical rigidity is provided, but the number of battery cells that can be accommodated is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The end plates are extracted from the battery module design, allowing more battery cells to be accommodated in the same space while the tray structure provides the necessary mechanical support for the increased number of cells.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a modular structure with end plates to a tray-based structure that supports batteries in a different spatial arrangement, enabling increased cell quantity through optimized space utilization in the vertical and horizontal dimensions.
3Quantity of substance
If pouch-type battery cells are built in the battery pack, then energy density can be maximized, but structural stability needs to be ensured
Solution Approach 1:
By removing end plates and using a tray structure, the design maximizes the space available for pouch-type battery cells, increasing energy density while the tray provides centralized structural support to maintain stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray structure serves multiple functions: it provides mechanical support for the battery cells, maintains structural stability, and enables efficient space utilization for high energy density, replacing the need for separate end plates.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a battery pack for a vehicle. The battery pack includes a battery unit with overlapped battery cells; unit busbars respectively coupled to electrodes at opposite ends of the battery cells and extended upward from the battery unit; unit busbar support bodies located at opposite ends of the battery unit and supporting the unit busbars and the battery cells; a lower tray on which overlapped battery units are loaded and supporting lower surfaces and side surfaces of the battery units; a pressing plate disposed between each of side walls of the lower tray and the battery units and configured to press the battery units in an overlapped direction of the battery units; and a top cover forcibly coupled to the overlapped battery units in a downward direction to cover upper portions of the battery units and configured to supply pressure for the pressing plate to press the battery units.