Battery Shell Insulation Repair With Mushroom-Shaped Patch
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lithium-ion battery modules or packs with damaged insulating layers are typically scrapped due to insulation and withstand voltage issues, as conventional repair methods like using pressure-sensitive adhesive tape lead to wrinkling and displacement during vibration, compromising safety and service life.
Innovation Solution
A shell with a mushroom-shaped repair part formed from a curable material, where the mushroom stem is embedded in the insulating layer and the cover protrudes, ensuring the creepage distance meets technical requirements without causing battery or pack scrappage, with specific dimensions and material properties to maintain insulation and withstand voltage performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If pressure-sensitive adhesive tape is used to patch the defective area, then the insulating layer can be repaired quickly, but the repaired area experiences wrinkling and displacement during vibration impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters by using curable material (UV-curable or heat-curable) instead of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape. This material undergoes chemical curing to transform from liquid/semi-liquid state to solid state, achieving permanent bonding that resists vibration while maintaining ease of application through controlled curing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structure consisting of multiple layers: the curable material forms a repair layer that integrates with the original insulating layer. This composite structure combines the advantages of liquid material (good wetting and adhesion) with cured material (high strength and vibration resistance), resolving the contradiction between ease of repair and vibration reliability.
2Productivity
If the insulating layer is damaged after battery assembly, then the battery cannot be scrapped, but conventional repair methods fail to meet insulation and withstand voltage requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes parameter changes in the curable material's physical and chemical properties during the curing process. The material transitions from a fluid state (easy to apply and conform to damaged areas) to a solid cured state (providing high insulation performance and withstand voltage capability), thereby achieving both high salvage rate and maintained reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical bonding methods (pressure-sensitive adhesive tape) with chemical bonding through curing processes. This substitution enables the repair material to form strong chemical bonds with the substrate, achieving superior adhesion and insulation performance that mechanical methods cannot provide, thus allowing batteries to be salvaged without compromising safety.
3Device complexity
If a flat repair structure is used, then the repair process is simple, but the creepage distance requirement cannot be met
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional flat repair structure to a three-dimensional mushroom-shaped structure. The vertical dimension (height of the mushroom cap) provides additional creepage distance path for electrical insulation, while the cap's lateral extension covers the damaged area. This dimensional change simultaneously achieves complex creepage distance requirements without significantly increasing procedural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating a mushroom-shaped structure with specific geometric characteristics: a wider cap portion that extends laterally to cover the damaged area and a height that provides sufficient creepage distance. This localized geometric modification concentrates the insulation function in the repair area, meeting creepage distance requirements without complicating the overall repair process.
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 mushroom-shaped repair part prevents wrinkling and displacement during vibration, guarantees insulation and withstand voltage performance, and ensures the creepage distance meets original technical requirements, thereby preventing battery or pack scrappage.
Implementation Method 1
the curable material comprises a photocurable material or a heat-curable material
Implementation Method 2
the curable material comprises a photocurable material or a heat-curable material
Implementation Method 3
the longest dimension of the mushroom cover is more than or equal to the width w of the mushroom stem+the creepage distance L of the battery
Data Source
AI summary
A shell includes an insulating layer provided at an outer surface of the shell and including a repair part formed of a curable material and having a shape of a mushroom. The repair part includes an upper part having a shape of a cover of the mushroom and a lower part having a shape of a stem of the mushroom. The lower part is embedded in the insulating layer, the upper part protrudes from the insulating layer, and a lower surface of the upper part covers at least a portion of an upper surface of the insulating layer. In a cross section of the repair part perpendicular to a surface of the insulating layer, a longest dimension of the upper part is greater than or equal to a sum of a width of the lower part and a creepage distance of a battery.