Battery Tray Enclosure with Segmented Slats for Air Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional battery enclosures for electric and hybrid electric vehicles are not optimized for air-cooling, leading to premature battery failure due to heat buildup, and they are often heavy and difficult to access, which limits battery life and vehicle performance.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight, open-structured battery tray enclosure with spaced-apart slats and optional forced convection cooling using a fan, allowing for natural and forced air circulation around individual battery cells, reducing mass and enhancing cooling efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional closed battery enclosures are used, then manufacturing ease is improved, but battery cooling efficiency deteriorates leading to premature failure
Solution Approach 1:
The enclosure walls are segmented into spaced-apart slats rather than continuous surfaces, creating multiple openings for air circulation while maintaining structural integrity. This segmentation allows manufacturing simplicity to be preserved while enabling effective cooling through the walls.
2Device complexity
If traditional closed battery enclosures are used, then structural simplicity is improved, but heat dissipation deteriorates causing battery warping
Solution Approach 1:
The enclosure walls are designed with a porous-like structure of spaced slats that allow air penetration. This creates effective thermal management through convection and conduction without requiring complex active cooling systems, maintaining simplicity while solving heat dissipation.
3Volume of moving object
If traditional forced-together battery arrangement is used, then space utilization is improved, but access difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The interior space is segmented into individual slots for each battery cell, allowing batteries to be easily accessed and removed one at a time without requiring force to separate tightly packed cells. This maintains high space utilization while dramatically improving serviceability.
4Ease of manufacture
If traditional solid wall enclosures are used, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but air circulation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Solid walls are segmented into spaced slats that maintain structural simplicity and manufacturing ease while creating effective air circulation pathways. The segmented structure enables natural convection currents to develop along the battery surfaces, significantly improving cooling efficiency.
5Reliability
If enclosed battery trays are used, then protection is improved, but mass increases
Solution Approach 1:
The enclosure uses a porous-like slat structure that provides adequate mechanical protection and security for the batteries while using significantly less material than solid walls. This reduces the enclosure mass while maintaining sufficient protection against theft and environmental damage.
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 solution extends battery life, improves vehicle range and performance by maintaining optimal temperature and simplifying battery installation and removal, while reducing the overall mass of the enclosure.
Implementation Method 1
Air movement can be achieved in two ways: by natural convection or an electro-mechanical air circulator (such as a fan or blower)
Implementation Method 2
Air movement can be achieved in two ways: by natural convection or an electro-mechanical air circulator (such as a fan or blower)
Data Source
AI summary
An air-cooled battery enclosure includes a battery tray frame having a floor section including a plurality of outer slats joined to a lower floor frame. A plurality of corner posts extend upward from the lower floor frame. An array of a plurality of criss-crossed inner slats are joined to the outer slats. Outer side walls join the posts, the outer slats and a set of inner slats in a criss-crossed array of cubbyhole compartments. Each cubby hole compartment contains a battery. A plurality of air spaces are located between respective adjacent walls of the enclosure frame for circulation of cooling gas, such as air. In an alternate embodiment stackable battery trays have outer walls with corrugations to space batteries within the tray from outer walls and an open mesh floor. Criss-crossed internal spring baffles with shallow bends within the trays form spaces for the circulation of cooling gas.