Battery Pack Vent Channel With Melt-Open Cell Gas Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Battery packs face safety issues due to difficulty in venting gases from cells filled with solid materials, leading to potential damage from high temperature and pressure during thermal events like short circuits or overheating, as existing designs obstruct gas escape and can exacerbate failures.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring a thermoplastic vacuum formed thin-walled vent channel with a reception duct and connection duct, where the adjacent sections have a melting point below the venting temperature, allowing escaping gases to be directed externally through the connection duct upon contact, facilitated by an encapsulating foam material that positions and hardens around the vent channel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If solid materials are used to fill battery packs, then structural support and cell protection are improved, but gas venting capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The encapsulating foam material is a porous solid material that provides structural support while containing numerous voids and channels that allow gas to pass through. This resolves the contradiction by enabling both structural integrity and gas venting capability simultaneously, as the porous structure allows gas escape paths while maintaining mechanical strength.
2Ease of manufacture
If existing vent channel designs are used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but gas escape obstruction occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The vent channel is pre-formed within the encapsulating foam material during the foam injection process, before the battery pack is assembled. This preliminary formation of the vent channel ensures gas escape paths are already established and properly positioned, eliminating the need for post-assembly modifications and ensuring effective gas venting without complicating the manufacturing process.
3Strength
If high melting point materials are used for vent channel sections, then structural integrity at normal temperatures is improved, but gas-directed venting capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The vent channel is designed with adjacent sections that have different melting points. The sections closer to the cell vents have lower melting points to melt and direct gas flow during thermal events, while other sections maintain higher melting points for structural integrity. This local differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction by providing both structural strength and temperature-responsive gas directing capability.
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
This solution effectively manages venting gases during thermal events, preventing damage by directing them externally, ensuring safer operation and reducing the risk of catastrophic failures in battery packs.
Implementation Method 1
hardening the first material to generate the encapsulating foam material, such that the first reception channel is positioned opposite the first plurality of corresponding cell vents
Implementation Method 2
The melting point of the material of the adjacent sections is below a predetermined cell venting temperature, and each adjacent section can melt upon contact with escaping gas from the corresponding cell vent to direct the escaping gas to an external area of the battery pack through the connection duct
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack that includes a battery pack housing, and an encapsulating foam material that encapsulates a number of cells. Each cell has a cell vent arranged on a first side of the cell. The battery pack also includes a vent channel that includes a reception duct that includes adjacent sections, and a connection duct. The vent channel is positioned in place, by the encapsulating foam material, such that the reception duct is opposite the cell vents and such that each cell vent corresponds to and faces an adjacent section. The melting point of the material of the adjacent sections is below a predetermined cell venting temperature, and each adjacent section can melt upon contact with escaping gas from the corresponding cell vent to direct the escaping gas to an external area of the battery pack through the connection duct.