External Battery Pack Cooling Unit for Leak-Safe Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery packs face issues with refrigerant leakage affecting safety and difficulty in replacing defective cooling components due to their internal placement, leading to compromised performance and maintenance challenges.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design with a cooling unit positioned outside the case, featuring a reinforcement member that protects the cooling components and allows easy access for maintenance, with refrigerant inlets and outlets exposed through openings in the reinforcement member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the cooling unit is disposed inside the case, then the cooling performance is improved, but the safety is deteriorated due to refrigerant leakage risk
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling unit is extracted from the interior of the case and relocated to the exterior. The heat sink is positioned outside the case with its base portion extending through an opening in the case, allowing the refrigerant circulation pipe to be disposed externally. This extraction eliminates the refrigerant leakage risk inside the case while maintaining cooling functionality through thermal conduction from the battery module to the external heat sink.
2Volume of moving object
If the cooling unit is disposed inside the case, then the compactness is improved, but the ease of repair is deteriorated
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling unit is segmented into distinct components: the heat sink with base portion, the refrigerant circulation pipe, and the connection interface. The refrigerant circulation pipe is disposed externally and can be independently accessed, while the heat sink's base portion connects to the battery module through the case opening. This segmentation allows the refrigerant circulation pipe to be replaced or maintained without disassembling the entire battery pack, significantly improving ease of repair.
3Reliability
If the cooling unit is disposed outside the case, then the safety is improved, but the device complexity is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The case opening serves multiple functions: it allows the heat sink base portion to extend outward for external cooling unit placement, provides thermal conduction path from the battery module, and enables access for maintenance. The base portion of the heat sink acts as both a thermal conduction element and a structural connector. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving improved safety.
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 design prevents refrigerant leakage, enhances safety, and facilitates easy replacement of defective parts, maintaining performance and improving maintenance efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a heat sink 31 disposed in contact with the battery module 10 so as to lower temperature of the battery module 10
Implementation Method 2
a refrigerant circulation pipe 32 configured to supply a refrigerant to the heat sink 31
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The present invention relates to a battery pack having a cooling unit provided outside a pack case, and more particularly a battery pack including a battery module (100) including one or more unit cells; a case (200) having a receiving portion configured to receive the battery module (100); a cooling unit (300) located at an outer bottom surface of the case (200); and a reinforcement member (400) configured to protect the cooling unit (300).