Integrated Housing Coolant Lines for EV Battery Safety

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Solution Overview

Problem

High-voltage batteries in electric vehicles face challenges in cooling, as fluid coolants like water-glycol mixtures can lead to leaks within the housing, risking short circuits and fires due to electrical conductivity, despite efforts to ensure tight connections.

Innovation Solution

Integrating coolant lines into the housing walls, ensuring they run uninterrupted from outside connections, eliminating internal leaks and reducing the need for additional sealing precautions, with options including embedded tubes or extruded profiles forming cavities for coolant flow.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If coolant lines are installed inside the housing with connections, then cooling function is achieved, but leak risk increases due to multiple connection points and line segments

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecooling system reliabilityVSAvoidleak risk
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the coolant line connections from the interior of the housing and relocates them to the exterior. The coolant lines run through the housing walls, with all connection points positioned outside the housing. This eliminates the risk of internal leaks at connection points while maintaining the cooling function, directly resolving the contradiction between achieving cooling and preventing leaks.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Reliability

If multiple connection points are used for coolant lines inside the housing, then cooling coverage is improved, but sealing complexity and failure risk increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecooling system reliabilityVSAvoidsealing complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

By extracting all connection points from the housing interior to the exterior, the patent eliminates the need for complex internal sealing arrangements. The coolant lines pass through the housing walls with minimal penetration points, and all connections are made externally where sealing is simpler and more accessible for maintenance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of bringing coolant lines into the housing from the outside (conventional approach), the patent inverts the approach by having coolant lines originate outside and pass through the housing walls. This reversal simplifies the sealing requirement from multiple internal connection points to minimal external connection points.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

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 design prevents internal leaks and associated risks, such as short circuits, by keeping all connections outside the housing, enhancing safety and reliability of high-voltage battery cooling systems.

Implementation Method 1

one or more storage cells or storage cell modules accommodated therein and one or more coolant lines through which a coolant flowing via a coolant circuit flows

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectThermal conduction: Conduction (thermal)

Data Source

PatentEP3375024B1Energy storage device
Publication Date: 2019.09.04 AUDI AG
  • EP3375024B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3375024B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP3375024B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6

AI summary

Energy storage device comprising a housing that accommodates one or more storage cells or storage cell modules, and one or more coolant lines through which a coolant flows that circulates in a coolant circuit; the one or more coolant lines (5) is/are integrated into one or more walls (3) of the housing (2) and extend in an uninterrupted manner at the level of the housing from an inlet port (14) located outside the housing (2) to an outlet port (15) also located outside the housing (2).