Upside-Down HV Battery Pack Layout for Safer Outgassing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional high-voltage batteries in motor vehicles face issues with spatial inefficiency, safety concerns due to potential heat generation in the vehicle interior from outgassing, and increased costs and weight from separate battery covers and air gaps.
Innovation Solution
A high-voltage battery design with suspended cells, where electrical contacts face downwards and cell bases upwards, integrated into a motor vehicle with a frame sealed by the floor panel, eliminating the need for a separate cover and utilizing crossmembers for support, and a removable underride guard for accessibility and protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate battery cover is used to enclose the high-voltage battery, then the battery is protected and sealed, but the spatial requirement increases and weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the battery cover function with the vehicle floor panel. The floor panel is designed to directly cover and seal the battery frame, eliminating the need for a separate battery cover. This integration reduces the number of components, decreases spatial requirements, and lowers weight while maintaining the protective and sealing functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The floor panel serves multiple functions: it acts as both the vehicle floor structure and the battery cover. By making the floor panel universal for both structural support and battery enclosure, the patent eliminates redundant components and reduces overall vehicle weight and spatial requirements.
2Reliability
If a separate battery cover with air gap is used, then the battery is protected from rubbing and corrosion, but the spatial requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the protective function against rubbing and corrosion directly into the floor panel-battery frame interface. The floor panel is designed to contact the battery frame directly without requiring an air gap, while still providing protection through the sealed connection and the structural properties of the floor panel itself.
3Ease of manufacture
If battery cells are mounted with electrical contacts facing upwards, then the conventional mounting is simplified, but heat and outgassing are directed towards the vehicle interior creating safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional battery cell mounting orientation. Instead of mounting cells with electrical contacts facing upwards (conventional), the cells are mounted with electrical contacts facing downwards. This inversion causes heat and outgassing to be directed towards the underride guard plate and away from the vehicle interior, eliminating the safety hazard while maintaining mounting simplicity through the suspended cell configuration.
4Ease of repair
If the entire battery unit is removed for maintenance, then the battery can be serviced, but the complexity of removal and reinstallation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the battery access function from the entire battery unit. The underride guard plate is designed to be removable to provide access to the battery cells for maintenance, while the battery frame and floor panel connection remains permanent. This segmentation allows maintenance access without requiring removal of the entire battery unit, reducing mounting complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A motor vehicle includes a high-voltage battery that includes a frame which delimits the high-voltage battery laterally, a plurality of battery cells mounted in the frame so as to be suspended in a manner such that electrical contacts of the battery cells are directed in a downwards orientation and the cell bases are directed in an upward orientation; and a floor panel that forms a cover of the high-voltage battery to cover the frame at its top side. The battery cells, in an installed position in the motor vehicle, are spatially oriented so as to be “upside down” in a manner such that the electric contacts of the battery cells point downwards, and thus, towards the driving surface/road, and the cell bases are formed at the top of the battery cells.