Modular Battery Belt Layout for Fast Charging With Lower Thermal Stress
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current rechargeable battery systems face challenges such as overheating due to rapid charging or discharging, uneven cell charge levels, and limited versatility, leading to potential damage, reduced energy efficiency, and premature battery degradation.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves a flexible, serpentine belt arrangement for linking batteries, allowing for easy handling and selective replacement of individual cells. This setup enables the creation of banks with selectable power denominations and the use of different charging cycles for cells to reduce thermal stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If fast charging or discharging is performed to meet user demand, then power delivery speed is improved, but thermal stress increases causing overheating and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The battery system is divided into multiple independent cells arranged in a modular array. Each cell can be individually monitored and managed, allowing the system to segment thermal management and charge control to prevent localized overheating from affecting the entire battery pack.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic cool-down periods between charging and discharging cycles. The controller manages charge/discharge timing to allow thermal regulation, preventing cumulative thermal stress that would occur with continuous fast cycling.
2Productivity
If continuous charge-discharge cycling is performed to meet user demand, then productivity is improved, but battery life is reduced due to thermal wear
Solution Approach 1:
The controller implements periodic cool-down periods between charge and discharge cycles, allowing thermal regulation to occur. This periodic interruption prevents cumulative thermal wear that would otherwise reduce battery life with continuous cycling.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses temperature sensors and controllers to monitor thermal conditions in real-time. Based on feedback from temperature measurements, the controller adjusts charge/discharge timing and rates to prevent thermal damage while maintaining productivity.
3Reliability
If individual cells are selectively replaced to fix defects, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to modular management
Solution Approach 1:
The battery is designed as a modular array of independent cells with standardized connectors and interfaces. This segmentation allows individual defective cells to be identified and replaced without affecting other cells, improving reliability through selective maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
All cells in the array use standardized connectors, housing interfaces, and electrical configurations. This universality allows any cell to be replaced with any other cell of the same type, simplifying the replacement process despite the modular complexity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If battery packs are designed with fixed configurations for specific applications, then adaptability is reduced, but manufacturing precision is improved
Solution Approach 1:
The battery system uses standardized modular cells with consistent electrical and mechanical interfaces. This segmentation allows cells to be arranged in different series/parallel configurations to meet various voltage and capacity requirements while maintaining manufacturing precision through standardized components.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular array design allows the battery configuration to be dynamically adjusted by rearranging cells into different series or parallel connections. This enables the same physical cells to adapt to different application requirements while maintaining precise manufacturing standards.
Data Source
AI summary
In certain embodiments, a portable power pack includes two opposing plates for accommodating a set of one or more batteries therebetween. The two opposing plates define a plurality of electrical sectors including a first electrical sector having an electrode pattern operable to electrically connect together a first subset of one or more batteries in a first operational zone of the portable power pack. A battery deployment method includes mechanically linking together a plurality of batteries in a battery belt, disposing at least a portion of the battery belt between two opposing plates that define a plurality of electrical sectors including a first electrical sector having an electrode pattern for establishing an electrical connection between batteries of the first electrical sector, and shifting the battery belt to dispose a first subset of batteries into the first electrical sector to thereby establish said electrical connection among the first subset of batteries.