Modular Battery Pack Layout With Cable Housing Channel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs for electric and hybrid vehicles are bulky due to numerous connection cables, making them difficult to assemble, disassemble, and integrate into vehicles, and their prismatic shape complicates their placement and removal in limited spaces.
Innovation Solution
A modular supply device with a tubular body containing multiple layers of cells, a control unit, and a connector system that includes a housing channel for connection cables, allowing for efficient assembly, disassembly, and easy integration, along with a handle for user convenience and a modular system with converging connectors for flexible use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If battery packs are formed by a large number of cells connected in series and/or parallel, then high store capacity and electric power are achieved, but the connection cables occupy large volume and increase device dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is divided into multiple modules, each module containing a subset of cells and their associated connection cables. This segmentation allows the connection cables to be organized in smaller, more compact groups within each module, reducing the overall volume occupied by cables while maintaining the required electric power through modular series/parallel connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection cables are nested within the modular structure of the battery pack, with cables contained within their respective modules rather than extending across the entire battery pack. This nesting approach minimizes cable volume by confining cables to the smallest necessary space within each modular unit.
2Quantity of substance
If battery packs are formed with a large number of cells, then high store capacity is achieved, but the supply device has large dimensions limiting its use
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack with large store capacity is segmented into multiple compact modules that can be arranged in different configurations. This allows the high-capacity battery to be packaged in a more space-efficient manner, reducing the overall dimensions of the supply device while maintaining the required energy storage capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular battery modules can be arranged in three-dimensional configurations (stacked, layered, or distributed) rather than simply extending in one dimension. This dimensional optimization allows high store capacity to be achieved within smaller overall device dimensions by utilizing vertical and lateral space more efficiently.
3Stability of the object's composition
If supply devices have prismatic shape with rectangular or square section, then structural stability is achieved, but easy and quick introduction and removal is obstructed
Solution Approach 1:
The supply device incorporates asymmetric features such as inclined guide surfaces and non-rectangular cross-sections in specific areas, allowing the device to be easily guided into the correct orientation during insertion while maintaining overall structural stability. The asymmetric design provides natural alignment cues that facilitate quick and error-free installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The supply device incorporates curved or rounded features such as arc-shaped guide surfaces and rounded edges that facilitate smooth insertion and removal movements. These curved elements reduce friction and guide the device along an optimal insertion path, making operation easier while maintaining structural integrity through the strength of curved geometries.
Data Source
AI summary
A supply device comprising a tubular body configured to contain a battery pack formed by a plurality of cells organized in a predetermined number of layers. The supply device provides, furthermore, a control unit configured to monitor the state of functioning and to manage the state of charge of the battery pack and a connector comprising a plurality of electrical contacts to supply, or absorb, a predetermined electric power. The supply device provides, furthermore, connection cables for connecting the battery pack to the aforementioned plurality of electrical contacts of the connector to the control unit. The layer of cells comprises a first group of cells and at least a second group of cells between which a housing channel is defined configured to house, in use, the connection cables.