Modular Vehicle Battery Tray for Lightweight Sealed Pack Enclosures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle battery trays face challenges in being lightweight, structurally strong, and waterproof while accommodating varying battery pack sizes, which affects the range and safety of electric vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A modular vehicle battery tray design using extruded aluminum-based frame components and casted or molded tray components, with standardized parts that can be assembled in different configurations to fit various battery packs, ensuring structural integrity, corrosion resistance, and ease of manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a vehicle battery tray is designed to be lightweight, then the vehicle's range is extended, but the structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The battery tray employs a composite construction combining aluminum extrusions for the frame structure with injection-molded plastic tray components. This composite approach leverages the high strength-to-weight ratio of aluminum while using engineered plastics to reduce overall weight, achieving both lightweight design and structural integrity requirements for supporting battery packs.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery tray is divided into modular components including separate frame members and tray sections that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation allows optimization of each component's material selection and structural design, enabling weight reduction through strategic material placement while maintaining overall structural strength through precise joining mechanisms.
2Reliability
If the battery tray is designed to seal against fluid ingress, then waterproofing is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing functionality is integrated into the tray component design itself through molded-in sealing features and gasket integration. Rather than adding separate sealing systems, the plastic tray components are designed with built-in sealing channels and mating surfaces that create waterproof joints when assembled with the aluminum frame, simplifying manufacturing while ensuring reliable fluid ingress protection.
3Ease of manufacture
If standardized components are used for manufacturing, then ease of manufacture is improved, but adaptability to different battery pack sizes decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The battery tray system incorporates adjustable and reconfigurable elements that allow the same standardized components to be arranged in different configurations. The modular frame structure with standardized extrusions can be assembled in various patterns, and the tray components can be positioned at different locations, enabling adaptation to multiple battery pack sizes and chemistries while maintaining the benefits of standardized manufacturing processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle battery tray that, along with a vehicle battery cover, is part of a vehicle battery enclosure that houses and protects a vehicle battery pack. The vehicle battery tray is a modular assembly that uses standardized parts, such as frame components and tray components, and can easily be adapted during manufacturing to fit different size battery packs for different applications and customers. In one example, two or more tray components are joined together to form a battery compartment, whereas in a different example each tray component forms a battery compartment on its own. The frame components may be made from an extruded aluminum-based material, and the tray components may be made from a casted aluminum-based material or a molded plastic material.