Modular Battery Tray Floor Assembly for Impact-Resistant EV Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle battery support structures fail to adequately protect batteries from impact and distribute weight evenly, particularly in electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, leading to potential damage and instability.
Innovation Solution
A battery tray with a floor assembly composed of elongated tray sections made from extruded or pultruded materials, featuring a consistent cross-sectional profile and attachment features that form a structural floor with varying thickness and hollow areas to provide impact resistance and lateral protection, while allowing for easy assembly and disassembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a solid floor structure is used to provide structural support and impact resistance, then strength and reliability are improved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The floor assembly uses hollow tray sections with porous or cellular cross-sections that provide structural strength and impact resistance while significantly reducing material usage and overall weight compared to solid floor structures
Solution Approach 2:
The tray sections employ composite material construction combining different materials with complementary properties to achieve high strength-to-weight ratio, providing both structural support and impact protection while minimizing weight
2Ease of manufacture
If uniform thickness is used throughout the floor structure, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but structural efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The floor assembly features tray sections with varied thicknesses and cross-sectional configurations at different locations, providing enhanced structural mass and strength where battery loads are applied while using thinner sections in areas requiring less support, thereby optimizing material distribution for both manufacturing efficiency and structural performance
3Strength
If the floor assembly is designed as a single integrated piece, then structural integrity is improved, but ease of assembly and maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The floor assembly is divided into multiple discrete tray sections that can be individually manufactured, assembled, and replaced. Each tray section functions as an independent module that attaches to adjacent sections, enabling simplified assembly during manufacturing and facilitating easy removal and replacement for battery maintenance while maintaining overall structural integrity through the interconnected modular design
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle battery tray includes a floor assembly that has elongated tray sections that attach together at lateral edge portions of adjacent tray sections to form a floor structure that supports vehicle batteries contained in the vehicle battery tray. The elongated tray sections each have a substantially consistent cross-sectional shape that extends longitudinally along a length of the respective tray section. A first tray section includes a first attachment feature at the lateral edge portion thereof and a second tray section includes a second attachment feature at the lateral edge portion thereof that corresponds with the first attachment feature. The first and second attachment features engage together at a longitudinal seam between the lateral edge portions of the first and second tray sections, such as to align upper surfaces of the first and second tray sections.