Soft Thermal Plate for Battery Module Contact

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional battery modules experience physical defects and increased thermal resistance due to non-contact areas between battery cells and plates, leading to degraded performance from external impacts and heat management issues.

Innovation Solution

A battery module design featuring a soft, thermally conductive plate with an adhesive layer that contacts the battery cells on their side surfaces, enhancing contact and durability while reducing thermal resistance through the use of a thermal interface material and a frame that accommodates the cell stack.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If a hard plate is used to fix battery cells, then structural strength is improved, but contact performance with irregular battery cell surfaces deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestructural strengthVSAvoidcontact performance

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs a soft plate made of flexible material that can deform to conform to the irregular surfaces of stacked battery cells. This flexible plate maintains continuous contact with the cells while providing sufficient mechanical support, resolving the contradiction between structural strength and contact performance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the physical parameter of the plate from hard to soft material. This parameter change allows the plate to adapt its shape to match the irregular battery cell surfaces, ensuring good contact performance while maintaining adequate structural strength through the soft material's inherent properties.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Reliability

If a soft plate is used to improve contact performance, then contact performance is improved, but structural strength deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontact performanceVSAvoidstructural strength

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses a composite structure combining a soft plate with an adhesive layer. The soft plate provides conformability for good contact, while the adhesive layer adds bonding strength to secure the battery cells to the plate, thus achieving both good contact performance and structural strength simultaneously.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

3Ease of manufacture

If battery cells are stacked asymmetrically, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but uniform contact with the plate deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemanufacturing flexibilityVSAvoiduniform contact

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The soft plate's flexibility allows it to adapt to asymmetrically stacked battery cells with varying dimensions and surface irregularities. The plate deforms to maintain uniform contact across all cells regardless of their asymmetric arrangement, enabling manufacturing flexibility while ensuring reliable contact.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Solution Approach 2:

The soft plate acts as a dynamic element that can change its shape and conform to the asymmetric battery cell configuration. This dynamic adaptability allows the system to accommodate various stacking arrangements while maintaining uniform contact, unlike rigid plates that require precise symmetric alignment.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

4Device complexity

If a non-contact area occurs between battery cells and plate, then device complexity is reduced, but heat management performance deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestructure simplicityVSAvoidheat management

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSTemperature

Solution Approach 1:

The soft plate eliminates air gaps and non-contact areas by conforming to the battery cell surfaces, ensuring continuous thermal contact. This maintains effective heat dissipation without adding complex thermal management components, as the flexible plate itself provides the thermal coupling pathway.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

Solution Approach 2:

The soft plate acts as an intermediary between the battery cells and the cooling system. By ensuring continuous contact through its flexibility, it provides an efficient thermal pathway for heat transfer from the cells to the cooling apparatus, improving heat management without direct cell-to-cooler contact.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The solution ensures close contact between battery cells and the plate, improving durability and maintaining optimal heat management by reducing thermal resistance, thus enhancing the overall performance and reliability of the battery module.

Implementation Method 1

an adhesive layer applied to the plate to contact the battery cell stack and the plate

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAdhesion: Adhesive

Implementation Method 2

the plate may be made of a thermal interface material

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectThermal conduction: Conduction (thermal)

Data Source

PatentUS11196122B2Battery module and battery pack including the same

Publication Date: 2021.12.07 LG ENERGY SOLUTION LTD

AI summary

A battery module includes a battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked; a plate disposed to contact the plurality of battery cells on a side surface of the battery cell stack and disposed in a direction parallel to a stacking direction of the plurality of battery cells included in the battery cell stack; and an adhesive layer applied to the plate to contact the battery cell stack and the plate. A battery pack can include the battery module.