Stepped Battery Housing Layout for Electric Work Vehicle Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric work vehicles, such as electric tractors, face challenges in efficiently cooling their battery systems, which can lead to reduced performance and lifespan due to overheating.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a battery housing with multiple stepped portions that define spaces for warm air paths, including ducts, to effectively exhaust heat from the battery housing portions, ensuring efficient cooling of the battery systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a conventional single-level battery housing is used, then the structure is simple, but the cooling efficiency is insufficient due to inadequate heat exhaust paths
Solution Approach 1:
The battery housing is divided into multiple levels (first level housing and second level housing) with each level containing battery packs. This segmentation creates distinct spaces for different air flow paths, allowing separate intake and exhaust channels for each level, thereby improving cooling efficiency while maintaining manageable structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces vertical dimensionality by stacking battery housing levels one above another. The first warm air path is positioned above the first level housing while the second warm air path is positioned below the second level housing, utilizing three-dimensional space to create efficient heat exhaust paths without increasing horizontal footprint
2Volume of moving object
If battery packs are densely arranged, then space utilization is improved, but heat dissipation becomes insufficient due to limited exhaust paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent nests the air intake and exhaust paths within the multi-level housing structure. The first air intake path enters at the front of the first level, flows through the battery packs, and exits via the first warm air path above the housing. Similarly, the second air intake path enters at the front of the second level and exits via the second warm air path below the housing, creating efficient nested cooling channels that maximize space utilization
Solution Approach 2:
By utilizing vertical stacking with the first level housing positioned above the second level housing, the patent creates multiple thermal zones in the vertical dimension. This allows dense horizontal arrangement of battery packs while maintaining adequate heat dissipation paths in the vertical direction
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
This configuration enhances the cooling efficiency of the battery systems, thereby improving the performance and extending the lifespan of the electric work vehicles by effectively managing heat.
Implementation Method 1
a first warm air path to exhaust warm air from the first battery housing portion... a second warm air path to exhaust warm air from the second battery housing portion
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
An electric work vehicle includes a battery housing including a plurality of battery housing portions, and the plurality of battery housing portions include a first battery housing portion (30) and a second battery housing portion (34), the first battery housing portion (30) includes a first stepped portion (9E) that defines a first space, and at least a portion of the second battery housing portion (34) is located within the first space.