Stepped Battery Pack Terminals for Impact-Protected Scaling

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing battery packs for devices like electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles face challenges in providing high output power and capacity efficiently, with issues related to power distribution and protection of critical components such as output terminals and communication terminals from external impacts.

Innovation Solution

A battery pack design featuring a front case and rear case with distinct height-difference surfaces to protect output terminals and communication terminals, and a compact structure with a battery management system, allowing for easy assembly and extension of battery packs to meet varying power requirements.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Power

If battery packs are designed with higher output power and capacity, then power requirements are met, but protection of critical components from external impacts becomes more difficult

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoutput powerVSAvoidexternal impact on critical components
Core Design Contradiction:
PowerVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces height-difference surfaces that create vertical dimensionality in the battery pack structure. Critical components are positioned at different heights, with communication terminals at a first height and output terminals at a second height, allowing protection from external impacts while maintaining high power output capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Ease of manufacture

If battery packs are designed with modular structure for easy assembly and extension, then ease of manufacture is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveeasy assembly and extensionVSAvoidmodular structure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The battery pack is divided into modular units with standardized interfaces. Each module contains battery cells, management systems, and protection structures that can be independently manufactured and assembled. The height-difference surface design is consistently applied across modules, simplifying the segmentation while maintaining protectiveness

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The height-difference surface structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it protects communication terminals from external impacts, provides structural support for modular assembly, and enables easy extension of battery packs by connecting multiple modules. This multi-functionality reduces overall device complexity despite the modular design

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP3531466B1Battery pack
Publication Date: 2023.10.18 SAMSUNG SDI CO LTD
  • EP3531466B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3531466B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3531466B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A battery pack includes: a case including a cell accommodation portion to accommodate a battery cell; and output terminals protruding upward from a first side of an upper portion of the case, and the output terminals protrude from first height-difference surfaces stepped downward from a first surface that is an uppermost surface of the first side of the case. The structure of the battery pack is improved such that the output terminals protruding outward may be effectively protected from impactive force, and the battery pack may be combined with other battery packs having substantially the same shape to flexibly cope with high-output, high-capacity demand.