Preventing Thermal Runaway in EV Batteries with Packaging

Battery module design to improve cooling efficiency and prevent cell damage when injecting thermally conductive adhesive into the module case. The module has injection holes in the bottom of the case to directly access the cell assembly inside. This allows precise and controlled adhesive injection without needing to access through the top of the module. This prevents damage to the cells and allows more accurate adhesive placement for enhanced cooling. The battery pack and vehicle configurations also use this improved battery module design.

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Vehicle with battery compartment safety system that automatically opens the compartment covers when battery temperature reaches a critical level to prevent thermal runaway propagation. The system uses thermosensitive devices to detect high battery temperature and pneumatic actuators to instantly open the compartment covers. This allows rapid cooling to contain thermal runaway without needing manual intervention.

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Battery case design to improve safety by condensing gas inside the case to prevent condensate dripping onto electrical connections. The case has a heat conducting component that transfers heat from the thermal management component to the case wall with a through hole. Gas from outside the case flows in through the hole, condenses on the wall, and prevents it from entering the battery. This prevents condensate dripping onto electrical connections if it forms on the case wall. This reduces safety issues from condensate short circuits or corrosion.

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Battery pack for electrified vehicles with vent gas passageways to mitigate thermal events and protect the enclosure while reducing debris discharge. The battery pack has a vent gas passageway within the enclosure that aligns with the cell vents. This passageway has inlet ports at each cell vent location. When a cell vent releases gas during a thermal event, it enters the corresponding inlet port and flows through the passageway instead of directly into the enclosure. This prevents gas discharge into the vehicle while mitigating pressure and temperature spikes. The passageway can also have features like serpentine channels or frangible sections to further reduce risks.

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Battery assembly and power supply apparatus with improved thermal management and safety features. The battery assembly has a distributed heat sink made of interconnects between the batteries. This allows equalizing battery temperatures and preventing hot spots. The heat sink is integrated into the battery pack design. The pack also has a thermal exchange device with surfaces for heat exchange and a contact surface in thermal contact with the interconnects. This allows transferring battery terminal heat to the heat sink. This aids cooling and prevents terminal overheating. The pack has battery management circuitry and a housing with a discharge chamber to contain thermal runaway. The housing has insulated upper walls to prevent air exchange and improve temperature sensing accuracy.

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Electric vehicle design with improved safety in case of battery thermal events. The vehicle has longitudinal sills on each side and a battery pack sandwiched between them. If the battery overheats, it has a degassing device to release gases. A duct is formed between the battery and one sill to guide the gases out. This prevents them from reaching occupants or other components. A heat-resistant deflection device between the battery and sill can also be added to further protect against hot gases.

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Battery module design to improve cooling uniformity and reduce temperature variation in electric vehicle battery packs. The module has heatsinks attached to both sides of the battery cell and a pair of perpendicular cooling plates contacting the bus bar. This direct contact cooling setup improves heat dissipation and reduces temperature gradients compared to conventional modules with heatsinks only on one side.

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Supporting housing for battery compartments of electric vehicles that uses flat metal sheets for cost-effective mass production, while integrating passive thermal management and other functions. The housing consists of deep-drawn shells that fit together to form a double-floor compartment. The batteries sit on the double-floor separated from the thermal management system. Coolant channels in the outer shell indirectly cool/heat the compartment. Sensors can be integrated into the double-floor for battery status monitoring. The double-floor design isolates the batteries from the cooling system to prevent short circuits. The thin metal sheets have high thermal conductivity for efficient heat transfer.

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Partition member for preventing thermal runaway propagation in assembled lithium-ion battery packs. The partition member separates individual battery cells in the pack. It has two surfaces in the thickness direction. If the average temperature of one surface exceeds 180°C, the thermal resistance per unit area (θ1) in that direction satisfies a specific expression. If both surfaces stay below 80°C, the thermal resistance per unit area (θ2) in both directions satisfies a different expression. This allows controlling heat transfer between cells based on temperature levels.

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High-voltage battery for electric vehicles that prevents damage to the electronic components during thermal events in the battery cells. The battery has a housing with separate compartments for the battery cells and components. A barrier seals between the compartments to prevent exhaust gas from damaged cells flowing into the component compartment. This isolates the components from the hot gas and ensures their functionality when a cell overheats.

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Energy storage system for electric vehicles with improved cooling, efficiency, and crash safety compared to conventional pack designs. The system uses parallel cooling across modules and battery cells to balance temperatures. Each module has two halves with cylindrical battery cells sandwiched between current carriers and plates. Coolant circulates in parallel through the modules and cells to maintain uniform temperatures. This avoids hotspots and reduces imbalance. The pack also has a tray with the modules and a central coolant system to circulate coolant across all modules in parallel. This prevents localized heating in modules and improves overall pack temperature regulation.

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Battery design to mitigate thermal runaway and internal shorting during mechanical abuse. The technique involves adding materials and configuring components in the battery to increase impedance and prevent thermal runaway before it can occur. Damage initiators like passive particles, fibers, or coatings in electrodes deform and fracture during impact to cause widespread damage. Active additives like chemicals, foams, or elastic materials release, absorb, or displace during loading to increase impedance. Shape changes in separator or case promote bending, shear, or debonding in electrodes. By intentionally weakening and deforming parts, damage propagation is promoted to mitigate thermal runaway before it starts.

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Battery pack for electric and hybrid vehicles that provides efficient temperature regulation without complex assembly or bulky housing. The pack has cells surrounded by a housing with integrated heat exchange zones between the cells and the coolant. This allows direct contact cooling without intermediate plates or hoses. The housing also has leak paths that channel coolant outwards if it leaks from the pack. This prevents coolant from pooling and allows rapid venting to prevent pressure buildup.

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Battery pack design for electric vehicles that improves temperature regulation by isolating the cooling plate from the vehicle mounting plate. The battery pack has a bracket assembly between the cooling plate and the vehicle mounting plate. This separates the cooling plate from the mounting plate temperature, preventing external temperature influences on the cooling plate. This improves cooling/heating efficiency of the cooling plate for better battery temperature regulation.

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A battery pack design and control method to prevent thermal runaway propagation in electric vehicle battery packs. The battery pack has a case with a cavity containing the battery cells. A spray system is installed inside the case that can be activated in case of a thermal runaway event in one cell. The spray system sprays a fire suppressant into the cavity to extinguish the runaway cell and prevent further propagation. The suppressant is a material with a low melting point that turns into a liquid at the high temperatures encountered during runaway. This helps absorb and dissipate the heat from the runaway cell to contain it. The control method involves monitoring cell temperatures and activating the suppressant spray system if a cell reaches a certain threshold indicating runaway.

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Battery pack design for electric vehicles that improves cooling, durability, and leak prevention compared to conventional water-cooled packs. The pack has a tray with beam frames partitioning module spaces. Heatsinks with hollow cores attached to the frames face module sides. Drainage holes below the heatsinks and tray allow coolant leakage to escape. This enables effective cooling without risking coolant ingress into modules. The beam frames provide rigidity without reducing module space. The pack can also have thermal interface material between heatsinks and modules.

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Battery pack for electric and hybrid vehicles with improved cooling for preventing overheating and thermal runaway. The battery pack has stacked unit modules, with a coolant passage stacked between them. The coolant passages are connected between adjacent stacks to allow coolant flow. A pressure member compresses the coolant stack to force coolant through the passages. This creates a closed loop cooling system that rapidly discharges heat from the battery pack.

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Battery enclosure design to improve safety of electric vehicle batteries by preventing chain reactions during thermal runaway events. The enclosure has weakened zones on the walls adjacent to the cells. If a cell enters thermal runaway, the weakened zones guide and release the energy instead of propagating to nearby cells. This containment prevents chain reactions and explosions. The enclosure also has thermal isolation panels to divide the cells into groups.

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Battery pack design and monitoring technique to prevent sudden battery failure and thermal runaway in high-density battery packs used in electric vehicles, drones, and other high-power devices. The technique involves using infrared sensors to monitor temperature changes within the array of battery cells without requiring individual instrumentation on each cell. The infrared sensors are arranged in a string or mesh configuration that is routed through the battery pack. They detect sudden temperature spikes in individual cells before the overall battery temperature rises, allowing early intervention to prevent thermal runaway and isolate failing cells. This provides more reliable and proactive thermal management compared to spaced sensors or relying on overall pack temperature.

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A battery pack design with improved thermal management for electric vehicles. The pack uses a specific syntactic foam material made of hollow glass beads in a silicone matrix. This foam insulates the battery cells from external temperature extremes and minimizes propagation of thermal excursions within the pack. It also dampens vibrations to reduce noise. The foam is made by crosslinking a silicone rubber binder with the hollow glass beads. The foam is sandwiched between the cells and covers the pack sides to provide thermal isolation. The pack also has thermal management features like coolant channels and heat dissipation members to further control temperatures.

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