EV Cell Assembly and Battery Design for Safer Batteries
41 patents in this list
Updated:
In the realm of electric vehicles, ensuring battery safety is paramount. The assembly and design of EV cells are critical, as they must withstand the rigors of daily use while preventing hazardous incidents. Factors such as thermal runaway, pressure buildup, and impact resistance are constant concerns for engineers and designers striving for safer battery systems.
Addressing these concerns involves intricate challenges. Engineers must balance the need for energy density with the imperative for safety, all while maintaining efficient thermal management. The complexity increases with the integration of advanced venting systems and strategic cell arrangements to mitigate risks.
This page delves into a range of engineering approaches aimed at enhancing battery safety. Solutions include direct cell mounting with integrated venting, side-positioned explosion-proof valves, and dual-sided busbar arrangements for improved cooling. These designs focus on preventing thermal runaway and ensuring robust containment, offering a pathway to more reliable and secure electric vehicle batteries.
1. Battery Pack with Direct Cell Mounting and Integrated Venting System
LG NEW ENERGY LTD, 2024
Battery pack design to improve energy density, reduce space loss, enhance safety against thermal events, and enable direct battery cell mounting without intermediate modules. The pack has a housing with an inner space for cell cases containing the cells. The cells are directly mounted in the pack instead of being pre-assembled into modules. The cell cases have covers with insulating blocks to isolate the electrodes. This allows exhaust gases to vent through the slots. The pack case has frames and a removable drain cover to guide exhaust. The cell cases are stacked in the pack with the drain covers removed. This direct cell mounting eliminates module housing and simplifies assembly. It also allows the pack to be more compact and reduces space loss compared to module-based packs. The exhaust venting through the insulating blocks helps contain thermal events by preventing pressure buildup and preventing fire spread between cells. The removable drain cover allows pack venting during
2. Battery Cell Arrangement with Separated Electrical Connections and Pressure Relief Ports
CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECH CO LTD, CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, 2024
Battery design to improve safety by preventing internal short circuits and insulation failures during pressure relief. The battery has multiple cells arranged in rows. Each cell has electrical connections on one side facing another cell row, and pressure relief ports on the opposite side. This separates the electrical connections from the pressure relief ports to prevent conductive particles from the relief discharge moving to the connections and causing shorts or reduced creepage distances.
3. Battery Pack with Inter-Row Heat Exchanger for Controlled Emission Venting
CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECH CO LTD, CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, 2024
A battery pack design that prevents electrical shorts and fires during pressure relief events. The design involves separating the battery cells into rows and placing a heat exchanger between the rows. If a cell overpressurizes and vents, the discharged emissions flow towards the heat exchanger instead of the adjacent cells. This prevents them from reaching the electrical connections. The heat exchanger can contain a liquid that leaks during relief without affecting the connections. By increasing the distance between the cells and connections, it prevents high voltage ignition from leaked emissions.
4. Battery Cell Arrangement and Housing with Upright Configuration and Exhaust Space for Enhanced Safety
PANASONIC ENERGY CO LTD, 2024
Power supply device with improved safety for applications like backup power sources, electric vehicles, and stationary storage. The device has a unique battery cell arrangement and housing design to prevent short circuits and improve safety when submerged. The battery cells are held upright with spacing between the positive electrode end and bottom. This creates an exhaust space for venting gas if the electrode valves release. The spacing prevents water accumulation on the electrode. A heat-conductive layer between the top and electrode end helps dissipate heat. The design reduces height by using the exhaust space.
5. Electrical Energy Storage System with Bottom Burst Openings and Safety Volume Integration
MERCEDES BENZ GROUP AG, MERCEDES-BENZ GROUP AG, 2023
A vehicle with an electrical energy storage system that has a unique bursting mechanism to prevent cell rupture explosions and fires. The cells in the storage module have burst openings on the bottom. Fluidically connecting these burst openings to a safety volume below the module prevents pressure buildup inside the cells. If a cell overheats and bursts, the gases escape into the safety volume instead of the vehicle interior. This prevents thermal propagation and fire spread. The safety volume is between the storage module bottom and the vehicle underbody. An opening in the module bottom connects to it.
6. Battery Pack with Isolated Modules for Containment of Thermal Runaway Events
HOZON NEW ENERGY AUTOMOBILE CO LTD, 2023
A battery system design that improves safety by isolating modules prone to thermal runaway from the rest of the battery pack. The battery pack is divided into separate modules that can have their own thermal runaway events without directly affecting other modules. This prevents a thermal runaway in one module from spreading to other modules and causing a cascading failure. The modules are arranged in a frame to contain any individual module failures.
7. Battery Pack Assembly with Circuit Board Interconnection and Separated Thermal-Electrical Management Zones
SHENLAN AUTOMOBILE TECH CO LTD, SHENLAN AUTOMOBILE TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, 2023
Battery pack assembly for improved safety and assembly efficiency compared to conventional battery packs. The assembly has the battery cells connected in series/parallel using a circuit board between the cells and cases. This reduces the number of connectors compared to directly connecting the cells. The explosion-proof valve is on one end of the cell near the upper case and the electrical connection is on the other end near the lower case. This separates thermal and electrical management areas for improved safety by preventing electrical shorts during thermal runaway. The circuit board also has sensors to monitor cell parameters for protection.
8. Electric Vehicle Battery with Dual-Sided Busbar Arrangement and Insulation for Multi-Directional Cooling and Impact Protection
VOLKSWAGEN AG, 2023
Battery design for electric vehicles that improves cooling and protection compared to conventional batteries. The battery has cells with conductors connected to busbars covered by insulation. The first busbar is on one side of the cells and the second busbar on the opposite side. This allows cooling from multiple directions through the busbars, preventing hotspots. It also shields the cells from external impacts since the busbars are not aligned.
9. Battery Pack with Staggered Cell Arrangement and Side-Positioned Explosion-Proof Valves
BYD COMPANY LTD, 2023
Battery pack design for electric vehicles that reduces the risk of battery runaway. The pack has a tray with staggered arrangement of single batteries. Explosion-proof valves are placed on one side of the pack, instead of the usual bottom. This allows exhaust gases to escape from that side when a cell venting. The pack also has channels to guide the gas away from other cells. The high and low voltage leads penetrate the tray to connect to the stack. This design prevents gases escaping from vented cells from spreading to other cells.
10. Battery Energy Storage Device with Downward Venting and Integrated Cooling Plates
SAIC MOTOR CORPORATION LTD, 2023
Battery energy storage device for vehicles that improves use safety compared to conventional designs. The device has a lower shell, upper shell, and battery cell assembly sandwiched between. The battery cells have poles and explosion-proof valves below the cells instead of above. This prevents internal cell failures from erupting through the upper shell and into the vehicle cabin. It also allows thermal runaway to vent downward into the lower shell instead of upward. This reduces the risk of cabin fire or damage from exploding cells. The lower shell can also contain cooling plates integrated with the cells for improved thermal management.
11. Battery Pack with Pressure Sensors and Venting Mechanisms for Thermal Runaway Containment
SUNG WOO HITECH CO LTD, 2023
Battery pack for electric vehicles that delays thermal runaway propagation. The pack has pressure sensors on each cell and between modules to quickly detect cell fires. It also has venting and discharge mechanisms to isolate and contain cell fires. This prevents fires from spreading between cells or modules. The pack design aims to delay thermal runaway propagation in electric vehicle battery packs by rapidly detecting cell fires, isolating them, and preventing fire spread.
12. Battery Pack with Fire-Resistant Enclosure and Insulating Components for Electric Vehicles
INVENTUS POWER INC, 2023
Battery pack design for electric vehicles that provides improved fire safety to prevent explosions and fires when exposed to external sources. The battery pack has features like enclosures, connectors, and internal components that prevent propagation of external fires into the pack. The pack houses multiple battery cells in a block with insulating plates. The enclosure has a resin filling and metal covers. The connectors have printed circuit boards with polygon openings for metal terminals. The pack can use advanced battery chemistries like solid-state batteries.
13. Battery Pack with Modular Honeycomb Protection Structure and Integrated Connecting Layer
SVOLT ENERGY TECH COMPANY LTD, SVOLT ENERGY TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LTD, 2023
A CTP battery pack for electric vehicles with improved protection against damage from collisions. The pack has a case with a removable battery cell inside. A separate protection part surrounds the cell on the outside to absorb impact forces and prevent damage. This allows direct integration of the battery cells without modules, but with added protection. The protection module is made in a modular design with a honeycomb structure to reduce weight. A connecting layer secures the protection part to limit displacement and provide additional buffering.
14. Battery Pack Layout with Thermal Stability-Based Cell Arrangement and Lateral Water-Cooling Boards
SUNWODA ELECTRIC VEHICLE CELL CO LTD, 2023
Battery pack design to improve safety and cooling of high energy density lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The battery pack has a unique layout to mitigate thermal runaway propagation and enhance cooling. The layout involves arranging the batteries in a specific order to prioritize the ones with lower thermal stability. This allows any thermal runaway to start in the weaker batteries first and be contained before spreading to other batteries. The pack also has water-cooling boards on the sides of the batteries to rapidly dissipate heat from the edges. This prevents thermal runaway from spreading laterally between batteries and improves overall pack safety.
15. Battery Pack with Lined Penetrating Holes Aligned to Cell Explosion-Proof Valves for Thermal Isolation
VOLKSWAGEN AG, VOLKSWAGEN AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT, 2023
Battery pack design to prevent thermal runaway propagation and containment in case of cell failure. The battery pack has a lining with penetrating holes that align with explosion-proof valves on the tops of individual battery cells. This allows venting of gas and debris from a cell with thermal runaway without allowing it to propagate to other cells. The valves prevent internal pressure buildup while the lining prevents external fire spread. It improves safety by isolating cell failures and preventing chain reactions.
16. Battery Pack Enclosure with Positioning and Explosion-Proof Features for Cylindrical Cells
SHANGHAI JUSHENG TECH CO LTD, SHANGHAI JUSHENG TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, 2023
Battery structure and electric equipment that provides reliable battery fixation and explosion-proofing in electric vehicles and other devices. The battery pack has a box assembly enclosing multiple cylindrical batteries. The lower box has a positioning hole for each battery's bottom. The upper box has a fixed edge that connects to the lower box edge. This encloses the batteries. The lower box also has mounting holes with explosion-proof pieces. Batteries are mounted in positioning holes then negative ends align with explosion-proof pieces. This fixes batteries tightly and provides explosion-proofing.
17. Battery Pack with Inverted Cell Orientation and Downward-Facing Vents in Insulated Tray Configuration
GAC EON NEW ENERGY AUTOMOBILE CO LTD, 2023
Battery pack and automobile design with inverted battery cells to improve safety by preventing ejected hot gases from a thermal runaway battery cell from entering the passenger cabin in case of failure. The inverted cell orientation has the positive and negative terminals at the bottom instead of the top. This allows the explosion-proof vent to be facing downwards away from the cabin. The cells are mounted on an insulating tray with a liquid cooling system passing through. This configuration prevents hot gases from a failed cell from being ejected towards the passenger cabin if a thermal runaway occurs.
18. Battery Cell Module with Integrated Venting Mechanisms in Cell Tab, Adapter Plates, and Pole
GAC EON NEW ENERGY AUTOMOBILE CO LTD, 2023
Battery cell module and electric vehicle design to improve battery safety by preventing runaway cells from causing chain reactions. The design features venting mechanisms in the cell tab, adapter plates, and pole to allow airflow out when a cell overheats. This prevents pressure buildup and explosions that can spread to nearby cells. The vented components also flush out when a cell explodes to create circuit breaks and stop further reactions.
19. Battery Pack with Insulated Terminal Connectors and Explosion Valve Isolation
SHANGHAI LANJUN NEW ENERGY TECH CO LTD, SHANGHAI LANJUN NEW ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CO LTD, 2022
Battery pack design to prevent insulation failure during thermal runaway. The pack has a box with battery modules inside. Each module has multiple cells with terminal connectors. The connectors are filled with insulating material to isolate them from the cell explosion valves. This prevents high-temperature gas from the valves during cell runaway from reaching the connectors and causing insulation failure.
20. Electric Vehicle Battery Pack with Side-Lugged Cells and External Electrical Module
Ningbo Geely Automobile Research and Development Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., NINGBO GEELY AUTOMOBILE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CO LTD, 2022
A power battery pack for electric vehicles that improves energy density and safety compared to conventional packs. The pack has a unique design for the battery cells that reduces height and prevents internal cell failures from damaging the pack and vehicle. The cells have the positive and negative lugs on the sides instead of the top. This frees up space above the cells for higher energy density. It also prevents internal cell failures from spraying hot gas and debris out the top and damaging the pack components or vehicle below. The cells may have their own venting to prevent pressure buildup. The pack also has an external electrical module outside the cell stack that provides functions like battery management, current collection, and protection. This allows easy maintenance and replacement compared to integrated modules.
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