Fuses and Circuit Breakers for EV Battery Protection

Fusible thermal interface material for traction battery packs that limits thermal runaway propagation in electric vehicle batteries. The material is placed between battery cells and heat exchangers. It transitions from conductive to insulative when temperature exceeds a threshold, preventing thermal propagation between cells. This prevents battery thermal events from spreading like a chain reaction. The fusible interface material prevents catastrophic cell-to-cell thermal runaway in packs.

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Detection and mitigation of thermal runaway propagation in a vehicle battery to prevent battery damage and safety hazards. The system uses sensors like gas, temperature, and infrared inside modules to detect conditions leading to thermal runaway. If thresholds are exceeded, active relays isolate the faulty module to stop propagation. The battery management system coordinates this based on sensor data. This allows proactive isolation before runaway instead of waiting for voltage/temp indicators.

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Fuse device for electric vehicle charging and discharging circuits that quickly extinguishes arcs to prevent fires when a fuse blows. The device has a housing, two sheet pins for circuit connection, a fuse made of temperature sensing material, and magnetic sheets. When the fuse melts due to high temperature, arcs are created. The magnetic sheets rapidly quench the arcs to prevent further damage and fires.

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Battery disconnect bracket for electric vehicles that rapidly isolates overheating battery cells to prevent thermal propagation. The bracket is made of materials with different thermal expansion rates. When a cell experiences a thermal event, the bracket expands more on the hot side than the cold side, causing it to transition from a closed conductive position to an open isolation position. This disconnects the hot cell from the others to prevent further thermal propagation. The bracket can also have sensors and an electronic control unit to monitor and manage isolated cells.

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An overload fuse protector for batteries in electric vehicles that prevents fires and electrical failures due to overload currents and excessive temperatures. The protector has multiple fuses in series inside an insulated housing. It uses both current fuses and temperature fuses to disconnect the battery circuit in response to overload currents and excessive temperatures. The fuses are housed separately inside insulated shells with sealing caps. This allows the fuses to be replaced individually if needed. The fuse housings connect to the battery terminals through conductive leads. This allows the fuses to be removed and replaced without disconnecting the battery.

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Non-resettable safety device for battery systems that prevents user reset after system faults. The device uses a fuse, temperature switches, and BMS monitoring to protect the system. During normal operation, the BMS controls the fuse. If the battery faults, the BMS outputs a signal to disconnect the fuse, protecting the system. If temperature exceeds limits, the switches connect and fuse disconnects. The fuse irreversibly fuses, preventing user reset after faults.

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Thermal fuse circuit for safely disconnecting DC voltage sources that prevents arcing and re-entry issues common in voltage-controlled fuses. The circuit has a temperature sensor, fuse, and heating element. When temperature exceeds a threshold, the sensor generates a digital signal to irreversibly deactivate the fuse's current path using thermal action. This prevents arcing and re-entry compared to voltage-controlled fuses.

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Thermal fuse assembly and circuit breaker for high voltage DC applications that provides reliable arc extinguishing and circuit disconnection in DC circuits with voltages up to 1000V. The assembly has a main thermal fuse, shut-off circuit, and arc-extinguishing circuit. When the thermal fuse melts due to overcurrent or overtemperature, the load is disconnected normally using the load itself as an arc extinguisher. If the overcurrent/overtemperature persists, the shut-off circuit is triggered to fully disconnect the circuit. This prevents arcing through the thermal fuse.

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Combined electrical device with integrated fuse and circuit breaker that automatically disconnects and isolates blown fuses to prevent overheating and fire hazards. The device has a load switch fuse with a pushrod mechanism. When the fuse blows, a temperature sensor detects the increased heat and triggers the pushrod to push the fuse tube down into an insulating ferrule. This isolates the blown fuse and prevents further current flow. The pushrod is controlled by a controller connected to the temperature sensor.

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Circuit breakers for protecting electrical systems from overheating and overcurrent faults in batteries and cells. The circuit breakers have a three-terminal configuration with one terminal connected to the cell, one to the system power, and a switch between them. During normal operation, the switch connects the cell to the system. If a fault condition like overheating or overcurrent occurs, the switch disconnects the cell and shunts most current around it through a resistor. This allows continued system power while bypassing the faulty cell.

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Rapid response thermal fuse that quickly breaks the circuit when temperature reaches a fusing point. The fuse has a housing with a compressed spring inside. The leads and conductor are connected through fusible alloy. When the alloy melts, the spring pushes the conductor to quickly break the circuit. The compressed spring limits the spring's extension to improve accuracy and force. This allows quicker circuit disconnection compared to conventional thermal fuses.

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An emergency protection device for circuits that provides improved reliability compared to traditional fuses. The device uses a thermally conductive ceramic support with embedded leadouts, a fuse layer, and a bimetallic strip. The ceramic support allows heat to spread and prevent welding between the leadouts and fuse. The bimetallic strip deforms when overcurrent and breaks the connection. This prevents reconnections and short circuits that can occur with fuses. The ceramic support also has channels for melted fuse material to flow away. The device can have an oil reservoir to flood the chamber for further insulation. The transparent container allows visual monitoring of the oil level. The ceramic support is sandwiched between the leads and housing.

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Quickly disconnecting a battery pack from a circuit in the event of an overcurrent to prevent damage. The system uses two fuses and two contactors in parallel with the battery cells. If a short circuit occurs, both contactors are opened to quickly disconnect the battery. This allows faster interruption of the circuit compared to fuses alone. However, contactors can be damaged by high currents. To prevent this, the system uses fuses in series with the contactors for high currents. The fuses blow while the contactors open, protecting them. This tradeoff balances fast disconnection vs contactor durability.

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A multi-channel synchronously controlled temperature fuse for protecting multiple circuits from overheating. The fuse has a housing, temperature sensing body, conductive component, electrode assembly, and spring. When the temperature exceeds the fuse point, the spring releases to disconnect multiple electrical contacts in the electrode assembly, simultaneously cutting off multiple circuits. The fuse design allows simultaneous failure protection of multiple channels.

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Intelligent high-temperature circuit breaker protection plug strip that uses a load sensor and a thermistor to test the power-off performance of the plug strip in the case of overheating in the circuit. The strip has a thermistor that acts as a self-recovering fuse. When the circuit is normal, the thermistor has low resistance and the strip powers on. If the circuit overheats, the thermistor rapidly increases resistance and cuts off power, indicating a safety hazard. The strip also has a load sensor to detect high current. When both thermistor and load sensor are low, the strip powers on. If either is high, the strip disconnects power and alarms the user. This provides automated fuse recovery and overload protection without manual fuse replacement or short circuit issues.

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Safety prevention and control system for electric vehicle battery packs that provides active and direct prevention and control for battery faults, thermal runaway, and propagation. The system has three prevention stages: diagnosing faults, detecting cell thermal runaway, and determining pack thermal runaway propagation. It uses a step-by-step prevention execution device that receives instructions from the diagnosis, runaway, and propagation modules. This allows targeted prevention actions based on the specific fault type and runaway stage. It complements passive prevention measures like cooling and extinguishing. The active prevention improves electric vehicle safety by accurately starting prevention mechanisms tailored to the accident stage.

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Electrical system for supplying power to multiple loads that can isolate faulty batteries to prevent short circuits. The system has parallel connected batteries and switches to disconnect the problematic battery from its load and the bus. This prevents current surges from spreading to other loads. The switches disconnect the battery when its current exceeds thresholds. A controller monitors bus current to initiate isolation. By selectively isolating faulty batteries, it prevents short circuits from spreading through the system.

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A circuit breaker that provides fast and reliable overcurrent and overheating protection for electrical circuits. The breaker uses a combination of a ceramic positive temperature coefficient (PTC) resistor and a bimetallic sheet. The PTC resistor cuts off the circuit when it gets too hot or current exceeds limits. The bimetallic sheet deforms to disconnect the circuit at higher temperatures. This instantaneous protection prevents overcurrent damage and allows quick restoration when safe. The PTC resistor and bimetallic sheet are arranged on movable ends of the breaker to disconnect the circuit when faults occur.

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Circuit breaker with improved overheating and overcurrent protection that responds quickly and reliably to prevent circuit failures and fires. The breaker uses a combination of a thermistor (PTC) and bimetallic strip to physically disconnect the circuit when temperatures reach a certain level. The thermistor generates heat under low current to keep the bimetallic strip disconnected until the fault is eliminated. This provides faster, more reliable protection compared to methods using NTCs or MOSFETs.

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Fuse protection device for batteries in electric vehicles that reduces fuse failure and improves reliability. The device has a temperature sensor on the fuse surface, a controllable switch, and a heat dissipation component. The switch and dissipation are connected in parallel with the fuse. When fuse temperature rises, the sensor triggers the switch to close and engage the dissipation component to cool the fuse. This prevents excessive temperature damage that can cause premature fuse failure.

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