Patent Application
20240222772
The information provided in this section is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
The present disclosure relates to battery enclosures for electric vehicles, including battery enclosures having structural load paths and integrated heat transfer.
Battery enclosures are a key component of electric vehicles (EVs) to house and protect the battery pack and other systems, such as thermal components, electronics, and battery management system (BMS) components. Designing a highly efficient EV battery enclosure includes challenges in the integration of safety, thermal efficiency, and pack energy density. A battery pack may refer to a group of batteries or battery modules that store energy.
A battery enclosure to house a battery pack of an electric vehicle includes a bottom plate including at least a top surface and a bottom surface, a battery pack including multiple batteries or battery modules configured to store energy for the electric vehicle, a frame enclosure at least partially surrounding the battery pack, the frame enclosure connected with the bottom plate, the frame enclosure including at least a first side wall and a second side wall opposite the first side wall, and multiple cross members, each cross member extending between the first side wall and the second side wall. The battery enclosure includes a top plate configured to cover the multiple structural cross members and at least a portion of the battery pack, the top plate connected with the frame enclosure, the top plate including multiple ridges protruding from a top surface of the top plate, each ridge defining a channel extending parallel to the top surface of the top plate, and each channel configured to facilitate flow of a heat transfer medium through the channel.
In other features, the battery enclosure includes a tray on the top surface of the bottom plate, the tray configured to house the battery pack, the tray including at least a first tray side wall and a second tray side wall opposite the first tray side wall. The frame enclosure at least partially surrounds the tray, and each cross member extends from the first tray side wall to the second tray side wall.
In other features, the heat transfer medium includes at least one of a coolant liquid and air. In other features, the bottom plate includes multiple ridges protruding from the bottom surface, each ridge of the bottom plate defines a channel extending parallel to the bottom surface, and each channel of the bottom plate is configured to facilitate flow of the heat transfer medium through the channel.
In other features, the battery enclosure includes at least one air deflector angled to direct airflow from beneath the electric vehicle into at least one channel of the bottom plate. In other features, each ridge includes two channel side walls extending upwards from the top surface of the top plate, and an upper wall connected between the two channel side walls, and the upper wall is parallel with the top surface of the top plate.
In other features, the battery enclosure includes a tube extending through at least one channel to provide a flow of coolant liquid through the at least one of the channels. In other features, a first portion of the multiple ridges extend in a first direction parallel to a length dimension of the top plate, and a second portion of the multiple ridges extend in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
In other features, each of the multiple ridges in the first portion intersects at least one of the multiple ridges in the second portion. In other features, the top plate is configured to connect to a floor pan of a body of the electric vehicle to provide structural support for the top plate.
In other features, the tray is configured to hermetically seal the battery pack within the battery enclosure. In other features, the frame enclosure is configured to fully enclose the battery pack with the bottom plate, to hermetically seal the battery pack.
A battery enclosure for a battery pack of an electric vehicle includes a bottom plate including at least a top surface and a bottom surface, a battery pack including multiple batteries or battery modules configured to store energy for the electric vehicle, a frame enclosure at least partially surrounding the battery pack, the frame enclosure connected with the bottom plate, the frame enclosure including at least a first side wall and a second side wall opposite the first side wall, and multiple cross members. Each cross member extends between the first side wall and the second side wall, each cross member defines multiple channels extending along the cross member, and each channel is configured to facilitate flow of a heat transfer medium through the channel. The battery enclosure includes a top plate configured to cover the multiple cross members and at least a portion of the battery pack, the top plate connected with the frame enclosure.
In other features, the battery enclosure includes a tray on the top surface of the bottom plate, the tray configured to house the battery pack, the tray including at least a first tray side wall and a second tray side wall opposite the first tray side wall, and each cross member extends from the first tray side wall to the second tray side wall.
In other features, the heat transfer medium includes at least one of a coolant liquid and air. In other features, each of the multiple batteries or battery modules is between two of the multiple cross members. In other features, a height of each cross member between the tray and a bottom surface of the top plate is greater than a width of the cross member.
In other features, the battery enclosure includes multiple side brackets, wherein each side bracket is located between the frame enclosure and the first tray side wall or the second tray side wall, and each side bracket is aligned with an end of one or more of the multiple cross members to transfer load to one or more of the multiple cross members.
In other features, the frame enclosure is on an outer periphery of the battery pack, and the frame enclosure defines a crumple zone configured to allow deformation of the frame enclosure in response to a side impact of the battery enclosure.
A battery enclosure for a battery pack of an electric vehicle includes a bottom plate including at least a top surface and a bottom surface, the bottom plate including multiple ridges protruding from the bottom surface, each ridge defining a channel extending parallel to the bottom surface, a battery pack including multiple batteries or battery modules configured to store energy for the electric vehicle, a frame enclosure at least partially surrounding the battery pack, the frame enclosure connected with the bottom plate, the frame enclosure including at least a first side wall and a second side wall opposite the first side wall, and multiple cross members. Each cross member extends between the first side wall and the second side wall. The battery enclosure includes a top plate configured to cover the multiple cross members and at least a portion of the battery pack, the top plate connected with the frame enclosure, the top plate including multiple ridges protruding from a top surface of the top plate, and each ridge of the top plate defining a channel extending parallel to the top surface of the top plate.
Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description, the claims and the drawings. The detailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.
The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In the drawings, reference numbers may be reused to identify similar and/or identical elements.
In some example embodiments of the present disclosure, a battery enclosure for an electric vehicle enables load bearing and force distribution via structural components, including but not limited to a peripheral frame enclosure, multiple cross members, a bottom plate (e.g., a bottom shear plate) and a top plate (e.g., a top shear plate). Heat transfer capabilities may be integrated with the structural components of the battery enclosure, to increase heating/cooling efficiency. Integration of heat transfer capabilities to structural components may reduce a volume occupied by thermal components, freeing up space to increase battery pack energy density.
Example battery enclosures may be used with any suitable vehicle types, including unibody platforms, body-on-frame platforms, etc. Example battery enclosures may be compatible with various suitable battery types. Example materials for battery enclosures may include metallic and/or non-metallic materials.
In various implementations, a structural top shear plate is designed to close the top of the battery enclosure and provides load bearing support for the battery pack. The top shear plate may be structurally connected and/or integrated with, e.g., a floor pan of a body of the vehicle, allowing for engagement of the structural components of the car body during a crash event, to provide additional structural support for the battery pack. In various implementations, the top shear plate and/or a bottom plate may be a single-layer or multi-layer structure.
In some example embodiments, the battery enclosure may include multiple cross members. Each cross member may have a slim profile (e.g., a greater height than width), which may increase an effective cross-sectional area, increase an overall stiffness of the battery enclosure structure, and allow for a greater number of cross members to be spread throughout the battery enclosure.
The battery enclosure may include a frame enclosure located on the outer periphery of the battery pack, which fully or partially encloses the battery pack, where the frame enclosure is connected between the top shear plate and the bottom shear plate. The frame enclosure may provide a ‘crumple zone’ to absorb impact energy from side impacts to the battery enclosure, and add additional clearance to protect the battery pack during a crash event.
For example, the frame enclosure may define a space between a side wall of the frame enclosure and the battery pack, to allow for partial deformation of the frame enclosure without damaging the battery pack. In various implementations, the frame enclosure may be connected and/or integrated with a frame of the vehicle, to provide additional structural support for the battery enclosure.
A battery tray may be included to house a battery pack, battery management system (BMS), etc. For example, the battery tray may be supported on a top surface of the bottom shear plate, and may include side walls and end walls to surround the battery pack. The battery tray may be configured to hermetically seal the battery pack within the battery enclosure. In various implementations, the battery tray may include one or more stiffening features, e.g., in vertical walls, for added stiffness and clearance.
Load distribution may be facilitated by using stiff top and/or bottom portions inside of a frame enclosure in order to transfer impact to top and/or bottom shear plates, e.g., via contact between the frame enclosure and the top and/or bottom shear plates. Additionally, or alternatively, an impact load may be distributed from the frame enclosure to cross members, e.g., via brackets located between the frame enclosure and the cross members. The cross members may be connected to the top and bottom shear plates to provide further stiffening and more balanced load sharing.
In various implementations, example battery enclosures may provide additional clearance and stiffness, such that the example battery enclosures may serve as a barrier to resist the deformation of body cross bars and rockers, thereby inhibiting or preventing compression and intrusion of body structures into the battery pack.
In some example embodiments, high-speed airflow that occurs when driving the vehicle may be leveraged to provide a cooling effect for the battery pack. For example, the bottom shear plate may include one or more offset features (e.g., ridges, etc.) that define channels for regulating airflow along the bottom shear plate.
In various implementations, one or more air deflectors may be angled, positioned, etc. to guide air flowing beneath the vehicle into the channels of the bottom shear plate. For example, air deflectors may be coupled to an underside of the vehicle upstream of the bottom shear plate, with surfaces positioned to cause airflow to be diverted towards openings of the channels of the bottom shear plate.
The cross members may provide a heat transfer function, by incorporating channels, tubes, etc. in the cross members and/or on surfaces of the cross members, to provide additional cooling/heating for the battery pack in contact with or adjacent to surfaces of the cross members.
The offset features of the top shear plate and/or bottom shear plate may be configured to facilitate flow of cooling/heating agents (such as coolant liquid, air, etc.), to improve heat transfer.
As described above, the top shear plate of one or more layers may be used in place of the cover of the battery enclosure to provide structural support for load bearing during a crash event. Multiple slim cross members may also be used as structural components for enhanced stiffness and impact resistance.
A frame enclosure may surround a periphery of the battery pack and/or tray, and include a “soft” middle structure that serves as a crumple zone to absorb impact energy. The frame enclosure may include “strong” top and/or bottom portions to transfer loads to other structural components, such as the top and/or bottom shear plates and the cross members.
Multiple brackets may engage the load transferring features of the frame enclosure in order to pass impact loads to the cross members. In various implementations, the structural battery enclosure may have all load-bearing components inter-connected with one another, to work cohesively to form a designed path for impact load absorption and distribution. In various implementations, example battery enclosures may include clearances via stiffening offset features, which may be located, e.g., on side walls of a tray surrounding the battery pack, to provide added protection during a crash event.
In some example embodiments, the cross members may integrate heat transfer functionality (e.g., cooling and heating) in an inner volume of the cross members, in order to cool/heat in vertical and/or horizontal directions. Heat transfer tubing may be located in, e.g., channels of the structural components, such as channels of the cross members and the top and bottom shear plates. Enhanced or optimized routes of heat transfer tubing may be determined based on, e.g., computer-aided engineering (CAE) analysis to identify smallest displacement locations. Example locations for placing heating/cooling tubing may include, but are not limited to, free space between the frame enclosure and side walls of a battery tray, channels within an upper and/or lower shear plate, channels in cross members, etc.
For example, an air cooling function may be integrated in the bottom shear plate by utilizing the offset features as channels to regulate the airflow to the bottom of the battery pack. An air deflecting component may be used to direct air to the bottom of the battery pack for bottom plate air cooling. Integrated cooling/heating capabilities in the top shear plate may facilitate supplementary thermal transmission options.
Some example embodiments herein may provide one or more benefits, such as a battery enclosure having a high system integration efficiency, high pack energy density, load paths that engage an upper structure of the battery enclosure to share the impact of a crash event, increase heat transfer functionality to allow for faster heating/cooling and provide improved fast charging, etc.
Referring now to
As shown in
In some embodiments, the tray 40 may hermetically seal the battery pack within the battery enclosure 10, while only emergency venting is allowed. For example, the tray 40 may include one or more sealing features that hermetically seal an interior of the tray 40 (e.g., where the battery pack is located), from ambient air external to the battery enclosure 10. Hermetic sealing may be provided between the tray 40 and the top plate 20, to protect the interior of the tray 40. In various implementations, vent valves may be included to release gas from the battery enclosure 10.
The frame enclosure 30 surrounds at least a portion (or all) of the tray 40. For example, a shape of the frame enclosure 30 may correspond to a perimeter shape of the walls of the tray 40, and the frame enclosure 30 optionally includes a specified clearance space between the walls of the frame enclosure 30 and the walls of the tray 40. In various implementations, the frame enclosure 30 may be a fully or partially closed structure. When the tray 40 is absent, the frame enclosure 30 may enclose the batteries or battery modules and provide hermetic sealing.
The frame enclosure 30 may be considered as a structure that transfers an impact load from a side wall of the fame enclosure to the cross members 50. In various implementations, the additional clearance of the crumple zone may absorb impact energy and protect the battery pack. In a side impact the frame enclosure 30 is engaged to serve as a crumple zone, where stiffer top and/or bottom parts pass portions of the impact load to other structural components such as the top plate 20, the bottom plate 60, and cross members 50.
The frame enclosure 30 may have a two-piece construction that is connected during manufacturing, may have a one-piece construction, may include more than two separate sections that are joined together, etc. Corners of the frame enclosure 30 may be designed to have shapes that correspond to a location in the vehicle for housing the battery enclosure, shapes that provide enhanced stiffness via rounded corners, etc.
The frame enclosure 30 may be connected to the bottom plate 60 (e.g., a bottom shear plate) and the top plate 20 (e.g., a top shear plate). The frame enclosure may be connected using any suitable connecting implementation, such as bolts, welds, adhesive, friction, or other contact fits.
In some example embodiments, the frame enclosure 30 may include a ridge, lip, etc. to receive the top plate 20 and/or the bottom plate 60. A strong connection may be designed between the frame enclosure 30 and the top plate 20 and/or bottom plate 60 to facilitate transferring an impact load from the frame enclosure 30 to the top plate 20 and/or bottom plate 60.
For example, the frame enclosure 30 may engage both the top plate 20 and the bottom plate 60. In various implementations, the frame enclosure 30 may include a recess that the top plate 20 can drop into. Similarly, the bottom plate 60 may sit in a recess channel of the frame enclosure 30.
The cross members 50 extend between opposite side walls of the tray 40. The cross members 50 may be substantially parallel to one another, and may be spaced approximately equal distances from one another, although other embodiments may use different arrangements of the cross members 50. In various implementations, a distance between two adjacent cross members 50 may be approximately equal to or larger than a width of a battery or a battery module, such that the battery or battery module can be positioned between the two cross members 50.
Each cross member 50 may have a slim cross-sectional profile, with a height that is greater than a width of the cross member 50. For example, a height of the cross member 50 between the tray 40 and the top plate 20 may be greater than a width of the cross member 50.
Using narrow cross members 50 may save space within the battery enclosure, thereby increasing the space used for batteries and increasing the energy density. Narrower cross members 50 may allow for using more cross members 50 compared to conventional bulkier supports, to provide enhanced stiffness to the battery enclosure 10.
For example, with narrower cross members 50, an increased number of cross members 50 may be spaced throughout the tray 40 to provide structural support at more locations within the battery enclosure 10. Although
As shown in
The top plate 20 covers the top surfaces of the cross members 50, and at least a portion (or all) of the tray 40. For example, the top plate 20 may cover the battery pack housed in the tray 40, as well as proving structural connection support with the cross members 50 and the frame enclosure 30. In various implementations, the top plate 20 may be connected to the frame enclosure 30 and/or the cross members 50 via bolts, screws, rivets, welds, adhesive, etc. In various implementations, the top plate 20 may be a single layer structure, or a multi-layer structure.
The frame enclosure 30 may transfer at least a portion of an impact load to the top plate 20 (e.g., via a connection between a top portion of the frame enclosure and the top plate 20). The frame enclosure 30 may transfer another portion of the load to the cross members 50. An example of transferring impact load from the frame enclosure to the cross members 50 is described further below with reference to
As shown in
The top plate 20 includes multiple ridges 22, which may increase the structural support and stiffness of the top plate 20. For example, each ridge 22 may include two channel walls that protrude upwards from a top surface of the top plate 20, and an upper wall that connects the two channel walls.
An example cross-sectional view of a ridge 22, which is part of the top plate 20, is shown in
Returning again to
Although
Returning again to
In various implementations, a cooling and/or heating fluid may flow directly through the channels 23, where the channels 23 provide an enclosure to inhibit or prevent a fluid in the channels 23 from escaping to ambient air outside the battery enclosure 10. Alternatively, or additionally, tubing may be routed within the channels 23 to provide a flow of fluid through the channels 23 via the tubing.
Similar to the ridges 22 of the top plate 20, the bottom plate 60 may consist of a multi-layer structure and include ridges 62 that protrude from, e.g., a bottom surface of the bottom plate 60. The ridges 62 of the bottom plate 60 may increase structural stiffness of the bottom plate 60, provide for additional thermal control and heat transfer characteristics of the bottom plate 60, etc.
For example, the ridges 62 of the bottom plate 60 may define multiple channels 63 for flow of a cooling and/or heating fluid. Similar to the channels 23 of the ridges 22 of the top plate 20, the channels 63 of the ridges 62 of the bottom plate 60 may enclose a channel space to allow fluid to flow directly in the channels 63, may include tubing routed through the channels 63 to control a flow of fluid in the channels 63, etc. Using an enclosed channel space for direct fluid flow may allow for reducing or eliminating a need for running coolant piping or tubing.
In various implementations, one or more airflow deflectors may be used to divert air beneath the vehicle into the channels 63 of the bottom plate 60. For example, an airflow deflector may be located on an underside of the vehicle upstream of the bottom plate 60, and may include a surface angled to divert airflow while driving into an opening of the channels 63. This may facilitate enhanced cooling of the battery pack via the channels 63 of the bottom plate 60.
The vehicle may be any suitable type of vehicle, including an electric vehicle such as a battery electric vehicle (BEV), a hybrid vehicle, or a fuel cell vehicle, a vehicle including an internal combustion engine (ICE), or other type of vehicle. For example, a battery pack housed in the battery enclosure 10 may provide power to or receive power from an electric motor of a drive unit via a power inverter during propulsion or regeneration.
The battery system housed in the battery enclosure 10 may include any suitable arrangement of the battery pack, BMS, etc. for providing power to components of the vehicle. For example, the battery system may supply power to drive an electric motor of the drive unit, may supply power to operate a vehicle monitoring module, a wireless communication interface, a telematics unit, a cabin comfort system, etc. The battery system may output voltages at one or more levels, such as a high voltage level (e.g., 110V, 120V, 200V, 208V, 240V, 400V, 600V, 800V, etc.) to power vehicle components that operate on higher voltages, and a low voltage level (e.g., 3.3V, 5V, 12V, 24V, 48V, etc.) to power vehicle components that operate on lower voltages.
The vehicle may include a vehicle control module configured to control operation of one or more vehicle components, such as the battery system. For example, the vehicle control module (which may include a battery management system), may include any suitable processing circuitry and memory to implement control functions, such as monitoring a temperature of the battery system, and controlling flow of cooling and/or heating fluid through the channels (e.g., channels 23 and 63 of
Referring again to
The channel(s) 54 may be located on an outer surface of the cross member 50, within an interior of the cross member 50, etc. For example, the channel(s) 54 may be integrated into the cross member 50, may be added as a joined component, etc. Although
The frame enclosure 30 may define a cavity space 32 (e.g., a crumple zone), which may be inside the frame enclosure 30. For example, the cavity space 32 may provide clearance to allow the side wall of the frame enclosure 30 to deform at least partially, in response to an impact force, without damaging a battery pack housed in the tray 40.
In an example path, fluid may enter a cavity space 32 on one side of the frame enclosure 30, travel across the cross members 50 (e.g., via a fluid connection between the cavity space 55 and the channels 54 of the cross members 50), and then return to, e.g., a fluid reservoir, etc. along a cavity space 55 on an opposite side.
As another example path, fluid may enter channels 23 of the ridges 22 of the top plate 20 on a first side of the top plate 20, and travel down into the channels 54 of the cross members 50 (e.g., via a direct fluid connection between the channels 23 of the top plate 20 and the channels 54 of the cross members 50, via an intermediate fluid connection in the cavity space 55, etc.). The fluid may then travel across the cross members 50, and go back up into channels 23 of the top plate 20 on an opposite side of the top plate 20, before returning to a fluid reservoir, etc.
As described above, the fluid may flow through the channels themselves, through tubing that is routed through the channels, etc. Although
As described above, fluid flow may be routed through the frame enclosure 30. As shown in
In various implementations, the channels, clearance spaces, etc., may be used to allow fumes to escape the battery enclosure 10. For example, a thermal vent may be in fluid communication with one or more channels, clearance spaces, etc., to allow fumes from the battery compartment to escape to outside air.
The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. The broad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples, the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, the specification, and the following claims. It should be understood that one or more steps within a method may be executed in different order (or concurrently) without altering the principles of the present disclosure. Further, although each of the embodiments is described above as having certain features, any one or more of those features described with respect to any embodiment of the disclosure can be implemented in and/or combined with features of any of the other embodiments, even if that combination is not explicitly described. In other words, the described embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and permutations of one or more embodiments with one another remain within the scope of this disclosure.
Spatial and functional relationships between elements (for example, between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.) are described using various terms, including “connected,” “engaged,” “coupled,” “adjacent,” “next to,” “on top of,” “above,” “below,” and “disposed.” Unless explicitly described as being “direct,” when a relationship between first and second elements is described in the above disclosure, that relationship can be a direct relationship where no other intervening elements are present between the first and second elements, but can also be an indirect relationship where one or more intervening elements are present (either spatially or functionally) between the first and second elements. As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A OR B OR C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be construed to mean “at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.”
In this application, including the definitions below, the term “module” or the term “controller” may be replaced with the term “circuit.” The term “module” may refer to, be part of, or include: an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC); a digital, analog, or mixed analog/digital discrete circuit; a digital, analog, or mixed analog/digital integrated circuit; a combinational logic circuit; a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor circuit (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code; a memory circuit (shared, dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuit; other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality; or a combination of some or all of the above, such as in a system-on-chip.
