Patent Application
20240097210
The present disclosure relates generally to a battery pack, and more specifically to componentry of the battery pack, such as access panels, structural beams, an electronics compartment, and other componentry of the battery pack.
A battery pack may include a number of electrochemical cells, such as lithium-ion cells, configured to generate a charge having a voltage and current for powering a load. For example, the electrochemical cells may be coupled in series such that individual voltages of the electrochemical cells are combined to generate a charge having a total voltage, or in parallel such that individual currents of the electrochemical cells are combined to generate a charge having a total current. In some embodiments, series and parallel couplings are employed between various electrochemical cells of the battery pack to generate a total voltage and total current compatible with the load receiving the charge.
In traditional configurations, the battery pack may be packaged in a manner that unnecessarily or undesirably contributes to a height of the battery pack. Further, the battery pack may be packaged in a manner that limits serviceability of the battery pack and/or a structural integrity of the battery pack. Accordingly, it is now recognized that improved battery packs are desired.
A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a battery pack includes a housing defining a housing interior, a first stack of electrochemical cells disposed in the housing interior, a second stack of electrochemical cells disposed in the housing interior, and an electronics compartment disposed in the housing interior. The electronics compartment is positioned between the first stack of electrochemical cells and the second stack of electrochemical cells. Further, the electronics compartment extends along a majority of a length of the battery pack.
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a battery pack includes electrochemical cells and a housing defining a housing interior in which the electrochemical cells are disposed. The housing includes a panel having a first flat portion, a second flat portion, and a third portion disposed between the first flat portion and the second flat portion. The third portion extends from the first flat portion and the second flat portion toward an opposing panel of the housing such that the third portion defines a channel. The channel is defined along a surface of the panel facing outwardly from the housing interior.
In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a battery pack includes a housing defining a housing interior, electrochemical cells disposed in the housing interior, a first panel of the housing, and a second panel of the housing opposing the first panel of the housing. The battery pack also includes an access panel of the housing, where the access panel is coupled to the second panel about an access opening in the second panel. The battery pack also includes structural beams extending through the housing interior between the first panel and the second panel to support a mechanical load against the first panel.
Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter.
Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings described below in which like numerals refer to like parts.
One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.
When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Use of the terms “approximately,” “near,” “about,” “close to,” and/or “substantially” should be understood to mean including close to a target (e.g., design, value, amount), such as within a margin of any suitable or contemplatable error (e.g., within 0.1% of a target, within 1% of a target, within 5% of a target, within 10% of a target, within 25% of a target, and so on). Moreover, it should be understood that any exact values, numbers, measurements, and so on, provided herein, are contemplated to include approximations (e.g., within a margin of suitable or contemplatable error) of the exact values, numbers, measurements, and so on).
This disclosure is directed to a battery pack with various features that enable an improved serviceability, improved structural integrity, improved volumetric energy density, and/or a reduced height relative to traditional systems. For example, the battery pack may include a housing defining a housing interior and formed by various panels. The panels may include a top panel with first flat portion, a second flat portion, and a third portion extending downwardly from the first flat portion and the second flat portion to define a channel, recess, or groove configured to receive harness assemblies associated with the battery pack, one or more loads powered by the battery pack, or both.
Additionally or alternatively, the battery pack may include a bottom panel opposing the top panel, with an opening in the bottom panel and an access panel covering the opening. An electronics compartment of the battery pack may be aligned with the access panel and the opening in the bottom panel. Accordingly, electronic componentry disposed in the electronics compartment is readily accessible via removal of the access panel from the bottom panel. Additionally or alternatively, the electronics compartment may be disposed between a first stack of electrochemical cells of the battery pack and a second stack of electrochemical cells of the battery pack. A first structural beam may extend through a housing interior (e.g., from the top panel to the bottom panel) between the first stack of electrochemical cells and the electronics compartment, and a second structural beam may extend through the housing interior (e.g., from the top panel to the bottom panel) between the second stack of electrochemical cells and the electronics compartment. The above-described features may improve a volumetric energy density and reduce a height of the battery pack, while enabling the battery pack to support a mechanical load against the top panel of the housing. Further, a position of the access panel at the bottom panel of the housing may improve serviceability of the electronic componentry in the electronics compartment, as the top panel of the battery pack may be blocked from access by structural features corresponding to the load powered by the battery pack. These and other features will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
The connector 26 of the battery pack 14 may be coupled to the load 12 such that the battery pack 14 powers the load 12. Although the electrical system 10 in
The battery pack 14 may also include an electronics compartment 28. In the illustrated embodiment, the electronics compartment 28 is disposed in the housing interior 17, although the electronics compartment 28 may be coupled to the housing 15 and/or extend into an external space 31 in another embodiment. As described in detail below with reference to
In the illustrated embodiment, a first structural beam 30 (e.g., first longitudinal beam) and a second structural beam 32 (e.g., second longitudinal beam) may be disposed in the housing interior 17 along a length 34 of the battery pack 14. The first structural beam 30 and the second structural beam 32 may define regions of the housing interior 17, including a first region 36 configured to receive the first stack 24a of electrochemical cells 16a, a second region 38 configured to receive the second stack 24b of electrochemical cells 16b, and a third region referred to by the present disclosure as the electronics compartment 28. In the way, the first stack 24a of electrochemical cells 16a may be stacked in the first region 36 along the length 34 of the battery pack 14, and the second stack 24b of electrochemical cells 16b may be stacked in the second region 38 along the length 34 of the battery pack 14. The electronics compartment 28 may be configured to receive various electronic componentry of the battery pack 14, including, for example, a mid-pack unit (MPU) assembly, a power distribution unit (PDU) assembly, a power conversion system (PCS) assembly, and others. As shown, the electronics compartment 28 extends along substantially all of the length 34 of the battery pack 14. In certain embodiments, the electronics compartment 28 may extend along 50% or more, 70% or more, 75% or more, 80% or more, 90% or more, up to 100%, and so on, of the length 34 of the battery pack 14. In additional or alternative embodiments, the electronics compartment 28 may extend past the length 34 of the battery pack 14. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the length 34 of the battery pack 14 may substantially correspond to a length of the housing 15 (e.g., the housing 15 may define the outer bounds of the battery pack 14). In other embodiments, componentry may be disposed on outer surfaces of the housing 15 that contribute to the length 34 of the battery pack 14, such that the length 34 of the battery pack 14 is larger (e.g., 1-20% larger) than a length of the housing 15.
Further to the points above, dividing walls may be disposed in the electronics compartment 28 to divide the electronics compartment 28 into various electronics compartment regions. For example, as shown, a first dividing wall 40 and a second dividing wall 42 may extend between the first and second structural beams 30, 32, and may be oriented along a width 44 of the battery pack 14 extending transverse to the length 34 of the battery pack 14, such that the first dividing wall 40 and the second dividing wall 42 divide the electronics compartment 28 into a first electronics compartment region 46, a second electronics compartment region 48, and a third electronics compartment region 50. As described in detail with reference to
The battery pack 14 may also include a top panel 52, as shown. The top panel 52 may be considered a part of the housing 15. For example, the top panel 52 of the housing 15 may be configured to couple to a base 53 of the housing 15 to enclose the first stack 24a of electrochemical cells 16a, the second stack 24b of electrochemical cells 16b, electronic componentry, and other componentry in the housing interior 17. As shown, the top panel 52 may include a channel 54 defined on a surface 55 of the top panel 52 facing outwardly from the housing interior 17. The channel 54 may be configured to receive various harness assemblies that extend external to the housing 15 of the battery pack 14. The harness assemblies, for example, may correspond to aspects of a load powered by the battery pack 14. In particular, the channel 54 may include a depth (described in detail with reference to
In some embodiments, the top panel 52 of the battery pack 14 may be substantially flat (e.g., planar) other than the channel 54, although certain componentry may be disposed on top of the top panel 52. Thus, the electronics compartment 28 and electronic componentry disposed in the electronics compartment 28, which may be aligned with (e.g., overlapping) the channel 54 as shown, may not add to a height 56 of the battery pack 14. In other words, a volume of the electronics compartment 28 may be distributed through the length 34 of the battery pack 14 such that the electronics compartment 28 and electronic componentry do not contribute to the height 56 of the battery pack 14. Put differently, the height 56 of the battery pack 14 may be designed to accommodate the first stack 24a of electrochemical cells 16a and the second stack 24b of electrochemical cells 16b, and inclusion of the electronics compartment 28 (and associated electronic componentry) does not require that the height 56 be substantially increased. Further, the electronics compartment 28 may extend from a bottom panel 58 (more clearly illustrated in
As described in detail below, the bottom panel 58 may include an access portion configured to enable direct access to the electronics compartment 28 for maintenance and/or repair purposes and from underneath the battery pack 14. Indeed, electronic componentry of the battery pack 14 may be the most likely componentry to be maintained and/or repaired, or the componentry that may most frequently be maintained and/or repaired. Further, in certain embodiments, the battery pack 14 may be disposed in a cavity or space corresponding to a load that does not provide a sufficient clearance along the top panel 52 of the battery pack 14 for accessing the housing interior 17 through the top panel 52 without substantial disassembly of aspects of the load and/or the battery pack 14. Accordingly, the battery pack 14 in
For example, in the illustrated embodiment, a power conversion system (PCS) assembly 78 may be disposed in the first electronics compartment region 46, a mid-pack unit (MPU) assembly 80 may be disposed in the second electronics compartment region 48, and a power distribution unit (PDU) assembly 82 may be disposed in the third electronics compartment region 50. Accordingly, removal of the access panel 72 from the bottom panel 58 may enable access to the PCS assembly 78, the MPU assembly 80, and the PDU assembly 82. However, other arrangements of the PCS assembly 78, the MPU assembly 80, and the PDU assembly 82 are also possible in accordance with the present disclosure. Further, other electronic componentry may be disposed in the electronics compartment 28 and may be readily accessible for maintenance, repair, and/or servicing via removal of the access panel 72. As previously described, the electronics compartment 28 may extend along a majority of the length 34 (e.g., 75% or more of the length 34) of the battery pack 14. Further, the electronics compartment 28 may extend between the bottom panel 58 and the top panel (not shown) along a majority of the height 56 (e.g., 50% or more, 70% or more, 75% or more, 80% or more, 90% or more, up to 100%, and so on, of the height 56) of the battery pack 14. The position, orientation, and size of the electronics compartment 28 as shown and described herein may be employed to reduce the height 56 of the battery pack 14 relative to traditional embodiments and/or improve accessibility (e.g., to electronic componentry in the electronics compartment 28) relative to traditional embodiments.
The channel 54 may include a depth 85 that is sized to receive the one or more harness assemblies 86. For example, the depth 85 may be approximately 20 to 40 millimeters deep or 25 to 35 millimeters deep, depending on the embodiment. However, it should be noted that the battery pack 14 may be scaled up or down in size in certain embodiments. Thus, a ratio between the depth 85 of the channel 54 and the height 56 of the battery pack 14 (or the height 56 of the housing 15 of the battery pack 14) may be within a range of 1:10 to 1:5. That is, the depth 85 of the channel 54 may be between 10% and 20% of the height of the battery pack 14.
As previously described, the longitudinal beams 30, 32 of the battery pack 14 may define the first region 36, the second region 38, and the electronics compartment 28 of the battery pack 14. A first stack of electrochemical cells (not shown) may be disposed in the first region 36, a second stack of electrochemical cells (not shown) may be disposed in the second region 38, and electronic componentry (not shown) may be disposed in the electronics compartment 28. In addition to separating the electronics compartment 28 from the first region 36 and the second region 38, the longitudinal beams 30, 32 may provide structural support against a mechanical load exerted on the top panel 52 of the housing 15 of the battery pack 14. In some embodiments, a sealing assembly may be employed to seal the electronics compartment 28 from the first region 36 and the second region 38 (e.g., to block fluid ingress into the electronics compartment 28). For example, the sealing assembly may include various sealing components 89 that interface with the longitudinal beams 30, 32 and/or the housing 15 of the battery pack 14. The sealing components 89 may include, for example, fasteners, adhesives, gaskets, and/or other features that interface with the longitudinal beams 30, 32 and the housing 15 (e.g., the top panel 52, the bottom panel 58, and/or the access panel 72) to block fluid ingress into the electronics compartment (e.g., from the first and/or second regions 36, 38).
Although inclusion of the electronics compartment 28 on the top panel 52 of the housing 15 may contribute to the height 56 of the battery pack 14, inclusion of the electronics compartment 28 on the top panel 52 of the battery pack 14 may also increase an amount of room for electrochemical cells within the housing 15. For example, in
As shown in
Further,
The present disclosure is directed toward various embodiments of a battery pack that provide various technical benefits over traditional systems and methods, including improved serviceability of electronics componentry, improved structural integrity, improved volumetric energy density, and/or reduced height, among other benefits.
The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.
The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ,” it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
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