Patent Application
20230395892
The present invention relates to the technology field of battery device of electric vehicle, and more particularly to a multi-layered thermal interface material structure applied to the manufacture of a battery module or a battery pack.
All-electric vehicles (EVs), also referred to as battery electric vehicles, comprise an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine. The vehicle uses a large traction battery pack to power the electric motor and must be plugged in to a wall outlet or charging equipment, also called electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). As explained in more detail, electric vehicle battery (EVB) is the foregoing traction battery pack used to power the electric motor of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), and the electric vehicle battery (EVB) typically designed to be a battery pack comprising a plurality of battery cells and a battery management circuit.
For enhancing heat dissipation efficiency of the battery pack 1a, battery manufacturer commonly fills heat conductive material in the gaps between the plurality of battery cells 11a, or disposes a heat conductive member between two adjacent battery cells. For example, China patent, publication No. CN112349998A, has disclosed a battery pack. The disclosed battery module comprises a plurality of cylindrical battery cells they are arranged into a plurality of columns and a plurality of rows. According to the disclosures of China patent, publication No. CN112349998A, any two adjacent cylindrical battery cells comprises a spacing region, and each of spacing regions is provided with a conductive rod therein, and a conductive filler is filled in the other spacing regions.
Therefore, it is understood that the conventional battery pack disclosed by China patent, publication No. CN112349998A, comprises some drawbacks summarized in follows.
According to above descriptions, it is understood that there are rooms for improvement in the conventional heat dissipation solution applied to the manufacture of battery packs. In view of that, the inventors of the present application have made great efforts to make inventive research and eventually provided a multi-layered thermal interface material structure applied to the manufacture of a battery module or a battery pack.
The primary objective of the present invention is to disclose a multi-layered thermal interface material (TIM) structure for application in a battery module, so as to make the multi-layered TIM structure be sandwiched between adjacent two rows of battery cells of the battery module. According to the present invention, a layer structure comprising a top surface and a bottom surface is manufactured according to a plurality of gaps existing in the two adjacent rows of battery cells, such that the top surface and the bottom surface both comprise a plurality of concave portions. Particularly, there are two supporting mesh plates buried in the layer structure for making the layer structure simultaneously possess advantages of softness, malleability and good support capability. Therefore, when this multi-layered TIM structure is adopted in assembling N rows of battery cells to become a battery module, the multi-layered TIM structure is firstly stacked on a first row of battery cells, and then a second row of battery cells is tacked on the multi-layered TIM structure. Subsequently, another multi-layered TIM structure is stacked on the second row of battery cells, and then a third row of battery cells is tacked on the multi-layered TIM structure. And so on, (N−1) layers of the multi-layered TIM structure and N rows of battery cells are therefore assembled to form one battery module.
For achieving the primary objective mentioned above, the present invention provides an embodiment of the multi-layered thermal interface material structure, comprising:
In one embodiment, the body thickness is in a range between 0.2 mm and 30 mm, and the plate thickness being in a range between 0.01 mm and 20 mm.
In one embodiment, the first supporting mesh plate and the second supporting mesh plate are both made of at least one material selected from a group consisting of fiberglass, carbon fiber, polyvinylamine, carbon steel, stainless steel, copper alloy, and aluminum alloy, and the pore comprising a sieve size in a range between 10 supporting mesh and 200 supporting mesh.
In one embodiment, the first thermal interface material comprises a first polymer matrix and a plurality of first thermal conductive filler distributed in the first polymer matrix.
In one embodiment, the second thermal interface material comprises a second polymer matrix and a plurality of second thermal conductive filler distributed in the second polymer matrix, wherein the second thermal conductive filler comprises metal particles, ceramic particles and at least one selected from a group consisting of metal oxide particles, nitride particles, carbide particles, diboride particles, and graphite particles, and the ceramic particle comprises a particle size smaller than a sieve size of the pore, such that the ceramic particles are confined in the middle layer by the first supporting mesh plate and the second supporting mesh plate.
In one embodiment, the top surface and the bottom surface are both provided with a heat conductive protection layer thereon, and the heat conductive protection layer is made of a material selected from a group consisting of paraffin, epoxy resin, polyurethane, silicone, rubber, polypropylene, and thermally conductive phase change material.
In one embodiment, the layer structure comprises a first hardness, and the heat conductive protection layer comprises a second hardness that is greater than the first hardness.
Moreover, the present invention also provides a multi-layered thermal interface material structure manufacturing method, comprising the steps of:
In one embodiment, the first thermal interface material and the third thermal interface material both comprise a first polymer matrix and a plurality of first thermal conductive filler distributed in the polymer matrix.
In one embodiment, the second thermal interface material comprises a second polymer matrix and a plurality of second thermal conductive filler distributed in the second polymer matrix, wherein the second thermal conductive filler comprises metal particles, ceramic particles and at least one selected from a group consisting of metal oxide particles, nitride particles, carbide particles, diboride particles, and graphite particles, and the ceramic particle comprising a particle size smaller than a sieve size of the pore, such that the ceramic particles are confined in the middle layer by the first supporting mesh plate and the second supporting mesh plate.
In one embodiment, there is a specific percent of the plurality of second thermal conductive filler comprises a particle size greater than the sieve size of the pore, and the specific percent is in range between 20% and 60%.
In one embodiment, there is a specific percent of the plurality of first thermal conductive filler comprises a particle size smaller than the sieve size of the pore, and the specific percent is in range between 60% and 90%.
In one embodiment, the layer structure comprises a top surface and a bottom surface, the surface and the bottom surface both comprising a plurality of concave portions.
In one embodiment, the top surface and the bottom surface are both provided with a heat conductive protection layer thereon, and the heat conductive protection layer being made of a material selected from a group consisting of paraffin, epoxy resin, polyurethane, silicone, rubber, polypropylene, and thermally conductive phase change material. The layer structure comprises a first hardness, and the heat conductive protection layer comprises a second hardness that is greater than the first hardness.
Furthermore, the present invention also provides a battery device, which is a battery pack or a battery module, and is characterized in that: comprising the foregoing thermal interface material structure.
The invention as well as a preferred mode of use and advantages thereof will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
To more clearly describe a multi-layered thermal interface material structure applied to the manufacture of a battery module or a battery pack according to the present invention, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings hereinafter.
Multi-layered thermal interface material structure and battery device comprising the same are provided.
With reference to
In one embodiment, the first supporting mesh plate 112 is buried in the lower layer 11L, and the second supporting mesh plate 113 is buried in the upper layer 11U, such that the middle layer 11i is located between the first supporting mesh plate 112 and the second supporting mesh plate 113. In addition, the body thickness is in range between 0.2 mm and 30 mm, and the plate thickness is in range between 0.01 mm and 20 mm.
According to the present invention, the layer structure LM comprises a top surface and a bottom surface, and the top surface and the bottom surface both comprise M units of concave portion 11O. Moreover, because the battery cell 10 is a cylindrical battery cell, such that the concave portion 11O is designed to comprise a curvature radius so as to match the cylindrical battery cell 10.
In one embodiment, the first supporting mesh plate 112 and the second supporting mesh plate 113 can both be made of fiberglass, carbon fiber, polyvinylamine, carbon steel, stainless steel, copper alloy, aluminum alloy, or a combination of any two or more of the foregoing. On the other hand, the upper layer 11U and the lower layer 11L are both made of a first thermal interface material comprising a first polymer matrix and a plurality of first thermal conductive filler distributed in the first polymer matrix. According to the disclosures of China patent, publication No. CN101351755A, the first thermal conductive filler can be metal oxide particles, nitride particles, carbide particles, diboride particles, graphite particles, metal particles, or a combination of any two or more of the foregoing. However, in a specific embodiment, the first polymer matrix is thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).
On the other hand, the middle layer 11i is made of a second thermal interface material comprising a second polymer matrix and a plurality of second thermal conductive filler distributed in the second polymer matrix. According to the present invention, the second thermal conductive filler comprises metal particles, ceramic particles and at least one selected from a group consisting of metal oxide particles, nitride particles, carbide particles, diboride particles, and graphite particles, and the ceramic particle comprises a particle size smaller than a sieve size of the pore, such that the ceramic particles are confined in the middle layer 11i by the first supporting mesh plate 112 and the second supporting mesh plate 113. Herein, it is worth further explaining that, there is a specific percent of the plurality of second thermal conductive filler comprises a particle size greater than the sieve size of the pore, and the specific percent is in range between 20% and 60%. Moreover, there is a specific percent of the plurality of first thermal conductive filler comprises a particle size smaller than the sieve size of the pore, and the specific percent is in range between 60% and 90%.
Furthermore, in a practicable embodiment, the top surface and the bottom surface are both provided with a heat conductive protection layer thereon, and the heat conductive protection layer is made of paraffin, epoxy resin, polyurethane, silicone, rubber, polypropylene, thermally conductive phase change material, or a combination of any two or more of the foregoing. As such, the layer structure LM comprises a first hardness, and the heat conductive protection layer comprises a second hardness that is greater than the first hardness. In addition, it can be further mixed with a ceramic filler within the heat conductive protection layer, and the ceramic filler can be alumina, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum nitride, boron nitride, or silicon nitride. Moreover, it can also be further mixed with a carbon-based filler within the heat conductive protection layer, and the carbon-based filler can be graphite, graphene, silicon carbide, tungsten carbide, carbon nanotubes, graphite, carbon black.
In brief, the present invention discloses a multi-layered thermal interface material (TIM) structure 11 for application in a battery device 1, so as to make the TIM structure 11 be sandwiched between adjacent rows of battery cells 10 of the battery device 1. According to the present invention, the layer structure LM of the multi-layered TIM structure 11 comprising a top surface and a bottom surface is manufactured according to a plurality of gaps existing in the two adjacent rows of battery cells 10, such that the top surface and the bottom surface both comprise a plurality of concave portions 11O. Particularly, there are a first supporting mesh plate 112 and a second supporting mesh plate 113 buried in the layer structure LM for making the layer structure LM simultaneously possess advantages of softness, malleability and good support capability.
By such arrangement, when this multi-layered TIM structure 11 is adopted in assembling N rows of battery cells 10 to become the battery device 1, the multi-layered TIM structure 11 is firstly stacked on a first row of battery cells 10 (i.e., one battery module consisting of a row of battery cells 10), and then a second row of battery cells 10 (i.e., another battery module consisting of a row of battery cells 10) is tacked on the multi-layered TIM structure 11. Subsequently, another multi-layered TIM structure 11 is firstly stacked on the second row of battery cells 10, and then a third row of battery cells 10 is tacked on the multi-layered TIM structure 11. And so on, N−1 numbers of the multi-layered TIM structure 11 and N rows of battery cells are therefore assembled to one battery device 1. Herein, it is worth explained that, two adjacent battery cells 10 are spaced by a gap, and two adjacent concave portions 11O are connected by a protuberance spacer, such that the protuberance spacer is embedded into the gap after the M pieces of battery cell 10 are disposed on the plurality of concave portions 11O.
The method for manufacturing multi-layered TIM structure is provided.
With reference to
According to
According to
It is worth further explaining that, the first thermal interface material TM1 and the third thermal interface material TM2 both comprise a first polymer matrix and a plurality of first thermal conductive filler distributed in the first polymer matrix. In which, the first thermal conductive filler comprises a plurality of particles, and the particles can be metal oxide particles, nitride particles, carbide particles, diboride particles, graphite particles, metal particles, or a combination of any two or more of the foregoing. However, in a specific embodiment, the first polymer matrix is thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).
On the other hand, the third thermal interface material TM3 comprises a second polymer matrix and a plurality of second thermal conductive filler distributed in the second polymer matrix. According to the present invention, the second thermal conductive filler comprises metal particles, ceramic particles and at least one selected from a group consisting of metal oxide particles, nitride particles, carbide particles, diboride particles, and graphite particles, and the ceramic particle comprises a particle size smaller than a sieve size of the pore, such that the ceramic particles are confined in the middle layer 11i by the first supporting mesh plate 112 and the second supporting mesh plate 113. Herein, it is worth further explaining that, there is a specific percent of the plurality of second thermal conductive filler comprises a particle size greater than the sieve size of the pore, and the specific percent is in range between 20% and 60%. Moreover, there is a specific percent of the plurality of first thermal conductive filler comprises a particle size smaller than the sieve size of the pore, and the specific percent is in range between 60% and 90%.
According to
Furthermore, it is worth explaining that, the first supporting mesh plate 112 and the second supporting mesh plate 113 are both made of at least one material selected from a group consisting of fiberglass, carbon fiber, polyvinylamine, carbon steel, stainless steel, copper alloy, and aluminum alloy, and the pore comprising a sieve size in a range between 10 supporting mesh and 200 supporting mesh. By such arrangement, after the multi-layered TIM structure 11 is made by completing the steps S1-S10, the middle layer 11i is located between the first supporting mesh plate 112 and the second supporting mesh plate 113, and each of the pores of the first supporting mesh plate 113 and the second supporting mesh plate 113 is fully filled with the thermal interface material.
Moreover, the top surface and the bottom surface of the layer structure LM with a heat conductive protection layer thereon. In one embodiment, the heat conductive protection layer is made of a material, and the material can be paraffin, epoxy resin, polyurethane, silicone, rubber, polypropylene, thermally conductive phase change material, or a combination of any two or more of the foregoing. As such, the layer structure LM comprises a first hardness, and the heat conductive protection layer comprises a second hardness that is greater than the first hardness.
The method for manufacturing battery device is provided.
With reference to
As
On the other hand,
Therefore, through the above descriptions, all embodiments of the thermal interface material coating method for battery cells according to the present invention have been introduced completely and clearly. Moreover, the above description is made on embodiments of the present invention. However, the embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all equivalent implementations or alterations within the spirit of the present invention still fall within the scope of the present invention.
