Current carrier for vehicle energy-storage systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10826042-B2
Application number	US-201514938746-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2015
Priority date	Jun 30, 2015
Publication date	Nov 3, 2020
Grant date	Nov 3, 2020

Abstract

Provided are current carriers for vehicle energy-storage systems comprising: a positive power plane; a negative power plane; a dielectric isolation layer disposed between the positive power plane and the negative power plane; a plurality of positive contacts formed in the positive power plane, the positive contacts being for electrical coupling to a respective cathode terminal of each battery cell of a plurality of battery cells; and a plurality of negative contacts formed in the negative power plane, the negative contacts being for electrical coupling to a respective anode terminal of each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A current carrier comprising:
a positive power plane comprising a first metal layer;
a negative power plane comprising a second metal layer, wherein at least one of the first and second metal layers includes at least one fuse formed from the first metal layer or the second metal layer, respectively, for each of a plurality of battery cells coupled to the positive and negative power planes;
a plurality of holes, the holes conducting a liquid coolant from a first position in contact with the positive power plane to a second position in contact with the negative power plane;
a dielectric isolation layer disposed between the positive power plane and the negative power plane;
a plurality of positive contacts formed in the positive power plane, each positive contact welded to a respective cathode terminal of a battery cell of the plurality of battery cells; and
a plurality of negative contacts formed in the negative power plane, each negative contact welded to a respective anode terminal of a battery cell of the plurality of battery cells,
wherein for each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, at least one of the negative contact and the positive contact is coupled to one of the at least one fuse formed from the first metal layer or the second metal layer, respectively.

2. The current carrier of claim 1 , wherein the first metal layer includes the at least one fuse formed in the positive power plane, and electrically coupled to the respective positive contact of the plurality of positive contacts.

3. The current carrier of claim 2 further comprising:
a signal layer;
a second dielectric isolation layer disposed adjacent to the signal layer;
at least one sensor, each sensor of the at least one sensor being communicatively coupled to the signal layer and disposed adjacent to a respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells; and
a communications connector communicatively coupled to the signal layer.

4. The current carrier of claim 3 further comprising:
a power connection electrically coupled separately to the positive power plane and the negative power plane.

5. The current carrier of claim 1 , wherein each positive contact is laser or ultrasonically welded to the respective cathode terminal of the battery cell and each negative contact is laser or ultrasonically welded to the respective anode of the battery cell.

6. The current carrier of claim 1 further comprising: a printed circuit board comprising at least one of copper, FR-2, FR-3, FR-4, FR-5, FR-6, G-10, CEM-1, CEM-2, CEM-3, CEM-4, and CEM-5.

7. The current carrier of claim 1 further comprising: a flexible printed circuit comprising at least one of copper foil, polyester, polyimide, polyethylene naphthalate, polyetherimide, fluoropolymers, and copolymers.

8. The current carrier of claim 1 , wherein the battery cells are cylindrical rechargeable cells.

9. A vehicle energy-storage system comprising:
a plurality of modules, each module comprising:
two half modules coupled together, each half module including:
a plurality of battery cells, the battery cells each having a first end and a second end, the first end distal from the second end, and having an anode terminal and a cathode terminal being disposed at the first end, the cells being oriented and mounted horizontally in each half module;
a current carrier comprising:
a positive power plane comprising a first metal layer;
a negative power plane comprising a second metal layer, wherein at least one of the first and second metal layers includes at least one fuse formed from the first metal layer or the second metal layer, respectively, for each of the plurality of battery cells coupled to the positive and negative power planes;
a plurality of holes, the holes conducting a liquid coolant from a first position in contact with the positive power plane to a second position in contact with the negative power plane;
a dielectric isolation layer disposed between the positive power plane and the negative power plane;
a plurality of positive contacts formed in the positive power plane, each positive contact welded to a respective cathode terminal of a battery cell of the plurality of battery cells; and
a plurality of negative contacts formed in the negative power plane, each negative contact welded to a respective anode terminal of a battery cell of the plurality of battery cells,
wherein for each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, at least one of the negative contact and the positive contact is coupled to one of the at least one fuse formed from the first metal layer or the second metal layer, respectively; and
an enclosure having the battery cells and current carrier disposed therein, the enclosure including a power connector electrically coupled to the positive power plane and negative power plane;

a main power connector electrically coupled to the power connectors of the two half modules; and
a blast plate disposed substantially parallel to the current carrier such that the battery cells are disposed between the current carrier and the blast plate;
a tray having the plurality of modules disposed therein, the tray including:
a positive bus bar; and
a negative bus bar, the positive and negative bus bars being separately electrically coupled to the main power connectors of the plurality of modules; and

a coolant system for circulating liquid coolant being pumped into the tray such that each of the modules is at approximately the same predetermined temperature.

10. The vehicle energy-storage system of claim 9 ,
wherein the first metal layer includes the at least one fuse formed in the positive power plane and electrically coupled to the respective positive contact of the plurality of positive contacts.

11. The vehicle energy-storage system of claim 9 , wherein the current carrier further comprises:
a signal layer;
a second dielectric isolation layer disposed adjacent to the signal layer;
at least one sensor, each sensor of the at least one sensor being communicatively coupled to the signal layer and disposed adjacent to a respective battery cell of at least one of the plurality of battery cells; and
a communications connector communicatively coupled to the signal layer.

12. The vehicle energy-storage system of claim 9 , wherein the current carrier further comprises:
the power connection electrically coupled separately to the positive power plane and the negative power plane.

13. The vehicle energy-storage system of claim 9 , wherein
each fuse is laser etched in the respective metal layer to dimensions corresponding to a type of low-resistance resistor.

14. The vehicle energy-storage system of claim 9 , wherein each positive contact is laser or ultrasonically welded to the respective cathode terminal of the battery cell and each negative contact is laser or ultrasonically welded to the respective anode of the battery cell.

15. The vehicle energy-storage system of claim 9 , wherein the current carrier comprises: a printed circuit board comprising at least one of copper, FR-2, FR-3, FR-4, FR-5, FR-6, G-10, CEM-1, CEM-2, CEM-3, CEM-4, and CEM-5.

16. The vehicle energy-storage system of claim 9 , wherein the current carrier comprises: a flexible printed circuit comprising at least one of copper foil, polyester, polyimide, polyethylene naphthalate, polyetherimide, fluoropolymers, and copolymers.

17. The vehicle energy-storage system of claim 9 , wherein the battery cells are cylindrical rechargeable lithium-ion cells.

18. A vehicle energy-storage system comprising

Assignees

• Faraday&Future Inc
• Faraday & Future Inc

Inventors

• Harris W Porter
• Rosengren Blake
• Sampson Nicholas John

Classifications

• H01M10/613 Primary

  Cooling or keeping cold · CPC title

• B60L50/64

  Constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles · CPC title

• H01M50/271

  Lids or covers for the racks or secondary casings · CPC title

• H01M50/507

  comprising an arrangement of two or more busbars within a container structure, e.g. busbar modules · CPC title

• H01M50/249

  specially adapted for aircraft or vehicles, e.g. cars or trains (constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles B60L50/64) · CPC title