Modular vehicle battery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10998595-B2
Application number	US-201816184126-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 8, 2018
Priority date	Nov 8, 2018
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

A battery of a vehicle includes a housing including: a lower portion that includes a plurality of separators extending vertically upward from a floor of the lower portion; and an upper portion that covers an opening of the lower portion and that is removable from the lower portion. The battery also includes: first and second terminals on the housing; third and fourth terminals on the housing; a plurality of individually housed batteries separated by the plurality of separators; a plurality of switches configured to selectively connect ones of the plurality of batteries to ones of the first, second, third, and fourth terminals; and a battery management module configured to control the plurality of switches.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery, comprising:
a housing including:
a lower portion that includes a plurality of separators extending vertically upward from a floor of the lower portion; and
an upper portion that covers an opening of the lower portion and that is removable from the lower portion;

first and second terminals on the housing;
third and fourth terminals on the housing;
a plurality of individually housed batteries separated by the plurality of separators;
a plurality of switches configured to selectively and individually connect and disconnect ones of the plurality of batteries to and from ones of the first, second, third, and fourth terminals; and
a battery management module configured to control the plurality of switches.

2. The battery of claim 1 wherein the battery management module is electrically connected to the plurality of switches via electrical connectors without soldering of the battery management module to the switches.

3. The battery of claim 1 wherein the battery management module is electrically connected to the plurality of switches via electrical connectors without welding of the battery management module to the plurality of switches.

4. The battery of claim 1 wherein the individually housed batteries include 12 volt direct current (DC) batteries.

5. The battery of claim 1 wherein the plurality of separators extend vertically from the floor of the lower portion to the upper portion.

6. The battery of claim 1 further comprising an opening in the lower portion configured to receive a coolant from a coolant pump.

7. A battery system comprising:
the battery of claim 6 ; and
the coolant pump, wherein the coolant pump is configured to pump the coolant into the battery.

8. The battery system of claim 7 wherein the coolant is air.

9. The battery system of claim 7 wherein the coolant is a liquid.

10. The battery system of claim 7 further comprising a temperature control module configured to control a speed of the coolant pump based on a temperature of the battery.

11. The battery of claim 1 wherein the battery management module is attached to the upper portion and is configured to electrically disconnect from the plurality of switches in response to removal of the upper portion from the lower portion.

12. The battery of claim 1 wherein the battery management module is separate from the upper portion.

13. The battery of claim 1 wherein the plurality of switches are normally open switches and are configured to close in response to signals received from the battery management module while the battery management module is electrically connected to the plurality of switches.

14. The battery of claim 1 wherein the plurality of switches are disposed within the lower portion.

15. The battery of claim 1 further comprising a temperature sensor is configured to measure a temperature between two of the plurality of batteries.

16. The battery of claim 1 wherein at least one space between adjacent ones of the plurality of separators is left empty and not occupied by an individually housed battery.

17. The battery of claim 1 further comprising:
first and second electrical conductors that are electrically connected to the first and second terminals, respectively, and that extend vertically away from the first and second terminals; and
third and fourth electrical conductors that are electrically connected to the plurality of switches and that extend vertically upwardly from the floor of the lower portion,
wherein the first and second electrical conductors directly contact the third and fourth electrical conductors, respectively, when the upper portion covers the opening of the lower portion.

18. The battery of claim 17 wherein the first and second electrical conductors electrically disconnect from the third and fourth electrical conductors, respectively, in response to removal of the upper portion from the lower portion.

19. The battery of claim 17 wherein the third and fourth electrical connectors terminate at a point that is vertically below the opening of the lower portion.

20. A starter system, comprising:
a battery comprising:
a housing including:
a lower portion that includes a plurality of separators extending vertically upward from a floor of the lower portion; and
an upper portion that covers an opening of the lower portion and that is removable from the lower portion;

first and second terminals on the housing;
third and fourth terminals on the housing;
a plurality of individually housed batteries separated by the plurality of separators;
a plurality of switches configured to selectively and individually connect and disconnect ones of the plurality of batteries to and from ones of the first, second, third, and fourth terminals; and
a battery management module configured to control the plurality of switches; and

a 12 volt starter motor is configured to draw power from the first and second terminals and that is configured to crank an internal combustion engine.

21. A battery, comprising:
a housing including:
a lower portion that includes a plurality of separators extending vertically upward from a floor of the lower portion; and
an upper portion that covers an opening of the lower portion and that is removable from the lower portion;

first and second terminals on the housing;
a plurality of individually housed batteries separated by the plurality of separators,
wherein the individually housed batteries are 12 volt direct current (DC) batteries;
a plurality of switches configured to selectively and individually connect and disconnect ones of the plurality of batteries to ones of the first and second terminals; and
a battery management module configured to control the plurality of switches.

22. The battery of claim 21 wherein:
the housing further includes a third terminal on the housing; and
the plurality of switches are configured to connect one of the batteries to and from ones of the first, second, and third terminals.

23. A vehicle including:
the battery of claim 21 .

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Winger Lyall K
• Rich Dave G
• Hasan Saad

Classifications

• B60L58/19 Primary

  Switching between serial connection and parallel connection of battery modules · CPC title

• H01M10/486

  for measuring temperature · CPC title

• H01M50/289

  characterised by spacing elements or positioning means within frames, racks or packs (spacing elements inside cells other than separators, membranes or diaphragms H01M50/471) · CPC title

• H01M10/482

  for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title

• H01M50/204

  Racks, modules or packs for multiple batteries or multiple cells · CPC title