Battery pack optimization for thermal management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11522236-B2
Application number	US-202017107825-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 30, 2020
Priority date	Aug 18, 2017
Publication date	Dec 6, 2022
Grant date	Dec 6, 2022

Abstract

A battery pack for an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle may include a housing, a stack of battery cells disposed within the housing, and a cooling subassembly. The housing typically holds the cell stack together, and the cooling subassembly typically cools the cell stack to prevent damage to the battery cells and to maintain the performance of the battery cells. The cooling subassembly may include a cold plate defining a liquid flow channel and one or more thermoelectric devices (TEDs) that are operable to cool the cell stack when current is supplied thereto. Heat spreaders may be employed within the battery pack, and exemplary configurations of components to thermally and mechanically couple the cooling subassembly are described.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery pack, comprising:
a housing,
a plurality of battery cells disposed within the housing; and
a heat spreader disposed between adjacent ones of the plurality of batter cells, wherein a width of a head of the heat spreader is less than or equal to a thickness of one of the plurality of battery cells, wherein each heat spreader comprises:
a flat body having a first longitudinal side, a second longitudinal side opposite of the first longitudinal side, a first major surface extending between the first and second longitudinal sides, and a second major surface opposite of the first major surface;
a head attached to the first longitudinal side of the flat body, a first portion of the head projecting from the first major surface of the flat body in a first direction, a second portion of the head projecting from the second major surface of the flat body in a second direction opposite of the first direction; and
first and second chamfers respectively extending between and connecting the first portion of the head and the first major surface, and the second portion of the head and the second major surface of the flat body.

2. The battery pack of claim 1 wherein the width of the head is less than or equal to a product of 1.5 and the thickness of one of the plurality of battery cells.

3. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the battery pack is located in a vehicle.

4. A battery pack for a vehicle, the battery pack comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of battery cells disposed within the housing and including cell tabs disposed adjacent to an open end of the housing; and
a cooling subassembly covering the opening in a first sidewall of the housing, the cooling subassembly including a cold plate and a plurality of thermoelectric devices;
wherein the cold plate of the cooling subassembly defines a second groove that is aligned with a first groove, the first and second grooves defining a channel for mounting the battery pack.

5. The battery pack of claim 4 , wherein the battery pack is located in a vehicle.

6. The battery pack of claim 4 wherein the cold plate defines a fluid flow path having an inlet and an outlet.

7. The battery pack of claim 6 further comprising an inlet fitting in fluid communication with the inlet of the fluid flow path, and an outlet fitting in fluid communication with the outlet of the fluid flow path.

8. The battery pack of claim 7 , wherein the inlet fitting and the outlet fitting are disposed within an outer profile defined by a bottom wall of the housing, a top wall of the housing, a first sidewall of the housing, and a second sidewall of the housing.

9. The battery pack of claim 8 , wherein the outer profile is a rectangular outer profile.

10. The battery pack of claim 4 , further comprising a plurality of heat spreaders coupled to the cooling plate, wherein each heat spreader is disposed between adjacent ones of the plurality of battery cells.

11. The battery pack of claim 10 , wherein each heat spreader comprises:
a flat body having a first longitudinal side, a second longitudinal side opposite of the first longitudinal side, a first major surface extending between the first and second longitudinal sides, and a second major surface opposite of the first major surface;
a head attached to the first longitudinal side of the flat body, a first portion of the head projecting from the first major surface of the flat body in a first direction, a second portion of the head projecting from the second major surface of the flat body in a second direction opposite of the first direction;
a first chamfer extending between and connecting the first portion of the head and the first major surface of the flat body; and
a second chamfer extending between and connecting the second portion of the head and the second major surface of the flat body.

Assignees

• Hyliion Inc

Inventors

• Thomas David Scott
• Yang Alex Ho
• Hughes Timothy

Classifications

• H01M50/278

  Organic material · CPC title

• H01M50/103

  prismatic or rectangular (H01M50/109, H01M50/11 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01M50/209

  adapted for prismatic or rectangular cells (H01M50/216 takes precedence) · 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

• H01M2220/20

  Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title