Electric vehicle battery pack having bottom strike shield

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11936058-B2
Application number	US-201916682738-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2019
Priority date	Nov 13, 2018
Publication date	Mar 19, 2024
Grant date	Mar 19, 2024

Abstract

An electric vehicle battery pack with a strike shield affixed to its bottom. The strike shield provides structural support to withstand ground strikes without damaging the batteries within the battery pack. The strike shield is a mixed material sandwich bottom plate structure having a composite top layer, a middle core with one or more hollow members adhesively connected or welded together, or a single integrated structure with elongated stiffeners and/or a base member with elongated channels for stiffness, and a composite bottom layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery pack, comprising:
a frame for surrounding batteries positioned in an interior space therein; and
a strike shield comprising:
an upper layer facing the frame;
a middle core, the upper layer positioned between the frame and the middle core, the middle core comprising a number of smaller and larger rigid and elongated U-shaped members arranged in an alternating manner; and
a lower layer comprising alternating U-shaped channels, arranged in the alternating manner of the U-shaped members and having an upper surface that is affixed to a bottom surface of the U-shaped members, the middle core positioned between the upper layer and the lower layer.

2. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the rigid and elongated U-shaped members comprise extruded aluminum.

3. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the upper layer comprises one or more of carbon fibers, glass fibers, or aramid fibers.

4. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the upper layer comprises a fiber layer having a thickness of approximately 2 mm.

5. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the lower layer comprises one or more of carbon fibers, glass fibers, or aramid fibers.

6. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the lower layer comprises a steel layer, the steel layer having a thickness between approximately 0.4 mm and approximately 0.8 mm.

7. A strike shield for a battery pack, the strike shield comprising:
an upper layer having a first surface for attachment to a frame of the battery pack, and an opposing second surface;
a middle core connected to the second surface of the upper layer, the middle core comprising a number of smaller and larger rigid and elongated U-shaped members arranged in an alternating manner; and
a lower layer comprising alternating U-shaped channels arranged in the alternating manner of the U-shaped members and having an upper surface that is affixed to a bottom surface of the U-shaped members so that the middle core is positioned between the upper layer and the lower layer.

8. The strike shield of claim 7 , wherein the rigid and elongated U-shaped members each have a wall thickness between approximately 1.5 mm and approximately 3.5 mm.

9. The strike shield of claim 8 , wherein the wall thickness is approximately 2.5 mm.

10. The strike shield of claim 7 , wherein the rigid and elongated U-shaped members comprise extruded aluminum.

11. The strike shield of claim 7 , wherein the upper layer comprises one or more of carbon fibers, glass fibers, or aramid fibers.

12. The strike shield of claim 7 , wherein the upper layer comprises a fiber layer having a thickness between approximately 1 mm and approximately 3 mm.

13. The strike shield of claim 12 , wherein the thickness of the fiber layer is approximately 2 mm.

14. The strike shield of claim 7 , wherein the lower layer comprises one or more of carbon fibers, glass fibers, or aramid fibers.

15. The strike shield of claim 7 , wherein the lower layer comprises a steel layer.

16. The strike shield of claim 15 , wherein the steel layer has a thickness between approximately 0.4 mm and approximately 0.8 mm.

17. The strike shield of claim 16 , wherein the thickness of the steel layer is approximately 0.6 mm.

18. The battery pack of claim 1 , wherein the middle core is formed with areas of differing elevation to form a number of elongated members therein.

19. The strike shield of claim 7 , wherein the middle core is formed with areas of differing elevation to form a number of elongated channels therein.

20. A strike shield comprising:
an upper layer having a first surface for attachment to a frame of a battery pack, and an opposing second surface; and
a middle core connected to the second surface of the upper layer, the middle core comprising a number of rigid and elongated U-shaped members, wherein:
the number of the rigid and elongated U-shaped members comprise first U-shaped members having a first size and second U-shaped members having a second size different than the first size;
the first U-shaped members and the second U-shaped members are arranged in an alternating manner; and

a lower layer connected to the middle core so that the middle core is positioned between the upper layer and the lower layer, wherein the lower layer comprises alternating U-shaped channels arranged in the alternating manner of the U-shaped members and having an upper surface that is affixed to a bottom surface of the U-shaped members.

Assignees

• Rivian Ip Holdings Llc

Inventors

• Sekar Vignesh
• Shankar Mahadevan Jagannathan
• Shah Anish
• Collins Tyler
• Padia Zubin Hareshkumar
• Wynn Nathaniel C

Classifications

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H01M50/242 Primary

  adapted for protecting batteries against vibrations, collision impact or swelling · CPC title

• B60L50/64 Primary

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

• B62D25/20 Primary

  Floors or bottom sub-units {(sub-frames for mounting engine or suspensions B62D21/11; drip trays F16N31/006)} · CPC title

• H01M50/207

  characterised by their shape · CPC title