Thermal barrier assemblies for traction battery packs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024079682-A1
Application number	US-202318162912-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 1, 2023
Priority date	Sep 2, 2022
Publication date	Mar 7, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

Thermal barrier assemblies are provided for traction battery packs. An exemplary thermal barrier assembly may be configured to block or even prevent thermal energy associated with a battery thermal event from moving from cell-to-cell, compartment-to-compartment, and/or cell stack-to-cell stack within the traction battery pack. The thermal barrier assembly may include features such as a protective housing and a thermal insulating barrier provided within the protection housing. The protecting housing may be made of a metallic, ceramic, or polymeric material, for example. The thermal insulating barrier may include an aerogel, a foam, or an inorganic paper, for example.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A traction battery pack, comprising:
a cell stack including a plurality of battery cells; and a thermal barrier assembly arranged between a first battery cell and a second battery cell of the plurality of battery cells, wherein the thermal barrier assembly includes a protective housing and a thermal insulating barrier that is disposed within the protective housing, wherein the thermal insulating barrier includes an aerogel material, a foam material, or an inorganic paper.

2 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of battery cells are stacked between a first cross-member beam and a second cross-member.

3 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 1 , wherein the protective housing is comprised of a stainless steel foil, and the thermal insulating barrier includes the aerogel material.

4 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 1 , wherein the thermal barrier assembly further includes a fin.

5 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 4 , wherein a first fin section of the fin is disposed inside the protective housing, and a second fin section of the fin extends outside of the protective housing.

6 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 5 , wherein the second fin section extends at a transverse angle relative to the first fin section and is fixedly secured to an enclosure cover of the traction battery pack.

7 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 4 , wherein the fin is completely outside of the protective housing.

8 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 1 , wherein the protective housing is comprised of stainless steel, and the thermal insulating barrier includes the aerogel material.

9 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 8 , comprising a thermal fin that is mounted to the protective housing and to an enclosure cover of the traction battery pack.

10 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 1 , wherein the protective housing is comprised of stainless steel.

11 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 10 , wherein the thermal insulating barrier includes the inorganic paper.

12 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 1 , wherein the protective housing is comprised of a mica material.

13 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 12 , wherein the thermal insulating barrier includes the inorganic paper.

14 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 1 , wherein the protective housing is comprised of a polymeric material, and the thermal insulating barrier includes the aerogel material or the foam material.

15 . A traction battery pack, comprising:
a battery cell stack; and a thermal barrier assembly arranged to partition the battery cell stack into at least a first compartment and a second compartment, wherein the thermal barrier assembly includes a protective housing and a thermal insulating barrier disposed within the protective housing, wherein the thermal insulating barrier includes an aerogel material or a foam material.

16 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 15 , wherein the protective housing is comprised of a stainless steel foil, and the thermal insulating barrier includes the aerogel material.

17 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 15 , wherein the protective housing is comprised of stainless steel, and the thermal insulating barrier includes the aerogel material.

18 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 15 , wherein the protective housing is comprised of a polymeric material, and the thermal insulating barrier includes the aerogel material.

19 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 15 , wherein protective housing is comprised of a polymeric material, and the thermal insulating barrier includes the foam material.

20 . The traction battery pack as recited in claim 15 , wherein the thermal barrier assembly further includes a fin that is secured to an enclosure cover of the traction battery pack with an adhesive.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Eftekhari Mohammadreza
• Byrd Kevin Durand
• Perumalla Kanchana
• Dahl Jeffrey Scott

Classifications

• H01M10/658 Primary

  by thermal insulation or shielding · CPC title

• B60L50/64

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

• H01M50/211

  adapted for pouch cells · CPC title

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H01M10/625

  Vehicles · CPC title