Low profile battery assembly for electrified vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9537127-B2
Application number	US-201414538956-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 12, 2014
Priority date	Nov 12, 2014
Publication date	Jan 3, 2017
Grant date	Jan 3, 2017

Abstract

A battery assembly according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a plurality of battery cells and a support structure positioned about the plurality of battery cells. The support structure includes at least one sidewall and the at least one sidewall includes a first flange that extends adjacent a top surface of each of the plurality of battery cells and a second flange that extends beyond a bottom surface of each of the plurality of battery cells.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery assembly, comprising:
a plurality of battery cells positioned atop a cold plate;
a support structure positioned about said plurality of battery cells, said support structure including at least one sidewall; and
said at least one sidewall including a first flange that extends adjacent a top surface of each of said plurality of battery cells and a second flange that extends beyond a bottom surface of each of said plurality of battery cells, and said second flange extends to a position adjacent to a side of said cold plate and is directly attached to said side,

wherein said second flange includes at least one first opening
a second opening in said cold plate that aligns with said first opening; and
a fastener received through said first opening and said second opening to secure said battery array to said cold plate.

2. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , comprising a thermal interface material compressed between said cold plate and said plurality of battery cells.

3. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said at least one sidewall includes a first height that is greater than a second height of said plurality of battery cells.

4. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said support structure includes opposing endwalls and opposing sidewalls.

5. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said first flange wraps around a portion of said top surface of each of said plurality of battery cells.

6. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said first flange extends in a plane that is transverse to said second flange.

7. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said first flange extends in a first plane and said second flange extends in a second plane that is parallel to said first plane.

8. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , comprising a tray, and said at least one sidewall attached to said tray.

9. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said at least one sidewall includes a body extending between said first flange and said second flange, wherein said second flange includes a flared portion that flares outwardly from said body.

10. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , comprising a seal positioned between said first flange and said top surface.

11. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said at least one sidewall includes a plurality of weight reducing openings.

12. A battery assembly, comprising:
a cold plate;
a battery array including a sidewall directly mounted to said cold plate;
a first opening through said sidewall;
a second opening in said cold plate that aligns with said first opening; and
a fastener received through said first opening and said second opening to secure said battery array to said cold plate.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Schreiber Stuart
• Maguire Patrick Daniel
• Subramanian Rajaram
• Popyk Edward
• Kearney Keith

Classifications

• H01M50/209 Primary

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

• H01M10/5053

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M10/613

  Cooling or keeping cold · CPC title

• H01M2/1077 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M10/625

  Vehicles · CPC title