Battery for a vehicle and method for producing a battery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9728823-B2
Application number	US-201214122985-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2012
Priority date	May 28, 2011
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

The invention relates to a battery ( 10 ) for a vehicle. Said battery comprises a plurality of battery cells ( 12 ), which are arranged in a housing ( 16, 18, 20 ) of the battery ( 10 ), and also a cooling device ( 22, 24 ) for dissipating heat from the battery cells ( 12 ). A material ( 32 ), which takes up a first volume in a basic state and takes up a volume which is greater than the first volume in an expanded state, is introduced between the housing ( 20 ) and the cooling device ( 22, 24 ). The cooling device ( 22, 24 ) is pressed against the battery cells ( 12 ) by the material ( 32 ) which has changed over to its expanded state. The invention also relates to a method for producing a battery ( 10 ) of this kind.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A battery for a vehicle, comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of battery cells arranged in the housing and spaced from one another in a horizontal direction ;
a separator configured to form side walls and a horizontal bottom plate of the housing and to insulate the battery cells from one another, said separator being a single-piece component with said side walls and said bottom plate being of one piece with each other, and said bottom plate being provided with passages spaced from one another in the horizontal direction and located under the battery cells and open upwardly towards the battery cells;
cooling devices each including a profile part through which a coolant flows, with each of the profile parts of each of the cooling devices being received in one of the passages of the bottom plate under the battery cells and configured to remove heat from the battery cells; and
a material introduced in each of the passages of the bottom plate between the bottom plate and the profile part of each of the cooling devices and under the profile part of each of the cooling devices and having in a basic state a first volume and in an expanded state a volume which is greater than the first volume so that the profile part of each of the cooling devices and thereby each of the cooling devices as a whole is pressed upwardly against the battery cells as the material in the passages of the bottom plate under the cooling devices changes to the expanded state.

2. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the material is a rigid foam material when the material assumes the expanded state and is hardened.

3. The battery of claim 1 , further comprising a heat-conducting paste or a heat-conducting adhesive arranged between the at least one profile part and a sheathing of the battery cells.

4. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the at least one profile part is made from an aluminum alloy.

5. The battery of claim 1 , wherein the at least one profile part is made from plastic.

6. A method for producing a battery for a vehicle, comprising:
arranging a plurality of battery cells in a housing in a horizontal direction;
electrically insulating the battery cells by separators configured to form side walls and a horizontal bottom plate of the housing, with each of the separators being a one-piece component with the side walls and the bottom plate being of one piece with one another, with the bottom plate provided with passages spaced from one another in the horizontal direction and located under the battery cells and open upwardly towards the battery cells;
arranging cooling devices each including a profile part through which a coolant flows so that each of the profile parts is received in one of the passages of the bottom plate under the battery cells to remove heat from the battery cells;
introducing a material in each of the passages of the bottom plate between the bottom plate and the profile part of each of the cooling device under the profile part of each of the cooling devices; and
pressing the profile part of each of the cooling devices and thereby each of the cooling devices as a whole against the battery cells, as the material in the passages of the bottom plate under the cooling devices undergoes an increase in volume.

Assignees

• Fees Heiner
• Track Andreas
• Maisch Ralf
• Audi Ag

Inventors

• Fees Heiner
• Track Andreas
• Maisch Ralf

Classifications

• Y10T29/49108

  Electric battery cell making · CPC title

• H01M10/5016 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M10/049

  Processes for forming or storing electrodes in the battery container · CPC title

• H01M10/6554

  Rods or plates · CPC title

• H01M10/613 Primary

  Cooling or keeping cold · CPC title