Cold plate assembly for electrified vehicle battery packs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9786966-B2
Application number	US-201514851697-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2015
Priority date	Sep 11, 2015
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

An assembly according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a cold plate including a cooling circuit, a first end cap attached to the cold plate and a first manifold inside the first end cap and configured to fluidly connect a first fluid channel and a second fluid channel of the cooling circuit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An assembly, comprising:
a cold plate including a cooling circuit;
a first end cap attached to said cold plate; and
a first manifold formed inside said first end cap and configured to fluidly connect a first fluid channel and a second fluid channel of said cooling circuit.

2. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , comprising a second end cap attached to said cold plate at an opposite end of said cold plate from said first end cap.

3. The assembly as recited in claim 2 , comprising a second manifold formed inside said second end cap and configured to fluidly connect said second fluid channel to a third fluid channel of said cooling circuit.

4. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said first manifold is curved to transition a flow of a coolant from said first fluid channel to said second fluid channel.

5. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said cooling circuit establishes a serpentine passage inside said cold plate.

6. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , comprising an inlet port and an outlet port integrated into said first end cap.

7. The assembly as recited in claim 6 , wherein said inlet port and said outlet port are each connected to a fitting.

8. The assembly as recited in claim 6 , comprising a second manifold that connects between said inlet port and a third fluid channel of said cooling circuit.

9. The assembly as recited in claim 8 , comprising a third manifold that connects between said outlet port and a fourth fluid channel of said cooling circuit.

10. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , comprising an inlet port formed in said first end cap and an outlet port formed in a second end cap.

11. A battery pack, comprising:
a cold plate assembly including a cold plate and an end cap attached to said cold plate, said end cap housing including an internal manifold and including an inlet port and an outlet port; and
a battery array positioned relative to said cold plate assembly;
wherein said cold plate includes a cooling circuit including a first fluid channel and a second fluid channel.

12. The battery pack as recited in claim 11 , wherein said battery array includes a plurality of battery cells in contact with said cold plate.

13. The battery pack as recited in claim 11 , comprising a wall that divides said first fluid channel from said second fluid channel.

14. The battery pack as recited in claim 11 , wherein said first fluid channel and said second fluid channel are fluidly connected by said internal manifold.

15. The battery pack as recited in claim 11 , wherein said first fluid channel and said second fluid channel define a serpentine passage.

16. The battery pack as recited in claim 11 , wherein said internal manifold is curved.

17. The battery pack as recited in claim 11 , comprising a second internal manifold that connects to said inlet port.

18. The battery pack as recited in claim 17 , comprising a third internal manifold that connects to said outlet port.

19. A method, comprising:
communicating a coolant through a first fluid channel formed inside a cold plate of a battery pack; and
transitioning the coolant from the first fluid channel to a second fluid channel by communicating the coolant into a manifold formed inside an end cap attached to the cold plate.

20. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said first manifold is part of a separate structure from said cold plate.

21. The battery pack as recited in claim 11 , wherein said battery array is positioned on top of said cold plate assembly.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Burrows Neil Robert
• Perumalla Kanchana
• Gunna Rohit
• Kearney Keith

Classifications

• H01M10/625 Primary

  Vehicles · CPC title

• H01M10/6556

  Solid parts with flow channel passages or pipes for heat exchange (closed pipes H01M10/6552) · CPC title

• H01M2220/20

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

• H01M10/613 Primary

  Cooling or keeping cold · CPC title

• H01M10/60

  Heating or cooling; Temperature control · CPC title