Battery system cooling systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9941557-B2
Application number	US-201514630019-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2015
Priority date	Feb 24, 2015
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

System and methods are disclosed incorporating a battery cooling system design that may provide for relatively uniform cooling of an associated battery system. In certain embodiments, a battery cooling system may include a central coolant delivery system configured to circulate liquid coolant through one or more coolant flow channels included in one or more cooling plates. One or more seals may be used to couple the central coolant delivery system to the one or more coolant delivery plates. Embodiments of the disclosed battery cooling system may allow for relatively straightforward manufacturing processes and/or assembly of the cooling system, provide sufficient mechanical strength to support a group of battery packs, reduce the occurrence of liquid coolant leaks, and/or provide for relatively uniform cooling of a group of battery packs.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A battery cooling system comprising:
a plurality of cooling plates, each cooling plate comprising at least one coolant flow channel;
a single integrally-formed discrete central cooling delivery system configured to interface with each of the coolant flow channels of the plurality of cooling plates via a plurality of coolant delivery system openings, each coolant delivery system opening being defined in an interior location on the plurality of cooling plates, the central cooling delivery system being configured to circulate coolant through the coolant flow channels of the plurality of cooling plates as coolant is circulated from an inlet of the central cooling delivery system to an outlet of the central cooling delivery system; and
a plurality of seals, each seal configured to seal an interface between the central cooling delivery system and the plurality of cooling plates when the central cooling delivery system is expanded using one or more forming mandrels.

2. The battery cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cooling plates are arranged in a stack configuration.

3. The battery cooling system of claim 1 , wherein each seal of the plurality of seals comprises an o-ring seal.

4. The battery cooling system of claim 1 , wherein each seal of the plurality of seals is configured to provide a mechanical seal the interface between the central cooling delivery system and the plurality of cooling plates.

5. The battery cooling system of claim 1 , wherein each cooling plate comprises a first sheet and a second sheet.

6. The battery cooling system of claim 5 , wherein the first sheet and second sheet are joined together using a brazing process to form the cooling plate.

7. The battery cooling system of claim 5 , wherein at least one of the first sheet and the second sheet define at least a part of a coolant flow channel.

8. The battery cooling system of claim 1 , wherein each coolant flow channel comprises at least one turbulator.

9. The battery cooling system of claim 8 , wherein the turbulator comprises a plurality of raised features within the coolant flow channel arranged in a pattern configuration.

10. The battery cooling system of claim 8 , wherein the turbulator comprises a plurality of depressed features within the coolant flow channel arranged in a pattern configuration.

11. The battery cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the central cooling delivery system comprises at least one turbulator.

12. The battery cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the turbulator comprises a plurality of raised features within the coolant flow channel arranged in a pattern configuration.

13. The battery cooling system of claim 11 , wherein the turbulator comprises a plurality of depressed features within the coolant flow channel arranged in a pattern configuration.

14. The battery cooling system of claim 1 , wherein at least one surface of each cooling plate is coated with an isolation film.

15. The battery cooling system of claim 2 , wherein the stack configuration comprises a plurality of spaces between the plurality of cooling plates, each space configured to retain a battery pack.

16. The battery cooling system of claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of cooling plates comprise one or more members configured to maintain a particular spacing between the plurality of cooling plates in the stack configuration.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Morse Andrew G
• Keyes Jared J

Classifications

• H01M50/204

  Racks, modules or packs for multiple batteries or multiple cells · CPC title

• H01M10/625

  Vehicles · CPC title

• H01M2/1077

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01M10/613 Primary

  Cooling or keeping cold · CPC title

• H01M2220/20

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