BATTERY MODULE HOUSING HAVING AN INTEGRALLY-FORMED COOLING PLATE

• US 20180048039A1
• Filed: 11/29/2016
• Published: 02/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NIO Technology Company Limited (Shanghai Anbin Technology Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: NextEV USA, Inc.
• Inventors: Newman, Austin, Smith, Joshua
• Granted Patent: US 10,700,395 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/613 Cooling or keeping cold
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/615 Heating or keeping warm
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/625 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/653 characterised by electrically insulating or thermally conductive materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6554 Rods or plates
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6556 Solid parts with flow channel passages or pipes for heat exchange closed pipes H01M10/6552
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 2220/20 Batteries in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/209 adapted for prismatic or rectangular cells H01M50/216 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/227 Organic material
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/271 Lids or covers for the racks or secondary casings
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A battery module has a lower housing and an upper housing. The lower housing has a plurality of generally vertical sidewalls defining a space for receiving a plurality of battery cells and a generally horizontal bottom wall. The plurality of sidewalls include a first sidewall. The lower housing further has a cooling plate integrally formed with the lower housing. The cooling plate has a support wall extending generally parallel to the bottom wall for supporting the plurality of battery cells, a plurality of generally vertical channel walls including a first channel wall, and a cooling channel for receiving a coolant fluid therein. At least a portion of the cooling channel is defined at sides thereof by the first sidewall and the first channel wall. The upper housing covers a top opening of the lower housing to form an enclosure for the plurality of battery cells.

Claims

1. A battery module housing, comprising:

a lower housing comprising;

a plurality of generally vertical sidewalls defining a space for receiving a plurality of battery cells, the plurality of sidewalls including a first sidewall; and

a generally horizontal bottom wall;

a cooling plate integrally formed with the lower housing, the cooling plate comprising;

a support wall extending generally parallel to the bottom wall and configured to support the plurality of battery cells;

a plurality of generally vertical channel walls, the plurality of channel walls including a first channel wall; and

a cooling channel for receiving a coolant fluid therein, at least a portion of the cooling channel being defined at sides thereof by the first sidewall and the first channel wall; and

an upper housing configured to cover a top opening of the lower housing to form an enclosure for the plurality of battery cells.

2. The battery module housing of claim 1, wherein the first sidewall and the first channel wall are directly connected at ends thereof to the bottom wall and extend away therefrom.

3. The battery module housing of claim 2, wherein a height of the first sidewall is greater than a height of the first channel wall.

4. The battery module housing of claim 3, wherein the first sidewall extends from the bottom wall to the top opening and the first channel wall extends from the bottom wall to the support wall.

5. The battery module housing of claim 1, wherein the lower housing and the cooling plate are formed from the same material.

6. The battery module housing of claim 5, wherein the material includes a thermal conductivity coefficient of less than 20 W/mK.

7. The battery module housing of claim 6, wherein the material includes a thermal conductivity coefficient of less than 1 W/mK.

8. The battery module housing of claim 1, wherein the bottom wall and the support wall are formed from different materials, with the material of the bottom wall including a thermal conductivity coefficient which is less than the material of the support wall.

9. The battery module housing of claim 1, wherein the cooling channel includes a plurality of channel sections.

10. The battery module housing of claim 9, wherein the plurality of sidewalls further includes a second sidewall, a third sidewall, and a fourth sidewall, each defining at least a portion of at least one channel section of the plurality of channel sections.

11. A battery pack for an electric vehicle, comprising:

at least one battery module comprising;

a plurality of battery cells configured to store electrical energy for use by the electric vehicle; and

a battery module housing comprising;

a lower housing defining a space for the plurality of battery cells and including a bottom wall;

an upper housing covering the plurality of battery cells in the space; and

a cooling plate integrally formed with the lower housing and supporting the plurality of battery cells.

12. The battery pack of claim 11, wherein the cooling plate includes a support wall, the plurality of battery cells being placed directly on the support wall.

13. The battery pack of claim 12, wherein the cooling plate includes a cooling channel defined on one side by the support wall and on another side by the bottom wall.

14. The battery pack of claim 13, wherein the cooling plate further includes a plurality of channel walls which define a plurality of sections of the cooling channel, the plurality of channel walls extending from the bottom wall to the support wall.

15. The battery pack of claim 14, wherein the lower housing includes a plurality of sidewalls which define the space for the plurality of battery cells, the plurality of sidewalls extending from the bottom wall to a top opening, the support wall being directly connected to the plurality of sidewalls at the ends thereof.

16. The battery pack of claim 15, wherein the cooling channel includes at least one channel section defined at sides thereof by a first sidewall of the plurality of sidewalls and a first channel wall of the plurality of channel walls and defined at a top and bottom thereof by the support wall and the bottom wall, respectively.

17. The battery pack of claim 15, wherein the bottom wall, the support wall, the plurality of channel walls, and the plurality of sidewalls are formed from the same material.

18. The battery pack of claim 17, wherein the material includes a thermal conductivity of less than 20 W/mK.

19. The battery pack of claim 18, wherein the material includes a thermal conductivity coefficient of less than 1 W/mK.

20. The battery pack of claim 11, further comprising a supporting structure including a module support wall, wherein the at least one battery module is positioned on the module support wall with the bottom wall in contact with the module support wall.

21. A method of manufacturing a battery module housing, comprising:

injection molding a lower housing from a material such that the lower housing includes;

a plurality of generally vertical sidewalls defining a space for receiving a plurality of battery cells;

a generally horizontal bottom wall;

a support wall extending generally parallel to the bottom wall and configured to support the plurality of battery cells; and

a plurality of generally vertical channel walls extending from the bottom wall to the support wall,

wherein a cooling channel for receiving a coolant fluid therein is defined at sides thereof by the sidewalls and the channel walls and defined at a top and bottom thereof by the support wall and the bottom wall, respectively.