Thermal management device

• US 8,901,463 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2011
• Issued: 12/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Frutschy, Kristopher John, Demiroglu, Mehmet, Bull, Roger, Sudworth, Paul, Maury, Mathew
• Primary Examiner(s): FUQUA, SHAWNTINA T
• Application Number:
  US13/234,942
• Publication Number:
  US 20130068755A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,173 Days
• Field of Search: 219/268, 219/546, 219528- 9, 219/548, 219552- 3, 392/407
• US Class Current: 219/542
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6571 Resistive heaters arrangements for heating the battery by its resistance to the internal current H01M10/637
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/004 using zigzag layout
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 2203/014 Heaters using resistive wires or cables not provided for in H05B3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 3/141 Conductive ceramics, e.g. metal oxides, metal carbides, barium titanate, ferrites, zirconia, vitrous compounds
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 3/20 Heating elements having extended surface area substantially in a two-dimensional plane, e.g. plate-heater H05B3/62, H05B3/68, H05B3/78, H05B3/84 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A thermal management device is presently disclosed. The thermal management device includes an insulator with a maximum use temperature of at least 200 degrees Celsius, and a heating element having at least one heater leg, where the heater leg contacts the insulator and is configured to supply thermal energy. The heating element also has lead wires configured to provide a parallel electrical connection between the heater leg and a current source.

Claims

1. A thermal management device comprising:

an insulator with a maximum use temperature of at least 200 degrees Celsius; and

a heating element comprising at least one heater leg, the heater leg contacting the insulator and configured to supply thermal energy,

the heating element having a pair of parallel lead wires connected to one pole of the heating element so as to provide a parallel electrical connection between the heater leg and a current source.

2. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating element comprises at least two heater legs electrically connected in parallel, and wherein the pair of parallel lead wires are configured to provide a parallel electrical connection between the heater legs and the current source.

3. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating element is one of a plurality of heating elements, the device comprising the plurality of heating elements.

4. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulator is a silicate.

5. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the silicate is a mica.

6. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the mica is a muscovite or a phlogopite.

7. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises a plurality of mica sheets secured by a retention device.

8. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal management device has a substantially uniform heat flux over at least one surface of the device.

9. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating element is configured to provide heat flux over at least about 90% of one surface of the device.

10. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the at least one heater leg is configured to provide heat flux over at least about 90% of one surface of the device.

11. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating element is configured to provide a first heating region and a second heating region, wherein the first heating region has a heat flux at least 25% greater than a heat flux of the second heating region.

12. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one heater leg comprises a nickel-chromium alloy resistive wire.

13. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the nickel-chromium alloy resistive wire is a nichrome wire.

14. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of parallel lead wires comprise nickel-200 or nickel-201.

15. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of parallel lead wires corresponds to a first pair of parallel lead wires connected to a first pole of the heating element, and further comprising a second pair of parallel lead wires connected to a second pole of the heating element.

16. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of parallel lead wires are insulated with PTFE, polymide, phenolics, cement, ceramic, metal braided mesh, or combinations thereof.

17. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of parallel lead wires have a mica-PTFE-fiberglass insulation with a maximum use temperature of at least 400 degrees Celsius.

18. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a strain relief attached to the insulator, wherein the pair of parallel lead wires are connected to the strain relief.

19. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the pair of parallel lead wires are connected to the strain relief by a weld and by a mechanical connection.

20. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulator comprises an insulator panel defining a plurality of apertures and the pair of parallel lead wires are laced through the apertures to provide a strain relief for the pair of parallel lead wires.

21. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a housing surrounding the insulator and the heating element, the housing having an outer surface that is at least electrically insulating at 200 degrees Celsius.

22. The thermal management device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal management device is minimally bound by a rectangular parallelepiped boundary defined by three perpendicular axes, wherein a shortest of the axes is no more than 10 millimeters.

23. A thermal management device comprising:

an insulator with a maximum use temperature of at least 200 degrees Celsius, the insulator comprising an interior insulation panel and an exterior insulation panel;

a strain relief including at least one channel in the interior insulation panel and at least one hole in the exterior insulation panel; and

a heating element comprising at least one heater leg, the heater leg contacting the insulator and configured to supply thermal energy,

the heating element having lead wires configured to provide a parallel electrical connection between the heater leg and a current source,

wherein at least one of the lead wires are routed through the at least one channel and the at least one hole.