Thermal management unit for an electric vehicle
AssigneeEndera Corporation
InventorsThomas Kosbau, Alfredo Gonzalez, Enrique Garcia, Shashvat Mehta, John Joseph Walsh, Kuldip Bawankule
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the invention are directed to a thermal management unit implemented within an electric vehicle including a plurality of battery packs. The thermal management unit features a first manifold operating as a coolant convergence device and a second manifold operating as a coolant divergence device. Alternatively, the thermal management unit may include a base plate, which is adapted to maintain a coolant convergence devices and a coolant divergence device.
Claims18
A thermal management unit implemented within an electric vehicle that includes a plurality of battery packs, comprising:
- a base plate including a first mounting area and a second mounting area;
- a coolant convergence device coupled at the first mounting area of the base plate, the coolant convergence device including (i) a first plurality of inlets each coupled to a conduit to receive a flow of coolant propagating through or adjacent to a battery pack of the plurality of battery packs and (ii) an outlet that aggregates and outputs a coolant flow formed by the flows of coolant received from the plurality of conduits associated with each inlet of the plurality of inlets;
- and
- a coolant divergence device coupled at the second mounting area of the base plate, the coolant divergence device including (i) an inlet to receive the coolant flow from at least a first vehicle component and (ii) a first plurality of outlets fluidly coupled to the inlet, each of the first plurality of outlets being coupled to a conduit to receive a portion of coolant associated with the coolant flow for propagation to a corresponding battery pack of the plurality of battery packs for thermal management,
- wherein the inlet of the coolant divergence device is positioned on a first side region of the first coolant divergence device and has a diameter larger than a diameter of each of the first plurality of outlets of the coolant divergence device.
A thermal system implemented within an electric vehicle including a plurality of battery packs, comprising:
- a first manifold including (i) a first inlet port coupled to a first conduit to receive a flow of coolant supplied from a coolant source, and (ii) one or more outlet ports each coupled to a conduit for propagating coolant through or adjacent to a battery pack of the plurality of battery packs, wherein the first inlet port is positioned on a first side region of the first manifold and has a diameter larger than a diameter of each of the one or more outlet ports;
- and
- a second manifold including (i) a plurality of inlet ports each coupled to a conduit communicatively coupled to a battery pack of the plurality of battery packs to receive a flow of coolant from the battery pack, and (ii) an outlet port configured to output an aggregate of the flows of coolant received from the plurality of conduits.
A thermal system implemented within an electric vehicle including a plurality of battery packs, comprising:
- a first manifold including (i) a first inlet port configured to receive a flow of coolant supplied from a coolant source, and (ii) a plurality of outlet ports each adapted to output a flow of coolant via a conduit directed to a component within an electric vehicle for cooling the component, wherein the first inlet port is positioned on a first side region of the first manifold and has a diameter larger than a diameter of each of the one or more outlet ports;
- and
- a second manifold including (i) a plurality of inlet ports each configured to receive the flow of coolant from the component, and (ii) an outlet port configured to output an aggregate of the flows of coolant received by the plurality of inlet ports.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.