Structural battery for an electric vehicle comprising a battery cell support matrix
AssigneeVolvo Car Corporation
InventorsDaniel Karlsson, Klas Persson, Martin Hjälm Wallborg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electric vehicle including a battery assembly with at least two rows of battery cells attached to a battery frame structure. The battery frame structure has a number of accommodating cavities, arranged in a matrix, each battery cell being placed in a respective accommodating cavity and connected to adjacent walls of the respective accommodating cavity via a flowable bonding substance being inserted in a gap between the cells and the walls of the respective cavity.
Claims16
An electric vehicle, comprising a battery assembly with at least two rows of battery cells attached to a battery frame structure, wherein the battery frame structure comprises a number of accommodating cavities, arranged in a matrix, each battery cell being placed in a respective accommodating cavity and connected to adjacent walls of the respective accommodating cavity via a flowable bonding substance being inserted in a gap between the cells and the walls of the respective cavity, the flowable bonding substance expanding in the gap to compress each battery cell,
- wherein the battery frame structure is placed in a tray member comprising two longitudinal side profiles that are interconnected via a front and rear transverse beam, longitudinal peripheral walls of the battery frame structure being spaced apart from the longitudinal side profiles, a compressible filler member being placed between the longitudinal peripheral walls of the battery frame structure and the respective adjacent longitudinal side profile, and
- wherein the longitudinal side profiles of the tray member are coupled to respective longitudinal sill profiles of the electric vehicle such that the longitudinal sill profiles, the longitudinal side profiles, and the compressible filler members form deformation zones on each side of the battery frame structure in a side impact to the longitudinal sill profiles.
A battery pack for use in an electric vehicle, the battery pack comprising at least two rows of battery cells attached to a battery frame structure with a number of accommodating cavities, arranged in a matrix, each battery cell being placed in a respective accommodating cavity and connected to adjacent walls of the respective accommodating cavity via a flowable bonding substance being inserted in a gap between the cells and the walls of the respective cavity, the flowable bonding substance expanding in the gap to compress each battery cell, the battery frame structure being placed in a tray member comprising two longitudinal side profiles that are interconnected via a front and rear transverse beam, longitudinal peripheral walls of the battery frame structure being spaced apart from the longitudinal side profiles, a compressible filler member being placed between the longitudinal peripheral walls of the battery frame structure and the adjacent longitudinal side profile,
- wherein the longitudinal side profiles of the tray member are coupled to respective longitudinal sill profiles of the electric vehicle such that the longitudinal sill profiles, the longitudinal side profiles, and the compressible filler members form deformation zones on each side of the battery frame structure in a side impact to the longitudinal sill profiles.
A method of manufacturing a battery assembly for an electric vehicle, the method comprising:
- forming a battery frame structure having longitudinal and transverse peripheral walls and comprising a number of accommodating cavities arranged in a matrix by injection molding, casting or additive manufacturing,
- inserting battery cells into the accommodating cavities, and
- filling up a gap between the cells and the walls of the respective cavity with a bonding material, connecting each battery cell to the walls of the respective cavity via the bonding material forming a unitary cell block, the bonding material expanding in the gap to compress each battery cell,
- placing the unitary cell block formed by the battery frame structure and the connected battery cells in a tray member comprising two longitudinal side profiles that are interconnected via a front and rear transverse beam, the longitudinal peripheral walls of the battery frame structure extending at a distance from the longitudinal side profiles, and inserting a deformable member between the longitudinal peripheral walls of the battery frame structure and the adjacent longitudinal side profile,
- wherein the longitudinal side profiles of the tray member are coupled to respective longitudinal sill profiles of the electric vehicle such that the longitudinal sill profiles, the longitudinal side profiles, and the deformable members form deformation zones on each side of the battery frame structure in a side impact to the longitudinal sill profiles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.