Description:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

1. TITLE OF THE INVENTION
CIRCULAR LIFE BATTERY PACK

2. APPLICANT(S)
a) Name :SEYGNUX SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
b) Nationality :India
c) Address :201, Aggarwal Plaza, CU Block, Pitampura, Delhi-110034

3. PREAMBLE TO DESCRIPTION

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF INVENTION
The present disclosure in general relates to a battery pack. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a modular battery pack exhibiting a circular life, wherein the one or more battery cells are easily field replaceable or field serviceable.
BACKGROUND
Battery cells for storing electrical energy are used in various areas of technology. Especially in the rapidly developing technologies of mobility and the energy industry, high storage capacities for electrical energy and high electrical voltages are required. The battery cells are important energy storage devices well known in the art. The battery cells typically comprise electrodes and an ion conducting electrolyte positioned therebetween. Battery packs that contain lithium-ion battery cells are increasingly popular for automotive applications and various commercial electronic devices because they are rechargeable and have no memory effect. This is usually achieved by interconnecting individual primary and/or secondary cells in an arrangement for cells for storing electrical energy, e.g., as a battery pack. A battery pack is a set of any number of (preferably) identical batteries or individual battery cells. They may be configured in a series, parallel or a mixture of both to deliver the desired voltage, capacity, or power density.
Generally, a battery pack is used to provide output power to different components of an electric vehicle or for any other application that requires electrical energy. The conventional battery pack includes a number of battery cells. Further, each battery cell includes a positive terminal, and a negative terminal and the number of battery cells are generally assembled on, for example, a printed circuit board in different combinations to collectively provide the output power. Conventionally, one or more positive conducting terminals and one or more negative conducting terminals are welded on the sides of the printed circuit board. Therefore, a positive conducting terminal is connected with the positive terminal of a corresponding battery cell, and a negative conducting terminal is also connected with the negative terminal of the same battery cell, and similarly, other battery cells are arranged to form the battery pack.
Welding of the positive conducting terminals and the negative conducting terminals results in increased cost as well as increased electrical resistance of the battery pack. Moreover, each positive conducting terminal and each negative conducting terminal must be able to safely withstand the dynamic loads in the electric vehicle.
Currently, certain attempts have been made for battery cell connection of the number of battery cells within the battery pack, such as by soldering each positive terminal and each negative terminal of each battery pack on the PCB. In such attempts, the battery cell connection aims to achieve the highest possible electrical conductivity between the number of battery cells. However, due to direct soldering of each positive terminal and each negative terminal, recovery of each battery cell requires a high depth of disassembly, which is not cost-effective and is not desirable. Additionally, when the number of battery cells are arranged parallelly on the same PCB, then few battery cells with less internal resistance experience more current, hence more heat generation, than the battery cells with more internal resistance. In general, such effects are independent of the failure probability under homogenous conditions, so the probability of failure of the battery pack is also increased.
Moreover, if even a single battery cell come out to be faulty or damaged, it may damage the whole battery pack as the battery cells adjacent to the faulty battery cells will get damaged, for example, due to unwanted heat dissipation from the faulty battery cell or due to uneven flow of current through the whole circuit of battery cells. In instances of conventional methods of welding, soldering etc, a user may have to replace the whole battery pack even when a single battery cell is damaged. Typically, the battery is also one of the largest, heaviest, and most expensive single components of an electrical drive system such as electric vehicle and replacing the whole battery pack can be a very expensive affair.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the conventional approaches for connecting battery cells in conventional battery packs.
SUMMARY
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a modular battery pack.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system for interconnection and arrangement of battery cells in a battery pack.
A yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a modular battery pack that exhibit a circular life, where each individual cell can be easily replaced on field.
In an aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provides a modular battery pack, wherein the modular battery pack comprises:
a plurality of battery cells;
a plurality of sensors;
a control circuit;
a modular casing assembly, wherein the modular casing assembly comprises:
a plurality of positive terminal connectors;
a plurality of negative terminal connectors; and
a means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from a plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells; and
a means for disassembling the modular casing assembly.
The present disclosure provides the aforementioned modular battery pack. The modular battery pack as described herein can easily be assembled and disassembled. The present invention is advantageous in terms of providing a modular battery pack in which each battery cell can be replaced with a new battery cell. Moreover, such an arrangement would be advantageous in terms of providing circular life to a battery pack, as worn out, damaged or faulty cells can be replaced with a new cell without having a need to discard or recycle the whole battery pack. Replacing individual damaged battery cells from the battery pack may have the potential to extend the life of a battery pack and to restore the state of health to almost 100%. In this way, the battery pack may exhibit the property of circular life as the life of the battery pack can easily be extended by easily replacing the faulty battery cells with the new one. Consequently, the circular life modular battery pack of the present invention is field serviceable and field replaceable as the easy disassembly of battery packs does not require any specialized tools or mechanisms. Advantageously, the circular life modular battery pack of the present invention is easy to service on the operations or functional site. Advantageously, the circular life modular battery pack of the present invention is easy to replace on the operations or functional site. Moreover, the field serviceability and field replaceability prevents hinderances in the on site operations of the battery pack.
Optionally, the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of: cylindrical battery cells, prismatic battery cells or pouch battery cells.
Optionally, the plurality of sensors are configured to detect at least one of: SoH, SoP and SoC of the plurality of battery cells.
Optionally, the plurality of sensors are configured to provide the detected at least one of: SoH, SoP and SoC of the plurality of battery cells to the control circuit.
Optionally, the control circuit is configured to monitor the at least one of: SoH, SoP and SoC of the plurality of battery cells.
Optionally, the control circuit is configured to identify defective or malfunctioning battery cell in the plurality of battery cells.
Optionally, the control circuit is configured to electrically cut-off the identified defective or malfunctioning battery cell from the rest of the plurality of battery cells.
Optionally, the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are metal strip contactors with a plurality of grooves to accommodate the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of: cylindrical battery cells or prismatic battery cells.
Optionally, the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors comprise a plurality of lego connectors, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of pouch battery cells.
Optionally, the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are a plurality of nut and bolt mechanism, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of cylindrical battery cells.
Optionally, the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells comprises a push-click configuration, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of prismatic battery cells.
Optionally, the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells comprise a tap-click configuration, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of pouch battery cells.
Optionally, the means for disassembling the modular casing assembly comprises at least one of nut-bolt mechanism or a press-fit mechanism.
Additional aspects, advantages, features and objects of the present disclosure would be made apparent from the drawings and the detailed description of the illustrative embodiments construed in conjunction with the appended claims that follow.
It will be appreciated that features of the present disclosure are susceptible to being combined in various combinations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
A better understanding of the present invention may be obtained through the following examples which are set forth to illustrate but are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The summary above, as well as the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the present disclosure, exemplary constructions of the disclosure are shown in the drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed herein. Moreover, those in the art will understand that the drawings are not to scale. Wherever possible, like elements have been indicated by identical numbers.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following diagrams wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a modular battery pack having a plurality of cylindrical battery cells, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Fig. 2a is a schematic illustration of a modular battery pack having a plurality of prismatic battery cells, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Fig. 2b is a schematic illustration of a top casing of a modular casing assembly as provided in fig. 2a, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of a modular battery pack having a plurality of pouch battery cells, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
In the accompanying drawings, an underlined number is employed to represent an item over which the underlined number is positioned or an item to which the underlined number is adjacent. A non-underlined number relates to an item identified by a line linking the non-underlined number to the item. When a number is non-underlined and accompanied by an associated arrow, the non-underlined number is used to identify a general item to which the arrow is pointing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of the present disclosure and ways in which they can be implemented. Although some modes of carrying out the present disclosure have been disclosed, those skilled in the art would recognise that other embodiments for carrying out or practising the present disclosure are also possible.
In a first aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a modular battery pack, wherein the modular battery pack comprises:
a plurality of battery cells;
a plurality of sensors;
a control circuit;
a modular casing assembly, wherein the modular casing assembly comprises:
a plurality of positive terminal connectors;
a plurality of negative terminal connectors; and
a means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells; and
a means for disassembling the modular casing assembly.
An electrical energy storage device or a battery cell for a vehicle may include at least one modular casing assembly including a number of battery cells electrically interconnected with one another to provide electromotive force for the electrical drive system. Each casing assembly includes any number of battery cells contained and/or arranged within a modular battery casing.
The present disclosure provides the aforementioned modular battery pack. The modular battery pack as described herein can easily be assembled and disassembled. Advantageously, the present invention is advantageous in terms of providing a modular battery pack in which each battery cell can easily be replaced with a new battery cell. Moreover, such an arrangement would be advantageous in terms of providing circular life to a battery pack, as worn out, damaged or faulty cells can be replaced with a new cell without having a need to discard or recycle the whole battery pack. Replacing individual damaged battery cells from the battery pack may have the potential to extend the life of a battery pack and to restore the state of health to almost 100%. In this way, the battery pack exhibits the property of circular life as the life of the battery pack can easily be extended by replacing the faulty battery cells with the new one. Consequently, the circular life modular battery pack of the present invention is field serviceable and field replaceable as the easy disassembly of battery packs does not require any specialized tools or mechanisms. Advantageously, the circular life modular battery pack of the present invention is easy to service on the operations or functional site. Advantageously, the circular life modular battery pack of the present invention is easy to replace on the operations or functional site. Moreover, the field serviceability and field replaceability prevents hindrances in the on site operations of the battery pack.
Throughout the present disclosure, the term “modular” as used herein relates to a battery pack that can easily be dismantled or disassembled and can further be assembled again with very low efforts of a machine or a human being. In an instance, the modular battery pack relates to a battery pack that has been designed to work in tandem with other battery packs of the same specification. The main advantage of a modular battery pack is that it is easy to disassemble and thereafter the battery cells contained inside the pack can be replaced. If one of the battery cell fails, failed battery cells can directly be replaced instead of scrapping the entire battery pack, i.e., failure of one battery cell will not impact the overall battery pack system and the site operation.
Throughout the present disclosure, the term “battery cell” as used herein relates to a device that is capable of changing some form of energy, such as chemical energy or radiant energy, into electricity. The battery cell comprises of two electrodes and an electrolyte. Electrodes are made of materials that participate in chemical reactions with the electrolyte. The battery cells are classified into four broad categories namely primary cell, secondary cell, fuel cell and reserve cell. In automotive applications, the two main types of lithium-ion battery cells used in the electrical vehicles are metal oxides and phosphate cells. In automotive applications, lithium-ion battery cells are safer in terms of chemical hazard and more convenient. Furthermore, in general, there are three types of battery cells used in the commercial applications – cylindrical cells, prismatic cells, pouch cells. A cylindrical cell is enclosed in a rigid cylinder can. Cylindrical cells are small and round, making it possible to stack them in devices of all sizes. Unlike other battery formats, their shape prevents swelling that is an undesired phenomenon in the battery cells where gases accumulate in the casing. A prismatic cell is a cell whose chemistry is enclosed in a rigid casing. Its rectangular shape allows efficiently stacking multiple units in a battery module. There are two types of prismatic cells: stacked and flattened battery cells. The electrode sheets inside the casing (anode, separator, cathode) are either stacked or rolled and flattened. For the same volume, stacked prismatic cells can release more energy at once, offering better performance, whereas flattened prismatic cells contain more energy, offering more durability. Prismatic cells are mainly used in energy storage systems and electric vehicles. They are mostly suited for energy-intensive applications. In the pouch cells, rather than using a metallic cylinder and glass-to-metal electrical feed-through for insulation, conductive foil tabs are provided that carry the positive and negative terminals to the outside. They are welded to the electrode and sealed to the pouch. The pouch cell makes the most efficient use of space and achieves around 90 to 95 percent packaging efficiency. The pouch cell offers a simple, flexible and lightweight solution to battery design.
Throughout the present disclosure, the term “sensors” as used herein relates to electronic components, which can serve to monitor the operation of the battery pack arrangement when the cells are discharged or charged, for example to detect possible overheating of the arrangement or individual cells. In this context, temperature sensors are based on temperature-dependent resistance changes such as negative temperature coefficient (NTC) and/or positive temperature coefficient (PTC) thermistors, e.g., PTC thermistors based on platinum (e.g., Pt100, Pt1000; also, Pt50, Pt200, Pt500), based on nickel (e.g. Ni100, Ni1000) or on silicon (e.g. KTY). Thermocouples (e.g., types K, J, N, E, T, R, S and/or B) or temperature sensors with integrated signal converter can also be used. Temperature sensors based on a temperature dependency of a resonant frequency are also possible, e.g., oscillating quartz temperature sensors.
In one embodiment, the sensors may include one or more temperature sensors, thermocouples, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, current sensors, voltage sensors, etc. The sensors may be disposed between, adjacent to, spaced apart from, and/or in contact with, one or more of the battery cells. In an instance, a multiple-zone thermocouple may be disposed between adjacent battery cells in the battery pack. This multiple-zone thermocouple may allow the control circuit to determine, via the corresponding one or more sensors, a temperature at the bottom and the top of groups of battery cells using a single thermocouple housing or inserted device. In another instance, pressure sensors are employed to determine the pressure applied by the walls of the battery casing to each of the battery cells. In a particular embodiment, the plurality of sensors are configured to detect at least one of: SoH, SoP and SoC of the plurality of battery cells.
Throughout the present disclosure, the term “control circuit” as used herein relates to an electronic system that manages the operations of the battery cells inside the battery pack, such as by protecting the battery pack from operating outside its safe operating area, monitoring its state, calculating secondary data, reporting that data, controlling its environment, authenticating it and/or balancing it. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit identifies a defective or malfunctioning battery cell in the plurality of battery cells. In an example, the control circuit employs the measurements such as SoC, SoP and SoH of the plurality of battery cells as contained inside the battery pack and based on the measurements, the control circuit identifies the malfunctioned battery cell. The control circuit notifies the required characteristics of the plurality of battery cells suitable for the usage of the user at the time of replacing the battery cell and prompting the selection of an appropriate damaged battery cell. Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment, the control circuit is configured to electrically cut-off the identified defective or malfunctioning battery cell from the rest of the plurality of battery cells. The control circuit comprises control circuitry that takes the data of the plurality of sensors and thereby acts as a monitoring unit of the plurality of battery cells and the overall battery pack, for ensuring the safe and highly efficient operation of the plurality of battery cells. In an embodiment, the plurality of sensors are configured to provide the detected at least one of: SoH (state of health), SoP (state of power) and SoC (state of charge) of the plurality of battery cells to the control circuit. It predicts and manages the charging and discharging of the battery cells, prevents the super-charge, super-discharge, and thereby ensures the safety of the overall system of the battery pack.
In accordance with the present invention, there is described a modular battery pack that comprises a plurality of battery cells, a plurality of sensors, a control circuit and a modular casing assembly, wherein the modular casing assembly comprises a plurality of positive terminal connectors and a plurality of negative terminal connectors. Furthermore, the modular battery pack comprises a means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells. Also, a means for disassembling the modular casing assembly is also described herein the present disclosure.
According to an embodiment, the modular casing assembly comprises a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) having a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the multilayer PCB is used as a base to support interconnection of a plurality of battery cells and the modular casing assembly of the battery pack. Each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells has a positive terminal on either a top surface of the PCB or on the bottom surface of the PCB. Optionally, the plurality of battery cells are arranged in a matrix fashion and they can be arranged in both series and parallel configuration. Furthermore, in this embodiment, each battery cell has a negative terminal on the opposite surface of the positive terminal. Optionally, the negative terminal can also be provided on the same surface as that of the positive terminal. Furthermore, the plurality of positive terminal connectors and negative terminal connectors are provided therein to provide the connections between the plurality of battery cells to the modular casing assembly.
The modular casing assembly comprises a plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors. In accordance with an embodiment, the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are metal strip contactors with a plurality of grooves to accommodate the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of: cylindrical battery cells. In an example, the metal strip contactors are provided at the top surface and bottom surface of said multilayer PCB. In an embodiment, the modular casing assembly may comprise a plurality of grooves positioned at the surface of the modular casing assembly to accommodate the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells. More optionally, each conductive metal strip contactor has a curved portion, and wherein each conductive metal strip is arranged on a plurality of grooves provided thereon the modular casing assembly. The grooves are provided in such a way that the curved portion of each conductive metal strip contactor is fitted inside a corresponding groove on the top surface of the modular casing assembly. The plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells enters inside said grooves, thereby providing a connection between the plurality of connectors (metal strip contactors – positive connection points and negative connection points) of the battery pack and the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells. Optionally, a layer of insulating spacers are arranged on the surface of the modular casing assembly to physically segregate each groove and hold the plurality of battery cells.
In another embodiment, the plurality of battery cells are arranged between the top surface and the bottom surface of the multilayer PCB of the modular casing assembly by either nut and bolt mechanism or press-fit mechanism or both. In a further embodiment, the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are a plurality of nut and bolt mechanism when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of cylindrical battery cells. In an instance, nut and bolt within the layer of insulating spacers such that the positive terminal of each battery cell comes in contact with the conductive metal strip contactors used as the positive connection point, and a negative terminal of each battery cell is connected with each corresponding negative point of the plurality of negative connection points on the bottom surface of the multilayer PCB. The modular casing is used for interconnection and arrangement of the battery cells in the battery pack. The multilayer PCB of the modular casing assembly is beneficial to support interconnection between the plurality battery cells in the battery pack. Moreover, the plurality of metal strips connectors are beneficial for providing the plurality of positive connection points and negative connection points on the top and bottom surface of the modular casing assembly. Beneficially, since metal strip contactors are provided as a plurality of positive terminal connectors and the negative terminal connectors associated with the positive terminals and negative terminals of the plurality of cylindrical battery cells, there is no requirement of welding or soldering for providing connection between terminals of the battery cells and the multilayer PCB of the battery modular casing and therefore, the replacement of battery cells in this invention is quite easy in comparison to the conventional interconnection elements. In an embodiment, the means for disassembling the modular casing assembly comprises at least one of nut-bolt mechanism, or a press-fit mechanism. After dismantling the battery pack, one or more faulty or damaged battery cell can easily be picked from the modular casing and can easily be replaced by the new battery cell. Thus, the modular battery pack exhibit a circular life (cyclic life) wherein the life of the battery pack can easily be extended by simply replacing the faulty battery cell with the new one.
As described above, various types of battery cells are being employed in the modular battery case. In an example, the plurality of battery cells may comprise battery cells selected from the group of cylindrical cells, prismatic cells, and pouch cells.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of cells comprises a plurality of prismatic cells arranged in a modular casing assembly. The modular battery casing comprises a top casing, a bottom casing, a plurality of negative terminal connectors and a plurality of positive terminal connectors. The plurality of terminals may be provided at either a top casing or the bottom casing of the modular casing assembly. In an embodiment, the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are metal strip contactors with a plurality of grooves to accommodate the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of prismatic battery cells. Herein, a modular casing assembly is provided that includes a first row of cell slots configured to receive one or more prismatic cells inside the battery pack system, and a second row of cell slots that is configured to receive the plurality of prismatic cells of the battery pack system. It will be appreciated that the cell slots comprise first row, second row, third row, fourth row and so forth to receive the plurality of prismatic battery cells.
According to the present disclosure, there is provided a means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells. In an embodiment, the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of prismatic battery cells comprises at least one of a push-click configuration.
In the class of prismatic battery cells, the positive terminals and negative terminals are provided on the same side of the battery cell. It will be appreciated that the connection points such as metal-strip connectors along with the plurality of grooves into which the battery cell terminals will be inserted, are provided at both the top casing and/or the bottom casing of the modular casing assembly. Therefore, the push-click mechanism configuration is provided at both the top casing and/or the bottom casing of the modular casing assembly.
The disengagement works on an ejection mechanism in which a user only has to push the prismatic battery cell, to make the battery cell come out of the modular casing assembly. In the instances in which the user has to push the prismatic battery cell instead of the connectors to eject the battery out of the modular casing assembly, the terminals of the prismatic battery cells are connected upside down with the connectors (such as terminals inserted into grooves having metal strip contactors) of the modular casing assembly. In an example, the interconnection between the modular casing assembly and prismatic battery cells are provided at the bottom surface of the modular casing assembly. The modular casing assembly comprises one or more connectors in the form of metal-strip contactors with the plurality of grooves, configured to receive the plurality of terminals of the plurality of prismatic battery cells. In some instances, the plurality of terminals (positive and negative terminals) of the plurality of prismatic battery cells are configured to snugly fit into the grooves of the modular casing assembly that includes metal-strip contactors for connection points.
In another embodiment, along with the plurality of connectors on the modular casing assembly, there may also be provided the connectors on the plurality of prismatic battery cells. The connectors of the battery cells and the plurality of the connectors of the modular casing assembly are connected in such a way that they are held together via a snugly fit. In a particular example in which a user wants to disengage the battery cell from the modular casing assembly, the user only has to push the connectors as provided on the one or more of prismatic battery cells, and consequently the battery cell will be disengaged from the plurality of terminals and will come out of the modular casing assembly. The user can easily insert the new prismatic battery cell inside the grooves provided on the modular casing assembly.
In an embodiment, the modular casing assembly comprises provisions through which the battery cell may come out of the battery pack. Optionally, the modular battery casing assembly comprises provisions in the form of openings through which the one or more battery cell may come out of the battery pack. In certain instances, the provisions may be placed at the bottom side of the battery casing. Also, in another instance, the provisions may also be provided at the top portions of the modular casing assembly. Also, in another instance, the connectors for disengaging the plurality of terminals of the prismatic cells are provided over the side portions of the modular casing assembly. Herein, the side portion is referred to as the sides adjacent to the surface having the positive and negative terminals. In this case, when the user pushes the connector as provided over the battery cell and is connected to the connectors of the modular casing assembly, the prismatic battery cell will come out of the modular casing assembly.
In yet another embodiment, when user pushes the one or more connector as provided over the modular casing assembly and is connected to the connectors of the plurality of battery cells such as prismatic cells, the plurality of prismatic battery cell will come out of the modular casing assembly. Additionally, or alternatively, the modular casing connectors may include a locking means for locking the connectors of the modular casing assembly and the battery cells together. For example, one of the connectors may include a latch that engages and disengages to and from a portion of the other connector of the plurality of battery cells.
In a particular embodiment, the modular casing assembly contains one or more cell subassemblies. As described in more detail according to an embodiment, the cell subassemblies are a basic building block from which battery modules of arbitrary scales may be constructed. The cell subassemblies contain a plurality of prismatic battery cells, each of which provides a portion of the battery's electrical power and storage capacity. The cell subassemblies are held together by pressure plates and bands. Pressure plates act as a mounting mechanism for the battery module and contain one or more mounting passages to allow the module to accept hardware to mount the battery module within, for example, a battery pack enclosure or on a battery station's rack in various mounting orientations. Optionally, the individual prismatic battery cells are electrically connected in parallel and/or series via metal-strip contactors which connect the prismatic battery cells to one another and to the terminals of the battery, all of which are on one side of the battery module. Herein also, the one or more cell sub-assemblies comprises one or more connectors configured to receive one or more terminals of the plurality of prismatic battery cells. In some instances, the terminals of the plurality of prismatic battery cells are configured to snugly fit into the connectors of the modular casing assembly. The connectors of the battery cells and the plurality of the connectors of the modular casing assembly are connected in such a way that they are held together via a snugly fit. In a particular example in which a user wants to disengage the battery cell from the modular casing assembly, the user may push the prismatic battery and consequently the battery cell which has been pushed, will automatically be disengaged from the plurality of terminals of the one or more cell sub-assemblies. In an embodiment, the one or more battery cell may come out of the modular casing assembly. In another embodiment, the connectors for disengaging the plurality of terminals of the prismatic cells are provided over the side profiles or top profiles or bottom profile of the modular casing assembly.
In accordance with a specific embodiment, the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors comprises a push-click button configuration. Specifically, the plurality of prismatic cells can easily be removed from the battery pack via a push click mechanism.
In an embodiment, the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are a plurality of clicking ejection mechanism when the plurality of battery cells are prismatic battery cells. Advantageously, in a situation where a single prismatic battery cell has been worn out or has been damaged or may come up as a faulty battery cell, the user does not have to replace the whole battery pack. Instead, the user may replace the individual battery cell that has been worn out or has been damaged via the push-click mechanism. Consequently, the modular battery pack exhibits circular life and may have an infinite battery life as the faulty cell can be replaced and the user does not have to replace the entire battery pack.
The infinite battery pack life simply means that the life of an ordinary battery pack can easily be extended to a great extent when the battery pack use one or more connectors as provided by the embodiments provided by the present disclosure, and consequently, the connectors facilitate in replacing one or more faulty battery cell easily with a new one without any external efforts of a technician or any other robots or machines for disassembling and replacing the battery cell. The user may easily replace the faulty battery cell with the new battery cell at his own convenience.
As previously discussed, various types of battery cells have been in use for energy application and pouch battery cell is one of them. According to the present disclosure, there is provided a means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells. In an embodiment, there is also described a modular casing assembly including a plurality of pouch battery cells. The plurality of pouch battery cells is arranged in the casing assembly, in either series or parallel configurations or both.
In another embodiment, the modular casing assembly comprises one or more connectors configured to receive one or more terminals of the plurality of pouch battery cells. In an embodiment, said connectors may be of the form of lego connectors. Furthermore, the one or more pouch battery cell also comprises lego connectors provided at the positive and negative terminals. The lego connectors of the plurality of pouch battery cells are configured to snugly fit into the connectors of the modular casing assembly. The connectors of the pouch battery cells and the plurality of the connectors of the modular casing assembly are connected in such a way that they are held together via a snugly fit. The connection of the lego connectors is done in such a way that the electric power can easily be transferred from a single pouch battery cell to other appliances or devices via the battery pack.
In a particular example in which the user wants to disengage the battery cell from the modular casing assembly, the user may easily extract or take out the pouch battery cell by pulling the lego connector outwards from the connector provided at the modular casing assembly. In a particular embodiment, the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of pouch battery cells comprises at least one of a tap-click configurations. Consequently, the user has to tap the one or more connectors to make the battery cell come out of the battery casing. Consequently, the plurality of the terminals of the battery cell and the positive and negative terminals provided at the modular casing assembly are disengaged. In an embodiment, the modular battery casing assembly comprises provisions through which the one or more battery cell may come out of the modular casing assembly or battery pack. In a specific embodiment, the modular casing assembly comprises provisions in the form of openings through which the one or more pouch battery cell may come out of the casing assembly. In an example, the provisions in the form of openings are provided at the top or bottom or left side portion or right-side portion of the modular casing assembly.
Additionally, or alternatively, the modular casing connectors may include a locking means for locking the connectors of the modular casing assembly and the battery cells together. For example, one of the connectors may include a latch that engages and disengages to and from a portion of the other connector of the plurality of battery cells.
In a particular embodiment, the modular casing assembly contains one or more cell subassemblies. As described in more detail according to an embodiment, the cell subassemblies are a basic building block from which battery modules of arbitrary scales may be constructed. The cell subassemblies contain a plurality of pouch battery cells, each of which provides a portion of the battery's electrical power and storage capacity. The cell subassemblies are held together by pressure plates and bands. The pressure plates act as a mounting mechanism for the battery module and contain one or more mounting passages to allow the module to accept hardware to mount the battery module within the modular casing. Optionally, the individual pouch battery cells are electrically connected in parallel and/or series by busbars which connect the pouch cells to one another and to the terminals of the battery, all of which are on one side of the battery module. Herein also, the one or more cell sub-assemblies comprises one or more connectors configured to receive one or more connectors of the plurality of pouch battery cells. In some instances, the plurality of terminals of the plurality of pouch battery cells are configured to snugly fit into the connectors of the modular casing assembly. The plurality of terminals of the pouch battery cells and the plurality of the connectors of the modular casing assembly are connected in such a way that they are held together via a snugly fit. In a particular example in which a user wants to disengage the pouch battery cell from the modular casing assembly, the user may tap the connectors as provided on the one or more of prismatic battery cells, and consequently the battery cell whose connector has been tapped, will automatically be disengaged from the plurality of terminals of the one or more cell sub-assemblies. In an embodiment, the one or more battery cell may come out of the modular casing assembly. In another embodiment, the connectors for disengaging the plurality of terminals of the pouch cells are provided over the side profiles or top profile or bottom profile of the modular casing assembly.
Advantageously, in a situation where a single pouch battery cell has been worn out or has been damaged or may come up as a faulty battery cell, the user does not have to replace the whole battery pack. Instead, the user may replace the individual battery cell that has been worn out or has been damaged via the tap-click mechanism. Consequently, the modular battery pack exhibits the circular life and may have an infinite battery life as the faulty cell can be replaced and the user does not have to replace the entire battery pack.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a means for disassembling the modular casing assembly. In a particular embodiment, the means for disassembling the modular casing assembly comprises, but not limited to a nut-bolt mechanism or press fit mechanism.
According to the present invention, the modular casing assembly for the battery cells as described by the embodiments of the present disclosure, may employ said means for disassembling the modular casing assembly. It will be appreciated that it is not required to disassemble the whole modular casing assembly for replacing the damaged battery cell. In an instance, the prismatic cell and the pouch cell can be easily removed by the mechanism as described by the above-described embodiments, without the need of disassembling the whole modular battery casing assembly. Also, the above embodiments as described, may not be limited to only the cylindrical cell, prismatic cell or pouch cell and can employ other classes of battery cells available in the market.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a schematic illustration of a modular battery pack 100 having a plurality of cylindrical battery cells 104, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The modular battery pack 100 comprises a plurality of battery cells 104, a plurality of sensors, a control circuit and a modular casing assembly. According to an embodiment, the modular casing assembly comprises a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) having a top surface 102a and a bottom surface 102b, wherein the multilayer PCB is used as a base to support interconnection between a plurality of battery cells 104 in the battery pack. Each battery cell of the plurality of battery cells has a positive terminal on either a top surface of the PCB or on the bottom surface of the PCB and they are arranged in rows and both in series and parallel configuration as well. The modular casing assembly comprises a plurality of positive and negative terminal connectors. In an embodiment as provided by Fig.1, wherein cylindrical battery cells are provided, the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are metal strip contactors. In an example, the metal strip contactors are provided at the top surface 102a and bottom surface 102b of said multilayer PCB. In an embodiment, the plurality of battery cells are arranged between the top surface and the bottom surface of modular casing assembly by press-fit. In a further embodiment, the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the battery cells are a plurality of nut and bolt mechanism 106 when the plurality of battery cells are cylindrical battery cells. In an instance, nut and bolt mechanism are provided within the layer of insulating spacers such that the positive terminal of each battery cell comes in contact with each conductive metal strip contactors used as the positive connection point, and a negative terminal of each battery cell and thereby connection of terminals of battery cells are connected with each corresponding negative point of the plurality of positive connection points on the bottom and top surface of the multilayer PCB.
Referring to Fig. 2a, there is shown a schematic illustration of a modular battery pack 200 having a plurality of prismatic battery cells 204, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Referring to Fig. 2b, there is shown a schematic illustration of a top casing of a modular casing assembly as provided in fig. 2a, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
The modular battery casing assembly 202 comprises a plurality of negative terminal connectors and a plurality of positive terminal connectors. Herein, a modular casing assembly is provided that includes a first row of cell slots configured to receive one or more prismatic cells inside the battery pack system and a second row of cell slots configured to receive one or more prismatic cells of the battery pack system. There is provided a means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of negative terminal 204a and the plurality of positive terminals 204b of the plurality of prismatic battery cells 204. In an embodiment, the means 208 for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of prismatic battery cells comprises at least one of a push-click configurations 208. In an embodiment, the means 208 as provided at the top casing of the modular casing assembly is connected with a means as provided over the plurality of prismatic cells 208. In an embodiment, the modular casing assembly comprises one or more connectors 208 configured to receive one or more connectors 206 of the plurality of prismatic battery cells. In some instances, the connectors of the plurality of prismatic battery cells are configured to snugly fit into the connectors of the modular casing assembly. In a particular example in which a user wants to disengage the battery cell from the modular casing assembly, the user may only have to push the connectors as provided on the one or more of prismatic battery cells, and consequently the battery cell will be disengaged from the plurality of terminals of the modular casing assembly. In an embodiment, the modular battery cell comprises provisions 210 through which the battery cell may come out of the battery pack. Optionally, the modular battery cell comprises provisions 210 in the form of openings through which the one or more battery cell may come out of the battery pack, when the means for disengaging the battery cell is pushed. More optionally, the provisions may be placed at the bottom side of the battery casing. Also, in another instance, the provisions may also be provided at the top portions of the modular casing assembly.
Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown a schematic illustration of a modular battery pack 300 having a plurality of pouch battery cells 304, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Herein, there is provided a means 306 for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells. In an embodiment, there is also described a modular casing assembly 302 including a plurality of pouch battery cells. The plurality of pouch battery cells is arranged in the casing assembly in either series or parallel connections or both. In an embodiment, the modular casing assembly comprises one or more connectors 306 configured to receive one or more connectors provided at the plurality of negative and positive terminals of the plurality of pouch battery cells. In an embodiment, said connectors in combination may be of the form of lego connectors. Furthermore, the one or more pouch battery cell also comprises lego connector provided at the positive and negative terminals. The lego connectors of the plurality of pouch battery cells are configured to snugly fit into the connectors of the modular casing assembly. The connectors of the pouch battery cells and the plurality of the connectors of the modular casing assembly are connected in such a way that they are held together via a snugly fit. The connection of the lego connectors is done in such a way that the electric power can easily be transferred from a single pouch battery cell to other appliances or devices via the battery pack.
Also in another embodiment, the means for disengaging the terminals of the pouch battery cell with the connectors of the modular casing assembly comprises at least a tap-click configuration. Herein, the user has to tap the connector and the pouch cell will come out of the battery pack. In a particular example in which a user wants to disengage the battery cell from the modular casing assembly, the user may easily extract or take out the pouch battery cell by pulling the lego connector outwards from the connector provided at the modular casing assembly.
Modifications to embodiments of the present disclosure described in the foregoing are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the accompanying claims. Expressions such as “including”, “comprising”, “incorporating”, “have”, “is” used to describe and claim the present disclosure are intended to be construed in a non-exclusive manner, namely allowing for items, components or elements not explicitly described also to be present. Reference to the singular is also to be construed to relate to the plural where appropriate.
, Claims:We Claim:
1. A modular battery pack, wherein the modular battery pack comprises:
a plurality of battery cells;
a plurality of sensors;
a control circuit;
a modular casing assembly, wherein the modular casing assembly comprises:
a plurality of positive terminal connectors;
a plurality of negative terminal connectors; and
a means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from a plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells; and
a means for disassembling the modular casing assembly.
2. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of: cylindrical battery cells, prismatic battery cells or pouch battery cells.
3. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors are configured to detect at least one of: SoH, SoP and SoC of the plurality of battery cells.
4. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plurality of sensors are configured to provide the detected at least one of: SoH, SoP and SoC of the plurality of battery cells to the control circuit.
5. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to monitor the at least one of: SoH, SoP and SoC of the plurality of battery cells.
6. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to identify defective or malfunctioning battery cell in the plurality of battery cells.
7. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to electrically cut-off the identified defective or malfunctioning battery cell from the rest of the plurality of battery cells.
8. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are metal strip contactors with a plurality of grooves to accommodate the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of: cylindrical battery cells or prismatic battery cells.
9. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors comprise a plurality of lego connectors, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of pouch battery cells.
10. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors are a plurality of nut and bolt mechanism, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of cylindrical battery cells.
11. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells comprises a push-click configuration, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of prismatic battery cells.
12. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for disengaging the plurality of positive terminal connectors and the plurality of negative terminal connectors from the plurality of terminals of the plurality of battery cells comprise a tap-click configuration, when the plurality of battery cells are selected from a group comprising of pouch battery cells.
13. The modular battery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for disassembling the modular casing assembly comprises at least one of nut-bolt mechanism, or a press-fit mechanism.