Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Saravanan Paramasivam

Rajaram Subramanian

Kimberley King

Patrick Daniel Maguire

Steve Droste

Dave Moschet

Bhaskara Rao Boddakayala

Brian Utley

Daniel Miller

Kanchana Perumalla

Mladen Marjanovic

James George Gebbie

Mohammadreza Eftekhari

Sai K Perumalla

Tom M Gunther

Suriyaprakash Ayyangar Janarthanam

Thomas Edward Smith

Hari Krishna Addanki

Debbi Callicoat

Amar Marpu

John Jardine

Evan Mascianica

LeeAnn Wang

Anil Reddy Pullalarevu

David J Pfeiffer

Kenneth James Miller

James Maurice Boileau

Michael William Danyo

James Lawrence Swoish

John Peter Bilezikjian

Rohit Gunna

Mike Popovski

Juil Yum

Steve F Chorian

Brent Zapczynski

Samir Subba

David Moschet

Melissa Kathryn Christensen

George Albert Garfinkel

Philip Michael Gonzales

Neil Robert Burrows

Venkateswa Anand Sankaran

Ihab Grace

Kimberly Ann Lazarz

Francisco Fernandez-Galindo

Michael E Reibling

Douglas X Zhu

Jason C Marcath

Yongcai Wang

Micah Smith

Steven F Chorian

Jeremy Samborsky

Josef Dollison

Shamsuddin A Syed

Louis Paspal

Asif Iqbal

Edward Popyk

Michael Luchtman

Sean Brady

Abigail Evelyn Christensen

Eric Yoo

Christian Johan Owen Handley

Jeffery Christ

Enrique Rivera

Himanshu Khandelwal

Dharmendra Patel

Mallikarjun Veeramurthy

Derek Langley

Ali Saad

Kimberley L C King

Battery pack designs for use in electrified vehicles may include a polymer-based enclosure having features for sealing external joints, retaining components inside the battery pack, securing electrical and coolant lines to the polymer-based enclosure, etc. The proposed designs reduce the number of overall parts in assembly, such as fasteners and brackets, and simplify the overall battery pack manufacturing and assembly processes.

Electrified vehicle battery packs with polymer-based enclosures

A battery pack assembly includes, among other things, a tray, a lid secured to the tray to provide an enclosure having an interior, at least one battery module disposed within the interior, a cross-member disposed within the interior adjacent to the at least one battery module, and a stanchion secured to the cross-member. The stanchion disposed entirely within the interior. The assembly further includes a fastener that extends through an opening in the lid to engage the stanchion.

Traction battery securing assembly and method

An article, such as a battery pack system, includes a battery pack that is comprised of a plurality of battery cells. An external housing covers at least a portion of the battery pack. A silicate-based thermal barrier coating is configured to block heat emitted from the battery pack.

Battery pack with thermal barrier

A traction battery pack assembly includes, among other things, first and second pieces of an enclosure having an interior area. An attachment rim is disposed at a periphery of the first piece. The attachment rim has a stand-off that includes a platform portion and turned flange. The platform portion extends outward from the interior area in a first direction. The platform portion provides an aperture. The turned flange extends away from the platform portion in a second direction and terminates at an end face. The second direction is transverse to the first direction. The aperture is configured to receive a fastener that clamps the end face against the second piece.

Battery pack enclosure with turned flange

This disclosure details battery assemblies for use within electrified vehicle battery packs. An exemplary battery assembly includes a grouping of battery cells and an array plate assembly contacting a portion of the battery assembly. The array plate assembly may embody a split panel design that includes an outer panel and an inner panel that are arranged to nest together. One or both of the outer panel and the inner panel may include an embossing pattern. Among various other advantages, the split panel design increases the stiffness of the array plate assembly without significantly increasing the overall package depth of the array plate assembly or the battery assembly.

Split panel array plate assemblies for electrified vehicle battery packs

A structural enclosure includes a pair of aluminum rails with an upper wall and a lower wall spaced apart from the upper wall, a plurality of sleeves extending into and captured within the aluminum rails, and each of the plurality of sleeves having a head with a predefined thickness disposed on an outer surface of the aluminum rails and configured to separate the outer surface of the aluminum rails from a steel vehicle chassis to which the aluminum rails are mounted. The structural enclosure can be an aluminum battery box for an electric vehicle and the aluminum battery box can be mounted to and electrochemically isolated from the steel vehicle chassis.

Method and structures to isolate dissimilar metal structures

A battery assembly according to a non-limiting aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an array of battery cells, and a thermal exchange plate assembly adjacent the array. The thermal exchange plate assembly includes an inlet, an outlet, a main channel, and a bypass channel configured to direct fluid from the inlet to the outlet while substantially bypassing the main channel.

Thermal exchange plate assembly for vehicle battery

A battery pack includes a support structure, an array frame including a fastener housing, and a fastener received through the fastener housing for mounting the array frame to the support structure. The array frame may be mounted to the support structure using a top-down approach that includes inserting a fastener through a fastener housing of the array frame.

Battery pack array frames with integrated fastener housings

A vehicle assembly according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an enclosure, a high voltage component housed inside the enclosure and a blocking member configured to restrict access to the high voltage component along a path that extends through the enclosure.

Vehicle enclosure for preventing access to high voltage components

An apparatus and method, according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a battery tray configured to support a plurality of battery cells and at least one cross member positioned between adjacent battery cells. The at least one cross member comprises a base portion that is fixed to the battery tray and an elongated body extending outwardly from the base portion. The elongated body extends from a first end at the base portion to a second end that is opposite the first end, and wherein the first end has a first width and the second end has a second width that is less than the first width.

Battery structure comprising tray and cross members

An exemplary support assembly for a battery array includes a spacer axially separating a first battery cell from a second battery cell, a frame that holds the spacer, and an insert secured to the frame. The insert is compressed against the first battery cell. An exemplary method of supporting a battery cell includes compressing an insert against a corner region of a battery cell. The insert is secured to a frame made of a first material. The insert is made of a second material that is softer than the first material.

Battery cell support assembly

An exemplary battery assembly includes, among other things, battery cells distributed along an axis and disposed on a base. A bracket extends axially along a side of the battery cells. A plate extends from a first side to an opposing, second side of the battery cells. A retention flange of the plate is held between the bracket and the base. An exemplary method of retaining includes holding battery cells relative to a base using a bracket extending along a side of the array, and positioning a retention flange of a plate between the bracket and the base. A primary portion of the plate is disposed along an axial end of the array.

Traction battery pack plate with retention flange

An exemplary method includes, among other things, providing first and second blanks that are nominally identical and that include an array of raised features. The method further includes removing a first combination of individual raised features from the first blank to provide a first battery component with a first flow path, and removing a different, second combination of individual raised features from the second blank to provide a second battery component with a different, second flow path. An exemplary battery assembly includes, among other things, a blank having a plurality of ribs extending from a floor. The blank is configured such that a first combination of the ribs are removable from the blank to provide a first battery component having first flow path, and a different, second combination of the ribs are removable from the blank to provide a second battery component having a different, second flow path.

Battery component with a flow path

A battery pack includes a heat dissipating structure, an array frame positioned against the heat dissipating structure, and a battery cell retained by the array frame and arranged so at least one surface of the battery cell is exposed by the array frame and is contiguous with the heat dissipating structure. The heat dissipating structure may be a heat exchanger plate or a thermal interface material (TIM).

Battery pack array frame designs that exclude thermal fins

Growing community of inventors

South Lyon, MI, United States of America

Saravanan Paramasivam