Thermal epoxy and positioning of electrochemical cells

Abstract

The present disclosure includes a battery module having a housing with a first end (having a cell receptacle region) and a second end opposite to the first end. The battery module includes a stack of electrochemical cells inserted through the cell receptacle region of the housing, disposed between the first end and the second end of the housing, and having terminal ends of all the electrochemical cells of the stack aligned in a planar area. The battery module includes a bus bar carrier disposed over the stack of electrochemical cells and within the cell receptacle region of the housing. The bus bar carrier includes bus bars disposed thereon that interface with the terminal ends. The battery module includes a layer of thermal epoxy disposed between the second end of the housing and a bottom side of the stack of electrochemical cells.

1 - 19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . A method of manufacturing a battery module, comprising:
 aligning terminal ends of a first, a second, and a third electrochemical cell such that all the terminal ends are disposed in a single plane;   adhering the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells to one another;   disposing a layer of complaint thermal epoxy on a bottom wall of a housing of the battery module;   placing the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells into the housing; and   disposing the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells onto the layer of compliant thermal epoxy such that the layer of compliant thermal epoxy supports base ends of the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells opposite to the terminal ends of the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells, with the complaint thermal epoxy transferring a thermal energy from at least one of the electrochemical cells to the housing.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein adhering the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells to one another comprises disposing a first double sided adhesive on a first face of the first electrochemical cell, disposing a second double sided adhesive on a second face of the first electrochemical cell opposite to the first face, and adhering the second electrochemical cell to the first double sided adhesive and the third electrochemical cell to the second double sided adhesive. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , comprising electrically coupling the first electrochemical cell with the second electrochemical cell via a bus bar that spans between a first terminal extending from the terminal end of the first electrochemical cell and a second terminal extending from the terminal end of the second electrochemical cell. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , comprising disposing the bus bar on a bus bar carrier and disposing the bus bar carrier over the terminal ends of the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , comprising extending at least one of the bus bar and the first and the second terminals through one or more openings of the bus bar carrier to facilitate coupling of the bus bar with the first and the second terminals. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , comprising improving the electrical coupling between the bus bar and at least one of the first terminal and the second terminal through the disposing of the first and the second electrochemical cells onto the thermal epoxy layer. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the disposing of the base ends of the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells onto the thermal epoxy layer provides for the terminal ends of the first, the second and the third electrochemical cells remaining in the single plane. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 20 , comprising conforming the thermal epoxy layer to the base ends of the first electrochemical cell and the electrochemical cells, wherein the base ends are disposed in a plurality of planes. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the conforming of the thermal epoxy layer to the first electrochemical cell and the second electrochemical cell compensates for a difference between heights of the first electrochemical cell and the second electrochemical cell, with the height of each of the first electrochemical cell and the second electrochemical cell defined by the terminal end and the base end of the respective electrochemical cell. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the conforming of the thermal epoxy layer provides for at least one of a varying and constant thickness of the thermal epoxy layer pursuant to the difference between the heights. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the thickness providing for the transferring of the thermal energy. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the disposing the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells onto the thermal epoxy layer provides for the transferring of the thermal energy from at least one of the electrochemical cells to the bottom wall. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the disposing the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells onto the thermal epoxy layer provides for the transferring of the thermal energy from at least one of the electrochemical cells to a heat sink. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the heat sink is at least one of disposed on the bottom wall and overmolded with respect to the bottom wall. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the disposing the first, the second, and the third electrochemical cells onto the thermal epoxy layer provides for the transferring of the thermal energy from at least one of the electrochemical cells to at least one of the heat sink and the bottom wall. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the disposing of the thermal epoxy layer between at least one of the electrochemical cells and the heat sink. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the electrochemical cell is at least one of a lithium-ion, lead-acid, nickel cadmium, and nickel metal hydride cell.