US 11,877,423 B2
Battery thermal management with large area planar heat pipes
Gaohua Zhu, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Tenghua Tom Shieh, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Evan B. Fleming, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Swetha Minupuri, Farmington Hills, MI (US); Debasish Banerjee, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Ryuta Sugiura, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Yusuke Suzuki, Nagakute (JP); Takayoshi Tanaka, Shimizu-ku (JP); and Satoko Tofukuji, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US); and Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Aichi-ken (JP)
Filed by Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US)
Filed on Oct. 8, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/065,782.
Prior Publication US 2022/0117116 A1, Apr. 14, 2022
Int. Cl. H05K 7/20 (2006.01); H01M 10/613 (2014.01); H01M 10/6556 (2014.01); H01M 10/6552 (2014.01); H01M 10/617 (2014.01)
CPC H05K 7/20281 (2013.01) [H01M 10/613 (2015.04); H01M 10/617 (2015.04); H01M 10/6552 (2015.04); H01M 10/6556 (2015.04); H05K 7/2039 (2013.01); H05K 7/20254 (2013.01); H01M 2220/20 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A battery system, comprising:
one or more battery packs; and
a thermal management system to cool the one or more battery packs, the thermal management system including:
a heat pipe arrangement that includes a plurality of heat pipes, having a planar configuration, in thermal contact with and between the one or more battery packs to draw heat therefrom, wherein the heat pipe further includes two opposite sides connecting an outer planar surface and an opposing outer planar surface; and
a heat sink arrangement that includes a plurality of heat sinks that include a liquid in thermal contact with two or more edges of the heat pipe arrangement, to dissipate heat away from the heat pipe arrangement, wherein a first pair of the plurality of heat sinks is arranged spaced apart and coplanar on the outer planar surface of the heat pipe, and a second pair of the plurality of heat sinks is arranged spaced apart, and coplanar on the opposing outer planar surface of the heat pipe, and wherein the heat sink extends along surfaces of the two opposite sides, the outer planar surface, and the opposing outer planar surface.