EP-4737165-A1 - BATTERY PACK MODULE VIBRATION ISOLATION

EP4737165A1EP 4737165 A1EP4737165 A1EP 4737165A1EP-4737165-A1

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a vibration damping mounting system to mount a battery pack module (176) to a chassis of a vehicle including a top mount (230) coupled to the battery pack module; a lower mount (330, 430, 530, 630, 730) coupled to at least one of a mounting brace on a back panel of the battery pack module and an underside of the battery pack module; and a vibration damping element (350, 450, 550, 650, 750) coupled to the lower mount. The vibration damping element may be at least one of a rubber damper, a spring, a torsion bar, and an air bag damper. The vibration damping element may be controlled by passive or active damping.

Inventors

RICHARDS, KIERAN J.

Assignees

Cummins, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20251022

Claims (15)

A vibration damping mounting system (300) configured to mount a battery pack module (176) to a chassis of a vehicle, comprising: a top mount (230) coupled to the battery pack module; a lower mount (330, 430, 530, 630, 730) coupled to at least one of a mounting brace on a back panel of the battery pack module and an underside of the battery pack module; and a vibration damping element (350, 450, 550, 650, 750) coupled to the lower mount.
The vibration damping mounting system of claim 1, wherein the lower mount comprises a lower chassis mount that extends from the chassis of the vehicle, and a lower battery pack mount that extends from at least one of the mounting brace on the back panel of the battery pack module and the underside of the battery pack module.
The vibration damping mounting system of claim 2, wherein each of the lower chassis mount and the lower battery pack mount comprise a pivot point configured to articulate such that a position of the battery pack module changes in relation to the vehicle chassis.
The vibration damping mounting system of any of the preceding claims, wherein: the top mount comprises a chassis mounting pin; and/or the vibration damping element is one of a damper and a torsion bar; and/or the vibration damping element includes a spring; and/or the vibration damping element includes a spring and a damper; and/or the vibration damping element is an air bag damper, wherein the air bag damper optionally comprises a pneumatic valve, the pneumatic valve controlling a damping rate of the air bag damper; and/or the vibration damping element is a passive damping element with a fixed damping rate; and/or the vibration damping element is a rubber damper, wherein the rubber damper optionally is one of a disk, a pad, a bumper, a guard, and a block, and wherein the rubber damper optionally is filled with viscous material.
The vibration damping mounting system of any of the preceding claims, further comprising: an accelerometer module, the accelerometer module comprising: an accelerometer configured to determine forces of acceleration on the battery pack module about 6 degrees of freedom on an X, Y and Z axis; an actuator configured to increase or decrease a damping rate of the vibration damping element; and a control unit configured to receive signals from the accelerometer and transmit a command to the actuator.
The vibration damping mounting system of claim 5, wherein the accelerometer module further comprises a GPS module configured to collect GPS data.
The vibration damping mounting system of claim 6, wherein the GPS data comprises at least one of: a change in elevation terrain, a sudden curve in a roadway, a speed of the vehicle, and a location of the vehicle.
The vibration damping mounting system of either claim 6 or 7, wherein the control unit is further configured to receive the GPS data from the GPS and create a predictive map based on the GPS data.
The vibration damping mounting system of any of claims 5 to 8, wherein the control unit is positioned on the vehicle.
The vibration damping mounting system of any of claims 5 to 8, wherein the control unit is positioned remotely from the vehicle, and optionally wherein the accelerometer and the actuator are positioned on the vehicle.
A method of controlling a vibration damping system of a battery pack module using live active damping, comprising: transmitting an accelerometer signal from an accelerometer to a control unit; wherein the accelerometer transmits a signal indicating vibration along 6 degrees of freedom on an X, Y, and Z axis; processing the accelerometer signal from the accelerometer using the control unit to determine how much vibration damping is necessary to dampen the vibration of the battery pack module; transmitting a damping rate signal from the control unit to an actuator; and adjusting a damping rate of a vibration damping element by actuating the actuator such that the damping rate of the vibration damping element damps the vibration of the battery pack module.
The method of claim 11, further comprising: transmitting GPS data to a control unit; creating a predictive map of predicted vibration of the battery pack module based on the GPS data; locating the position of the battery pack module on the predictive map; and adjusting the damping rate of the vibration damping element using the actuator based on the position of the battery pack module on the predictive map such that vibration to the battery pack module is minimized.
The method of claim 12, wherein GPS data comprises information related to at least one of: a change in elevation, a terrain, a sudden curve in a roadway, and a speed of the vehicle.
The method of any of claims 11-13, wherein adjusting the damping rate comprises the actuator adjusting a pneumonic valve of an air bag vibration damping element to increase or decrease a damping rate of the air bag vibration damping element.
The method of any of claims 11-14, wherein adjusting a damping rate comprises the actuator adjusting at least one of spring compression, spring rate, torsion force, and damper shock absorbance to increase or decrease a damping rate of the vibration damping element.

Description

FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to a battery pack module vibration isolation system for mounting a battery pack module on a large equipment vehicle, such as a mining truck. BACKGROUND Large equipment vehicles, such as haul trucks, mining vehicles, cranes, bulldozers, etc., may require a large power source to accommodate the workload and/or sheer size of the vehicle. The large equipment vehicles may be equipped with battery packs to increase peak power output during ascending, aid in breaking, recover energy when descending, and otherwise provide power to the engine. The large equipment vehicle may be subject to rough terrain, vibrations, steep inclines/declines, and other movement during operation that causes shocks and vibrations to be transferred to the chassis of the vehicle. These shocks and vibrations may damage battery pack modules coupled to the chassis of the vehicle if not managed and/or dampened. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides a vibration damping mounting system configured to mount a battery pack module to a chassis of a vehicle, including: a top mount coupled to the battery pack module; a lower mount coupled to at least one of a mounting brace on a back panel of the battery pack module and an underside of the battery pack module; and a vibration damping element coupled to the lower mount. In another aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the lower mount includes a lower chassis mount that extends from the chassis of the vehicle, and a lower battery pack mount that extends from at least one of the mounting brace on the back panel of the battery pack module and the underside of the battery pack module. Further, each of the lower chassis mount and the lower battery pack mount includes a pivot point configured to articulate such that a position of the battery pack module changes in relation to the vehicle chassis. In yet another aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the top mount comprises a chassis mounting pin. In another aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the vibration damping element is one of a damper and a torsion bar. In another aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the vibration damping element includes a spring. In another aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the vibration damping element includes a spring and a damper. In another aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the vibration damping element is an air bag damper. Further, the air bag damper comprises a pneumatic valve, the pneumatic valve controls a damping rate of the air bag damper. In a further aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the vibration damping element is a passive damping element with a fixed damping rate. In another aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the vibration damping element is a rubber damper. Further, the rubber damper is one of a disk, a pad, a bumper, a guard, and a block. In yet a further aspect, the rubber damper is filled with viscous material. The present disclosure also provides a vibration damping mounting system configured to mount a battery pack module to a chassis of a vehicle, including: a top mount coupled to the battery pack module; a lower mount coupled to at least one of a mounting brace on a back panel of the battery pack module and an underside of the battery pack module; a vibration damping element coupled to the lower mount; and an accelerometer module. The accelerometer module includes: an accelerometer configured to determine forces of acceleration on the battery pack module about 6 degrees of freedom on an X, Y and Z axis; an actuator configured to increase or decrease a damping rate of the vibration damping element; and a control unit configured to receive signals from the accelerometer and transmit a command to the actuator. In another aspect of the accelerometer module, the accelerometer module further includes a GPS module configured to collect GPS data. Further, the GPS data includes at least one of: a change in elevation terrain, a sudden curve in a roadway, a speed of the vehicle, and a location of the vehicle. In yet another aspect of the damping mounting system, the control unit is further configured to receive the GPS data from the GPS and create a predictive map based on the GPS data. In another aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the control unit is positioned on the vehicle. In one aspect of the vibration damping mounting system, the control unit is positioned remotely from the vehicle. Further, the accelerometer and the actuator are positioned on the vehicle. The present disclosure further provides a method of controlling a vibration damping system of a battery pack module using live active damping, including: transmitting an accelerometer signal from an accelerometer to a control unit; processing the accelerometer signal from the accelerometer using the control unit to determine how much vibration damping is necessary to dampen the vibration of the