Patent ID: 8586228

Claim:
A battery module comprising: a stack of a plurality of unit cells and a plurality of cell barriers, each cell barrier being interposed between two adjacent unit cells; a housing enclosing the stack having a first and second opposed end surfaces and a first and second opposed lateral surfaces; an inlet formed on an upper side of the stack in the housing on the first end surface and configured to receive a coolant into the housing wherein the inlet communicates with an inlet coolant passage defined by the housing that extends from the first end surface towards the second end surface; and an outlet formed in the housing adjacent the first end surface and configured to discharge the coolant from the housing wherein the outlet communicates to an outlet coolant path defined by the housing that extends from the second end surface towards the first end surface, wherein the plurality of unit cells comprises a first unit cell and a second unit cell, and the plurality of cell barriers comprises a first cell barrier interposed between the first and second unit cells, wherein the first cell barrier provides a coolant passage between the first and second unit cells and the coolant path extends towards the lateral surfaces of the housing and connects the inlet coolant path and the outlet coolant path, and each pair of adjacent unit cells sandwiches one of the plurality of cell barriers, wherein the first cell barrier comprises the coolant passage integrally formed therethrough, and wherein the first cell barrier comprises a first surface and a second surface, wherein the coolant passage has a first opening on the first surface and a second opening on the second surface, and wherein the housing has a first space over or next to the first surface and a second space over or next to the second surface.