PUNCTURE RESISTANT SHIELD OF A BATTERY CONTAINMENT SYSTEM
A puncture resistant shield is provided for use with a battery containment system that is light weight and resistant to corrosion, while improving the safety performance of the battery containment system by providing greater impact and impalement protection as compared to conventional vehicle components. The puncture resistant shield also has utility in that it may be used with existing battery containment systems as an aftermarket installation to increase protection of the batteries contained therein or may be designed for use with new manufactured battery containment systems.
1 . A puncture resistant shield for use with a battery containment system of a vehicle, said puncture resistant shield comprising:
a shield body portion configured to underlie the battery containment system, said shield body portion having a first surface and an oppositely opposed second surface both bounded by a first end and a second end and a first side and a second side that each extend from the first end to the second end; and
a first ramp extending from the first end of said shield body portion at a first angle;
wherein said puncture resistant shield is configured to be attached to said battery containment system.
2 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said shield is formed of metal or reinforced SMC.
3 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 2 wherein the SMC is reinforced with carbon fibers, glass fibers, aramid fibers, cellulosic fibers, or a combination thereof.
4 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said shield is coated in a fire resistant or phenol coating.
5 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said shield provides EMI-RFI shielding to components contained in said battery containment system.
6 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said puncture resistant shield is formed to have corrugations.
7 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 6 wherein the corrugations have a repeating shape of any of: an open semi hexagon, an open semi-circle, an open semi oval, an open triangle, an open semi square, an open semi rectangle, or a sine wave.
8 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said first ramp is integrally formed with said shield body portion.
9 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said first ramp extends from the first end of said shield body portion at an angle of 45 degrees.
10 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said first ramp extends from the first end of said shield body portion along the entire length of the first end of said shield body portion.
11 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said first ramp is configured to be angled upwards towards said battery containment system when said puncture resistant shield is attached to the battery containment system.
12 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said first ramp is configured to be positioned towards a front of the vehicle when said puncture resistant shield is attached to the battery containment system.
13 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 further comprising at least one additional ramp extending from at least one of the second end, the first side, and the second side of said shield body portion at a second angle.
14 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 13 wherein the second angle is the same as the first angle.
15 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said puncture resistant shield is configured to be attached to said battery containment system by an adhesive between the first surface of said shield body portion and a lower surface of said battery containment system.
16 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 wherein said puncture resistant shield is configured to be attached to a lower surface of said battery containment system by a plurality of fasteners that extend through said shield body portion.
17 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 1 further comprising a first flange extending from any of the first end, the second end, the first side, and the second side of said shield body portion, said first flange configured to engage a second flange of said battery containment system.
18 . The puncture resistant shield of claim 17 further comprising a joiner clip configured with a C-shaped cross section to engage the first flange and the second flange to attach said puncture resistant shield to said battery containment system.