IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,427,872
Granted Patent B2
US 12,427,872 · App. 17/979,402 · Granted Sep 30, 2025

Traction battery pack coating clearing feature and coating clearing method

Inventors: Ryan Scott Gray (Farmington Hills, MI); James Patrick Morency, Jr. (Fraser, MI); Alexander Robert Rink (Royal Oak, MI)
Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
B60L50/66B60K1/04B60K2001/0438
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,427,872
App. No.
17/979,402
Granted
Sep 30, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

An electrified vehicle assembly includes an enclosure assembly of a battery pack. The enclosure assembly has a coating. An attachment point is disposed within the enclosure assembly. The enclosure assembly is secured directly to the attachment point. The assembly includes a coating clearing feature that removes some of the coating from the enclosure assembly when the enclosure assembly is secured directly to the attachment point.

Claims (27)

1. An electrified vehicle assembly, comprising:

an enclosure assembly of a battery pack, the enclosure assembly having a coating, the enclosure assembly providing an interior area;

an attachment point disposed within the interior area, a portion of the enclosure assembly secured directly to the attachment point; and

a coating clearing feature that removes some of the coating from the enclosure assembly when the enclosure assembly is secured directly to the attachment point, the coating clearing feature within the interior area.

2. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 1 , wherein the enclosure assembly comprises a tray secured to a cover.

3. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 1 , wherein the enclosure assembly includes a base material that is coated with the coating, the base material a metal, a metal alloy, or both.

4. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 3 , wherein the coating clearing feature is softer than the base material.

5. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 4 , wherein the base material is steel and the coating clearing feature is aluminum.

6. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a mechanical fastener extending through an aperture in the enclosure assembly into the interior area to connect the enclosure assembly to the attachment point that is within the interior area of the enclosure assembly, the coating clearing feature separate from the mechanical fastener, the coating clearing feature removing the coating from a surface of the enclosure assembly that faces the interior area.

7. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 6 , wherein the attachment point comprises a bore that receives the mechanical fastener, the coating clearing feature distributed about the bore, the bore disposed within the interior area.

8. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 7 , wherein the bore is a threaded bore.

9. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 7 , wherein bore opens to a surface, the coating clearing feature comprising at least one ring projecting from the surface.

10. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 9 , wherein the at least one ring includes at least three concentric rings.

11. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 9 , wherein at least one ring has a triangular cross-sectional profile.

12. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 6 , wherein the attachment point is a stand-off from a cross-member that is within the interior area of the enclosure assembly.

13. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 12 , wherein the coating clearing feature is a portion of the stand-off.

14. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 12 , wherein the coating clearing feature is separate from the stand-off and is sandwiched between the attachment point and the enclosure assembly when the mechanical fastener is connecting the enclosure assembly to the attachment point.

15. A traction battery grounding method, comprising:

securing an enclosure assembly of a battery pack to an attachment point disposed within the enclosure assembly, the attachment point a stand-off from a cross-member of the battery pack; and

during the securing, removing a coating on the enclosure assembly using a coating clearing feature.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the coating is removed from an underside of a cover of the enclosure assembly as a mechanical fastener extends through an aperture in the cover to threadably engage the attachment point during the securing, the attachment point within an interior area of the enclosure assembly.

17. An electrified vehicle assembly, comprising:

an enclosure assembly providing an interior area, the enclosure assembly having a coating, the enclosure assembly providing an interior area;

an attachment point disposed within the interior area, a portion of the enclosure assembly secured directly to the attachment point; and

a coating clearing feature that removes some of the coating from a surface of the enclosure assembly that faces the interior area as the enclosure assembly is secured to the attachment point.

18. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 1 , wherein the attachment point is separate and distinct from the enclosure assembly.

19. The electrified vehicle assembly of claim 17 , wherein the attachment point forms no portion of the enclosure assembly.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 2, 2022
From: GRAY, RYAN SCOTT; MORENCY, JAMES PATRICK, JR.; RINK, ALEXANDER ROBERT
To: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 061633/0888 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240140209A1 · May 2, 2024
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US 12,573,702