COOLING SYSTEM
A cooling system of a battery for an electric or hybrid vehicle includes a cooling device and a thermal interface. The cooling device generates a movement of a cooling fluid between an inlet point and an outlet point in a cooling direction. The thermal interface has a first surface at least substantially in contact with the cooling device and a second surface, referred to as the heat-exchange surface, opposite the first surface, intended to be placed in contact with or near a battery. The size of the heat-exchange surface in a secondary direction, perpendicular to the cooling direction of the cooling system, increases in the cooling direction.
1 - 9 . (canceled)
10 . A cooling system for a battery in an electric or hybrid vehicle, said cooling system comprising:
a cooling device and a thermal interface, wherein
the cooling device generates a movement of a coolant fluid between an inlet point and an outlet point in a cooling direction,
the thermal interface has a first surface that is at least substantially in contact with the cooling device and a second surface, the second surface being a thermal exchange surface, opposite the first surface, that is configured to come into contact with or to be close to a battery, and
the dimension of said thermal-exchange surface in a secondary direction, perpendicular to the cooling direction of the cooling system, increases in the cooling direction.
11 . The cooling system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein an orthogonal projection of the thermal-exchange surface onto a plane parallel to the first surface is substantially in a shape of a funnel oriented along an axis parallel to the cooling direction.
12 . The cooling system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein a contour of said funnel shape is defined by a mathematical law 1/X.
13 . The cooling system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the thermal interface has a constant thickness.
14 . An electrical power supply system for an electric or hybrid vehicle, comprising:
a battery and the cooling system as claimed in claim 10 ,
wherein the battery is in contact with or close to the thermal interface of the cooling system.
15 . The electrical power supply system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein:
the battery comprises several identical modules distributed in the secondary direction, and
the thermal-exchange surface of the cooling system comprises a set of unitary surfaces having a longitudinal axis parallel to the cooling direction, at least one unitary surface being arranged between each module and the cooling device.
16 . The electrical power supply system as claimed in claim 15 , wherein:
each module has a longitudinal axis of symmetry parallel to the cooling direction, and comprises a set of cells arranged perpendicularly to said longitudinal axis of symmetry and distributed uniformly along said longitudinal axis of symmetry, and
within a given module, a contact area between a first cell and the at least one unitary surface is smaller than a contact area between a second cell, located further downstream than the first cell, and the at least one unitary surface.
17 . The electrical power supply system as claimed in claim 15 , wherein all of the unitary surfaces of the thermal interface are identical.
18 . An electric or hybrid vehicle comprising the electrical power supply system as claimed in claim 14 .