CN114824673A

CN114824673A - Battery connection module

Info

Publication number: CN114824673A
Application number: CN202110113292.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林勇; 曾尚秀; 林健兴
Original assignee: Molex Interconnect Chengdu Co Ltd; Molex LLC
Current assignee: Molex Interconnect Chengdu Co Ltd; Molex LLC
Priority date: 2021-01-27
Filing date: 2021-01-27
Publication date: 2022-07-29
Also published as: TWI760150B; TW202230868A

Abstract

The invention provides a battery connection module. The battery connection module is adapted to connect a plurality of batteries. The battery connection module comprises a bearing plate, a plurality of bus pieces, at least one flexible flat cable, a connector and a switching circuit board. The plurality of bus bars are assembled on the bearing plate and are used for being connected with the plurality of batteries. The flexible flat cable is assembled on the bearing disc, and the conductor of the flexible flat cable is mechanically and electrically connected with the bus piece. The adapting circuit board is mechanically and electrically connected between the flexible flat cable and the connector. The flexible flat cable and the connector of the battery connecting module are electrically connected through the adapter circuit board, so that the connector is not required to be directly connected with the flexible flat cable or be assembled and connected with each conductor on the flexible flat cable one by one, and one connector can be connected with more than two flexible flat cables through one adapter circuit board.

Description

Battery connection module

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a battery connection module, and more particularly, to a battery connection module for connecting batteries in series and having a detection function.

Background

In recent years, chinese invention patent publication No. CN102751465B (corresponding to japanese patent laid-open No. JP 2012-226969) discloses a battery module in which a flexible flat cable forms each exposed portion of the first connection portion by dividing an insulating coating between conductors and peeling a terminal of the conductor from a terminal of the insulating coating, and the conductor and the terminal of the insulating coating are bent in the width direction by folding back the insulating coating and the conductor so that the exposed portion is connected to an electrical signal detection portion having electrical conductivity connected to an electrode terminal connection member.

However, since the end of each flexible flat cable can be connected to only one electrical connector, that is, when the number of the flexible flat cables is two, two electrical connectors are required to be connected to the end of each flexible flat cable. In addition, the electrical connector can be connected only to the end of the flexible flat cable, and the electrical connector needs to use piercing-shaped contacts, and each contact needs to be connected to the end of each conductor of the flexible flat cable, which causes inconvenience in assembly work and is not favorable for assembly production.

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a battery connection module that ameliorates at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.

Therefore, in some embodiments, the battery connection module of the present invention is suitable for connecting a plurality of batteries, and the battery connection module includes a carrier tray, a plurality of bus bars, at least one flexible flat cable, a connector, and an adapter circuit board. The plurality of bus bars are assembled on the bearing plate and are used for being connected with the plurality of batteries. The flexible flat cable is assembled on the bearing disc, and the conductor of the flexible flat cable is mechanically and electrically connected with the bus piece. The adapting circuit board is mechanically and electrically connected between the flexible flat cable and the connector.

In some embodiments, the adapting circuit board is a hard circuit board, and the flexible flat cable has a circuit board connecting end connected to the adapting circuit board and two branch flat cables extending from the circuit board connecting end in opposite directions along the tray surface of the carrier tray.

In some embodiments, the connector comprises at least two flexible flat cables spaced apart from each other, and the circuit board connecting ends of the two flexible flat cables are respectively connected to the adapter circuit board.

In some embodiments, the adapting circuit board is vertically arranged relative to the two branch flat cables of the flexible flat cables, and the circuit board connecting end portion of the flexible flat cables is also vertically arranged relative to the two branch flat cables and connected to the adapting circuit board.

In some embodiments, the flexible flat cable has a plurality of connecting bars distributed in the two branch flat cables, the connecting bars are mechanically and electrically connected to the corresponding bus bars, and the ends of the connecting bars are exposed to the conductors connected to the corresponding bus bars.

In some embodiments, at least one of the connecting bars is bent to connect the end of the connecting bar to the corresponding bus bar.

In some embodiments, a sensor is disposed at an end of at least one of the plurality of connecting strips.

In some embodiments, the connector has a circuit board mounting surface disposed on the adapter circuit board and a socket opposite to the circuit board mounting surface, and the socket faces in a direction parallel to the tray surface of the carrier tray.

In some embodiments, the carrier tray is provided with a connector assembly seat for assembling the connector, and a guiding structure and a buckling structure are arranged between the connector and the connector assembly seat.

In some embodiments, the connector is assembled to the connector assembling seat of the carrier tray along an assembling direction, the guiding structure includes a protrusion and a groove respectively formed on the connector and the connector assembling seat and respectively engaged with each other, the protrusion and the groove extend along the assembling direction, and the locking structure includes a locking block and a locking hole respectively formed on the connector and the connector assembling seat and respectively locked with each other.

The flexible flat cable and the connector of the battery connecting module are electrically connected through the adapter circuit board, so that the connector is not required to be directly connected with the flexible flat cable or be assembled and connected with each conductor on the flexible flat cable one by one, and one connector can be connected with more than two flexible flat cables through one adapter circuit board. In addition, the two branch flat cables of the flexible flat cable which are formed by separating each other in a cutting mode and extend towards the opposite direction enable the connector to be arranged at the junction of the two branch flat cables, namely enable the connector to be arranged between the two ends of the flexible flat cable, and flexibility of the arrangement position of the connector is improved. Furthermore, the adapter circuit board is vertically arranged relative to the branch flat cable of the flexible flat cable, so that the plug interface of the connector can face the direction parallel to the disc surface of the bearing disc.

Drawings

Other features and effects of the present invention will be apparent from the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a battery connection module and battery pack and end plates of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment;

fig. 4 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the embodiment for illustrating the connection bar of the flex cable of the embodiment;

fig. 5 is another enlarged partial perspective view of the embodiment for illustrating the connecting bars of the flex cable of the embodiment;

fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the flex cable, the adapting circuit board and the connector according to the embodiment; and

fig. 7 is a partially enlarged exploded perspective view of the embodiment to explain the connector and the connector assembly base of the embodiment.

The reference numbers are as follows:

100 cell connection module

1 bearing plate

11 bus bar fitting part

12 soft flat cable mounting part

13 assembling seat for connector

131 assembling wall

131a supporting part

131b assembling part

131c shoulder

2 bus bar

20 output connector

21 Battery connecting part

22 buffer part

3 soft flat cable

31 circuit board connection terminal

32 branch flat cable

33 connecting strip

34 sensor

4 switching circuit board

41 setting surface

5 connector

51 casing

511 circuit board mounting surface

512 interface

52 terminal

521 fixed part

522 tail part

523 butt joint part

6 guide structure

61 convex strip

62 groove

7 fastener structure

71 latch block

72 hole

200 battery pack

201 battery

300 end plate

D1 front-back direction

D2 left and right direction

D3 vertical direction

C conductor

L line

S-shaped cutting seam

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, an embodiment of the battery connection module 100 of the present invention is adapted to be electrically connected to a battery pack 200, the battery pack 200 has a plurality of batteries 201, in the embodiment, the plurality of batteries 201 of the battery pack 200 are arranged in a row, and the battery pack 200 is located between two end plates 300. The battery connection module 100 includes a carrier tray 1, a plurality of bus bars 2, two flexible flat cables 3, a switching circuit board 4 and a connector 5.

The tray 1 extends in a front-rear direction D1 (in which the direction of the arrow is front and the reverse direction is rear) and a left-right direction D2 (in which the direction of the arrow is right and the reverse direction is left) and is adapted to be disposed on the battery pack 200 in an up-down direction D3 (in which the direction of the arrow is up and the reverse direction is down), and is made of an insulating material. The tray surface of the carrier tray 1 has two bus bar mounting portions 11 extending along the left-right direction D2 and spaced side by side in the front-rear direction D1, and a flexible flat cable mounting portion 12 extending along the left-right direction D2 and located between the two bus bar mounting portions 11. The plurality of bus bars 2 are arranged along the left-right direction D2 and are disposed on the two bus bar mounting portions 11 of the carrier tray 1 in two rows in the front-back direction D1, and each bus bar 2 has a plurality of battery connecting portions 21 arranged along the left-right direction D2 and adapted to be connected to the electrodes of the batteries 201, and a plurality of buffer portions 22 located between the adjacent battery connecting portions 21 and protruding upward and extending along the front-back direction D1. The battery connecting portion 21 may be connected to the electrode of the battery 201 by welding, for example. The cells 201 of the battery pack 200 can be connected in series with each other by a plurality of bus bars 2 connected to the electrodes of the cells 201 of the battery pack 200, and the bus bars 2 at the ends of the overall circuit can be configured as output connectors 20.

Referring to fig. 2 to 6, the Flexible Flat Cable 3(FFC, Flexible Flat Cable) is formed by sandwiching a Flat and Flexible conductor C (usually a tin-plated Flat copper wire) with an insulating material (or a thin and Flexible adhesive film or paper film) and pressing the conductor C, and the Flexible Flat Cable 3 can be cut and folded according to the length and the number of the inner conductors C. The two flexible flat cables 3 are spaced apart from each other along the front-back direction D1 and are assembled on the flexible flat cable mounting portion 12 of the carrier tray 1 adjacent to the two rows of bus bars 2, respectively. The conductor C of each flexible flat cable 3 is mechanically and electrically connected to the corresponding bus bar 2, and in detail, each flexible flat cable 3 has a circuit board connection end 31, and two branch flat cables 32 extending from the circuit board connection end 31 along the left-right direction D2 reversely along the disk surface of the carrier tray 1 to be arranged on the flexible flat cable mounting portion 12 on the disk surface of the carrier tray 1, the two branch flat cables 32 are separated from each other by cutting and bent reversely, the circuit board connection end 31 of the flexible flat cable 3 is substantially perpendicular to the two branch flat cables 32, is upright relative to the two branch flat cables 32, and extends along the up-down direction D3. In addition, although the number of the flexible flat cables 3 is two in the present embodiment, in other embodiments, the number of the flexible flat cables 3 may be only one, and the number of the branch flat cables 32 may be two or more.

Each flexible flat cable 3 has a plurality of connecting bars 33 formed by cutting and distributed on the two branch flat cables 32, the connecting bars 33 are mechanically and electrically connected to the corresponding bus bar 2, and the ends of the connecting bars 33 are exposed to be connected to the conductors C of the corresponding bus bar 2. In detail, the connecting bar 33 is cut along a cutting slit S parallel to the left-right direction D2 and extends toward the corresponding bus bar 2 after being bent, so that the end of the connecting bar 33 is connected to the corresponding bus bar 2. In addition, a sensor 34 is provided at the end of one of the connecting bars 33 and the sensor 34 directly faces the bus bar 2, the sensor 34 may be, for example, a temperature sensor or a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) thermistor, and the sensor 34 may be further covered with, for example, a thermally conductive adhesive. The connecting strip 33 for arranging the temperature sensor 34 has two conductors C for connecting said sensor 34 for temperature acquisition, in another embodiment a third conductor C for voltage acquisition may be added. In another embodiment, the same bus bar 2 can also be connected to a connecting bar 33 with said sensor 34 for temperature acquisition and another connecting bar 33 for voltage acquisition. It should be noted that the number of the connection bars provided with the sensor 34 may be adjusted according to the requirement.

The adapting circuit board 4 is mechanically and electrically connected between the two flexible flat cables 3 and the connector 5. The adapting circuit board 4 is a hard circuit board in this embodiment. The adapting circuit board 4 is upright relative to the branch flat cables 32 of the two flexible flat cables 3 and extends along the up-down direction D3 and the front-back direction D1, the adapting circuit board 4 has a mounting surface 41 facing to the right, the mounting surface 41 has circuits L (see fig. 6, only some of which are shown for simplicity of drawing), and the left and right ends of the mounting surface 41 are connected to the circuit board connecting end portions 31 of the two flexible flat cables 3 respectively. In detail, the conductors C connected to the corresponding bus bars 2 extend to the circuit board connection ends 31 of the two flexible flat cables 3 to be connected with the lines L of the installation surface 41 of the relay circuit board 4.

Referring to fig. 4 to 7, the connector 5 includes a housing 51 and a plurality of terminals 52, the housing 51 has a circuit board mounting surface 511 disposed on the mounting surface 41 of the adapting circuit board 4 and a socket 512 opposite to the circuit board mounting surface 511, and the socket 512 faces in a direction parallel to the disc surface of the carrier tray 1 and faces rightward. The terminals 52 are disposed in the housing 51, and each terminal 52 has a fixing portion 521 fixed to the housing 51, a tail portion 522 extending from the fixing portion 521 and penetrating through the adapting circuit board 4 via the circuit board mounting surface 511 of the housing 51 to connect the circuit L, and a docking portion 523 extending from the fixing portion 521 to the socket 512 of the housing 51. The connector 5, the adapting circuit board 4 and the circuit board connecting end 31 are located at the junction of the two branch flat cables 32, that is, the connector 5 can be disposed between the two ends of the flexible flat cable 3. The terminals 52 of the connector 5 are electrically connected to the conductors C of the flexible flat cables 3 through the lines L on the adapting circuit board 4. since the flexible flat cables 3 and the connector 5 are electrically connected through the adapting circuit board 4, the connector 5 does not need to be directly connected to the flexible flat cables 3 or assembled and connected with the conductors C of the flexible flat cables 3 one by one, and one connector 5 can be connected to more than two flexible flat cables 3 through one adapting circuit board 4. In addition, the two branch flat cables 32 of the flexible flat cable 3, which are formed by separating from each other in a cutting manner and extend in opposite directions, enable the connector 5 to be disposed at the junction of the two branch flat cables 32, that is, enable the connector 5 to be disposed between the two ends of the flexible flat cable 3, thereby increasing the flexibility of the installation position of the connector 5 (the position of the connector 5 can be changed by adjusting the lengths of the two branch flat cables 32 as required). It should be noted that the two flexible flat cables 3 can collect status information (e.g. temperature, voltage, etc.) of the batteries 201 of the battery pack 200, and the connector 5 connected to the adapting circuit board 4 and the two flexible flat cables 3 can transmit the status information to a battery 201 management device (not shown) connected to the connector 5.

In addition, a connector assembly seat 13 for assembling the connector 5 is integrally provided at the flexible flat cable mounting portion 12 of the carrier tray 1, and a guide structure 6 and a locking structure 7 are provided between the connector 5 and the connector assembly seat 13. The assembly seat 13 for connector has two assembly walls 131 arranged side by side at an interval along the front-back direction D1, each assembly wall 131 has a supporting portion 131a extending upward from the carrier tray 1 and having a relatively large wall thickness, an assembly portion 131b extending upward from the end of the supporting portion 131a and having a relatively small wall thickness, and a shoulder portion 131c formed at a step between the supporting portion 131a and the assembly portion 131b and facing inward. The connector 5 is disposed on the assembling portion 131b of the two assembling walls 131 and supported by the shoulder portions 131c of the two assembling walls 131. Specifically, the connector 5 is assembled to the connector assembly seat 13 of the carrier tray 1 downward along the vertical direction D3 (assembly direction), the guide structure 6 includes a plurality of protruding strips 61 formed on both sides of the housing 51 of the connector 5, and a plurality of recessed grooves 62 formed in the assembly portion 131b of the assembly wall 131 of the connector assembly seat 13, extending to the shoulder portion 131c, and corresponding to the protruding strips 61, and the protruding strips 61 and the recessed grooves 62 extend along the vertical direction D3 (assembly direction). The locking structure 7 includes two locking blocks 71 formed on two sides of the housing 51 of the connector 5, and two locking holes 72 respectively formed on the assembling portions 131b of the two assembling walls 131 of the assembling seat 13 for the connector and locked with the two locking blocks 71. For the connector 5 and the assembling seat 13 for the connector, the protruding strips 61 and the grooves 62 of the guiding structure 6 can provide guiding and limiting effects, and the latch 71 and the latch hole 72 of the latching structure 7 can provide latching and fixing effects. The convex strip 61 may be an assembling portion 131b formed on the assembling wall 131 of the assembling seat 13 for the connector, and the concave groove 62 may be formed on the housing 51 of the connector 5; the latch 71 may be an assembling portion 131b formed on an assembling wall 131 of the assembling seat 13 for the connector, and the latch hole 72 may be formed in the housing 51 of the connector 5.

To sum up, the flexible flat cables 3 and the connectors 5 of the battery connection module 100 of the present invention are electrically connected by the adapting circuit board 4, so that the connectors 5 do not directly connect the flexible flat cables 3 or individually assemble and connect with the conductors C on the flexible flat cables 3, and one connector 5 can connect more than two flexible flat cables 3 through one adapting circuit board 4. In addition, the two branch flat cables 32 of the flexible flat cable 3, which are formed by separating from each other in a cutting manner and extend in opposite directions, enable the connector 5 to be disposed at the junction of the two branch flat cables 32, that is, enable the connector 5 to be disposed between the two ends of the flexible flat cable 3, thereby increasing the flexibility of the disposition position of the connector 5. Furthermore, the adapting circuit board 4 is vertically disposed relative to the branch flat cable 32 of the flexible flat cable 3, so that the socket 512 of the connector 5 can face a direction parallel to the plate surface of the carrier plate 1.

However, the above description is only an example of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention should not be limited thereby, and all the simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims and the content of the specification should be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A battery connection module adapted to connect a plurality of batteries, the battery connection module comprising:

a carrying tray;

a plurality of bus bars assembled on the carrier tray and connected to the plurality of batteries;

at least one flexible flat cable assembled on the bearing disc, wherein the conductor of the flexible flat cable is mechanically and electrically connected with the bus piece;

a connector; and

an adapting circuit board, which is mechanically and electrically connected between the flexible flat cable and the connector.

2. The battery connection module according to claim 1, wherein the adapting circuit board is a hard circuit board, the flexible flat cable has a circuit board connection end connected to the adapting circuit board, and two branch flat cables extending from the circuit board connection end in opposite directions along the tray surface of the carrier tray.

3. The battery connection module according to claim 2, comprising at least two flexible flat cables spaced apart from each other, the circuit board connection ends of the two flexible flat cables being connected to the adapting circuit board, respectively.

4. The battery connection module according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the adapting circuit board is vertically arranged with respect to the two branch flat cables of the flat cable, and the circuit board connection end of the flat cable is also vertically arranged with respect to the two branch flat cables and connected to the adapting circuit board.

5. The battery connection module according to claim 4, wherein the flexible flat cable has a plurality of connection bars distributed in the two branch flat cables, the plurality of connection bars are mechanically and electrically connected to the corresponding bus bars, and ends of the connection bars are exposed to be connected to conductors of the corresponding bus bars.

6. The battery connection module according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the plurality of connection bars is bent such that the end of the at least one connection bar is connected to the corresponding bus bar.

7. The battery connection module according to claim 5, wherein a sensor is provided at an end of at least one of the plurality of connection bars.

8. The battery connection module of claim 4, wherein the connector has a circuit board mounting surface disposed on the adapter circuit board and a socket opposite to the circuit board mounting surface, the socket facing in a direction parallel to the tray surface of the carrier tray.

9. The battery connection module according to claim 1, wherein the tray is provided with a connector assembly seat for assembling the connector, and a guide structure and a locking structure are provided between the connector and the connector assembly seat.

10. The battery connecting module according to claim 9, wherein the connector is assembled to the connector assembly seat of the carrier tray along an assembly direction, the guiding structure includes a protrusion and a groove formed on the connector and the connector assembly seat respectively and engaged with each other, the protrusion and the groove extend along the assembly direction, and the engaging structure includes a engaging piece and an engaging hole formed on the connector and the connector assembly seat respectively and engaged with each other.