CN220106790U

CN220106790U - Ribbon assembly and battery module

Info

Publication number: CN220106790U
Application number: CN202321563563.2U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐志强; 魏丹伟; 胡雄; 刘争光; 谷秋雨; 刘晨南
Original assignee: Ningxia Baofeng Yuneng Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ningxia Baofeng Yuneng Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-06-19
Filing date: 2023-06-19
Publication date: 2023-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 2033-06-19

Abstract

The utility model provides a ribbon assembly and a battery module, and relates to the technical field of batteries. The end plate is provided with two at least, and two at least adjacent faces of end plate have seted up first slotted hole and second slotted hole respectively, and first slotted hole and second slotted hole intercommunication. The mounting band surrounds the end plate and is clamped with the end plate. The ribbon is provided with at least one, and the both opposite ends of ribbon all are equipped with joint portion, and first slotted hole is gone into to joint portion card, and joint portion and the looks joint of second slotted hole to make the ribbon follow first direction card income end plate. According to the ribbon assembly and the battery module, the structure of the ribbon assembly is improved, the ribbon and the mounting belt are arranged and assembled and mounted through the end plates, the clamping structure of the clamping part of the ribbon can be clamped on the end plates to prevent the ribbon from falling off, the mounting belt has a double fixing effect, the situation that the bundling is too tight or too loose is avoided, and the stability of the structure of the battery module is improved.

Description

Ribbon assembly and battery module

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of batteries, in particular to a ribbon assembly and a battery module.

Background

The battery module connects a plurality of single battery cells in series and parallel through the conductive connecting piece to form a power supply, and the power supply is fixed at a design position through a process and a structure to cooperatively exert the function of charging, discharging and storing electric energy. At present, one mode of forming a battery module by a plurality of single electric cores is to locate the single electric cores in a shell to form the battery module, the mode can lead the weight of the battery module to be larger and occupy more space, and the other mode is to adopt a bundling mode to bundle a plurality of electric cores into one battery module.

Generally, a plurality of battery cells are bundled into a battery module, but the common bundling mode is easy to cause the situation of too tight bundling or too loose bundling, when the bundling is too tight, the battery module is easy to damage due to the expansion force of the battery cells, and when the bundling is too loose, the battery cells are displaced or misplaced to influence the normal use of the battery module, and an improved bundling structure is needed for bundling the battery module.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to overcome the defects in the prior art, the utility model aims to provide the ribbon assembly and the battery module, the structure of the ribbon assembly is improved, the ribbon and the mounting belt are assembled and mounted through the end plates, the ribbon can be clamped on the end plates to prevent the ribbon from falling off, the mounting belt has a double fixing effect, the situation that the bundling is too tight or too loose is avoided, the stability of the structure of the battery module is improved, and therefore the mounting and assembly effects of the ribbon assembly are improved.

A first aspect of the present utility model provides a tie assembly comprising an end plate, a mounting strap and a tie.

The end plate is provided with two at least, at least two adjacent faces of the end plate are respectively provided with a first slotted hole and a second slotted hole, and the first slotted hole is communicated with the second slotted hole. The installation area is provided with at least one, the installation area encircle in the end plate and with the end plate looks joint. The ribbon is provided with at least one, the both opposite ends of ribbon all are equipped with joint portion, joint portion card is gone into first slotted hole, just joint portion with the pore wall looks joint of second slotted hole, so that the ribbon is gone into along first direction card end plate.

In one possible embodiment of the present utility model, the two end plates are disposed opposite to each other along a first direction, a first end face is disposed on a side of the end plate facing away from the ribbon, two opposite ends of the first end face along a second direction are respectively provided with a second slot hole, the first slot holes are disposed on adjacent surfaces of the first end face, and the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

In one possible embodiment of the present utility model, the second slot is in a rectangular structure, a diamond structure or a trapezoid structure; and/or the first slotted hole is in a rectangular structure, a diamond structure or a trapezoid structure.

In one possible embodiment of the present utility model, the central axis of the second slot is perpendicular to the central axis of the first slot.

In one possible embodiment of the present utility model, the clamping portion includes a fixing block and a clamping strip, the clamping strip is disposed at an end of the fixing block away from the ribbon, and the fixing block extends along a direction approaching the end plate and is clamped into the first slot hole so that the clamping strip is clamped in the second slot hole.

In one possible embodiment of the present utility model, two opposite sides of the end plate are provided with limiting grooves, the mounting belt is clamped in the limiting grooves, and the mounting belt is in a ring structure and surrounds the end plate.

In one possible embodiment of the present utility model, the end plate is provided with a plurality of through grooves forming a hollow structure, and the through grooves are arranged side by side.

In one possible embodiment of the present utility model, the band is in a strip structure or a ribbon structure, the band is made of nylon material and is stretched into a straight line structure, and the band is disposed on two opposite sides of the end plates and is located between the two end plates, so as to form a frame structure.

In one possible embodiment of the present utility model, the mounting strap is a metal strap or a non-metal strap, wherein the metal strap is made of a metal material, and the non-metal strap is made of a non-metal material.

The second aspect of the utility model provides a battery module, which comprises a plurality of electric cells and a ribbon assembly, wherein the electric cells are arranged in parallel, and the ribbon assembly is used for bundling the electric cells.

Compared with the prior art, the utility model has the beneficial effects that: ribbon subassembly and battery module improve ribbon subassembly's structure, through setting up ribbon and installation area and through end plate assembly installation, the joint structure of the joint portion of ribbon can prevent that the ribbon from droing on the end plate, is provided with the installation area and plays dual fixed action, avoids the condition that the bundling is too tight or the bundling is too loose to appear, improves battery module's structure's steadiness to promote ribbon subassembly's installation assembly effect.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present utility model, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present utility model and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and other related drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a band assembly and a battery module according to some embodiments of the present utility model;

fig. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an assembled and disassembled structure of a band assembly and a battery module according to some embodiments of the present utility model;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an assembled exploded construction of a tie assembly provided in some embodiments of the present utility model;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a tie provided in some embodiments of the present utility model;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic view of the portion A of FIG. 4 showing the clamping portion of the twist tie provided in some embodiments of the present utility model;

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of an end plate provided in some embodiments of the utility model;

fig. 7 is an enlarged schematic view of the end plate provided in some embodiments of the utility model showing the portion B of fig. 6.

A prime symbol description;

a 100-tie assembly; 110-a tie; 111-a clamping part; 1111-a fixed block; 1112-clip strips; 120-end plates; 121-a first slot; 122-a second slot; 123-a first end face; 124-limit grooves; 125-through grooves; 130-mounting a belt; 200-battery module.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present utility model more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present utility model, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present utility model, but not all embodiments of the present utility model. The components of the embodiments of the present utility model generally described and illustrated in the figures herein may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.

Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the utility model, as presented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the utility model, as claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the utility model. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the utility model without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the utility model.

It should be noted that: like reference numerals and letters denote like items in the following figures, and thus once an item is defined in one figure, no further definition or explanation thereof is necessary in the following figures.

In the description of the present utility model, it should be noted that, directions or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., are directions or positional relationships based on those shown in the drawings, or are directions or positional relationships conventionally put in use of the inventive product, are merely for convenience of describing the present utility model and simplifying the description, and are not indicative or implying that the apparatus or element to be referred to must have a specific direction, be constructed and operated in a specific direction, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present utility model. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used merely to distinguish between descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Furthermore, the terms "horizontal," "vertical," "overhang," and the like do not denote a requirement that the component be absolutely horizontal or overhang, but rather may be slightly inclined. As "horizontal" merely means that its direction is more horizontal than "vertical", and does not mean that the structure must be perfectly horizontal, but may be slightly inclined.

In the description of the present utility model, it should also be noted that, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "disposed," "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communication between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present utility model will be understood in specific cases by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Some embodiments of the present utility model are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.

Example 1

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, an embodiment of the present utility model provides a tie assembly 100, which is mainly used to tie a plurality of battery cells into one battery module 200, the tie assembly 100 including an end plate 120, a mounting strap 130, and a tie 110.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, the end plate 120 is provided with two adjacent surfaces of the end plate 120 are respectively provided with a first slot 121 and a second slot 122, the first slot 121 is communicated with the second slot 122, and further, the first slots 121 arranged at intervals are communicated with the second slot 122, in this case, the first slots 121 and the second slots 122 are used for clamping the ribbon 110, and perform fixing and limiting effects, so that the ribbon 110 is clamped to the end plate 120.

In this embodiment, at least one mounting band 130 is disposed, the mounting band 130 surrounds the end plate 120 and is clamped with the end plate 120, preferably, two mounting bands 130 are disposed at two opposite ends of the end plate 120 along the first direction. The ribbon 110 is provided with at least one, the both opposite ends of ribbon 110 all are equipped with joint portion 111, joint portion 111 card goes into first slotted hole 121, and joint portion 111 and the pore wall looks joint of second slotted hole 122, so that ribbon 110 card goes into end plate 120 along first direction, still further, ribbon 110 is provided with two, two ribbon 110 divide to locate the opposite sides of end plate 120 along the second direction, preferably, ribbon 110 is provided with four, wherein the opposite sides of end plate 120 are equipped with two ribbon 110 respectively, and two ribbon 110 are parallel arrangement, thereby improve the structure of ribbon subassembly 100, it is convenient to install, through setting up ribbon 110 and installation area 130 and through end plate 120 assembly installation, the joint structure of joint portion 111 of ribbon 110 can the joint prevent ribbon 110 and drop on end plate 120, be provided with installation area 130 and play double fixing action, avoid the condition that the bundling is too tight or the bundling is too loose, improve the steadiness of the structure of battery module 200, thereby promote the installation assembly 100.

Referring to fig. 3 and 6, the two end plates 120 are oppositely disposed along a first direction, one side of the end plate 120 facing away from the ribbon 110 is a first end face 123, two opposite ends of the first end face 123 along a second direction are both provided with second slots 122, and the first slots 121 are disposed on adjacent faces of the first end face 123, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, and accordingly, the first direction in this embodiment is shown in fig. 1 as a direction parallel to or perpendicular to a side edge of the ribbon assembly 100, and the second direction is shown in fig. 1 and 6 as a direction parallel to or perpendicular to a side edge of the ribbon assembly 100.

In this embodiment, the second slot 122 is preferably rectangular, diamond-shaped or trapezoid; and/or the first slot 121 may have a rectangular structure, a diamond structure, or a trapezoid structure. Namely, the first scheme is that the first slot 121 and the second slot 122 are respectively one of rectangular structures, diamond structures or trapezoid structures; in the second embodiment, the first slot 121 is one of a rectangular structure, a diamond structure or a trapezoid structure, or the second slot 122 is one of a rectangular structure, a diamond structure or a trapezoid structure.

In this embodiment, preferably, the central axis of the second slot 122 is perpendicular to the central axis of the first slot 121, which is beneficial to the arrangement and manufacture of the first slot 121 and the second slot 122, and in short, the clamping structure formed by the first slot 121 and the second slot 122 formed on the end plate 120 and the clamping portion 111 can firmly clamp the band 110 on the end plate 120 to prevent the band 110 from falling off.

Referring to fig. 4, the band 110 is in a bar-shaped structure or a band-shaped structure, the band 110 is made of nylon material and is extended in a straight line-shaped structure, and simultaneously, the band 110 is disposed at two opposite sides of the end plates 120 and between the two end plates 120, thereby forming a frame structure, being simple and quick to install on a production site, and improving the structural stability of the binding battery module 200 without using complex operation procedures such as a packer, thereby improving the installation and assembly effects of the band assembly 100.

In this embodiment, the mounting band 130 is a metal band or a non-metal band, and the metal band is made of a metal material, preferably, the metal band is a steel band, or a non-metal band is used, and the non-metal band is made of a non-metal material.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, the structure of the band assembly 100 is improved, the band 110 and the mounting band 130 are arranged and assembled through the end plate 120, the clamping structure of the clamping part 111 of the band 110 can be clamped on the end plate 120 to prevent the band 110 from falling off, the mounting band 130 is arranged to play a double fixing role, the situation that the binding is too tight or too loose is avoided, the stability of the structure of the battery module 200 is improved, and therefore the installation and assembly effects of the band assembly 100 are improved.

Example 2

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, another ribbon assembly 100 is provided, in which the ribbon assembly 100 is mainly used to bundle a plurality of battery cells into one battery module 200, and the ribbon assembly 100 includes an end plate 120, a mounting band 130, and a ribbon 110.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, the end plate 120 is provided with two adjacent surfaces of the end plate 120 are respectively provided with a first slot 121 and a second slot 122, the first slot 121 is communicated with the second slot 122, preferably, two adjacent surfaces of two opposite sides of the end plate 120 along the second direction are respectively provided with the first slot 121 and the second slot 122, the number of the first slot 121 and the second slot 122 corresponds to the number of the bands 110, further, a plurality of first slots 121 arranged at intervals are respectively communicated with the second slot 122, and further, two first slots 121 arranged at intervals correspond to one second slot 122 and are respectively communicated with the second slot 122, in this case, the first slots 121 and the second slots 122 are used for clamping the bands 110, so that the bands 110 are clamped on the end plate 120.

In this embodiment, fig. 7 is an enlarged structure diagram of the portion B in fig. 6, at least one mounting band 130 is provided, the mounting band 130 surrounds the end plate 120 and is clamped with the end plate 120, preferably, two mounting bands 130 are provided, and the two mounting bands 130 are respectively provided at two opposite ends of the end plate 120 along the first direction. Referring to fig. 7, at least one band 110 is provided, two opposite ends of the band 110 are respectively provided with a clamping portion 111, the clamping portions 111 are clamped into the first slots 121, and the clamping portions 111 are clamped with the walls of the second slots 122, so that the band 110 is clamped into the end plate 120 along the first direction, further, two bands 110 are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the end plate 120 along the second direction, preferably, four bands 110 are provided, two bands 110 are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the end plate 120, and the two bands 110 are arranged in parallel, so that the structure of the band assembly 100 is improved, the installation is convenient, the band 110 and the installation band 130 are assembled and installed through the end plate 120, the band 110 can be prevented from falling off from the end plate 120 by the clamping structure of the clamping portions 111 of the band 110, the installation band 130 is provided to play a double fixing role, the situation of over-tightening or over-loosening of the band is avoided, the structure of the battery module 200 is improved, and therefore the installation assembly effect of the band assembly 100 is improved.

Referring to fig. 3 and 6, the two end plates 120 are oppositely disposed along a first direction, one side of the end plate 120 facing away from the ribbon 110 is a first end face 123, two opposite ends of the first end face 123 along a second direction are both provided with second slots 122, the first slots 121 are disposed on adjacent faces of the first end face 123, the first slots 121 are communicated with the second slots 122 and are used for being engaged with the engaging portions 111 in a matching manner, so as to prevent the ribbon 110 from falling off, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, and accordingly, the first direction shown in the embodiment is a direction parallel to or perpendicular to a side edge of the ribbon assembly 100, and the second direction is a direction parallel to or perpendicular to a side edge of the ribbon assembly 100, as shown in fig. 1 and 6.

In this embodiment, the second slot 122 has a rectangular structure, a diamond structure or a trapezoid structure; and/or the first slot 121 may have a rectangular structure, a diamond structure, or a trapezoid structure. Namely, the first scheme is that the first slot 121 and the second slot 122 are respectively one of rectangular structures, diamond structures or trapezoid structures; in the second embodiment, the first slot 121 is one of a rectangular structure, a diamond structure or a trapezoid structure, or the second slot 122 is one of a rectangular structure, a diamond structure or a trapezoid structure.

In the embodiment, the central axis of the second slot 122 is perpendicular to the central axis of the first slot 121, which is beneficial to the arrangement and manufacture of the first slot 121 and the second slot 122, and in short, the clamping structure formed by the first slot 121 and the second slot 122 formed on the end plate 120 and the clamping portion 111 can firmly clamp the band 110 on the end plate 120 to prevent the band 110 from falling off.

Referring to fig. 4 and 5, fig. 5 is an enlarged structure diagram of the portion a in fig. 4, and is different from embodiment 1 in that the clamping portion 111 includes a fixing block 1111 and a clamping bar 1112, the clamping bar 1112 is disposed at an end of the fixing block 1111 far away from the ribbon 110, the fixing block 1111 extends along a direction close to the end plate 120 and is clamped into the first slot 121 so that the clamping bar 1112 is clamped into the second slot 122, so that the clamping portion 111 is clamped into the end plate 120, and accordingly, the sizes of the first slot 121 and the second slot 122 are not limited, so as to match the size of the clamping portion 111.

Referring to fig. 2 and 6, the difference from embodiment 1 is that both opposite sides of the end plate 120 are provided with the limiting grooves 124, the mounting band 130 is clamped to the limiting grooves 124, the mounting band 130 is in a ring structure and surrounds the end plate 120, preferably, the mounting band 130 is in a rectangular ring structure for being matched with the battery module 200 and sleeved on the end plate 120, in other words, the mounting band 130 surrounds the end plate 120 and is clamped to the end plate 120 through the limiting grooves 124, and as the shape and size of the mounting band 130 are kept unchanged, the double fixing limiting and bundling effects are achieved, the situation of too tight bundling or too loose bundling is avoided, and the stability of the structure of the battery module 200 is improved.

In this embodiment, the difference from embodiment 1 is that the end plate 120 is provided with a plurality of through grooves 125 to form a hollow structure, the plurality of through grooves 125 are arranged side by side, and the arrangement of the through grooves 125 plays a role in weight reduction, so that the weight of the end plate 120 is reduced, and the weight of the whole tie assembly 100 is reduced.

Referring to fig. 4, the ribbon 110 is in a strip structure or a ribbon structure, the ribbon 110 is made of nylon material and is stretched into a linear structure, in an exemplary embodiment, the ribbon 110 is made of nylon-66 material, an integrated injection molding piece is selected for the ribbon 110, the maximum tensile strength is not lower than 3000N, so as to meet the requirement of a working site on the bundling force of the battery module 200, and meanwhile, the ribbon 110 is arranged on two opposite sides of the end plates 120 and is positioned between the two end plates 120, so that a frame structure is formed, the production site is simple and convenient to install, complex operation procedures such as a packer are not needed, the structural stability of the bundled battery module 200 is improved, and the installation and assembly effects of the ribbon assembly 100 are improved.

In this embodiment, the mounting band 130 is a metal band or a non-metal band, and the metal band is preferably a steel band, or the non-metal band is preferably a non-metal band, and it should be noted that the mounting band 130 made of a non-metal band can also be formed in a ring structure and surround the end plate 120.

In this embodiment, during the installation of the ribbon assembly 100, the plurality of electrical cores are fixed and pressurized by the end plate in parallel, and then the electrical cores are stopped after being pressed to a preset length, so that an operator can clamp the installation belt 130 into the limiting groove 124 of the end plate 120, and simultaneously clamp the clamping portion 111 of the ribbon 110 into the end plate 120, thereby completing the installation of the ribbon assembly 100.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, the structure of the band assembly 100 is improved by arranging the band 110 and the mounting band 130 and assembling and mounting the band through the end plate 120, the clamping part 111 is provided with the fixing block 1111 and the clamping strip 1112, which are beneficial to clamping the end plate 120, the clamping structure of the clamping part 111 of the band 110 can be clamped on the end plate 120 to prevent the band 110 from falling off, the mounting band 130 is arranged to play a double fixing role, the situation of too tight binding or too loose binding is avoided, the through groove 125 is arranged to play a weight reducing role, the weight of the end plate 120 is reduced, the weight of the whole band assembly 100 is reduced, the structural stability of the battery module 200 is improved, and the mounting and assembling effects of the band assembly 100 are improved.

Example 3

The embodiment of the present utility model further provides a battery module 200, which includes a plurality of electric cells, the plurality of electric cells are arranged in parallel, and the ribbon assembly 100 of embodiment 1 or embodiment 2 is further included, the ribbon assembly 100 is used for bundling the plurality of electric cells, and the battery module 200 with the ribbon assembly 100 for bundling the plurality of electric cells has all the advantages of the ribbon assembly 100, which are not described in detail herein.

Any particular values in all examples shown and described herein are to be construed as merely illustrative and not a limitation, and thus other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values.

The above examples merely represent a few embodiments of the present utility model, which are described in more detail and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present utility model. It should be noted that it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the utility model, which are all within the scope of the utility model.

Claims

1. A tie assembly, comprising:

the end plate is provided with at least two, at least two adjacent surfaces of the end plate are respectively provided with a first slotted hole and a second slotted hole, and the first slotted holes are communicated with the second slotted holes;

the mounting belt is at least provided with one, surrounds the end plate and is clamped with the end plate;

the ribbon, the ribbon is provided with one at least, the both opposite ends of ribbon all are equipped with joint portion, joint portion card is gone into first slotted hole, just joint portion with the pore wall looks joint of second slotted hole, so that the ribbon is gone into along first direction card end plate.

2. The tie assembly of claim 1, wherein the two end plates are disposed opposite each other in a first direction, a first end face is disposed on a side of the end plates facing away from the tie, second slots are disposed in opposite ends of the first end face in a second direction, the first slots are disposed on adjacent sides of the first end face, and the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

3. The tie assembly of claim 1, wherein the second slot is rectangular, diamond-shaped, or trapezoidal; and/or the first slotted hole is in a rectangular structure, a diamond structure or a trapezoid structure.

4. The tie assembly of claim 1, wherein a central axis of the second slot is disposed perpendicular to a central axis of the first slot.

5. The tie assembly of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the clamping portion includes a securing block and a clamping bar, the clamping bar being disposed at an end of the securing block remote from the tie, the securing block extending in a direction toward the end plate and being clamped into the first slot to clamp the clamping bar to the second slot.

6. The tie assembly of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the end plates are provided with limiting grooves on opposite sides thereof, the mounting strap being engaged with the limiting grooves, the mounting strap being of a loop-like configuration and encircling the end plates.

7. The tie assembly of any one of claims 1-4 wherein said end plate defines a plurality of channels forming a hollow structure, a plurality of said channels being disposed side-by-side.

8. The tie assembly of any one of claims 1-4 wherein said tie is in a strip or band configuration, said tie being made of nylon material and being stretched into a straight configuration, said tie being disposed one on each of opposite sides of said end plates and between said end plates to form a frame configuration.

9. The tie assembly of any one of claims 1-4 wherein the mounting strap is a metal strap made of a metallic material or a non-metal strap made of a non-metallic material.

10. A battery module comprising a plurality of cells, a plurality of said cells being arranged side by side, and a tie assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 for bundling a plurality of said cells.