CN220895732U

CN220895732U - Shell, end cover, battery monomer, battery, electric equipment and energy storage device

Info

Publication number: CN220895732U
Application number: CN202420292354.7U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 曹梦凯; 黄守君; 杨晓; 林蹬华; 蔡祥虎; 郑于炼; 王鹏
Original assignee: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2024-02-18
Filing date: 2024-02-18
Publication date: 2024-05-03
Anticipated expiration: 2034-02-18

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a shell, an end cover, a battery monomer, a battery, electric equipment and an energy storage device. The shell is provided with an opening at one end in a first direction, the shell comprises a first wall, the first wall comprises a first area and a second area which are arranged along the first direction, the first area is far away from the opening relative to the second area, and the maximum thickness of the first area is larger than that of the second area in the thickness direction of the first wall, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the thickness direction of the first wall. The technical scheme provided by the application can improve the reliability of the battery.

Description

Shell, end cover, battery monomer, battery, electric equipment and energy storage device

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of battery production, in particular to a shell, an end cover, a battery monomer, a battery, electric equipment and an energy storage device.

Background

Energy conservation and emission reduction are key to sustainable development of the automobile industry, and electric vehicles become an important component of sustainable development of the automobile industry due to the energy conservation and environmental protection advantages of the electric vehicles. For electric vehicles, battery technology is an important factor in the development of the electric vehicles.

In the development of battery technology, how to improve the reliability of a battery is a technical problem that needs to be solved in battery technology.

Disclosure of utility model

The application provides a battery monomer, a shell, an end cover, a battery, electric equipment and an energy storage device, which can improve the reliability of the battery.

The application is realized by the following technical scheme:

In a first aspect, the present application also provides a housing. The shell is provided with an opening at one end in a first direction, the shell comprises a first wall, the first wall comprises a first area and a second area which are arranged along the first direction, the first area is far away from the opening relative to the second area, and the maximum thickness of the first area is larger than that of the second area in the thickness direction of the first wall, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the thickness direction of the first wall.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the first wall of the shell comprises the first area and the second area in the first direction, the thickness of the second area close to the opening is smaller than that of the first area, namely, the second area is subjected to thickness reduction treatment, so that the size of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell is smaller when the shell is welded with the end cover, the risk that adjacent battery monomers are damaged by the welding area when the battery monomers form the battery is reduced, the reliability of the battery is improved, and meanwhile, the procedure of trimming the welding area due to the larger protruding size of the welding area is also reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

In some embodiments, the inner surface of the second region is coplanar with the inner surface of the first region in the first direction.

According to the technical scheme, the thickness of the second area is reduced inwards from the outside of the second area, so that the risk that adjacent battery cells are damaged by a welding area when the battery cells form a battery is reduced, the reliability of the battery is improved, and the demolding of the shell during processing is facilitated.

In some embodiments, the outer surface of the second region is in the same plane as the outer surface of the first region in the first direction.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the thickness of the second area is reduced from the inside to the outside, so that the risk of damaging adjacent battery cells when the battery cells form a battery in the welding area is reduced, and the reliability of the battery is improved.

In some embodiments, the second region has a dimension H ₁,H₁ that is greater than or equal to 0.1mm and H ₁ that is less than or equal to 2.3mm in the first direction.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the dimension of the second area in the first direction meets the range, so that the first area has a certain range in the first direction, the risk that adjacent battery cells are damaged when the battery cells form the welding area in the welding area can be reduced, the reliability of the battery is improved, and meanwhile, the shell has better structural strength.

In some embodiments, the second region has a maximum thickness D in the thickness direction of the first wall, the first region has a maximum thickness E, the ratio of D to E is greater than or equal to 0.7, and the ratio of D to E is less than 1.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the ratio of the maximum thickness X of the second area to the maximum thickness Y of the first area meets the range, so that the welding area protrudes out of the outer surface of the shell, the size is smaller, the reliability of the battery is improved, and the shell has better structural strength.

In some embodiments, a first step surface is formed between the first region and the second region, the first step surface having a dimension h ₁,h₁ of less than or equal to 0.3mm in a thickness direction of the first wall.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the size of the first step surface in the thickness direction of the first wall meets the range, so that the first step surface has a certain range in the thickness direction of the first wall, and the size of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell is smaller, thereby improving the reliability of the battery, and meanwhile, the shell has better structural strength.

In some embodiments, the first walls are two and the two first walls are disposed opposite in the second direction. The shell further comprises two second walls, the two second walls are oppositely arranged in the third direction, the two first walls and the two second walls enclose an opening, the first direction, the second direction and the third direction are perpendicular to each other, and the area of the outer surface of the second walls is larger than that of the outer surface of the first walls.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the second wall can be a large surface of the battery monomer, the thickness of the second area of the first wall is reduced, and the size of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell corresponding to the first wall is smaller, so that the reliability of the battery is improved.

In some embodiments, the second wall includes a third region and a fourth region arranged in the first direction, the third region being remote from the opening relative to the fourth region, the fourth region for connection with the end cap, the third region having a maximum thickness greater than a maximum thickness of the fourth region.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the thickness of the fourth area of the second wall is reduced, so that the size of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell corresponding to the second wall is smaller, and the reliability of the battery is improved.

In a second aspect, the present application also provides an end cap for connection with the housing of any of the embodiments of the first aspect to form a battery cell. In the second direction, the end cover is provided with a first outer side face, the first outer side face comprises a first surface and a second surface which are distributed in sequence along the first direction, the first direction is the direction of the end cover for closing the opening, the second surface protrudes out of the first surface along the second direction, and the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

According to the technical scheme, the first outer side face of the end cover comprises the first surface and the second surface in the first direction, the second surface protrudes out of the first surface in the second direction, namely, the end cover part corresponding to the first surface is subjected to thickness reduction treatment, and the notch of the end cover can be used for accommodating the welding area, so that the accommodating space of the welding area is increased, the size of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell is smaller when the end cover is welded with the shell, the risk that adjacent battery monomers are damaged by the welding area when the battery monomers form the battery is reduced, the reliability of the battery is improved, and meanwhile, the procedure of trimming the welding area due to the fact that the protruding size of the welding area is larger is also reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

In some embodiments, the first surface has a dimension H ₂,H₂ mm or greater than or equal to 0.5mm and H ₂ is less than or equal to 2.3mm in the first direction.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the dimension of the first surface in the first direction meets the range, so that the dimension of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell is smaller, the reliability of the battery is improved, and meanwhile, the end cover has better structural strength.

In some embodiments, a second step surface is formed between the first surface and the second surface, the second step surface having a second dimension h ₂,h₂ greater than or equal to 0.1mm and h ₂ less than or equal to 0.2mm in the second direction.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the dimension of the second step surface in the second direction meets the range, so that the dimension of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell is smaller, the reliability of the battery is improved, and meanwhile, the end cover has better structural strength.

In some embodiments, the first outer sides are two, the two first outer sides being disposed opposite in the second direction. The end cover is also provided with two second outer side surfaces which are oppositely arranged in the third direction, the second direction and the first direction are perpendicular to each other, and the area of the second outer side surfaces is larger than that of the first outer side surfaces.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the area of the second outer side surface of the end cover is larger than that of the first outer side surface, namely, when the end cover is connected with the shell, the first outer side surface corresponds to the first wall, and the second outer side surface corresponds to the second wall, so that the size of the outer surface of the welding area protruding out of the first wall of the shell is smaller, and the reliability of the battery is improved.

In some embodiments, the second outer side includes a third surface and a fourth surface sequentially distributed along the first direction, the fourth surface protruding from the third surface along the third direction.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the fourth surface protrudes from the third surface, namely the third surface is subjected to thickness reduction treatment, so that the size of the outer surface of the welding area protruding from the second wall of the shell is smaller, and the reliability of the battery is improved.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a battery cell comprising a housing of any of the embodiments of the first aspect and an end cap of any of the embodiments of the second aspect. The housing has an opening and the end cap closes the opening. The end cover and the shell are welded to form a welding area, and the welding area does not protrude out of the outer surface of the shell; or the welding area protrudes out of the outer surface of the shell, and the size of the outer surface of the welding area protruding out of the shell is c, wherein c is smaller than or equal to 0.3mm.

According to the technical scheme, the end cover of the battery monomer and the shell are welded to form the welding area, the welding area does not protrude out of the outer surface of the shell, or the size c of the outer surface of the protruding shell of the welding area meets the range, so that the exposed size of the welding area is smaller, the risk that the adjacent battery monomer is damaged by the welding area when the battery monomer forms a battery is reduced, the reliability of the battery is improved, and meanwhile, the procedure of trimming the welding area due to the fact that the protruding size of the welding area is larger is also reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a battery cell comprising an end cap and a housing of any of the embodiments of the first aspect. The housing has an opening and the end cap closes the opening. The end cover and the shell are welded to form a welding area, and the welding area does not protrude out of the outer surface of the shell; or the welding area protrudes out of the outer surface of the shell, and the size of the outer surface of the welding area protruding out of the shell is c, wherein c is smaller than or equal to 0.3mm.

In a fifth aspect, the present application also provides a battery comprising a battery cell according to any of the embodiments of the third aspect or a battery cell according to any of the embodiments of the fourth aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application further provides an electric device, including the battery cell of any embodiment of the third aspect or the battery cell of any embodiment of the fourth aspect or the battery of any embodiment of the fifth aspect, where the battery cell or the battery is used to provide electric energy.

In a seventh aspect, the present application also provides an energy storage device comprising a battery cell according to any of the embodiments of the third aspect or a battery cell according to any of the embodiments of the fourth aspect or a battery according to any of the embodiments of the fifth aspect.

Additional aspects and advantages of the application will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the application.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, 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 application 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 illustration of a vehicle according to some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a battery provided in some embodiments of the present application;

fig. 3 is an exploded view of a battery cell according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a housing according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a connection state between a housing and an end cap according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a connection state between a housing and an end cap according to other embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a housing according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a first wall according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a first wall according to other embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a second wall according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an end cap according to some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a first exterior side provided by some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a second exterior side provided by some embodiments of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic view illustrating an assembly of an end plate and a plurality of battery cells according to some embodiments of the present application;

fig. 15 is an assembly schematic diagram of an end plate and a battery cell according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a partial enlarged view at F of fig. 15.

Icon: 1-a battery cell; 10-end caps; 11-a first outer side; 111-a first surface; 112-a second surface; 113-a second step surface; 12-a second outer side; 121-a third surface; 122-a fourth surface; 20-a housing; 21-opening; 22-a first wall; 221-a first zone; 222-a second zone; 223-a first step surface; 23-a second wall; 231-third zone; 232-fourth zone; 24-a bottom wall; 30-welding area; 40-electrode assembly; 50-a housing; 60-electrode terminals; 100-cell; 110-a box body; 120-a first sub-tank; 130-a second sub-tank; 140-end plates; 1000-vehicle; 1100-a controller; 1200-motor; x-a first direction; y-a second direction; z-third direction.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs; the terminology used in the description of the application herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application; the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof in the description of the application and the claims and the description of the drawings above are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims or in the above-described figures, are used for distinguishing between different objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.

Reference in the specification to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly appreciate that the described embodiments of the application may be combined with other embodiments.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "attached" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally 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 application can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art according to the specific circumstances.

The term "and/or" in the present application is merely an association relation describing the association object, and indicates that three relations may exist, for example, D and/or E may indicate: d alone, D and E together, and E alone. In the present application, the character "/" generally indicates that the front and rear related objects are an or relationship.

The term "plurality" as used herein means two or more (including two), and similarly, "plural sets" means two or more (including two), and "plural sheets" means two or more (including two).

In some embodiments, the battery may be a battery module, and when there are a plurality of battery cells, the plurality of battery cells are arranged and fixed to form one battery module.

In some embodiments, the battery may be a battery pack including a case and a battery cell, the battery cell or battery module being housed in the case.

In some embodiments, the tank may be part of the chassis structure of the vehicle. For example, a portion of the tank may become at least a portion of the floor of the vehicle, or a portion of the tank may become at least a portion of the cross member and the side member of the vehicle.

In some embodiments, the battery may be an energy storage device. The energy storage device comprises an energy storage container, an energy storage electric cabinet and the like.

In the embodiment of the application, the battery cell can be a secondary battery, and the secondary battery refers to a battery cell which can activate the active material in a charging mode to continue to use after the battery cell discharges.

The battery cell may be, but is not limited to, a lithium ion battery, a sodium lithium ion battery, a lithium metal battery, a sodium metal battery, a lithium sulfur battery, a magnesium ion battery, a nickel hydrogen battery, a nickel cadmium battery, a lead storage battery, and the like.

The battery cell generally includes an electrode assembly. The electrode assembly includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator. During the charge and discharge of the battery cell, active ions (e.g., lithium ions) are inserted and extracted back and forth between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The separator is arranged between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, can play a role in preventing the positive electrode and the negative electrode from being short-circuited, and can enable active ions to pass through.

In some embodiments, the positive electrode may be a positive electrode sheet, which may include a positive electrode current collector and a positive electrode active material disposed on at least one surface of the positive electrode current collector.

As an example, the positive electrode current collector has two surfaces opposing in its own thickness direction, and the positive electrode active material is provided on either or both of the two surfaces opposing the positive electrode current collector.

As an example, the positive electrode current collector may employ a metal foil or a composite current collector. For example, as the metal foil, surface-silver-treated aluminum, surface-silver-treated stainless steel, copper, aluminum, nickel, carbon electrode, carbon, nickel, titanium, or the like can be used. The composite current collector may include a polymeric material base layer and a metal layer. The composite current collector may be formed by forming a metal material (aluminum, aluminum alloy, nickel alloy, titanium alloy, silver alloy, etc.) on a polymer material substrate (e.g., a substrate of polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polyethylene, etc.).

As an example, the positive electrode active material may include at least one of the following materials: lithium-containing phosphates, lithium transition metal oxides, and their respective modified compounds. However, the present application is not limited to these materials, and other conventional materials that can be used as a battery positive electrode active material may be used.

In some embodiments, the negative electrode may be a negative electrode tab, which may include a negative electrode current collector.

As an example, the negative electrode current collector may employ a metal foil or a composite current collector. For example, as the metal foil, surface-silver-treated aluminum, surface-silver-treated stainless steel, copper, aluminum, nickel, carbon electrode, carbon, nickel, titanium, or the like can be used.

In some embodiments, the anode current collector has two surfaces opposing in a thickness direction thereof, and the anode active material is provided on either or both of the two surfaces opposing the anode current collector.

As an example, a negative electrode active material for a battery known in the art may be used. As an example, the anode active material may include at least one of the following materials: artificial graphite, natural graphite, soft carbon, hard carbon, silicon-based materials, tin-based materials, lithium titanate, and the like. The silicon-based material may be at least one selected from elemental silicon, silicon oxygen compounds, silicon carbon composites, silicon nitrogen composites, and silicon alloys. The tin-based material may be at least one selected from elemental tin, tin oxide, and tin alloys. However, the present application is not limited to these materials, and other conventional materials that can be used as a battery anode active material may be used. These negative electrode active materials may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

In some embodiments, the separator is a separator film. The type of the separator is not particularly limited, and any known porous separator having good chemical stability and mechanical stability can be used.

As an example, the main material of the separator may be at least one selected from glass fiber, non-woven fabric, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, and ceramic. The separator may be a single-layer film or a multilayer composite film, and is not particularly limited. When the separator is a multilayer composite film, the materials of the respective layers may be the same or different, and are not particularly limited. The separator may be a single member located between the positive and negative electrodes, or may be attached to the surfaces of the positive and negative electrodes.

In some embodiments, the separator is a solid state electrolyte. The solid electrolyte is arranged between the anode and the cathode and plays roles in transmitting ions and isolating the anode and the cathode.

In some embodiments, the electrode assembly is a rolled structure. The positive plate and the negative plate are wound into a winding structure.

In some embodiments, the electrode assembly is a lamination stack.

In some embodiments, the battery cell may include a housing. The case is used to encapsulate the electrode assembly, the electrolyte, and the like. The shell can be a steel shell, an aluminum shell, a plastic shell (such as polypropylene), a composite metal shell (such as a copper-aluminum composite shell), an aluminum-plastic film or the like.

In some embodiments, the case includes an end cap and a case, the case is provided with an opening, and the end cap closes the opening to form a closed space for accommodating the electrode assembly, electrolyte, and the like. The housing may be provided with one or more openings. One or more end caps may also be provided.

In some embodiments, at least one electrode terminal is provided on the case, and the electrode terminal is electrically connected with the tab of the electrode assembly. The electrode terminal may be directly connected to the tab, or may be indirectly connected to the tab through the adapter. The electrode terminal may be provided on the terminal cover or may be provided on the case.

In some embodiments, an explosion proof valve is provided on the housing. The explosion-proof valve is used for discharging the internal pressure of the battery cell.

Currently, from the development of market situation, batteries have been widely used in electric vehicles such as electric bicycles, electric motorcycles, electric automobiles, and various fields such as electric tools, unmanned aerial vehicles, and energy storage devices. With the continuous expansion of the field of battery use, the market demand is also continuously expanding.

The development of battery technology has been accompanied by consideration of various design factors such as energy density, cycle life, discharge capacity, charge-discharge rate, and other performance parameters, and, in addition, as environmental conditions and/or internal conditions of the battery change, reliability of the battery is one of the important factors.

At present, the shell and the end cover of the battery cell are usually connected by welding, the welding forms a welding area, namely welding marks, and the welding area is usually protruded outside the outer surface of the shell after welding. When the battery monomers are assembled to form the battery, the convex part of the welding area is easy to interfere with the adjacent battery monomers in the battery, or the convex part of the welding area is interfered with the box body of the battery, so that the risk that the battery monomers are damaged exists, and the reliability of the battery is lower.

Based on the above consideration, in order to solve the problem of low reliability of the battery, the embodiment of the application provides a battery monomer, which comprises an end cover and a shell, wherein the end cover and the shell are welded to form a welding area, and the welding area does not protrude out of the outer surface of the shell; or the dimension c of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell is smaller than or equal to 0.3mm.

The welding of the housing and the end cover of the battery cell forms a welding area, the welding area does not protrude out of the outer surface of the housing, or the welding area protrudes out of the outer surface of the housing and meets the conditions, so that the welding area is not exposed or the exposed size of the welding area is smaller, the risk that the welding area damages adjacent battery cells when the battery cell forms a battery is reduced, the reliability of the battery is improved, and meanwhile, the process of trimming the welding area due to the fact that the protruding size of the welding area is larger is reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

The battery disclosed by the embodiment of the application can be used in electric equipment such as vehicles, ships or aircrafts, but is not limited to the electric equipment. The power supply system of the electric equipment can be composed by using the battery provided with the battery disclosed by the application.

The embodiment of the application provides electric equipment using a battery as a power supply, wherein the electric equipment can be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a notebook computer, an electric toy, an electric tool, an electric bicycle, an electric motorcycle, an electric automobile, a ship, a spacecraft and the like. Among them, the electric toy may include fixed or mobile electric toys, such as game machines, electric car toys, electric ship toys, electric plane toys, and the like, and the spacecraft may include planes, rockets, space planes, and spacecraft, and the like.

For convenience of description, the following embodiments take a powered device according to some embodiments of the present application as an example of the vehicle 1000.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a vehicle according to some embodiments of the application. The vehicle 1000 may be a fuel oil vehicle, a gas vehicle or a new energy vehicle, and the new energy vehicle may be a pure electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle or a range-extended vehicle. The battery 100 is provided in the interior of the vehicle 1000, and the battery 100 may be provided at the bottom or the head or the tail of the vehicle 1000. Battery 100 may be used to power vehicle 1000, for example, battery 100 may be used as an operating power source for vehicle 1000, for the circuitry of vehicle 1000, such as for the operational power requirements of vehicle 1000 during start-up, navigation, and operation.

The vehicle 1000 may also include a controller 1100 and a motor 1200, the controller 1100 being configured to control the battery 100 to power the motor 1200, for example, for operating power requirements during start-up, navigation, and travel of the vehicle 1000.

In some embodiments of the present application, battery 100 may not only serve as an operating power source for vehicle 1000, but may also serve as a driving power source for vehicle 1000, instead of or in part instead of fuel oil or natural gas, to provide driving power for vehicle 1000.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is an exploded view of a battery according to some embodiments of the present application. The battery 100 may further include a case 110, and the battery cell 1 is accommodated in the case 110. The case 110 is used to provide an accommodating space for the battery cell 1, and the case 110 may have various structures. In some embodiments, the case 110 may include a first sub-case 120 and a second sub-case 130, the first sub-case 120 and the second sub-case 130 being overlapped with each other, the first sub-case 120 and the second sub-case 130 together defining an accommodating space for accommodating the battery cell 1. The second sub-tank 130 may have a hollow structure with an opening at one end, the first sub-tank 120 may have a plate-shaped structure, and the first sub-tank 120 covers the opening side of the second sub-tank 130, so that the first sub-tank 120 and the second sub-tank 130 together define an accommodating space; the first sub-tank 120 and the second sub-tank 130 may be hollow structures with one side open, and the open side of the first sub-tank 120 is closed to the open side of the second sub-tank 130.

In the battery 100, the number of the battery cells 1 may be plural, and the plurality of battery cells 1 may be connected in series, parallel, or series-parallel, where series-parallel refers to both of the plurality of battery cells 1 being connected in series and parallel. The plurality of battery cells 1 can be directly connected in series or in parallel or in series-parallel, and then the whole formed by the plurality of battery cells 1 is accommodated in the box 110; of course, the battery 100 may also be a battery module formed by connecting a plurality of battery cells 1 in series or parallel or series-parallel connection, and a plurality of battery modules are then connected in series or parallel or series-parallel connection to form a whole and are accommodated in the case 110. The battery 100 may further include other structures, for example, the battery 100 may further include a bus member for making electrical connection between the plurality of battery cells 1.

Wherein, the battery cell 1 can be a secondary battery or a primary battery; the battery cell 1 may also be a lithium sulfur battery, a sodium ion battery, or a magnesium ion battery, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is an exploded view of a battery cell according to some embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, the battery cell 1 includes a case 50, an electrode assembly 40, and an electrode terminal 60. The case 50 includes a housing 20 and an end cap 10, the housing 20 having an opening 21, the end cap 10 closing the opening 21 to isolate the internal environment of the battery cell 1 from the external environment.

The case 20 is an assembly for cooperating with the end cap 10 to form an internal environment of the battery cell 1, wherein the formed internal environment may be used to accommodate the electrode assembly 40, the electrolyte, and other components. The housing 20 and the end cap 10 may be separate components. The housing 20 may be of a variety of shapes and sizes. Specifically, the shape of the case 20 may be determined according to the specific shape and size of the electrode assembly 40. The material of the housing 20 may be various, such as copper, iron, aluminum, stainless steel, aluminum alloy, plastic, etc. Wherein the housing 20 may be formed from a bottom wall 24 and side walls together.

The end cap 10 refers to a member that is covered at the opening of the case 20 to isolate the internal environment of the battery cell 1 from the external environment. Without limitation, the shape of the end cap 10 may be adapted to the shape of the housing 20 to fit the housing 20. Alternatively, the end cover 10 may be made of a material having a certain hardness and strength (such as an aluminum alloy), so that the end cover 10 is not easy to deform when being extruded and collided, so that the battery cell 1 can have a higher structural strength, and the reliability can be improved. The cap 10 may be provided with functional parts such as electrode terminals 60. The electrode terminal 60 may be used to be electrically connected with the electrode assembly 40 for outputting or inputting electric power of the battery cell 1. The material of the end cap 10 may be various, such as copper, iron, aluminum, stainless steel, aluminum alloy, plastic, etc., which is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application. In some embodiments, an insulating structure may also be provided on the inside of the end cap 10, which may be used to isolate electrical connection components within the housing 20 from the end cap 10 to reduce the risk of short circuits. By way of example, the insulating structure may be plastic, rubber, or the like.

The electrode assembly 40 is a component in which electrochemical reactions occur in the battery cell 1. One or more electrode assemblies 40 may be contained within the housing 20. The electrode assembly 40 is mainly formed by winding or stacking a positive electrode sheet and a negative electrode sheet, and a separator is generally disposed between the positive electrode sheet and the negative electrode sheet, and is used for separating the positive electrode sheet and the negative electrode sheet so as to avoid an internal short circuit between the positive electrode sheet and the negative electrode sheet. The parts of the positive pole piece and the negative pole piece with active substances form a main body part of the electrode assembly, and the parts of the positive pole piece and the negative pole piece without active substances form electrode lugs respectively. The positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab may be located at one end of the main body portion together or located at two ends of the main body portion respectively.

Referring to fig. 3 and fig. 4, and referring to fig. 7 to fig. 9, fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a housing according to some embodiments of the present application, fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a first wall according to some embodiments of the present application, and fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a first wall according to other embodiments of the present application. Wherein the first and second regions are distinguished by dashed lines in the figure. The embodiment of the application also provides a shell 20. The housing 20 has an opening 21 at one end in a first direction X, the housing 20 includes a first wall 22, the first wall 22 includes a first region 221 and a second region 222 arranged along the first direction X, the first region 221 is distant from the opening 21 with respect to the second region 222, and a maximum thickness of the first region 221 is greater than a maximum thickness of the second region 222 in a thickness direction of the first wall 22, wherein the first direction X is perpendicular to the thickness direction of the first wall 22.

In some embodiments, the first direction X may be represented by the direction indicated by the letter X in the figure. The first direction X may be a connection direction of the cap 10 and the case 20.

In some embodiments, the housing 20 may be connected with the end cap 10, and the first direction X may be a thickness direction of the end cap 10, that is, the first direction X may be a height direction of the housing 20.

In some embodiments, the housing 20 may further include a bottom wall 24, one end of the first wall 22 in the first direction X being connected to the bottom wall 24, the other end forming an opening 21 for connection to the end cap 10. The bottom wall 24 may be disposed opposite the end cap 10 in the first direction X.

In some embodiments, the first region 221 and the second region 222 are sequentially distributed on the first wall 22 along the first direction X, wherein the first region 221 is a portion of the first wall 22 near the bottom wall 24, and the second region 222 is a portion of the first wall 22 far from the bottom wall 24.

In some embodiments, the maximum thickness of the first region 221 may be the initial thickness of the first wall 22, and the maximum thickness of the second region 222 is smaller than the maximum thickness of the first region 221, that is, the second region 222 is subjected to a thickness reduction treatment, where the thickness reduction portion may be an outer surface of the second region 222 or an inner surface of the second region 222.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the first wall 22 of the shell 20 comprises the first area 221 and the second area 222 in the first direction X, and the thickness of the second area 222 close to the opening 21 is smaller than that of the first area 221, namely, the second area 222 is subjected to thickness reduction treatment, so that when the shell 20 is welded with the end cover 10, the welding area 30 protrudes out of the outer surface of the shell 20 to be smaller, the risk that the welding area 30 damages adjacent battery cells 1 when the battery cells 1 form the battery 100 is reduced, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the procedure of trimming the welding area 30 due to the larger protruding size of the welding area 30 is also reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Referring to fig. 8, in some embodiments, in the first direction X, the inner surface of the second region 222 and the inner surface of the first region 221 are located on the same plane.

In some embodiments, the inner surface of the second region 222 is in the same plane as the inner surface of the first region 221 in the first direction X. That is, when the second region 222 is reduced in thickness, the thickness is reduced from the outer surface of the second region 222 to the inner surface of the second region 222, so that the outer surface of the first region 221 protrudes from the outer surface of the second region 222 in the first direction X.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the thickness of the second area 222 is reduced inwards from the outside, so that on one hand, the risk that the welding area 30 damages the adjacent battery cells 1 when the battery cells 1 form the battery 100 is reduced, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and on the other hand, the demolding of the shell 20 during processing is facilitated.

Referring to fig. 9, in some embodiments, in the first direction X, the outer surface of the second region 222 and the outer surface of the first region 221 are located on the same plane.

In some embodiments, the outer surface of the second region 222 is in the same plane as the outer surface of the first region 221 in the first direction X. That is, when the second region 222 is reduced in thickness, the inner surface of the second region 222 is reduced in thickness to the outer surface of the second region 222, so that the inner surface of the first region 221 protrudes from the inner surface of the second region 222 in the first direction X.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the thickness of the second area 222 is reduced from the inside to the outside, so that the risk of damaging the adjacent battery cells 1 when the battery cells 1 form the battery 100 is reduced in the welding area 30, and the reliability of the battery 100 is improved.

Referring to fig. 8, in some embodiments, the second region 222 has a dimension H ₁,H₁ that is greater than or equal to 0.1mm and H ₁ that is less than or equal to 2.3mm in the first direction X.

In some embodiments, the dimension H ₁ of the second region 222 in the first direction X may be 0.1mm, 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, 0.9mm, 1.1mm, 1.3mm, 1.5mm, 1.7mm, 1.9mm, 2.1mm, 2.3mm, and the like.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the dimension of the second region 222 in the first direction X meets the above range, so that the first region 221 has a certain range in the first direction X, the risk of damaging adjacent battery cells 1 when the battery cells 1 form the welding region 30 in the welding region 30 can be reduced, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the shell 20 has better structural strength.

Referring to fig. 8, in some embodiments, in the thickness direction of the first wall 22, the maximum thickness of the second region 222 is D, the maximum thickness of the first region 221 is E, the ratio of D to E is greater than or equal to 0.7, and the ratio of D to E is less than 1.

In some embodiments, the thickness direction of the first wall 22 may be parallel to the thickness direction of the second region 222, or may be parallel to the thickness direction of the first region 221.

In some embodiments, the first region 221 has a maximum thickness E, i.e., the initial thickness before the first wall 22 is reduced in thickness is E, the second region 222 has a maximum thickness D, the ratio of D to E is greater than or equal to 0.7, and the ratio of D to E is less than 1, i.e., the reduced portion of the second region 222 has a dimension E minus D in the thickness direction of the first wall 22, the ratio of the reduced thickness to the thickness of the first wall 22 is greater than 0, and the ratio of the reduced thickness to the thickness of the first wall 22 is less than or equal to 0.3.

In some embodiments, the ratio D/E of the maximum thickness D of the second region 222 to the maximum thickness E of the first region 221 may be 0.7, 0.75, 0.8, 0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 0.99, etc.

In some embodiments, the maximum thickness D of the second region 222 may be greater than or equal to 0.3mm, and the maximum thickness D of the second region 222 may be less than or equal to 1.2mm, i.e., the maximum thickness D of the second region 222 may be 0.3mm, 0.4mm, 0.5mm, 0.6mm, 0.7mm, 0.8mm, 0.9mm, 1mm, 1.1mm, 1.2mm, etc.

In some embodiments, the maximum thickness E of the first region 221 may be greater than or equal to 0.5mm, and the maximum thickness E of the first region 221 may be less than or equal to 1.4mm, i.e., the maximum thickness E of the first region 221 may be 0.5mm, 0.6mm, 0.7mm, 0.8mm, 0.9mm, 1mm, 1.1mm, 1.2mm, 1.3mm, 1.4mm, etc.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the ratio of the maximum thickness X of the second region 222 to the maximum thickness Y of the first region 221 meets the above range, so that the size of the welding region 30 protruding out of the outer surface of the shell 20 is smaller, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and the shell 20 has better structural strength.

Referring to fig. 8, in some embodiments, a first step surface 223 is formed between the first region 221 and the second region 222, and a dimension h ₁,h₁ of the first step surface 223 is less than or equal to 0.3mm along a thickness direction of the first wall 22.

In some embodiments, the maximum thickness of the first region 221 is greater than the maximum thickness of the second region 222, i.e., there is a thickness difference between the first region 221 and the second region 222, and thus there is a first step surface 223 at the location where the second region 222 and the first region 221 are connected.

In some embodiments, the first step surface 223 may be a plane extending in the thickness direction of the first wall 22.

In some embodiments, the first step surface 223 may be a slope extending in the thickness direction of the first wall 22 and approaching the bottom wall 24 in the first direction X.

In some embodiments, the dimension h ₁ of the first step surface 223 in the thickness direction of the first wall 22 may be 0.05mm, 0.1mm, 0.15mm, 0.2mm, 0.25mm, 0.3mm, or the like.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, in the thickness direction of the first wall 22, the size of the first step surface 223 meets the above range, so that the first step surface 223 has a certain range in the thickness direction of the first wall 22, the size of the welding area 30 protruding out of the outer surface of the shell 20 is smaller, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the shell 20 has better structural strength.

Please refer to fig. 3, fig. 4 and fig. 7. In some embodiments, the first walls 22 are two and the two first walls 22 are disposed opposite in the second direction Y. The housing 20 further includes two second walls 23, the two second walls 23 are oppositely disposed in the third direction Z, the two first walls 22 and the two second walls 23 enclose an opening 21, the first direction X, the second direction Y and the third direction Z are perpendicular to each other, and an area of an outer surface of the second walls 23 is larger than an area of an outer surface of the first walls 22.

In some embodiments, the second direction Y may be represented by a direction indicated by a letter Y in the drawing, and the second direction Y may be a thickness direction of the second wall 23. The third direction Z may be indicated by a direction indicated by a letter Z in the drawing, and may be a thickness direction of the first wall 22.

In some embodiments, the housing 20 may include a bottom wall 24, and the two first walls 22 and the two second walls 23 may be disposed around the bottom wall 24. In the first direction X, one end of the two first walls 22 and one end of the two second walls 23 may be connected to the bottom wall 24, and the other end of the two first walls 22 and the other end of the two second walls 23 may together enclose an opening 21 for connection with the end cap 10.

In some embodiments, the area of the outer surface of the second wall 23 may be greater than the area of the outer surface of the first wall 22, and the area of the outer surface of the second wall 23 may be greater than the area of the outer surface of the bottom wall 24, i.e., the second wall 23 is a large face of the housing 20.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the second wall 23 can be a large surface of the battery cell 1, the thickness of the second region 222 of the first wall 22 is reduced, and the size of the welding region 30 protruding from the outer surface of the shell 20 corresponding to the first wall 22 is smaller, so that the reliability of the battery 100 is improved.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a second wall according to some embodiments of the present application, wherein a third area and a fourth area are distinguished by a dotted line. In some embodiments, the second wall 23 includes a third region 231 and a fourth region 232 arranged along the first direction X, the third region 231 being remote from the opening 21 relative to the fourth region 232, the fourth region 232 being for connection with the end cap 10, the third region 231 having a maximum thickness greater than a maximum thickness of the fourth region 232.

In some embodiments, the second direction Y may be a thickness direction of the second wall 23. The thickness direction of the second wall 23 may be parallel to the thickness direction of the third region 231, and the thickness direction of the second wall 23 may be parallel to the thickness direction of the fourth region 232.

In some embodiments, the third region 231 and the fourth region 232 may be arranged on the second wall 23 along the first direction X, wherein the third region 231 is a portion of the second wall 23 near the bottom wall 24, and the fourth region 232 is a portion of the second wall 23 far from the bottom wall 24.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the thickness of the fourth region 232 of the second wall 23 is reduced, so that the size of the welding region 30 protruding out of the outer surface of the shell 20 corresponding to the second wall 23 is smaller, and the reliability of the battery 100 is improved.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, and referring to fig. 11 and 12, fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an end cap according to some embodiments of the present application, and fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a first outer side surface according to some embodiments of the present application. The embodiment of the present application also provides an end cap 10, wherein the end cap 10 is used for being connected with the housing 20 of any of the above embodiments to form the battery cell 1. In the second direction Y, the end cap 10 has a first outer side surface 11, the first outer side surface 11 includes a first surface 111 and a second surface 112 sequentially distributed along the first direction X, the first direction X is a direction in which the end cap 10 closes the opening 21, the second surface 112 protrudes from the first surface 111 along the second direction Y, and the first direction X is perpendicular to the second direction Y.

In some embodiments, the end cap 10 may be welded with the case 20 of any of the above embodiments to form the outer case 50, thereby being applied to the battery cell 1 of any of the above embodiments.

In some embodiments, the first direction X may be the thickness direction of the end cap 10. It should be noted that, the first direction X of all embodiments herein is the same direction, the second direction Y of all embodiments herein is the same direction, and the third direction Z of all embodiments herein is the same direction.

In some embodiments, the end cap 10 has a first outer side 11, and the first surface 111 and the second surface 112 are distributed along the first direction X on the first outer side 11. The first direction X is a direction in which the end cap 10 closes the opening 21, and when the end cap 10 is welded to the housing 20, the first surface 111 is a portion of the first outer side 11 away from the bottom wall 24, and the second surface 112 is a portion of the first outer side 11 near the bottom wall 24.

In some embodiments, the projection of the second surface 112 protrudes from the projection of the first surface 111 in the second direction Y with the first direction X as the projection direction.

In some embodiments, the second surface 112 protrudes from the first surface 111 along the second direction Y, i.e., a portion of the end cap 10 corresponding to the first surface 111 is reduced in thickness to form a notch. The end cap 10 is reduced in thickness from the first surface 111 in a direction closer to the axis of the end cap 10 in the thickness direction. The second surface 112 protrudes from the first surface 111, i.e. the second surface 112 and the first surface 111 form a notch in the outer surface of the end cap 10. When the end cap 10 is assembled to the housing 20, the first surface 111 is spaced from the inner surface of the first wall 22, i.e., the gap is located between the inner surface of the first wall 22 and the first surface 111.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the first outer side 11 of the end cover 10 comprises the first surface 111 and the second surface 112 in the first direction X, and the second surface 112 protrudes from the first surface 111 in the second direction Y, namely, the part of the end cover 10 corresponding to the first surface 111 is subjected to thickness reduction treatment, and a notch of the end cover 10 can be used for accommodating the welding area 30, so that the accommodating space of the welding area 30 is increased, the size of the welding area 30 protruding from the outer surface of the shell 20 is smaller when the end cover 10 is welded with the shell 20, the risk that the welding area 30 damages adjacent battery cells 1 when the battery cells 1 form the battery 100 is reduced, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the procedure of trimming the welding area 30 due to the larger protruding size of the welding area 30 is also reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Referring to fig. 12, in some embodiments, along the first direction X, the dimension of the first surface 111 is H ₂,H₂ mm or greater than or equal to 0.5mm, and H ₂ is less than or equal to 2.3mm.

In some embodiments, the dimension of the first surface 111 in the first direction X, i.e., the dimension of the first surface 111 corresponding to the thickness direction of the end cap 10.

In some embodiments, the dimension H ₂ of the first surface 111 may be 0.5mm, 0.7mm, 0.9mm, 1.1mm, 1.3mm, 1.5mm, 1.7mm, 1.9mm, 2.1mm, 2.3mm, etc.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the dimension of the first surface 111 in the first direction X meets the range, so that the dimension of the welding area 30 protruding out of the outer surface of the shell 20 is smaller, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the end cover 10 has better structural strength.

Referring to fig. 12, in some embodiments, a second step surface 113 is formed between the first surface 111 and the second surface 112, and in the second direction Y, the second step surface 113 has a second dimension h ₂,h₂ that is greater than or equal to 0.1mm, and h ₂ is less than or equal to 0.2mm.

In some embodiments, in the second direction Y, there is a difference between the size of the portion of the end cap 10 corresponding to the first surface 111 and the size of the portion of the end cap 10 corresponding to the second surface 112, that is, there is a second step surface 113 at the connection position of the first surface 111 and the second surface 112.

In some embodiments, the second step surface 113 may be a plane extending in the second direction Y.

In some embodiments, the second step surface 113 may be a slope extending in the second direction Y and approaching the bottom wall 24 in the first direction X when the end cap 10 is welded with the housing 20.

In some embodiments, in the second direction Y, the dimension h ₂ of the second step face 113 may be 0.1mm, 0.11mm, 0.12mm, 0.13mm, 0.14mm, 0.15mm, 0.16mm, 0.17mm, 0.18mm, 0.19mm, 0.2mm, and the like.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the dimension of the second step surface 113 in the second direction Y meets the range, so that the dimension of the welding area 30 protruding out of the outer surface of the shell 20 is smaller, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the end cover 10 has better structural strength.

Referring to fig. 11, in some embodiments, the number of the first outer sides 11 is two, and the two first outer sides 11 are disposed opposite to each other in the second direction Y. The end cap 10 further has two second outer side surfaces 12 oppositely arranged in the third direction Z, the second direction Y and the first direction X are perpendicular to each other, and the area of the second outer side surfaces 12 is larger than the area of the first outer side surfaces 11.

In some embodiments, the two first outer sides 11 are disposed opposite in the second direction Y and the two second outer sides 12 are disposed opposite in the third direction Z. The second lateral surface 12 has an area larger than the area of the first lateral surface 11. When the end cap 10 is welded to the housing 20, portions of the end cap 10 corresponding to the two first outer sides 11 may be welded to the two first walls 22 of the housing 20, respectively, and portions of the end cap 10 corresponding to the two second outer sides 12 may be welded to the two second walls 23 of the housing 20, respectively.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the area of the second outer side face 12 of the end cover 10 is larger than that of the first outer side face 11, namely, when the end cover 10 is connected with the shell 20, the first outer side face 11 corresponds to the first wall 22, the second outer side face 12 corresponds to the second wall 23, and the size of the outer surface of the welding area 30 protruding out of the first wall 22 of the shell 20 is smaller, so that the reliability of the battery 100 is improved.

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a second outer side surface according to some embodiments of the application. In some embodiments, the second outer side 12 includes a third surface 121 and a fourth surface 122 sequentially distributed along the first direction X, and the fourth surface 122 protrudes from the third surface 121 along the third direction Z.

In some embodiments, third surface 121 and fourth surface 122 are distributed along second outer side 12 along first direction X. The first direction X is the direction in which the end cap 10 closes the opening 21, and when the end cap 10 is welded to the housing 20, the third surface 121 is a portion of the second outer side 12 away from the bottom wall 24, and the fourth surface 122 is a portion of the second outer side 12 near the bottom wall 24.

In some embodiments, the projection of the fourth surface 122 protrudes from the projection of the third surface 121 in the second direction Y with the first direction X as the projection direction.

In some embodiments, the fourth surface 122 protrudes from the third surface 121 along the second direction Y, i.e. the portion of the end cap 10 corresponding to the third surface 121 is reduced in thickness to form a notch. The thickness of the end cap 10 is reduced by the third surface 121 in a direction closer to the axis of the end cap 10 in the thickness direction. The fourth surface 122 protrudes from the third surface 121, i.e., the fourth surface 122 and the third surface 121 form a notch in the outer surface of the end cap 10. When the end cap 10 is assembled to the housing 20, the third surface 121 is spaced from the inner surface of the second wall 23, i.e., the gap is located between the inner surface of the second wall 23 and the third surface 121.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the fourth surface 122 protrudes from the third surface 121, namely, the third surface 121 is subjected to thickness reduction treatment, so that the size of the outer surface of the welding area 30 protruding from the second wall 23 of the casing 20 is smaller, and the reliability of the battery 100 is improved.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 4 to fig. 6, fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a housing according to some embodiments of the present application, fig. 5 is a schematic connecting state of a housing and an end cover according to some embodiments of the present application, and fig. 6 is a schematic connecting state of a housing and an end cover according to other embodiments of the present application. Some embodiments of the present application provide a battery cell 1, where the battery cell 1 includes the end cap 10 of any of the embodiments described above and the housing 20 of any of the embodiments described above. The housing 20 has an opening 21, and the end cap 10 closes the opening 21. The end cover 10 and the shell 20 are welded to form a welding area 30, and the welding area 30 does not protrude out of the outer surface of the shell 20; or the welding area 30 protrudes from the outer surface of the housing 20, and the size of the welding area 30 protruding from the outer surface of the housing 20 is c, c being less than or equal to 0.3mm.

In some embodiments, welding of the end cap 10 to the housing 20 may form a weld, i.e., the weld zone 30 may be a weld.

In some embodiments, housing 20 has a receiving cavity, the face of housing 20 facing the receiving cavity may be an inner surface, and the face of housing 20 facing away from the receiving cavity may be an outer surface.

Referring to fig. 5, in some embodiments, the weld 30 may not protrude from the outer surface of the housing 20. The projection of the welding area 30 is completely covered by the projection of the case 20 with the connection direction of the end cap 10 and the case 20 as the projection direction. The weld 30 may be located inside the housing 20. In addition, the wall of the case 20 is connected to the cap 10, the wall of the case 20 has a certain thickness, and the welding region 30 may be overlapped with a portion corresponding to the thickness of the wall of the case 20, but not protruding from the outer surface of the case 20.

Referring to fig. 6, in some embodiments, the welding area 30 may protrude from the outer surface of the housing 20, and the dimension c of the welding area 30 protruding from the outer surface of the housing 20 in the thickness direction of the housing 20 may be 0.05mm, 0.1mm, 0.15mm, 0.2mm, 0.25mm, 0.3mm, etc.

In some embodiments, the housing 20 may have a plurality of walls for welding with the end cap 10, and when the welding region 30 protrudes from an outer surface of one of the walls, the protruding direction is a thickness direction of the wall corresponding to the welding region 30.

In some embodiments, among the plurality of walls of the housing 20 for welding with the end cap 10, the welding region 30 may protrude from the outer surface of one of the walls, the welding region 30 may protrude from the outer surfaces of several of the walls, and the welding region 30 may protrude from the outer surfaces of all of the walls.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the end cover 10 of the battery cell 1 and the shell 20 are welded to form the welding area 30, the welding area 30 does not protrude from the outer surface of the shell 20, or the size c of the welding area 30 protruding from the outer surface of the shell 20 meets the range, so that the exposed size of the welding area 30 is smaller, the risk that the welding area 30 damages the adjacent battery cell 1 when the battery cell 1 forms the battery 100 is reduced, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the procedure of trimming the welding area 30 due to the larger protruding size of the welding area 30 is also reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Referring to fig. 3 to 6, some embodiments of the present application provide a battery cell 1, where the battery cell 1 includes an end cap 10 and a housing 20 according to any of the above embodiments. The housing 20 has an opening 21, and the end cap 10 closes the opening 21. The end cover 10 and the shell 20 are welded to form a welding area 30, and the welding area 30 does not protrude out of the outer surface of the shell 20; or the welding area 30 protrudes from the outer surface of the housing 20, and the size of the welding area 30 protruding from the outer surface of the housing 20 is c, c being less than or equal to 0.3mm.

In some embodiments, the end cap 10 may be an end cap 10 used on an existing battery cell 1.

Referring to FIG. 6, in some embodiments, c is less than or equal to 0.2mm.

In some embodiments, the outer surface dimension c of the weld zone 30 protruding from the housing 20 in the thickness direction of the housing 20 may be 0.02mm, 0.04mm, 0.06mm, 0.08mm, 0.1mm, 0.12mm, 0.14mm, 0.16mm, 0.18mm, 0.2mm, etc.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the size of the outer surface of the welding area 30 protruding out of the shell 20 meets the above range, so that the risk that the welding area 30 damages the adjacent battery cells 1 when the battery cells 1 form the battery 100 is further reduced, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the process of trimming the welding area 30 due to the fact that the protruding size of the welding area 30 is larger is reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

Referring to fig. 2, the embodiment of the application further provides a battery 100, including the battery cell 1 of any of the above embodiments.

Referring to fig. 2 and fig. 14 to 16, fig. 14 is a schematic view illustrating an assembly of an end plate and a plurality of battery cells according to some embodiments of the present application; fig. 15 is an assembly schematic diagram of an end plate and a battery cell according to an embodiment of the present application; fig. 16 is a partial enlarged view at F of fig. 15. In some embodiments, the battery 100 may further include an end plate 140, the number of battery cells 1 may be plural, the end plate 140 may be located at an end of the plurality of battery cells 1 in the third direction Z, and the direction along the third region 231 toward the fourth region 232, at least a portion of the fourth region 232 exceeding the end plate 140. The end plate 140 can limit the battery cell 1 at the end part, and restrict the deformation of the battery cell 1, so that the end plate 140 and the shell 20 of the adjacent battery cell 1 have a larger connection area, thereby restricting the shell 20 and reducing the risk of fatigue cracking of the shell 20.

In some embodiments, the end plate 140 may be disposed facing the second wall 23. The end plate 140 has a larger contact area with the fourth region 232, and the end plate 140 can restrain the second wall 23 during the charge-discharge cycle of the battery cell 1 to reduce the risk of fatigue cracking of the second wall 23.

The embodiment of the application also provides electric equipment, which comprises the battery cell 1 of any embodiment or the battery 100 of any embodiment, wherein the battery cell 1 or the battery 100 is used for providing electric energy.

The embodiment of the application also provides an energy storage device, which comprises the battery cell 1 of any embodiment or the battery 100 of any embodiment.

Referring to fig. 3 to 13, in some embodiments, the battery cell 1 includes an end cap 10 and a case 20. The housing 20 has an opening 21, the end cap 10 closes the opening 21 of the housing 20, and the end cap 10 is welded with the housing 20 to form a weld zone 30. The welding area 30 protrudes from the outer surface of the housing 20, and the size of the welding area 30 protruding from the outer surface of the housing 20 is c, c being less than or equal to 0.3mm.

In some embodiments, the housing 20 may have two first walls 22 disposed opposite in the second direction Y, the first walls 22 including a first region 221 and a second region 222 arranged in the first direction X, the first region 221 being distant from the opening 21 relative to the second region 222, the maximum thickness of the first region 221 being greater than the maximum thickness of the second region 222. The first direction X is the thickness direction of the end cap 10. The inner surface of the second region 222 and the inner surface of the first region 221 may be located on the same plane.

In some embodiments, the end cap 10 has two first outer sides 11 disposed opposite in the second direction Y and wherein the two first outer sides 11 are connected with two first walls 22 of the housing 20, respectively. The first outer side 11 includes a first surface 111 and a second surface 112 sequentially distributed along a first direction X, and the second surface 112 protrudes from the first surface 111 along a second direction Y.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the second area 222 of the first wall 22 is subjected to thickness reduction treatment, and meanwhile, the first surface 111 of the first outer side surface 11 is subjected to thickness reduction treatment, so that when the shell 20 and the end cover 10 are welded, the size of the welding area 30 protruding out of the outer surface of the shell 20 is smaller, the risk that the welding area 30 damages adjacent battery monomers 1 when the battery monomers 1 form the battery 100 is reduced, the reliability of the battery 100 is improved, and meanwhile, the procedure of trimming the welding area 30 due to the larger protruding size of the welding area 30 is also reduced, and the production efficiency is improved.

While the application has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, various modifications may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the application. In particular, the technical features mentioned in the respective embodiments may be combined in any manner as long as there is no structural conflict. The present application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but encompasses all technical solutions falling within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A housing characterized in that the housing has an opening at one end in a first direction, the housing comprising a first wall comprising a first zone and a second zone arranged in the first direction, the first zone being remote from the opening relative to the second zone, the first zone having a maximum thickness in the thickness direction of the first wall that is greater than the maximum thickness of the second zone, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the thickness direction of the first wall.

2. The housing of claim 1, wherein an inner surface of the second region is coplanar with an inner surface of the first region in the first direction.

3. The housing of claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the second region is coplanar with an outer surface of the first region in the first direction.

4. A housing according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the second region has a dimension H ₁,H₁ of greater than or equal to 0.1mm and H ₁ of less than or equal to 2.3mm in the first direction.

5. A housing according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the maximum thickness of the second zone in the thickness direction of the first wall is D, the maximum thickness of the first zone is E, the ratio of D to E is greater than or equal to 0.7, and the ratio of D to E is less than 1.

6. A housing according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein a first step surface is formed between the first region and the second region, the first step surface having a dimension h ₁,h₁ of 0.3mm or less in the thickness direction of the first wall.

7. The housing of claim 1, wherein the first walls are two and the two first walls are oppositely disposed in a second direction;

The shell further comprises two second walls, the two second walls are oppositely arranged in the third direction, the two first walls and the two second walls enclose the opening, the first direction, the second direction and the third direction are perpendicular to each other, and the area of the outer surface of the second walls is larger than that of the outer surface of the first wall.

8. The housing of claim 7, wherein the second wall includes a third region and a fourth region arranged along the first direction, the third region being remote from the opening relative to the fourth region, the fourth region being for connection with an end cap, the third region having a maximum thickness that is greater than a maximum thickness of the fourth region.

9. An end cap for connection to a housing according to any one of claims 1 to 8 to form a battery cell, wherein in a second direction the end cap has a first outer side comprising a first surface and a second surface distributed sequentially along a first direction, the first direction being the direction in which the end cap closes the opening, and in the second direction the second surface protrudes from the first surface, the first direction being perpendicular to the second direction.

10. The end cap of claim 9, wherein the first surface has a dimension H ₂,H₂ mm or greater than or equal to 0.5mm and H ₂ is less than or equal to 2.3mm along the first direction.

11. The end cap of claim 9, wherein a second step surface is formed between the first surface and the second surface, the second step surface having a second dimension h ₂,h₂ mm or greater and h ₂ mm or less in the second direction.

12. The end cap of claim 9, wherein the first outer side faces are two, the two first outer side faces being oppositely disposed in the second direction;

The end cover is further provided with two second outer side surfaces which are oppositely arranged in a third direction, the second direction and the first direction are perpendicular to each other, and the area of the second outer side surfaces is larger than that of the first outer side surfaces.

13. The end cap of claim 12, wherein the second exterior side includes a third surface and a fourth surface sequentially distributed along the first direction, the fourth surface protruding from the third surface along the third direction.

14. A battery cell comprising the housing of any one of claims 1-8 and the end cap of any one of claims 9-13, the housing having an opening, the end cap closing the opening, the end cap welded to the housing to form a weld zone, the weld zone not protruding from an outer surface of the housing; or the welding area protrudes out of the outer surface of the shell, and the dimension of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell is c, wherein c is smaller than or equal to 0.3mm.

15. A battery cell comprising an end cap and the housing of any one of claims 1-8, the housing having an opening, the end cap closing the opening, the end cap welded to the housing to form a weld, the weld not protruding from an outer surface of the housing; or the welding area protrudes out of the outer surface of the shell, and the dimension of the welding area protruding out of the outer surface of the shell is c, wherein c is smaller than or equal to 0.3mm.

16. A battery comprising a cell according to any one of claims 14-15.

17. A powered device comprising a battery cell according to any one of claims 14-15 or a battery according to claim 16, the battery cell or the battery being adapted to provide electrical energy.

18. An energy storage device comprising a cell according to any one of claims 14 to 15 or a battery according to claim 16, the cell or battery being adapted to provide electrical energy.