JP2000021372A - Battery pack - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimally restrain a weight increase and an assembling manhour increase, and to confirm operation of an internal protective circuit board while being still assembled by providing a sheathing case having a through hole in a position opposed to the battery can part of a secondary battery by penetrating inside from the casing surface, and exposing the metallic part of a battery can of the part facing to the through hole. SOLUTION: The battery can exposing part 14 of not covering a battery can of a secondary battery 1 is arranged in a protective tube 13 covering so as to protect the secondary battery 1, and the battery can becomes a negative electrode of the secondary battery 1. A through hole 15 is arranged in a lower case 10, and the position coincides with the battery can exposing part 14. In a battery pack having such constitution, an inspection terminal 8e can be inspected through a through hole 11a, and the battery can exposing part 14 (that is, a battery negative electrode) can be inspected through the through hole 15. Since there is no need to particularly arrange a terminal in the inspection terminal of the battery negative electrode, a weight increase and an assembling manhour increase of the battery pack can be restrained. After inspecting a protective circuit board 3, a nameplate is stuck to hide the through holes 11a, 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a chargeable / dischargeable secondary battery and a battery pack containing a protection circuit board for controlling the charge / discharge state of the battery in a housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, power consumption has been increasing with the multifunctionalization of portable communication devices or small portable devices represented by small personal computers. Higher energy is required to secure the driving time. For this reason, in order to ensure the safety of the battery pack, more complicated technology is required for controlling the charge / discharge state of the secondary battery housed inside the housing of the battery pack. For example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 4-101373, a circuit element for controlling a charge / discharge state and a PTC are provided inside a battery pack.
And the like are housed.

In particular, recently, there is a strong demand for smaller and lighter portable devices, and it is necessary to reduce the size of the battery pack housing. For this reason, it is necessary to reduce the ratio of the circuit board portion occupying the internal space of the battery pack, and a configuration in which the circuit element is mounted on the protection circuit board by reflow is adopted.

In a battery pack employing such a configuration, the elements mounted on the protection circuit board are exposed to high temperatures during reflow, and after the battery pack is completed, the circuit board accommodated in the housing is removed. It is necessary to confirm that the operation is normal for overdischarge, overcharge, and the like. In order to confirm operation, it is necessary to make the protection circuit function.
This measure adversely affects the secondary battery.
Therefore, a configuration is adopted in which an inspection terminal for operation confirmation is provided and this is exposed on the surface of the housing. After the inspection is completed, this terminal is not required for normal use.
The inspection terminal is covered with a nameplate on which a precautionary statement is written.

Hereinafter, the configuration of a known battery pack having an inspection terminal will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 2, 1 is a secondary battery, 2 is a protective tube for protecting the secondary battery by covering the secondary battery 1, and 3 is a protective circuit board, which controls at least the charge / discharge state on the circuit. IC is mounted. Reference numerals 4 and 5 denote lead plates for connecting the secondary battery and the protection circuit board 3.
Is a soldering element, and 6 is a protection element. Reference numeral 7 denotes a terminal for electrically connecting the battery pack and the main device, and is soldered to the protection circuit board 3. 8a to 8f are metallic contacts provided on the terminal 7, 8a to 8d are contacts for contacting the terminals of the main unit, and 8e and 8f serve as inspection terminals for inspecting the function of the protection circuit board 3. 8e and 8f are terminals for inspecting the function of the IC on the normal protection circuit board 3;
In many cases, the terminal detects the potential of the negative electrode of the secondary battery. 9 is an upper case, 10 is a lower case, and an upper case 9
After the secondary battery, the protection circuit board 3, the lead plates 4, 5, the protection element 6, and the terminal 7 are stored in the lower case 10, the upper case 9 and the lower case 10 are bonded.

Reference numerals 11a and 11b denote through holes provided in the upper case 10. Even after the upper case 9 and the lower case 10 are bonded, the protection circuit board 3 is provided through the through holes 11a and 11b.
It is possible to inspect the function of. Reference numeral 12 denotes a nameplate attached on the lower case 10 so as to cover the through holes 10a and 10b.

[0007]

In the battery pack having the above configuration, the inspection terminal for inspecting the protection circuit board needs to be located immediately below the nameplate attaching portion of the case. Normally, when the protection circuit board is not located directly under the lower case, it is necessary to separately provide an inspection terminal unnecessary for the function of the original battery pack, which not only increases the weight of the battery pack but also increases the soldering capacity. Therefore, there is a problem that the possibility of erroneous work in the process increases due to an increase in the number of operations.

The present invention solves this problem by minimizing an increase in the weight of the battery pack and an increase in the number of steps of the assembling work, and without disassembling the battery pack after the final assembling, without removing the internal protective circuit board. The purpose is to be able to confirm operation.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a battery pack according to the present invention is a battery pack in which a metal battery can, which accommodates a power generating element and serves as either a positive or negative electrode terminal, is covered with a covering member. A dischargeable secondary battery and a protection circuit board are housed in an outer case, and the outer case penetrates from the housing surface to the inside and has a through hole at a position facing the battery can portion of the secondary battery. Then, a configuration is employed in which the metal portion of the battery can is exposed at a portion facing the through hole of the secondary battery.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chargeable / dischargeable secondary battery in which a metal battery can is covered with a cover member, and a through-hole penetrating a protection circuit board from the housing surface to the inside. This is a battery pack built in an outer case having a structure in which a secondary battery and a through hole are arranged to face each other, and a metal portion is exposed at a portion facing the through hole of the battery can.

According to this configuration, the operation of the internal protection circuit board can be confirmed without disassembling the battery pack while minimizing the increase in the weight of the battery pack and the increase in the number of steps of the assembling work. Have.

[0013] In addition, by inserting a measuring terminal for inspection through the through hole and inspecting the protection circuit board, a nameplate is pasted on the through hole to hide the through hole, so that the through hole is concealed. Thus, the operating state of the protection circuit board can be confirmed.

FIG. 1 shows a battery pack according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, parts having the same functions as those in the configuration in FIG. 2, that is, 1 to 12 in FIG. Therefore, a detailed description thereof will be omitted, and in the present embodiment, only a portion with a new number will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 13 denotes a protective tube for protecting the secondary battery covered by the secondary battery, and a portion 14 which does not cover the battery can of the secondary battery is partially provided. Is the negative electrode of the secondary battery. Reference numeral 15 denotes a through hole provided in the lower upper case 10, and its position coincides with the exposed portion 14 of the battery can.

In the battery pack having the above-described structure, the inspection terminal 8e can be inspected through the through hole 11a, and the battery can exposed portion 14 (ie, the battery negative electrode) can be inspected through the through hole 15. Since there is no need to provide special terminals, it is possible to suppress an increase in the weight of the battery pack and an increase in the number of assembly steps.

After the inspection, the nameplate 12 is attached to the lower case 10 to complete the battery pack. In this embodiment, a rectangular battery is used as the secondary battery. However, the effects of this embodiment can be obtained by using a cylindrical battery.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, an increase in the weight of the battery pack and an increase in the number of steps of the assembling operation are minimized, and the internal protective circuit board is not disassembled after the final assembly is completed. An advantageous effect that operation check can be performed is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a battery pack of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a conventional battery pack.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Secondary battery 3 Protection circuit board 7 Terminal 5 Solder land 9 Upper case 10 Lower case 12 Name plate 15 Through hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A chargeable / dischargeable secondary battery in which a power generation element is housed and a metal battery can serving as one of positive and negative terminals is covered by a cover member, and a battery in which a protection circuit board is housed in an outer case. A battery pack, wherein the outer case penetrates from the housing surface to the inside, has a through hole at a position facing the battery can portion of the secondary battery, and has a battery at a position facing the through hole of the secondary battery. A battery pack characterized in that the metal part of the can is exposed.