JP2005190956A - Thin battery pack - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thin battery pack which has sufficient strength for one side of a thin battery, while minimizing the entire thickness, and moreover can prevent reverse insertion because of the shape of the battery pack itself. <P>SOLUTION: The thin battery pack comprises a thin battery 2, encased in an outer case 1 formed by coupling a first case 1A and a second case 1B, located on the front side and the back side of the thin battery 2, respectively. The first case 1A has an opening 3, to expose a first surface of the thin battery 2 to the outside, and a first peripheral wall portion 4 that is shaped into a rectangular frame and intended for covering the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery 2. The second case 1B has a second peripheral wall portion 6 for covering the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery 2 and a surface plate portion 7 for covering a second surface of the thin battery 2, which are integrally shaped. The outer surface and the inner surface of the second peripheral wall portion 6, facing toward a curved side surface 2A of the thin battery 2, are formed into curved surfaces. The first peripheral wall portion 4 has an outer corner portion 9, protruding outward so as to be away from the curved side surface 2A, and a flat surface 5A parallel to the first surface of the thin battery 2 is thereby provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a thin battery pack in which a thin battery is mounted on an outer case.

The present applicant has developed a thin battery pack shown in FIG. 1 as a thin battery pack that can reduce the overall thickness. (See Patent Document 1)
Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-330085

  In this thin battery pack, as shown in the figure, a thin battery 22 is attached to an outer case 21. The exterior case 21 is formed in a rectangular frame shape that provides openings 23 for exposing the front and back surfaces of the thin battery 22 to the outside and covers both side surfaces and both end surfaces of the thin battery 22. The thickness of the outer case 21 is substantially equal to the thickness of the thin battery 22, or the outer case 21 is thinner than the thin battery 22. Furthermore, the exterior case 21 includes a first case 21A and a second case 21B that are divided on the front and back sides of the thin battery 22. The second case 21B and the first case 21A are connected to form an outer case, and a thin battery is attached to the outer case. Further, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, the thin battery pack has a label 28 attached to the outer surfaces of the first case 21A and the second case 21B, and the label 28 is also attached to the surface of the thin battery 22. doing.

  The thin battery pack having this structure has an advantage that the entire case can be thinned by opening both sides of the outer case and exposing the front and back surfaces of the thin battery to the outside through the opening. However, the thin battery pack having this structure has a drawback that it is difficult to increase the strength of both sides.

  In addition, a thin battery pack has been developed that is manufactured by inserting one end face of a thin battery into a low-temperature molded resin together with a printed circuit board and a terminal board without using an exterior case. This thin battery pack is manufactured by inserting both ends of a thin battery into a low temperature molding resin and attaching a label so as to adhere to the low temperature molding resin on one end surface and the surface of the thin battery. The thin battery pack of this structure also has the feature that it can be made thin like the thin battery pack shown in FIG.

  However, this battery pack also has a drawback that it is difficult to make both sides sufficiently strong. Furthermore, since this battery pack has labels attached to both sides of the thin battery, the front and back sides are symmetrical and the battery pack is mounted on the device in the same manner as the thin battery pack shown in FIG. In addition, there is a drawback that the battery pack itself cannot be configured to prevent reverse mounting.

  The above disadvantages can be solved by a structure in which a thin battery is housed in a plastic case having a closed structure formed of plastic in a box shape. However, a battery pack that houses a thin battery in a plastic case with a closed structure has a drawback that the entire thin battery pack cannot be thinly formed because both sides of the thin battery are covered with a plastic case.

  The present invention has been developed for the purpose of solving such drawbacks, and an important object of the present invention is to make one side of a thin battery sufficiently strong while making the whole thin as much as possible. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thin battery pack that can be shaped to prevent reverse insertion by the shape of the pack itself.

  In the thin battery pack of the present invention, the thin battery 2 having the curved side surfaces 2A at the corners on both sides is set in the outer case 1. The outer case 1 includes a first case 1A and a second case 1B which are manufactured by being divided into a first surface and a second surface side which are front and back surfaces of the thin battery 2. The first case 1A has an opening 3 that exposes the first surface of the thin battery 2 to the outside, and the first peripheral wall 4 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery 2 is formed into a rectangular frame shape. . In the second case 1 </ b> B, a surface plate portion 7 that covers the second surface of the thin battery 2 is integrally formed on the second peripheral wall portion 6 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery 2. The 2nd surrounding wall part 6 makes the inner surface which opposes the curved side surface 2A of the thin battery 2 into a curved surface along the curved side surface 2A, and the outer surface of the 2nd surrounding wall part 6 is a shape along the curved inner side surface. Is curved. The first peripheral wall portion 4 that covers the curved side surface 2A of the thin battery 2 has an outer corner portion 9 on the opposite side to the side connected to the second peripheral wall portion 6 so as to protrude outward from the curved side surface 2A. A flat surface 5A parallel to the first surface of the battery 2 is provided. The thin battery 2 is housed in an exterior case 1 formed by connecting the first peripheral wall 4 of the first case 1A and the second peripheral wall 6 of the second case 1B.

  In the thin battery pack of the present invention, the label 8 can be attached to the flat surface 5A of the first case 1A and the first surface of the thin battery 2. Furthermore, the thin battery pack of the present invention can be connected by ultrasonic welding the first peripheral wall portion 4 of the first case 1A and the second peripheral wall portion 6 of the second case 1B, or by an adhesive or locking structure. It can also be linked.

  The thin battery pack of the present invention is characterized in that one side of the thin battery can be made sufficiently strong while making the whole thin as much as possible. In the thin battery pack of the present invention, the outer case is divided into the front and back sides of the thin battery, the first case has an opening for exposing the first surface of the thin battery to the outside, and the second case is thin. This is because a surface plate portion that covers the second surface of the battery is provided. Since the thin battery pack having this structure allows the first surface of the thin battery to be exposed from the opening of the first case, the whole can be thinned. Further, since the surface plate portion is provided on the second surface side of the second case without providing the opening, one side of the thin battery pack can be made sufficiently strong. In particular, in the thin battery pack of the present invention, the second peripheral wall portion of the second case that covers the curved side surface of the thin battery has a curved shape along the curved side surface, and the first peripheral wall portion of the first case has an outer corner portion. Since the flat surface parallel to the first surface of the thin battery is provided so as to protrude outward from the curved side surface, when mounting on the device, the shape of the outer case is made asymmetrical between the front and back. There is also a feature that can prevent wearing.

  Furthermore, the thin battery pack according to claim 2 of the present invention has a feature that a large label can be attached in a flat shape because the label is attached to the flat surface of the first case with the corner portion protruding outward. In particular, since the peripheral portion of the label is attached to the flat surface, there is a feature that it is possible to effectively prevent this portion from being peeled off and to attach it reliably. Thus, the structure that can be attached to the first case so as not to peel the label can firmly connect the thin battery and the first case.

  Furthermore, in the thin battery pack according to claim 3 of the present invention, since the first peripheral wall portion of the first case protrudes outward and is provided with a flat surface, the first peripheral wall portion of the first case and the second case of the second case are provided. When ultrasonically welding the second peripheral wall portion, the ultrasonic horn can be reliably applied to the first peripheral wall portion over a wide area. Therefore, this thin battery pack can easily and reliably ultrasonically connect the first peripheral wall portion of the first case and the second peripheral wall portion of the second case.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below exemplify a thin battery pack for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention does not specify the thin battery pack as follows.

  Further, in this specification, in order to facilitate understanding of the scope of claims, numbers corresponding to the members shown in the examples are indicated in the “claims” and “means for solving problems” sections. It is added to the members. However, the members shown in the claims are not limited to the members in the embodiments.

  The thin battery pack shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 has a thin battery 2 set and fixed to an outer case 1. The thin battery 2 is a secondary battery whose thickness is thinner than its width. As shown in the enlarged sectional view of FIG. 5, the thin battery 2 is curved so as to chamfer the corners on both side surfaces of the metal case to form a curved side surface 2A. The thin battery 2 is a lithium ion battery or a polymer battery. The polymer battery is a lithium polymer battery. However, the present invention does not specify a thin battery as a lithium ion battery or a polymer battery. The thin battery may be a battery other than these batteries, for example, a nickel-hydrogen battery or a nickel-cadmium battery.

  The outer case 1 is manufactured by molding an insulating material. The insulating material for molding the outer case 1 is a thermoplastic plastic. The exterior case 1 includes a first case 1A and a second case 1B which are manufactured by being divided into a first surface and a second surface side which are front and back surfaces of the thin battery 2. The first case 1A and the second case 1B are manufactured by being molded separately from thermoplastic plastic. The first case 1A and the second case 1B manufactured by molding a thermoplastic plastic can be easily and firmly connected by ultrasonic welding. However, the first case 1A and the second case 1B can be bonded and connected, or can be connected by a locking structure.

  The first case 1A is formed in a rectangular frame shape that covers the outer peripheral surface composed of both side surfaces and both end surfaces of the thin battery 2, and the first surface of the thin battery 2 (the lower surface of the thin battery 2 in FIGS. 6 and 7). Is opened to the outside. The rectangular frame-shaped first case 1 </ b> A has a first peripheral wall portion 4 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery 2. The first peripheral wall portion 4 is provided to face the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery 2. Furthermore, the 1st surrounding wall part 4 has formed the inner side protrusion part 5 by shape | molding integrally, and makes the cross-sectional shape L-shape. The inner protrusion 5 has an outer surface as a flat surface 5A to which the label 8 is attached. The flat surface 5 </ b> A is a surface parallel to the first surface of the thin battery 2, and attaches the peripheral portion of the label 8 attached to the surface of the thin battery 2. The first case 1A provided with the inner projecting portion 5 can widen the inner projecting portion 5 so that the label 8 can be attached to the first case 1A with a wide area. Further, the first case 1A can be made to have a strong structure by widening the inner protrusion 5 to increase the bending strength.

  The inner protrusion 5 shown in FIG. 7 has a stepped portion by lowering the label attaching portion of the flat surface 5A. The first case 1A can be attached to the flat surface 5A so that the label 8 does not protrude from the outer surface of the stepped portion by attaching the peripheral portion of the label 8 to the stepped portion, and the label 8 is not peeled off.

  The second case 1 </ b> B is provided by integrally molding the surface plate portion 7 on the second peripheral wall portion 6. The 2nd surrounding wall part 6 is provided facing the outer side of the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery 2 so that the outer peripheral surface which consists of the both sides | surfaces and both end surfaces of the thin battery 2 may be covered. The surface plate portion 7 covers the second surface of the thin battery 2. The second peripheral wall portion 6 is connected to the first peripheral wall portion 4 of the first case 1A. The 2nd surrounding wall part 6 and the 1st surrounding wall part 4 are connected, and it becomes the exterior case 1, The thin battery 2 is accommodated in this exterior case 1, and is fixed.

  In the second peripheral wall portion 6 of the second case 1B, the inner surface facing the curved side surface 2A of the thin battery 2 is a curved surface along the curved side surface 2A. Moreover, the outer side surface of the 2nd surrounding wall part 6 is curving in the shape in alignment with the curving inner side surface. The 2nd surrounding wall part 6 which curves an inner surface and an outer surface with the same curvature radius becomes substantially the same thickness.

  The first peripheral wall portion 4 that covers the curved side surface 2A of the thin battery 2 is opposite to the side connected to the second peripheral wall portion 6 (as shown in FIG. 5 of the first peripheral wall portion 4). A flat surface 5A parallel to the first surface of the thin battery 2 is provided by projecting the outer corner portion 9 on the lower side away from the curved side surface 2A of the thin battery 2. The first peripheral wall portion 4 makes the radius of curvature of the outer corner portion 9 smaller than the radius of curvature outside the second peripheral wall portion 6. The first peripheral wall portion 4 of FIG. 5 has an outer surface that is a vertical surface orthogonal to the first surface of the thin battery 2. Further, since the entire first peripheral wall portion 4 in this figure is formed to have substantially the same thickness, the inner surface is also a vertical surface orthogonal to the first surface of the thin battery 2. However, the thin battery pack of the present invention can also bend the inner surface of the first peripheral wall portion 4 into a shape along the curved side surface 2A of the thin battery 2 as shown in the sectional view of FIG. The 1st case 1A of this shape can make the 1st surrounding wall part 4 thick, and can make it a tougher structure.

  In the illustrated thin battery pack, a terminal window 12 for exposing the output terminal 11 to the outside is opened in the second peripheral wall portion 6. The terminal window 12 is opened at a position where the output terminal 11 fixed to the circuit board 10 disposed on the end face of the thin battery 2 is exposed to the outside. In the illustrated thin battery pack, the second peripheral wall 6 facing the curved side surface 2A of the thin battery 2 is a curved surface, and the first peripheral wall 4 and the second peripheral wall 6 facing both end surfaces of the thin battery 2 are vertical surfaces. It is said.

The thin battery pack having the above structure is assembled in the following steps.
(1) The circuit board 10 is connected to the thin battery 2 to form a battery core pack. The circuit board 10 is connected to the thin battery 2 via a lead plate or a lead wire. The circuit board 10 is mounted with a control circuit for fixing the output terminal 11 on the surface and controlling charging / discharging of the thin battery 2.
(2) As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a battery core pack is disposed between the first case 1A and the second case 1B, and the battery core pack is sandwiched between the first case 1A and the second case 1B. Thus, the first case 1A and the second case 1B are connected. The first case 1 </ b> A and the second case 1 </ b> B connect the first peripheral wall portion 4 and the second peripheral wall portion 6 by ultrasonic welding, or connect them by bonding, or connect them by a locking structure. When the first case and the second case connected by the locking structure are molded of plastic, a locking portion (not shown) is molded and provided.
(3) The label 8 is attached to the flat surface 5A of the first case 1A. The periphery of the label 8 is attached to the flat surface 5A of the first case 1A. The label 8 is also attached to the first surface of the thin battery 2 in the opening 3 of the first case 1A. The label 8 is printed with characters, figures, and the like necessary for the thin battery pack, such as the battery type, model, and precautions.

  The label 8 is attached to the flat surface 5A of the first case 1A, but the first case 1A projects the outer corner portion 9 of the first peripheral wall portion 4. The first case 1A having this shape can adhere a label 8 having a large area. This is because the outer shape of the flat surface 5A can be increased by projecting the corner portion outward. Further, since the large label 8 can be attached in a flat shape, it can be attached so as not to peel the peripheral edge of the label 8. When the peripheral edge of the label 8 is attached to the curved surface, the peripheral edge is easily peeled by the action of restoring the flat shape. However, the thin battery pack shown in the figure has a flat peripheral edge and is attached to the flat surface 5A. Can be glued so as not to peel off.

  The thin battery pack having the above structure is used by being mounted on various electric devices, for example. Depending on the electric device, an external case of the thin battery pack to be mounted is displayed outside in order to make the device main body thin. Some of them are used as part of the device body. Although this type of electric device is not shown, a mounting portion is provided on the surface of the main body case of the electric device, and a thin battery pack is mounted on the mounting portion for use. At this time, the thin battery pack is configured to be mounted in a state where the first surface of the first case faces the mounting portion of the main body case and the second case is exposed to the outside. In the thin battery pack of the present invention, an opening is provided in the first case which is the first surface side of the exterior case, and the thin battery is exposed from the opening, so that the surface faces the mounting portion. This part can be fully protected by mounting with. Moreover, since the thin battery pack has a flat surface, it can be mounted in a state of being in close contact with the mounting portion of the electric device body. Further, the second case, which is the second surface side of the outer case, is integrally formed with a surface plate portion that covers the second surface of the thin battery, so that it is used as a part of the electric device main body. The portion can be reinforced with a surface plate portion to obtain sufficient strength. In addition, since the second peripheral wall portion of the second case, which is the second surface side of the exterior case, is formed into a curved shape, there is also a feature that the appearance can be improved as a curved shape along the outer shape of the electric device main body.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the thin battery pack which the present applicant developed previously. It is a partially expanded sectional view of the thin battery pack shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the thin battery pack concerning one Example of this invention. FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of the thin battery pack shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the thin battery pack shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the thin battery pack shown in FIG. 3. It is a disassembled perspective view of the thin battery pack shown in FIG. It is an expanded sectional view of the thin battery pack concerning other examples of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Exterior case 1A ... 1st case 1B ... 2nd case 2 ... Thin battery 2A ... Curved side surface 3 ... Opening part 4 ... 1st surrounding wall part 5 ... Inner protrusion 5A ... Flat surface 6 ... 2nd surrounding wall part 7 ... Surface Plate part 8 ... Label 9 ... Outer corner part 10 ... Circuit board 11 ... Output terminal 12 ... Terminal window 21 ... Exterior case 21A ... First case 21B ... Second case 22 ... Thin battery 23 ... Opening 28 ... Label

Claims (4)

A thin battery pack in which a thin battery (2) with curved corners (2A) on both sides is set in an outer case (1), and the outer case (1) is a table of the thin battery (2). It has a first case (1A) and a second case (1B), which are manufactured by dividing the first surface, which is the back surface, and the second surface side,
The first case (1A) has an opening (3) that exposes the first surface of the thin battery (2) to the outside, and a first peripheral wall (4) that covers the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery (2). ) In a rectangular frame shape,
In the second case (1B), the surface plate portion (7) covering the second surface of the thin battery (2) is integrally formed with the second peripheral wall portion (6) covering the outer peripheral surface of the thin battery (2). Molded and provided,
The second peripheral wall portion (6) has an inner surface facing the curved side surface (2A) of the thin battery (2) as a curved surface along the curved side surface (2A) and an outer surface of the second peripheral wall portion (6). , Curved in a shape along the curved inner surface,
The first peripheral wall portion (4) covering the curved side surface (2A) of the thin battery (2) has an outer corner portion (9) on the opposite side to the side connected to the second peripheral wall portion (6). The flat surface (5A) parallel to the first surface of the thin battery (2) is provided so as to protrude outward from the
The thin battery (2) is housed in an outer case (1) formed by connecting the first peripheral wall (4) of the first case (1A) and the second peripheral wall (6) of the second case (1B). A thin battery pack.   The thin battery pack according to claim 1, wherein a label (8) is attached to the flat surface (5A) of the first case (1A) and the first surface of the thin battery (2).   The thin battery pack according to claim 1, wherein the first peripheral wall (4) of the first case (1A) and the second peripheral wall (6) of the second case (1B) are connected by ultrasonic welding. . The thin shape described in Claim 1 which has connected the 1st surrounding wall part (4) of the 1st case (1A), and the 2nd surrounding wall part (6) of the 2nd case (1B) by adhesion | attachment or the latching structure. battery pack.

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