JP2008047344A - Sealed storage battery - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealed storage battery which allows a tubular member capable of leading a gas to the outside to be attached on a top cover with ease, and makes the tubular member hard to be pulled off after attachment. <P>SOLUTION: The sealed storage battery includes a battery case 3, a top cover 2 welded to the battery case 3, and a tubular part which is provided at the top cover 2 and has an open end defining an exhaust vent 5 for exhausting a gas generated in the battery case 3 to the outside. To the tubular part inserted is an end of a connecting pipe 13 which leads a gas to the outside and has a fitting convex part 13a at the outer circumferential portion. Further, the tubular part has a notch 5a extending from the open end to the axial direction of the tubular part, and a fitting groove 5b for receiving the fitting convex part 13a at the inner circumference. The depth d1 of the notch 5a from the open end of the tubular part is made equal to the depth d2 from the open end to the fitting groove 5b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sealed storage battery, and more particularly to a structure of an exhaust section that discharges gas generated inside the sealed storage battery to the outside.

Conventionally, in storage batteries, various methods for discharging gas generated in a battery case to the outside have been proposed. One of them is a gas flow path for collecting the gas generated in the battery case inside the battery case, an exhaust pipe is connected to the gas flow path, and the gas is discharged to the outside through the exhaust pipe. There is a technique. An example of this type of gas exhaust structure is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-45380.
JP 2003-45380 A

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the structure of the exhaust port 5 and its vicinity of a sealed storage battery having a gas exhaust structure similar to the gas exhaust structure described in JP-A-2003-45380. In the sealed storage battery shown in FIG. 11, the exhaust port 5 is defined by a cylindrical portion protruding outward from the side surface of the upper lid 2. The cylindrical portion has a notch 5a and a fitting groove 5b.

  FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional structure taken along line XII-XII in FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, the depth d1 of the notch 5a from the opening end of the cylindrical part is larger than the depth d2 from the opening end of the cylindrical part to the fitting groove 5b. The exhaust port 5 communicates with the exhaust passage 11 via a communication hole 12 provided in the side wall of the upper lid 2, and the upper lid 2 is connected to the battery case 3 via a welded portion 19.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the end portion of the connection pipe 13 connected to the exhaust pipe is inserted into the cylindrical portion defining the exhaust port 5, and the fitting groove 5 b and the outer periphery of the connection pipe 13 are inserted. Since the fitting convex part 13a to be fitted is provided, the connecting pipe 13 is inserted into the cylindrical part while deforming the fitting convex part 13a so as to push the cylindrical part outward. . At this time, the cylindrical portion is considered to be deformed outward around the deformation starting point 20 in the vicinity of the bottom of the notch 5a. Similarly, when the connecting pipe 13 is pulled out from the cylindrical portion, the cylindrical portion is considered to be deformed around the deformation starting point 20.

  In the example of FIG. 13, since the deformation starting point 20 exists at a deep position away from the opening end of the cylindrical portion, the cylindrical portion is easily deformed when the connecting tube 13 is inserted into the cylindrical portion. It is considered that the tube 13 can be inserted into the cylindrical portion with a small force. However, since it is considered that the connecting tube 13 can be pulled out with a small force even when the connecting tube 13 is pulled out, there is a concern that the connecting tube 13 can be easily detached.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a sealed storage battery in which a tubular member capable of guiding gas to the outside can be easily attached to the upper lid, and the tubular member can be made difficult to come off after attachment. Objective.

  The sealed storage battery according to the present invention includes a battery case, an upper lid welded to the battery case, and a cylindrical portion having an opening end that is provided on the upper lid and defines an exhaust port for discharging the gas generated in the battery case to the outside. With. An end portion of a tubular member that guides gas to the outside and has a fitting convex portion on the outer periphery is inserted into the cylindrical portion. The tubular part has a notch part extending from the opening end in the axial direction of the tubular part, and a fitting groove for receiving the fitting convex part on the inner periphery. And the depth of the notch part from the opening end of a cylindrical part and the depth from an opening end to a fitting groove are made equal.

  Here, “the depth of the notch from the opening end of the tubular portion and the depth from the opening end to the fitting groove” are equal to the depth of the notch from the opening end of the tubular portion. This means that a part of the fitting groove is present at a depth position substantially equal to the above. Therefore, the upper end portion in the depth direction of the fitting groove (the end portion on the opening end side of the cylindrical portion) is positioned at a depth position substantially equal to the depth of the notch portion from the opening end of the cylindrical portion. All cases where the central portion in the depth direction of the fitting groove exists at the depth position or the lower end portion in the depth direction of the fitting groove exists at the depth position are included. .

  It is preferable to provide a plurality of notches at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion. In this case, it is preferable that the fitting groove extends in the circumferential direction of the tubular portion so as to connect between the end portions of the cutout portion on the side away from the opening end of the tubular portion. The tubular portion may be formed on the upper lid by welding the exhaust port part including the tubular portion to the upper lid.

  By making the depth of the notch from the opening end of the cylindrical portion equal to the depth from the opening end to the fitting groove as described above, a tubular member capable of guiding gas to the outside can be easily obtained. While it becomes possible to attach to a cylindrical part, the said tubular member can be made difficult to remove from a cylindrical part after attachment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a part of sealed battery 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the cylindrical portion provided on the upper lid 2 and the vicinity thereof, and FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sealed storage battery 1 includes a battery case 3 and an upper lid 2 attached to the battery case 3 so as to close an upper end opening of the battery case 3.

  The battery case 3 is a rectangular parallelepiped container and is made of, for example, a synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 2, various elements such as a partition wall 6 having ribs 7 and a pole group 8 are accommodated inside the battery case 3. The upper lid 2 has a rectangular planar shape corresponding to the upper end opening of the battery case 3 and is made of synthetic resin. The upper lid 2 is connected to the battery case 3 through a welded portion 19 as shown in FIG. A cover plate 4 is attached to the upper surface of the upper lid 2 as shown in FIG. On the side wall of the upper lid 2, a cylindrical portion having an open end that defines an exhaust port 5 for discharging the gas generated in the battery case 3 to the outside is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an exhaust passage 11 is provided under the cover plate 4. An exhaust tube 9 is erected on a wall portion that partitions the exhaust passage 11 and each cell chamber that houses the above-described electrode group 8 and the like. A rubber valve 10 is attached to the upper end of the exhaust tube 9. A communication hole 12 that communicates the exhaust passage 11 and the exhaust port 5 is provided on the side wall of the upper lid 2.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cylindrical portion that defines the exhaust port 5 has a cylindrical shape, but any shape other than a cylinder can be adopted as long as it is cylindrical. The tubular portion has a notch (slit) 5a extending from the opening end in the axial direction of the tubular portion, and a fitting groove (recess) 5b. The end portion of a connecting pipe (joint: tubular member) 13 having a fitting convex portion 13a on the outer periphery is inserted into the cylindrical portion, and the gas generated inside the battery case 3 is guided to the outside. In the example of FIG. 3, the connecting pipe 13 has an L shape and is made of synthetic resin, and an exhaust pipe 14 formed of rubber or the like is connected to the connecting pipe 13. The shape and material of the exhaust pipe 14 can be arbitrarily selected.

  Typically, a plurality of cutout portions 5a are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion, but the formation position and the like of the cutout portions 5a can be arbitrarily selected. In addition, in the example of FIG. 3, four linear notches 5a are provided, but the number, shape, length, etc. of the notches 5a can be arbitrarily selected. The depth of the notch 5a from the opening end of the cylindrical part (the axial length of the cylindrical part) is d1.

  The fitting groove 5 b is provided so as to extend in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion, and receives the fitting convex portion 13 a of the connecting pipe 13. In the example of FIG. 3, the fitting groove 5b has an annular shape and extends in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion so as to connect between the ends of the cutout portion 5a on the side away from the opening end of the cylindrical portion. However, the shape of the fitting groove 5b can be arbitrarily selected. For example, the fitting groove 5b can be provided intermittently in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion. The fitting groove 5b is formed at a position of a depth d2 from the opening end of the cylindrical portion.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the depth d1 of the notch 5a is made equal to the depth d2 from the opening end of the cylindrical portion to the fitting groove 5b. However, the formation position of the notch 5a and the fitting groove 5b may be set so that a part of the fitting groove 5b exists at the position of the depth d1 of the notch 5a from the opening end of the cylindrical part. .

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the end portion of the connecting pipe 13 is inserted into the cylindrical portion, the cylindrical portion is deformed. However, the cylindrical portion is not the end portion or the fitting portion of the notch portion 5 a. It is considered that the portion where the groove 5 b is located or the vicinity thereof is deformed with the deformation starting point 20. Compared with the case shown in FIG. 13, since the deformation starting point 20 exists at a shallow position of the cylindrical portion, it is considered that the force required for deforming the cylindrical portion is larger in the case of FIG. . Similarly, when pulling out the connecting pipe 13 from the cylindrical portion, it is considered that a larger force is required than in the case shown in FIG.

  Here, if the force (insertion force) required for inserting the connection tube 13 is about 3.0 kgf or less (insertion force target range), the connection tube 13 can be easily inserted into the cylindrical portion by hand. The inventor of the present application states that if the force (pulling force) required for pulling out the connecting tube 13 is about 3.0 kgf or more and less than 4 kgf (withdrawal force target range), the connecting tube 13 is not easily detached from the cylindrical portion. Etc. are empirically known through various attempts.

  With the above numerical value as a target, the inventors of the present invention produced the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and actually inserted the connecting pipe 13 into the cylindrical portion. As a result, the connecting pipe 13 was inserted into the cylindrical portion. In some cases, a certain amount of force is required, but it has been found that both the insertion force and the pulling force can satisfy the target numerical range.

  Here, the inventors of the present application produce three types of cylindrical portions (samples 1 to 3) having different depths of the notch portions 5a as shown in FIGS. Measure the force required to insert the connecting pipe 13 (insertion force) and the force required to pull out the connecting pipe 13 (pull-out force) using a push pull gauge. The results will be described. 9A corresponds to the present embodiment, and FIGS. 9B and 9C are partial models corresponding to the conventional example.

  Further, in the sample 1 shown in FIG. 9A, the depth d3 of the notch 5a is 3.8 mm, and in the sample 2 shown in FIG. 9B, the depth d4 of the notch 5a is 6. In the sample 3 shown in FIG. 9C, the depth d5 of the notch 5a is 8.5 mm. Moreover, the depth to the center part of the fitting groove 5b is 3.8 mm in any case. Each of the samples 1 to 3 is made of polypropylene (PP), the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion is φ12.6 mm, the inner diameter is φ8.1 mm, and the depth of the fitting groove is about 0.3 mm.

  FIG. 10 and Table 1 show the measurement results. As shown in FIG. 10 and Table 1, when the depth d3 to d5 of the notch 5a is made shallower while maintaining the depth of the fitting groove 5b, both the insertion force and the pulling force are increased. It can also be seen that the degree of increase in the pulling force is greater than the insertion force.

  As a result, in Sample 3 where the depth of the notch is the deepest, the extraction force is smaller than the insertion force, but in Samples 1 and 2, the relationship between the insertion force and the extraction force is reversed, and the extraction force is reduced. Is larger than the insertion force.

  More specifically, Sample 3 had an insertion force of 0.66 kgf and a pulling force of 0.48 kgf. Sample 2 had an insertion force of 1.71 kgf and a pulling force of 1.98 kgf. For both of these samples, the insertion force satisfied the target value of 3.0 kgf or less, but the pulling force did not satisfy the target value of 3.0 kgf or more and less than 4.0 kgf.

  On the other hand, Sample 1 had an insertion force of 2.80 kgf and a pulling force of 3.83 kgf, and both the insertion force and the pulling force were within the target numerical range.

  From the above, the structure of the sample 1 shown in FIG. 9A, that is, the structure in which the depth of the notch 5a from the opening end of the cylindrical portion is equal to the depth of the fitting groove 5b from the opening end is adopted. Thus, the connecting pipe 13 can be easily inserted into the cylindrical part by hand, and it is possible to make it difficult to remove the connecting pipe 13 after being attached to the cylindrical part. From the results of FIG. 10 and the like, it is presumed that the same effect can be obtained even when the depths of the notch 5a and the fitting groove 5b are slightly changed.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a part of sealed battery 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the second embodiment, the structure around the exhaust port 5 is different from that of the first embodiment. Specifically, in the second embodiment, a cylindrical receiving portion 15 is provided on the side surface of the upper lid 2, and the exhaust port part 16 is attached to the cylindrical receiving portion 15.

  FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the exhaust port part 16 has an outer cylindrical shape that projects outward from the outer periphery of the cylindrical part so as to surround the cylindrical part that defines the exhaust port 5 and the opening end side of the cylindrical part. And a flange portion provided at the open end of the outer cylindrical portion. The bottom part of the cylindrical part and the side wall of the upper lid 2 are separated from each other, the communication hole 18 is provided in the bottom part of the cylindrical part, and the communication hole 12 is provided in the side wall of the upper cover 2. The exhaust port in the cylindrical portion and the exhaust passage 11 are communicated with each other through the communication hole 12 and the communication hole 18. Further, the flange portion of the outer cylindrical portion is connected to the upper lid 2 through the welded portion 17.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the flange portion of the outer cylindrical portion is provided around the exhaust port 5 so as to surround the exhaust port 5, and the outer peripheral shape of the flange portion is a quadrangle. In order to attach the exhaust port part 16 to the cylindrical receiving part 15, ultrasonic welding may be performed with the flange part of the exhaust port part 16 placed on the open end of the cylindrical receiving part 15. The configuration other than the above is basically the same as that of the first embodiment.

  Also in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the depth of the notch 5a from the opening end of the cylindrical portion is made equal to the depth of the fitting groove 5b from the opening end. Thereby, as in the case of the first embodiment, the connecting pipe 13 can be easily inserted into the cylindrical part by hand, and it is possible to make it difficult to remove the connecting pipe 13 after being attached to the cylindrical part. .

  As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, not all of the constituent elements of the above-described embodiment are indispensable, and some constituent elements can be omitted. There are also plans from the beginning. Further, it should be considered that the embodiment disclosed this time is illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and includes meanings equivalent to the terms of the claims and all modifications within the scope.

It is a perspective view which shows a part of sealed battery in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is sectional drawing which follows the II-II line | wire of FIG. It is the enlarged view of the cylindrical part provided in the upper cover of the storage battery, and its vicinity. It is sectional drawing of the state connected to the cylindrical part shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which has inserted the connection pipe in the cylindrical part shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a part of sealed battery in Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which has mounted | wore the exhaust port part to the cylindrical receiving part provided in the upper cover. It is an expanded sectional view which follows the VIII-VIII line of FIG. (A)-(c) is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the samples 1-3 for a measurement of insertion force and extraction force. It is a figure which shows the measurement result of the insertion force about the samples 1-3, and extraction force. It is a perspective view which shows the structural example of the conventional cylindrical part provided in the upper cover of the sealed storage battery. It is sectional drawing which follows the XII-XII line | wire of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which has inserted the connecting pipe in the cylindrical part shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sealed storage battery, 2 Top cover, 3 Battery case, 4 Cover plate, 5 Exhaust port, 5a Notch part, 5b Fitting groove, 6 Bulkhead, 7 Rib, 8 pole group, 9 Exhaust pipe, 10 Rubber valve, 11 Exhaust Passage, 12, 18 communication hole, 13 connecting pipe, 13a fitting convex part, 14 exhaust pipe, 15 cylindrical receiving part, 16 exhaust port parts, 17, 19 welded part, 20 deformation start point.

Claims (3)

A battery case;
An upper lid welded to the battery case;
A cylindrical portion provided on the upper lid and having an open end that defines an exhaust port for discharging the gas generated in the battery case to the outside;
The tubular portion is inserted with an end portion of a tubular member that guides the gas to the outside and has a fitting convex portion on the outer periphery,
The tubular part has a notch part extending in the axial direction of the tubular part from the opening end, and a fitting groove that receives the fitting convex part on the inner periphery,
A sealed storage battery in which a depth of the notch from the opening end of the cylindrical portion is equal to a depth from the opening end to the fitting groove. A plurality of the notches are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion,
2. The hermetic seal according to claim 1, wherein the fitting groove extends in a circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion so as to connect between the end portions of the cutout portion on the side away from the opening end of the cylindrical portion. Shaped storage battery.   The sealed storage battery according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cylindrical portion is formed on the upper lid by welding an exhaust port part including the cylindrical portion to the upper lid.

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