JP5505962B2 - Battery pack and battery pack connection method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an assembled battery and a method for connecting the assembled battery.

  In recent years, there are an increasing number of cases where batteries having a light weight and a high capacity are required for portable terminals typified by mobile phones and notebook computers, and using a laminate film having a relatively high degree of freedom in shape. Laminated batteries in which battery elements such as electrodes and electrolytes are sealed have come to be adopted. Laminated batteries have a battery pack or battery module structure in which two or more battery cells are stacked and connected in series, and equipment that requires a large current, such as electric assist bicycles, electric tools, and electric vehicles. An increasing number of examples are used.

  For example, when a high-voltage battery is used as a power source, such as an electrically assisted bicycle, a plurality of battery cells are connected in series to form an assembled battery.

  In the assembled battery, conductive washers and insulating washers are alternately arranged in the stacking direction of the cells, and the cells are electrically connected in the stacking direction, so there is no need to perform welding soldering, etc. Patent Document 1 discloses that a circuit for connecting single cells within an assembled battery can be easily configured.

JP 2005-116436 A

  The structure of the assembled battery of Patent Document 1 is effective in increasing production efficiency. However, in order to realize this structure, a part called an insulation pin is required, and this insulation pin covers the surface of a metal screw with a heat shrinkable tube or performs insulation treatment such as resin coating, coating or coating. There is a need.

  Since the metal screw is subjected to such an insulation treatment, the cost is increased, and further improvement is required.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a battery pack and a battery pack connection method that are compact, safe, and inexpensive for connecting battery cells.

  That is, the technical problem of the present invention is that the metal screw for alternately inserting the conductive washer having the through hole and the insulating washer for connecting the battery cells can be used as it is without being subjected to the insulation treatment. To provide an assembled battery and a method for connecting the assembled battery.

The battery pack of the present invention is a battery pack in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked and a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal are connected in series, and has a metal screw extending in the stacking direction of the battery cells, a conductive washer and the insulation washer having a through-hole is inserted alternately, the insulating washer and the conductive washer sandwiched alternately said negative terminal and said positive terminal, electrically connects the battery cells, wherein The insulating washer has a protrusion higher than the height of the conductive washer around the through hole, the conductive washer is inserted outside the protrusion, and the protrusion is disposed above the insulating washer. It is inserted in the bottom face of a washer .

  The assembled battery according to the present invention is characterized in that a sense line is provided between the conductive washer and the insulating washer, and a main line is provided at both ends of the assembled battery.

  The assembled battery of the present invention is characterized in that the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal have a through hole that is drawn out from the same direction of the battery cell and into which the metal screw can be inserted.

The battery pack connection method of the present invention is a battery pack connection method in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked and a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal are connected in series, and has a metal screw extending in the battery cell stacking direction. The metal screw is inserted alternately through a conductive washer and an insulating washer having a through-hole, and the conductive washer and the insulating washer alternately sandwich the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal to electrically connect the battery cell. The insulating washer has a protrusion higher than the height of the conductive washer around the through hole, the conductive washer is inserted outside the protrusion, and the protrusion is on the top. It is inserted in the bottom face of the provided insulating washer .

  The battery pack connection method of the present invention is characterized in that a sense line is provided between the conductive washer and the insulating washer, and a main line is provided at both ends of the battery pack.

  The battery assembly connection method of the present invention is characterized in that the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal have a through hole that is drawn out from the same direction of the battery cell and into which the metal screw can be inserted.

  When battery cells are stacked and connected in series in this way, according to the present invention, the electrode terminals can be securely joined in a small space safely and can be connected regardless of the material of the metal screw. It becomes possible.

  According to the present invention, a metal screw for alternately inserting a conductive washer having a through-hole and an insulating washer for connecting battery cells can be used as it is without being subjected to insulation treatment. A connection method can be provided.

The disassembled perspective view of the assembled battery of this invention. The front view of the assembled battery of this invention. AA sectional drawing of FIG. The side view of the assembled battery of this invention.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  In the assembled battery according to the present invention, a plurality of battery cells with electrode terminals drawn in the same direction are stacked in the same direction. The electrode terminals that are stacked adjacent to each other are arranged so that their polarities are different from each other, and are sandwiched between alternately conductive conductive washers and insulating insulating washers.

  In addition, the electrode terminal has a through-hole through which a metal screw is inserted, and is connected in series by being pinched by a single metal screw from the top to the bottom. The screw used here can be a standard screw of JIS standard and does not need to be specially treated.

  The electrode terminal has a through-hole for inserting a metal screw, but the tip of the electrode terminal may be U-shaped, I-shaped, or J-shaped in order to improve the ease of disassembly.

  The insulating washer has a protrusion that is higher than the height of the conductive washer around the through hole. The conductive washer is inserted outside the protruding portion, and the protruding portion of the insulating washer is inserted into the bottom surface of another insulating washer. As a result, the metal screw that extends in the stacking direction of the battery cells and passes through the conductive washer and the insulating washer comes into contact with only the insulating washer, and is connected in series without being short-circuited. For this reason, the metal screw does not need to be insulated.

  Under the conductive washer, a sense line for monitoring the voltage of each cell is provided between the insulating washer and a main line for taking out electric power is provided at both ends of the assembled battery. It is preferable to make a simple connection.

  The sense line can be easily connected by sandwiching a sense line having, for example, an R-type crimp terminal at a joint portion of each battery cell.

  Each metal screw is tightened with a nut to produce the assembled battery of the present invention. The nut need not be insulated.

  The battery cell is preferably a laminated battery, but the electrode as the battery element may be laminated or wound.

  The electrode terminals that are stacked and adjacent to each other in the upper and lower directions are not limited to the configuration in which they are drawn out from the same direction as long as they can be arranged so as to have different polarities. May be.

  The metal screws and nuts are preferably conductive normal metals because they are inexpensive and preferable, but may be insulating materials.

  The cross-sectional shape of the metal screw and the shape of the through hole of the conductive washer and the insulating washer may be circular, but may be oval or square. When the shape is oval or square, the conductive washer and the insulating washer can be prevented from rotating. That is, it is possible to avoid a risk that the protruding portion of the insulating washer is damaged by an unexpected external force and the conductive washer is short-circuited with the metal screw, so that the connection reliability of the assembled battery can be improved.

  As a material for the insulating washer, a resin that is not conductive and has high hardness and little change with time is preferable. Polyamide (PA), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), liquid crystal polymer (LCP), etc. with glass fiber are more preferable. preferable. The conductive washer may be any material that conducts electricity.

  Examples of the present invention are described in detail below.

  Specific production methods and specific effects obtained by the present invention will be described based on examples.

Example 1
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the assembled battery of the present invention. 2 is a front view of the assembled battery of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the assembled battery of the present invention. The assembled battery shown in FIG. 1 is composed of seven battery cells 1. The battery cell 1 includes a positive electrode terminal 1b and a negative electrode terminal 1c drawn from the same direction as the battery element 1a housed in a bag-shaped outer package of a laminate film. Aluminum was used for the positive electrode terminal 1b, and copper was used for the negative electrode terminal 1c.

  The respective battery cells 1 were stacked and alternately arranged so that different electrode tabs were vertically adjacent to each other, and the battery cells 1 were arranged so that the positive electrode terminal 1b and the negative electrode terminal 1c face each other. The positive electrode terminal 1b and the negative electrode terminal 1c had through holes.

  The configuration of the assembled battery according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. First, the connection on the left side in FIG. 3 will be described. An insulating washer 301 was disposed at the bottom, and the positive electrode terminal 101b, then the sense line 8, the conductive washer 201, and the negative electrode terminal 102c were inserted thereon, and an insulating washer 302 was further disposed thereon. The protrusion of the insulating washer 301 was inserted into the bottom surface of the insulating washer 302.

  The uppermost insulating washer 304 was disposed in this order, the positive electrode terminal 107b was overlaid thereon, and then the sense line 8 and further the main line 7 were disposed.

  A metal screw 501 was inserted into these components from below, and was sandwiched between nuts 601 as the uppermost part.

  Iron was used for the conductive washer, metal screw, and nut, and polyethylene resin was used for the insulating washer.

  Next, the connection on the right side in FIG. 3 will be described. An insulating washer 311 was disposed at the bottom, and the sense line 8, then the main line 7, and the negative terminal 111c were inserted thereon, and an insulating washer 312 was further disposed thereon. The protrusion of the insulating washer 311 was inserted into the bottom surface of the insulating washer 312.

  The uppermost insulating washer 314 was disposed in this order, and the positive terminal 116b, the sense line 8, the conductive washer 213, and the negative terminal 117c were disposed thereon.

  A metal screw 511 was inserted into these components from below, and was sandwiched between nuts 611 as the uppermost part.

  Thus, the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal were held between the metal screw and the nut, and the battery cells were connected in series.

  By adopting such a configuration, the metal screw comes into contact only with the insulating washer, and the conductive washer and the metal screw are insulated from each other, so that the battery cells are connected in series without short-circuiting.

  In the assembled battery produced as described above, a withstand voltage of 1 kV or more was confirmed between the metal screw and the conductive washer, and it was confirmed that the assembled battery could be used without any problem.

(Example 2)
An assembled battery was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the tips of the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal were U-shaped.

  In the assembled battery produced, a withstand voltage of 1 kV or more was confirmed between the metal screw and the conductive washer, and it was confirmed that the assembled battery could be used without any problem.

  As a result of the above-described embodiments, the assembled battery can be used as it is without being subjected to the insulation treatment, so that the metal screw for alternately inserting the conductive washer having the through hole and the insulating washer for connecting the battery cells can be used. In addition, it was confirmed that it was possible to provide a connection method for the assembled battery.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above using the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention is not limited to the scope of the present invention. Included in the invention. That is, various changes and modifications that can be naturally made by those skilled in the art are also included in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Battery cell 1a Battery element 1b, 101b-116b Positive electrode terminal 1c, 102c-117c Negative electrode terminal 201-213 Conductive washer 301-314 Insulation washer 5,501,511 Metal screw 6,601,611 Nut 7 Main line 8 Sense line

Claims (6)

An assembled battery in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked and a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal are connected in series,
A metal screw extending in the stacking direction of the battery cells, wherein the metal screw alternately inserts a conductive washer and an insulating washer having a through hole, and the conductive washer and the insulating washer are the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal. Alternately connecting the battery cells ,
The insulating washer has a protrusion higher than the height of the conductive washer around the through hole,
The battery pack is characterized in that the conductive washer is inserted outside the protruding portion, and the protruding portion is inserted into the bottom surface of the insulating washer disposed on the upper portion . Below the conductive washer assembled battery according to claim 1, wherein comprising a sense line between the insulating washer, characterized in that it comprises a main line at both ends of the battery pack. The positive terminal and the negative terminal, said drawn from the same direction of the battery cells, the battery pack according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the metal screw is characterized in that it has an insertion through hole that allows. A battery pack connection method in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked and a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal are connected in series,
A metal screw extending in the stacking direction of the battery cells, wherein the metal screw alternately inserts a conductive washer and an insulating washer having a through hole, and the conductive washer and the insulating washer are the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal. Alternately connecting the battery cells ,
The insulating washer has a protrusion higher than the height of the conductive washer around the through hole,
The conductive battery is inserted into the outside of the protruding portion, and the protruding portion is inserted into the bottom surface of the insulating washer provided on the upper portion . The assembled battery connection method according to claim 4 , wherein a sense line is provided between the conductive washer and the insulating washer, and a main line is provided at both ends of the assembled battery. 6. The assembled battery connection according to claim 4, wherein the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal have a through hole that is drawn from the same direction of the battery cell and into which the metal screw can be inserted. Method.

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