JP6694687B2 - Tab for mounting protective element of assembled battery and assembled battery - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a protective element mounting tab for connecting a protective element between positive and negative electrode terminals of a plurality of cylindrical unit cells that are arranged in parallel and form an assembled battery. It also relates to an assembled battery having the tab.

  The assembled battery is an integrated battery in which a plurality of unit cells are electrically connected in series or in parallel and are covered with an exterior body such as a heat-shrinkable tube. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external view of an assembled battery 1 in which three cylindrical unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) are connected in parallel, and FIG. 2 is an assembled battery shown in FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of the three unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) and the electrical connection state between the unit cells (10L-10M, 10M-10R). As shown in FIG. 1, the battery pack 1 is collectively covered with an outer casing 20 formed of a heat shrink tube in a state where three unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) are arranged in parallel. Thereby, the array state of the unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) is maintained. 2A is a perspective view showing a main body of the assembled battery (hereinafter also referred to as an assembled battery main body 2) obtained by removing the outer casing 20 from the assembled battery 1 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is an outer casing. It is a figure which shows the state of the assembled battery main body 2 in 20, and corresponds to the top view at the time of seeing through the assembled battery 1 shown in FIG. 1 from the end surface side of a cylindrical unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R). There is.

  The structure of the conventional battery pack 1 will be described below with reference to FIG. In this case, the axial direction 100 of the cylindrical unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) is the vertical direction, and the direction orthogonal to the vertical direction is the left-right front-back direction. Here, the arrangement direction of the unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) is the left-right direction. It should be noted that the up, down, left, right, front, and rear directions are defined as shown in the figure. That is, FIG. 2 (A) shows a perspective view of the assembled battery main body 2 when viewed from the upper right front side, and FIG. 2 (B) shows a plan view of the assembled battery 1 seen through from above. Has been done.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2, three unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) are arranged in parallel in the left-right direction. Further, in this example, three unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) are connected in series. Therefore, the unit cells (10L-10M, 10M-10R) adjacent to each other have their tops and bottoms in opposite directions. Here, in the unit cells (10L, 10R) at the left and right ends, the negative electrode terminal 11 faces upward, and in the central unit cell 10M, the positive electrode terminal 12 faces upward. Then, on the upper end side of the assembled battery main body 2, the negative electrode terminal 11 of the left end unit cell 10L and the positive electrode terminal 12 of the center unit cell 10M are connected via a tab made of a metal plate (hereinafter, also referred to as a connection tab 30). On the lower end side of the battery pack body 2 (not shown), the negative electrode terminal of the central unit cell 10M and the positive terminal of the right end unit cell 10R are connected via a connection tab. The connection tab 30 is attached to the electrode terminals (11, 12) by, for example, welding (spot welding or the like). Further, a lead wire (hereinafter, also referred to as a power supply lead wire 31) for supplying electric power to an external device is connected to the negative electrode terminal 11 of the right end unit cell 10R and the positive terminal (not shown) of the left end unit cell 10L. It is attached via a tab different from the tab 30 (hereinafter, also referred to as a power lead tab 32). Further, a lead wire (hereinafter referred to as an element lead) of an axial-type protection element (diode or the like) 40 for preventing overdischarge is provided between the positive and negative terminals (12-11) of each unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R). The tip of the wire 42 is also connected via the connection tab 30 or the dedicated tab 33. Here, the element lead wire 42 and the power supply lead wire 31 are connected to the corresponding tabs (30, 32, 33) by the solder 34.

  Note that the three unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) arranged in parallel are put together by the insulating adhesive tape 3 in order to maintain the arrangement. Thereby, workability is secured when the tabs (30, 32, 33) and the power supply lead wire 31 are attached before the exterior body is mounted, and the element lead wire 42 of the protection element 40 also serves as one of positive and negative electrodes. I try not to touch the can and short circuit externally. Further, in order to prevent the short-circuit more reliably, a region along the element lead wire 42 on the side surface of the unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R) or an end surface and a side surface of the cylindrical unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R). Insulators (not shown) such as an adhesive tape may be arranged on the boundary and in the vicinity thereof as necessary. When the assembled battery main body 2 shown in FIG. 2A is covered with a heat-shrinkable tube, the outer shape of the assembled battery body 2 is maintained more firmly, and the assembled battery 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2B is completed. The structure of the assembled battery is described in, for example, Patent Document 1 below.

JP 2000-340200 A

  In the conventional assembled battery in which a plurality of cylindrical unit cells are arranged in parallel and integrated as described above, when attaching an axial type protection element, a step of bending the lead wire of the protection element is required. The protective element has a structure in which lead wires are led out to both ends of a tubular element body, and the tip of the element lead wire is soldered to the end face of the unit cell where the terminals are arranged via tabs. That is, the element lead wire is bent in the direction along the side surface from the end surface side of the unit cell during its extension. Therefore, if the bending shape of the element lead wire or the accuracy of attaching the tip of the element lead wire to the tab is not strictly controlled, the mounting position of the protective element and the disposition of the element body are displaced. The displacement of the protective element leads to variations in the outer shape of the battery pack and its dimensions. In addition, it is necessary to attach a tab corresponding to each of the protective element and the power supply lead wire or a tab for connection to the limited and narrow area of the electrode terminal of the unit cell. It becomes difficult to attach multiple tabs to the terminal. Of course, tabs corresponding to the element lead wire and the power supply lead wire are required, which increases the number of parts. A separate step is also required to attach each tab. Therefore, it becomes difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost of the assembled battery.

  Therefore, the present invention is a battery pack in which a protection element is connected to each of a plurality of cylindrical batteries, and a plurality of unit cells are integrated in a state of being arranged in parallel, and the man-hours and An object of the present invention is to provide a protective element mounting tab for a battery pack and a battery pack including the protective element mounting tab that can reduce the number of parts and reduce the manufacturing cost.

The present invention for achieving the above object provides a protective element mounting tab for connecting a protective element between the positive and negative electrode terminals of each of a plurality of cylindrical unit cells that are arranged in parallel and form a battery pack. And
Individually attached to both the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal of one of the unit cells,
Consisting of an integral metal plate,
The electrode terminals of the positive electrode and said planar region corresponding to both of the negative electrode terminal, and a first protrusion that the protective element is mounted protrudes in a direction crossing each other from the flat area, than the first protrusion and a short second projections,
The first protrusion has a length such that the tip of the first protrusion protrudes outward from the end surface of the unit cell when the planar region is attached to the electrode terminal of the unit cell.
This is a tab for mounting a protective element of an assembled battery.

An assembled battery provided with the protective element mounting tab is also within the scope of the present invention, wherein the assembled battery has the protective element mounting tab attached to each of the electrode terminals of the plurality of unit cells,
With the axial direction of the unit cell as the vertical direction, the first protrusion extends in the V-shaped groove formed between the adjacent unit cells and bends in the vertical direction along the side surface of the unit cell. Then
The tips of the first protrusions of the protective element mounting tabs attached to the electrode terminals at the upper and lower ends of the unit cell face each other with a gap larger than the vertical length of the main body of the protective element. ,
The main body of the protection element is arranged in the gap, and lead wires linearly extended upward and downward from the main body are attached to the region of the first protrusion along the side surface of the unit cell. It is characterized by

In addition, in the assembled battery, an external portion is provided on a second protrusion of the protection element mounting tab that is attached to electrode terminals corresponding to the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the assembled battery in which the plurality of unit cells are electrically connected to each other. A lead wire for supplying power to the circuit may be attached.

According to the protective element mounting tab of the assembled battery according to the present invention, in the manufacturing process of the assembled battery in which a plurality of cylindrical batteries are integrated in a state of being arranged in parallel, while maintaining dimensional accuracy, man-hours and parts are ensured. The number of points can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, according to the battery pack of the present invention using this protective element mounting tab, it is possible to provide it at a low cost, since there is no variation in external dimensions. Other effects will be clarified in the following description.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the conventional assembled battery. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional assembled battery. It is a figure which shows the planar shape of the tab for protection element attachment which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the assembled battery which concerns on the Example of this invention using the said tab for mounting a protection element. It is a figure which shows the bending position of the said tab for mounting a protection element in the assembled battery which concerns on the said Example. It is a figure which shows the structure of the assembled battery which concerns on the other Example of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings used in the following description, the same or similar parts may be given the same reference numeral, and overlapping description may be omitted. In some drawings, a portion to which a reference numeral is attached may not be attached to another portion if not necessary.

=== Protective element mounting tab ===
FIG. 3 shows a planar shape of a protective element mounting tab (hereinafter also referred to as an element tab 50) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The element tab 50 is made of an integral metal flat plate and has a plurality of protrusions (52, 53) for a flat area (hereinafter, also referred to as an attachment portion 51) attached to an electrode terminal of a unit cell by welding or the like. There is. In the illustrated element tab 50, the mounting portion 51 has a hexagonal planar shape, and a long protrusion (hereinafter also referred to as the first protrusion 52) and a short protrusion (hereinafter, the second protrusion 53) from the mounting portion 51. Is protruding. The second protrusions 53 project in directions opposite to each other with respect to the mounting portion 51, and the first protrusions 52 project in a direction intersecting the second protrusion 53 at a predetermined angle θ.

=== Battery pack ===
The assembled battery according to the embodiment of the present invention has a structure in which a protective element is attached to each electrode terminal of a plurality of unit cells via the element tabs described above, and the protective element is covered with an outer casing together with the unit cells. have. FIG. 4 shows an assembled battery according to an example of the present invention. If the directions of up, down, left, right, front and back shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are adopted here, FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the assembled battery main body 2a excluding the exterior body from the assembled battery as viewed from the upper right front. FIG. 4 (B) is a plan view of the battery pack 1a seen through from above. As shown in FIG. 4A, the element tab 50 is attached such that the second protrusion 53 extends in the front-rear direction. Here, the mounting portion 51 and the unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) are mounted so that the center thereof coincides with the center of the end surface of the unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R). In addition, the pair of element tabs (50u-50d) attached to the electrode terminals (11, 12) at the upper and lower ends of each unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R) are arranged so that their planar shapes are vertically symmetrical to each other. Face to face. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, the first protrusion 52 extends toward the V-shaped groove region 60 between the unit cells (10L-10M, 10M-10R) adjacent to each other, and the extension process is in progress. And is bent in the direction along the side surfaces of the unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R). In each unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R), two pairs of element tabs (50u, 50d) facing each other in the vertical direction extend along each unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R). The protrusion (52-52) of No. 1 extends, and the tips thereof face each other with a gap. The vertical length D of this gap is larger than the vertical length d of the main body 41 of the protection element 40, and the main body 41 of the protection element 40 is arranged between the gaps. The element lead wire is attached to the region from the bent position to the tip of the first protrusion 52 by soldering or welding. In this example, the element lead wire 42 is soldered to the first protrusion 52 in the area 70 shown by a halftone dot in FIG. As described above, in the assembled battery 1a according to the present embodiment, the element lead wire 42 of the protection element 40 is connected without bending to between the positive and negative electrode terminals (11-12) of the unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R). be able to.

  In the battery pack 1a shown here, three unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) are electrically connected in series, and on the upper surface side, the left end unit cell 10L and the central unit cell 10M have electrode terminals (11 , 12) are connected by a rectangular tab-shaped connecting tab 30. On the lower surface side (not shown), the electrode terminals of the central unit cell 10M and the rightmost unit cell 10R are connected by a similar connection tab 30. The connection tabs 30 are stacked on the element tabs 50 of the adjacent unit cells (10L-10M, 10M-10R) and bridged between the attachment portions (51-51) of the adjacent element tabs 50. It is installed in the state. Of course, the element tab 50 may be laminated on the connection tab 30. Further, in the electrode terminals (12, 11) corresponding to the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the assembled battery formed by electrically connecting the three unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R), the power supply lead wire 31 is connected to the element tab 50. It is attached to the second protrusion 53.

  When the assembled battery main body 2a shown in FIG. 4A is covered with the exterior body 20 made of a heat-shrinkable tube, each protection element 40 is arranged at a predetermined position as shown in FIG. 4B. As described above, in the manufacturing process of the battery pack 1a using the element tab 50, the bending step that causes the positional deviation of the linear element lead wire 42 of the axial protection element 40 is unnecessary. Further, since the first protrusion 52 is accurately arranged at a predetermined position along the side surface shape of the unit cell (10L, 10M, 10R), the outer shape and size of the battery pack 1a are uniform. The power supply lead wire 31 can be attached to the second protrusion 53, and it is not necessary to separately provide a tab for attaching the power supply lead wire 31. That is, the number of parts can be reduced and the manufacturing cost of the assembled battery can be reduced. Of course, even if the outer diameters of the unit cells (10L, 10M, 10R) are small, the power supply lead wire 31 can be reliably attached.

  As shown in FIG. 5, if the first projections 52 of the element tabs (50u, 50d) facing each other in the vertical direction are bent at predetermined positions 54 shown by dotted lines in the figure, the element When the tabs (50u, 50d) are attached to the positive and negative electrode terminals of the unit cell, it suffices to position the first projection 52 so that the region from the bending position 54 of the first protrusion 52 to the tip side is along the side surface of the unit cell. The element lead wire of the protective element can also be attached in advance. In the illustrated element tab 50, the second projection 53 projects in the opposite direction to the mounting portion 51, and the second projection 53 intersects the projecting direction of the first projection 52 at a predetermined angle θ. ing. Then, if the protruding direction of the second protrusion 53 is aligned with the front-rear direction orthogonal to the array direction of the unit cells, the first protrusion 52 is automatically extended in a predetermined direction.

=== Other Embodiments ===
The planar shape of the element tab is not limited to the shape shown in the embodiment, and for example, each of the first and second protrusions may be formed one by one, or the second protrusion may be formed by three or more. A planar shape can be adopted. In any case, it suffices that one first protrusion that bends in the direction along the side surface of the unit cell during extension and the other second protrusion protrude in a direction intersecting with each other. Of course, not only the power supply lead wire but also a signal wire connected to an external voltage monitor or various sensor parts attached to the assembled battery can be attached to the second protrusion. The protection element is not limited to the diode, and any element such as a PTC or a fuse may be adopted as long as it has a function of preventing overdischarge. In any case, an axial protection element may be used.

  In the assembled battery according to the above-mentioned embodiment, the three unit cells are arranged in one row in the left-right direction, but it is also possible to arrange them in two rows. FIG. 6 shows an example of the assembled battery 1b configured by the unit cells 10 arranged in parallel in 3 rows and 2 columns. Here, a plan view is shown when the assembled battery 1b is seen through from above. The planar shapes of the element tabs 150 attached to the unit cell 110 on the left front side and the unit cell 210 on the right rear side in the figure are planar shapes that are in a front-back relationship with other element tabs 50.

1, 1a, 1b assembled battery, 2, 2a assembled battery body, 3 adhesive tape,
10, 10L, 10M, 10R, 110, 210 unit cell, 20 exterior body,
30 connection tab, 31 power supply lead wire, 40 protective element, 41 protective element body,
42 element lead wire, 50, 150 protective element mounting tab (element tab),
51 Mounting part,
52 first protrusion, 53 second protrusion

Claims (3)

A tab for mounting a protective element for connecting a protective element between the positive and negative electrode terminals of each of a plurality of cylindrical unit cells arranged in parallel to form an assembled battery,
Individually attached to both the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal of one of the unit cells,
Consisting of an integral metal plate,
The electrode terminals of the positive electrode and said planar region corresponding to both of the negative electrode terminal, and a first protrusion that the protective element is mounted protrudes in a direction crossing each other from the flat area, than the first protrusion and a short second projections,
The first protrusion has a length such that the tip of the first protrusion protrudes outward from the end surface of the unit cell when the planar region is attached to the electrode terminal of the unit cell.
A tab for mounting a protective element of an assembled battery, which is characterized in that An assembled battery comprising the protection element mounting tab according to claim 1,
The protection element mounting tab is attached to each of the electrode terminals of the plurality of unit cells,
With the axial direction of the unit cell as the vertical direction, the first protrusion extends in the V-shaped groove formed between the adjacent unit cells and bends in the vertical direction along the side surface of the unit cell. Then
The tips of the first protrusions of the protective element mounting tabs attached to the electrode terminals at the upper and lower ends of the unit cell face each other with a gap larger than the vertical length of the main body of the protective element. ,
The main body of the protection element is arranged in the gap, and lead wires linearly extended upward and downward from the main body are attached to the region of the first protrusion along the side surface of the unit cell. Is
An assembled battery characterized in that. The external circuit according to claim 2, wherein the second protrusion of the protective element mounting tab attached to the electrode terminals corresponding to each of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the assembled battery formed by electrically connecting the plurality of unit cells to each other. An assembled battery characterized in that a lead wire for supplying power to the battery is attached to the battery.

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