JPH07142097A - Secondary battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid the influence of heat generation from a diode for short circuit prevention between a positive electrode and a negative electrode and conduct full charge to a secondary battery. CONSTITUTION:A secondary battery main body 5 consists of a batteries 1 group connected in series and a diode 4 for short circuit prevention between a positive electrode 2a and a negative electrode 3a, which is arranged between the electrodes 2a, 3a. An outer case encloses the secondary battery main body 5 and exposes outer connecting terminals 2, 3, and partition 7 thermally partitions the accommodation region of the secondary batteries 1 group from the arranging region of the diode 4 on the inside of the outer case 6. By partitioning (separating) both regions, the influence of heat generated from the diode 4 on the secondary batteries 1 group is avoided or decreased. If the diode 4 is arranged closely to the outer case 6, heat is preferably radiated to the outside.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a secondary battery, and more particularly to improvement of a secondary battery having a diode element for preventing short circuit between a positive electrode and a negative electrode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Secondary batteries represented by nickel-hydrogen secondary batteries or nickel-cadmium secondary batteries are widely used as operating power sources for various equipment systems such as mobile phones and portable image pickup devices. Has been converted.
That is, this type of secondary battery is capable of ensuring or storing electric power by a so-called charging operation, and driving (discharging) a load using the ensured or stored electric power as a power source, and appropriately repeating the operation, As a semi-permanent power supply,
It is put into practical use by being incorporated in various equipment systems.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of the structure of a secondary battery of this type, and FIG. 4 shows the circuit structure thereof. A plurality of secondary batteries connected in series (for example, nickel Hydrogen battery) 1 group, and a secondary battery main body 5 comprising a diode element 4 which is inserted and arranged in the series connection system to prevent a short circuit between the positive electrode 2a and the negative electrode 3a, and the secondary battery main body 5 And an external case (for example, an ABS resin external case) 6 that insulates and exposes the external connection terminals 2 and 3 from each other.

By the way, in any of the secondary batteries, as described above, charging and discharging are the main functions, and from the viewpoint of safety, the end voltage of charge and the end voltage of discharge are set as limits, respectively. Charging and discharging are performed with a voltage within this limit range. Then, the termination of the charging is set at a point of time when the charging is stopped or stopped with reference to the point that the battery temperature rises immediately before the full charging.

[0005]

By the way, the secondary battery 1
In charging the group, not only the temperature rise of the secondary battery 1 itself due to the progress (elapsed time) of charging, but also the diode element 4 which is inserted and arranged in the series connection system to prevent the short circuit between the positive electrode 2a and the negative electrode 3a. It is recognized that the heat generated by the battery accelerates (adds) the increase in the battery temperature. Therefore, in the case of controlling the charging by using the point where the battery temperature rises along with the progress of the charging as a guide, it is actually intended to prevent or avoid the damage / damage of the secondary battery due to overcharging, but in reality the full charge is required. Even if it has not reached, the charging will be stopped (terminated), and it can be said that it is actually used as a driving power source without being sufficiently charged in practice.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and avoids the influence of heat generated by the diode element for preventing short circuit between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and charges the secondary battery in a fully charged state. The purpose is to provide a secondary battery to be obtained.

[0007]

A secondary battery according to the present invention prevents a short circuit between a positive electrode and a negative electrode by inserting and arranging a plurality of secondary battery groups connected in series and the series connection system. A secondary battery main body composed of a diode element, an outer case that internally houses the secondary battery main body, and exposes external connection terminals by insulating them from each other; and a storage area for a secondary battery group in the outer case, A partition body that thermally partitions the diode element arrangement region is provided.

That is, according to the present invention, the storage area of the secondary battery group and the diode element arrangement area are partitioned (isolated) in the outer case to avoid or reduce the influence of the heat generation of the diode element on the secondary battery group. Is the main point,
Further, if necessary, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the diode element is thermally brought into close contact with the outer case to radiate heat to the outside.

[0009]

In the present invention, the storage area of the secondary battery group and the diode element arrangement area are partitioned (isolated) in the outer case.
Therefore, the influence of heat generation of the diode element during the charging process is largely avoided or reduced. In other words, the charging temperature of the secondary battery does not increase (additionally) in an accelerated manner due to an external factor, and only the temperature rise due to the charging itself occurs. A fully charged state can be charged easily and surely, and it functions as an efficient secondary battery.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the essential structure of a secondary battery according to the present invention. Reference numeral 5 denotes a group of a plurality of secondary batteries (for example, nickel-hydrogen batteries) connected in series, and A rechargeable battery main body including a diode element 4 which is inserted and arranged in a series connection system to prevent a short circuit between the positive electrode 2a and the negative electrode 3a,
Reference numeral 6 denotes an outer case (for example, an ABS resin outer case) that internally houses the secondary battery main body 5 and exposes the external connection terminals 2 and 3 by insulating them from each other. This basic structure is the same as the structure of the conventional secondary battery, but in the secondary battery according to the present invention, the storage area of the secondary battery 1 group and the diode element 4 are arranged in the outer case 6. It is characterized in that the arrangement area is thermally divided by a partition body (for example, a partition plate) 7. That is, in the outer case 6, the storage area of the secondary battery 1 group and the arrangement area of the diode elements 4 are partitioned (isolated) by, for example, a partition plate 7, and the influence of heat generation of the diode elements 4 on the secondary battery 1 group is affected. The configuration is adopted to avoid or reduce.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a structure in which the storage area of the secondary battery 1 group and the arrangement area of the diode elements 4 are partitioned (isolated) by the partition plate 7 in the outer case 6. The diode element 4 inserted and arranged in an electrical connection path for connecting a plurality of secondary battery groups 1 connected in series to each other in series has an exterior case in a region partitioned by the partition plate 7. The rib 6a integrally mounted on the inner wall surface of the inner wall 6 is thermally closely contacted with the rib 6a to radiate heat to the outside.

When constant-current charging (for example, A) is performed on the secondary battery having the above-mentioned structure at room temperature, the temperature rise of each secondary battery 1 forming the main body of the secondary battery is caused by the constant-current charging. Most of the increase is due to the increase in the charging temperature of the secondary battery 1 by avoiding the influence of heat generation of the diode element 4 inserted / disposed in the series connection path to prevent the short circuit between the positive electrode 2a and the negative electrode 3a. By stopping the charging (charging completed) as a guide, I was able to fully charge the battery. That is, by partitioning the storage area of the secondary battery 1 group and the arrangement area of the diode elements 4 in the outer case 6 with the partition plate 7, heat generated by the diode elements 4 is transferred to the storage area of the secondary battery 1 group. While the conduction is prevented (suppressed), the outer case 6
Since the heat is effectively dissipated through the rib 6a that is integrally attached to the inner wall surface, the acceleration of the rise of the charging temperature of the secondary battery 1 is also eliminated, and it is possible to accurately detect and grasp the fully charged state of charge. Met.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the material of the outer case 6, the type of the secondary battery 1, the configuration of the secondary battery main body 5, and the like can be appropriately selected and changed according to the application.

[0015]

As can be seen from the above description of the embodiments and the like, according to the present invention, in the secondary battery main body, the secondary battery groups connected in series and the connections formed by the secondary battery group are formed. The diode element that is inserted and arranged in the path and that contributes to the prevention of short circuit between the positive electrode 2a and the negative electrode 3a is thermally separated (isolated). Therefore, the temperature change (temperature rise) of the secondary battery group at the time of charging is only due to self-heating, and the heat generation of the diode element is not added from the outside, so the battery temperature (charging temperature) immediately before full charging is expressed in the form of temperature differentiation. If the method is adopted in which charging is stopped (finished) when the temperature differential value reaches a certain (preset) value (or when it exceeds), it is detected with higher accuracy. Therefore, constant current charging of the secondary battery can be efficiently performed at all times, and desired functions can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration example of a main part of a secondary battery according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of a configuration example of a main part of a secondary battery according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of a conventional secondary battery.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a circuit configuration of a conventional secondary battery.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Secondary battery 2, 3 ... External connection terminal 2a ... Positive electrode
3a ... Negative electrode 4 ... Diode element 5 ... Secondary battery main body 6 ... Exterior case 6a ... Rib on inner wall surface of exterior case 7 ... Partition body (partition plate)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of secondary battery groups connected in series,
And a secondary battery main body portion that is inserted and arranged in the series connection system and that includes a diode element that prevents a short circuit between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and the secondary battery main body portion is internally provided and external connection terminals are insulated from each other. A secondary battery comprising: an exposed outer case; and a partition body that thermally partitions the storage area of the secondary battery group and the diode element arrangement area in the outer case.