KR101750485B1 - PCB Having Connector Edge - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a PCB including a connector edge, and more particularly, to a PCB including a connector edge on one side of which a PCB copper plate of a PCB extending out of the battery pack case is exposed and which is plated with metal, Wherein the PCB is directly fastened to the connection end of the device body through which the battery pack is mounted. The present invention also provides a device including the battery pack including the PCB and the battery pack as an embedded battery pack.

Description

PCB Having Connector Edge {PCB Having Connector Edge}

The present invention relates to a PCB comprising a connector edge.

Due to the development of technology and demand for mobile devices, the demand for secondary batteries is also rapidly increasing. Among them, lithium secondary batteries, which have high energy density, high operating voltage and excellent storage and life characteristics, It is widely used as an energy source.

The secondary battery may be used in a detachable structure that is free to be inserted or removed depending on the type of external equipment to which the secondary battery is to be used, or may be used as a built-in structure in which the secondary battery is embedded in an external device. For example, devices such as notebooks can insert and leave batteries according to the user's needs, while some mobile devices, such as mobile phones, MPEG Audio Layer-3 (MP3), tablet PCs, smart pads, The use of a built-in battery pack may be required.

Such a built-in battery pack has a structure in which a connection terminal of a battery pack is electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) inside the device and is mounted inside the device so that it is difficult for a user to easily separate or insert.

Here, as for the connection structure of the built-in battery pack and the device, there is a structure in which they are electrically connected to each other by a bolt using a plate-type connecting member, electrically or mechanically connected by soldering or welding, A structure in which the built-in battery pack and the device are mechanically coupled to each other and the electrical connection is made using the same, such as a wire harness type 610 or a connection connector such as an FPCB, .

However, in the process of mounting the built-in battery pack in the device, the method of electrically connecting by soldering or welding has a high degree of difficulty in soldering or welding due to the structure of the mobile device assembled with small parts, need. Further, since the built-in battery pack is mounted in a narrow internal space, the space for performing soldering or welding is small, and the manufacturing process is further complicated, thereby increasing manufacturing costs.

In addition, a device having a built-in battery pack mounted using a plate-shaped connecting member has a problem of causing connection failure or malfunction due to accumulation of stress due to vibration or external impact.

Meanwhile, the connection structure using the connection connector member such as the wire harness type 600 of the battery pack 600 of FIG. 1 electrically connects the battery pack and the device in a point contact manner with a small contact area, In case of using FPCB (Flexible PCB) for high contact resistance and surface contact, a precise process such as SMT (Surface Mounting Technology) process must be accompanied, which complicates the overall production process of the device.

Therefore, in addition to the structural stability, the electrical and mechanical connection between the battery pack and the device can be easily achieved. In addition, in order to miniaturize the device, the number and size of components are minimized, There is a high need for technologies that can be utilized efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and the technical problems required from the past.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector having a battery pack with a large capacity and a high structural stability while minimizing the number and size of components while simplifying the electrical and mechanical connection process of the battery pack and the device.

In order to achieve the above object, a PCB according to the present invention is a PCB (printed circuit board) mounted in a pack case of a battery pack and a circuit printed on a board of an electrically insulating material,

A connector edge extending from the PCB to the outside of the pack case to expose the PCB copper plate and having an end portion exposed from the PCB copper plate extending outwardly is plated with metal;

And the connector edge is directly fastened to the connecting end of the device body on which the battery pack is mounted.

As described above, the PCB of the present invention exposes the PCB copper plate on one side of the PCB extending to the outside of the pack case, and plated the exposed PCB copper plate with metal to serve as a connector, It is possible to electrically and mechanically connect the PCB of the battery pack and the device body to which the battery pack is mounted without a separate connecting member such as a wire, a terminal, and a housing. Accordingly, not only can the resistance generated by using a separate member be reduced, but also the number of components and size can be reduced, thereby improving the capacity of the battery pack and reducing the cost of a separate process.

The connector edge may be a male connector, and the connection end of the device body may be a female connector. The connector edge may be a female connector, A male connector means a connector with a pin, and a female connector means a connector having a receiving means for receiving the pin.

It is preferable that the connection end of the device used in the past is mainly a female connector and that the connector edge is fastened in a state in which the connector edge is accommodated inside the connection end of the device body for stable coupling, The connector edge received in the connecting end is preferably a male connector.

In one specific example, the thickness of the PCB copper plate is not particularly limited, but can be 2 to 4 oz in detail. If the thickness of the PCB copper plate is less than 2 oz beyond the above range, the thickness becomes too thin and the strength of the PCB becomes too weak.

Furthermore, for smooth engagement between the connector edge and the connection end of the device body, the sum of the thickness of the plating metal of the connector edge and the PCB copper plate may be the same or smaller than the connection end of the device body used as the female connector.

A metal is plated on the end of the PCB copper plate to protect the PCB copper plate and to secure the connection between the connector edge and the connection end of the device body. The plating metal of the connector edge is not particularly limited, May be the present. The metals have electrical conductivity suitable for electrical connection, and also have mechanical rigidity, so that they can have the above-mentioned effects.

The present invention also provides a battery pack including the PCB and at least two battery cells.

The battery pack may include a lower case for housing the PCB and the battery cells, and an upper case coupled to the lower case to seal the PCB and the battery cells.

Here, the lower case and the upper case may have a special structure for sealing the PCB and the battery cells stably and arranging the battery pack in the device body without shaking.

In one example, the lower case includes an outer peripheral wall having a rectangular shape, and one or more fasteners for fastening the upper case to the upper case are protruded upward from the outer peripheral wall, and the upper case is fastened to the fastener Grooves may be formed. Specifically, the fastener may protrude upward from any of the outer circumferential walls, and the upper case may have a fastening groove at a position corresponding to the fastener, thereby improving the structural stability of the pack case.

In addition, one or more fasteners for fixing the battery pack in a proper position in the device body may extend outwardly from the outer circumferential wall of the lower case. In detail, the fastener may have through holes for screw connection have.

Through the fixture and the through-hole, the mechanical rigidity of the connection between the battery pack and the device main body is reinforced, so that the overall structural stability can be improved.

Meanwhile, the battery pack may include at least one first battery cell mounted on a central portion of the battery pack and arranged on one side of the PCB, and at least one second battery cell arranged on the opposite side of the PCB, In detail, the first battery cell and the second battery cell may be arranged in a direction in which the electrode terminals face each other.

Here, the center portion of the battery pack refers to a longitudinal direction and a width direction portion including the center of the battery pack. In this case, the longitudinal direction and the width direction are the longitudinal direction and the one direction is the width direction, In the case of a square, one direction may be viewed in the longitudinal direction and the direction perpendicular thereto may be set in the width direction.

Since the first and second battery cells are arranged in a direction in which the electrode terminals of the first and second battery cells face each other, the PCBs located between the electrode terminals and the battery cells face each other, The connection may be easier.

The electrode terminals of the first battery cell and the second battery cell may be connected by PCB by welding or soldering.

Here, the polarities of the facing electrode terminals of the first battery cell and the second battery cell may be the same or different depending on the structure of the circuit printed on the PCB and the connection relationship between the PCB and the battery cells.

More specifically, the battery pack may include two first battery cells arranged on one side of the PCB, and two second battery cells arranged on the opposite side of the PCB.

In this case, for space efficiency, the first battery cells may be arranged such that their sides are adjacent to each other, and the second battery cells may be arranged such that their sides are adjacent to each other.

In addition, since the size of the first battery cells and the second battery cells adjacent to each other are the same, efficient arrangement of the battery cells in the pack case and maximization of battery capacity can be achieved.

The present invention also provides a device on which the battery pack is mounted.

The device may include a battery pack for use as a power source, and the battery pack may be an embedded battery pack.

The device may be selected from a notebook computer, a netbook, a camera, a mobile device, and a wearable device, but is not limited thereto.

As described above, in the PCB according to the present invention, the end of the PCB, which is exposed to the PCB copper plate extending to the outside of the pack case, is connected to the connection end of the device main body Since the electrical and mechanical connection can be achieved without a separate connecting member as compared with the case of using a harness such as a wire used as a connecting member in the past, the manufacturing process can be simplified and the process cost can be reduced The space for disposing the members can be reduced, and the battery capacity can be increased compared to the same standard of the battery pack.

In addition, by using a separate member, the resistance generated can be reduced so that the output to the device can be improved, and safety can be further ensured.

1 is a schematic view of a battery pack using a conventional wire harness;
2 is a schematic view of the interior of a device body according to the present invention;
3 is a top view of the PCB;
4 is a plan view showing a coupling relationship between the PCB and the connection end of the device body;
5 is a plan view of the interior of a lower case and an upper case according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the upper case and the lower case according to FIG. 5; FIG.
7 is a plan view of the inside of the lower case according to another embodiment of the present invention;
8 is a schematic view of a battery pack according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited by the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the inside of a device body in which the battery pack according to the present invention is electrically and mechanically connected to the device.

2, a connecting portion 110 including a connecting end portion 111, which is a portion to which the battery pack 200 is connected to the device body 200, is formed in the device body 100, and the PCB 300 And a battery pack 200 having a shape in which one side of the PCB 300 extends to the outside of the battery pack 200 is installed in a state where the battery pack 200 is fastened to the connection part 110.

3 and 4 illustrate a specific structure of the PCB according to the present invention and a structure in which the PCB is connected to a connection portion in the device body. The PCB 300 of the battery pack 200, The structure of the connecting end 111 and the coupling relationship of the two are shown.

Referring to these drawings, the PCB 300 includes a PCB body 310 and a connector edge 320 in which a PCB copper plate (not shown) exposed at an end of the PCB body 310 is plated with metal consist of. At this time, an electric circuit (not shown) is printed on the surface of the PCB body 310, and the connector edge 320 of the PCB 300 includes a plurality of pins 321 for connection with the connection end 111 .

The connection end 111 of the connection portion formed in the device body includes a receiving hole 111a that can accommodate the pins 321 of the connector edge 320 therein.

The plurality of pins 321 formed in the connector edge 320 of the PCB 300 and the receiving port 111a of the connecting end 111 are coupled in the direction of the arrow and are electrically and mechanically connected It is mechanically connected.

5 and 6 schematically show the structure of the inside of the battery pack according to one embodiment of the present invention and the coupling relationship between the upper and lower cases 220 and 210 of the battery pack.

5, the PCB 300 and the first battery cells 231 and 232 and the second battery cells 241 and 242 are accommodated in the lower case 210 of the battery pack.

The PCB 300 is mounted on the central part of the battery pack 200 with one side of the PCB 300 extending to the outside of the lower case 210, The second battery cells 241 and 242 are arranged on the opposite sides of the first battery cells 231 and 232 in the direction in which the electrode terminals 231a, 232a, 241a and 242a face each other. At this time, the electrode terminals 231a, 232a, 241a, and 242a are connected to the PCB 300 by welding or soldering.

Also, the first battery cells 231 and 232 and the second battery cells 241 and 242 are arranged such that their sides are adjacent to each other. Of course, although not shown in the drawing, a connection member capable of interconnecting the first battery cells 231, 232 and the second battery cells 241, 242 and a connection member capable of stably accommodating in the lower case 210 It is of course possible to include a fixing member.

The lower case 210 includes a rectangular outer circumferential wall 201 and a plurality of fasteners 211 to be fastened to the upper case 220 protrude upward from the outer circumferential wall 210. The upper case 220 is formed with coupling grooves 220 in which the coupling holes 211 are coupled to the coupling holes 211 at positions corresponding to the coupling holes 211.

6, the upper case 220 is fastened to the upper portion of the lower case 210 by the fastening holes 211 of the lower case 210 and the fastening grooves 220 of the upper case 220 Thereby sealing the PCB 300 and the battery cells 231, 232, 241, and 242.

7 is an internal plan view of the lower case according to another embodiment of the present invention corresponding to Fig.

7, the lower case 410 includes a rectangular outer peripheral wall 401. The outer peripheral wall 401 includes not only a plurality of fasteners but also a battery pack in the device main body The fasteners 412 having perforations 413 for threaded engagement are extended in the outward direction.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the battery pack 200 after the upper case and the lower case of FIG. 6 are combined.

Referring to FIG. 8 together with FIGS. 2 and 4, one side of the PCB 300 is extended to the outside of the pack case even after the upper case is coupled. When the PCB 300 is connected to the connecting end 111, The battery pack 200 can be fixed to the inside of the device main body 100. [

≪ Experimental Example 1 >

The resistance values of the battery packs shown in Figs. 1 and 8 were measured 30 times each, and are shown in Table 1.

≪ Experimental Example 2 >

The battery packs shown in Figs. 1 and 8 were discharged for 10 minutes at a current of 6.5 A, and the temperatures of the connectors (male coupler) and the connecting ends (female connectors) of the device body were measured and shown in Table 2 .

As shown in Table 1, the battery pack according to the present invention has an average resistance as low as about 16.91 m 평균 on average as compared with the conventional battery pack, and thus can exert a great effect in exhibiting the battery performance of the battery pack.

The battery pack 200 of FIG. 8 using the connector according to the present invention, compared to the temperature of the battery pack 600 of FIG. 1 and the battery pack connector of the device body using the harness connector, And the temperature of the female connector of the device body is low. Therefore, the battery pack according to the present invention can have an improved effect in terms of stability as compared with the conventional battery pack.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims (18)

A PCB (printed circuit board) mounted in a pack case of a battery pack and having a circuit printed on a board of an electrically insulating material,
A connector edge extending from the PCB to the outside of the pack case so as to expose the PCB copper plate and having an end portion exposed from the PCB copper plate extending outwardly is plated with metal;
Wherein the connector edge is directly fastened to the connection end of the device body on which the battery pack is mounted. The PCB according to claim 1, wherein the connector edge is received in a connection end portion of a device body on which the battery pack is mounted. 3. The PCB of claim 2, wherein the connector edge is a male connector and the connecting end of the device body is a female connector. The PCB according to claim 1, wherein the PCB copper plate has a thickness of 2 to 4 oz. The PCB according to claim 1, wherein the plating metal of the connector edge is gold. A battery pack comprising: a PCB according to any one of claims 1 to 5; and at least two battery cells. The battery pack according to claim 6, wherein the battery pack comprises a lower case for housing the PCB and the battery cells, and an upper case coupled to the lower case to seal the PCB and the battery cells. [8] The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the lower case includes a rectangular outer peripheral wall, and one or more fasteners for upwardly locking the upper case are protruded upward from the outer peripheral wall, Wherein a fastening groove is formed in the battery case. The battery pack according to claim 7, wherein one or more fasteners for fixing the battery pack in the device main body in the outward direction are formed on the outer circumferential wall of the lower case. 10. The battery pack according to claim 9, wherein the fastener is formed with a through-hole for screw connection. [7] The battery pack of claim 6, wherein the battery pack includes at least one first battery cell mounted on a central portion of the PCB and arranged at one side of the PCB, and at least one second battery cell arranged on an opposite side of the PCB Wherein the battery pack is a battery pack. 12. The battery pack according to claim 11, wherein the first battery cell and the second battery cell are arranged in a direction in which the electrode terminals face each other. 13. The battery pack according to claim 12, wherein the electrode terminals of the first battery cell and the second battery cell are connected to the PCB by welding or soldering. The battery pack according to claim 6, wherein the battery pack includes two first battery cells arranged on one side of the PCB, and two second battery cells arranged on an opposite side of the PCB. 15. The battery pack as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first battery cells are arranged such that their sides are adjacent to each other, and the second battery cells are arranged such that their sides are adjacent to each other. A device according to claim 6, wherein the battery pack is mounted. 17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the battery pack is an embedded battery pack. 18. The device of claim 17, wherein the device is selected from a notebook computer, a netbook, a camera, a mobile device and a wearable device.

Images