KR102066913B1 - Battery Module for Structure of Easy Insertion and Mounting of Terminal Plate - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are arranged in a state where side surfaces thereof are adjacent to each other; A pair of cell frames mounted on both ends of the battery cell stack and including a terminal plate accommodating part inserted into and fixed to the following terminal plates; Terminal plates electrically connecting electrode terminals of the battery cells; And a battery management system (BMS) mounted to one side of the battery cell stack and connected to terminal plates.

Description

Battery module for easy insertion and mounting of terminal plate {Battery Module for Structure of Easy Insertion and Mounting of Terminal Plate}

The present invention relates to a battery module having a structure in which the terminal plate can be easily inserted and mounted.

Recently, secondary batteries capable of charging and discharging have been widely used as energy sources of wireless mobile devices. In addition, the secondary battery has attracted attention as an energy source of electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, electric bicycles, etc., which are proposed as a solution for solving air pollution of conventional gasoline vehicles and diesel vehicles using fossil fuel. Therefore, the type of applications using the secondary battery is very diversified due to the advantages of the secondary battery, and it is expected that the secondary battery will be applied to many fields and products in the future.

Such secondary batteries may be classified into lithium ion batteries, lithium ion polymer batteries, lithium polymer batteries, etc. according to the composition of the electrode and the electrolyte, and among them, there is little possibility of leakage of the electrolyte, and the amount of lithium ion polymer batteries that are easy to manufacture is high. Growing.

In general, secondary batteries are cylindrical batteries and rectangular batteries in which the electrode assembly is embedded in a cylindrical or rectangular metal can, and pouch-type batteries in which the electrode assembly is embedded in a pouch type case of an aluminum laminate sheet according to the shape of the battery case. Classified as

The secondary battery is configured as a battery module or a battery pack by connecting a plurality of secondary batteries according to the capacity required by the device in which the battery is mounted.

1 is a perspective view of a battery module constructed by electrically connecting a plurality of conventional secondary batteries.

Referring to FIG. 1, in the battery module 10, a plurality of battery cells 11 are arranged in a state in which side surfaces thereof are adjacent to each other, the frames 12 are mounted at both ends of the battery cells 11, and the battery cells 11 are arranged. The electrode terminals positioned at both ends of the terminals are electrically connected by the terminal plate 13.

In order to configure a battery module having such a structure, first, a plurality of battery cells are mounted and arranged in frames. In order to electrically connect the arranged battery cells, a plurality of terminal plates are mounted on the spot jig, a spot jig is mounted on the battery cells, and the terminal plates contacted to the battery cells by the spot jig are performed. do. When welding is completed, the battery cells and the spot jig are separated.

In the configuration of the battery module as described above, the process of welding the terminal plate to electrically connect the battery cells has a problem that takes a lot of manufacturing cost and time. That is, since the spot jig should be additionally prepared as a member for arranging the terminal plates to contact the battery cells, the manufacturing cost increases, and the manufacturing time increases because the operator must mount the plurality of terminal plates on the spot jig, respectively. .

Therefore, a situation that requires a battery module that can solve the above problems.

The present invention aims to solve the problems of the prior art as described above and the technical problems that have been requested from the past.

Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery module that can reduce the manufacturing cost and time by improving the process of electrically connecting a plurality of battery cells to configure a high capacity / high output battery module.

Battery module according to the present invention for achieving this object,

A battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are arranged in a state where side surfaces thereof are adjacent to each other;

A pair of cell frames mounted on both ends of the battery cell stack and including a terminal plate accommodating part inserted into and fixed to the following terminal plates;

Terminal plates electrically connecting electrode terminals of the battery cells; And

A battery management system (BMS) mounted on one side of the battery cell stack and connected to terminal plates;

It may be made of a structure comprising a.

Accordingly, the battery module according to the present invention includes a terminal plate accommodating portion in which terminal plates are inserted into and fixed to a pair of cell frames, thereby arranging and welding terminal plates in a process of electrically connecting a plurality of battery cells. Since separate jig can be excluded, manufacturing cost and time can be saved.

Specifically, the battery cell may be a cylindrical battery cell. In the cylindrical battery cell, a jelly-roll electrode assembly formed by winding a positive electrode sheet, a negative electrode sheet, and a separator sheet interposed between the positive electrode sheet and the negative electrode sheet is housed together with an electrolyte in a cylindrical metal can, and a cap on the top of the cylindrical can. It may consist of a structure in which the assembly is mounted.

In addition, the battery cell stack may be stacked and arranged in a structure in which the horizontal size is relatively larger than the vertical size. The vertical direction refers to a height direction from the ground, and the horizontal direction refers to a direction orthogonal to the electrode terminal forming direction of the battery cell.

On the contrary, the battery cell stacks may be stacked and arranged in a structure in which the longitudinal direction of the battery cell stack is relatively large. The shape of the terminal plate electrically connecting the electrode terminals of the battery cells may be changed according to the structure of the battery cell stack.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the terminal plate accommodating portion may be formed on a cell frame facing the electrode terminals. Accordingly, when the terminal plate is mounted on the terminal plate accommodating part, the terminal plate and the electrode terminals of the battery cells may directly contact each other, so that the subsequent welding process may be performed quickly.

In a specific example of the terminal plate accommodating part, the terminal plate accommodating part may be configured to have an upper opening structure so that the terminal plate can be inserted from the top with respect to the ground. Thus, the terminal plate can be easily inserted into the terminal plate accommodating portion only by a simple operation in which the operator moves the terminal plate from top to bottom.

Specifically, the terminal plate accommodating part may be formed in the cell frame in a slit shape corresponding to the thickness of the terminal plate with the upper end being opened. Since the slit shape has a thickness corresponding to the terminal plate, in the state where the terminal plate is mounted on the terminal plate accommodating part, it does not form a separate flow space, and thus the terminal plate is fixed so as not to be shaken, which may occur in the welding process. It can alleviate the problem of poor contact.

In one example of the cell frame, an opening for welding corresponding to the shape of the terminal plate accommodating portion is formed on the outer surface of the cell frame so that at least a part of one surface of the terminal plate may be exposed to the outside for welding to the electrode terminal. It may be formed in.

As one embodiment of the welding opening, the welding opening may have a structure corresponding to the outer circumferential shape of the terminal plate.

Specifically, the welding opening may be formed along the inner end of the terminal plate, an extension fixing part surrounding the outer circumference of the terminal plate to prevent the terminal plate from being separated.

More specifically, the inner circumferential width of the welding opening may be relatively smaller by the size of the extension part than the outer circumferential width of the terminal plate at the corresponding portion. Accordingly, the terminal plate is not separated from the cell frame, and the terminal plate is positioned between welding processes to alleviate the problem of poor contact between the battery cell and the terminal plate.

The extended fixing part may be made of 1% to 30% in size based on the inner circumferential width of the welding opening.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the cell frames may be composed of a first cell frame on which one end of the battery cell stack is mounted, and a second cell frame on which the other end is mounted, wherein the first cell frame And the second cell frame may be coupled to each other by a fastening member. Specifically, fasteners may be formed at corners of the first cell frame and the second cell frame, and a fastening member may be inserted into the fasteners to couple the first cell frame to the second cell frame. .

Each of the first cell frame and the second cell frame may have an accommodating portion corresponding to one end portion and the other end portion of the battery cells, and the openings for exposing the electrode terminals of the battery cells may be formed on an outer surface thereof. It may be perforated. Specifically, the battery cells may be a cylindrical battery cell, and accordingly, the shape of the accommodating part may be a structure in which a groove is formed in a cylindrical shape. The openings may be formed in a circular shape corresponding to the shape of the electrode terminal of the battery cell.

In addition, at least one through passage through which refrigerant may flow may be formed between the accommodating portions of each of the first and second cell frames, and the terminal plate may have a shape corresponding to the through passage of the cell frames. The through hole may be perforated. Accordingly, the through passage and the through hole may be in communication with each other, and the refrigerant introduced from the through hole of the terminal plate on one surface passes through the through hole of the first cell frame and the through hole of the second cell frame, and thus the terminal plate on the other surface. It may be discharged through the through hole of the structure to cool the battery cells. The inflow and outflow directions of the refrigerant may be reversed.

The terminal plates may be connected to the electrode terminals of the battery cells while being mounted on the terminal plate inserting portion.

The terminal plates may be configured to connect at least two or more of the battery cells in series, or in series and in parallel.

In one embodiment of the invention, the terminal plate,

A terminal connection part in contact with electrode terminals of the battery cells and formed in a rectangular shape; And

A BMS connection part extending from one side of the terminal connection part and connected to the BMS in a state of being vertically bent in the BMS direction at an upper end of the cell frame;

It can consist of.

The terminal connecting portion may be changed in shape depending on the connection structure of the battery cells. Specifically, as the number of battery cells connected in parallel increases, the contact area with the electrode terminals of the terminal plate may expand.

In addition, an upper end of the cell frame may be formed with an indentation groove having a shape corresponding to the BMS connection portion to guide and fix the bending of the BMS connection portion. According to such a structure, it is possible to prevent process defects due to flow that may occur during the process of connecting the terminal plate to the BMS in the manufacturing process of the battery module, and the operator can easily bend the terminal plate and connect to the BMS. have.

The present invention also provides a battery pack having a structure including the battery module.

The present invention also provides a device including the battery pack as a power source.

The device may be selected from the group consisting of an electric bicycle, an electric vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle, or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and a power storage device.

Since the structure and fabrication method of such a device are known in the art, detailed description thereof will be omitted herein.

As described above, the battery module according to the present invention includes a terminal plate accommodating portion in which terminal plates are inserted and fixed in a pair of cell frames, thereby providing terminal plates in a process of electrically connecting a plurality of battery cells. Separate jig for aligning and welding can be eliminated, thus saving manufacturing cost and time.

1 is a perspective view of a battery module configured by electrically connecting a plurality of conventional secondary batteries;
2 is a perspective view of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a perspective view of a cell frame of the battery module of FIG. 2;
4 is a perspective view of a state before a terminal plate is mounted in the battery module of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the terminal plate insert in the portion “A” of FIG. 4; FIG.
6 is an enlarged front view of a terminal plate insertion portion of the battery module of FIG. 2;
7 is an enlarged view of a terminal plate of the battery module of FIG. 2;

Hereinafter, although described with reference to the drawings according to an embodiment of the present invention, this is for easier understanding of the present invention, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

2 is a perspective view of a battery module according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a perspective view of the cell frame of FIG.

2 and 3, the battery module 100 includes a battery cell stack 110, a first cell frame 120, a second cell frame 130, a terminal plate 140, and a BMS (not shown). )

The battery cell stack 110 has a structure in which cylindrical battery cells 111 are arranged in a state where side surfaces thereof are adjacent to each other. The battery cell stack 110 is stacked and arranged in a structure in which the horizontal size is relatively large compared to the vertical size. The BMS may be mounted on the top or one side of the battery cell stack 110.

The first cell frame 120 and the second cell frame 130 are mounted at both ends of the battery cell stack 110 and may be coupled to each other by a fastening member (not shown).

Each of the first cell frame 120 and the second cell frame 130 has a cylindrical accommodating portion 121 corresponding to each of one end portion and the other end portion of the battery cells 111, and the battery cell ( Openings 122 for exposing the electrode terminals of 111 are circularly perforated on the outer surface.

In addition, a through passage 124 through which a refrigerant flows is formed between each of the accommodating parts 121 of the first cell frame 120 and the second cell frame 130, and in the terminal plate 140. A through hole 149 having a shape corresponding to the through path 124 is formed.

The through passage 124 and the through hole 149 communicate with each other, and the refrigerant flowing from the through hole 149 of the front terminal plate 140 passes through the through passage 124 and the second cell frame 120. It passes through the passage of the cell frame 130 and is discharged through the through hole 149 of the rear terminal plate 140 is made of a structure for cooling the battery cells 111.

The terminal plates 140 are connected to the electrode terminals of the battery cells 111 while being mounted on the terminal plate insertion unit 150.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a state before the terminal plate is mounted in the battery module of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the terminal plate inserting portion of the portion “A” of FIG. 4. .

4 and 5 together with FIG. 1, the terminal plate accommodating part 150 in which the terminal plates 140 are inserted into and fixed to the upper portions of the first cell frame 120 and the second cell frame 130. Is formed. The terminal plate accommodating part 150 is formed at a portion where the electrode terminals of the battery cell 111 face each other.

In addition, the terminal plate accommodating part 150 has an upper open structure to insert the terminal plate 140 from the top, and has a slit shape corresponding to the thickness of the terminal plate 140 to form a first cell frame ( 120 and the second cell frame 130.

6 is an enlarged front view of the terminal plate insertion portion of the battery module of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6 together with FIG. 1, the terminal plate accommodating part 150 may expose at least a portion of one surface of the terminal plate 140 to the outside for welding the electrode terminal 112 of the battery cell 111. The opening 123 for welding corresponding to the shape of the () is formed on the outer surface of the first cell frame 120 and the second cell frame 130.

The welding opening 123 has a structure corresponding to the outer circumferential shape of the terminal plate. The welding opening 123 has an extension fixing part 125 surrounding the outer circumference of the terminal plate 140 along the inner end of the terminal plate 140 to prevent the terminal plate 140 from being separated.

The inner circumferential width T1 of the welding opening 123 is formed to be smaller than the outer circumferential width T2 of the terminal plate 140 at the corresponding portion by the size of the extension fixing part 125. Specifically, the extension fixing part 125 has a size of 1% based on the inner circumferential width T1 of the welding opening 123.

7 is an enlarged view schematically illustrating the terminal plate of the battery module of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 7 together with FIGS. 2 and 3, the terminal plate 140 includes a terminal connection part 141 and a BMS connection part 142. The terminal connection part 141 is in contact with the electrode terminals of the battery cells 111 and has a rectangular shape, and the BMS connection part 142 extends from an upper side of the terminal connection part 141 and is formed of the cell frames 120 and 130. It consists of a vertically bent structure in the BMS direction that can be located at the top of the battery cell stack 110 at the top of the.

Indentations 129 and 139 having a shape corresponding to the BMS connection part 142 are formed at the upper ends of the cell frames 120 and 130 to guide and fix the bending of the BMS connection part 142.

Slits 143 are formed at the respective portions corresponding to the electrode terminals of the battery cells 111 of the terminal connection part 141 to facilitate soldering or welding of the terminal connection part 141 and the electrode terminals.

Those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to make various applications and modifications within the scope of the present invention based on the above contents.

Claims (22)

A battery cell stack in which a plurality of battery cells are arranged in a state where side surfaces thereof are adjacent to each other;
Terminal plates electrically connecting electrode terminals of the battery cells;
Mounted at both ends of the battery cell stack, the terminal plate is formed in a slit shape corresponding to the thickness of the terminal plate with the top open to insert the terminal plates from the top with respect to the ground, A pair of cell frames including a terminal plate accommodating part which fixes the terminal plate in place by not forming a separate flow space in the inserted state; And
A battery management system (BMS) mounted on one side of the battery cell stack and connected to terminal plates;
It is configured to include,
A battery cell accommodating part for accommodating battery cells is formed inside each of the pair of cell frames, and at least one through passage through which refrigerant may flow between the battery cell accommodating parts; Is formed, and the terminal plate has a through hole corresponding to a through path of the cell frame; Is perforated, and the refrigerant flowing from the through hole of the terminal plate on one side passes through each through passage of the cell frame and is discharged to the through hole of the terminal plate on the other side to cool the stored battery cells. . The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the battery cell is a cylindrical battery cell. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the battery cell stack is stacked and arranged in a structure in which a horizontal size is relatively larger than a vertical size. The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the terminal plate accommodating part is formed on a cell frame facing the electrode terminals. delete delete According to claim 1, The welding opening corresponding to the shape of the terminal plate accommodating portion is formed on the outer surface of the cell frame so that at least a portion of one surface of the terminal plate for the welding to the electrode terminal is exposed to the outside. Battery module characterized in that. 8. The battery module according to claim 7, wherein the welding opening has a structure corresponding to the outer circumferential shape of the terminal plate. 8. The battery module according to claim 7, wherein the welding opening is formed along an inner end of the terminal plate, and an extension fixing part surrounding the outer circumference of the terminal plate to prevent separation of the terminal plate. 10. The battery module according to claim 9, wherein the inner circumferential width of the welding opening is relatively smaller than the outer circumferential width of the terminal plate at a corresponding portion by the size of the fixing part. The battery module according to claim 10, wherein the extension fixing part has a size of 1% to 30% based on the inner circumference width of the welding opening. The cell frame of claim 1, wherein the cell frames comprise a first cell frame on which one end of the battery cell stack is mounted, and a second cell frame on which the other end is mounted, and wherein the first cell frame and the second cell frame are mounted. The battery module, characterized in that coupled to each other by a fastening member. The battery cell accommodating part of claim 12, wherein each of the first cell frame and the second cell frame has a battery cell accommodating part having a shape corresponding to each of one end and the other end of the battery cells, and the electrode terminals of the battery cells are exposed. Battery module, characterized in that the openings to be perforated on the outer surface. delete delete The battery module according to claim 1, wherein the terminal plates are connected to the electrode terminals of the battery cells while being mounted on the terminal plate inserting portion. 17. The battery module of claim 16, wherein the terminal plates connect at least two or more of the battery cells in series, or in series and in parallel. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal plate,
A terminal connection part in contact with electrode terminals of the battery cells and formed in a rectangular shape; And
A BMS connection part extending from one side of the terminal connection part and connected to the BMS in a state of being vertically bent in the BMS direction at an upper end of the cell frame;
Battery module, characterized in that consisting of. 19. The battery module according to claim 18, wherein an indentation groove having a shape corresponding to the BMS connection portion is formed at an upper end of the cell frame to guide and fix the bending of the BMS connection portion. Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16-19. A battery pack comprising a battery module according to any one of claims. Device comprising the battery pack according to claim 20. The device of claim 21, wherein the device is an electric bicycle, an electric vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle, or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

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