WO2019071239A1

WO2019071239A1 - Dense energy-storage systems

Info

Publication number: WO2019071239A1
Application number: PCT/US2018/054768
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hrayr TOROSYAN; Steven Harold OFFUTT; John Thomas GUERIN
Original assignee: Farady&Future Inc.
Priority date: 2017-10-06
Filing date: 2018-10-05
Publication date: 2019-04-11

Abstract

Batteries are described herein. The batteries described herein may be used for electric vehicles including cars, airplanes, drones, and submarines. Batteries described herein may have a lower density than batteries of similar sizes due to eliminating a rounded terminal of a battery shoulder and replacing it with a flat shoulder. Such a flat shoulder may take up less volume than a rounded shoulder, and thereby create a denser battery.

Description

DENSE ENERGY-STORAGE SYSTEMS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/569,124, filed October 6, 2017, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.

FIELD

[0002] The present application relates generally to energy-storage systems, and more specifically to battery cells.

BACKGROUND

[0003] It should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

[0004] Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries are used to power the propulsion of electric vehicles such as cars, planes, drones, ships, and submarines. They are designed to give power over sustained periods of time. Batteries for electric vehicles are characterized by their relatively high power-to-weight ratio, energy- to-weight ratio and energy density; smaller, lighter batteries reduce the weight of the vehicle and improve its performance. Additional battery power is desirable in EVs because it can create increased range and torque. As such, lighter and more dense batteries are desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements. It will be understood that the figures are not necessarily to scale and that details not necessary for an understanding of the technology or that render other details difficult to perceive may be omitted.

[0006] FIG. 1 illustrates an example battery for use in an energy-storage system.

[0007] FIG. 2A illustrates an example battery for use in an energy-storage system.

[0008] FIG. 2B illustrates an example battery for use in an energy-storage system.

[0009] FIG. 3 illustrates an example energy-storage system.

[0010] FIG. 4A illustrates an example battery in an example energy-storage system.

[0011] FIG. 4B illustrates an example battery in an example energy-storage system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] While this technology is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail several specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the technology and is not intended to limit the technology to the embodiments illustrated. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the technology. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that like or analogous elements and/or components, referred to herein, may be identified throughout the drawings with like reference characters. It will be further understood that several of the figures are merely schematic

representations of the present technology. As such, some of the components may have been distorted from their actual scale for pictorial clarity.

[0013] Some embodiments of the present invention can be deployed in a wheeled, self-powered motor vehicle used for transportation, such as hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and all-electric vehicles. Such vehicles contain battery cells and energy storage systems of one type or another. It is often desired to store energy in as dense a space as possible. Some batteries may waste density by have extra material.

[0014] As depicted in FIGs. 1 and 2A, in some embodiments, battery cells 110 do not come with a flat shoulder (See 140 of FIG. 2B) as part of the negative terminal 120. They are all rounded crimped shoulders 130. In addition, the connection of the batteries 110 in an electric vehicle and other energy storage devices uses the bottom of the battery 110 for the negative terminal 120 and top existing positive terminal 125. The techniques used in the industry to connect the batteries 110 is to have one right side up the other upside down, can complicate the assembly process and the way battery cells 110 are connected. Since the current battery cells 110 do not have a flat shoulder (See 140 of FIG. 2B) at the top of the cells and are curved, there are challenges to laser weld, wire bond, and resistance weld. With the flat shoulder (See 140 of FIG. 2B) on the cell 110, the above challenges are reduced and at times eliminated. The flat shoulder (See 140 of FIG. 2B) is achieved by changing the crimping tool of the battery cell 110 production from a curved crimp to a flat crimp.

[0015] As depicted in FIG 2B, instead of a round crimp, in some

embodiments a flat crimp may be used to create a flat shoulder 140. It should be understood that other methods may be used to create a flat shoulder 140. For example, the negative terminal may not be crimped at all but instead shaped to have a flat shoulder 140. In some embodiments, shoulders that are flat may exist on both circular sides of a battery.

[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates an example energy-storage system 300. An energy- storage system 300 may be referred to as a battery pack, and in some

embodiments may be part of a string of battery packs. Strings of battery packs may be used on vehicles with variable platform architectures, which may be vehicle architectures that may be longer or shorter based on how many strings are intended to be placed in the architecture.

[0017] As shown in example FIG. 3, an energy-storage system 300 may include a cover 310. This cover 310 can be used to prevent batteries from moving and/or reduce density. FIG. 3 shows example tabs 320 and 330 that are may be welded to battery terminals. For example, negative terminal tab 330 may be welded to negative battery terminals 120 and positive terminal tab 320 may be welded to positive battery terminals 125. By using flat shoulders 140 and 340, less space may be consumed when assembling an energy-storage system 300, such as a battery pack. It should be appreciated that not all connections between batteries need to be welded. Many techniques may be used to connect batteries to other batteries and various connections that do not involve welding.

[0018] FIGs. 4A and 4B depict example batteries 410 and 420 in an example energy-storage system 400. As can be seen in FIGs. 4A and 4B, battery 410 includes a flat shoulder, while battery 420 includes a rounder shoulder. This disparity in shoulder sizes can create extra, unnecessary density within an energy storage system 400. For example, tab 430 can be depressed further when battery 410 which includes a flat shoulder is used. Conversely, tab 430 may not be able to be depressed as much when a rounded shoulder is used such as on example battery 420.

[0019] As would be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, various embodiments described herein may be used in additional applications, such as in energy-storage systems for phones, computers, and wind and solar power generation. Other applications are also possible.

[0020] The description of the present technology has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present technology and its practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to

understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A battery pack comprising:

a plurality of batteries electrically coupled to each other, each of the plurality of batteries comprising:

a positive terminal; and

a negative terminal, wherein the negative terminal comprises a flat shoulder.

2. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the plurality of batteries is electrically coupled to each other in parallel.

3. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the flat shoulder at least partially surrounds the positive terminal.

4. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the flat shoulder is not located on more than one side of one or more of the plurality of batteries.

5. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of batteries has more than one side with a flat shoulder.

6. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the flat shoulder is welded to a connector.

7. A first battery comprising:

a positive terminal; and

a negative terminal, wherein the negative terminal comprises a flat shoulder.

8. The first battery of claim 7, wherein the first battery is electrically coupled to a second battery in parallel.

9. The first battery of claim 7, wherein the flat shoulder at least partially surrounds the positive terminal.

10. The first battery of claim 7, wherein the flat shoulder is not located on more than one side of the first battery.

11. The first battery of claim 7, wherein the battery has more than one side with a flat shoulder.

12. The first battery of claim 7, wherein the flat shoulder is welded to a connector.