Leak detection system for battery cells

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a leak detection system for battery cells. A leak test system for battery cells includes a chamber defining a cavity. A partition wall is arranged in the cavity to define B cavities, the B cavities configured to respectively receive B battery cells, where B is an integer greater than 1. A vacuum source is configured to selectively evacuate the B battery cells and the B cavities. A tracer gas source is configured to selectively fill the B battery cells with a tracer gas. A mass spectrometer is configured to individually sample the B cavities and detect tracer gas levels in the B cavities. One or more valves are configured to selectively fluidly connect the tracer gas source and the vacuum source to exhaust ports of the B battery cells. The B valves are in fluid communication with the B cavities. The vacuum source is selectively connected to the B cavities through the B valves, respectively.

Description

[0001] The information provided in this section is for the purpose of presenting the general background of this disclosure. To the extent described in this section, the work of the currently named inventors, and aspects of the description that may otherwise not conform to the prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor implied to be admitted as conflicting with the prior art of this disclosure. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to battery cells, and more particularly to leakage assessment chambers for battery cells. Background Technology

[0003] Electric vehicles (EVs), such as battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles, and / or fuel cell unit vehicles, include one or more motors and battery systems. The battery system includes one or more battery cells, modules, and / or packs. A battery cell includes a battery cell stack, which includes a cathode electrode, an anode electrode, and separators arranged in a predetermined order within a battery cell enclosure. A liquid electrolyte is conventionally added to the enclosure. The enclosure provides a hermetically sealed environment to contain the electrolyte and gases released by the battery cell during charging / discharging. Summary of the Invention

[0004] A leak testing system for battery cells includes chambers defining cavities. Separating walls are arranged within the chambers to define B cavities, each configured to receive B battery cells, where B is an integer greater than 1. A vacuum source is configured to selectively evacuate the B battery cells and the B cavities. A tracer gas source is configured to selectively fill the B battery cells with tracer gas. A mass spectrometer is configured to individually sample the B cavities and detect the tracer gas levels in the B cavities.

[0005] Among other features, one or more valves are configured to selectively fluidly connect a tracer gas source and a vacuum source to the exhaust ports of B battery cells. The B valves are in fluid communication with B chambers. The vacuum source is selectively connected to the B chambers via the B valves, respectively.

[0006] Among other features, the mass spectrometer is selectively and individually connected to B chambers via B valves. A tracer gas source supplies helium. Each chamber comprises a main body and a cover surrounding that main body. A controller is configured to control the B valves and one or more other valves.

[0007] Among other features, the controller is configured to a) control one or more valves to evacuate B battery cells; b) control B valves to evacuate B chambers; c) after a), control one or more valves to fill B battery cells with tracer gas; and d) after c), control B valves to sample B battery cells individually.

[0008] Among other features, B seals are arranged within B cavities to define B sampling cavities surrounding a portion of B battery cells. The mass spectrometer samples the B sampling cavities.

[0009] A leak testing system for a battery cell includes: a chamber defining a cavity; partition walls arranged in the cavity to define T sampling cavities around the battery cell, where T is an integer greater than 1; a vacuum source configured to selectively evacuate the battery cell and the T sampling cavities; a tracer gas source configured to selectively fill the battery cell with tracer gas; and a mass spectrometer configured to individually sample the T sampling cavities and detect the tracer gas levels in the T sampling cavities.

[0010] Among other features, one or more valves are configured to selectively fluidly connect tracer gas sources and vacuum sources to the exhaust ports of the battery cells. T valves are in fluid communication with T sampling chambers. Vacuum sources are selectively connected to the T sampling chambers via T valves, respectively. Mass spectrometers are selectively and individually connected to the T sampling chambers via T valves, respectively.

[0011] Among other features, the tracer gas source supplies helium. The chamber includes a main body, a cover portion surrounding the main body, and a seal between the cover portion and the main body.

[0012] Among other features, the controller is configured to control T valves and one or more valves. The controller is configured to a) control one or more valves to evacuate the battery cells; b) control T valves to evacuate T sampling chambers; c) after a), control one or more valves to fill the battery cells with tracer gas; and d) after c), control T valves to individually sample the battery cells to detect tracer gas levels.

[0013] Among the other features, M of the T sampling cavities are arranged on the cover portion of the battery cell to isolate leakage on the cover portion of the battery cell, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0014] Further applications of this disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description, claims, and drawings. The detailed description and specific examples are intended for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0015] This disclosure includes the following technical solutions:

[0016] 1. A leakage testing system for battery cells, comprising:

[0017] A chamber, which defines the cavity;

[0018] A partition wall is arranged in the cavity to define B cavities, each of which is configured to receive B battery cells, where B is an integer greater than 1.

[0019] A vacuum source configured to selectively evacuate the B battery cells and the B cavities;

[0020] A tracer gas source configured to selectively fill the B battery cells with tracer gas; and

[0021] A mass spectrometer is configured to individually sample the B chambers and detect the tracer gas levels in the B chambers.

[0022] 2. The leak testing system according to Scheme 1 further includes one or more valves configured to selectively fluidly connect the tracer gas source and the vacuum source to the exhaust ports of the B battery cells.

[0023] 3. The leakage testing system according to Scheme 2 further includes:

[0024] B valves are in fluid communication with the B cavities.

[0025] The vacuum source is selectively connected to the B cavities via the B valves.

[0026] 4. The leakage testing system according to Scheme 3, wherein the mass spectrometer is selectively and individually connected to the B cavities through the B valves respectively.

[0027] 5. The leak testing system according to Scheme 1, wherein the tracer gas source supplies helium.

[0028] 6. The leakage testing system according to claim 1, wherein the chamber includes a main body portion and a cover surrounding the main body portion.

[0029] 7. The leakage testing system according to Scheme 4 further includes a controller configured to control the B valves and the one or more valves.

[0030] 8. The leakage testing system according to Scheme 7, wherein the controller is configured as follows:

[0031] a) Control one or more valves to evacuate the B battery cells;

[0032] b) Control the B valves to evacuate the B cavities;

[0033] c) Following a), control the one or more valves to fill the B battery cells with the tracer gas; and

[0034] d) After c), control the B valves to sample the B battery cells individually.

[0035] 9. The leakage testing system according to Scheme 3 further includes B seals arranged in the B cavities to define B sampling cavities around a portion of the B battery cells.

[0036] 10. The leakage testing system according to Scheme 9, wherein the mass spectrometer samples the B sampling chambers.

[0037] 11. A leakage testing system for battery cells, comprising:

[0038] A chamber, which defines the cavity;

[0039] Separating walls are arranged in the cavity to define T sampling cavities around the battery cell, where T is an integer greater than 1;

[0040] A vacuum source configured to selectively evacuate the battery cells and the T sampling chambers;

[0041] A tracer gas source configured to selectively fill the battery cell with a tracer gas; and

[0042] A mass spectrometer is configured to individually sample the T sampling chambers and detect the tracer gas levels in the T sampling chambers.

[0043] 12. The leak testing system according to claim 11 further includes one or more valves configured to selectively fluidly connect the tracer gas source and the vacuum source to the exhaust port of the battery cell.

[0044] 13. The leakage testing system according to Scheme 12 further includes:

[0045] There are T valves, which are in fluid communication with the T sampling chambers.

[0046] The vacuum source is selectively connected to the T sampling chambers via the T valves.

[0047] 14. The leak testing system according to Scheme 13, wherein the mass spectrometer is selectively and individually connected to the T sampling chambers through the T valves respectively.

[0048] 15. The leak testing system according to Scheme 11, wherein the tracer gas source supplies helium.

[0049] 16. The leakage testing system according to claim 11, wherein the chamber includes a main body portion, a cover portion surrounding the main body portion, and a seal between the cover portion and the main body portion.

[0050] 17. The leakage testing system according to claim 14 further includes a controller configured to control the T valves and the one or more valves.

[0051] 18. The leakage testing system according to claim 17, wherein the controller is configured as follows:

[0052] a) Control the one or more valves to evacuate the battery cell;

[0053] b) Control the T valves to evacuate the T sampling chambers;

[0054] c) Following a), control the one or more valves to fill the battery cell with the tracer gas; and

[0055] d) Following c), control the T valves to individually sample the battery cell to detect the tracer gas level.

[0056] 19. The leakage testing system according to Scheme 14, wherein M of the T sampling cavities are arranged on the cover portion of the battery cell to isolate leakage on the cover portion of the battery cell, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0057] 20. A leakage testing system for battery cells, comprising:

[0058] A chamber, which defines the cavity;

[0059] A partition wall is arranged in the cavity to define B cavities, each of which is configured to receive B battery cells, where B is an integer greater than 1.

[0060] A vacuum source configured to selectively evacuate the B battery cells and the B cavities;

[0061] A tracer gas source is configured to selectively fill the B battery cells with tracer gas;

[0062] A mass spectrometer configured to individually sample the B chambers and detect the tracer gas levels in the B chambers;

[0063] One or more valves are configured to selectively fluidly connect the tracer gas source and the vacuum source to the exhaust ports of the B battery cells;

[0064] B valves are provided, which are in fluid communication with B cavities, wherein the vacuum source is selectively connected to each of the B cavities via the respective B valves, and wherein the mass spectrometer is selectively and individually connected to each of the B cavities via the respective B valves; and

[0065] A controller configured to control the B valves and the one or more valves, wherein the controller is configured to:

[0066] a) Control one or more valves to evacuate the B battery cells;

[0067] b) Control the B valves to evacuate the B cavities;

[0068] c) Following a), control the one or more valves to fill the B battery cells with the tracer gas; and

[0069] d) Following c), control the B valves to individually sample the B batteries to detect the tracer gas level. Attached Figure Description

[0070] This disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

[0071] Figure 1 This is a side cross-section of an example vehicle including the battery cells;

[0072] Figure 2 This is a perspective view of an example of a battery cell encapsulation.

[0073] Figure 3 This is a functional block diagram of an example of a leak detection system for multiple battery cells;

[0074] Figure 4A This is a functional block diagram of an example of a leakage detection system for multiple battery cells according to the present disclosure;

[0075] Figure 4B This is a functional block diagram of an example controller for a leak detection system according to this disclosure;

[0076] Figure 4C This is a functional block diagram of another example of a leakage detection system for multiple battery cells according to this disclosure;

[0077] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of a method for detecting leakage in multiple battery cells according to the present disclosure; and

[0078] Figure 6A and Figure 6BThis is a functional block diagram of an example of a leak detection system for detecting the location of a leak in a single battery cell, according to the present disclosure.

[0079] In the accompanying drawings, reference numerals may be used repeatedly to identify similar and / or identical elements. Detailed Implementation

[0080] Although the leak assessment system is described in the context of battery cells for vehicles, it can be used to test for leaks in other types of battery cells used in mobile and / or stationary applications.

[0081] Now for reference Figure 1 The battery cell 10 includes C cathode electrodes 20, A anode electrodes 40, and S separators 32 arranged in a predetermined sequence in the battery cell stack 12, wherein C, S, and A are integers greater than zero. The battery cell stack 12 is arranged in an encapsulation 50 (such as a cylindrical, prismatic, or pouch-shaped encapsulation).

[0082] C cathode electrodes 20-1, 20-2, ..., 20-C include a cathode active material layer 24 disposed on one or both sides of the cathode current collector 26. A anode electrodes 40-1, 40-2, ..., 40-A include an anode active material layer 42 disposed on one or both sides of the anode current collector 46. In some examples, the A anode electrodes 40 and the C cathode electrodes 20 exchange lithium ions during charging / discharging.

[0083] In some examples, the cathode active material layer 24 and / or the anode active material layer 42 include a coating comprising one or more active materials, one or more conductive additives, and / or one or more binder materials, which is applied to the current collector (e.g., using a wet or dry roll-to-roll process), although other manufacturing methods may be used. In some examples, the cathode current collector 26 and / or the anode current collector 46 include metal foil, metal mesh, perforated metal, three-dimensional (3D) metal foam, and / or extended metal. In some examples, the current collector is made of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of copper, stainless steel, brass, bronze, zinc, aluminum, and / or alloys thereof. External connectors 28 and 48 are connected to the current collectors of the cathode and anode electrodes, respectively, and may be arranged on the same or different sides of the cell stack 12. External connectors 28 and 48 are connected to the terminals of the cell.

[0084] Now for reference Figure 2Battery cell 58 includes a battery cell encapsulation 60. In some examples, the encapsulation 60 has a prismatic shape with a rectangular cross-section in the x, y, and z-axis planes, although other encapsulation shapes (such as cylindrical or pouch-shaped encapsulations) may be used. In some examples, the battery cell encapsulation 60 includes two pieces: an encapsulation body 61 and a cover portion 84. The encapsulation body 61 includes a side 80 (corresponding to a narrow side), a side 82 (corresponding to a wide side), and a bottom portion 86. In other examples, the cover portion 84 and the bottom portion 86 are attached separately.

[0085] A cover portion 84 and an optional bottom portion 86 are attached to the encapsulation body 61 to surround the top opening and optional bottom opening of the encapsulation body 61, respectively, to form an hermetically sealed area. In some examples, the cover portion 84 and / or the bottom portion 86 are welded to the encapsulation body 61, although other attachment methods may be used. The battery cell 58 includes external terminals 62 and 64 passing through the cover portion 84. A stack 12 of battery cells consisting of C cathode electrodes 20, A anode electrodes 40, and S separators 32 is arranged within the battery cell encapsulation 60.

[0086] External terminals 62 and 64 are connected to external connectors 28 and 48 of the C cathode electrodes 20 and the A anode electrodes 40, respectively. The cover portion 84 (and / or the bottom portion 86) includes a pressure-based vent cap 66 disposed in a vent port. The pressure-based vent cap 66 is configured to release vent when the pressure within the inner enclosure exceeds a predetermined pressure. The cover portion 84 includes an electrolyte filling port 91.

[0087] In some examples, during manufacturing, a stack of battery cells is fabricated, assembled, and then inserted into a battery cell encapsulation. A cover portion is attached to the sidewalls of the encapsulation to surround the top opening. The battery cell encapsulation is tested to ensure that the cover portion is attached to the sidewalls with an hermetic seal.

[0088] Now for reference Figure 3The leak assessment chamber 110 includes a cover 111 defining an inner cavity 113 and a lower body 112. The inner cavity 113 is configured to simultaneously receive B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B, where B is an integer greater than 1. In some examples, a seal 117, such as an O-ring, is arranged between the cover 111 and the lower body 112 to provide an hermetically tight seal. Valves 124 and 130, and conduit 126, selectively fluidly connect a tracer gas source 122 (e.g., helium (He) or another suitable gas) or a vacuum source 128 to the exhaust ports of the B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B, respectively. Valve 150 selectively connects a vacuum source 152 to the inner cavity 113. Valve 140 selectively connects a mass spectrometer 142 to the inner cavity 113. In some examples, vacuum sources 128 and 152 are identical.

[0089] B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B are inserted into the inner cavity 113, and the cover 111 is closed. A conduit 126 provides fluid connection to the vent ports of the B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B. Valve 130 opens, evacuating the B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B, and valve 130 closes. Valve 150 opens, evacuating the inner cavity 113 using a vacuum source 152, and valve 150 closes. As will be understood, the evacuation of the B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B, and the inner cavity 113, can be performed sequentially, partially overlappingly, and / or simultaneously. Valve 124 opens, tracer gas source 122 supplies tracer gas to B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B, and valve 124 closes. Valve 140 opens, and mass spectrometer 142 detects the presence or absence of tracer gas in the B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B during a predetermined time period.

[0090] If no tracer gas is detected during the predetermined time period, then all B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B pass the leak test. However, if tracer gas is detected, one, two, or more of the B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B may be the cause of the leak. However, the leak assessment chamber 110 cannot diagnose which (or more) of the B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B is leaking. Therefore, all B battery cells 114-1, 114-2, ..., and 114-B require additional testing and / or rework. Furthermore, the location of the leak on the faulty battery cell is unknown.

[0091] Referring now to Figure 4, the leak assessment chamber 210 includes a cover 211, a lower body 212, and a plurality of partition walls 215. The plurality of partition walls 215 define B cavities 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B, configured to receive B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B, where B is an integer greater than 1. In some examples, a seal 217, such as an O-ring, is arranged between the cover 211 and the lower body 212 to provide an hermetically tight seal. Similarly, the partition walls 215 hermetically seal the B cavities 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B.

[0092] Valves 224 and 230, along with conduit 226, selectively fluidly connect tracer gas source 222 (e.g., helium (He) or another suitable gas) or vacuum source 228 to the exhaust ports of chambers 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B, respectively. Valves 220-1, 220-2, ..., and 220-B selectively connect B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B to a vacuum source (e.g., all simultaneously) or mass spectrometer 242 (e.g., individually). Vacuum valve 250 selectively connects vacuum source 252 to chambers 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B. Valve 240 selectively connects mass spectrometer 242 to chambers 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B.

[0093] B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B are inserted into the inner cavity 213, and the cover 211 is closed. A conduit 226 provides fluid connection to the vent ports of the B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B. Valve 230 opens, evacuating the B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B, and then valve 230 closes.

[0094] Valve 250 opens, the vacuum source evacuates chambers 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B, and valve 150 closes. As will be understood, the evacuation of chambers 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B, and chambers 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B, can be performed sequentially, partially overlappingly, and / or simultaneously. Valve 224 opens, tracer gas source 222 supplies tracer gas to chambers 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B, and valve 224 closes.

[0095] B valves 220-1, 220-2, and 220-B are opened (e.g., one at a time), and valve 240 is opened to allow mass spectrometer 242 to detect the presence or absence of tracer gas in B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., 214-B respectively during B predetermined time periods. As will be understood, a purification step can be performed between samples. In other examples, S mass spectrometers can be used to reduce the cycle time, where S is less than or equal to B. For example, S = 2 mass spectrometers can be used to halve the mass spectrometer sampling cycle.

[0096] If no tracer gas is detected during the predetermined time period, the corresponding one of the B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B passes the leak test. However, if tracer gas is detected, the corresponding one of the B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B needs to undergo an additional leak test to identify the location of the leak.

[0097] Now for reference Figure 4B The controller 260 is configured to control the timing of the opening and closing of valves 270 (including B valves 220-1, 220-2, ..., 220-B, valve 240, valve 250, valve 224 and / or valve 230). Valve 270 controls the evacuation of B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B and / or B cavities 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B, the filling of B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B with tracer gas and / or the sampling of B cavities 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B by mass spectrometer 242. In some examples, controller 260 controls positioning device 280 to open and close cover 211, load B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B, close cover 211 and / or move it to contact and form a seal with the vents of B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B.

[0098] Now for reference Figure 4COptionally, B seals 300-1, 300-2, ..., and 300-B are arranged in the upper portions of the B cavities 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B to reduce the sampling volume. In other words, B sampling cavities 313-1, 313-2, ..., and 313-B are created, each corresponding to a portion of the B cavities 213-1, 213-2, ..., and 213-B in the volume surrounding the encapsulation area to be tested. The B seals 300-1, 300-2, ..., and 300-B create an airtight seal between the partition wall 215 of the B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B and the B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B. B conduits 310-1, 310-2, ..., and 310-B extend from B valves 220-1, 220-2, ..., and 220-B to B sampling chambers 313-1, 313-2, ..., and 313-B. In this example, the B sampling chambers 313-1, 313-2, ..., and 313-B surround the cover portion and upper side of the B battery cells 214-1, 214-2, ..., and 214-B.

[0099] Sampling is performed on B sampling cavities 313-1, 313-2... and 313-B instead of B sampling cavities 213-1, 213-2... and 213-B, reducing cycle time by decreasing the volume that needs to be evacuated before sampling and the volume to be sampled. As will be understood, if the bottom portion is attached to the side (rather than integrated with the side as a single part), another seal can be used to define other sampling cavities around the center and / or bottom of the encapsulation.

[0100] Now for reference Figure 5 The method for testing for leaks in B battery cells is illustrated. At 410, the method determines whether a leak test needs to be performed. At 414, the method loads the B battery cells into B chambers of a leak test chamber. At 418, the chambers and the B battery cells are evacuated. At 422, the B battery cells are filled with tracer gas. At 426, B is set to equal 1. At 430, the method opens the Bth valve. At 434, a mass spectrometer samples the gas from the Bth battery cell.

[0101] At 436, the method determines whether tracer gas is detected. If true, the Bth battery cell fails the test, and at 440, the Bth battery cell is moved to the second test chamber. If 436 is false, the Bth battery cell passes the test. The method continues from 440 and 442 to 444. At 444, the method determines whether there are any additional battery cells to test. If true, the method increments by B at 446 and returns to 430. Otherwise, the method returns to 410.

[0102] Now for reference Figure 6A and Figure 6B After detecting a leak in one of the battery cells as described above, additional tests can be performed to isolate the location of the leak in the individual battery cell. Figure 6A In this design, the leakage assessment chamber 510 includes a cover 511, a lower body 512, and a plurality of partition walls 515 arranged horizontally and / or vertically around the battery cell to be tested. The partition walls 515 define T cavities 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T around the battery cell 514, where T is an integer greater than 1. In some examples, a seal such as an O-ring (not shown) is arranged between the cover 511 and the lower body 512 to provide an hermetically tight seal. The partition walls 515 hermetically seal the T cavities 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T.

[0103] Valves 524 and 530, along with conduit 526, selectively fluidly connect either tracer gas source 522 or vacuum source 528 to the exhaust port of battery cell 514. T valves 520-1, 520-2, ..., and 520-T selectively connect T chambers 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T to a vacuum source (e.g., all simultaneously evacuated) or mass spectrometer 542 (e.g., one at a time to allow individual testing). Valve 540 selectively connects mass spectrometer 542 to T chambers 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T. Valve 550 selectively connects vacuum source 552 to T chambers 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T.

[0104] Battery cell 514 is inserted into inner cavity 513, and cover 511 is closed. Conduit 526 provides a fluid connection to the vent of battery cell 514. Valve 530 opens, battery cell 514 is evacuated, and valve 530 closes. Valve 550 opens, a vacuum source evacuates T cavities 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T, and valve 550 closes. As will be understood, the evacuation of battery cell 514 and the T cavities 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T can be performed sequentially, partially overlappingly, and / or simultaneously. Valve 524 opens, tracer gas source 522 supplies tracer gas to battery cell 514, and valve 524 closes.

[0105] One of the T valves 520-1, 520-2, and 520-T is opened, and valve 540 is opened to allow mass spectrometer 542 to detect the presence or absence of tracer gas in the T chambers 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T of battery cell 514 during one of the T predetermined time periods. This process is repeated for the other chambers in the T chambers 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T.

[0106] In some examples, the mass spectrometer is purged between samples. As can be understood, P mass spectrometers can be used to reduce cycle time, where P is less than or equal to B. For example, when P = 2, the total sampling cycle of the mass spectrometer can be halved. When tracer gas is detected in one or more of T chambers 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T, the technician knows where to focus the remediation work.

[0107] exist Figure 6A In this configuration, partition wall 515 is generally horizontal. However, partition walls can be horizontal, vertical, and / or a combination thereof. Figure 6B In this configuration, the partition walls 515 are arranged both vertically and horizontally. Some of the T cavities 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T are arranged along the cover portion of the battery cell 514 to isolate leakage around electrodes, vents, or other structures in the cover area. For example, M of the T cavities 513-1, 513-2, ..., and 513-T are arranged to isolate the cover portion of the enclosure, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 2. For example, in... Figure 6B M = 5. In some examples, where the bottom portion is welded to the encapsulation, a similar method can be used for the bottom portion of the encapsulation.

[0108] The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit this disclosure, its application, or use. The broad teachings of this disclosure can be implemented in various forms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes specific examples, its true scope should not be so limited, as other modifications will become apparent upon examination of the drawings, specification, and the following claims. It should be understood that one or more steps within the method may be performed in a different order (or simultaneously) without altering the principles of this disclosure. Furthermore, while each embodiment is described above as having certain features, any one or more of those features described with respect to any embodiment of this disclosure may be implemented in any other embodiment and / or combined with features of any other embodiment, even if such combination is not explicitly described. In other words, the described embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and the arrangement of one or more embodiments with respect to each other remains within the scope of this disclosure.

[0109] Various terms (including “connection,” “joint,” “link,” “adjacent,” “next to,” “on top of,” “above,” “below,” and “set up”) are used to describe spatial and functional relationships between elements (e.g., between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.). Unless explicitly described as “direct,” when describing the relationship between the first and second elements in the above disclosure, the relationship can be a direct relationship where no other intervening elements exist between the first and second elements, or an indirect relationship (spatially or functionally) where one or more intervening elements exist between the first and second elements. As used herein, the phrase “at least one of A, B, and C” should be interpreted as meaning logically (A or B or C) using the non-exclusive logical “OR,” and should not be interpreted as meaning “at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.”

[0110] In the diagram, the direction of the arrows, as indicated by their heads, generally illustrates the flow of information (e.g., data or instructions) of interest. For example, when components A and B exchange various kinds of information, but the information transmitted from component A to component B is relevant to the diagram, the arrow can point from component A to component B. This unidirectional arrow does not imply that no other information is transmitted from component B to component A. Furthermore, for information sent from component A to component B, component B can send a request for or confirmation of receipt of that information to component A.

[0111] In this application (including the following limitations), the terms "module" or "controller" may be replaced by the term "circuit". The term "module" may refer to, be part of, or include the following: application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC); digital, analog, or mixed-signal analog / digital discrete circuit; digital, analog, or mixed-signal analog / digital integrated circuit; combinational logic circuit; field-programmable gate array (FPGA); processor circuitry (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes code; memory circuitry (shared, dedicated, or group) that stores code executed by the processor circuitry; other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality; or combinations of some or all of the above, such as in a system-on-a-chip.

[0112] A module may include one or more interface circuits. In some examples, the interface circuits may include wired or wireless interfaces that are connected to a local area network (LAN), the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), or a combination thereof. The functionality of any given module of this disclosure can be distributed among multiple modules connected via the interface circuits. For example, multiple modules can allow for load balancing. In another example, a server (also referred to as a remote or cloud) module may perform some functions on behalf of a client module.

[0113] The terminology used above can include software, firmware, and / or microcode, and can refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, data structures, and / or objects. The term "shared processor circuit" covers a single processor circuit that executes some or all of the code from multiple modules. The term "group processor circuit" covers a processor circuit that, in combination with additional processor circuitry, executes some or all of the code from one or more modules. Reference to multiple processor circuits covers multiple processor circuits on a discrete die, multiple processor circuits on a single die, multiple cores of a single processor circuit, multiple threads of a single processor circuit, or a combination of the above. The term "shared memory circuit" covers a single memory circuit that stores some or all of the code from multiple modules. The term "group memory circuit" covers a memory circuit that, in combination with additional memory, stores some or all of the code from one or more modules.

[0114] The term memory circuit is a subset of the term computer-readable medium. As used herein, the term computer-readable medium does not cover transient electrical or electromagnetic signals propagated through a medium (such as on a carrier wave); therefore, the term computer-readable medium can be considered tangible and non-transient. Non-limiting examples of non-transient, tangible computer-readable media are non-volatile memory circuits (such as flash memory circuits, erasable programmable read-only memory circuits, or mask read-only memory circuits), volatile memory circuits (such as static random access memory circuits or dynamic random access memory circuits), magnetic storage media (such as analog or digital magnetic tape or hard disk drives), and optical storage media (such as CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs).

[0115] The apparatus and methods described in this application can be implemented, in part or in whole, by a special-purpose computer created by configuring a general-purpose computer to perform one or more specific functions embodied in a computer program. The function blocks, flowchart components, and other elements described above serve as software specifications that can be translated into computer programs by the routine work of skilled technicians or programmers.

[0116] A computer program includes processor-executable instructions stored on at least one non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium. A computer program may also include or depend on stored data. A computer program may encompass a basic input / output system (BIOS) that interacts with the hardware of a special-purpose computer, device drivers that interact with specific devices of the special-purpose computer, one or more operating systems, user applications, background services, background applications, etc.

[0117] Computer programs may include: (i) descriptive text to be parsed, such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), XML (Extensible Markup Language), or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation); (ii) assembly code; (iii) object code generated from source code by a compiler; (iv) source code for execution by an interpreter; (v) source code for compilation and execution by a just-in-time (JIT) compiler; and so on. As an example only, source code may be written using syntax from languages ​​including: C, C++, C#, Objective C, Swift, Haskell, Go, SQL, R, Lisp, etc. Fortran, Perl, Pascal, Curl, OCaml, HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5th Edition), Ada, ASP (Active Server Pages), PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor), Scala, Eiffel, Smalltalk, Erlang, Ruby, Visual Lua, MATLAB, SIMULINK and

Claims

1. A leakage testing system for battery cells, comprising: A chamber, which defines the cavity; A partition wall is arranged in the cavity to define B cavities, each of which is configured to receive B battery cells, where B is an integer greater than 1. A vacuum source configured to selectively evacuate the B battery cells and the B cavities; A tracer gas source is configured to selectively fill the B battery cells with tracer gas; as well as A mass spectrometer is configured to individually sample the B chambers and detect the tracer gas levels in the B chambers.

2. The leak testing system of claim 1, further comprising one or more valves configured to selectively fluidly connect the tracer gas source and the vacuum source to the exhaust ports of the B battery cells.

3. The leakage testing system according to claim 2, further comprising: B valves are in fluid communication with the B cavities. The vacuum source is selectively connected to the B cavities via the B valves.

4. The leakage testing system according to claim 3, wherein, The mass spectrometer is selectively and individually connected to each of the B cavities via the B valves.

5. The leakage testing system according to claim 1, wherein, The tracer gas source supplies helium.

6. The leakage testing system according to claim 1, wherein, The chamber includes a main body and a cover surrounding the main body.

7. The leakage testing system of claim 4, further comprising a controller configured to control the B valves and the one or more valves.

8. The leakage testing system according to claim 7, wherein, The controller is configured to: a) Control one or more valves to evacuate the B battery cells; b) Control the B valves to evacuate the B cavities; c) After a), control the one or more valves to fill the B battery cells with the tracer gas; as well as d) After c), control the B valves to sample the B battery cells individually.

9. The leakage testing system of claim 3, further comprising B seals arranged in the B cavities to define B sampling cavities around a portion of the B battery cells.

10. The leakage testing system according to claim 9, wherein, The mass spectrometer samples the B sampling chambers.

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