Battery

Abstract

The utility model provides a battery, which comprises: a shell which defines an accommodating space; the cover plate, the insulating part and the electrode assembly are sequentially located in the containing space, and the cover plate is connected with the top of the shell; the shell is sequentially provided with a first section and a second section in the height direction of the shell, the thickness of the first section is larger than that of the second section, and the first section is connected with the cover plate; and in the direction facing the electrode assembly, the insulating part is closer to the second section of the shell than the electrode assembly. The thinning design of the second section of the shell enables the distance between the electrode assembly and the shell to be increased, extrusion damage of the shell to the electrode assembly is avoided, and the requirement for light weight of the battery is met.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of battery, in particular to a battery. BACKGROUND

[0002] The shell of the existing battery has a thick wall, which easily occupies the internal space of the battery and may squeeze the electrode assembly, causing damage to the electrode assembly. In addition, the thick wall leads to a large weight of the battery, which is not conducive to the lightweight demand of the battery, and improvement is urgently needed. CONTENT OF THE UTILITY MODEL

[0003] Therefore, the present application aims to provide a battery to solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0004] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the battery comprises:

[0005] a shell forming a containing space;

[0006] a cover plate, an insulating piece and an electrode assembly sequentially located in the containing space, the cover plate being connected to the top of the shell;

[0007] the shell is sequentially provided with a first section and a second section in the height direction, the thickness of the first section being greater than that of the second section, and the first section being connected to the cover plate;

[0008] in the direction facing the electrode assembly, the insulating piece is closer to the second section of the shell than the electrode assembly.

[0009] Further, the shell further comprises a transition section connected between the first section and the second section, the inner side surface of the transition section being a slope connecting the inner side surface of the first section and the inner side surface of the second section, wherein the inner side surface is the side surface close to the electrode assembly.

[0010] Further, the transition section is oppositely arranged with the insulating piece.

[0011] Further, part of the first section is connected to the cover plate, and the other part of the first section is oppositely arranged with the insulating piece.

[0012] Further, part of the second section is oppositely arranged with the insulating piece, and the other part of the second section is oppositely arranged with the electrode assembly.

[0013] Further, the length of the first section is greater than or equal to 0.5 mm.

[0014] Further, the distance between the intersection surface of the transition section and the second section and the top surface of the shell is less than or equal to the sum of the thickness of the cover plate and the thickness of the insulating piece.

[0015] Further, the outer side of the first section coincides with the outer side of the second section, wherein the outer side is a side away from the electrode assembly.

[0016] Further, the outer side of the first section, the transition section and the second section all coincide, wherein the outer side is a side away from the electrode assembly.

[0017] Further, the thickness of the second section is greater than or equal to two-thirds of the thickness of the first section.

[0018] From the above, it can be seen that the battery provided by the present application, the shell thereof comprises a first section and a second section connected in sequence, the thickness of the first section is set to be relatively thick because the first section needs to be connected with the cover plate, so as to avoid the shell being too thin and the wavy edge appearing in the processing process, which affects the cooperation and welding of the shell and the cover plate, that is, the connection strength between the shell and the cover plate is ensured. The second section other than the first section is designed to be thinned relative to the first section, the thinning design increases the spacing between the electrode assembly and the shell, avoids the extrusion damage of the shell to the electrode assembly, and meets the demand for light weight of the battery. In addition, the insulating piece in the embodiment is designed to be closer to the second section of the shell than the electrode assembly, so that even if the shell is extruded in the direction of the electrode assembly, it will first extrude on the insulating piece, and the extrusion force is absorbed by the insulating piece, further avoiding the extrusion damage of the shell to the electrode assembly, and prolonging the service life of the battery. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments or the prior art description will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can also be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor.

[0020] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the profile structure of the battery in the embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 is Figure 1 an enlarged schematic diagram of part A in the above figure; Figure 1 ;

[0022] Figure 3 is Figure 1 an enlarged schematic diagram of part A in the above figure; Figure 2 ;

[0023] Figure 4 is Figure 1 an enlarged schematic diagram of part A in the above figure; Figure 3 ;

[0024] Figure 5A shell cross-section structure schematic diagram in the embodiments of the present application;

[0025] Figure 6 A Figure 5 An enlarged schematic diagram of part B Figure 1 ;

[0026] Figure 7 A Figure 5 An enlarged schematic diagram of part B Figure 2 ;

[0027] Figure 8 A battery top view schematic diagram in the embodiments of the present application, Figure 8 A c-c direction cross-section is Figure 1 ;

[0028] Marked for explanation: 1, shell; 11, first section; 12, second section; 13, transition section; 2, cover plate; 3, insulating piece; 4, electrode assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application more clear and obvious, the present application is further described in detail below in combination with specific embodiments and with reference to the drawings.

[0030] It should be noted that, unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used in the embodiments of the present application should be understood as the usual meaning understood by those skilled in the art to which the present application belongs. The "first", "second" and similar words used in the present application do not represent any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. "Include" or "contain" and similar words mean that the elements or objects before the word cover the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. "Connected" or "connected" and similar words are not limited to physical or mechanical connection, but can include electrical connection, whether direct or indirect. "Up", "down", "left", "right" and the like are only used to represent the relative positional relationship, when the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0031] As described in the background section, the shell 1 of the battery in the related art has a thick wall thickness, which easily occupies the internal space of the battery and may squeeze the electrode assembly 4, causing damage to the electrode assembly 4. In addition, the thick wall thickness will result in a heavy weight of the battery, which is not conducive to the lightweight demand of the battery and needs to be improved urgently.

[0032] Based on the above problems, the present application provides a battery, which thins the wall thickness of the battery shell 1 to solve the problem of the shell 1 squeezing the electrode assembly 4 and meet the lightweight demand of the battery.

[0033] The technical solutions of the present application will be described in detail below by specific examples and in conjunction with Figures 1-7 .

[0034] As shown in Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 5 , Figure 6 , in some embodiments, a battery comprises: a shell 1 enclosing a containing space; a cover plate 2, an insulating piece 3 and an electrode assembly 4 sequentially located in the containing space, the cover plate 2 being connected with the top of the shell 1; the shell 1 is sequentially provided with a first section 11 and a second section 12 in the height direction thereof, the thickness of the first section 11 being greater than that of the second section 12, the first section 11 being connected with the cover plate 2; in the direction facing the electrode assembly 4, the insulating piece 3 is closer to the second section 12 of the shell 1 than the electrode assembly 4.

[0035] Wherein, the shell 1 can be an aluminum shell or a steel shell, etc. The insulating piece 3 can be specifically a lower plastic of the battery, which plays the role of insulation, support and protection of the internal components of the battery.

[0036] As shown in Figure 2 , Figure 6 , the shell 1 in the embodiments of the present application comprises a first section 11 and a second section 12 connected in sequence, and the thickness of the first section 11 is set to be relatively thick because the first section 11 needs to be connected with the cover plate 2, so as to avoid the occurrence of wavy edges in the processing process of the shell 1 which affects the cooperation and welding of the shell 1 and the cover plate 2, that is, the connection strength between the shell 1 and the cover plate 2 is ensured. The second section 12 other than the first section 11 is designed to be thinned relative to the first section 11, and this thinning design increases the spacing between the electrode assembly 4 and the shell 1, avoiding the extrusion damage of the shell 1 to the electrode assembly 4 and meeting the demand for lightweight of the battery. In addition, the insulating piece 3 in the present embodiment is designed to be closer to the second section 12 of the shell 1 than the electrode assembly 4, so that even if the shell 1 is extruded in the direction of the electrode assembly 4, it will first extrude on the insulating piece 3, and the extrusion force is absorbed by the insulating piece 3, further avoiding the extrusion damage of the shell 1 to the electrode assembly 4 and prolonging the service life of the battery.

[0037] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 3 , Figure 7 , the shell 1 further comprises a transition section 13 connected between the first section 11 and the second section 12, and the inner side surface of the transition section 13 is a slope connecting the inner side surface of the first section 11 and the inner side surface of the second section 12, wherein the inner side surface is the side surface close to the electrode assembly 4.

[0038] Specifically, the connection relationship between the transition segment 13 and the first segment 11 and the second segment 12 can also be described as follows: the first segment 11 is located on the center plane of the battery (i.e., Figure 8 The projection of the dashed line on the horizontal plane is the first rectangle, the projection of the second segment 12 on the center plane of the battery is the second rectangle, and the projection of the transition segment 13 on the center plane of the battery is a right trapezoid. The hypotenuse of the trapezoid is used to connect the inner sides of the first rectangle and the second rectangle.

[0039] In this embodiment, a transition section 13 is added between the first section 11 and the second section 12 of the housing 1. The transition section 13 realizes the thickness transition between the first section 11 and the second section 12. The transition section 13 strengthens the connection strength between the first section 11 and the second section 12, avoids the impact of the sudden thickness change between the first section 11 and the second section 12 of the housing 1 on the mechanical strength of the housing 1, improves the safety of battery use, and extends the service life of the battery.

[0040] In some embodiments, such as Figure 3 , Figure 7 As shown, the transition section 13 is disposed opposite to the insulating member 3. As indicated in the foregoing embodiments, the transition section 13 can strengthen the connection between the first section 11 and the second section 12. However, as the connection area between the first section 11 and the second section 12, its position on the housing 1 directly affects the mechanical strength and lightweight effect of the housing 1. Theoretically, the transition section 13 can be disposed opposite to the cover plate 2, or opposite to the insulating member 3, or opposite to the electrode assembly 4. The following will specifically explain these three situations.

[0041] When the transition section 13 is positioned opposite the cover plate 2, it means that only the upper part of the cover plate 2 is connected to the first section 11, while the lower part of the cover plate 2 is opposite to the transition section 13. This means the first section 11 will be very short, insufficient to connect to the entire sidewall of the cover plate 2, thus affecting the connection strength between the housing 1 and the cover plate 2. Although the second section 12 in this case will be very long, which is beneficial for the lightweight design of the housing 1, this lightweight design comes at the cost of sacrificing the connection strength between the housing 1 and the cover plate 2, and therefore is not desirable.

[0042] When the transition section 13 is arranged opposite to the insulating member 3, it means that the first section 11 above the transition section 13 is mainly connected with the cover plate 2, and the second section 12 below the transition section 13 is mainly opposite to the electrode assembly 4, i.e. the length of the first section 11 is shorter, and the length of the second section 12 as the lightweight design is much longer than the first section 11, i.e. the lightweight effect of the shell 1 is better; in addition, in the battery, the insulating member 3 (such as plastic) and the shell 1 bear different support functions in the battery, specifically, the lower plastic pays more attention to the insulation and support protection of the internal components of the battery, and the shell 1 pays attention to the structural strength of the whole battery and the protection of the external environment, i.e. when the transition section 13 is arranged opposite to the insulating member 3, the structure and strength of the insulating member 3 are relatively stable, which can effectively protect the transition section 13, i.e. the structural stability of the transition section 13 can be strengthened, which is beneficial to improve the mechanical strength of the shell 1.

[0043] When the transition section 13 is arranged opposite to the electrode assembly 4, it means that the first section 11 above the transition section 13 is opposite to both the cover plate 2 and the insulating member 3, and compared with the case that the transition section 13 is arranged opposite to the insulating member 3, the length of the second section 12 in this case will be shortened, thereby the lightweight effect of the shell 1 is reduced; in addition, the electrode assembly 4 may expand during use of the battery, and the expanded assembly will exert expansion pressure on the transition section 13, i.e. the structural instability of the battery assembly will challenge the mechanical strength of the transition section 13, thereby affecting the mechanical strength of the whole shell 1.

[0044] Based on the above description, when the transition section 13 is arranged opposite to the cover plate 2, the lightweight effect of the shell 1 is better, but the connection strength of the shell 1 and the cover plate 2 is weaker; when the transition section 13 is arranged opposite to the electrode assembly 4, the lightweight effect of the shell 1 is reduced, and the mechanical strength of the transition section 13 is also often challenged by the expansion of the electrode assembly 4; only when the transition section 13 is arranged opposite to the insulating member 3, the mechanical strength of the transition section 13 and the lightweight effect of the shell 1 can be considered, therefore, the embodiment selects to arrange the transition section 13 opposite to the insulating member 3, so as to consider the lightweight effect of the shell 1 and the mechanical strength of the shell 1.

[0045] In some embodiments, part of the first section 11 is connected with the cover plate 2, and another part of the first section 11 is arranged opposite to the insulating member 3; part of the second section 12 is arranged opposite to the insulating member 3, and another part of the second section 12 is arranged opposite to the electrode assembly 4.

[0046] The foregoing embodiments show that the shell 1 involves two cases including the first section 11 and the second section 12, and including the first section 11, the second section 12 and the transition section 13, which will be described below respectively.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 1, the shell 1 is arranged in the battery, and the shell 1 is arranged to be opposite to the cover plate 2 and the electrode assembly 4, and the cover plate 2 is arranged to be opposite to the electrode assembly 4, i.e. the cover plate 2 is arranged between the shell 1 and the electrode assembly 4. Figure 2 , Figure 6As shown, when the housing 1 comprises only the first segment 11 and the second segment 12, the first segment 11, in addition to being connected to the cover plate 2, extends at its bottom to face the insulating member 3; correspondingly, the second segment 12, in addition to facing the electrode assembly 4, extends at its top to face the insulating member 3. That is, the connection between the first segment 11 and the second segment 12 faces the insulating member 3, and this connection is a weak point in the mechanical strength of the housing 1. The main reason for facing this connection with the insulating member 3 is that the insulating member 3 has a more stable structure and strength, which can effectively protect the connection, thereby strengthening the structural stability of the connection and improving the mechanical strength of the housing 1.

[0048] like Figure 3 , Figure 7 As shown, when the housing 1 includes a first section 11, a second section 12, and a transition section 13, the first section 11, in addition to being connected to the cover plate 2, extends to the bottom opposite to the insulating member 3; correspondingly, the second section 12, in addition to being opposite to the electrode assembly 4, extends to the top opposite to the insulating member 3, and the transition section 13 is also opposite to the insulating member 3; that is, the connection between the first section 11 and the transition section 13, the transition section 13, and the connection between the transition section 13 and the second section 12 are all opposite to the insulating member 3. This is mainly because the structure and strength of the insulating member 3 are relatively stable, which can effectively protect the connection, thereby strengthening the structural stability of the connection and the transition section 13, and improving the mechanical strength of the housing 1.

[0049] In some embodiments, such as Figure 4 As shown, the length L0 of the first segment 11 is greater than or equal to 0.5 mm; the thickness d2 of the second segment 12 is greater than or equal to two-thirds of the thickness d1 of the first segment 11. For example, if the length L0 of the first segment 11 is less than 0.5 mm, it will affect the connection strength between the casing 1 and the cover plate 2, affecting the safety and lifespan of the battery. As another example, if the thickness of the first segment 11 is 0.3 mm, then the thickness of the second segment 12 must be at least 0.2 mm. That is, the thickness of the second segment 12 should not be designed too thin for the sake of lightweighting. An excessively thin casing 1 will reduce its mechanical strength, making the battery more susceptible to deformation or damage when subjected to external impact. Furthermore, an excessively thin casing 1 cannot effectively resist the expansion of the battery during charging and discharging, which may eventually lead to battery rupture and leakage, affecting the battery's safety and lifespan.

[0050] That is, the limitation on the length of the first segment 11 and the limitation on the thickness of the second segment 12 in this embodiment is mainly to ensure that the length of the first segment 11 is not too short and the thickness of the second segment 12 is not too thin, so as to avoid the impact on the mechanical strength of the shell 1 if the length of the first segment 11 is too short or the thickness of the second segment 12 is too thin.

[0051] In some embodiments, the distance between the intersection surface of the transition section 13 and the second section 12 and the top surface of the housing 1 is less than or equal to the sum of the thickness of the cover plate 2 and the thickness of the insulating member 3.

[0052] As shown in Figure 4 the intersection surface of the transition section 13 and the second section 12 is L1 away from the top surface of the shell 1, the thickness of the cover plate 2 is L2, and the thickness of the insulating piece 3 is L3, i.e. L1≤L2+L3. That is, L1 is at most equal to L2+L3, i.e. the connection of the transition section 13 and the second section 12 is at least flush with the lower edge of the insulating piece 3 and cannot be opposite to the electrode assembly 4 beyond the insulating piece 3. This is mainly because the structure and strength of the insulating piece 3 are relatively stable, which can effectively protect the connection, while the structure of the electrode assembly 4 is not stable due to the expansion, which cannot effectively protect the connection and may even cause expansion damage to the connection. Therefore, the length relationship among L1, L2 and L3 is limited to determine that the connection of the multiple sections and the second section 12 is at least flush with the lower edge of the insulating piece 3, so as to effectively protect the connection by the insulating piece 3, i.e. the structural stability of the connection and the transition section 13 can be improved, which is conducive to improving the mechanical strength of the shell 1.

[0053] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 2 when the shell 1 only includes the first section 11 and the second section 12, the outer side surface of the first section 11 coincides with the outer side surface of the second section 12; as shown in Figure 3 when the shell 1 includes the first section 11, the second section 12 and the transition section 13, the outer side surfaces of the first section 11, the transition section 13 and the second section 12 all coincide, wherein the outer side surface is the side surface away from the electrode assembly 4.

[0054] The embodiments further limit that the outer side surfaces of the several sections coincide, i.e. the outer side surface of the shell is a smooth side surface, i.e. the flatness of the outer side surface is not affected by the thinning design of the shell 1, which is only performed on the inner side surface of the shell 1. The smooth and flat outer side surface of the shell 1 is conducive to resisting the impact force from the outside and facilitating the assembly and transportation of the battery.

[0055] It should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the above discussion of any of the embodiments is only exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application (including the claims) to these examples; the technical features of the above embodiments or different embodiments can also be combined, the steps can be implemented in any order, and there are many other changes of different aspects of the present application as described above. In order to be brief, they are not provided in detail.

[0056] The embodiments of the present application are intended to cover all such alternatives, modifications and variations falling within the broad scope of the appended claims. Therefore, any omission, modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made in the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A battery, characterized in that, include: The shell encloses and forms a containing space; A cover plate, an insulating component, and an electrode assembly are sequentially located within the receiving space, with the cover plate connected to the top of the housing; The housing is provided with a first section and a second section in sequence along its height direction. The thickness of the first section is greater than the thickness of the second section. The first section is connected to the cover plate. In the direction facing the electrode assembly, the insulating element is closer to the second segment of the housing than the electrode assembly.

2. The battery according to claim 1, characterized in that, The housing further includes a transition section connecting the first section and the second section. The inner side of the transition section is an inclined surface connecting the inner side of the first section and the inner side of the second section, wherein the inner side is the side closest to the electrode assembly.

3. The battery according to claim 2, characterized in that, The transition section is positioned opposite to the insulating component.

4. The battery according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Part of the first segment is connected to the cover plate, and another part of the first segment is disposed opposite to the insulating element.

5. The battery according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, One portion of the second segment is disposed opposite to the insulating member, and another portion of the second segment is disposed opposite to the electrode assembly.

6. The battery according to claim 1, characterized in that, The length of the first segment is greater than or equal to 0.5 mm.

7. The battery according to claim 2, characterized in that, The distance between the intersection surface of the transition section and the second section and the top surface of the shell is less than or equal to the sum of the thickness of the cover plate and the thickness of the insulating component.

8. The battery according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outer side of the first segment coincides with the outer side of the second segment, wherein the outer side is the side away from the electrode assembly.

9. The battery according to claim 2, characterized in that, The outer surfaces of the first segment, the transition segment, and the second segment all overlap, wherein the outer surface is the side away from the electrode assembly.

10. The battery according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thickness of the second segment is greater than or equal to two-thirds of the thickness of the first segment.

Images