Method for manufacturing a battery assembly
The direct welding of electrodes in pouch-type battery cells with a curved central strip simplifies battery assembly by stabilizing electrical connections and accommodating cell expansion, addressing the complexity of conventional assembly methods.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2024539694
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2022-01-28
- Filing Date
- 2023-01-27
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-24
AI Technical Summary
The assembly of battery modules, particularly those containing pouch-type battery cells, is complicated due to the need for accurate positioning and compensation for cell expansion during charging and discharging cycles, and the electrical connections with elements like the bus bar and print circuit board are intricate.
A method involving the direct welding of electrodes from opposing pouch-type battery cells, with a curved central strip connecting them to a print circuit board, simplifies the assembly by compensating for cell expansion and maintaining electrical connections without additional elements like a bus bar.
This method simplifies the production of battery assemblies by ensuring stable electrical connections and accommodating cell expansion, reducing complexity and the need for additional components.
Smart Images
Figure 2025501971000001_ABST
Abstract
Claims
1. A method for manufacturing a battery assembly (3, 3', 33), comprising the steps of: - providing pouch-shaped battery cells (11, 13, 15, 17), each battery cell (11, 13, 15, 17) comprising two electrodes (11-, 11+, 13-, 13+, 15-, 15+, 17-, 17+) facing each other; - producing a first cell package (7, 37) formed from at least one battery cell (11, 13); - producing a second cell package (9, 39) formed from at least one battery cell (15, 17); - aligning the first cell package (7, 37) and the second cell package (9, 39) so that the electrode (13+) of the battery cell (13) of the first cell package (7, 37) and the electrode (17-) of the opposite sign of the battery cell (17) of the second cell package (9, 39) are superimposed and these two electrodes (13+, 17-) are directly welded to each other so that the first cell package (7, 37) and the second cell package (9, 39) are electrically connected in series, and folding the first cell package (7, 37) and the second cell package (9, 39) to each other, producing a fold of these two electrodes (13+, 17-); - providing a printed circuit board (5); - arranging conductive strips (19) between the electrodes (17-) of the battery cells (17) of the cell package (7, 37) and said printed circuit board (5); - welding one end of said conductive strip (19) to said electrode (17-) and the other end to said printed circuit board (5), said strip (19) being curved in the middle and flat at both ends and running parallel to each other; A method for manufacturing a battery assembly (3, 3', 33), comprising:
2. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the printed circuit board (5) comprises at least one slot (21, 21') and the strip (19) is welded to an edge of the slot (21, 21') of the printed circuit board (5).
3. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein after the welding step of the strip (19), both ends of the strip (19) are coplanar.
4. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein during the manufacturing step of each cell package (7, 9), the cell package (7, 9) is manufactured by stacking a plurality of battery cells (11, 13, 15, 17) along a stacking axis E, and like-signed electrodes (11-, 13-, 11+, 13+, 15-, 17-, 15+, 17+) of the battery cells (11, 13, 15, 17) of the cell package (7, 9) are directly welded to each other.
5. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein during the manufacturing step of each cell package (7, 9), one electrode (11+, 15-) of a first battery cell (11, 15) is folded, contacted against a central portion of the electrode (13+, 17-) of the second battery cell (13, 17) with the same sign and then directly welded, so that one end of the electrode (13+, 17-) of the second battery cell (13, 17) remains free, and the other electrode (13-, 17+) of the second battery cell (13, 17) is folded, contacted against a central portion of the electrode (11-, 15+) of the first battery cell (11, 15) with the same sign and then directly welded, so that one end of the electrode (11-, 15+) of the first battery cell (11, 15) remains free.
6. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein each cell package (7, 9) is fabricated by stacking a plurality of battery cells (11, 13, 15, 17) along a stacking axis E, and a compressible material layer and / or a heat sink is inserted between two adjacent battery cells (11, 13, 15, 17) such that each battery cell (11, 13, 15, 17) of the cell package (7, 9) is maximally surrounded by the compressible material layer and the heat sink.
7. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the battery cells (11, 13, 15, 17) are identical and the cell packages (7, 9, 37, 39) are identical.
8. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein one end of an electrode (13+) of a battery cell (13) of the first cell package (7, 37) is directly welded to one end of an oppositely signed electrode (17-) of a battery cell (17) of the second cell package (9, 39) to electrically connect the first cell package (7, 37) and the second cell package (9, 39) in series.
9. 9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the strip (19) is a metal plate.
10. 10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said strip (19) is made of copper.
11. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the strip (19) forms part of a flexible printed circuit board.
12. 12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the central portion of the strip (19) is curved into a loop shape.
13. A battery assembly (3, 3', 33) obtained by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, a first cell package (7, 37) formed from at least one battery cell (11, 13); a second cell package (9, 39) formed from at least one battery cell (15, 17), Each battery cell (11, 13, 15, 17) is pouch-shaped and includes two electrodes (11-, 11+, 13-, 13+, 15-, 15+, 17-, 17+) facing each other; an electrode (13+) of a battery cell (13) of the first cell package (7, 37) and an electrode (17-) of an opposite sign of a battery cell (17) of the second cell package (9, 39) are directly welded to each other so that the first cell package (7, 37) and the second cell package (9, 39) are electrically connected in series; said first cell package (7, 37) and said second cell package (9, 39) are folded together such that a fold of these two electrodes (13+, 17-) is produced; The battery assembly (3, 3', 33) further comprises: a printed circuit board (5), - conductive strips (19) welded between the electrodes (17-) of the battery cells (17) of the cell package (7, 37) and the printed circuit board (5); the conductive strip (19) is welded at one end to the electrode (17-) and at the other end to the printed circuit board (5), the strip (19) being curved in the middle and flat at both ends and extending parallel to each other.
14. A battery system (1) comprising at least two battery assemblies (3, 3', 33) according to claim 13, wherein the two battery assemblies (3, 3', 33) share a single printed circuit board (5).
Citation Information
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