Battery Module Bus Bar Openings for Stable Multi-Tab Welding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery modules face challenges in efficiently connecting multiple battery cells due to unstable contact between bus bars and electrode tabs, making the process time-consuming and difficult to visualize the connection state, while also posing safety risks during laser welding.
Innovation Solution
A battery module design featuring bus bars with openings for inserting adjacent electrode tabs, allowing for parallel connection and easy visualization of the connection state, along with a manufacturing method that uses laser welding to connect multiple tabs simultaneously, preventing direct laser irradiation of battery cells and ensuring uniform melting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a U-shaped bus bar is used to connect electrode tabs, then electrical connection between battery cells is achieved, but the contact becomes unstable and the welding process becomes difficult to monitor
Solution Approach 1:
The bus bar is designed with multiple separate contact portions instead of a single U-shaped structure. Each contact portion can independently contact an electrode tab, providing stable contact while allowing visual inspection of each welding point. The bus bar includes a body with multiple contact surfaces that engage with tabs in a stacked arrangement, enabling segmented connection and monitoring.
2Reliability
If two electrode tabs are connected by one bus bar at a time, then electrical connection is established, but the manufacturing process becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The bus bar is designed to simultaneously connect multiple electrode tabs from different battery cells in a stacked arrangement. The bus bar body includes multiple contact portions that can engage with multiple tabs at once, allowing parallel welding operations. This merging of multiple connection functions into a single component significantly reduces manufacturing time while maintaining reliable electrical connections.
3Productivity
If laser welding is used to connect bus bar and electrode tabs, then connection speed is improved, but direct laser irradiation of battery cells creates safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The bus bar structure serves as an intermediary that positions the welding zone away from the battery cells. The laser beam welds the bus bar to the electrode tabs at a location that does not require direct irradiation of the cell bodies. The bus bar body acts as a mediator, allowing laser welding to occur at the contact interface while preventing laser energy from reaching and damaging the battery cell internals.
4Productivity
If multiple electrode tabs are welded simultaneously, then production efficiency is improved, but uniform melting becomes difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The bus bar is designed with contact portions having different local geometries optimized for their specific welding requirements. Each contact portion can have different surface areas, shapes, or materials tailored to the specific electrode tab it contacts. This local quality variation ensures that each welding point receives appropriate energy distribution for uniform melting, even when multiple tabs are welded simultaneously, maintaining manufacturing precision while improving productivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables faster and more stable electrical connections between multiple battery cells, improves production speed, and minimizes safety risks during manufacturing by allowing for easy visualization and uniform melting of electrode tabs during laser welding.
Implementation Method 1
it is possible to easily weld three or more electrode tabs at the same time by irradiating a laser beam L to a bus bar 20 in a state in which a plurality of adjacent electrode tabs 12 are inserted into an opening 23
Implementation Method 2
uniform melting of electrode tabs during laser welding
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a battery module, which includes: a plurality of battery cells which include electrode tabs, respectively; and one or more bus bars connected to the electrode tabs for electrically connecting the plurality of battery cells with each other, wherein each of the one or more bus bars includes a plate having one or more openings formed therein, and a plurality of adjacent electrode tabs among the electrode tabs are inserted into any one of the one or more openings of the plate to be electrically connected with each other.