Battery Current Collector with Integrated Fusing Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery designs often locate fuses externally, which can allow heat generation and exothermic reactions to propagate between cells, causing further damage despite disrupting current flow, as the heat issue persists and can transfer across multiple cells.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating fusing elements within the battery cells themselves, utilizing current collector designs with polymer films and metal-containing wires that can interrupt current flow and provide heat-based safety features to protect individual cells from damage by melting at specific temperatures, thereby halting heat propagation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fuses are located externally in conventional battery designs, then current flow can be disrupted to protect the battery system, but heat generation and exothermic reactions can still propagate between cells causing further damage
Solution Approach 1:
The fusing element is extracted from the external battery system and integrated directly into the current collector structure of each individual cell. This allows the fusing function to be localized within each cell, enabling independent fault containment while maintaining current disruption capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery system is segmented into independent cells, each with its own integrated fusing element in the current collector. This segmentation ensures that heat and fault events are contained within individual cells rather than propagating across the entire battery system.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If fusing elements are integrated within battery cells using polymer films and metal wires, then heat propagation is halted and safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fusing element is merged with the current collector structure, combining the current conduction function and the safety fusing function into a single integrated component. This eliminates the need for separate external fuses and reduces overall system complexity despite adding functionality within the cell.
Solution Approach 2:
The current collector structure is given multiple functions: it serves as both the current conduction pathway and the fusing element for safety protection. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed in the battery system.
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
This design effectively interrupts current flow and reduces heat propagation between cells, providing enhanced safety and structural integrity by containing fault events within specific regions, preventing further damage to the battery.
Implementation Method 1
utilizing current collector designs with polymer films and metal-containing wires that can interrupt current flow and provide heat-based safety features to protect individual cells from damage by melting at specific temperatures
Implementation Method 2
utilizing current collector designs with polymer films and metal-containing wires that can interrupt current flow and provide heat-based safety features
Data Source
AI summary
Energy storage devices, battery cells, and batteries of the present technology include a current collector including a polymer film coupled with a plurality of wires of a metal-containing material. The current collector may include a first region and a second region. The first region may be characterized by an extension of the metal-containing material. The polymer film may be contained within the second region of the current collector. Additionally, the plurality of wires may extend from the extension of the metal-containing material along the polymer film.