Secondary Battery Retainer Passages for Safety Vent Gas Flow
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Secondary batteries face challenges in efficiently releasing gas to safety vents when internal pressure rises, due to their design, which can lead to potential safety issues and reduced stability.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a side retainer and bottom retainer with gas movement passages that facilitate the easy delivery of gas to a safety vent, ensuring pressure relief when the internal pressure increases, by extending in the longitudinal direction of the case and being attached to the electrode assembly with adhesives or double-sided tapes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the secondary battery uses a conventional design without dedicated gas movement passages, then the structure is simpler, but gas cannot be efficiently delivered to the safety vent when internal pressure rises
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer is divided into multiple functional sections: a body portion for structural support and guide portions protruding toward the case to create gas movement passages. This segmentation allows the single component to simultaneously provide mechanical support and dedicated gas flow pathways, improving safety venting efficiency without requiring multiple separate parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The retainer serves multiple functions: it provides structural support between the electrode assembly and case, creates gas movement passages through its guide portions, and directs gas flow to the safety vent. By integrating these functions into a single component, the design improves safety performance while avoiding the complexity of multiple separate components.
2Quantity of substance
If the case length is larger than width, then the battery can accommodate larger electrode assemblies for higher capacity, but gas delivery to the safety vent becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The guide portions of the retainer extend in the longitudinal direction (third direction) of the case, creating three-dimensional gas movement passages that efficiently channel gas from the electrode assembly to the safety vent located at the bottom. This dimensional approach to gas flow path design overcomes the challenge posed by the elongated case geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The retainer acts as an intermediary structure that mediates between the electrode assembly and the case, creating designated gas movement passages that facilitate efficient gas transport. The guide portions protruding toward the case form channels that direct gas flow, ensuring that the elongated battery geometry does not impede safety venting.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
A secondary battery (100) includes: an electrode assembly (110) including a first electrode tab (111a) and a second electrode tab (112a) at a top portion; a first terminal (130) electrically connected to the first electrode tab (111a) of the electrode assembly (110); a case (160) accommodating the electrode assembly (110) and a portion of the first terminal (130) and including a safety vent (165) at a bottom portion; a side retainer (161) between a side of the case (160) and a side of the electrode assembly (110); and a cap plate (171) sealing a top opening of the case (160), and the side retainer (161) includes a gas movement passage (1613, 1623) extending in a third direction (z), which is a longitudinal direction of the case (160).