Extended Battery Spacers for Enclosure Abrasion Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing of three-dimensional secondary batteries faces challenges such as enclosure damage during assembly, leading to performance reduction or failure due to abrasion or short circuits caused by contact with internal components.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating extended spacer members between the electrode current collector and counter-electrode current collector layers in a three-dimensional battery assembly, which extend beyond the constraint's edge, to reduce stress and prevent enclosure damage during assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the enclosure is placed directly over internal components during manufacturing, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the enclosure may come into contact with edges of internal components causing abrasion or rupture
Solution Approach 1:
A spacer member is introduced as an intermediary component between the enclosure and internal components. The spacer member has a first surface that contacts the enclosure and a second surface that contacts the internal component, preventing direct contact between the enclosure and sharp edges of internal components while maintaining structural integrity during assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer member is positioned in advance during assembly to cushion and distribute stresses before they can concentrate on the enclosure. By placing the spacer member beforehand, the design prevents potential abrasion or rupture of the enclosure during the assembly process.
2Reliability
If spacer members are added to protect the enclosure, then enclosure integrity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer member is designed as a thin, flexible component that can conform to the surfaces it contacts. This thin-film approach provides protective functionality without adding significant bulk or complexity to the overall device structure, maintaining simplicity while improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer member serves multiple functions simultaneously: it protects the enclosure from abrasion, distributes mechanical stresses, maintains proper spacing between components, and prevents short circuits. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A secondary battery includes a constraint and an electrode assembly disposed within the constraint. The electrode assembly includes a population of unit cells including an electrode current collector layer, an electrode layer, a separator layer, a counter-electrode layer, and a counter-electrode current collector layer in stacked succession in a longitudinal direction. The electrode layer includes an electrode active material, and the counter-electrode layer includes a counter-electrode active material. One of the electrode active material and the counter-electrode material is a cathodically active material and the other of the electrode active material and the counter-electrode material is an anodically active material. A subset of the unit cell population includes at least one extended spacer member located between the electrode current collector layer and the counter-electrode current collector layer, the at least one spacer member extending a distance SD in an x-axis direction beyond an x-axis edge of the constraint.