Long Battery Cell Protection Member for Electrode Tab Insulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery cell designs face issues with electrode tab damage and insulation breakdown due to external impacts, especially when manufacturing cells with a large planar area or length-to-width ratio, requiring additional facilities and processes.
Innovation Solution
A battery cell design with an insulative protection member that wraps electrode tab portions and connection points, securing insulation and preventing damage, using a structure where the length is several times greater than the width, with leads protruding in opposite directions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a battery cell is designed with a large planar area or length-to-width ratio, then the battery capacity and energy storage are improved, but the electrode tabs become vulnerable to damage from external impacts and insulation breakdown occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies beforehand cushioning by providing a protection member that wraps around the electrode tabs before they can be damaged by external impacts. This protective structure is pre-installed to prevent harmful effects from occurring during battery operation or handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The protection member acts as an intermediary between the electrode tabs and external environmental factors. It mediates the interaction by providing insulation and mechanical protection, preventing direct contact between the conductive electrode tabs and potential sources of damage or short circuits.
2Device complexity
If no separate reinforcement member is added to connection portions, then the device complexity is reduced, but insulation between unit cells breaks down due to external impact
Solution Approach 1:
The protection member serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical protection against impacts, electrical insulation between unit cells, and structural reinforcement at connection portions. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate reinforcement members, thereby maintaining low device complexity while improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the functions of insulation, protection, and reinforcement into a single protection member structure. By combining these functions, the design avoids adding separate reinforcement members, thus maintaining simplicity while ensuring insulation integrity under external impact.
3Ease of manufacture
If the spacer only supports and fixes electrode tabs, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but the electrode tabs are damaged when the spacer dislocates from its original position
Solution Approach 1:
The protection member serves as an intermediary that remains with the electrode tabs even when the spacer dislocates. It continues to provide support and protection, mediating between the electrode tabs and external forces, ensuring that tab damage does not occur despite spacer displacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The protection member provides beforehand cushioning by being pre-installed on or near the electrode tabs. This ensures that even if the spacer dislocates, the electrode tabs are already protected by the cushioning effect of the protection member, preventing damage from subsequent movements or impacts.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a battery cell that can include an electrode assembly configured with two or more unit stacks connected to each other in series or in parallel, a battery case configured to receive the electrode assembly therein, and an insulative protection member configured to protect an electrode tab portion of the unit stacks. The overall length of the battery case can be three or more times the overall width of the battery case. A positive electrode lead and a negative electrode lead can extend outwards from the battery case protruding in opposite directions. A plurality of unit stacks can be used to implement a long battery cell, and a connection portion at which the plurality of unit stacks are connected is reinforced to improve safety of the battery cell.