Bent Electrode Tab Configuration for High Energy Density Battery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lithium secondary battery configurations lack flexibility in shape and energy density, limiting their application in devices requiring diverse form factors and high energy storage.
Innovation Solution
The electrode assembly features a jelly-roll or stacked structure with bent electrode tabs that extend in a winding axis direction, allowing for improved energy density and flexibility by optimizing the connection and orientation of electrode plates and tabs within a secondary battery, enabling more versatile battery shapes and increased energy storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional electrode assemblies with straight tabs are used, then manufacturing is simple, but energy density and design flexibility are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode assembly is divided into multiple electrode plates with tabs positioned at different locations and orientations. Each electrode plate can be independently configured with tabs extending in different directions, allowing the assembly to achieve complex overall shapes while maintaining simple individual components. This segmentation enables versatile battery form factors without significantly complicating the manufacturing of each electrode plate.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces multi-directional tab extensions by having tabs extend not only in the winding axis direction but also in directions perpendicular to the winding axis. This dimensional expansion allows electrode assemblies to accommodate complex three-dimensional battery shapes, enabling better space utilization in portable devices while maintaining straightforward manufacturing processes for each tab component.
2Quantity of substance
If electrode tabs extend only in winding axis direction, then manufacturing is straightforward, but space utilization and energy density are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Different electrode plates within the assembly have tabs configured with different extension directions and lengths based on their specific locations and functions. This local optimization allows tabs to be positioned precisely where needed to maximize space utilization and energy density, with each tab's configuration tailored to its specific role in the overall assembly rather than using a uniform design for all tabs.
Solution Approach 2:
The tab configurations are pre-planned and pre-configured during the electrode plate manufacturing stage, with tabs extending in specific directions (including perpendicular to the winding axis) to anticipate and optimize the final battery assembly's space utilization. This preliminary positioning of tabs ensures maximum energy density is achieved without requiring complex post-assembly adjustments.
3Quantity of substance
If multiple electrode plates with different tab orientations are used, then energy density improves, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode assembly is segmented into multiple independently manufacturable electrode plates, each with tabs configured in specific directions. This segmentation allows each electrode plate to be manufactured with standard precision requirements, and the complex multi-directional tab arrangements are achieved through the assembly of these simpler individual units rather than requiring high precision in a single integrated component.
Solution Approach 2:
By allowing tabs to extend in multiple dimensions (winding axis direction and perpendicular directions), the patent distributes the complexity across different spatial dimensions rather than requiring high precision in a single plane. This multi-dimensional tab configuration enables flexible assembly arrangements that accommodate standard manufacturing tolerances while achieving high energy density.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrode assembly includes an electrode jelly-roll, which includes a winding including a first electrode plate, a second electrode plate, and a separator disposed between the first and second electrode plates; an outer surface parallel to a winding axis of the prismatic electrode jelly-roll, side surfaces perpendicular to the winding axis; a first electrode tab, which is electrically connected to the first electrode plate and extends in a winding axis direction of the prismatic electrode jelly-roll; a second electrode tab, which is electrically connected to the second electrode plate and extends in a winding axis direction of the electrode jelly-roll, wherein an end portion of at least one of the first electrode tab and the second electrode tab is bent in a direction opposite to the direction in which the corresponding electrode tab extends and faces an outer surface of the prismatic electrode jelly-roll.