Busbar Solder-Pin Connection for Reworkable Battery Voltage Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing connection method between bus bars and voltage sensing members in battery modules, such as those using laser welding, is costly, difficult to quality control, and lacks reworkability, leading to the need for discarding entire battery cells if defects occur.
Innovation Solution
A battery module design featuring bus bars with pin holes and solder pins that allow for easy insertion and removal of sensing parts, enabling quick and reliable connections without welding, facilitating rework and quality control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If laser welding is used to connect the sensing member to the bus bar, then connection strength is improved, but manufacturing cost increases and quality control becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the laser welding process (thermal/chemical system) with a mechanical insertion system. The sensing member is inserted into a groove on the bus bar and fixed with a retaining clip, creating a purely mechanical connection that is easier to control quality for and less expensive to manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection structure is divided into separate components: the bus bar with groove, the sensing member, and the retaining clip. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently with standard tolerances and assembled through simple insertion, improving quality control compared to monolithic welding.
2Reliability
If laser welding is used to connect the sensing member to the bus bar, then connection reliability is improved, but reworkability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system transitions from a permanent welded state to a dynamic, reversible mechanical connection. The retaining clip can be easily removed and reattached, allowing the sensing member to be replaced without damaging the bus bar or requiring specialized welding equipment for rework.
Solution Approach 2:
The design allows the sensing member to be easily discarded if defective and replaced with a new one. The bus bar with its groove and retaining clip mechanism can be reused multiple times, recovering the expensive bus bar component while discarding only the inexpensive sensing member if needed.
3Reliability
If the sensing member is defective, then connection reliability deteriorates, but with welding the entire battery cell must be discarded
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical connection system is segmented into the battery cell, bus bar, and sensing member. This allows the sensing member to be isolated as a separate replaceable component, so that when it fails, only the sensing member needs to be replaced rather than discarding the entire battery cell.
Solution Approach 2:
The design enables selective replacement of the defective sensing member while recovering and reusing the battery cell and bus bar. This reduces material waste by discarding only the faulty sensing component rather than the entire expensive battery cell assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
A battery module, including battery cells connected in series or connected in series and in parallel, a plurality of bus bars connected to corresponding electrode leads of the battery cells, and a voltage sensing member having sensing parts respectively connected to the bus bars, each of the plurality of bus bars having a pin hole perforated therethrough in a thickness direction, and each of the sensing parts having a solder pin configured to be inserted into and released from the pin hole.