Cathode Cover Plate Clamping Slot for Tab Pinching
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The tab in lithium battery cells is prone to being pinched between the cover plate and housing due to its excessive length, leading to poor connections, short circuits, and increased manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A cathode cover plate design featuring a clamping slot and undercut post structure that allows the cover plate to be snapped onto the housing, reducing the tab length and ensuring reliable welding, along with a sealing mechanism to maintain vacuum pressure and prevent gas leakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the tab length is increased to ensure connection between the electrode assembly and cathode cover plate assembly, then the connection reliability is improved, but the tab is likely to be pinched between the cover plate and housing, resulting in poor connection or short circuits
Solution Approach 1:
The cathode cover plate assembly is divided into a cover plate and a cathode support that can be detachably connected. The cathode support includes a clearance groove that accommodates the tab, separating the tab accommodation function from the cover plate structure. This segmentation allows the tab to be properly positioned without being pinched, while maintaining reliable connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The cathode support acts as an intermediary component between the cover plate and the tab. It provides a clearance groove that accommodates the tab and prevents pinching, while still allowing the tab to be welded to the cover plate through the cathode support structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If the tab length is reduced to avoid pinching, then the manufacturing cost is reduced and pinching risk is minimized, but the welding reliability between the tab and cathode cover plate assembly may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the cathode cover plate assembly into cover plate and cathode support components, the invention allows for optimized tab length that avoids pinching while maintaining welding reliability. The cathode support's clearance groove ensures proper tab positioning regardless of tab length variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the structural parameters of the cathode cover plate assembly by adding the cathode support with specific clearance groove dimensions and step features. This allows the system to accommodate shorter tabs reliably without pinching, reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining welding reliability through the modified structural parameters.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a detachable cathode support with clearance groove is added to accommodate the tab, then the tab pinching problem is solved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cathode support combines multiple functions into a single component: it provides structural support, creates the clearance groove for tab accommodation, forms the step for positioning, and enables detachable connection with the cover plate. This merging reduces the need for separate components while solving the pinching problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The cathode support serves multiple purposes: it supports the cover plate, accommodates the tab through the clearance groove, provides positioning through the step feature, and enables detachable assembly. This multi-functionality reduces overall device complexity despite adding a component, as it replaces what would otherwise require multiple separate elements.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a cathode cover plate, a battery cell, and an assembly method. The cathode cover plate includes a cover plate sheet and a cathode support. The cover plate sheet has a first surface and a second surface that are opposite to each other. The cathode support is detachably connected to the cover plate sheet. The cathode support has a third surface and a fourth surface that are opposite to each other. The third surface is attached to the second surface of the cover plate sheet. A clearance groove for accommodating a tab runs through a side of the cathode support. A step is formed on the third surface at a side corresponding to the clearance groove, and a clamping slot is formed between the step and the second surface. The battery cell includes the cathode cover plate, an electrode assembly, and a housing. According to the present invention, due to the presence of the clamping slot on the cathode cover plate, the cathode cover plate can be inserted onto the housing, so as to reduce the distance between a lead-out terminal of the tab and a welding position of the cover plate sheet, thereby reducing the length of the tab, improving the safety of the battery cell, reducing production costs, and facilitating the assembly of the cathode cover plate.