Current Collector Interface Alignment and Welding
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Solution Overview
Problem
The integration of current collectors into battery assemblies in electric vehicles is challenging due to difficulties in alignment and efficient welding, leading to inefficiencies and potential misalignment or stress on components during the manufacturing process.
Innovation Solution
The use of pairs of pins and receptacles for physical alignment, along with cutouts and weld windows in current collectors, allows for efficient integration with battery cells, reducing stress on tabs and enabling internal welding of metal layers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional integration methods are used for current collectors into battery assemblies, then the manufacturing process becomes difficult and time-consuming, but alignment precision and welding efficiency remain insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The current collector is segmented with cutouts at specific locations to create distinct functional zones: alignment features (protrusions/recesses) at edges and welding access features (windows) at internal regions. This segmentation allows simultaneous achievement of precise alignment and welding access without interfering with each other, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing efficiency and integration complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Alignment protrusions and recesses are pre-formed on the current collector and battery assembly components before the actual integration process. This preliminary action ensures that when components are brought together, alignment occurs automatically without requiring complex real-time adjustment mechanisms, thereby improving manufacturing efficiency while maintaining integration simplicity
2Manufacturing precision
If current collectors are integrated without alignment features, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but misalignment and stress on components occur
Solution Approach 1:
Alignment protrusions and recesses are designed with asymmetric geometries that provide unique orientation and position matching between current collector and battery assembly. The asymmetric features ensure only one correct alignment configuration is possible, eliminating misalignment issues while maintaining structural simplicity through straightforward geometric designs
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment protrusions and recesses act as intermediary elements that mediate the connection between current collector and battery assembly. These intermediary features facilitate precise positioning and stress distribution during integration, achieving high alignment precision without requiring complex alignment mechanisms
3Reliability
If internal welding of current collector layers is required, then battery performance improves, but access to internal layers for welding becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Welding access windows are created by removing material (taking out) from the current collector at specific locations to expose internal layers. This extraction provides direct access to internal current collector layers for welding operations, enabling high-quality welds while maintaining overall structural integrity of the current collector
Solution Approach 2:
The welding access windows are strategically positioned and sized to provide access to nested internal layers of the current collector. The window design allows welding tools to access deeper internal structures through the opened pathways, enabling reliable welding of multi-layer current collector configurations without compromising external structural requirements
Data Source
AI summary
An interface for aligning a current collector with a tote in a battery system is provided. A pin can be located on one of the current collector or the tote. A receptacle can be located on one of the current collector or the tote. The receptacle can include an opening having a first size in a first direction that is greater than or equal to a second size of the opening in a second direction. The opening can be configured to align the current collector with the tote via the pin inserted into the receptacle.