Flexible Power Storage Unit with Sliding Insulating Sheets
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing power storage units, such as lithium-ion secondary batteries, face challenges in maintaining structural integrity and preventing defects when subjected to shape changes like bending, which is essential for flexible and curved surface applications.
Innovation Solution
A power storage unit design featuring electrode plates covered with insulating sheets and an exterior body that can bend, with sealing structures and current collectors to prevent short circuits and enhance durability, allowing the unit to maintain performance during shape changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the power storage unit is made flexible to enable bending, then adaptability to curved surfaces is improved, but structural integrity and reliability deteriorate due to defect occurrence
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating sheet is divided into multiple sections: a first insulating sheet covering the first electrode plate, a second insulating sheet covering the second electrode plate, and a third insulating sheet covering the connection portion. This segmentation allows each section to be optimized independently for its specific function while maintaining overall structural integrity during bending.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection portion acts as an intermediary element between the first and second electrode plates. It includes a conductive layer for electrical connection and an insulating layer for electrical insulation, mediating the transition between different functional regions and ensuring reliable electrical connection while preventing short circuits during shape changes.
2Reliability
If the electrode plates are covered with insulating sheets and fixed to the exterior body, then reliability against short circuits is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating sheets serve multiple functions simultaneously: they provide electrical insulation to prevent short circuits, provide mechanical protection to the electrode plates, and maintain the structural integrity of the power storage unit during bending. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate protective components.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection portion merges the conductive layer and insulating layer into a single integrated structure. The insulating layer is formed to cover the connection portion between the first and second electrode plates, combining insulation and structural support functions in one element.
Data Source
AI summary
To provide a power storage unit having a structure which is unlikely to break down by change in shape, such as bending. An electrode plate is covered with a sheet of an insulator which is folded in two. The sheet is preferably processed into a bag-like shape or an envelope-like shape by bonding overlapping portions of the sheet in the periphery of the electrode plate. The electrode plate and the sheet are fixed to an exterior body. In the case where the shape of the exterior body is changed by bending or the like, the electrode plate and the sheet can slide together in the exterior body. Thus, stress on the electrode plate due to bending can be relieved.