Battery pack comprising electrode terminal connection plate

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a battery pack including a plurality of cylindrical battery cells forming a clamping part by coupling a cap assembly on one opened surface of a cylindrical can and forming a first electrode terminal and a second electrode terminal on a top surface of the clamping part and a top end central portion of the cap assembly, respectively, and a first electrode terminal connecting plate simultaneously coupled to upper end surfaces of the clamping parts of the battery cells in a state in which cylindrical battery cells are laterally arranged so that the cap assemblies of the cylindrical battery cells head in the same direction. The first electrode terminal connecting plate includes a welding plate having a relatively thin thickness to be welded on the upper end surface of the clamping part of the cap assembly, and a conductive plate coupled to a top surface of the welding plate, which is opposite to the cap assembly, and having a relatively thick thickness in comparison with that of the welding plate for smooth current flow between first electrode terminals of the upper end surface of the clamping part.

Claims

1. A battery pack comprising: a plurality of cylindrical battery cells, each battery cell having a clamping part formed by coupling a cap assembly on one opened surface of a cylindrical can and a first electrode terminal and a second electrode terminal on a top surface of the clamping part and a top end central portion of the cap assembly, respectively; and a first electrode terminal connecting plate simultaneously coupled to upper end surfaces of the clamping parts of the battery cells in a state in which the cylindrical battery cells are laterally arranged so that the cap assemblies of the cylindrical battery cells head in the same direction, wherein the plurality of cylindrical battery cells includes three or more cylindrical battery cells, and wherein the first electrode terminal connecting plate comprises: a single welding plate having a relatively thin thickness to be welded on the upper end surface of the clamping parts of the cap assemblies of all the plurality of cylindrical battery cells; and a single conductive plate coupled to a top surface of the welding plate, which is opposite to the cap assembly, the conductive plate having a relatively thick thickness in comparison with that of the welding plate for smooth current flow between first electrode terminals of the upper end surface of each clamping part, and the conductive plate extending between all the plurality of cylindrical battery cells, wherein the first electrode terminal connecting plate has a plate-type structure and comprises a through-hole defined in a portion corresponding to a second electrode terminal, so as to be coupled to the upper end surface of the clamping part except for the second electrode terminal of the cylindrical battery cell, wherein the through-hole is perforated in each of portions corresponding to those of the welding plate and the conductive plate in a mutual communication manner, and wherein the through-hole perforated in the welding plate has a relatively small internal diameter in comparison with that of the through-hole perforated in the conductive plate.

2. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the through-hole of the welding plate has a size to be disposed relatively adjacent to an upper end inner-circumference of the clamping part, between the upper end inner-circumference and an upper end outer-circumference of the clamping part, so that an inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole of the welding plate contacts the upper end surface of the clamping part of the cap assembly, and the through-hole of the conductive plate has a size to be disposed relatively adjacent to the upper end outer-circumference of the clamping part, between the upper end outer-circumference of the clamping part and the inner-circumference of the through-hole of the welding plate, so that the inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole of the welding plate, which contacts the upper end surface of the clamping part of the cap assembly, is exposed from the upper portion.

3. The battery pack of claim 2, wherein the inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole of the welding plate, which is exposed upward through the through-hole of the conductive plate, has a size that is approximately 10% to approximately 90% of a size of the upper end surface of the clamping part of the cap assembly.

4. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the welding plate has a thickness of approximately 0.1 mm to approximately 0.5 mm.

5. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the conductive plate has a thickness of approximately 1 mm to approximately 10 mm.

6. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein each of the welding plate and the conductive plate is made of one or more different metal selected from copper, aluminum, nickel, a copper alloy, an aluminum alloy, and a nickel alloy.

7. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the welding plate and the conductive plate are coupled to each other through laser welding.

8. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the battery pack further comprises: a second electrode terminal connecting plate disposed on a top surface of the first electrode terminal connecting plate, which is opposite to the cap assembly of the cylindrical battery cell, and simultaneously coupled to an upper end central portion of the cap assembly, so as to connect second electrode terminals provided on the upper end central portion of the cap assembly, and an insulation member disposed between the first electrode terminal connecting plate and the second electrode terminal connecting plate, so as to insulate the first electrode terminal connecting plate from the second electrode terminal connecting plate.

9. The battery pack of claim 8, wherein the second electrode terminal connecting plate protrudes downward so that a connection portion thereof corresponding to a second electrode terminal, which is provided on the upper end central portion of the cap assembly, is coupled to the second electrode terminal in a facing manner.

10. The battery pack of claim 9, wherein a connection portion of the second electrode connecting plate, which is provided on the upper end central portion of the cap assembly on a cross-section in correspondence to the second terminal electrode, has a size that is approximately 50% to approximately 90% of a size of an inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole perforated in the welding plate of the first electrode terminal connecting plate.

11. The battery pack of claim 8, wherein the insulation member is an insulation sheet having a planar structure that is the same as that of the first electrode terminal connecting plate.

12. The battery pack of claim 11, wherein the insulation sheet has at least one surface, on which an adhesion material is applied, among both surfaces facing the first electrode terminal connecting plate and the second electrode terminal connecting plate, respectively.

13. The battery pack of claim 1, wherein the plurality of cylindrical battery cells are provided in an array of at least two by two.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a conventional cylindrical battery cell.

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a battery pack in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

(3) FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view illustrating a structure in which a first electrode terminal connecting plate in FIG. 2 is coupled to cap assemblies of cylindrical battery cells.

(4) FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of the battery pack in FIG. 2.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(5) Hereinafter, specific embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

(6) FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a battery pack in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

(7) Referring to FIG. 2, a battery pack 200 is formed such that a first electrode terminal connecting plate 210, a second electrode terminal connecting plate 240, and an insulation member 250 are coupled to an upper end on which a cap assembly 202 of a cylindrical battery cell 201 is disposed.

(8) The first electrode terminal connecting plate 210 includes a welding plate 220 coupled to an upper end of the cap assembly 202 of the cylindrical battery cell 201 and a conductive pate 230 coupled to a top surface of the welding plate 220.

(9) Through-holes 221 and 231 are perforated in a portion corresponding to a second electrode terminal defined in an upper end central portion of the cap assembly 202 of the cylindrical battery cell 201, on a portion at which the welding plate 220 and the conductive plate 230 correspond to each other.

(10) The insulation member 250 has a sheet shape in which a through-hole 251 is perforated in a portion corresponding to the through-holes 221 and 231 with the same shape.

(11) The second electrode terminal connecting plate 240 is coupled to a top surface of the first electrode terminal connecting plate 210 with the insulation member 250 therebetween.

(12) FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view illustrating a structure in which the first electrode terminal connecting plate in FIG. 2 is coupled to cap assemblies of cylindrical battery cells.

(13) Referring to FIG. 3, a second electrode terminal 213 is provided on the upper end central portion of the cap assembly 202 of the cylindrical battery 201, and a first electrode terminal is provided on an upper end surface 212 of the clamping part, among the rest portion except for the second electrode terminal 213.

(14) Circular through-holes 221 and 231 that communicate with each other are perforated in a portion corresponding to the second electrode terminal 213 of the welding plate 220 and conductive plate 230 of the first electrode terminal connecting plate 210.

(15) The inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole 221 perforated in the welding plate 220 has a diameter D1 that is relatively less than a diameter D2 of the inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole 231 perforated in the conductive plate 230.

(16) Accordingly, the inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole 221 perforated in the welding plate 220 contacts the upper end surface 212 of the clamping part and, simultaneously, be exposed from the upper portion through the through-hole 221 of the conductive plate 230. Thus, welding of the welding plate 220 with respect to the upper end surface 212 of the clamping part may be easily performed.

(17) For one cylindrical battery cell 201, the welding between the welding plate 220 and the upper end surface 212 of the clamping part may be performed on three spaced portions 261, 262, and 263.

(18) FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of the battery pack in FIG. 2.

(19) Referring to FIG. 4, the welding plate 220 of the first electrode terminal connecting plate 210 contacts the upper end surface 212 of the clamping part forming the first electrode terminal of the cylindrical battery cell 201, and the inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole 221 has a size to be disposed adjacent to the inner-circumference of the upper end surface 212 of the clamping part.

(20) The conductive plate 230 of the first electrode terminal connecting plate 210 is coupled to the top surface of the welding plate 220, and the inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole 231 has a size to be disposed adjacent to the outer-circumference of the upper end surface 212 of the clamping part.

(21) Accordingly, since the inner-circumferential portion of the through-hole 221 of the welding plate 220 is exposed from the upper portion through the through-hole 231 of the conductive plate 230, a welding for the upper end surface 212 of the clamping part may be more easily performed.

(22) The conductive plate 230 has a structure that is relatively thicker than that of the welding plate 220.

(23) The insulation member 250 is disposed on the top surface of the conductive plate 230 between the conductive plate 230 and the second electrode terminal connecting plate 240, and includes a through-hole 251 having a size that is relatively less than that of the through-hole 231 of the conductive plate 230.

(24) Accordingly, the insulation member 250 may stably insulate the second electrode terminal connecting plate 240 from the conductive plate 230 of the first electrode terminal connecting plate 210.

(25) The second electrode terminal connecting plate 240 has a connection portion 241 coupled to the second electrode terminal 213 of the cylindrical battery cell 201. The connection portion 241 protrudes downward through the through-hole 251 of the insulation member 250 and the through-holes 221 and 231 of the first electrode terminal connecting plate 210 and is connected to the second electrode terminal 213 of the cylindrical battery cell 201.

(26) Although the battery pack has been described with reference to the specific embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Therefore, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the appended claims.