METHOD FOR PRODUCING A CONTACT PLATE FOR A BATTERY STACK, CONTACT PLATE FOR A BATTERY STACK AND BATTERY STACK

Abstract

A contact plate for a battery stack for electrically connecting battery cells of the battery stack in parallel and a method for producing the same, is provided. In the battery stack, the battery cells are arranged in an upper battery level and a lower battery level and the contact plate is arranged in the battery stack between the upper battery level and the lower battery level. A battery stack including at least one upper battery level, a lower battery level and a contact plate is further provided. A respective plurality of battery cells are arranged in the upper battery level and the lower battery level and the contact plate is arranged between the upper battery level and the lower battery level.

Claims

1. A method for producing a contact plate for a battery stack for electrically connecting battery cells of the battery stack in parallel, wherein, in the battery stack, the battery cells are arranged in an upper battery level and a lower battery level and the contact plate is arranged in the battery stack between the upper battery level and the lower battery level, and wherein the method further comprises the following steps: a) providing a flat plate body of a conductive plate material, wherein the plate body is arranged at least substantially in a plate plane, b) defining arrangement areas for arranging one battery cell of the upper battery level and one battery cell of the lower battery level, c) removal of plate material in each arrangement area to form at least one arrangement space in each case, d) forming at least one contact section from the plate material in each arrangement area for electrically conductive contacting of a battery cell of the lower battery level, and e) forming at least two holding sections from the plate material in each arrangement area for at least electrically conductive contacting and for form-fitting or force-locking or friction-locking of a battery cell of the upper battery level.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the removal of plate material in step c) is effected by punching or cutting or welding.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein when removing plate material in step c), the individual arrangement areas remain electrically conductively connected by connecting sections of plate material.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least steps d) or e) are performed at least partially simultaneously with step c).

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the forming of the at least one contact section in step d) comprises a deformation of the contact section in the direction of a lower side of the plate body.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the forming of the at least two holding sections in step e) involves a deformation of the at least two holding sections in the direction of an upper side.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein during the forming of the at least two holding sections in step e), the holding sections are formed with a spacer section, the spacer section preferably being oriented transversely or at least substantially transversely to the plate plane.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein before step c), plate material is deep-drawn in each arrangement area in the direction of an upper side of the plate body.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein in step e) the at least two holding sections are at least partially formed in the deep-drawn area.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein in step c) plate material with a loss of flow resulting from deep-drawing is at least partially removed.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the forming of the contact section in step d) comprises at least producing a contact securing section as part of the contact section or the forming of the at least two holding sections in step e) comprises producing a holding securing section as part of the at least two holding sections.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein at least the contact securing section or the holding securing section are generated at least in the plate plane or in a mechanically load-free or at least substantially load-free region of the plate body.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein at least the contact securing section or the holding securing section are produced by at least punching or cutting or welding.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein a connector section for at least connecting the contact plate to a control or monitoring unit is molded onto the plate body.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein a forming tool is repeatedly used at least for a partial performance of at least steps c) or d) or e), wherein the forming tool is configured for simultaneous at least partial performance of at least steps c) or d) or e) for 15 or fewer arrangement areas.

16. A contact plate for a battery stack for electrically connecting battery cells of the battery stack in parallel, wherein, in the battery stack, the battery cells are arranged in an upper battery level and a lower battery level and the contact plate is arranged in the battery stack between the upper battery level and the lower battery level, wherein the contact plate is produced by a method for producing a contact plate for a battery stack for electrically connecting battery cells of the battery stack in parallel, wherein, in the battery stack, the battery cells are arranged in an upper battery level and a lower battery level and the contact plate is arranged in the battery stack between the upper battery level and the lower battery level, wherein the method further comprises the following steps: a) providing a flat plate body of a conductive plate material, wherein the plate body is arranged at least substantially in a plate plane, b) defining arrangement areas for arranging one battery cell of the upper battery level and one battery cell of the lower battery level, c) in each arrangement area, removal of plate material to form at least one arrangement space in each case, d) in each arrangement area, forming at least one contact section from the plate material for electrically conductive contacting of a battery cell of the lower battery level, and e) in each arrangement area, forming at least two holding sections from the plate material for at least electrically conductive contacting and for form-fitting or force-locking or friction-locking of a battery cell of the upper battery level.

17. A battery stack comprising at least one upper battery level, a lower battery level and a contact plate, wherein a respective plurality of battery cells are arranged in the upper battery level and the lower battery level and the contact plate is arranged between the upper battery level and the lower battery level, wherein the contact plate is formed according to a contact plate for a battery stack for electrically connecting battery cells of the battery stack in parallel, wherein, in the battery stack, the battery cells are arranged in an upper battery level and a lower battery level and the contact plate is arranged in the battery stack between the upper battery level and the lower battery level, wherein the contact plate is produced by a method for producing a contact plate for a battery stack for electrically connecting battery cells of the battery stack in parallel, wherein, in the battery stack, the battery cells are arranged in an upper battery level and a lower battery level and the contact plate is arranged in the battery stack between the upper battery level and the lower battery level, wherein the method further comprises the following steps: a) providing a flat plate body of a conductive plate material, wherein the plate body is arranged at least substantially in a plate plane, b) defining arrangement areas for arranging one battery cell of the upper battery level and one battery cell of the lower battery level, c) in each arrangement area, removal of plate material to form at least one arrangement space in each case, d) in each arrangement area, forming at least one contact section from the plate material for electrically conductive contacting of a battery cell of the lower battery level, and e) in each arrangement area, forming at least two holding sections from the plate material for at least electrically conductive contacting and for form-fitting or force-locking or friction-locking of a battery cell of the upper battery level.

18. The method according to claim 8, wherein in step c) plate material with a loss of flow resulting from deep-drawing is completely removed.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Further advantages, features and details of the invention are given in the following description, in which, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of the invention are described in detail. The features mentioned in the claims and in the description may be individually or in any combination substantially inventive. The preceding explanation of the embodiments describes the present invention exclusively in the context of examples. Of course, individual features of the embodiments can be freely combined with each other, if technically reasonable, without leaving the scope of the present invention. Elements with the same function and mode of operation are marked with the same reference signs in the figures. They are schematically shown:

[0038] FIG. 1 shows a method according to the invention.

[0039] FIG. 2 shows a contact plate according to the invention during its production.

[0040] FIG. 3 shows the contact plate of FIG. 2 according to the invention during a later phase of its production.

[0041] FIG. 4 shows a first detailed picture of the contact plate shown in FIG. 2.

[0042] FIG. 4 shows a first detailed picture of the contact plate shown in FIG. 3.

[0043] FIG. 6 shows a further embodiment of a contact plate according to the invention.

[0044] FIG. 7 shows the contact plate shown in FIG. 6 with an insulation element.

[0045] FIG. 8 shows a battery stack with a contact plate shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] In FIG. 1, the steps of a method according to the invention are shown schematically. The individual steps a) to e) are marked with capital letters A to E. FIGS. 2 to 8 are described in the following, whereby reference is made to FIG. 1 when referring to individual steps of the method according to the invention.

[0047] FIG. 2 shows a contact plate 10, during an intermediate step of its production according to a method according to the invention. A plate body 11 made of an electrically conductive plate material 12 was provided in a first step a). In the next step b), a large number of arrangement areas 15 have already been defined on the plate body 11, of which in FIG. 2 only one of the arrangement areas 15 is marked with a reference sign to increase clarity. By removing plate material 12 in the next step c), preferably by a method of punching and/or cutting and/or welding, in particular laser cutting, an arrangement space 20 was formed in each of the arrangement areas 15. Furthermore, parts of steps d) and e) have already been performed, also simultaneously with step c) of a method according to the invention, in order to form in particular the contact sections 30 and the holding sections 40, at least with respect to their outer circumferential shape in the plate plane P, by removing plate material 12. It is clearly visible that the individual arrangement areas 15 are similar, whereby in particular, for example, in the embodiments of the contact plate 10, eleven arrangement areas 15 are arranged in a group. In particular, for at least partial performance of steps c) and/or d) and/or e), a forming tool can be used repeatedly, the forming tool being configured for simultaneous at least partial performance of steps c) and/or d) and/or e), for example these eleven arrangement areas 15. A modular adjustment of a total number of contact areas 15 can thus be individually enabled for each production series of a contact plate 10. Connecting sections 21 remain between the individual arrangement areas 15, which ensures electrical parallel connection when the manufactured contact plate 10 is later used in a battery stack 1 (not shown). In addition, when removing the plate material 12, a connector section 16 was formed, which may later be used for connecting a control and/or monitoring unit for controlled operation of battery stack 1.

[0048] In the next FIG. 3 the contact plate 10 shown in FIG. 2 is shown again, now in a later stage of production. When step d) was performed, the contact sections 30 were shaped, in particular bent out, in the direction of a lower side 13 of the contact plate 10. The same was done for the holding sections 40, which were formed in step e) in the direction of the upper side 14 of the contact plate 10, in particular they were also bent out. In this illustration in FIG. 3, it is in particular clearly visible that the at least two holding sections 40 are opposite each other in the arrangement area 15, as a result of which a form-fitting and/or force-locking and/or friction-locking of a battery cell 3 (not shown in the illustration) can be provided between the holding sections 40. In addition, a contact securing section 31 is also formed on contact section 30 and a holding securing section 41 on holding section 40 in this configuration. This is particularly evident in FIGS. 4 and 5, where FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of an arrangement area 15 of the contact plate 10 from FIG. 2 and FIG. 5 shows a detailed view of an arrangement area 15 of the contact plate 10 from FIG. 3. In particular, it is clearly visible that the contact securing section 31 and the holding securing section 41 are formed by areas of the contact section 30 and holding section 40 respectively, which have a particularly small cross-section. In the event of an overload it can be provided in this way that the contact plate 10 melts through at these points and thus the electrical parallel connection of the arranged battery cells 3 (not shown) is interrupted. It is also visible that the securing sections 31, 41 are generated in the plate plane P, which means that they can be generated preferably also in a mechanically load-free or at least substantially load-free area of the plate body 11. The removal of the plate material 12 (not shown in the illustration) to create the contact securing section 31 as well as the holding securing section 41 can be performed, in particular, just like the removal of the plate material 12 to create the arrangement spaces 20, preferably by punching, cutting and/or welding, preferably laser cutting. All in all, a contact plate 10 can be produced by a method according to the invention, the contact sections 30 and holding sections 40 of which are formed from the flat plate body 11, whereby the addition of additional holding elements or contact elements can be avoided. A simplification of the production of a contact plate 10, a reduction of production costs and manufacturing effort can be provided in this way.

[0049] FIG. 6 shows a further embodiment of a contact plate 10 according to the invention, which in turn has been manufactured by a method according to the invention, as shown in FIG. 1. Again the upper side 14 of contact plate 10 is visible. This contact plate 10 also has a number of arrangement areas 15, of which one of the arrangement areas 15 is shown in FIG. 6. In this arrangement area 15 there is again a contact section 30 and a contact securing section 31, which projects into an arrangement space 20. In this embodiment of a contact plate 10 according to the invention, three holding sections 40 are provided in each arrangement area 15, which are connected to the remaining contact plate 10 via a common holding securing section 41. Via connecting sections 21, the individual arrangement areas 15, in particular those in contact sections 30 and holding sections 40, are in turn electrically conductively connected to one another in order to be able to provide electrical parallel connection of the battery cells 3 (not shown) arranged on them. The embodiment of a contact plate 10 according to the invention has special features. Thus, the holding sections 40 have a larger surface area than would be possible by simply bending plate material 12 (not shown) out of plate plane P (not shown). In order to provide this, it may be intended, in accordance with a method according to the invention, to perform a deep drawing in each arrangement area 15 before removing plate material 12 in step c). Preferably, in the following, the holding sections 40 can be formed at least partially in this deep-drawn area, in particular in such a way that areas of the plate material 12 with a loss of flow resulting from deep drawing are at least partially, particularly preferably completely, not used for forming the holding sections 40. In this way, the produced contact plate 10 can be influenced as little as possible by the deep drawing method. Furthermore, the contact holding sections 40 shown are configured with spacer sections 42. These spacer sections 42 can preferably be arranged transverse to the plate plane P (not shown), resulting in a defined distance between the holding sections 40 and the rest of the contact plate 10.

[0050] This enables in particular, as shown in FIG. 7, to arrange an insulating element 50 on the contact plate 10, whereby in particular it is clearly visible that the spacer section 42 allows the insulating element 50 to be gripped by the holding sections 40. A particularly secure holding of the insulation element 50 can be provided in this way.

[0051] FIG. 8 now shows a battery stack 1 according to the invention, in that a contact plate 10 shown in FIG. 7, for example, is installed with an insulation element 50. The contact sections 30 of the contact plate 10 are electrically conductively connected to the battery cells 3 of the lower battery level 2, for example welded on, preferably laser-welded. The battery cells 3 of the upper battery level are not shown, but are placed on the holding sections 40 of the contact plate 10 and are held securely by these in a form-fitting, force-fitting and/or friction-fitting manner and at the same time are contacted in an electrically conductive manner. A particularly simple, modular structure of the entire battery stack 1 can be provided in this way.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0052] 1 battery stack [0053] 2 lower battery level [0054] 3 battery cell [0055] 10 contact plate [0056] 11 plate body [0057] 12 plate material [0058] 13 lower side [0059] 14 upper side [0060] 15 arrangement area [0061] 16 connector section [0062] 20 arrangement space [0063] 21 connection section [0064] 30 contact section [0065] 31 contact securing section [0066] 40 holding section [0067] 41 holding securing section [0068] 42 spacer section [0069] 50 insulation element [0070] P plate plane