Electrode assembly including electrode plates with coupled additional taps formed thereon

Abstract

Disclosed is an electrode assembly with a structure in which a plurality of electrode plates are stacked while a separator is interposed between a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate, each of the electrode plates including an electrode tap that externally protrude from one side thereof to form a tap-lead coupler and at least two or more fixing parts that externally protrude from each of electrode plate by a length of 10% to 50% of a length of the electrode tap from the one side and/or the other side, wherein fixing parts with the same polarity, which are positioned in parallel to each other in up and down directions, are bonded to each other to maintain a stack interval between the electrode plates while the electrode plates are stacked.

Claims

1. An electrode assembly comprising: a plurality of electrode plates stacked while a separator is interposed between a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate of the plurality of electrode plates, wherein each of the electrode plates includes an electrode tap that externally protrudes from one side thereof to form a tap-lead coupler and at least two or more fixing parts that externally protrude by a length of 10% to 50% of a length of the electrode tap from the one side and/or the another side thereof, wherein fixing parts of the at least two or more fixing parts with the same polarity, which are positioned in parallel to each other in up and down directions, are bonded to each other to maintain a stack interval between the electrode plates while the electrode plates are stacked, wherein each of the fixing parts includes an opening perforated therein, and wherein an insulation tape continuously passes through the opening of each of the fixing parts and surrounds the fixing parts.

2. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the fixing parts externally protrude toward a side of the respective electrode plate that faces the electrode tap.

3. The electrode assembly of claim 2, wherein the electrode assembly is configured with a stack-folding type structure in which a plurality of unit cells including at least one positive electrode plate and at least negative electrode plate are wounded by a separation film.

4. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the fixing parts include a first fixing part positioned adjacently to an electrode tap and a second fixing part positioned on another side different than the one side on which the first fixing part is formed.

5. The electrode assembly of claim 4, wherein: the first fixing part is formed on a first side on which an electrode tap is positioned; and the second fixing part is formed on a second side that faces the first fixing part or is formed on any one of sides that are perpendicularly adjacent to the second side.

6. The electrode assembly of claim 5, wherein: the first fixing part is positioned on one side of the first side to be inclined based on a central line of a width of the electrode plate; and the second fixing part is formed on a second side to be symmetrical to the first fixing part based on a center of the electrode plate.

7. The electrode assembly of claim 4, wherein: the first fixing part is formed on one side as any one of sides that are perpendicularly adjacent to one side on which the electrode tap is positioned; and the second fixing part is formed on another side that faces the first fixing part.

8. The electrode assembly of claim 7, wherein: the first fixing part is positioned on one side of the first side to be inclined to a side based on a central line of a length of the electrode plate; and the second fixing part is formed on another side to be symmetrical to the first fixing part based on a center of the electrode plate.

9. The electrode assembly of claim 4, wherein: the first fixing part is formed at an intersection between one side on which the electrode tap is positioned and a side that is perpendicularly adjacent to the one side; and the second fixing part is formed at an intersection between two sides facing the first fixing part.

10. The electrode assembly of claim 4, wherein the electrode assembly is configured with a stack type in which a plurality of electrode plates are sequentially stacked.

11. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the fixing parts with the same polarity are bonded to each other via welding or soldering.

12. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the fixing parts each have a polygonal structure, an irregular structure with at least one rounded external circumferential side, or a semicircular or half-elliptic curved line structure, on a plane.

13. The electrode assembly of claim 1, wherein the fixing parts are each formed with a wedge structure in which at least a portion thereof is concave on a plane.

14. The electrode assembly of claim 13, wherein an insulation tape is added to the fixing parts while integrally surrounding wedges while the fixing parts are collected.

15. A battery cell comprising the electrode assembly of claim 1.

16. A device comprising one or more of the battery cell of claim 15.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a general structure of a conventional stack-type electrode assembly;

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a structure in which positive electrode/separator/negative electrode including fixing parts are stacked according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 3 is a plan view of the electrode assembly of FIG. 2;

(4) FIGS. 4 to 6 are schematic views of an electrode assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

(5) FIG. 7 is a schematic enlarged view of fixing parts according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

(6) FIG. 8 is a schematic enlarged view of fixing parts according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

MODE FOR INVENTION

(7) Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown but should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein.

(8) FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a structure in which positive electrode/separator/negative electrode including fixing parts are stacked according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the electrode assembly of FIG. 2.

(9) Referring to both FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, an electrode assembly 100 according to the present invention may include electrode taps 111 and 131 and fixing parts 112 and 132.

(10) The electrode assembly 100 may be configured by repeatedly stacking a positive electrode plate 110/separator 120/negative electrode plate 130 and, positive electrode taps 111a and 111b and negative taps 131a and 131b for forming an electrode lead (not shown) and a tap-lead coupler may protrude outward from one side A of the positive electrode plate 110 and the negative electrode plate 130, respectively.

(11) Positive electrode fixing parts 112a and 112b and negative electrode fixing parts 132a and 132b for maintaining a stack interval between the electrode plates 110 and 130 may be formed at the other side B opposite to the one side A at which the electrode taps 111a, 111b, 131a, and 131b are formed, fixing parts with the same polarity are bonded to each other via welding or soldering while being arranged in parallel in up and down directions to suppress swelling and to relieve stress generated in an electrode assembly.

(12) In detail, opposite lateral surfaces of the electrode plates 110 and 130 may configure a fixing structure using a bonding structure of tap-lead couplers 111 and 131 and the fixing parts 112 and 132 to effectively suppress widening of a gap between electrode plates compared with a conventional electrode assembly including only a tap-lead coupler.

(13) The electrode assembly may be arranged on a separation film (not shown) at a lateral surface on which electrode taps 111 and 131 and the fixing parts 112 and 132 are not formed and, accordingly, a plurality of unit cells including at least one positive electrode plates and at least one negative electrode plates may be wounded using the separation film.

(14) FIGS. 4 to 6 are schematic views of an electrode assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

(15) Referring to FIG. 4, the electrode assembly 200 may include electrode taps 211 and 231, first fixing parts 212 and 232 that are formed on the same first side while being adjacent to the electrode taps 211 and 231, and second fixing parts 213 and 233 formed on a second side opposite to the first side.

(16) In detail, the first fixing parts 212 and 232 may include a first positive electrode fixing part 212 and a first negative electrode fixing part 232 and may be spaced apart from a positive electrode tap 211 and a negative electrode tap 231 by a predetermined interval, respectively. Similarly, the second fixing parts 213 and 233 may include a second positive electrode fixing part 213 and a second negative electrode fixing part 233.

(17) The first fixing parts 212 and 232 may each be positioned on one side of the first side to be inclined based on a central line G of a width of an electrode plate and the second fixing parts 213 and 233 may be formed on the second side to be symmetrical to the first fixing parts 212 and 232, respectively.

(18) Referring to FIG. 5, the electrode assembly 300 may include electrode taps 311 and 331, first fixing parts 312 and 332 formed on a first side that is perpendicularly adjacent to one side on which the electrode taps 311 and 331 are formed, and second fixing parts 313 and 333 formed on a second side opposite to the first side.

(19) In detail, the first fixing parts 312 and 332 may include a first positive electrode fixing part 312 and a first negative electrode fixing part 332 and the second fixing parts 313 and 333 may include a second positive electrode fixing part 313 and a second negative electrode fixing part 333.

(20) The first fixing parts 312 and 332 may each be positioned on one side of the first side to be inclined based on a central line G of a length of an electrode plate and the second fixing parts 313 and 333 may be formed on the second side to be symmetrical to the first fixing parts 312 and 332, respectively.

(21) Referring to FIG. 6, the electrode assembly 400 may include electrode taps 411 and 431, first fixing parts 412 and 432 formed at intersections 401 and 402 between one side on which the electrode taps 411 and 431 are formed and another side that is perpendicularly adjacent to the one side, and second fixing parts 413 and 433 formed at intersections 403 and 404 between two sides that face the first fixing parts.

(22) In detail, the first fixing parts 412 and 432 may include a first positive electrode fixing part 412 and a first negative fixing part 432 and the second fixing parts 413 and 433 may include a second positive electrode fixing part 413 and a second negative electrode fixing part 433.

(23) The electrode assembly shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 may be configured in such a way that a fixing part is formed at a lateral side part of an electrode plate and, thus, may be configured in a stack type in which a plurality of electrode plates are sequentially stacked.

(24) FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic enlarged views of fixing parts according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

(25) First, referring to FIG. 7, fixing parts 501, 502, and 503 may be formed with a wedge 520, a portion of which is concave on a plane and the other non-concave portions of which protrude toward one side.

(26) Here, it may be noted that the wedge 520 is formed by rounding a tip part V thereof on a plane.

(27) When the wedge 520 has a sharp shape, electric charges may be concentrated on the tip part V to increase resistance and generate heat and to also damage a battery case adjacent to the fixing parts 501, 502, and 503 as well as the electrode plate and, accordingly, the above rounded structure of the wedge 520 may be particularly preferable.

(28) Referring back to FIG. 7, the wedge type fixing parts 501, 502, and 503 may be integrally bonded via welding or soldering while being stacked to overlap with each other in a vertical direction.

(29) The fixing part shown in FIG. 7 may further include, for example, sides formed thereon for determining a shape of the wedge 520 on a plane compared with four sides of a quadrangular fixing part on a plane and, in this regard, the sides may also be bonded via welding or soldering and, accordingly, a bonding area and bonding boundary of the fixing parts 501, 502, and 503 may be relatively increased.

(30) In addition, an insulation tape 510 may be added to the fixing parts 501, 502, and 503 while surrounding only the wedges 520 in a state in which the wedge type fixing parts 501, 502, and 503 are collected and, accordingly, a bonding state of the fixing parts 501, 502, and 503 may be more fixedly maintained.

(31) Although not shown in drawings, an insulation tape may also be added to the remaining fixing parts other than the wedge 520 as well as the wedge 520.

(32) Differently from FIG. 7 above, fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 shown FIG. 8 may each have an overall rectangular shape and may include an opening 620 formed therethrough and perforated through a central portion thereof.

(33) Accordingly, openings 620 of each of the fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 may be aligned to correspond to each other while the fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 overlap with each other and, in this state, the fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 may be bonded to each other via welding or soldering.

(34) The fixing part shown in FIG. 8 may further include, for example, a side with the opening 620 formed therein compared with a fixing part including four sides shaped like a simple quadrangle and, in this regard, the sides may also be bonded via the opening 620 via welding or soldering and, accordingly, a bonding area and a bonding boundary may be relatively increased.

(35) As shown in FIG. 8, an insulation tape 610 may continuously pass through the collected openings 620 and, then, may be added to fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 while integrally surrounding the fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 and, accordingly, a bonding state of the fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 may be more stably maintained.

(36) The opening 620 may be shaped like an ellipse and may be formed on the fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 while a major axis X of the ellipse corresponds to a perpendicular direction to a direction in which the fixing part protrudes.

(37) This structure may be configured in such a way that the major axis X with a relatively long length in the ellipse traverses perpendicularly to a direction in which the fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 protrude and, in this regard, a length of a bonding interface may be increased in right and left directions based on the direction in which the fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 protrude to prevent the bonded fixing parts 601, 602, and 603 from being distorted in right and left directions.

(38) Various applications and modifications may be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains based on the above description within the scope of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(39) As described above, in an electrode assembly according to the present invention, if swelling occurs in a perpendicular direction to a surface of an electrode plate during a charge and discharge procedure, a swelling degree may be remarkably reduced while a stack interval between electrode plates is maintained by bonded fixing parts with the same polarity and, particularly, stress is concentrated on fixing parts but not on an electrode plate on which an electrode active material is coated and, accordingly, a conventional problem in which delamination of an electrode active material layer or distortion of an electrode plate due to stress may be overcome.