Battery case sealing method and a sealed battery manufacturing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11338389-B2
Application number	US-201815861211-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 3, 2018
Priority date	Jan 11, 2017
Publication date	May 24, 2022
Grant date	May 24, 2022

Abstract

In a battery case sealing method, a lid is fitted to an opening of a battery case, and then a side wall on an inner side of the battery case and a side surface of the lid are brought into contact with each other. The side wall forms the opening. In a state where the side wall on the inner side of the battery case is in contact with the side surface of the lid, a boundary portion between the side wall and the side surface of the lid is welded by irradiating a laser beam in a direction from an outer side of the battery case toward the inner side of the battery case in a thickness direction of the lid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery case sealing method for sealing an opening of a battery case with a lid, the battery case having a rectangular shape and the opening having a rectangular shape, the lid having a rectangular plate shape that corresponds to the rectangular shape of the opening, and wherein an electrode body is housed in the battery case, comprising:
fitting the lid to the opening of the battery case;
in a state where the lid is fitted to the opening, bringing a side wall on an inner side of the battery case and a side surface of the lid into contact with each other, the side wall defining the opening, wherein the side wall on the inner side of the battery case includes a first portion that is brought into contact with an edge portion of a first surface of the lid, wherein the first surface of the lid is located on the inner side of the battery;
when bringing the first portion of the battery case and the edge portion of the lid into contact with each other, pressing, with a lid pressing member, a second surface of the lid located on the outer side of the battery case in order to restrict a change in attitude of the lid with respect to the battery case;
when bringing the first portion of the battery case and the edge portion of the lid into contact with each other, with the edge portion of the lid serving as a fulcrum, a second portion of the side wall is bent toward the outer side of the battery case to a degree that forms a gap between the second portion and the lid; and
after forming the gap, welding a boundary portion between the side wall and the side surface of the lid by irradiating a laser beam into the gap, in a direction from an outer side of the battery case toward the inner side of the battery case in a thickness direction of the lid.

2. A battery case sealing method for sealing an opening of a battery case with a lid, the battery case having a rectangular shape and the opening having a rectangular shape, the lid having a rectangular plate shape that corresponds to the rectangular shape of the opening, and wherein an electrode body is housed in the battery case, comprising:
fitting the lid to the opening of the battery case;
in a state where the lid is fitted to the opening, bringing a side wall on an inner side of the battery case and a side surface of the lid into contact with each other, the side wall defining the opening, wherein the side wall on the inner side of the battery case includes a first portion that is brought into contact with an edge portion of a first surface of the lid, wherein the first surface of the lid is located on the inner side of the battery;
wherein the side wall on the inner side of the battery case includes a second portion, and the second portion is closer to the opening than the first portion, and the side wall on the outer side of the battery case includes a third portion that is more spaced apart from the opening than the first portion in the thickness direction of the lid; and
when bringing the side wall on the inner side of the battery case and the side surface of the lid into contact with each other, the third portion is pressed, by a pressing member located below the edge portion, from the outer side of the battery case toward the inner side of the battery case, with the edge portion of the lid serving as a fulcrum, so that the second portion of the side wall is bent toward the outer side of the battery case to a degree that forms a gap between the second portion and the lid; and
after forming the gap, welding a boundary portion between the side wall and the side surface of the lid by irradiating a laser beam into the gap, in a direction from an outer side of the battery case toward the inner side of the battery case in a thickness direction of the lid.

3. The battery case sealing method according to claim 2 , wherein:
in a state where the first portion is pressed to the edge portion, the boundary portion between the side wall and the side surface of the lid is welded.

4. The battery case sealing method according to claim 3 , wherein:
when fitting the lid to the opening of the battery case, the electrode body is housed in the battery case.

5. The battery case sealing method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the second portion is deformed toward the outer side of the battery case such that an opening area of the opening is greater than an area of the first surface of the lid.

6. The battery case sealing method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the gap is in a range of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.

7. The battery case sealing method according to claim 2 , wherein:
the side wall on the outer side of the battery case includes a fourth portion that is located on an opposite side of the side wall from the first portion; and
when pressing from the outer side of the battery case toward the inner side of the battery case, the third portion spaced apart from the fourth portion by a distance that is half or more of the thickness of the lid is pressed.

8. The battery case sealing method according to claim 2 , wherein:
the battery case includes a plurality of the side walls; and
when pressing from the outer side of the battery case toward the inner side of the battery case, all the side walls are pressed over entire lengths of the side walls.

9. The battery case sealing method according to claim 1 , further comprising inserting the electrode body into the battery case before fitting the lid to the opening of the battery case.

10. The battery case sealing method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
using a pressing member to press the outer side of the side wall of the battery case when the inner side of the side wall and the side surface of the lid are in contact with each other, thereby causing the edge portion to serve as the fulcrum.

11. The battery case sealing method according to claim 10 , wherein the pressing member is disposed at a third portion of the side wall that is located further away from the opening than the first portion.

12. The battery case sealing method according to claim 2 , wherein:
the lid includes a second surface on the outer side of the battery case; and
when pressing the outer side of the battery case by the pressing member, pressing the second surface of the lid in order to restrict a change in attitude of the lid with respect to the battery case.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shikata Katsuya

Classifications

• B23K26/32

  taking account of the properties of the material involved · CPC title

• H01M50/169

  by welding, brazing or soldering · CPC title

• B23K37/0443

  Jigs · CPC title

• B23K26/21

  by welding · CPC title

• H01M50/103

  prismatic or rectangular (H01M50/109, H01M50/11 take precedence) · CPC title