Battery pack assemblies having terminal connector mechanisms and vehicles having the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11600890-B2
Application number	US-202016871784-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2020
Priority date	May 11, 2020
Publication date	Mar 7, 2023
Grant date	Mar 7, 2023

Abstract

A battery pack assembly includes at least one battery cell and a terminal connector mechanism. The at least one battery cell has at least one terminal which includes a terminal engagement portion. The terminal connector mechanism has a retention member and a biasing member. The retention member has retention portion and is configured to move between an engaged position and a disengaged position. The biasing member is positioned between the housing and the retention member to bias the retention member towards the engaged position. In the engaged position, the retention portion of the retention member engages with the terminal engagement portion to inhibit movement of the terminal connector mechanism. In the disengaged position, the retention portion of the retention member is disengaged from the terminal engagement portion to permit movement of the terminal connector mechanism.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery pack assembly comprising:
at least one battery cell having at least one terminal, the at least one terminal having a terminal engagement portion;
a terminal connector mechanism having a housing, a retention member having retention portion, and a biasing member, the housing includes a pair of side walls extending outwardly from a base wall that traverses between the pair of side walls, and a terminal aperture formed in the base wall, the terminal aperture configured to receive the at least one terminal, the retention member configured to move between an engaged position and a disengaged position, the biasing member positioned between the pair of side walls of the housing and the retention member, the biasing member extends from one of the pair of side walls to bias the retention member towards the engaged position, in the engaged position the retention portion of the retention member engages with the terminal engagement portion to inhibit movement of the terminal connector mechanism with respect to the at least one terminal in an insertion direction, in the disengaged position, the retention portion of the retention member is disengaged from the terminal engagement portion to permit movement of the terminal connector mechanism with respect to the at least one terminal in the insertion direction.

2. The battery pack assembly of claim 1 , wherein one of the terminal engagement portion and the retention portion is formed as a shaped recess and the other of the terminal engagement portion and the retention portion is formed as a shaped protrusion that has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the shaped recess.

3. The battery pack assembly of claim 2 , wherein the housing includes a terminal receiver extending outwardly from the base wall to at least partially surround the terminal aperture, the terminal receiver is configured to receive at least a portion of the at least one terminal.

4. The battery pack assembly of claim 3 , wherein the terminal receiver includes a cutout such that in the engaged position the retention portion of the retention member extends through the cutout of the terminal receiver to engage with the terminal engagement portion.

5. The battery pack assembly of claim 4 , wherein the at least one terminal is an elongated post and the terminal connection portion is an elongated recess that extends generally normal to a longitudinal direction of the at least one terminal.

6. The battery pack assembly of claim 1 , wherein the biasing member is a spring.

7. The battery pack assembly of claim 1 , wherein the retention member is connected to the base wall by a living hinge integrally formed as a one piece monolithic structure with the retention member and the base wall.

8. The battery pack assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one terminal includes a pair of terminal connector portions provided on opposite sides of the at least one terminal, the terminal connector mechanism includes a pair of retention members, and a pair of biasing members, the terminal aperture positioned between the pair of side walls.

9. The battery pack assembly of claim 8 , wherein the housing includes a terminal receiver extending outwardly from the base wall to at least partially surround the terminal aperture, the terminal receiver is configured to receive at least a portion of the at least one terminal, the terminal receiver includes a pair of cutouts provided on opposite sides of the terminal receiver such that in the engaged position the retention portions of the pair of retention members extend through respective cutouts of the terminal receiver to engage with the pair of terminal engagement portions.

10. A vehicle comprising:
at least one battery cell having at least one terminal, the at least one terminal having a terminal engagement portion;
a terminal connector mechanism having a housing, a retention member having retention portion, and a biasing member, the housing includes a pair of side walls extending outwardly from a base wall that traverses between the pair of side walls, and a terminal aperture formed in the base wall, the terminal aperture configured to receive the at least one terminal, the retention member configured to move between an engaged position and a disengaged position, the biasing member positioned between the pair of side walls of the housing and the retention member, the biasing member extends from one of the pair of side walls to bias the retention member towards the engaged position, in the engaged position the retention portion of the retention member engages with the terminal engagement portion to inhibit movement of the terminal connector mechanism with respect to the at least one terminal in an insertion direction, in the disengaged position, the retention portion of the retention member is disengaged from the terminal engagement portion to permit movement of the terminal connector mechanism with respect to the at least one terminal in the insertion direction.

11. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein one of the terminal engagement portions and the retention portion is formed as a shaped recess and the other of the terminal engagement portion and the retention portion is formed as a shaped protrusion that has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the shaped recess.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the housing includes a terminal receiver extending outwardly from the base wall to at least partially surround the terminal aperture, the terminal receiver is configured to receive at least a portion of the at least one terminal.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the terminal receiver includes a cutout such that in the engaged position the retention portion of the retention member extends through the cutout of the terminal receiver to engage with the terminal engagement portion.

14. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the at least one terminal is an elongated post and the terminal connection portion is an elongated recess that extends generally normal to a longitudinal direction of the at least one terminal.

15. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the biasing member is a spring.

16. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein retention member is connected to the base wall by a living hinge integrally formed as a one piece monolithic structure with the retention member and the base wall.

17. A method of removing an individual battery cell from a battery pack having a plurality of battery cells, each battery cell having at least one terminal, the method comprising:
displacing a first retention member towards a first sidewall and a second retention member towards a second sidewall of a terminal connector mechanism to disengage a protrusion of a retention portion of each of the first and second retention members from a terminal engagement portion of the at least one terminal;
removing the terminal connector mechanism from the battery pack in a first direction; and
removing the individual battery cell from the battery pack in the first direction.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first retention member is linearly displaced in a second direction and the second retention member is linearly displaced in a third direction, the second direction is opposite of the third direction.

Assignees

• Toyota Eng & Mfg North America

Inventors

• Vernon Nicholas S
• Yaksich Joshua D

Classifications

• H01M50/20

  Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders (structural combination of accumulators with charging apparatus H01M10/46) · CPC title

• H01R31/00

  Coupling parts supported only by co-operation with counterpart · CPC title

• H01R13/50

  formed as an integral body (H01R13/514 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M10/6563

  with forced flow, e.g. by blowers · CPC title

• H01M50/249

  specially adapted for aircraft or vehicles, e.g. cars or trains (constructional details of batteries specially adapted for electric vehicles B60L50/64) · CPC title