Middle or large-sized battery module employing impact-absorbing member

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9548478-B2
Application number	US-22519607-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2007
Priority date	Mar 13, 2006
Publication date	Jan 17, 2017
Grant date	Jan 17, 2017

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a battery module using battery cells each having an electrode assembly mounted in a battery case including a resin layer and a metal layer as unit cells, wherein each battery cell has a thin upper end, including a sealing part, which is formed at a region where electrode terminals are placed, and an impact-absorbing member is mounted at the upper end of each battery cell. The battery module according to the present invention prevents the weak upper parts of battery cells, such as electrode terminals and sealing parts, from the breakage of the battery module or the occurrence of a short circuit in the battery module due to the movement of the battery cells caused by dropping of the battery module or application of external impacts to the battery module.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery module using battery cells each having an electrode assembly, the battery cells being mounted as unit cells in a battery case including a resin layer and a metal layer,
wherein each battery cell has a cell body and an upper end including an upper-end sealing part, the cell body including opposing top and bottom surfaces, the upper end having an upper end thickness extending in a direction between the top and bottom surfaces that is less than a cell body thickness of the cell body extending in a direction between the top and bottom surfaces, the upper-end sealing part being formed at a region where electrode terminals are placed, an impact-absorbing member being mounted at the upper-end sealing part of each battery cell having the upper end thickness, and a double-sided adhesive member disposed on at least one of the top or bottom surfaces,
wherein the impact-absorbing member is made of natural rubber or synthetic rubber,
wherein the battery module further includes a plate on which the unit cells are stacked and a circuit unit for controlling the operation of the unit cells,
wherein the plate is constructed in a case structure having a receiving part corresponding to the size of each unit cell such that the unit cells can be easily mounted on the plate, and the case structure is a separation-type structure for covering the top and bottom of the stacked unit cells,
wherein the battery module further includes:
a plurality of secondary batteries, which can be charged and discharged, used as unit cells,
a lower case having an upper-end receiving part, in which the unit cells are sequentially stacked one on another,
an upper case having a lower-end receiving part for covering the top of the unit cells stacked on the lower case,
a first circuit unit for electrically connecting the stacked unit cells, the first circuit unit having a sensing board assembly for sensing the voltage, current, and/or temperature of the unit cells,
a second circuit unit electrically connected to the first circuit unit, the second circuit unit having a main board assembly for controlling the overall operation of the battery module, and
a third circuit unit electrically connected to the second circuit unit, the third circuit unit being connected to an external output terminal while preventing overcharge, overdischarge, and/or overcurrent of the unit cells, and
wherein the first circuit unit is located at a front of the battery module and directly mounted to the upper and lower cases, the second circuit unit is located at a bottom of the battery module and directly mounted to the lower case, and the third circuit unit is located at a rear of the battery module and directly mounted to the upper and lower cases.

2. The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the battery case is a pouch-shaped case made of an aluminum laminate sheet.

3. The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the impact-absorbing member has a length approximately corresponding to the upper end of each battery cell and a thickness approximately corresponding to each battery cell while the impact-absorbing member is mounted at the upper-end sealing part of each battery cell or while the impact-absorbing member is elastically pressurized after the impact-absorbing member is mounted at the upper-end sealing part of each battery cell.

4. The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein an adhesive layer is applied to a bottom or a top and the bottom of the impact-absorbing member such that the impact-absorbing member is fixed to the upper end of each battery cell.

5. The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the unit cells are stacked such that the electrode terminals having the same polarities are oriented in the same directions, the electrode terminals are provided with coupling through-holes, through which coupling members coupled to a module case are inserted.

6. The battery module according to claim 5 , wherein the battery module includes
insulating members disposed between the electrode terminals of neighboring unit cells for electrically insulating the electrode terminals of the neighboring unit cells, the insulating members having protrusions that can be coupled in the through-holes.

7. The battery module according to claim 6 , wherein the protrusions are provided with through-holes having an inner diameter less than that of the through-holes of the electrode terminals, whereby the coupling members are inserted through the through-holes of the protrusions, after the unit cells are stacked while the insulating members are disposed between the neighboring unit cells, such that the unit cells are connected with each other.

8. The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the battery module further includes
a plate-shaped, high-strength safety member disposed between the outermost one of the stacked unit cells and the upper case such that the safety member is arranged in parallel with electrode plates of the outermost unit cell.

9. The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein the battery module further includes
double-sided adhesive members disposed between the stacked unit cells, the double-sided adhesive members having a predetermined thickness.

10. The battery module according to claim 9 , wherein the double-sided adhesive members include at least two double-sided adhesive members spaced apart from each other.

11. The battery module according to claim 1 , wherein electric wires are arranged at a bottom of the lower case such that the electric wires are electrically connected to the first circuit unit and the third circuit unit.

12. The battery module according to claim 11 , wherein the second circuit unit is covered by a cover for protecting the second circuit unit from the outside.

13. A battery module using battery cells each having an electrode assembly, the battery cells being mounted as unit cells in a battery case including a resin layer and a metal layer,
wherein each battery cell has a cell body and an upper end including an upper-end sealing part, the cell body including opposing top and bottom surfaces, the upper end having a thickness extending in a direction between the top and bottom surfaces that is less than a thickness of the cell body extending in a direction between the top and bottom surfaces, the upper-end sealing part being formed at a region where electrode terminals are placed, an impact-absorbing member being mounted only at the upper end of each battery cell at the region where the electrode terminals are placed, and a double-sided adhesive member disposed on at least one of the top or bottom surfaces,
wherein the impact-absorbing member is made of natural rubber or synthetic rubber,
wherein the battery module further includes a plate on which the unit cells are stacked and a circuit unit for controlling the operation of the unit cells,
wherein the plate is constructed in a case structure having a receiving part corresponding to the size of each unit cell such that the unit cells can be easily mounted on the plate, and the case structure is a separation-type structure for covering the top and bottom of the stacked unit cells,
wherein the battery module further includes:
a plurality of secondary batteries, which can be charged and discharged, used as unit cells,
a lower case having an upper-end receiving part, in which the unit cells are sequentially stacked one on another,
an upper case having a lower-end receiving part for covering the top of the unit cells stacked on the lower case,
a first circuit unit for electrically connecting the stacked unit cells, the first circuit unit having a sensing board assembly for s

Assignees

• Park Seung Yeob
• Yeo Jaeseong
• Park Jong Hwan
• Shin Youngjoon
• Lg Chemical Ltd

Inventors

• Park Seung Yeob
• Yeo Jaeseong
• Park Jong Hwan
• Shin Youngjoon

Classifications

• H01M50/124 Primary

  having a layered structure · CPC title

• H01M10/052

  Li-accumulators · CPC title

• H01M10/0585

  of accumulators having only flat construction elements, i.e. flat positive electrodes, flat negative electrodes and flat separators · CPC title

• H01M50/14

  for protecting against damage caused by external factors · CPC title

• H01M50/512

  Connection only in parallel · CPC title