Traction battery busbar carriers for pouch battery cells

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9755212-B2
Application number	US-201414538341-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2014
Priority date	Nov 11, 2014
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle including an array of pouch battery cells, a pair of carriers, and a plurality of busbars is provided. The array of pouch battery cells may each have terminal tabs of opposite polarity extending from opposing cell faces. The pair of carriers may extend along the cell faces and each may define a plurality of apertures sized to receive the terminal tabs. The plurality of busbars may be arranged with the carriers and terminal tabs such that an electrical connection across the cells includes parallel and series connections. The pouch battery cells may be arranged in clusters of adjacent cells connected in parallel, and the busbars may be arranged in spaced apart groups on each of the carriers and joined to adjacent terminal tabs to connect the clusters in series.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A traction battery assembly comprising:
an array of pouch battery cells each having terminal tabs extending from opposing side faces of the cells;
a pair of laddered carriers each extending along opposite array sides, each defining rectangular-shaped ladder apertures for the terminal tabs to extend through, and each oriented perpendicularly relative to an underlying battery tray;
a pair of endplates secured to and arranged with the carriers to retain the array therebetween; and
first and second groupings of spaced apart busbars each secured to one of the carriers such that the groupings are offset from one another and arranged with adjacent terminal tabs to conductively connect the pouch battery cells in series, wherein each of the busbars defines a busbar aperture sized substantially equal to one of the ladder apertures.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the laddered carriers comprises a terminal post having a square-shaped face and conductively connected to at least one of the first and second groupings of spaced apart busbars, and wherein the terminal post is configured to electrically connect with another array of pouch battery cells.

3. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the array comprises an odd number of pouch battery cells, and wherein each of the pair of laddered carriers comprises a terminal post at opposite ends of the array configured to electrically connect the array to another array of pouch battery cells.

4. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the array comprises an even number of pouch battery cells, and wherein one of the pair of laddered carriers comprises two terminal posts at opposite ends of the array to electrically connect the array to another array of pouch battery cells.

5. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein clusters of adjacent pouch battery cells are arranged in parallel, and wherein the first and second groupings of spaced apart busbars are arranged with the terminal tabs of the clusters to electrically connect the clusters in series.

6. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sense wires electrically connected with the pouch battery cells and configured to measure temperature, voltage, or current conditions of the array.

7. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the busbars is electrically connected to at least two terminal tabs of opposite polarity or a terminal post.

8. A vehicle comprising:
an array of pouch battery cells each having terminal tabs of opposite polarity extending from opposing cell faces;
a tray supporting the cells;
a pair of carriers extending along the cell faces, each defining a plurality of apertures sized to receive the terminal tabs, and oriented perpendicularly relative to the tray; and
a plurality of busbars arranged with the carriers and terminal tabs for parallel and series connection, wherein each of the busbars defines a busbar aperture sized substantially equal to one of the apertures in the carriers.

9. The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the pouch battery cells are arranged in clusters of adjacent cells connected in parallel, and wherein the busbars are arranged in spaced apart groups on each of the carriers and joined to adjacent terminal tabs to connect the clusters in series.

10. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein one of the pair of carriers includes a terminal post at either end of the carrier conductively connected to the clusters of adjacent cells and configured to conductively connect to another array of battery cells.

11. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein each of the carriers includes a terminal post at opposite ends of the array conductively connected to the clusters of adjacent cells and configured to conductively connect to another array of battery cells.

12. The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein each of the busbars defines a tab aperture to receive the terminal tab, and wherein the tab aperture is in registration with one of the apertures of the respective carrier.

13. The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the pair of carriers is further arranged with the terminal tabs to provide clearance for laser welding of adjacent terminal tabs and busbars.

14. A traction battery assembly comprising:
a pouch battery cell array having terminal tabs extending from opposite side faces of the cells;
a pair of laddered carriers along opposite array sides including tab receiving apertures; and
busbars secured to the carriers in an offset configuration relative to one another electrically connecting parallel clusters of the cells in series, wherein each of the busbars defines a busbar aperture sized substantially equal to one of the carrier apertures.

15. The assembly of claim 14 , wherein the pair of laddered carriers each includes a terminal post conductively connected to the busbars and configured to electrically connect to another array of pouch battery cells.

16. The assembly of claim 14 , wherein one of the pair of laddered carriers includes a terminal post conductively connected to the busbars and configured to electrically connect to another array of pouch battery cells.

17. The assembly of claim 14 , further comprising one or more sense wires electrically connected with the pouch battery cells and configured to measure temperature, voltage, and current conditions of the array.

18. The assembly of claim 14 , further comprising a pair of endplates secured to the carriers at opposite ends of the array, wherein the endplates and carriers are configured to be secured to a support structure of another array.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Kedir Temam
• Droste Steven
• Callicoat Debbi

Classifications

• H01M10/48 Primary

  Accumulators combined with arrangements for measuring, testing or indicating the condition of cells, e.g. the level or density of the electrolyte (constructional details of current conducting connections for detecting conditions inside cells or batteries, e.g. details of voltage sensing terminals, H01M50/569) · CPC title

• H01M10/486

  for measuring temperature · CPC title

• H01M50/516

  by welding, soldering or brazing · CPC title

• H01M50/507

  comprising an arrangement of two or more busbars within a container structure, e.g. busbar modules · 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