Patent Application
20240113365
This nonprovisional application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-160376 filed on Oct. 4, 2022 with the Japan Patent Office, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present technology relates to a battery cell and a method of manufacturing the battery cell.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2019-207767 discloses that a protective member provided with a plurality of through holes in a stacking direction of tabs is used at a welded portion between a tab group of an electrode assembly and a conductive member, and a laser emitting device is moved across the plurality of holes.
Japanese Patent No. 6784232 discloses that in a structure in which stacked metal foils of an electrode tab of a secondary battery are welded to a pair of metal plates, the stacked metal foils sandwiched between the pair of metal plates is locally pressed and swaged in a stacking direction at a portion to be welded.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2013-166182 discloses that a welded portion between stacked metal foils is provided with a cut extending therethrough along a stacking direction by using a cutter having a substantially V-shaped longitudinal cross sectional shape, and the metal foils are brought into close contact with each other at end portions of the cut in the stacking direction.
When the electrode tab and the current collector are joined to each other by forming the laser-welded portion, a welding failure by a void or sputter may occur at the laser-welded portion. Therefore, there is room for improvement in forming an excellent laser-welded portion for joining the electrode tab and the current collector.
The present technology has been made to solve the above-described problem and has an object to provide a battery cell and a method of manufacturing the battery cell so as to form an excellent laser-welded portion for joining an electrode tab and a current collector.
The present technology provides the following battery cell.
[1]
A battery cell comprising:
[2]
The battery cell according to [1], wherein
[3]
The battery cell according to [2], wherein the laser-welded portion is formed in the entire region inside the outer shape line and in a range of 5 mm or less outside the outer shape line when viewed in the stacking direction.
[4]
The battery cell according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the burring-processed portion in the electrode tab is formed to have a depth of 70% or more of a total thickness of the electrode tab.
[5]
The battery cell according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein
[6]
The battery cell according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the burring-processed portion has a substantially conical shape.
[7]
The battery cell according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the burring-processed portion has a substantially square pyramid shape.
[8]
The battery cell according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the electrode tab and the current collector constitute a portion of a negative electrode of the electrode assembly.
The present technology provides the following method of manufacturing a battery cell.
[9]
A method of manufacturing a battery cell, the method comprising:
[10]
The method of manufacturing the battery cell according to [9], wherein
[11]
The method of manufacturing the battery cell according to [10], wherein the laser welding is performed onto the entire region inside the outer shape line and a range of 5 mm or less outside the outer shape line when viewed in the stacking direction.
[12]
The method of manufacturing the battery cell according to any one of [9] to [11], wherein the burring process in the electrode tab is performed to a depth of 70% or more of a total thickness of the electrode tab.
[13]
The method of manufacturing the battery cell according to any one of [9] to [12], wherein
[14]
The method of manufacturing the battery cell according to any one of [9] to [13], wherein the burring process is performed in a form of a substantially conical shape.
[15]
The method of manufacturing the battery cell according to any one of [9] to [13], wherein the burring process is performed in a form of a substantially square pyramid shape.
[16]
The method of manufacturing the battery cell according to any one of [9] to [15], wherein the electrode tab and the current collector constitute a portion of a negative electrode of the electrode assembly.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present technology will be described. It should be noted that the same or corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference characters, and may not be described repeatedly.
It should be noted that in the embodiments described below, when reference is made to number, amount, and the like, the scope of the present technology is not necessarily limited to the number, amount, and the like unless otherwise stated particularly. Further, in the embodiments described below, each component is not necessarily essential to the present technology unless otherwise stated particularly. Further, the present technology is not limited to one that necessarily exhibits all the functions and effects stated in the present embodiment.
It should be noted that in the present specification, the terms “comprise”, “include”, and “have” are open-end terms. That is, when a certain configuration is included, a configuration other than the foregoing configuration may or may not be included.
Also, in the present specification, when geometric terms and terms representing positional/directional relations are used, for example, when terms such as “parallel”, “orthogonal”, “obliquely at 45°”, “coaxial”, and “along” are used, these terms permit manufacturing errors or slight fluctuations. In the present specification, when terms representing relative positional relations such as “upper side” and “lower side” are used, each of these terms is used to indicate a relative positional relation in one state, and the relative positional relation may be reversed or turned at any angle in accordance with an installation direction of each mechanism (for example, the entire mechanism is reversed upside down).
In the present specification, the term “battery” is not limited to a lithium ion battery, and may include other batteries such as a nickel-metal hydride battery and a sodium ion battery. In the present specification, the term “electrode” may collectively represent a positive electrode and a negative electrode.
In the present specification, the term “battery cell” is not necessarily limited to a prismatic battery cell and may include a cell having another shape, such as a cylindrical battery cell.
Further, the “battery cell” can be mounted on vehicles such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), and a battery electric vehicle (BEV). It should be noted that the use of the “battery cell” is not limited to the use in a vehicle.
It should be noted that in the figures, an X direction represents a direction in which a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal of the battery cell are arranged side by side, a Y direction represents a direction in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked, and a Z direction represents a height direction of the battery cell.
Electrode terminals 110 are formed on case 120. Electrode terminals 110 have a positive electrode terminal 111 and a negative electrode terminal 112 arranged side by side along the X direction. Positive electrode terminal 111 and negative electrode terminal 112 are provided to be separated from each other in the X direction.
Case 120 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and forms an external appearance of battery cell 100. Case 120 includes: a case main body 120A provided with an opening; and a sealing plate 120B that seals the opening of case main body 120A. Sealing plate 120B is joined to case main body 120A by welding.
Case 120 has an upper surface 121, a lower surface 122, a first side surface 123, a second side surface 124, and two third side surfaces 125.
Upper surface 121 is a flat surface orthogonal to the Z direction. Electrode terminals 110 are disposed on upper surface 121. Upper surface 121 in the present embodiment corresponds to sealing plate 120B. Lower surface 122 faces upper surface 121 in the Z direction.
Each of first side surface 123 and second side surface 124 is constituted of a flat surface orthogonal to the Y direction. Each of first side surface 123 and second side surface 124 has the largest area among the areas of the plurality of side surfaces of case 120. Each of first side surface 123 and second side surface 124 has a rectangular shape in which the X direction corresponds to the long-side direction and the Z direction corresponds to the short-side direction when viewed in the Y direction. Two third side surfaces 125 are arranged side by side in the X direction so as to face each other. Two third side surfaces 125 connect first side surface 123 and second side surface 124 at their end portions in the X direction.
When a plurality of battery cells 100 are connected in series, the plurality of battery cells 100 are stacked such that first side surfaces 123 of battery cells 100, 100 adjacent to each other in the Y direction face each other and second side surfaces 124 of battery cells 100, 100 adjacent to each other in the Y direction face each other. Thus, positive electrode terminals 111 and negative electrode terminals 112 are alternately arranged in the Y direction in which the plurality of battery cells 100 are stacked.
Electrode terminals 110 are fixed to sealing plate 120B with an insulating member (not shown), which is composed of a resin, being interposed therebetween. In electrode assembly 130, a positive electrode tab 132 and a negative electrode tab 133, which are electrode tabs 131, are formed on the sealing plate 120B side. Current collectors 140 are joined to positive electrode tab 132 and negative electrode tab 133.
Current collectors 140 include a positive electrode current collector 141 and a negative electrode current collector 142. Positive electrode current collector 141 is connected to positive electrode terminal 111. Positive electrode current collector 141 is composed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, for example. Negative electrode current collector 142 is connected to negative electrode terminal 112. Negative electrode current collector 142 is composed of copper or a copper alloy, for example. The thickness of current collector 140 is 0.8 mm, for example.
Electrode terminals 110 and electrode assembly 130 are electrically connected together through current collectors 140. Specifically, positive electrode tab 132 is joined to positive electrode current collector 141 at a joining portion 1A. Thus, positive electrode terminal 111 and positive electrode tab 132 are electrically connected to each other through positive electrode current collector 141. Negative electrode tab 133 is joined to negative electrode current collector 142 at a joining portion 1B. Thus, negative electrode terminal 112 and negative electrode tab 133 are electrically connected to each other through negative electrode current collector 142.
Electrode assembly holder 150 is a sheet having an insulating property. Electrode assembly holder 150 covers the perimeter of electrode assembly 130. Electrode assembly holder 150 is located between case main body 120A and electrode assembly 130 so as to hold electrode assembly 130 while insulating case 120 and electrode assembly 130 from each other.
Electrode assembly 130 includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator. A substrate included in the positive electrode is, for example, an aluminum foil or an aluminum alloy foil. A substrate included in the negative electrode is, for example, a copper foil or a copper alloy foil.
Each of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the separator is a strip-shaped sheet. The separator is sandwiched between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. Electrode assembly 130 is formed by winding a stack of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the separator. Electrode assembly 130 may be shaped to be flat after the winding.
Negative electrode tab 133 serving as electrode tab 131 is formed by winding the stack of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the separator to arrange such that upward extending portions of the strip-shaped sheet of the negative electrode in the Z direction are stacked. Thus, negative electrode tab 133 has a stacking structure of metal foils. Negative electrode tab 133 is formed by stacking, for example, 50 metal foils. The thickness of one metal foil is 8 μm, for example. As with negative electrode tab 133, positive electrode tab 132 is also constituted of a portion of the strip-shaped sheet of the positive electrode.
It should be noted that positive electrode tab 132 and negative electrode tab 133 are arranged on the sealing plate 120B side of electrode assembly 130 in the Z direction; however, the arrangement of positive electrode tab 132 and negative electrode tab 133 is not limited thereto. The positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab may be formed separately on both sides of the electrode assembly in the X direction. In this case, an axis around which the electrode assembly is wound is along the X direction.
Next, a structure of the joining portion between electrode tab 131 and current collector 140 will be described. It should be noted that joining portion 1B between negative electrode tab 133 and negative electrode current collector 142 will be described in the following description; however, the same structure as that of joining portion 1B can be applied to joining portion 1A between positive electrode tab 132 and positive electrode current collector 141.
As shown in
Burring-processed portion 10 is formed at least in current collector 140 of electrode tab 131 and current collector 140. Burring-processed portion 10 in the present embodiment is formed in negative electrode current collector 142 with negative electrode tab 133 and negative electrode current collector 142 being placed on each other. It should be noted that in a state before laser-welded portion 20 is formed, burring-processed portion 10 is formed in both negative electrode tab 133 and negative electrode current collector 142. Burring-processed portion 10 is formed along the stacking direction of the metal foils included in negative electrode tab 133.
A width of burring-processed portion 10 in a direction orthogonal to the stacking direction of the metal foil is narrower from negative electrode current collector 142 toward negative electrode tab 133. That is, burring-processed portion 10 has a tapered shape. Burring-processed portion 10 according to the present embodiment has a substantially conical shape. A tip angle of burring-processed portion 10 in the present embodiment is, for example, 40°.
The metal foils are likely to be in close contact with each other due to burrs generated during the burring process, thus resulting in one bundled stacking structure of the metal foils. Regarding this point, in a compression process of compressing the stacking structure of the metal foils to flatten the metal foils, it is difficult to bundle the metal foils, with the result that a clearance may be formed between the metal foils. In order to securely avoid such a clearance between the metal foils, a significantly large compressive load is required. On the other hand, in battery cell 100 according to the present embodiment, since the burring process (hole forming process) is employed instead of the compression process, a close contact structure between the metal foils can be attained with a relatively smaller load than that in the compression process.
Further, with the burring process, an oxide film of each metal foil can be removed before being bundled into one. By bundling the metal foils into one, an influence of thermal strains (elongation and deflection of the metal foils) during laser welding can be suppressed. When the metal foils are bundled by temporary welding, thermal strains are generated in the metal foils, whereas no thermal strain is generated in the burring process.
A vertex 11 and an outer shape line 12 are defined in burring-processed portion 10. It should be noted that each of vertex 11 and outer shape line 12 may actually exist or may be defined imaginarily.
Vertex 11 is defined by a processed shape. Vertex 11 is a tip portion of burring-processed portion 10. As shown in
It should be noted that as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The surface shape of negative electrode current collector 142 on the negative electrode tab 133 side may become obscure depending on a degree of burring process or laser welding, with the result that it may be difficult to distinguish the position of the end surface of negative electrode tab 133 on the negative electrode current collector 142 side in the stacking direction of the metal foils. In this case, a total depth Dt of burring-processed portion 10 is defined by a distance from surface 143 of negative electrode current collector 142 to vertex 11 in the stacking direction of the metal foils. On this occasion, depth D of burring-processed portion 10 may be calculated by subtracting, from total depth Dt of burring-processed portion 10, a thickness T2 of the portion of negative electrode current collector 142 not affected by the burring process.
When negative electrode tab 133 is constituted of the 50 metal foils, depth D of burring-processed portion 10 is desirably constituted of a depth of 90% or more of total thickness T1 of negative electrode tab 133. Thus, the metal foils of negative electrode tab 133 can be sufficiently brought into close contact with each other.
Depth D of burring-processed portion 10 can be measured in, for example, the following manner: joining portion 1B is cut at a cross section orthogonal to the stacking direction of the metal foils and passing through vertex 11, and the cross section is observed using a metal microscope or the like.
Laser-welded portion 20 joins negative electrode tab 133 and negative electrode current collector 142 to each other. Laser-welded portion 20 is formed on the negative electrode tab 133 side so as to join negative electrode tab 133 and negative electrode current collector 142 to each other with negative electrode tab 133 and negative electrode current collector 142 being arranged side by side in the stacking direction of the metal foils.
As shown in
It should be noted that the shape of laser-welded portion 20 is a circular shape when viewed in the stacking direction of the metal foils; however, it is not limited thereto and laser-welded portion 20 may have a shape such as an elliptical shape or a quadrangular shape. The conical shape of burring-processed portion 10 includes a shape obtained by combining a conical shape and a cylindrical shape side by side in the stacking direction.
As shown in
Second region 31 is located around first region 30 in the direction orthogonal to the stacking direction, and forms a substantially flat surface in the direction orthogonal to the stacking direction. Second region 31 is a region in which the metal foils are in close contact with each other due to no clearance being formed between the stacked metal foils or due to the clearance being minimized.
Laser-welded portion 20 is located at least in second region 31. In the present embodiment, laser-welded portion 20 is located in a portion of first region 30 and second region 31. First region 30 may cease to exist when second region 31 around first region 30 is laser-welded to propagate heat of second region 31 to first region 30 to thereby melt first region 30.
As described above, since negative electrode tab 133 and negative electrode current collector 142 are joined to each other by burring-processed portion 10 and laser-welded portion 20, negative electrode tab 133 and negative electrode current collector 142 constitute a portion of the negative electrode in electrode assembly 130. When copper in the negative electrode exists in battery cell 100 as a foreign substance such as a sputter, voltage failure is caused in battery cell 100. Therefore, when the occurrence of the sputter of copper in the negative electrode is suppressed, the voltage failure of battery cell 100 is suppressed.
Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the battery cell according to the first embodiment of the present technology will be described.
As the method of manufacturing battery cell 100 according to the present embodiment, first, electrode assembly 130 including electrode tab 131 having the stacking structure of the metal foils is produced as shown in
Next, as shown in
As shown in
A region located around deflection portion 33 in the direction orthogonal to the stacking direction forms a substantially flat surface. The region located around deflection portion 33 is a region in which the metal foils are in close contact with each other due to no clearance being formed between the stacked metal foils or due to the clearance being minimized.
Next, as shown in
Next, as shown in
Here, joining between an electrode tab and a current collector of a battery cell according to a comparative example will be described.
As shown in
When laser-welded portion 90 is formed, a clearance is formed between the metal foils in electrode tab 931 around deflection portion 93. When electrode tab 931 having the clearance formed therein is irradiated with a laser 21, welding is likely to be performed with air or the like being introduced, with the result that a sputter 91 or a void 92 is generated. Therefore, in the joining between electrode tab 931 and current collector 940 in the comparative example, joining failure is likely to occur.
On the other hand, as shown in
In each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology, the burring process is performed from the current collector 140 side toward electrode tab 131, with the result that a portion likely to be deformed due to an influence of the burring process can be disposed on tab surface 134 of electrode tab 131 opposite to current collector 140. Thus, the deformation of the metal foils can be visually recognized and a close contact state of the metal foils resulting from the deformation can be checked, with the result that laser welding can be performed from the electrode tab 131 side to the region in which the stacked metal foils are in close contact with each other. As a result, generation of a void or sputter in laser-welded portion 20 can be suppressed, thereby forming an excellent laser-welded portion 20.
In each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology, since laser-welded portion 20 is formed at least in the entire region inside outer shape line 12 of burring-processed portion 10 when viewed in the stacking direction of the metal foils, a joining range between electrode tab 131 and current collector 140 can be made small while securing a minimum laser-welded region. As a result, the size of battery cell 100 can be reduced.
In each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology, since laser-welded portion 20 is formed in the entire region inside outer shape line 12 of burring-processed portion 10 and in a range of 5 mm (L1) or less outside outer shape line 12 when viewed in the stacking direction of the metal foils, the range of laser-welded portion 20 can be wide as compared with a case where laser-welded portion 20 is formed only in the entire region inside outer shape line 12, with the result that electrode tab 131 and current collector 140 can be firmly joined to each other.
In each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology, depth D of burring-processed portion is constituted of a depth of 70% or more of total thickness T1 of electrode tab 131, thereby facilitating deformation of the metal foils of electrode tab 131. Thus, the region in which the metal foils of electrode tab 131 are in close contact after the burring process can be visually recognized readily.
In each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology, first region 30 having a clearance between the stacked metal foils on tab surface 134 can be visually recognized by performing the burring process from the current collector 140 side toward electrode tab 131. Thus, second region 31 in which the metal foils are in close contact with each other in electrode tab 131 can be welded, thereby reducing welding failure between electrode tab 131 and current collector 140.
In each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology, since burring-processed portion 10 has a substantially conical shape, a processing range for burring-processed portion 10 can be made small as compared with a case of a burring-processed portion having a substantially square pyramid shape with a outer shape line having a square shape circumscribed to outer shape line 12, with the result that deformation of the metal foils of electrode tab 131 can be made small to attain a small influence of the burring process over electrode tab 131.
In each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology, by applying, to the negative electrode, the configuration in which the burring process is performed from the current collector 140 side toward electrode tab 131 and the laser welding is performed from the electrode tab 131 side, generation of a foreign substance such as a sputter of copper in the negative electrode can be suppressed. As a result, voltage failure of battery cell 100 can be suppressed.
Hereinafter, a battery cell and a method of manufacturing the same according to a second embodiment of the present technology will be described. The battery cell and the method of manufacturing the same according to the second embodiment of the present technology are respectively different from battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology in terms of the configuration of the joining portion, and therefore the same configuration as that of each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology will not be described repeatedly.
In each of the battery cell and the method of manufacturing the same according to the second embodiment of the present technology, by performing the burring process from the current collector 140 side toward electrode tab 131, a portion (deflection portion 33C) likely to be deformed due to an influence of the burring process can be disposed on the surface of electrode tab 131 opposite to current collector 140. Thus, the deformation of the metal foils can be visually recognized and a close contact state of the metal foils resulting from the deformation can be checked, with the result that laser welding can be performed from the electrode tab 131 side to the region in which the stacked metal foils are in close contact with each other. As a result, generation of a void or sputter in laser-welded portion 20C can be suppressed without melting deflection portion 33C by input of heat of the laser welding, thereby forming an excellent laser-welded portion 20C.
Hereinafter, a battery cell and a method of manufacturing the same according to a third embodiment of the present technology will be described. Since the battery cell and the manufacturing method thereof according to the third embodiment of the present technology are respectively different from battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology in terms of the configuration of the burring-processed portion, the same configuration as that of each of battery cell 100 and the method of manufacturing the same according to the first embodiment of the present technology will not be described repeatedly.
When viewed in a stacking direction of metal foils of electrode tab 131D, a laser-welded portion 20D is formed in the entire region inside outer shape line 12D and in a range of 5 mm (L3) or less outside outer shape line 12D. Electrode tab 131D and current collector 140 are joined to each other at joining portion 1D within a range of a joining region 4 constituted of burring-processed portion 10D and laser-welded portion 20D.
In each of the battery cell and the method of manufacturing the same according to the third embodiment of the present technology, since burring-processed portion 10D has a square pyramid shape, a processing range for burring-processed portion 10D can be wide as compared with a case of a burring-processed portion having a conical shape constituted of an inscribed circle of outer shape line 12D in burring-processed portion 10D, with the result that a range in which the metal foils are in close contact with each other can be wide in electrode tab 131D. As a result, a laser irradiation range in electrode tab 131D can be readily secured.
It should be noted that only one burring-processed portion is provided for each of the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab in each of the above-described embodiments; however, it is not limited to this configuration. A plurality of burring-processed portions may be provided for each of the positive electrode tab and the negative electrode tab.
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the scope of the present invention being interpreted by the terms of the appended claims. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-160376 | Oct 2022 | JP | national |
