1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a battery, a production method for a battery, and a battery production-purposed mask member. More particularly, the invention relates to a technology of producing a battery terminal structure.
2. Description of Related Art
In a battery having a shape with cornered faces (hereinafter called as a square shape), an exterior houses an electricity-generating element of the battery. Within the exterior there are disposed current-collecting terminal members that extend through a wall of the exterior and protrude out of the exterior hath on a positive electrode terminal side and on a negative electrode terminal side. Inside the exterior, a first end of each current-collecting terminal member is electrically connected to the electricity-generating element, and outside the exterior, a second end of each current-collecting terminal member is electrically connected to a corresponding external terminal member. Therefore, electric power can be given and received between inside and outside the battery.
In some cases, platy connection members are used to electrically connect, outside the exterior, the second ends (outside ends) of the current-collecting terminal members to the external terminal members. There is a known technology of interconnecting the second end of a current-collecting terminal member and a connection member by swaging the second end of the current-collecting terminal member to an insertion hole formed in the connection member (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-028246 (JP 2012-028246 A)).
When the second end of a current-collecting terminal member and a connection member are connected by swaging the second end of the current-collecting terminal member to the connection member as in JP 2012-028246 A, an outer peripheral side end portion of the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member, in some cases, is welded to the connection member in order to secure electric conductivity between the current-collecting terminal member and me connection member.
However, if, as shown in
in view of the aforementioned circumstances, the invention provides a battery in which an outer peripheral side end portion of a swaged second end of a current-collecting terminal member is welded to a connection member and in which occurrence of bend of the connection member can be restrained by reducing the tensile stress that is caused in the connection member in the longitudinal direction of a lid member by thermal shrinkage at the nine of welding. The invention also provides a production method for a battery and a battery production-purposed mask member which also achieve the above-indicated effect.
The task to be solved by the invention is as has been described above. Now, a battery, a production method for a battery and a battery production-purposed mask member for solving the task will be described below
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a battery that includes an electricity-generating element, a housing member, a lid member, an external terminal member, a current-collecting terminal member and a connection member. The connection member is connected to the current-collecting terminal member. The current-collecting terminal member has a swaged portion and a weld portion. At the swaged portion, a second end of the current-collecting terminal member is swaged toward an insertion hole of the connection member. The weld portion is provided between an outer peripheral aide end portion of the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member and the connection member. An acute angle between a connecting line connecting the weld portion to a center of the second end and a longitudinally extending center line of the lid member is greater than or equal to 45 degrees. In this construction, the housing member houses therein the electricity-generating element. The housing member is a bottomed tubular member having a square shape. The lid member is a rectangular member having a through hole. The lid member closes an open face of the housing member. The external terminal member is protruded outward from the lid member. The current-collecting terminal member is a member having a first end of which is provided in the housing member and is connected to the electricity-generating element, and a second end of which is cylindrical and is inserted through the through hole. The current-collecting terminal member extends outward of the lid member. The connection member is a platy member interconnecting the current-collecting terminal member and the external terminal member outside the lid member, and the connection member has an insertion hole through which the second end of the current-collecting terminal member is inserted.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a production method for a battery that includes an electricity-generating element, a housing member, a lid member, an external terminal member, a current-collecting terminal member and a connection member. The connection member is connected to the current-collecting terminal member. The current-collecting terminal member has a swaged portion and a weld portion. At the swaged portion, a second end of the current-collecting terminal member is swaged toward the insertion hole of the connection member. The weld portion is provided between an outer peripheral side end portion of the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member and the connection member. In this construction, the housing member houses therein the electricity-generating element. The housing member is a bottomed tubular member having a square shape. The lid member is a rectangular member having a through hole. The lid member closes an open face of the housing member. The external terminal member is protruded outward from the lid member. The current-collecting terminal member is a member having a first end of which is provided in the housing member and is connected to the electricity-generating element, and a second end of which is cylindrical and is inserted through the through hole. The current-collecting terminal member extends outward of the lid member. The connection member is a platy member interconnecting the current-collecting terminal member and the external terminal member outside the lid member, and the connection member has an insertion hole through which the second end of the current-collecting terminal member is inserted. In this production method, a battery production-purposed mask member that has a circular hole that is larger in diameter by a predetermined amount than the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member is placed on the lid member, in such a placement manner that the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member is exposed through the circular hole. By this placement, a portion of the lid member that excludes a portion surrounding or adjacent to the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member is covered with the battery production-purposed mask member, and the outer peripheral side end portion of the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member is welded to the connection member.
In the production method for the battery, an acute angle between a connecting line and a longitudinally extending center line of the lid member may be greater than or equal to 45 degrees. Here, the connecting line connects the weld portion and a center of the second end.
Furthermore, in the production method for the battery, the current-collecting terminal member may include a plurality of the weld portions that are provided apart from each other on the outer peripheral side end portion of the second end of the current-collecting terminal member.
According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a battery production-purposed mask member for production of a. battery that includes an electricity-generating element, a housing member, a lid member, an external terminal member, a current-collecting terminal member and a connection member. The connection member is connected to the current-collecting terminal member. The current-collecting terminal member has a swaged portion and a weld portion. At the swaged portion, a second end of the current-collecting terminal member is swaged toward the insertion hole of the connection member. The weld portion is provided between an outer peripheral side end portion of the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member and the connection member. This battery production-purposed mask member has a circular hole that is larger in diameter by a predetermined amount than the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member, and the battery production-purposed mask member does not cover a portion surrounding or adjacent to the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member of the lid member and covers a portion that excludes the portion surrounding or adjacent to the swaged second end of the current-collecting terminal member of the lid member when the battery production-purposed mask member is placed on the lid member. In this aspect, the housing member houses therein the electricity-generating element. The housing member is a bottomed tubular member having a square shape. The lid member is a rectangular member having a through hole. The lid member closes an open face of the housing member. The external terminal member is protruded outward from the lid member. The current-collecting terminal member is a member having a first end of which is provided in the housing member and is connected to the electricity-generating element, and a second end of which is cylindrical and is inserted through the through hole. The current-collecting terminal member extends outward of the lid member. The connection member is a platy member interconnecting the current-collecting terminal member and the external terminal member outside the lid member, and the connection member has an insertion hole through which the second end of the current-collecting terminal member is inserted.
Furthermore, in the battery production-purposed mask member for production of the battery, an acute angle between a connecting line and a longitudinally extending center line of the lid member may be greater than or equal to 45 degrees, the connecting line connecting the weld portion to a center of the second end.
In the battery production-purposed mask member, the current-collecting terminal member may include a plurality of the weld portions that are provided apart from each other on the outer peripheral side end portion of the second end of the current-collecting terminal member.
According to the invention, in a battery in which an outer peripheral side end portion of a swaged second end of a current-collecting terminal member is welded to a connection member, occurrence of bend of the connection member can be restrained by reducing the tensile stress that is caused in the connection member in the longitudinal direction of a lid member by thermal shrinkage at the time of welding.
Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, and wherein:
Embodiments of the invention will be described. It is to be noted that the technical scope of the invention is not limited to the following embodiments, but broadly covers the entire scope of the technical idea intended truly by the invention which becomes apparent from what is described and shown in the specification and the drawings.
With reference to
The electricity-generating element 20 is an electrode assembly formed by laminating or rolling a positive electrode, a negative electrode and separators together and impregnated with an electrolytic solution. When the battery 10 is charged or discharged, electric current is produced by chemical reactions occurring in the electricity-generating element 20 (more specifically, migration of ions between the positive electrode and the negative electrode via the electrolytic solution).
The exterior 30 is a prismatic (rectangular prism-shaped) can that has a housing member 31 and a lid member 32 that are both made of metal. The housing member 31 is a a bottomed tubular member having a square shape, a face of which is open, and the housing 31 houses therein the electricity-generating element 20. The lid member 32 is a flat platy rectangular member having a configuration commensurate with the open face of the housing member 31, and is joined to the housing member 31 so as to close the opening face of the housing member 31.
As shown in
Furthermore, the lid member 32 has on its outside surface (an upper surface in
A pour hole 34 is formed relatively near the center of the lid member 32, between the rotation stopper grooves 36 and 36. The pour hole 34 is a through hole having a predetermined inside diameter, and extends through the lid member 32 in the thickness direction of the lid member 32. The pour hole 34 is used to pour an electrolytic solution into the exterior 30 in which the electricity-generating element 20 has been housed. The pour hole 34 is sealed with a seal member 61 after the electrolytic solution is poured in.
The insulation members 50 and 50 each include a tubular gasket portion 50a that is inserted into a corresponding one of the through holes 33 and 33, and a rotation stopper portion 50b that is formed so as to have generally the same shape as the rotation stopper grooves 36 and 36 and be fixed into a corresponding one of the rotation stopper grooves 36 and 36. Then, by wrapping the perimeters of the current-collecting terminal members 45 and 45 with the tubular gasket portions 50a and 50a, respectively, the lid member 32 of the exterior 30 is electrically insulated from the current-collecting terminal members 45 and 45. In other words, the current-collecting terminal members 45 and 45 are inserted into the gasket portions 50a and 50a of the insulation members 50 and 50, and extend through the through holes 33 and 33.
The insulation members 51 and 51 are disposed on an upper side of the current-collecting terminal members 45 and 45 so as to electrically insulate the lid member 32 of the exterior 30 and the current-collecting terminal members 45 and 45 from each other. As for materials of the insulation members 50 and 50 and the insulation members 51 and 51, a preferable material is a material excellent in high-temperature creep property, that is, a material having a long-period creep resistance to the cooling/heating cycles of the battery 10, and examples of such a material include PEEK (polyether ether ketone) and the like.
The external terminal members 40 and 40 are columnar members which are disposed on the insulation members 50 and 50 so that an end of each columnar member (an upper end thereof in this embodiment) is protruded outward from an upper surface of the lid member 32. The external terminal members 40 and 40 are electrically connected to the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the electricity-generating element 20 via the current-collecting terminal members 45 and 45, respectively. The external terminal members 40 and 40 and the current-collecting terminal members 45 and 45 function as a current-carrying path for extracting electric power stored in the electricity-generating element 20 or inputting electric power from outside into the electricity-generating element 20. Each of the external terminal members 40 and 40 has in its outwardly protruded portion a bolt portion 40a (see
An end (first end) 45a of each of the current-collecting terminal members 45 and 45 (a lower end thereof in this embodiment) is connected to the positive electrode plate or the negative electrode plate of the electricity-generating element 20. Furthermore, another end (second end) 45b of each current-collecting terminal member 45 (an upper end thereof in this embodiment), is cylindrical, and is inserted through a corresponding one of the through holes 33 and 33 of the lid member 32 and is protruded out (upward) from the ltd member 32. As for materials of the current-collecting -terminal members 45 and 45, for example, aluminum and copper may be used for the positive electrode-side member and the negative electrode-side member, respectively.
The connection members 47 and 47 are electroconductive platy members that have a crank shape in a side sectional view as shown in
Furthermore, the external terminal member 40 is inserted through the external, terminal hole 47b of the connection member 47. Then, a bus bar B through which the external terminal member 40 penetrates is placed on an upper surface of the connection member 47, and a nut N is fastened to the bolt portion 40a of the external terminal member 40 from above the bus bar B. In this manner, the connection member 47 and the external terminal member 40 are connected together. That is, the current-collecting terminal member 45 and the external terminal member 40 are interconnected by the connection member 47 on the outside of the lid member 32.
Next, a method in which the outer peripheral side end portion of the swaged portion 45c formed on the second end 45b of the current-collecting terminal member 45 is welded to the connection member 47 in order to secure electroconductivity between the current-collecting terminal member 45 and the connection member 47 will be described with reference to
The battery 10 is covered with a battery production-purposed mask member 70 (i.e., a mask member 70 for use at the time of production of the battery) formed by a platy member in advance before the swaged portions 45c of the current-collecting terminal members 45 are welded to the connection members 47. As shown in
After the battery 10 is covered with the battery production-purposed mask member 70 in the above-described manner, the outer peripheral side end portion of the swaged portion 45c of each current-collecting terminal member 45 is welded to the connection member 47 by laser welding as shown by arrows L in
Furthermore, in the embodiment, the outer peripheral side end portion of the swaged portion 45c of a current-collecting terminal member 45 is welded to the connection member 47 so that, as shown in
According to this embodiment, the above-described construction will reduce the tensile stress that is caused in the connection member 47 in the longitudinal direction of the lid member 32 if thermal shrinkage occurs at the time of welding. That is, force that rotates the connection member 47 in the longitudinal direction does not occur, so that the connection member 47 will not bend upward. More specifically, since the connection member 47 does not undergo such a bend, there does not occur a problem in which when the bus bar B or the like is attached to the external terminal members 40 in a later processing step, the bus bar B or the like cannot be firmly attached by tightening the nut N. Incidentally, although in this embodiment, laser welding is preformed after the battery 10 is covered with the battery production-purposed mask member 70 as described above, it is also possible to adopt a construction in which laser welding is performed without using a battery production-purposed mask member 70.
A graph shown in
Furthermore, in the embodiment, the distance d (see
According to the embodiment, the above-described construction secures a certain quality of welding. Concretely, it is possible to prevent an event in which because of a small distance d, the amount of energy given to the connection member 47 at the time of laser welding becomes large so that laser penetrates the connection member 47. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent an event in which because of a great distance d, the amount of energy given to the connection member 47 at the time of laser welding becomes small so that an insufficiently welded portion results.
While the invention has been described with reference to example embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the described example embodiments or constructions. To the contrary, the invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements. In addition, while the various elements of the example embodiments are shown in various combinations and configurations, other combinations and configurations, including more, less or only a single element, are also within the scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012-147897 | Jun 2012 | JP | national |