Patent Application
20240047811
The present invention relates to a cell tray, and more specifically, a cell tray for accommodating or storing cylindrical cells in a charge/discharge process for activation or an aging process, or for transporting the cylindrical cells between each process.
This application claims the benefit of a priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0143958, filed on Oct. 26, 2021, and the entire contents of the Korean patent application are incorporated herein by reference.
As technology development and demand for mobiles, automobiles, and energy storage device fields increase, the demand for battery as an energy source is rapidly increasing, and among these secondary batteries, a lot of research has been done on lithium secondary batteries which have high energy density and high discharge voltage, and they are also widely used by being commercialized.
In particular, lithium secondary batteries are showing a rapidly growing trend by having an operating voltage of 3.6V or higher, three times higher than nickel-cadmium batteries or nickel-hydrogen batteries, which are widely used as power sources for portable electronic devices, and having a high energy density per unit weight.
Meanwhile, a lithium secondary battery is manufactured through a process of assembling a cell and activating the battery, and in the battery activation stage, the battery is loaded on a tray and is charged and discharged under conditions necessary for activation.
The lithium secondary battery can be classified into a stack type battery, a pouch type battery, and a cylindrical battery depending on its structure and shape.
As such, because the conventional tray only achieves the function of simply receiving or transporting the cylindrical cells, it was unable to monitor the characteristics or status of the cells during each process or while moving between processes. For example, during the initial charge/discharge process, the voltage during charge/discharge can be measured by connecting the terminal of the charge/discharger to the lead of the cell accommodated in the tray, but the voltage of the cell while moving between processes or during storage cannot be measured. In addition, due to the nature of the charge/discharge process, it was difficult to measure other electrical characteristics such as impedance, other than voltage. Cells before and after activation process or aging process are in a state where electrical characteristics such as voltage, impedance, and current may change over time as their electrical characteristics have not yet been established, so it is necessary to continuously monitor the changes of their electrical characteristics.
Meanwhile, heat may be generated in the process of performing each process in the cells accommodated in the tray, and given the characteristics of the tray, which mostly has a closed structure, the cells accommodated in the tray are often placed in a heat-generating environment that affects the cell performance. Therefore, there is a demand for a structure that can continuously monitor changes in the electrical characteristics of the accommodated cells, as well as a cell tray that can effectively control the heat generated from the accommodated cells.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2019-0094830
The present invention is directed to solve above-mentioned problems, and it is directed to provide a cell tray that can measure and monitor electrical characteristics of a cylindrical cell in a charge/discharge process, transfer between processes, aging process, etc.
Also, the present invention is directed to provide the cell tray to solve the problem when the cylindrical cells stored in the cell tray are damaged by heat generated in the process of measuring electrical characteristics, or when the performance of the cell is degraded.
According to the present invention, the cell tray includes: a tray body in which upper part is open and has partition walls diving the internal space so that multiple cylindrical cells are each accommodated between the partition walls; a first connector pivotably installed on an upper part of the partition wall and pivoting toward an upper electrode tab so as to come into contact with the upper electrode tab of the cylindrical cell accommodated between the partition walls; a second connector installed in the tray body between the partition walls and comes into contact with a lower electrode tab of the cylindrical cell accommodated between the partition walls; and an electrical characteristic measuring device that is electrically connected to the first connector and the second connector to measure the electrical characteristics of the cylindrical cell.
Specifically, the partition wall may be formed in a lattice shape.
In addition, the tray body may contain a bottom plate forming the lower part of the tray body, a lattice-type partition wall installed on the bottom plate, and an outer frame surrounding the lattice-type partition wall and coupled to the bottom plate or integrally formed with the bottom plate.
In addition, the outer frame may be formed higher than the height of the partition wall, with a height exceeding the turning radius of the first connector.
Meanwhile, a hinge frame is installed on the upper part of the partition wall, and the first connector may be hinge combined to the hinge frame.
The electrical characteristic measuring device can measure at least one of the characteristics of resistance, voltage, and current of the accommodated cylindrical cell.
Meanwhile, a wireless communication device connected to the electrical characteristic measuring device, and capable of transmitting the electrical characteristic values of the cylindrical cell measured by the electrical characteristic measuring device to the outside may be installed on the tray body.
In addition, a cooling member for cooling the cylindrical cell may be installed on the bottom plate of the tray body.
Specifically, a cooling member accommodating groove is formed in the bottom plate, thereby the cooling member is installed in the cooling member accommodating groove, and the second connector may be installed on the cooling member.
More specifically, the cooling member may be a thermoelectric module.
According to one exemplary embodiment, a tray top coupled to the tray body while covering the open upper part of the tray body may be additionally included.
Specifically, the tray top may include an insulating member protruding downward at a position corresponding to the cylindrical cell accommodated between the partition walls.
Meanwhile, the electrical characteristic measuring device may be installed either on the tray body or on the tray top.
Meanwhile, the hinge frame may be hinge combined to multiple first connectors rotating toward the upper electrode tab of the cylindrical cell located in front and rear, left and right, or front, rear, left, and right of the partition wall.
According to another exemplary embodiment, the partition wall is formed in a lattice shape, the hinge frame has four hinge coupling parts, and four first connectors are each hinge combined to the hinge coupling parts, and the hinge frame is installed so that the four hinge coupling parts face the diagonal direction of the lattice space formed by the partition walls at the upper part of the partition wall at the point where the lattice partition walls intersect, allowing the first connector to rotate up and down in the diagonal direction of the lattice space.
The present invention has an effect of easily monitoring electrical characteristics such as voltage and impedance current of a unidirectional battery cell during a charge/discharge process, aging process, or between each process.
Also, the present invention has an effect of solving the thermal stability problem of the cell by effectively controlling the heat generated from multiple cylindrical cells stored on the inside.
Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and various embodiments. The embodiments described below are shown by way of an example to aid understanding of the present invention, and the accompanying drawings are not drawn to scale in order to aid understanding of the present invention, and the dimensions of some of the components may be exaggerated.
Since the present invention can make various changes and can take various forms, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the specification. However, it is not intended to limit the present invention to a specific disclosed form, and it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.
The present invention relates to a cell tray 100 accommodating multiple cylindrical cells C each in which two electrode tabs are respectively formed on the upper part and the lower part.
The cell tray 100 of the present invention includes: a tray body 110 that accommodates multiple cylindrical cells C, has an open upper part, and has a partitioning wall 111 diving the internal space so that multiple cylindrical cells C are each accommodated between the partition walls 111, a first connector 131 pivotably installed on an upper part of the partition wall 111 and pivoting toward the upper electrode tab so as to come into contact with the upper electrode tab of the cylindrical cell C accommodated between the partition walls 111, a second connector 132 installed in the tray body between the partition walls 111 and comes into contact with the lower electrode tab of the cylindrical cell accommodated between the partition walls 111, and an electrical characteristic measuring device 140 that is electrically connected to the first connector 131 and the second connector 132 to measure the electrical characteristics of the cylindrical cell C.
The tray body 110 includes a bottom plate 113 on which the cylindrical cells C are settled, a lattice-type partition wall 111 in which the cylindrical cells C are accommodated and which is installed on the bottom plate 113, and an outer frame 112 surrounding the partition wall 111.
Hereinafter, the configuration and function of the cell tray 100 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The basic structure of the cell tray 100 of the present invention is almost the same as that of
Specifically, the cell tray 100 of the present invention includes connectors that can be electrically connected by being in contact with the electrode tabs formed on the top and bottom of the cell in order to determine the electrical characteristics of each of the accommodated cylindrical cells C. It will be described with reference to
Referring to
The tray body 110 of the present invention includes the partition wall 111 forming the accommodating part A in which the cylindrical cells C are accommodated.
The partition wall 111 is designed in a lattice shape so that the cylindrical cells C can be separately accommodated in the tray body 110 one by one, and includes multiple accommodating parts A formed by the lattice structure.
As illustrated in
The partition wall 111 may further include a hinge frame 111a that can be coupled to a first connector 131 to be described later. Specifically, the hinge frame 111a may be installed on the upper part of the partition wall 111.
The hinge frame 111a may be hinged to multiple first connectors 131 that rotate toward the upper electrode tabs of the cylindrical cells C located in front and rear, left and right, or front, rear, left, and right of the partition wall 111.
The hinge frame 111a will be discussed again later when describing the first connector 131 with reference to
The tray body 110 of the present invention includes an outer frame 112 surrounding the partition wall 111.
The outer frame 112 supports the partition wall 111 and the accommodated cylindrical cells C in a shape of surrounding them entirely, and serves to protect the cylindrical cells C from the outside.
The height of the outer frame 112 may be higher than the height of the partition wall 111, and the outer frame may be preferably formed higher than the height of the partition wall by a height exceeding the rotation radius of the first connector.
The tray body 110 of the present invention includes a bottom plate 113 on which the cylindrical cells C are settled.
The bottom plate 113 is coupled to the lower surfaces of the partition wall 111 and the outer frame 112 and serves to support the partition wall 111 and the outer frame 112 from below. In addition, the bottom plate 113 supports the lower part of the accommodated cylindrical cells C.
The partition wall 111, the outer frame 112, and the bottom plate 113 may be designed as an integral type, or may be designed as a separate type if necessary, and the present invention is not particularly limited thereto.
The cell tray 100 of the present invention includes connectors 110 electrically connected to electrode tabs formed on both sides of the accommodated cylindrical cells C. The connectors may be made of an electrically conductive metal material, such as copper. Specifically, the connectors 110 include a first connector 131 installed on the upper part of the partition wall 111 and a second connector 132 installed on the bottom plate 113.
The first connector 131 is installed on the upper part of the partition wall 111 and contacts the upper electrode tab of the cylindrical cell C. Specifically, the first connector 131 is formed by being hinged to the upper part of the partition wall 111.
The first connector 131 may have a hinge shaft hinged to the hinge frame 111a. Specifically, it can be seen that the first connector 131 is hinged to the hinge frame 111a located on the upper part of the partition wall 111, and that the hinge rotates starting from the hinge shaft 130a. The hinge rotation of the first connector 131 as described above is to avoid interfering with the entry and exit of the cylindrical cell C to the accommodating part A.
When the first connector 131 hinge rotates upward starting from the hinge shaft 130a, it opens the entrance of the accommodating part A and allows entry and exit of the cylindrical cell C, but when the first connector 131 hinge rotates downward starting from the hinge shaft 130a, the first connector 131 structurally blocks the entrance of the accommodating part A, making it impossible for the cylindrical cell C to enter and exit. Although not shown in the drawing, if the first connector 131 hinges downward when the cylindrical cell C is accommodated in the cell tray 100, the upper electrode tab of the cylindrical cell C and the front end of the first connector 131 come into contact so that electrical connection becomes possible. Conversely, if the first connector 131 hinges upward, the first connector 131 gets separated from the upper electrode tab of the cylindrical cell C, making electrical connection impossible.
Referring to
The hinge frame 111a may include a connector insertion hole, which is a space where the first connector 131 is inserted. In addition, the hinge frame 111a may further include a groove 111a capable of engaging with the hinge shaft 130a of the first connector 131 when the first connector 131 is inserted into the connector insertion hole.
However, the shape of the hinge frame 111a does not need to be limited by
When the first connector hinge rotates downward starting from the hinge shaft 130a, it comes into contact with the upper electrode tab of the accommodated cylindrical cell C, enabling electrical connection, and when the first connector 131 hinge rotates upward starting from the hinge shaft 130a, the electrical connection is lost.
The hinge frame 111a of the present invention maybe hinged with at least one first connector 131. The hinge frame 111a to which multiple first connectors 131 are connected will be discussed again later in the second embodiment of the present invention.
The second connector 132 is installed on the bottom plate 113 and contacts the lower part of the cylindrical cell C.
The second connecter 132 may be on top of the bottom plate 113. Specifically, since the second connector 132 needs to make electrical contact with the lower electrode tab of the cylindrical cell C accommodated in the accommodating part A, it is placed on top of the bottom plate 113 corresponding to the position of the accommodating part A.
The second connector 132 may protrude from the bottom plate 113, or it may be formed by being recessed into the bottom plate 113, and this will not be particularly limited to the present invention. However, it is sufficient enough to have a structure capable of being completely electrically connected to an electrode tab located in the lower part of the accommodated cylindrical cell C.
The cell tray 100 of the present invention includes an electrical characteristic measuring device 140 that measures the electrical characteristics of the cylindrical cell C by being electrically connected to the connector 110.
The electrical characteristic measuring device 140 is electrically connected to the first connector 131 and the second connector 132 through a wire 160, and can measure at least one characteristic of the current, voltage, and resistance of the cylindrical cell C that is in contact with each of the connectors 110.
The electrical characteristic measuring device may be installed on the tray body 110.
Specifically, the electrical characteristic measuring device 140 may be installed on the partition wall 111, preferably installed in a form inserted into the partition wall 111 so that the entry and exit of the cylindrical cell C to the accommodating part A is not hindered.
The electrical characteristic measuring device 140 may transmit the measured characteristic value of the cylindrical cell C to the outside. Specifically, the present exemplary embodiment has a wireless communication device 150 connected to the electrical characteristic measuring device 140 installed on the tray body 110. As the wireless communication device 150, for example, an external NFC (Near Field Communication) tag acting as a reader and an NFC pad equipped with an NFC tag capable of wireless communication can be used. Alternatively, as the wireless communication device 150, an RFID tag capable of wireless communication with an external RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) reader can be used. However, the wireless communication device and wireless communication method are not limited to the above examples, and the wireless communication device of a different type can be used as long as it can effectively transmit the characteristic value of the cylindrical cell to the outside. Such wireless communication device 150 may transmit data transmitted from the electrical characteristic measuring device 140 to the outside by communicating with a receiving device outside the tray.
The wireless communication device 150 may be installed on the outer frame 112 included in the tray body 110 or the outer side of the bottom plate 113 to effectively transmit the electrical characteristics of the cylindrical cells C accommodated in the cell tray 100 to the outside.
A plurality of the wireless communication devices 150 corresponding to the number of cylindrical cells C may also be installed. In this case, each characteristic value may be derived from the wireless communication device 150 corresponding to each cell, and communication between the wireless communication devices 150 of each cell is also possible. Therefore, by installing a master wireless communication device 150 (e.g., a master NFC pad) that receives characteristic values from the wireless communication device 150 of each cell, the characteristic values of multiple cells can be collectively transmitted to the outside from the master wireless communication device 150. An external receiving device, for example, can be installed on a stacker crane that transfers the battery cell tray 100, and it is also possible to be installed on a storage rack of a warehouse where the battery cell tray 100 is stored.
The cell tray 100 of the present invention includes a cooling member 170 capable of cooling the cylindrical cells C and the cell tray 100 when the accommodated cylindrical cells C generate heat.
The cooling member 170 may preferably be a thermoelectric module or the like.
The cooling member 170, without using a refrigerant, can be substituted for any device that includes a function capable of cooling the accommodated cylindrical cells C as much as desired.
The cooling member 170 may be operated by receiving power from a separate power source (not shown) built into the tray body 110, or may be supplied with electricity by being electrically connected to the cylindrical cells C accommodated in the tray body 110.
The cooling member 170 does not require a separate refrigerant, and when electricity is being supplied, one side proceeds to absorb heat, and the other side opposite to the one side proceeds to release heat. Specifically, the cooling member 170 includes a heat absorbing part (not shown) for absorbing heat on one side, and a heat generating part (not shown) for releasing heat on the other side opposite to the one side. The cooling member 170 is preferably installed on the bottom plate 113 so that the one side including the heat absorbing part and the other side including the heat generating part can face the accommodating part A and the outside, respectively.
As illustrated in
Here, it is desirable for the cooling member 170 to have its one side that absorbs heat face the direction of the accommodating part A of the tray body 110, and have the other side that generates heat face the outward direction of the tray body 110.
The cell tray 100 of the present invention may additionally include a tray top 120 coupled to the tray body 110 while covering the opened upper part of the tray body 110 at the upper part of the tray body 110.
Referring to
The cell tray 100 of the present invention can not only prevent foreign substances from mixing in to the tray body 110 by having the tray top 120, but it can also serve to pressurize so that the contact of the electrode tab of the first connector 131 and the cylindrical cell C can be stably made.
When the tray top 120 is coupled to the outer frame 112 at the upper part of the tray body 110, it can include an insulating member 121 that protrudes downward at a position corresponding to the cylindrical cells C accommodated in the tray body 110.
Referring to
The tray top 120 may further include the electrical characteristic measuring device 140 if necessary.
Referring to
A cell tray 100 structure to which the configurations of the hinge frame 111a and the first connector 131 are applied is shown in
The hinge frame 111a has four hinge coupling parts S, and four first connectors 131 are each hinged to the hinge coupling parts S, and the hinge frame is installed so that the four hinge coupling parts S face the diagonal direction of the lattice space formed by the partition walls 111 at the upper part of the partition wall 111 at the point where the lattice partition walls 111 intersect, allowing the first connector 131 to rotate up and down in the diagonal direction of the lattice space.
Referring to
That is, since it is designed to enable four electrical connections through a single hinge frame 111a, it can be seen that the cell tray 100 according to the second exemplary embodiment can secure more internal space of the tray body 110, and that the ease of use is better improved.
As above, the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, but it should be understood by those killed in the art or those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention can be variously modified and changed without departing from the spirit and technical scope of the present invention described in the accompanying claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2021-0143958 | Oct 2021 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2022/015883 | 10/18/2022 | WO |
