1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithium battery, in particular, relates to a structure relating with manufacturing processes for adding electrolyte used in a lithium battery.
2. Description of Prior Art
The development of the electronic industry is prosperous. Various electronic devices become popular. In the development of portable electronic devices, it is critical to minimize the dimension and reduce weight of a device. With the advancement of the technology, a portable electronic device is capable of delivering more and more the functions and the power consumption increases. As a result, battery life gradually becomes a critical factor in product development and manufacturing of electronic devices.
The majority of portable electronic devices in the market place use lithium secondary batteries which are rechargeable and have large dimensions and mass energy densities. A lithium battery is made of a battery core which is a stack of a plurality of positive electrode plates, negative electrode plates and separating film. A cup made of laminated aluminum films is used for packaging the battery core, positive electrode plates, negative electrode plates, and non-aqueous electrolyte (referred as electrolyte). A semi-finished battery undergoes procedures of charging, activation tests, degassing and voltage tests to generate a finished lithium battery. However, charged lithium batteries are considered as hazardous articles when shipping to sales locations and generate high shipping cost.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an innovative lithium battery structure, which is made as an uncharged semi-finished lithium battery. The semi-finished lithium battery undergoes simple procedures to infiltrate a battery core with electrolyte, charging, activation etc. to rapidly generate a finished lithium battery at ease.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an electrolyte storage structure for a lithium battery. The electrolyte and the battery core in a lithium battery are disposed separately to make a semi-finished lithium battery. The semi-finished lithium battery is free from damaging, deterioration, and accidents such as explosions during shipment. When it is required to make finished lithium batteries, the semi-finished lithium batteries undergo following procedures of releasing electrolyte to infiltrate battery cores, charging, activation etc.
In order to accomplished the above goal, the present invention has a battery core having a stack with positive electrode plates, negative electrode plates and separating films, a battery core positive electrode welded with the positive electrode plate, a battery core negative electrode welded with the negative electrode plate, electrolyte, and a cup for receiving the above mentioned battery core, the positive electrode plates, the negative electrode plate and the electrolyte. The cup has a receiving space for accommodating the electrolyte core, the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate, and the electrolyte is disposed separately from the battery core. The semi-finished battery is safe and stable to storage in a warehouse and in shipment. The electrolyte is released and flows into the receiving space for infiltrating the battery core before the battery is set to use. The battery core is infiltrated and saturated with the electrolyte. Then the saturated lithium battery undergoes following procedures of charging and activation to generate a finished lithium battery.
Compare to prior art, an advantage of the present invention is that the electrolyte and battery core in a lithium battery are disposed separately to generate a semi-finished lithium battery. In the semi-finished lithium battery, the electrolyte is not in contact with the battery core, and the semi-finished lithium battery is not charged, which made the semi-finished lithium battery is suited for warehousing and shipment. In addition, the semi-finished lithium battery is not damaged after kept in a warehouse for a long time and is free from the risks such as explosion during shipment. Further, when it is required to generate a finished lithium battery, a semi-finished lithium battery undergoes simple manufacturing process of releasing the electrolyte in semi-finished lithium battery to infiltrate the battery core with electrolyte, performing charging, activation and testing to generate a finished lithium battery at ease.
The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, may be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, which describes an exemplary embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In cooperation with attached drawings, the technical contents and detailed description of the present invention are described thereinafter according to preferred embodiments, being not used to limit its executing scope. Any equivalent variation and modification made according to appended claims is all covered by the claims claimed by the present invention.
In the embodiment, the lithium battery 1 also includes an electrolyte bag 13 in a form of a sealed bag. The electrolyte bag 13 is made of corrosion resistant materials. Specifically, the electrolyte bag 13 is made of Polypropylene (PP) or Polyethylene (PE) but is not limited thereto. The electrolyte 15 is accommodated in the electrolyte bag 13 in the lithium battery 1 and disposed separately from the battery core.
The cup 14 is in a form of a sealed bag made by means of stamping die, stamping on laminated aluminum films. The cup 14 has a receiving space 140 used for receiving the battery core 11, the two electrode plates 12 and the electrolyte bag 13.
The two electrode plates 12 include a positive electrode plate 121 and a negative electrode plate 122 which are installed in the receiving space 140 of the cup 14. The one end of the positive electrode plate 121 is welded with the positive electrode of the battery core 11. The one end of the negative electrode plate 122 is welded with the negative electrode of the battery core 11. In addition, the other ends of the two electrode plates 12 are welded with the battery core 11 respectively extruded outside of the cup 14.
In the embodiment, the electrolyte 15 accommodated in the electrolyte bag 13 is not in contact with the battery core 11. Therefore, the lithium battery 1 is not charged and is a semi-finished lithium battery. The advantage of the present invention is that, the battery core 11 or the electrolyte 15 of the semi-finished lithium battery (that is, the lithium battery 1 having the electrolyte bag 13) does not deteriorate after keeping in storage for a long time. In addition, the semi-finished lithium batteries are safe and suited to keep in a warehouse or to ship because they are not charged.
As mentioned above, when the battery core 11 is completely infiltrated with the electrolyte 15, the battery core 11 is saturated. The lithium battery 1 undergoes following procedures of charging, activation tests, voltages test, customization and categorization, where the semi-finished lithium battery (that is, the lithium battery 1 having the electrolyte bag 13) is made into a finished lithium battery.
In the structure of the lithium battery 1′ according to the embodiment, the portion near the folding edge 146 on the sealed space is hot pressed to form at least one pressing section 147 and divide the sealed space the receiving space 141 and an electrolyte space 142. Further, a pressing gap 148 (the pressing gap 148 as shown in
In the present embodiment, the battery core 11 is installed in the receiving space 141 and the electrolyte 15 is accommodated in the electrolyte space 142. The electrolyte 15 and the battery core 11 are disposed separately via at least one pressing section 147 and the separator 149. Thus, the lithium battery 1′ of the present embodiment is allowed to accomplished the same purposes as the lithium battery 1 without using the electrolyte bag 13.
It should noted that a degassing procedure is performed on the receiving space 141 for creating a vacuum in the receiving space 141 so as to keep the battery core 11 in dry status in the manufacturing process of the lithium battery 1′ applied on the semi-finished batteries.
At the same time, because the receiving space 141 is in a vacuum, the electrolyte 15 is pressured to flow from through the pressing gap 148 into the receiving space 141 to infiltrate the battery core 11.
Lastly, when the battery core 11 is infiltrated with the electrolyte 15 and the battery core 11 is saturated, the lithium battery 1 undergoes the following procedures of charging and activation tests, where a finished lithium battery is made from the semi-finished lithium battery (that is, the lithium battery 1′ having the electrolyte space 142).
It should be noted that, as shown in
As the skilled person will appreciate, various changes and modifications can be made to the described embodiments. It is intended to include all such variations, modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the invention, as defined in the accompanying claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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100209217 | May 2011 | TW | national |