Patent Application
20170236667
This invention relates to a protective circuit substrate including a protective element which interrupts a current path when an abnormality such as over-charging and over-discharging occurs.
Secondary batteries are often provided to users in the form of rechargeable battery packs which can be repeatedly used. In particular, in order to protect users and electronic appliances, lithium ion secondary batteries having a high volumetric energy density typically include several protective circuits incorporated in battery packs for over-charging protection and over-discharging protection to interrupt the output of the battery pack under predetermined conditions.
Some of these protective elements use an FET switch incorporated in a battery pack to turn ON/OFF the output, for over-charging protection or over-discharging protection of the battery pack. However, even in the cases of the FET switch being short-circuited and damaged for some reason, a large current momentarily flows caused by a surge such as a lightning surge, and an abnormally decreased output voltage or an excessively high voltage occurs in an aged battery cell, the battery pack or the electronic appliance should prevent accidents including fire, among others. For this reason, a protective element is used having a fuse which interrupts a current path in accordance with an external signal so as to safely interrupt the output of the battery cell under these possible abnormalities.
As shown in
In particular the protective element 80 includes an insulating substrate 85, a heat-generating element 84 laminated on the insulating substrate 85 and covered with an insulating member 86, a first and a second electrodes 81, 82 formed on the both ends of the insulating substrate 85, a heat-generating element extracting electrode 88 laminated on the insulating member 86 and overlapping the heat-generating element 84, and a meltable conductor 83 the both ends of which are connected to the first and second electrodes 81, 82, respectively, and the central portion of which is connected to the heat-generating element extracting electrode 88.
In the protective element 80, when an abnormality such as over-charging or over-discharging is detected, current flows through the heat-generating element 84 and the heat-generating element generates heat. The meltable conductor 83 is melted by this heat and gathers on the heat-generating element extracting electrode 88 to interrupt the current path between the first and second electrodes 81, 82.
PLT 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-003665
PLT 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-185960
PLT 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-003878
PLT 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-003665
PLT 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-185960
PLT 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-003878
The protective element 80 is mounted by connecting first and second connecting terminals 92, 93 formed on the back surface of an insulating substrate 85 to the first and second connecting electrodes 96, 97 formed on a circuit substrate 95 via half through-holes 90, 91 provided in the first and second electrodes 81, 82. The protective element 80 thus constitutes a part of a current path between the first and second connecting electrodes 96, 97 formed on the circuit substrate 95. The half through-hole 90 of the protective element 80 is provided at a position offset from the center of the insulating substrate 85 so as to prevent accidental 180 degree misalignment in mounting of the protective element 80.
Since thermal runaway of a lithium ion secondary buttery, for example, might lead to a serious accident, it is required for this type of protective element to blow the meltable conductor as promptly as possible. When an abnormality such as an over-charging or over-discharging is detected, the protective element 80 must promptly blow the meltable conductor 83 to interrupt the current path; it is therefore required to preferentially conduct heat of the heat-generating element to the meltable conductor 83.
However, if the half through-hole 90 having a large heat capacity is offset from the center of the insulating substrate 85, the first and second electrodes must also be extend from the center of the insulating substrate 85 to the offset position, which spreads heat of the heat-generating element 84 over a wide range. In addition, extending the first and second electrodes to the outer edge of the insulating substrate allows heat to escape from the outer edge. This leads to a disadvantage in reducing melting time because the heat of the heat-generating element 14 is not efficiently conducted to the meltable conductor 83.
An object of the present invention therefore is to provide a protective element capable of suppressing heat-dissipation of heat from the heat-generating element to improve the blowout property of the meltable conductor, and a protective circuit substrate using the same.
To solve the aforementioned problem, an aspect of the present invention is a protective element comprising: an insulating substrate; a heat-generating element formed on the insulating substrate; a first electrode formed on a first side edge of a front surface of the insulating substrate and a second electrode formed on a second side edge of the front surface of the insulating substrate; a first connecting terminal provided on the first side edge of a back surface of the insulating substrate and being continuous with the first electrode; a second connecting terminal provided on the second side edge of the back surface of the insulating substrate and being continuous with the second electrode; a first through-hole penetrating the front surface and the back surface of the insulating substrate to connect the first electrode to the first connecting terminal; a second through-hole penetrating the front surface and the back surface of the insulating substrate to connect the second electrode to the second connecting terminal; a heat-generating element extracting electrode provided on a current path between the first and second electrodes and electrically connected to the heat-generating element; and a meltable conductor laminated on a region extending from the heat-generating element extracting electrode to the first and second electrodes and to be melted by heat to interrupt the current path between the first electrode and the second electrode; wherein the first and second through-holes are respectively formed at a central portion of the first side edge and second side edge of the insulating substrate on which the first and second electrodes are respectively formed.
In addition, to solve the aforementioned problem, another aspect of the present invention is a protective circuit substrate having a circuit substrate and a protective element mounted on the circuit substrate, the protective element comprising: an insulating substrate; a heat-generating element formed on the insulating substrate; a first electrode formed on a first side edge of a front surface of the insulating substrate and a second electrode formed on a second side edge of the front surface of the insulating substrate; a first connecting terminal provided on the first side edge of a back surface of the insulating substrate and being continuous with the first electrode; a second connecting terminal provided on the second side edge of the back surface of the insulating substrate and being continuous with the second electrode; a first through-hole penetrating the front surface and the back surface of the insulating substrate to connect the first electrode to the first connecting terminal; a second through-hole penetrating the front surface and the back surface of the insulating substrate to connect the second electrode to the second connecting terminal; a heat-generating element extracting electrode provided on a current path between the first and second electrodes and electrically connected to the heat-generating element; and a meltable conductor laminated on a region extending from the heat-generating element extracting electrode to the first and second electrodes and to be melted by heat to interrupt the current path between the first electrode and the second electrode; wherein the first and second through-holes are respectively formed at a central portion of the first side edge and second side edge of the insulating substrate on which the first and second electrodes are respectively formed.
According to the present invention, since a through-hole is formed on a central portion of a side edge of an insulating substrate, the heat dissipating path is shorter than the case in which a through-hole is offset to one end of a side edge, thus preventing heat of the heat-generating element from diffusing into the first and second electrodes and efficiently concentrating the heat of the heat-generating element to a meltable conductor.
Embodiments of a protective circuit substrate and a protective circuit substrate using the same according to the present invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below and various modifications can be added to the embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention. The features shown in the drawings are illustrated schematically and are not intended to be drawn to scale. Actual dimensions should be determined in consideration of the following description. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that dimensional relations and proportions may be different among the drawings in some parts.
Protective Circuit Substrate
Protective Element
As shown in
The insulating substrate 11 is formed by using an insulating material such as alumina, glass ceramics, mullite and zirconia. Other materials used for printed circuit boards such as glass epoxy substrate or phenol substrate may be used as the insulating substrate 11; in these cases, however, the temperature at which the fuses are blown should be considered. The insulating substrate 11 may be formed in an approximately rectangular shape as shown in
The heat-generating element 14 is made of a conductive material such as W, Mo and Ru, which has a relatively high resistance and generates a heat when a current flows therethrough. A powdered alloy, composition or compound of these materials is mixed with resin binder to obtain a paste, which is screen-printed as a pattern on the insulating substrate 11 and baked to form the heat-generating element 14.
The insulating member 15 is arranged such that it covers the heat-generating element 14, and the heat-generating element extracting electrode 16 is disposed so as to face the heat-generating element 14 via this insulating member 15. The insulating member 15 may be laminated between the heat-generating element 14 and the insulating substrate 11 so as to efficiently conduct the heat of the heat-generating element 14 to the meltable conductor 13. The insulating member 15 may be made of a glass.
It should be noted that the heat-generating element 14 may be formed on a surface of the insulating substrate 11 on which the electrodes 12 (A1), 12 (A2) are formed, as shown in
One end of the heat-generating element extracting electrode 16 is connected to the heat-generating element electrode 18 (P1) and is continuous with one end of the heat-generating element 14. The other end of the heat-generating element 14 is connected to the other heat-generating element electrode 18 (P2). It should be noted that the heat-generating element electrode 18 (P1) is formed at the side of a third edge 11d of the insulating substrate 11 and the heat-generating element electrode 18 (P2) is formed at the side of a fourth edge 11e of the insulating substrate 11. In addition, as shown in
The meltable conductor 13 is formed from a low melting point metal, such as Pb free solder consisting essentially of Sn, capable of being promptly melted by a heat of the heat-generating element 14. In addition, the meltable conductor 13 may be formed by using a high melting point metal such as In, Pb, Ag, Cu or an alloy consisting essentially of any one of these, or may have a laminated structure of a low melting point metal and a high melting point metal.
It should be noted that the meltable conductor 13 is connected to the heat-generating element extracting electrode 16 and the electrodes 12 (A1), 12 (A2) by soldering, for example. The meltable conductor 13 can be easily connected by reflow soldering.
As shown in
The half through-holes 20, having a conductive layer on the inner wall thereof, electrically connect the first electrode 12 (A1) to the first external connecting terminals 21 (A1), and the second electrode 12 (A2) to the second external connecting terminals 21 (A2). The half through-holes 20 are formed at the first edge 11b of the insulating substrate 11 on which the first electrode 12 (A1) is formed, and the second edge 11c on which the second electrode 12 (A2) is formed. The conductive layer on the inner wall of the half through-hole 20 can be formed by filling a conductive paste therein.
The first electrode 12 (A1) is provided at the edge portion of the first edge 11b of the insulating substrate 11 formed in a rectangular shape. In addition, the first electrode 12 (A1) is placed at an inner position relative to the both ends of the first edge 11b of the insulating substrate 11. This constitution of the protective element 3 can separate the first electrode 12 (A1) from the outer edge of the insulating substrate 11 as far as possible, and can prevent the heat generated by the heat-generating element 14 from conducting to the circuit substrate 2 via the first electrode 12 (A1) or to the surroundings, thus improving the high-speed blowout property of the meltable conductor 13.
Thus, the heat generated by the heat-generating element 14 is also conducted to the first electrode 12 (A1) via the meltable conductor 13 and is also dissipated from the first electrode 12 (A1). It is necessary for the protective element 3 to promptly blow the meltable conductor 13 and interrupt the current path when an abnormality occurs in an electronic appliance, and it is therefore required to suppress dissipation of the heat of the heat-generating element 14 from the first electrode 12 (A1) so as to raise the temperature of the meltable conductor 13 to the melting temperature thereof. Since a large part of the heat of the first electrode 12 (A1) is dissipated from the outer edge of the insulating substrate 11, the first electrode 12 (A1) of the protective element 3 is placed at an inner position relative to the both ends of the first edge 11b of the insulating substrate 11 so as to separate the first electrode 12 (A1) from the outer edge of the insulating substrate 11 as far as possible. This constitution of the protective element 3 can prevent the heat generated by the heat-generating element 14 from being conducted to the circuit substrate 2 via the first electrode 12 (A1) or dissipated to the surroundings.
In addition, the first electrode 12 (A1) may be placed around the central portion C1 of this first edge 11b of the insulating substrate 11. Thus, the electrode area of the first electrode 12 (A1) can be made small such that heat capacity is reduced, and the heat dissipating path is restricted to the half through-hole 20, thereby further suppressing the heat-dissipation from the first electrode 12 (A1).
Through-Hole
The half through-hole 20 connecting the first electrode 12 (A1) to the first external connecting terminals 21 (A1) is formed at the central portion C1 of the first edge 11b of the insulating substrate 11. Compared to the constitution in which the half through-hole 20 is offset towards one side of the first edge 11b (see
In the protective element 3, the substrate center, which is farthest from the outer edge of the insulating substrate 11 and from which heat from the heat-generating element 14 escapes least, attains the highest temperature. In accordance with this substrate center, by forming the through-hole 20 at the central portion C1 of the first edge 11b of the insulating substrate 11, the heat dissipating path is not spread to the first electrode 12 (A1) or the first edge 11b on which the first electrode 12 (A1) is formed, thus enabling concentration of the heat of the heat-generating element 14 into the meltable conductor 13.
In this situation, as described above, by also forming the first electrode 12 (A1) at the central portion C1 of the first edge 11b of the insulating substrate 11, the heat capacity of the first electrode 12 (A1) can be suppressed and dissipation of the heat spread to the first electrode 12 (A1) is also suppressed, thereby reducing the heat-dissipation from the heat-generating element 14.
Explanation of the first electrode 12 (A1) described above is also applicable to the second electrode 12 (A2). Consequently, the second electrode 12 (A2) is placed at an inner position relative to the both ends of the second edge 11c of the insulating substrate 11, and preferably around a central portion C2 of this second edge 11c of the insulating substrate 11.
This constitution of the second electrode 12 (A2) can prevent the heat generated by the heat-generating element 14 from conducting to the circuit substrate 2 via the second electrode 12 (A2) or to the surroundings, thus improving the high-speed blowout property of the meltable conductor 13, and the heat dissipating path is restricted to the half through-hole 20, thereby further suppressing the heat-dissipation from the second electrode 12 (A2).
Similarly, the half through-hole 20 provided to the second electrode 12 (A2) is also formed at the central portion C2 of the second edge 11c of the insulating substrate 11. Compared to the constitution in which the half through-hole 20 is offset towards one side of the first edge 1, this constitution can make the heat dissipating path shorter and prevent the heat of the heat-generating element 14 from spreading to the second electrode 12 (A2), thus efficiently concentrating the heat of the heat-generating element 14 into the meltable conductor 13.
Position of Meltable Conductor 13
In addition, the meltable conductor 13 is preferably provided on the center line C0 of the insulating substrate 11 connecting the respective central portions C1, C2 of the first edge 11b and the second edge 11c of the insulating substrate 11. The meltable conductor 13 is thus placed on the central region of the insulating substrate 11 which will be heated to the highest temperature, and the heat of the heat-generating element is efficiently conducted to and promptly blows the meltable conductor 13.
It should be noted that the meltable conductor 13 may be offset from the center line C0 of the insulating substrate 11 as long as it is connected between the first and second electrodes 12 (A1), 12 (A2). In this case, heat-dissipation from the first electrode 12 (A1) and the second electrode 12 (A2) is also suppressed and the meltable conductor 13 is efficiently heated by the heat of the heat-generating element 14 and promptly blown. In addition, multiple meltable conductors 13 may be provided between the first and second electrodes 12 (A1), 12 (A2), and one of these meltable conductors 13 may be placed on the center line C0 of the insulating substrate 11, or all of the meltable conductors 13 may be offset from the center line C0 of the insulating substrate 11.
It should be noted that a flux 17 may be applied on almost the entire surface of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 in order to prevent oxidation of the meltable conductor 13.
Moreover, the protective element 3 may include a covering member (not shown) over the insulating substrate 11 for internal protection.
Next, examples will be explained wherein the melting times are measured while changing positions of the first and second electrodes of the protective element. In the conventional protective element 80 shown in
In contrast, in the protective element 3 of Example 1, the first and second electrodes 12 (A1), 12 (A2) and the half through-holes 20 are formed at respective central portions C1, C2 of the first edge 11b and second edge 11c of the insulating substrate 11 (see
Comparing melting times of the meltable conductors 13, 83 by supplying 10 W of electric power to the respective heat-generating elements of the protective elements of Example 1 and Comparative example 1 revealed that the melting time of the meltable conductor 83 of the protective element 80 according to Comparative example 1 was 1.5 sec while the melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 according to Example 1 was 1.2 sec, exhibiting an excellent high-speed blowout property.
This is because the protective element 80 of Comparative example 1 dissipated more heat of the heat-generating element 84 since the first and second electrodes 81, 82, being formed in regions ranging from the respective central portions of the first edge 85a and second edge 85b of the insulating substrate 85 to one end, have larger area exposing outwardly from the outer edges of the insulating substrate 85. In addition, in the protective element 80 of Comparative example 1, since the half through-holes 90, 91 having a large heat capacity are offset towards one side of one edge 85a and the other edge 85b of the insulating substrate 85, the heat dissipating path of the heat-generating element 84 is enlarged and thus temperature increase in the meltable conductor 83 is inhibited.
On the other hand, in the protective element 3 of Example 1, the first and second electrodes 12 (A1), 12 (A2) and half through-holes 20 are formed at respective central portions C1, C2 of the first edge 11b and the second edge 11c of the insulating substrate 11. In this case, the heat dissipating path was therefore limited and the heat of the heat-generating element 14 was not easily dissipated via the first and second electrodes 12 (A1), 12 (A2) and the half through-holes 20, but the heat of the heat-generating element 14 was preferentially conducted to the meltable conductor 13, thus heating the meltable conductor 13 to the melting temperature promptly.
Circuit Substrate
Next, the circuit substrate 2 to which the protective element 3 is connected will be explained. The circuit substrate 2 may be any conventional insulating substrate including a glass epoxy substrate or a glass substrate, a rigid substrate such as a ceramics substrate, and a flexible substrate having a mounting region R onto which the protective element 3 is mounted, as shown in
The mounting region R has the same area as the insulating substrate 11 of the protective element 3, and connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) and 25 (P2) connected respectively to external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2) and 21 (P2) formed on a back surface 11a of the insulating substrate 11 are formed in the mounting region R. In addition, except for the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) and 25 (P2) necessary for connection to the protective element 3, no other electrode pattern unnecessary for connection to the protective element 3 is formed in the mounting region R.
Since the mounting region R constituted as above includes an electrode pattern having a large heat capacity to the extent necessary for mounting the protective element 3, heat-dissipation from the back surface 11a of the insulating substrate 11 can be suppressed. The protective circuit substrate 1 therefore can efficiently conduct the heat of the heat-generating element 14 to the meltable conductor 13. Consequently, the protective circuit substrate 1 can promptly blow the meltable conductor 13 to interrupt the current path when an abnormality such as over-charging and over-discharging is detected.
The connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) have a width wider than that of the external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2), thus reducing the contact resistance with the protective element 3. However, wide connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) provided in the mounting region R of the protective element 3 will absorb heat from the heat-generating element 14 to inhibit prompt melting of the meltable conductor 13. In addition, in the case that the insulating substrate 11 of the protective element 3 is made of a ceramic, if a corner portion of the ceramic substrate contacts the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2), heat will escape therefrom; the width of the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) is preferably narrower than that of the first and second edge 11b, 11c of the insulating substrate 11 so as to avoid contacting the corner portion of the insulating substrate 11 even if the protective element 3 is mounted at a tilted angle. In view of the above, the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) are preferably formed to a width approximately the same as that of the external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2).
Next, a second example will be explained. In this second example, melting times of each of the meltable conductors are measured for a protective circuit substrate having a dummy electrode provided in the mounting region R of the circuit substrate 2 and a protective circuit substrate without the dummy electrode. As shown in
By supplying 10 W of electrical power to each of the heat-generating elements 14 of the protective elements 3 of Example 2 and Comparative example 2 and comparing the melting times of the meltable conductors 13, it was revealed that, compared to melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Comparative example 2 being 18 sec, melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Example 2 was 1.2 sec, showing a superior high-speed blowout property.
This is because, in the protective element of Comparative example 2, the dummy electrode 101 provided within the mounting region R conducted more heat of the heat-generating element 14 to the back surface of the circuit substrate 100, and the heat was not preferentially conducted to the meltable conductor 13. In contrast, Example 2 only includes, within the mounting region R, a minimum connecting electrode 25 necessary for mounting the protective element 3, and unnecessary patterns having a large heat capacity are not provided beneath the protective element 3. The protective circuit substrate of Example 2 therefore could suppress heat-conduction downward from the insulating substrate 11 and the heat of the heat-generating element 14 could be efficiently conducted to the meltable conductor 13, thus improving high-speed blowout property.
When providing a current of 5 A to the protective circuit substrates of Example 2 and Comparative example 2, the temperature of the protective element 3 of Comparative example 2 in which the dummy electrode 101 was formed in the mounting region R for heat-dissipation was measured to be 59° C. On the other hand, the temperature of the protective element 3 of Example 2 having no dummy electrode in the mounting region R was measured to be 60° C., which was slightly higher than that of Comparative example 2, but this increase is acceptable in actual use.
Next, a third example will be explained. In the third example, melting times of each of the meltable conductors 13 are measured for a protective circuit substrate in which a dummy electrode not contributing to mounting of the protective element 3 was formed both inside and outside the mounting region R, and a protective circuit substrate in which a dummy electrode was formed outside the mounting region R.
As shown in
By supplying 10 W of electrical power to each of the heat-generating elements 14 of the protective elements 3 of Example 3 and Comparative example 3 and comparing the melting times of the meltable conductors 13, it was revealed that, compared to melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Comparative example 3 being 2.5 sec, melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Example 3 was 1.3 sec, showing a superior high-speed blowout property.
It will be appreciated that the elongated dummy electrode 111 formed both inside and outside the mounting region R, as shown in
When providing a current of 5 A to the protective circuit substrates of Example 3 and Comparative example 3, the temperature of the protective element 3 of Comparative example in which dummy electrode 111 was formed in the mounting region R for heat-dissipation was measured to be 58° C. On the other hand, the temperature of the protective element 3 of Example 3 having no dummy electrode in the mounting region R was measured to be 59° C., which was slightly higher than that of Comparative example 3, but this increase is acceptable in actual use.
Width of Connecting Electrode
As shown in
Alternatively, the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) of the circuit substrate 2 may have a width outside the mounting region R wider than the width inside the mounting region R. For example, as shown in
Therefore, in the circuit substrate 2, forming the width of the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) inside the mounting region R as narrow as the width of the external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2) of the protective element 3 can minimize the electrode size formed under the protective element 3 and suppress the heat-dissipation therefrom. In addition, in the circuit substrate 2, widening the width of the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) outside the mounting region R to the width approximately the same as the width of the insulating substrate 11 of the protective element 3 can increase the heat capacity of the circuit substrate 2 to realize a heat-dissipation accommodating an increased rating, and increase the rating by reducing the resistance of the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) while suppressing heat-dissipation from the protective element 3.
For suppressing the heat-dissipation of the protective element 3, and for increasing the rating of and decreasing the resistance of the circuit substrate 2, the width of the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) is preferably reduced just before the mounting region R, as shown in
Next, a fourth example will be explained. In the fourth example, two protective circuit substrates 1 respectively including connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) having different widths inside the mounting region R were prepared and melting times of each of the meltable conductors 13 were measured.
As shown in
By supplying 10 W of electrical power to each of the heat-generating elements 14 of the protective elements 3 of Example 4 and Comparative example 4 and comparing the melting times of the meltable conductors 13, it was revealed that, compared to melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Comparative example 4 being 3.5 sec, melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Example 4 was 1.6 sec, showing a superior high-speed blowout property.
In addition, when providing a current of 5 A to the protective circuit substrates of Example 4 and Comparative example 4, both of the temperature of the protective element 3 of the Example 4 and that of the Comparative example 4 were measured to be 55° C.
In Comparative example 4, connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) were formed to be wide so that the area of the electrode pattern having a large heat capacity formed in the mounting region R of the protective element 3 was more than necessary; therefore, more heat escaped downward from the insulating substrate 11 and the heat of the heat-generating element 14 was not efficiently conducted to the meltable conductor 13. On the contrary, in Example 4, since the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) were narrowed to be almost the same width as the external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2) inside the mounting region R, heat-dissipation downward from the insulating substrate 11 was suppressed and the meltable conductor 13 was efficiently heated.
Temperature of the protective element 3 when 5 A of current flowed therethrough was 55° C. in both Example 4 and Comparative example 4 and the rate of temperature increase in the protective element 3 was equivalent, from which it was revealed that heat-dissipation under normal usage was equivalent.
In addition, when adding a coverlay covering the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) except for the region within the mounting region R to be connected to the external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2) to the constitution of Comparative example 4 for insulation, the melting time of the meltable conductor 13 when supplying 10 W of power was the same as that of the constitution without the coverlay. This revealed that adjusting exposure area of the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) within the mounting region R by using a coverlay could not suppress heat-dissipation.
Although the width W2 outside the mounting region R of the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) of the embodiment described above was formed to be the same as the width of the first and second edge 11b, 11c of the insulating substrate 11, the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) of the protective circuit substrate 1 may be formed over wide area on the circuit substrate 2 except for the mounting region R, as shown in
For example, as shown in
The protective circuit substrate 1 thus can suppress heat-generation and promote heat-dissipation even in cases that current flowing therethrough is increased in accordance with increase of capacity or rating of electronic appliances. In addition to widening the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) over a wide area on the circuit substrate 2 except for the mounting region R, a coverlay may be formed or a solder resist may be printed on an appropriate portion of the protective circuit substrate 1 for necessary insulation.
In this case as well, in the mounting region R of the protective element 3 of the protective circuit substrate 1, by forming the width W1 of the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) to be same as the external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2) and by forming no other unnecessary electrodes, it is possible to suppress heat-dissipation downward from the insulating substrate 11 and to efficiently heat the meltable conductor 13.
Next, a fifth example will be explained. As shown in
As shown in
By supplying 10 W of electrical power to each of the heat-generating elements of the protective elements 3 of Example 5 and Comparative example 5 and comparing the melting times of the meltable conductors 13, it was revealed that, compared to melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Comparative example 5 being 5.8 sec, melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Example 5 was 2.4 sec, showing a superior high-speed blowout property.
In addition, when providing a current of 5 A to the protective circuit substrates of Example 5 and Comparative example 5, the temperature of the protective element 3 of Example 5 was measured to be 42° C. and that of the Comparative example 5 was measured to be 41° C.
In Comparative example 5 of this fifth example as well, the area of the electrode pattern formed in the mounting region R of the protective element 3 was more than necessary; therefore, more heat escaped downward from the insulating substrate 11 and the heat of the heat-generating element 14 was not efficiently conducted to the meltable conductor 13. On the contrary, in Example 5, since the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) were narrowed to be almost the same width as the external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2) inside the mounting region R, heat-dissipation downward from the insulating substrate 11 was suppressed and the meltable conductor 13 was efficiently heated.
Temperature of the protective element 3 when 5 A of current flowed therethrough was 42° C. in Example 5 and 41° C. in Comparative example 5 and the rate of temperature increase in the protective element 3 was equivalent, from which it was revealed that heat-dissipation under normal usage was equivalent.
In addition, when adding a coverlay covering the connecting electrodes 25 (A1), 25 (A2) except for the region within the mounting region R to be connected to the external connecting terminals 21 (A1), 21 (A2), 21 (P2) to the constitution of Comparative example 5 for insulation, as shown in
Temperature of the protective element 3 when 5 A of current flowed therethrough was 41° C. in Comparative example 5 and the temperature increased to 43° C. when the coverlay was added, from which it was revealed that the coverlay 131 slightly degraded heat-dissipation property during use.
In addition, the protective circuit substrate 1 may be formed as a multi-layer structure by laminating a plurality of conductive layers via insulating layers to form the circuit substrate 2 and omit conductive patterns beneath the mounting region R. For example, as shown in
In this protective element 3, because no electrode patterns having a large heat capacity are not provided beneath the mounting region R other than the connecting electrode 25 (A1), 25 (A2), 25 (P2) necessary for mounting, heat-dissipation downward from the insulating substrate 11 is suppressed. The protective circuit substrate 1 can therefore conduct the heat of the heat-generating element 14 to the meltable conductor 13 and promptly blowout the meltable conductor 13.
It should be noted that, a first insulating layer 35 provided between a first conductive layer 31 and a second conductive layer 32, and a second insulating layer 36 provided between a second conductive layer 32 and a third conductive layer 33 are made of a material having a small heat capacity such as a glass epoxy substrate, such that they do not promote heat-dissipation even in cases where they exist beneath the mounting region R. In addition, in the circuit substrate 2, it is desirable to remove conductive layers within the projecting plane of the mounting region R from the third conductive layer 33 and any further conductive layers as well as the second conductive layer 32, so as to suppress heat-dissipation.
Next, a sixth example will be explained. In the sixth example, circuit substrates 30 in which four conductive layers 31 to 34 were laminated to form a four-layer substrate having a thickness of 0.8 mm were prepared and a circuit substrate in which conductive patterns within the projecting plane of the mounting region R were removed from the second layer 32 (
As shown in
Furthermore, as shown in
As shown in
On the other hand, in Comparative example 6, each of the Cu patterns of the second conductive layer 32, the third conductive layer 33 and the fourth conductive layer 34 are formed over the entire surface of the glass epoxy substrate of the second insulating layer 36 and the third insulating layer 37 including the projecting plane of the mounting region R. In addition, the protective element 3 described above was used as the protective elements for Example 6 and Comparative example 6.
By supplying 10 W of electrical power to each of the heat-generating elements 14 of the protective elements 3 of Example 6 and Comparative example 6 and comparing the melting times of the meltable conductors 14, it was revealed that, compared to melting time of the meltable conductor 14 of the protective element 3 of Comparative example 6 being 4.0 sec, melting time of the meltable conductor 13 of the protective element 3 of Example 6 was 3.2 sec, showing a superior high-speed blowout property.
In addition, when providing a current of 5 A to the protective circuit substrates of Example 6 and Comparative example 6, both of the temperature of the protective element 3 of the Example 6 and that of the Comparative example 6 are measured to be 40° C.
This is because, in Example 6, the Cu pattern of the second conductive layer 32 within the projecting plane of the mounting region R is removed such that, beneath the protective element 3 mounted onto the mounting region R, other than the connecting electrode 25 (A1), 25 (A2), 25 (P2) formed in the first conductive layer 31, no electrode pattern having a large heat capacity is formed until the second conductive layer 32. Since nearly instantaneous heat-generation of the heat-generating element 14 tends to spread in vertical direction relative to the insulating substrate 11 and Example 6 includes only a minimum necessary electrode pattern vertically, vertical heat-dissipation is suppressed to a minimum level such that the meltable conductor 13 can be efficiently heated.
Method of Using Protective Circuit Substrate
Next, a method of using the protective circuit substrate 1 will be explained. The above-described protective circuit substrate 1 is used as, for example, a circuit within a battery pack of a lithium ion secondary battery as shown in
For example, the protective element 3 is incorporated in a battery pack 40 including a battery stack 45 comprising four battery cells 41 to 44 in total in a lithium ion secondary battery.
The battery pack 40 includes: a battery stack 45; a charging/discharging controlling circuit 50 for controlling charging/discharging of the battery stack 45; a protective element 3 according to the present invention for interrupting charging when an abnormality is detected in the battery stack 45; a detection circuit 46 for detecting a voltage of each battery cell 41 to 44; and a current controlling element 47 for controlling the operation of the protective element 3 in accordance with the detection result of the detection circuit 46.
The battery stack 45, comprising battery cells 41 to 44 connected in series and requiring a control for protection from over-charging or over-discharging state, is removably connected to a charging device 55 via an anode terminal 40a and a cathode terminal 40b of the battery pack 40, and the charging device 55 applies charging voltage to the battery stack 45. The battery pack 40 charged by the charging device 55 can be connected to a battery-driven electronic appliance via the anode terminal 40a and the cathode terminal 40b and supply electric power to the electronic appliance.
The charging/discharging controlling circuit 50 includes the two current controlling elements 51, 52 connected to the current path from the battery stack 45 to the charging device 55 in series, and the controlling component 53 for controlling the operation of these current controlling elements 51, 52. The current controlling elements 51, 52 are formed of a field effect transistor (hereinafter referred to as FET) and the controlling component 53 controls the gate voltage to switch the current path of the battery stack 45 between a conducting state and an interrupted state. The controlling component 53 is powered by the charging device 55 and, in accordance with the detection signal from the detecting circuit 46, controls the operation of the current controlling elements 51, 52 to interrupt the current path when over-discharging or over-charging occurs in the battery stack 45.
The protective element 3 is connected in a charging/discharging current path between the battery stack 45 and the charging/discharging controlling circuit 50, for example, and the operation thereof is controlled by the current controlling element 47.
The detecting circuit 46 is connected to each battery cell 41 to 44 to detect voltage value of each battery cell 41 to 44 and supplies the detected voltage value to a controlling component 53 of the charging/discharging controlling circuit 50. Furthermore, when an over-changing voltage or over-discharging voltage is detected in one of the battery cells 41 to 44, the detecting circuit 46 outputs a control signal for controlling the current controlling elements 47.
When the detection signal output from the detection circuit 46 indicates a voltage exceeding the predetermined threshold value corresponding to over-discharging or over-charging of the battery cells 41 to 44, the current controlling element 47, which is formed of an FET, for example, activates the protective element 3 to interrupt the charging/discharging current path of the battery stack 45 without the switching operation of the current controlling element 51, 52.
Particular arrangement of the protective element 3 in the battery pack 40 constituted as above will be explained below.
In the protective element 3 having this circuit arrangement, the meltable conductor 13 in the current path can be certainly blown by the heat generated by the heat-generating element 14. In addition, since only minimum electrode pattern necessary for mounting is formed in the mounting region R of the circuit substrate 2, and no unnecessary electrode patterns having a large heat capacity are provided beneath the protective element 3, heat-dissipation in the direction normal with the insulating substrate 11 of the protective element 3 is suppressed, such that heat of the heat-generating element 14 can be efficiently conducted to the meltable conductor 13. The protective circuit substrate 1 can therefore promptly melt the meltable conductor 13.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the protective element according to the present invention is not limited to usage in battery packs of lithium ion secondary batteries but may be applied to any other application requiring interruption of a current path by an electric signal.
1 protective circuit substrate, 2 circuit substrate, 3 protective element, 11 insulating substrate, 11a back surface, 11b first edge, 11c second edge, 11d third edge, 12 electrode, 13 meltable conductor, 14 heat-generating element, 15 insulating member, 16 heat-generating element extracting electrode, 17 flux, 18 heat-generating element electrode, 20 half through-hole, 21 external connecting terminal, 25 connecting electrode, 30 laminated plate, 31 top layer, 32 second layer, 33 third layer, 40 battery pack, 41 to 44 battery cell, 45 battery stack, 46 detection circuit, 47 current controlling element, 50 charging/discharging controlling circuit, 51, 52 current controlling element, 53 controlling unit, 55 charging device
