In the following some embodiments of the invention will be described which are illustrated in the drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of two battery units placed in parallel and side-by-side,
FIG. 2 shows two plan views a and b of two different arrangements of battery units in serial connection,
FIG. 3 is a lateral view of some piled up battery units,
FIG. 4 is a lateral view similar to that of FIG. 3 in which said battery units are interconnected in series by means of vertical connectors and
FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of an embodiment of the battery unit in which the covering of the casing has been removed.
FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of the component of the system 1. In this example, two battery units 2 and 2′ are placed side-by-side and are interconnected in parallel by means of two terminal connectors. The said battery unit 2 has the basic shape of a right parallelepiped the upper surface of which forms a terminal area 3. That terminal area 3 has a longitudinal edge 4 with a length a and a narrow edges 5 with a width b. On said terminal area 3 two terminals 6 and 7 are provided; in the example of FIG. 1, terminal 6 is the positive pole and terminal 7 is the negative pole. The distance of each terminal 6, 7 to the longitudinal edges 4 as well as to the adjacent narrow edge 5 is equal b/2. This means that the distance between both terminals 6, 7 is b referred to e.g. the axes of screw threads provided on the terminals 6 and 7.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, two battery units 2 are placed side-by-side, wherein the lower unit in FIG. 1 has the reference number 2′. As both battery units 2 and 2′ are identic, the further reference numbers will not differ from each other. Both terminals 6 are interconnected by means of a terminal connector 10. In the illustrated embodiment the terminal connector 10 is made up of a flat metal bar 12 the ends of which are enlarged and form eyelets such that they constitute connection points 16 and 17 having through bores (the centers of the eyelets). The distance between the connection points 16 and 17 is b, referred to the axes of said bores. In the embodiment, the terminal connector 10 is fastened to each of said terminals 6 by means of a screw nut. An identic terminal connector 10 interconnects the terminals 7 of both battery units 2 and 2′, i.e. the negative poles. As mentioned above, other types of terminal connectors are possible.
According to the example of FIG. 1, both battery units 2 and 2′ are connected in parallel. In this way a battery group is realized having the tension of each of the battery units 2, but in which each single battery unit 2 has twice the charging capacity of each of the battery units 2 and supplies twice the current.
FIG. 2 illustrates a further arrangement of battery units 2 which are positioned on the same level and which are interconnected by terminal connectors 10. En part a of FIG. 2 the illustrated group of batteries is a row, whereas in part b there are two rows of battery units 2. In both cases the terminal 6 (positive pole) of one battery unit 2 is connected to terminal 7 (negative pole) of the adjacent battery unit 2 such that the battery units 2 are connected in series. This means, that the total tension between the free terminals of the last battery member 2 is a multiple of the tension of each single battery unit 2.
FIG. 3 illustrates a battery group comprising a number of piled up battery units 2. In order to facilitate stacking of said battery units 2, a number of spacer elements 20 protrude from the upper surface (terminal area 3) of each battery unit 2 engaging corresponding recesses 22 provided in the lower surface of the superimposed battery unit 2′. In this way, the battery units 2, 2′ cannot shift to each other. Between the upper surface 24 of the battery unit 2 and the lower surface 26 of the battery unit 2′ there is a gap 28 such that there is sufficient space to interconnect the battery units 2 of a determined layer by means of terminal connectors 10 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Further, said gap 28 may be used as a seat for electronic components which may be used to monitor the single battery units 2 or the whole battery group.
In order to create a greater variability for the connection possibilities, the system comprises further vertical connectors 30 in order to interconnect the terminals of battery units 2 in adjacent layers of the battery block. This is illustrated in FIG. 4.
Each vertical connector 30 has the basic shape of a stirrup which comprises, when mounted, a vertical central part 32 and to arms 34 and 35. The length of the central part 32 is h which corresponds to the distance between adjacent terminals of two directly superimposed battery units 2 and 2′ or which corresponds approximately to that distance. The free ends of the arms 34 and 35 are connection points similar to those of the terminal connector 10, and may be fastened to the terminal 6 or 7 respectively by means of screw nuts. FIG. 4 illustrates an arrangement in which the battery units 2 and 2′ are connected in series.
The length of each arm 34, 35 is equal or nearly equal b/2. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the arms 34, 35 are slightly longer. If the central part 32 of a vertical connector 30 engages a recess provided in the wall of a battery unit 2, the length of the arms 34, 35 may be slightly less than by 2.
FIG. 5 illustrates schematically the upper surface (terminal area 3) of a battery unit 2 from which the covering has been removed. The terminals 6, 7 are not positioned directly in alignment with the electric accesses 40, 41 respectively of the corresponding battery cell of the battery unit 2 (which in this example is made up of a plurality of basic cells), but are staggered to them. The linkage between the terminals 6, 7 and the accesses 40, 41 is realized by means of electric connectors 42 and 43. In the example, the electric connector 42 is provided with a shunt which is adapted to gain information to be used for the monitoring and control of the battery unit 2. Further, an electronic unit 46 is provided between the terminals 6 and 7 which is used to monitor or control the battery unit. Said electronic unit 46 may also be positioned above the covering of the casing. The electric interconnections of said electronic unit 46 and the terminals 6 and 7 and the shunt 44 are not illustrated in FIG. 5.
Patent Application
20080085446
