JP2009087736A - Method for manufacturing terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a terminal device, which prevents damage during assembly of a resin used for insulation against an exterior can while preventing the occurrence of liquid leak or the like. <P>SOLUTION: A terminal 13 is mounted with a shaft part while being electrically insulated by interposing a resin 16 inside a hole 15 penetrating from the inside to the outside of an exterior can 12. A lead plate 17, whose one face is in contact with the inner face of the exterior can 12 with the resin 16 therebetween, is integrally mounted to the end part 13b of the terminal in the exterior can 12 by caulking. Further, laser welding is executed to the part, caulked with the terminal-end part 13b, of the lead plate 17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a terminal device applicable to, for example, terminals of battery cells.

In recent years, battery performance has been improved, and since it has a small size and high output, it has come to be used as various power supply devices. For example, a small and high-performance power supply device that can be mounted on an automobile or a bicycle and supplies desired power is conceivable, and many proposals therefor have been found (for example, see Patent Document 1). In such a power supply device, a plurality of battery cells are connected to form a power supply device in order to obtain a voltage at a level that can drive a power supply target device and a capacity that enables long-time use. For this reason, the terminal device used for a connection with another battery cell is needed.
Japanese Patent No. 3350189

  Since this type of terminal device is provided so as to penetrate inside and outside of the outer can constituting the battery cell, an insulation structure with the outer can is necessary. In addition, it is necessary to make the structure strong so that liquid leakage from the terminal portion does not occur.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a terminal device that can prevent damage during assembly of a resin used for insulation from an outer can and that does not cause liquid leakage.

  In the terminal device manufacturing method according to the present invention, a terminal having a shaft portion attached in an electrically insulated state with a resin interposed in a hole penetrating the inside and outside of the outer can is disposed at an end portion located in the outer can. A method of manufacturing a terminal device in which a lead plate that is in contact with the inner surface of the outer can with the resin interposed therebetween is integrally attached by caulking, wherein the caulked portion of the lead plate with the terminal end is laser-welded. It is characterized by that.

  In the present invention, an aluminum-magnesium material is used for the terminal, and a pure aluminum material is used for the lead plate.

  In the present invention, the entire circumference of the joint portion between the lead plate and the terminal in the caulking portion is welded with continuous wave laser light.

  Further, in the present invention, the entire circumference of the joint portion between the lead plate and the terminal is divided into a plurality of sections so that the temperature rise of the resin portion due to laser welding of the lead plate and the terminal is equal to or lower than the set temperature. The welding order may be set so that welding in adjacent sections does not continue.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, when laser welding the lead plate and the terminal, a cooling plate with good thermal conductivity may be adhered to the back side of the contact surface with the resin near the welded portion of the outer can.

  According to the present invention, as a mounting structure in the outer can of the terminal portion, by performing laser welding together with caulking, it is possible to configure a terminal device that does not cause liquid leakage and the like, and a resin used for insulation from the outer can Damage during assembly can be prevented.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1A and 1B show a configuration example of a terminal device to which the manufacturing method of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 shows a cap portion of a battery cell in which the terminal device is used. Indicates the appearance of the battery cell.

  First, an external configuration of a battery cell (hereinafter simply referred to as a cell) 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The cell 11 has a battery main body (not shown) installed in an outer can 12, and a terminal 13 penetrating the inside and outside of the outer can 12 is attached to an upper surface portion (hereinafter referred to as a cap portion) 12 a of the outer can 12. Yes. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the terminal 13 is attached to the cap portion 12a, and its specific structure will be described with reference to the cross-sectional view of FIG.

  In FIG. 1 (a), the terminal 13 is a shaft having an upper portion integrally formed with a flange portion 13a, and the lower shaft portion is in the hole 15 penetrating through the inside and outside formed in the cap portion 12a of the outer can 12. Are attached in an electrically insulated state with a resin 16 interposed therebetween. An end portion (lower end in the figure) 13 b of the terminal 13 in the outer can 12 is connected to the lead plate 17 in the outer can 12. One surface (the upper surface in the drawing) of the lead plate 17 is in contact with the inner surface of the outer can 12 (the back surface of the cap portion 12a) with the resin 16 interposed therebetween. The lead plate 17 is caulked with the lower end 13b of the terminal 13 shown in the figure, and is integrally connected to the lower surface of the cap portion 12a in a state where the resin 16 is tightly pressed.

  In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the caulked portion between the lead plate 17 and the terminal end portion 13b is further laser-welded.

  Here, as the material of the terminal 13, an aluminum-magnesium (No. A5000) material which is a highly conductive material and has high mechanical strength is used, and the lead plate 17 is pure aluminum (No. A1000) which is more excellent in conductivity. System materials are used. By using such a material, a sufficient mechanical strength by caulking can be obtained, and a terminal device having excellent conductivity can be configured. That is, since the strength of the base material of the terminal 13 is improved, the strength of the caulking portion is increased, and liquid leakage from the resin 16 portion and damage to the terminal 13 itself can be prevented.

  In the present invention, as described above, this caulking portion is laser-welded. As shown in FIG. 4, the welding is performed on the entire periphery of the joint portion between the lead plate 17 and the terminal end portion 13 b in the caulking portion. Laser welding is performed by the laser beam 21 irradiated from the laser beam. By welding the caulking part all around as described above, the strength is remarkably improved as compared with the case of caulking alone, and liquid leakage from the resin 16 part and damage to the terminal can be more reliably prevented.

  Here, a continuous wave laser beam is used as the laser beam for welding. By welding with a continuous wave laser beam in this way, solidification cracking due to welding thermal strain can be prevented and the joint strength can be improved as compared with the commonly used pulsed laser beam welding. . In other words, in pulsed laser beam welding, since instantaneous heating is repeated at a predetermined interval, solidification cracking due to welding thermal strain is likely to occur. On the other hand, when welding with a continuous wave laser beam, welding is performed by continuous and constant heating, so that solidification cracking due to welding thermal strain can be reliably prevented.

  Moreover, if the temperature rise of the resin 16 by this welding exceeds 120 degreeC, for example, the resin may be damaged by heat. For this reason, it is necessary to suppress the temperature rise of the resin 16, and as a means for that purpose, as shown in FIG. 5, the entire circumference of the joint portion between the lead plate 17 and the terminal 13 is divided into a plurality of sections, and welding is performed for each section. To do. Further, the welding order is set so that welding in adjacent sections does not continue. For example, in FIG. 5, the entire circumference of the joint portion between the lead plate 17 and the terminal 13 is equally divided into four sections, and the welding order is set so that welding in adjacent sections does not continue as illustrated.

  Here, when the plate pressure of the lead plate 17 is 1 mm, the entire circumference of the joint between the lead plate 17 and the terminal 13 is equally divided into four sections as described above, and the welding order is shown in FIG. Thus, laser welding was performed under the following welding conditions.

Laser output: 400W to 2000W
Welding speed: 1000 mm / min to 5000 mm / min Shielding gas flow rate: 10 to 100 l / min Laser irradiation spot diameter: 0.05 mm to 0.3 mm
Laser incident angle: ± 30 ° from the surface
In this case, the temperature rise of the resin 16 did not exceed 120 ° C., and the penetration depth in the welded portion was 0.1 to 0.8 mm. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the penetration depth at the welded portion is close to the plate thickness, and sufficient strength can be obtained.

  The temperature increase value at which the resin 16 is damaged by heat is exemplified as 120 ° C., but this value varies depending on the type of the resin 16, so that the lead plate 17 and the terminal 13 correspond to the temperature increase value at which the resin 16 is damaged by heat. What is necessary is just to change the division | segmentation number of the perimeter of a junction part.

  Moreover, in order to suppress the temperature rise of the resin 16 due to welding, a cooling plate 25 may be used as shown in FIG. That is, when the lead plate 17 and the terminal 13 are laser-welded, the surface of the cap portion 12a, which is a part near the welded portion of the outer can 12, that is, the back side of the contact surface with the resin 16 has a good thermal conductivity. The cooling plate 25 is brought into close contact.

  In the example of FIG. 7, the terminal portion 13 and the lead plate 17 are caulked, and the cap portion 12 that is integrally attached via the resin 16 is held by the jig 26 so that the welding portion faces upward. A laser beam 21 is irradiated from the nozzle 20 to the welded portion, that is, the entire circumference of the joint portion between the lead plate 17 and the terminal 13 described above, and welding is performed.

  At this time, the cooling plate 25 is joined from the lower side to the surface of the cap portion 12 a and the end portion of the terminal 13, and is pressurized by the spring 27, so that the cooling plate 25 is in close contact with the tip portion of the cap portion 12 a and the terminal 13. I am letting. As the cooling plate 25, for example, a copper plate having better thermal conductivity than the material of the cap portion 12a (here, pure aluminum) is used as the cooling plate 25.

  If it does in this way, the heat which arose by welding will be absorbed by the cooling plate 25 from the surface of the cap part 12a and the front-end | tip part of the terminal 13, and will be cooled. For this reason, the temperature rise of the resin 16 in contact with the back surface of the cap portion 12a and the shaft portion outer surface of the terminal 13 can be effectively suppressed.

  In the above embodiment, the battery cell is illustrated as an example to which the terminal device is applied. However, the present invention can also be applied to other electric devices, and has a terminal that penetrates the outer can inside and outside. Any electrical device can be applied.

  As described above, according to the method of the present invention, the terminal and the lead plate are caulked, and this portion is laser-welded, so that it can be firmly constructed, and liquid leakage is prevented, and the insulating resin is damaged during assembly. It can also be effectively prevented.

The structural example of the terminal device with which the manufacturing method by this invention is applied is shown, (a) is sectional drawing, (b) is the bottom view. It is a front view which takes out and shows the said terminal device part. It is an external view of the battery cell which is an application example of the said terminal device. It is a figure explaining the welding operation in the manufacturing method of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the part welded by the manufacturing method of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the part welded by the manufacturing method of this invention. It is a figure which shows the case where it welds using a cooling plate with the manufacturing method of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

12 exterior can 13 terminal 14 connection hole 15 hole 16 resin 17 lead plate 25 cooling plate

Claims (5)

One end of the terminal, in which the shaft portion is attached in an electrically insulating state with resin interposed in a hole penetrating the inside and outside of the outer can, is located inside the outer can. A manufacturing method of a terminal device integrally attached by caulking with a lead plate in contact with
A method of manufacturing a terminal device, comprising: laser welding a caulked portion of the lead plate with a terminal end portion.   2. The method of manufacturing a terminal device according to claim 1, wherein an aluminum-magnesium-based material is used for the terminal and a pure aluminum-based material is used for the lead plate.   3. The method of manufacturing a terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the entire circumference of the joint portion between the lead plate and the terminal in the caulking portion is welded with a continuous wave laser beam. 4.   The entire circumference of the joint between the lead plate and the terminal is divided into a plurality of sections so that the temperature rise of the resin portion due to laser welding of the lead plate and the terminal is not more than the set temperature, and the welding order of these sections is adjacent to each other. The method for manufacturing a terminal device according to claim 3, wherein welding is set so as not to be continued in a matching section.   The heat-conductive cooling plate is closely attached to the back side of the contact surface with the resin near the welded portion of the outer can when the lead plate and the terminal are laser-welded. Item 5. A method for manufacturing a terminal device according to any one of Items 4 to 9.