KR20180012568A - Connector for connecting lead and battery module using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a connector for electrode lead connection which connects electrode leads to each other without using existing bus bar welding or can easily install the electrode leads on a power device such as an internal circuit board (ICB), and a battery module using the connector. The connector for electrode lead connection according to the present invention comprises: a housing having an insertion hole for an electrode lead; a connector terminal conductively connected to an electrode lead; and a locking lever pressing the electrode lead against the connector terminal by rotating.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector for connecting an electrode lead and a battery module using the same,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a battery module, and more particularly, to a component capable of connecting two electrode leads without welding or attaching / detaching an electrode lead to a power source device such as an ICB .

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, demand for portable electronic products such as notebook computers, video cameras, and portable telephones has rapidly increased, and electric vehicles, storage batteries for energy storage, robots, and satellites have been developed in earnest. Are being studied actively.

The secondary rechargeable batteries are nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, and lithium secondary batteries. Among them, lithium secondary batteries have almost no memory effect compared to nickel- It is very popular because of its low self-discharge rate and high energy density.

Such a lithium secondary battery mainly uses a lithium oxide and a carbonaceous material as a cathode active material and an anode active material, respectively. The lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate each coated with such a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode active material are disposed with a separator interposed therebetween, and an outer casing, that is, a battery case, for sealingly storing the electrode assembly together with the electrolyte solution.

Generally, a lithium secondary battery can be classified into a can type secondary battery in which an electrode assembly is embedded in a metal can, and a pouch type secondary battery in which an electrode assembly is embedded in a pouch of an aluminum laminate sheet, depending on the shape of the casing.

In recent years, secondary batteries are widely used not only in small-sized devices such as portable electronic products, but also in medium- to large-sized devices such as automobiles and power storage devices. In particular, demand for hybrid cars and electric vehicles is increasing worldwide, including the US, Europe, Japan, and Korea, as carbon energy is gradually depleted and environmental concerns are rising. The most important components in such hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles are battery packs that give drive power to vehicle motors. Since hybrid cars and electric vehicles can obtain the driving force of the vehicle through charging and discharging of the battery pack, the number of users is increasing because the fuel economy is excellent and the pollutant is not discharged or reduced as compared with a vehicle using only an engine. The battery pack of the hybrid vehicle or the electric vehicle includes a plurality of secondary batteries, and the plurality of secondary batteries are connected in series and in parallel to improve capacity and output.

The positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate of the electrode assembly may each include an electrode tab extending outward. The electrode assembly is accommodated in the battery case, and the electrode lead connected to the electrode tab may be exposed to the outside of the battery case. A plurality of secondary batteries may be stacked horizontally or vertically to form a battery module. Secondary batteries stacked next to each other in the battery module can electrically interconnect the electrode leads. At this time, the electrode leads of the neighboring secondary cells may be electrically connected to each other by a bus bar and may be connected to a power source device such as an ICB. The ICB electrically connects the unit battery modules to form a battery pack. In such a conventional battery module, a bus bar bonding process is required. In the conventional battery module and ICB, bonding of the electrode leads and bonding of the bus bar and the electrode lead are performed by ultrasonic welding or laser welding.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a part of a conventional battery module. For convenience of illustration and description, only a portion of the battery module to which the ICB is coupled is shown in the secondary battery stack. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a laser welding configuration of an electrode lead and a bus bar in the battery module of FIG. 1; The battery module of FIG. 1 has a cross section parallel to the bottom surface along the stacking direction of the secondary battery.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional battery module 10 includes a secondary battery stack 6 formed by stacking a plurality of secondary cells 5 having electrode leads 3 and 4. The ICB 7 is placed on the secondary battery stack 6 and the negative electrode lead 3 and the positive electrode lead 4 of the secondary battery 5 adjacent to each other on the bus bar 8 connected to the ICB 7, . Thereafter, the electrode leads 3 and 4 and the bus bar 8 are welded with a laser to form a weld 9, whereby the electrode leads 3 and 4 and the ICB 7 can be electrically connected.

2, the electrode leads 3 and 4 protrude from the secondary battery 5, and the ends are bent to the left or right to provide a flat vertical contact surface. The electrode leads 3 and 4 may be bent in different directions so that the bent portions of the electrode leads 3 and 4 having different polarities are overlapped with each other in the neighboring secondary batteries 5. [ Then, the bus bar 8 is brought into contact with the vertically abutting surfaces where the bent portions of the electrode leads 3 and 4 overlap. When the laser beam is irradiated to the outside of the bus bar 8 and the electrode leads 3 and 4 as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the bus bar 8 and the electrode leads 3 and 4 The contact portions are welded to each other and the welded portion 9 can be formed along the longitudinal direction of the bus bar 8 as shown in Fig.

As described above, in order to assemble the plurality of secondary cells 5 to the ICB 7 by using the plurality of bus bars 8, it is troublesome to bend and weld the electrode leads 3 and 4 several times And it takes a lot of time to work. This increases the tact time during the assembly process and causes quality deviation due to welding accuracy. In addition, even if problems arise due to erroneous welding conditions and equipment errors, rework can not be performed, and the problem of disposing an entirely produced battery module frequently occurs. In addition, when the unit rechargeable battery fails to function or malfunction due to prolonged use or the like, it is not possible to replace only the unitary rechargeable battery in the battery module, and the entire battery module needs to be replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a plasma display panel in which electrode leads are connected to each other without using a conventional bus bar welding, And to provide a connector for an electrode lead connection.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a battery module that can be manufactured without using conventional bus bar welding by using such an electrode lead connecting connector.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited thereto. It will also be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrode lead connecting connector comprising: a housing having an electrode lead insertion opening; A connector terminal electrically connected to the electrode lead; And a locking lever for pressing the electrode lead against the connector terminal by rotational movement.

Wherein the electrode lead connecting connector comprises: a wire electrically connected to the connector terminal; And a connection unit provided at the wire end. The connecting portion may be a male fastening structure of a protruding structure.

The insertion port may be one in which two electrode leads of a neighboring secondary battery are fitted. And the connector terminal is formed so as to be electrically connected to both of the two electrode leads.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery module including: a plurality of secondary batteries having electrode leads; An ICB provided in the secondary battery laminate; And an electrode lead connecting connector for electrically connecting the electrode lead and the ICB, wherein the electrode lead connecting connector comprises: a housing having an insertion opening of the electrode lead; A connector terminal electrically connected to the electrode lead; A locking lever for pressing the electrode lead against the connector terminal by rotational movement; A wire electrically connected to the connector terminal; And a connection portion provided at the wire end portion and connected to the ICB.

The ICB may be provided with an internal connector to which the connection unit can be coupled. The internal connector may have a female fastening structure of a recessed structure if the connecting portion is a male fastening structure of a protruding structure.

According to the present invention, since welding is not used as before, the electrode lead connecting operation can be simplified, thereby shortening the overall electrical connection working cycle. The assembling process is simplified by merely applying a fastening connector between the electrode lead and the power supply device such as ICB.

In addition, according to the present invention, there is no fear of increasing the tact time during the assembling process, and there is no risk of cost increase because there is no fear of discarding the entire battery module already produced.

In addition, even if a unit secondary battery in the battery module is abnormal during use, it is possible to replace only the problematic unit secondary battery without replacing the entire battery module.

As described above, according to the electrode lead connection connector of the present invention, the battery module is easily manufactured and the unit secondary battery can be replaced, so that the maintenance is easy and the maintenance management cost is further reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the description of the invention given below, serve to further the understanding of the technical idea of the invention, Should not be construed as limiting.
1 is a perspective view schematically showing a part of a conventional battery module.
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a laser welding configuration of an electrode lead and a bus bar in the battery module of FIG. 1;
3 is a schematic top view of a battery module using an electrode lead connecting connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a schematic side view of a battery module using an electrode lead connecting connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 and 6 are side views showing a state before and after the locking of the electrode lead connecting connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a cross-sectional view of a housing in a state where an electrode lead is inserted into the electrode lead connecting connector according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary terms, and the inventor should appropriately interpret the concepts of the terms appropriately It should be interpreted in accordance with the meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined. Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all the technical ideas of the present invention. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

3 is a schematic top view of a battery module using an electrode lead connecting connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a schematic side view of a battery module using an electrode lead connecting connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 and 6 are side views showing a state before and after the locking of the electrode lead connecting connector according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a housing part in a state where an electrode lead is inserted into an electrode lead connecting connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, and corresponds to a cross section taken along the line X-X in FIG.

3 and 4, the battery module M includes a secondary battery stack 60 formed by stacking a plurality of secondary batteries 50 having electrode leads 30 thereon.

The secondary battery laminate 60 is provided with an ICB 70. The electrode lead 30 and the ICB 70 are electrically connected by an electrode lead connecting connector C according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ICB 70 may be provided on one side or both sides of the secondary battery laminate 60. When the ICB 70 is provided on both sides of the secondary battery stack body 60, a connection structure by the electrode lead connecting connector C is formed on the electrode lead (not shown) drawn to the opposite side of the electrode lead 30 .

5 to 7, the electrode lead connecting connector C includes a housing 100 having an insertion port 110 of the electrode lead 30, a connector terminal 30 electrically connected to the electrode lead 30, (200), and a locking lever (300) for pressing the electrode lead (30) against the connector terminal (200) by rotating.

3 to 6, the electrode lead connecting connector C includes the wire 400. [ At the end of the wire 400, a connection part 500 to be connected to the ICB 70 is formed. The ICB 70 is formed with an internal connector 75 that can be coupled to the connection portion 500. If the connecting part 500 is a male thread fastening structure of, for example, a protruding structure, the internal connector 75 may be an arm fastening structure of a recessed structure. Conversely, if the connecting portion 500 has the female connecting structure of the indenting structure, the internal connector 75 may have the male connecting structure of the protruding structure.

As will be described in detail later, in the present embodiment, since the two electrode leads 30 and 40 can be connected by using the connector C for connecting the electrode leads without using bus bar welding as in the conventional case, It can be connected more easily. The electrode lead connecting connector C further includes a wire 400 and a connecting portion 500 so that such an electrode lead can be easily attached to and detached from a power source device such as the ICB 70, It is possible to reduce work time such as module assembly. As described above, according to the present invention, the battery module M can be simply manufactured using the electrode lead connecting connector C without using the conventional bus bar welding.

Hereinafter, a connector C for electrode lead connection according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Referring to the housing 100 constituting the connector C for electrode lead connection with reference to Figs. 5 to 7, the housing 100 has an insertion port 110 provided so that one end of the electrode lead 30 is fitted . The insertion port 110 may be formed by inserting two electrode leads (30, 40 in FIG. 4) of a neighboring secondary battery. Only the electrode lead 30 is shown in Fig.

The housing 100 is made of a nonconductive or insulating resin such as plastic to be insulated from the connector terminal 200 or the like and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The housing 100 is provided with a receiving hole 120 for receiving the connector terminal 200 in addition to the insertion port 110.

The connector terminal 200 is formed of an electrically conductive material such as copper and is electrically connected to the electrode lead. The connector terminal 200 may have a wire connecting portion 200a, a base end portion 200b, a terminal portion 200c, and a fixed piece portion 200d. The wire connection portion 200a is connected to the wire 400. [ The proximal portion 200b has a substantially rectangular plate shape and is disposed along the vertical direction adjacent to the wire connecting portion 200a. The terminal portion 200c may extend from the proximal end 200b toward the insertion port 110 side of the electrode lead 30 and may have one or more terminals. The fixed piece portion 200d extends from the upper end side of the base end portion 200b and is fixed to the housing 100. [ However, the connector terminal 200 of the electrode lead connecting connector C of the present invention does not necessarily have to have such a configuration. When the two electrode leads are inserted into the insertion hole 110, the connector terminal 200 may be formed to have a structure in which both of the electrode leads are electrically connected to each other.

The locking lever 300 is rotated to push the electrode lead 30 against the connector terminal 200. [ The locking lever 300 is configured to firmly fasten the electrode lead 30 to the connector terminal 200 and the electrode lead 30 and the connector terminal 200 are locked and unlocked by the locking lever 300 The electrode lead 30 and the connector terminal 200 may not be easily separated even if an external force is applied. Therefore, even if an external impact is applied, the electrical connection of the electrode lead 30 can be stably secured.

The locking lever 300 is made of a nonconductive or insulating resin such as plastic to be insulated from the connector terminal 200 or the like and forms a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The locking lever 300 includes an operating portion 310 to be operated when rotating, a shaft portion (not shown) to be rotatably engaged with the connector terminal 200, a pressing surface 320 to press the electrode lead 30, . The locking lever 300 presses the electrode lead 30 against the terminal portion 200c by the rotational movement and is positioned on the inner side of the housing 100 within the range of the pressing surface 320 . The locking lever 300 may be replaced with a different structure as long as the electrode lead 30 and the connector terminal 200 can interact with each other.

Hereinafter, an operation mechanism of the connector C for electrode lead connection according to the present embodiment and a manufacturing method of the battery module M using the same will be briefly described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6 and the like.

First, a plurality of secondary batteries 50 having electrode leads 30 and 40 are laminated to form a secondary battery laminated body 60. The secondary battery stack 60 may include a plurality of pouch-type secondary batteries as the secondary batteries 50. The plurality of pouch-type secondary batteries may be disposed in one direction, The large side can be placed on the floor and laminated along the vertical direction.

On the other hand, the secondary battery laminate 60 may be provided with a lamination frame for laminating a plurality of pouch type secondary batteries. Such a frame for lamination is a component used for laminating secondary batteries, which can hold the secondary batteries to prevent the secondary batteries from flowing, and can stack mutually, thereby guiding the assembling of the secondary batteries. Such a lamination frame may be replaced with various other terms such as a cartridge, and may be configured in the form of a rectangular ring with an empty central portion. In this case, four corners of the stacking frame may be located on the outer peripheral portion of the secondary battery.

Each of the pouch type secondary batteries may have electrode leads 30 and 40. For example, the electrode leads 30 are positive lead electrodes and the electrode lead 40 is a negative electrode lead. The electrode leads 30 and 40 may have different polarity electrode leads in opposite directions. When the secondary batteries 50 are laminated together, the secondary battery laminate 60 is configured such that the negative electrode leads and the positive electrode leads are alternately arranged. Here, each of the electrode leads 30, 40 is formed in a plate shape and protrudes to the outside of the pouch exterior member. And then bent as shown in the figure for bending with the connector C for electrode lead connection. The end portions of the electrode leads 30 and 40 are bent to the left or to the right depending on the fastening structure with the electrode lead connecting connector C so as to provide a flat vertical contact surface and the overlapped portions, Can be fastened to the lead connecting connector (C). And the electrode leads 30 and 40 may be fastened to the electrode lead connecting connector C in a form in which the electrode leads 30 and 40 are not bent depending on the fastening structure with the electrode lead connecting connector C.

Next, before the electrode leads 30 and 40 are inserted into the housing 100, the locking lever 300 is turned up as shown in FIG.

The electrode leads 30 and 40 are then pushed into the housing 100 so that one end of the electrode leads 30 and 40 is fitted into the insertion hole 110 inside the housing 100.

Then, the locking lever 300 is turned down as shown in FIG. 5 so that the electrode leads 30 and 40 and the connector terminal 200 are made conductive.

4, the electrode leads 30 and 40 are connected to each other by a power source such as the ICB 70 via the connection part 500 provided at the end of the wire 400, The electrical connection between the power source 60 and the power supply unit can be completed.

The method of separating the electrode leads 30, 40 from the housing 100 is the reverse of the method of fastening. That is, the locking lever 300 may be rotated and lifted, and then the electrode leads 30 and 40 may be removed from the housing 100.

According to the electrode lead connecting connector C according to the present embodiment as described above, not only the electrode leads 30 and 40 are connected to each other, but also the electrode leads 30 and 40 are connected, Since the laminate 60 can be attached to and detached from the ICB 70, the labor required for welding the electrode leads 30 and 40 to the bus bar can be reduced and the time can be shortened. The electrode lead connecting operation can be simplified, which can shorten the overall electrical connection working cycle.

According to the connector C for electrode lead connection according to the present embodiment, a battery module and a battery pack that can be easily assembled can be provided. Therefore, the manufacturing time can be shortened in manufacturing the battery module and the battery pack, the productivity can be improved, and the manufacturing process and the manufacturing apparatus can be simplified without being complicated.

Also, even if the connector C for electrode lead connection is erroneous, it is possible to release the fastened state and rework, and there is no concern of cost increase because there is no possibility of disposing the entire battery module already produced.

In addition, even if a failure occurs in the unit secondary battery 50 in the battery module M during use, it is possible to replace only the problematic unit secondary battery without replacing the entire battery module M, thereby reducing the maintenance cost. Conventionally, when a unit secondary battery fails to function or malfunction due to long-term use or the like, it is not possible to replace only a unitary secondary battery in a battery module, and the entire battery module must be replaced. Accordingly, there is a problem in performance and maintenance of the battery module that greatly affects the performance of the vehicle equipped with the battery module. According to the present invention, since the connector unit C for connecting the electrode leads can be released to replace the unitary secondary battery in question, and a new unit secondary battery can be assembled, the performance and maintenance of the battery module can be fundamentally solved.

As shown in FIG. 4, the battery module M according to the embodiment of the present invention may include at least one electrode lead connecting connector C according to the present invention. In addition, two or more battery modules M according to an embodiment of the present invention are connected to each other through ICBs 70 or the like so as to extend into battery packs. In addition to such an electrode lead connecting connector C, For example, a battery management system (BMS), a current sensor, a fuse, and the like, for controlling the charge and discharge of the battery module M electrically connected by the connector C for the battery. The battery module and the battery pack including the battery module according to the present invention can be applied to an automobile such as an electric car or a hybrid car.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

M: Battery module 30, 40: Electrode lead
50: secondary battery 60: secondary battery laminate
70: ICB 75: Internal connector
C: Connector for connecting the electrode lead 100: Housing
110: insertion port 200: connector terminal
300: locking lever 400: wire
500: connection

Claims (7)

A housing having an insertion port for an electrode lead;
A connector terminal electrically connected to the electrode lead; And
And a locking lever for pressing the electrode lead against the connector terminal by rotational movement. The connector according to claim 1, further comprising: a wire connected to the connector terminal; And
Further comprising a connection portion provided at the wire end portion. The connector for connecting an electrode lead according to claim 2, wherein the connecting portion is a male fastening structure of a protruding structure. The connector for connecting an electrode lead according to claim 1, wherein the insertion port is fitted with two electrode leads of a neighboring secondary battery. A secondary battery laminate comprising a plurality of secondary batteries each having an electrode lead laminated thereon;
An ICB provided in the secondary battery laminate; And
And an electrode lead connecting connector for electrically connecting the electrode lead and the ICB,
Wherein the electrode lead connecting connector comprises:
A housing having an insertion port for the electrode lead;
A connector terminal electrically connected to the electrode lead;
A locking lever for pressing the electrode lead against the connector terminal by rotational movement;
A wire electrically connected to the connector terminal; And
And a connection portion provided at the wire end portion and connected to the ICB. The battery module according to claim 5, wherein the insertion port is fitted with two electrode leads of a neighboring secondary battery. The battery module according to claim 5, wherein the ICB is formed with an internal connector to which the connecting portion can be coupled.

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