Patent Publication Number: US-2010112438-A1

Title: Energy cell package

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 97142938, filed Nov. 6, 2008, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a cell package. More particularly, the present invention relates to an energy cell package. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Energy storage parts play important roles in our daily lives since they influence the performance and the working time of electronic devices. Components such as capacitors used in the circuits and batteries used in portable devices are the most common energy storage parts. 
     In the past, the solution to backup power source is mainly lead-acid batteries. Nowadays, there are more choices available to meet the demand for backup power source, such as lithium-ion batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, and Electric Double-Layer Capacitors. 
     Lithium-ion batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, and other battery technologies are reliable power storage solutions, and they are already applied in many designs and solved many cost-related problems. However, they still possess the same problem as lead-acid batteries. Since they are based on chemical reactions, their life is limited and influenced by the temperature and current. So, in terms of durability and reliability issues, the above mentioned battery technologies pose some challenges. 
     Ultra-capacitors, also called Electric Double-Layer Capacitors (EDLC), have substantially high power density. In the past few years, these components have been used in consumer electronics, industrial and automotive applications. Today, ultra-capacitors with 20 kW/kg of power densities are already available, and they have very compact sizes (a small ultra-capacitor usually has a stamp size or even smaller). They can store a lot more energy than traditional capacitors. Faraday (F) is the unit of the capacitance value used by most ultra-capacitors, usually in 1 F to 5000 F. The discharge rate can be very quick and can also be very slow. Their life is very long and can be designed for the entire life cycle of end products. 
     High efficiency energy cells such as ultra-capacitors and magnetic capacitors will be applied in many areas in the near future. So, a package structure for the energy cells has its demand. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, an energy cell package includes an energy cell, a first substrate, first jointing components, second jointing components, and an insulating structure. The substrate has a first conductive wire and a second conductive wire thereon. The energy cell has positive contacts and negative contacts. The first jointing components are used to joint positive contacts and the first conductive wire. The second jointing components are used to joint the negative contacts and the second conductive wire. Except the part on the substrate that is plated with metal, the insulating structure coats the substrate, the energy cell, the first jointing components, and the second jointing components. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, an energy cell package includes an energy cell, a first metal substrate, a second metal substrate, first jointing components, second jointing components, and an insulating structure. The first metal substrate has an end outside the insulating structure as an external positive contact. The second metal substrate has an end outside the insulating structure as an external negative contact. The energy cell has a positive contact and a negative contact. The first jointing components are used to joint the positive contacts and the first metal substrate. The second jointing components are used to joint the negative contacts and the second metal substrate. Except the external positive contact and the external negative contact, the insulating structure coats the energy cell, the first metal substrate, the second metal substrate, the first jointing components, and the second jointing component. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of  20  this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings, 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of an energy cell package according to a first embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of an energy cell package according to a second embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiment of this invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
     The energy cells in the following embodiments are high efficiency energy cells such as super capacitors, magnetic capacitors, and miniature flat type batteries. In addition, the embodiments described below take energy cells having two positive contacts and two negative contacts for illustrative example. In other embodiments, the number of positive and negative contacts of a single energy cell can be one or more than two so as to provide various applications for different industries.  FIG. 1  is a side view of an energy cell package according to a first embodiment of the invention. The energy cell package includes an energy cell  110 , a first substrate  130 , first jointing components  150   a  and  150   b,  second jointing components  170   a  and  170   b,  and an insulating structure  190 . 
     The substrate  130  has a first conductive wire  132  and a second conductive wire  134  thereon. The energy cell  110  has positive contacts  111  and  112  and negative contacts  113  and  114 . The first jointing components  150   a  and  150   b  are used to joint positive contacts  111 ,  112  and the first conductive wire  132 . The second jointing components  170   a  and  170   b  are used to joint the negative contacts  113 ,  114  and the second conductive wire  134 . Except the part on the substrate  130  that is plated with metal (so as to be an external positive contact and an external negative contact), the insulating structure  190  coats the substrate  130 , the energy cell  110 , the first jointing components  150   a  and  150   b,  and the second jointing components  170   a  and  170   b.  The insulating structure  190  may be made of Epoxy resin, ceramic or glass. 
     The external positive contact and the external negative contact of the energy cell package may be placed on the same side, the neighboring sides, or the opposite sides according to the actual demand. In this embodiment, the external positive contact and the external negative contact are set on the same side of the energy cell package. The width of the first conductive wire  132  on the substrate  130  is greater than the width of the first jointing component  150   a  and  150   b,  and the width of the second conductive wire  134  is greater than the width of the second jointing component  170   a  and  170   b.  The material of the first jointing components  150   a  and  150   b  and the second jointing components  170   a  and  170   b  may be gold, copper, aluminum, silver, tin, combination alloy from the above metal, or other conductive material. The first jointing components  150   a  and  150   b  and the second jointing components  170   a  and  170   b  may be metal bumps, metal bonding wires, solder or other conductive material so as to achieve the goal of jointing and electrical conduction. 
       FIG. 2  is a side view of an energy cell package according to a second embodiment of the invention. The energy cell package includes an energy cell  210 , a first metal substrate  231 , a second metal substrate  232 , first jointing components  250   a  and  250   b,  second jointing components  270   a  and  270   b,  and an insulating structure  290 . 
     The first metal substrate  231  has an end outside the insulating structure as an external positive contact  241 . The second metal substrate  232  has an end outside the insulating structure as an external negative contact  242 . The energy cell  210  has a positive contact  211  and a negative contact  214 . The first jointing components  250   a  and  250   b  are used to joint the positive contacts  211 ,  212  and the first metal substrate  231 . The second jointing components  270   a  and  270   b  are used to joint the negative contacts  213 ,  214  and the second metal substrate  232 . Except the external positive contact  241  and the external negative contact  242 , the insulating structure  290  coats the energy cell  210 , the first metal substrate  231 , the second metal substrate  232 , the first jointing components  250   a  and  250   b,  and the second jointing component  270   a  and  270   b.  The insulating structure  290  may be made of Epoxy resin, ceramic or glass. 
     The external positive contact  241  and the external negative contact  242  of the energy cell package may be placed on the same side, the neighboring sides, or the opposite sides according to the actual demand. In this embodiment, the external positive contact  241  and the external negative contact  242  are set on the opposite sides of the energy cell package. The width of the first first metal substrate  231  is greater than the width of the first jointing component  250   a  and  250   b,  and the width of the second metal substrate  232  is greater than the width of the second jointing component  270   a  and  270   b.  The material of the first jointing components  250   a  and  250   b  and the second jointing components  270   a  and  270   b  may be gold, copper, aluminum, silver, tin, combination alloy from the above metal, or other conductive material. The first jointing components  250   a  and  250   b  and the second jointing components  270   a  and  270   b  may be metal bumps, metal bonding wires, solder or other conductive material so as to achieve the goal of jointing and electrical conduction. 
     As a further application, the parallel connections of different numbers of the positive contacts on the energy cell may be achieved by connecting the jointing components to the substrate first and then forming parallel connections on the substrate with appropriate means, and the same is for the negative contacts. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the embodiment without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the embodiment cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.