Patent Publication Number: US-2021194083-A1

Title: Battery, electronic device, and method for packaging battery

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201710985099.9, filed on Oct. 20, 2017, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This application relates to but not limited to, the field of electronic device, in particular to an electric core, an electronic device including the electric core and a method for packaging an electric core. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A mobile phone has become an essential electronic product in people&#39;s life. With a development of the mobile phone, an electric core of the mobile phone has also been subjected to several stages of development. 
     A first stage is an electric core with aluminum shell. The shell is shaped into a square by impact molding of aluminum material, and then a rolled core is added to form the electric core. The disadvantages lie in that, since the shell is shaped by impact molding of aluminum material, the size cannot be made large enough, especially in the length direction, due to the influence of aluminum deformation amount and material, which causes a limited size of the electric core and an insufficient capacity of the electric core. 
     A second stage is a soft-packed electric core, which is composed of an aluminum-plastic film and a rolled core. The aluminum-plastic film has a five-layer structure, and is mainly composed of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil forms the shell of the electric core through an aluminum bag formed by stamping, pressure heating, and the like and then a rolled core is added to form the electric core. The soft-packed electric core is mainly of rectangular structure, the advantages lie in that the electric capacity of the electric core may be made large enough, and the size may be made relatively large. The disadvantage lie in that the electric core is easy to cause the deformation of the outer aluminum-plastic film during the dropping process of the whole machine, which will cause the deformation of the inner rolled core and the failure of the electric core, and may cause safety accidents. Another disadvantage lies in that this kind of battery is usually pasted in the battery compartment through strong double-sided adhesive. If the battery is to be replaced, the removed battery is easy to deform during the disassembly process due to its softness, and the inner part of the electric core will also deform, resulting in potential safety hazards inside the electric core. So it cannot be reused, resulting in a lot of waste. 
     A third stage is a soft-packed special-shaped electric core, which is composed of an aluminum-plastic film and laminated positive and negative plates. The aluminum-plastic film has a five-layer structure, and is mainly composed of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil forms the shell of the electric core through an aluminum bag formed by stamping, pressure heating, and the like, and then laminated positive and negative plates are added to form the electric core. The electric core can be made into a step shape or one or several corners can be removed to adapt to the appearance design requirements of mobile phones or wearable devices, and also to meet the layout restrictions of electrical hardware. The advantages lie in that, the capacity of the electric core may be made large enough, the space of the appearance modeling of the device can be fully used, and the size may be made relatively large. The disadvantages lie in that, like the second kind of electric core, the electric core is easy to deform and fail when falling down in one aspect, and in another aspect, the battery is easy to deform when disassembled and cannot be reused. 
     How to change the problems of limited capacity and size of the electric core with aluminum shell, the failure of the soft-packed electric core upon falling down and the secondary use of the soft-packed battery are urgent problems that need to be solved. 
     SUMMARY 
     An embodiment of this application provides an electric core, an electronic device and a method for packaging an electric core. A size of a shell of the electric core and a capacity of the electric core are not limited, and the electric core is not easy to deform and fail, and can be reused. 
     An embodiment of this application provides an electric core, which includes a shell and a battery cell, herein the shell includes a steel lower shell and a steel upper shell, surfaces of the upper shell and the lower shell are provided with insulating layers, the lower shell and the upper shell are hermetically connected by welding to form a sealed cavity, and the shell is provided with a positive contact plate and a negative contact plate; 
     The battery cell is a laminated battery cell fixed in the sealed cavity, and a positive lug and a negative lug of the laminated battery cell are respectively connected with the positive contact plate and the negative contact plate. 
     In some embodiments, an embodiment of this application further provides an electronic device, including: a device body provided with a battery compartment; and the electric core described in the above embodiment of this application, which is installed in the battery compartment. 
     In some embodiments, an embodiment of this application further provides a method for packaging an electric core, herein the electric core includes a shell and a laminated battery cell, the shell includes a steel lower shell and a steel upper shell, surfaces of the upper shell and the lower shell are provided with insulating layers, the lower shell is provided with a positive contact plate and a negative contact plate, and the upper shell or the lower shell is provided with a liquid injection hole; 
     The method for packaging the electric core includes: 
     packaging the laminated battery cell into the lower shell; 
     welding a positive lug of the laminated battery with the positive contact plate of the lower shell, and welding a negative lug of the laminated battery with the negative contact plate of the lower shell; 
     buckling the upper shell to the lower shell, and hermetically welding peripheries of the upper shell and the lower shell; 
     injecting electrolyte from a liquid injection hole of the upper shell or the lower shell; 
     arranging a pressure relief valve at a position of the liquid injection hole. 
     The shell of the electric core according to the embodiment of this application includes a steel upper shell and a lower shell. The steel material has good rigidity and is easy to be shaped, so that the shell can take on various shapes (such as special-shaped shell). The laminated battery cell can be made into various shapes by laminating a positive plate, a negative plate and an isolation plate. Therefore, the electric core can take on various shapes, and can adapt to the design requirements of a mobile phone, and a wearable device etc. The steel upper shell and lower shell may be connected by welding to facilitate the sealing connection between the upper shell and the lower shell, so as to fix the battery cell in the shell. Since the shell is made of steel material, the structure of the shell has good strength and is not easy to deform, and then the battery cell in the shell is further protected from deformation, so that the battery cell may be used safely and reliably, not easy to deform and fail, and can be reused after disassembled. The surfaces of the upper shell and the lower shell are provided with insulating layers, so that the shell is not conductive to avoid leakage. 
     Other features and advantages of this present application will be set forth in a subsequent description, and will become apparent in part from the description, or will be understood by implementing this present application. The purpose and other advantages of this present application can be realized and obtained through the structure specially pointed out in the description, the claims and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are used to provide an understanding of the technical solution of this application in some embodiments, and form a part of the description. Together with the embodiments of the application, the accompanying drawings are used to explain the technical solution of this application and do not constitute a limitation of the technical solution of this application. 
         FIG. 1  is a structural diagram of an electric core provided by an embodiment of this application; 
         FIG. 2  is a breakdown structural diagram of the electric core shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged diagram of part A structure of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a structural diagram of a laminated battery cell of the electric core shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional diagram of a partial structure of the electric core shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional diagram of a partial structure of the electric core shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional diagram of a partial structure of the electric core shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 8 a -8 l    are schematic diagrams of the process of packaging the electric core. 
     
    
    
     Herein, the relationship between the reference signs and the component names in  FIGS. 1-8   l  is as follows: 
       1  upper shell,  2  lower shell,  20  positive contact plate,  21  negative contact plate,  22  insulating film,  23  liquid injection hole,  24  installation through-hole,  3  laminated battery cell,  30  positive plate,  31  negative plate,  32  separator,  33  positive lug,  34  negative lug,  4  steel ball. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of this application clearer, embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments in this application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other arbitrarily without conflict. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , this embodiment provides an electric core, including a shell and a battery cell. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the shell includes a steel lower shell  2  and a steel upper shell  1 . Since the steel material has good rigidity and is easy to shape, the upper shell  1  and the lower shell  2  may be made into various sizes and shapes (such as special-shaped shapes). Thus the shell may be made into various shapes, so as to adapt to the design requirements of electronic devices such as mobile phones or wearable devices. 
     In addition, the lower shell  2  and the upper shell  1  may be connected by welding due to the weldability of the steel material to realize the sealing connection between the upper shell  1  and the lower shell  2 , and form a sealed cavity between the upper shell  1  and the lower shell  2 , so as to hermetically fix the battery cell in the sealed cavity of the shell. 
     In addition, as the shell is made of steel, the structure of the shell has good strength and is not easy to deform, and the electric core in the shell is further protected from deformation, so that the battery cell is safe and reliable to use, not easy to deform and fail, and can be reused after disassembled. 
     In some embodiments, the surfaces of the upper shell  1  and the lower shell  2  are provided with insulating layers, so that the shell is not conductive to avoid leakage. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the battery cell is a laminated battery cell  3 , that is, the laminated battery cell  3  includes a laminated positive plate  30 , a negative plate  31  and a separator  32 . Herein, the separator  32  is arranged between the positive plate  30  and the negative plate  31 , the positive plate  30  is connected with the positive lug  33  by welding, and the negative plate  31  is connected with the negative lug  34  by welding. In some embodiments, the shell is provided with a positive contact plate  20  and a negative contact plate  21 , the positive lug  33  of the laminated battery cell  3  is connected with the positive contact plate  20  of the shell, and the negative lug  34  of the laminated battery cell  3  is connected with the positive contact plate  20  of the shell. 
     In some embodiments, both the uppermost layer and the lowermost layer of the laminated battery cell  3  are separators  32 , to prevent the positive plate  30  or the negative plate  31  from directly contacting the shell and to prevent the occurrence of leakage. 
     The laminated battery cell  3  is formed by laminating the positive plate  30 , the negative plate  31  and the isolation plate, so that the laminated battery cell  3  may take on various shapes by making the positive plate  30 , the negative plate  31  and the isolation plate of each layer into various shapes. The shell which may be made into various shapes is combined with the battery cell which may be made into various shapes, so that the electric core may take on various shapes and can better adapt to the design requirements of electronic devices such as mobile phones or wearable devices. 
     Since both the steel shell and the laminated battery cell  3  have good shaping characteristics, the shell may be shaped into a special-shaped shell with a special-shaped cross-section, and meanwhile the upper shell  1  and the lower shell  2  are also special-shaped. Correspondingly, the laminated battery cell  3  also has special-shaped shape, and adapts to the shape of the shell, so as to fix the laminated battery cell  3  in the shell. 
     In some embodiments, unlike the electric core with a shape of square generally, the special-shaped shell may have a bend, and the laminated battery cell  3  correspondingly has a bend. Alternatively, the shell has an outward convex groove, and the laminated battery cell  3  has a convex matching with the convex groove. Alternatively, the shell has an inward concave groove, and the laminated battery cell  3  has a concave matching with the concave groove. Alternatively, a corner of the shell has a cut edge, and a corner of the laminated battery cell  3  correspondingly also has a cut edge. 
     The outward convex groove of the shell may be a groove which protrudes outward at a position of the shell away from the electric core, and the inward concave groove of the shell may be a groove which protrudes towards the position of the shell close to the electric core. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , in this embodiment, an L-shaped special-shaped electric core with a missing angle and a convex plate is provided, that is to say, the installation space left for the battery in the electronic device is an L-shaped complex space with a missing angle and a convex plate. The previous battery cannot fully utilize these spaces, while the electric core of this embodiment may fully utilize these spaces, thereby greatly increasing the capacity of the electric core. Moreover, a lot of previous production process methods and materials used for protecting the electric core may be reduced in terms of the design of the whole machine. 
     The shell may be made relatively thin under the condition of meeting the strength requirements due to the good strength of steel materials. In some embodiments, the upper shell  1  and the lower shell  2  have a wall thickness of 0.07-0.15 mm, and are formed by stamping. The wall thickness is basically the same as the thickness of the aluminum-plastic film used for the soft-packed electric core, but the strength is much stronger than that of the aluminum-plastic film used for the soft-packed electric core, so that the electric core may not be easily deformed. In addition, making the shell thinner may save materials and reduce costs, and meanwhile, may help to reduce the volume occupied by the shell, which is convenient to make the laminated battery cell relatively larger to increase the capacity of the electric core. 
     In some embodiments, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , the lower shell  2  is provided with an installation through-hole  24 . The negative contact plate  21  is embedded in the installation through-hole  24 , and an insulating film  22  is arranged between the negative contact plate  21  and the lower shell  2  to insulate the negative contact plate  21  and the lower shell  2 , so as to prevent the lower shell  2  from conducting electricity, and generating electric leakage, etc. Then, the negative lug  34  is connected to the negative contact plate  21  by welding. 
     In some embodiments, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 6 , the lower shell  2  is provided with a convex protruding outwards. The convex and the lower shell  2  are of an integrated structure. The convex may be used as the positive contact plate  20 , and the positive lug  33  may be connected by welding to the lower shell  2  at a position of the convex. 
     Of course, the positive contact plate and the negative contact plate may also be in other forms. For example, the lower shell is provided with an installation through-hole, the positive contact plate is embedded in the installation through-hole, and an insulating film is arranged between the positive contact plate and the lower shell; the lower shell is provided with a convex with an integrated structure, and the convex is the negative contact plate. Alternatively, the lower shell is provided with two installation through-holes, and both the positive contact plate and the negative contact plate are embedded in the installation through-holes and insulating films are arranged between each of the contact plates and the lower shell. Alternatively, both the positive contact plate and the negative contact plate may be arranged on the upper shell. Alternatively, one of the positive contact plate and the negative contact plate may be arranged on the upper shell and the other one is arranged on the lower shell. 
     As the steel shell is not easy to deform, the positive contact plate  20  and the negative contact plate  21  arranged on the steel shell are not easy to deform, and may be used as the external contact points for connecting the electric core with an electronic device such as a mobile phone, so that the electric core may be used to supply power for the electronic device without secondary packaging process. Therefore, in order to remove the secondary packaging process of the electric core, a battery protection board is arranged on a control main board of the electronic device such as the mobile phone. In this way, the electric core may be directly delivered to a mobile phone assembly plant for mobile phone assembly after leaving the factory. It is no longer necessary to re-package the electric core, thereby greatly improving the production efficiency of the whole machine industry, reducing a complex battery packaging production process and saving production costs. The electric core of this embodiment has changed the production process of the whole battery industry and further influenced the relevant certification standards in the battery industry, which is an earth-shaking change. 
     In some embodiments, the shell is provided with a liquid injection hole  23  from which electrolyte may be injected into the shell. 
     In some embodiments, a pressure relief valve is arranged at the liquid injection hole  23 . When the pressure in the shell is too large, the pressure relief valve may be opened to relieve the pressure, so as to prevent the shell from exploding due to excessive internal pressure and danger. 
     In some embodiments, in this embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the lower shell  2  is provided with a liquid injection hole  23 , of course, the liquid injection hole  23  may also be arranged on the upper shell  1 . The pressure relief valve is a steel ball  4  which is in interference fit with the liquid injection hole  23 , herein the fit of the steel ball  4  can be tested to give an appropriate interference amount. The steel ball  4  is in sealing fit with the liquid injection hole  23 , so that the ball  4  may seal the liquid injection hole  23 . In addition, when the internal pressure of the shell is too large (such as due to the generation of gas), the pressure may push the steel ball  4  out and open the liquid injection hole  23 , so that the internal gas or electrolyte may be discharged from the liquid injection hole  23  to prevent the shell from exploding due to excessive internal pressure and danger. 
     In conclusion, the biggest difference between the electric core of this embodiment and the existing electric core lies in that the steel shell is adopted to replace the former aluminum shell and aluminum-plastic film, and the steel material has the characteristics of good strength and weldability, so that the steel material may be used to manufacture the shell of the battery cell. The positive contact plate  20  and the negative contact plate  21  are directly added to the steel shell as external contact points for the connection of the electric core with the devices such as the mobile phone, and the battery protection board is arranged on the control main board of the electronic devices such as the mobile phone, so that the electric core may be used for mobile phone assembly without secondary packaging. 
     The shell of the electric core is made of steel sheet with a thickness of 0.07-0.15 mm. The wall thickness of the shell is thin, and the strength is greatly enhanced compared with that of the soft-packed electric core. The shell will not be deformed and damaged due to the dropping of the whole machine, making the use of the electric core safe and reliable, and the electric core may be used for secondary use after disassembled, thereby saving costs. 
     The impact molding performance of the steel sheet is good, which make the size of the shell be not limited, so that the shell of the electric core may be made into the shape of removing corner edges or be made into a stepped shape. The laminated battery cell  3  may be made into a corresponding shape, so that the electric core may be special-shaped, which may meet the complex modeling requirements of the electronic device such as the mobile phone or wearable device, and make full use of the design space, to meet the requirements of increasing the capacity of the electric core and the strength of the electric core. 
     This embodiment provides an electronic device (not shown), including a device body provided with a battery compartment and an electric core described in embodiment 1, herein the electric core is installed in the battery compartment. 
     The electronic device of this embodiment includes the electric core described in embodiment 1, so it also has all beneficial effects of the electric core described in embodiment 1. 
     As the shell of the electric core is a steel shell with good strength, the electric core may be fixed in the battery compartment not only by bonding, but also by clamping. For example, a buckle and a buckling position may be provided respectively in the shell of the electric core and the battery compartment and the electric core is fixed in the battery compartment by buckling the buckle and the buckling position. The electric core fixed by clamping is convenient to disassemble and assemble, which is convenient to replace the electric core and recycle the electric core. 
     In some embodiments, the device body includes a control main board on which a battery protection board is welded, and the battery protection board is connected with the electric core. 
     As the electric core has a good strength in the whole, not easy to deform, and may be directly used for supplying power to electronic devices, the battery protection board is installed on the control main board instead of the electric core, in this way the electric core may be directly delivered to a mobile phone assembly plant for mobile phone assembly after leaving the factory, without secondary packaging of the electric core, which may greatly improve the production efficiency of the whole machine industry, reduce a complex battery packaging production process and save the production cost. 
     This embodiment provides a method for packaging an electric core. Herein the electric core includes a shell and a laminated battery cell, and the shell includes a steel lower shell and a steel upper shell. Surfaces of the upper shell and the lower shell are provided with insulating layers. The lower shell is provided with a positive contact plate and a negative contact plate, and the upper shell or the lower shell is provided with a liquid injection hole. 
     The method for packaging the electric core includes the following steps: 
     S1: packaging the laminated battery cell  3  into the lower shell  2 ; 
     S2: welding the positive lug  33  of the laminated battery with the positive contact plate  20  of the lower shell  2 , and welding the negative lug  34  of the laminated battery with the negative contact plate  21  of the lower shell  2 ; 
     S3: buckling the upper shell  1  to the lower shell  2 , and hermetically welding peripheries of the upper shell  1  and the lower shell  2 ; 
     S4: injecting electrolyte from a liquid injection hole  23 ; 
     S5: arranging a pressure relief valve at the liquid injection hole  23 . 
     The assembly process of the laminated battery cell  3  is as follows: first, as shown in  FIG. 8 a   , the positive plate  30 , the negative plate  31  and the separator  32  are laminated layer by layer, herein the separator  32  is arranged between the positive plate  30  and the negative plate  31 ; then, as shown in  FIGS. 8 b  and 8 c   , the positive plate  30  is connected to the positive lug  33  by welding, and the negative plate  31  is connected to the negative lug  34  by welding. 
     In the packaging method of this embodiment, after the laminated battery cell  3  is assembled, the laminated battery cell  3  is placed into the lower shell  2 , as shown in  FIG. 8   d.    
     Then, the laminated battery cell  3  is connected to the positive contact plate  20  and the negative contact plate  21  by welding. First, the positive lug  33  is welded with the positive contact plate  20 . Since the positive contact plate  20  is a convex which is integrated with the lower shell  2 , the welding connection between the positive contact plate  20  and the positive lug  33  may be realized by welding the positive lug  33  with the lower shell  2  at the convex position, as shown in  FIG. 8 e   . Then the negative lug  34  and the negative contact plate  21  are welded. As shown in  FIGS. 8 f  and 8 g   , the negative contact plate  21  and the insulating film  22  which is required to isolate and insulate the negative contact plate  21  and the lower shell  2  are embedded into an installation through-hole  24  of the lower shell  2 , and then the negative contact plate  21  and the negative lug  34  are welded. 
     After the connection between the laminated battery cell  3  and the lower shell  2  is completed, as shown in  FIG. 8 h   , the upper shell  1  is buckled to the lower shell  2 , and then the periphery of the upper shell  1  are welded with the periphery of the lower shell  2 , as shown in  FIG. 8 i   , so that the connection between the upper shell  1  and the lower shell  2  is sealed. 
     Then, as shown in  FIG. 8 j   , electrolyte is injected into the sealed shell at the liquid injection hole  23  of the lower shell  2 ; 
     After the completion of electrolyte injection, as shown in  FIGS. 8 k  and 8 l   , a steel ball  4  is pressed into the liquid injection hole  23 , and the steel ball  4  and the liquid injection hole  23  are in a state of interference fit. The liquid injection hole  23  may be sealed to prevent the electrolyte from flowing out of the liquid injection hole  23 , and the packaging of the electric core is completed at this time. 
     It should be noted that in the description of this application, the terms “up”, “down” and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, only for convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the indicated apparatus or elements must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, so it cannot be understood as limitations of this application. 
     Although the implementations disclosed in this application have been described above, the described contents are only the implementations adopted for convenience of understanding this application, and are not used to limit this application. Any person skilled in the art to which this application belongs may make any modifications and changes in the form and details of implementation without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed in this application, but the scope of patent protection of this application shall still be subject to the scope defined in the appended claims.