Source: https://patents.com/us-20180108896.html
Timestamp: 2019-10-20 17:24:39
Document Index: 257254495

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 62', 'Application No. 62', 'Application No. 62', 'Application No. 62', 'Application No. 62', 'Application No. 62', 'Application No. 62', 'Application No. 62', 'Application No. 62']

Application # 2018/0108896. HYBRID CONTACT PLATE ARRANGEMENT CONFIGURED TO ESTABLISH ELECTRICAL BONDS TO BATTERY CELLS IN A BATTERY MODULE - Patents.com
United States Patent Application 20180108896
HYBRID CONTACT PLATE ARRANGEMENT CONFIGURED TO ESTABLISH ELECTRICAL BONDS TO BATTERY CELLS IN A BATTERY MODULE
An embodiment is directed to a hybrid contact plate arrangement in a battery module that includes a plurality of contact plates configured to be arranged on a given side of a set of battery cells in the battery module, at least one insulation layer configured to provide insulation between each of the plurality of contact plates, wherein the set of battery cells includes a plurality of groups of battery cells, and wherein the plurality of contact plates each include a set of bonding connectors, the sets of bonding connectors being configured to connect to the positive and negative terminals of the plurality of groups of battery cells so as to connect battery cells in each of the plurality of groups of battery cells in parallel with each other, and to connect the plurality of groups of battery cells in series with each other.
Family ID: 1000002767268
Appl. No.: 15/641836
Current CPC Class: H01M 2220/20 20130101; H01M 2/206 20130101
International Class: H01M 2/20 20060101 H01M002/20
1. A hybrid contact plate arrangement configured to establish electrical bonds between battery cells in a battery module, comprising: a plurality of contact plates configured to be arranged on a given side of a set of battery cells in the battery module; at least one insulation layer configured to provide insulation between each of the plurality of contact plates, wherein the set of battery cells includes a plurality of groups of battery cells, and wherein the plurality of contact plates each include a set of bonding connectors, the sets of bonding connectors being configured to connect to positive and negative terminals of the plurality of groups of battery cells so as to connect battery cells in each of the plurality of groups of battery cells in parallel with each other, and to connect the plurality of groups of battery cells in series with each other.
2. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of contact plates is configured as a multi-layer contact plate that includes: at least one primary conductive layer, and a cell terminal connection layer that is joined with the at least one primary conductive layer, wherein a portion of the cell terminal connection layer is configured to form the set of bonding connectors for the multi-layer contact plate so as to provide a direct electrical bond between the multi-layer contact plate and terminals of at least one of the plurality of groups of battery cells.
3. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 1, wherein an overall thickness of each of the plurality of contact plates is controlled so as to be thicker in portions with a higher current expectation and thinner in portions with a lower current expectation.
4. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 3, wherein the plurality of contact plates includes a negative pole contact plate that is connected to a negative pole of the battery module, a positive pole contact plate that is connected to a positive pole of the battery module and at least one center contact plate that is configured to connect two groups of battery cells in series with each other.
5. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 4, wherein the negative pole contact plate is configured to be thicker near a first end of the negative pole contact plate corresponding to the negative pole and to be thinner near a second end of the negative pole contact plate that is opposite the first end.
6. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 4, wherein the positive pole contact plate is configured to be thicker near a first end of the positive pole contact plate corresponding to the positive pole and to be thinner near a second end of the positive pole contact plate that is opposite the first end.
7. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 4, wherein a thickest area of the at least one center contact plate is aligned with a dividing region between a first set of contact areas and a second set of contact areas, wherein the first set of contact areas is configured to provide a first set of terminal connections between the at least one center contact plate and cell terminals of a first group of battery cells that are configured to be connected in parallel with each other, wherein the second set of contact areas is configured to provide a second set of terminal connections between the at least one center contact plate and cell terminals of a second group of battery cells that are configured to be connected in parallel with each other, and wherein the first and second groups of battery cells are connected in series with each other via the first and second sets of terminal connections.
8. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of contact plates includes a plurality of contact areas, each contact area of each plurality of contact areas being a hole in at least one primary conductive layer of a respective contact plate where a bonding connector is used to form a direct electrical bond with a battery cell terminal.
9. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 8, wherein the plurality of contact plates in the hybrid contact plate arrangement are arranged such that each contact area in each of the plurality of contact plates is aligned with a contact area of another contact plate to form an aligned pair of contact areas.
10. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 9, wherein each aligned pair of contact areas includes: a first set of bonding connectors configured to form a direct electrical bond between a first contact plate and at least one positive terminal of at least one battery cell; and a second set of bonding connectors configured to form a direct electrical bond between a second contact plate and at least one negative terminal of the at least one battery cell.
11. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 4, wherein the at least one center contact plate includes a single center contact plate.
12. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 11, wherein the negative pole contact plate includes a plurality of contact areas aligned with a first set of contact areas in a given center contact plate of the at least one contact plate, and wherein the positive pole contact plate includes a plurality of contact areas aligned with a second set of contact areas in the given center contact plate.
13. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 4, wherein the at least one center contact plate includes a plurality of center contact plates.
14. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 11, wherein the negative pole contact plate includes a plurality of contact areas aligned with a first set of contact areas in a first center contact plate, wherein the positive pole contact plate includes a plurality of contact areas aligned with a first set of contact areas in a second center contact plate, and wherein the first and second center contact plates each include a second set of contact areas.
15. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 14, wherein the second sets of contact areas of the first and second center contact plates are aligned with each other, or wherein the second sets of contact areas of the first and second center contact plates are aligned with contact areas of one or more intervening center contact plates.
16. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of contact plates include a plurality of holes that each function as a contact area where a given bonding connector is configured to connect to positive and/or negative terminals of one or more battery cells, and wherein, for a given hole, the given bonding connector is configured to connect to a corresponding contact plate inside the given hole.
17. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 16, wherein, for the given hole, the given bonding connector is configured to connect to an interior sidewall of the given hole.
18. The hybrid contact plate arrangement of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of contact plates is configured as a single-layer contact plate.
[0001] The present Application for Patent claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/408,428 with attorney docket no. INEV-000AP1, entitled "SANDWICH-CONTACTPLATE FOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTION BATTERY CELLS", filed Oct. 14, 2016, and also of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/431,067 with attorney docket no. INEV-000AP2, entitled "SANDWICH-CONTACTPLATE FOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTION BATTERY CELLS", filed Dec. 7, 2016, and also of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/408,437 with attorney docket no. INEV-000BP1, entitled "CELL DESIGN FOR CYLINDRICAL CELLS", filed Oct. 14, 2016, and also of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/414,263 with attorney docket no. INEV-000IP1, entitled "SPECIAL FUSE DESIGN FOR ARC AVOIDANCE", filed Oct. 28, 2016, and also of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/422,097 with attorney docket no. INEV-000JP1, entitled "DESIGN OF ELECTRICAL CONTACT ON CELL RIM TO OPTIMIZE BUSBAR CROSS-SECTION", filed Nov. 15, 2016, and also of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/438,800 with attorney docket no. INEV-000JP2, entitled "DESIGN OF ELECTRICAL CONTACT ON CELL RIM TO OPTIMIZE BUSBAR CROSS-SECTION", filed Dec. 23, 2016, and also of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/414,224 with attorney docket no. INEV-000FP1, entitled "CONTACT PLATE FOR OPTIMIZED CURRENT DENSITY", filed Oct. 28, 2016, and also of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/422,099 with attorney docket no. INEV-000KP1, entitled "INTEGRATED PLUG CONTACT IN CONTACT PLATE OF CELL MODULE", filed Nov. 15, 2016, and also of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/422,113 with attorney docket no. INEV-0000P1, entitled "COOLING SYSTEM FOR BATTERY PACKS WITH HEATPIPES", filed Nov. 15, 2016, each of which is by the same inventors as the subject application, assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0002] Embodiments relate to a hybrid contact plate arrangement configured to establish electrical bonds to battery cells in a battery module.
[0004] An embodiment is directed to a hybrid contact plate arrangement in a battery module that includes a plurality of contact plates configured to be arranged on a given side of a set of battery cells in the battery module, at least one insulation layer configured to provide insulation between each of the plurality of contact plates, wherein the set of battery cells includes a plurality of groups of battery cells, and wherein the plurality of contact plates each include a set of bonding connectors, the sets of bonding connectors being configured to connect to the positive and negative terminals of the plurality of groups of battery cells so as to connect battery cells in each of the plurality of groups of battery cells in parallel with each other, and to connect the plurality of groups of battery cells in series with each other.
[0144] As discussed above with respect to FIGS. 15A-15B, current density may increase at the positive and negative poles of a battery module (e.g., near the respective HV connectors 205 described above with respect to FIG. 6B). The HV connectors 205 may have a higher resistance relative to the resistance of the HV busbars that connect adjacent battery modules to each other. The higher resistance at these locations may likewise cause an increase in temperature at these locations (e.g., near the respective HV connectors 205 described above with respect to FIG. 6B) which may also spread to the HV busbars. Higher temperatures at these locations of the battery module limit the maximum power that may be charged or discharged by the battery module. This may be especially problematic for certain high-power applications that require fast charging (e.g., electric vehicles, which may require charging to approximately 350 kW in a short period).
[0156] As will be appreciated, using contact plates with preassembled bonding connectors as shown in FIGS. 16A-16B may provide a variety of benefits to battery modules. These benefits include (i) facilitating the use of a parallel production line, leading to reduced production time for battery modules, (ii) facilitating the use of preassembly by a separate entity such as a supplier (e.g., although in alternative embodiments, a battery module assembler could also be the producer of the contact plates with preassembled bonding ribbons), and (iii) variability in length and position (very flexible). It will be appreciated that these same benefits may also be achieved using bonding connectors in multi-layer contact plates formed from an integrated cell terminal connection layer, as described above. Accordingly, attaching bonding connectors to the contact areas of a contact plate (e.g., as in FIGS. 16A-16B) and forming bonding connectors from an integrated cell terminal connection layer of a multi-layer contact plate (e.g., as in FIG. 9, FIG. 11, etc.) constitute two alternative ways of preassembling a contact plate with bonding connectors (e.g., preassembled in the sense that the bonding connectors are part of the associated contact plate before battery module assembly, such that a technician need not weld the bonding connectors to the contact plate during battery module assembly).
[0171] In a further embodiment with respect to the bonding connector welding examples described with respect to FIGS. 16F-16G, soldering (or welding) of a bonding connector to a positive or negative terminal of a battery cell may be facilitated via a soldering compound. In one example, the soldering compound may include a reactive multi-layer foil (e.g., NanoFoil or similar product). The soldering compound may be glued or printed onto a respective bonding connector and, once soldered, may help to form the electrical connection (or electrical bond) between the respective contact plate and a respective terminal of the battery cell. In an example, the soldering compound is separate from the bonding connector itself
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