Patent ID: 7605562

Claim:
A rechargeable battery module, comprising: a plurality of unit batteries; a housing that holds the unit batteries and allows air flow through it; and a central structure coupled with safety valves that are provided in the unit batteries, wherein the unit batteries are divided into at least a first battery column and a second battery column, and where in the first battery column and the second battery column are arranged on opposite sides of the central structure; the unit batteries of the first battery column are stacked in a first direction and have a positive and negative terminal, the unit batteries of the second battery column are stacked in the first direction and have a positive and negative terminal, and the positive and negative terminals of the unit batteries in the first battery column and the positive and negative terminals of the unit batteries in the second battery column face each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction while extending from the unit batteries into the central structure.