Patent ID: 8268477

Claim:
A secondary battery manufactured by mounting an electrode assembly having a cathode/separator/anode structure into a pouch-shaped battery case and thermally welding the electrode assembly to the battery case, wherein a pair of insulative films are attached to opposite major surfaces of each electrode lead, to which electrode taps of the electrode assembly are electrically connected, at regions contacting an upper thermally-welded portion (upper sealed portion) of the pouch-shaped battery case, the first insulative film among the pair of insulative films extends such that the lower end of the first insulative film supports a coupled region where the electrode taps are coupled to the electrode lead, and the overlapping length between the pair of insulative films is equal to or slightly greater than the height of the upper sealed portion; and a protection circuit module electrically connected to the outside end of the electrode leads, protruding from the upper sealed portion of the battery case, the electrode lead being bent toward the upper sealed portion, while the protection circuit module is connected to the electrode lead, such that the protection circuit module is mounted on the upper sealed portion, wherein the region where the electrode lead is bent is located above the upper sealed portion, and wherein only one of the pair of insulative films is attached to the region located above the upper sealed portion, corresponding to the bent region, in an asymmetrical fashion.