Patent ID: 8828583

Claim:
A battery module, comprising: a plurality of flat batteries stacked upon one another in a thickness direction and having an outer cover and plate-shaped electrode terminals connected to each other; a power generating element sealed within the outer cover of each of the plurality of flat batteries, wherein the electrode terminals include substantially flat plates connected to the power generating element and projecting out of the outer cover in a projecting direction; a bus bar that connects the electrode terminals of each of the plurality of flat batteries; and a plurality of electrically insulating spacers receiving the electrode terminals of more than one of the flat batteries and stacked in the thickness direction of the flat batteries, wherein at least one of the insulating spacers has at least one opening along a projecting direction of at least one of the electrode terminals so as to expose a portion of the at least one electrode terminal, wherein the electrically insulating spacers directly support the electrode terminals spaced from each other in the thickness direction of the flat batteries, and wherein a pair of adjacent spacers form a fixing mechanism that directly fixes tabs of the electrode terminals therebetween.