Patent ID: 8148010

Claim:
A bipolar battery, comprising: a battery element including at least one electrolyte layer and at least one bipolar electrode alternately stacked, each bipolar electrode comprising a cathode formed at a first side of a collector and an anode formed at an opposite side of the collector, wherein one of the at least one bipolar electrode has a cathode terminal electrode contacting a cathode terminal plate and one of the at least one bipolar electrode has an anode terminal electrode contacting an anode terminal plate, wherein the cathode and anode terminal plates are configured to produce a total electrical resistance in the cathode and anode terminal plates along a surface direction of the battery element that is less than the total electrical resistance of the battery element along the stacking direction between the cathode and anode terminal plates; and a pressing unit forming a single layer adjacent one of the cathode and anode terminal plates and configured to simultaneously apply a plurality of pressing forces with different strengths to a plurality of positions within the layer along the surface direction of the battery element, wherein a ratio of the total electrical resistance along the surface direction to the total electrical resistance of the battery element along the stacking direction is equal to or less than 0.01.