PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9012055-B2
Application Number: US-201213490312-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Mechanical supports for improving resistance to mechanical stress in battery cells

Abstract:
The disclosed embodiments provide a battery cell. The battery cell includes a set of layers including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The battery cell also includes a pouch enclosing the layers, wherein the pouch is flexible. The resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress may be improved by removing material from one or more of the layers to form one or more apertures within the battery cell and placing a mechanical support in each of the apertures.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for manufacturing a battery cell, comprising:
 obtaining a set of layers for the battery cell, wherein the set of layers comprises a cathode layer with an active coating, a separator, and an anode layer with an active coating; 
 removing material from one or more of the layers to form one or more apertures within the battery cell, wherein the one or more apertures extend through the anode layer and the cathode layer; and 
 placing a mechanical support in each of the one or more apertures to improve a resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sealing the layers in a pouch to form the battery cell, wherein the pouch is flexible. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 stacking the layers prior to sealing the layers in the pouch. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 winding the layers to create a jelly roll prior to sealing the layers in the pouch. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 further forming the one or more apertures outside the pouch. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more apertures:
 extend through pouch material for the pouch outside the battery cell; or terminate at the pouch material outside the battery cell. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more apertures:
 extend through all of the layers within the battery cell; or 
 extend through all of the anode and the cathode layers within the battery cell. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mechanical support comprises at least one of:
 plastic; 
 polycarbonate; 
 ceramic; 
 polypropylene; 
 polymer-coated metal; and 
 a thermally conductive material. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mechanical support corresponds to at least one of a post, a spacer, and a disk. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more apertures forms at least one of a circle, a rib, and a lozenge. 
     
     
       11. A battery cell, comprising:
 a set of layers comprising a cathode layer with an active coating, a separator, and an anode layer with an active coating; 
 a mechanical support disposed in an aperture of the battery cell; and 
 a pouch enclosing the layers, wherein the pouch is flexible, wherein material has been removed from one or more of the layers to form the aperture that extends through the anode layer and the cathode layer. 
 
     
     
       12. The battery cell of  claim 11 , wherein the aperture is further formed outside the pouch. 
     
     
       13. The battery cell of  claim 12 , wherein the aperture:
 extends through pouch material for the pouch outside the battery cell; or 
 terminates at the pouch material outside the battery cell. 
 
     
     
       14. The battery cell of  claim 11 , wherein the aperture:
 extends through all of the layers within the battery cell; or 
 extends through all of the anode and the cathode layers within the battery cell. 
 
     
     
       15. The battery cell of  claim 11 , wherein the mechanical support comprises at least one of:
 plastic; 
 polycarbonate; 
 ceramic; 
 polypropylene; 
 polymer-coated metal; and 
 a thermally conductive material. 
 
     
     
       16. The battery cell of  claim 11 , wherein the mechanical support corresponds to at least one of a post, a spacer, and a disk. 
     
     
       17. The battery cell of  claim 11 , wherein the aperture forms at least one of a circle, a rib, and a lozenge. 
     
     
       18. The battery cell of  claim 11 , wherein the layers are stacked or wound to form the battery cell. 
     
     
       19. A portable electronic device, comprising:
 a set of components powered by a battery pack; and 
 the battery pack, comprising: 
 a battery cell, comprising: 
 a set of layers comprising at least one cathode layer with an active coating, 
 a separator, 
 at least one anode layer with an active coating, 
 a mechanical support disposed in an aperture formed by removing material from the at least one anode layer and the at least one cathode layer; and 
 a pouch enclosing the layers, wherein the pouch is flexible. 
 
     
     
       20. The portable electronic device of  claim 19 , wherein the aperture is further formed outside the pouch. 
     
     
       21. The portable electronic device of  claim 20 , wherein the aperture:
 extends through pouch material for the pouch outside the battery cell; or 
 terminates at the pouch material outside the battery cell. 
 
     
     
       22. The portable electronic device of  claim 19 , wherein the aperture:
 extends through all of the layers within the battery cell; or 
 extends through all of the anode and the cathode layers within the battery cell. 
 
     
     
       23. The portable electronic device of  claim 19 , wherein the mechanical support comprises at least one of:
 plastic; 
 polycarbonate; 
 ceramic; 
 polypropylene; 
 polymer-coated metal; and 
 a thermally conductive material. 
 
     
     
       24. The portable electronic device of  claim 19 , wherein the mechanical support corresponds to at least one of a post, a spacer, and a disk. 
     
     
       25. The portable electronic device of  claim 19 , wherein the mechanical support further forms a portion of an enclosure for the portable electronic device.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The disclosed embodiments relate to batteries for portable electronic devices. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to mechanical supports that improve the resistance of battery cells in portable electronic devices to mechanical stress. 
     2. Related Art 
     Rechargeable batteries are presently used to provide power to a wide variety of portable electronic devices, including laptop computers, tablet computers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital music players and cordless power tools. The most commonly used type of rechargeable battery is a lithium battery, which can include a lithium-ion or a lithium-polymer battery. 
     Lithium-polymer batteries often include cells that are packaged in flexible pouches. Such pouches are typically lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture. Moreover, these pouches may be tailored to various cell dimensions, allowing lithium-polymer batteries to be used in space-constrained portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers, and/or digital cameras. For example, a lithium-polymer battery cell may achieve a packaging efficiency of 90-95% by enclosing rolled electrodes and electrolyte in an aluminized laminated pouch. Multiple pouches may then be placed side-by-side within the enclosure of a portable electronic device and electrically coupled in series and/or in parallel to form a battery for the portable electronic device. Because the enclosure for the portable electronic device provides physical protection for the pouches, the pouches may not require an additional battery enclosure, thus providing weight and space savings and/or increased battery capacity in the portable electronic device. 
     Conversely, the lack of a rigid, sealed battery enclosure may increase the susceptibility of lithium-polymer batteries to faults caused by mechanical stress. Such faults may occur during assembly of the batteries, installation of the batteries in portable electronic devices, and/or use of the portable electronic devices. For example, the dropping of an object onto a lightweight portable electronic device may dent the portable electronic device&#39;s enclosure, as well as a lithium-polymer battery underneath the enclosure. The dent may deform, weaken, and/or compress the battery&#39;s electrodes and/or separator, thus compromising the integrity of the battery and potentially resulting in degraded performance, a short circuit, chemical leakage, and/or another fault in the battery. 
     Hence, the use of portable electronic devices may be facilitated by mechanisms that improve the resistance of lithium-polymer battery cells to mechanical stress. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosed embodiments provide a battery cell. The battery cell includes a set of layers including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The battery cell also includes a pouch enclosing the layers, wherein the pouch is flexible. The resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress may be improved by removing material from one or more of the layers to form one or more apertures within the battery cell and placing a mechanical support in each of the apertures. 
     In some embodiments, the one or more apertures are further formed outside the pouch. For example, the aperture(s) may extend through pouch material for the pouch outside the battery cell or terminate at the pouch material outside the battery cell. 
     In some embodiments, the aperture(s) extend through all of the layers within the battery cell or extend through the anode and the cathode layers within the battery cell. 
     In some embodiments, the mechanical support includes an electrically inert material such as plastic, polycarbonate, ceramic, polypropylene, and/or polymer-coated metal. The mechanical support may also include a thermally conductive material to facilitate heat transfer within a portable electronic device containing the battery cell. 
     In some embodiments, the mechanical support corresponds to at least one of a post, a spacer, and a disk. 
     In some embodiments, each of the aperture(s) forms at least one of a circle, a rib, and a lozenge. 
     In some embodiments, the layers are stacked or wound to form the battery cell. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  shows the placement of a battery in a computer system in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  shows a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  shows a cross-sectional view of a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  shows a cross-sectional view of a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  shows a cross-sectional view of a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  shows a cross-sectional view of a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 7  shows a top-down view of a set of layers for a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 8  shows an exemplary arrangement of apertures in a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 9  shows a flowchart illustrating the process of manufacturing a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
         FIG. 10  shows a portable electronic device in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. 
     
    
    
     In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same figure elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. 
     The data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system. The computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital video discs), or other media capable of storing code and/or data now known or later developed. 
     The methods and processes described in the detailed description section can be embodied as code and/or data, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium as described above. When a computer system reads and executes the code and/or data stored on the computer-readable storage medium, the computer system performs the methods and processes embodied as data structures and code and stored within the computer-readable storage medium. 
     Furthermore, methods and processes described herein can be included in hardware modules or apparatus. These modules or apparatus may include, but are not limited to, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a dedicated or shared processor that executes a particular software module or a piece of code at a particular time, and/or other programmable-logic devices now known or later developed. When the hardware modules or apparatus are activated, they perform the methods and processes included within them. 
       FIG. 1  shows the placement of a battery  100  in a computer system  102  in accordance with an embodiment. Computer system  102  may correspond to a laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), portable media player, mobile phone, digital camera, tablet computer, and/or other portable electronic device. Battery  100  may correspond to a lithium-polymer battery and/or other type of power source for computer system  102 . For example, battery  100  may correspond to a lithium-polymer battery that includes one or more cells packaged in flexible pouches. The cells may then be connected in series and/or in parallel and used to power computer system  102 . 
     In one or more embodiments, battery  100  is designed to accommodate the space constraints of computer system  102 . For example, battery  100  may include cells of different sizes and thicknesses that are placed side-by-side, placed top-to-bottom, and/or stacked within computer system  102  to fill up the free space within computer system  102 . The use of space within computer system  102  may additionally be optimized by omitting a separate enclosure for battery  100 . For example, battery  100  may include non-removable pouches of lithium-polymer cells encased directly within the enclosure for computer system  102 . As a result, the cells of battery  100  may be larger than the cells of a comparable removable battery, which in turn may provide increased battery capacity and weight savings over the removable battery. 
     On the other hand, the elimination of a separate, sealed enclosure for battery  100  may increase the susceptibility of battery  100  to contamination and/or damage. First, battery  100  may be physically vulnerable until battery  100  is encased within the enclosure for computer system  102 . In addition, the enclosure for computer system  102  may provide limited protection against mechanical stress on battery  100 . For example, the dropping of computer system  102  onto a hard surface and/or a hard object onto computer system  102  may dent both the enclosure for computer system  102  and one or more cells of battery  100 . The dent may also deform, compress, and/or weaken the electrodes within the cell(s), potentially resulting in shortened cycle life, reduced capacity, an electrical short, chemical leakage, and/or other fault or failure in battery  100 . Battery  100  may thus be susceptible to physical damage during assembly, installation in computer system  102 , and/or use of computer system  102 . 
     In one or more embodiments, the resistance of battery  100  to mechanical stress is improved by forming one or more apertures within battery  100  and placing a mechanical support in each aperture. As discussed in further detail below, the aperture(s) may be formed by removing material from one or more layers of a battery cell, including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. For example, each aperture may form a circle, lozenge, and/or rib within the battery cell and extend through all the layers or through the cathode and/or anode layers. 
     The aperture(s) may be further formed outside a pouch enclosing the layers. In particular, the aperture(s) may extend through pouch material for the pouch outside the battery cell or terminate at the pouch material outside the battery cell. A post, spacer, and/or disk containing an electrically inert and/or thermally conductive material may then be placed in each aperture to transmit structural loads through the battery cell instead of onto the layers of the battery cell, thus mitigating the formation of dents and/or other localized deformations in the battery cell. The transmission of structural loads provided by the post, spacer, and/or disk may additionally reduce the thickness of the enclosure required to meet structural load specifications for battery  100  and/or computer system  102 , thus providing space savings and/or increased battery capacity over computer systems lacking such mechanical supports. 
       FIG. 2  shows a battery cell  200  in accordance with an embodiment. Battery cell  200  may correspond to a lithium-polymer cell that is used to power a portable electronic device. Battery cell  200  includes a jelly roll  202  containing a number of layers which are wound together, including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. More specifically, jelly roll  202  may include one strip of cathode material (e.g., aluminum foil coated with a lithium compound) and one strip of anode material (e.g., copper foil coated with carbon) separated by one strip of separator material (e.g., conducting polymer electrolyte). The cathode, anode, and separator layers may then be wound on a mandrel to form a spirally wound structure (e.g., jelly roll  202 ). Alternatively, the layers may be used to form other types of battery cell structures, such as bi-cell structures and/or stacked electrode structures. 
     During assembly of battery cell  200 , jelly roll  202  is enclosed in a flexible pouch, which is formed by folding a flexible sheet along a fold line  212 . For example, the flexible sheet may be made of aluminum with a polymer film, such as polypropylene and/or polyethylene. After the flexible sheet is folded, the flexible sheet can be sealed, for example by applying heat along a side seal  210  and along a terrace seal  208 . 
     Jelly roll  202  also includes a set of conductive tabs  206  coupled to the cathode and the anode. Conductive tabs  206  may extend through seals in the pouch (for example, formed using sealing tape  204 ) to provide terminals for battery cell  200 . Conductive tabs  206  may then be used to electrically couple battery cell  200  with one or more other battery cells to form a battery pack. For example, the battery pack may be formed by coupling the battery cells in a series, parallel, or series-and-parallel configuration. 
       FIG. 3  shows a cross-sectional view of a battery cell (e.g., battery cell  200  of  FIG. 2 ) in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. As described above, the battery cell may contain a set of layers  302 , including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The layers may be wound to create a jelly roll for the battery cell, such as jelly roll  202  of  FIG. 2 . Alternatively, the layers may be stacked to form other types of battery cell structures. The layers may then be enclosed in a flexible pouch  304  to form the battery cell, and the battery cell may be used to power components in a portable electronic device. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , an aperture  306  may be formed in the battery cell by removing material from layers  302  and sealing layers  302  in pouch  304  so that aperture  306  opens along the top of the battery cell and is lined with pouch material from the pouch. For example, aperture  306  may correspond to a circular hole, a lozenge, and/or a rib in the battery cell. In addition, aperture  306  may be configured to extend through the pouch material by removing pouch material along the bottom of the battery cell within aperture  306  and forming a seal  310  in pouch  304  next to the removed pouch material. A mechanical support  308  composed of plastic, polycarbonate, ceramic, polypropylene, polymer-coated metal, and/or another type of stiff, electrically inert material may then be placed in aperture  306  to improve the resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress. For example, mechanical support  308  may correspond to a post in an enclosure for the portable electronic device that transmits a structural load experienced by the enclosure at the top of the battery cell through the cell, thus mitigating denting and/or other localized deformation in layers  302 . 
     Mechanical support  308  may also contain a thermally conductive material to facilitate heat dissipation in the portable electronic device. For example, mechanical support  308  may provide a thermal path from a heat source such as a processor at the bottom of the battery cell to the enclosure for the portable electronic device at the top of the battery cell. In other words, mechanical support  308  may facilitate the operation of the portable electronic device by transmitting both structural loads and heat through the battery cell instead of onto the battery cell. 
       FIG. 4  shows a cross-sectional view of a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. As with the battery cell of  FIG. 3 , the battery cell of  FIG. 4  includes a set of layers  402  enclosed in a pouch  404 . An aperture  406  may also be formed in the battery cell by removing material from layers  402  and sealing layers  402  in pouch  404  so that aperture  406  opens along the top of the battery cell and is lined with pouch material from the pouch. A mechanical support  408  (e.g., post, spacer, etc.) may then be placed in aperture  406  to improve the resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress and/or facilitate heat transfer within a portable electronic device containing the battery cell. 
     However, aperture  406  terminates at pouch material for pouch  404  along the bottom of the battery cell instead of extending through the pouch material. As a result, aperture  406  may lack a seal in the pouch material, such as seal  310  of  FIG. 3 . In turn, the absence of a seal in aperture  406  may facilitate efficient use of space within the portable electronic device by allowing mechanical support  408  to be positioned much closer to the walls of aperture  406  than in an aperture containing a seal, such as aperture  306  of  FIG. 3 . For example, the space occupied by and above seal  310  in the battery cell of  FIG. 3  may be used by layers  402  in the battery cell of  FIG. 4 , thus increasing the energy density of the battery cell of  FIG. 4  over that of the battery cell of  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a cross-sectional view of a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. Like the battery cells of  FIGS. 3-4 , the battery cell of  FIG. 5  includes a set of layers  502  enclosed in a pouch  504 , as well as an aperture  506  formed by removing material from layers  502 . For example, aperture  506  may be created by punching holes in sheets of cathode, anode, and separator and stacking the sheets so that the holes are aligned. Conversely, aperture  506  may be created by spacing holes in unwound sheets of cathode, anode, and separator so that the holes are aligned after the sheets are wound to create a jelly roll (e.g., jelly roll  202  of  FIG. 2 ). 
     However, unlike apertures  306  and  406  of  FIGS. 3-4 , aperture  506  is formed within the battery cell instead of outside the battery cell. Prior to sealing layers  502  in pouch, a mechanical support  508  may be placed in aperture  506  to improve the resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress. For example, mechanical support  408  may correspond to a spacer made of plastic, polycarbonate, ceramic, polypropylene, polymer-coated metal, and/or another electrically inert material that spans the thickness of the battery cell. Mechanical support  508  may also include a thermally conductive material to facilitate heat transfer in a portable electronic device powered by the battery cell. 
       FIG. 6  shows a cross-sectional view of a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. The battery cell of  FIG. 6  includes a set of layers  602  enclosed in a pouch  604 . In addition, a set of apertures  606  is formed within the battery cell by removing material from some layers  602 . For example, apertures  606  may be formed by punching holes in the anode and cathode layers but not the separator layers of the battery cell. 
     A set of mechanical supports  608 - 614  may then be placed within apertures  606  to transmit a structural load through the battery cell instead of onto layers  602 . Mechanical supports  608 - 614  may be formed as a set of disks by depositing stiff, electrically inert material in apertures  606 . The disks may then be stacked on top of one another during the creation of the battery cell to facilitate the transmission of structural loads through the battery cell instead of onto layers  602 . 
       FIG. 7  shows a top-down view of a set of layers for a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the layers include a cathode  702 , a separator  704  underneath cathode  702 , and an anode  706  underneath separator  704 . An aperture  708  may be formed by removing material from cathode  702 , separator  704 , and anode  706 , and a mechanical support  710  may be placed in aperture  708  to improve the resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress. 
     To prevent electrical shorts in the battery cell, material may be removed from the layers so that separator  704  extends beyond the material removed from cathode  702  and anode  706 . For example, separator  704  may include an “overhang” of 0.8-1 mm to ensure that cathode  702  and anode  706  are insulated from one another, even at high temperatures that cause separator  704  to shrink slightly. Alternatively, insulation of cathode  702  and anode  706  may be provided by removing material only from cathode  702  and anode  706  and not from separator  704 , as described above with respect to  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 8  shows an exemplary arrangement of apertures  804 - 818  in a battery cell  802  in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. Battery cell  802  may include a set of layers enclosed in a flexible pouch. Battery cell  802  may also be placed within an enclosure for a portable electronic device and used to power components in the portable electronic device. 
     As mentioned above, apertures  804 - 818  may contain mechanical supports that improve the resistance of battery cell  802  to mechanical stress. Such mechanical supports may correspond to posts that form a portion of the portable electronic device&#39;s enclosure and/or spacers or disks that are not attached to the enclosure. The mechanical supports may improve the resistance of battery cell  802  to mechanical stress by transmitting structural loads through battery cell  802  instead of onto the layers of battery cell  802 . 
     In addition, the number, size, placement, dimensions, and/or spacing of the mechanical supports may be selected based on the thickness of the enclosure and/or the dimensions of battery cell  802  and/or the portable electronic device. For example, a mechanical support may be placed in a single aperture in the middle of battery cell  802 , and exterior supports may be placed around the perimeter of battery cell  802  to transfer structural loads away from battery cell  802  and onto other parts of the portable electronic device. The aperture and/or mechanical support may form a circle and/or lozenge if battery cell  802  is relatively square and a rib if battery cell  802  is oblong. Similarly, multiple mechanical supports may be positioned closer together within battery cell  802  to offset a decrease in the thickness of the portable electronic device&#39;s enclosure. Finally, one or more mechanical supports may be positioned underneath a structurally sensitive portion of the enclosure to prevent damage to battery cell  802  from an object impacting the structurally sensitive portion. 
       FIG. 9  shows a flowchart illustrating the process of manufacturing a battery cell in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. In one or more embodiments, one or more of the steps may be omitted, repeated, and/or performed in a different order. Accordingly, the specific arrangement of steps shown in  FIG. 9  should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments. 
     Initially, a set of layers for the battery cell is obtained (operation  902 ). The layers may include a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. Next, material is removed from one or more of the layers to form one or more apertures within the battery cell (operation  904 ). For example, the material may be removed to form circles, ribs, and/or lozenges in and/or through the layers. The layers may then be wound or stacked (operation  906 ). For example, the layers may be wound and/or stacked in a way that forms the desired shape for the battery cell and aligns the removed material in the layers to form the aperture(s). 
     The battery cell may then be created based on the aperture type (operation  908 ) of the aperture(s). If the aperture(s) are internal to the battery cell, a mechanical support is placed in each aperture to improve the resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress (operation  910 ), and the layers are sealed in a pouch to form the battery cell (operation  912 ). For example, the mechanical support may correspond to a spacer that spans the thickness of the battery cell, or the mechanical support may correspond to a disk that fills in material removed from the cathode and/or anode of the battery cell. 
     If the aperture(s) are external to the battery cell, the layers are first sealed in the pouch to form the battery cell (operation  914 ). Next, the aperture(s) are further formed outside the pouch (operation  916 ). For example, the aperture(s) may be formed by lining the aperture(s) with pouch material for the pouch and either extending the aperture(s) through the pouch material or terminating the aperture(s) at the pouch material. Finally, a mechanical support is placed in each aperture to improve the resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress (operation  918 ). For example, the mechanical support may correspond to a post in an enclosure for a portable electronic device containing the battery cell. Structural loads experienced by the enclosure may be transferred through the battery cell by the post instead of onto the layers of the battery cell. 
     The above-described rechargeable battery cell can generally be used in any type of electronic device. For example,  FIG. 10  illustrates a portable electronic device  1000  which includes a processor  1002 , a memory  1004  and a display  1008 , which are all powered by a battery  1006 . Portable electronic device  1000  may correspond to a laptop computer, mobile phone, PDA, tablet computer, portable media player, digital camera, and/or other type of battery-powered electronic device. Battery  1006  may correspond to a battery pack that includes one or more battery cells. Each battery cell may include a set of layers sealed in a pouch, including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The resistance of the battery cell to mechanical stress may be improved by removing material from one or more of the layers to form one or more apertures within the battery cell and placing a mechanical support in each of the apertures. Each aperture may extend through all of the layers within the battery cell or through the anode and the cathode layers within the battery cell. Alternatively, the aperture may be formed outside the battery cell, such that the aperture extends through pouch material for the pouch or terminates at the pouch material. 
     The foregoing descriptions of various embodiments have been presented only for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed. Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20120606
Publication Date: 20150421
Grant Date: 20150421
Priority Date: 20120606
Inventors: UTTERMAN ERIK A.
WODRICH JUSTIN R.
DEVAN SHEBA
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01M10/0436", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/136", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/105", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/124", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/121", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/119", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M10/0436", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M10/052", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M2/026", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M2/0275", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M2/0207", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/136", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/119", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/105", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/124", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M50/121", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y02P70/50", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M10/0436", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y10T29/49108", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y02E60/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M10/052", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01M10/052", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y10T29/4911", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y10T29/4911", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y10T29/49108", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 49715534