阅读说明：本技术 汇流条及汇流条连结体 (bus bar and bus bar connector ) 是由 望月光一郎 于 2019-06-04 设计创作，主要内容包括：避免汇流条的毛刺与电池单元的电极干涉。汇流条(11)具有平板部(12),平板部(12)的背面(12R)通过焊接而固装于电池单元(30)的电极(31、32),平板部(12)的外周缘的毛刺(35)仅向平板部(12)的表面(12S)侧突出。汇流条连结体(A)具备：多个平板状的汇流条(11),其以隔开间隔排成一列的方式配置；和连结部(18),其将相邻的汇流条11的对置缘部(12E)彼此连结,连结部(18)的与对置缘部(12E)的边界(19)通过冲压而分离。(The burr of the bus bar is prevented from interfering with the electrode of the battery cell. The bus bar (11) has a flat plate portion (12), the back surface (12R) of the flat plate portion (12) is fixed to the electrodes (31, 32) of the battery cell (30) by welding, and burrs (35) on the outer peripheral edge of the flat plate portion (12) protrude only to the surface (12S) side of the flat plate portion (12). The bus bar connecting body (A) is provided with: a plurality of flat plate-shaped bus bars (11) arranged in a line at intervals; and a connecting portion (18) that connects the opposing edge portions (12E) of the adjacent bus bars (11) to each other, wherein a boundary (19) between the opposing edge portions (12E) of the connecting portion (18) is separated by pressing.)

1. a bus bar is characterized by comprising a flat plate part, wherein the back surface of the flat plate part is fixedly arranged on an electrode of a battery unit through welding, and burrs on the outer periphery of the flat plate part only protrude to the surface side of the flat plate part.

2. The bus bar according to claim 1, wherein a weight-reduced portion in a form of a portion of the outer peripheral edge is formed at the outer peripheral edge of the flat plate portion,

The weight reduction portion is disposed in a region not corresponding to the electrode.

3. A bus bar connecting body is characterized by comprising:

A plurality of flat plate-shaped bus bars that can be fixed to electrodes of the battery cells by welding and are arranged in a line at intervals; and

A connecting portion connecting opposing edge portions of the adjacent bus bars to each other,

The boundary between the connecting portion and the opposing edge portion is separable by pressing.

4. The bus bar coupler according to claim 3, wherein a guide hole for intermittently conveying the bus bar coupler is formed in the coupling portion.

5. The bus bar connecting body according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a boundary of the connecting portion with the opposing edge is shaped such that a part of the opposing edge is recessed.

6. The bus bar coupler according to claim 5, wherein the weight-reduced portion formed in the opposing edge portion after the coupling portion is separated is disposed in a region not corresponding to the electrode.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a bus bar and a bus bar connector.

Background

Patent document 1 discloses the following structure: the electrodes of the adjacent battery cells are connected to each other by flat bus bars, and a voltage detection circuit is connected to the bus bars to detect the voltage of the electrodes.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

As a method of manufacturing the bus bar, the following methods are considered: a plurality of bus bars are connected into a long bus bar connecting body in a chain shape through a carrier, and the bus bars are sequentially separated from the carrier while the bus bar connecting body is sequentially conveyed. However, since the carrier obtained by separating the bus bar is discarded, the material cost is high. In particular, when the bus bar is formed by attaching 2 kinds of metal plates having different materials to the same planar cladding member, the cost of the cladding member is further increased because the material cost is high.

As a means for achieving reduction in material cost, the following method is conceivable: a bus bar connecting body is manufactured in a form that bus bars are directly connected without using a carrier, and the bus bars are sequentially separated by a cutter while the bus bar connecting body is sequentially conveyed. However, since the adjacent bus bars are cut at the cut portion of the cutter, the protruding direction of the burr generated at the cut surface of one bus bar and the protruding direction of the burr generated at the cut surface of the other bus bar are opposite to each other. That is, 1 bus bar has burrs protruding toward the front surface side and burrs protruding toward the back surface side. Therefore, when the bus bar is placed on the electrode of the battery cell and laser welding is performed, burrs protruding toward the electrode side interfere with the electrode, and there is a possibility that a welding failure occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent burrs of a bus bar from interfering with electrodes of a battery cell.

Means for solving the problems

The bus bar according to claim 1 is characterized by comprising a flat plate portion, the back surface of which is fixed to the electrode of the battery cell by welding, and burrs on the outer peripheral edge of the flat plate portion project only to the front surface side of the flat plate portion.

The bus bar connecting body according to claim 2 is characterized by comprising: a plurality of flat plate-shaped bus bars that are fixed to electrodes of the battery cells by welding and are arranged in a line at intervals; and a connecting portion that connects opposing edge portions of the bus bars adjacent to each other, wherein boundaries between the connecting portion and the opposing edge portions are separable by pressing.

Effects of the invention

According to the aspect 1, since the burr of the outer peripheral edge of the bus bar protrudes only to the surface side, in the case where the bus bar is placed on the electrode of the battery cell and welding is performed, the burr is unlikely to interfere with the electrode.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the facing edge portions of the 2 adjacent bus bars are connected to 1 connecting portion, when the connecting portion and the facing edge portions of the bus bars are separated by pressing, burrs generated at the facing edge portions of the bus bars protrude only to either the front side or the back side. Thus, when the bus bar is placed on the electrode of the battery cell and welded, the burr of the bus bar can be prevented from interfering with the electrode by simply placing the surface of the bus bar on which the burr does not protrude on the electrode.

Drawings

fig. 1 is a plan view of a bus bar coupler according to example 1.

Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged plan view of the bus bar coupler.

Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged plan view showing a state where the connection portion is cut away from the bus bar.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bus bar.

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which a bus bar module to which no electric wire is connected is mounted on a battery unit.

Fig. 6 is a rear view showing a state in which a bus bar module to which no electric wire is connected is mounted to a battery unit.

Fig. 7 is a partially enlarged rear view of fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a top view of a bus bar module.

Detailed Description

In the bus bar according to claim 1, the outer peripheral edge of the flat plate portion may be formed with a reduced weight portion having a shape in which a part of the outer peripheral edge is recessed, and the reduced weight portion may be disposed in a region not corresponding to the electrode. According to this configuration, since the welding area of the bus bar to the electrode can be secured to a large extent, the weight of the bus bar can be reduced, and the welding strength can be improved.

In the bus bar connecting body according to claim 2, a guide hole for intermittently conveying the bus bar connecting body may be formed in the connecting portion. According to this configuration, the bus bar can be prevented from being deformed improperly.

The bus bar connecting body according to claim 2 may be configured such that a boundary between the connecting portion and the opposing edge is formed in a shape in which a part of the opposing edge is recessed. According to this configuration, when the connecting portion and the bus bar are separated from each other, the weight reduction portion is formed at the opposite edge portions of the bus bar, and therefore, the bus bar can be reduced in weight.

In the bus bar connecting body according to claim 2, the weight reduction portion formed in the opposing edge portion after the connection portion is separated may be disposed in a region not corresponding to the electrode. According to this configuration, since the welding area of the bus bar to the electrode can be secured to a large extent, the weight of the bus bar can be reduced, and the welding strength can be improved.

< example 1>

Hereinafter, embodiment 1 embodying the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 8. In the following description, the lower side in fig. 1, 5, and 8 is defined as the front side with respect to the front-rear direction. The vertical direction is defined as upward and downward as the directions shown in fig. 4, 6, and 7. The left and right directions are defined as left and right directions as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, 5, 6 and 8.

The bus bar connecting body a of example 1 is formed of a clad material in which two kinds of metal (e.g., copper and aluminum) flat plates elongated in the left-right direction are connected and fixed in a front-rear array in the same plane. The bus bar connecting body a is formed by punching a clad member into a predetermined shape by a press working machine (not shown) and bending the clad member. In the press working, the bus bar connecting body a is cut so that a burr 35 (see fig. 7) is generated only on the front surface side thereof.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the bus bar connecting body a cut into a predetermined shape is a single member in a long chain shape, and includes: a plurality of bus bars 11 arranged in a row in the left-right direction at a fixed pitch interval; and a plurality of coupling portions 18 that couple the adjacent bus bars 11 to each other. The bus bar connecting body a is pulled out linearly from a state of being wound into a reel (not shown), and a boundary 19 between the connecting portion 18 and the bus bar 11 is broken by a press working machine (not shown) in the process of being pulled out. By breaking the boundary 19 between the coupling portion 18 and the bus bar 11, the bus bar 11 having a predetermined shape can be taken out, and the coupling portion 18 is discarded.

The bus bar 11 has a substantially square shape in plan view. The bus bar 11 includes: a flat plate portion 12 having a substantially square shape in plan view; a support wall portion 14 rising from front edge portion 12F of flat plate portion 12 to the front surface 12S side at substantially right angles; and 1 barrel 16. The burr 35 projects only toward the front surface 12S of the flat plate portion 12 over the entire outer peripheral edge of the flat plate portion 12, i.e., the front edge portion 12F, the rear edge portion 12B, and both the left and right side edge portions (the opposing edge portions 12E).

A cut-and-raised portion 15 is formed at the front end edge portion of the flat plate portion 12 by cutting a part of the flat plate portion 12 toward the back surface 12R and reversing it forward of the support wall portion 14. The inverted cut-and-raised portion 15 is further bent upward to form a cylindrical portion 16 facing the front surface of the support wall portion 14. In the step of cutting and raising the tube portion 16 (cut-and-raised portion 15), a cut-and-raised hole 17 in a through form is formed in a region of the flat plate portion 12 where the cut-and-raised portion 15 exists. At the opening edge of cut-and-raised hole 17, burr 35 protrudes toward surface 12S of flat plate portion 12 (see fig. 7).

As shown in fig. 8, the electric wires 20 are mounted between the inner peripheral surface of the tube portion 16 (the rear surface 12R of the flat plate portion 12) and the front surface of the support wall portion 14 (the rear surface 12R of the flat plate portion 12). The electric wire 20 is a coated electric wire in which a core wire 21 made of a metal stranded wire is surrounded by an insulating coating layer 22 made of a synthetic resin. The terminal of the electric wire 20 is subjected to terminal treatment in advance such that the insulating coating 22 is removed by a predetermined length to expose the terminal of the core wire 21.

The portion surrounded by the insulating coating 22 in the end portion of the electric wire 20 is fixed in a state of being sandwiched between the cylindrical portion 16 and the support wall portion 14. The core wire 21 is disposed in proximity to a region of the support wall portion 14 adjacent to the cylindrical portion 16, and is conductively fixed by welding. With the above, the electric wire 20 is attached to the bus bar 11, and the bus bar module 10 is configured by the bus bar 11 and the electric wire 20. The electric wire 20 is connected to a voltage detection circuit (not shown) or the like via the bus bar 11.

The bus bar module 10 (the flat plate portion 12 of the bus bar 11) is fixed to the electrodes 31, 32 of the battery cell 30. As shown in fig. 5, the top surface of the battery cell 30 has a substantially rectangular shape elongated in the left-right direction in plan view. On the upper surface of each battery cell 30, a (+) electrode 31 in the form of a rib-like projection in the left-right direction and a (-) electrode 32 in the form of a rib-like projection in the left-right direction are provided at a left-right interval.

The plurality of battery cells 30 are arranged at a fixed pitch in the front-rear direction, and 3 battery cells 30 arranged in the front-rear direction constitute 1 cell group 30G. The plurality of cell groups 30G are arranged in the front-rear direction, and between the front-rear adjacent cell groups 30G, the positions of the (+) electrode 31 and the (-) electrode 32 are reversed in the left-right direction.

The bus bar module 10 is disposed in a posture in which the flat plate portion 12 of the bus bar 11 is oriented horizontally and is aligned in the front-rear direction. The 1 piece of bus bar 11 conducts (+) electrode 31 and (-) electrode 32 of the front and rear adjacent 2 cell groups 30G. That is, the front end side region of the back surface 12R of the flat plate portion 12 is placed on the upper surfaces of the 3 (+) electrodes 31 of the front cell group 30G, and is conductively fixed to the (+) electrodes 31 by laser welding. The rear end side region of the back surface 12R of the flat plate portion 12 is placed on the upper surfaces of the 3 (-) electrodes 32 of the rear cell group 30G, and is conductively fixed to the (-) electrodes 32 by laser welding.

At the center position in the left-right direction of flat plate portion 12, 6 through holes 13, 13F are formed at intervals in the front-rear direction so as to penetrate from rear surface 12R to front surface 12S of flat plate portion 12. As will be described later, the through holes 13 and 13F are disposed so that a part of the upper surfaces of the electrodes 31 and 32 is exposed in a state where the flat plate portion 12 is connected to the upper surfaces of the electrodes 31 and 32.

On both left and right side edge portions of the flat plate portion 12, 5 weight-reduced portions 23 and 24 are formed at intervals in the front-rear direction. In addition, in embodiment 1, both left and right side edge portions of the flat plate portion 12 are defined as opposing edge portions 12E opposing the bus bars 11 adjacent to the left and right among the outer peripheral edges of the bus bars 11 in a state where the bus bars 11 constitute the bus bar connected body a. The 5 weight-reduced portions 23 and 24 have a shape in which the opposing edge portions 12E are partially recessed in a plan view.

The 1 st lightening part 23 located at the center in the front-rear direction among the 5 lightening parts 23, 24 is already formed in a state where the bus bar 11 is connected by the connecting part 18 to constitute the bus bar connecting body a. On the other hand, 4 of the 5 weight-reduced portions 23 and 24 except for the 1 st weight-reduced portion 23 (the weight-reduced portion described in the claims) are not formed in the state where the bus bar 11 is connected by the connecting portion 18 to form the bus bar connecting body a, but are formed by cutting the connecting portion 18 and the bus bar 11 in the press working process.

As shown in fig. 5, the regions of the bus bar 11 (flat plate portion 12) corresponding to the electrodes 31 and 32 in the front-rear direction (regions in contact with the upper surfaces of the electrodes 31 and 32) are to be welded to the welding target regions 25 of the electrodes 31 and 32 over the entire regions in the left-right direction. The region of the bus bar 11 (flat plate portion 12) that does not correspond to the electrodes 31, 32 in the front-rear direction (the region that is offset from the electrodes 31, 32) becomes a non-welded region 26 that is not welded to the electrodes 31, 32 and does not contact the electrodes 31, 32. Since the 4 No. 2 weight-reduced portions 24 are all disposed in the no-welding region 26, the width dimension (the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the electrodes 31 and 32) of the welding target region 25 of the bus bar 11 (flat plate portion 12) is larger than the width dimension of the no-welding region 26.

The 2 nd lightening portion 24 has a substantially square shape in plan view. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the opening edge of the 2 nd lightening part 24 is constituted by: a 1 st edge 27 in the front-rear direction parallel to the opposite edge 12E; a pair of 2 nd edge portions 28 at right angles to both front and rear ends of the 1 st edge portion 27; and a 3 rd edge 29 connecting each 2 nd edge 28 and the opposite edge 12E. The 3 rd edge 29 is inclined with respect to the opposite edge 12E and the 2 nd edge 28.

In a state where the bus bars 11 constitute the bus bar coupling body a, the bus bars 11 adjacent to each other on the left and right are coupled by 4 coupling portions 18. In the front-rear direction, the 4 coupling portions 18 are arranged at the same positions as the 4 2 nd lightening portions 24. The left and right end side portions of the coupling portion 18 are present in regions that become the 2 nd lightening portions 24 when the bus bar 11 and the coupling portion 18 are separated.

When the connecting portion 18 is cut away from the bus bar 11, a press die (not shown) having a planar shape along the 1 st edge portion 27, the 2 nd edge portion 28, and the 3 rd edge portion 29 may be used. That is, the 1 st edge 27, the 2 nd edge 28, and the 3 rd edge 29 constitute the boundary 19 between the bus bar 11 and the coupling portion 18. The 2 nd lightening portion 24 may be formed when the coupling portion 18 is separated from the bus bar 11 by a press die. Since the pressing die pushes up the coupling portion 18 from the back surface 11R side of the bus bar 11 (flat plate portion 12), burrs 35 generated in the 2 nd lightening portion 24 forming regions (the 1 st edge portion 27, the 2 nd edge portion 28, and the 3 rd edge portion 29) in the outer peripheral edge of the bus bar 11 protrude toward the front surface 11S side of the bus bar 11 (flat plate portion 12) in the same manner as the front edge portion 12F, the rear edge portion 12B, and the opposite edge portion 12E of the bus bar 11 (flat plate portion 12).

as shown in fig. 1, a guide hole 34 is formed in each connection portion 18. When the bus bar assembly a is intermittently conveyed to the die for press working by the conveying device (not shown), a conveying claw (not shown) of the conveying device is caught by the guide hole 34. Since the guide hole 34 is formed not in the bus bar 11 but in the coupling portion 18, the bus bar 11 is not likely to be damaged or improperly deformed by the conveying claw.

The bus bar connecting body a of example 1 is a form in which a plurality of bus bars 11 having a substantially flat plate shape and a plurality of flat plate-shaped connecting portions 18 are alternately connected. The plurality of bus bars 11 are arranged in a row in the left-right direction at intervals. The plurality of sets of coupling portions 18 couple the opposing edge portions 12E of the adjacent bus bars 11 to each other. The boundary 19 between the coupling portion 18 and the opposing edge portion 12E can be separated by press working.

When the boundary 19 between the coupling portion 18 and the opposite edge portion 12E is separated by press working, the bus bar 11 separated from the coupling portion 18 and the other bus bars 11 can be obtained. Each bus bar 11 has a flat plate portion 12, and the rear surface 12R of the flat plate portion 12 is fixed to the electrodes 31, 32 of the battery cell 30 by welding. The burr 35 at the outer peripheral edge of the flat plate portion 12 projects only toward the front surface 12S of the flat plate portion 12.

Since the facing edge portions 12E of the 2-piece bus bars 11 adjacent to the 1 connecting portion 18 of the bus bar connecting body a are connected, when the connecting portion 18 and the facing edge portions 12E are separated by pressing, burrs 35 generated at the facing edge portions 12E protrude only toward the surface 12S side of the flat plate portion 12. Thus, when the bus bar 11 is placed on the electrodes 31 and 32 of the battery cell 30 and welded, the burr 35 can be prevented from interfering with the electrodes 31 and 32 by placing the rear surface 12R of the bus bar 11, from which the burr 35 does not protrude, on the electrodes 31 and 32.

Since the boundary 19 of the coupling portion 18 with the opposite edge 12E is formed in a shape in which a part of the opposite edge 12E is recessed, the 2 nd lightening portion 24 is formed in the opposite edge 12E when the coupling portion 18 and the bus bar 11 are separated. That is, the 2 nd lightening portion 24 having a form in which a part of the outer peripheral edge is recessed is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the flat plate portion 12. By forming the 2 nd lightening part 24, the weight of the bus bar 11 can be reduced.

Further, since the 2 nd lightening portion 24 formed on the opposite edge portion 12E after separating the connecting portion 18 is disposed in the non-welding region 26 not corresponding to the electrodes 31, 32, the welding area of the bus bar 11 to the electrodes 31, 32 can be secured large. This can reduce the weight of the bus bar 11 and improve the welding strength.

< other examples >

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, and for example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) In example 1, although the weight-reduced portions are formed at the opposite edge portions (outer peripheral edges) of the bus bars, the opposite edge portions may be formed in a straight line over the entire length thereof without forming the weight-reduced portions at the opposite edge portions of the bus bars.

(2) In example 1 described above, the weight-reduced portions are disposed in regions not corresponding to the electrodes, but the weight-reduced portions may be disposed in regions corresponding to the electrodes.

(3) In example 1 described above, only 4 weight-reducing portions are formed by the separation of the coupling portions among the 5 weight-reducing portions formed in each opposing edge portion, but the number of weight-reducing portions formed by the separation of the coupling portions in 1 opposing edge portion may be 3 or less, or may be 5 weight-reducing portions (that is, all the weight-reducing portions).

(4) In example 1 described above, 5 weight-reduced portions are formed in each opposing edge portion of the bus bar, but the number of weight-reduced portions formed in 1 opposing edge portion may be 4 or less, or 6 or more.

(5) In example 1, the guide hole is formed in the connection portion, but the guide hole may be formed in the bus bar.

Description of the reference numerals

A: bus bar connector

11: bus bar

12: flat plate part

12S: surface of

12R: back side of the panel

12E: opposed edge portions

18: connecting part

19: boundary of

24: no. 2 lightening part (lightening part)

26: non-welding region (region not corresponding to electrode)

30: battery unit

31. 32: electrode for electrochemical cell

34: guide hole

35: burrs of a ship