Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus – product – and – Cell support for removable cell
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-03
2001-04-17
Chaney, Carol (Department: 1745)
Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus, product, and
Cell support for removable cell
C429S121000, C429S162000, C429S163000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06218041
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery unit for use in devices and appliances such as portable telephones, which battery unit is provided with a housing, with one or more cells which generate energy, with output contacts for connecting the cells to an appliance, and with external walls comprising an upper wall, a lower wall and side walls. Such a battery unit is known, for example, from its use in various types of portable telephones.
The present invention further relates to a portable battery-operated device including such a battery unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Manufacturers continuously strive to make battery-operated devices of various kinds, in particular portable devices, as light and as small as possible. It is accordingly essential for the battery used to have the greatest possible capacity accompanied by the smallest possible dimensions and the smallest possible mass. Reference is made in this connection to European patent application 96402738.7 filed earlier by applicant but not yet published, which is deemed to be incorporated in its entirety in the present application by reference. The portable telephone described in said earlier application is provided with a flat, substantially rectangular battery unit which is provided adjacent its long sides with ridges and/or grooves for guiding the battery unit into associated portions of the housing of the portable telephone. The battery unit is provided with an external envelope which at the same time serves as an external part of the telephone. The external envelope is substantially entirely closed and is provided with a number of output contacts at the area of one of the external walls, which contacts achieve an electrical connection with corresponding contact elements of the telephone after the unit has been inserted into the portable telephone.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention has for its object to provide a battery unit of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph which has a small mass and/or which is constructed such that it can be easily and simply assembled and has the required sturdiness for complying with the various operational requirements. To achieve this, the housing is provided with a substantially flat frame with flat ribs and one or several recesses therebetween, said one or several cells is/are provided in one or several recesses of the frame, and said walls form part of an external envelope which comprises portions of thin metal plating provided around the frame.
The presence of the frame provides the desired sturdiness of the housing. The recesses present between the ribs can be used for accommodating the various internal components of the battery unit and for fastening external components such as the external walls of the housing. A result of this is also that the external walls may be thin, because the sturdiness of the housing is mainly supplied by the frame.
In a preferred embodiment the battery unit is provided with a printed wiring (“printed circuit board” or PCB), with said output contacts, and with connection contacts for connecting said one or several contacts to the PCB, the PCB is present in a recess of the frame, separated from the recess in which said one or several cells is/are present by a separation rib of the frame, and said separation rib is provided with local depressions for the passage of conductors connecting said one or several cells to the PCB within the thickness of the frame. The electric cells and the PCB do not interfere with one another and cannot damage one another because they are present in different recesses of the frame, separated by one or several separation ribs of the frame. Nevertheless, the electric cells can be connected to the PCB by means of conductors which are passed through via the local recesses while remaining within the thickness of the frame.
Preferably, the PCB is in addition provided with electronic circuit elements for the protection and/or control of the operation of the battery unit. In that manner the necessary electronic components can be provided on the PCB and within the space available inside the frame so as to ensure that the battery, in particular the electric cells, is (are) not damaged. Further electronics may also be present, for example for monitoring the amount of charge of the battery, for controlling the charging of the battery, and the like.
In an embodiment of the invention, each cell consists of a lithium polymer cell whose general shape is rectangular, said lithium polymer cell comprises a two-part foil envelope consisting of a trough-shaped part by means of heat and having a bottom, vertical walls and a circumferential flange which merges into the vertical walls and which is parallel to the bottom, and a flat lid provided on the circumferential flange, and the lid and the circumferential flange are united to one another by means of heat sealing. Lithium polymer is a promising technology for future portable batteries and the integration thereof in portable devices such as portable telephones, which will contribute to flat constructions, low cost levels, safety, and freedom of design. The invention is eminently suitable for building thin, flat batteries with lithium polymer cells. A lithium polymer cell is manufactured as a stack, or from layers which are electrically interconnected in parallel or, depending on the application, in series. This stack is subsequently hermetically closed in an envelope so as to prevent moisture penetrating into the cell and damaging it. In the present embodiment of the invention, the envelope of the electric cell comprises a foil envelope in two parts. The one part is shaped by means of heat into a shallow trough in which the stack is placed. A flat, outwardly directed flange surrounds the trough. A flat piece of foil is placed on the trough, acting as a lid and covering the trough entirely, including also the circumferential flange. Then the lid and the flange of the trough are connected to one another by means of heat sealing at the circumference of the foil envelope thus formed. To render possible an electrical connection of the cell to the external world, two or more electrical conductors such as, for example, conductor strips, may be passed between the lid and the flange to the exterior. During the heat-sealing process, these conductors may be fused into the melting foil material of the envelope. After the heat-sealing operation, accordingly, a hermetically closed unit packed in a foil envelope has been obtained, which can be placed in a recess of the frame. In an embodiment the frame is provided with stepped circumferential parts, the circumferential edge of the foil envelope extends over the stepped parts of the frame and is disposed within the thickness dimension of the frame. This may also be utilized here for limiting the thickness dimension of the battery unit.
Preferably, in a further embodiment of the invention the external envelope comprises a trough-shaped part with a bottom, vertical walls, and a circumferential flange which merges into the vertical walls and is parallel to the bottom, and a lid, said foil envelope is provided in the trough-shaped part of the external envelope such that the lid of the foil envelope lies against the bottom of said trough-shaped part, the circumferential flange of the external envelope is bent back over the frame placed therein such that the bent-back portion of said flange covers part of the width of the relevant rib of the frame, said lid of the external envelope is provided over the frame so as to lie with a circumferential edge within the bent-back portion of said flange, and both said bent-back portion and the lid of the external envelope are connected to the frame; A sturdy metal battery unit is created thereby which is nevertheless thin and light and which is provided at its circumference with a circumferential rim which may be used for guiding the battery unit into matching portions of an electrical appliance. If so desired, the plate material of which the external envelop
Barbier Fabrice R. H.
Cachard Vincent
De Larminat Alain
Chaney Carol
Crepeau Jonathan
U.S. Philips Corporation
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