Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus – product – and – Current producing cell – elements – subcombinations and... – Plural cells
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-18
2004-03-23
Maples, John S. (Department: 1745)
Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus, product, and
Current producing cell, elements, subcombinations and...
Plural cells
C429S159000, C429S178000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06709786
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to cell module structures equipped in electric cars, hybrid electric cars, and the like, as a driving power supply. The cell modules in the invention include any type of charging element device, including cells such as nickel hydrogen batteries and lithium batteries; and energy storage devices such as double layered capacitors (ultra-capacitors).
2. Background Art
As a cell module in which plural cells are serially connected to each other, a conventional one is exemplified in which plural cylindrical or rectangular cells having a positive terminal and a negative terminal arranged at an end thereof are arranged in parallel, and the positive terminal and the negative terminal in adjoining cells are connected to each other via a bus bar so that the cells are connected to each other. The bus bar is generally mounted to the terminals by bolts or nuts in the assembly of the cell module.
FIG. 11
shows an example of a cell
200
and a bus bar
210
for a conventional cell module. In the example, a positive terminal
201
and a negative terminal
202
are arranged and project at an end of a cylindrical cell
200
. The bus bar
210
consists of a positive bus bar
211
and a negative bus bar
212
, which are insulated from each other and are penetrated by bolts
220
and
220
, which are screwed to the positive terminal
201
and the negative terminal
202
so as to secure and serially connect them to each other.
In such a cell module, it is indispensable to monitor the conditions such as voltage and temperature of cells for safe and effective operations thereof. Therefore, a substrate equipped with a controlling circuit for the monitor is connected to the cells, and the power for the cells is transmitted to the substrate. An elastic conductive member such as a harness is usually used for connecting the cells and the substrate.
In the conventional cell module in which plural cells are serially connected to each other according to the connecting feature in
FIG. 11
, the task in which the bus bar is positioned with respect to the terminal and then the bolt is secured thereto must be repeated, so that the labor for connecting the terminals by a bus bar is substantial, and the number of parts is increased, and this results in increase of the weight. Furthermore, a large space for operating a securing tool is required for securing the bolts, and care to avoid short circuiting by the tool is necessary, and the connecting working is therefore further complicated.
In order to reduce the contact resistance in the connecting portion, the terminal and the bus bar must be rigidly secured. However, the load exerted on the connecting portion increases due to deformation thereof due to vibration and temperature changes, and the condition of the connection may therefore be deteriorated. In order to reduce the load exerted on the connecting portion, it has been proposed that the cells be supported by holding members. However, this proposal results in increase in the number of parts and complication of the structure.
In general, the area occupied by overall the cell and the cell module is readily large in the cell in which a positive terminal and a negative terminal are arranged at an end thereof, and this feature is disadvantageous for vehicles which are required to effectively utilize limited space.
It has been proposed to change the shapes of the positive terminal and the negative terminal to avoid misassembly in which the positive terminals are connected or negative terminals are connected. However, since the terminals are usually formed as protrusions, misassembly cannot be completely avoided. In addition, since the terminals are formed as protrusions, the terminals are often damaged by mishandling thereof. As a result, sufficient electrical contact cannot be obtained, or the terminals may short circuit in some cases.
In the connecting feature in which a control substrate is connected to cells by a harness, the current transmitted from the cells to the substrate is restricted by the resistance in the harness. Therefore, it is necessary to choose a harness having as a low resistance as possible. As a harness having low resistance, a harness with a short length, with a large cross section, or made from low resistance materials, may be mentioned. When the low resistance is achieved by the short length or the large cross section, arrangement of the harness may be difficult, and the position for locating the substrate may be restricted. In the cell modules in which plural cells are serially connected to each other, each cell must be connected to a harness, so that the task for connecting and the structure may be disadvantageously complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide cell module structures which can satisfy the following requirements.
(1) Cells can be easily connected and electrical resistance can be reduced.
(2) Number of parts can be reduced and the structure can be simple and light weight.
(3) Fine layout of cells can be performed and space is used effectively.
(4) Misassembly, damage, and short circuiting of cells can be avoided.
(5) Low resistance is achieved in connecting a controlling substrate and a cell, and complicated arrangement of a harness can be avoided.
The present invention has been made to achieve the above-mentioned objects. The invention provides a cell module structure comprising a bus bar plate and plural cylindrical cells; the bus bar plate including plural bus bars each having a positive bus bar terminal, a negative bus bar terminal, and a screw formed in one of the terminals, the bus bars being serially connected to each other with the positive bus bar terminal corresponding to the negative bus bar terminal; and a control substrate integrally provided to the bus bar and connected to the bus bars; the cell including a positive cell terminal and a negative cell terminal coaxially aligned at an end thereof, and a screw formed in the terminal having the same polarity as that of the bus bar terminal which is formed with the screw to which the above screw is screwed; wherein the screw of the cell is screwed to the screw of the bus bar, so that different terminals with no screw are brought into contact with each other, whereby the plural cells are serially connected.
According to the invention, the bus bars to which the cells are actually connected and the control substrate connected to the bus bars are integrally provided to the bus bar plate to which the cells are serially connected. The control substrate comprises, for example, a circuit for monitoring conditions such as voltage and temperature of the cells, and is driven by the power provided from the cells via the bus bar. When a cell module is formed, the screw formed in one of the terminals of the cell is fitted to the screw formed in one of the terminals of the bus bar in the bus bar plate, and the cell is rotated and secured. By this operation, the terminals with the screw are contacted to each other by the screw connection. By the screw action of the cell, the terminals with no screw are brought into contact with each other. By this connection, the plural cells are serially connected by each bus bar, and thus a cell module is formed.
According to the invention, the cell is screwed and secured to the bus bar, so that the positive terminal and the negative terminal of both are contacted with each other, and power is transmitted. Therefore, the contacting surface pressure between both can be sufficiently obtained, and the distance for electrical transmission can be extremely short, so that the electrical resistance can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, for the structure of screw securing, the rigidity of the connected condition of the cell and bus bar can be improved. As a result, the connected condition of the terminals can be rigidly maintained, so that the electrical resistance can be further reduced. In addition, the supporting member for the cell for reducing the load exerted on the conne
Asaka Satoru
Hasegawa Osamu
Ikeo Mitsuru
Matsumoto Kenji
Matsuoka Toshiyuki
Armstrong Kratz Quintos Hanson & Brooks, LLP
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Maples John S.
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