Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co., Ltd.

Masatomo Nagatani

Tatsuya Hashimoto

Kenji Kimura

Takabumi Fujii

Seiichi Uemoto

Hironori Yukisada

Yasushi Hirakawa

Hiroaki Ichinose

A battery pack is made up of a plurality of flat prismatic batteries arranged face to face, each battery having one electrode terminal protruding from one end face in the height direction of the battery case and this end face or a side face of the battery serving as the other electrode terminal. The connector for electrically connecting adjacent prismatic batteries includes a flat part that is welded to one electrode terminal of one prismatic battery of the adjacent prismatic batteries, and a cylindrical part that is fitted onto and welded to the other electrode terminal of the other prismatic battery. The cylindrical part is formed in an attachment part that extends from the flat part through an upright part in the direction in which the batteries are aligned. The connector enables reliable electrical connection of the prismatic batteries despite possible variation in height of the electrode terminals.

Battery pack

A battery, suitable for forming a battery pack, includes an electrode assembly having a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate, and a separator wound or laminated together, core materials of the negative and positive electrode plates being bared respectively at either end. A bottomed cylindrical outer case having a bottom is connected to either end face of the electrode assembly to serve as a battery terminal. Electrolyte is impregnated in the electrode assembly and a lid connected to the other end face of the electrode assembly and fixedly attached to the outer case with a sealer and an insulator interposed therebetween. A connecting part is a part of the lid so that the connecting part engages with and connects to a bottom part of the outer case of another battery.

Battery and battery assembly

A generally oval battery including a battery case () having a generally oval cross section, a generally oval sealing plate () and an electrode plate assembly, the sealing plate () having a U-shaped cross section and the battery having a thickness of 4 mm or more and an aspect ratio of 3 or more, whereby the control of a vent for discharging gas that is generated in the battery is made easy and a battery is provided which has a discharge mechanism capable of discharging gas easily and safely, without requiring expensive equipment or many processing steps.

Generally oval battery

A prismatic battery with highly reliable sealing properties and its manufacturing method, wherein a negative collector is welded to one end of an electrode plate group accommodated in a prismatic case, the collector being connected to an electrode pole that functions as the negative electrode terminal, and the electrode pole is fitted into a support cylinder that is provided on an upper lid for closing one open end of the case. An insulating gasket is interposed between an inner periphery of the support cylinder and an outer periphery of the electrode pole, the support cylinder being formed with at least one annular crimped portion that has an arc-shaped longitudinal cross section.

Prismatic battery and manufacturing method thereof

In a battery pack () that accommodates a plurality of batteries () arranged in parallel in a case () that forms a cooling-air passage (), the cooling-air passage () and a gas-discharge passage () for discharging gas leaking from the battery () when the battery () falls into abnormal state are formed and separated from each other in the case ().

In a battery having a structure that an electrode plate group, formed by winding a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate with a separator interposed therebetween, is housed in a battery case together with an electrolyte solution, the electrode plate group is rolled around a roll core, and both ends of the roll core are supported by the battery case.

Growing community of inventors

Wakayama, Japan

Masatomo Nagatani