Nissan Motor Company Limited

Osamu Hashida

Teruo Segawa

Satoshi Muramatsu

Takahiro Iwasaki

Takeyuki Kokubo

The invention provides a battery module, which forms an item unit for construction of a battery assembly, comprising a cell unit having a plurality of cells, and a housing and a cover to store the cell unit. The battery module further comprises a shaft member inserted into a through-hole provided in the cell unit and a through-hole provided in the housing and a through-hole provided in the cover, wherein the shaft member comprises a length that allows protrusion from each of the housing and the cover. Furthermore, during construction of the battery module, the shaft member doubles as a jig for insertion of the cover, the cell unit, and the housing in said order for each of the modules within the battery assembly.

Battery module with unit cell connector

The disclosure is directed to a battery assembly that includes a protective cover. The protective cover is positioned over a side plate that includes connections, such as a bus bar and a fixing member, that allow for battery operation. One or more flexible openings within the protective cover open to accept the fixing member, such as a screw or bolt, and close once the fixing member has passed. In this manner, the flexible opening allows for easy assembly and maintenance of the battery assembly while providing a mechanism of protecting the battery components from environmental elements. In addition, the flexible opening may be made by one or more cuts in the protective cover, wherein material elasticity enables the flexible opening to open and close.

Protective cover for a battery assembly

An assembled battery is equipped with an insulating support plate supporting bus bars, omits the bolting operation and can simplify the operation of electrically connecting the bus bars to electrode terminals. The assembled battery includes a plurality of battery modules having output terminals. An insulating bus bar plate (support plate) supports conductive bus bars that are electrically connected to the terminal surfaces. A guide movably guides the bus bar plate between a first position in which the bus bars are electrically connected to the terminal surfaces and a second position in which the bus bars are separated from the terminal surfaces. A lock supports the bus bar plate in the first position and maintains the bus bars in a state that is forcibly connected to the terminals surfaces.

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Yokohama, Japan

Osamu Hashida