BATTERY CLAMPING DEVICE, BATTERY HEATING DEVICE, BATTERY DRYING DEVICE, BATTERY COOLING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING BATTERY

• US 20140356659A1
• Filed: 05/27/2014
• Published: 12/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: KADO, Hiroyasu
• Granted Patent: US 9,985,322 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 429/71
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0481 Compression means other than compression means for stacks of electrodes and separators
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/058 Construction or manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/446 Initial charging measures
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/613 Cooling or keeping cold
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/615 Heating or keeping warm
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/647 Prismatic or flat cells, e.g. pouch cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6555 arranged between the cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6556 Solid parts with flow channel passages or pipes for heat exchange closed pipes H01M10/6552
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6567 Liquids
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6571 Resistive heaters arrangements for heating the battery by its resistance to the internal current H01M10/637
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/209 adapted for prismatic or rectangular cells H01M50/216 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/242 adapted for protecting batteries against vibrations, collision impact or swelling
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/256 Carrying devices, e.g. belts
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/264 for cells or batteries, e.g. straps, tie rods or peripheral frames
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/291 characterised by their shape
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/627 Filling ports
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49108 Electric battery cell making

Abstract

A battery clamping device includes: interposition member configured to be interposed between rectangular parallelepiped batteries such that interposition member is stacked with a plurality of the batteries alternately; clamping portion configured to clamp by pressing the stacked batteries and interposition member in a stacking direction of the batteries and the interposition member from outside in the stacking direction.

Claims

1. A battery clamping device comprising:

interposition member configured to be interposed between rectangular parallelepiped batteries such that interposition member is stacked with a plurality of the batteries alternately; and

clamping portion configured to clamp by pressing the stacked batteries and the interposition member in a stacking direction of the batteries and the interposition member, from outside in the stacking direction, wherein

the interposition member includes interposition portion which is interposed between the batteries and contact a side face perpendicular to the stacking direction of the battery and includes a base portion which is formed integrally with the interposition portion so as to be stretched at least to one side in the stacking direction from an end portion of the interposition portion thereby the base portion contacts a connecting face of the battery which connects the side faces of the battery to each other.

2. The battery clamping device according to claim 1, wherein

the base portion of the interposition member, when the battery is clamped between the interposition member and adjacent interposition member, is apart from the adjacent interposition member in the stacking direction.

3. The battery clamping device according to claim 1, wherein

the base portion of the interposition member is stretched to both sides in the stacking direction from the end portion of the interposition portion.

4. The battery clamping device according to claim 3, wherein

the base portion has a configuration in which a sum of the dimensions of the base portions stretched in the stacking direction from the interposition portion is smaller than a gap between the side faces of the battery in the stacking direction.

5. A battery heating device comprising:

a battery clamping device according to claim 1;

a heater configured so that the battery clamping device clamping the batteries is mounted thereon to heat the batteries, wherein

the interposition member includes a battery contact face of the base portion which contacts the connecting face of the battery and includes a bottom face which is located on an opposite side to the battery contact face across the base portion and opposed to the heater, and wherein

the heater provides a bottom face contact face which the bottom face of the interposition member contacts and is configured to be capable of heating the interposition member via the bottom face which contacts the bottom face contact face.

6. The battery heating device according to claim 5, wherein

the bottom face of the interposition member is formed into a flat face,

the bottom face contact face of the heater is a flat face which contacts the bottom face of any of the interposition members.

7. The battery heating device according to claim 5, wherein

the interposition member is made of metal having thermal conductivity of 100 W/(m·

K) or more.

8. The battery drying device comprising:

the battery heating device according to claim 5, and

a depressurizing device including a depressurizing chamber capable of accommodating the battery heating device and a depressurizing pump for depressurizing the depressurizing chamber.

9. A battery cooling device comprising:

the battery clamping device according to claim 1, and

a cooling unit on which the battery clamping device clamping the batteries is mounted to cool the batteries, wherein

the interposition member includes a battery contact face of the base portion which contacts the connecting face of the battery and includes a bottom face which is located on an opposite side to the battery contact face across the base portion and opposed to the cooling unit, and wherein

the cooling unit provides a bottom face contact face which the bottom face of the interposition member contacts and is configured to be capable of cooling the interposition member via the bottom face which contacts the bottom face contact face.

10. The battery cooling device according to claim 9, wherein

the bottom face of the interposition member is formed into a flat face, and wherein

the bottom face contact face of the cooling unit is a flat face which contacts the bottom face of any of the interposition members.

11. The battery cooling device according to claim 9, wherein

the interposition member is made of metal having thermal conductivity of 100 W/(m·

K) or more.

12. A method for manufacturing a rectangular parallelepiped battery using the battery clamping device according to claim 1, comprising:

interposing the interposition member between not-initially charged batteries which have been not undergone the initial charge;

clamping the not-initially charged battery with the clamping portions by pressing the batteries in the stacking direction, with the connecting face of the not-initially charged battery brought into contact with the base portion, and

performing the initial charge of each of the clamped not-initially charged batteries.

13. A manufacturing method of the rectangular parallelepiped battery comprising:

interposing the interposition member between the non-sealed batteries whose communication hole for communicating the inside and outside of the battery has not been sealed, by using the battery clamping device in the battery drying device according to claim 8, and clamping the non-sealed battery by pressing the non-sealed battery in the stacking direction by using the clamping portions, with the connecting face brought into contact with the base portion,

heating and drying the inside of the non-sealed battery via the communication hole by heating the non-sealed battery by heating the battery clamping device clamping the non-sealed batteries by means of the heater, depressurizing the depressurizing chamber which accommodates the non-sealed batteries clamped by the battery clamping device and heated; and

pouring electrolyte into the inside of the non-sealed battery via the communication hole, after the heating and drying; and

sealing the communication hole.