JP2018010830A - Seal structure of current collector and battery unit - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve a sealing structure of a battery unit that consumes and discharges gas stored in an exterior body as an active material.
A seal structure of a current collector that is installed in a battery unit outer body that encloses a battery and gas and that part of the battery unit is exposed to the outside from the outer body, and includes at least one of the current collector and the outer body. A ring-shaped recess is provided on the opposing surface, and an O-ring that fills the gap between the opposing surfaces of the current collector and the exterior body in the recess, and a backup ring that is located outside the O-ring and can support the O-ring from the outside And are arranged.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery unit that consumes and discharges gas stored in an exterior body as an active material.

  In recent years, the demand for stationary large-sized batteries has increased for the purpose of emergency power supply and power storage. Secondary batteries that can charge and discharge large amounts of power include lead-acid batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, lithium-ion batteries, and the like, but there are problems in terms of weight, cost, safety, etc. to enlarge these batteries . Among these, the nickel metal hydride battery is a battery using a hydrogen storage alloy for the negative electrode and nickel hydroxide for the positive electrode, and is lighter than the lead acid battery. Further, since a water-based electrolyte is used, it is superior in terms of safety as compared to a lithium ion battery. However, the price of the hydrogen-absorbing alloy for the negative electrode is high, and as the size increases, the cost and weight increase accordingly, which becomes a major bottleneck in producing a high-capacity nickel-metal hydride battery.

Therefore, Patent Documents 1 to 3 propose a battery using nickel hydroxide for the positive electrode and a known fuel cell hydrogen electrode for the negative electrode. This is to store hydrogen, which is a negative electrode active material, in the state of gas in the battery, and is intended for limited applications such as for artificial satellites. In such a battery, since the hydrogen gas is used as an active material, the weight of the negative electrode can be reduced.
In Patent Document 4, a hydrogen storage alloy is used for the negative electrode, manganese dioxide is used for the positive electrode, and the electric energy supplied during overcharge is supplied into the battery container using the active material of each electrode as a gas of hydrogen and oxygen. Batteries that can be stored and reconverted into electrical energy are proposed.

  In Patent Documents 5 to 7, a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator are laminated in the axial direction of the exterior body in order to suppress an increase in the temperature inside the battery, and either the positive electrode or the negative electrode One electrode (first electrode) is in contact with and electrically connected to the inner surface of the outer package, and the other electrode (second electrode) is not in contact with the inner surface of the outer package. The separator is in contact with and electrically connected to a conductive current collector penetrating in the axial direction of the exterior body. The first electrode proposes a battery that improves the heat transfer of the electrode while functioning as a battery by not contacting the current collector of the second electrode. The electric energy supplied at the time of overcharging in this battery is proposed. In addition, it can be stored inside the outer package as a gas of active material at each electrode, and can be reconverted to electrical energy for use.

JP-A-57-49175 JP 60-115151 A JP-A-7-153484 JP 2013-20955 A JP 2013-157158 A JP, 2014-13764, A JP 2014-71972 A

  However, in a battery in which a conventional active material is stored in the battery as a gas, a sealing material such as a compression seal is installed between the conductive current collector and the conductive outer casing to withstand the gas pressure. Although it has a structure that serves both as a gas seal and insulation, it does not have sufficient sealing performance against battery enlargement and high gas pressure, and especially when hydrogen gas is used as an active material, its reliability is tight. There is a problem of being insufficient.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and can improve the sealing performance of the current collector and take out electricity from the current collector exposed to the outside from the exterior body. An object of the present invention is to provide a sealing structure for a unit and a current collector.

That is, among the sealing structure of the current collector of the present invention, the first form is a current collector that is installed in the exterior body of the battery unit that encloses the battery and gas, and is partially exposed to the outside from the exterior body. The sealing structure of
A ring-shaped recess is provided on at least one facing surface of the current collector and the exterior body, and an O-ring that fills a gap between the facing surface of the current collector and the exterior body in the recess, and the O-ring And a backup ring that can support the O-ring from the outside.

  According to another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector, in the present invention of the above aspect, the current collector is installed on the lid portion of the exterior body.

  According to another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector, in the present invention of the above aspect, at least the inner surface of the exterior body has conductivity.

  Another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector is that, in the present invention of the above form, one of the outer package and the current collector is electrically connected to one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery, and the other Is electrically connected to the other of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery.

  In another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector, in the present invention of the above form, an insulating material is located at least between the opposing surfaces of the current collector and the exterior body. Features.

  In another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector, in the present invention of the above aspect, the insulating material is formed of a plurality of sheet layers.

  In another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector, in the present invention of the above embodiment, the insulating material of each layer has a cut line along the axial direction, and the cut line is in the circumferential direction at least between adjacent layers. It is in the position shifted by.

  Another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector has a plurality of current collectors that are not electrically connected to each other in the present invention, and the first current collector is a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the battery. The second current collector is electrically connected to the other of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery.

  Another aspect of the invention of the current collector seal structure is that, in the present invention of the above aspect, the concave portion is positioned at the inner end of the opposing surface between the current collector and the exterior body, and the inner edge of the concave portion is the inner side. It is characterized by having an opening.

  According to another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector of the present invention, the inner insulating stopper that closes the inner opening of the recess is provided at the inner edge of the recess.

  According to another aspect of the invention of the seal structure of the current collector, in the present invention of the above aspect, an outer insulating stopper that closes a space between the opposing surfaces is provided at an outer end portion of the opposing surfaces of the exterior body and the current collector. It is characterized by being.

Among the battery units of the present invention, the first form has an exterior body that encloses a battery and gas, and a current collector that is installed in the exterior body and a part of which is exposed to the outside from the exterior body,
A battery unit in which the current collector is electrically connected to one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery;
A ring-shaped recess is provided on at least one facing surface of the current collector and the exterior body, and an O-ring that fills a gap between the facing surface of the current collector and the exterior body in the recess, and the O-ring And a backup ring that can support the O-ring from the outside.

  In another aspect of the invention, the battery unit according to the aspect of the invention is configured such that at least an inner surface of the exterior body is a conductive portion, and the conductive portion is electrically connected to one second electrode of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery. It is characterized by being.

  Another aspect of the invention of the battery unit is characterized in that, in the present invention of the above aspect, an insulating material is located at least between facing surfaces of the current collector and the exterior body.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the battery unit according to the present invention includes a plurality of the current collectors that are not electrically connected to each other, wherein the first current collector is a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the battery. One of the first electrodes is electrically connected, and the second current collector is electrically connected to one second electrode of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, an electrical power collector and an exterior body are not electrically connected but there exists an effect which can take out electricity through an electrical power collector, without leaking the gas stored inside the exterior body.

It is a figure which shows an example of the basic structure of the battery unit in one Embodiment of this invention. Similarly, it is a figure which shows the basic structure of another example. It is a partially expanded view which shows the seal structure of one Embodiment of this invention. Similarly, it is an expansion perspective view which shows a part of seal structure in other embodiment.

(Basic form 1)
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, the 1st basic form of the battery unit 1 is demonstrated based on FIG.
The large battery unit 1 has a structure in which a battery is included in an exterior body 2. The exterior body 2 has a cylindrical main body 2C and upper lids 2A and 2B which are provided at both axial ends of the main body 2C and are joined to the main body 2C. The main body 2C and the upper lids 2A and 2B are metallurgically joined and have a sealed structure. The upper lids 2A and 2B have attachment holes 12A through which a core rod 9 of the current collector 8 (described later) passes and attachment holes 12B through which the core rod 11 of the current collector 10 penetrates at the center. Note that only one lid may be provided.

  In the outer package 2, a positive electrode plate 4 using nickel hydroxide as an active material, a separator 5 to which an electrolyte is added, a negative electrode plate 6 using a hydrogen storage alloy as an active material, and a ventilation plate 7 are sequentially stacked. The nickel metal hydride battery 3 is configured by being held by the frame-shaped holding portion 13. Further, a high-pressure gas serving as an active material is enclosed in the exterior body 2. One of the positive electrode plate 4 and the negative electrode plate 6 is a first electrode, and the other is a second electrode.

  As described above, the current collectors 8 and 10 are partly exposed through the core rods 9 and 11 so as to protrude from the exterior body 2, and electricity can be taken out from the outside. A seal structure 14 is provided between the core rods 9 and 11 and the mounting holes 12A and 12B. The seal structure 14 has a gas-seal structure that can withstand the pressure of hydrogen gas. When the upper lids 2A and 2B have conductivity, the seal structure 14 has insulating properties.

The current collectors 8 and 10 extend inside the exterior body 2, and within the holding unit 13, each positive electrode plate 4 is electrically connected to the current collector 8, and each negative electrode is connected to the current collector 10. The plates 6 are electrically connected to each other.
The current generated between each positive electrode plate 4 and each negative electrode plate 6 is taken out through the core rod 9 of the current collector 8 and the core rod 11 of the current collector 10.
In this basic form 1, the core rod 9 is exposed and protrudes from the upper lid 2A, and the core rod 11 is exposed and protrudes from the upper lid 2B. However, a part of the current collector is exposed from the same upper lid. The current collector may be partly exposed from the main body 2.
Further, in this embodiment, a part of the current collector protrudes from the exterior body 2, but if the current collector can be electrically connected to the outside, the current collector is the exterior body 2. It is not required to have a structure protruding from.

(Basic form 2)
Next, another basic form of the battery unit 1A will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, about the structure similar to the said basic form 1, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.
The large-sized battery unit 1A has a structure in which a battery is included in an exterior body 2. The exterior body 2 is provided at a cylindrical body 2C and both ends in the axial direction of the body 2C and joined to the body 2C. And upper lids 2A and 2B. The main body 2C and the upper lids 2A and 2B are made of a conductive material, and the whole is a conductive portion. The main body 2C and the upper lids 2A and 2B are metallurgically joined and have a sealed structure. Only the inner surfaces of the main body 2C and the upper lids 2A and 2B may be conductive.
The upper lids 2A and 2B have attachment holes 12A and attachment holes 12B through which a shaft-like current collector 15 described later passes in the center.

In the outer package 2, a positive electrode plate 24 using nickel hydroxide as an active material, a separator 25 to which an electrolyte is added, a negative electrode plate 26 using a hydrogen storage alloy as an active material, and a ventilation plate 27 are laminated in a plurality of layers. A hydrogen battery 3A is configured. One of the positive electrode plate 24 and the negative electrode plate 26 is a first electrode, and the other is a second electrode.
A high-pressure gas serving as an active material is enclosed in the exterior body 2. The nickel-metal hydride battery 3A is disposed until both ends in the axial direction reach the vicinity of the upper lids 2A, 2B, and an insulating plate 28 is disposed between the inner surfaces of the upper lids 2A, 2B and the nickel-metal hydride battery 3A.

In the nickel metal hydride battery 3A, the shaft-like current collector 15 passes through the positive electrode plate 24, the separator 25, the negative electrode plate 26, and the ventilation plate 27, and both ends of the current collector 15 are formed on the upper lids 2A and 2B. It is exposed from and protrudes outside.
Each positive electrode plate 24 has an outer diameter in contact with the inner surface of the outer package body 2C in the outer package 2, and each positive electrode plate 24 is electrically connected to the outer package body 2C. On the other hand, the center side of each positive electrode plate 24 and the current collector 15 are not in contact with each other, and each positive electrode plate 24 and the current collector 15 are insulated.
Each negative electrode plate 26 has an outer diameter smaller than the inner surface of the exterior body 2C and is not electrically connected to the exterior body 2 and is in an insulated state. On the other hand, the central portion of each negative electrode plate 26 is in contact with the current collector 15 so that each negative electrode plate 26 and the current collector 15 are electrically connected.

  The nickel-metal hydride battery 3 </ b> A can be energized to the outside through the exterior body 2 on the positive electrode side, and can be energized to the outside through the current collector 15 on the negative electrode side.

Next, the seal structure 14 will be described with reference to FIG.
In the following description, a shaft-shaped current collector 30 is attached to the upper lid 2A, and a small-diameter connecting portion that protrudes outward in the axial direction from the upper lid 2A is attached to the current collector main body 30A that extends in the exterior body 2. 30B. In this embodiment, the seal structure 14 is provided between the axial end of the current collector body 30A and the mounting hole 12A of the upper lid 2A. However, in the present embodiment, the upper lid 2B side may have a seal structure, or may have a seal structure 14 between current collectors such as the core rods 9 and 11 and the current collector 15. Good. Moreover, it is good also as what has a sealing structure between 2C of exterior body main bodies, and an electrical power collector, and the position of a sealing structure is not specifically limited as this invention.

  The inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 12A and the outer peripheral surface of the current collector main body 30A correspond to the facing surface in the present invention. On the inner surface of the mounting hole 12A of the upper lid 2A, a concave portion 140 is formed in a ring shape at the inner end in the axial direction, and the inner end edge in the axial direction of the concave portion 140 opens into the exterior body space. An insulating backup ring 142 is fitted in the space between the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion 140 and the outer peripheral surface of the current collector main body 30A on the outer side in the axial direction in the concave portion 140, and an O-ring 141 is fitted inside thereof. The O-ring 141 is formed in a size that can sufficiently seal from the high-pressure hydrogen in the exterior body in the space between the inner peripheral surface of the recess 140 and the outer peripheral surface of the current collector main body 30A. The material of the backup ring 142 may be non-conductive and high-strength engineering plastic. In this embodiment, PEEK (trademark) is used. A material such as nitrile rubber can be used for the O-ring 141. An insulating material is used for the backup ring 142 and the O-ring 141.

The O-ring 141 prevents the pressurized hydrogen gas from leaking outside the exterior body.
Further, a backup ring 142 is provided to prevent the O-ring 141 from being deformed due to the pressure of hydrogen gas to deteriorate the gas sealing performance, or the O-ring 141 to move and shift.
In this embodiment, the inner edge of the recess is described as being open to the exterior body space. However, according to the present invention, it is not essential that the recess is open. The direction end may not be open.

When the upper lid 2A has conductivity, in this embodiment, the current collector main body 30A may be close to the upper lid 2A, for example, up to 1 mm or less, and a short circuit may occur. Therefore, the upper lid 2A and the current collector main body 30A Insulating sheet 143 is installed between the two. Examples of the insulating sheet include PP (polypropylene) and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). In this embodiment, PTFE is used. The insulating sheet 143 corresponds to the insulating material of the present invention.
When the upper lid 2A does not have conductivity, the arrangement of the insulating material in the seal structure may be omitted.

Further, in order to prevent the O-ring 141, the backup ring 142, and the insulating sheet 143 from falling off to the inside or outside of the battery, the O-ring 141, the backup ring 142, and the insulating sheet 143 are respectively arranged on the inner side and the outer side. Insulating stoppers 144 and 146 are provided. Since the insulating stoppers 144 and 146 are in contact with the current collector body 30A and the upper lid 2A simultaneously, an insulating material is used to prevent a short circuit between the current collector body 30A and the upper lid 2A. In this embodiment, PP is used. However, as long as it is insulating, the material of the insulating stopper is not particularly limited.
In this embodiment, the insulating stoppers 144 and 146 are formed in a ring shape.

Further, a metal holding plate 147 is disposed outside the insulating stopper 146 for reinforcement. In this embodiment, the pressing plate 147 is formed in a ring shape.
The insulating stopper 144 is fixed to the upper lid 2A by screws 145, and the insulating stopper 146 and the holding plate 147 are fixed to the upper lid 2A by screws 148. In this fixed state, in the recess 140, there is no gap between the backup ring 142, the O-ring 141 and the insulating stopper 144 in the axial direction, and the recess is also formed by the O-ring 141 in the radial direction. A state in which there is no gap between the inner peripheral surface 140 and the current collector body 30A is obtained. It is desirable to determine the cross-sectional shape of the O-ring 141 so as to obtain such a state.

  According to this embodiment, in a large-sized battery that encloses a battery and a gas inside a conductive exterior body, an O-ring is provided between the conductive current collector and the exterior body that are electrically connected to the battery. In addition, the current collector and the exterior body are not electrically connected to each other by providing the backup ring and the insulating sheet, and electricity is taken out from the current collector exposed to the outside from the exterior body without leaking the gas stored inside. A large battery that can be provided can be provided.

In the above description, the insulating sheet 143 is a single sheet. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the insulating sheet 143 may be formed of a plurality of sheets. In this embodiment, the insulating sheet is constituted by three layers of the insulating sheet 143C, the insulating sheet 143B, and the insulating sheet 143A from the inner layer side. The thinner the insulation sheet, the more likely it is to become damaged and break, causing a short circuit, but by stacking multiple sheets, damage such as scratching one of them may occur. Even if it is, insulation can be maintained by another insulating sheet. In this embodiment, three PTFE sheets having a thickness of 0.3 mm are used.
A cylindrical sheet may be used as the insulating sheet. When a sheet-shaped sheet is used, it is desirable that the opening be shifted at least between adjacent sheets.
As a result, even when charging and discharging is performed using the pressurized hydrogen gas as an active material, the positive electrode current collector and the negative electrode current collector are further short-circuited without the hydrogen gas leaking to the outside of the container due to the pressure. The secondary battery can be charged and discharged without any problems.

In the above embodiment, the concave portion is formed only on the inner surface of the upper lid 2A. However, the concave portion may be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the current collector main body 30A. Also good.
In the above embodiment, the seal structure is described as being provided between the upper lid 2A and the current collector main body 30A. However, as described above, other upper lids and other structures of the outer body and the current collector are provided. It may have a sealing structure between the body and other current collectors.
Further, in the description of the embodiment, the case where the nickel metal hydride battery is included has been described. However, the present invention can be applied as long as hydrogen and the battery are included in the exterior body, and the type of the battery is particularly limited. It is not a thing.

  As described above, the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, but appropriate modifications to the present embodiment can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Battery unit 1A Battery unit 2 Exterior body 2A Upper lid 2B Upper lid 2C Exterior body main body 3 Nickel hydrogen battery 3A Nickel hydrogen battery 4 Positive electrode plate 5 Separator 6 Negative electrode plate 7 Ventilation plate 8 Current collector 9 Core rod 10 Current collector 11 Core rod 12A Mounting hole 12B Mounting hole 13 Holding portion 14 Seal structure 15 Current collector 24 Positive electrode plate 25 Separator 26 Negative electrode plate 27 Ventilation plate 30 Current collector 30A Current collector body 30B Connection portion 140 Recess 141 O-ring 142 Backup ring 143 Insulating sheet 143A Insulating sheet 143B Insulating sheet 143C Insulating sheet

Claims (15)

A battery and gas encapsulating structure, installed in the exterior of the battery unit, a part of the seal structure of the current collector exposed outside the exterior body,
A ring-shaped recess is provided on at least one facing surface of the current collector and the exterior body, and an O-ring that fills a gap between the facing surface of the current collector and the exterior body in the recess, and the O-ring And a backup ring capable of supporting the O-ring from the outside.   The current collector sealing structure according to claim 1, wherein the current collector is attached to a lid portion of the exterior body.   The current collector seal structure according to claim 1, wherein at least an inner surface of the exterior body has conductivity.   One of the outer package and the current collector is electrically connected to one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery, and the other is electrically connected to the other of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery. The seal structure for a current collector according to claim 3.   The current collector seal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an insulating material is located at least between facing surfaces of the current collector and the exterior body that are in contact with each other. Construction.   The current collector seal structure according to claim 5, wherein the insulating material is formed of a plurality of sheet layers.   The current collector seal according to claim 6, wherein the insulating material of each layer has a cut line along an axial direction, and the cut line is at a position shifted in a circumferential direction at least between adjacent layers. Construction.   A plurality of current collectors that are not electrically connected to each other, the first current collector is electrically connected to one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery, and the second current collector is a positive electrode of the battery The current collector seal structure according to claim 1, wherein the current collector is electrically connected to the other of the negative electrode and the negative electrode.   The said recessed part is located in the inner end of the opposing surface between a collector and the said exterior body, and the inner edge of a recessed part is opening inside, The any one of Claims 1-8 characterized by the above-mentioned. The current collector seal structure described.   The current collector seal structure according to claim 9, wherein an inner insulating stopper that closes an inner opening of the recess is provided at an inner edge of the recess.   The outer insulating stopper which closes the space between opposing surfaces is provided in the outer edge part of the opposing surface of the said exterior body and the said electrical power collector, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Current collector seal structure. An exterior body containing a battery and gas, and a current collector that is installed in the exterior body and is partially exposed to the outside from the exterior body,
A battery unit in which the current collector is electrically connected to one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery;
A ring-shaped recess is provided on at least one facing surface of the current collector and the exterior body, and an O-ring that fills a gap between the facing surface of the current collector and the exterior body in the recess, and the O-ring And a backup ring that can support the O-ring from outside.   The battery unit according to claim 12, wherein at least an inner surface of the exterior body is a conductive portion, and the conductive portion is electrically connected to one second electrode of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery.   14. The battery unit according to claim 12, wherein an insulating material is located at least between facing surfaces of the current collector and the exterior body that are in contact with each other.   The current collector has a plurality that are not electrically connected to each other, the first current collector of which is electrically connected to one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery, and the second of the current collectors The battery unit according to claim 12, wherein the current collector is electrically connected to one second electrode of the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery.

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