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US-12626957-B2 - Battery cell and method of manufacturing the same

US12626957B2US 12626957 B2US12626957 B2US 12626957B2US-12626957-B2

Abstract

The present invention provides a battery cell and a method of manufacturing the same. In particular, since a case of the battery cell may have poor thermal resistance, the present invention provides a battery cell capable of preventing a coating layer including an insulation layer in the case and an electrode assembly from being damaged by heat, and releasing the heat generated in the battery.

Inventors

  • Hee Gyoung Kang

Assignees

  • SK INNOVATION CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20190829
Priority Date
20181023

Claims (6)

  1. 1 . A battery cell comprising: an electrode assembly; and a case configured to house the electrode assembly, wherein the case includes: a first member configured to cover a lower portion of the electrode assembly, and a second member configured to cover an upper portion of the electrode assembly and sealing with the first member, wherein a first rear side of the first member and a second rear side of the second member are continuously connected and positioned behind the electrode assembly, wherein the first member includes: a first recess part configured to provide a space in which the lower side of the electrode assembly is housed and form the first rear side of the first member, and a first sealing part extending forward from an upper end of the first recess part, wherein the second member includes: a second recess part configured to provide a space in which the upper side of the electrode assembly is housed and form the second rear side of the second member, and a second sealing part extending forward from a lower end of the second recess part and in contact with the first sealing part, wherein the second rear side of the second member includes: a second rear side body leaning forward, and a second rear edge portion bent forward from an upper end of the second rear side body, wherein the first rear side of the first member includes: a first rear side body connected to the second rear side body, and a first rear edge portion which forms a lower end of the first rear side body, wherein a front end of the second sealing part is in front of a front end of the first sealing part, and wherein a rear end of the second sealing part is in front of a rear end of the first sealing part, wherein the front end of the first sealing part and the front end of the second sealing part are positioned in front of the electrode assembly, wherein the second rear side is inclined toward the electrode assembly with respect to the first rear side, and the second rear edge portion is positioned closer to the electrode assembly than the first rear edge portion.
  2. 2 . The battery cell according to claim 1 , wherein the first recess part and the second recess part have a smaller depth formed at a front side of the case than a depth formed at a rear side of the case.
  3. 3 . The battery cell according to claim 1 , wherein the rear side of the first member and the rear side of the second member form a close contact surface, wherein the close contact surface has a longer length than a length in which the case extends in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the close contact surface.
  4. 4 . The battery cell according to claim 3 , wherein the close contact surface has a longer length at least two times than the length in which the case extends in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the close contact surface.
  5. 5 . The battery cell according to claim 1 , wherein the first recess part and the second recess part have inner volumes different from each other.
  6. 6 . A battery cell comprising: an electrode assembly; and a case enclosing the electrode assembly, the case including a first member including a first recess part and a first sealing part and a second member including a second recess part and a second sealing part, wherein a lower portion of the electrode assembly is covered inside the first recess part, and a remaining upper portion of the electrode assembly is covered inside the second recess part, wherein the second recess part is larger in width than the first recess part, wherein the first and second members form a close contact side with which the electrode assembly is brought into close contact, wherein the close contact side is positioned behind of the electrode assembly, wherein the first and second sealing parts are sealed along the other sides of the case except for the one close contact side, wherein an upper part of the close contact side includes: an upper part body leaning forward; and an upper part edge portion bent forward from an upper end of the upper part body, and wherein a lower part of the close contact side includes: a lower part body connected to the upper part body; and a lower part edge portion which forms a lower end of the lower part body, wherein a front end of the second sealing part is in front of a front end of the first sealing part, and a rear end of the second sealing part is in front of a rear end of the first sealing part, wherein the front end of the first sealing part and the front end of the second sealing part are positioned in front of the electrode assembly, and wherein the upper part body is inclined toward the electrode assembly with respect to the lower part body, and the upper part edge portion is positioned closer to the electrode assembly than the lower part edge portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to Korean Patent Applications No. 10-2018-0126857 filed on Oct. 23, 2018 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery cell and a method of manufacturing the same. 2. Description of the Related Art In modern society, the demand for secondary batteries is rapidly increasing across the industry such as a mobile device or an automobile, and studies into the secondary battery are actively conducted. A case (sheath) of the secondary battery is formed through a process of forming a space in which an electrode assembly is housed by pressing a foil. After the electrode assembly (a jelly roll) is inserted into the inner space of the case molded through the above-described process, end portions of the molded case are sealed to manufacture the secondary battery. The case is formed of a metal layer containing mostly aluminum and a coating layer applied to the aluminum layer, such that it is susceptible to heat and stress. In addition, an electrolyte contained in the case together with the electrode assembly has a risk of explosion and a disadvantage that thermal stability is deteriorated. Therefore, it is important to have a structure that prevents the case as well as the electrode assembly, the electrolyte, and the like contained in the case from being damaged by heat, and releases the heat generated in the battery. For example, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication. No. 10-2018-0054617 (published on May 24, 2018 discloses a separator for a chemical device such as a secondary battery and a chemical device including the separator, however, it did not solve the above-described problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide a battery cell which is excellent in insulation resistance and has an increased flatness on one side of the battery cell, thereby maximizing a cooling effect during assembling the battery cells in a battery module. In addition, another object of embodiments of the present invention is to provide a battery cell capable of preventing a damage to a separator due to heat. Further, another object of embodiments of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a battery cell capable of maximizing a cooling effect during assembling the battery cells n a battery module, and preventing a damage to a separator due to heat. To achieve the above objects, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery cell including an electrode assembly and a case configured to house the electrode assembly, wherein the case includes a first member configured to cover a lower side of the housed electrode assembly and a second member configured to cover an upper side of the electrode assembly, wherein the first member and the second member are connected to each other at one side thereof to form an close contact surface with which the electrode assembly is brought into close contact, and are sealed along the other sides except for the one side, the first member includes a first recess part configured to provide a space in which the lower side of the electrode assembly is housed, and a first sealing part configured to be sealed with the second member, the second member includes a second recess part configured to provide a space in which the upper side of the electrode assembly is housed, and a second sealing part configured to be sealed with the first member, and a distance from a first boundary located inside of a portion of the first sealing part, which is sealed with the second sealing part to a first outer surface of the first recess part, which is located on the first sealing part side is longer than a distance from a second boundary located inside of the second sealing part to a second outer surface of the second recess part, which is located on the second sealing part side. In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, there provided a battery cell including an electrode assembly and a case configured to house the electrode assembly, wherein the case includes a first member configured to cover a lower side of the housed electrode assembly and a second member configured to cover an upper side of the electrode assembly, wherein the first member and the second member are connected to each other at one side, and sealed along the other sides except for the one side, the first member includes a first recess part configured to provide a space in which the lower side of the electrode assembly is housed, and a first sealing part configured to be sealed with the second member, the second member includes a second recess part configured to provide a space in which the upper side of the electrode assembly is housed, and a second sealing part configured to be sealed with the first memb