Scaling Production Techniques for Solid-State Batteries

Energy storage device with an external cladding film that improves consistency and reduces misalignment compared to prior art. The cladding film has sections that fold and adhere to the device housing. The sections have cut grooves and oblique creases. The bottom surfaces of the cut grooves are overcut to prevent the folded sections from creasing and misaligning when covering the housing. This ensures tight fit and consistent coverage.

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Battery cell design to reduce welding defects and maintain airtightness when welding the electrode terminal and tab together. The design involves recessing the end cap face with a slope transition between the recess bottom and main face. The central welding portion is in the recess, but the end portion extends onto the sloped face. This concentrates thicker material at the weld start/end points to reduce defects. It also prevents welding defects from falling into the recess and disrupting airtightness.

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Battery cell design for electric vehicles that enables secure insertion of the cell stack into the battery pack housing without damaging the cell ends. The cells have protrusions on the sides that engage with rollers in the insertion tool. This allows the cell stack to be driven into the pack housing without applying force to the cell ends. The rollers have complementary features that match the cell protrusions. This prevents damage to the cell ends during insertion.

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Battery cell design that improves assembly efficiency and internal space utilization by eliminating the need for internal bus bars and external terminal welding. The cell has a stepped end with connectors protruding. The connectors have pins that directly connect to the electrode tabs. External connectors plug into these cell connectors to make intercell connections. This avoids internal bus bars and external terminal welding. The stepped end provides connector space without internal volume loss.

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Quality control system for analyzing the quality of battery cells during manufacturing by measuring physical properties of the gas produced during cell formation. The system uses sensors in a manifold to measure gas pressure, temperature, and composition. The gas is flowed through the sensors after cell formation and the data is analyzed to compare against thresholds and assess cell quality. This provides diagnostic and prognostic insights into cell quality without destructive testing.

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Battery cell design to reduce defects like burst points and pinholes during welding by controlling the insulating film around the electrode. The insulating film is enclosed around the electrode and isolates it from the cell shell. The distance between the film ends near the electrode edge increases as it approaches the end cap. This prevents the film from extending too close to the cap during welding where it can vaporize and cause defects. Avoidance structures on the film near the cap further prevent interference.

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Electrode assembly design for lithium-ion batteries that eliminates the need for a separator between the positive and negative electrodes. The electrode assembly has a unique structure where each positive electrode plate has a composite current collector with an insulative layer and a conductive layer. The active material layer is on the insulative layer facing away from the negative electrode. This isolates the active material from the negative electrode and allows ion conduction through the composite current collector. The composite current collector replaces the separator and reduces production costs while improving safety by preventing shrinkage-induced electrode contact.

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Power supply device for electric vehicles, energy storage systems, etc. that has bus bars connecting battery cells with elastic arms that can deform to align with the cell terminals. The bus bar arms have gaps between the rod section and elastic arm that allow displacement during assembly. This prevents gaps and misalignment issues between the bus bar and cell terminals when stacked. The elastic arms deform to bridge the gap and contact the terminals for reliable welding. The elasticity allows adjustment when the terminals are misaligned due to manufacturing tolerances.

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Lithium metal phosphate manufacturing system and method that synergize lithium metal phosphate production, lithium extraction, and lithium ion battery recycling. The system involves extracting lithium from battery black mass using acid leaching, precipitating lithium phosphate from the leach solution, and mixing it with metal phosphates to form lithium metal phosphate precursor. This is then milled, calcined, and roasted to produce lithium metal phosphate cathode material for batteries. The process reduces waste, cost, and energy compared to separate production routes.

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A battery design and production method that improves energy density by optimizing the insulation and containment of the battery cells. The battery has an enclosure with fixed positions for upper and lower insulating members that surround and isolate the cells. This allows higher cell density and stacking compared to loose cell assemblies. It also simplifies maintenance by enabling individual insulator removal without disassembling the entire battery. The enclosure has separate fixing points for the upper and lower insulators.

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Preparing a high-purity, uniform positive electrode material for lithium-ion batteries with improved thermal stability and reduced particle size distribution. The method involves continuously concentrating the reaction solution in a reactor with filtration while forming the electrode precursor. This allows increasing the solid content at a constant rate by discharging a portion of the reaction solution as it's added. This prevents particle size variations due to simultaneous discharge and input. The resulting precursor has low fine powder content and high aspect ratio for better electrode performance.

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A method and device for connecting battery components to enable efficient heat transfer without complex molds. The method involves placing the battery base sheet on a vacuum-filled cushion that molds around it. The cushion is then evacuated to harden. Battery modules are pressed into heat-conducting paste between the base sheet and module while the hardened cushion supports the base. This allows the modules to float in the paste for heat transfer without needing molds for precise fitting.

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Battery cell design with full perimeter electrodes to distribute electrical and mechanical connections, spread current, and prevent hot spots. The battery cells have alternating anode and cathode electrodes around the perimeter. This allows stacking cells with aligned contacts. Cross ties connect internal electrodes and provide structural support. Selective charging through patterned electrode use moves species uniformly to extend cell life.

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Controlling thickness variation in battery electrodes during manufacturing using vacuum pressure. The technique involves applying vacuum suction near the slot die coating opening to draw the electrode material onto the current collector as it's being coated. This helps maintain consistent thickness as the material is being applied. The vacuum device is controlled based on sensor feedback measuring the electrode thickness.

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Method for manufacturing high-density battery modules for electric vehicles that allows more tightly packed cells with improved reliability. The cells are mechanically connected and adhesively bonded in sets on a fixture to align them parallel. This allows dense packing of cells with controlled axial alignment. The sets are then stacked and interconnected to form the module.

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Power storage component module design with improved electrical connection reliability and simplified assembly. The module has power storage components with protruding positioning bosses on their electrodes. A bus bar connects the components and has through holes. The bus bar is placed over the bosses with the hole edges between the boss base and tip. Joints join the hole edges to the boss. This secures the bosses to the bar and prevents movement during assembly and operation, improving electrical connections.

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An energy storage cell design with improved reliability and a manufacturing method that reduces short circuit risks. The cell has a housing, lead plate, and wound electrode. Instead of resistance welding the lead plate to the base, laser beam welding is used. This allows inserting projections on the lead plate into holes or recesses in the base, then welding around them. This securely attaches the lead plate without risk of particles shorting the electrodes during resistance welding.

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A composite interlayer for lithium metal solid-state batteries to improve cycle life and reduce impedance at the lithium metal/solid electrolyte interface. The interlayer is formed by coating the lithium metal with a mixture of lithium nitrate, dimethoxyethane, and trimethyl phosphate. This coating is applied to the lithium metal for 1-2 hours, then dried to form the interlayer between the lithium metal and solid electrolyte. The interlayer contains an ionic conductor, like lithium nitrate, dispersed in an organic matrix. This composite interlayer suppresses side reactions between lithium metal and the solid electrolyte, reducing impedance, and improves cycle life compared to bare lithium metal.

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Top patch design for energy storage devices like batteries that improves yield by preventing separation and warping during assembly. The top patch has an elongated hole with side walls and an extension bump. One side forms the explosion-proof valve hole, the other side forms the pole hole. A connecting hole links them. This design allows larger through-cuts, keeping structural integrity and preventing joint failures during assembly. The top patch width is smaller than the protruding electrode widths, preventing detachment.

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A simplified and cost-effective method to produce cell-contacting systems for electrical energy storage modules. The method involves forming a conductive pattern by extracting cutouts from a conductive material like metal. The structured material is then integrated into an electrically insulating carrier by joining. Cutouts are left in the insulating material for access to some of the conductors. Then, additional cutouts are stamped from the conductive material through those access points to complete the conductive pattern. This allows the conductive layout to be formed in a single step instead of requiring separate parts like intercell connectors. The resulting cell-contacting system has a one-piece structure with integrated insulation and contacts.

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