JP6335073B2 - Breaker and safety circuit and secondary battery pack provided therewith - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a small breaker built in a secondary battery pack or the like of an electric device.

  For example, secondary battery packs such as small nickel-metal hydride batteries and lithium-ion batteries installed in mobile phones and laptop computers, etc., immediately shut off current when there is an abnormality such as overcharge or short circuit, and there is a danger due to overheating. A breaker is used to avoid this.

  As such a breaker, the one described in Patent Document 1 below is known. The breaker includes a fixed piece having a fixed contact, a movable piece that makes a movable contact formed at a tip of the fixed piece contact the fixed contact by a spring action, and the movable contact is separated from the fixed contact by reversal due to a temperature change. It is comprised including thermal responsive elements, such as a bimetal.

  Among these, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the fixed piece a is embedded in the first case b made of resin by insert molding. However, in the first case b, during insert molding, the weld line W is likely to be formed at a position P near the contact portion a1 of the fixed piece a, and the strength tends to be reduced due to twisting.

  Specifically, the fixed piece a includes a contact portion a1 having a fixed contact, and a base portion a3 connected to the contact portion a1 via a step bent portion a2. The first case b is provided with an opening c having a shallow bottom portion c1 and a deep bottom portion c3 connected to the shallow bottom portion c1 via a stepped portion c2. The shallow portion c1 is formed with an exposed portion c1a that exposes the contact portion a1 and a partition wall portion c1b that separates the exposed portion c1a from the deep bottom portion c3.

  In such a first case b, as shown by an arrow F1 during insert molding, the resin flowing around the deep bottom c3 enters from both ends of the partition wall c1b. However, at that time, the resin stops at the center of the partition wall portion c1b, and merges in a state where it stops and cools, so that the weld line W is formed. In particular, in the first case b, since the opening c is arranged on the front surface side, a resin injection gate is provided on the back surface side of the first case b. For this reason, the resin flow path from the gate to the partition wall c1b is long and the temperature of the resin is likely to decrease, so that the weld line W is more prominently generated.

  The partition wall portion c1b is necessary to prevent the deep bottom portion forming convex portion formed in the core mold from colliding with the stepped bent portion a2 of the fixed piece a during insert molding.

  As a result of research conducted by the present inventors in view of such a situation, as shown by an arrow F2 in the figure, if the resin flows easily between the deep bottom portion c3 side and the partition wall portion c1b side, the partition wall It has been found that the resin stagnation at the center of the part c1b is eliminated and the generation of the weld line W can be suppressed.

  However, conventionally, the stepped portion c2 is formed by a wall surface perpendicular to the contact portion a1. On the other hand, the step bending part a2 is bent at an obtuse angle with respect to the contact part a1 and the base part a3 in order to prevent a decrease in strength due to bending. For this reason, a constricted portion where the interval is locally reduced is formed between the stepped portion c2 and the stepped bent portion a2, and the flow of resin between the deep bottom portion c3 side and the partition wall portion c1b side is hindered. Yes.

JP 2011-198645 A

  Therefore, the present invention is based on the fact that the stepped portion of the opening is an inclined surface that is inclined in the same direction as the stepped bent portion of the fixed piece, and smoothes the resin flow between the deep bottom side and the partition wall side, An object of the present invention is to provide a breaker capable of suppressing the occurrence of a weld line in a wall portion and improving durability, and a safety circuit and a secondary battery pack provided with the breaker.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fixed piece having a fixed contact, a movable piece at a tip, and a movable piece that presses and contacts the movable contact with the fixed contact. A thermal response element that operates the movable piece so that the movable contact is separated from the fixed contact by being deformed, and an opening that embeds the fixed piece and accommodates the movable piece and the thermal response element. In a breaker comprising a first case and a second case secured to the first case to close the opening,
The opening includes a shallow bottom portion and a deep bottom portion that is connected to the shallow bottom portion via a stepped portion and accommodates the thermally responsive element, and the fixed piece has the fixed contact and has a surface at a bottom surface of the shallow bottom portion. Is exposed from the stepped portion, an inclined bent portion embedded in the first case by being inclined and bent from the contact portion to the back side at a position before the stepped portion, and bent from the inclined bent portion. And a base portion extending in the length direction through the bottom surface of the deep bottom portion, and the step portion is an inclined surface inclined in the same direction as the inclined bent portion.

  In this breaker, the inclined surface preferably has an angle θ1 of 30 ° or more with respect to a normal line of the bottom surface of the shallow bottom portion.

  In this breaker, it is preferable that the inclined surface has an angle θ1 with respect to a normal line of the bottom surface of the shallow bottom portion that is equal to or larger than an angle θ2 with respect to the normal line of the inclined bent portion.

  In this breaker, it is preferable that the opening has a thermistor receiving recess for receiving the thermistor on the bottom surface of the deep bottom portion, and the surface of the base portion is exposed at the bottom of the thermistor receiving recess.

  In this breaker, it is preferable that the first case has a gate mark on a back surface thereof and a position on the outer side in the length direction from the base portion.

  In addition, a safety circuit for an electric device according to the present invention includes the breaker.

  In addition, a secondary battery pack according to the present invention includes the breaker.

  In this application, when the first case is disposed on the lower side and the second case is disposed on the upper side, the surface facing the upper side is defined as the front (front) surface, and the surface facing the lower side is defined as the back (back) surface. The upper side is defined as the front side and the lower side is defined as the back side.

  According to the breaker of the present invention, the first case in which the fixed piece is embedded has an opening including a shallow bottom portion and a deep bottom portion connected to the shallow bottom portion via a step portion. Therefore, a breaker in which the movable piece and the thermally responsive element are accommodated in the opening can be easily formed using a conventional production line.

  The fixed piece has a contact portion exposed on the bottom surface of the shallow bottom portion and a base portion connected to the step portion via an inclined bending portion. The inclined bent portion is bent from the contact portion to the back side at a position before the stepped portion. As a result, an exposed portion where the contact portion is exposed and a partition wall portion that separates the exposed portion from the deep bottom portion are formed in the shallow bottom portion. Therefore, during insert molding, it is possible to prevent the fixed piece from being displaced due to a contact between the deep bottom forming convex portion of the core mold and the inclined bending portion.

  Moreover, in the first case, the stepped portion is an inclined surface inclined in the same direction as the inclined bent portion. Therefore, a constricted portion where the interval is locally reduced is not formed between the stepped portion and the inclined bent portion, and the resin flow between the deep bottom portion side and the partition wall portion side can be smoothed. As a result, the generation of weld lines at the partition wall can be suppressed. Specifically, for example, when the resin enters from both ends of the partition wall portion, the flow of the resin can be promoted and speeded up, and the resin can be merged before solidification starts. Alternatively, the resin from the deep bottom side can first flow into the partition wall side and merge with the resin entering from each end side of the partition wall before solidification starts. Or generation | occurrence | production of a weld line can be suppressed by making the partition wall part fill with the resin from the deep bottom part side first, and suppressing entrance of the resin from the both ends of a partition wall part. If the position of the stepped portion itself is changed to widen the gap between the stepped portion and the inclined bent portion, the length of the breaker is increased, which adversely affects the product value for a breaker that is strongly required to be downsized.

The assembly perspective view showing the schematic structure of the breaker by one embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the state which incorporates a 2nd case in a 1st case. Sectional drawing which shows the breaker in a normal charge or discharge state. Sectional drawing which shows the breaker in the overcharge state or the time of abnormality. The perspective view which shows the 1st case which embedded the fixed piece. The expanded sectional view which shows the relationship between a level | step-difference part and an inclination bending part. The expanded sectional view which shows the other Example of a level | step-difference part. (A), (B) is a bottom view which shows an example of a gate trace. (A) is a top view which shows the structure of the secondary battery pack provided with the breaker, (B) is a circuit diagram of the safety circuit provided with the breaker. (A) is a perspective view which shows the conventional 1st case, (B) is an expanded sectional view which shows the principal part.

  A breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show the configuration of the breaker 1. The breaker 1 includes a fixed piece 2 having a fixed contact 21, a movable piece 4 having a movable contact 3 at the tip, a thermally responsive element 5 that deforms with a temperature change, and a case 7. In this example, the case where the breaker 1 further has a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) thermistor 6 is shown.

  The case 7 includes a first case 71 and a second case 72, and an opening 73 that accommodates the movable piece 4, the thermally responsive element 5, and the PTC thermistor 6 is formed on the front surface of the first case 71. Is formed. The second case 71 is fixed to the first case 71 and closes the opening 73.

  The first case 71 is formed of resin at least in a portion where the opening 73 is formed. As the resin, for example, flame retardant polyamide, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) excellent in heat resistance, liquid crystal polymer (LCP), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and the like are suitably employed. The second case 72 is also preferably made of the same resin as that of the first case 71. However, a material other than the resin can be used as long as the characteristics equal to or higher than those of the above-described resin can be obtained.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the opening 73 of the first case 71 is connected to the shallow bottom portion 73A exposing the contact portion 2A of the fixed piece 2 and the shallow bottom portion 73A via a stepped portion 73B, and the thermal actuator 5 And a deep bottom portion 73C. The opening 73 of this example further includes a thermistor housing recess 73D for housing the PTC thermistor 6 on the bottom surface Sc of the deep bottom portion 73C. Around the thermistor housing recess 73D, an annular rib 74 that receives the back (back) surface of the thermally responsive element 5 protrudes from the bottom surface Sc of the deep bottom portion 73C at a small height. The rib 74 projects at a small height from the bottom surface Sc of the deep bottom portion 73C. On the inner periphery of the rib 74, a tapered surface is formed which serves as a guide when the PTC thermistor 6 is put into the thermistor housing recess 73D.

  Further, the fixed piece 2 is embedded in the first case 71 by insert molding. The fixed piece 2 is formed by pressing a metal plate mainly composed of copper or the like (other metal plate such as a copper-titanium alloy, white or brass).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the fixed piece 2 includes a contact portion 2A having a fixed contact 21, an inclined bent portion 2B that bends and inclines from the contact portion 2A toward the back surface, and is bent from the inclined bent portion 2B. And a base portion 2C extending to the other side in the length direction through the bottom surface of 73C. A terminal 22 that protrudes outward from one end of the first case 71 and is electrically connected to an external circuit is formed on one side in the length direction of the contact portion 2A.

  The contact portion 2A is exposed on the bottom surface Sa of the shallow bottom portion 73A, and this exposed portion is formed as the fixed contact 21. The fixed contact 21 is coated on the surface of the contact portion 2A by cladding, plating or coating of a conductive material such as copper, silver alloy, gold-silver alloy, as well as silver, nickel, nickel-silver alloy. Is formed. From the viewpoint of space efficiency, the surface of the contact portion 2A, which is the fixed contact 21, is preferably flush with the bottom surface Sa of the shallow bottom portion 73A.

  The inclined bent portion 2B is bent from the contact portion 2A to the back surface side at a position in front of the stepped portion 73B, in other words, at a position on one side in the length direction from the stepped portion 73B. Embed. Therefore, a partition wall portion 75 that separates the exposed portion of the contact portion 2A and the deep bottom portion 73C is formed in the shallow bottom portion 73A. The inclined bent portion 2B is bent at an obtuse angle with respect to the contact portion 2A and the base portion 2C, thereby suppressing a decrease in strength due to bending. The angle θ2 of the inclined bending portion 2B with respect to the normal line of the bottom surface Sa of the shallow bottom portion 73A is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 15 to 30 ° from the viewpoint of resin moldability and the like as in the past.

  A part of the base portion 2C of the present example is exposed at the bottom surface Sd of the thermistor housing recess 73D, whereby the exposed portion forms a mounting portion 23 on which the PTC thermistor 6 is mounted. The mounting portion 23 is provided with a convex protrusion 23a (shown in FIG. 5) having a small height for supporting the PTC thermistor 6 at three points. In this example, the back surface of the mounting portion 23 is exposed, but it may be covered with resin.

  And in this invention, the level | step-difference part 73B of the said opening 73 is formed in the inclined surface 76 which inclines in the same direction as the inclination bending part 2B of the said fixed piece 2. As shown in FIG. Thereby, it becomes possible to ensure a sufficient space between the stepped portion 73B and the inclined bent portion 2B, and the resin flow F2 between the deep bottom portion 73C side and the partition wall portion 75 side during insert molding. Can be smoothed. As a result, for example, when the resin enters from both ends of the partition wall portion 75, the flow of the resin can be promoted and speeded up, and the resin can be joined before solidification starts. Alternatively, the resin from the deep bottom 73 side can flow into the partition wall 75 side first, and can merge with the resin entering from each end side of the partition wall 75 before solidification starts. Alternatively, it is possible to suppress the generation of the weld line by, for example, filling the partition wall portion 75 first with the resin from the deep bottom portion 73C side and suppressing the entry of the resin from both ends of the partition wall portion 75. it can.

  In particular, in order to smooth the resin flow F2 between the deep bottom portion 73C side and the partition wall portion 75 side, the angle θ1 of the inclined surface 76 (stepped portion 73B) with respect to the normal line of the bottom surface Sa of the shallow bottom portion 73A. Is preferably 30 ° or more. For the same purpose, it is also preferable that the angle θ1 is equal to or larger than the angle θ2 of the inclined bending portion 2B. More preferably, the angle θ1 is 30 ° or more and the angle θ2 or more. However, if the angle θ1 is excessively large and the partition wall portion 75 becomes thin, the moldability is deteriorated, and fine resin fragments are easily generated. The fragments can enter between the movable contact 41 and the fixed contact 21 and cause defective resistance and poor conduction. From such a viewpoint, the upper limit of the angle θ1 is preferably 70 ° or less, and more preferably 60 ° or less.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in order to smooth the flow of the resin between the deep bottom portion 73C side and the partition wall portion 75 side, the bottom surface Sc of the deep bottom portion 73C is set to the lower end of the inclined surface 76 (stepped portion 73B). It is also preferable to tilt downward. In this case, since the bottom surface Sc is formed along the outline of the curvature of the thermally responsive element 5 and the resin thickness of the deep bottom portion 73C is increased, there is an advantage that the rigidity and strength of the entire case 7 can be increased.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, a gate mark 80 is provided at a position on the back surface 71S of the first case 71 and on the outer side in the length direction from the base portion 2C. The gate trace 80 is a cut trace of the resin hardened in the gate. In this example, a recess 81 is provided on the back surface 71S, and the gate trace 80 is provided on the bottom surface of the recess 81. Thereby, the gate trace 80 can be prevented from protruding from the back surface 71S. As shown in FIG. 8B, a notch 82 for separating the base 2C from the recess 81 can be formed in the base 2C. In such a case, the degree of freedom of the formation positions of the recess 81 and the gate can be increased. When the gate is provided at such a position, the flow F2 of the resin from the gate to the partition wall 75 through the deep bottom 73C is smoothed, so that the weld line suppression effect can be further enhanced. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the movable piece 4 is formed into an arm shape symmetrical with respect to the width center line, for example, by pressing a plate-shaped metal material. As a material of the movable piece 4, a material mainly composed of copper or the like equivalent to the fixed piece 2 is preferable. In addition, a conductive elastic material such as copper-titanium alloy, white or brass may be used.

  A terminal 41 that protrudes outward from the other end of the case 7 and is electrically connected to an external circuit is formed at the other end in the length direction of the movable piece 4. A movable contact 3 is formed at one end in the length direction of the movable piece 4 and on the back surface. The movable contact 3 is formed of the same material as that of the fixed contact 21 and is joined to the tip of the movable piece 4 by a technique such as clad or crimping in addition to welding. The movable piece 4 has a sandwiching part 42 and an elastic part 43 between the movable contact 3 and the terminal 41. The sandwiching portion 42 is sandwiched between the first and second cases 71 and 72 and fixed to the case 7. The clamping part 42 of this example has the wing | blade-like part 42a projected on the both sides of the width direction, and becomes wide by this, and fixation is performed more firmly and stably.

  The elastic part 43 is disposed between the sandwiching part 42 and the movable contact 3, and by the elastic deformation, the movable contact 3 is pressed against the fixed contact 21 to energize each other. Note that a pair of protrusions 43 a that come into contact with the heat responsive element 5 are provided on the back surface of the elastic portion 43, whereby the deformation of the heat responsive element 5 is transmitted to the elastic portion 43. A fitting recess 78 is formed on the surface of the first case 71 so that the clamping portion 42 is inserted and positioned. In addition, a positioning pin 78a that enhances positioning accuracy by fitting into a positioning hole 42b provided in the clamping portion 42 protrudes from the fitting recess 78.

  The thermoresponsive element 5 is made of a composite material such as bimetal or trimetal, and has an initial shape curved in a convex arc shape. When the operating temperature is reached due to overheating, the curved shape reversely warps with snap motion, and recovers when the temperature falls below the return temperature due to cooling. The initial shape of the thermoresponsive element 5 can be formed by pressing. Although the material and shape of the thermal responsive element 5 are not particularly limited, a rectangular shape is desirable from the viewpoint of productivity and efficiency of reverse warping operation, and it is close to a square in order to efficiently push up the elastic portion 43 while being small. A rectangular shape is desirable. Examples of the material of the thermally responsive element 5 include, for example, white, brass, and stainless steel including copper-nickel-manganese alloy or nickel-chromium-iron alloy on the high expansion side and iron-nickel alloy on the low expansion side. A laminate of two types of materials having different coefficients of thermal expansion made of various alloys such as steel is used in combination according to the required conditions.

  When the energization of the fixed piece 2 and the movable piece 4 is interrupted by the reverse warping operation of the thermal response element 5, the current flowing through the PTC thermistor 6 increases. As long as the PTC thermistor 6 is a positive temperature coefficient thermistor whose resistance value increases with temperature rise and limits the current, the type can be selected according to requirements such as operating current, operating voltage, operating temperature, return temperature, etc. The shape is not particularly limited as long as these properties are not impaired. In the present embodiment, a ceramic sintered body containing barium titanate, strontium titanate or calcium titanate is used. In addition to the ceramic sintered body, a so-called polymer PTC in which conductive particles such as carbon are contained in a polymer may be used.

  The second case 72 is fixed to the front surface of the first case 71 in order to close the opening 73 by, for example, an appropriate bonding means such as ultrasonic welding. In the second case 72 of this example, a reinforcing piece (not shown) is embedded by insert molding. The reinforcing piece is formed by pressing the above-described metal plate mainly composed of copper, a metal plate such as stainless steel, or the like. The reinforcing piece abuts on the upper surface of the movable piece 4 as appropriate, restricts the movement of the movable piece 4, and increases the rigidity and strength of the entire case 7. The second case 72 only needs to close the opening 73. For example, a portion corresponding to the sandwiching portion 42 of the movable piece 4 is embedded in the second case 72 by insert molding or the like. The movable piece 4 can also be attached to. Further, the movable piece 4 is divided into a first part on the terminal 41 side and a second part on the elastic part 43 side at a portion corresponding to the clamping part 42, and the first part is embedded in the second case 72 by insert molding or the like. Various functions can be installed in the second case 72, such as joining the second part to the first part during breaker assembly.

  Next, the operation of the breaker 1 will be described. FIG. 3 shows the operation of the breaker 1 in a normal charge or discharge state. In a normal charge or discharge state, the thermally responsive element 5 maintains the initial shape, and the terminals 22 and 41 of the breaker 1 are electrically connected by the fixed contact 21 and the movable contact 3 coming into contact with each other. At this time, the elastic portion 43 of the movable piece 4 and the thermal response element 5 are in contact with each other. Therefore, the movable piece 4, the thermal response element 5, the PTC thermistor 6 and the fixed piece 2 are electrically connected as a circuit. However, since the resistance of the PTC thermistor 6 is overwhelmingly larger than the resistance of the movable piece 4, the current flowing through the PTC thermistor 6 is substantially negligible compared to the amount flowing through the fixed contact 21 and the movable contact 3. It is.

  FIG. 4 shows the operation of the breaker 1 in an overcharged state or an abnormality. When a high temperature state occurs due to overcharging or abnormality, the thermally responsive element 5 that has reached the operating temperature is reversely warped, the elastic portion 43 of the movable piece 4 is pushed up, and the fixed contact 21 and the movable contact 3 are separated. At this time, the current flowing between the fixed contact 21 and the movable contact 3 is cut off, and a slight leakage current flows through the thermal actuator 5 and the PTC thermistor 6. The PTC thermistor 6 continues to generate heat as long as such a leakage current flows, and drastically increases the resistance value while maintaining the thermally responsive element 5 in a reverse warped state. For this reason, the current does not flow through the path between the fixed contact 21 and the movable contact 3, and only the above-described slight leakage current exists (configures a self-holding circuit). This leakage current can be used for other functions of the safety device.

  When the overcharge state is canceled or the abnormal state is resolved, the heat generation of the PTC thermistor 6 is also stopped, and the thermal actuator 5 returns to the return temperature and restores the original initial shape. Then, the movable contact 3 and the fixed contact 21 come into contact again by the elastic force of the elastic portion 43 of the movable piece 4, the circuit is released from the interruption state, and returns to the conduction state shown in FIG. 3.

  The breaker 1 of the present invention can be widely applied to secondary battery packs, safety circuits for electrical devices, and the like. FIG. 9A shows the secondary battery pack 100. The secondary battery pack 100 includes a secondary battery 101 and a breaker 1 provided in an output terminal circuit of the secondary battery 101. FIG. 9B shows a safety circuit 102 for electrical equipment. The safety circuit 102 includes the breaker 1 in series in the output circuit of the secondary battery 101.

  As mentioned above, although especially preferable embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to embodiment of illustration, It can deform | transform and implement in a various aspect.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Breaker 2 Fixed piece 2A Contact part 2B Inclined bending part 2C Base part 3 Movable contact 4 Movable piece 5 Thermally responsive element 21 Fixed contact 71 1st case 72 2nd case 73 Opening 73A Shallow bottom part 73B Step part 73C Deep bottom part 73D Thermistor accommodation Recess 76 Inclined surface 80 Gate mark 100 Secondary battery pack 102 Safety circuit

Claims (7)

A fixed piece having a fixed contact;
A movable piece having a movable contact at a tip, and pressing the movable contact against the fixed contact; and
A thermally responsive element that operates the movable piece so that the movable contact is separated from the fixed contact by being deformed with a temperature change;
A first case having an opening for embedding the fixed piece and accommodating the movable piece and the thermally responsive element;
In a breaker comprising a second case fixed to the first case to close the opening,
The opening includes a shallow bottom portion, and a deep bottom portion that is connected to the shallow bottom portion via a step portion and accommodates the thermoresponsive element,
The fixed piece has the fixed contact and has a contact portion whose surface is exposed on the bottom surface of the shallow bottom portion, and is bent at an angle from the contact portion to the back side at a position before the stepped portion. An inclined bending portion embedded in the case, and a base portion that is bent from the inclined bending portion and extends in the length direction through the bottom of the deep bottom portion, and
The stepped portion is an inclined surface inclined in the same direction as the inclined bent portion.   2. The breaker according to claim 1, wherein the inclined surface has an angle θ <b> 1 with respect to a normal line of the bottom surface of the shallow bottom portion of 30 ° or more.   The breaker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an angle θ1 of the inclined surface with respect to a normal line of the bottom surface of the shallow bottom portion is equal to or larger than an angle θ2 with respect to the normal line of the inclined bent portion.   The opening has a thermistor-receiving recess for receiving the thermistor on the bottom surface of the deep bottom portion, and the surface of the base portion is exposed at the bottom of the thermistor-receiving recess. Breaker as described in any one of.   The breaker according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first case has a gate mark at a position on the back surface thereof and on the outer side in the length direction of the base portion.   A safety circuit for an electric device comprising the breaker according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   A secondary battery pack comprising the breaker according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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