JPH08124549A - Current collecting terminal for nickel-hydrogen battery and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery, which has a small variation in quality, a small electric resistance, and an excellent corrosion resistance to an alkaline electrolyte. [Structure] Conductive connection portion 18 having a cylindrical shape or a cylindrical shape
a and a flat-plate-shaped current collector connecting portion 18b, one end surface of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion 18a and one surface of the flat-plate-shaped current collector connecting portion 18b are integrated together. When manufacturing the electric terminal, the cylindrical or cylindrical conductive connecting portion 18a and the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion 18b are integrally formed by a precision casting method in which a pure nickel molten metal is filled in the casting space.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal used for collecting current from a large number of electrodes in a nickel-hydrogen battery using hydrogen as an active material, and a method for producing the same. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the applications of batteries are remarkably widespread, and primary batteries such as manganese batteries, lithium batteries, and alkaline batteries that can only be discharged, lead-acid batteries that can be repeatedly charged and discharged, and nickel batteries. There are secondary batteries such as cadmium storage batteries and silver oxide storage batteries, and in addition, nickel-hydrogen fuel cells using a hydrogen electrode as a negative electrode have been developed.

By the way, most automobiles currently use gasoline or light oil as a power source, but in the future, environmental protection (that is, reduction of NOx and CO), resource saving (that is, reduction of gasoline and light oil). From such a viewpoint, it is expected that electric vehicles equipped with a storage battery as a power source will become popular.

As this storage battery, a nickel-hydrogen battery can be mentioned as one of the effective candidates.

An example of this nickel-hydrogen battery has a basic structure shown in FIG. This Figure 5
In the nickel-hydrogen battery 1 shown in FIG. 1, a nickel electrode 3 that is an anode and a hydrogen electrode 4 that is a negative electrode are arranged in parallel in multiple layers in a electrolytic cell 2 with a separator 5 interposed between them and an alkaline It has a structure in which the electrolytic solution 6 is interposed. A current collector 7 is connected to the nickel electrode 3 in the left half portion of FIG. 5, and the current collector 7 is connected to a current collecting terminal 8 so that the current collecting terminal 8 serves as an anode. On the other hand, in the right half portion of FIG. 5, another current collector is connected to the hydrogen electrode 4 and
This current collector is connected to the collector terminal 9 so that the collector terminal 9 serves as a cathode.

As shown in the left side current collecting terminal 8 in FIG. 5, the current collecting terminals 8 and 9 have a columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion 8a and a flat plate current collector connecting portion 8b. In order to manufacture such a current collecting terminal 8, as shown in FIG. 6, copper or nickel alloy (for example, PC permalloy of Fe-80% Ni) is used as a material to form a columnar or cylindrical shape. And the conductive connection portion 8a having the female screw hole 8c formed therein is manufactured by press working, and apart from this, a flat plate shape is formed by using copper or nickel alloy (for example, PC permalloy of Fe-80% Ni) as a material. In addition, a current collector connecting portion 8b having a plurality of slits 8d formed in parallel is formed by press working, and the conductive connecting portion 8a and the current collector connecting portion 8b are welded and joined together. It turned into be had.

[0007]

However, in the conventional collector terminal 8 for nickel-hydrogen battery, the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion 8a and the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion 8b are individually pressed. Since it is manufactured by so-called sheet metal welding which is manufactured by processing and then welded and joined, it is not suitable for mass production because it requires man-hours, and a connecting portion by welding is provided between the conductive connecting portion 8a and the current collector connecting portion 8b. Therefore, the electric resistance is likely to be large, and if the electric resistance is large, a part of the electric energy is lost, which may deteriorate the battery performance and the electric vehicle performance. There is a problem that it tends to occur, so that productivity is good and there is little variation in quality and electrical resistance is small. Nickel - there is a problem that hydrogen battery current collector terminal is desired.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is possible to reduce the electric resistance with high productivity, suitable for mass production, and with little variation in quality. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery, which is also excellent in corrosion resistance against an alkaline electrolyte.

[0009]

A nickel-hydrogen battery current collecting terminal according to the present invention has a cylindrical or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and a flat plate-shaped current as described in claim 1. A collector terminal having a collector connection part, wherein the one end surface of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connection part and the one side surface of the flat plate-shaped current collector connection part are integrated with each other, wherein the cylinder or The present invention is characterized in that the cylindrical conductive connection portion and the flat plate-shaped current collector connection portion are formed as an integral body of a precision cast product made of pure nickel.

In an embodiment of the current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery according to the present invention, as described in claim 2, female threaded holes are formed in a columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion. In addition, a plurality of slits are formed in parallel in the flat plate-shaped current collector connection part so that the upper edge of the current collector can be fitted and fixed at this slit part. You can

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery, wherein a cylindrical or cylindrical conductive connection portion and a flat plate-shaped current collector are used. In producing a current collector terminal having a connecting portion and having one end surface of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and one surface of the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion integrated with each other, the column or The present invention is characterized in that the electrically conductive connection portion having a cylindrical shape and the current collector connection portion having a flat plate shape are integrally formed by a precision casting method in which a pure nickel molten metal is filled in a casting space.

Further, in an embodiment of the method for producing a current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery according to the present invention, as described in claim 4, in the casting space, a columnar or cylindrical conductive connection is formed. A pure nickel molten metal may be filled from a portion corresponding to a side surface of the portion to perform precision casting. Further, as described in claim 5, a conductive connecting portion having a columnar shape or a cylindrical shape in the casting space. It is also possible to fill pure nickel molten metal from the portion corresponding to the upper end surface of the above and perform precision casting.

Furthermore, in an embodiment of the method for producing a current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery according to the present invention, as described in claim 6, precision casting uses a pure nickel melt vacuum-dissolved for disappearance model. It can be performed by a precision casting method of filling the inside of a lost wax mold.

[0014]

According to the present invention, as described in claim 1, the nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal includes a columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and a flat plate current collector connecting portion. A current collecting terminal having a shape in which one end surface of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and one surface of the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion are integrated, and the columnar or cylindrical shape is formed. Since the conductive connection portion and the flat-shaped current collector connection portion are formed as an integral body of a precision casting product made of pure nickel, use pure nickel as the material The electric resistance of the collector terminal is remarkably small due to the fact that the connection part and the current collector connection part are integrated by precision casting, etc. Since there is no discontinuity as in the case of the above, the electrical resistance of the collector terminal and its variation are extremely small, so that the loss of electrical energy is small and the battery performance is fully exhibited. Becomes

Further, even when an alkaline electrolyte is used as the electrolyte, since pure nickel is used as a raw material, it has a remarkably excellent action and effect of having sufficient corrosion resistance.

And, as described in claim 2,
The current collector connection part is formed by forming a female threaded hole in the conductive connection part having a columnar shape or a cylindrical shape, and forming a plurality of slits in parallel in the current collector connection part having a flat plate shape. In this case, the current collector can be well connected, and the current can be charged and discharged well through the threaded portion because it is formed in the female screw hole of the conductive connection portion.

Further, in the method for manufacturing a current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery according to the present invention, as described in claim 3, a columnar or cylindrical conductive connection portion and a flat plate current collector are used. In producing a current collector terminal having a connecting portion and having one end surface of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and one surface of the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion integrated with each other, the column or Since the cylindrical conductive connection and the flat current collector connection are formed as a unit by a precision casting method in which a pure nickel molten metal is filled in the casting space, the electrical resistance is extremely small, and The variation in resistance is extremely small, and the loss of electrical energy is small, so that the battery performance will be more fully exhibited, and Even when using an alkaline electrolyte for dissolution, the corrosion resistance to this alkaline electrolyte is sufficiently good, the current collector terminal for nickel-hydrogen battery has good productivity, there is little variation in quality, and it can be mass-produced with high accuracy. Become.

Further, as described in claim 4, the pure nickel molten metal is filled in the casting space from the side surface corresponding portion of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion for precision casting. Therefore, a large number of casting spaces are provided in a tree shape to perform precision casting in a large amount, and the nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal can be mass-produced efficiently and with high precision.

Alternatively, as described in claim 5, a pure nickel molten metal is filled in the casting space from a portion corresponding to an upper end surface of a columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion for precision casting. Also, a large number of casting spaces are provided in a tree shape to perform precision casting in large quantities, and the nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminals can be efficiently mass-produced with high precision.

Further, as described in claim 6,
The precision casting is performed by a precision casting method in which a pure nickel melt melted in a vacuum is filled in a lost wax mold using an extinction model. As a raw material, PC permalloy (Fe-80 wt% Ni, electric resistance: 0. 5Ω), the electrical resistance is one order lower than the case of using
Since a current collecting terminal of 5Ω is obtained, the loss of electric energy is small, and the performance of the nickel-hydrogen battery is significantly improved.

[0021]

EXAMPLE 1 FIG. 1 shows an example of a nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal according to the present invention. The nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal 18 is a cylindrical conductive material. The connection portion 18a and the current collector connection portion 18b having a flat plate shape are provided, and the internal thread 18c is formed inside the conductive connection portion 18a, and the current collector connection portion 18b is provided with a plurality of slits 18d in the thickness direction in parallel. Formed (see Figure 2),
The one end (lower side in the drawing) of the conductive connecting portion 18a in the cylinder axis direction and the one side (upper side in the drawing) surface of the current collector connecting portion 18b are integrated to form a conductive connecting portion 18a.
The current collector connection portion 18b and the current collector connection portion 18b are formed as an integral body of a precision cast product made of pure nickel.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an example of manufacturing the nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal 18 shown in FIG. 1, and the nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal rough material 18M is
The current collector connecting portion 1 is provided with a conductive connecting portion 18a having a cylindrical shape and a current collector connecting portion 18b having a flat plate shape.
A plurality of slits 18d in the thickness direction are formed in parallel in 8b, and are formed on one side (lower side in the drawing) of the conductive connecting portion 18a in the cylindrical axis direction and on one side (upper side in the drawing) of the current collector connecting portion 18b. The conductive connection part 18a and the current collector connection part 18b are formed as an integrated body of a precision casting product made of pure nickel. In this embodiment, a cylindrical shape is formed in the lost wax mold. Since the pure nickel molten metal is filled from the portion corresponding to the side surface of the conductive connecting portion 18a and precision casting is performed, the sprue trace 18g is formed on the side surface of the conductive connecting portion 18a, and the lost wax mold is formed into a tree. When forming the shape, as shown in FIG. 3, the lost wax branch portion (gate) 18 connected to the side surface of the conductive connection portion 18a with respect to the lost wax trunk portion 18i. There shall be connected.

Therefore, after casting, the conductive connecting portion 18
The nickel-hydrogen shown in FIG. 1 is formed by cutting and finishing the part of the sprue trace 18g formed on the side surface of a, forming the female screw 18c on the conductive connecting portion 18a, and finishing the slit 18d. The battery current collector terminal 18 will be manufactured.

FIG. 4 shows another example of manufacturing the current collecting terminal 18 for nickel-hydrogen battery shown in FIG. 1. The rough material 18M of current collecting terminal for nickel-hydrogen battery has a cylindrical shape. It has a conductive connecting portion 18a formed and a current collector connecting portion 18b having a flat plate shape, and a plurality of slits 18d in the thickness direction are formed in parallel in the current collector connecting portion 18b. The one-side (lower side in the figure) end surface and the one-side (upper side in the figure) surface of the current collector connecting section 18b are integrated to form a conductive connecting section 18a.
The current collector connection portion 18b and the current collector connection portion 18b are formed as an integral body of a precision cast product made of pure nickel. In this embodiment, the upper end surface (see FIG. 4) of the conductive connection portion 18a having a cylindrical shape is formed in the lost wax mold. Since the pure nickel molten metal is filled from the corresponding portion (upper end surface) and precision casting is performed, the sprue mark 18h is formed on the other end surface (upper end surface in FIG. 4) of the conductive connection portion 18a. When the lost wax mold is formed into a tree shape, the lost wax branch portion (gate) connected to the upper end surface of the conductive connection portion 18a is connected to the lost wax trunk portion.

Therefore, after casting, the conductive connecting portion 18
By cutting and finishing the portion of the sprue trace 18h formed on the other end surface (upper end surface) of a, the female screw 18c is formed on the conductive connecting portion 18a, and the slit 18d is subjected to finishing processing and the like. The nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal 18 shown in FIG.

[0026]

The nickel-hydrogen battery current collecting terminal according to the present invention has, as described in claim 1, a columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and a flat plate current collector connecting portion. A current collecting terminal having a shape in which one end surface of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and one surface of the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion are integrated, and the columnar or cylindrical shape is formed. Since the conductive connection portion and the flat-shaped current collector connection portion are formed as an integral body of a precision casting product made of pure nickel, use pure nickel as the material Due to the fact that the connection part and the current collector connection part are integrated and not welded together as in the past, the electrical resistance of the current collector terminal is significantly reduced. Since there is no discontinuity as in the case of joining two members, the electrical resistance of the current collector terminal and its variation are extremely small, so the loss of electrical energy is small and the battery performance is fully demonstrated. It will be one. Further, even when an alkaline electrolyte is used as the electrolyte, since pure nickel is used as a raw material, it has a remarkably excellent effect of having sufficient corrosion resistance.

Then, as described in claim 2,
By forming a female threaded hole in the conductive connection part having a columnar shape or a cylindrical shape, and by forming a plurality of slits in the thickness direction in parallel in the current collector connection part having a flat plate shape, It means that the current collector will be connected well at the current collector connection, and that the current will be charged and discharged well through the threaded portion because it is formed in the female screw hole of the conductive connection. Remarkably excellent effect is brought about.

Further, in the method for manufacturing a current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery according to the present invention, as described in claim 3, a columnar or cylindrical conductive connection portion and a flat plate current collector are used. In producing a current collector terminal having a connecting portion and having one end surface of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and one surface of the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion integrated with each other, the column or Since the cylindrical conductive connection and the flat current collector connection are formed as a single body by the precision casting method in which the pure nickel molten metal is filled in the casting space, the electrical resistance is small and the electrical resistance is low. Battery has less variation, and the loss of electric energy is less, so that the battery performance can be more fully exhibited and the corrosion resistance to alkaline electrolyte is sufficient. Good is nickel - hydrogen battery current collector terminal high productivity, variation in quality is small, significantly excellent effect that would be produced with high precision is provided.

Further, as described in claim 4, the pure nickel molten metal is filled in the casting space from a side surface corresponding portion of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion to perform precision casting. , A large number of casting spaces are provided in a tree shape, and a large amount of precision casting is performed, resulting in a remarkably excellent effect that the current collector terminal for nickel-hydrogen battery can be mass-produced efficiently and with high precision. Be done.

Alternatively, as described in claim 5, the pure nickel molten metal is filled into the casting space from a portion corresponding to the other end surface of the conductive connecting portion having a cylindrical shape or a cylindrical shape, and precision casting is performed. By doing so, a large number of casting spaces will be provided in a tree shape and a large amount of precision casting will be made,
The remarkably excellent effect that the current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery is efficiently mass-produced with high precision is brought about.

Further, as described in claim 6,
The precision casting is performed by a precision casting method in which a pure nickel melt melted in a vacuum is filled in a lost wax mold using an extinction model. As a raw material, PC permalloy (Fe-80 wt% Ni, electric resistance: 0. 5Ω), the electrical resistance is one order lower than the case of using
Since a current collecting terminal of 5Ω is obtained, the loss of electric energy is small, and the excellent effect that the performance of the nickel-hydrogen battery can be remarkably improved is brought about.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional explanatory view showing an embodiment of a nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view (FIG. (A)) showing a manufacturing example of a collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery according to the present invention, a right side view (FIG. (B)) and a lower side view (FIG. )).

FIG. 3 is a slope explanatory view showing an example of a tree shape formed by lost wax precision casting.

FIG. 4 is a plan view (FIG. (A)), a right side view (FIG. (B)) and a lower side view (FIG.) Showing another example of manufacturing the current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery according to the present invention. (C)).

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic structure of a nickel-hydrogen battery.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an inclined surface showing an example of manufacturing a conventional collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery.

[Explanation of symbols]

 18 Current collecting terminal for nickel-hydrogen battery 18a Conductive connection part 18b Current collector connection part 18c Female screw 18d Slit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and a flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion, and one end face of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion. A current collecting terminal having a shape integrated with one side surface of the column, wherein the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and the flat plate current collector connecting portion are integral parts of a precision cast product made of pure nickel. Nickel characterized by being formed as
Current collector terminal for hydrogen battery. 2. A columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion is formed with a female screw hole, and a flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion is formed with a plurality of slits in parallel. Item 2. A nickel-hydrogen battery current collector terminal according to item 1. 3. A columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and a flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion, wherein one end face of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and the flat plate-shaped current collector connecting portion are provided. When manufacturing a current collecting terminal having a shape integrated with one surface of the above, the casting space is filled with pure nickel molten metal with the columnar or cylindrical conductive connecting portion and the flat plate current collector connecting portion. A method for producing a current collector terminal for a nickel-hydrogen battery, which is characterized in that the current collector terminal is formed as an integral body by a precision casting method. 4. A nickel-hydrogen battery according to claim 3, wherein the casting space is filled with a pure nickel molten metal from a side surface corresponding portion of a conductive connecting portion having a cylindrical shape or a cylindrical shape to perform precision casting. Manufacturing method of collector terminal. 5. The nickel-hydrogen battery according to claim 3, wherein the casting space is filled with pure nickel molten metal from a portion corresponding to the upper end surface of the columnar or cylindrical conductive connection portion for precision casting. For manufacturing current collector terminals for automobiles. 6. The nickel-hydrogen battery assembly according to claim 3, wherein the precision casting is performed by a precision casting method in which a pure nickel molten metal melted in a vacuum is filled in a lost wax mold using an extinction model. Manufacturing method of electrical terminal.