Electrochemical battery having a surface of revolution

#The invention relates to the field of electrical batteries, and more particularly to that of secondary electrochemical cells, better known as rechargeable batteries.

#In certain fields, such as automobiles, electrical power supply for certain devices is provided at least in part by means of rechargeable batteries constituted by electrochemical cells of number and method of assembly that are functions of the required electrical characteristics. The space available for a battery within an installation or a vehicle, and the electrical characteristics required vary from one configuration to another, so it is generally necessary to devise a battery architecture that is specific for each configuration, thus contributing in particular to increasing manufacturing cost and design times for such batteries.

#In an attempt to remedy that drawback, battery blocks have been proposed in the form of rectangular parallelepipeds (or prisms) in which cells are grouped together, e.g. in threes, so as to constitute “sticks” that are used in numbers that vary depending on requirements, such blocks subsequently being assembled together in casings of prismatic shape to channel flows of air. However, that solution is unsatisfactory insofar as firstly it does not enable the ratio of battery volume over the number of cells required to be optimized, and secondly it does not enable temperature to be regulated between the various cells in sufficiently uniform manner. In addition, the type of ventilation required by the battery architecture is limited in terms of performance and noise level.

#Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear on examining the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 shows an electrochemical battery of the invention;

#FIG. 2 is a section view on line II-II of FIG. 1; and

#The accompanying drawings are, for the most part, definitive in character. Consequently, not only do they contribute to describing the invention, but they may also contribute to defining it, where appropriate.

#The secondary or “rechargeable” electrochemical battery shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 comprises firstly a casing 1 whose walls preferably define substantially a surface of revolution about an axis of revolution X. More precisely, in this embodiment, the casing 1 is substantially in the form of a circular cylinder, said axis of revolution X being the axis of the cylinder.

#In this case, the casing 1 is made in the form of two complementary receptacles or “shells” 2 and 3.