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US 6,377,432 B1Granted
Fuse and battery pack containing the fuse
AssigneeSanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorHisashi Hashimoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fuse is melted and cut off when an overcurrent flows through the fuse. The fuse has a different thermal expansion coefficient metal laminate obtained by laminating a plurality of different thermal expansion coefficient metal plates. When the fuse is melted and cut off by heat of the overcurrent, a mechanical deforming force is applied to a melting portion of the fuse. The mechanical force is caused by the difference between thermal expansion coefficients of the different thermal expansion coefficient metal plates.
Claims10
A battery pack comprising:
- a plurality of batteries having terminal electrodes, said batteries being arranged parallel to each other;
- and
- a plurality of fuses connecting said batteries in series via said terminal electrodes, each of said fuses comprising a laminate comprising a plurality of metal plates having different thermal expansion coefficients laminated together, wherein said metal plates have melting portions which are melted and cut off when an overcurrent flows through said fuse, and
- wherein said fuses are connect to said terminal electrodes such that when said fuses are melted and cut off by heat generated by the overflow current, a mechanical deforming force caused by the different thermal expansion coefficients of said metal plates is applied to said melted portions of said fuses such that said melting portions of said fuses are deformed in a direction away from said batteries so as to be separated from said batteries.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.