The industry of secondary battery packs, including lithium ion batteries, is divided into several corporate categories in accordance with the business domain (battery cells, base modules, molds/molded parts/pressed parts).
Tocad Energy is a pack manufacturer, whose main business domain covers design and development, evaluation, production, and sales of overall battery packs (including BMS*).
* BMS：Battery management system
Cells are the battery cells produced by specialized manufacturers. They come in a cylindrical, rectangular, or pouch shape, among others. They are made from diverse materials, which differ by application, operating environment, and required properties. They are also called unit cells.
BMS
(Battery management system)
BMS is a system that manages a battery through real-time monitoring of the lithium ion battery's input and output current, each cell's voltage and temperature, and other variables. It protects a battery pack from overcharge, over-discharge, overcurrent, and temperature/hardware abnormality. BMS is also capable of communicating data on the battery's state to external devices in addition to monitoring it.
Module (core pack)
A module is a cluster of cells (batteries) that are wired and combined with each other. Protective parts and a protective circuit are added to a module as necessary.
Pack
A module in an outer casing is called a pack. Packs are categorized into soft packs or hard packs depending on the outer casing material.
Battery pack as a finished product
Internal structure of a battery pack
No
Part names
Details / roles
1
Battery cell
Lithium ion cell
2
BMS circuit
Monitors the cell's state for safety control and protection
3
Wiring parts
Connect cells in series and parallel
4
External terminals
Output terminals to external equipment (for output of electric power and communication signals)
5
Outer case
Protects the inside of the cell as its housing
6
Insulating parts
Keep insulating the outside and inside of the cell
*What is BMS?
BMS, the battery management system, manages a battery through real-time monitoring of the lithium ion battery's input and output current, each cell's voltage and temperature, and other variables. It protects a system from overcharge, over discharge, overcurrent, and temperature/hardware abnormalities (such as center tap, TH open/ short circuit, MPU runaway, and FET failure).
BMS is also capable of communicating data on the battery's state to external devices in addition to monitoring it.
