Busbar and battery module including same

1 . A battery module, comprising:

a plurality of battery cells;

a housing configured to accommodate the plurality of battery cells and provided with a side plate on opposite sides in a longitudinal direction of the battery cells;

the side plate made of an electrically insulating material and configured to allow penetration of electrode tabs respectively to extend from the plurality of battery cells;

a busbar plate disposed on the side plate and configured to provide electrical connections between the plurality of battery cells through coupling with the electrode tabs; and

a busbar including a body connector having a longitudinal direction and a side edge and configured to be in face-to-face contact with the busbar plate, and a bent connector branched outwardly from the side edge formed along a direction perpendicular to the body connector and electrically connected to an external component, wherein an intersection area, where the bent connector and the body connector intersect, is twisted in a bending direction of the bent connector,

wherein the bent connector is bent along a folding line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the body connector, and

wherein the folding line is spaced apart and positioned with a predetermined distance from and parallel to the side edge and extends longer than a width of a the bent connector disposed at a portion where the bent connector branches from the body connector.

2 . The battery module of claim 1 , wherein each electrode tab bent in the second lateral direction extends respectively from each outermost battery cell coupled to the busbar plate among the plurality of battery cells.

3 . The battery module of claim 2 , wherein each electrode tab bent in the second lateral direction respectively overlaps with each adjacent electrode tab and is coupled to the busbar plate.

4 . The battery module of claim 1 , wherein the busbar plate and the busbar are coupled to each other by laser welding.

5 . The battery module of claim 1 , wherein the side plate comprises:

a plurality of holes configured to respectively allow passing through of the electrode tabs;

a coupling protrusion configured to extend outwardly to help align the busbar plate and the busbar with each other; and

a module terminal coupled to the busbar and comprising a female screw hole formed therein in a thickness direction, and the busbar plate comprises:

busbar holes formed at positions respectively corresponding to the holes; and

a first position determination hole configured to allow passing through of the coupling protrusion.

6 . The battery module of claim 1 , wherein the bent connector includes: a first extension configured to extend by being bent in a first direction; a second extension configured to extend by being bent in a second direction; and a third extension configured to extend by being bent in a third direction.

7 . The battery module of claim 6 , wherein the side edge of the body connector extends to the first extension in a straight line.

8 . The battery module of claim 1 , wherein the busbar is formed by bending the bent connector into a U-shape that is open to a side thereof to accommodate the module terminal of the side plate.

9 . The battery module of claim 1 , wherein the bent connector includes through-holes, each having an inner diameter greater than an inner diameter of the female screw hole, at a position corresponding to the female screw hole of the module terminal.

10 . The battery module of claim 5 , wherein the body connector includes a second position determination hole at a position corresponding to a first position determination hole of the busbar plate.

11 . The battery module of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the electrode tabs is bent in a first lateral direction to be coupled to the busbar plate, and at least one of the electrode tabs is bent in a second lateral direction opposite to the first lateral direction to be coupled to the busbar plate.