Rechargeable battery

A rechargeable battery constructed with a bare cell, a protective circuit board electrically connected to the bare cell, a lead plate operationally connecting the bare cell and the protective circuit board, and a combining case covering an upper end of the bare cell, the protective circuit board and the lead plate. The lead plate is constructed with a first plate electrically connected to an outside surface of the protective circuit board, a second plate electrically connected to the bare cell, and an inside bending part connected between the first plate and the second plate. The first plate of the lead plate is bent around the inside bending part at 180 degrees such that the bare cell is coupled with the protective circuit board in parallel. Therefore, the distance between the bare cell and the protective circuit is reduced, and the capacity per volume of the rechargeable battery is increased.