An automated production line for battery cell processing

Abstract

The present invention discloses an automated production line for cell processing, including an ultrasonic welding section for cell loading, testing and ultrasonic welding, an aluminum film punching section for aluminum film loading, punching and cutting, and a cell encapsulation and unloading section connected to the ultrasonic welding section and the aluminum film punching section for cell encapsulation and unloading. With this structural layout, each section is compactly connected as a whole, thereby effectively optimizing the layout of the production line and improving the processing efficiency of the cells.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of battery cell processing equipment, and in particular to an automated production line for battery cell processing. Background Art

[0002] In the prior art, when performing a series of operations such as ultrasonic welding, aluminum film punching, and battery cell encapsulation on battery cells, due to the large number of workstations involved in the processing process and the dispersion of each workstation, the production layout is not reasonable enough, which greatly affects the production efficiency of battery cells. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the existing production line to make its layout more reasonable. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automated production line for battery cell processing, which has a reasonable layout and can automatically and efficiently complete the processing of battery cells.

[0004] To achieve this purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0005] An automated production line for battery cell processing, comprising:

[0006] An ultrasonic welding section for loading, testing, and welding the tabs of the battery cell;

[0007] An aluminum film punching section for loading, punching, and cutting the aluminum film;

[0008] A battery cell encapsulation and unloading section connected to the ultrasonic welding section and the aluminum film punching section for encapsulating and unloading the battery cell.

[0009] Among them, along the battery cell feeding direction, the ultrasonic welding section is sequentially provided with a battery cell loading station, a tab short circuit insulation test station, a battery cell transfer station, a jig opening station, a battery cell QR code pasting station, a battery cell short circuit detection station, a turntable processing station, a jig rotation station, and a battery cell tab processing module.

[0010] Among them, a jig conveyor line is installed on the same side of the turntable processing station and the battery cell tab processing module.

[0011] Among them, on the turntable of the turntable processing station, there are sequentially circumferentially arranged a battery cell positioning station, a tab welding station, a tab cutting station, a jumper ultrasonic welding station, a weld mark leveling station, a weld mark gluing station, a gluing pressing and detection station, and a battery cell loading station that cooperates with the manipulator installed on the jig conveyor line.

[0012] Among them, along the aluminum film feeding direction, the aluminum film punching section is successively provided with an aluminum film loading station, an aluminum film cutting station, an aluminum film transferring station, an aluminum film punching station, and an aluminum film hot pressing station; the aluminum film punching section includes a first aluminum film punching section and a second aluminum film punching section, and the first aluminum film punching section and the second aluminum film punching section have the same structure and are symmetrically installed along the midline of the same straight line.

[0013] Among them, the battery cell packaging and unloading section includes a first packaging turntable station and a second packaging turntable station arranged side by side, an aluminum film coding station arranged between the aluminum film punching section and the first packaging turntable station, and a battery cell semi-finished product unloading station, a battery cell semi-finished product pasting station, and a battery cell semi-finished product stacking station successively arranged along the unloading direction of the packaged battery cell and connected to the second packaging turntable station.

[0014] Among them, along the circumferential direction of the turntable, the first packaging turntable station is successively provided with an aluminum film loading station, an aluminum film pre-folding station, an aluminum film top cutting station, a battery cell into shell station, an aluminum film folding station, an aluminum film top sealing station, and a blanking transfer station for connecting to the second packaging turntable station.

[0015] Among them, along the circumferential direction of the turntable, the second packaging turntable station is successively provided with a battery cell side sealing station, an aluminum film side cutting station, a battery cell semi-finished product electrical performance detection station, and a battery cell semi-finished product packaging effect detection station; the battery cell semi-finished product unloading station is adjacent to the battery cell semi-finished product packaging effect detection station.

[0016] Among them, the aluminum film punching mechanism includes a die holder, an upper die and a lower die installed in the die holder, a lifting mechanism arranged at the bottom of the die holder, and a pressing mechanism arranged above the die holder; the upper die includes a punch and an upper template slidably matched with the punch, the upper template is connected to the power output end of the pressing mechanism, and the punch is fastened to the top plate of the die holder; the power output end of the lifting mechanism is fastened to the lower template of the lower die; the lifting mechanism includes a mounting plate, a motor installed on the lower bottom surface of the mounting plate, a lead screw passing through the bottom plate of the die holder and threadedly connected to the bottom plate of the die holder, and guide rods vertically and evenly distributed at the four corners of the mounting plate, the upper ends of the guide rods pass through the bottom plate of the die holder and are fastened to the lower template, and the lower end of the lead screw is fastened to the driving shaft of the motor.

[0017] Among them, a positioning device is arranged at the battery cell positioning station, and the positioning device includes a support plate installed on the upper surface of the turntable, a clamping fixture placed on the upper surface of the support plate, a rotary pressing mechanism matched with the support plate for positioning the clamping fixture, and a driving mechanism arranged on the lower bottom surface of the turntable for driving the support plate to move up and down to drive the clamping fixture to open and close.

[0018] Advantages of the present invention: The present invention provides an automated production line for cell processing, including an ultrasonic welding section for feeding, testing, and tab welding of cells, an aluminum film punching section for feeding, punching, and cutting of aluminum films, and a cell packaging and unloading section connected to the ultrasonic welding section and the aluminum film punching section for packaging and unloading of cells. With this structural layout, each section is tightly connected as a whole, thereby effectively optimizing the layout of the production line and improving the processing efficiency of cells. Description of the Drawings

[0019] Figure 1 It is a structural layout diagram of the ultrasonic welding section of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 It is a layout diagram of the aluminum film punching section of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 3 It is a layout diagram of the cell packaging and unloading section of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 4 It is an isometric view of the aluminum film punching mechanism of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 5 It is an isometric view of the positioning device at the cell positioning station of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 6 It is Figure 5 A partial enlarged view at position A in

[0025] Figure 7 It is Figure 6 An isometric view of the clamping fixture in Detailed Embodiments

[0026] The technical solution of the present invention will be further described below with reference to the drawings and through specific embodiments.

[0027] Combined with Figures 1 to 7 As shown, this embodiment provides an automated production line for cell processing, including an ultrasonic welding section 100 for feeding, testing, and tab welding of cells, an aluminum film punching section 200 for feeding, punching, and cutting of aluminum films, and a cell packaging and unloading section 300 connected to the ultrasonic welding section 100 and the aluminum film punching section 200 for packaging and unloading of cells. With this structural layout, each section is tightly connected as a whole, thereby effectively optimizing the layout of the production line and improving the processing efficiency of cells.

[0028] Specifically, along the feeding direction of the battery cell, the ultrasonic welding section 100 in this embodiment is sequentially provided with a battery cell loading station 101, an ear short-circuit insulation test station 102, a battery cell transfer station 103, a jig opening station 104, a battery cell QR code pasting station 105, a battery cell short-circuit detection station 106, a turntable processing station 107, a jig rotation station 108, and a battery cell ear processing module 109. Among them, a jig conveyor line is installed on the same side of the turntable processing station 107 and the battery cell ear processing module 109. Further, on the turntable of the turntable processing station 107 in this embodiment, a battery cell positioning station 1071, an ear welding station 1072, an ear cutting station 1073, a connecting piece ultrasonic welding station 1074, a welding mark leveling station 1075, a welding mark pasting station 1076, a pasting and pressing and detection station 1077, and a battery cell loading station 1078 cooperating with the manipulator installed on the jig conveyor line are sequentially arranged in the circumferential direction.

[0029] For the ultrasonic welding section 100 with the above layout design, first, an AGV cart drives the shelf to the battery cell loading station 101, and then a manipulator transfers the battery cell in the magazine on the shelf to the transfer position. Then, a transfer mechanism transfers the battery cell at the transfer position to the ear short-circuit insulation test station 102. After testing, the transfer mechanism takes out the battery cell from the battery cell transfer station 103. At the same time, the clamping mechanism at the jig opening station 104 opens the jig on the jig line. Then, the transfer mechanism puts the battery cell into the jig on the jig conveyor line.

[0030] After that, the jig is pasted with a QR code at the battery cell QR code pasting station 105. Then, the NG products in the battery cell short-circuit detection station 106 are transferred from the jig on the jig conveyor line to the NG bin by the transfer device. For the qualified products, the manipulator moves the jig containing the battery cell onto the turntable of the turntable processing station 107 for positioning, thus effectively avoiding the potential risk of battery cell damage caused by the direct contact between the manipulator and the battery cell.

[0031] Further, in this embodiment, the driving mechanism under the turntable of the turntable processing station 107 cooperates with the rotating pressing mechanism to drive the clamping jig to open. The positioning mechanism adjusts the position of the battery cell after the turntable opens the jig. After adjustment, pre-welding, ear cutting, feeding of the connecting piece, welding the connecting piece to the ear, leveling the welding mark, pasting the welding mark, pressing and detecting the adhesive tape, and discharging and flowing to the jig conveyor line are performed on the aluminum pole ear of the battery cell. The jig rotation station 108 on the jig conveyor line rotates the jig by 180 degrees. When the jig reaches the turntable loading position, the manipulator loads the jig and the battery cell onto the turntable of the battery cell ear processing module 109. Similar to the aluminum pole, after processing, the NG products are sorted, thus completing all the processes of the ultrasonic welding section 100.

[0032] Further, in this embodiment, the aluminum film punching section 200 is sequentially provided with an aluminum film loading station 201, an aluminum film cutting station 202, an aluminum film transfer station 203, an aluminum film punching station 204, and an aluminum film hot pressing station 205 along the aluminum film feeding direction; preferably, in order to effectively improve the aluminum film punching efficiency, the aluminum film punching section 200 in this embodiment includes a first aluminum film punching section and a second aluminum film punching section. The first aluminum film punching section and the second aluminum film punching section have the same structure and are symmetrically erected along the midline of the same straight line. After that, the aluminum films processed by the first aluminum film punching section and the second aluminum film punching section converge to the middle position of the aluminum film punching section 200 to supply materials for the battery cell packaging and unloading section 300.

[0033] Further explained, the above-mentioned aluminum film loading station 201 is provided with a manual connection material platform for connecting the material tape. Before the material tape is loaded, the surface is dusted by a brush dust removal structure; then at the aluminum film cutting station 202, it is first cut and then punched to effectively shorten the aluminum film deviation correction distance. After the aluminum film is loaded and corrected, it is pulled by a clip. After being pulled to the rated length, it is cut; after cutting, it is transferred to the punching feeding platform and then conveyed by the feeding platform to the punching die for punching; after the aluminum film punching is completed, the punching discharging platform uses vacuum to adsorb and pick up the punched aluminum film, and then the aluminum film is moved to the aluminum film punching station 204 to draw and form the aluminum film. After that, the periphery of the aluminum film is hot pressed to remove stress by a hot pressing method, so that the periphery of the aluminum film will not warp.

[0034] Further, the battery cell packaging and unloading section 300 in this embodiment includes a first packaging turntable station 301 and a second packaging turntable station 302 arranged side by side, an aluminum film coding station 206 arranged between the aluminum film punching section 200 and the first packaging turntable station 301, a battery cell semi-finished product unloading station 303, a battery cell semi-finished product pasting station 304, and a battery cell semi-finished product stacking station 305 arranged in sequence along the discharging direction of the packaged battery cell. Further, the first packaging turntable station 301 is sequentially provided with an aluminum film loading station 3011, an aluminum film pre-folding station 3012, an aluminum film top cutting station 3013, a battery cell casing-in station 3014, an aluminum film folding station 3015, an aluminum film top sealing station 3016, and a blanking transfer station 3017 for connecting with the second packaging turntable station 302; the second packaging turntable station 302 is sequentially provided with a battery cell side sealing station 3018, an aluminum film side cutting station 3019, a battery cell semi-finished product electrical performance detection station 3020, and a battery cell semi-finished product packaging effect detection station 3021 along the turntable circumference; the battery cell semi-finished product unloading station 303 is adjacent to the battery cell semi-finished product packaging effect detection station 3021.

[0035] In the above-mentioned cell encapsulation and blanking section 300, after the aluminum film is formed, it is transferred to the side of the encapsulation turntable through a transfer platform for loading; during the transfer of the aluminum film, the inkjetting operation can be performed by the inkjetting head at the bottom of the transfer platform of the aluminum film inkjetting station 206. After the inkjetting is completed, the inkjetting effect is detected by a barcode scanner; then it is transferred to the loading position, and a four-axis manipulator is used to pick up the aluminum film and transfer it to the turntable fixture for loading; the execution end of the aluminum film loading uses a markless suction cup to adsorb the aluminum film to prevent marks from being generated on the aluminum film during the adsorption process; in the aluminum film folding station 3015, the fixture is driven by a cylinder, and the folding center of the fixture coincides with the folding line of the aluminum film to ensure the coincidence of the pit bodies on both sides of the aluminum film. For the aluminum film folding, an auxiliary plug board is used to press the docking edge of the aluminum film for pre-folding. When the plug board presses the folding edge of the aluminum film, the fixture first rotates 150°, the plug board exits obliquely at a certain angle, and then the fixture is completely folded; in addition, when the aluminum film is folded, a cutting knife is used to cut the top edge of the aluminum film flat.

[0036] In this embodiment, the loading manipulator at the cell casing station 3014 uses a clamping method to grab the cell on the positioning platform to prevent the cell from falling during the transfer; when the cell is put into the casing, the cell is positioned, the clamp is opened, and the cell falls into the cell casing; after the cell is put into the casing, a mechanical correction method is used to correct the polar ears to prevent the polar ears from being skewed and causing poor encapsulation after the encapsulation fixture is closed; in the aluminum film top sealing station 3016, the encapsulation is carried out through a torque control mode, and heat sealing is carried out by heating with a heating tube. After the cell top sealing is completed, it is transferred to the second encapsulation turntable station 302 by a manipulator for side sealing and detection. The cell is side-sealed and detected by clamping with a fixture. Then it enters the aluminum film side cutting station 3019, and a cutting knife is used to cut the excess part of the aluminum film side flat; then when detecting the cell HI-POT, a probe is used to contact the positive and negative polar ears to detect the insulation of the cell. For the detection between the negative electrode and the aluminum film, a probe is used to contact the negative electrode and a bayonet is used to cooperate to pierce the aluminum film to detect the insulation of the cell. Then, combined with the CCD, the top sealing size after encapsulation is detected. The detection contents include parameters such as the encapsulation effect, the distance (or perpendicularity) between the polar ears, and the edge distance. Then it enters the cell semi-finished product blanking station 303 to blank the cell semi-finished product from the turntable and perform NG sorting. Then the good products of the cell semi-finished products are transferred to the cell semi-finished product glue pasting station 304, and the front glue is pasted on the surface in a way of rolling and pasting the glue. The cell is flipped, and the back glue is pasted. Finally, the glued cell semi-finished product enters the cell semi-finished product stacking station 305. After the glued cell semi-finished product is flipped 90° by a flipping mechanism, the blanking manipulator clamps the top sealing edge of the cell and unloads it into the material box for discharging. The mechanism uses a servo module to cooperate with the execution end to realize the unstacking of the incoming material and the stacking of the empty boxes.

[0037] Preferably, the aluminum film punching station 204 in this embodiment further provides an aluminum film punching mechanism, which includes a die carrier 2041, an upper die and a lower die arranged in the die carrier 2041, a lifting mechanism 2042 arranged at the bottom of the die carrier 2041, and a pressing mechanism 2043 arranged above the die carrier 2041; the upper die includes a punch 2044 and an upper template 2045 slidably matched with the punch 2044, the upper template 2045 is connected to the power output end of the pressing mechanism 2043, and the punch 2044 is fastened to the top plate of the die carrier 2041; the power output end of the lifting mechanism 2042 is fastened to the lower template 2046 of the lower die; the lifting mechanism 2042 includes a mounting plate 20421, a motor 20422 arranged on the lower bottom surface of the mounting plate 20421, a lead screw passing through the bottom plate of the die carrier 2041 and threadedly connected to the bottom plate of the die carrier 2041, and guide rods 20423 vertically and evenly distributed at the four corners of the mounting plate 20421. The upper ends of the guide rods 20423 pass through the bottom plate of the die carrier 2041 and are fastened to the lower template 2046, and the lower end of the lead screw is fastened to the drive shaft of the motor 20422. With this structural design, when punching the aluminum film, the lower die can be first driven by the lifting mechanism 2042 to move upward, and then cooperate with the upper template 2045 to press the periphery of the aluminum film. After that, through the cooperation of the punch 2044 in the upper die and the die cavity in the lower die, the aluminum film is punched and formed. By operating in this way, the punching accuracy of the aluminum film is effectively improved, and abnormalities such as aluminum film wrinkles caused by unstable aluminum film positioning are prevented.

[0038] Furthermore, the battery cell positioning station 1071 in this embodiment is provided with a positioning device 6, which includes a support plate 61 mounted on the upper surface of the turntable, a clamping fixture 62 placed on the upper surface of the support plate 61, a rotating clamping mechanism 63 cooperating with the support plate 61 for positioning the clamping fixture 62, and a driving mechanism 64 arranged on the lower bottom surface of the turntable for driving the support plate 61 to move up and down to drive the clamping fixture 62 to open and close. Preferably, the clamping fixture 62 in this embodiment includes an upper connecting plate 621 and a lower connecting plate 622 arranged in parallel and spaced apart from each other, and the clamping mechanism matched with the upper connecting plate 621 and the lower connecting plate 622, the clamping mechanism includes a guide column 623 passing through the upper connecting plate 621 and the lower connecting plate 622, and a compression spring 624 matched with the exposed end of the guide column 623 exposed to the lower connecting plate 622, the end of the guide column 623 away from the compression spring 624 is fastened to the upper connecting plate 621; a pallet assembly 625 for carrying materials is loaded between the upper connecting plate 621 and the lower connecting plate 622, the pallet assembly 625 The two ends are exposed on the clamping fixture 62; the four corners of the support plate 61 are provided with a clearance gap 611 for avoiding the exposed end of the guide column 623; the driving mechanism 64 includes a cylinder, a driving plate fastened to the cylinder body of the cylinder, and a driving rod buried in the upper surface of the driving plate, the driving rod is passed through the turntable 7 and fastened to the support plate 61, and the cylinder rod of the cylinder is fastened to the lower bottom surface of the turntable 7 through a fixed block. Furthermore, the rotary clamping mechanism 63 includes a rotary clamping cylinder 631 fastened to the lower bottom surface of the support plate 61, and a pressing claw 632 fastened to the driving end of the rotary clamping cylinder 631 exposed at the upper end of the support plate 61.

[0039] With the positioning device 6 of the above-mentioned structural design, after the manipulator places the clamping fixture 62 on the upper surface of the support plate 61, the lower connecting plate 622 is pressed by rotating the pressing cylinder 631, thereby fastening the clamping fixture 62 to the support plate 61. When the clamping fixture 62 needs to be unclamped, the support plate 61 can be driven by the cylinder in the driving mechanism 64 to move to the side close to the upper surface of the turntable 7, thereby making the guide column 623 provided with one end of the compression spring 624 contact with the upper surface of the turntable 7. At this time, the upper connecting plate 621 and the lower connecting plate 622 of the clamping fixture 62 can be opened; conversely, when the guide column 623 with the compression spring 624 at the lower end is reset, the support plate assembly 625 can be clamped by the upper connecting plate 621 and the lower connecting plate 622.

[0040] With the setting of the above-mentioned positioning device 6, when processing the battery cell, the battery cell to be processed can be first installed in the clamping jig 62, and then the clamping jig 62 can be transferred, so as to effectively avoid damage to the battery cell. Secondly, directly transferring the clamping jig 62 can further improve the positioning accuracy of the battery cell, thereby making the processing yield of the battery cell higher. Secondly, through the setting of the clamping jig 62, the clamping jig 62 can also be replaced more conveniently and quickly, avoiding the many troubles caused by setting it and the support plate 61 as a whole.

[0041] The technical principle of the present invention is described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. These descriptions are only for explaining the principle of the present invention and cannot be interpreted as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention in any way. Based on the explanations herein, those skilled in the art can associate other specific implementations of the present invention without paying creative labor, and these methods will fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automated production line for battery cell processing, characterized in that, it includes: An ultrasonic welding section for loading, testing and tab welding of battery cells; An aluminum film punching section for loading, punching and cutting of aluminum films; A battery cell encapsulation and unloading section connected to the ultrasonic welding section and the aluminum film punching section for encapsulation and unloading of battery cells; The ultrasonic welding section is sequentially provided with a battery cell loading station, a tab short-circuit insulation test station, a battery cell transfer station, a fixture opening station, a battery cell QR code pasting station, a battery cell short-circuit detection station, a turntable processing station, a fixture rotation station, and a battery cell tab processing module along the battery cell feeding direction; The aluminum film punching section is sequentially provided with an aluminum film loading station, an aluminum film cutting station, an aluminum film transfer station, an aluminum film punching station, and an aluminum film hot pressing station along the aluminum film feeding direction; The battery cell encapsulation and unloading section includes a first encapsulation turntable station and a second encapsulation turntable station arranged side by side, an aluminum film inkjet coding station arranged between the aluminum film punching section and the first encapsulation turntable station, and a battery cell semi-finished product unloading station, a battery cell semi-finished product pasting glue station, and a battery cell semi-finished product stacking station sequentially arranged along the unloading direction of the encapsulated battery cells and connected to the second encapsulation turntable station.

2. The automated production line for battery cell processing according to claim 1, characterized in that, A fixture conveyor line is installed on the same side of the turntable processing station and the battery cell tab processing module.

3. The automated production line for battery cell processing according to claim 2, characterized in that, On the turntable of the turntable processing station, a battery cell positioning station, a tab welding station, a tab cutting station, a jumper ultrasonic welding station, a weld mark leveling station, a weld mark pasting glue station, a pasting glue pressing and detection station, and a battery cell loading station cooperating with a manipulator installed on the fixture conveyor line are sequentially circumferentially arranged.

4. The automated production line for battery cell processing according to claim 2, characterized in that, The aluminum film punching section includes a first aluminum film punching section and a second aluminum film punching section, and the first aluminum film punching section and the second aluminum film punching section have the same structure and are symmetrically installed along the midline of the same straight line.

5. The automated production line for battery cell processing according to claim 1, characterized in that, On the first encapsulation turntable station, an aluminum film loading station, an aluminum film pre-folding station, an aluminum film top cutting station, a battery cell into shell station, an aluminum film folding station, an aluminum film top sealing station, and a blanking transfer station for connecting to the second encapsulation turntable station are sequentially circumferentially arranged.

6. The automated production line for battery cell processing according to claim 5, characterized in that, On the second encapsulation turntable station, a battery cell side sealing station, an aluminum film side cutting station, a battery cell semi-finished product electrical performance detection station, and a battery cell semi-finished product encapsulation effect detection station are sequentially circumferentially arranged; the battery cell semi-finished product unloading station is adjacent to the battery cell semi-finished product encapsulation effect detection station.

7. The automated production line for battery cell processing according to claim 4, characterized in that, The aluminum film punching mechanism includes a die holder, an upper die and a lower die mounted in the die holder, a lifting mechanism arranged at the bottom of the die holder, and a pressing mechanism arranged above the die holder; the upper die includes a punch and an upper template slidably matched with the punch, the upper template is connected to the power output end of the pressing mechanism, and the punch is fastened to the top plate of the die holder; the power output end of the lifting mechanism is fastened to the lower template of the lower die; the lifting mechanism includes a mounting plate, a motor mounted on the lower bottom surface of the mounting plate, a lead screw penetrating through the bottom plate of the die holder and threadedly connected to the bottom plate of the die holder, and guide rods vertically and evenly distributed at the four corners of the mounting plate, the upper ends of the guide rods penetrate through the bottom plate of the die holder and are fastened to the lower template, and the lower end of the lead screw is fastened to the drive shaft of the motor.

8. An automated production line for battery cell processing according to claim 3, characterized in that a positioning device is arranged at the battery cell positioning station, and the positioning device includes a support plate mounted on the upper surface of the turntable, a clamping fixture placed on the upper surface of the support plate, a rotary pressing mechanism cooperating with the support plate for positioning the clamping fixture, and a driving mechanism arranged on the lower bottom surface of the turntable for driving the support plate to move up and down to drive the clamping fixture to open and close.

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