Welding fixtures and equipment for battery top cover

Abstract

This invention relates to a welding fixture and equipment for battery top covers. The welding fixture includes a laser welding device, a clamping mechanism, and a pressing mechanism. The clamping mechanism includes a rotating disk that can be driven to rotate on an equipment platform; a clamping tray is provided on the rotating disk, and the battery delivered to the welding fixture is positioned at the welding station. The pressing mechanism includes a pressing base fixed to the equipment platform, and a pressing head that can be driven and guided to move on the pressing base; the pressing head forms a pressing pressure on the top cover; the welding torch of the laser welding device can move up and down to approach the gap, and can translate along the length of the gap to complete the welding of the gap. The battery top cover welding fixture of this invention, through the centralized and coordinated arrangement of the laser welding device, clamping mechanism, and pressing mechanism, provides the necessary hardware conditions for fully automated, seamless welding of the gap between the top cover and the battery casing, which is beneficial for improving the welding quality and efficiency when welding the battery and the top cover.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of power battery manufacturing technology, and in particular to a welding fixture for a battery top cover. Additionally, this invention also relates to a battery top cover welding device. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of the power battery industry, competition among battery companies has become increasingly fierce. Improving product quality while expanding production capacity has become a strategic development direction for companies. Key equipment in lithium battery production is an important guarantee for product capacity and quality, and the laser welding equipment for the top cover of the positive and negative electrodes of the battery cell is one of the key pieces of equipment in many production processes.

[0003] Currently, the industry uses three separate machines to perform welding on the top cover of the battery cell. The first is the negative electrode pressing and spot welding machine, the second is the positive electrode pressing and spot welding machine, and the third is the positive and negative electrode full welding machine. The first and second machines are used to press and spot weld the top cover to the battery cell. After that, the battery cell is transferred to the full welding machine to complete the peripheral welding of the positive and negative electrode top cover.

[0004] The spot welding and full welding processes of the top cover are completed on three separate machines, resulting in a large number of machines, a large overall equipment size, and a large floor space required for the top cover welding process. The battery cells undergo numerous transfer, clamping, and positioning operations, making them more susceptible to problems such as inconsistent and fragmented positioning references, and reduced welding accuracy. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention aims to provide a welding fixture for battery top covers in order to improve the welding efficiency of battery top covers.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution of the present invention is implemented as follows:

[0007] A welding fixture for a battery top cover, mounted on an equipment platform, is used to receive a battery pre-installed with a top cover and to weld the gap between the top cover and the battery casing. The welding fixture includes a laser welding device, a clamping mechanism, and a pressing mechanism. The clamping mechanism includes a rotating disk that can be driven to rotate on the equipment platform. The rotating disk has a clamping tray arranged along the rotation axis of the rotating disk. The battery delivered to the welding fixture can be clamped on the clamping tray and positioned at the welding station, and the top cover is arranged perpendicular to the rotation axis. The pressing mechanism includes a pressing base fixed to the equipment platform and a pressing head that can be driven and guided to move on the pressing base. The moving direction of the pressing head is consistent with the direction of the rotation axis to form a pressing pressure on the top cover. The laser welding device includes a welding torch mounted above the welding station. The welding torch can move up and down to approach the gap and can translate along the length of the gap to complete the welding of the gap.

[0008] Furthermore, the clamping tray is provided with a stop, which is positioned at the bottom of the battery; the clamping tray is movably disposed on the rotating disk along the direction of the rotation axis, and the clamping mechanism has a top pressing part that can drive the clamping tray to move toward the pressure head.

[0009] Furthermore, the clamping tray is provided with a housing clamping part and a top cover clamping part; the housing clamping part is used to clamp the housing, and the top cover clamping part can form a clamping and fixing of the top cover.

[0010] Furthermore, the top cover clamping part includes a clamping body that can be driven to clamp or move away from the top cover, the clamping body having a plurality of claws spaced apart along the length direction of the gap; the welding torch can spot weld the gap between two adjacent claws and fully weld the gap when the clamping body moves away from the top cover.

[0011] Furthermore, both the housing clamping part and the top cover clamping part are driven by cylinders to perform clamping actions, and an air passage docking part is provided between the rotating disk and the equipment platform, which can dock or disconnect the cylinder air passage.

[0012] Furthermore, the pressing mechanism also includes a welding dust removal section, which has a dust removal hood that moves with the pressing head; the dust removal hood is connected to an external vacuum source and is placed over the top cover during welding to remove the welding fumes.

[0013] Furthermore, the welding fixture also includes a press seam detection device, which includes a detection device located above the welding station; the detection device can move up and down to approach the gap, and can translate along the length of the gap to detect the width of the gap; and both the welding torch and the detection device can be driven to move along the direction of the rotation axis to avoid each other.

[0014] Furthermore, the detection device employs a 3D camera.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0016] First, by centrally coordinating the laser welding device, clamping mechanism, and pressing mechanism, the necessary hardware conditions are provided for fully automated, seamless welding of the gap between the top cover and the battery casing, which helps improve the welding quality and efficiency when welding the battery and the top cover.

[0017] Secondly, the housing clamping part and the top cover clamping part provided on the clamping tray make the clamping mechanism clamp the battery more securely. Moreover, by setting the clamping body as multiple claws arranged at intervals along the length direction of the gap, it is also more convenient to spot weld the gap between the top cover and the housing.

[0018] Furthermore, by using cylinders to drive the housing clamping part and the top cover clamping part, the reciprocating motion of the housing clamping part and the top cover clamping part in the linear direction is faster and more precise. Moreover, the cylinder itself occupies less space, which also saves the space occupied by the entire clamping mechanism.

[0019] Meanwhile, the welding dust removal unit installed in the pressing mechanism allows harmful gases generated during welding to be extracted in a timely manner, making the entire welding process cleaner and in line with the production concept of green production.

[0020] Finally, the press-fitting mechanism allows for pre-detection of the press-fitted gap between the shell and top cover to ensure it meets requirements before welding, thus guaranteeing a high yield rate for the weld. Furthermore, the welding torch and press-fitting gap detection device are designed to be drivable and move along the axis of rotation, preventing interference between them and resulting in a more rational overall design layout for the welding fixture.

[0021] In addition, another objective of the present invention is to provide a battery top cover welding device, including a feeding unit, a welding unit, a discharging unit, and a transfer unit for moving batteries between the feeding unit, the welding unit, and the discharging unit; the welding unit adopts the battery top cover welding fixture described in the present invention.

[0022] Furthermore, the feeding unit includes a feeding conveyor belt with multiple battery carriers. Each battery, pre-loaded with the top cover, is positioned on the battery carrier. The feeding conveyor belt is perpendicular to the rotation axis, and the top cover on the battery carrier is located on the side of the feeding conveyor belt facing the welding unit. The transfer unit includes a feeding transverse transfer unit and a discharging transverse transfer unit arranged along the feeding direction, and a welding feeding unit arranged perpendicular to the feeding direction. The feeding transverse transfer unit is used to transfer the batteries on the feeding conveyor belt to the welding feeding unit, and the welding feeding unit is used to transport the batteries to the clamping tray. The discharging transverse transfer unit is used to transfer the welded batteries to the discharge unit.

[0023] Compared to existing technologies, this invention integrates the welding of the positive and negative battery top covers into a single device by setting up a feeding unit, a welding unit, a discharging unit, and a battery transfer unit. This reduces the number of times the battery needs to be clamped and positioned during transfer between different devices, thereby improving the problem of inconsistent positioning references caused by excessive positioning clamping. This, in turn, helps to improve the welding accuracy and efficiency of the battery top cover welding. Attached Figure Description

[0024] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this invention, are used to provide a further understanding of the invention. The illustrative embodiments and descriptions of the invention are for explaining the invention. The directional terms used, such as front / back, up / down, etc., are only used to indicate relative positional relationships and do not constitute an improper limitation of the invention. In the drawings:

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the planar structure of the battery top cover welding equipment described in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the battery top cover welding equipment described in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the battery top cover welding equipment described in Embodiment 1 of the present invention from another perspective;

[0028] Figure 4 for Figure 2 A magnified view of part A shown in the image;

[0029] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the battery structure described in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the welding fixture for the battery top cover according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the clamping mechanism of the welding fixture for the battery top cover according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the clamping mechanism of the welding fixture for the battery top cover according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the clamping mechanism of the welding fixture for the battery top cover according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention from another perspective.

[0034] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of some components of the clamping mechanism of the welding fixture for the battery top cover according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the pressing mechanism of the welding fixture for the battery top cover according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[0036] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures:

[0037] 10. Feeding conveyor belt; 100. Battery carrier; 11. Scanning device; 12. Shell opening dust removal device;

[0038] 20. Guide beam; 200. Transfer device; 201. Base; 202. Translation drive unit; 203. Lifting drive unit; 204. Handler; 205. Suction cup; 21. Loading transverse movement unit; 22. Unloading transverse movement unit; 23. Weld seam shaping longitudinal movement unit; 24. Weld seam inspection transverse movement unit; 25. Unloading longitudinal movement unit; 26. Welding loading unit;

[0039] 30. Barcode Scanning Anomaly Picking Unit; 31. Pressing Anomaly Picking Unit; 32. Weld Anomaly Picking Unit; 300. Guide Rail; 301. Base Frame; 302. Pallet; 303. Support Fork;

[0040] 40. Laser welding device; 41. Clamping mechanism; 42. Pressing mechanism; 43. Pressing seam detection device; 400. Welding torch; 410. Fixed plate; 411. Rotary plate; 412. Rotation drive device; 413. Clamping tray; 4130. Stop; 4131. Fork clearance opening; 414. Housing clamping part; 4140. First clamping part; 4141. Second clamping part; 415. Top cover clamping part; 4150. Clamping body; 4151. Gripper; 416. Top pressing part; 417. Cylinder; 418. Air circuit connection part; 420. Pressing base; 421. Pressing head; 422. Pressing head drive part; 4220, Pressure head guide seat; 4221, First pressure head motor; 4222, Second pressure head motor; 4223, Pressure head bracket; 423, Welding dust removal section; 424, Dust removal hood; 425, Dust suction port; 427, Air suction port; 430, 3D camera;

[0041] 50. Feeding conveyor belt; 51. Discharge conveyor belt; 52. Weld seam shaping mechanism; 53. Weld seam inspection device; 54. Transfer station;

[0042] 6. Battery; 60. Housing; 601. Top cover;

[0043] 7. Equipment platform; 70. Clamping base; 71. Press joint detection base. Detailed Implementation

[0044] It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present invention and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0045] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that if terms such as "upper," "lower," "inner," or "back" appear, indicating orientation or positional relationship, they are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this invention; if terms such as "first" or "second" appear, they are also used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0046] Furthermore, in the description of this invention, unless otherwise explicitly defined, the terms "installation," "connection," "joining," and "connector" should be interpreted broadly. For example, a connection can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be a connection within two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention in light of the specific circumstances.

[0047] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in conjunction with embodiments.

[0048] It should be noted beforehand that, in order to facilitate understanding of the working mechanism of the welding fixture for the battery top cover of the present invention, the work stations involved and their coordination relationships with other work stations should be explained and described in advance. Therefore, Embodiment 1 below first describes in detail an exemplary scenario in which the welding fixture for the battery top cover is installed, namely the battery top cover welding equipment of the present invention; and Embodiment 2 follows in detail with a description of the welding fixture for the battery top cover of the present invention.

[0049] Example 1

[0050] This embodiment relates to a battery top cover welding device to improve the welding efficiency of the battery 6 top cover 601; one exemplary structure is as follows: Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown.

[0051] Overall, the battery top cover welding equipment includes a feeding unit, a welding unit, a discharging unit, and a transfer unit for moving batteries 6 between the feeding unit, welding unit, and discharging unit. The feeding unit includes a feeding conveyor belt 10, on which multiple battery carriers 100 are provided, and each battery 6 pre-loaded with the top cover 601 is positioned on the battery carrier 100. The transfer unit includes a feeding transverse transfer unit 21 and a discharging transverse transfer unit 22 arranged along the conveying direction of the feeding conveyor belt 10, and a welding feeding unit 26 arranged perpendicular to the conveying direction. The feeding transverse transfer unit 21 is used to transfer the batteries 6 on the feeding conveyor belt 10 to the welding feeding unit 26, and the welding feeding unit 26 is used to transport the batteries 6 to the welding unit for welding the gap between the top cover 601 and the battery casing 60. The discharging transverse transfer unit 22 is used to transfer the welded batteries 6 to the discharging unit.

[0052] In detail, in order to further improve the welding efficiency of the battery 6, it is necessary to perform preliminary identification of the battery 6 before welding. Generally, the battery 6 is provided with a pattern for identification. In this embodiment, a corresponding identification device is also provided. Generally, the pattern can be set to different colors, different lines, or a combination of both, etc. In this embodiment, considering universality, it is preferred that an identification code is printed on the battery 6. Therefore, the feeding unit also includes a barcode scanning device 11 for scanning and identifying the identification code.

[0053] After identifying the abnormal battery 6, a barcode abnormality picking unit 30 is provided between the feeding conveyor belt 10 and the welding feeding unit 26. The feeding transverse transfer unit 21 can move the battery 6 with barcode identification abnormality to the barcode abnormality picking unit 30. Then, the barcode abnormality picking unit 30 removes the battery 6 with barcode identification abnormality. In addition, a casing dust removal device 12 for removing dust from the battery is provided on one side of the barcode scanning device 11.

[0054] In this embodiment, to further improve the welding efficiency of the battery 6 top cover 601, multiple welding loading units 26 are arranged at intervals along the conveying direction, with the loading transverse unit 21 and the unloading transverse unit 22 spanning above each welding loading unit 26; each welding loading unit 26 is equipped with a welding unit. In this way, the battery top cover welding equipment can weld multiple batteries 6 simultaneously when welding the battery 6 top cover 601. Moreover, considering both welding efficiency and the space occupied by the entire equipment, the number of welding loading units 26 can preferably be set to six.

[0055] In order to ensure that the welding position corresponding to the welding gun is more consistent when welding the top cover 601 of the battery 6, a clamping mechanism 41 is provided in the welding unit of this embodiment. The clamping mechanism 41 is used to position the battery 6 on the welding loading unit 26 at the welding station. In addition, in order to ensure that the weld has a better welding quality after welding, a laser welding device 40 is also provided in the welding unit.

[0056] Furthermore, the battery cell and its top cover are pre-pressed before being loaded into the welding station. However, the gap between the pre-pressed battery cell and its top cover needs to be further press-fitted before it can meet the requirements of the next welding step. For this purpose, the welding unit is also equipped with a pressing mechanism 42 that presses the top cover 601 onto the housing. After the pressing mechanism 42 presses the top cover 601 and the housing 60 together, the laser welding device 40 welds the gap between the housing 60 and the top cover 601. In addition, the clamping mechanism 41 can move the welded battery 6 back to the welding loading unit 26.

[0057] The welding unit also includes a press-fit seam detection device 43, which is used to detect the gap between the pressed top cover 601 and the housing 60 before welding.

[0058] Still Figure 1As shown, in this embodiment, in order to reduce the impact of abnormally welded battery 6 on other batteries 6 during the welding process, thereby improving the welding efficiency of the entire battery top cover welding equipment, the battery top cover welding equipment is also provided with a pressing abnormality picking unit 31 arranged side by side with the welding feeding unit 26. The unloading transverse transfer unit 22 can move the abnormally detected battery 6 from the welding feeding unit 26 to the pressing abnormality picking unit 31, and the pressing abnormality picking unit 31 will discharge the battery 6. Moreover, this arrangement also further improves the overall automation level of this embodiment.

[0059] Specifically, such as Figure 4 and combined Figure 5 As shown, in order to facilitate the movement of the battery 6 on each unit, in this embodiment, both the welding loading unit 26 and the pressing abnormality picking unit 31 include a guide rail 300, a base frame 301 driven and guided to move on the guide rail 300, and a tray 302 provided on the base frame 301, wherein the battery 6 is adsorbed on the tray 302.

[0060] Meanwhile, the loading transverse movement unit 21, the unloading transverse movement unit 22, the weld seam shaping longitudinal movement unit 23, the weld seam inspection transverse movement unit 24, and the unloading longitudinal movement unit 25 all include a guide beam 20 and a transfer device 200 that moves on the guide beam 20; the transfer device 200 includes a base 201, a translation drive unit 202, a lifting drive unit 203, and a handling hand 204; the base 201 is driven by the translation drive unit 202 to move on the guide beam 20, and the handling hand 204 is driven by the lifting drive unit 203 to move up and down on the base 201, and the handling hand 204 is provided with a suction cup 205 that can pick up the battery 6.

[0061] In this embodiment, for the unloading unit, in order to further shape and optimize the weld between the welded battery 6 and the top cover 601, the unloading unit includes a feeding pair conveyor belt 50, an unloading conveyor belt 51, a weld shaping mechanism 52, and a weld detection device 53. The transfer unit also includes a weld shaping longitudinal transfer unit 23, a weld detection transverse transfer unit 24, and a feeding longitudinal transfer unit 25. The feeding pair conveyor belt 50 receives the battery 6 from the feeding transverse transfer unit 22.

[0062] In practical implementation, the weld seam shaping longitudinal transfer unit 23 is used to grab the battery 6 on the unloading group conveyor belt 50, and after the welded part is rolled and shaped by the weld seam shaping mechanism 52, it is transferred to the weld seam inspection device 53. The weld seam inspection transverse transfer unit 24 is used to move the battery 6 at the weld seam inspection device 53 to the transfer station 54 or the weld seam abnormality picking unit 32; the unloading longitudinal transfer unit 25 is used to move the battery 6 on the transfer station 54 to the discharge conveyor belt 51. This setting not only ensures the yield rate of the battery 6 welded by this battery top cover welding equipment, but also, through the weld seam shaping longitudinal transfer unit 23, the weld seam inspection transverse transfer unit 24 and the unloading longitudinal transfer unit 25 set in the transfer unit, qualified or unqualified batteries 6 can be transferred to suitable stations respectively, which further improves the automation level of the battery top cover welding equipment.

[0063] In addition, in order to improve the discharge efficiency of battery 6, in this embodiment, the transfer of battery 6 between the feeding group and the discharge conveyor belt 50 and the discharge conveyor belt 51 is set to be carried out in pairs.

[0064] To be more specific, it is still as follows Figure 4 As shown, two transfer devices 200 are provided on the guide beams 20 of the weld seam shaping longitudinal transfer unit 23, the weld seam inspection transverse transfer unit 24, and the unloading longitudinal transfer unit 25. Furthermore, the two transfer devices 200 on the same guide beam 20 share a base 201 and a translation drive unit 202. In this way, the unloading group can move the battery 6 between the conveyor belt 50 and the discharge conveyor belt 51 in pairs.

[0065] Furthermore, the specific structures of the barcode scanning anomaly picking unit 30 and the weld anomaly picking unit 32 can be found as follows: Figure 1 and Figure 2 The press-fitting abnormality detection unit 31 shown will not be described in detail here.

[0066] The aforementioned loading transverse movement unit 21, unloading transverse movement unit 22, weld seam shaping longitudinal movement unit 23, weld seam inspection transverse movement unit 24, unloading longitudinal movement unit 25, and welding loading unit 26 all involve translation, lifting, and other guiding drives. The drive can be set using existing drive structures such as cylinders and linear motors, supplemented by limit switches and photoelectric switches to detect the positioning status.

[0067] In summary, the battery top cover welding equipment of this embodiment integrates the processes of moving, pressing, and welding the positive and negative top covers of the battery 6 into one machine by setting up a feeding unit, a welding unit, a discharging unit, and a transfer unit for transporting the battery 6. This reduces the number of times the battery 6 needs to be clamped and positioned during transfer between different machines, thereby improving the problem of inconsistent positioning references caused by excessive positioning clamping. This is beneficial to improving the welding accuracy and welding efficiency of the battery 6 top cover 601 during welding.

[0068] Example 2

[0069] This invention relates to a welding fixture for a battery top cover, in order to improve the welding efficiency of the battery 6 and the top cover 601; one exemplary structure is as follows: Figure 6 As shown.

[0070] Overall, the welding fixture for the battery top cover is set on the equipment platform 7 and is used to receive the battery 6 with the top cover 601 pre-installed and to complete the welding of the gap between the top cover 601 and the housing 60 of the battery 6. The welding fixture for the battery top cover includes a laser welding device 40, a clamping mechanism 41 and a pressing mechanism 42.

[0071] To improve the welding efficiency of battery 6 and top cover 601, clamping mechanism 41 includes a rotary disk 411 that can be driven to rotate on equipment platform 7; the rotary disk rotates along the rotation axis of the rotary disk 411 under the drive of rotary drive device 412. Moreover, the rotary disk 411 is provided with a clamping tray 413 arranged along the rotation axis of the rotary disk 411, and the battery 6 transported to the welding fixture can be clamped on the clamping tray 413 and positioned at the welding station, and the top cover 601 is arranged perpendicular to the rotation axis.

[0072] The pressing mechanism 42 is fixed to the equipment platform via the pressing seam detection base 71, while the clamping mechanism 41 is mounted on the pressing seam detection base 71 via the clamping base.

[0073] In addition, the pressing mechanism 42 includes a pressing base 420 fixed on the equipment platform 7, and a pressing head 421 that can be driven and guided to move on the pressing base 420; the moving direction of the pressing head 421 is consistent with the direction of the rotation axis so as to form a pressing pressure on the top cover 601.

[0074] Correspondingly, the laser welding device 40 includes a welding torch 400 located above the welding station. The welding torch 400 can move up and down to approach the gap and can be translated along the length of the gap to complete the welding of the gap.

[0075] In this way, the laser welding device 40, the clamping mechanism 41 and the pressing mechanism 42 can cooperate with each other to achieve fully automatic welding of the gap between the top cover 601 and the housing 60 of the battery 6, thus providing a good welding tooling for welding the top cover 601 and the battery 6, and improving the welding quality and welding efficiency when welding the battery 6 and the top cover 601.

[0076] The clamping tray 413 is mainly used to clamp the battery 6 and position the battery 6 at the welding station. In this embodiment, as a preferred implementation, the clamping tray 413 is provided with a stop 4130, which is placed at the bottom of the battery 6. The clamping tray 413 is movably mounted on the rotary disk 411 along the direction of the rotation axis, and the clamping mechanism 41 has a pressing part 416 that can drive the clamping tray 413 to move towards the pressure head 421.

[0077] In actual operation, the fork 303 in the welding and feeding unit 26 sends the battery to the clamping tray. Next, the tray 302 descends, and the fork 303 enters the fork clearance slot 4131 provided on the clamping tray 413. The battery 6 is then placed on the clamping tray 413. Subsequently, the tray 302 is pulled outward, and the battery 6 is left on the clamping tray 413 due to the obstruction of the baffle 4130.

[0078] In order to make the clamping mechanism 41 clamp the battery 6 more securely, the clamping tray 413 is provided with a housing clamping part 414 and a top cover clamping part 415; the housing clamping part 414 is used to clamp the housing 60, and the top cover clamping part 415 can form a clamping and fixing of the top cover 601.

[0079] In the top cover clamping part 415, in order to facilitate spot welding of the gap between the top cover and the housing, in this embodiment, the top cover clamping part 415 includes a clamping body 4150 that can be driven to clamp or move away from the top cover 601. The clamping body 4150 has a plurality of clamping claws 4151 spaced apart along the length direction of the gap. In this way, the welding gun 400 can spot weld the gap between two adjacent clamping claws 4151, and then fully weld the gap when the clamping body 4150 moves away from the top cover 601.

[0080] The use of cylinder 417 to drive housing clamping part 414 and top cover clamping part 415 makes the reciprocating motion of housing clamping part 414 and top cover clamping part 415 in the linear direction faster and more precise. Moreover, the cylinder itself occupies less space, which also saves the space occupied by the entire clamping mechanism 41.

[0081] It should be noted that the housing clamping part 414 cooperates with one side of the clamping tray 413 to clamp the battery in the clamping tray 413. Furthermore, the specific structure of the housing clamping part 414 can be further divided into a first clamping part 4140 and a second clamping part 4141; both are as follows... Figure 7 and Figure 10 The two directions form a clamping structure for the battery.

[0082] like Figure 8 , Figure 9 and Figure 10 As shown, in order to make the reciprocating motion of the housing clamping part 414 and the top cover clamping part 415 in the linear direction faster and more precise, both the housing clamping part 414 and the top cover clamping part 415 are driven by cylinders 417 to perform clamping actions. At the same time, the cylinders themselves have the characteristic of occupying little space, which also saves the space occupied by the entire clamping mechanism 41.

[0083] Based on the above structure and drive configuration, since the clamping mechanism 41 needs to rotate around the rotation axis, an air passage docking part 418 is provided between the rotating disk 411 and the equipment platform 7. After the top cover clamping part 415 in the clamping mechanism 41 clamps the battery 6, the clamping mechanism 41 rotates to spot weld the battery 6 at a circumferential angle. At this time, the air passage can be in a disengaged state. After the spot welding is completed, the air passage docking part 418 and the cylinder 417 are docked. Under the drive of the cylinder, the top cover clamping part 415 releases the clamping of the top cover 601, and then the gap between the top cover 601 and the shell 60 can be fully welded. After the full welding is completed, the clamping mechanism 41 rotates the battery 6 to the angle before welding, and the welding battery 6 is moved to other workstations by the transfer device 200. Thus, the air passage docking part 418 can be used to dock or disconnect the air passage of the cylinder 417, thereby realizing the above-mentioned operation process of the clamping mechanism 41.

[0084] Generally, welding metals produces harmful gases; therefore, such as Figure 11 As shown, the pressing mechanism 42 in this embodiment includes a welding dust removal section 424 and a welding dust removal section 423. The welding dust removal section 423 has a dust removal hood 424 that moves with the pressing head 421. The dust removal hood 424 is connected to an external vacuum source through its suction port 425 and air intake port 427, and is placed over the top cover 601 during welding to remove the welding fumes. In this way, the entire welding process is cleaner and conforms to the production concept of green production.

[0085] The pressing mechanism 42 is further provided with a pressing head driving part 422 that can further drive the pressing mechanism 42 to press the end cover 601. The pressing head driving part 422 is not only used to drive the pressing head 421, but also to drive the entire pressing mechanism 42, thereby pressing the end cover 601.

[0086] The press-fitting mechanism 42 allows for pre-detection of the gap between the housing 60 and the top cover 601 before welding to ensure it meets requirements, thus guaranteeing a high yield rate for the weld. Furthermore, the welding torch 400 and the press-fitting gap detection device 43 are both designed to be drivable and move along the axis of rotation, preventing interference between them and resulting in a more rational overall design layout for the welding fixture.

[0087] During the welding process of the top cover 601 and the shell 60, since the thickness of the two is relatively consistent, the welding power of laser welding is also relatively consistent. Therefore, controlling the width of the weld gap to be relatively consistent can largely ensure the consistency of the weld during the battery welding process, thereby ensuring the product yield. To this end, in this embodiment, a preferred implementation is provided, in which a press-fit seam detection device 43 is provided in the welding fixture. The press-fit seam detection device 43 includes a detection device located above the welding station; the detection device can move up and down to approach the seam, and can translate along the length direction of the seam to complete the detection of the width of the seam.

[0088] It should be noted that the number of detection devices is set to three in this embodiment. Each detection device corresponds to two holding mechanisms and one laser welding device 40. Moreover, both the welding torch 400 and the detection devices can be driven to move along the direction of the rotation axis. In this way, they can avoid each other and make fuller use of the detection devices and the welding torch 400.

[0089] As for the selection of the detection device, a 3D camera 430 can be used, or a CCD can also be used.

[0090] In summary, the welding fixture for the battery top cover in this embodiment, through the coordinated arrangement of the laser welding device 40, the clamping mechanism 41, and the pressing mechanism structure 42, provides the complete hardware conditions for fully automatic, dead-angle-free welding of the gap between the top cover 601 and the housing 60 of the battery 6, which is beneficial to improving the welding quality and welding efficiency of the battery 6 when welding the top cover 601.

[0091] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A welding fixture for a battery top cover, mounted on a machine platform (7), for receiving a battery (6) pre-installed with a top cover (601) and for welding the gap between the top cover (601) and the casing (60) of the battery (6); characterized in that: The welding fixture includes a laser welding device (40), a clamping mechanism (41), and a pressing mechanism (42). The clamping mechanism (41) includes a rotary disk (411) that can be driven to rotate on the equipment platform (7); the rotary disk (411) is provided with a clamping tray (413) arranged along the rotation axis of the rotary disk (411), the battery (6) conveyed to the welding fixture can be clamped on the clamping tray (413) and positioned at the welding station, and the top cover (601) is arranged perpendicular to the rotation axis; The pressing mechanism (42) includes a pressing base (420) fixed on the equipment platform (7) and a pressing head (421) that can be driven and guided to move on the pressing base (420); the moving direction of the pressing head (421) is consistent with the direction of the rotation axis so as to form a pressing pressure on the top cover (601); The laser welding device (40) includes a welding torch (400) located above the welding station. The welding torch (400) can move up and down to approach the gap and can translate along the length of the gap to complete the welding of the gap. The clamping tray (413) is provided with a housing clamping part (414) and a top cover clamping part (415). The housing clamping part (414) is used to clamp the housing (60), and the top cover clamping part (415) can be used to clamp and fix the top cover (601); The top cover clamping part (415) includes a clamping body (4150) that can be driven to clamp or move away from the top cover (601). The clamping tray (413) is provided with a stop (4130), which is positioned at the bottom of the battery (6); The clamping tray (413) is movably disposed on the rotating disk (411) along the direction of the rotation axis, and the clamping mechanism (41) has a top pressing part (416) that can drive the clamping tray (413) to move toward the pressure head (421). The clamping body (4150) has a plurality of clamping claws (4151) spaced apart along the length direction of the gap. The welding torch (400) can spot weld the gap between two adjacent clamps (4151) and fully weld the gap when the clamp (4150) is away from the top cover (601).

2. The welding fixture for the battery top cover according to claim 1, characterized in that: Both the housing clamping part (414) and the top cover clamping part (415) are driven by cylinders (417) to perform clamping actions, and an air passage docking part (418) is provided between the rotating disk (411) and the equipment platform (7), and the air passage docking part (418) can dock or disconnect the air passage of the cylinder (417).

3. The welding fixture for the battery top cover according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The pressing mechanism (42) further includes a welding dust removal section (423), which has a dust removal hood (424) that is movably arranged with the pressing head (421). The dust hood (424) is connected to an external vacuum source and is placed above the top cover (601) during welding to absorb the fumes generated during welding.

4. The welding fixture for the battery top cover according to claim 3, characterized in that: The welding fixture also includes a press seam detection device (43), which includes a detection device located above the welding station; The detection device can move up and down to approach the gap, and can translate along the length of the gap to detect the width of the gap. Furthermore, both the welding torch (400) and the detection device can be driven to move along the direction of the rotation axis to avoid each other.

5. The welding fixture for the battery top cover according to claim 4, characterized in that: The detection device uses a 3D camera (430).

6. A battery top cover welding device, comprising a feeding unit, a welding unit, a discharging unit, and a transfer unit for moving batteries (6) between the feeding unit, the welding unit, and the discharging unit; characterized in that, The welding unit uses the welding fixture for the battery top cover as described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The battery top cover welding equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that: The feeding unit includes a feeding conveyor belt (10), on which a plurality of battery carriers (100) are provided. Each battery (6) pre-installed with the top cover (601) is positioned on the battery carrier (100), and the feeding conveyor belt (10) is arranged perpendicular to the rotation axis. The top cover (601) on the battery carrier (100) is located on the side of the feeding conveyor belt (10) facing the welding unit. The transfer unit includes a loading transverse transfer unit (21) and a unloading transverse transfer unit (22) arranged along the conveying direction, and a welding loading unit (26) arranged perpendicular to the conveying direction; the loading transverse transfer unit (21) is used to transfer the battery (6) on the loading conveyor belt (10) to the welding loading unit (26), and the welding loading unit (26) is used to convey the battery (6) to the clamping tray (413); the unloading transverse transfer unit (22) is used to transfer the welded battery (6) to the unloading unit.

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