Battery shell method

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for inserting a battery core into a shell, which includes: conveying the shell and the battery core through a conveying device, controlling the shell and the battery core to be conveyed at the same speed, ensuring that the shell and the battery core are coaxially aligned, driving the shell and the battery core to keep moving in the same direction at the same speed, and synchronously pushing the shell to be sleeved on the battery core. Compared with the prior art, the present invention can insert the shell onto the battery core during the process of conveying the battery core by keeping the shell and the battery core coaxially aligned, and driving the shell and the battery core to move at the same speed and in the same direction, thereby greatly improving the work efficiency of inserting the battery core into the shell.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of battery processing and production, and in particular to a battery core shelling method. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, thanks to the rapid development of the new energy industry, the lithium battery industry has achieved remarkable development results. Compared with lithium batteries of other shapes, square lithium batteries have a simpler structure and are more convenient to assemble when assembled into power battery PACKs. Therefore, square lithium batteries have natural advantages in the industry, and square lithium batteries have also become one of the research focuses in the industry.

[0003] In the processing and production process of square lithium batteries, it is generally necessary to go through the steps of slurry mixing - coating - sheet making - winding - assembly - laser welding - liquid injection - formation - sealing - capacity division, etc. In the assembly process of square lithium batteries, the battery cells need to be transported to the designated position by the conveying and loading device, and then the material taking device takes away the battery cells and places the battery cells in the battery cell transfer mold, and the battery cells in the battery cell transfer mold are transferred to the outer shell by the transfer device, and the outer shell is installed on the battery cells by the cover closing device to complete the battery cell shelling.

[0004] In the prior art, the battery cells need to be transferred to a specific station for shelling and then transferred to a conveyor line after shelling, which makes the shelling process of the battery cells very complicated and the shelling efficiency of the battery cells is very low. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention provides a method for inserting a battery core into a shell, aiming to solve the defects of the prior art that the process of inserting a battery core into a shell is complicated and the efficiency is low.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a method for inserting a battery cell into a shell, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps: S1, aligning the shell and the battery cell when conveying the battery cell, S2, driving the shell and the battery cell to keep moving in the same direction at the same speed, and S3, pushing the shell into the battery cell.

[0007] Furthermore, pushing the shell into the battery cell in S3 includes: S31, correcting the positions of the shell and the battery cell; S32, driving the shell close to the battery cell so that a part of the battery cell is loaded into the shell; S33, pushing the shell to continue moving toward the battery cell and pushing the shell to be completely mounted on the battery cell.

[0008] Furthermore, the S31 specifically includes: firstly driving the housing to approach the battery cell, and then simultaneously clamping the battery cell and the housing to be aligned on the same central axis.

[0009] Further, the S32 specifically includes: clamping the battery cell by a first clamping alignment mechanism, clamping the shell by a second clamping alignment mechanism, and driving the second clamping alignment mechanism to clamp the shell and slide toward the battery cell so that a part of the shell is mounted on the battery cell.

[0010] Furthermore, the S33 specifically includes: loosening the second clamping alignment mechanism, and pushing the housing toward the battery core so that the housing is completely fitted onto the battery core.

[0011] Furthermore, the shell is conveyed through the first conveyor line, and the battery core is conveyed through the second conveyor line, and the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line are controlled to run at the same speed.

[0012] Furthermore, a first carrier is provided on the first conveyor line, a second carrier is provided on the second conveyor line, the housing is provided on the first carrier, the battery cell is provided on the second carrier, and the first carrier and the second carrier are controlled to be located on the same central axis.

[0013] Furthermore, the first conveyor line is ring-shaped, and after the shell is put on the battery cell, the shell is controlled to be separated from the first carrier, and the shell and the battery cell are conveyed on the second conveyor line, and the first carrier circulates on the first conveyor line and picks up the shell again.

[0014] Furthermore, the first conveyor line drives the first carrier to move by magnetic drive, and the second conveyor line drives the second carrier to move by magnetic drive.

[0015] Furthermore, the first conveying line is arranged above the second conveying line.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention keeps the shell and the battery cell in coaxial alignment and drives the shell and the battery cell to move at the same speed and in the same direction, so that the shell can be pressed onto the battery cell during the battery cell transportation process, thereby greatly improving the work efficiency of the battery cell entering the shell. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0018] Figure 1 The figure is a schematic flow chart of the method for inserting a battery cell into a shell in the present invention.

[0019] Figure 2 for Figure 1 The specific process structure diagram of step S3 of pushing the core into the shell.

[0020] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of an implementation structure of one of the battery cell shell insertion methods in the present invention.

[0021] Figure 4 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the tooling.

[0022] Figure 5 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the first conveyor line. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and beneficial effects to be solved by the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0024] The method for inserting a battery cell into a shell proposed in this application focuses on the step of inserting the battery cell into the shell synchronously during the dynamic transportation of the battery cell. Figure 1 Specific methods for inserting the battery cell into the shell include:

[0025] Step S1, convey the shell and the battery cell separately to ensure that the shell and the battery cell are aligned (the shell and the battery cell are basically coaxial); in this step, different conveying equipment is required to synchronously convey the shell and the battery cell, and the shell and the battery cell are kept in a coaxial position during the conveying process, that is, the shell and the battery cell are conveyed by different conveying equipment respectively, and in the process of conveying the shell and the battery cell, according to the conveying speed calculated in advance, it can be ensured that the shell and the battery cell are theoretically coaxially aligned. Of course, since some errors may occur in the process of conveying the shell and the battery cell, these errors will cause the position of the shell and the battery cell to shift to a certain extent during transportation, so the shell and the battery cell will actually be misaligned. This step only needs to ensure that the shell and the battery cell are basically coaxially aligned.

[0026] For details, see the attached Figures 3 to 5As shown, the conveying equipment in the present application may specifically include a first conveyor line 10 and a second conveyor line 20. The first conveyor line 10 is provided with a first carrier, wherein the first carrier is provided with a plurality of first carriers, and the intervals between the first carriers are kept constant. The first carrier is used to fix a tool 100, and the tool is used to take and remove the shell. The first conveyor line 10 is a ring, so that the first carrier is cyclically conveyed on the first conveyor line 10; the second conveyor line 20 is provided with a second carrier, and the second carrier is used to fix and transfer the battery cell, wherein the second conveyor line runs through multiple stations For example, the second conveyor line 20 first passes through the battery cell placement station and places the battery cell on the second carrier. Then, the second conveyor line 20 transfers the second carrier to the top cover placement station to fix the top cover and the battery cell. Then, the second carrier is transferred to the dust removal, welding, and tab bending stations. The second conveyor line 20 runs through the entire battery production process. The first conveyor line 10 is set at the battery cell shelling station section of the second conveyor line 20. The first conveyor line 10 and the second conveyor line 20 are partially parallel. The parallel parts of the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line can perform battery cell shelling. In the battery cell shelling station section, the operating speed of the first conveyor line is set in advance, and the interval between the first carrier and the interval between the second carrier are kept the same, ensuring that one of the first carrier and the second carrier are set opposite each other, so that the shell on the first carrier and the battery cell on the second carrier remain basically aligned and coaxial.

[0027] Step S2, driving the shell and the battery cell to be transported at the same speed and in the same direction. In this step, the shell and the battery cell can be ensured to be relatively still, which facilitates the subsequent step of pushing the core into the shell.

[0028] Step S3, pushing the core into the shell. In this step, while keeping the shell and the battery core relatively still, the shell is pushed in the direction of the battery core so that the shell is sleeved on the battery core and the battery core enters the shell. In this step, there is no need to move the battery core, so that the battery core remains on the original conveying equipment when entering the shell. After the battery core is put into the shell, there is no need to move the battery core back to the conveying line again, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of putting the battery core into the shell.

[0029] For further information, see Appendix Figure 2 , the control method of pushing the core into the shell includes:

[0030] Step S31: Correct the positions of the housing and the battery cell; specifically, refer to the attached Figure 3 , 4In one of the implementation structures of the above-mentioned battery cell shelling method, the tool 100 mainly includes a first clamping alignment mechanism 1, a second clamping alignment mechanism 2, a driving mechanism 3, a guiding mechanism 5 and a pressing mechanism 6, wherein the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 is used to clamp the battery cell 7, and the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 is used to clamp the shell 8. The clamping centers of the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 and the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 remain coaxial, and the driving mechanism 3 drives the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 and the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 to synchronously perform the clamping action so as to clamp the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 and keep them aligned. The guiding mechanism 5 mainly includes a fixed bracket 51 and a movable bracket 53, and the fixed bracket 51 is used to support and fix the tool on the first carrier of the first conveyor line 10, and the movable bracket 53 is slidably connected to the above-mentioned fixed bracket 51, that is, the fixed bracket 51 is used to fix the tool, and the movable bracket 53 slides on the fixed bracket 51, which can be used to perform actions such as clamping, aligning and assembling the battery cell 7 and the shell 8. In step S31, the tool 100 is first driven to move a short distance downward in the direction facing the battery cell (in this embodiment, the tool 100 is mainly driven to move by the guide rail 101 on the first conveyor line 10, which will be described later). Figure 4 , 5 The tool 100 then drives the shell 8 to move a certain distance close to the battery cell 7, so that the positions of the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 can be corrected before the shell 8 is officially pressed into the battery cell 7, so as to facilitate pressing the shell 8 into the battery cell 7. When the tool 100 moves downward, the movable bracket 53 begins to slide downward under the force, and the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 and the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 move downward accordingly with the movement of the movable bracket 53 until the first clamping body 11 of the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 moves downward to the extreme position. At this time, the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 corresponds to the four sides of the battery cell 7, and the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 corresponds to the four sides of the shell 8. Then the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 and the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 are driven simultaneously for centering and clamping, so that the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 are clamped and aligned on the same central axis, and the coaxiality of the shell 8 and the battery cell 7 is corrected.

[0031] Step S32, pre-inserting the battery cell into the shell, that is, driving the shell to approach the battery cell so that a part of the battery cell is loaded into the shell; specifically, in step S31, the positions of the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 have been corrected, and the distance between the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 has been shortened. Therefore, in step S32, it is necessary to keep the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 clamping the battery cell 7, and keep the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 clamping the shell 8. The guide mechanism 5 is used to guide the first clamping alignment mechanism 1 and the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 to slide toward each other, thereby guiding the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 to approach each other, and by driving the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 to clamp the shell 8 and slide toward the battery cell 7, a part of the battery cell 7 is loaded into the shell, thereby completing the pre-insertion of the battery cell 7 into the shell.

[0032] Step S33, press the shell into the core, that is, push the shell to continue to move toward the direction of the battery core until the shell 8 is pushed to be completely fitted onto the battery core 7; specifically, the battery core has been pre-shelled in step S32, and a part of the battery core has entered the shell. The shell 8 can guide the installation of the battery core 7, so in step S33, the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 is released, and the second clamping alignment mechanism 2 releases the shell 8, so that the shell 8 can move. At this time, the pressing mechanism 6 is used to directly press down the shell, and the shell 8 is completely pressed onto the battery core 7, and finally the battery core is completely inserted. By decomposing the traditional battery core insertion into three parts, In the steps, namely step S31, step S32 and step S33, the battery cell and the shell have successively undergone position correction, battery cell pre-shelling and shell pressing into the core, which avoids the situation where the battery cell or the shell is damaged due to inaccurate alignment when the battery cell and the shell are loaded at one time, and can greatly improve the yield rate. In addition, since the above steps are always performed when the battery cell is transported in the present application, although the battery cell shelling is decomposed and some steps are added, these newly added steps will not interrupt the original battery cell transportation process, and therefore will not interfere with or hinder the assembly process of the battery cell shelling. The present solution can complete the battery cell shelling step quickly and well.

[0033] Step S4, after the shell 8 is sleeved on the battery cell 7, the shell 8 is controlled to be separated from the first carrier. At this time, the assembly of the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 continues to be transferred to the next welding station on the second conveyor line 20; one side of the first conveyor line 10 also synchronously corresponds to a group of shell 8 conveying equipment, and the shell conveying equipment synchronously moves the shell 8 to the upper material position of the shell 8, and the first carrier continues to rotate to the upper material position of the shell 8 after putting down the shell 8, and the tooling set on the first carrier automatically takes a shell 8, and the shell 8 follows the first carrier to move to the top of the second carrier to perform the battery cell shelling step again. By setting the first conveyor line 10 into a ring, the first conveyor line 10 can be cyclically conveyed. Through cyclic conveying, the first carrier can cyclically perform the steps of taking the shell 8, shelling the battery cell, and removing the shell. When the first carrier and the second carrier are facing each other, the battery cell 7 is shelled, and the assembly of the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 can be completed during the transportation of the battery cell 7, which greatly improves the work efficiency of shelling the battery cell 7.

[0034] Preferably, in the present application, a magnetic drive is adopted to drive the movement of the first carrier and the second carrier. In this method, when conveying the shell 8 and the battery cell 7, due to the small friction resistance, the shell 8 and the battery cell 7 will not generate violent shaking during the conveying process, so that the relative static state of the shell 8 and the battery cell 7 is well maintained. When executing the step of shelling the battery cell 7, the shell 8 can be accurately pressed onto the battery cell 7 without the adverse effect of the shaking generated during the conveying process on the shelling of the battery cell 7, which can ensure the shelling effect of the battery cell and improve the yield rate.

[0035] Furthermore, in the present application, the first conveyor line is arranged above the second conveyor line, and the tooling is installed on the first carrier of the first conveyor line. The movement of the first carrier synchronously drives the tooling. When the tooling moves to the upper material position of the shell 8, the tooling grabs the shell 8, and then the first conveyor line continues to drive the shell 8 to the top of the battery cell 7 of the second carrier. By arranging the first conveyor line above the second conveyor line, after the shell 8 is pushed onto the battery cell 7, the shell 8 can continue to compress the gap between the small shell 8 and the battery cell 7 under the action of gravity, while the traditional battery cell 7 and the shell 8 are pushed in the horizontal direction, which makes it difficult to ensure that the gap between the battery cell 7 and the shell 8 is minimized. The battery cell 7 and the shell 8 are prone to loosening or even falling off after assembly. The present application can well improve this defect. In order to make the scheme of the present application easier to understand, the present application also cites the structures of the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line:

[0036] See attached Figure 4 , 5 As shown, the first conveyor line 10 is provided with a guide rail 101, the tooling 100 is provided with a pulley 1001, the pulley 1001 is installed on the guide rail 101, and the guide rail 101 is used to define a specific running track of the tooling. In one embodiment: the guide rail 101 mainly includes a first horizontal section 102, a first transition section 103, a second horizontal section 104 and a second transition section 105, wherein the first horizontal section 102 and the second horizontal section 104 are both horizontally arranged, and the horizontal height of the first horizontal section 102 is higher than that of the second horizontal section 104, and the first transition section 103 is connected between the first horizontal section 102 and the second horizontal section 104, and the second transition section 105 is connected between the second horizontal section 104 and the first horizontal section 102. A height difference is formed between the first horizontal section 102 and the second horizontal section 104, so that the tooling falls downward when moving from the first horizontal section 102 to the second horizontal section 104, thereby driving the housing to approach the battery cell. The sliding path of the pulley 1001 on the guide rail 101 can remain stable for a long time, so it is not easy to cause the problem of poor positioning accuracy, and the cost of subsequent maintenance and overhaul is extremely low. The second transition section is for the tooling 100 to separate the battery cell 7. The tooling rises through the second transition section 105. The tooling 100 releases the outer shell and leaves it on the second conveyor line, so that both the outer shell and the battery cell are separated from the alignment part. The tooling 100 rises to a certain height to avoid interference with the outer shell. The battery cell and the outer shell continue to be conveyed to the next work section on the second conveyor line. The assembled battery cell and outer shell proceed to the next step, and the tooling can cyclically take the next outer shell to execute the next battery cell shelling.

[0037] 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 and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for inserting a battery cell into a shell, It is characterized in that The method for inserting the battery cell into the shell includes the following steps: S1, when transporting the battery cell, align the shell and the battery cell. S2, drives the housing and the battery cell to move in the same direction at the same speed. S3, push the shell into the battery cell; The step of pushing the housing into the battery cell in S3 includes: S31, correcting the positions of the housing and the battery cell; S32, driving the housing close to the battery cell so that a part of the battery cell is loaded into the housing; S33, push the shell to continue moving toward the battery cell, and push the shell to be completely fitted onto the battery cell.

2. The method for inserting a battery cell into a shell according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The S31 specifically includes: firstly driving the housing to approach the battery cell, and then simultaneously clamping the battery cell and the housing to align on the same central axis.

3. The battery cell shelling method according to claim 2, It is characterized in that The S32 specifically includes: clamping the battery cell by a first clamping alignment mechanism, clamping the shell by a second clamping alignment mechanism, and driving the second clamping alignment mechanism to clamp the shell and slide it toward the battery cell, so that a part of the shell is mounted on the battery cell.

4. The method for inserting a battery cell into a shell according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The S33 specifically includes: loosening the second clamping alignment mechanism, and pushing the housing toward the battery core so that the housing is completely fitted onto the battery core.

5. The method for inserting a battery cell into a shell according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The shell is conveyed through the first conveyor line, and the battery core is conveyed through the second conveyor line, and the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line are controlled to run at the same speed.

6. The method for inserting a battery cell into a shell according to claim 5, It is characterized in that A first carrier is provided on the first conveyor line, a second carrier is provided on the second conveyor line, the housing is provided on the first carrier, the battery cell is provided on the second carrier, and the first carrier and the second carrier are controlled to be located on the same central axis.

7. The method for inserting a battery cell into a shell according to claim 6, It is characterized in that The first conveyor line is ring-shaped. After the shell is put on the battery cell, the shell is controlled to be separated from the first carrier, and the shell and the battery cell are conveyed on the second conveyor line. The first carrier circulates on the first conveyor line and picks up the shell again.

8. The method for inserting a battery cell into a shell according to claim 6, It is characterized in that The first conveying line drives the first carrier to move by magnetic driving, and the second conveying line drives the second carrier to move by magnetic driving.

9. The method for inserting a battery cell into a shell according to claim 5, It is characterized in that The first conveying line is arranged above the second conveying line.

Images