Cutter assembly, dicing device and dicing method

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of electrode material preparation, and discloses a cutter assembly, a slicing device, and a slicing method. The cutter assembly comprises a plurality of cutters that cross each other to form a grid structure, each cutter comprising a blade (2) and a blade body (1) connected to each other, the thickness of the blade body (1) gradually increasing in a direction away from the blade (2), and the cutters enclose a cutting space whose cross-sectional area gradually decreases in a direction away from the blade (2). Through the above technical solution, the blocks formed by slicing have a stable mechanical structure, a higher degree of morphology retention, are not prone to collapse and blockage of channels, and are conducive to maintaining good contact between the bottom material and the external atmosphere.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electrode material preparation, in particular to a cutter assembly, a dicing device, and a dicing method. The cutter assembly, the dicing device, and the dicing method are particularly suitable for lithium-ion positive electrode materials. Background Art

[0002] Lithium-ion batteries have attracted widespread attention and research due to their high energy consumption, low cost, and long lifespan. In recent years, lithium-ion battery technology has advanced rapidly, and has now achieved large-scale industrial production and application in power batteries, energy storage, and other fields. Cathode materials, as the most critical component of lithium-ion batteries, are currently primarily produced using high-temperature solid-phase synthesis methods in industrial production.

[0003] High-temperature solid-phase synthesis is widely used in industrial production due to its advantages of low cost, high output and simple process. The actual production process generally includes the following steps: 1) mixing; 2) sintering; 3) crushing; 4) packaging. Among them, in the most critical 2) sintering process, in order to increase the contact area between the material and the atmosphere in the kiln, it is usually cut into pieces after being filled into the bowl to ensure that the inside of the material can contact the external atmosphere, inhibit the lithium / nickel mixing phenomenon during the sintering process, and improve the electrochemical properties of the material.

[0004] However, current equipment generally has the following problems after cutting materials: 1) The gaps between different cut pieces are small, and the bottom material is not fully exposed to the atmosphere; 2) The shape stability of the material after cutting is poor, and the vibration during the subsequent track conveying into the furnace can easily cause the cut pieces to collapse and block the gaps; 3) The final output after sintering is compacted together, which is not conducive to subsequent crushing.

[0005] For example, CN215881746U provides a device for loading and cutting lithium-ion positive electrode materials. The device first smoothes the material using a leveling mechanism, then gently compresses it using a compacting mechanism, and finally cuts it into pieces. However, this device has complex procedures and low efficiency. Furthermore, the simple gentle compaction method cannot ensure the integrity of the cut pieces during subsequent vibrations on the conveyor track, resulting in limited effectiveness.

[0006] Therefore, how to simply and effectively improve the shape stability of the material after cutting has an important impact on ensuring subsequent material indicators and processing performance. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem that the shape of electrode preparation materials after cutting is poor and easy to collapse, which affects the subsequent material indicators and processing performance.

[0008] To achieve the above object, on the one hand, the present invention provides a cutter assembly. Wherein, the cutter assembly includes a plurality of cutters that cross each other to form a grid structure. Each cutter includes a blade and a tool body connected to each other. The thickness of the tool body gradually increases in a direction away from the blade. The cutters enclose a cutting space with a gradually decreasing cross-sectional area in a direction away from the blade.

[0009] In some embodiments, the cutter assembly includes a first cutter extending horizontally and a second cutter extending vertically.

[0010] In some embodiments, the cutting edges of the plurality of cutters are coplanar; preferably, the cross-section of the tool body perpendicular to its length direction is an isosceles trapezoid; preferably, the height difference between one end of the tool body connected to the blade and the end away from the blade is h, and the thickness difference is d, where, 0 < d / h ≤ 115; preferably, the cutter is made of polytetrafluoroethylene.

[0011] In some embodiments, the cutter assembly further includes a support plate, and the end of the tool body away from the blade is connected to the support plate.

[0012] On the other hand, the present invention further provides a block cutting device, including a pot loading machine, a sagger, a driving member, and the cutter assembly according to the above solution. The pot loading machine can load materials into the sagger, and the driving member can drive the cutter assembly to move towards the sagger to cut the materials in the sagger into a plurality of blocks. The cross-sectional area of each block perpendicular to the vertical direction gradually decreases from bottom to top. [[ID=—]]

[0013] In some embodiments, the pot loading machine is arranged at the first station, the driving member and the cutter assembly are arranged at the second station, and the block cutting device includes a guide rail. The sagger can move from the first station to the second station along the guide rail.

[0014] In some embodiments, the block cutting device includes a vibration member arranged at the second station for vibrating the sagger.

[0015] In addition, the present invention further provides a block cutting method, which includes:

[0016] Loading materials into the sagger;

[0017] Driving the cutter assembly to insert into the materials in the sagger. Wherein, the cutter assembly includes a plurality of cutters that cross each other to form a grid structure. Each cutter includes a blade and a tool body connected to each other. The thickness of the tool body gradually increases in a direction away from the blade. The cutters enclose a cutting space with a gradually decreasing cross-sectional area in a direction away from the blade.

[0018] The cutter assembly is driven to leave the material to divide the material into a plurality of blocks, and the cross-sectional area of ​​each block perpendicular to the vertical direction gradually decreases from bottom to top.

[0019] In some embodiments, a first vibration operation is performed after the material is loaded into the sagger to level the material; preferably, the first vibration operation lasts for 1 s to 10 s, and the vibration frequency is 20 Hz to 60 Hz.

[0020] In some embodiments, after the cutter assembly is inserted into the material in the sagger, a second vibration operation is performed on the material; preferably, the second vibration operation lasts for 1-15 seconds and has a vibration frequency of 50 Hz-90 Hz.

[0021] The blocks formed by this technical solution possess a stable mechanical structure, exhibit a higher degree of morphology retention, are less likely to collapse and clog pores, and facilitate good contact between the bottom material and the external atmosphere. Furthermore, when used in the field of lithium-ion cathode materials, the interior of the material can fully contact the external atmosphere (air, oxygen) during the sintering process, reducing lithium / nickel mixing within the material structure and improving the material's electrochemical performance. Furthermore, because the material is sintered uniformly, the blocks are clearly separated, and the material is soft, which facilitates subsequent material crushing and reduces processing difficulty. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 is a perspective view of the cutter assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 is a bottom view of the cutter assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 is a side view of the cutter assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the structure of the cutting device according to the embodiment of this scheme;

[0026] Figure 5 It is a three-dimensional diagram of the cut block described in the embodiment of this scheme.

[0027] Description of Reference Numerals

[0028] 1- blade, 2- blade, 3- support plate, 4- bowl loader, 5- sagger, 6- guide rail, 7- vibration part, 8- driving part, 9- block. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following describes the specific embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0030] In the present invention, unless otherwise specified, directional words such as "upper" and "lower" generally refer to relative positional relationships in the state of use. This is only for the convenience of description and should not be understood as a special limitation on the product structure.

[0031] The present solution provides a cutter assembly, comprising a plurality of cutters that cross each other to form a grid structure, each of the cutters comprising a blade 2 and a blade body 1 connected to each other, the thickness of the blade body 1 gradually increasing in a direction away from the blade 2, and the cutters enclose a cutting space whose cross-sectional area gradually decreases in a direction away from the blade 2.

[0032] refer to Figure 1-Figure 3 As shown, the cutter mainly includes two parts, namely the blade 2 and the blade body 1. The blade 2 is used to divide the cut object, such as solid particulate material, and the blade body 1 is used to support the blade 2 to facilitate the installation of the cutter on some structure to operate the cutter.

[0033] The thickness of the blade body 1 gradually increases in the direction away from the blade 2. In other words, its cross-section is roughly trapezoidal. When the cutter is used to cut material, the cutter is inserted into the material, and the cutter body 1 forms a trapezoidal gap in the material. The width of this gap gradually increases in the direction from the blade 2 toward the blade body 1. The cutters intersect to form a grid structure, and the cross-sectional area of ​​the cutting space enclosed by the cutters gradually decreases in the direction away from the blade 2. Accordingly, when the material is divided into multiple blocks accommodated in the cutting space, the cross-sectional area of ​​the blocks gradually decreases in the direction from the blade 2 toward the blade body 1. In particular, the cutter generally cuts the material in a vertically downward direction, and the blocks are formed into a shape that is smaller at the top and larger at the bottom.

[0034] The cutter assembly can be used for cutting lithium-ion positive electrode materials, and the cut materials are sintered in a kiln. The cutting forms a block that is small at the top and large at the bottom, which has a stable mechanical structure, a higher degree of morphology retention, is not easy to collapse and block the pores, and is conducive to the bottom material maintaining good contact with the external atmosphere. In addition, the interior of the material can be fully in contact with the external atmosphere (air, oxygen) during the sintering process, reducing the lithium / nickel mixing inside the material structure and improving the electrochemical properties of the material; at the same time, because the material is sintered sufficiently uniformly, the blocks are clearly separated, and the material is soft, which is conducive to the subsequent crushing of the material and reduces the difficulty of processing.

[0035] Wherein, the cutter assembly includes a first cutter extending transversely and a second cutter extending longitudinally. Figure 2As shown, the cutter assembly forms a grid structure through the intersection of a transverse cutter and a longitudinal cutter that extend perpendicular to each other. The cross-section of the cutting space enclosed by multiple cutters is quadrilateral. In other embodiments, the cutters can intersect at other angles, such as forming a cutting space with a triangular, hexagonal, or pentagonal cross-section. In addition, the periphery of the cutter assembly forms an open structure, that is, a partial quadrilateral is formed, and the cutter assembly can be inserted into a quadrilateral container to divide the material therein to form blocks with a quadrilateral cross-section.

[0036] Among them, the cutting edges of multiple cutters are coplanar. That is to say, the cutting edges 2 of multiple cutters are flush, ensuring that the cutting depth of the material is consistent. Among them, the shapes of multiple cutters can be set to be the same, that is, the thickness and height dimensions of the cutting edge 2 and the thickness and height of the cutter body 1 are the same. In other embodiments, different cutters can also have different thicknesses and heights, as long as the thickness of its cutter body 1 gradually increases.

[0037] Among them, the cross-section of the cutter body 1 perpendicular to its length direction is an isosceles trapezoid. Refer to Figure 3 As shown, the cross-section of the cutter body 1 is an isosceles trapezoid, and the cross-section of the cutting edge 2 is an isosceles triangle. That is to say, the cross-section of the cutter is a shape symmetric about the central axis, and when it cuts the material, the cross-section of the gap formed between the blocks 9 is also symmetric.

[0038] Furthermore, the height difference between one end of the cutter body 1 connected to the cutting edge 2 and the end far from the cutting edge 2 is h, and the thickness difference is d, where 0 < d / h ≤ 115. The ratio of the thickness difference to the height at both ends of the cutter body 1 reflects the change trend of its thickness. Correspondingly, it reflects the change trend of the width of the gap between the cut blocks 9, and further reflects the trend of the reduction of the cross-sectional area of the block 9. When the above conditions are met, the side surface of the cutter body 1 can form an inclination angle of 1° - 89° relative to the vertical direction. The blocks 9 obtained by this cutter are larger at the bottom and smaller at the top, with a more stable structure and not easily collapsing.

[0039] Among them, the included angle between the two side surfaces of the cutting edge 2 can be greater than the included angle between the two side surfaces of the cutter body 1, that is, the cutting edge 2 is relatively blunter, reducing the wear of the cutting edge 2.

[0040] Among them, the cutter is made of polytetrafluoroethylene. Since the lithium-ion cathode material contains较多的金属元素 (较多的金属元素, which should be translated as "more metal elements" accurately), organic material cutters can be used to cut the material to avoid the influence of the debris from cutter wear on the purity of the material.

[0041] In addition, the cutter assembly includes a support plate 3, to which the end of the cutter body 1 away from the blade 2 is connected. The support plate 3 provides support for the multiple cutters, forming a stable structure, and can serve as an intermediate medium to connect to other structures, such as support rails, drive components, etc.

[0042] On the other hand, reference Figure 4 As shown, this solution provides a cutting device, comprising a bowl loading machine 4, an upwardly opening sagger 5, a driving member 8 and the cutter assembly described in the above solution, wherein the bowl loading machine 4 can load the material into the sagger 5, and the driving member 8 can drive the cutter assembly to move downward in the vertical direction to cut the material in the sagger 5 into a plurality of blocks 9 (refer to Figure 5 ), the cross-sectional area of ​​each block 9 perpendicular to the vertical direction gradually increases from bottom to top. The sagger 5 is a container for accommodating materials, which opens upward, and the accommodating space can be roughly a cube. The loader 4 is used to load materials, such as lithium-ion positive electrode materials, into the sagger 5. The driving member 8 can drive the cutter assembly to be inserted into the material to cut the material into blocks 9. The driving member 8 can be a driving oil cylinder, an air cylinder, etc., which is connected to the cutter assembly, for example, connected to the support plate 3 to drive the cutter assembly. Since the thickness of the cutter body 1 gradually increases from bottom to top in the vertical direction, the cross-sectional area of ​​the block 9 gradually decreases in the vertical upward direction, forming a structure that is small at the top and large at the bottom, thereby improving the stability of the block 9, making it less likely to collapse, and ensuring that the bottom of the block 9 is in full contact with the sintering atmosphere to ensure the sintering quality.

[0043] The sagger 4 is arranged at a first station, the drive member 8 and the cutter assembly are arranged at a second station, and the sagger 5 includes a guide rail 6, along which the sagger 5 can be moved from the first station to the second station. The sagger 5 is moved to the first station, and the material is loaded into the sagger 5 by the sagger 4. The sagger 5 is then moved from the first station to the second station along the guide rail 6, and the material in the sagger 5 is cut by the cutter assembly to form a plurality of blocks 9. The two stations are used for loading and cutting, respectively, to facilitate the installation and layout of the equipment and avoid interference between the sagger 4 and the cutter assembly. The movement of the sagger 5 on the guide rail 6 can be achieved by a drive device.

[0044] In addition, the slicing device includes a vibrating member 7, positioned at the second station, for vibrating the sagger 5. The vibrating member 7 can vibrate the sagger 5, flattening and consolidating the material therein. Before the cutter assembly is used to cut the material, a vibration operation can be performed to flatten the material and flatten its top surface. After the cutter assembly is inserted into the material to form a barrier, a further vibration operation can be performed to further consolidate the cut material, forming a stable block.

[0045] In addition, this solution also provides a slicing method, including:

[0046] The material is loaded into the sagger 5, for example, a loader 4 can be used for loading;

[0047] Drive a cutter assembly to insert the material in the sagger 5, wherein the cutter assembly crosses each other to form a plurality of cutters in a grid structure, each cutter comprising a blade 2 and a cutter body 1 connected to each other, the thickness of the cutter body 1 gradually increasing in a direction away from the blade 2, and the cutters enclose a cutting space whose cross-sectional area gradually decreases in a direction away from the blade 2;

[0048] The cutter is driven away from the material to divide the material into a plurality of blocks 9, wherein the cross-sectional area of ​​each block 9 perpendicular to the vertical direction gradually decreases from bottom to top.

[0049] The material is a powder material of lithium-ion positive electrode material. After the material is loaded into the sagger 5, it is cut into multiple blocks 9 by the cutter assembly, so that the block 9 is formed with a cross-section gradually decreasing in the vertical upward direction. Its structure is more stable and not prone to collapse, ensuring that the side of the block 9 can fully contact the sintering atmosphere, thereby ensuring the sintering quality.

[0050] In addition, after the material is loaded into the sagger 5, the first vibration operation is performed to make the material flat. Shaking the material before cutting can make the material flatter and ensure that the thickness of the block 9 at each position after cutting is basically the same.

[0051] Furthermore, the duration of the first vibration operation is 1s-10s, and the vibration frequency is 20Hz-60Hz.

[0052] In addition, after the cutter assembly is inserted into the material in the sagger 5, the material is subjected to a second vibration operation. In other words, the second vibration operation is carried out under the support of the cutter to ensure that the blocks 9 after cutting are further vibrated.

[0053] Furthermore, the second vibration operation lasts for 1-15 seconds and has a vibration frequency of 50Hz-90Hz. The vibration frequency of the second vibration operation can be greater than that of the first vibration operation, i.e., the vibration operation is performed with a higher intensity to ensure that the cut blocks 9 are vibrated and compacted. In addition, the second vibration can also shake off material adhering to the cutter surface, ensuring that the blocks have a good shape and form a stable structure when they are cut again.

[0054] Subsequently, the cutter assembly can be driven to separate from the material, stop for a period of time, such as 1-20 seconds, which can be longer than the time of the second vibration operation, and then transfer it to the next level of processing equipment, such as entering a sintering furnace for sintering.

[0055] The dicing method can be implemented using the dicing device described in the above solution and used for dicing lithium-ion positive electrode materials. Of course, this solution is not limited thereto.

[0056] The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention, the technical solution of the present invention may be subjected to a variety of simple modifications, including combining the various specific technical features in any suitable manner. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the present invention will not further describe various possible combinations. However, these simple modifications and combinations should also be regarded as disclosed in the present invention and fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for cutting lithium ion positive electrode materials, characterized in that: The dicing method comprises: The material is loaded into the sagger (5), and after the material is loaded into the sagger (5), a first vibration operation is performed to make the material flat; A cutter assembly is driven to insert the material in the sagger (5), wherein the cutter assembly includes a plurality of cutters that cross each other to form a grid structure, each cutter includes a blade (2) and a blade body (1) that are connected to each other, the thickness of the blade body (1) gradually increases in a direction away from the blade (2), and the cutters enclose a cutting space whose cross-sectional area gradually decreases in a direction away from the blade (2), wherein after the cutter assembly is inserted into the material in the sagger (5), a second vibration operation is performed on the material; The cutter assembly is driven to leave the material to divide the material into a plurality of blocks (9), wherein the cross-sectional area of ​​each block (9) perpendicular to the vertical direction gradually decreases from bottom to top.

2. The method for cutting lithium ion positive electrode materials according to claim 1, characterized in that: The duration of the first vibration operation is 1s-10s, and the vibration frequency is 20Hz-60Hz.

3. The method for cutting lithium ion positive electrode materials according to claim 2, characterized in that: The second vibration operation lasts for 1-15 seconds, and the vibration frequency is 50 Hz-90 Hz.

4. The method for cutting lithium ion positive electrode materials according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cutter assembly includes a first cutter extending transversely and a second cutter extending longitudinally.

5. The method for cutting lithium ion positive electrode materials according to claim 1, characterized in that: The blade lines of the plurality of cutters are coplanar; And / or, the cross section of the blade body (1) perpendicular to its length direction is an isosceles trapezoid; And / or, the height difference between the end of the blade body (1) connected to the blade (2) and the end away from the blade (2) is h, and the thickness difference is d, wherein 0 <d / h≤115; And / or, the cutter is made of polytetrafluoroethylene.

6. The method for cutting lithium ion positive electrode materials according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cutter assembly further comprises a support plate (3), and one end of the cutter body (1) away from the cutting edge (2) is connected to the support plate (3).

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