Electrode drying device

Abstract

An electrode drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application includes a conveying unit and a drying chamber. The conveying unit conveys an electrode sheet having an electrode paste coated on a current collector. The drying chamber includes an inflow port, and the electrode sheet conveyed by the conveying unit enters the inflow port. Wherein, an interruption member for adjusting the flow rate or flow velocity of external air flowing in the drying chamber is formed at the inflow port, and the height of the central portion of the interruption member is different from the height of the peripheral portion of the interruption member.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10 - 2021 - 0030397, filed on March 8, 2021, and Korean Patent Application No. 10 - 2022 - 0004898, filed on January 12, 2022, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0003] This application relates to an electrode drying device, and more particularly, to an electrode drying device for removing moisture from electrode sheets during the battery manufacturing process. Background Art

[0004] With the development of technology and the increasing demand for mobile devices, the demand for secondary batteries as an energy source has increased rapidly. In particular, secondary batteries have attracted considerable attention as an energy source for power - driven devices such as electric bicycles, electric vehicles, and hybrid vehicles, as well as for mobile devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, laptop computers, and wearable devices.

[0005] Based on the shape of the battery case, secondary batteries can be classified into cylindrical batteries having an electrode assembly installed in a cylindrical metal case, prismatic batteries having an electrode assembly installed in a prismatic metal case, and pouch - type batteries having an electrode assembly installed in a pouch - shaped case made of laminated aluminum sheets.

[0006] In addition, secondary batteries can be classified based on the structure of the electrode assembly, which has a structure in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode are stacked with a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. Generally, a jelly - roll (wound) type structure in which a long - sheet positive electrode and a long - sheet negative electrode are stacked with a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, a stacked (laminated) type structure in which a plurality of positive electrodes and negative electrodes cut into a predetermined unit size are sequentially stacked with a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, etc. can be mentioned. In recent years, in order to solve the problems caused by jelly - roll type electrode assemblies and stacked type electrode assemblies, a stacked / folded type electrode assembly, which is a combination of a jelly - roll type electrode assembly and a stacked type electrode assembly, has been developed.

[0007] Meanwhile, as a method of manufacturing an electrode for a secondary battery, there is a method of dispersing an active material, a conductive material, and / or an adhesive, etc. in a solvent to prepare a slurry, and then directly applying the slurry onto a current collector to form an electrode, or a method of applying the slurry onto a separate support and laminating a film peeled off from the support onto the current collector to form an electrode.

[0008] The electrode sheet formed by the above method is dried to remove residual solvent (NMP) or residual moisture, and the drying conditions of the electrode sheet greatly affect the quality of the battery. For example, the moisture remaining in the electrode sheet reduces the redox reaction between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, so that the rated energy of the battery is not generated, or the charge-discharge cycle characteristics of the battery deteriorate. In another example, when there is moisture in the electrode sheet, the remaining moisture may react with the electrolyte to generate hydrogen fluoride, and the generated hydrogen fluoride may cause a decrease in the ionic conductivity of the secondary battery and safety problems such as electrode corrosion.

[0009] In the traditional electrode drying process, when the electrode sheet in the slurry state is input into the chamber through the inlet formed on one surface of the chamber, a vacuum heating and drying method is mainly used, in which the chamber is converted into a vacuum state, and the heater or hot air system provided in the chamber heats the air flow in the chamber. However, in recent years, a high-speed electrode running drying (roll-to-roll drying, R2R drying, hereinafter referred to as "roll-to-roll") process is mainly used.

[0010] The advantage of the roll-to-roll process is that continuous processing can be achieved by directly heating the electrode surface while running the electrode roll. However, the disadvantage is that since the air outside the chamber flows into the chamber through the inlet for inputting the electrode, uneven pressure gradients or temperature gradients may be generated in the chamber. If the pressure gradient or temperature gradient in the chamber is uneven, a part of the electrode sheet is over-dried, and a deviation in drying conditions may occur, which may lead to an increase in the defect rate of the final product. Summary of the Invention

[0011] Technical Problem

[0012] The object of the present application is to provide an electrode drying device that can uniformly dry the electrode sheet, thereby improving the drying quality of the electrode slurry and minimizing the product defect rate.

[0013] The object of the present application is not limited to the above object, and those skilled in the art should clearly understand other objects not described herein from the following detailed description and the drawings.

[0014] Technical Solution

[0015] According to an embodiment of the present application, there is provided an electrode drying device, including: a conveying unit that conveys an electrode sheet having an electrode slurry coated on a current collector; and a drying chamber including an inflow port through which the electrode sheet conveyed by the conveying unit enters the drying chamber, wherein an interruption member for adjusting the flow rate or flow velocity of external air flowing into the drying chamber is formed at the inflow port, and the height of the central portion of the interruption member is different from the height of the peripheral portion of the interruption member.

[0016] The height of the central portion is greater than the height of the peripheral portion, and the central portion may be a portion different from the peripheral portion including both ends in the width direction of the interrupting member.

[0017] The drying chamber includes at least one heating member, and the interrupting member may be provided at one end of the inflow port close to the heating member.

[0018] At least one heating member is provided in the upper part of the drying chamber. When the electrode sheet is conveyed to the lower part of the drying chamber by the conveying unit, the interrupting member may be provided at the upper end of the inflow port, close to the upper part of the drying chamber.

[0019] When the first heat energy of the first region of the electrode sheet conveyed into the drying chamber is greater than the second heat energy transferred to the second region of the electrode sheet, the height of the first part of the interrupting member corresponding to the first region may be less than the height of the second part of the interrupting member corresponding to the second region, and the position of the first region in the width direction of the electrode sheet may be different from the position of the second region in the width direction.

[0020] The interrupting member includes a protrusion, and the side end of the protrusion is formed to form an acute angle with the upper end of the inflow port, and the protrusion may refer to the part of the interrupting member having a larger height value.

[0021] The interrupting member includes a protrusion, and the corner of the protrusion has a circular shape, and the protrusion may refer to the part of the interrupting member having a larger height value.

[0022] The interrupting member may be integral with the drying chamber.

[0023] Advantageous Effects

[0024] According to the embodiment, the electrode drying device of the present application can dry the electrode sheet uniformly, thereby reducing the product defect rate caused by the deviation of the drying conditions of the electrode sheet, and improving the uniformity or reliability of the product.

[0025] The effects of the present application are not limited to the above effects, and those skilled in the art will clearly understand other additional effects not described above from the description of the appended claims. Description of the Drawings

[0026] Figure 1 is a side view of an electrode drying device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a chamber according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 3 (a)-3(b) are diagrams for explaining the effects caused by the opening shape of the inflow port of the chamber according to an embodiment of the present application; and

[0029] Figure 4 (a)-4(d) are diagrams showing examples of the opening shapes of the inflow ports of a chamber according to an embodiment of the present application. Detailed Embodiments

[0030] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement them. The present application can be implemented in various different forms other than those described below, and the scope of the present application is not limited by the embodiments described herein.

[0031] Parts irrelevant to the description will be omitted to clearly describe the present application, and the same reference numerals denote the same elements throughout the description.

[0032] In addition, in the drawings, for ease of explanation, the dimensions and thicknesses of each element are arbitrarily shown, and the present application is not necessarily limited to those shown in the drawings. In the drawings, the thicknesses of layers, regions, etc. are exaggerated for clarity. In the drawings, the thicknesses of some layers and regions are exaggerated for ease of explanation.

[0033] In addition, it should be understood that when an element such as a layer, film, region, or plate is referred to as being "on" or "above" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there can also be an intermediate element. On the contrary, when an element is referred to as being "directly on" another element, it means that there are no other intermediate elements. In addition, the words "on" or "above" mean being disposed on or below the reference part. And it does not necessarily mean being disposed "on" or "above" the reference part in the opposite direction of gravity. Meanwhile, similar to the case where it is described as being located "on" or "above" another part, the case where it is described as being located "below" or "beneath" another part will also be understood with reference to the above.

[0034] In addition, throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as "including" or "containing" a certain component, this means that the part can further include other components without excluding other components, unless otherwise specified.

[0035] In addition, throughout the specification, when referred to as "planar", it means when observing the target part from the upper side, and when referred to as "cross-section", it means when observing the target part from one side of a vertically cut cross-section.

[0036] Now, an electrode drying device according to an embodiment of the present application will be described.

[0037] Figure 1 is a side view of an electrode drying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a perspective view of a chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] See Figure 1 and Figure 2 According to an embodiment of the present application, the electrode drying device includes a transfer unit 200 for transferring the electrode sheet 100 and a chamber 300 through which the electrode sheet 100 transferred by the transfer unit 200 passes. Here, the drying process of the electrode sheet 100 can utilize a roll-to-roll process, and during the electrode drying process using the roll-to-roll process, the electrode drying process of the electrode sheet 100 can be continuously performed.

[0039] The electrode sheet 100 can be an object of the electrode drying device 1. The electrode sheet 100 can be a long rectangular sheet on which an electrode paste is coated on a current collector. Here, as the current collector, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, nickel, titanium, calcined carbon, etc. can be used. The current collector can be provided in various forms, such as a film, sheet, foil, mesh, porous body, foam, non-woven fabric structure, etc. In addition, the electrode paste herein generally can include an electrode active material, a conductive material, a binder, and a solvent, but is not limited thereto.

[0040] The electrode sheet 100 can be a positive electrode or a negative electrode. In one example, when the electrode sheet 100 is a positive electrode, the electrode sheet 100 can be manufactured by coating a positive electrode paste containing a positive electrode active material on a positive electrode current collector. In another example, when the electrode sheet 100 is a negative electrode, the electrode sheet 100 can be manufactured by coating a negative electrode paste containing a negative electrode active material on a negative electrode current collector.

[0041] The transfer unit 200 can be used to transfer the electrode sheet 100 into the chamber 300 and to transfer the electrode sheet 100 outside the chamber 300. The transfer unit 200 can include at least one roller for guiding the moving direction of the electrode sheet 100 and / or a driving unit for driving the roller. Although not specifically shown in the figure, the transfer unit 200 that supplies the electrode sheet 100 into the chamber 300 can be referred to as an unwinder, and the transfer unit 200 that winds the electrode sheet 100 back outside the chamber 300 can be referred to as a rewinder.

[0042] The transfer unit 200 can adjust the moving speed of the electrode sheet 100. Specifically, the transfer unit 200 can adjust the time that the electrode sheet 100 stays in the electrode drying device 1, thereby adjusting the drying level of the electrode sheet.

[0043] The chamber 300 can be used to provide a drying space for drying the electrode sheet 100. The chamber 300 can also be referred to as a drying chamber. The chamber 300 can include an inflow port 310 through which the electrode sheet 100 enters and an outflow port 320 through which the electrode sheet 100 exits. The chamber 300 can continuously dry the electrode sheet 100 moving from the inflow port 310 to the outflow port 320 through a drying space formed between the inflow port 310 and the outflow port 320 by a roll-to-roll process.

[0044] The electrode sheet 100 can be moved from the inflow port 310 to the outflow port 320 by the transfer unit 200, and the transfer direction of the electrode sheet 100 is shown by the arrow in Figure 2 . Here, the longitudinal direction (x-axis direction) of the electrode sheet 100 can be defined as the direction parallel to the transfer direction, and the width direction (y-axis direction) of the electrode sheet 100 can be defined as the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

[0045] At least one heating member (not shown) can be provided inside the chamber 300, and the air flow in the chamber 300 can be heated by the heating member, or the electrode sheet 100 entering the internal space of the chamber 300 can be heated. Here, the heating member can be a hot air system including a heater, a nozzle / fan, etc. The heater provided in the chamber 300 can be an IR (infrared) heater, and a plurality of heaters can be provided. The drying efficiency and drying time of the electrode drying device 1 can be determined according to the arrangement and number of the heating members provided in the chamber 300.

[0046] The chamber 300 can be filled with nitrogen (N2) or an inert gas such as argon or helium while being isolated from the outside. Since the internal temperature of the chamber 300 is maintained at a high temperature, the inside can be filled with gas as described above to prevent other chemical reactions such as oxidation reactions from occurring in the electrode sheet 100 passing through the chamber 300. Here, the chamber 300 can preferably be filled with nitrogen which is inexpensive and safe even if leaked to the outside.

[0047] Meanwhile, the heating member (such as a heater, a nozzle or a fan) provided inside the chamber 300 can be designed such that heat can be uniformly transferred to the electrode sheet 100, and specifically, the heating member can be formed long in the width direction (y-axis direction) or can be arranged long. If a larger number of heating members are provided in the chamber 300, the heating members can be arranged in rows or columns along the longitudinal direction (x-axis direction).

[0048] However, even if the heating member extends in the width direction or is arranged at equal intervals, the magnitudes of the thermal energy transferred to the central region and the peripheral region of the electrode sheet 100 may be different. For example, when one heating member is formed long in the width direction, the thermal energy transferred to the central region of the electrode sheet 100 may be greater than that of the peripheral region. In another example, when the heating member is a nozzle or a fan for supplying hot air, the hot air can be transferred to the electrode sheet 100 and then move toward the edges (both ends in the y-axis direction) of the electrode sheet 100, whereby the thermal energy transferred to the peripheral region of the electrode sheet 100 can be greater than that of the central region.

[0049] Here, the central region may represent the central portion in the width direction (y-axis direction), and the peripheral region may represent the peripheral portion in the width direction (y-axis direction). Additionally, the central portion here may be a portion including the center in the width direction, and the peripheral portion may be a portion including the edge in the width direction. For example, the central portion may include the portion located at the center when a specific portion is divided into N equal parts, and the peripheral portion may include the portions located at both ends when a specific portion is divided into N equal parts. In one example, when a specific portion is equally divided into three, the central portion may be the portion located at the center, and the peripheral portion may be the remaining two portions other than the portion located at the center. Further, in this application, the central region may be referred to as the central portion, and the peripheral region may be referred to as the peripheral portion.

[0050] Expressions such as the central region or central portion, the peripheral region or peripheral portion are not only used for the electrode sheet 100. For ease of explanation, they can also be used to explain the inflow port 310 or the interruption member 312 described later.

[0051] Moreover, when the inside of the chamber 300 is filled with the above-mentioned inert gas or the like, the internal temperature and pressure of the chamber 300 can be kept relatively constant. However, external air flows in through the opened inflow port 310 and outflow port 320 or internal air flows out, so that the temperature gradient or pressure gradient inside the chamber 300 may change. Since the inflow of external air or the outflow of internal air can mainly accompany the movement of the electrode sheet 100, the drying environment inside the chamber 300 can change depending on the shape of the inflow port 310 or outflow port 320, the speed at which the transfer unit 200 moves the electrode sheet 100, etc. In particular, depending on the shape of the inflow port 310 or outflow port 320, the flow of external air can be concentrated in the central region of the electrode sheet 100 or can be concentrated in the peripheral region, and this phenomenon can be accelerated according to the moving speed of the electrode sheet 100.

[0052] In this way, depending on the deviation of the thermal energy transferred to the electrode sheet 100 in the chamber 300 or the change in the drying environment in the chamber 300, the electrode sheet 100 may not be dried uniformly. As the deviation in the drying level of the electrode sheet 100 becomes larger, the defective rate of the battery cell may be larger.

[0053] Refer again to Figure 2 , according to this embodiment, an interruption member 312 for adjusting the environment in the chamber 300 can be provided at the inflow port 310 of the chamber 300. The interruption member 312 can also be referred to as a shield, partition wall, light-shielding cover, shutter, awning, lid, screen, etc.

[0054] Here, the interruption member 312 may be additionally provided at the inflow port 310 of the chamber 300, or may be integral with one surface of the chamber 300 where the inflow port 310 is formed. In other words, the interruption member 312 of the present application is not a separate member, but may be referred to in order to distinguish a part of the chamber 300 or the inflow port 310, so as to explain the shape of the inflow port 310 formed on one surface of the chamber 300.

[0055] The interruption member 312 can adjust the opening shape of the inflow port 310 by covering a part of the inflow port 310. When adjusting the opening shape of the inflow port 310, the flow rate or velocity of the external air flowing into the chamber 300 may change, which may affect the drying environment inside the chamber 300.

[0056] The interruption member 312 may be provided at a position close to the heating member of the chamber 300. This can be used to minimize the deviation of thermal energy caused by external air when the heating member supplies heat to the electrode sheet 100. For example, when the heating member is located in the upper part of the chamber 300 and the electrode sheet 100 is moved in the lower part of the chamber 300, the interruption member 312 may be provided at the upper end 310a of the inflow port 310 close to the upper part of the chamber 300. Here, the upper or lower part of the chamber 300 refers to the relative position in the direction perpendicular to the coating surface of the electrode sheet 100, and may not necessarily refer to a specific position. For the sake of convenience of description, the interruption member 312 will be described below based on the positions of a part of the upper end 310a and the side end 310c of the inflow port 310, but according to this embodiment, the interruption member 312 may be positioned at the lower end 310B.

[0057] Meanwhile, although not shown in the figure, the interruption member 312 may be provided to adjust the outflow of the internal air by being located at a part of the upper end 320a, the lower end 320b, or the side end 320c of the outflow port 320. However, since the influence of the inflow port 310 on the drying environment of the chamber 300 may be greater than the influence of the outflow port 320 on the drying environment of the chamber 300, the actual benefits obtained by providing the interruption member 312 at the outflow port 320 may not be greater than the actual benefits when the interruption member 312 is provided at the inflow port 310.

[0058] Figure 3 It is a diagram for explaining the effects caused by the opening shape of the inflow port of the chamber according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0059] The drying level of the electrode sheet 100 processed by the chamber 300 may be described as "drying efficiency", but due to the various reasons described above, the drying efficiency of the electrode sheet 100 may vary depending on its position.

[0060] In a specific example, the heat supplied from a heater or the like located above the electrode sheet 100 to the central region of the electrode sheet 100 can be transferred from the central region to the peripheral region and then discharged to the lower side of the electrode sheet 100. Therefore, in addition to the thermal energy transferred from the heating member, the peripheral region can also receive the thermal energy transferred from the central region to the peripheral region, and a greater amount of thermal energy can be applied to the peripheral region than to the central region. When the thermal energy is concentrated in the peripheral region in this way, the drying of the peripheral region of the electrode sheet 100 can proceed faster than the drying of the central region, and the drying efficiency of the central region may appear relatively lower than that of the peripheral region.

[0061] In addition, the deviation in the above drying efficiency may be caused by a deviation in the flow velocity or flow rate of the external air flowing in through the inflow port 310. For example, since the flow of the external air flowing in through the inflow port 310 is concentrated in the central region, or the flow velocity in the central region is slower than that in the peripheral region, the deviation in the drying efficiency may be promoted. Specifically, the external air flowing in through the peripheral region of the inflow port 310 can be concentrated in the central region by diffraction, and the drying deviation may occur by reducing the thermal energy transferred by the external air to the central region.

[0062] When the external air is concentrated in a specific region of the electrode sheet 100 or the thermal energy is concentrated, a deviation in the drying level may occur, and it may be difficult to exhibit a constant drying efficiency in the width direction. When the opening shape of the inflow port 310 is formed in a rectangular shape and the height of the inflow port 310 is constant in the width direction, this phenomenon may occur more significantly, as shown in Figure 3 (a).

[0063] Meanwhile, this deviation in the drying efficiency can be minimized by adjusting the shape of the interrupting member 312. This may be because the opening shape of the inflow port 310 is differently formed by the interrupting member 312, thereby adjusting the flow of the external air.

[0064] Referring to Figure 3 (b), the interrupting member 312 according to an embodiment of the present application can be arranged such that the heights of the central portion and the peripheral portion are different. Therefore, the external air flowing into a specific region of the inflow port 310 can be interrupted. The interrupting member 312 can be arranged such that the height of the central portion is greater than the height of the peripheral portion. Therefore, the external air flowing into the central region of the inflow port 310 can be interrupted. Thus, compared with Figure 3 (a), the drying efficiency of the electrode sheet 100 can appear uniformly in the width direction, where the height can be the length on the z-axis.

[0065] The central portion of the interruption member 312 can be provided in a form protruding along the z-axis. Here, the "protruding shape" of the interruption member 312 can be referred to as the protruding portion 314. In other words, the protruding portion 314 can refer to the portion of the interruption member 312 having a large height value.

[0066] The interruption member 312 can change the flow rate of the external air flowing in through the inflow port 310. In one example, by changing the height of the opening of the inflow port 310 by the interruption member 312, the flow velocity of the external air flowing in through the inflow port 310 can be changed. Specifically, since the opening is formed narrowly in the region where the protruding portion 314 is provided, the flow rate in the corresponding region can be reduced and the flow velocity can be increased. When the flow velocity around the protruding portion 314 increases, the drying efficiency of the central region of the electrode sheet 100 corresponding to the protruding portion 314 can be improved.

[0067] In another example, generally, the external air flowing in through the peripheral region of the inflow port 310 can be concentrated in the central region by diffraction. If the interruption member 312 is provided to cover the central region of the inflow port 310, the external air can be distributed to the surrounding regions, thereby relatively uniformly adjusting the amount or velocity of the external air flowing in the width direction. In another example, the protruding portion 314 of the interruption member 312 is formed in the central region of the inflow port 310 to improve the flow rate of the external air flowing into the peripheral region, thereby having the effect of reducing the temperature of the region around the slightly overheated electrode sheet 100. By adjusting the opening shape of the inflow port 310 as shown in Figure 3 (b) in this way, the flow rate of the external air flowing into the chamber 300 can be changed, thereby reducing the deviation in drying efficiency between the central region and the peripheral region of the electrode sheet 100.

[0068] The electrode drying device 1 can be designed such that when the first thermal energy transferred to the first region of the electrode sheet 100 in the chamber 300 is greater than the second thermal energy transferred to the second region of the electrode sheet 100, the protrusion 314 is formed at the position corresponding to the second region. At this time, the magnitudes of the thermal energy transferred to the first region and the second region can be calculated based on when there is no influence of external air. Here, the height of the first portion of the interruption member 312 corresponding to the first region can be less than the height of the second portion of the interruption member 312 corresponding to the second region. In addition, the first region and the second region can be regions having different positions in the width direction of the electrode sheet 100, and when referring to the above description, the first region can be the peripheral region, and the second region can be the central region. In addition, in this case, the first portion can be the peripheral portion, and the second portion can be the central portion. However, since this can vary depending on the design of the chamber 300 and the like, the first region can be the central region, and the second region can be the peripheral region.

[0069] On the other hand, assuming that the drying efficiency of the peripheral region is higher than that of the central region of the electrode sheet 100, the case where the protrusion 314 is formed in the central portion of the interruption member 312 will be mainly described.

[0070] However, this is not always the case. When the drying efficiency of the peripheral region is lower than that of the central region of the electrode sheet 100, the protrusion 314 can be formed on the peripheral portion of the interruption member 312 so as to interrupt the external air flowing into the peripheral region of the inflow port 310.

[0071] Figure 4 It is a diagram showing an example of the opening shape of the inflow port of the chamber according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0072] As described above, the opening shape of the inflow port 310 is determined according to the shape of the interruption member 312, thereby adjusting the flow rate or velocity of the external air flowing into the chamber 300, so that the shape of the interruption member 312 can be provided differently depending on the specifications or design of the electrode drying device.

[0073] In one example, the protrusion 314 of the interruption member 312 can be set to cover a region where the height and width are equally divided into three, as shown in Figure 4 (a). However, since this is only an example of the shape and position of the protrusion 314, various factors can be considered to make various modifications to the shape and position of the protrusion 314. Specifically, the height of the protrusion 314 formed on the interruption member 312 can be determined according to the height at which the electrode sheet 100 enters, and the width of the protrusion 314 can be appropriately designed so as to adjust the flow rate or flow velocity of the external air flowing into the central region and the peripheral region of the inflow port 310.

[0074] In another example, the protruding portion 314 of the interrupting member 312 may be arranged such that its side ends form an acute angle with the upper end 310a or the lower end 310b of the inflow port 310, as Figure 4 shown in (b), whereby the amount or velocity of the external air flowing into the inflow port 310 can be more appropriately adjusted.

[0075] Specifically, when the protruding portion 314 of the interrupting member 312 is formed to form a right angle with the upper end 310a or the lower end 310b, as Figure 4 shown in (a), the difference in the amount or velocity of the external air between the region where the protruding portion 314 is located and the region where the protruding portion 314 is not located may be large, and vortices or the like may be formed around the protruding portion 314. Therefore, the drying deviation of the electrode sheet 100 may not be completely solved, or the deviation may become larger. Therefore, when the protruding portion 314 is formed on the interrupting member 312, at least a part of the side end of the interrupting member 312 is preferably formed to form an acute angle with the upper end 310a or the lower end 310b of the inflow port 310.

[0076] In another example, the protruding portion 314 of the interrupting member 312 may be arranged such that the corner portion has a circular shape as Figure 4 shown in (c). In Figure 4 (a) where the corner portion has an angled shape, a phenomenon such as an external air collision occurs at the corner portion, such that the inflow of the external air may be blocked or the flow of the external air may change rapidly. Therefore, it may be difficult to completely solve the drying deviation of the electrode sheet 100, or the deviation of a specific portion may become more serious. Therefore, it may be preferable that the corner portion of the protruding portion 314 formed on the interrupting member 312 has a circular shape. At this time, the protruding portion 314 of the interrupting member 312 may be arranged to have a large width as Figure 4 shown in (d) to interrupt the inflow of the external air in a wider range.

[0077] On the other hand, in the above-described illustrative embodiment, the interrupting member 312 is shown as a shape that is symmetric with each other on both sides, but this is not always the case. When the heat energy supply in the width direction inside the chamber 300 is uneven, the protruding portion 314 of the interrupting member 312 may be formed to be offset along the y-axis or the -y-axis. In this case, the two sides of the protruding portion 314 may be formed to be different from each other.

[0078] The above description is only an example of the scope of describing the technical idea of the present application. Those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope and essence of the present application. Therefore, the above-described embodiments of the present application can be implemented independently or in combination with each other.

[0079] The embodiments disclosed herein are intended to illustrate the scope of the technical idea of the present application, and the scope of the present application is not limited by these embodiments. The essence and scope of the present application should be construed based on the appended claims, and all technical ideas within the same scope should be construed as being included within the scope of the claims of the present application.

[0080] Description of Reference Numerals 100: Electrode Sheet

[0081] 200: Conveying Unit 300: Chamber

[0082] 310: Inflow Port 312: Interrupting Member 320: Outflow Port

Claims

1. An electrode drying device, comprising: a conveying unit that conveys an electrode sheet having electrode paste coated on a current collector, and a drying chamber including an inflow port through which the electrode sheet conveyed by the conveying unit enters the drying chamber, wherein an interruption member for adjusting the flow rate or velocity of external air flowing into the drying chamber is formed at the inflow port, and a height of a central portion of the interruption member is different from a height of a peripheral portion of the interruption member.

2. The electrode drying device according to claim 1, wherein: the height of the central portion is greater than the height of the peripheral portion, and the central portion is a portion different from the peripheral portion including both ends in a width direction of the interruption member.

3. The electrode drying device according to claim 1, wherein: the drying chamber includes at least one heating member, and the interruption member is provided at an end of the inflow port close to the heating member.

4. The electrode drying device according to claim 1, wherein: at least one heating member is provided in an upper portion of the drying chamber, and when the electrode sheet is conveyed by the conveying unit to a lower portion of the drying chamber, the interruption member is provided at an upper end of the inflow port, close to the upper portion of the drying chamber.

5. The electrode drying device according to claim 1, wherein: when a first thermal energy of a first region of the electrode sheet transferred into the drying chamber is greater than a second thermal energy of a second region of the electrode sheet, a height of a first portion of the interruption member corresponding to the first region is less than a height of a second portion of the interruption member corresponding to the second region, and a position of the first region in the width direction of the electrode sheet is different from a position of the second region in the width direction.

6. The electrode drying device according to claim 1, wherein: the interruption member includes a protrusion portion, a side end of which is formed to form an acute angle with an upper end of the inflow port, and the protrusion portion refers to a portion of the interruption member having a larger height value.

7. The electrode drying device according to claim 1, wherein: the interruption member includes a protrusion portion, and a corner portion of the protrusion portion has a circular shape, and the protrusion portion refers to a portion of the interruption member having a larger height value.

8. The electrode drying device according to claim 1, wherein: the interruption member is integrated with the drying chamber.

Images