Cylindrical battery case grooving device and grooving method thereof

Abstract

The application provides a cylindrical battery grooving device and a grooving method thereof, and solves the problems of low qualified rate of the shell notch parameters of the grooving device, and product unqualification caused by the grooving deviation due to the aging and center deviation of the device, and realizes the effects of short device debugging period, simple operation and high efficiency; in order to realize the above-mentioned purposes, the technical scheme adopted by the application is as follows: a cylindrical battery grooving device, comprising a battery shell, an upper die arranged above the battery shell, a lower die arranged below the battery shell, a hobbing device arranged at the lower part of the upper die, and a deviation rectifying device arranged on the hobbing device; the hobbing device comprises a driving gear fixed part arranged at the center, three groups of driven gear fixed parts uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction of the driving gear fixed part, a driving shaft arranged at the center of the driving gear fixed part, a driven shaft arranged at the center of each driven gear fixed part, and a driving gear arranged on the driving shaft.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of battery production equipment technology, specifically to a cylindrical battery grooving device. Background Technology

[0002] Lithium-ion cylindrical batteries are currently mainly classified into different systems such as lithium iron phosphate, lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganese oxide, and ternary materials. The casings of cylindrical batteries are available in two types: nickel-plated steel and polymer. Different material systems have different advantages. Currently, nickel-plated steel-cased cylindrical lithium iron phosphate batteries are the most prevalent. Lithium-ion batteries exhibit high capacity, high output voltage, good charge-discharge cycle performance, stable output voltage, high-current discharge capability, electrochemical stability, and safety during use. They will not burn or explode due to overcharging, over-discharging, or short circuits. They also have a wide operating temperature range and are environmentally friendly. They are widely used in energy storage cabinets, solar lighting, backup power, power tools, and globe trucks.

[0003] Existing cylindrical battery processing equipment uses a turntable mechanism to drive the batteries. The turntable mechanism is equipped with a loading robot, a grooving device, and an unloading robot. When grooving the cylindrical batteries, mechanical wear and center deviation cause the cylindrical batteries to be unstable in performance, have a low pass rate, and have obvious defects.

[0004] Patent application ZL201920216869.8 (November 15, 2019) discloses a battery grooving device and grooving cutter, including upper and lower molds for grooving and two sets of parallel cutters. The key component, the two sets of parallel cutters, sequentially grooves a cylindrical housing. These cutters require frequent replacement and maintenance, and there is no monitoring of the grooving process data. Therefore, it is impossible to accurately determine whether the shape of the grooving groove is acceptable, and the stability and consistency of the grooving cannot be guaranteed.

[0005] ZL201610156007.1 (March 29, 2019) discloses an automatic grooving machine for cylindrical batteries, which integrates various processing devices for cylindrical battery feeding, finding the tabs, shaping the tabs, grooving, dust collection, short circuit detection, screening and unloading, and final unloading. However, the key grooving device is not equipped with a monitoring device for the grooving process. Moreover, once the product is unqualified in grooving, a large number of grooving cutters need to be replaced. Manual debugging is cumbersome and has a long debugging cycle. It is impossible to quickly adjust the grooving correction by monitoring and improving production efficiency and grooving qualification rate. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This invention provides a cylindrical battery grooving device to solve the problem of product defects caused by grooving and grooving misalignment in cylindrical batteries.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0008] The present invention provides a cylindrical battery casing grooving device, comprising:

[0009] The housing drive mechanism is divided into an upper mold and a lower mold. The upper mold and the lower mold fix the upper end and the lower end of the battery housing, respectively. The lower mold is equipped with a housing drive mechanism, which drives the rotation of the lower mold, the battery housing and the upper mold.

[0010] The hobbing device includes three sets of hobs, a hob holder, and a hob rotation drive mechanism. Each hob is tilted in the same direction.

[0011] The inclination angles are different: the first hob has an angle of 5-10°, the second hob has an angle of 10-15°, and the third hob has an inclination angle of 15-30°. The rotation shaft of the hob is connected to the hob rotation drive mechanism, and the hob and the hob rotation drive mechanism are mounted on the hob holder.

[0012] According to the cylindrical battery casing grooving device, the cutter holder includes a centrally located driving gear fixing part, and three sets of driven gear fixing parts are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction of the driving gear fixing part; the cutter rotation drive mechanism is located in the driving gear fixing part and the driven gear fixing part.

[0013] According to the cylindrical battery casing grooving device, the roller rotation drive mechanism consists of a gear set and a drive motor. A drive shaft is set in the center of the drive gear fixing part, and a driven shaft is set in the center of the driven gear fixing part. The drive shaft is equipped with the drive gear of the gear set, and the driven shaft is equipped with the driven gear of the gear set. The driven gear is coaxially equipped with a first roller, a second roller, or a third roller. The roller holder is located at the bottom of the drive gear fixing part, where the drive motor is located.

[0014] According to the cylindrical battery casing grooving device, a correction device is provided between the driven gear fixing part and the upper mold. The correction device is divided into a laser emitting end and a laser receiving end. The laser emitting end and the laser receiving end are respectively located at the center of the upper mold or at a distance from the center of the mold periphery and the center of the roller shaft, or the laser emitting end and the laser receiving end are respectively located at the center of the roller shaft and at the center of the upper mold or at a distance from the center of the mold periphery.

[0015] According to the cylindrical battery casing grooving device, the angle of the first roller cutter 1 is 5°, the angle of the second roller cutter is 10°, and the tilt angle of the third roller cutter is 20°.

[0016] According to the cylindrical battery casing grooving device, the lower mold is located at a fixed position on the conveyor line, and a pressing drive mechanism is provided above the upper mold. The pressing drive mechanism presses the upper mold downward into the cylindrical casing.

[0017] According to the cylindrical battery casing grooving device, the roller cutter holder is equipped with a tool changing mechanism. The tool changing mechanism drives the roller cutter holder to rotate as a whole, adjusting one roller cutter to the rolling cutting position so that another roller cutter is in the rolling cutting position.

[0018] According to the cylindrical battery casing grooving device, the cutter holder is mounted on the drive mechanism, and the cutter advance mechanism drives the cutter holder and the cutter to move toward the cylindrical battery casing and move the cutter to the surface that contacts the cylindrical battery casing.

[0019] The grooving method of the cylindrical battery casing grooving device of the present invention includes the following:

[0020] 1) At the beginning, the upper die, lower die and hob are in a state of being far apart from each other. When grooving, the cylindrical shell to be grooved is fixed on the lower die. The upper die is driven by the downward pressure drive mechanism and moves downward to be sleeved on the inner wall of the cylindrical shell. The lower die, cylindrical shell and upper die are on the same straight line.

[0021] 2) The lower die is driven by the housing drive mechanism, which drives the battery housing and the upper die to rotate. Then the hob is driven by the hob advance mechanism to advance into the cylindrical housing.

[0022] 3) The rotary drive mechanism drives the hob to rotate along the groove position to groove the cylindrical shell. The laser generator in the hob process emits laser light, and the laser receiver receives the laser light. The distance between the hob and the cylindrical shell is calculated, and the hob process value after each grooving is completed is recorded. The deviation is calculated according to the set value, and the hob forward mechanism feeds the deviation.

[0023] 4) After completing the small-angle hobbing, the tool changing mechanism drives the hob holder to rotate and replace it with another hob for grooving;

[0024] 5) Continue grooving according to steps 3 and 4, with the three types of cutters grooving the rotating steel shell in a certain order.

[0025] The advantages of this invention are as follows: It uses three sets of roller cutters at different angles to groove the battery casing, and combines roller cutters at different angles to sequentially groove the battery casing. Then, it adjusts the roller cutting speed to shape the grooves, forming a theoretically optimal correction method. This method determines the roller cutting angle range and the frequency of the motor, avoiding groove offset and tensile deformation at the groove neck during grooving. It also prevents cracks and splits in the grooves during subsequent sealing, improving product quality, reducing the debugging cycle, and increasing work efficiency and grooving pass rate. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2This is a schematic diagram of the hobbing process feedback device of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the internal operating structure of the hobbing cutter device of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the drive motor driving the hobbing cutter device of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the roller cutter of the present invention creating grooves in the battery casing. Figure 1 ;

[0031] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the roller cutter of the present invention creating grooves in the battery casing. Figure 2

[0032] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the first hobbing cutter of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the second hobbing cutter of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the third hobbing cutter of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the battery casing groove corresponding to the first roller cutter of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the battery casing groove corresponding to the second roller cutter of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the battery casing groove corresponding to the third roller cutter of the present invention.

[0038] Figure label:

[0039] 1. Battery casing; 2. Upper mold; 3. Lower mold; 4. Drive gear fixing part; 5. Driven gear fixing part; 6. Drive shaft; 7. Driven shaft; 8. Drive gear; 9. Driven gear; 10. Drive motor; 11. Hob progress feedback device; 12. First hob; 13. Second hob; 14. Third hob. Detailed Implementation

[0040] To facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art, the present invention will be further described below with reference to embodiments and accompanying drawings. The content mentioned in the embodiments is not intended to limit the present invention.

[0041] It should be understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "upper," "lower," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicating orientation or positional relationships based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, are only for the convenience of describing the invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the invention, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0042] In this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0043] like Figure 1-4 The diagram shows a cylindrical battery grooving device used to roll the battery casing 1 out of the grooving structure to enhance its structural strength.

[0044] The system includes a housing drive mechanism, which consists of an upper mold and a lower mold. The upper mold and lower mold fix the upper and lower ends of the battery housing, respectively. The lower mold is equipped with a housing drive mechanism, which drives the rotation of the lower mold, the battery housing, and the upper mold. The upper mold 2 is used to limit the position of the slot in the battery housing 1, limiting the inertial movement of the cylindrical housing during its rotation at the bottom, and preventing positional movement of the battery housing 1 within the set tolerance.

[0045] The hobbing device includes three sets of hobs, a hob holder, and a hob rotation drive mechanism. Each hob has the same tilt direction but a different tilt angle. The first hob 12 has an angle of 5-10°, the second hob 13 has an angle of 10-15°, and the third hob 14 has an tilt angle of 15-30°. The rotation shaft of the hob is connected to the hob rotation drive mechanism. The hobs and the hob rotation drive mechanism are mounted on the hob holder.

[0046] The hobbing holder includes a centrally located driving gear fixing part 4, and three sets of driven gear fixing parts 5 evenly distributed in the circumferential direction of the driving gear fixing part 4.

[0047] The hob rotation drive mechanism is housed within the drive gear fixing part 4 and the driven gear fixing part 5. The hob rotation drive mechanism consists of a gear set and a drive motor. The drive shaft 6 is centrally located in the drive gear fixing part 4, and the driven shaft 7 is centrally located in the driven gear fixing part 5. The drive gear 8 of the gear set is mounted on the drive shaft 6, and the driven gear 9 of the gear set is mounted on the driven shaft 7. The first hob 12, the second hob 13, or the third hob 14 are coaxially mounted on the driven gear 9. The drive motor 10 is located at the bottom of the drive gear fixing part 4, where the hob holder is located.

[0048] A correction device is provided between the driven gear fixing part 5 and the upper mold. The correction device is divided into a laser emitting end and a laser receiving end. The laser emitting end and the laser receiving end are respectively located at the center of the upper mold 2 or at a distance from the center of the mold periphery and the center of the hob shaft, or the laser emitting end and the laser receiving end are respectively located at the center of the hob shaft and at the center of the upper mold 2 or at a distance from the center of the mold periphery.

[0049] The lower die is positioned at a fixed point on the conveyor line. A downward pressing drive mechanism is located above the upper die, pressing the upper die downwards into the cylindrical housing. The cutter holder is equipped with a tool changing mechanism, which rotates the entire cutter holder, adjusting one cutter to the cutting position of another. The cutter holder is mounted on a forward drive mechanism, which drives the cutter holder and cutters towards the cylindrical battery housing, bringing the cutters to the surface in contact with the housing.

[0050] The hobbing process feedback unit 11 is connected to the built-in control panel via a data cable. The control panel stores editable correction method parameter settings. The correction method parameters are derived from the mathematical algorithm of the groove shape, the hobbing angle θ, and the hobbing process dimension R. The three sets of hobbing can be combined for actual operation by turning the switches on or off, and multiple correction modes can be run.

[0051] The laser emission and feedback reception are automatically converted into the grooving cutter progress value. The drive motor 10 is a stepless frequency conversion motor 10. By setting different frequencies, the speed of the cutter's advance process is controlled, and the parameters of the cutter's feed angle and feed speed are determined.

[0052] In this invention, the cutting edges of the three sets of hobs are U-shaped or V-shaped. The U-shape can have various variations, including a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse divided along the major axis of an ellipse, etc. The cutting edge thickness of the three sets of hobs is inconsistent, changing from thick to thin in one step.

[0053] The working process of this invention is as follows: The process of grooving the battery casing 1 using a roller cutter device and a correction device is as follows:

[0054] Initially, the lower mold 3, upper mold 2, and roller cutter are in a state of distance from each other. During grooving, the battery casing 1 to be grooved is fixed on the lower mold 3, and the upper mold 2 is driven downward by the downward driving mechanism to move downward and fit the alloy component onto the inner wall of the battery casing 1. The lower mold 3, battery casing 1, and upper mold 2 are on the same straight line, and the lower mold 3 is driven by the driving device to rotate the battery and the upper mold 2. Then the roller cutter advances into the battery casing 1, and the battery casing 1 is grooved by the sequential rotation of the roller cutter device.

[0055] During the grooving process of the first roller cutter 12, the second roller cutter 13, and the third roller cutter 14 in a certain order on the rotating battery casing 1, the roller cutter progress feedback device 11 records the roller cutter progress value after each grooving is completed. The correction method built into the roller cutter progress feedback device 11 provides a comparison chart of the theoretical progress curve and the actual progress curve. By comparing the chart, the magnitude of the deviation of the grooving system can be determined. Based on the influencing variables in the correction method, different roller cutter angles and roller cutter combinations are adjusted, and the frequency of the cam motor 10 is adjusted to reduce the deviation between the actual progress curve and the theoretical progress curve. By measuring the parameter data of the groove shape, the purpose of correcting the deviation is achieved, thereby improving the finished product quality of the grooved steel casing.

[0056] This invention, during the grooving process of a cylindrical battery casing 1, involves trial grooving of different steel casings used for the battery casing 1. The infeed position of the roller cutter is determined by the groove parameters produced on the steel casing. The feed speed of the roller cutter is determined by adjusting the continuously variable frequency motor. Different combinations of roller cutters for single, double, or triple grooving are selected to produce a groove shape on the steel casing with acceptable parameters. This invention can independently perform the grooving process of cylindrical batteries and can also correct grooving deviations that occur during the grooving process, greatly improving the yield rate of cylindrical battery grooving and reducing mold replacement and manual adjustment costs.

[0057] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cylindrical battery casing grooving device, characterized in that: include The housing drive mechanism is divided into an upper mold and a lower mold. The upper mold and the lower mold fix the upper end and the lower end of the battery housing, respectively. The lower mold is equipped with a housing drive mechanism, which drives the rotation of the lower mold, the battery housing and the upper mold. The hobbing device includes three sets of hobbing cutters, a hobbing cutter holder, and a hobbing cutter rotation drive mechanism. Each hobbing cutter has the same tilt direction but different tilt angles. The first hobbing cutter (12) has an angle of 5-10°, the second hobbing cutter (13) has an angle of 10-15°, and the third hobbing cutter (14) has a tilt angle of 15-30°. The rotation shaft of the hobbing cutter is connected to the hobbing cutter rotation drive mechanism. The hobbing cutter and the hobbing cutter rotation drive mechanism are mounted on the hobbing cutter holder. The hob holder includes a centrally located drive gear fixing part (4), and three sets of driven gear fixing parts (5) are evenly distributed around the circumference of the drive gear fixing part (4); the hob rotation drive mechanism is located inside the drive gear fixing part (4) and the driven gear fixing parts (5); A correction device is provided between the driven gear fixing part (5) and the upper mold. The correction device is divided into a laser emitting end and a laser receiving end. The laser emitting end and the laser receiving end are respectively located on the central axis of the upper mold (2) or at a distance from the central axis of the mold periphery and the axial center of the hob shaft. Alternatively, the laser emitting end and the laser receiving end are respectively located on the axial center of the hob shaft and at the central axis of the upper mold (2) or at a distance from the central axis of the mold periphery. The laser generator emits a laser beam, which is received by the laser receiver. The distance between the cutter and the cylindrical shell is calculated, and the progress value of the cutter after each grooving is completed is recorded. The deviation is calculated based on the set value, and the feed deviation of the cutter forward mechanism is determined.

2. The cylindrical battery casing grooving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hob rotation drive mechanism consists of a gear set and a drive motor. The drive shaft (6) is set in the center of the drive gear fixing part (4), and the driven shaft (7) is set in the center of the driven gear fixing part (5). The drive gear (8) of the gear set is set on the drive shaft (6), and the driven gear (9) of the gear set is set on the driven shaft (7). The first hob (12), the second hob (13) or the third hob (14) are coaxially set on the driven gear (9). The hob holder is located at the bottom of the drive gear fixing part (4) and the drive motor (10) is set thereon.

3. The cylindrical battery casing grooving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first hob (12) has an angle of 5°, the second hob (13) has an angle of 10°, and the third hob (14) has an inclination angle of 20°.

4. The cylindrical battery casing grooving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lower mold is located at a fixed position on the conveyor line, and a pressing drive mechanism is provided above the upper mold. The pressing drive mechanism presses the upper mold downward into the cylindrical shell.

5. The cylindrical battery casing grooving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hob holder is equipped with a tool changing mechanism, which drives the hob holder to rotate as a whole, adjusting one hob to the hob cutting position and another hob to the hob cutting position.

6. The cylindrical battery casing grooving device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The cutter holder is mounted on the drive mechanism, which drives the cutter holder and the cutter to move toward the cylindrical battery case and move the cutter to the surface that contacts the cylindrical battery case.

7. A grooving method for the cylindrical battery casing grooving device according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, Includes the following content: 1) At the beginning, the upper die, lower die and hob are in a state of being far apart from each other. When grooving, the cylindrical shell to be grooved is fixed on the lower die. The upper die is driven by the downward pressure drive mechanism and moves downward to be sleeved on the inner wall of the cylindrical shell. The lower die, cylindrical shell and upper die are on the same straight line. 2) The lower die is driven by the housing drive mechanism, which drives the battery housing and the upper die to rotate. Then the hob is driven by the hob advance mechanism to advance into the cylindrical housing. 3) The rotary drive mechanism drives the hob to rotate along the groove position to groove the cylindrical shell. The laser generator in the hob process emits laser light, and the laser receiver receives the laser light. The distance between the hob and the cylindrical shell is calculated, and the hob process value after each grooving is completed is recorded. The deviation is calculated according to the set value, and the hob forward mechanism feeds the deviation. 4) After completing the small-angle hobbing, the tool changing mechanism drives the hob holder to rotate and replace it with another hob for grooving; 5) Continue grooving according to steps 3) and 4), with the three types of cutters grooving the rotating steel shell in a certain order.

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