A battery cooler structure for electric vehicles, assembly tooling, and assembly method thereof.

Abstract

This invention relates to the field of electric vehicles and discloses a battery cooler structure, assembly fixture, and assembly method for an electric vehicle battery cooler. The battery cooler includes a female head lower water chamber assembly, a female head piston assembly, a female head mounting plate, and a female head upper cavity. The female head piston assembly is located inside the female head lower water chamber assembly, passes through the female head mounting plate, and the female head upper cavity is located at the top of the female head lower water chamber assembly, fixing the female head lower water chamber assembly and the female head mounting plate together. The assembly fixture for assembling the battery cooler includes a material feeding worktable, a lower water chamber O-ring assembly and oiling mechanism, a robotic arm handling mechanism, a female head mounting plate handling mechanism, and a female head upper cavity tightening mechanism. The electric vehicle battery cooler disclosed in this invention can solve problems such as slow assembly speed, easy loosening of connections, and difficulty in online testing of electric vehicle battery coolers.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of electric vehicles, and more specifically to an electric vehicle battery cooler structure, assembly tooling, and assembly method. Background Technology

[0002] Electric vehicles (EVs) are vehicles powered by an onboard power source, driven by an electric motor, and that meet all road traffic and safety regulations. EVs can be categorized into pure electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. The battery cooler is a key component in liquid-cooled electric vehicles for regulating the battery pack temperature. Enhancing its heat exchange efficiency can reduce the required compressor speed or refrigerant discharge, thereby reducing power consumption and improving driving range and performance.

[0003] Battery coolers are often assembled manually, which is slow, prone to loosening of connections, has low assembly accuracy, and makes it difficult to control the quality of the workpiece and detect and correct errors. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention addresses the problems of slow assembly speed, loose connections, and low assembly accuracy in the manual assembly of battery coolers in existing technologies. It designs an electric vehicle battery cooler structure, assembly tooling, and assembly method. The aim is to design an assembly line that automates the assembly of battery coolers, improving assembly efficiency and accuracy. The assembly process also enables online error prevention and online detection, resulting in more stable quality of the assembled battery terminal assembly and enhancing market competitiveness.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by this device is as follows: an electric vehicle battery cooler, including a female head lower water chamber assembly, a female head piston assembly, a female head mounting plate, and a female head upper cavity. The female head piston assembly is located inside the female head lower water chamber assembly, the female head lower water chamber assembly passes through the female head mounting plate, and the female head upper cavity is located at the top of the female head lower water chamber assembly, thereby fixing the female head lower water chamber assembly and the female head mounting plate together.

[0006] Preferably, the female head drain chamber assembly includes a female head drain chamber, a female head spring, and a female head guide rail, wherein the female head spring is located inside the female head drain chamber, and the female head guide rail is located at the top of the female head spring.

[0007] Preferably, the top of the female head drain chamber assembly is provided with a drain chamber O-ring, which is used to seal the female head drain chamber.

[0008] Preferably, the female piston assembly includes a piston portion and a guide post portion, the piston portion passing through the guide post portion, and the two are riveted together by special tooling.

[0009] As preferred, the piston part is assembled by a female piston and a piston O-ring, and the guide column part is assembled by a piston guide column and a piston O-ring.

[0010] The application also provides an assembly tool suitable for assembling the battery cooler, which comprises a material placing workbench, a lower chamber O-ring assembling and oiling mechanism, a mechanical hand carrying mechanism, a female head mounting plate carrying mechanism and a female head upper cavity tightening mechanism.

[0011] As preferred, photoelectric sensor detection devices are arranged at the female head lower chamber assembly placing position, the lower chamber O-ring placing position, the female head mounting plate placing position and the female head upper cavity placing position of the material placing workbench, which are used for detecting whether the corresponding components are placed at the corresponding positions.

[0012] As preferred, a torque sensor and a height sensor are arranged behind the female head upper cavity tightening mechanism, which are used for detecting whether the corresponding indexes meet the standards.

[0013] The application also provides an assembly method suitable for the assembly tool of the battery cooler, which comprises the following steps:

[0014] S1, manually placing a female head lower chamber assembly, a lower chamber O-ring, a female head mounting plate and a female head upper cavity on a specified material placing jig, starting the assembly line, and detecting whether each workpiece is placed at the corresponding position by a photoelectric sensor;

[0015] S2, assembling the lower chamber O-ring to the female head lower chamber assembly and performing oiling treatment on the lower chamber O-ring by the lower chamber O-ring assembling and oiling mechanism;

[0016] S3, automatically assembling the female head piston assembly and the female head lower chamber assembly by the mechanical hand carrying mechanism, and grabbing the female head lower chamber assembly on the material placing jig;

[0017] S4, performing laser coding on the female head mounting plate by a code scanning gun, carrying the female head mounting plate on the material placing jig by the female head mounting plate carrying mechanism after the coding is completed;

[0018] S5, the female head lower water chamber assembly and the female head mounting plate are automatically assembled on the material handling fixture, and after the assembly is completed, the female head upper cavity tightening mechanism tightens and fixes the female head upper cavity on the female head lower water chamber assembly.

[0019] As preferred, during the assembly of the female head upper cavity, the female head mounting plate, the female head piston assembly and the female head lower water chamber assembly, the torque sensor detects the tightening force value during the assembly of the workpiece, and the height sensor detects the height of the components after the assembly.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the present assembly tool has the following beneficial effects:

[0021] (1) The use of automatic assembly by machine instead of manual assembly greatly improves the assembly efficiency of the battery cooler.

[0022] (2) The photoelectric sensor in the assembly line can detect the workpieces at each position before assembly to determine whether there are multiple, missing or misplaced phenomena, avoiding incomplete assembly abnormalities.

[0023] (3) The height automatic detection device in the assembly line can effectively monitor the assembly process, ensuring that the assembly parts will not interfere with each other during use.

[0024] (4) The torque sensor detection device in the assembly line can effectively monitor the tightening force value during the assembly process, ensuring that the assembly parts will not loosen due to a small tightening force value, and will not deform due to a large tightening force value, thereby effectively ensuring the stable performance of the assembled parts.

[0025] (5) The assembly process is stable, and a large number of workpieces can be assembled in batches; the assembly precision is high, and the finished product after assembly has good quality assurance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 is a front view of the battery cooler of the electric vehicle in the present application.

[0027] Figure 2 is a side view of Figure 1 .

[0028] Figure 3 is a top view of Figure 1 .

[0029] Figure 4 is a schematic view of an assembly tool for assembling the cooler in Figure 1 .

[0030] Figure 5 is a flowchart of an assembly method suitable for the assembly tool of Figure 4 .

[0031] Wherein, 1, female head mounting plate; 2, female head upper cavity; 3, piston guide column; 4, guide column sealing ring; 5, female head piston; 6, piston O ring; 7, lower water chamber O ring; 8, female head lower water chamber; 9, female head guide rail; 10, piston guide column base; 11, female head spring. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The specific embodiments of the present application will be further described below with reference to the drawings. It can be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the related application, and not to limit the application. In addition, it should be noted that only the parts related to the application are shown in the drawings for ease of description. It should be noted that the embodiments and features in the embodiments in the present application can be combined with each other without conflict. In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only used to facilitate the description of the present application and simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application. In addition, unless otherwise specified and limited, the terms "mounting", "connection", "connection" should be understood broadly, for example, it can be fixedly connected, or it can be detachably connected, or integrally connected; it can be mechanically connected, or it can be electrically connected; it can be directly connected, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium; it can be the communication between two elements inside. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances. The technical solutions in the same embodiment and the technical solutions in different embodiments can be arranged and combined to form new technical solutions without contradiction or conflict, which are within the scope of the present application.

[0033] An electric vehicle battery cooler, such as Figures 1-3As shown, the device includes a female head lower water chamber assembly, a female head piston assembly, a female head mounting plate, and a female head upper cavity. The female head piston assembly is located inside the female head lower water chamber assembly, passing through the female head mounting plate. The female head upper cavity is located at the top of the female head lower water chamber assembly, fixing the female head lower water chamber assembly and the female head mounting plate together. The female head lower water chamber assembly includes a female head lower water chamber, a female head spring, and a female head guide rail. The female head spring is located inside the female head lower water chamber, and the female head guide rail is located at the top of the female head spring. A lower water chamber O-ring is provided at the top of the female head lower water chamber assembly to seal the female head lower water chamber. The female head piston assembly includes a piston part and a guide post part. The piston part passes through the guide post part, and the two are riveted together by special tooling. The piston part is assembled from the female head piston and the piston O-ring, and the guide post part is assembled from the piston guide post and the piston O-ring.

[0034] A set of assembly tooling suitable for assembling the above-mentioned battery cooler, such as Figure 4 As shown, the system includes a feeding worktable, a lower water chamber O-ring assembly and oiling mechanism, a robotic arm handling mechanism, a female head mounting plate handling mechanism, and a female head upper cavity tightening mechanism. The feeding worktable includes a female head lower water chamber assembly feeding area, a lower water chamber O-ring feeding area, a female head mounting plate feeding area, and a female head upper cavity feeding area. The lower water chamber O-ring assembly and oiling mechanism is used to assemble the lower water chamber O-ring onto the female head lower water chamber assembly and to oil the lower water chamber O-ring. The robotic arm handling mechanism is used to automatically assemble the female head piston assembly and the female head lower water chamber assembly, and also to grip the female head lower water chamber assembly onto a material feeding fixture. The female head mounting plate handling mechanism is used to transport the female head mounting plate onto the material feeding fixture. The female head upper cavity tightening mechanism is used to tighten and fix the female head upper cavity onto the female head lower water chamber.

[0035] Specifically, in this embodiment, the material feeding area of ​​the female head cavity is a base with two hollow circles inside. The radius of the hollow circles is the same as the radius of the bottom of the female head cavity, ensuring that the base of the female head cavity can be placed precisely on the base of the feeding area. The material feeding area of ​​the female head mounting plate is a base with two hollow circles inside and screw holes on both sides. The radius of the hollow circles is the same as the radius of the hollow circular hole at the top of the female head mounting plate, ensuring that the female head mounting plate can be placed precisely on the base of the feeding area. The material feeding area of ​​the O-ring in the lower chamber is a base with two protruding bolts inside, and the O-ring in the lower chamber can be fixed around the bolts. During the feeding process, the photoelectric sensor will detect each feeding point to determine whether there is overfeeding, underfeeding, or misfeeding of material. If an abnormality is found, the location information of the abnormality will be sent to the terminal to prompt the operator to make timely corrections.

[0036] Specifically, the oiling mechanism of the O-ring assembly of the lower chamber clamps and fixes the O-ring of the lower chamber on the top of the guide rail in the lower chamber assembly of the female head, completes the sealing of the lower chamber assembly of the female head, and prevents the leakage of the cooling liquid. The mechanism also applies oil to the O-ring of the lower chamber, which is intended to lubricate the O-ring of the lower chamber and prevent hard friction between the aluminum part and the sealing ring, which may damage the sealing ring.

[0037] Specifically, the robot handling mechanism automatically assembles the pre-assembled female head piston assembly and the female head lower chamber assembly, and grasps the assembled components onto the material handling mechanism jig. During this process, the torque sensor detects the tightening force value when the female head piston assembly and the female head lower chamber assembly are assembled. If the tightening force value is not within the normal range, it is determined that the assembly is unqualified, and the instrument automatically separates the unqualified workpiece into the defective product box, and prompts the torque abnormality on the system panel.

[0038] Specifically, after the laser coding of the female head mounting plate by the code scanning gun, the female head mounting plate handling mechanism carries it to the material handling jig, and during this process, the female head mounting plate will be assembled with the female head lower chamber assembly and the female head piston assembly. The purpose of laser coding is to mark the female head mounting plate and record the relevant information of the workpiece. During this process, the torque sensor detects the tightening force value when the female head mounting plate, the female head lower chamber assembly, and the female head piston assembly are assembled. If the tightening force value is not within the normal range, it is determined that the assembly is unqualified, and the instrument automatically separates the unqualified workpiece into the defective product box, and prompts the torque abnormality on the system panel.

[0039] Specifically, the female head upper cavity tightening mechanism tightens the female head upper cavity to the female head lower chamber. During this process, the torque sensor detects the tightening force value when the female head upper cavity, the female head mounting plate, the female head lower chamber assembly, and the female head piston assembly are assembled. If the tightening force value is not within the normal range, it is determined that the assembly is unqualified, and the instrument automatically separates the unqualified workpiece into the defective product box, and prompts the torque abnormality on the system panel. In addition, the height sensor also detects the assembled cooling interface, and if its height is not within the normal range, it is determined that the assembly is unqualified, and the instrument automatically separates the unqualified workpiece into the defective product box, and prompts the height abnormality on the system panel.

[0040] A method for assembling the above-mentioned battery cooler assembly tool, as shown in Figure 5 , comprising the following steps:

[0041] S1, manually place the female head lower chamber assembly, lower chamber O-ring, female head mounting plate, and female head upper cavity on the designated material placing jig, start the assembly line, and the photoelectric sensor detects whether each workpiece is placed in the corresponding position;

[0042] S2, the sewage chamber O-shaped ring assembly and oiling mechanism assembles the sewage chamber O-shaped ring to the female head sewage chamber assembly and performs oiling treatment on the sewage chamber O-shaped ring;

[0043] S3, the mechanical hand carrying mechanism automatically assembles the female head piston assembly and the female head sewage chamber assembly, and grabs the female head sewage chamber assembly to the material handling jig;

[0044] S4, the code scanning gun performs laser coding on the female head mounting plate, after coding is completed, the female head mounting plate carrying mechanism carries the female head mounting plate to the material handling jig;

[0045] S5, the female head sewage chamber assembly and the female head mounting plate are automatically assembled on the material handling jig, and the female head upper cavity tightening mechanism tightly fixes the female head upper cavity on the female head sewage chamber assembly after assembly is completed.

[0046] Specifically, the advantage of the assembling method of the electric vehicle battery cooler in the embodiment is that only the female head sewage chamber assembly, the sewage chamber O-shaped ring, the female head mounting plate, the female head upper cavity and other basic components are placed on the specified material placing jig by manual operation, and the remaining assembling process can be completed by the machine, which is high in automation, saves manpower and improves the assembling efficiency. The photoelectric sensor is arranged, which can automatically detect whether the materials at each position are placed in place, and can effectively prevent the phenomenon of missing parts. The torque sensor and the height sensor are arranged, which can detect the torque and height of the workpiece in real time during the assembling process and automatically separate the abnormal workpiece to the defective product box, which is accurate in screening and effectively avoids the outflow of defective products. In general, using the assembling method suitable for the above battery cooler assembling tool can improve the assembling precision and the assembling efficiency, the quality of the assembled battery cooler is guaranteed, and the market competitiveness of the assembled parts is greatly improved.

[0047] The assembling tool and the assembling method of the embodiment are mainly used for assembling the electric vehicle battery cooler, but it should be pointed out that the object of the assembling tool is not limited to the battery cooler, and more types of workpieces can be assembled by appropriately changing the structure of the material placing device. Therefore, simple changes made on the basis of the tool should be considered within the protection scope of the application.

[0048] The above describes the application and its embodiments in a schematic manner, which is not limited, and the embodiments shown in the drawings are only one of the embodiments of the application, and the actual structure is not limited thereto. Therefore, if a person skilled in the art is inspired thereby, without departing from the purpose of the application, similar structural modes and embodiments can be designed without creativity, which should belong to the protection scope of the application.

Claims

1. A method for assembling an assembly tool for assembling an electric vehicle battery cooler, characterized in that: the electric vehicle battery cooler comprises a female lower water chamber assembly, a female piston assembly, a female mounting plate, and a female upper cavity, the female piston assembly is located inside the female lower water chamber assembly, the female lower water chamber assembly passes through the female mounting plate, and the female upper cavity is located at the top of the female lower water chamber assembly to fix the female lower water chamber assembly and the female mounting plate together; the assembly tool comprises a feeding workbench, a lower water chamber O-ring assembling and oiling mechanism, a mechanical hand carrying mechanism, a female mounting plate carrying mechanism, and a female upper cavity tightening mechanism; the method further comprises the following steps: S1, manually placing the female lower water chamber assembly, the lower water chamber O-ring, the female mounting plate, and the female upper cavity on the designated feeding jig, starting the assembly line, and detecting whether each workpiece is placed in the corresponding position by the photoelectric sensor; S2, assembling the lower water chamber O-ring to the female lower water chamber assembly and performing oiling treatment on the lower water chamber O-ring by the lower water chamber O-ring assembling and oiling mechanism; S3, automatically assembling the female piston assembly and the female lower water chamber assembly by the mechanical hand carrying mechanism, and grabbing the female lower water chamber assembly to the feeding jig; S4, performing laser coding on the female mounting plate by the code scanning gun, and carrying the female mounting plate to the feeding jig by the female mounting plate carrying mechanism after the coding is completed; S5, automatically assembling the female lower water chamber assembly and the female mounting plate on the feeding jig, and tightening the female upper cavity to the female lower water chamber assembly by the female upper cavity tightening mechanism after the assembly is completed. 2.The method according to claim 1, wherein the female lower water chamber assembly comprises a female lower water chamber, a female spring, and a female guide rail, the female spring is located inside the female lower water chamber, and the female guide rail is located at the top end of the female spring. 3.The method according to claim 2, wherein the top of the female lower water chamber assembly is provided with a lower water chamber O-ring, and the lower water chamber O-ring is used to seal the female lower water chamber. 4.The method according to claim 1, wherein the female piston assembly comprises a piston part and a guide column part, the piston part passes through the guide column part, and the two are riveted together by a special tool. 5.The method according to claim 4, wherein the piston part is assembled by a female piston and a piston O-ring, and the guide column part is assembled by a piston guide column and a piston O-ring.

6. The method of claim 1-5, wherein, The feeding workbench comprises a female lower water chamber assembly feeding position, a lower water chamber O-ring feeding position, a female mounting plate feeding position, and a female upper cavity feeding position; the lower water chamber O-ring assembling and oiling mechanism is used to assemble the lower water chamber O-ring to the female lower water chamber assembly and perform oiling treatment on the lower water chamber O-ring; the mechanical hand carrying mechanism is used to automatically assemble the female piston assembly and the female lower water chamber assembly, and is also used to grab the female lower water chamber assembly to the feeding jig; the female mounting plate carrying mechanism is used to carry the female mounting plate to the feeding jig; the female upper cavity tightening mechanism is used to tighten the female upper cavity to the female lower water chamber.

7. The assembly method of the assembly tool of claim 6, wherein photoelectric sensor detection devices are arranged at the female head lower chamber assembly material placing position, the female head lower chamber O-ring material placing position, the female head mounting plate material placing position and the female head upper cavity material placing position of the material placing workbench to detect whether the corresponding components are placed at the corresponding positions.

8. The assembly method of the assembly tool of claim 6, wherein a torque sensor and a height sensor are arranged at the rear of the female head upper cavity tightening mechanism to detect whether the corresponding indicators meet the standards.

9. The assembly method of the assembly tool of claim 1, wherein during the assembly of the female head upper cavity, the female head mounting plate, the female head piston assembly and the female head lower chamber assembly, the torque sensor detects the tightening force value during the assembly and the height sensor detects the height of the components after the assembly.

Images