A lithium battery conveying device and method for filling a tray

Abstract

The present application relates to a kind of lithium battery conveying device and method of full tray, the lithium battery conveying device of full tray includes set conveying line, feeding mechanism and control unit, also includes identification mechanism and disassembly tray grouping mechanism;The conveying line is sequentially provided with identification station, disassembly tray grouping station downstream in feeding mechanism;Feeding mechanism is used to feed lithium battery at the discharge port of battery cell processing equipment to tray and feed tray to conveying line;Identification mechanism is arranged in identification station and is used to obtain the information of tray and lithium battery in tray at identification station;Disassembly tray grouping mechanism is arranged in disassembly tray grouping station and obtains the information of tray at disassembly tray grouping station.The present application is identified by setting identification mechanism to determine whether the tray on conveying line is full load tray, then disassembly tray grouping mechanism is used to disassembly tray grouping to non-full load tray, so that the tray in subsequent section is all full load state, improve work efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of lithium battery production technology, and in particular to a lithium battery conveying device and method for filling a tray. Background Technology

[0002] The production of lithium batteries consists of cell manufacturing equipment, power equipment, and logistics equipment. After the cells are manufactured by the cell manufacturing equipment in each section, the logistics equipment is responsible for transferring them to the cell processing equipment in the next section. The logistics equipment mainly uses robotic arms to grab the cells discharged from the cell manufacturing equipment and put them into a tray. After the robotic arms fill the tray, the cells are transported to the loading port of the cell processing equipment in the next section through a roller conveyor. The robotic arms then grab the cells from the tray and put them into the loading port of the cell processing equipment. This process is repeated to complete the production and transfer of cells.

[0003] During lithium battery production, due to the design of the cell processing equipment, the number of batteries released from the discharge port of each cell processing unit varies. For example, the discharge port of the liquid injection equipment is designed to discharge 6 batteries at a time, while the discharge port of the cleaning equipment is designed to discharge 8 batteries at a time. Furthermore, there may be instances where the actual number of batteries is insufficient. The storage positions of lithium battery trays are typically designed with even-numbered columns and odd-numbered rows. For instance, when the batteries in the tray are arranged in 4 rows and 8 columns, a robotic arm needs to perform 6 grabs and 11 releases to fully load the 6 batteries from the liquid injection equipment discharge port, resulting in 4 batteries being left over. Similarly, a robotic arm needs to perform 4 grabs and 8 releases to fully load the 8 batteries from the cleaning equipment discharge port. These are all full-load scenarios. In actual production, there are instances where the discharge port of the cell processing unit does not always contain the required number of batteries, and the trays circulating between cell processing units are frequently not fully loaded, impacting actual production efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Based on this, in response to the technical problem that the pallets circulating between battery cell equipment are often not fully loaded, which affects the actual production efficiency, this invention proposes a lithium battery conveying device and method to fill the pallets.

[0005] This invention provides a lithium battery conveying device for filling pallets, comprising a conveyor line installed between cell processing equipment to load lithium batteries from the discharge port of the cell processing equipment onto pallets and to load the pallets onto the conveyor line, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the conveyor line; the conveyor line has an identification station and a pallet unpacking and repacking station sequentially arranged downstream of the loading mechanism; the lithium battery conveying device further includes:

[0006] An identification mechanism, installed at the identification station, is used to acquire information about the tray and the lithium batteries inside the tray; the control unit determines whether the tray is fully loaded based on the information acquired by the identification mechanism, and marks the tray as non-fully loaded when it is detected as such; and

[0007] A tray disassembly and assembly mechanism is installed at the tray disassembly and assembly station and acquires information about the trays at the station. When the control unit determines that the tray at the tray disassembly and assembly station is not fully loaded based on the information acquired by the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism, it controls the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism to transfer and buffer the tray. The control unit then controls the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism to transfer a predetermined number of lithium batteries from one buffered non-full-loaded tray to another buffered non-full-loaded tray to bring the other non-full-loaded tray to a full-loaded state. Finally, the full-loaded tray is transferred to the conveyor line so that the conveyor line can transport it to the next process.

[0008] As a further improvement to the above-mentioned solution of the present invention, the identification mechanism includes a barcode scanner and a mobile barcode scanning mechanism; the barcode scanner is disposed on one side of the conveyor line and is used to scan and identify the pallets on the conveyor line and send the identified pallet information to the control unit; the mobile barcode scanning mechanism is disposed above the conveyor line and is used to scan and identify all lithium batteries in the pallets on the conveyor line and send the identified lithium battery information to the control unit; the control unit associates and binds all lithium battery information in the pallet with the pallet information, obtains the number of lithium batteries in the pallet based on the lithium battery information fed back by the mobile barcode scanning mechanism, and determines whether the pallet is fully loaded, and marks a pallet as a non-full-loaded pallet when it is identified as a non-full-loaded pallet.

[0009] As a further improvement to the above-mentioned solution of the present invention, the identification mechanism further includes a pneumatic stop mechanism, which is disposed on the conveyor line and located downstream of the barcode scanner. The pneumatic stop mechanism is used to stop the pallet on the conveyor line at the identification station.

[0010] As a further improvement to the above-mentioned solution of the present invention, the pallet disassembly and assembly mechanism includes at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms, at least two barcode scanners, and a pallet disassembly and assembly robot; the at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms are all located on one side of the conveyor line; the at least two barcode scanners are all located on the other side of the conveyor line, and each barcode scanner corresponds to one of the at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms. The barcode scanners are used to scan and identify the pallets on the conveyor line and send the identified pallet information to the control unit. The control unit determines whether the pallet is a full-load pallet based on the pallet information fed back by the barcode scanners. A lifting and transfer mechanism is positioned between the corresponding barcode scanner and the lifting and positioning mechanism. The lifting and transfer mechanism transfers the pallet between the conveyor line and the lifting and positioning mechanism. When the control unit identifies a pallet as not fully loaded, it controls the lifting and transfer mechanism to transfer the pallet to the corresponding lifting and positioning mechanism. The pallet unpacking and repacking robot is positioned above at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms and can move above at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms to transfer a predetermined number of lithium batteries from the pallet on one lifting and positioning mechanism to the pallets on other lifting and positioning mechanisms.

[0011] As a further improvement of the above-mentioned solution of the present invention, the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism further includes at least two pneumatic stop mechanisms II, which are respectively configured in a one-to-one correspondence with at least two lifting and transfer mechanisms I, and the pneumatic stop mechanisms II are located downstream of the corresponding lifting and transfer mechanisms I. The pneumatic stop mechanisms II are used to stop the trays on the conveyor line on the corresponding lifting and transfer mechanisms I.

[0012] As a further improvement to the above-mentioned solution of the present invention, the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism further includes an inter-level elevator, which is located at the end of the lifting and stopping mechanism away from the conveyor line and is used to transport the trays on the lifting and stopping mechanism out.

[0013] As a further improvement to the above-mentioned solution of the present invention, the feeding mechanism includes a second lifting and positioning mechanism, a third lifting and positioning mechanism, a second lifting and transfer mechanism, a third lifting and transfer mechanism, and a feeding robot. The second and third lifting and positioning mechanisms are arranged on one side of the conveyor line and a tray is arranged on them. The second and third lifting and transfer mechanisms are arranged on the conveyor line. The second lifting and transfer mechanism is correspondingly arranged with the second lifting and positioning mechanism and is used to realize the transfer of the tray between the second lifting and positioning mechanism and the conveyor line. The third lifting and transfer mechanism is correspondingly arranged with the third lifting and positioning mechanism and is used to realize the transfer of the tray between the third lifting and positioning mechanism and the conveyor line. The feeding robot is used to grab the lithium battery at the discharge port of the battery cell processing equipment and transfer the lithium battery to the tray on the second and third lifting and positioning mechanisms.

[0014] As a further improvement to the above-mentioned solution of the present invention, the feeding mechanism includes a pneumatic stop mechanism three and a pneumatic stop mechanism four. The pneumatic stop mechanism three and the pneumatic stop mechanism four are both arranged on the conveyor line and are respectively arranged downstream of the lifting and transferring mechanism two and the lifting and transferring mechanism three.

[0015] As a further improvement to the above-mentioned solution of the present invention, the number of lithium batteries fully loaded on the tray is M, and the discharge port of the cell processing equipment discharges N lithium batteries at a time, where M and N are both even numbers and M>N; the feeding method of the feeding mechanism is as follows:

[0016] S1. Both lifting and positioning mechanisms 2 and 3 have empty trays. By default, the loading robot grabs N lithium batteries from the discharge port of the cell processing equipment in a single operation. The loading robot first transfers the grabbed lithium batteries to the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 2 until the number of grabs by the loading robot equals (M / N quotient). At this time, the number of lithium batteries in the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 2 is (M / N quotient) * N. When the loading robot performs the (M / N quotient) + 1 grab, it transfers the (M / N remainder) lithium batteries to the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 2 and transfers the remaining lithium batteries to the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 3. At this time, the number of lithium batteries in the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 2 is M and it is in a fully loaded state by default. The lifting and transfer mechanism 2 transports the tray in the fully loaded state on lifting and positioning mechanism 3 to the conveyor line and then the conveyor line transports them downstream.

[0017] S2. Place the empty pallet back on the lifting and positioning mechanism two and repeat step S1; after the loading robot performs the M / (M / N remainder) grab, the number of lithium batteries in the pallet on the lifting and positioning mechanism three is M by default and it is in a full-load state by default. The pallet in the full-load state on the lifting and positioning mechanism three is transported to the conveyor line by the lifting and transfer mechanism three and then transported downstream by the conveyor line.

[0018] S3. Replace the empty pallet on the lifting and positioning mechanism three and repeat step S1.

[0019] It should be noted that in this invention, the quotient and remainder of M / N are both integers.

[0020] The present invention proposes a method for conveying lithium batteries to a full pallet, which employs the lithium battery conveying device for filling a pallet as described above, and includes:

[0021] The system acquires information about each pallet on the conveyor line and the lithium batteries inside the pallets, and determines whether the pallets are fully loaded based on the acquired information. When a pallet is identified as not fully loaded, it is marked as a non-full-loaded pallet.

[0022] When a pallet is identified as not fully loaded, it is transferred and buffered. A predetermined number of lithium batteries from one of the buffered non-full-loaded pallets are transferred to another buffered non-full-loaded pallet to bring the other non-full-loaded pallet to a fully loaded state. The fully loaded pallet is then transported to the next process.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0024] 1. This invention identifies whether the pallets on the conveyor line are fully loaded by setting up an identification mechanism, and then disassembles and reassembles the unloaded pallets by using a pallet disassembly and reassembly mechanism, so that the pallets entering the subsequent process are all fully loaded, thus improving work efficiency. In addition, the feeding robot at the discharge port of the battery cell processing equipment can only be responsible for picking and placing, without being responsible for filling empty spaces, which is more efficient, simpler in program control, and less prone to errors.

[0025] 2. This invention features a pallet assembly and disassembly mechanism designed along the conveyor line to fill any remaining empty spaces in the pallets after loading. This does not occupy main line space, has no other complex components, and is simple to repair, replace, and maintain. The equipment is simple and only requires the use of conventional logistics equipment and program control. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray, as described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the tray structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the lifting and positioning device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the pneumatic stop device in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Attached reference numerals: 1. Loading robot; 2. Lifting and positioning mechanism II; 3. Lifting and positioning mechanism III; 4. Lifting and transferring mechanism II; 5. Pneumatic stop mechanism III; 6. Lifting and transferring mechanism III; 7. Pneumatic stop mechanism IV; 8. Barcode scanner I; 9. Moving barcode scanner; 10. Pneumatic stop mechanism I; 11. Lifting and positioning mechanism I; 12. Disassembly and assembly robot; 13. Lifting and transferring mechanism I; 14. Barcode scanner II; 15. Pneumatic stop mechanism II; 16. Inter-level elevator; 17. Conveyor line. Detailed Implementation

[0031] To facilitate understanding of the present invention, a more comprehensive description will be given below with reference to specific embodiments. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of the disclosure of the present invention.

[0032] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The terminology used herein in the description of the invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.

[0033] Reference Figure 1 This embodiment proposes a lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray, including a conveyor line 17, a control unit, an identification mechanism, and a tray disassembly and assembly mechanism, and may also include a feeding mechanism.

[0034] Conveyor line 17 is arranged between the cell processing equipment, and along the conveying direction of the conveyor line, there are sequentially arranged loading station, identification station, and tray unpacking and assembly station. In this embodiment, conveyor line 17 adopts the existing roller conveyor line 17, which will not be described in detail here. In this embodiment, a QR code is provided on one side of the tray. By scanning the QR code, the information of the tray can be obtained. The tray is provided with storage positions for placing lithium batteries. The storage positions are usually designed as even-numbered columns, odd-numbered rows, or even-numbered columns. In this embodiment, combined with Figure 2 The pallet storage positions are arranged in 4 rows and 8 columns.

[0035] The feeding mechanism is located at the feeding station and is used to feed lithium batteries from the discharge port of the cell processing equipment into a tray and to feed the tray containing lithium batteries into the conveyor line 17. In this embodiment, the feeding mechanism includes a second lifting and positioning mechanism 2, a third lifting and positioning mechanism 3, a second lifting and transfer mechanism 4, a third lifting and transfer mechanism 6, a third pneumatic stop mechanism 5, a fourth pneumatic stop mechanism 7, and a feeding robot 1. The second lifting and positioning mechanism 2, the third lifting and positioning mechanism 3, the second lifting and transfer mechanism 4, the third lifting and transfer mechanism 6, the third pneumatic stop mechanism 5, and the fourth pneumatic stop mechanism 7 are all controlled by a control unit.

[0036] Lifting and positioning mechanisms 2 and 3 are located on one side of the conveyor line 17. In the initial state, both lifting and positioning mechanisms 2 and 3 have empty trays. In this embodiment, both lifting and positioning mechanisms 2 and 3 employ existing lifting and positioning devices, the structure of which is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, it mainly includes a frame, a lifting cylinder, a positioning pin, and a conveying roller assembly. The conveying roller assembly is set on the frame for conveying. The lifting cylinder is set below the conveying roller assembly. The positioning pin is fixed to the top of the piston rod of the lifting cylinder. When the lifting cylinder drives the positioning pin to lift, the positioning pin passes between two adjacent conveying rollers of the conveying roller assembly. The conveying direction of the conveying roller assembly is perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying line 17.

[0037] The second lifting and transfer mechanism 4 is installed on the conveyor line 17 and corresponds to the second lifting and positioning mechanism 2. In this embodiment, the second lifting and transfer mechanism 4 adopts existing lifting and transfer equipment, which will not be described in detail here. Generally, the second lifting and transfer mechanism 4 has a transverse conveying group and a longitudinal conveying group. The conveying direction of the transverse conveying group is consistent with the conveying direction of the second lifting and positioning mechanism 2, and the conveying direction of the longitudinal conveying group is consistent with the conveying direction of the conveyor line 17. When the second lifting and transfer mechanism 4 is in its original position, the longitudinal conveying group of the second lifting and transfer mechanism 4 is working and its conveying surface is at the same height as the conveying surface of the conveyor line 17. When the second lifting and transfer mechanism 4 is in the lifting state, the transverse conveying group of the second lifting and transfer mechanism 4 is working and its conveying surface is at the same height as the conveying surface of the second lifting and positioning mechanism 2. At this time, the second lifting and transfer mechanism 4 receives the pallet on the second lifting and positioning mechanism 2.

[0038] The lifting and transfer mechanism 36 is installed on the conveyor line 17 and corresponds to the lifting and positioning mechanism 33. In this embodiment, the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 adopts existing lifting and transfer equipment, which will not be described in detail here. The lifting and transfer mechanism 36 has a transverse conveying group and a longitudinal conveying group. The conveying direction of the transverse conveying group is consistent with the conveying direction of the lifting and positioning mechanism 33, and the conveying direction of the longitudinal conveying group is consistent with the conveying direction of the conveyor line 17. When the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 is in its original position, the longitudinal conveying group of the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 is working and its conveying surface is at the same height as the conveying surface of the conveyor line 17. When the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 is in the lifting state, the transverse conveying group of the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 is working and its conveying surface is at the same height as the conveying surface of the lifting and positioning mechanism 33. At this time, the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 receives the pallet on the lifting and positioning mechanism 33.

[0039] Pneumatic stop mechanisms 3 (5) and 4 (7) are both installed on conveyor line 17 and are located downstream of lifting and transferring mechanisms 2 (4) and 3 (6), respectively. In this embodiment, pneumatic stop mechanisms 3 (5) and 4 (7) both employ existing pneumatic stop devices, the structure of which is as follows: Figure 4 As shown, it mainly includes a stop cylinder and a stop plate. The stop plate is fixed on the push rod of the stop cylinder. The air inlet of the stop cylinder is equipped with a solenoid valve, which is connected to the control unit. The controller controls the extension and retraction of the push rod of the stop cylinder by controlling the opening and closing of the solenoid valve. When the stop cylinders of pneumatic stop mechanism three 5 and pneumatic stop mechanism four 7 extend, they can stop the pallet on the conveyor line 17.

[0040] The loading robot 1 is located at the discharge end of the battery cell processing equipment and is controlled by the control unit. It is used to grab lithium batteries at the discharge port of the battery cell processing equipment and transfer the lithium batteries to the trays on the lifting and positioning mechanism 2 and the lifting and positioning mechanism 3. In this embodiment, the loading robot 1 is a six-axis robot.

[0041] In this embodiment, the tray is fully loaded with M lithium batteries, and the cell processing equipment discharges N lithium batteries at a time from its outlet, where M and N are both even numbers and M > N; the feeding method of the feeding mechanism is as follows:

[0042] S1. Both lifting and positioning mechanisms 2 and 3 have empty trays. By default, the number of lithium batteries picked up by the loading robot 1 from the discharge port of the cell processing equipment in a single operation is N. The loading robot 1 first transfers the picked-up lithium batteries to the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 2 until the number of times the loading robot 1 picks up equals the quotient of M / N. At this time, the number of lithium batteries in the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 2 is (quotient of M / N) * N. When the loading robot 1 picks up for the (quotient of M / N)+1th time, the loading robot 1 transfers the remainder of M / N to the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 2 and transfers the remaining lithium batteries to the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 3. At this time, the number of lithium batteries in the tray on lifting and positioning mechanism 2 is M and is in a full-load state by default. The tray in the full-load state on lifting and positioning mechanism 3 is transported to the conveyor line 17 by lifting and transfer mechanism 2 and then transported downstream by conveyor line 17.

[0043] S2. Place the empty pallet back on the lifting and positioning mechanism 2 and repeat step S1; after the loading robot 1 performs the M / (M / N remainder) grab, the number of lithium batteries in the pallet on the lifting and positioning mechanism 3 is M by default and it is in a full-load state by default. The pallet in the full-load state on the lifting and positioning mechanism 3 is transported to the conveyor line 17 by the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 and then transported downstream by the conveyor line 17.

[0044] S3. Replace the empty pallet on the lifting and positioning mechanism 3 and repeat step S1. Wherein, the quotient and remainder of M / N are both integers.

[0045] In this embodiment, the identification mechanism is set at the identification station and includes a barcode scanner 8, a pneumatic stop mechanism 10, and a mobile barcode scanning mechanism 9. The pneumatic stop mechanism 10 is controlled by the control unit, and both the barcode scanner 8 and the mobile barcode scanning mechanism 9 are communicatively connected to the control unit.

[0046] A pneumatic stop mechanism 10 is installed on the conveyor line 17 and located downstream of the barcode scanner 8. The pneumatic stop mechanism 10 is used to stop the pallet on the conveyor line 17 at the identification station. In this embodiment, the pneumatic stop mechanism 10 also adopts existing technology, and its structure is as follows: Figure 4 As shown, I won't go into details here.

[0047] A barcode scanner 8 is positioned on one side of the conveyor line 17 and is used to scan the QR codes on the sides of the pallets on the conveyor line 17 to obtain pallet information, and then send the pallet information to the control unit. In this embodiment, the barcode scanner 8 adopts existing technology, which will not be described in detail here.

[0048] A mobile scanning mechanism 9 is positioned above the conveyor line 17. It scans and identifies all lithium batteries in the trays on the conveyor line 17 and sends the identified lithium battery information to the control unit. In this embodiment, the mobile scanning mechanism 9 employs a prior art mobile scanning device, which will not be elaborated upon here.

[0049] Through the above structural design, after receiving the tray information from the barcode scanner 8 and the lithium battery information from the mobile barcode scanner 9, the control unit associates and binds all the lithium battery information in the tray with the tray information, then obtains the number of lithium batteries in the tray based on the lithium battery information fed back by the mobile barcode scanner 9 and determines whether the tray is fully loaded. When a tray is identified as not fully loaded, it is marked as a non-full-loaded tray.

[0050] In this embodiment, the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism is equipped with a tray disassembly and assembly station, including two lifting and positioning mechanisms 11, two barcode scanners 14, two lifting and transfer mechanisms 13, two pneumatic stop mechanisms 10, and a tray disassembly and assembly robot 12. The lifting and positioning mechanisms 11, lifting and transfer mechanisms 13, pneumatic stop mechanisms 10, and tray disassembly and assembly robot 12 are all controlled by the control unit. The barcode scanners 14 are communicatively connected to the control unit.

[0051] Both lifting and positioning mechanisms 11 are located on one side of the conveyor line 17. In this embodiment, the structure of lifting and positioning mechanism 11 is the same as that of lifting and positioning mechanism 2 and lifting and positioning mechanism 3, and it also adopts the existing lifting and positioning device, the structure of which is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, I won't go into details here.

[0052] Two barcode scanners 14 are each located on the other side of the conveyor line 17, and at least two barcode scanners 14 are respectively configured to correspond to two lifting and positioning mechanisms 11. The barcode scanners 14 are used to scan the QR codes on the sides of the pallets on the conveyor line 17 to obtain pallet information, and then send the obtained pallet information to the control unit. The control unit determines whether the pallet is fully loaded based on the pallet information fed back by the barcode scanners 14. In this embodiment, the barcode scanner 8 adopts existing technology, which will not be elaborated upon here.

[0053] Two lifting and transferring mechanisms 13 are both installed on the conveyor line 17, and a lifting and transferring mechanism 13 is installed between the corresponding barcode scanner 14 and the lifting and positioning mechanism. The lifting and transferring mechanism 13 is controlled by the control unit and is used to transfer the pallet between the conveyor line 17 and the lifting and positioning mechanism 11. In this embodiment, the structure of the lifting and transferring mechanism 13 is the same as that of the lifting and transferring mechanism 4, and it also adopts the lifting and transferring equipment in the prior art, which will not be described in detail here. Generally, the lifting and transferring mechanism 13 has a transverse conveying group and a longitudinal conveying group. The conveying direction of the transverse conveying group is consistent with the conveying direction of the lifting and positioning mechanism 11, and the conveying direction of the longitudinal conveying group is consistent with the conveying direction of the conveyor line 17. When the lifting and transferring mechanism 13 is in its original position, the longitudinal conveying group of the lifting and transferring mechanism 13 is working and its conveying surface is at the same height as the conveying surface of the conveyor line 17. When the lifting and transfer mechanism 13 is in the lifting state, the lateral conveying group of the lifting and transfer mechanism 13 is working and its conveying surface is at the same height as the conveying surface of the lifting and positioning mechanism 11. At this time, the lifting and transfer mechanism 13 receives the pallet on the lifting and positioning mechanism 11.

[0054] Both pneumatic stop mechanisms 10 are installed on the conveyor line 17 and are located downstream of the two lifting and transferring mechanisms 13. The pneumatic stop mechanisms 10 are controlled by a control unit. In this embodiment, the structure of the pneumatic stop mechanism 10 is the same as that of the pneumatic stop mechanism 2 15 and the pneumatic stop mechanism 3 5, and it also adopts existing technology. Its structure is as follows: Figure 4 As shown, I won't go into details here.

[0055] The tray disassembly and reassembly robot 12 is positioned above two lifting and positioning mechanisms 11 and can move above them to transfer a predetermined number of lithium batteries from a tray on one lifting and positioning mechanism 11 to a tray on the other lifting and positioning mechanism 11. In this embodiment, the tray disassembly and reassembly robot 12 is a robot arm of the prior art, which can be a three-axis robot arm or a six-axis robot arm.

[0056] Next, with Figure 2 Taking the tray and cell processing equipment shown as examples of liquid injection equipment, the feeding method of the feeding mechanism will be further explained:

[0057] I. Feeding

[0058] Empty trays are placed on both the second and third lifting and positioning mechanisms. After the batteries are in place at the outlet of the liquid injection equipment, a battery arrival signal is sent to the loading robot 1. The loading robot 1 then grabs the batteries from the six battery slots at the outlet of the liquid injection equipment. At this time, the six grippers of the loading robot 1 move simultaneously to grab the batteries, regardless of whether there are batteries in the battery slots. That is, even if there are not enough batteries in the six battery slots, it is assumed that the loading robot 1 has grabbed all six batteries at once. After grabbing, the six batteries are placed in the tray of the second lifting and positioning mechanism 2 in two separate steps. The first step is to place four batteries in the empty tray on the second lifting and positioning mechanism 2, as shown in the diagram. Figure 2 The first six batteries are placed in positions 1-1 to 1-4, with the remaining two batteries on the gripper placed in positions 8-1 and 8-2. After the six batteries gripped by the loading robot 1 are placed, it returns to the starting position and repeats the above steps. The second time, four of the six batteries gripped are placed in positions 2-1 to 2-4, and the remaining two are placed in positions 8-3 to 8-4. The third time, four of the six batteries gripped are placed in positions 3-1 to 3-4, and the remaining two are placed in positions 7-1 to 7-2. The fourth time, four of the six batteries gripped are placed in positions 4-1 to 4-4, and the remaining two are placed in positions 7-3 to 7-4. The fifth time, four of the six batteries gripped are placed in positions 5-1 to 4-4. Batteries 1 to 5-4 are placed, with the remaining two placed on trays 6-1 to 6-2. Four of the six batteries grabbed in the sixth grab are placed on empty trays 1-1 to 1-4 on the lifting and positioning mechanism 3, and the remaining two are placed on trays 6-3 to 6-4 on the lifting and positioning mechanism 2. At this time, the trays on the lifting and positioning mechanism 2 are fully loaded by default. The control unit controls the lifting and transfer mechanism 2 to lift, and the lifting and positioning mechanism 2 to transport the tray that is in the default fully loaded state to the lifting and transfer mechanism 2. Then, the lifting and transfer mechanism 2 and the pneumatic stop mechanism 3 5 descend and reset, and transport the tray to the conveyor line 17. The conveyor line 17 transports it downstream.

[0059] Then, place the empty pallet back on the lifting and positioning mechanism 2 and repeat the above operation.

[0060] After the loading robot 1 completes the 32 / 4 = 8th grab, it sends a signal to the control unit. At this time, the number of pallets on the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 reaches 32 by default, which means it is in a full-load state by default. The control unit controls the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 to lift, and the lifting and positioning mechanism 33 delivers the pallet in the full-load state to the lifting and transfer mechanism 36. Then, the lifting and transfer mechanism 36 and the pneumatic stop mechanism 47 descend and reset, and deliver the pallet to the conveyor line 17. The conveyor line 17 then conveys it downstream.

[0061] Place the empty pallet back on the lifting and positioning mechanism 3 and repeat the above operation.

[0062] 2. Determine if the pallet is fully loaded.

[0063] Initially, the pneumatic stop mechanism 10 is in a lifting state. After loading, the pallet is conveyed by the conveyor line 17 to the position of the pneumatic stop mechanism 10, which then stops. The barcode scanner 8 scans the QR code on the side of the pallet to obtain the pallet information and sends it to the control unit. At the same time, the mobile barcode scanner 9 scans the product codes of all lithium batteries in the pallet to obtain the information of all lithium batteries and sends the obtained information of all lithium batteries to the control unit. The control unit binds all lithium battery information with the pallet information and obtains the number of lithium batteries in the pallet according to the information sent by the mobile barcode scanner 9. The control unit compares the number of lithium batteries in the pallet with the full load capacity of the pallet. If the number of lithium batteries in the pallet is equal to the full load capacity, the pallet is considered to be fully loaded. If the number of lithium batteries in the pallet is less than the full load capacity, the pallet is considered to be unloaded and marked as an unloaded pallet. The control unit also calculates the number of missing lithium batteries in the pallet.

[0064] After the barcode scanner 8 and the mobile scanning mechanism 9 have finished scanning, the control unit controls the pneumatic stop mechanism 10 to descend and reset, release the tray, and then lift it up again.

[0065] 3. Disassemble and reassemble the trays to fill the pallet.

[0066] Step 1: The control unit controls the upstream pneumatic stop mechanism 2 15 to be in a lifting state. When the pallet moves to the position of the upstream pneumatic stop mechanism 2 15, it is stopped by the upstream pneumatic stop mechanism 2 15 onto the upstream lifting and transfer mechanism 1 13. The upstream barcode scanner 2 14 scans the QR code on the side of the pallet to obtain the pallet information and sends the pallet information to the control unit. After obtaining the pallet information, the control unit can know whether the pallet is marked as a non-full-load pallet. If the pallet is not marked as a non-full-load pallet, the control unit controls the pneumatic stop mechanism 2 15 to descend and reset, release the pallet, and then lift it again. If the pallet is marked as a non-full-load pallet, the control unit controls the upstream lifting and transfer mechanism 1 13 to lift and transfer the pallet on it to the upstream lifting and positioning mechanism 1 11. Then, the upstream lifting and transfer mechanism 1 13 and the pneumatic stop mechanism 2 15 descend and reset, while the control unit controls the downstream pneumatic stop mechanism 2 15 to lift.

[0067] Step 2: When the pallet moves to the position of the downstream pneumatic stop mechanism 15, it is stopped by the downstream pneumatic stop mechanism 15 onto the downstream lifting and transfer mechanism 13. The downstream barcode scanner 14 scans the QR code on the side of the pallet to obtain pallet information and sends the pallet information to the control unit. After obtaining the pallet information, the control unit can determine whether the pallet is marked as an unloaded pallet. If the pallet is not marked as an unloaded pallet, the control unit controls the downstream pneumatic stop mechanism 15 to descend and reset to release the pallet before lifting it again. If the pallet is marked as an unloaded pallet, the control unit controls the downstream lifting and transfer mechanism 13 to lift and transfer the pallet on it to the downstream lifting and positioning mechanism 11, and controls the upstream pneumatic stop mechanism 15 to lift.

[0068] Step 3: The control unit sends the number of missing lithium batteries from the non-full-load tray on the downstream lifting and positioning mechanism 11 to the disassembly and reassembly robot 12 and controls the robot 12 to grab the corresponding number of lithium batteries from the tray on the upstream lifting and positioning mechanism 11 and transfer them to the tray on the downstream lifting and positioning mechanism 11. This makes the tray on the downstream lifting and positioning mechanism 11 fully loaded. Then, the control unit controls the downstream lifting and positioning mechanism 11 to transport the fully loaded tray to the downstream lifting and transfer mechanism 13. The downstream lifting and transfer mechanism 13 and the pneumatic stop mechanism 15 descend and reset, and the conveyor line 17 transports the fully loaded tray to the next process. Then, the upstream pneumatic stop mechanism 15 descends and resets, and the downstream pneumatic stop mechanism 15 rises, repeating step 2.

[0069] Step 4: When the pallet on the upstream lifting and positioning mechanism 11 is empty, the control unit controls the upstream lifting and positioning mechanism 11 to transport the empty pallet to the inter-floor elevator 16, and the inter-floor elevator 16 will transport it out, repeating step 1.

[0070] It should be noted that when a component is said to be "installed on" another component, it can be directly on the other component or it may be in a component that is centered on it. When a component is said to be "set on" another component, it can be directly set on the other component or it may also be in a component that is centered on it. When a component is said to be "fixed to" another component, it can be directly fixed to the other component or it may also be in a component that is centered on it.

[0071] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The terminology used herein in the specification of this invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The term "or / and" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0072] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0073] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementations of the present invention, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention patent. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of this invention patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray, comprising a conveyor line disposed between cell processing equipment, a feeding mechanism for loading lithium batteries from the outlet of the cell processing equipment onto the tray and loading the tray onto the conveyor line, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the conveyor line; characterized in that, The conveyor line is sequentially equipped with an identification station and a tray disassembly and assembly station downstream of the feeding mechanism. The lithium battery conveying device also includes: An identification mechanism, installed at the identification station, is used to acquire information about the tray and the lithium batteries inside the tray; the control unit determines whether the tray is fully loaded based on the information acquired by the identification mechanism, and marks the tray as non-fully loaded when it is detected as such; and A tray disassembly and assembly mechanism is installed at the tray disassembly and assembly station and acquires information about the trays at the station. When the control unit determines that the tray at the tray disassembly and assembly station is not fully loaded based on the information acquired by the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism, it controls the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism to transfer and buffer the tray. The control unit then controls the tray disassembly and assembly mechanism to transfer a predetermined number of lithium batteries from one buffered non-full-loaded tray to another buffered non-full-loaded tray to make the other non-full-loaded tray fully loaded. The fully loaded tray is then transferred to the conveyor line so that the conveyor line can transport it to the next process. The pallet disassembly and assembly mechanism includes at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms, at least two barcode scanners, and a pallet disassembly and assembly robot. The at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms are all located on one side of the conveyor line. The at least two barcode scanners are all located on the other side of the conveyor line, and each barcode scanner corresponds to one of the at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms. The barcode scanners are used to scan and identify the pallets on the conveyor line and send the identified pallet information to the control unit. The control unit determines whether the pallet is fully loaded based on the pallet information fed back by the barcode scanners. The corresponding barcode scanners on the conveyor line... A lifting and transfer mechanism is installed between the second lifting and positioning mechanism and the first lifting and positioning mechanism. The lifting and transfer mechanism realizes the transfer of the pallet between the conveyor line and the first lifting and positioning mechanism. When the control unit identifies that a pallet is not fully loaded, it controls the lifting and transfer mechanism to transfer the pallet to the corresponding lifting and positioning mechanism. The pallet unpacking and repacking robot is set above at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms and can move above at least two lifting and positioning mechanisms to transfer a predetermined number of lithium batteries from the pallet on one lifting and positioning mechanism to the pallet on the other lifting and positioning mechanism.

2. The lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray according to claim 1, characterized in that, The identification mechanism includes a barcode scanner and a mobile scanning mechanism. The barcode scanner is located on one side of the conveyor line and is used to scan and identify the pallets on the conveyor line and send the identified pallet information to the control unit. The mobile scanning mechanism is located above the conveyor line and is used to scan and identify all the lithium batteries in the pallets on the conveyor line and send the identified lithium battery information to the control unit. The control unit associates and binds the information of all the lithium batteries in the pallets with the pallet information. Based on the lithium battery information fed back by the mobile scanning mechanism, the control unit obtains the number of lithium batteries in the pallet and determines whether the pallet is fully loaded. When a pallet is identified as not fully loaded, it is marked as a non-full-loaded pallet.

3. The lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray according to claim 2, characterized in that, The identification mechanism also includes a pneumatic stop mechanism, which is installed on the conveyor line and located downstream of the barcode scanner. The pneumatic stop mechanism is used to stop the pallet on the conveyor line at the identification station.

4. The lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray according to claim 3, characterized in that, The tray disassembly and assembly mechanism also includes at least two pneumatic stop mechanisms II, which are respectively configured to correspond one-to-one with at least two lifting and transfer mechanisms I, and the pneumatic stop mechanisms II are located downstream of the corresponding lifting and transfer mechanisms I. The pneumatic stop mechanisms II are used to stop the trays on the conveyor line on the corresponding lifting and transfer mechanisms I.

5. The lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tray disassembly and assembly mechanism also includes an inter-level elevator, which is located at the end of the lifting and positioning mechanism away from the conveyor line and is used to transport the trays on the lifting and positioning mechanism out.

6. The lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray according to claim 1, characterized in that, The feeding mechanism includes a second lifting and positioning mechanism, a third lifting and positioning mechanism, a second lifting and transfer mechanism, and a feeding robot. The second and third lifting and positioning mechanisms are located on one side of the conveyor line and have trays on them. The second and third lifting and transfer mechanisms are located on the conveyor line. The second lifting and transfer mechanism corresponds to the second lifting and positioning mechanism and is used to transfer the trays between the second lifting and positioning mechanism and the conveyor line. The third lifting and transfer mechanism corresponds to the third lifting and positioning mechanism and is used to transfer the trays between the third lifting and positioning mechanism and the conveyor line. The feeding robot is used to grab lithium batteries from the discharge port of the battery cell processing equipment and transfer the lithium batteries to the trays on the second and third lifting and positioning mechanisms.

7. The lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray according to claim 6, characterized in that, The feeding mechanism includes pneumatic stop mechanism three and pneumatic stop mechanism four. Both pneumatic stop mechanism three and pneumatic stop mechanism four are installed on the conveyor line and are respectively located downstream of lifting and transferring mechanism two and lifting and transferring mechanism three.

8. A method for transporting lithium batteries filling a tray, characterized in that, It employs a lithium battery conveying device for filling a tray as described in any one of claims 1-7, comprising: The system acquires information about each pallet on the conveyor line and the lithium batteries inside the pallets, and determines whether the pallets are fully loaded based on the acquired information. When a pallet is identified as not fully loaded, it is marked as a non-full-loaded pallet. When a pallet is identified as not fully loaded, it is transferred and buffered. A predetermined number of lithium batteries from one of the buffered non-full-loaded pallets are transferred to another buffered non-full-loaded pallet to bring the other non-full-loaded pallet to a fully loaded state. The fully loaded pallet is then transported to the next process.

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