An all-in-one machine for folding tabs and loading batteries and its method

Abstract

The present invention provides an all-in-one machine for folding and loading battery cell tabs and a method thereof, wherein the all-in-one machine for folding and loading battery cell tabs comprises: a frame, a tray cache assembly, a tab folding assembly, a grouped material picking assembly and a battery cell transfer assembly, wherein the tray cache assembly is used to store empty trays and fully loaded trays; the tab folding assembly extends along a second direction, and is used to convey battery cells, and fold the tabs of multiple battery cells while conveying the battery cells; the grouped material picking assembly is used to clamp the battery cells on the tab folding assembly, and load the clamped battery cells onto an empty tray; the grouped material picking assembly is arranged on the battery cell transfer assembly, and the battery cell transfer assembly is used to adjust the displacement of the grouped material picking assembly along the first direction, the second direction and the third direction, and the battery cell transfer assembly is used to clamp an empty tray for the grouped material picking assembly to load battery cells, and place the fully loaded tray on the tray cache assembly.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of battery production equipment, and in particular to a battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine and method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Lithium batteries have become the most widely used batteries in portable electronic devices such as laptops, mobile phones, and PDAs. The increasing demand for lithium batteries has forced the lithium battery industry to continuously improve its technology, and the requirements for lithium battery equipment are also becoming increasingly higher. Lithium battery equipment must have stable performance, increased speed, and integrated multiple functions to be competitive in the market.

[0003] In the prior art, after the lithium batteries are wound and transported to the next device, they are manually collected, the tabs are folded, and then they are placed one by one on a transport tray. This entire process results in significant labor costs, increased labor intensity, and a low degree of automation. Furthermore, during manual transportation, the consistency of the battery cells is poor, and the lithium battery cells are easily damaged, such as by hidden cracks or misaligned tray orientations. This reduces the efficiency and quality of lithium battery production and transportation management. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention aims to solve the problems in the prior art of low efficiency and poor quality of lithium batteries when the tabs are bent and mounted on a tray.

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a first aspect of a battery cell tab folding and tray loading all-in-one machine, comprising: a frame;

[0006] a tray buffer assembly, disposed at one end of the frame along the first direction, for storing empty trays and fully loaded trays;

[0007] a tab folding assembly, disposed at one end of the frame away from the tray buffer assembly and extending from the inner side of the frame to the outer side of the frame along the second direction, the tab folding assembly being used to convey the battery cells and fold the tabs of N battery cells while conveying the battery cells;

[0008] A grouped material taking assembly is arranged on the inner side of the frame, and is used to clamp the battery cells on the tab folding assembly and load the clamped battery cells onto the empty material tray;

[0009] A cell transfer assembly is provided on the inner side of the rack, the grouped material taking assembly is provided on the cell transfer assembly, the cell transfer assembly is used to adjust the displacement of the grouped material taking assembly along the first direction, the second direction and the third direction, and the cell transfer assembly is used to clamp the empty tray for the grouped material taking assembly to load the cells, and place the fully loaded tray on the tray buffer assembly;

[0010] The first direction, the second direction and the third direction are arranged perpendicular to each other.

[0011] Furthermore, the tray cache assembly includes an empty tray cache assembly and a loaded tray cache assembly arranged in parallel along the second direction, the empty tray cache assembly includes a first transfer member and a first lifting assembly, the first transfer member is used to supply multiple layers of the empty trays for stacking, the first lifting assembly is used to lift the empty trays to a first preset position along the third direction, the loaded tray cache assembly includes a second transfer member and a second lifting assembly, the second transfer member is used to supply multiple layers of the fully loaded trays for stacking, the second lifting assembly is used to lower the fully loaded trays to a second preset position along the third direction.

[0012] Furthermore, the tab folding assembly includes an intermittent transfer assembly, a tab positioning assembly and a tab bending piece. The intermittent transfer assembly is extended along the second direction. The intermittent transfer assembly is used to transport the battery cells. The tab positioning assembly and the tab bending piece are both arranged on the intermittent transfer assembly. The tab folding assembly and the tab positioning assembly are both arranged along the second direction. The tab positioning assembly is used to position the angles of the tabs of N battery cells. The tab folding assembly is used to simultaneously fold the N tabs after angle positioning, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0013] Furthermore, the intermittent transfer assembly includes a first transfer plate and a second transfer plate arranged along the second direction, the second transfer plate is arranged between the two first transfer plates, and the first transfer plate and the second transfer plate are both provided with a plurality of spaced-apart accommodating grooves along the second direction, the second transfer plate can move along the third direction relative to the first transfer plate, and the second transfer plate can move along the second direction relative to the first transfer plate, so that the battery cell moves along the second direction.

[0014] Furthermore, the tab positioning assembly includes N groups of rotating rollers, and the second transfer plate moves the N battery cells to the rotating rollers. The battery cells and each group of rotating rollers are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence, and each group of rotating rollers rotates the corresponding battery cell so that the tabs of the N battery cells are rotated to a preset angle.

[0015] The second transfer plate moves the N battery cells whose tabs are rotated to a preset angle to the tab folding assembly, and the tab folding assembly folds the tabs of the N battery cells at the same time.

[0016] Furthermore, the battery cell transferring assembly includes a first moving assembly, a second moving assembly and a third moving assembly, the first moving assembly is extended along the second direction, the second moving assembly is arranged on the first moving assembly, the second moving assembly is extended along the first direction, the first moving assembly can drive the second moving assembly to move along the second direction, the third moving assembly is arranged on the second moving assembly, the third moving assembly is extended along the third direction, the second moving assembly can drive the third moving assembly to move along the first direction, the group material picking assembly is arranged on the third moving assembly, and the third moving assembly can drive the group material picking assembly to move along the third direction.

[0017] Furthermore, the battery cell transfer assembly also includes a tray transporting clamp, which is arranged on the second moving assembly. The tray transporting clamp is used to clamp the empty tray on the first transfer member and place the fully loaded tray on the second transfer member.

[0018] Furthermore, the grouped material picking assembly includes a control assembly, a distance-changing assembly and a lifting suction cup assembly, the control assembly is connected to the distance-changing assembly, the number of the distance-changing assemblies is the same as the number of the lifting suction cup assemblies, and the distance-changing assemblies are connected to the lifting suction cups in a one-to-one correspondence, the control assembly is used to control the distance-changing assembly to adjust the distance between any adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies, and the lifting suction cup is used to absorb the battery cell after the tab is folded on the tab folding assembly;

[0019] The control assembly includes a first control assembly and a second control assembly, wherein the first control assembly is used to control a single pitch-changing assembly, and the second control assembly is used to control two pitch-changing assemblies.

[0020] Furthermore, the size of the empty tray and the fully loaded tray is the same, and the size of the empty tray along the second direction is Z, Z<Yd, wherein d is the safety distance between the empty tray and the fully loaded tray along the second direction, Y=X+△X, X is the design displacement of the grouped material picking component along the second direction, △X=(A1-A2) / 2, A1 is the distance between any two adjacent battery cells on the intermittent transfer component, and A2 is the loading distance between any two adjacent battery cells on the empty tray.

[0021] A second aspect of the present invention provides a method for folding tabs and traying battery cells, using the battery cell tab folding and traying integrated machine as described in any one of the first aspects to fold tabs and tray the battery cells, the method comprising:

[0022] The tab folding assembly folds the tabs of the plurality of battery cells while conveying the battery cells;

[0023] The battery cell transfer assembly adjusts the displacement of the grouped material taking assembly so that the grouped material taking assembly is close to the tab folding assembly. The grouped material taking assembly simultaneously clamps multiple battery cells and loads the multiple battery cells into an empty material tray.

[0024] After the empty tray is full, the battery cell transfer assembly takes off the next empty tray while the grouped material picking assembly approaches the tab folding assembly and clamps multiple battery cells again, loading the multiple battery cells into the empty tray, and repeats the above operation until all the full trays are full.

[0025] The battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine and the battery cell tab folding and tray loading method described in the present invention transport battery cells through the tab folding assembly, and fold the tabs of multiple battery cells at the same time during the transportation of the battery cells, thereby improving the tab folding efficiency, and the battery cell transferring assembly can adjust the displacement of the grouped material picking assembly along the three axial directions, and the battery cell transferring assembly can clamp the empty material tray, and the grouped material picking assembly clamps the battery cells and places them on the empty material tray, and then the battery cell transferring assembly places the fully loaded material tray on the tray buffer assembly, and the battery cell transferring assembly cooperates with the grouped material picking assembly to realize the automated action of battery cell tray loading and tray replacement, thereby reducing manual labor intensity, reducing labor costs, and improving the efficiency of battery cell tray loading. At the same time, through automated tray loading, damage to the battery cells during manual tray loading can be avoided, which is beneficial to improving the safety and production quality of the battery cells. The present invention can realize the automated folding of tabs and the automated tray loading of battery cells, which is beneficial to improving production efficiency and the quality of battery cells, and is beneficial to reducing the production cost of batteries. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the battery cell tab folding and tray loading machine provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 This is a front view structural diagram of a battery cell tab folding and tray loading machine provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the top view of the battery cell tab folding and tray loading machine provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the stereoscopic structure of a tab folding assembly provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a cell transfer assembly provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 6 This is a front view structural schematic diagram of the grouped material taking component provided in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The technical solution of the present invention is described clearly and in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc., indicating the orientation or position relationship, are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the said features. In addition, in the description of the present invention, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0033] Throughout this specification, the term "as an alternative embodiment" means that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment or example is included in at least one alternative embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same implementation or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0034] Combine Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, this embodiment provides a battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine, including: a frame 100, a tray buffer assembly 200, a tab folding assembly 300, a grouped material removal assembly 400 and a battery cell transfer assembly 500, the tray buffer assembly 200, the tab folding assembly 300, the grouped material removal assembly 400 and the battery cell transfer assembly 500 are all arranged on the frame 100, wherein:

[0035] The tray buffer assembly 200 is arranged on the rack 100 along the first direction (ie Figure 1The tray buffer assembly 200 is used to store empty trays 210 and full trays 220; the tab folding assembly 300 is arranged at one end of the frame 100 away from the tray buffer assembly 200, and is arranged along the second direction (i.e. Figure 1 , and the tab folding assembly 300 is used to adjust the movement of the battery cell 1 along the first direction, the second direction and the third direction (i.e., Figure 1 The displacement of the battery cell transfer component 500 is carried out in the z-axis direction, and the battery cell transfer component 500 is used to clamp the empty material tray 210 for the grouped material picking component 400 to load the battery cells, and place the fully loaded material tray 220 filled with battery cells on the tray buffer component 200 to be transferred to the next station.

[0036] The integrated battery cell tab folding and tray loading machine provided in the present embodiment transports battery cells through the tab folding assembly, and folds the tabs of multiple battery cells at the same time during the transportation of the battery cells, thereby improving the tab folding efficiency; the battery cell transferring assembly can adjust the displacement of the grouped material picking assembly along the three axial directions, and the battery cell transferring assembly can clamp the empty material tray, and the grouped material picking assembly clamps the battery cells and places them on the empty material tray, and then the battery cell transferring assembly places the fully loaded material tray on the tray buffer assembly; through the cooperation of the battery cell transferring assembly and the grouped material picking assembly, the automatic action of battery cell tray loading and tray replacement can be realized, which reduces the labor intensity, reduces the labor cost, and improves the efficiency of battery cell tray loading; at the same time, through the automatic tray loading, it can avoid damage to the battery cells during manual tray loading, which is beneficial to improving the safety and production quality of the battery cells; the integrated battery cell tab folding and tray loading machine provided in the present embodiment can realize the automatic folding of the tabs and the automatic tray loading of the battery cells, which is beneficial to improving the production efficiency and the quality of the battery cells, and is beneficial to reducing the production cost of the battery.

[0037] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the preset state of the tab folding is not specifically limited, and those skilled in the art can set it according to the loading position or loading requirements of the battery cell into the shell.

[0038] Combine Figure 2 and Figure 3As shown, based on the above embodiment, as an optional embodiment, the tray cache assembly 200 includes empty tray cache assemblies arranged in parallel along the second direction (such as Figure 3 ) and the loading tray buffer assembly (as shown in T1 in Figure 3 , the empty tray cache assembly includes a first transfer member 211 and a first lifting assembly 212. The first transfer member 211 is used to supply multiple layers of empty trays 210 for stacking. The first lifting assembly 212 is used to lift the empty trays 210 to a first preset position along a third direction, so that the battery cell transfer assembly 500 can clamp the empty trays 210 for the grouped material picking assembly 400 to load the battery cells. The loading tray cache assembly includes a second transfer member 221 and a second lifting assembly 222. The second transfer member 221 is used to supply multiple layers of fully loaded trays 220 for stacking. The second lifting assembly is used to lower the fully loaded trays 220 to a second preset position along the third direction, so that the fully loaded trays 220 on the second transfer member 221 can be filled and transferred to the next workstation. Therefore, the tray cache assembly 200 includes an empty tray cache assembly and a loaded tray cache assembly, which can realize simultaneous loading and unloading, which is beneficial to improving the loading efficiency of the battery cells. In addition, the empty tray cache assembly and the loaded tray cache assembly are arranged side by side and do not affect each other during loading and unloading.

[0039] The first transfer member 211 and the second transfer member 221 have the same structure. As an optional embodiment, the first transfer member 211 and the second transfer member 221 use a cart, which makes it easier to transfer the empty material tray 210 and the fully loaded material tray 220 to the next workstation. The first lifting assembly 212 and the second lifting assembly 222 have the same structure. In this embodiment, the specific structure of the first lifting assembly 212 and the second lifting assembly 222 is not further limited. As long as they can achieve up and down movement along the third direction, the first lifting assembly 212 and the second lifting assembly 222 can illustratively include a lifting guide rail, a lifting motor, and a ball screw or other transmission assembly that cooperates with the lifting motor.

[0040] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the specific positions of the first preset position and the second preset position are not specifically limited. Those skilled in the art can set them according to actual conditions. But generally speaking, the first preset position is a position with a fixed height, and the second preset position can be determined according to the height of the fully loaded material tray 220 stacked on the second transfer member 221.

[0041] Combine Figure 4As shown, based on the above embodiment, as an optional embodiment, the tab folding assembly 300 includes an intermittent transfer assembly 310, a tab positioning assembly 320 and a tab bending piece 330, the intermittent transfer assembly 310 is extended along the second direction, and the intermittent transfer assembly 310 extends from the inner side of the rack 100 to the outer side of the rack 100, the battery cells 1 are arranged at intervals on the intermittent transfer assembly 310, the intermittent transfer assembly 310 is used to transport the battery cells 1, the tab positioning assembly 320 and the tab bending piece 330 30 are all arranged on the intermittent transfer component 310, the tab bending piece 330 and the tab positioning component 320 are both arranged along the second direction, the intermittent transfer component 310 transports the battery cell 1 from the tab positioning component 320 to the tab bending piece 330, the tab positioning component 320 is used to position the angles of the tabs of N (N is an integer greater than or equal to 2) battery cells 1, and the tab bending piece 330 is used to simultaneously fold the tabs of the N battery cells 1 after the angle is positioned, and fold the tabs of each battery cell 1 to a preset state.

[0042] Specifically, the intermittent transfer assembly 310 includes a first transfer plate 311 and a second transfer plate 312. The first transfer plate 311 and the second transfer plate 312 are both arranged along the second direction. The second transfer plate 312 is arranged between the two first transfer plates 311. The first transfer plate 311 and the second transfer plate 312 are both provided with a plurality of spaced-apart receiving grooves along the second direction, and the spacing between the receiving grooves on the first transfer plate 311 is the same as the spacing between the receiving grooves on the second transfer plate 312, and are both set to A1. The second moving plate 312 can be moved along the third direction relative to the first moving plate 311, and the second moving plate 312 can be moved along the second direction relative to the first moving plate 311. Therefore, when the accommodating groove on the first moving plate 311 and the accommodating groove on the second moving plate 312 are aligned, the battery cell 1 is confined in the accommodating groove of the first moving plate 311 and the second moving plate 312, and the battery cell 1 cannot move along the second direction at this time; when the second moving plate 312 moves upward along the third direction relative to the first moving plate 311, the battery cell 1 is only confined in the accommodating groove of the second moving plate 312. At the same time, the second moving plate 312 moves along the second direction relative to the first moving plate 311, which can drive the battery cell 1 to move along the second direction, thereby transporting the battery cell 1 to the tab positioning assembly 320 and the tab bending part 330. In this embodiment, the intermittent transfer component 310 adopts the above-mentioned structure, which not only enables the battery cells 1 to be smoothly transported along the second direction, but also prevents the battery cells 1 from rolling during the transportation process, and can always keep the spacing between each battery cell 1 at A1, so as to facilitate the subsequent loading of the battery cells 1 into the empty tray 210, without the need for manual adjustment of the spacing between each battery cell 1 in the tray, which is conducive to the automatic loading of the battery cells 1.

[0043] On the basis of the above embodiments, as an optional implementation manner, the accommodating grooves of the first transfer plate 311 and the second transfer plate 312 are both set as V-shaped accommodating grooves, thereby, the V-shaped accommodating grooves can better limit the position of the battery cell 1, and the V-shaped accommodating grooves can not only better prevent the battery cell 1 from rolling along the second direction, but also the V-shaped accommodating grooves have a larger upper portion and a smaller lower portion structure, which can avoid when the grouped material picking component 400 clamps the battery cell 1, making it easier for the grouped material picking component 400 to clamp the battery cell 1.

[0044] On the basis of the above embodiment, as an optional implementation, the tab folding assembly 300 further includes a limiter 340, which is arranged on the side of the intermittent transfer assembly 310 away from the tab bending member 330, and the limiter 340 includes a plurality of groups of limiter rods 341 spaced apart along the second direction, and each group of limiter rods 341 includes two limiter rods 341 arranged opposite to each other along the first direction, wherein one limiter rod 341 is arranged at one end of the battery cell 1 along the first direction, and the other limiter rod 341 is arranged at the other end of the battery cell 1 along the first direction, and each group of limiter rods 341 can respectively support the two ends of the battery cell 1 along the first direction, so that when the second transfer plate 312 moves relative to the first transfer plate 311 along the third direction, the battery cell 1 can be more stably accommodated in the accommodating grooves of the first transfer plate 311 and the second transfer plate 312, thereby preventing the position of the battery cell 1 from shifting. The limiter 340 also includes a driving member (not shown in the figure) that drives the plurality of groups of limiter rods 341 to move closer to or away from the end of the battery cell 1.

[0045] Specifically, the tab positioning assembly 320 includes N groups of rotating rollers 321 arranged in parallel along the second direction. When the second transfer plate 312 moves upward along the third direction relative to the first transfer plate 311, and at the same time, the second transfer plate 312 moves along the second direction relative to the first transfer plate 311, it can drive the battery cell 1 to move along the second direction, so that the battery cell 1 moves to the rotating roller 321. The battery cell 1 and each group of rotating rollers 321 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence. Each group of rotating rollers 321 rotates the battery cell 1 corresponding to it, so that the tab of the corresponding battery cell 1 is rotated to a preset angle, so that the tab bending piece 330 can fold the tab to a preset state.

[0046] Based on the above embodiment, as an optional implementation, the tab positioning assembly 320 further includes a drive member that drives each set of rotating rollers 321 to rotate, thereby driving the rotation of the battery cell 1. Each set of rotating rollers 321 includes a first rotating wheel, a second rotating wheel, and a third rotating wheel. The first rotating wheel is connected to the second drive member, which drives the first rotating wheel to rotate, causing the battery cell 1 to move between the second and third rotating wheels. The second rotating wheel is in transmission connection with the first rotating wheel, so that when the first rotating wheel rotates, the second rotating wheel drives the battery cell 1 and the third rotating wheel to rotate, thereby rotating the battery cell 1 to a preset angle. Therefore, in this embodiment, the tab is rotated to a preset angle before being folded, which helps improve the folding efficiency of the tab. The rotating rollers 321 adopt this structure, which can rotate the tab of the battery cell 1 to a preset angle during the transportation process of the battery cell 1, which helps improve the transportation efficiency of the battery cell 1 and can timely adjust the angle of the tab of the battery cell 1.

[0047] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the preset angle of rotation of the battery cell 1 is not further limited, and those skilled in the art can set it according to the preset state of the tab folding.

[0048] After the tab positioning assembly 320 rotates the tabs of N battery cells 1 to a preset angle, the second transfer plate 312 moves upward along the third direction relative to the first transfer plate 311. At the same time, the second transfer plate 312 moves relative to the first transfer plate 311 along the second direction, driving the battery cells 1 with the tabs rotated to the preset angle to move along the second direction, so that the battery cells 1 move from the rotating roller 321 to the tab bending part 330. At this time, the number of battery cells 1 moved to the tab bending part 330 is N, and the tab bending part 330 folds the tabs of N battery cells at the same time, so that the tabs of N battery cells all reach a preset state. Subsequently, the second transfer plate 312 moves upward along the third direction relative to the first transfer plate 311. At the same time, the second transfer plate 312 moves relative to the first transfer plate 311 along the second direction, driving the battery cells 1 with the tabs folded to the preset state to move along the second direction, so that the battery cells 1 are ready for material removal.

[0049] In this embodiment, the specific structure of the tab bending member 330 is not further limited, and those skilled in the art may select it according to actual conditions, as long as it can fold the tabs of N battery cells 1 at the same time.

[0050] Combine Figure 5As shown, based on the above embodiment, as an optional implementation, the battery cell transfer assembly 500 includes a first movable assembly 510, a second movable assembly 520, and a third movable assembly 530. The first movable assembly 510 extends along the second direction, and the second movable assembly 520 is arranged on the first movable assembly 510. The first movable assembly 510 can drive the second movable assembly 520 to move along the second direction. The second movable assembly 520 extends along the first direction, that is, the second movable assembly 520 and the first movable assembly 510 are arranged perpendicular to each other. The third movable assembly 530 is arranged on the second movable assembly 520, and the third movable assembly 530 is slidably arranged on the second movable assembly 520. The second movable assembly 520 can drive the third movable assembly 530 to move along the first direction. At the same time, when the first movable assembly 510 drives the second movable assembly 520 to move along the second direction, the second movable assembly 520 can drive the third movable assembly 530 to move along the second direction. The third moving assembly 530 is extended along the third direction, and the grouped material taking assembly 400 is arranged on the third moving assembly 530. The third moving assembly 530 can drive the grouped material taking assembly 400 to move along the third direction, so that when the first moving assembly 510 drives the second moving assembly 520 to move along the second direction, the third moving assembly 530 and the grouped material taking assembly 400 are driven to move along the second direction by the second moving assembly 520. When the second moving assembly 520 drives the third moving assembly 530 to move along the first direction, the third moving assembly 530 and the grouped material taking assembly 400 are driven to move along the second direction by the third moving assembly 5 30 drives the grouped material picking component 400 to move along the first direction, and the third moving component 530 can drive the grouped material picking component 400 to move along the third direction, thereby realizing the movement of the grouped material picking component 400 along the first direction, the second direction and the third direction, making it convenient for the grouped material picking component 400 to adjust the displacement in various directions to clamp the battery cell 1 on the intermittent transfer component 310, and setting the battery cell transfer component 500 to the above-mentioned structure can be compatible with more specifications of material trays, thereby improving the scope of application of the battery cell folding ear and tray loading all-in-one machine and reducing the cost of the equipment.

[0051] Based on the above embodiments, as an optional implementation, the battery cell transfer assembly 500 also includes a tray handling clamp 540, which is used to clamp the empty tray 210 on the first transfer member 211, place the empty tray 210 on the loading station of the battery cell transfer assembly 500, and place the fully loaded tray 220 on the second transfer member 221. In addition, the tray transporting clamp 540 is fixedly set on the second moving component 520. When the first moving component 510 drives the second moving component 520 to move along the second direction, the second moving component 520 can drive the tray transporting clamp 540 to move along the second direction, thereby facilitating the tray transporting clamp 540 to move between the first transfer member 211 and the second transfer member 221, and facilitating timely replacement of the tray; in this embodiment, the tray transporting clamp 540 and the grouped material picking component 400 are simultaneously set on the battery cell transfer component 500, which can enable the tray transporting clamp 540 to clamp the empty tray 210 and the grouped material picking component 400 to absorb the battery cell 1 to be carried out simultaneously, which is beneficial to further improve the efficiency of picking up the battery cell 1.

[0052] In this embodiment, the tray handling clamp 540 is arranged close to the grouped material picking component 400, so that the tray clamped by the tray handling clamp 540 is arranged close to the grouped material picking component 400, which facilitates the grouped material picking component 400 to place the clamped battery cell 1 in the tray in time.

[0053] The specific structures of the first moving assembly 510, the second moving assembly 520, and the third moving assembly 530 are not further limited in this embodiment. Those skilled in the art may select commonly used moving assemblies in the art according to actual circumstances. For example, the first moving assembly 510, the second moving assembly 520, and the third moving assembly 530 may include a lifting guide rail, a lifting motor, and a ball screw or other transmission assembly that cooperates with the lifting motor.

[0054] In this embodiment, the specific structure of the tray handling clamp 540 is not further limited, and those skilled in the art can select a clamp or clamping assembly commonly used in the art according to actual conditions.

[0055] Combine Figure 6As shown, based on the above embodiments, as an optional implementation, the grouped material picking component 400 includes a control component 410, a variable distance component 420 and a lifting suction cup component 430, the control component 410 is connected to the variable distance component 420, the number of the variable distance components 420 and the lifting suction cup component 430 are both multiple, the number of the variable distance components 420 and the lifting suction cup component 430 are the same, and the variable distance components 420 and the lifting suction cup component 430 are connected one-to-one, the control component 410 is used to control the variable distance component 420 to adjust the distance between any two adjacent lifting suction cup components 430, and the lifting suction cup component 430 is used to absorb the battery cell 1 after the tab on the intermittent transfer component is folded. Specifically, before the lifting suction cup assembly 430 absorbs the battery cell 1 with the tab folded on the intermittent transfer assembly, the control assembly 410 controls the variable distance assembly 420 to adjust the distance between the two adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies 430, so that the distance between the two adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies 430 is equal to A1, and the lifting suction cup assembly 430 absorbs the battery cell 1 with the tab folded on the intermittent transfer assembly. Subsequently, before the lifting suction cup assembly 430 places the battery cell 1 with the tab folded on the empty material tray 210, the control assembly 410 controls the variable distance assembly 420 to adjust the distance between the two adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies 430, so that the distance between the two adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies 430 is equal to A2, where A2 is the loading distance between any two adjacent battery cells 1 on the empty material tray, and the lifting suction cup assembly 430 places the battery cell 1 on the empty material tray 210. Therefore, the grouped material picking component 400 adopts the above-mentioned structure, which can clamp multiple battery cells 1 at one time, and at the same time of picking up the materials, can adjust the distance between each lifting suction cup component 430, so as to facilitate the clamping of multiple battery cells 1 at one time, and after picking up the materials, can timely adjust the distance between each lifting suction cup component 430, so that the distance between the battery cells 1 picked up by each lifting suction cup component 430 meets the tray spacing requirements, and no manual adjustment is required subsequently, thereby improving the efficiency of material picking.

[0056] On the basis of the above embodiment, as an optional implementation manner, the control component 410 includes a first control component and a second control component, the first control component is used to control a single distance variable component 420, and the second control component is used to control two distance variable components 420, that is, the first control component only controls the single distance variable component 420 to adjust the displacement of the lifting suction cup component 430 connected to its corresponding distance variable component 420 along the second direction, and the second control component can simultaneously control the two distance variable components 420 to adjust the distance between their corresponding distance variable components 420. Therefore, the use of the first control component in an independent control manner can more flexibly adjust the number of battery cells 1 sucked by the grouped material picking component 400, and more flexibly adjust the spacing between adjacent lifting suction cup components 430. The use of the second control component can save the number of control components, which is beneficial to reducing the cost of the control components, while improving the control efficiency and the synchronization of the variable distance component 420; the control component in this embodiment adopts a combination of independent control and compound control, which is beneficial to reducing the cost of the equipment while maintaining high-speed material picking, and can achieve one to multiple battery cells 1 each time, which is convenient for adjusting the number of battery cells 1 sucked, thereby improving the compatibility of the grouped material picking component 400 with different material trays and expanding its scope of application.

[0057] Based on the above embodiment, as an optional implementation, the lifting suction cup assembly 430 includes a suction cup and a suction cup lifting assembly. The suction cup is used to absorb the battery cell 1, and the suction cup lifting assembly is used to control the suction cup to move along the third direction, so that the suction cup can absorb the battery cell 1 on the intermittent transfer assembly and place the absorbed battery cell 1 on the empty material tray 210 gripped by the material tray handling clamp 540. Therefore, the lifting suction cup assembly 430 adopts the above structure, further improving the flexibility of material removal.

[0058] In this embodiment, the specific structures of the control component 410 and the pitch-changing component 420 are not further limited. Those skilled in the art can select the control components and pitch-changing components commonly used in the field according to actual conditions. For example, the control component 410 can adopt a solenoid valve, and the pitch-changing component 420 can adopt a cam and a transmission component that cooperates with the cam.

[0059] Combine Figure 3As shown, based on the above embodiment, as an optional implementation, the empty material tray 210 and the fully loaded material tray 220 have the same size, and the size of the empty material tray 210 along the second direction is Z, Z<Yd, where d is the safety distance between the empty material tray 210 and the fully loaded material tray 220 along the second direction, Y=X+△X, X is the designed displacement of the group-type material removal component 400 along the second direction, △X=(A1-A2) / 2, A1 is the distance between any two adjacent battery cells 1 on the intermittent transfer component, and A2 is the loading distance between any two adjacent battery cells 1 on the empty material tray 210. Therefore, when Z<Yd, the group-type material removal component 400 can absorb the battery cells 1 while replacing the material tray, and the two actions of replacing the material tray and absorbing the battery cells 1 can be performed simultaneously, which is conducive to further improving the efficiency of retrieving the battery cells 1.

[0060] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the specific values ​​of the safety distance d and the design displacement X are not further limited, and those skilled in the art can set them according to actual conditions.

[0061] Based on the above embodiment, as an optional implementation, the tab bending member 330 simultaneously folds the tabs of N battery cells 1, and the grouped material removal assembly 400 picks up S (S is an integer greater than or equal to 2) battery cells 1 each time, where S is greater than or equal to N. This can further improve the efficiency of material removal. Preferably, S = 2N, that is, the grouped material removal assembly 400 picks up 2N battery cells 1 each time. This ensures that the efficiency of tab folding and the efficiency of battery cell material removal are well consistent, thereby improving the efficiency of battery cell tab folding and battery cell loading. For example, N can be 3, that is, the tab bending member 330 simultaneously folds the tabs of three battery cells 1 each time, and the grouped material removal assembly 400 picks up six battery cells 1 for loading each time. Of course, N can also be other values, and those skilled in the art can set it according to actual conditions.

[0062] A second aspect of the present embodiment provides a method for folding tabs and mounting battery cells on a tray, the method comprising the following steps:

[0063] Step S1 : The tab folding assembly 300 folds the tabs of a plurality of battery cells 1 while conveying the battery cells 1 .

[0064] Specifically, after the winding equipment produces the battery cell 1, the battery cell 1 is transferred to the intermittent transfer assembly 310. The intermittent transfer assembly 310 drives the battery cell 1 to move along the second direction, so that N battery cells 1 are moved to the tab positioning assembly 320. The tab positioning assembly 320 rotates the tabs of the N battery cells 1 to a preset angle. Subsequently, the intermittent transfer assembly 310 rotates the tabs to the preset angle and moves the N battery cells 1 to the tab bending member 330. The tab bending member 330 simultaneously folds the tabs of the N battery cells 1, so that the tabs of the N battery cells 1 all reach a preset state. Subsequently, the intermittent transfer assembly 310 drives the battery cell 1 with the tab folded to the preset state to move along the second direction. At this time, the battery cell 1 is in a state waiting to be taken.

[0065] Step S2, the battery cell transfer assembly 500 adjusts the displacement of the grouped material taking assembly 400 so that the grouped material taking assembly 400 is close to the tab folding assembly 300, and the grouped material taking assembly 400 simultaneously clamps multiple battery cells 1 and loads the multiple battery cells 1 into the empty material tray 210.

[0066] Specifically, the first moving assembly 510, the second moving assembly 520 and the third moving assembly 530 drive the grouped material picking assembly 400 to move along the first direction, the second direction and the third direction, so that the grouped material picking assembly 400 is close to the battery cell 1 to be picked up on the intermittent transfer assembly 310, and the control assembly 410 in the grouped material picking assembly 400 controls the variable distance assembly 420 to adjust the distance between the two adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies 430, so that the distance between the two adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies 430 is equal to A1, and the lifting suction cup assembly 430 absorbs the battery cell 1 to be picked up. The battery cell 1 with the tab folded is placed on the transfer assembly, and then the grouped material picking assembly 400 approaches the empty material tray 210 clamped by the tray handling clamp 540. Before the lifting suction cup assembly 430 places the battery cell 1 with the tab folded on the empty material tray 210, the control assembly 410 controls the variable distance assembly 420 to adjust the distance between the two adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies 430 so that the distance between the two adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies 430 is equal to A2. The lifting suction cup assembly 430 places S battery cells 1 on the empty material tray 210 to complete the feeding of the battery cells 1.

[0067] Wherein, S is greater than or equal to N, thereby further improving the efficiency of material extraction. Preferably, S=2N, thereby making the efficiency of tab folding and the efficiency of cell material extraction more consistent, thereby improving the efficiency of cell tab folding and cell tray loading.

[0068] Step S3, after the empty tray 210 is filled, the battery cell transfer assembly 500 takes out the next empty tray 210, and the grouped material picking assembly 400 approaches the tab folding assembly 300, clamps multiple battery cells 1 again, and loads the multiple battery cells 1 into the empty tray 210, repeats the above operation until all the full trays 220 are filled and transported to the next workstation.

[0069] Specifically, after the empty tray 210 is filled, the tray handling clamp 540 on the battery cell transfer assembly 500 moves to the second transfer member 221, and the fully loaded tray 210 is placed on the second transfer member 221. Subsequently, the battery cell transfer assembly 500 drives the tray handling clamp 540 to move to the first transfer member 211 to clamp the next empty tray 210. At the same time, the battery cell transfer assembly 500 drives the grouped material picking assembly 400 to approach the intermittent transfer assembly 310 to be loaded. When the grouped material picking component 400 reaches the battery cell 1 to be picked up, the empty material tray 210 clamped by the material tray transporting clamp 540 arrives at the loading station, and the grouped material picking component 400 sucks the battery cell 1 and places the battery cell 1 in the empty material tray 210 until the empty material tray 210 is full. Repeat the above operation until all the full material trays 220 on the second transfer part 221 are full, and the second transfer part 221 transports the full material tray 220 to the next station.

[0070] The number of battery cells 1 that can be loaded onto the empty tray 210 is P, where P is greater than or equal to S. If P is greater than S and is not an integer multiple of S, the grouped material removal component 400 may remove S battery cells 1 at a time when removing battery cells 1, and then reduce the number of battery cells 1 removed to fill the empty tray 210. For example, if S is 6 and P is 9, the grouped material removal component 400 may first remove 6 battery cells 1 and then remove 3 battery cells 1 to fill the empty tray 210.

[0071] The method for folding the tabs and loading the battery cells provided in the present embodiment transports the battery cells through the tab folding assembly, and folds the tabs of multiple battery cells at the same time during the transportation of the battery cells, thereby improving the tab folding efficiency, and the displacement of the grouped material picking assembly along the three axial directions can be adjusted by the battery cell transferring assembly, and the battery cell transferring assembly can clamp the empty material tray, and the grouped material picking assembly clamps the battery cells and places them on the empty material tray, and then the battery cell transferring assembly places the fully loaded material tray on the tray buffer assembly, and through the cooperation of the battery cell transferring assembly and the grouped material picking assembly, the battery cell loading and tray replacement can be automated, which reduces the labor intensity, reduces the labor cost, and improves the efficiency of battery cell loading, and at the same time, through the automated loading, damage to the battery cells during manual loading can be avoided, which is beneficial to improving the safety and production quality of the battery cells; the method for folding the tabs and loading the battery cells provided in the present embodiment can realize the automated folding of the tabs and the automated loading of the battery cells, which is beneficial to improving the production efficiency and the quality of the battery cells, and is beneficial to reducing the production cost of the battery.

[0072] Although the present disclosure is disclosed as above, the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and these changes and modifications will fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A battery cell tab folding and tray loading machine, characterized in that: include: frame; a tray buffer assembly, disposed at one end of the frame along the first direction, for storing empty trays and fully loaded trays; The tab folding assembly is arranged at one end of the frame away from the tray buffer assembly and extends from the inner side of the frame to the outer side of the frame along the second direction, the tab folding assembly is used to convey the battery cells and fold the tabs of multiple battery cells while conveying the battery cells; the tab folding assembly includes an intermittent transfer assembly, the intermittent transfer assembly is extended along the second direction, the intermittent transfer assembly includes a first transfer plate and a second transfer plate arranged along the second direction, the second transfer plate is arranged between the two first transfer plates, the first transfer plate and the second transfer plate are each provided with a plurality of spaced accommodating grooves along the second direction, the second transfer plate can be moved relative to the first transfer plate along the third direction, and the second transfer plate can be moved relative to the first transfer plate along the second direction, so that the battery cells move along the second direction; A grouped material taking assembly is arranged on the inner side of the frame, and is used to clamp the battery cells on the tab folding assembly and load the clamped battery cells onto the empty material tray; A battery cell transfer assembly is arranged on the inner side of the frame, and the group-type material-taking assembly is arranged on the battery cell transfer assembly, and the battery cell transfer assembly is used to adjust the displacement of the group-type material-taking assembly along the first direction, the second direction and the third direction, and the battery cell transfer assembly is used to clamp the empty material tray for the group-type material-taking assembly to load battery cells, and place the fully loaded material tray on the tray buffer assembly; the empty material tray and the fully loaded material tray have the same size, and the size of the empty material tray along the second direction is Z, Z<Yd, wherein d is the safety distance between the empty material tray and the fully loaded material tray along the second direction, Y=X+△X, X is the designed displacement of the group-type material-taking assembly along the second direction, △X=(A1-A2) / 2, A1 is the distance between any two adjacent battery cells on the intermittent transfer assembly, and A2 is the loading distance between any two adjacent battery cells on the empty material tray; The first direction, the second direction and the third direction are arranged perpendicular to each other.

2. The battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tray cache assembly includes an empty tray cache assembly and a loaded tray cache assembly arranged in parallel along the second direction, the empty tray cache assembly includes a first transfer member and a first lifting assembly, the first transfer member is used to supply multiple layers of the empty trays for stacking, the first lifting assembly is used to lift the empty trays to a first preset position along the third direction, the loaded tray cache assembly includes a second transfer member and a second lifting assembly, the second transfer member is used to supply multiple layers of the fully loaded trays for stacking, the second lifting assembly is used to lower the fully loaded trays to a second preset position along the third direction.

3. The battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tab folding assembly also includes a tab positioning assembly and a tab bending piece. The intermittent transfer assembly is used to transport the battery cells. The tab positioning assembly and the tab bending piece are both arranged on the intermittent transfer assembly. The tab folding assembly and the tab positioning assembly are both arranged along the second direction. The tab positioning assembly is used to position the angles of the tabs of N battery cells. The tab folding assembly is used to simultaneously fold the N tabs after the angles are positioned, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

4. The battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The tab positioning assembly includes N groups of rotating rollers, and the second transfer plate moves the N battery cells to the rotating rollers. The battery cells and each group of rotating rollers are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence, and each group of rotating rollers rotates the corresponding battery cell so that the tabs of the N battery cells are rotated to a preset angle. The second transfer plate moves the N battery cells whose tabs are rotated to a preset angle to the tab folding assembly, and the tab folding assembly folds the tabs of the N battery cells at the same time.

5. The battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: The battery cell transfer assembly includes a first moving assembly, a second moving assembly and a third moving assembly. The first moving assembly is extended along the second direction, the second moving assembly is arranged on the first moving assembly, the second moving assembly is extended along the first direction, the first moving assembly can drive the second moving assembly to move along the second direction, the third moving assembly is arranged on the second moving assembly, the third moving assembly is extended along the third direction, the second moving assembly can drive the third moving assembly to move along the first direction, the group-type material picking assembly is arranged on the third moving assembly, and the third moving assembly can drive the group-type material picking assembly to move along the third direction.

6. The battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine according to claim 5, characterized in that: The battery cell transfer assembly also includes a tray transporting clamp, which is arranged on the second moving assembly. The tray transporting clamp is used to clamp the empty tray on the first transfer member and place the fully loaded tray on the second transfer member.

7. The battery cell tab folding and tray loading integrated machine according to claim 5, characterized in that: The grouped material picking assembly includes a control assembly, a distance-changing assembly and a lifting suction cup assembly. The control assembly is connected to the distance-changing assembly. The number of the distance-changing assemblies is the same as the number of the lifting suction cup assemblies, and the distance-changing assemblies are connected to the lifting suction cups in a one-to-one correspondence. The control assembly is used to control the distance-changing assembly to adjust the distance between any adjacent lifting suction cup assemblies. The lifting suction cup is used to absorb the battery cell after the tab is folded on the tab folding assembly. The control assembly includes a first control assembly and a second control assembly, wherein the first control assembly is used to control a single pitch-changing assembly, and the second control assembly is used to control two pitch-changing assemblies.

8. A method for folding tabs and mounting batteries, characterized in that: The method of folding the tabs and traying the cells using the integrated cell tab folding and traying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 7 comprises: The tab folding assembly folds the tabs of the plurality of battery cells while conveying the battery cells; The battery cell transfer assembly adjusts the displacement of the grouped material taking assembly so that the grouped material taking assembly is close to the tab folding assembly. The grouped material taking assembly simultaneously clamps multiple battery cells and loads the multiple battery cells into an empty material tray. After the empty tray is full, the battery cell transfer assembly removes the next empty tray while the grouped material picking assembly approaches the tab folding assembly to clamp multiple battery cells again and load the multiple battery cells into the empty tray until all the full trays are full.

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